The Pixie 2 Project
Attempting long-range, affordable
communication with a cheap, low-power radio.
Attempting long-range, affordable
communication with a cheap, low-power radio.
It is well known that the best long-range, low power form of communication is with a CW radio (ie. Morse code). Below are some very simple, direct conversion transceivers commonly referred to as Pixie radios. For those not into building their own, they are available on Ebay (40M version) for less than $14 as an assembled and ready to go board. You will still have some cost involved in earphones, keys for Morse code, power adapters and antennas, but those items are extra expenses with all ham radios. You do need a ham license to legally transmit with any of these, but listening is free and requires no license. On this page we will explore the various designs available and attempt to interface them to a PC for easier communication as well as modifying the design to support DSB-SC (double side band suppressed carrier) voice communications. Pixies (and other QRP radios) have been know to communicate over hundreds and even thousands of miles under the proper atmospheric conditions.
Below are some of the available designs from around the web:
Below are some of the available designs from around the web:
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CW Pixie - 80M
AM pixie
Below is an image of the Pixie board available on Ebay. It has jacks for the code key and headphones as well as a BNC connector for the antenna and jack for the power. It will run on either a 9V battery or 12V from an auto battery. |
DSB-SC ring modulator Below you will find 2 schematics for the Knobless Wonder. It is a Pixie style radio with a direct conversion receiver but the oscillator is tuned about the fundamental with a small capacitor and 4 of the same crystals then act as SSB filters on the fundamental frequency (now the LSB). The DSB is via a toroid transformer instead of the 602 or 612 which would require a separate power regulation circuit. |