21 April 2015

Pixie kit, arrived

The Pixie QRP CW RTX has arrived. The PCB is really tiny, 5x5 cm. I am unsure if I should build it AS-IS or apply few mods to improve user experience, like:
  • tuning pot in place of the small resistive trimmer
  • improve the VXO
  • do not use onboard CW and earphone connectors, to ease installation in a repurposed aluminium candy box
I will certainly add a socket for the LM386 IC, for the XTAL and the two transistors. If I am able to swap transistors I can possibly improve TX power or RX sensitivity, or both. And a removable XTAL adds some extra frequency agility.