Chuck posted to the net the other day that he was working on redoing the
Pixie that W1FB did in Sprat. For those of you who don't know about the
Pixie, here is a short history. The first Pixie was designed by Dave
Joseph, WA6BOY, who based it on the Micro 80 Transceiver that appeared in
Sprat 72, (reprinted in Vol. 1, #1 of QRPp) and was designed by Oleg
Borodin, RV3GM. Dave's article appeared in Vol. 1, #3 of QRPp, pp. 47-49,
and he called it the Pixie 2. Dave upgraded the article, including a
pcboard layout and it was the basis for the first ever NorCal Sponsored
Dayton Building Contest. The upgraded Pixie 2 article was in QRPp, Vol.
III, #2, pp. 45-48. Jeff Furman, KD6MNP, published a sidetone mod for the
Pixie and 49er in QRPp, Vol. IV, #3, pp. 63-65. Doug DeMaw, W1FB,
published his version of the Pixie 2 with 700 Hz offset and 700 Hz Audio
Filter in the Winter 96/97 issue of Sprat.
The original Pixie 2 is still offered as a kit by HSC Electronics, 3500
Ryder St., Santa Clara, CA 95051 for $9.95 plus $2 shipping and handling.
The kit includes all board mounted parts plus the pc board. Crystals are
available on 7.040 and 7.122 from me for $3 each postpaid.
By the way those bound back issues do come in handy for research. And
speaking of history. The first North American Club transceiver project was
the Twoer by QRP ARCI back in the late 80's. The next one was the NorCal
40, and the NE 40-40 was the third, to my knowledge.
On to Chuck's posting. When I read that he was going to redo the Pixie,
and marry all of the upgrades, a thought came to mind. Here was the
perfect opportunity for the first real QRP-L rig. There have been several
tries at doing this, and none have ever seen the light of day because of
many reasons. But I think that this time it can be done. When Chuck is
finished, you will be able to go to his web site and do the following:
1. Down load the schematic and construction manual for the Super Pixie.
2. Down load an order form with all part numbers to order all parts from
one source.
3. Down load an order form for the pc boards in quantities as small as
one from FAR Circuits.
What you will be able to do is to "kit" your own Super Pixie!! Think
about this guys. Jim and Doug don't have to do all the kitting (see why I
want to help do this.) And, if you have a good junk box, you may not have
to order parts at all. If you want to build it "UGLY" style, then you can.
This will be fun. Stay tuned. I can see that this one is going to result
in some phone calls burning up some time between Texas and California. 72,
Doug, KI6DS
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