60 Meter Woodpecker
SERIOUS FUN ON 60 METERS!
The 60 Meter Woodpecker is a QRPp CW transceiver for the 60 meter band. It has a direct conversion receiver featuring a tunable bandpass filter, attenuator, muting and a audio amplifier with feedback high-low audio response. The transmitter is a two stage (osc / amp) design featuring a seven component lowpass filter, sidetone, QSK with delay, mute and 500-600 milliwatt R.F. output.
The Woodpecker includes all parts plus a handsome and sturdy cabinet with a thick screen printed front panet that is very attractive. The receiver and transmitter operate on 5332 Kiliohertz, sometimes referred to as (channel 1) and both are crystal controlled. The receiver Tuning control covers about 500 Hertz below and 1.0 kilohertz above the transmit frequency, allowing you to find a desirable pitch of your preference. The finished kit measures 4.0X2.5X2.35 inches.
The cabinet is assembled from pre-cut basswood plywood and easily assembled and painted / stained as you like.
PLEASE NOTE:
This kit is not for a beginner!
If you have already built one or two kits, you can probaby build this kit. However, be aware that the transmit crystal oscillator must be adjusted to exactly 5332 Khz with a frequency counter or by spoting the Woodpecker signal on a nearby receiver/transceiver digital frequency readout.
The above photos are from my protoyype. I have worked over 25 stations in 10 states and Canada from my SC QTH. Using my 160 meter inverted L antenna (1.4:1 swr.)
Received this e-mail after QSO on 9-21-20 at 0234.
Dear Bill,
I was stunned to hear that you were running only 500 mW last night on 60M, because you were armchair copy all the way. You run a great company and when I retire one of these days soon, I'll probably get one of your Woodpeckers. I was running 20 W into my 160M inverted L (which tunes like a charm on 60M) and was using an old Bendix Radio type MT-11B navy flameproof straight key. My transceiver was a Yaesu FTdx-101D.
Kaz (K8KS)
73,
Bill, W4FSV
E-mail from our first British Woodpecker builder.
Hi Bill,
Got the board working first time no problem. All went absolutely fine. I'm not at my proper shack so can't do any serious measurements regarding power output and receiver sensitivity, but my basic SWR meter shows a good 0.5 watt and the receiver sensitivity seems fine - but no idea what that is in micro-volts! I'll check the audio bandwidth in the two settings, but they seem well chosen considering the simplicity of the design. The RIT is about +/- 500Hz.
Although I'd heard the TL431 could be used as an audio amp, this is the first time I'd actually heard one, and it works well doesn't it?
The Woodpecker definitely works. I did some test blips which were audible (presumably NVIS propagation) at the Hack Green SDR 155 miles away. I'm using my meagre 20 metre long random wire antenna only about 4 metres high at this QTH. Will give it a proper test from my real shack from my doublet antenna when I break out after lock down!
73,
Ian, G4JQT
60 Meter and 40 Meter Woodpeckers
Now Just $40.00