HF-2301

PROJECT: HF-2301
DESCRIPTION: WJT-1, 14 MHz, CW, 1W
STATUS: u t z
PROJECT START DATE: 1994
LOCALISATION: -
DOCUMENTATION: DVC
DIMENSIONS:

Project Info

WJT-1 as it was called at that time was my first real CW TX (if not counting HF-2300 which was rather VFO). More than 100 QSOs was made. It was from begining my own construction and I made some errors. I was still young boy and I never heard that 7812 regulator must be fed by 1.5V higher voltage! I fed it by 12V and stabilisation was fatal. For that reason that TX always had bad chirp. But even worse was that VFO could stop working during QSO! :)) At such moments I had to unscrew cold thermostate with VFO and just stick by screwdriver to resonance circuit, sometimes it worked... After years I learned that Colpits generators must have very specific capacitance divider, and when it is not correct it will not oscillate. In my case it was oscillate very nice, but sometimes oscilations stopped. Output power was more than 1W but probably not more than 2W (transistor BD354).

Working on this TX was always very exciting... First QSO I made 10/08/1994 at 0942 UTC with SP8CSL. It was station from my city (Rzeszow). Probably I wanted to test my TX before any longer QSO. Later I made more than 100 QSO with Europe and one with Siberia about 4700 km, including many 2 x QRP QSO, and testing with LZ1SM on his QRPP 0.7W:

QSO#	DATE	UTC	STATION	RST SEND	RST RCVD	QSO END	REMARKS	QSL
227	10/08/1994	0942	SP8CSL	599	599	0948	WLAD, RZESZOW	S-
228	29/08/1994	1937	G3URI	599	559		WARLEK,QSB	S-
229	29/08/1994	1951	IS0STO	579	529	2005	GINO, OLBIA, 2xQRP	S-
230	31/08/1994	1820	SP8CEJ	599	599		JOZEF, RZESZOW, FT747GX, W3DZZ, 30W	SR
231	08/09/1994	1027	SV5TH	599	599		NIKOS	SR
232	30/09/1994	1318	DL9GTI	529	539		RALF, STRALSUND, 2xQRP, 4W	SR
233	30/09/1994	1640	LZ1SM	599	579		ANGEL, SOFIA, 2xQRP, 0.7W, QRP/QRO tests	SR
234	07/11/1994	1606	GI0AIQ	579	569		FRANK, PORTADOWN	SR
235	07/11/1994	0659	9H1BM	559	339			S-
236	08/11/1994	1043	OH5MKB	579	569	1051	ERKKI, NEUVOTON	SR
237	08/11/1994	1435	IK4OMU/QRP	529	519	1446	MAURI, CESENA, PWR 2W, WX CLOUDY, TEMP 12C	SR
238	08/11/1994	1541	GM0NWI/QRP	599 QSB	539	1550	ANDY, STIRLING, 2xQRP	S-
239	11/11/1994	1037	HB9GJ/QRP	579	559/569	1050	FRITZ, NR ZURICH, 5W, RING LOOP, 2xQRP	S-
240	11/11/1994	1052	G3BSK/QRP	529 QSB	119		NO CFM	S-
241	11/11/1994	1417	SP8MCM	599	579	1427	ROMAN, RZESZOW, 5W	--
242	12/11/1994	1016	DL4VM/QRP	429/579	329/559		TOM, SAARBRUECKEN, DOK Q01, 10W, GP, TEMP 10C	SR
243	22/11/1994	1019	ON4YD	599	429	1031	YVES, NAMOUR	S-
244	22/11/1994	1113	DL5GBG	579	569		HANS, BADEN/BADEN, DOK Z26, 60W, TEMP 10C	SR
245	22/11/1994	1134	RW0AB	599	559	1137	ALEX, KANSK	S-
246	22/11/1994	1146	PA3FEZ	599 QRM	589	1201	JAN, CASTRICUM, 60W, TS690S, ANT W3DZZ,	SR
247	22/11/1994	1221	UA3DFD	589	589	1227	SLAVA, NR MOSCOW	S-
248	22/11/1994	1338	SV5/SM0CMH	599	599	1338	GORAN	SR
249	22/11/1994	1407	IT9EJW	579	549	1413	ALFIO, NR CATANIA	SR
250	23/11/1994	1138	RZ3DXL	599	559	1146	SLAWA, ZAGORSK	S-
251	23/11/1994	1236	GD4UOL	559	559	1236	ISLE OF MAN	SR
252	24/11/1994	1123	OS6TT	599	599	1123	OP RA3AUU, QTH NR GENT, QSL VIA ON6TT	SR
253	24/11/1994	1225	IK8TPJ	589	579	1231	MARK, CRATONE, DIPOLE	SR

It is just short exerpt from my paper log... ODX here was QSO RW0AB from KANSK over 4700 km!

QSO with RW0AB

Some of these QSOs was pirate because I received my 1-class category licence 3.11.1994 :)) Earlier I had only 2nd class licence for VHF only... But already I passed my radiotelegraphy exam and also in 1994 I made more than 100 CW QSO on club station SP8KAR. My first CW QSO under my own callsign SP8WJT I made also as a pirate, 25/04/1994 at 2322 UTC it was QSO with UR3EU from Donetsk and I used old RBM-1 radiostation on 3 MHz.

SP8MCM who I often meet in our radio club SP8KAR told me on the key that my signal is very weak in Rzeszow and he was astonished hearing my signal on 14 MHz. This is what can be called 'Magic of the Short Waves'. 1 watt transmitter is very weak itself, especially on ground wave, but after bouncing in the skies is amplified by ionosphere and 4700 km away is probably stronger than in my home city! My antenna was rather primitive, as I good remember it was something like 10 meter long wire, mounted in oblique way on the roof of 10th floor and between 11th floor, faced on the east... It was 35 meters at the ground but very close to the roof what surely worsen its radiating pattern.

What struck me after years, many of these QSOs was fairy long telegraphic conversations, IS0STO - 14 minutes, HB9GJ/QRP - 13 minutes, ON4YD - 12 minutes. At that time I was still young and rather slow telegraphist (before I met SP3VKO on 3 MHz in 1996 who show me how fun is high speed telegraphy), but these old radiotelegraphists learned me such kind of long conversations on CW, unlike it is today (599 and bye even without name because you can find it in log or in internet). In 1990s the was no any internet like today, what you have copied into your log was your QSO! We exchanged names, QTH, info about equipment and weather at the end. It was OK to ask about your age or any other non standard question (here of course was language barrier)... These guys worked with my extremally weak, 1 watt signal 14 minutes, probably with many repetitions, because it was very difficult to copy such weak signal. And this was very good school of radiotelegraphy for me.

WJT-1 was dissambled maybe one year later, when I had much more equipment, but I still love QRP QSO on homemade equipment. Designator HF-2301 was assigned after year 2000, few years after it was dismantled.

Sources:
[1]

Prefix 23

HF Register

Microcontrollers in my constructions

UC Database - my CPU collection

Electronics

Main Page

Generated by HF Projects Page Creator ver. 2.03