|
G0UPL's "Unichip 80 Meter Transceiver"
 I
recently had one of those chance encounters that comes along
all too infrequently. While browsing the G-QRP List last night,
I saw a post from G0UPL who is currently on a business trip
in Greenwich CT. His post to the list mentioned that he was
on the air with a newly-built rig, the Unichip 80m Transceiver.
Since he'd just made the announcement minutes earlier, I tuned
to 3558 kHz and there he was. We chatted for a while & I
told him I was only 5 miles from his QTH. Turns out his business
meeting location is adjacent to my work QTH so we made arrangments
to meet for coffee the next morning before he flew back to England.
Turns out that in addition to being one heck
of a nice guy, Hans is a homebrewer extrordinaire. Please check
out his website at the link below. He brought his Unichip transceiver
to our breakfast meeting this morning and a 30-45 minute meeting
stretched into an hour and a half. Using a wire strung in the
trees outside his window, 8 D-batteries rolled up in a NY Times(!)
and a circuit board-mounted microswitch for a key, Hans worked
Florida, the Pacific Northwest and other areas with 2 watts
on 80 meters while in Connecticut. Hans' entire ham shack back
home is also is homebrew - made from discreet components, not
kits.
As it came time for him to leave and start
packing for the trip home, Hans told me to keep his transceiver
and to just send it back to him when I'm done! Did I mention
that he's a nice guy! I offered him my ATS-3 to take back to
England but every QSO Hans has ever had has been with homebrew
(and often home designed) gear and he doesn't want to break
that trend.
I will use this rig for a couple weeks before
returning it and also plan to start collecting parts to build
my own. Most of the parts seem to be easily obtainable. Hans,
if you're reading this, thanks for the inspiration to move beyond
mere kitbuilding and for entrusting me with your newly crafted
rig.
Hans
G0UPL's Website | Original
SPRAT article on this rig (121k pdf)
| 
