The W5JH Baby Black Widow keyer paddle

The August 2009 edition of WorldRadio Online magazine's Trail-Friendly Radio column, by Richard Fisher, KI6SN, features Jerry Haigwood, W5JH's, new Baby Black Widow keyer paddle that is perfect for trail operations - especially when using the Elecraft KX1 or Hendricks QRP PFR3 transceivers.

Below is a photograph showing how the Baby Black Widow can easily be adapted for use with any transceiver by fashioning an eighth-inch stereo headphone jack (available from Radio Shack) as an attachment to your key line.

Also, there's a photograph showing how a piece of thread can be used as a tether when you're installing the paddle's tension spring during construction. Simply reel off a 10 to 12-inch piece of sewing thread and loop it through the center of the spring. If the spring "decides" to fly off into the wild blue yonder during construction, it'll only go as far as the tether allows. And, after you've successfully installed the spring, simply cut the thread or pull it away from the spring. Voila!

Click here to visit the W5JH Website.

(For enlarged views, click on each image.)

Preventing a 'reversal of fortune' in the field

The July 2009 edition of WorldRadio Online magazine's Trail-Friendly Radio column, by Richard Fisher, KI6SN, features details on a simple field-operation accessory that can spare the operator a ton of headaches caused by fried equipment, as well as a ton of embarrassment.

This reverse polarity protector can help you to avoid a reversal of fortune when out on the trail.

All it takes is inadvertently hooking up your battery cables backward: POSITIVE lead to the NEGATIVE battery terminal, and vice versa. The WRO article has full construction details. Pictured here is the circuitry housed in a nice plastic box.

A black power cable with large alligator-style clip leads goes to the battery. An RCA jack with appropriate cable goes from the unit to your transceiver.

With this accessory in line, if you mistakenly get battery polarity reversed, a protecting diode shorts the DC to ground and the fuse blows - saving your equipment.

Two spare fuses are wrapped in white tissue and stored in the box, ready to be called upon if any knuckleheaded battery connections are made.

Here's the circuit's schematic:

Click here to see the latest edition of WorldRadio Online magazine.

(For an enlarged view, click on the image.)

Plenty of audio for overcoming sounds in the field

The June edition of WorldRadio Online magazine's Trail-Friendly Radio column by Richard Fisher, KI6SN, focuses on the Four State QRP Group's Enhanced Manhattan Islander Audio Amplifier - an innovative design both electronically and physically.




The kit comes nicely packaged and construction is an interesting - and pleasurable - exercise in both electronics and the arts.

With the low audio levels of many of today's trail-friendly transceivers, this audio amplifier is a perfect solution for overcoming some of Mother Nature's ambient sounds.

Kit developers Jim Kortge, K8IQY; Larry Przyborowski, K3PEG; Terry Fletcher, WA0ITP; and Ron Hege, K3PF, have teamed to manage the Four State QRP Group production run.

Click here to see details on Four State QRP's Enhanced Manhattan Islander Audio Amplifier kit.

Click here for a tutorial on Manhattan-style building techniques written by Chuck Adams, K7QO.

(For an enlarged view, click on the images.)

More feedback on the innovative 'Joule Thief'

Above, three views of the craftsmanship of W7RDP in his version of the "Joule Thief" mini-LED trail-friendly light featured in the February edition of the Trail-Friendly Radio column in WorldRadio Online magazine.

Click here for the link to the 'Joule Thief' by Big Clive, which inspired the YouTube video by Bre Pettis and Wendell H. Oskay.

Click here for links to how the "Joule Thief" does its magic.
Explanation 1
Explanation 2

Click here for the EDN Magazine article that inspired Doug Phillips, W7RDP's version of the "Joule Thief."

Click here for a link to Dan's Small Parts and Kits, one source for the FT50-61 toroid used in the "Joule Thief."


An inside look at AD7GR's version of the "Joule Thief."

(For an enlarged view, click on the images.)

Open mind, open spaces and the W3EDP

As featured in the April 2009 Trail-Friendly Radio column in WorldRadio Online magazine by Richard Fisher, KI6SN, the W3EDP end-fed wire antenna is a great, versatile performer when you're out and about in the field. Spreaders, made of specially cut PVC pipe material, provide lightweight spacing for the antenna and accompanying matching section.

The 84-foot antenna, 17-foot matching section, spreaders and an antenna tuning unit don't add much weight or take up much space in your radio tote bag.

A test set-up in Southern California a few years ago (pictured below) put the W3EDP through its paces on 40- and 20-meter CW during an on-air competition. The antenna is easy to put up and take down, and under field conditions can be used with only one support - a great advantage when you're operating above the tree line.

Here are links to sites with information related to the W3EDP antenna:

THE FFD ANTENNA: A Field-Friendly Doublet, With Notes on Related Designs, by Charles Lofgren, W6JJZ

KB6NU's HAM RADIO BLOG: The W3EDP Antenna, by Dan Romanchik, KB6NU

DXERS UNLIMITED: Item 3 - The W3EDP Antenna, by Arnie Coro, CO2KK

Field-Deployable Antennas, by William Eric McFadden, WD8RIF

For enlarged views, click on the images.

The Sudden Storm receiver goes to the field

N6GA's TFR transceiver in the 1990s was the inspiration for many trail-friendly radios of today - including the renowned Elecraft KX-1.


As featured in KI6SN's Trail-Friendly Radio column in the March 2009 edition of WorldRadio Online magazine, the QRPme Sudden Storm Receiver kit, designed to fit on top of an empty tuna-fish can with components exposed, is hardly a piece of gear that could withstand the rigors of the trail. But with a few modifications, the homebrewer can easily package this direct-conversion receiver into a unit that is great for listening in the outdoors.

Click on the links here to find several Internet references cited in the March column.

Cam Hartford, N6GA's, winning entry in the Adventure Radio Society's Trail-Friendly Radio competition (pictured above). For an enlarged view, click on the image.

"Anywhere, Anytime HF," the story of the Elecraft KX-1 transceiver, by Wayne Burdick, N6KR

The KX-1 from Elecraft Radio

Hendricks QRP Kits

The Sudden Storm Receiver kit from QRPme For an enlarged view, click on the images.

The KI6SN Trail-Friendly Joule Thief

As featured in Trail-Friendly Radio in the February 2009 edition of WorldRadio on-line magazine, the Joule Thief is a handy LED-based device that can be used to illuminate your field operating position while getting the most out of AA and AAA batteries that have been pronounced "dead" by other electronic devices - such as digital cameras.

A hay-wired version of the Thief shows the simplicity of construction and the handful of parts needed to put it together.

(For a larger view, click on the photograph.)

The drawing below shows the Manhattan-style layout used to build the KI6SN Trail-Friendly Joule Thief.

(For a larger view, click on the drawing.)

Click here to see a Bre Pettis You Tube video showing how the circuit is assembled, including detailed instructions on how to wind the toroidal inductor.