[ardf] For 2m: Use HTs or Build a Transmitter?

[Gerald Boyd]

Matthew,

I have posted the design data for the foxbox that our club used for ARDF on
my website

http://home.att.net/~wb8wfk/equipment.html

Click the transmitters link (VHF&HF) and it will put you at the start of the
foxbox info. A user manual with all the information you need is posted.

Our box uses the ATX80 for HF.

Jerry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Robbins" <aa9yh at hotmail.com>
To: <ardf at kkn.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 7:28 AM
Subject: [ardf] For 2m: Use HTs or Build a Transmitter?


For 80m, I'm getting ready to build some ON7YD ATX-80s:
http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/atx80.htm, which seems to be a "standard".

But for 2m, it seems most people use HTs.  I noticed at his website
(http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/ardfbrew.htm) that ON7YD also has a 2m design
(http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/atx2.htm).  (That's the only 2m transmitter
suitable for ARDF that I've found---Are there any others?)

Has anyone had experience with this design?  It appears there is no board
for it, but I'm up for that.  Most of my projects have been HF frequencies,
except for the very first radio I ever built, which was one of those Ramsey
FM transmitters, and really doesn't count.  (It was a miracle that thing
worked.  I was in seventh grade and I had the iron on some of those leads
for at least a minute.)

The text says he's aiming for 300mW to 1W, but the instructions for tuning
and calibration seem to say the min power is 400mW, but doesn't list a
nominal or max power.

About how much is it to build say five of these?  Do you recognize any
hard-to-find components?

The ARDF R1 rules say 1-to-5W Output Power for 80m and 0.25-to-1W ERP for
2m.  Is it pretty standard to just use whatever power the HT puts out?
Several people mentioned doing mods to allow adjusting the finals.  What
power do you run?

The R1 rules also specify 144.5 to 144.8 MHz.  The text for the ATX-2
tranmitter only mentions 144.06 to 144.09.  I'm assuming that's an
intermediate step, but he doesn't say anything else.

Matthew Robbins
AA9YH
Cincinnati, Ohio

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