NorCal QRP Club Forty-9er
A 40M Direct Conversion Transceiver with 9V
Designed by Wayne Burdick, N6KR
Manual by Doug Hendricks, KI6DS

Thank you for purchasing the 4ger kit from NorCal QRP
Get a piece of8.5" x 11" plain white paper. Place the paper on
Club. As you will read in the following article, this rig wasa table and carefully pour out the parts on it. Separate the parts into
designed as a building project that was to be simple, yet pro
similar piles (ones that look the same). Use the parts identification
vide a very usable transceiver when you were finished with chart on page 5 and identify all of the parts. You may need ait.
magnifying glass to clearly read the markings.
We first provided only a circuit board and a source for
Write the part number and identifier (i.e. C7) on the paper andthe crystal, but our members immediately deluged us with place the part on the paper beside it. Do it in order so you will be
requests for a kit. Many of our members do not live near, nor able to find the part when it is called for in the instructions.
do they have access to, a reasonable supply of parts. Thus
Once you have identified the parts, it is time to start
they must resort to ordering from mail order companies. Most building. First, examine the pcboard for shorts or bridges. Iof the parts can be obtained from Mouser and Digikey, but do this with an ohm meter set to an audio tone for a direct
the problem is that when you order from these companies, short. I then test each run to see that it is not shorted acrossyou have a minimum order charge of $25. Thus you are the lands. This win make trouble shooting much easier later
either forced to order more parts than you need, or pay the on. When you are satisfied that the board has no shorts, it is$25, which makes the parts very high for this rig.
time to heat up the soldering iron and start "stuffing parts".
NorCal has the advantage in being able to purchase in
I like to use the schematic as I build. Most of the guys
large quantities and our members thus gain the benefits. So, who are successful builders do the same thing. If you have
we are able to offer the complete kit; board, board mounted never built before, this will be good training. If you have built
parts, and crystal for $25.00 postage paid in the US, (DX before, please try building with the schematic as you go, andorders add $5 shipping.
you will find that you win learn more as you build.
We feel that this project will become an ideal first kit for
What do I mean by build by the schematic? I make a
all of those who have never built anything before. If you are zerox copy of the schematic and lay it next to my work area.
in that category, we suggest that you find someone who As I install parts I check them off the schematic by drawing aknows how to solder. Have them teach you the proper circle around them with a red ink pen. This keeps me frommethod, and have them watch as you learn the technique. leaving out parts, or installing them in the wrong place. I
Several experienced kit builders suggest that you use a 25 check the board to make sure that the part I am installing goes where
Watt iron with a fine tip. This will be perfect for the 4ger. the schematic says it should BEFORE I solder.
We also suggest that you buy Kester 63/37 solder with typeFirst solder the NE602AN into the space marked UI on the
66 flux. Type 44 flux will also work. We prefer the type 66 board. Make sure that you have the notched end oriented the same as
because it is water soluble, and cleans up easier. Get the the outline on the silkscreen. This will insure that the pin orientation
solder in the .031 diameter. It is much easier to work with. is correct. Now turn the board over and solder the 8 pins, being
No matter what solder you purchase, make sure the solder careful to not heat up the IC too much by leaving the iron on theyou use has a resin core and is designed for electronics work. joint too long. Hold it there long enough to melt the solder and makeThe first step is to read the article by Wayne Burdick. it flow into a good joint, but don't overheat the chip.
N6KR. Wayne is one of the premier designers of QRP gear
Next, do the same thing with the LM380N-8. Be sure to havein the world. He is famous for his NorCa140, Sierra, and KC- the correct orientation with the chip. Also, solder all pins, even those
1 keyer. All of these are now marketed by Wilderness Radio that have no connections.
(415-494-3806), and if you enjoy building and working with
Now we are ready to install the 4 jumper wires. They are
the 49er, you will love the pleasure that you get in building marked JI,2,3 &4. I use resistor and capacitor leads that I haveother Burdick designs. Reading the article will give you the trimmed from parts that I have installed. If you do notbackground and help you understand how the 49er works.
have any laying around, trim the leads on a couple of the capacitors
Your second step is to inventory and identify the parts in with long leads to 1/2 inch long. Take the piece of wire that you
the kit. This process is very important, as the radio will not have cut off and use them for jumpers. Put the wire in one of thework unless you have the correct parts in the right places on holes, bend it over flat on the board, and then pick up the wire withthe board. NorCal has produced over 1000 kits, and the num- a pair of needle nose pliers where it should bend to go in the otherber one problem, far and away, is the inability to identify hole. Take the wire out of the board, bend it at the correct place andparts. Don't be intimidated or embarrassed. All of us were in then see if it fits so that the wire will lay flat on the board If it does
your shoes at one time, as we are not born with the ability to not lay flat, rebend the wire until it does. It is important that jumper
identify electronic parts. We have produced a parts list with wires lay flat on the board. By
drawings and a description of each part so that you will beable to identify and learn what each part is. We are ready toopen the envelope of parts and identify them at this time.

2
By the way, the reason there are jumpers on the board is that I is that Wayne wanted a variable cap that was 9-50pF in range.
was not able to get all of the traces to go where they needed The gray tuning cap used in the kit goes from 4.5 to 60 pF.
to go, so I had to use jumpers.
This results in the oscillator not oscillating when you tune to
We will install the RFC's next that lay against the board. the low end of the capacitor. So, we use an old trick, we use a
They look like resistors, but they have green bodies instead of 5pF padder capacitor in parallel with the tuning cap. This
results in adding 5pF to the Tuning cap spread so it is now
white or tan. We will not install RFC2 at this time. Be surethat you identify them correctly from the parts identification effectively 9.5 to 65pF, close enough that it works fine. Thisis capacitor C2l that is not in the schematic. (Hated to spoil
page.
To install the inductors, bend the lead right at the edge where your fun looking for it, but I am trying to train you to use theit goes into the body, and then place in the appropriate holes. schematic and I don't want to frustrate you.) Install C2l now.
Thm the board over, and then bend the leads 45 degrees so NOTE: If you are using Rev. A pc board there are no holes
they will hold the part against the board. I like to mount my for C21. You can put it in the holes for C6, using the one
resistors and inductors flat against the board, and this is how I nearest the crystal and one of the two side ones, or you cando it. Solder both ends of the inductor, and then trim the leads tack it on the bottom of the board. I think it looks much neateragainst the solder with side cutter pliers. Please be careful and in the holes beside C6. Don't solder C21 until you havehold the lead you are cutting to keep it from flying across the placed C6 on the board. You will solder both C21 and C6 at
the same time.
room
Find the green trimcap, the one with 2 leads that are bent
Now we are ready to install the resistors. Identify themwith their color code, and check with an ohm meter to make slightly. This is C2 and is used to peak the receiver, the only
sure that you have the correct value. Resistors are installed alignment the kit needs. Solder it in.
You will notice that we are building the board in layers,
the same way that inductors are. Be sure to trim the leads ofeach resistor as you install it. Install all resistors at this time, installing the parts that fit closest to the board's surface first.
including variable resistor RI. It is the round one with 3 leads
We are ready to start with the taller components now.
and has a silver and white body.
The first one is C6, which is the gray tuning cap discussed
Our next step is to install the two diodes; DI and D2. earlier. Be sure that it sits flat against the board
They are both the same, so it doesn't matter which one you
We will next install the crystal, and here you have some
use where, but it most definitely matters that you orientate the room to customize your kit a little. If you have more than one
diode in the correct position. The black band is the cathode rig that uses a crystal, it is nice to not have to buy a $3.00 or(negative) end of the diode and goes the same direction as more crystal for each radio. What I do is use a crystal socket
for each rig and then plug the crystal in and out as I need it.
indicated on the silk screen.
Now install the 3 transistors, Q 1, Q2 and Q3. Q3 is But wait, you say, crystal sockets are just as expensive as
shipped with a heat sink. Please remove it as it will not fit on crystals and much harder to find.
That is not true, because you can make your own crystal
the transistor on this board layout. Remove the heat sink before you install the transistor on the board Make sure that you socket very easily and it costs almost nothing. Denis Enfollow the orientation drawing on the board so that the glander, KC6EDI, one of our NorCal members came up withtransistors will be installed correctly. Clip the leads of the this neat idea. Use an IC socket. How? Cut the socket in half,transistors after you have soldered them.
and then cut 3 pins off the socket. Clip the middle pin and
Find the 78L05, which is the voltage regulator and with a voila, you now have a crystal socket with 0.2" spacing, justpair of needle nose pliers flatten the three leads so they are in right for your crystal. The machined crystal sockets work theline. Then install the voltage regulator.
best, and if you are careful you can get several crystal sockets
We will now start with the installation of the capacitors. out of one IC socket. Use a small file to smooth up the edges.
The mono caps will be installed first as they are the smallest I use an Exacto knife to cut and trim mine. Solder the socket
and hardest to handle. Put them in their appropriate holes, and in and now you don't have to have a separate crystal for all ofuse the ''bend at a 45 degree angle" trick you have learned to your rigs. Great idea from a great guy, Denis Englander.
If you chose not to put the socket in for the crystal, thenhold the caps while you solder them. Don't use your fingers as
the cap will get hot and burn you. I like to mount my caps just solder in the crystal. Make it fit flush with the board.
about 1/8" above the board, with the identifier all facing the
Now. we will install the electrolytic capacitors. The casame direction on the board It really doesn't matter, but pacitors have a positive and a negative polarized lead: The
Chuck Adams, K5FO does it and his boards are beautiful. negative lead is the one that is the shorter of the two, and has
There is a simple beauty in neatness and conformity. After a strip on the "can" of the capacitor that says negative on it.
you have installed the 6 brown mono caps; C3, CS, Cll, CI5, To install an electrolytic cap, put the longer lead into the hole
CI6, andC19, find the blue mono and install it. It is C 10
that is marked "+", and the shorter lead into the "-" hole. The
The next caps to install are CI and C7, the 22pF NPOs. can should fit flush with the board Install Electrolytic caps C
Then install C5 and C14, the 82pF NPOs. Then C20, the 9, C12 and Cl3. Be sure to correctly orient the capacitor andput the right cap in the right place.
l50pF NPO. Then solder in C4, the 27OpFNPOs.
The last capacitors to install are C17 and C18, the SilverThis kit uses a trimcap that is different than the one suggested by Wayne when he designed the circuit. It is easier to Micas; They are the maroon caps. You should now have alltune, and was cheaper, so we went with it. The only problem caps installed.
.

3
The last board mounted part to install is RFC2, the 82 mH for the key.
choke. Please don't sub this part, as Wayne selected it because
Next install the standoffs with 4-40 hardware. I use standoffs
it is shielded and is small in size for its high value.
that are 1/4" x 4-40. You can get a nice assortment from Radio
Examine the board now. Make sure that you have filled Shack. Mount the board in a case of your choice, and you are readyin every part. You should not have any empty holes except to do the simple alignment.
where the connectors go. The next step is to check for solder
Connect an antenna that you know is resonant. THERE is NO
bridges. If you have a magnifying glass use it to check the protection for SWR in this rig. Hook up a 9Vbattery, plug in theboard to make sure there are no solder bridges making con- headphones and listen to the signals. Tune around the band, younections where it shouldn't.
should get about 5kHz of tuning range. Find a good signal and peakNow it is time for you to finish the kit. The builder will C2 for best signal by ear. That is all there is to it. Your rig is ready.
have to supply the connectors that he prefers. Install them Connect to a dummy load and a watt meter and you should see about
now. I use a BNC for the antenna connection, a 9V battery 200mW with key down. If you have problems, check for solder
connector for power, a 1/8" jack for headphones and a 1/8" bridges and correct parts placement.
jack

The Forty-9er: A 40 Meter Transceiver with 9 Volts
By Wayne Burdick, N6KR
l4326thAve.
Belmont, CA 94002
Doug Hendricks found a batch of 7. 040MHz crystals, and had
no choice but to get someone to design a rig around them. In thisarticle I'll describe a very simple 40m D-C (direct conversion)transceiver that I call the "Forty-9er," because it can run on a 9V
battery. In the spirit of NorCal collaboration, Doug will do the PC
layout, and part with his crystals at some reasonable price.

Another motivation for this rig was to improve performance over the D-C transceiver that some of us built at Dayton last year. The Forty-9er has a few more parts (about 1/3
as many parts as a NorCal 40), but as a result it is actuallyusable.
Features:* Runs on any DC voltage from 7 to l2V* Power output of roughly 250mW at 9 volts, 500mW @ l2V* VXO covers about 5kHz (7.037 to 7.042 with 7.040MHz
crystal)* Full QSK - really helps when you're using such low
power* Very low current drain: 10mA receive, about 70mA
transmit (@9V)* Only one simple alignment step, and NO toroids
Circuit Details
Refer to the schematic. Dl is the product detector and
VXO. To minimize AM broadcast and portable phone pickup(both are problems with direct conversion receivers), theinput tuned circuit has a low L-C ratio. This increases the Qof the tuned circuit, and the small loss in signal is not a
problem. On transmit, D 1 detunes the input tuned circuit andunbalances the mixer, preventing the transmitter frommodulating the VXO signal.

a simple, high-gain AF amplifier circuit (U2). RFC2 and CIO
are quite large because they must resonate in the AF range(see parts list).
The VXO covers about 5kHz. To get the VXO output high andconsistent, I used two tricks: (1) C4 is bigger than C5; (2) R4 wasadded to increase the oscillator bias a bit. Don't use these techniquesin every '602 project, since they may degrade receiver performance.
Also, since good crystal starting and low oscillator current drain are
conflicting goals, don't expect to be able to increase the size of RFC6.
At some point, your transmit power will drop dramatically at one endof the VXO trim cap.
The transmitter has only two stages. The 2N3904 is selfbiased
for simplicity, and provides enough gain to drive the 2N3866 toaround 200mW. The final operates class C, and is reasonably
efficient. I could have used a class A final amp stage instead andpossibly eliminated the low-pass filter, but I wanted to minimize
current drain. This is a good strategy for operation from a 9Vbattery,which may provide only a hundred milliampere-hours (higher withalkaline or lithium).
Sidetone is not included, since it would have added another fiveor six parts. You can hear a soft buzz when you key the rig, though,which is acceptable if you're using a pushbutton key.
Construction:
If you use your own PCB or breadboard layout, here are somethings to keep in mind: (1) in general, keep the RF chokes a good
distance apart, or if you can't, use toroids; (2) keep lead lengths short;(3) use as much ground plane as possible.
There are many ways to improve on the design. You can change
the QSK delay by changing C8 (with .002uF, you can hear between
dits at l5WPM). If you want better low-pass filtering, add another Lnetwork after CI0 (82mH and O.47uF). This will improve rejection ofhigh-pitch signals but will increase insertion loss.

JFET mute switch Ql is used to provide full QSK. Ql must be alow pinch-off voltage type (J309, J3l0, 2N5484, etc.) because thevoltage at pin 4 of Dl is only about 4V. This detail is occasionally Operation:
overlooked. For example, you'll see MPF102 mute switches used
You can use 7 to 16 volts with this rig, but put a heatsink on Q3
with NE602s running at 6V; even though an MPF102 can have a Vp if you use over 12V. IMPORTANT: Since there is no SWR
of up to 8V; and may not be completely cut off on transmit.
protection at the output, you MUST use a known, matched
Ql is followed by a passive low-pass filter (RFC2, C10) and4antenna (or a 50-ohm dummy load) with this rig. If you use anantenna tuner, be sure you use an absorptive-type SWR bridge
so that the final will see a reasonable load during tune-up. Inline SWR bridges provide no protection for the final.
The frequency shift from receive to transmit is very smalltypically 100 Hz. The shift is in the downward direction, so when
you call a station, make sure you're listening on the HIGH .
frequency side of zero beat. (There are two places you can set the
VXO cap to listen to any particular station; use the lowercapacitance setting and you'll be on the high side.)
The rig can be used hand-held with a push-button code key.
In the field, you'd just hook up a 33' piece of wire and toss it into atree, and toss out a ground radial of the same I length. Use #22 orlarger stranded copper wire and a small, smooth fishing weight.
Bring a backup antenna in the event that your tree was hungry.
Conclusion:
It's a nice change to build something so simple, and it reallyseems to work. On the day I built it, I worked Washington stateand Michigan, both on the first call! It seemed deceptively easy,
so I suspect conditions were good.
This is a good rig to take for emergencies or just for fun
wherever you're going, since the whole station (including antenna wire and fold-up stereo headphones) will fit in your pocket.
The design is still preliminary, so please send me yourcomments and suggestions if you build one. (I can be reachedby e-mail at burdick@interval.com.)

Parts List:
CI,722pFNPO
141-100N5-022J
C2 9-50pFTrimcap 24AA024

Mouser
Mouser21RZ410
Mouser
C3,8,11 .01 Mono
15,16,19
C4,17 27OpF NPO
l4O-CD50S5-271J Mouser
C5,14 82pF NPO
141-100N5-082J Mouser
C6
4.5-60pF Trimmer
C9
3.3uF/25 Elect. 208-SOV3.3
Mouser
C10.47uF Mono581-470NJ63
Mouser
C12
220uF/25 Elect. 208-25V220
Mouser
C13
22uF/25 Elect. 208-SOV22
Mouser
C17
270pF Silver Mica
C18
470pF SilverMica
D1,2
1N4148C20
150pF 140-CD50N6-15IK Mouser
Rl
IK or 2K Trimpot
323-5000-IK Mouser
R2 10ohm
R3 10M
R4,6 120 ohm
R5 56KR7 1OK
RFC1,5 2.2uH
43LS226
Mouser
RFC2 82mH
434-02-823J
Mouser
RFC3 1mH
43LSI03
Mouser
RFC4,6 15uH
43LSI55
MouserQl
J309, J310, 2N5484
MouserQ2
2N3904
MouserQ3
2N3866
Mouser
UI
NE602AN
Digikey
U2
LM380-N
Digikey
U3
78L05 333-78L05AP
Mouser
X1
7.040 MHz Crystal
NorcalMisc. Parts:

9V battery connector, 2- 1/8" chassis mount phone jacks, I

BNC chassis mount antenna connector, hookup wire, small
case or cabinet of choice.

PCB Viewed from Bottom

49er Parts Layout