Tiny-Tornado QRPp CW Transceivers Built By KA8MAV

KA8MAV

Tiny-Tornado™ QRPp CW Transceiver
Built by KA8MAV

The Tiny-Tornado is a tiny HF CW transceiver, with a standard two transistor transmitter. It's a Colpitts oscillator, left running, and a keyed power amplifier. There is no external mixer used to feed the audio amplifier. Instead, the mixing is done at the final amplifier itself with the resulting audio taken off the emitter.
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Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev1b (The Test Bench) I really hesitated to show this photo on the Web. But... this actually works VERY well. This is also how the TT-40 Rev2a came into being. That's a heavily modified TT-40 Rev1b with a TiCK-4 keyer on the left. I'm going to make the TiCK board MUCH smaller... I just threw this together to play with my Norcal Paddle Kit and decided to wire it up here. You'll notice if you look closely at the photo, I've swapped the molded inductor for a toroid wound coil. What you can't see are all the caps and resistors soldered across the bottom of the Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev1b board.

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a (The PCB) The "NEW" Rev2a Boards. Notice the double-sided plated-through holes and the ground plane on the back of the board.

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a The XTAL is bent over due to the weight of the scanner lid. It turned out I like it like this in the photo because you can see the 7.040 MHz XTAL in there. Notice the header pins?	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a I like these photos! Be sure to click on the photos at the right to see much larger higher resolution images. Did I ever mention I really enjoy winding toroids? It's very relaxing. "Let's see.... one, two, three..." Ok... this is important... If you are building one of these and you are going to use the header pins... the resistor over there next to the power must be oriented with the body of the resistor towards the inside of the board. Otherwise... the header pins won't fit. Trust me. The variable capacitor shown to the right is a 4-20pF version. However, the cap that will ship with the kits is 20-90pF to allow better tweaking of the offset.	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a Here you see most of the parts in the case. I still need to wire it up and drill a few more holes. The aluminum case measures only 4.25" x 2.25" x 1.25". Notice the homebrew 12-volt @ 700mAH NiMH battery pack? Yes, this is a totally self-contained 40 meter transceiver.	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a Build Date: 11/15/2001 All wired up and ready to go! Yes, those are a pair of 9V battery connectors there. I wanted to be able to swap out the battery pack if needed. By using the two 9V connectors... a spare 9V battery can be used in a pinch. Or, I can pull out the 12V pack and use a 9V to save some weight. Speaking of weight.. here's the details: TT-40 Wired in Case: 3.8885 oz (110.20g) 12V@700mAH NiMH Battery Pack: 4.6985 oz (133.20g) Total Weight: 8.587 oz (243.40g)	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a Build Date: 11/15/2001 Here you see the case with the vented cover on. It's not finished yet. I haven't decided if I want to polish it, paint it, or ???. How's this for the PERFECT backpacking rig?	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 Rev2a Build Date: 11/15/2001 Here you see the case from a different angle. I am thinking about different ways to finish the case. I always spend more time looking at the rig just thinking about it than I do actually building it. The switch on the front is the TX/RX switch and the 1/8" phono jacks from left to right are the key and stereo headphones.	Click Photo for High-Resolution Image

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 REV2c (The PCB) The "NEW" Rev2c Boards.

Tiny-Tornado TT-40 REV2c Build Date: 02/01/2001 I built this using a heavily modified REV2c kit. What makes this rig different? It is PTO/VFO tuned! It tunes the entire 40-meter band and puts out 1-watt! Click Here for More Details.	PTO/VFO Tuned 40-meter Tiny-Tornado by KA8MAV

Tiny-Tornado 20/40 REV2c Build Date: 02/25/2001 This is the world's first dual-band Tiny-Tornado. It operates on both 20 and 40 meters via a toggle switch on the back of the transceiver. This rig was built using a pair of prototype band-module boards I developed for the Tiny-Tornado line of transceiver kits. I also implemented a VXO and a TX/RX offset. Here are some details: Total Weight: 3.9745 Ounces! (112.68 Grams) 20-Meters 398mW Output @ ~13.8-volts QRP Frequency: 14.060 MHz 14.05802 to 14.06538 MHz 14.05790 to 14.05872 MHz 40-Meters 750mW Output @ ~13.8-volts QRP Frequency: 7.040 MHz 7.03889 to 7.04170 MHz 7.03884 to 7.03915 MHz This very special Tiny-Tornado is now owned by Doc, K0EVZ.	Click Photo for High Resolution Image

To Be Continued...

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