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 PIXIE
2 QRPp CW Transceiver
History and Evolution
1983 - The
GM3OXX Transceiver "FOXX" by George Burt
- GM3OXX appears in G-QRP Club's SPRAT
Summer 1983 Issue No. 35 on page 13. This was the first transceiver of this
type to use the same bipolar device as the transmit PA and the receiver mixer.
It was also called the "FOXX minitransceiver" and the article states
it is "A Transceiver on a 2" x 2" PCB". It puts out
a maximum of 2.5 watts of RF on 40 meters. Other benefits were no
detector thump and a smooth side-tone. A trim pot of 5Kohm was wired in
the receiver side and adjusted the oscillator injection for the
PA/detector. On 40 meters it was able to tune around 1.5KHz. The
neat thing about this is it started out as a modified STX transmitter, also
from the same issue of SPRAT. Note:
the Pixie does not trace it's history back to the original FOXX. I
included the FOXX information here because it was the first published
minitransceiver circuit
of this type. 1987 - The MICRO-80
(The First Pixie!)
(Details coming soon...) 1992
- The MICRO-80 Mini-Transceiver circuit appears in G-QRP Club's SPRAT Autumn 1992 Issue No 72 by Oleg Borodin RV3GM.
The MICRO-80 Mini-Transceiver is a simple QSK transceiver for 80 meters which
can be changed to other bands by simply changing crystals and the L and C in
the output circuit. Oleg's suggested layout is on a 50 x 35mm PCB and he
asks, "Is this the world's smallest transceiver?" Click Here
for more information including a schematic of the MICRO-80. 1995
- The Great Dayton Building Contest 1995
Sponsored by NorCal QRP Club - QRPp June 1995 pp. 45-48
Dave Joseph, WA6BOY
This is the "Pixie 2" circuit as we know it today
with it's LM386 audio amplifier IC. 1996
- VU Mini-Transmitter (Transceiver) For 20m. by VU2KLA appears in
G-QRP Club's SPRAT Autumn 1996 Issue No. 88 on page 14. This follows the
ideas from the RV3GM "Micro 80" Transceiver which later showed up in
various forms of the PIXIE Transceiver beginning in 1995. The VU
Mini-Transmitter (Transceiver) can be converted to a transceiver "Micro
80" style by adding an audio amplifier. The board is only 0.8
" x 0.8". 1996 - G3LHJ
Version of W6BOY's PIXIE 2 appears in G-QRP Club's SPRAT Autumn 1996 Issue
No. 88 on page 14. This version shows lifting the ground on the XTAL and
inserting a a SPDP switch marked Transmit and Receive selecting two
capacitors, 1000pF and 40pF. These capacitors are used to change the
frequency giving the Pixie 2 about a 600Hz offset. 1998
- "WE6W Contest Pixie" by Ed Loranger
appears in the Spring 1998 issue of the NorCal QRPp journal on page 20. Also
in this issue is "Putting the Pixie on 20 and other Pixie Tweaks" by
Charlie Panek, KX7L page 21.
2001 - The Tiny-Tornado Micro-Transceiver
Kit by Brice D. Hornback, KA8MAV first appears on the QRPp International
Radio Club's Web site. This transceiver kit improves upon the original
Pixie 2 with the addition of a double-sided plated-through hole printed
circuit board and many improvements and built-in modifications.
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