James Bond's 9V QRP Transceiver

OK, perhaps it's not quite as elegant as a "Q" creation, but hey, I can see Sean Connery pulling this little gizmo out of his pocket for some quick QRP action whenever there's a lull between seducing women and saving the world.

I built this back in '96 (when I was still WA6AHL). I was inspired by a couple of ideas -- the first was a description of the "Pixie 2" transceiver which appeared in the December, 1993 issue "QRPp" (the Journal of the Northern California QRP Club). The Pixie 2 had been built into a 35 mm film canister, which I thought was a pretty cool idea. Then there was some chatter on the QRPp list about a new design by Wayne Burdick, the "Forty-Niner" (a forty-meter, 9 volt transceiver). He hadn't yet published the schematic, but there was a parts list available, and I started thinking...a 9 volt battery shell would be the ideal housing for a 9V transceiver -- the battery connector is built-in!

So, inspired by the idea of Wayne's "Forty-Niner" and using his parts list as a starting point, I undertook my own design, which, through the judicious use of whatever surface-mount components I could find, allowed me to cram everything within the 9V battery case.

An SMA connector serves as the antenna jack, and I bring both key and headphones into the radio via a single 1/8" stereo phone jack (Tip = headphones, Ring = key). An adapter cable breaks out these two signals into two seperate jacks.

(Click on any image to enlarge.)

"Input Attenuation" and "VXO frequency control" are handled via two pots on the opposite side of the battery from the battery connector. Screwdriver controlled!


The complete setup, minus only an actual antenna and the headphones (which plug into the "green" connector).


Here's the schematic. Click on the image to enlarge...


(Note, in hindsight, I didn't need to add C15 (which I installed as a DC block) -- the xtal will also block DC.)

I've had it on the air a few times -- with a 9V battery the power out is about 300 milliwatts (900 mW with a 12V battery), and I've made contacts in California and Oregon. It's a bit too small to operate the controls comfortable (given that they're screwdriver adjustment), never the less, it was a fun little project to design and build. An article describing this design in greater detail appeared in the September, 1996 issue of QRPp. It's titled, "The Everyready: a 9V Direct Conversion Tranceiver."