Change of emphasis?

I have never owned a Ten-Tec transceiver (although I once built and used one of its transverter kits) but I always thought that the thing the company's products were most renowned for was their good support for CW operation and excellent QSK. So I was surprised to visit the Ten-Tec website a few days ago and see beneath the logo the slogan "The SSB Company." Obviously CW isn't seen as so important these days.

In the last couple of years Ten-Tec has dropped its kit range, its QRP Argonaut transceivers and most recently has been in the news for announcing that it will be rebranding the Chinese-made HB-1A QRP CW transceiver as a Ten-Tec product. I suppose someone somewhere has decided that this makes commercial sense but it doesn't seem to me like the way to hold on to a reputation as an innovative indigenous American manufacturer of quality radio products for the discerning amateur.

Ten Tec HB-1A

From John Harper AE5X's blog I have discovered that Ten Tec will be re-branding the Chinese HB-1A QRP CW transceiver. The Ten Tec versions aren't exactly the same - they will be selling two versions, one covering 40 and 30 metres and one covering 30 and 20 metres whereas the original covers 40, 30 and 20. This may have something to do with meeting FCC spurious emissions specifications.

As it happens, my HB-1A is on eBay at this very moment. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that it doesn't do anything that my FT-817 can't do and I've spent quite a lot on new radios recently so it seems right to dispose of some of the ones that aren't being used.

But its performance wasn't exactly spectacular. It's a bit sad to see the company that made and discontinued the Argonaut 516 HF QRP rig and matching 526 6'n'2 metre rig offering such a basic radio as its only QRP product.

I'd love a Ten Tec 516 / 526 pair, so if anyone has one in mint condition that they'd like to sell or trade for an Elecraft K3/100 drop me an email.

QRP To Go

For various reasons I haven't done much portable operating this year. But one of the things I like to do with my portable gear is put together complete ready-to-go stations. My memory is not too good these days and if I have to just pick the bits off a shelf when getting ready to go I'm sure to forget some vital component such as the antenna, key or a connecting cable.

Today I assembled a complete portable station to go based around the HB-1A QRP transceiver. The case is Technobag which I ordered from CPC. Annoyingly, the case did not have a foam insert in it although the catalogue claimed it is supposed to include one. Fortunately on the same day something I ordered from eBay arrived and the seller had used a large piece of foam as packing material. I cut it to fit the case and then made cut-outs for all the parts of the portable station.

The HB-1A is at one side at the bottom of the case. Next to it, standing on its side, is the Elecraft T1 antenna tuner. Next to that is the charger for the internal batteries (I modified the HB-1A to allow the batteries to be charged internally.) I wondered about including that, but this is quite likely to be the station I would take with me on holiday so it was convenient to put it in there. I can always take it out to save weight when going out for the day from here.

Above the HB-1A is a Bulldog BD-2 Mini-Key with magnetic base, which sticks firmly to the radio's steel case. I shortened the cable provided with it for convenience and put some vinyl tape over the base to help avoid scratching the radio's paint. Next to that is a BNC to binding post adapter for the antenna wire.

In the lid of the case held with Velcro fastenings are the antenna wire and counterpoise wire, and the cable to connect the T1 to the HB-1A. I normally forget that! The black net bag contains a pair of Sony headphones. All I need are a notepad and pencil, and that's that. A portable QRP station, all ready to go! A pity that winter's here, because I'm not fond of the cold and damp (yep, I'm a wimp!) and don't anticipate doing any portable operating now until Spring next year.

Black Widow paddle for the HB-1A

A few weeks ago I emailed Jerry, W5JH, who makes the Baby Black Widow paddle kits for the Elecraft KX1 and QRP Kits PFR3 to ask whether he had considered making one for the very similar HB-1A. He asked for some measurements which I duly sent and he produced a prototype which attaches to the steel case of the radio using magnets.


The cost will be $42.50 plus shipping. However, Jerry needs at least 10 HB-1A owners to commit to purchase. He posted some information about the key in the HB-1A users Yahoo group but there is no evidence so far of any interest from members (though it's possible some emailed him directly.)

I think that a paddle that attaches to the HB-1A would be a great accessory for use in the field and it would be a shame for this product idea to be stillborn for lack of interest.

A QRP Evening

Yesterday the four visiting Norwegian QRPers Mads LA1TPA, Aage LA1ENA, Halvard LA1DNA and Kjell LA1KHA came to visit us.

We had a very pleasant evening. On learning that my wife Olga was from Ukraine, Kjell greeted her in Russian and was interested in her thoughts about what life was like in the Soviet times.

Amongst other things we talked about about QRP radio, operating from summits, trouble with neighbours and difficulties getting permission to put up antennas. It is not just in the UK that we have these problems. Two of the guys had no home station antennas at all, and Mads has just an MFJ magnetic loop at home.

The guys were interested in seeing the HB-1A QRP CW radio from China, and also my Wonder Loop home made portable magnetic loop antenna. In the picture, Kjell is trying to make a contact on 30m using the HB-1A and Wonder Loop. He was not successful, despite received signals being strong, but perhaps our aluminium-framed conservatory was acting as a Faraday shield. Despite that, Aage was interested in getting an HB-1A and Mads said he plans to make his own version of the Wonder Loop.

The evening was a success and it was nearly midnight before they left for their hotel in Keswick. I'm glad to say the Lakeland weather has been kind to them, and today is fine and mild for their last day in the Lakes.

Another QRP Italian contact

After dinner and before going to watch TV I managed a 40m contact with Tiziano, IZ3NWT using the HB-1A. My report this time was 449. I checked the power output a bit later on - with the batteries delivering 10.2V I'm now getting just a tad over 3W output. Antenna was the MFJ magnetic loop.


From his QRZ.com picture, it seems Tiziano is partial to a bit of outdoor operating, probably QRP as well. However for this contact he was using a classic Yaesu FT-200 and 100W into a vertical. His location is in the Dolomite mountains at the north of Italy. The website shown his QRZ.com page is all about the area, and it would appear that Tiziano and his parents have a holiday apartment for rent. Looks like a nice place for a vacation!

An Italian for lunch

Just after lunch today I had a tune around on the little guy, the HB-1A QRP CW transceiver. On 10.116MHz, the 30m QRP activity frequency, I heard Steve, IK6NHA calling CW at about 18wpm with long gaps between the characters, so I gave him a call.

Conditions on 30m this afternoon seemed very unstable. Steve's signal was hitting S9 on the little Chinese radio's meter but with sudden QSB down to the noise level. Steve gave me a 229 report and asked me to repeat my call, though he did get it right the first time. He got all the other details I sent too, which is good going as it turns out he was running 100W. I was running about 4W to the MFJ magnetic loop with the HB-1A on batteries and I was struggling to hear him at times.

Steve's QTH is a town called Tolentino, which I guess is up in the mountains somewhere as the temperature was 7C, colder than it is here (and it's a grey, rainy day today.)

I love Italy. The whole place looks like it is falling down, nobody has heard of DIY and nobody seems to care either. What a great attitude! So different to England where the sound of lawnmowers and pressure washers is never far away and people seem to spend the whole weekend painting and cleaning instead of relaxing and enjoying the rest they've surely earned.

HB-1A developments

Anders, SM0HPL has started a Wiki that will contain information for builders of the kit version of the HB-1A. English language construction manuals will also be available from this site, which is at: http://hb-1a.golonka.se/doku.php.

Jerry, W5JH is willing to design a version of the Baby Black Widow key that will fit the HB-1A, probably using magnets in lieu of the fixing holes found on the KX-1 and PFR-3. But he needs someone in the US to lend him an HB-1A for a couple of weeks so he can get the measurements right.

HB-1A charger mod

This afternoon I wired up the battery holders and installed them, with a set of 2400mAH NiMH batteries, into the HB-1A. Before doing that, I added a modification to allow the batteries to be charged in situ, as is shown in the not very sharp photograph (sorry, photography just isn't my thing.)

The modification is very simple. It consists of a 5 ohm half watt resistor, made up of two 10 ohm quarter watt resistors in parallel, in series with a general purpose silicon diode with a current capacity of at least 500mA.

Locate the power switch contacts on the circuit board. The power switch is a two-pole two-way switch, with both poles connected in parallel. Only one side of the switch is used. The power input from the power socket goes to the centre pair of contacts. So the charger circuit is soldered to the unused pair of contacts, so that charging takes place only whilst the transceiver is switched off.

The other end of the charger circuit is connected to the positive line coming from the battery connector. A convenient connection point is the connector side of reverse polarity protection diode, as can just about be made out from the photo.

When the battery pack is installed, it more or less touches the components on the circuit board. (There really isn't much wasted space inside an HB-1A!) For peace of mind, I made an insulating layer out of thin card, cut to fit so it rests on the circuit board between the board and the batteries. That will help to prevent any accidental short circuits.

With the component values I used, I measured a charging current of 200mA when 13.8V DC is applied to batteries that had recently been charged. This current is suitable for charging a pack of 8 cells with a capacity of 1800mAH to 2400mAH in 14 - 18 hours. [Charging time = (capacity / charging current) x 1.5.] You should not exceed this time by more than 25% as overcharging can harm the cells. If the battery is not fully discharged then judging the charging time can be difficult. The cells will get warmer once they are charged, but they won't get hot like they do in a rapid charger and you probably won't notice this through the HB-1A steel case.

This is not a constant current circuit, and the charging current might be higher than 200mA if the batteries are heavily discharged. In that case, it might be advisable to start charging at a lower voltage to avoid exceeding the power rating of the resistors. I would recommend monitoring the charge current with a meter the first couple of times. I have not had a chance to check the current drawn when the batteries are discharged for myself yet.

A 500mA 12V DC unregulated wall-wart makes a good power source for this charger. Off-load it will measure something like 16-17V but when 200mA is drawn the voltage will drop to something in the range 13.5-13.8V. The nice thing about this is that it provides some current-limiting built in: If the cells try to take a higher current, the voltage from the wall-wart will fall below 13.5V, reducing the current.

Don't try to use a wall-wart rated for less than 500mA as the current rating is not for continuous use and it will get too hot. Beware of using a larger one (e.g. 1A rating) too, as the voltage may be too high at 200mA. Don't ask me where to buy one: the one I used came from my junk box.

The characteristics of these unregulated wall-warts vary, so assume nothing and measure the voltage and current. Finally, don't switch the HB-1A on whilst the wall-wart is connected. The voltage delivered when the receiver is on and drawing only about 50mA can easily exceed 15V DC, which could damage the electronics.

First HB-1A contacts

I made a couple of CW contacts with the HB-1A QRP rig today. It was harder going than I expected, as no-one replied to my CQs, and I couldn't use 20m because the noise level is so high I have to use the MFJ-1026 noise canceler, and that requires a radio that provides a TX switching signal, which the little QRP rigs don't do. So I had to hunt around for people who were not calling CQ DX and also sending at a speed that is comfortable for me.

On 30m I worked Vlada, OK1FLK who was running a 40 year old pair of ex-Army transmitter and receiver and 150W into a long wire. Then I went down to 40m and found Fred, DL3AMB near the European QRP frequency of 7.030MHz. Fred was using an Icom transceiver but only running 2W so this was a two-way QRP contact.

During lunch I set the HB-1A to 10.1387 USB and fed the output to my Samsung NC-10 netbook to see what WSPR beacons I could receive. I returned to find a whole screenful of decoded stations. The HB-1A is certainly sensitive and stable enough to use as an WSPR receiver but of course it has no audio modulator so it can't be used to transmit.

One problem I have found is that the audio starts to clip on any station whose strength exceeds S9 on the HB-1A meter. This distortion is evident using different headphones and earpieces, and even feeding the audio into a computer soundcard so I can look at it using a digimode program as an oscilloscope display. From the comments received so far on the HB-1A Yahoo! group this isn't a common problem so I guess I'm just unlucky. I don't have much in the way of test equipment so I can't troubleshoot the problem, but hopefully it's just a matter of adjustment and someone will tell me what to tweak.

New arrival from China

A knock on the door this afternoon heralded the arrival of my latest QRP radio - an HB-1A 3-band (40/30/20m) CW transceiver from China.

Shipment had taken just over a week and, unlike products ordered from the USA, there was no customs charge or VAT to pay, so the radio cost me a total of £165.

Opening the box revealed the radio extremely well packed in expanded polystyrene, plus a photo-printed card with a picture of BG2FX in his lab - presumably the builder. There was no manual, but the eBay listing had linked to an English language manual in PDF form that I could print out.

The radio itself seems very well made, the impression of solidity created by the heavy steel case which is well-painted in a black crackle finish. As this is intended to be a portable radio, an aluminium case would have saved a bit of weight.

Unscrewing two screws and removing the bottom of the case revealed a bit of a surprise - the two 4 x AA cell battery holders were not connected together or to the plug that connects them to the circuit board. I will have to solder together and insulate the wires myself. Four rubber stick-on feet were also inside the case, which I fitted to the bottom of the case before reattaching it.

Applying 12V DC from my shack power supply I was pleased to find that the HB-1A worked perfectly. There is no loudspeaker, output is headphones only, and best results were obtained using a pair of MP3 player style ear buds. The receiver is no match for a K2, but it is quite lively. Selectivity is reasonable and adjustable in three steps - 900Hz, 700Hz and 400Hz for CW - but stopband performance is quite poor: I could hear strong CW signals a few kHz away.

Although this is a CW-only transceiver it can receive LSB and USB as well. Tuning is continuous from below 40m to above 20m so you can even receive shortwave broadcasters by zero-beating the carrier. There is no bandswitch, but the HB-1A has 20 programmable memories which are pre-loaded with useful frequencies in each band such as the QRP CW frequencies - and the broadcast frequencies of Radio China!

The front panel key jack can accept either a straight key or a paddle. This is detected at power-on. However, for a straight key to be detected the center contact of the stereo jack must be grounded. Other radios I have go into continuous key-down unless this contact is open-circuited. Why can't there be a standard?

I was pleased to see that I got a genuine 5W output for 12V DC input. At 9V DC I measured 3W output. I haven't tried batteries yet as I have not yet wired up the internal battery holders.

The battery holders are a tight fit between components on the circuit board and there is no facility for charging rechargeable cells whilst they are installed. I will find removing the bottom of the case, removing the batteries to recharge them and then reinstalling them a bit of a nuisance, so I will be looking to install a socket so that they can be charged in situ.

Despite calling CQ on both 20m and 40m I haven't managed to have any contacts yet - I guess conditions aren't all that good right now.

With a power consumption less than half that of the FT-817 the HB-1A should give decent battery endurance on a set of rechargeable NiMH cells. This is going to be used as a portable HF rig, so the search is on for a small and equally robust Morse key for it. I'm trying to think how I can adapt the DinKey - which turned out to be such a disappointment when used with the FT-817 - so it can be plugged in to the 3.5mm key socket of the HB-1A.

That's all I have to say about this little Chinese radio for now, but I'm sure you'll be hearing more about it once I get everything set up for operation in the field - assuming that the weather plays ball!

New QRP rig from China

I was speaking on the phone to Chris of Martin Lynch & Son a few minutes ago and he mentioned that they were about to introduce a new portable QRP CW transceiver made in China.


Called the HB-1A, it looks like a clone of the Elecraft K1 though it doesn't appear to have an integrated ATU. It covers 20, 30 and 40 metres and has a built-in keyer with CQ memory. Chris claims the output power is 5W, though other references to it that I have found on Google quote 4W output. More information should soon be available on the ML&S website. The price, I was informed, will be about £200.