What is a PIXIE?
It is a very low cost, QRP 40 Meter CW Transceiver with a simple Direct Conversion Receiver. They sell on eBay for under $10 shipped from China. Usually they include a crystal for 7.023 MHz, but that is at the upper end of the Extra Class segment. To be useful to all license classes, a 7.040 MHz crystal is used.
The whole thing is about 2.5 inches on each side, and is about 1.5 inches tall. It runs off a 9-12 volt battery attached via a 2.5mm barrel connector (drawing less than 200mA on transmit and about 10mA on receive). The power output varies from unit to unit, and is typically between 0.5 and 1 watts at 13.8 VDC.
NCRC will be having “Build Nights” starting with our meeting on February 13 and March 13. Paul, K1YBE, gave a presentation outlining our Pixie plans during our January meeting. Several hams made Pixie to Pixie contacts after the meeting using dummy load antenna, so they do work.
Paul, K1YBE, What is a Pixie Presentation
John, WA1ABI, How Does a Pixie Work Presentation
If you have not already acquired a Pixie and would like to participate in the project, you may purchase one for $10 using the button below. The kit will be delivered to you at our February 2017 or March 2017 meeting. This offer is only available for people participating in the NCRC Pixie Project — but you do not have to be a member of the club.
Some documentation that you may find useful:
EasyEDA Project with schematic and BOM