Homebrew 11 Meter Radio

[drc]

Has anyone ever built a homebrew tube cb radio? Any ideas on where to start reading?

[cbrown]

You could build one, but since it wouldn't be type accepted you couldn't use it on 11 meters.

Why do you want to build one from scratch?

[drc]

Why build one from scratch? Well, just to learn! I want to obtain the skills necessary to create a functioning radio. Just one channel, 27.085 mhz.

What do you mean it wouldn't be "Type accepted'?

[jacobs132]

not to start a controversy, but type accepted, is a old 8 channel sonar still type accepted by todays standards? is the many export radios sold and used on 11 meters type accepted, not to mention the many amps sold and used, in my opinion there is more non- type accepted equipment used today than there is type accepted, if one were to use type accepted equipment you would not be heard over what others are using!
unfortunately the 70's are gone, i used cb myself back then, got back into it several years ago and have a lot of vintage equipment along with a lot of newer radios. its a different world. lots of power being used, export radios tweaked and peaked. audio monster radios rule the roost. still cant beat that browning ping, or the tube audio of the trams and other tube radios , but type accepted is definately the minority nowadays,,,,,,, jimbo

[Sandbagger]

Mar 22, 2010 17:34:32 GMT -5 drc said:

Why build one from scratch? Well, just to learn! I want to obtain the skills necessary to create a functioning radio. Just one channel, 27.085 mhz.

What do you mean it wouldn't be "Type accepted'?

I think it's a wonderful project if you have the time, patience and a good supply of parts (or enough money to buy them all). There is nothing more satisfying than flipping the switch and making a contact on something you built with your own 2 hands.

That being said, the type acceptance issues is one of FCC legality. In order to legally use a radio on 11 meter class D CB, it must meet FCC specifications for part 95 type acceptance (or type certified is the more modern term). The FCC issues this certification to radio manufacturers after a sample of the product is submitted to the FCC's lab (or an authorized independent test lab) and it is found to meet all the requirements.

I suppose if someone wanted to make a legal one-off home brew transceiver, they could go through the motions of getting it type certified, but the cost of doing so may very well exceed the cost of building the radio.

[drc]

Yikes. The last thing I need is to build an illegal radio, only to have a black van pull up to my home and take me away the next day.

One thing that got me on this kick was the article in the April issue of QST, page 37, about building a 1929 transmitter. And I only want to operate on 27.085.

[Sandbagger]

Mar 22, 2010 22:51:39 GMT -5 drc said:

Yikes. The last thing I need is to build an illegal radio, only to have a black van pull up to my home and take me away the next day.

One thing that got me on this kick was the article in the April issue of QST, page 37, about building a 1929 transmitter. And I only want to operate on 27.085.

Well, if you stick to the letter of the law a home built CB would be illegal. However, if you consider that most CB's today are modified to some extent, or are illegal export radios, you would be in good company with that home built radio, and under no greater risk from an FCC raid. In fact, the FCC engineers are people too, and they would likely be impressed with your radio building skills, and then give you a strict warning not to run it any more and recommend that you get a ham ticket where you can do that sort of stuff legally.

The biggest thing you need to be concerned about if you homebrew a transmitter, is that its output be spectrally clean. The FCC would have no reason to bother you if your signal is clean. They have no way to know if the radio you are running is a type accepted radio or not. But they can tell if it's clean. You'll stay out of trouble with your neighbors too.......

[cbrown]

not to start a controversy, but type accepted, is a old 8 channel sonar still type accepted by todays standards?

Yes, as long as it hasn't been modified.

is the many export radios sold and used on 11 meters type accepted, not to mention the many amps sold and used

No.

That being said, you are correct. There are tons of radios out there that aren't type accepted, and people do use amps that are not allowed.

However, like speeding it's all fun until someone gets caught. And trust me, the government doesn't have a sense of humor about it. I don't know if they recently raised the fine, but you could be looking at a $10,000 fine if they so choose (and they usually do, although you can claim hardship).

If you are looking just for the building experience, I think Heathkit used to offer a 'build it yourself' kit, the CB-1. You could look for one of those kits. Or you could try from scratch, but be aware that if your radio causes any problems and anyone calls on you and you get caught with a homebrew radio, you'll get fined.

My suggestion would be to look for a ham radio kit, and build that. Getting licensed for Ham nowadays is pretty easy, and you are allowed to homebrew your own equipment. Elecraft makes a number of kits that would be good to start off with.

[rifleman]

Hi. I won't go into all of the legal stuff about building your own CB TRANSCEIVER nowadays. Lets just say that there is a chance (VERY VERY slight chance), that you may get into trouble for transmitting with it. (IT IS PERFECTLY LEGAL TO BUILD YOUR OWN RECEIVER AND LISTEN TO THE CB CHANNELS !!!)

The first kit I built was a Knight-Kit 2 watt walkie talkie CB back in the early 1960's.

There were several companies in the early 60's that offered LEGAL (AT THE TIME) kits for CB's. Heathkit, Knight-Kit (Allied Radio), and Eico were the major ones. I personally have a Knight-Kit C-22 and a Heathkit GW-42 still in my collection.

If you realy want to build one of those kits, every once in a while you can find an unbuilt kit still in the box on Ebay, But they are VERY VERY EXPENSIVE NOWADAYS !!!

The other way would be to get a copy of the assembly manual for one of these kits that you like (I would suggest one of the early single channel ones first). They are available on the internet, sometimes free of charge. Most of these manuals have a complete parts list included, and you may be able to build one on some breadboards.

As far as ham radios, which I personaly think is a better idea, the Elkraft kits for ham radio are very good, but they are not cheep either. Also, you should be able to find on the internet many old designs and helpfull hints for 'Homebrew' transmitters and receivers, some of them built into cigar boxes, breath mint tins, and even tuna cans, along with designs so you can make your own circuit boards. I built a signal generator that way once. You can also go to ARRL.org (Ham radio's American Radio Relay Leauge) website and see if the have any publications on building your own equipment.

If you still want it on the CB band. build some 10 meter 'QRP' (low power) ham equipment, and just tune it to 11 meters (CB band). But again, remember, you may get into trouble for TRANSMITTING with it on the CB band.

I hope this helps you. Enjoy !!

Yours, Ron

[rifleman]

PS...

I looked at the ARRL.org site, and the publications you would want to look at are the ones for QRP... (Low Power)

Yours, Ron

[zman]

I know some may poo poo what im about to say, but get your ham ticket and then build the many kit rigs available. Sure Heathkit isn't around anymore, but there are several QRP kits available. Elecraft makes an -AWESOME-(as in receiver performance) HF rig that you can add an amplifier and several other components to later on.
Just a tip or two!

[hatchbone7514]

I was going through some of my old CB books after reading this post and found plans for a home-brew one tube CB transceiver. I have enclosed the schematic and parts listing for the project. To remain in compilance with the forum regulations on copyright material I'm unable to post the radio project plans. If you would like a copy of the plans just contact me.