The ZZRX-40 Direct Conversion 40 Meter Receiver ‘Source your own parts or buy the kit —elther way, it’s a fun project! Craig Johnson, AAOZZ While experimenting with one of the ubig- uitous receiver designs that use an NE602 mixer and LM376 audio amplifier, 1 was amazed at how well they performed with so few components, There are many ways to make them “better” and builders dif- ferentiate their own designs. Our club had been looking for simple projects for our build-a-thons. The project described here ‘could be interesting for the many fairly new builders in the club, ‘The ZZRX-40 receiver doesn’t break any new ground. It packages some ideas that have been around since shortly after the NE602 was introduced by Signetics in the 1980s, Pairing the NE6O2 and LM386 has inspired many receiver and transceiver designs. Design Strategy One of my prime design requirements was to design a project that worked “right out of the box.” with no adjustments ‘or tweaks, Okay, if you are using the VEO option, you ‘may want to tweak the vari able capacitor to make the tuning start atthe bottom ‘edge of the 40 meter band. However, if you use the jumpers to select the crystal ‘controlled oscillator at fist you just connect an antenna and headphones, apply power, and you will stat to bear signals. That's sure to bring big smiles to the faces of first-time builders and old- timers alike — as it iat our club build- 34 July 2016 ‘a-thon, “Hey, I built this, and it works!” ‘The ZZRX-40 is interesting because of the ‘unusual enclosure, The builder solders PCB boards together, which gives the case «a homebrewed, but polished Took, seen in ‘the Iead image and in Figure 1, The comers are notched to assist in board alignment, so it takes just afew minutes to make a nice ‘As you can see in the circuit diagram in Figure 2, this is a bare-bones, direct- conversion radio. The front-end filter is deliberately wide so it doesn’t need any tuning coil or eapacitor adjustments. Using the ZZRX-40 Apply 9 to 13 V from a battery or power supply to JI, or connect a four-cell 6 V Figure 1 —The ZZRX-40 board in+ fide a box consiveteg trom PCBS yrrignlat battery pack to header HDR3. Connect an antenna to J2 and headphones to J3. Turn RI clockwise to maximum volume, and if ‘you are using the crystal-controlled VEO, {you should hear signals immediately. Turn the tuning potentiometer R2 to pull the crystal frequency a few kilohertz on each side of its nominal frequency. If you selected the VFO in header HDRS, advance the tuning knob clockwise about of the way up from minimum. This should bbe approximately 7.0 MHz. Tuning is very sensitive, but you should be abe to receive (CW, SSB, and AM signals Tuning CW Signals AAs you tune in CW signals in a DC (i rect conversion) receiver such as this, the sound will be equally strong on the lower ‘and upper sides of center zero-beat. It may sound strange if you are accustomed 10 listening to CW signals with one side- band suppressed, as they usually are in modern receivers, This is done to minimize interference from nearby stations, Many direct ‘conversion receivers such as this ZZRX receiver do not hhave circuitry to suppress one sideband or the other, so you hear them both as you tune across the signal. There really isn’t a convention for which side to listen to for CW stations. Some suppressed-sideband receivers use the Tower side of zero-beat and others use the upper side. Some of these CW receivers allow you to change from one side to the other. They usually refer to the two sides asDecimal value of capacance ae Inmeroares uF) eters aren etarads (oF) Rasstancos arn ‘hms; 000, Nt 00,000 vom (3 a 00 wore amatfe} crs veo [el 4 m Figure 2— Schema diagram of the ZZAX-4O rece 3 — capac, 180 9 1, 02— Diode, 1Nse17 ositor, 100 G2 — Gapecto 820 33° biae, int easter 1M Gon Ca. C1k CIO Copecton ox Be — LED. Tea Feist, 100 Ko. Gti. Ct7—Copactor. 47 1F G12 Copactor 22 1 Cte — (Nstused) G10 — Copacter, 220 p= ($20 — Capacter, 100 BF ‘Timmer capector, 0 - 50 pF (CW and CW-Reverse. For CW signals in the ZZRX, listening to either side of zero- beat is possible, and both will be nearly the same volume, If one side or the other ‘experiences interference from a nearby sta- tion, you can just move a litle and listen to the other side. Tuning SSB Signals ‘SSB signals tuned with the ZZRX will also ‘be equally strong on the LSB and USB sides. This may sound strange if you are BA “HORS —Two-pn neacer HDA, HORE — Throepin oador St Power socket de eA socket, BNC {8 Aart jack iS inate 3.9 2 — Indvoter 18 0H L— Inductor, 47H Fi, Re 10 ka potentometor accustomed to listening to SSB signals on ‘a receiver that suppresses one sideband, ‘The ZZRX receiver is a direct conversion receiver, 8 it doesn’t have circuitry to sup press one of the sidebands. You hear both ‘of them. Suppressing one side or the other is done in receivers to minimize interfer- cence from nearby stations, An SSB trans- ‘mitter only transmits one of the sideband Tor efficiency reasons. By convention, SSB stations on the 40 meter band use LSB Fe, AY — Rosistor 10x. Re Restor 1 Hid RO — (Not used) Flo Resistor 100. Ul— arc, Neco (U2 Audi amplifier C, LMSB6N-1 Us— Regulater ic, 78108, Yi— Quarts erst, usr choice, '40 meter bane for voice transmission, In many modern receivers, when set fo receive the correct by-convention sideband, the signal will be intelligible on the correct sideband. With this DC receiver, as you advance upward in frequency you will hear the SSB stations start high i tone and go lower. As you con- tinue to advance the frequency, the tones of the SSB station reach a low point and then start to get higher again, The frst side you Ireard (lowest frequency) was the UPPER, July 2018 35 Copyright o ARRLsideband and the second side (higher fe- quency) is the LOWER sideband. know. this is counter-intuitive, but technically correct. [Readers may find the OST ar- ticle “About SSB," by Ward Silver, NOAX, helpful! — Ei In the 40 meter band, because ofthe convention, you wil ind the ‘SSB speech tobe unintelligible on the USB side and ineligible onthe LSB side. Theory of Operation Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the basic DC receiver. The RF signal from the antenna passes through a broad front-end filter, then downconverts in a mixer to base-hand audio, An audio amplifier and audio filter signal amplify the signal and reproduce it on the speaker Front-End Fitter, “The signal from the antenna passes via the BNC connector 32 (see Figure 2) to a gain control potentiometer RI, thea to a simple RF band-pass filter (C1, C2, and L1), which is also an impedance transformer, ‘The capacitive divide circuit transforms the antenna impedance to the 1500.9 input impedance of the NE6O2. The band-pass filter was designed with alow Qand is cen- tered on 7 MHz. Unlike a sharper (higher Q filter, this design does not require any front-end tuning adjustments Mixer The NE6O2 (U1) has been the work- horse mixer for receivers, transmitters, and transceivers since it was introduced Figure 3 — Block diagram o the simple aret conversion coker Figure 4 —A completed 22RX-40 circuit board July 2016 Tn) De Volt 7.000MH2 738 WHE in the 1980s, It performs well, but it has limitations — mainly its dynamic range. i provides a signal gain of 18 dB, and has a ocal oscillator (LO) that can be tuned with a crystal or tank circuit, It can also act as a buller for an external VEO or signal generator. Mixing an LO with an incoming RF signal of slightly different freque say 600 Hz higher, produces an audio tone of 600 Hz. Local Oscillator ‘The ZZRX standard configuration uses a crystal-controlled oscillator. The crystal oscillator is configured with a fixed in- ductor and a TN4004 diode D3 used as 1 voltage-controlled capacitor (varactor) in series with the erystal. The crystal f ‘quency is changed by afew kilohertz asthe voltage applied to the varactor i varied by turing the knob on tuning potentiometer R2. ‘The ZZRX crystal oscillator can be changed into a VEO by altering two jump- cers, HDR¢ and HDRS. Now, series induc tor L2 is replaced with inductor L3 that pyright resonates with the varactor capacitor D3. (€20 decouples the de tuning voltage from ground via L3. ‘This very simple VFO is made from a few inexpensive components. Using a IN40O4 as a varactor tuning element limits the capacitance range fo approximately 35 pF to I5 pF as the voltage changes from 0 V (06 V (see Table 1). Tuning is very sensi- tive, Trimmer capacitor C21 sets the lower Timit ofthe 40 meter band. You can do this ‘with a frequency counter connected to the {op end of resistor Ra, o¢ by listening for the ZZRX LO signal in a nearby receiver Potentiometer R2 should be tumed com- pletely counterclockwise when setting the Tower frequency limit Using an External VFO or Signal Generator ‘The two 2-pin headers HDR1 and HDR2 hhave jumpers to select che builtin erystal- controlled oscillator or the simple VFO. If you want to use an alternate VFO or a ignal generator, remove both jumpers and inject your VFO signal into the UI side pin of HDR. ‘Audio Amplifier Amplifier UL, the LM386N-1, is config ured, with C11 between Pins 1 and 8, t0 provide a gain of 200 also provides some filtering that blocks signals above 300 kHz ‘The series combination of C14 and R10 provide addtional audio filtering,Additional Help for Bulld-a-Thons ‘A complete illustrated theory of operation, user manual nd printed circuit board tem- plate image are on the QST in Depth web page’ would like to thank Wes Hayward, 'W7ZOI, for his helpful suggestion inthe final tweaks of the schematic part values. For up-to-date details and futher docu- ‘mentation about this project please soe my vweb pase, wwrwaz.com, Boars, parts, and enclosures are available from the Four States QRP Group, at www-dsqrp.com zarxd0.php. Notes ‘Ni Heyward, W7ZOL 8. Campbel KKTO Las ‘en WIPUi Biperinanar Moss nF Ce 5g, avaiable fom ABU Nom no. 9239 fvalabie or your ARAL deta o om tho [ABRL Store. Telephone flee in hs US B- In the July/August 2016 Issue. (Our QEX authors describe and analyze PLLs, ‘oscillators, Beverage antennas, crystals, RF filters and coaxial components "Charles Templeman, W2EHE, features PLL in this general purpose standalone sig- nal generator that produces precise quadra- ture signals, and can support SDR projects from 160 meters to 6 meters. ' Rudy Sevems, NOLF, uses measurements to validate NEC analysis, and explains the performance decline of a Beverage-on-the- ‘ground antenna, Strays 27-5288, or 860-594-0885, ox 860-594-0908; ‘wera rg/ehop! pubsales @ar.org, 2'Bten, NASENG, “The Neophyte Recenter? ‘OST Fob 1088, sp 4 18. 98. Bornstein, KBION, “The MAX-<0 Me ecole” ‘as Sep 1997. ps 3300, staid Sher NOBX. About SSB? OST Jen 2016, pps 54. Swart orgigstin-depth Photos courtesy of the autho. Ciaig Johnson, AAO, was leonsed in 1968 at tho age. a He cris ham radio wrth spar Ing his nest slscvones ans pointing an {onard s carer in elseral engneerng. He fecaved Bachar degtee in elecrcal Engi teeing, endiatet an MBA. Crag ves n St Bul Annes e waked fr Uiys fo 35 years on the design and devetpment of age, mainte Sorat and operang atom sore he ‘tare a ne 3a software Gevepment Ho hads Seven US patents ato to computer raraare Sr sofa. Cai loves expr he owe ' Fred Brown, WOHPH, built universal ‘oscillators that can test a wide range of fun- damental and overtone crystal, "= Gary Cobb, G3TMG, explains the filter ‘approximation problem relating to the syn- thesis of Zolourey low-pass functions wit finite zeros, Gene Hinkle, KSPA, reviews RF surge suppressor ratings to help keep transmissions into reactive loads from arcing over. # Scotty Cowling, WA2DFI, returns this month with more tips on modifying and updating open-source FPGA eode fr offshe- shelf SDRs, QEX is edited by Kazimierz “Kai” Siwiak, KEAPT, ([email protected]), and is pub- lished bimonthly. QEN sa forum forthe free exchange of ideas among communications Tho Faces Behind Loghook of The World ARRLs Logbook of The World Study Committe meets every month by teleconference, butonce per quarter they convene at ARR Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut to review the status of the world's most ely used electronic QSL. system. Shown here at their May 3 meet- ing. from left 1o right: Doug Haney; Rick Murphy, KIMU; ARRL Field Services and Radiosport Department Manager Dave Patton, NNIN; ARRL Field Services and Radiosport Departmeot Assistant Manager Norm Fussro, WIZ; ARRL Information Technology Manager Michael Keane, KIMK; ARRL First Vice President Greg Widin, KOGW; Dae Bemstein, AAGYQ, and ARRL. Chief Financial Officer Bury Shelley, NIVXY (eated). Not shown: ARRL Principal Web Development Engineer Dennis Budd, K3DGB; ARRL Treasurer Rick Niswander, KTGM, and ARRL Roanoke Division Director Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, Copyright ‘between computers and Amateur Rac that ‘came about wth tne acent of meropracessors He developed many projcts using mcroproces- 0%, especialy for frequency syrhesis (DOS and PLL) in VFOs He great enjoys helping fers 6 understand how to use meropreces- Sorin thar oun projects. Graig enjoys CW. ‘operating GRR, xing, and contesting, but ho ‘happiest when hee neering, bulsng oF ‘experimenting wth new designs, ceuls, and Sofware. You can reach rim at 4745 Kent 8, Shorenew, MIN S126, or at andzz@arl net. For updates to this article, see the GST Feedback page at ‘experimenters, The content is driven by you, the reader and prospective author. The sub- seription ate (6 issues per yeut) for ARRL. members in the United States is $24. Fist (Class delivery inthe US is available at an ‘annual rte of $37. For international subserib- ers, including those in Canada and Mexico, QEX can be delivered by airmail for $31 snnually. Non-members must adé $12 to all rates. ubseribe today at wwarrLorg/aex. Would you like to write for QEX? We pay $50 per published paze. Get more informs tion and an Author Guide at wwwaarrLory/ ‘qex-author-guide. 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