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You can
write your own review of the Small Wonder Labs SW+ Series.
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KT4WO
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 30, 2007 13:04
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Top Notch
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have built 5 kits from SWL-Dave Benson...
from the "Freq-Mite" to the PSK rigs...
They are by far the best qualiy kits you can
buy for the cost. One did have "1" wrong part that
Dave shipped right out.
KT4WO
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VE7AJJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 30, 2007 12:37
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Fun QRP Rig
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Earlier this month I built the SW 40+, cw transceiver. Following the advise of others that posted on here I took my time and double checked each step. That patience approach was rewarded by the rig working from the first go. As mention else where, it covers about 35 khz when built as is but I wanted more band coverage so added a capacitor (to the underside of the board for ease of change) and wound up with 70 khz of tuning range. With a big knob, it is no trick to lock onto a signal.
The little receiver easily competes with my Kenwood or Yaesu, anything I can hear on them, I can hear with this rig.
I have no watt meter to measure power at that level so I simply connected my meter between the power source and the rig to measure current draw and did the calculations from that. I set the power adjustment at 4.5 watts input which I expect should be giving me about 3 watts out. The meter on my MFJ tuner indicates that 3 watts might be a reasonable guess, as I don’t expect any great accuracy from it at that power level.
My eyes are not up to the small markings on the components but that was easily solved by wearing a flip-up magnifier that allowed me to check my solder joints and gave a clear view of what I was doing although I had to work more closely to the board then I was used too.
I haven’t made a great lot of contacts with it yet but I attribute that to the antenna and some lousy band conditions. I am in the process of building a ½ wave vertical and tuner just now to overcome that handicap. When you have only three watts or so you want to get as much of it in the air as you can and using a vertical with poor ground just isn’t the way to accomplish that.
Garry Ve7ajj
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KG4RND
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 16, 2007 21:10
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Great kit building experience!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I recently purchased and built the SW40 cw transceiver. That's the first transceiver kit I have ever built. Today i made my first contact with it. 1.5 watts to lake city, Fl. I must say Dave has been extremely helpful. When i had a couple of small problems he responded promptly to my emails. When I needed potentiometers that I couldn't get locally he supplied them at cost. Excellent service. Being the first transceiver kit I have built I was nervous. But the manual was extremely detailed and following the directions i had it assembled very quickly 5-10 hrs. Alignment was a snap. Thinking about buying a SW20 now. I would definatelly recommend this kit to the first time builder. One thing, when you receive the kit you have to have access to a computer to print off the manual. A minor inconvenice for me as at the time i didn't have a computer. Other than that I have nothing to complain about. I really enjoyed the kit and the service was great.
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KC9CS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 2, 2007 14:42
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QRO fun with QRP!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Yep...BIG fun with a QRP signal. I built the SW+ 20 after building a 40m Rock-Mite, thinking it to be the natural progression in kit building. It was. More parts, more capability from the rig. I built the SW+ 20m very, very methodically. Call it disciplined. Checked all the parts against the kit listing, sorted them all and placed them in egg cartons marked according to the individual values of capacitance, resistance, etc. but more so that I didn't mix anything up. I also did as the manual states and copied the parts placement diagram and checked each part placement as it was done. It also helps to copy the parts list and staple them back to back so that you can refer to it during construction. With my slow and deliberate construction the kit was completed in two evenings, call it about 6 total hours including getting the kit into a tiny cabinet I drilled and made decals for. No problems with the end result, it worked from the initial 'smoke' test flawlessly. Within minutes I had the little rig aligned for peak signal, you transmit and find the initial signal with your "big rig", then add one capacitor to place your 30-40khz band of operation, twiddle a couple of tuning capacitors to peak your output signal (again watching your signal strength on your 'big rig' receiver S-meter, or use a tiny wattmeter like I did) and peak one more tuning transformer for received signal strength, and you're on the air. It didn't take long to start making contacts and I'm sure I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. What a thrill to complete a nifty little radio like this, hear it come to life with amazing sensitivity in reception, and then pounce upon a CQ CQ call and hear your call come back! My tiny NoGaWatt wattmeter tells me I'm getting just a tiny bit over 2 watts out on this radio, plenty enough to get heard since I feed the signal into a 3 element Yagi at 60 feet. Would I purchase another from Small Wonder Labs is the question and the proof of satisfaction with my experience with the SW+ 20m version? I already have! Weeks after the 20m was complete I had the 40m version in hand and completion there was just as before, although I felt the 40m was a bit more finicky on final alignment. Still, after a bit of 'twiddling', checking the circuit, looking for solder bridges, etc. something 'clicked' and I was hearing a myriad of CW signals where I had been hearing only the big shortwave stations prior. Can't tell you what changed but perhaps in checking over the soldering with a hot iron and making certain there were no 'cold' looking solder joints, the rig was behaving great. Again, QSO's were amazingly easy. I'd highly recommend Small Wonder's SW+ Series, the kit experience is very satisfying and you'll get a nifty little rig to make contacts with. For the tiny investment in cost, the return is huge. Current pricing is $55, and when you consider the hours of fun you'll have and compare it to say...a couple of movie theater outings...well you get the idea. Not only is the entire process fun, it's a learning experience too. Do it.
KC9CS
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W2GW
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 28, 2006 13:46
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These little QRP rigs are great!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I just finished my third SW+ transceiver, this one for 30 meters. I also have the 40 and 20 meter versions. Each one is installed in a nice black and grey TenTec aluminum box that measures about 4" by 3 1/4" by 3". To say that I enjoy building these rigs is an understatement.
If you like to operate QRP portable with a rig that you built yourself, like I do, then an SW+ is a good way to go.
The receiver's sensitivity and selectivity are certainly up to the task, as is the transmitter's 2 watts output. I don't find the 35kc coverage any handicap either. Most QRP buffs like to operate "up the band" a bit on 20 and 40 anyway. On 30, my SW+ covers from 10.100 Mhz to 10.135 Mhz._ more than enough.
John, W2GW
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AB7JK
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 12, 2006 14:52
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FB QRP
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a nice qrp kit. It has quiet receive and I make more cw contacts on 20 meters now than I ever did with my qro radio (just too much qrm, phase noise, atmospherics - you name it!!).
The only downside is the 35khz frequency coverage which can be increased by adding capacitance. The problem is the board is double plated making desoldering and resoldering of components difficult and radio hard to modify. I almost turned my SW20+ into a basket case by having to use point to point wiring for mods.
Why can't SWL povide instrutions and parts for full cw band coverage?
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DL3NAA
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 8, 2006 15:54
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Excellent QRP-rig!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I own the 20-m-version for almost 5 years now and found it to be a real bargain. The RX is beautiful and the TX stable! I modified it to work from 14000 to 14062.
For some month I also own the 40-m-version now and it is a good communication-tool for Europe all day long. Using it portabel with 20.5-endfed-wire resulted in solid contacts up to 1500 km.
Fine job!
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KB5JO
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 20, 2006 07:03
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Lots of quality for few $
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is my second review of this transceiver, which is fair because I just completed my second, an SW+40. Just like the SW+30 built a few months ago, the new one flew off the bench after about 10 hours of construction. My new SW+40 used the enclosure kit which made for easy completion. Maybe I am just fortunate, but have built three SWL kits, all of them had every part needed, correctly packaged.
The SW+40 worked perfectly when I applied power, didn’t even need to add “C7”, squeezing L1’s coils little closer together got the signal where wanted. Tuned up to 2 watts output (the little rig will push out about 4 watts if desired) and I was on the air. The SW+ has a great receiver, sensitivity and selectivity rivaling my “big rig”. Next I’m building another freqmite today to finish the transceiver.
My next SW+ is for 20 meters, we’ll see whether there are problems with that band. I rather doubt it as so far the SWL kits have been perfect for me. Of course, I haven't modified the excellent design, rather build them "stock" as the designer intended. I've found the VFO unusually stable.
I still think these transceivers are the best value available.
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W8VK
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Rating: 0/5
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Jul 6, 2006 05:15
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Poor Buy!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought (8) SW Radios and ordered a 9th and then cancelled it! The 8 radios are as follows: (2) SW-80+, (2) SW-40+, (2) SW-30+, and (2) SW20+.
My own design of a VFO for Full CW Band Coverage was installed in each radio. (Very Stable and Excellent performance Too!)
The (2) SW-80+ and (2) SW-40+ Radios work well at the 2 1/2 Watt level!
A Vectronics VEC-820K Audio Filter was added for additionally needed filtering performance to operate ARRL FD 2006. And the 10 turn 100K Tuning Pots per each radio.
A 2 1/2 X 1 inch heat sink was added to all radios to try and cool the final 2SC2166's. ( I feel the board area here, should be cut out allowing the final to be mounted to the whole cabinet case bottom to provide proper final cooling! )
With the SW-80's I ran 15 QSO's around the US in 2 hours in FD 2006. The SW-40's I ran 20 QSO's around the US in 2 hours.
I give Dave Benson a Rating of 5/5 with the SW-80's and SW-40's. But improvements could definitely be added!
The remaining (4) radios are (2) SW-30+ and (2) SW-20+.
I have 3 antennas matched flat. And I have 2 QRPp Watt Meters. I also have a Palstar AT- 1500 Antenna tuner.
I have experienced Transmitter problems in all Four Radios that won't let me match 20 Meter Radios to 20 meter antennas, And Match 30 Meter Radios to 30 meter antennas. The Finals also overheat quite quickly! But, the SW-80+ and SW40+ radios allow the tuner to adjust the match on any antenna, Flatting the SWR and Peaking the power output.
I find Dave Benson not wanting to investigate my claimed problems! And I further more won't ever return my radios for him to review due to my "Specially Designed VFO".
I Rate Dave Benson's SW-20+ and SW-30+ at a 0/5. Further more I had to e-mail copies of payments for radios i bought and paid for that weren't delivered in a timely manner and a complete kit! ( That's right, Parts were missing!)
I'm sure other people are having the same problems I am with Mr. Benson!
Thanks for checking my reviesw out!
Rich Carstensen, W8VK (Former Alinco Chief Tech 2001-2004.
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IS0VSU
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 5, 2006 00:24
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It's a small wonder
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This rig is really a small wonder. I built it in Arabia, in two days. Back in Italy, I bought a good metal case, and the SW-40 is always with me, home, car (yes, my car :-) or in my office.
Good reports, no chirp.
Franco IS0VSU
www.sardiniaqrp.com
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