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You can
write your own review of the PSK-20 Small Wonder Labs.
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K6IPC
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 2, 2009 11:49
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No a Small Wonder
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got my kit when the article about PSK appeared in QST Magazine aound 2000. Not to sure but either 2000 or 2001.I ordered the kit and built it in one day, taking my time not to make any mistakes. I powered it up with my own supply and aligned it in about an hour. I connected it to the computer and started seeing signals on the water fall. My first contact was with a station in New York, which was great for 2 watts for I was in California. I lived in an apartment so only had a Ham Stick mounted on the railing of my apartmentat a 45 deg angle.I still use it today with a 3 el beam in Michigan. It has never failed me and is so much fun to work stations with so little power.
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KB1NLW
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 1, 2009 14:21
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Great Kit
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I built it in a weekend while at my vacation home. I made some contacts right away (Massachusetts to Alabama). When I got home and connected it up to my home antenna/SWR meter I found I had miss tuned one of the inductors and was only putting out ¾ of a watt! After retuning I made a lot of contacts in the US and Europe.
To increase the power output I bought a Ramsey QAMP 20 and made a number of modifications to stop it self-destructing. (See my review in HF amplifiers). Note the Ramsey kit is much cruder than the PSK–20. I did have to increase the VOX sensitivity on the PSK-20 so that it would transmit at low power and not overdrive the QRP-20.
During field day we set up the PSK-20/QRP 20 and a dipole at ~20ft. We were able to make contacts faster than the main 100W SSB station. It got a lot of club members interested in trying PSK.
I liked the PSK-20 so much, I ordered a PSK-40, which arrived yesterday (unfortunately it takes Dave 2-3 months to fill an order). I will probably turn my Ramsey into a dual band amplifier.
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HZ1SK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 17, 2009 07:08
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Fantastic rig
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Its one of the best kits I have ever built.Very high quality PCB,clear instructions and best of all Superb performance.The receiving part is Excellent and very sensitive, the rig worked from the first time.All what you have to do is follow the instructions,the tuning procedure is quite simple.
I am getting 4 Watts without any distortion.
I wrote an Article about the kit on the No.1 Arab Amateur Radio Website :
http://www.laselki.net/vb/showthread.php?t=3054
Next , I will be ordering the PSK-40 :)
Best 73,
Samir
OD5SK , HZ1SK , KC5RYL
www.od5sk.com
www.Laselki.net
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K1QN
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 3, 2008 11:05
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Two are twice as much fun
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Had so much fun with the PSK-20, I got a PSK-40. 40 is open at night, 20 is open in the day. What could be better?
Hints to second-time assemblers: Please re-read the basic instructions and cautions. Overconfidence does _not_ help. I had to re-wind the 3 inductors (too many turns), and jimmy the mixer so it didn't contact the board.
A minor point, but the kit was missing 2 capacitors (68pf disk), and it had one too many 470 ohm resistors, and one too few 1K resistors. All were in my mailbox before I checked the rest of the assembly.
How to tell them apart? I put a "40" on the bottom of the PSK-40, out of sight.
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KC9CS
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Rating: 5/5
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May 15, 2008 14:02
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Small Wonder--HUGE fun!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Dave Benson's Small Wonder Labs makes some of the best in fun for ham radio. I've got 2 of his SW+ 2 watt CW transceivers, 2 Rock-Mites and now my latest is the 30M version of the PSK series, the PSK-30. A bit more ambitious than the other radios this one took probably about 8 hours to build, but I'm pretty methodical, I figure it is easier to double check my work as I go, than try to spend a lot of time trouble shooting afterwards. So, I'd suggest a thorough manual read, sort the parts carefully, study the schematic and then warm up that soldering iron. At the end of it you'll have a kit that will provide LOTS of entertainment, plus the joy of having built it yourself. I bought the enclosure kit to give it that professional look when done. 8 hours to build (again, I take my time) about 30 minutes to align the rig and it was on the air with a bit over 2 watts out, which is really plenty on PSK. No problems at all. Not recommendable as a first time kit, you might want to start with the little RockMites, then graduate to the SW+ series and if PSK is an interest step up to them. Expect a few weeks or more if you order because Dave's built quite a reputation and the kits are always back-ordered, but that speaks volumes about how well they are received and considered. Look at the ratings! Any questions and Dave is prompt about getting back via email to help. Highly recommended.
Bill
KC9CS
WWW.KC9CS.NET
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WA4LLF
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 7, 2008 14:44
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A great little kit
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got my PSK-20 more than a year ago and built it over the course of a few evenings. The instructions were excellent, the parts were top quality, and I had no problems during construction. Output power was slightly over 3 W into a dummy load.
Until recently, however, I did not have a proper antenna to use with my PSK-20, so it sat on a shelf for many months. That changed when I put up a PAR EF-20 antenna and tried out the PSK-20 this past weekend. I had no problem copying stations ranging from Cuba to the U.S. west coast, or down to South America. I easily worked Cuba, WA, AZ, and OR in between experiments with various PSK31 programs.
I love this little rig and I am already planning to use VNC to remotely operate my station over the Internet while I'm away from home.
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W7WJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 5, 2008 18:42
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Super PSK Transceiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I wanted this kit so I could take it portable on my motorcycle with my XO laptop I recently bought. Both together only draw about 1 amp on transmit and a lot less on receive.
As far as the PSK-20 kit goes, it is a as good as all the prior reviewers say. It is an easy build. I would not recommend it as a first kit, but other than that, it should be no problem. There are some tight spots for components, so a good solder iron with a needle tip will really help. There are two surface mount inductors (a 3rd SMD is pre-installed), but they are pretty large for a SMD and are no big deal.
I made a couple of building hiccups, mainly due to trying to build the kit late at night when I was tired. A couple of emails to Dave were quickly responded by him with right-on answers. Super support.
For the uninitiated (QRO folks) PSK31 is a great QRP mode. I have no problems making contacts with this rig using an MFJ 3' Mag Loop at 10'.
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K1QN
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 10, 2008 04:44
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More fun than big rig
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I put mine together a few months ago. By coincidence, my big rig (ICOM 740) was away at the shop. The ICOM is back, but when I go to 20 meters, I still use the PSK-20. It's QRP, but you get enough replies that you're not wasting your time.
I'll probably get one for 40M and/or 10M. With a cut-down CB whip, it would make a great little 10M mobile rig!
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WA6L
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 14, 2007 09:36
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Another great kit from Dave Benson
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This is my second kit from Small Wonder Labs. Like the first, this one was elegantly designed, easy to build, and superbly documented. I completed the kit in one day, and had no problems and no questions about the procedure or the parts. This kit is well within the abilities of a first-time builder who has some soldering skills.
I also opted to go with the PSK-20 enclosure that is offered by Small Wonder Labs. I think that was a good decision, as the kit goes into the enclosure in 5 minutes flat and looks great.
After the build. I applied power to the unit and went through the well-documented alignment procedure. It all worked as designed, except for the output power. I was barely getting 1 watt out. After considerable troubleshooting, I decided it was a bad final PA. I emailed Dave Benson with my measurements and he agreed. He sent out a new PA, and I am now getting 3 watts out.
Like the other Small Wonder Lab designs, the PSK-20 is a simple, well-designed rig. There are no "bells and whistles" -- not even a power LED. But also like Dave's other designs, it works very well and is just begging for user modifications. There is plenty of room on the PC board and in the enclosure if you want to add that LED or make other changes.
On-air performance is spectacular for a rig with this price and parts count. The receiver is hot, and compares favorably (using the waterfall for comparison) with my desk rig. The power output is a limiting factor, but with 3 watts and good conditions, you can do very well on PSK. My very first contact was with South America.
Some other reviewers have made comments concerning audio levels on the PSK-20. I agree. You have to be very careful about over-driving your PSK signal. There is no ALC or IMD indicator on the PSK-20, so I recommend contacting a friend on PSK who can watch your signal as you make sound-card adjustments. Once you find the right setting, leave it there!
I do have to make one final comment about Small Wonder Labs. This is a one-person company, and that one person (Dave) does everything. He also has a personal life and (as of this writing) is building a house. So you aren't going to get a one-week turn around on orders or on email. Some orders will take months to ship.
I am fine with this. I am just grateful that the Ham community has someone like Dave who can design these great little kits and offer them at such reasonable prices. However, you need to know ahead of time that you are not dealing with a large commercial enterprise. Home-brewers and kit-builders are generally patient people, so this shouldn't be an issue.
73,
John, WA6L
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W7RJR
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 1, 2007 00:12
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Outstanding!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Took about 2 months for the kit to arrive after ordering. Well worth the wait. The kit arrived by USPS express mail. An initial inventory revealed a set of 6 monolithic capacitors missing but an email to Dave resulted in replacement parts within 5 days! Suggest you carefully inventory all parts before beginning the build. A magnifying glass, small tipped 25 watt soldering iron and multimeter are essential tools. The instructions were very good except for a few minor problems. Nomenclature for Q10 which is a 2SC2166 is erroneously referred to as a 2SC1970 on page 18.
Positioning of Q10 is a little confusing as it relates to the 'front' of the board. During frequency alignment I had to use my 'big rig' with another PSK signal, otherwise the CW alignment procedure was off!
The hardest part of building the kit is winding the toroids. The receiver is very good and I get about 2 watts output. Be very careful about adjusting the audio output from your computer soundcard. Too much output will overdrive it and make your PSK neighbors very unhappy.
Made contacts from coast to coast and with Russia on the very first day of use. I am absolutely amazed at it's performance. Can't wait to take it camping.
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