| KD7RDZI2 |
Rating:  |
2023-04-18 | |
| Well designed |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I had assembled it 10 years ago. No failure since then. What if a part fails? Just replace it yourself at the price of the component, no programmed chip is used. Can you do this with the ultimate modern rigs from the Three?
Ok, is there any other radio consuming 35 mA during RX? Not even the MFJ94xx series, not even the (tr)usdx. The ILER is unique and very well thought. It's all analog, no PLL or digital noise, it is quiet. The two SA612 mixers are used for both RX and TX, there are no additional IF amplifiers. Just a bandpass filter before the 1st mixer and a nice crystal filter at the 1st IF. The result is this: I could hear a -122dbm signal as loud as with my Softrock Ensemble receiver (where I removed the attenuator), no overload detected and the impression of a very quiet receiver. |
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| Jim McGinnis |
Rating: |
2015-08-11 | |
| V2 Kit is very nice |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is the third ILER I have built and operate. I built the 20M and 40M, then bought the 17M V2 kit. All three utilize the ILERDDS kit, as well.
V2 integration level is very good compared to older version with daughter card AGC. Provisions for continuous RF Gain adjustment is welcome. Construction is reliable. Kitting quality has been impeccable.
I have created my own cases for each. A case option would be welcome, but certainly not necessary.
The DDS band edges are on 50 kHz boundaries - so 17M runs from 18.050 through 18.200. 1 kHz settings would be welcome but not necessary for enjoying these QRP rigs.
Receive good audio reports and the radio sounds fine on RX. |
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| N2ZDB |
Rating: |
2014-10-03 | |
| Great kit! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Built two of these kits for an amateur in Spain. One was with the ILERDDS VFO and the other with an older OFV-900 Rev.4 DDS unit.
Both kits work well and I was surprised on how good the audio quality was! Hopefully a nice case will be available someday and I might consider one of my own.
How about a V2 version of it with additional features like an S Meter, on board AGC (no piggy back board), etc.?
Nice Kit. |
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| KD2AJO |
Rating: |
2013-06-12 | |
| easy to assemble |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is the second kit I have built as I have also built the hendricks bitx. The manual was very clear and my brother and I were able to assemble it in one weekend. All the parts were present and of the highest quality. The pcb was great, and the pads were large and spaced out, unlike the bitx which was very painful to solder. It didnt work right away on power up, which was due to a chip being installed backwards. I ordered a new one and as soon as I put it in the radio worked fine. Initially I was using the built in vxo, but the tuning range wasn't really large enough to do very much. I ordered the DDS at the same time and it was also very easy to assemble. Together the two work great together and I am very pleased with how it has turned out. I think it is a much better option compared to the bitx, because even with the DDS it is still cheaper(no case though) and took two days to assemble, rather than the bitx which took me a year to actually get working. I think this would be a great kit for those who are getting started in qrp or even kit building. |
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| PE1GOO |
Rating: |
2013-03-18 | |
| Excellent kit! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Xavier has done a great job with this kit.
Building it was no problem for me, although I'm a experienced builder. The descriptions in the manual where clear and easy to understand. I used the AGC extension wich make te receiving of signals on the crowded 40 meterband clearer. Without it I had some big disturbance in the audio.
The communication with Xavier is good. |
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| CT1EHO |
Rating: |
2012-11-28 | |
| Incredible QRP radio KIT! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
One day I was talking to a friend over the radio, we share the same passion for QRP and electronics, he told me about the new 40m QRP transceiver from Javier Solans EA3GCY, my friend sent me the ILER-40 web address, as soon as I saw the radio KIT I’ve placed an order, I was lucky because these KIT’s have been selling a lot, and sometimes Javier runs out of stock but for only a few days!
I paid by bank account transfer, and after a few days I had the protected envelope delivered to my door. Javier was very friendly and honest with me.
Now about the KIT, I was really surprise with the several contacts I was able to do just in half an hour after the alignment of the circuitry, the receiver is very sensitive but very quiet, although my kit doesn't have the AGC option, on the new radios this module comes included, I can still order it as an add on board to my finished radio. The audio is loud and clear, the selectivity is good, the four pole ladder crystal filter does a very good job separating the signals on the crowded 40m band.
The construction went very smooth, I didn’t made any mistake during assembly and the kit worked fine the first time, the instructions manual supplied is very easy and clear to understand, all the parts are listed and the component values are showed with the resistor color codes which are present for each one, the coils are all easy windings due to the clear instructions and high res photos on the manual. On my Kit all the parts were present and separated in small plastic bags according to their types, the PCB is very high quality silk screened, double face with plated through holes and the component placement indication, truly professional for this type of equipment.
How easy was it to build? I must say easy... I had some past experience on electronic kit building but nothing this big, however with ease... not rushing and reading all the entire manual, I believe any amateur tech can assemble and align this amazing small transceiver, the most important thing is of course READ THE BUILDER MANUAL thoroughly and use the best solder practices, there is no need for anything fancy on the builder desk, just a normal good quality solder iron with fine tip, some pliers wire cutters etc... as for the alignment, a multimeter, a general coverage receiver, RF power meter and you’re OK, on my case I almost managed to preform all the alignment procedures with the help from my SDR receiver (really handy for this tasks).
I own other QRP radios like the MFJ-9420 and an Yaesu FT-817, the MFJ and the ILER40 have some magic felling while operating, it’s like the old and simple radios, they have no digital noise on the receiver like on several commercial rigs, all the ultra sophisticated digital circuitry present on nowadays transceivers sometimes induce small digital noises that are absent on radios with classic VXO circuits, on the other hand these QRP radios are really fine to be operated from hilltops using small power sources like gel cell batteries and even solar power, the 4 to 5 Watts output is no constraint to have a QSO party each time we go out to the wilderness! I even have lots of fun with my ILER-40 using a magnetic mount whip antenna on the roof of my car!
In conclusion, If you are looking for a nice do it yourself small radio, this is probably one of your best choices, the TX audio is “punchy” and crystal clear, the radio is rock steady on frequency after about 5 minutes warm-up. The PCB foot print is 10 X 10 cm that means it fits on a small metal box very handy for back-pack and SOTA!
The metal box enclosure and a microphone are not supplied, I salvaged a power supply box from an old PC junk I had around. The microphone I use is the same from my MFJ-9420, I placed a female 5 pin DIN connector on the radio panel, with the same pinout.
Very good value and fun to built and operate!
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| EA3BFL |
Rating: |
2012-11-20 | |
| Fantastic kit |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
EA3BFL- Hi Luis, I’m gonna introduce you my new toy, the I-40
EA3WX- I-what?, Is this your new phone, or maybe your tablet?
EA3BFL- No, no it’s my new QRP transceiver for the 40 meter band.
EA3WX- Wow!
EA3BFL- Lets look inside, the double sided pcb is well constructed with gold holes and solder mask. The electronics is based on a reverse IF chain based on the well known NE602. Whith de addition of an audio derived AGC. The LO is a crystall oscillator VXO, covering nearly 100 Khz. And the power output is 5 watts. It’s ideal for portable use ‘cause it drops low current on RX.
EA3WX- Amazing!, how did you get it?
EA3BFL- The transceiver is designed by Javier, EA3GCY and you can find more information on the web
http://www.qsl.net/ea3gcy/
EA3WX- Ok! javier dit it again!. I’m going to buy my ILER-40 right now!, by the way how much it cost?
EA3BFL- Not too much!, only 80€ shipping included.
EA3WX- Ok, bye Alfons.
EA3BFL- Bye Luis. |
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| G4HAK |
Rating: |
2012-10-02 | |
| great kit and great results! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
ILER-40m SSB Transceiver REVIEW
By Pete G4HAK
On opening the kit bags you can immediately see this is going to be a great Kit!
Below are the reasons:
1. High quality components – Separately bagged in types – easy to check
2. Very High quality PCB board. This is one of the best I have used. Clearly marked and very strong.
3. The Assembly Manual is also Excellent! Clear instructions and pictures. All in a strong folder with circuit and layout diagrams. The Toroid instructions are very good as the pictures show very clearly how they are wound,
4. The testing section is also clear and helpfully provides voltages in case you need to check anything.
5. The construction is straightforward and there were no mistakes in the instructions and all parts were present.
6. In my case the transceiver worked perfectly first time and I have got some very good reports especially as the audio is nice and “punchy” and helps the QRP signal.
7. Is there anything I didn't like? Well I cant think of one!
8. Well Done Javier! I really enjoy building and using this radio.
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