Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Zachtek WSPR Desktop Transmitter

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Zachtek WSPR Desktop Transmitter
Reviews: 5MSRP: 159USD
Description:
Small, lightweight and inexpensive multi-band WSPR transmitter based on the Arduino platform.
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.zachtek.com/1012
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1555
NZ8I Rating: 2022-10-19
Amazing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Best addition to the ham shack in years!
Easy to set up and run.
Amazing to test my home brew antennas and see results on line.
I bought the 80-10 meters version and am well pleased.
73
EI7II Rating: 2022-08-31
A Well designed brilliant little unit. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
UPDATE: 31 August 2022
My little unit has now been running for many months. I remain bewildered by where it is being heard. Remember folks... 180-200 MILLIWATTS won't set the world normally on fire... but in this case ?
It has been heard just about EVERWHERE, probably apart from North Korea. I will soon be barred from VK land as I am there 4 or 5 times a day. Recently hit the FALKLAND ISLANDS... wasn't aware that we had a whisper colleague there. Hawaii ? Heh.. that's next door for me. West Coast of Greenland... no problem Sir.
Praise to Joe Taylor, who wrote this S/W, his Whisper mode is something to be experienced. If you haven't tried it yet ?? DO it.. you might be very pleasantly surprised.
----------------------------------------------------
If you want to get your feet wet in the Whisper mode.... well.. look no further. This unit build by Harry Zachrisson will do a brilliant job. Check out his website, as there are various versions to choose from.

The unit is solidly build.. not much bigger than a large package of cigarettes. Harry's shipping and ordering process works fast and well. I had ordered mine just before black Friday and Harry was kind enough to refund the discount that the black Friday orders attracted. The unit is complete with a GPS receiver and a USB cable. Pls note you WILL NEED an SMA connector to connect to your external antenna.... I am running on a EndFed 80-10 meter long wire. Harry provides clear and well documented instructions to get you on the air.

Setup is fast and easy.... within 10 minutes of getting it out of the box.. mine was on air. NOTE: Max output pwr is 200 milliwatts and not adjustable. Irrespective... that 200mw signal made it into... guess ??? Australia and Antarctica... all on 20 meters.!!! I just could not believe my eyes ! NOTE: To see where you are "ending up", or in other words... who is hearing you.... you need to become a member of the whisper Net organization. This takes about 24/48 hrs and once approved... you can see where your signal "ended up" so to speak. I just could not believe my eyes that my 200 Milli watt transmission ended up in ANTARTICA and in AUSTRALIA !!!

All in All ? Highly recommended if you want to get yr feed wet on the very low pwr Whisper mode.
Harry will respond courteously and promptly to any question you might have.
A Special mention here is needed to praise Joe Taylor who created the amazing WSPR mode that is so superbly used by Harry's transmitters.

EI7II.
KG4LLQ Rating: 2022-08-30
Amazing Piece of Excellence! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've owned mine for 5 days & it works perfectly. The instructions to set it up were easy to understand & the set up itself took about only 30 minutes! Harry has perfected the WSPR Transmitter. Connected to my LAPTOP or running it stand alone It's a breeze. In addition, it only took about 10 days for it to arrive in PA all the way from Sweden and Harry said "Thanks" for my business.
N6DN Rating: 2021-01-26
The Rolls Royce of WSPR transmitters Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased the WSPR Desktop Transmitter MidPlus. Zachtek immediately shipped the unit but it took a number of weeks to make it through the delays caused by Covid, so don’t worry if you order a unit and it takes awhile to arrive.

The unit is great. All you need is a computer to set the band of operation. Because of the included GPS, it will set up everything else. Caveat: You do have to select a Com port for it. I always find this to be a bit of a challenge, but without much effort I found a suitable com port and got things working. So far I have only had it on 30 meters and 20 meters. It is sitting in a garage where the temperature falls below freezing in our Bend, Oregon winter. So far it has worked without a glitch. I particularly like the fact that once you have set the band with your computer, you simply hook it to an antenna and hook it to a power source. It does all the rest. It determines your location, the time and starts transmitting. To operate, YOU DO NOT NEED A COMPUTER.

I also have a WSPRLite from Sota Beams. It also works very well, the software is more mature, and it is substantially less expensive. However, except for 20 meters it requires the addition of external filters for each band of operation. That is a nuisance avoided by Zachtek, which has four different band filters built in and selected in the software. (The lower bands are covered using two different models, as opposed to the WSPRLite, which will transmit on all bands but requires outboard filters for each of them). The WSPRLite also requires you to input the location using software and then start it by pushing a button two seconds after the beginning of an even minute. Both the Zachtek and the WSPRLite are very nice units that have the great advantage of being able to operate independently of a computer. However, for my purposes I have to give the nod to the Zachtek because of the internal GPS unit and ease of operation. The Zachtek is definitely a winner.
W7STF Rating: 2020-02-17
Pre-assembled QRP WSPR transmitter with 250mW output Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a short review of the updated Mid+ model of the WSPR Desktop Transmitter, designed and built by Harry Zachrisson.

I had been searching for information on QRP operation since spending some time with my Kenwood TS-590SG capturing and decoding FT8 and WSPR transmissions. I wanted to start experimenting with a beacon of my own, and Harry's unit appeared to be ideal - I was confident I could get up and running with minimal effort and high probability of success. I was correct in that assertion. I ordered the MID+ model (there are three models available) which took a few weeks time to arrive from Sweden after ordering. Note that sometimes Harry's transmitters are out-of-stock, so I recommend one contact him via his website to determine when more units will be available for purchase.

Setup was extremely easy with the simple instructions included with the unit and software downloaded from his website. I'm using an old Dell laptop running Win10 Pro. The laptop was used to both power the unit, and to configure it with my call sign including the bands on which I wished to transmit WSPR. The updated Mid+ model handles transmit on 160, 80, 40, 30 and 20M bands. It comes with a GPS receiver to accurately obtain time information.

My HAM "shack" is like others, not a shack at all but a few tables in my basement which is a floor below grade. My house sits low in my sub-division too and yet the unit's GPS receiver picked up several satellites immediately. I was up and running literally in about 5 minutes time. Once setup is complete, the unit can be powered from a 5V USB source other than a computer (AC adapter (not included) or a a mobile LiIon power pack providing 250mA). I let the unit do it's thing for a few hours, then I went on www.wspr.org and determined that the beacon was being received on all 5 bands. That's with only 250mW output power!!! Wow.

Since obtaining the unit, I've been doing some reading, research and acquiring some other items to further my experimentation in QRP operation, propagation and antenna design. The list includes a 10W amplifier from the Ukraine purchased off ebay, a small QRPGuys kit for using a DVMM to estimate output power, SMA connectors, prototyping boards, and resistors for building my own Pi or T attenuators (to knock down the output of the transmitter into the amplifier), and a pre-built attenuator to bring the output of the amp down should I want (AFAIK, QRP is 5W or less CW operation, and 10W or less SSB mode).

This QRP WSPR transmitter represents a great value, has been providing me a great deal of enjoyment thus far, and has encouraged learning in a whole new area of Amateur Radio that I find interesting.