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Reviews For: Small Wonder Labs SW+ Series

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : Small Wonder Labs SW+ Series
Reviews: 63MSRP: 90.00
Description:
2-watt monoband superhet CW rig with varactor diode VFO
Product is not in production
More Info: http://smallwonderlabs.com/swl_swp.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00634.8
N1KSN Rating: 2003-11-09
Excellent monobander Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these little guys as a companion to a Wilderness Norcal 40A in my "ultra portable" station. The kit went together smoothly, as expected from a SWL kit (this is my fourth kit from Dave Benson). During alignment I had a few questions, which Dave answered in a very timely manner. Great support!

I was lucky enough to find an unbuilt SWL RIT kit (no longer sold) via classifieds, so I'm even more pleased. (If you are reading this and also want an RIT kit, please DON'T email me--I don't even remember from whom I got it--sorry and good luck!) By adding a 27K resistor between the 8v and wiper connnections on the main tuning pot I was able to pretty well linearize the tuning, too.

I've now had three contacts with the rig, and the tone gets "great" reports, so no worries there. The receiver is very good. A 15 minute warmup will get it stable (the drift isn't that much anyway).

This model has been superceded by the DSW series, but sometimes I like things simple, and the RX current draw is nice and low. I plan on running this rig with 10 alkaline AA cells.

If you are interested in trying building a QRP rig and have a bit of experience with small electronic kits, this would be a great first one.
KF8RM Rating: 2003-08-30
Great value ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the SW-40+ kit about a year and a half ago, and liked it so well that I just recently ordered the SW-20+ kit. I constantly get on air reports from the SW-40+ that it sounds as good as a $1000 rig ore some other similar comment. The receiver is excellent, and rivals my Yaesu FT-840 and my Icom 706MKII ! Very stable little radio, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in qrp as the rig to start out with and those serious about qrp ! You won't find a better rig anywhere for the money ! Dave Benson does a fine job, and offers support you won't find anywhere else.
TF3KX Rating: 2003-02-12
The ideal QRP rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My SW20 has given me lots of fun, during my travel and from home. With the Emtech ZM-2 tuner, a wire or two for antenna and ten AA-batteries I have a complete compact station that I keep at the 1-2 Watt level and communicate over 6000 km / 4000 miles so far.

The rig is practically perfect, it is stable and trouble free, and I recommend getting the enclosure with the kit. I have made a few modifications, including a micropower regulator that results in 16mA RX current. As a result I am still running the same AA-cell battery pack from last October, despite operating CQWW last fall, taking the rig on 4-5 trips abroad and operating frequently from home. Added also a LED-circuit that indicates the battery level. It lits up at key-down (takes less than 1mA) as long as the supply voltage is above the critical level (which is about 9V after my mods).

Dave Benson, the designer, does an excellent job - not only on the design but also on support to the SW-community.

Will strongly recommend this rig to anyone looking for a QRP rig.

73 de TF3KX, Kristinn
K7SBK Rating: 2003-02-03
SW20+ is a great value! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am very pleased with the delivery, quality and performance of the SWL SW20+ transceiver kit. I don't know where you can get any more value for $55.
I added an additonal potentiometer, padding the voltage divider to provide 'bandspread'. Installed it in a jelly bean shaped metal can and have been having a lot of fun with it the past few weeks.
KG4VCG Rating: 2002-09-18
Amazing radio; amazing service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The SW-40 was my second kit and considerably more complex than my first, the Ft. Smith Tuna Tin 2 kit. Despite the relatively high parts count and compact board, the SW 40 project went extremely smooth primarily because of the complete and unambiguous written instructions by Dave Benson and secondarily because of his amazing accessibility via phone or email. The only problem I had was self-inflicted during the smoke test. While testing the RX, with RF Out connected to a long wire, I plugged in the headset and not a peep was heard. Groan. I had plugged the headset into the key jack, closing the transmitting circuit without a dummy load, unless one considers what was at the time between the earphones a dummy load. Correcting my error, I heard a steady stream of CW up and down the dial. Whether or not my screw-up with the headset blew out Q-6 of the TX finals or my next bone-headed move was the coup de gras is only speculation; however, my next move left no room for doubt as to the demise of Q-6 and his little buddy D-12. Per instructions, I connected a short piece of wire to R-29 via an alligator clip to act as a whip antenna for TX alignment. I watched with horror as the un-booted alligator clip fell like a falling tree against the top of Q-6, releasing a spectacular cascade of sparks previously unwitnessed in my short association with a soldering iron. Silicon chip to silicon soup in a flashing millisecond. Using the manual’s trouble shooting guide and schematic, my DVM confirmed my worst fears. Dave quickly sent the replacements for Q-6 and D-12. Once the two parts were installed, a pleasing tone emitted from my Drake R-8 on key down. While I had studied the Elmer 101 series and Chuck Adams’ excellent websites on assembling the kit, when solder hit wire, chips and board, Dave Benson’s excellent manual was chosen as my sole guide because of its convenient layout, and after all, he’s the kit’s daddy. If one takes the time, and pays attention to details and instructions, I would not hesitate to recommend the SW series as a first kit.
K7LTC Rating: 2002-07-10
Outstanding Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The SW20+ was the second radio kit I have built. I am still learning the ins and outs of building so I had one issue with the radio when I turned it on. I sent it in and it came back fixed and ready to go. I also added the Frequency Mite and it is a really neat addition. I know that the radio is only rated at 2+ watts. According to two SWR meters I am getting nearly 4 Watts out of mine. It is great. I have made five contacts with it, some as far away as Florida and Maine. Great radio. I plan on building the SW40+ next.
W8NNC Rating: 2002-05-17
Wonderful 20 meter rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The kit was complete except for one mounting spacer which was received within days of reporting it to Dave. The quality is exceptional--the printed circuit board is definitely world class. The kit went together over a two day period and came up the first time. Alignment is very easy. With power out of 3+ watts, my first QSO was to the Ukraine, followed by the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic!! Not bad from Cleveland, Ohio for 3 watts and a dipole in the attic! QRP takes a little patience, but it is a thrill to hear your call come back from the DX. I recommend this kit to anyone--easy to build, test and use. I added a TiCK-4 keyer internally and recommend it also.
G0BZB Rating: 2002-05-17
Brilliant - worth waiting for! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered the SW+ 20 about five weeks before I received it and when it arrived I could see that it had a much higher quality board than I had used when making my last project about fifteen years ago. Eyesight wasn't as good as it had been in the past and I needed a pair of reading glasses, good light source and on occasions, a magnifying glass. Even so, I managed to solder a couple of capacitors and a resistor in the wrong places, but carefull use of desoldering braid and judicious use of heat got them out without problem. Annoyingly, there were five capacitors and a set of pins for the cabling missing from my kit, but Dave sorted them out within a few days of letting him know (US/UK postage accounting for the time lapse).
I powered it up after careful checking and was amazed to find that it worked perfectly, aligning to provide a 42 Khz tuning range below 14.063.
Within days, I had worked eight european countries and even managed a 559 with K0ZK in Maine with the little rig set up for about 1 watt output.Not bad over a 2500 mile path! The ionosphere was in good order with a sunspot number of 190, but I was amazed by how well it worked. I actually compared the receiver with my main rig and found it could hear as well as the Kenwood.
All said and done, the kit was great and more than met my expectations. Next I think I'll try the 40 metre model. I couldn't be more pleased with the Small Wonder Labs product even though I had to wait and chase up a couple of missing parts.
K7RVX Rating: 2002-05-17
Sweet Little Radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the SW-20 a few weeks back. I had some trouble getting the transmitter to work because of a loose wire on one of the bandpass transformers. I don't know if I broke it or got a defective part. It was probably me. I got great support from Dave Benson and his repair guy, Steve Weber. Those guys must breathe a lot of that clear New Hampshire air, because they were able to solve the problem in short order and get it back to me in time for a little DXpedition this weekend. (I will be QRV from Bigelow Bench, Wyoming) The radio is now fixed, tuned, and doing a great job.

The receiver is truly superb. It's more sensitive than my Kenwood big rig and is so quiet when there are no signals you wonder if it's even on. Be careful in this situation because you might tune across a strong one and get your ears blasted. The crystal filtering makes working in crowded conditions a real pleasure.

The SW-20 went together easily and the alignment is a piece of cake. There are no surface mount parts to slow you down. However, you will need a magnifier and a good light to read the numbers on those little caps. The instructions are pretty good, too. I bought the RIT kit with the radio, but haven't installed it yet. I will build that next week and let you know how I like it.

I'm looking forward to using this radio in June's ARS Sprint.
KC0CXI Rating: 2002-05-14
Excellent radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
When I became interested in ham radio some years ago, I bought a Small Wonder GM-40 (which I think is an ancestor of the SW series).

It's a fabulous kit at a great price. I have to admit I don't use it too much any more. In particular, the lack of AGC makes it really hard on my ears with all the high power carriers on 40 meters. But it was a great way for me to get started with ham radio and kit building. It's a great little radio, and very well-designed kit.