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Reviews For: Jackson Harbor Press LF Converter Kit

Category: Ham Radio Kits

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Review Summary For : Jackson Harbor Press LF Converter Kit
Reviews: 6MSRP: 12
Description:
A simple inexpensive converter kit that will up-convert the low frequency band (10 to 300 KHz) to either a shortwave or HF band. The basic kit comes with two crystals so the builder can choose conversion to either 4 MHz or 10 Mhz. An extra cost option will convert to 14 MHz. The circuit is based on an SA612 mixer/oscillator IC mounted on a small 1 1/2" square board. 12V power and Altoids compatible.
Product is in production
More Info: http://jacksonharbor.home.att.net
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0065
N4YX Rating: 2014-03-30
Works Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I now have both the older (red) Palomar VLF converter (bought for little $ at hamfest) and this JHP unit. You can't do much better for low to no-cost VLF snooping. Winding the little toroids is the most challenging part but even this component is pretty forgiving if it's not "tight".
N1KPR Rating: 2012-06-01
Great Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've built 8 or 10 of these converters for various purposes over he past few years.
Actually, I liked the performance so much that I decided to design it into a couple of prototypes that I was designing at the time.
I added one as an accessory function to one of my preselector prototypes. http://www.bobsamerica.com/rfp.html
Then, I decided to build a complete 10 MHz Upconverter as a stand alone unit.
http://www.bobsamerica.com/upconv.html
http://www.bobsamerica.com/upconv1.html
http://www.bobsamerica.com/upconv2.html
The kit is very reasonably priced; the documentation can be had via d/l from the site, and the PC Bd assembly time is about 1 hour.
The performance is textbook; the parts are high quality, and the resulting utility (fun) is all that's expected. I don't know Chuck, but will attest to the value that this kit has to offer.
IZ4KBS Rating: 2011-02-20
It works really well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've just finished building and testing the kit. It's cheap, it's easy to assemble, the PCB is top quality and it works *much* better than my ICOM 706 on VLF. Next I'll give it a nice enclosure, and then on to exploring the fascinating world of VLF, which is still largely unknown to me.
KD7RDZI2 Rating: 2008-12-08
cheap and it works Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The kit is extremely easy to build. I wanted to connect the 50Khz IF of a Drake R8 and a 2-C to the antenna input of other receivers. It worked, however I don't understand the impedance match of input filter with the mixer. In my specific case, I preferred to match the impedance with a homemade transformer and bypass the input filter.
N9DG Rating: 2008-03-12
Excellent LF Converter Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Very nice little converter. I wanted something to replace the IC-765 that I was using for my occasional LF listening. The 765 worked very well below the AM broadcast band unlike many radios that do cover those frequencies, but do so rather poorly. So my search was on, and I had already decided to go the converter route. One key thing I wanted in a LF RX converter was that it use something other than 80M as the IF, specifically I wanted the display of my IF RX to show the 0-500 kHz frequency correctly so I would not need to mentally calculate the the actual frequency like the 80M IF LF converters make you do. So the 10 MHz option of this kit was perfect. Operationally I just ignore the MHz on the display and read the kHz directly. Really simple.

The specification that I was most concerned about was the specified 300 kHz upper limit. I dropped Chuck an email before purchase and he was able to provide slightly different inductors and caps for the input filter to extend the coverage up a bit higher. My converter works very well up through 500 kHz and at very reduced sensitivity by the time you reach the upper end of the AM BCB. That's OK for my location since I have no close by AM BCB stations near me. Using the converter I have had no problems with any AM BCB bleed through at all.

And running it with just a 80M dipole I have plenty of sensitivity and do need to back off the IF RX RF gain to set the external noise floor to a decent level. I have not tried it with a resonant LF antenna such as a loop.

It is also very easy to assemble, there just aren't that many parts, and no inductors to wind. I had it all put together in about an hour in just one afternoon. And I was proceeding at a rather leisurely pace to boot.

You can't go wrong with it at just $12. In fact it seems to match the 765 in overall performance handily. Additionally it performs much much better than another LF converter kit that I built which cost 4x as much.
K2JN Rating: 2005-07-12
Great SWL Accessory Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Inexpensive and simple to build! I put together the kit in one afternoon. No coil winding or difficult assembly issues. And, the manual can be downloaded from the website allowing users to preview the kit before purchasing. SWL enthusiasts will find this a useful accessory for extending the range of receiver to the lower band. Chuck Olson, WB9KZY and company owner, shipped my order quickly.