Sunday 19 June 2016

Another kd1jv rig

After being fortunate to acquire the kd1jv Tri-Bander at last year's Dayton jaunt, seen here with the American Morse paddle riding shotgun...


and seen here being worked on the banks of Lewis and Clark reservoir, SD, I was delighted recently to pick up another little rig designed by Steve Weber, kd1jv.

This one, the five band 'Mountain Topper', is marketed by LNR Precision Inc under the name 'MTR5B'. The rig, which measures only 108 x 80 x 30 mm, is seen here next to my Palm key...


Unfortunately, there's neither a free flat surface (nor any magnetic material) to fix the key on the rig!

The Mountain Topper needs dc power - but the applied voltage must not exceed 12V, or the magic smoke will escape from inside the rig.

I decided to measure the power output from the rig using my Sandford power meter on both 12V and a more conservative 9V supply...


Here are the results...


If you are chasing the very last ounce of output, then some kind of 12V regulator in the lead would be a good idea - but otherwise, a 9V supply would be the safe option.

I haven't really had opportunity to try the rig on air yet (and certainly haven't had the inclination to drag myself up any mountains) but I did just call a single CQ on 40 whilst I had the rig on 9V...


I must get in contact with Colin, m1buu, and the other Mountain Topper specialists to learn how to really use this neat little rig.

...-.- de m0xpd