[600MRG] Ultimate3 kit

[Hans Summers]

Hi all

Thanks for admission to this group. FYI I do have a 500kHz xtal which would
suit the UK band and did once start making a TX for it, using only tubes!
But like many other projects, there is too much to do and not enough time
to do it all. 600m hardly suits my city-center microscopic-apartment life,
anyway! So I still have never been on 600m. Anyway a friend alerted me to
the Ultimate3 discussion here.I received several orders and a number of
email questions. So I thought I'd say a couple of words of that's OK.

The price of the kit in US$ is about $30 which includes one LPF plug-in
module. Shipping is about $4. You can add more stuff: more LPF's , GPS, etc
and the cost goes up, so does the weight and hence the shipping. I keep
detailed statistics on shipping times, which you can see here
http://www.hanssummers.com/shipping . Ordering is online at
http://www.hanssummers.com/shop . You receive an email on placing your
order, and another when it is shipped. The shop software module I use is
free and is a bit rubbish. When I have time I'm planning to PAY for some
shopping software and make a better shop. In the meantime if anyone has
trouble I am always happy to do it by email instead.

The kit does a mix of slow signal modes, including slow-Hell. Then WSPR is
encoded onboard, it needs no PC connection or programming. Just enter
callsign, lcoator and power. If you connect a GPS, it gets the location
from the GPS, and uses the GPS also for setting/regulating the real time
clock, and calibrating the DDS reference. The kit can operate anywhere from
0 to 40+ MHz and I supply plugin 7-element LPF modules for 12 bands from
2200m up to 10m. All capacitors in the LPF kits are high quality low-loss
NP0/C0G types from Digikey. All the details, assembly manual, operating
manual etc are here http://www.hanssummers.com/ultimate3 .

Specifically for LF, the kit supports FSK in multiples of only 0.03Hz for
really slow low-bandwidth, and WSPR-15 also.

The microcontroller is the ATmega168 AVR, and I sell upgrade chips when
there are firmware upgrades. Alternatively if you have AVR programming
facilities, you can update the firmware yourself. The files are published
in the kits' yahoo forum, which also provides support from other builders
etc: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/QRPLabs/info

I have a relay-switches LPF coming soon, that will allow the Ultimate3 kit
to automatically sequence through transmissions on up to 6 bands. Preview
information and photos are here: http://www.hanssummers.com/ultimatelpf

There were a huge volume of Ultimate3 kit orders and I've used up my supply
of 200 LCDs. I will order another batch of LCDs on Monday and they'll take
1-2 weeks to be manufactured and shipped. So expect a small delay in
shipping, sorry.

If anyone has any questions you can email me directly
hans.summers at gmail.comor ask on the yahoo forum. I subscribed to the
digest of this group so I'll
read it daily and might from time to time comment, if anything needs
answering on the U3 kit!

73 and apologies for the bandwidth
Hans G0UPL