Kanga Rooster CW Transceiver Kit User Guide

Kanga Rooster CW Transceiver Kit User Guide

Introduction

Welcome to the Rooster. The Rooster is designed to be a single evening project that will be fun to build and even more fun to use. The Rooster is intended to be a replacement for the FOXX3 kit Kanga offered for many years. The FOXX3 was very popular but had a few issues that we wanted to address with its replacement. We wanted a simple transceiver kit that offered better sensitivity and selectivity, more power and a purpose made enclosure.

The Rooster was first offered at the RSGB convention in 2023 to beta testers and following feedback the Rooster design was updated to this version.

The design is based around a standard SA/NE612 front end mixer/oscillator with an op-amp audio amplifier and active audio filter. The transmitter also shares the NE612 oscillator and buffers the VFO signal before feeding it to a high gain PA stage giving approx. 2 watts of RF.

The kit uses a mix of SMD and though hole parts, ALL the SMD parts are pre- installed but still leaving about 20 parts to fit to complete the transceiver. The kit can be completed in around an hour by an experienced builder and would be a good choice for an intermediate level build-a-thon option.

The Rooster will require a suitable antenna with a low SWR, like all direct conversion transceivers we would suggest it is powered by a 12V battery pack (10.5V-13.8V DC).

Disclaimer
The kit is designed to be built by Ham radio enthusiasts and in order to use the finished product you need to hold a valid ham Radio licence that permits operation on the Rooster frequency in your locality.

We offer the kit as is and do not guarantee the assembled kit by yourself can meet your local regulatory requirements, including spurious, environmental or other requirements.

Parts Inventory
The parts are presented in a long strip of clear tubing, separated in sections. Each section covers a small number of stages in the instructions, only open the section you are working on at that time so you don’t lose any parts. Start at the end with the DC connectors and 3.5mm PCB sockets.

Important

The Rooster is a relatively easy to build transceiver BUT you need to carefully follow the instructions, do not move on a stage until you are sure that you have completed the previous stage correctly and fully, all parts must be fitted neatly and their leads trimmed flush. I cannot stress strongly enough that unless you follow the instructions and make sure that each part is fitted correctly as indicated in these instructions you will not successfully complete the kit.

Get familiar with the main PCB.

You can see many parts are pre-fitted for you, there are about 20 parts left for you to fit. Some of the parts are close together so you will need to take extra care when soldering, make sure all the parts are fitted flush to the board if the instructions call for it and trim the leads as flush to the board as you can. There is not a lot of room under the board when fitted in the case.

The parts for the kit are in a number of sections, start with section 1. That is the end with the DC and 3.5mm sockets, this will cover the first few stages of the build.

Section 1 :- Stage 1 – 3
Section 2 :- Stage 4 – 5
Section 3 :- Stage 4 – 5
Section 4 :- Stage 6
Section 5 :- Stage 7 – 14
Section 6 :- Stage 7 – 14
Section 7 :- Mounting screws (Case/PA transistor)

Stage 1 :- The DC input socket
The first part of the build is to fit the DC socket.

Do not move on a stage until the current stage you are working on has been completed correctly. The biggest problem identified with the beta testers was poor soldering and rushing to get the kit built, do not take short cuts. Each part is as important as the next. Save your self-problems later by taking care at each stage.

Testing your work

Ok we have only fitted one part but that will allow us to do some basic testing on the board.
We can test the voltage regulator and DC distribution now.
I suggest using a current limited supply if you have one and monitor the current the board draws.
For all the following test I have used a 12v DC supply.
Apply 12v to the board via a suitable power lead (Centre pin positive) to the DC input socket of the board (2.1mm plug needed)
The current consumption should be just a few milliamps, the overall finished receiver will be around 20-25mA when complete.

Take the same care with each of the following stages.

Stage 2 :- Phones and Key sockets

Make sure that any off cuts are cleared from the work area.
Plug a set of headphones into the ‘PHONES’ socket and power (12v DC) up the board.
Again check that the current is less than 20mA @12v

Now we can perform the ‘Buzz’ test
With the headphones connected, touch the board with a metal screw driver on Pin 5 of the position for U2. If you touch the shaft of the screw driver you should hear a loud buzz in the headphones. Repeat the test but this time touch pin 4 of the U2 position

You may find that Pin 5 produces a louder Buzz than Pin 4.
This tests the audio and filter section of the board.

Stage 3 :- Side Tone

Tap the key and you should hear the sidetone. IF you wish you can test the muting circuit too at this time. Perform the ‘Buzz’ test again but while listening to the ‘Buzz’ tap the key.
The sidetone should replace the buzz.

Stage 4 Mixer
The Rooster uses an active mixer circuit that much better performance than the old FOXX3 ever could offer. We need to fit the 8 pin socket for this chip.

Next we need to fit the trimmer capacitor. Its colour may not be as shown in the photos here (if you not reading black and white paper instructions!)

The Crystals.

The kit uses three crystals, two in the front-end filter and one for the mixer, The crystals are all the same frequency but some of the characteristics are different between the two types you have with the kit. For the mixer we need to use the shorter crystal.
This is to be fitted between the chip socket and the trimmer as shown above.

The Mixer IC
The mixer chip used on the Rooster is getting very rare in its DIP format, it’s still available in its SMD size.

Now with great care solder the pins to the top of the adapter board. This should be no harder to do than soldering the socket to the main board you did earlier. Double check you have no solder bridges between pins when you are done.

RF Noise Test
Now make sure that the chip is plugged in the socket the correct way round, it didn’t matter when you soldered the adapter board and pins but it DOES matter now!

The adapter board has Pin1, 4, 5, and 8 marked. Make sure Pin 1 is nearest to the DC in socket.

Connect up the headphones/key and power again as before. Now use a metal screw driver and touch the top pin for the Y2 crystal. You should hear a mix of Hum and RF noise, you may even hear some weak CW signals!

Stage 5: Driver and PA Protection Diode

You may want to unplug the chip so you don’t damage it while fitting the remaining parts.
Now fit Q5 transistor, make sure it is the right one, it should be a 2N4401. Check the printing on the flat of the transistor. And fit it as you did for Q4 before.

We now will fit a protection diode that will help protect the PA from high SWR. This is D6 (1N4755A).
Shape this diode ready to fit first.

Bend the leads about 3mm from the body. Take care doing this. The diode has a glass body and you could break it if
you’re too rough.
You will note that this diode has a black band on one side, this is VERY important.

The diode must be fitted so that the band is in line with the line on the symbol on the PCB for D6.

Stage 6: Fitting the 5 inductors
This stage is the easiest to make a mistake with so read and then re-read this section before you fit any.

There are 5 inductors and unfortunately most are very similar in colour bands.
We need to be 100% sure that the right one is used in the right place.
Take time and care with this stage, it is hard to remove parts once fitted.
L1 is a 100uH inductor
The inductors used on this kit use the same colour bands as resistor to identify their value so
you can use the colour resistor code chart that came with the kit to help you.
Don’t fit any yet, lets just check the values.
L1 has bands that are Brown, Black, Brown and the last one is Gold.
L2 is a 10uH inductor
L2 bands are Brown, Black, Black, Silver.
L3 and L4 are both the same value 1uH
L3 and L4 bands are Brown, Black, Gold, Silver
L5 is a 3.3uH inductor
L5 is easy to spot, its bands are Orange, Orange, Gold, Silver.

Now you know the values read this section again and this time fit each inductor one by one.

Stage 7: Front end bandpass filter
We now will fit the last two crystals, Y1 and Y2
These crystals will be the larger ones in the kit.
They are both the same and either can be fitted in either position.

When fitted the board should look like this.
Not much more to do now.

Stage 8: RIT Control
The RIT tune control.

Stage 9: Antenna BNC Socket
Now the finial part, maybe the hardest to solder!
The Antenna BNC socket

The antenna socket is a heavy item, it is made from metal and is really a big heatsink. It can be difficult to solder
the mounting lugs to the PCB if the soldering iron is not very powerful, you may need to keep the iron on the lugs for a prolonged time when soldering so be very careful that you don’t burn yourself on the body of it.
It will be very hot for a while after you finish soldering.
Make sure that the two circuit pins pass through the PCB first and solder these before the two big mounting lugs. Trim these two leads. Press and hold down the connector flush to the board and tack solder one of the lugs. Check its flush, if not re-melt the solder again on the lug and reposition, when happy solder the other lug and then solder the tacked lug fully. Again, be careful this will be hot for some time afterwards.

Stage 10: Testing and Alignment

Time for some testing and alignment.
Like all the tests so far, I would recommend a current limited power supply, up to now you could expect a max current of 25mA, now you will need to set the limit up a little to 100mA as we have the driver stage installed and will be testing the transmit chain.
For this test you need another transceiver, antenna, dummy load (advisable), headphones and key.
Connect the remote transceiver up to an antenna or even just a short (1m length) wire will do fine, Monitor 7.030Mhz on the this set. Select a wide filter BUT be sure you put the radio in CW mode (Important!)
Connect the Rooster to the power supply with the key, antenna and headphones connected.
You should now hear at least band noise, if someone is operating around the Roosters freq you will most likely hear them too.
This is a direct conversion receiver, this means the internal oscillator runs at the frequency it is receiving, the side effect of this is that the oscillators signal can be heard on a receiver placed near it. If you can hear a tone on the remote rig don’t worry, that’s normal and not a fault.
Now key the Rooster, you should expect the current to increase to about 60-80mA, tune the remote radio to find the signal as you key, it maybe a few 100Hz off either direction.
Once you have found it retune the remote radio to 7.030Mhz
Now ideally a ceramic trimer ( I use a small flat blade screwdriver myself) adjust the red trimmer on the Roosters PCB while holding down the key.

You should be able to bring the Rooster onto 7.030Mhz on the remote radio.

The tuning will move slightly when we fit the PA transistor later as the loading on the oscillator will change but for now this will be ok.

Now connect the remote rig to a dummy load, no need for an antenna on the Rooster, transmit a CW signal on the remote rig (set the power level as low as you can).

Set the RIT control about half way and the Rooster should be hearing the transmitter, adjust the RIT control clockwise and the pitch should change, it should go very low as the control is almost fully clockwise, ideally a point should be heard when the tone stops altogether. This point is zero beat.

Congratulations if this is all working, apart from the PA transistor and the RX/TX LED the Rooster PCB is complete.

Stage 11: Fitting the PA Transistor and rear panel.

First find the heatsink mounting pad. It should be noted that the type of transistor does NOT need a
mounting bush BUT does still need an insulator pad so make sure you use it,

Cut about 3 or 4mm off the bottom of the pad. Before you fit the pad put a small amount of clear tape on the top edge of the pad, use that to hold it in place. Put the pad on the inside of the rear panel so the mounting hole in the pad is in line with the mounting hole on the panel.

Now fit the rear panel on the back of the PCB, for now use the larger BNC nut and tighten the rear panel to the board.

Only tighten finger tight for now, drop the transistor in place so the metal side of the transistor is against the insulator pad, pass the M3 Black bolt through the rear panel and through the hole in the transistors body and use the M3 nut to attach the transistor. Do not fully tighten the nut yet.

Aline the rear panel so the DC connector is in the centre of the power hole in the rear panel, carefully solder the centre pin of the PA transistor and recheck the correct fitting of the panel, resolder that transistor pin if you need to make adjustments.
Once happy solder the remaining two pins of the transistor and trim the leads.
Tighten the BNC and the transistor screw.

Stage 12: TX/RX LED
The Rooster has a LED indicator for RX and TX, we have used a dual colour LED so on RX it is Green and on TX its Red.

Stage 13: Tidy up the PCB
Now fit the front panel to the case using two black M3 screws. Check the panel is correctly aligned on the case. Do not fully tighten the panel just yet.
Now before you put the board into the case a VERY IMPORTANT job.
Trim all the leads on the back of the board as flush as you can, there is not much clearance in the case, the 2 large lugs on the BNC are as low as you can go, make sure ALL other parts are cut flush and are shorter than these pins.
Now double check all the soldering. If your happy you can Align the Rooster.

Stage 14: Alignment
If you did the Alignment as suggested earlier this will be easy, it’s just a finial adjustment.
The trimmer capacitor will allow you to correct the transmission frequency, you will need a receiver to do this (or a freq counter etc)
I put a ham band receiver on 40m 7.030Mhz and in CW mode, I set the filter on the receiver as if it has one to around 500Hz.
Now connect headphones/key and dummy load to the Rooster and once all these are connected then connect a power supply. If possible, a power supply of say 11v (don’t go below 10.5v) will be kinder to the PA while doing the alignment.
Key the Rooster and you should get sidetone in headphones. You should find the Roosters signal on the receiver within a few 100hz of 7.030Mhz.
Set the receiver to 7.030 and adjust the trimmer to correct the frequency. You MAY not be able to bring the frequency bang on 7.030, you may only get within a few hundred Herts of that target. That depends on the Crystal in such a simple circuit as the Rooster but remember 7.030Mhz isn’t a magical frequency, it’s just the centre of operation for QRP users, just get as close to it as you can and don’t worry. Don’t leave the key down for more than 10 secs at a time and give it a short break between transmissions to allow the PA to cool.

Now you can drop the board into the case and the controls should pass though the holes in the front panel. You may have to ‘jiggle’ the front panel just a little to align it with the board. Secure the rear panel now with two black M3 screws.
Fix the RIT control with the supplied washer and nut, finger tight will be ok. Turn the control fully anticlockwise and push the knob onto the shaft so the knobs marker line is point to the start of the RIT marker scale. When done fit the four stick on feet.
If you have a power meter connect that between the dummy load and the Rooster, check the output power, the lowest voltage the Rooster will work on its about 10.5v, the voltage regulator ( it’s a 8v device) will drop out around 10v as it needs about 2 volts head room. With approx 11v you will see over 1 watt, at about 12v nearly 2 watts, with a 13.8v supply you will most likely see a shade over 2 watts, again this will depend on a few factors but a variation of a few hundred milliwatts could be seen between units, this variation will only be 1dB or so and will not be noticeable to anyone receiving your signal.
Current draw will be around 20mA on RX, and 400mA TX (@12v)
Now connect the Rooster to an antenna. If nothing else you will hear band noise.
Adjust the RIT to vertical and call CQ, if called back adjust the RIT for best reception and enjoy the QSO.

Notes
All direct conversion type receivers can suffer from noise and other issues when used with a mains power supply. We recommend that the Rooster is powered by a battery pack. We have used and would recommend a 3-cell lithium-ion battery pack that gives just over 11v. the Rooster still produces around 1.5 watts at this voltage and will operated for a very long time with such a power pack. A 7Amp/Hr 12v lead acid battery is also a good choice.
Other 40m band frequencies can be used by changing the Crystals, if you are only moving by a couple of KHz then you will be ok just changing the mixer crystal (Y1) if more then you will need to change all three crystals to the same frequency.

Audio Filter Response

The Rooster unlike many such simple transceivers uses an active audio filter, the filter makes use of the spare op-amp in the dual op-amp used in the audio amplifier. This is centred around 750Hz and has a bandwidth of 500Hz.
The filter is certainly NOT a brickwall but does give a useful peak of about 12db to its centre frequency, here is a waterfall showing the filters response. We used a Kanga RF Noise source module for the input to the transceiver and used a waterfall display to see the response.

The Rooster, as you would expect has a LPF on its output . We have included 2nd and 3rd Harmonic traps too. Here is an example of the RF output spectrum, this was supplied by one of the Beta builders at the RSGB Convention.

We hope you enjoy building and using the Rooster. Any questions or comments to sales@kanga-products.co.uk

Circuit Diagrams

Board Layout

Notes
If you don’t like using headphones, then the audio output can be fed to a small audio amplifier, I use the Kanga Desktop Bench amplifier for this as its fully self-contained and works perfectly with the Rooster.
Always use an Antenna with a low SWR. Simple antennas like an end fed half wave are a great choice to use with the Rooster.

Rooster CW Transceiver Rev3

22nd Nov 2023

References

• products.co.uk - This website is for sale! - products Resources and Information.

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