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FLORIDA TEN METER BEACON
28.300 +/- MHz.
The KF4MS Beacon project began in early 1981 in Englewood, Florida as a member of the Tamiami Amateur Radio Club. Originally running a homebrew keyer built upon a 2102 static ram chip and a Heathkit tube transmitter running approx. 80 watts to a ground plane antenna at approx. 20 feet.
In the beginning the TX suffered from the 24 hour duty cycle and the 6146 final tubes and capacitors were replaced regularly.
I finally decided to update the keyer and a friend wrote a basic program for a VIC-20 computer that allowed easier changes of the beacon message. This worked for about two years until the VIC 20 died and the new NOVRAM keyer was built. This homebrew keyer is now used as a backup as it is programmed bit by bit for all 2048 bits.
PRESENT CONFIGURATION
Keyer:
Main: Zenith Notebook Computer with software by Corey Snider in Q Basic. Great little keyer program, counts loops of cw and hours on.
Backup: Homebrew, built around a 2102 NOVRAM chip. Point to point wiring. Real Headache to build.
Transmitter: Solid State,
Main: Homebrew Solid State, Crystal Rig, 1 watt RF out. "Little Joe"
Backup: HTX-100 from Radio Shack
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