Power Supply for the Mini-Whip active antenna

So, this is just a brief post to say that I have received the Mini-Whip power supply for the Mini-Whip active antenna project.
First impressions are not the best, it really looks and feels cheap, but for £1,99 shipped to your door, I cannot complain.
I took it out of the box and made a quick and dirty voltage measurement with no load whatsoever, just to see if it works. It reads 12,74V, a bit north of 12V but it should be fine to power the Mini-Whip.
Here are some pics.

So, the project is still missing some bits and pieces (a major local electronics store just closed; last weekend I went there to get some parts and it was just a waste of my time) but at least there's some progress.
Items still needed:

1. I need a 12-15V small power supply, capable of delivering 50mA.
2. I need 3 x SO239 (or BNC?) Chassis Mounting Female Sockets.
3. I need some small 50 ohm coax (RG-316 or RG-188).
4. I need to come up with some sort of PVC housing for the antenna.
5. Also, I need some housing for the antenna supply module.
6. Finally, after all is done I need to sort out some kind of a plastic mast to raise the antenna.

 So, hopefully, there will be more progress on the next weekend.

Counting - Radio #1 - The Kenwood TH-D7E

Today I took the time to unbox a Kenwood TH-D7E I had in storage for quite a few years.
This radio dates back to the late 90s when APRS was the next big thing.
The Kenwood TH-D7E is an amateur radio handheld transceiver (HT) capable of 2 meter and 70 centimeter band operation along with an embedded 1200/9600 baud terminal node controller. The radio also contains an implementation of the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) capable of broadcasting the radio's position when coupled with an external serial-attached GPS receiver.
It's a neat an capable radio, that I plan on reusing (more on this latter).
The unboxed TH-D7E is complete and working. It includes the original Kenwood BC-17 wall charger, a Kenwood SM-34 microphone and a Kenwood PB-38 battery. All items are factory original and in like new condition.
I have misplaced the original rubber duck antenna, but I am pretty sure that if I look for it I will find it. The original antenna has been replaced by a Diamond SHR-536 antenna that has better gain.
Since I do not like misplacing things, finding the original rubber duck is now something I'll just have to do. :)
Here are a few pics of the unboxing.

And, of course, after all these years, a master reset was done to the radio.
Here's how (this also works for the TH-D7A and TH-D7A(G):

1. With the power off press the F key, and turn the radio on.
2. Reset appears in the screen.
3. Press up or down on the jog cursor to select either VFO or FULL reset.
4. Press OK.
5. Now press up or down, and select Yes or No.
6. Press OK.

That's it for now.

Mini-Whip active antenna boards done

OK, here's the progress for today.
I also ordered a 12V 1A power supply from ebay. At a cost of £1,99 I cannot say it was expensive. It will take some time to get here, so I better move on with the boxes for the project.

And now a bit of a macro so that I can show off the work.:)

 

And, at the day's end, it will all go like this

Mini-Whip active antenna 10kHz to 30MHz

So, what's the story with the active antenna?
A few years ago I assembled a PM-SRD software defined radio. I needed a small and low profile antenna for the SDR. After some googling I ended up selecting the Mini-Whip active Antenna.
The Mini Whip ative antenna was invented by Roelof Bakker, PA0RDT.
For a detailed explanation on how this antenna works, try here and here.
For now, I need to sort out the missing stuff for ths project. Here's the list:

1. I need a 12-15V small power supply, capable of delivering 50mA.
2. I need 3 x SO239 (or BNC?) Chassis Mounting Female Sockets.
3. I need some small 50 ohm coax (RG-316 or RG-188).
4. I need to come up with some sort of PVC housing for the antenna.
5. Also, I need some housing for the antenna supply module.
6. Finally, after all is done I need to sort out some kind of a plastic mast to raise the antenna.

So, tomorrow I'll get this list on the way.
Hopefully, in the end, I'll get something like this:

So, this will be about some radio stuff.
Recently I took a look at my desk and I had several DIY projects on the table. As one of those projects came to a stall, all the others ended up with some dust on them. So, no more!
Starting today I will be ordering the projects by priority and trying to finish them.
Here's the list of projects:

1. Active antenna kit, 10kHz to 30MHz.
2. Switch plug-in board for the PM-SDR 2.x.
3. Updating my PM-SDR to the latest software version.
4. ZM-4 ATU 160-10m kit, including the box work for the ATU.
5. Finish my FT-817ND portable station, including the ATU and the portable antenna.
6. Install the BHI DSP kit on the FT-817ND.

The list above is not complete as I have plans to restore a Yaesu FT-1000MP sitting on my desk and also to build an Elecraft K2 transceiver (I do not own the kit, so I am just thinking out loud).
So, as I have no help at all, baby steps and simple things first!
Tomorrow I will start with the Active antenna kit. Let's see how that goes...