( git://dome.circumlunar.space/~hb9kns/cwondr/README.md )
( commit a47f00e976470d384ed716f17c2930729c7de7e9 )

# CWONDR

Project "CW on da road":
low-power pocket-size CW transceiver for direct amateur radio contacts in the 430 MHz band

*Zusammenfassung in Deutsch* [hier]( zusammenfassung.md ) *verfuegbar*

*Resume en francais disponible* [ici]( resume.md )

## The Motivation

*You're strolling through the city on a warm summer evening, chatting with your friends, when all of a sudden you hear a faint Morse signal out of your pocket. You take out the small device, plug in the earphones, and key a QRZ DE YOURCALLSIGN?*

*There's a response from your buddy who seems to be in town as well, and you quickly exchange some greetings and QTH information, so that you can meet in a nearby coffee shop in half an hour.*

*After you've finished, you receive a call on the same frequency from a ham visiting your city, and you invite them along for a coffee. You may just have made a new friend through the air.*

*You set your device to beacon mode, unplug the earphones, and put it back into your pocket, while explaining to your friends you just did the CW equivalent of a local social web exchange.*

All of this should well be possible, except that to my knowledge,
such a device is not (yet) available commercially.
If you know about something similar, please [write me][contact] ASAP!

## The Problem

- CW is mostly used on HF (except for beacons) and for contesting and DX, rarely for chatting
- CW has disappeared from everyday use, and we need to fire up rather complicated rigs for working it
- HF requires big antennas and is not suited for operation "out of pocket"
- cheap and simple portable VHF/UHF transceivers are only available for FM voice transmission

## The Solution: pocket-sized, USB powered 430 MHz CW transceiver

- 5 V power is widely available in USB supplies and batteries
- 430 MHz is a not too crowded band suitable for short range contacts with antennas easy to carry around
- cheap and small RF systems for 70 cm are widely available (PMR, ISM band remote controls)
- Arduino and similar solutions provide low-power control facilities

## The Dream

- mobile-phone sized device
- powered by external USB source, low power consumption in receive mode
- direct key button for CW transmission included, external possible
- small loudspeaker included, main operation through earphones
- user interface through buttons and Morse sidetone, i.e no display required: can be controlled just by pressing buttons and listening to sidetone)
- transmit power up to 5 W, reduced levels for short range QSOs

## Participation

This is a very young project, and your participation is highly appreciated,
by [e-mail][contact] or by pull requests to this repository!

- [wishlist]( wishlist.md )
- [parts of the system]( ./Parts/ )
- [planning]( planning.md )

---

[contact]: mailto:hb9kns@gmail.com

_(2018-July-19 HB9KNS)_