BATC Forum

Hi,

I am looking into the possibility of building a second Portsdown Transmitter for a friend. I am tempted to construct the modulator board myself (I bought the first ready made). I have just costed it out buying all the parts from Digikey, the total cost of the components is a little over £90 plus the cost of the board PLUS VAT. So, there is little to be gained financially from building it myself, in fact the shop price of £115 begins to look more than reasonable.

However, that is not the only consideration. Were I to build it myself it might not work at first and that would force me to look closely at how it works, which would enhance the learning process.Even if it were to work first time it would still require testing and setting up which would exercise not only my mind but also my test gear which sits around most of the time doing nothing.

So I am in a quandary, to build or to buy?

Gordon (G3ZYL)

Hi Gordon

You are right about the cost differential. I've built 2 boards which worked first time, and also repaired 2 that had been built by others. In both cases the issue was solder splashes between the pins on the the smaller ICs and both worked perfectly after removal of the offending solder.

If you fancy the challenge, I think that it is worth trying to build your own, especially as you have a built one to compare it with.

Dave