The SW40+ Torpedo

This is just a prototype at present, but I hope to put everything into one package; including the antenna. I have the Emtech ZM-2 ATU kit on order, where by I plan on eliminating the heavy coax cable and use your FFD antenna from your archives.

My trail friendly Radio was build for being useful under many different operating conditions and most of all convenience, so the physical size was a secondary concern. It was made from an old telephone splice case, which is strong, light and can be made water tight. The physical dimensions are 18 inches long and 4 1/2 inches across, but it also has storage for the batteries, head phones, homebrew cw key, and hopefully the antenna system.

I have a portable antenna mast that my radio can be attached to by the use of two broom clamps, which also allows the radio to slide up and down for a desired height. The torpedo has a hinged upper section for the SW 40+, which will fold back for different operating positions or can be removed completely and separated into two parts by just removing a keeper pin in the hinge. There are almost unlimited ways of positioning this radio from hanging it on a small branch, holding it between your legs, burying the tube end into the ground or supporting it with rocks. It also works good on any table or hooked over the back of a chair. I usually place a piece of foam rubber behind the hinged radio head along with a large rubber band to support the angle I want for my viewing of the controls. When the radio is not in use the two sections snap together and the controls are inside out of harms way.

To make the radio water proof when canoeing I duct tape the hinge seam and rear panel. Did I also tell you it floats like a cork! Just in case your canoe should turn turtle, which of course never happens!

You could use other materials to duplicate the SW40+ Torpedo, such as plastic drain line with end caps, but I would try and find the lite weight type. I'm sure there are a lot of other types of materials out there that other members can bring to the group and even improve on my design.

I used RCA phono plugs for most of my connections, because they are easy to connect, light weight and readily available at most stores; also all my other radios use phono plugs and I didn't want three or four different types of connectors.

I have installed Dave Benson's little freq-mite into the radio, so there's hardly any need to look at the dials and should work great inside a sleeping bag. I like it so well I'll probably buy another one for my ten-tec 1340 rig. I might add the reason I picked the SW40+ from Small Wonder Labs, was I could purchase the board kit with out buying a case, which I obliviously didn't need and it was energy friendly.

Specs

18” long x 4 " wide
weight empty: 1.5 lbs (with radio), loaded 4 lbs (two 1.2 ahr battery’s-key-cords-ear buds)

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Harcourt Quick, W8BHK, is a brand new member of ARS and has already contributed a fine article. He enjoys homebrewing radios and getting into the outdoor world.