Welcome
Welcome to my website. This site describes some equipment and circuits that I've designed and built. Many are related to amateur radio, but there are some test equipment projects, kit builds, and other things that I have built. I'd like to claim it's all been done to a plan, but that's not the case. It tends to be pretty random around here.In short, you can never tell what's going to appear here next!
Plans ... and what actually happens around here
My long-running job in the Middle East came to an end in December 2016. At the
time, our first thoughts were that we would just move back
to New Zealand, but things didn't turn out that way. That 'plan' turned into eight
months of travel by air, sea, train
and car. (Don't ask!) When we finally returned, getting
everything sorted out in our home in New Zealand after we had been away
for so many
years took way more time and effort than I could have imagined.
As a further distraction, consulting work kept coming along.
That's dragged me away from home fairly regularly, much of which has required me to work in that client's
country for most of this year. What's New?
I have developed a number of new projects over the last 18 months or so. These include:
An AC delay timer for my bathroom heated towel rail. I designed it to save power and to avoid nagging my family members routinely about turning off such appliances. I know - A 'First World' problem.
Regardless, this design is a solution which may have other applications where switching AC loads is required. The details can be found here...


As it turned out, it was not too difficult to make it work with my original software. (The actual display looks much better than this picture suggests) Just a few minor connection changes are required. The details are here...

To help you build the single band VFO/BFO, I've designed a new PCB for the single band VFO/BFO. You can use either of the Midas I2C LCDs or the new larger cheap compatible Chinese I2C LCD noted above. You can find the layout here for your personal use only. Commercial/kit use? Email me.

Naturally, I decided to upgrade it with a new version of my single band si5351a VFO/BFO. This version uses a cheap Arduino Nano along with the kit's original 16x2 LCD. My design features selectable tuning steps, an S-meter and RIT. (More features might be added later...) It's also still in the rough prototype stage but the details of the new design are here...
Previously Added:

Fortunately, I've managed to fix all of the (many) design errors in this kit. I'm really delighted to have it running. The whole story is here...

Inside the box, an ATtiny84 generates the DC tuning voltage for the varicap on each of 10 programmable channels using an unusually fast 16-bit DAC. The ATtiny also drives a small 7-segment LED display to show the channel number. A single button select any of 10 programmable channels. All the details are here....
Other Popular ZL2PD Designs:

For those wanting a kit, there is one still available from RV3YF. The original kit he sold (without crediting me in any way for the hardware design or the software) is based the kit pictured above. My prototype does not look anything like as nice.
And thanks to Cristi YO3FLR, there's a PCB layout available in the Download section on my VFO's webpage.


It's really the result of a tale of woe and misfortune, but the circuit works... More details here.

Did I mention it's small? And weighs just 50g ?
More designs coming up soon, I hope.
How to Navigate the ZL2PD Website
You'll find the complete list of these designs down the left hand side of this page.
Simple 'click-on-em' buttons will lead you to each design. Schematics
and other drawings are to be found all over the site, as are photos.
Want to see the details close-up? Then just "right-click" on the image
or schematic or whatever. Chances are, you'll now be able to see much
more detail. And you can download it too, if you wish. To date, the details and designs here on my website include:
- Several transceivers (For some reason, these have been mostly other people's designs! Must address that soon...)
- Accessories for these transceivers (DDS VFOs, ATUs, SWR meters, etc )
- Oscillators and test equipment
- Switchmode power supplies
- A temperature-controlled soldering iron, and
- Some family-related designs (An unusual LED clock, an electronic sand-dial timer, a binary thermomenter, a Christmas tree...)
Elsewhere on the ZL2PD website ...

A suite of three different designs for temperature controlled soldering stations, with a detailed design for the most compact unit. It uses a single 8-pin ATtiny25 microcontroller and not much else, and it is packaged in a compact 3D-printed enclosure, also of my own design. (Right-click the image for a closer look or visit the web page)

More interestingly, perhaps, is the fact that, unlike most clock designs you might have seen, this one does not require another chip to actually do the timekeeping. The clock's ATtiny45 does all that, and more.

And then there's this accessory for the temperature controlled soldering iron I mentioned earlier. It's a tip cleaner accessory using an easy to obtain item from the supermarket, and printed on a 3D printer.
Of course, all of the other designs are still available to browse and build, each listed over to the left in the index. Help yourself!
What else is on this website?
Aside from a page chattering on a bit about Yahoo and mail, my website describes a variety of projects related to my hobbies of amateur radio and electronics. These include circuit diagrams, descriptions of how they work and what they do, PCB layouts (sometimes), construction details, and software for designs which use microprocessors or microcontrollers.
For the record, the microprocessor designs here use the AVR chips including the ATtiny15, ATtiny25, ATtiny45 and ATtiny85, ATtiny2313, ATtiny26, ATmega8, as well as some earlier designs which use 8051 processors including the 80C552, 80C751, 80C51, 80C52, AT89C1051, AT89C2051, and AT89C4051, and so on. Almost all of my 8051 software is written in assembler while the AVR code is a mix of assembler and BASCOM (Basic).
New Designs... Well...
I think I'll give up predicting what will appear here next. Stuff on my list includes:DIY AA and AAA battery holders, and
A truly compact LC meter
Stay tuned...
The Legal Stuff
You use the information published on these web pages at your own risk!
You
may use the information
provided here for personal or educational purposes but you may not
reproduce it in any form or use this information for any commercial
purpose without
first obtaining written permission from the copyright holder.
There is no warranty or guarantee, either expressed or implied,
covering any information of any kind which may be available from this website,
or that designs and information provided on this website are
free from patent or intellectual property rights of the author or third
parties.
Should the information contained on this website be used by any party,
that party shall by using the information provided be deemed to take
complete responsibility for all risks and liabilities associated with its use and hold the
author of this website harmless in the event of any claim, loss,
liability or expense associated with any such use.
The rights of copyright over the contents of this website, unless
otherwise noted, are claimed by Andrew Woodfield ZL2PD.