Next kit project: Four State QRP Group Station

For my next QRP kit project I chose the recently introduced Four State QRP Group Station which consists of a separate superhet receiver & transmitter for 40m along with a microprocessor-based T/R switch, which has been dubbed the "Magig Box.".

I'm looking forward to building this kit and getting on the air because it will be the first time I've run a separate rcvr / xmtr since my Novice days back in the 1960's. Back then I was running a Hallicrafters SX-130 receiver and a Heathkit DX-40 transmitter. A 60w incandescent lightbulb was my dummy load and a simple copper knife switch was a T/R switch. Simple and effective. I worked a lot of stations (and even some DX) with that setup. My antenna was a longwire.

If the "Magic Box" works as well I expect I hope to build additional transmitters, especially one for 10m now that the sunspot cycle has become more active. The Magic Box effectively makes running a separate rcvr and xmtr almost like running a xcvr according to the guys at Four State QRP.

This new station ensemble first appeared at the 2010 OzarkCon held in Branson, MO.

I'm also considering running separate xmit/rcv antennas to see whether that is a more effective approach than my current dipole cut for 40m.