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Hilltopper

Leland L. Bahr
 

I just ordered a 40 meter Hilltopper and have not built my 20 meter version yet!  Curt, KB5JO, a friend of mine, keeps telling me how much fun he is having with his 20 meter version.  So even though I have not built the first one, I did not want to miss out in being able to get a 40 meter version.  I can see, there is a lot a merit in simplicity.  The Hilltopper is well laid out and the instruction manual is great.  (I just finished populating the board of another vendor's kits, and the process was taxing to say the least.  At 81 years old, soldering surface mount parts was not fun.  Finding where the parts all went was like being on an Easter Hunt too!)  I love the fact the Hilltoppers are true 5 watt rigs at 12 volts and not at some higher voltage.  This makes furnishing a power supply and charging the appropriate battery pack much easier.  The rig covers the whole 40 meter band too!  I really like this as I love the 7100-7125 portion of the band.  Not all 40 meter CW kits cover this higher CW portion of 40 meters.  My only gripe is I think a 2019 rig should include a keyer with memory.  I like a memory keyer so the one built in won't be used much.  I'll be using my 4 States outboard EZ Keyer III. Not having to deal with finding or making a cabinet is also a nice touch.  The more I think about this kit, is it is a REAL SLEEPER!  Years ago I missed out buying a Red Hot Radio when they were available and have always kicked myself for not picking one up when they were available.  I think I would say the same thing if I didn't buy the Hilltoppers before they were no longer available.  The Hilltoppers are basic solidly built easy to build work horses.  Surface mount is taken care of for you and the instructions make the build pretty much bullet proof and fun to build. In short, this is a fun project to build and KB5JO says it is a really fun rig to use.  That is saying something as KB5JO has a lot of QRP rigs he has built.  For you guys on the edge of ordering one or not,  my suggestion is you need to seriously consider buying a Hilltopper while you can still do so.  As Curt has told me, the Hilltopper is a REAL KEEPER !

Lee, w0vt, w5drc
Jim Pruitt
 

As a heads up: Just in case anyone is undecided about ordering the Hilltopper be aware that I only have 8 kits left.  There has been talk of another short run but even if that happens it will take time to get the parts and boards ordered and in hand  and get them kitted and there is no guarantee that the group will do another run. If the Hilltopper is on your list but you have not ordered it yet, you might consider ordering it now before they are gone.  Dave Benson did a terrific job on this kit.

Thank you for your support.

Jim Pruitt
WA7DUY



On 9/12/2019 10:14 PM, Leland L. Bahr wrote:
I just ordered a 40 meter Hilltopper and have not built my 20 meter version yet!  Curt, KB5JO, a friend of mine, keeps telling me how much fun he is having with his 20 meter version.  So even though I have not built the first one, I did not want to miss out in being able to get a 40 meter version.  I can see, there is a lot a merit in simplicity.  The Hilltopper is well laid out and the instruction manual is great.
snip
  The more I think about this kit, is it is a REAL SLEEPER!  Years ago I missed out buying a Red Hot Radio when they were available and have always kicked myself for not picking one up when they were available.  I think I would say the same thing if I didn't buy the Hilltoppers before they were no longer available.  The Hilltoppers are basic solidly built easy to build work horses.  Surface mount is taken care of for you and the instructions make the build pretty much bullet proof and fun to build. In short, this is a fun project to build and KB5JO says it is a really fun rig to use. That is saying something as KB5JO has a lot of QRP rigs he has built.  For you guys on the edge of ordering one or not,  my suggestion is you need to seriously consider buying a Hilltopper while you can still do so.  As Curt has told me, the Hilltopper is a REAL KEEPER !

Lee, w0vt, w5drc
Ron K0OXB
 

Many thanks Jim for the notice of limited availability.  Have a 20m yet to build but would definitely hate to miss this one.  Just ordered to be sure.  Again genuinely appreciate the time and effort expended in this kitting venture for the benefit of the group!
73, Ron K0OXB


On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 12:45 PM, Jim Pruitt
<jpruitt67@...> wrote:
As a heads up: Just in case anyone is undecided about ordering the
Hilltopper be aware that I only have 8 kits left.  There has been talk
of another short run but even if that happens it will take time to get
the parts and boards ordered and in hand  and get them kitted and there
is no guarantee that the group will do another run. If the Hilltopper is
on your list but you have not ordered it yet, you might consider
ordering it now before they are gone.  Dave Benson did a terrific job on
this kit.

Thank you for your support.

Jim Pruitt
WA7DUY



On 9/12/2019 10:14 PM, Leland L. Bahr wrote:
> I just ordered a 40 meter Hilltopper and have not built my 20 meter
> version yet!  Curt, KB5JO, a friend of mine, keeps telling me how much
> fun he is having with his 20 meter version.  So even though I have not
> built the first one, I did not want to miss out in being able to get a
> 40 meter version.  I can see, there is a lot a merit in simplicity. 
> The Hilltopper is well laid out and the instruction manual is great.
snip
>   The more I think about this kit, is it is a REAL SLEEPER!  Years ago
> I missed out buying a Red Hot Radio when they were available and have
> always kicked myself for not picking one up when they were available. 
> I think I would say the same thing if I didn't buy the Hilltoppers
> before they were no longer available.  The Hilltoppers are basic
> solidly built easy to build work horses.  Surface mount is taken care
> of for you and the instructions make the build pretty much bullet
> proof and fun to build. In short, this is a fun project to build and
> KB5JO says it is a really fun rig to use. That is saying something as
> KB5JO has a lot of QRP rigs he has built.  For you guys on the edge of
> ordering one or not,  my suggestion is you need to seriously consider
> buying a Hilltopper while you can still do so.  As Curt has told me,
> the Hilltopper is a REAL KEEPER !
>
> Lee, w0vt, w5drc
Curt
 

No one asked, but I think this radio ought to be a great candidate for more kit runs.  With all of the fine manual work and packaging, not sure why they haven't been flying of of the shelves.  I mostly operate 20M & 30M QRP and own a HB NE4040 ( and Bayou Jumper ) so HT40 isn't in my future.  But the radio is easily, quickly built and performs very well.

Curt KB5JO
Dave Benson
 

Lee-

Thanks for your comments.   I suspect they had a hand in prompting a number of orders.  We were away on vacation, and returned to find the remaining store of Hilltoppers nearly sold out. Thanks again for your enthusiasm!

73- Dave, K1SWL


On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 1:14 AM Leland L. Bahr <w5drc@...> wrote:
I just ordered a 40 meter Hilltopper and have not built my 20 meter
version yet!  Curt, KB5JO, a friend of mine, keeps telling me how much
fun he is having with his 20 meter version.  So even though I have not
built the first one, I did not want to miss out in being able to get a
40 meter version.  I can see, there is a lot a merit in simplicity.  The
Hilltopper is well laid out and the instruction manual is great.  (I
just finished populating the board of another vendor's kits, and the
process was taxing to say the least.  At 81 years old, soldering surface
mount parts was not fun.  Finding where the parts all went was like
being on an Easter Hunt too!)  I love the fact the Hilltoppers are true
5 watt rigs at 12 volts and not at some higher voltage.  This makes
furnishing a power supply and charging the appropriate battery pack much
easier.  The rig covers the whole 40 meter band too!  I really like this
as I love the 7100-7125 portion of the band.  Not all 40 meter CW kits
cover this higher CW portion of 40 meters.  My only gripe is I think a
2019 rig should include a keyer with memory.  I like a memory keyer so
the one built in won't be used much.  I'll be using my 4 States outboard
EZ Keyer III. Not having to deal with finding or making a cabinet is
also a nice touch.  The more I think about this kit, is it is a REAL
SLEEPER!  Years ago I missed out buying a Red Hot Radio when they were
available and have always kicked myself for not picking one up when they
were available.  I think I would say the same thing if I didn't buy the
Hilltoppers before they were no longer available.  The Hilltoppers are
basic solidly built easy to build work horses.  Surface mount is taken
care of for you and the instructions make the build pretty much bullet
proof and fun to build. In short, this is a fun project to build and
KB5JO says it is a really fun rig to use.  That is saying something as
KB5JO has a lot of QRP rigs he has built.  For you guys on the edge of
ordering one or not,  my suggestion is you need to seriously consider
buying a Hilltopper while you can still do so.  As Curt has told me, the
Hilltopper is a REAL KEEPER !

Lee, w0vt, w5drc
KB9BVN - <kb9bvn@...>
 

Dave I have enjoyed my Hilltopper 20 a great deal and the audio mods were huge improvements, thanks for cooking those up for us.  I just ordered a HT40 and I am having Steve N0SM build it for me...will be glad to have them both in my pile of stuff.  

Squirrel season is upon us here in the Hoosier state....I think I remember a conversation we had a while back...here we have BIG reds and small grays...and I think you indicated you fellers up that way had BIG grays and small reds.  Not sure why that stuck in my mind. :-) 

(Rev George Dobbs would call it my pelf pile)

Thanks again! 

de KB9BVN
Brian Murrey


On Tue, Sep 17, 2019 at 7:54 AM Dave Benson <davek1swl@...> wrote:
Lee-

Thanks for your comments.   I suspect they had a hand in prompting a number of orders.  We were away on vacation, and returned to find the remaining store of Hilltoppers nearly sold out. Thanks again for your enthusiasm!

73- Dave, K1SWL

On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 1:14 AM Leland L. Bahr <w5drc@...> wrote:
I just ordered a 40 meter Hilltopper and have not built my 20 meter
version yet!  Curt, KB5JO, a friend of mine, keeps telling me how much
fun he is having with his 20 meter version.  So even though I have not
built the first one, I did not want to miss out in being able to get a
40 meter version.  I can see, there is a lot a merit in simplicity.  The
Hilltopper is well laid out and the instruction manual is great.  (I
just finished populating the board of another vendor's kits, and the
process was taxing to say the least.  At 81 years old, soldering surface
mount parts was not fun.  Finding where the parts all went was like
being on an Easter Hunt too!)  I love the fact the Hilltoppers are true
5 watt rigs at 12 volts and not at some higher voltage.  This makes
furnishing a power supply and charging the appropriate battery pack much
easier.  The rig covers the whole 40 meter band too!  I really like this
as I love the 7100-7125 portion of the band.  Not all 40 meter CW kits
cover this higher CW portion of 40 meters.  My only gripe is I think a
2019 rig should include a keyer with memory.  I like a memory keyer so
the one built in won't be used much.  I'll be using my 4 States outboard
EZ Keyer III. Not having to deal with finding or making a cabinet is
also a nice touch.  The more I think about this kit, is it is a REAL
SLEEPER!  Years ago I missed out buying a Red Hot Radio when they were
available and have always kicked myself for not picking one up when they
were available.  I think I would say the same thing if I didn't buy the
Hilltoppers before they were no longer available.  The Hilltoppers are
basic solidly built easy to build work horses.  Surface mount is taken
care of for you and the instructions make the build pretty much bullet
proof and fun to build. In short, this is a fun project to build and
KB5JO says it is a really fun rig to use.  That is saying something as
KB5JO has a lot of QRP rigs he has built.  For you guys on the edge of
ordering one or not,  my suggestion is you need to seriously consider
buying a Hilltopper while you can still do so.  As Curt has told me, the
Hilltopper is a REAL KEEPER !

Lee, w0vt, w5drc





--
73 de KB9BVN
Brian Murrey
Leland L. Bahr
 

If 4SQRP is considering another small run of the Hilltopper,  I'd suggest you make it also available in a 30 meter version.  I certainly would order one.  That way you could do a larger batch of Hilltoppers.  (Half 20/40 meters for stragglers and 30 meters for those wanting more of the Benson design and already Hilltopper owners.)  This is too nice a transceiver to go away.  It's Dave Benson's best kit.

Lee, w0vt
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