Howdy gang,

  I have been obsessing over the lack of power switch or power indicator on the Hilltopper rigs. Here’s what I did this morning. Your mileage may vary!

Noticed a nice unclad square of board at the 4SQRP logo on the top panel. Hmmm, a window!

Noticed it was directly over the reverse polarity diode D1.

 

I spotted and drilled a 1/8” hole from the back side of the top panel, ALMOST through the board.

I mounted a 1/8” green LED (from my junk box) under that spot, supported from the cathode of D1, with a 3.3K dropping resistor running over to the power jack ground lug. Trial and error until it just fit into the 1/8” hole!

Results shown below. What’s an extra 2 mA among friends? Now I KNOW if the rig is getting power!

First photo, see the green LED glowing just to the right of the power jack? Second photo, top panel view. NO hole in the top panel! Of course you can also poke an LED all the way through the top panel if you wish.

 

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Paul Goemans WA9PWP
Stoughton, WI