"Huff and Puff" stabiliser is underway

After a (too) long break from the workbench, I have now assembled and tested the "huff and puff" VFO stabiliser from Cumbria Designs. The plan is to use it with the "ugly VFO" that I built earlier in the year.

The instructions were very clear and the stabiliser went together quickly. Ron Taylor G4GXO from Cumbria Designs had kindly sent me the latest software for the PIC that controls the stabiliser.

The stabiliser indicates its status through a tri-colour LED, so it is possible to unit test it after assembly, making sure it powers up correctly and that it can "see" an RF source when you connect one to its input. I hooked up the stabiliser temporarily to the "ugly VFO" and the LED showed steady red, a good sign.

The stabiliser controls the VFO frequency through a variable capacitor circuit that you add to your VFO. So next steps for me are to install the components for this on the VFO breadboard, mount the stabiliser next to the VFO, hook them together and see what happens.

Photo © Cumbria Designs