N7OE's Transmitter Controller Page By J. Aaron Holmes, N7OE Welcome, visitor . The following pages discuss various transmitter controller projects I've created or helped out on.  These pages aren't intended to show you how to create your own transmitter controllers (though schematics and other design details are often included).  Rather, the intent is to illustrate how the sport of ARDF (Amateur Radio Direction Finding) is full of opportunities for experimentation.  Almost anything, it seems, can be made into a transmitter controller for the purpose of hidden transmitter hunts.  I love to share ideas for this stuff, so please feel free to mail me with any questions, suggestions, etc., that you have.   <<  The MICROBE Project This is my latest endeavor.  There is much work to do, but MICROBE may already have the title for lowest-powered transmitter controller, consuming less than 50uA at 3.5V.  User programmability, the next step toward making MICROBE available as a kit, is currently being developed.  The goal of the project:  produce the smallest, cheapest, single-chip transmitter controller out there (disclaimer:  ...or come really close to it). NEW: Sneak peek at technology behind the next version of MICROBE! <<  The idBoy Project (pronounced "eye-dee-boy") Back in mid-March of 2003, I set out to prove that Nintendo products had a place in amateur radio.  A few short weeks later, idBoy was born.  idBoy is custom software and hardware for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance that turns it into a transmitter controller.  An easy-to-use menu allows user to select the message, key speed, and other parameters.  idBoy has been on a number of hunts, and performs very well.  It's also a real attention getter; people aren't used to seeing a Game Boy with snap-on homebrew circuits ;-) <<  The 'YH Bunny This page commemorates the transmitter controller that got me started in ARDF.  Built in 1996 by members of the Washington State University ARC, W7YH, the 'YH "Bunny" was a big box of fragile wiring and Radio Shack parts, and was easily mistaken for a bomb!  ...but it sure was cool, and made many fine hunts possible. 73, J. Aaron Holmes, N7OE Page last updated:  March 20, 2004 Go back to silicon-arcana.com