Triple frequency triple fun: 1294 MHz FM transmitting

Using a Quansheng UV-K5 FM handheld transceiver with a modified hamfest-found frequency tripler to make simplex contacts on 1296 MHz.
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[@johnorrells3797]

Note your deviation will triple, so you may need to hold mic further away.

[@owenvinall9970]

Hi Peter. Im very interested in this video. Cant wait to try it.

[@radioastronomy2001]

Great video. Thank you for posting.

[@trevorwoods3367]

Thanks for this video Peter. This project has got me really interested in doing some experimentation in this area. I went off and did some reading about it. I've been playing around with down converters on the receiver side, so this may be my next area of interest. Not to try and transmit to someone, but to see if I can triple an input frequency. I'm drawn to the fact that it's passive, not many parts, but I'm also aware that at those frequencies things need to be done right.
My first thought was that I didn't have the varactor diode. I read this in a forum from quite a few years back.
"You can use almost any diode as a multiplier, the BAY96 is just a high power rated varicap, optimised for multiplier use but any fast switching diode will work to some degree. You might find some newer devices work better than the BAY96 which is probably around 30 years old by now."
"You can try other diode types, as I understand the varactor operation in this circuit, it releases energy at the higher frequency because it's charge changes as it's capacitance varies in sympathy with the voltage applied across it. The same will happen with almost any diode but to allow it to work at microwave frequencies it need to have low initial capacitance but a relatively high V/C ratio. You would have to experiment to find which diode worked best but I would start with silicon signal switching diodes with fast recovery time."

[@russturner3454]

Terrific outcome Peter after thorough research and construction. Busy today but will listen next time you come up. Cheers Russ VK3ART

[@SawdustSoftwareSiliconChippy]

Wow, that's great. Imagine how difficult it was in the 70's, to build anything in the UHF (and up) frequencies. everything was esoteric and exotic, a mixture of art, and magic. Now it's a cheap store-bought dongle 🙄. And another great example of what's possible, with junk-box parts.
Thank you Peter, another great presentation.
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[@hobbified]

Dave Jones has his moldy meters, but you've got moldy pliers.

[@foxbat888]

You have the knack of getting projects to work Peter, really impressive. Could replace your bi-quad with a multi element yagi for more gain I suppose

[@youtubeaccount931]

Very cool. Good find! I look forward to your 23cm experiments.

[@5x9withQSB]

Great project