I
tried a Si5351 VFO once in the dual-band rig #4, but by the time I built the
QRP Labs kit with so much closely-spaced soldering, and then added
sufficient filtering and amplification to properly drive a 50 ohm load, I
was exhausted!
These nine were created during the past eight years, and
were preceded by eight more transceivers that I can document, but those have
all been disassembled, with many of the parts being used in these later
rigs. I build my transceivers to be
operated often, and since 20 Meters has been hot lately, for example, my POTA
Hunter log shows over 300 CW and SSB contacts in 2023 alone, so rig numbers 7 -
9 have been earning their keep lately.
In summary I have created a lifetime total of seventeen transceivers so far, and although I am nowhere near the fifty-plus tally of Pete N6QW, I did spend a lot of years instead homebrewing many radio-controlled model airplanes of my own design. Two photos show one example that I flew in the 2011 Blue Max Scale R/C Contest at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida against some stiff QRO competition.
—Walter KA4KXX