I’ve been passing on news in this blog about Jason NT7S’ upcoming QRP transceiver kit, which he initially referred to as “Project X” before revealing the name of the series of transceivers as the CC series, and the first model for 40M, the CC-40. He also told us that his new open-source amateur radio company will be called etherkit.
I was thrilled to find out that I’ll be beta-testing the CC-40 which is great news. I finally have a 40M antenna that seems to perform quite well – an inverted vee dipole with the center at 47 feet. I’ve never beta-tested a product before, and the idea of doing so is quite novel to me. I’m not a circuit design person, but am quite proficient at building circuits and kits to other people’s instructions. This makes me, I think, closely fit the profile of the kind of people who build kits, and therefore, good material for a beta tester. That’s my tin pot theory anyway!
I do like to take my own pictures of the projects embarked on here at AA7EE to break up the monotony of all-text blog posts, so as long as it’s OK with Jason, I’ll be posting pictures of the pre-production versions of the CC-40 and letting you know how construction, as well as operation, goes. When at the workbench I’ll have a radio tuned to 7030 and will be eager to try the CC-40 out on the same, or similar, frequency.
One recent update of Jason’s did make me happy, and that is that he has decided to include a sinewave sidetone. This does increase the current consumption of the circuit, but in my opinion, should make for a much better operating experience.
I’m not quite sure when beta testing will begin, but it looks like it will be a matter of weeks. As always, ground zero for updates on the CC-40 and CC series of transceivers will be at the upcoming etherkit site and on Jason NT7S’ blog.
Dave Richards AA7EE 
That’s great Dave – I’m sure Jason made his decision in part based on your great write-up and photos of the Fort Tuthill 80 a few month ago. You can clearly articulate your building experience (and document it photographically) – exactly what a new designer needs as useful feedback.
Thanks John. I’ve bundled up my 2N2 and Tut 80 and stored them out of the way so that there is room on the worktop for a new project – namely the CC-40. The soldering iron is waiting and I’m ready!