A message popped up on the QRP-L mailing list yesterday from Dave Benson, K1SWL with news of a new offering from the former Small Wonder Labs alchemist. I’ve been wondering what Dave might be up to these days and it seems he’s been keeping the cobwebs at bay with another new transceiver kit along with George Heron, N2APB:

The OLD FRIEND Transceiver™ is a single-board, 6 Watt Direct-Conversion Transceiver specifically designed by Dave Benson, K1SWL for CW operation . The OLD FRIEND is capable of transmitting and receiving on the 80m, 40m, 30m, or 20m bands.

This project pays homage to our early days in QRP. For home brewers, a functioning D-C rig was a real accomplishment in those days. The Old Friend (“OF”) incorporates newer technology in the form of digitally-controlled tuning and an LCD readout and includes both Iambic Keyer and Straight Key functionality. The OF further features good audio quality by virtue of its ‘relaxed’ approach to audio filtering.

Dave said of it, “My last kit project after a long hiatus. There are always other projects here, but for my own enjoyment…” I don’t know if he meant this is his ‘last’ and final kit design or just his ‘latest’ kit project, but I’ve little doubt this will be yet another winner in a long line of K1SWL designs.

All the details here. The first run is sold out but another is on the way. An optional enclosure will soon be available. $63. How can you go wrong?