I’m not commenting, however, on some specs like filtering, as they have not been finalized for production and are still subject to change.

I’ve had it on the air several times–I’ve also popped the cover and given it a thorough inspection and workout. Last week, TEN-TEC sent me a prototype of the Rebel to Beta test. Of course, since the Chip Kit controls the DDS chip, you can re-program how the Rebel manages frequencies. There is no VFO, but a DDS chip that is highly stable and that allows the Chip Kit Uno 32 to select a frequency upon which to operate. When you turn on the radio, it comes up on the QRP calling frequency of 7.030 MHz or 14.060 MHz, depending on which band is selected. The basic Rebel comes with no frequency display. The user changes bands by moving jumpers inside the chassis, mounted on the PC board. The Rebel is a CW-only transceiver that operates on 40 or 20 meters. In addition, even if you don’t have any idea how to program, someone has already created a web-based email group where users can upload and share code packages, and you can select someone else’s programming to test drive. So if you can’t get past an error, you can always revert to a safe default copy. The original base program can be re-flashed to the radio at any time. Users can tinker with code without fear that they might harm their Rebel 506.

No need to wait on firmware revisions firmware, in a sense, will be crowd-sourced! That’s to say, it uses online collaboration–a great idea.Īccording to TEN-TEC, the programming environment is very safe. Users then have full access to develop and program the Rebel via an open-source platform, themselves. (For those of you not familiar with the Arduino series, check out this article.)Īnd I have to admit, I love the concept: TEN-TEC delivers a factory-built, uber-simple transceiver, with just enough programming to reliably get you on the air with a basic radio (see details below).

The TEN-TEC Model 506 Rebel is an open-source (meaning, anybody can program it), factory-built QRP transceiver based on a Chip Kit Uno 32 Arduino-compatible prototyping platform, which serves as the main processing unit that holds the Rebel’s program. Today, at the QRP ARCI convention–Four Days In May–TEN-TEC will announce a new QRP transceiver based upon a completely different platform than any others rigs they have in production: a QRP radio, built on the chipKIT™ Uno32™ (Arduino-based software) to be known as the Model 506 Rebel.Īnd, folks, I’ve been lucky enough to get my mitts on a prototype…! The TEN-TEC Model 506 Rebel 20/40 meter QRP Transceiver (Photo: TEN-TEC–click to enlarge)

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