if they can make a SSB radio that small, it wouldn't be that much more work to fit it all in a handheld casing.
I dreamed of building one this morning.....
if I could take that little radio cut the circuit board in half .. I would try to put it in a TRC 216 radio style case ...the TRC 216 case is 3.50" wide .2.25" deep and 9.25" tall not a real comfortable handheld case... but I think it could all easily fit
I think I could use the actual display as it doesn't look wider then 3 inches?
I think I could mount the knob on the top of the case and all the push buttons on the front.... so just one knob on top
I would put a TNC connector instead of a BNC connector on top as the BNC antenna's wear out very quickly and wobble and don't make a good connection then I would include a 51 inch telescoping tall HYS TNC antenna and a TNC rubber duck antenna from a President Randy
both are about the best available
if there is room in the case I would have a threaded hole on top that either the 9 inch rubber duck or the 9 inch telescoping antenna could slide into with a screw on plastic tube top... think of a cigar tube .... maybe 1 inch tall ..... this way you can carry the radio and use the rubber duck around the neighborhood for a couple miles ... or unscrew the 1 inch water proof cigar tube top and shake out the telescoping antenna and then put the rubber duck antenna in the hole and screw the top back on.... this way you carry one radio and always have either antenna
I think the battery usage would be the hardest part to over come... if I used 9 alkaline batteries 1.5 volts X 9 = 13.50 volts with two dummy batteries
or I could use 11 rechargeable batteries 1.2 volts X 11 = 13.20 volts
I don't think it would transmit the SSB 15 watts on those batteries... if it did it would only last a few minutes.... even on low power I don't think it could transmit on SSB for very long.... I would have to try to limit the SSB down to 2 watts like the Cherokee did when they made a SSB radio.... but I would try to get the most watts I could that would let it transmit for 90 minutes or so
I would include a cigarette lighter cord that would power it ... the cord would have an adapter just like the Cobra HH50 so it could be plugged into the power jack or the recharging jack on the side of the radio....so it could recharge those 11 rechargeable batteries
cord that can power or recharge ( two plugs ) .... I would also include a 120 volt wall plug adapter
wall plug to cigarette plug adapter
so now that one cord can wall charge the batteries........ wall power the radio.... or power it from a vehicle or charge the batteries from the vehicle ( those NI-MH 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries take 14 to 16 hours to recharge..... so vehicle recharging would not be smart)
so this would be the ultimate handheld SSB AM /FM radio... I'll call it the Steve G. 1
if I had some skill ( and $20,000 ) I'd make this happen ... but I'm sure Luiton would find out I stole their product and installed it into a handheld case and I'd be sued... but I would think it won't be long before SOMEONE does this!!!!
