Sixty years ago this month, the August 1963 issue of Popular Electronics carried the plans for this outboard BFO, dubbed the “Code Bander.” The two-transistor circuit would add CW and SSB capabilities to any receiver, making them useful for the novice ham.

No internal connections were required to the radio, because this BFO operated not at the receiver’s IF frequency, but on the same frequency as the received signal. It covered 3.5 – 4 MHz, the 80 meter ham band. It was usable on the other ham bands thanks to the harmonics.

The designer and author is familiar to our readers, Hartland Smith, W8VFD, later W8QX. Smith became a silent key in 2022, but we were privileged to exchange a few e-mails with him prior to his death.