Store link
3
Hi guys, new here. Where would I find a link to the store for the 20w pa board kit? -- Mike - K8MCB
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Bill's SSB Contest Station J62K 28.452
9
Just worked St Lucia on 10M with my T41, the signal is hammering in to south Florida. I used an MFJ loop antenna, so my radiated power was probably on the order of 1 watt. 73 Greg KF5N
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Alternative to Pico?
2
All: I've also experimented with the XIAO processor from Seeed Studio. It's about the size of your thumbnail and costs $5: It has 256K of flash and 32K of SRAM with 19 general I/O pins, ADC/DAC pins. I have used earlier versions of this microprocessor and is compatible with the Arduino IDE and libraries...I haven't found a library yet that didn't work, but there may be some. I use this over the Nano--the clock is 2x faster, a lot more memory, and a much smaller footprint. I don't know if it speed is fast enough for T41 I/O duties. More specs at: https://www.seeedstudio.com/Seeed-XIAO-RA4M1-p-5943.html Jack, W8TEE -- Jack, W8TEE
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RP Pico 2
3
All: I just read that the RP Pico 2 is now capable of running at 200MHz, up from 133MHz earlier. Using CMake, the new speed setting in the compiler is a symbolic constant: PICO_USE_FASTEST_SUPPORTED_CLOCK=1. I don't know if the Arduino IDE recognizes this or not. There's been interest here in using the Pico as a second I/O processor in the T41. The Pico W has 26 I/O pins, 2Mb of Flash, and WiFi/Bluetooth support. No price was given for the Pico 2 nor did it say anything about WiFi/Bluetooth support, but the standard Pico W is about $8-$10. If I see additional info, I'll post it here. Jack, W8TEE -- Jack, W8TEE
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fix bent heatsink with 3d printed combs
3
Yesterday's delivery brought a bent heatsink. I didn't want to throw out something that was still usable or use it so mangled so I did what we do. I drew and printed 2 combs in a few minutes to try to fix it in two steps. I might try another round with tighter tolerances but I can live with this. I did not take pictures along the way but this should explain... tap the first comb down into the fins before the damage. using a wood block (or you could print something) so you don't do more damage, drive the comb all the out the damaged end. repeat with the second comb. Happy to share stl's if anyone cares. This is the heatsink https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805608902122.html I bought the 150mm variation that will eventually go on a K9HZ 20w PA. Doug AC9RZ
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I'm Back!
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I*m back from vacation# so I can ship parts/ boards/ kits/ etc. again now. Go ahead, let me have it. POW! Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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USPS Ban on China - Follow up...
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To follow up: ※The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday night that it is temporarily suspending accepting packages sent from China and Hong Kong until further notice. The suspension is effective immediately, the USPS said. Letters and flats are not included in the suspension, it said.§ USPS temporarily suspends accepting packages from China and Hong Kong Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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[SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 SDT Code Issues
Huh.... I also use a separate data server (with a hot spare... dual connections to drives that are mirrored) using Samba to backup all of my files (for my business)... and our 96TB video server in the house. I've got an old Dell tape drive that I make incremental backups as well. Looks like some of us are scared of data loss! Looks like you should be able to get you data back to at least a week ago... Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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[SoftwareControlledHamRadio] CAT
Like this? Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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For you designer builders...
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I attended an online seminar/ instruction/ discussions today (with a friend of mine) regarding power supply devices and I learned a lot. First off 7805 voltage regulators are very noisy# in fact generate 40nV of noise at best. That noise gets into the A/D and D/A so with a 24 bit A/D with resolution of 298 nV (on 5V# its worse on 3V being 179nv)m that 40nV gives you a much higher noise floor and less dynamic range. Buck/boost regulators are far worse. There are ultra-low noise regulators that should be used with projects that use high resolution A/D and D/A converters in radios# like the LT3042 and LT3042 that are about 80db below a linear regular in noise generation. They are about 10x more expensive than the 7805 series regulators, but are critical to low noise floors. As a result, when I get time (and that may be years from now)# I*ll make some measurements on the T41 hardware for absolute noise floor and then sub in these low noise regulators and see what I measure. [nb. my thought would be to make small vertical boards with these low noise regulators on them# which are flat packs# to simply replace the 7805 type regulator with heatsink]. Lots to do. Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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Panel connectors to V11 main board
I was wondering what the preferred method is to connect the key, PTT panel jacks to a V11 board. Thanks Howard VE3HBH
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FW: [FlexRadioSmartSDR] Adaptive Predistortion Progress
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Interesting# Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@... From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of K1VF1970 via groups.io Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2025 10:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FlexRadioSmartSDR] Adaptive Predistortion Progress As a followup to an abbreviated post last month, attached is a more complete summary of recent IMD measurements of adaptive pre-distortion capabilities on a traditional vacuum tube and a more modern LDMOS Linear Amplifier. With the recent announcements by Flex of a long anticipated and highly requested feature, these results demonstrate what's possible, and certainly set the bar for IMD performance. Vince, K1VF
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T41 BPF results
These are great, Oliver. If it's okay with you, could you send me the hi-rez versions of the graphs? Al and I would like to include them in the book. BTW, I tweaked the toroids in the LPF board to match their table values. As it turns out, they are very close as is. I fiddled with the turn spacing on a few, but did not have to add or subtract turns for any toroid. I've attached the table. Below is the first band in the table to illustrate what the file contains: Band Inductor Type (Core) Turns Wire Length 160M L3 T68-2 (Red) 30 25.00§ L14 T68-2 (Red) 28 23.50§ L25 T68-2 (Red) 30 25.00 The wire length is taken from the Kits and Parts table (https://kitsandparts.com/xtoroids.html) but I changed the wire length to account for the #20 gauge wire that is suggested if you plan to use Bill's 100W PA. (The K&P table is for #26 gauge wire and the 20W PA.) I also added about an inch to each length so you have enough for generous pigtails. Alas, the Crochet Hook Method for winding cores doesn't lend itself to the heavier gauge and small core diameter. Just take your time and you'll be fine. I will also be posting the table to the SCHR site. Jack, W8TEE On Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 02:23:34 PM EST, Oliver KI3P via groups.io <oliver@...> wrote: I wound another V12 bandpass filter board to replace the prototype board in my radio. I'm pretty happy with the performance. Here are some plots showing the measured transmission curves for all the channels. I measured and tweaked the inductance for every core and ended up with values that often differ from the recommended values. You can find a fill write up with all the details of the core windings and a comparison of each filter to the ELSIE simulation on my blog here: https://www.ki3p.me/2025/02/15/t41_bpf_winding.html Cheers, Oliver KI3P -- Jack, W8TEE
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CAT Transmit
All: The final version of the code is about to be released by Al and I and we are turning it over to Oliver to care for it in the future. There are coding style differences that some people will disagree with, and that's fine. Jerry has be active in working with the code and prefers another style. What follows is my response to some of the questions he raised. ============= It is kinda a matter of choice and style. As to finding function prototypes, I have tried to maintain those alphabetically in the SDT.h header file. I've done the same for globals. The problem is that more than one person is editing the code and header file(s). Also, you landed on one of my pet peeves: the confusion between the terms "define" and "declare". They are not the same terms. You said: A class definition doesn't assign storage. That is incorrect. From the 2nd edition of the K&R C book, page 210: Declarations specify the interpretation given to each identifier; they do not necessarily reserve storage associated with the identifier. Declarations that reserve storage are called definitions. The first sentence above means that a declaration creates an attribute list for each variable and stores it in the symbol table. Because declarations do not allocate storage for the variable, that attribute list will NOT contain an entry that specifies where in memory to find that variable. This memory location is called the lvalue of a variable. (What a variable contains is called the rvalue. The terms lvalue and rvalue are likely hangovers from assembly language programming for location (lvalue) and register (rvalue) concepts.) It is only after a definition of the variable that it has an lvalue that can be added to the attribute list found in the symbol table. If anyone still thinks they are the same, then have them explain the need for the C extern keyword. The extern keyword was created specifically because of the need to use a variable in one file when it is defined in another file. The data declaration in one file: extern int myVariable; says to the compiler: "I know this variable is not defined in this file, but you can assume it's an int variable named myVariable and it is defined elsewhere in the program." Think of the compiler generating the code for the variable but instead of suppling the variable's lvalue, it leaves "????" in the generated code where the lvalue should be. Then, in the Arduino environment, in the INO file we find the definition of myVariable: int myVariable; which is the program statement that defines the variable myVariable. This definition allocates storage and allows the compiler to fill in the lvalue for this variable in the symbol table. Now, after the compiler finishes, the linker comes along looking at the generated code from the compiler and sees the ???? marker in the object file, looks in the symbol table for ???? in the symbol table, and substitutes that variable's lvalue for the ???? marker. When it's done with that, the linker continues to stitch in the code from the libraries and any other extern declarations to generate the final program code. Using the terms define and declare as if they are the same concepts is wrong, but most programmers fail to make the distinction. Indeed, even Microsoft's documentation treats the two terms the same. Programming is confusing enough without confusing the terms that are integral to it. Jack, W8TEE On Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 10:59:24 AM EST, jerry <jerry@...> wrote: I'm not a fan of this coding approach where class methods are defined > in a header file...I just don't like to see executable code in a > header file. Nor do I like the idea of each cpp file having it's own > header file. I just seems like clutter to me. On the other side, I > think this was written by Paul and I have the utmost respect for his > code. Kinda a rock/hard-place for me. > > Jack, W8TEE I OTOH like the idea of a matching header file for each .cpp file. Having everything in SDT.h seems.... like clutter. Lots of scanning up & down in that huge file. How to find the prototypes to call stuff in CAT.cp
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RX-888
3
Anyone here have a RX-888 MK-II SDR working? Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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Right-Left Rule Examples:
I presented the Right-Left Rule in the C Programming Guide book (1982) and there have been lots of examples written since then. This is a list of example you might use to test your understanding of the Rule, including some illegal data definitions: Here are some legal and illegal examples: Jack, W8TEE int i; // an int int *p; // an int pointer (ptr to an int) int a[]; // an array of ints int f(); // a function returning an int int **pp; // a pointer to an int pointer (ptr to a ptr to an int) int (*pa)[]; // a pointer to an array of ints int (*pf)(); // a pointer to a function returning an int int *ap[]; // an array of int pointers (array of ptrs to ints) int aa[][]; // an array of arrays of ints int af[](); // an array of functions returning an int (ILLEGAL) int *fp(); // a function returning an int pointer int fa()[]; // a function returning an array of ints (ILLEGAL) int ff()(); // a function returning a function returning an int (ILLEGAL) int ***ppp; // a pointer to a pointer to an int pointer int (**ppa)[]; // a pointer to a pointer to an array of ints int (**ppf)(); // a pointer to a pointer to a function returning an int int *(*pap)[]; // a pointer to an array of int pointers int (*paa)[][]; // a pointer to an array of arrays of ints int (*paf)[](); // a pointer to a an array of functions returning an int (ILLEGAL) int *(*pfp)(); // a pointer to a function returning an int pointer int (*pfa)()[]; // a pointer to a function returning an array of ints (ILLEGAL) int (*pff)()(); // a pointer to a function returning a function returning an int (ILLEGAL) int **app[]; // an array of pointers to int pointers int (*apa[])[]; // an array of pointers to arrays of ints int (*apf[])(); // an array of pointers to functions returning an int int *aap[][]; // an array of arrays of int pointers int aaa[][][]; // an array of arrays of arrays of ints int aaf[][](); // an array of arrays of functions returning an int (ILLEGAL) int *afp[](); // an array of functions returning int pointers (ILLEGAL) int afa[]()[]; // an array of functions returning an array of ints (ILLEGAL) int aff[]()(); // an array of functions returning functions returning an int (ILLEGAL) int **fpp(); // a function returning a pointer to an int pointer int (*fpa())[]; // a function returning a pointer to an array of ints int (*fpf())(); // a function returning a pointer to a function returning an int int *fap()[]; // a function returning an array of int pointers (ILLEGAL) int faa()[][]; // a function returning an array of arrays of ints (ILLEGAL) int faf()[](); // a function returning an array of functions returning an int (ILLEGAL) int *ffp()(); // a function returning a function returning an int pointer (ILLEGAL) -- Jack, W8TEE
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Comparison of the K4 to the T41 on frequency stability
2
Have a look at these two notes. An easy comparison of the K4 at $7K vs the T41# not completely 1:1 but close enough#. From Al##########################. I just tried my rig with the Ver53.12 I sent you for frequency accuracy. I am using the TXCO and waited about 30 minutes to let everything warm up. First checked the T41frequency calibration with my Rubidium 10MHz source, WWV@10MHz, and my Siglent SDG2122X Sig Gen at 10MHz. All three indicated a T41 frequency error of about -0.4Hz, using the T41 SAM AM detection method. Then transmitted into a 50 ohm DL at 7.200000MHz and measured the frequency on my HP 53131A counter and SA. The counter result was 7.200000.8 MHz, a 0.8Hz difference and less than 1Hz with the SA. The Siglent 3021X SA was set to 7.200000MHz center freq with a span of 1KHz and BW of 1 Hz. The Rubidium source showed 10.000000.85 on the counter. Looks like my counter needs to be recalibrated slightly. On the Siglent 3021X SA, set to 10.00MHz with a span of 1KHz and BW of 1 Hz, the reading was 10.000000. Hz, so I am pretty certain of my sources and the frequency readouts. The T41 CW transmit frequency was within 1 HZ out of 7.200000MHz. I would suggest you check the calibration of your T41 with WWV, if you can, using the SAM AM detection mode. And this for the K4 from Jim N8OQ##################. From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of James DeYoung - N8OQ via groups.io Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2025 6:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft-K4] K4 On FMT This afternoon while it snowed I did 2 minute sampling of each of the Bodnar GPSDO carrier located at 7.05000 MHz, CHU 7.850000 and CHU 3.330000 MHz. The K4 frequency on the display was positioned to put the each carrier at +2 KHz near the middle of the receive passband. WSJT-X FreqCal was used to make the measurements for two minutes sampling (Measured - K4 Tuned display) to the nearest 0.001 Hz. The summary stats follow. The spec for the K4 is 0.1 PPM using just the internal TCXO. So all three of these checks show better than the spec. There are still small state changes in the data but within the K4 spec. My K4 was actively using the 10-MHz input, Menu: Ext Ref. Lock. Somewhere I read, but couldn't find the note today, was that a 10-MHz external input was not expected to bring huge improvements in frequency accuracy/stabiliity over the internal TCXO. Jim (N8OQ)
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Display Board evaluation help
6
I have a couple of the 3.3V ONLY display boards prebuilt and I want a couple of volunteers to test them out. They have to be: 1) people with working radios, and 2) have displays that misbehave (meaning if you move them around, elongate the cable, etc# the processor locks up). I don*t really have the problem so its hard for me to fully evaluate if the display driver boards completely solve this issue. Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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No Audio V12 troubleshooting
2
I looked at pin 24 on Tweensy, Daudio-Out that goes to U5 audio processor. There is a signal there but it does not look any thing like a digital signal, I do see an occasional spike that coinsides with pulse I hear in headphones. Anyone ever looked at the D-Audio output from Tweensy with a scope to see what it looks like? Tim W4YN
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Easy metal production facilities
5
Well# this is interesting: Laser Cutting and Sheet Metal Services | OSH Cut Wonder what is would cost to make a case for the T41 ? Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch 每 K9ZC Staunton, Illinois Owner 每 Operator Villa Grand Piton 每 J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO. Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO. email: bill@...
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