As it turns out, QST has accepted my AA article for publication...don't know when that will be, but they said "in 2017". As you know, there is an assembly manual for the AA and we will be selling a PCB for it. The 3.5" TFT display (mcufriend) plugs directly into one side of the PCB while the other side holds the AD9850 and Mega 2560 Pro Mini. (I think there's a picture of it in the assembly manual.) The bare PCB will sell for about $10.
Farrukh is redoing the PCB right now so I can use a smaller 2.4" TFT display (again, mcufriend) and VFO with the BITX40. He's bringing out more of the Mega I/O lines to a header for user hacking. (You can use the 3.5" display, but at this moment the X-Y coordinates are hard-coded so using a larger display "works", but is not expanded to fit the larger display. If I have time, I'll rewrite this to adjust at runtime.) Dennis and I are working to add some other features to the BITX with the additional circuitry being placed on a Muppet board. Hopefully all this will be ready for FDIM.
Next week I'll be pitching the BITX40 to my club members for a build. If they approve it, I'll be writing an "assembly manual" for that build and would make it available here. (True, there's not much to do, but some members have zero building experience and are more willing to participate if a manual is available.) If any of you read my March, 2016, article, you know that I'm very interested in dispelling the public perception that ham radio is only for the rich. Ashhar's work, plus everything contributed by this group, helps to put a small chink in that perception and I appreciate his work as well as everyone else who has added to the knowledge base.
