I've given my report before, but I'll throw it in here for giggles.
My uBITX is my first HF rig.? I ordered to close the deal on getting my Extra.? I got my Extra 2 weeks later and got my CW up to 13wpm (5 char, random) as penance for not getting my ticket 30 years ago.
While waiting for my uBITX to arrived I read every...single...post, looked up part numbers, googled what it did when I didn't understand it, ordered some extras, practiced my soldering and read some more.? I ordered the SMD practice boards, a new soldering iron and some spare IRF510's and RD16's as well as some SMD kits.
uBITX arrived, I soldered it up and started the "Junkyard Dogs" thread here for my complete lack of regard for aesthetics.? I fired it up and couldn't get any SSB QSO's with my EFHW, so I found the CW key memory and sent "TEST AG5OV TEST" a few times and checked the RBNs....IT LIVED, I was getting out!
Next I updated the firmware to Ian's fantastic work and soldered up a home grown EasyDigi interface and plugged it into a RPi.? I've been running FT8 and WSPR almost continuously since I turned it on a couple months ago.? I'm over 700 digital QSOs, 0 SSB (it'll come, no rush) and 0 CW (printed up a key, just need to wire it up).? It's been, simply, fantastic.? I'm so very glad I went with the uBITX as my first HF rig, the experience with both the product and the support here has been more than I could have imagined.? It's what I got into ham for, to explore, to learn, to discover to get that spark in the mind of "ah ha!".
I wouldn't change a thing, even my dreaded WX2822...where I got to down convert to 12.1v instead of running at full 13.8.? If I had wanted to make eleventy-seven DX SSB QSO's in the first week then I wouldn't have picked the uBITX.? I don't need that, I yearn for discovery and and exploration.
I'll add that I have a 2nd uBITX still in box that I need to wire up and put across town.? I'm super interested in not just digital modes, but data modes and having my own testbed with rigs across town and network access to each end will be great fun.
73 Rob AG5OV
