Here's another all band SSB/CW? ?HF kit you might consider:
? ??
About the same price as the uBitx, once you count the cost of the enclosure.
Its predecessor, the QCX single band CW rig, gets high marks.
And Hans has a good reputation for well engineered kits with good documentation.
Advantages of uBitx:
? ? The uBitx exists, the QSX is not yet being shipped.
? ? The uBitx is all analog, a nice traditional radio, whereas the QSX uses DSP algorithms on an ARM processor to implement an SDR.
? ? What firmware is on the uBitx Raduino is open source so you can fiddle with it, code for the QSX is not available
? ? uBitx comes mostly built up for you, the QSX will be some bare boards and a bag of parts
Advantages of the QSX (conjecture, not yet being shipped yet):
? ? Probably has clean QSK and a good keyer, given the lineage of the CW only QCX
? ? Includes SWR detector, providing protection for final amp
? ? Includes standalone digital modes for PSK31, RTTY, WSPR
? ? Includes USB port (soundcard interface) from ARM processor to host PC for other digital modes
So if you are looking for a cheap all band all mode HF rig and are handy with a soldering iron, I'd consider the QSX.
If you want to tinker, especially if you want to tinker with analog circuits and Arduino code, get the uBitx.
If undecided, get both.
Jerry, KE7ER
