From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Don - KM4UDX <dontAy155@...>
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2019 1:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BITX20] New build - setup / calibrartion question #calibration #ssb

Yes, I'm sorry the calibration and BFO process is such a muddle. Others here can help more, I'm sure.

In summary, all the various procedures and descriptions boil down to going into setup mode, adjusting the calibration #, saving it, then observing the current displayed freq vs the freq that you know you are listening to.? Repeat until the display freq matches the actual TX freq. Simple right? And adjusting the BFO process is also simple...tune to a known freq, and adjust the BFO in the setup menu until it sounds good, save the new setting. Repeat till you are happy. What? Excuse me? Hun? hhahaha.?

All that sounds easy, but it isn't, at least for me. How do I know what frequency WWV or CUV is? I mean they both take up a bit of bandwidth. Where exactly in the signal spread do I tune to? And depending on what the reference is sending, the signal spread can change like mad....e.g., a tone vs a voice. And what about the sidebands on voice? ahhhhh....help me.....Yeeks, what a mess.?

I ended up finding a sort of random signal on my SDR that looked like it was really narrow, on a simple frequency with a bunch of zeros, and it didn't change.? I figured it was really on that freq and used it as a reference. God help me if it was off. Because I wouldn't have a clue. With that sig, I did the above process.? For a newbie, this is totally obscure mess and felt like stumbling to success, in the dark, with a? blindfold on, and your shoelaces tied together.?

In my helplessness, I ended up going to a wise and kind mentor, who took pity on my youthful ignorance and general cluelessness.? He helped me get a grip on what we were trying to do. I pretend to understand. hahaha. But his help was totally essential for me to get anyplace.? For him, adjusting uBITX BFO? was a normal as milk on cereal: automatic and natural. For me, it was like...what? hahaha.

My budda like guru is the world renowned Dan W3BU. Who just happens to post about BFOing in this forum.? Here he wrote about using another radio while adjusting his uBITX.



His post might help.? Feel free to ask him anything. I did. hahah.

If you are a visual type, here is a good youtube vid on uBITX BFOing.



At the end of the day, you'll just go into setup menu and tweak the calibration # until the freq display is close to where it should be.? If you use the memory manager, the process is much faster as you change the value in the MM, write it to the ubitx, and observe how much you improved or screwed things up.? And iterate your way to success.? But regardless of interface, the essential process is identical.?

Don
km4udx