Re: sBitx Update Kit Received!
#sBitx
Attached is a picture (if I can figure out how to attach one) of a factory modified sBitx which I received from my basic kit order last week. The black (ground) wire is soldered to the pad under the screw. The old regulator leads were clipped off at the board level.
Looks like a simple way to do the mod without removing the main board.
Lou? W2ROW
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Re: N..looking for eed current Nextion tft
#nextion
#v6
Hi Mark, do you have the nextion enhanced 2.8 screen firmware. am looking for a hex file to use with xloader. or whatever
you may suggest..
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Please provide sBitx hardware information
#sBitx
Hello everyone. My name is EBARA from Japan. My call sign is JE1JGC.
I have ordered "sBitx Fully Assembled" and am waiting for it to arrive.
In order to use sBitx in Japan, you need to follow a certain procedure.
To do so, the sBitx
Block diaphragm
We need to know the name of the end-stage tubes, number of tubes, voltage, etc.
Is there any information available somewhere?
Best regards.
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Which model of Bitx is this ?
Sounds like some SMPS spurs drifting.
Raj, vu2zap
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On 12/09/2022 1:58 PM, DEBAJYOTI DAS wrote: My bitx has fixed noise issue from 21.3180 to 21.3480 Mhz ,how to fixed that?noise. Attechment bellow
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Hi all, has anyone got the 2.8 Nextion enhanced files available, can only find 3.2 inch, would appreciate your help.
Art G3XNE
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My bitx has fixed noise issue from 21.3180 to 21.3480 Mhz ,how to fixed that?noise. Attechment bellow
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Re: Some calculations on the IF filter and USB filter
Yes, I have been collecting the screens. They were scattered all over and was hard to find for a new owner of a uBITX. I am sure that there are some hidden gems there. On my todo list to try a few. :-)
73
Mark
AJ6CU?
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Re: sBitx Update Kit Received!
#sBitx
I did things a bit differently. I removed R79 and R80 (the voltage divider is no longer needed or wanted) and shorted the R80 location with a solder bridge (a short piece of bare wire or an SMD 0 ohm "resistor" would also work), so what used to be the reference terminal now connects to ground. That leaves C10 and C25 in place as bypass caps on the output.
As I received the rig, there was an electrolytic capacitor soldered across R80, which so far as I can tell is an incorrect placement of it; it's presumably C11, which is a 470uF part on the schematic but was a 47uF in my rig, and it was bypassing the part of the voltage divider that goes to ground. I moved that cap so one end is at the ground end of the R80 location (not that the end matters since it's turned into a short, but that end is closer!) and the other end goes to the same land as the red lead of the regulator -- in other words, the input. (With the?correct polarity of course.) I believe that's where it is SUPPOSED to be according to the schematic.
I think it will be easier for? people to cut out the LM338 and solder the regulator leads to the stubs. I DID disassemble the radio so I could desolder that part and it was a major pain; you have to undo a?lot of stuff to?get?to the bottom of the main board. If you instead cut out the regulator, you can get away with removing only?the top cover (disconnect the speaker cable and set the top aside) and loosening the front cover (supporting it so you don't have to disconnect the ribbon cable for the display which is a pain to put in) so you have room for your screwdriver. The leads on the LM338 are long enough that you'll probably be able to reuse it in another project even after cutting it out.
To cut out the LM338, remove two of the three screws (one end and center) that hold the bar that presses down on the PA transistors and the regulator and loosen the third screw. Pivot the bar out of the way. Remove the spacer from the middle transistor; now that the bar will only be pressing against two parts it's no longer needed. Cut the leads of the regulator (it's the TO-220 component closest to the power connector) near the PCB, leaving enough of a stub to solder the regulator leads to.
Solder the regulator to the stubs. The black wire goes to the leftmost position (while looking at where the LM338 used to be from the front of the radio), the white wire goes to the center, and the red wire to the right. That does NOT match the order of the wires on the switching regulator; you have to cross the black and white wires. I put electrical tape on the back of the regulator board so I could bend it down near the main PCB without having to worry about shorting anything. It should NOT be behind the pressure bar.
Put the pressure bar back into place, making sure that the central screw is snug and then tightening the other two so the transistors are held down well.
On Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 9:02 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: Goody, It might be better to solder the ground to the nearby mounting hole's tinned collar.? The switching regulator needs a low impedance ground. - f
I figured it out.? Here¡¯s what I did, translated into directions.? These are preliminary, your results may vary.
1.? Take off the top panel and disconnect the speaker.? Lay this aside. 2.? Disconnect the white ribbon cable going from the Pi to the touch screen display.? There are little black tabs on each side of the connector on the display unit that need to pop straight out in the direction of the ribbon cable to release the ribbon cable. 3.? Disconnect the brown and black wire (touch display power) from the digital board. 4.? Remove the gray ribbon cable out of the digital board by pulling the gray ribbon straight backwards. 5.? Loosen the two nuts on the right side holding the metal bracket that the Pi and the digital board is mount to.? Do not take the nuts entirely off. 6.? Pull the Pi and digital board assembly straight up to remove and set aside. 7.? Remove the four screws holding the main board to the chassis 8.? Disconnect the two red wires from the power switch on the back panel 9.? Remove screws on the four back corners of the outside of the chassis to remove the back panel along with the main board. 10.? Put the rest of the chassis with the screen and controls aside.? Carefully place the back panel and main board on your workbench and loosen the three screws holding the bar that presses the two final transistors and the LM338 regulator on to the back panel heatsink.? Remove the bar and three screws.? The main board should be loose from the back panel now. 11.? Unsolder the LM338.? With the front of the main board facing you, it¡¯s the first three pin device from the left on the back on the back that was against the heatsink. 12. Solder the black (ground) wire of the new switching regulator to the negative side of the orange electrolytic capacitor.? This capacitor is soldered on top of R80, a SMD resistor. 13. Solder the red switching regulator wire (+13.8 volt input) to the right-most pin where the LM338 used to be.? This is the input pin shown in the diagram below. 14. Solder the white switch regulator wire (output) to the middle pin, where the LM338 used to be.? This is the output pin shown below. ?(The first pin of the LM338, labeled ¡°Adjust" below, will remain open. 15.? Place the main board against the back panel.? Place the bar that presses the final transistors to the heatsink place.? Place the three screws back in, but do not tighten all the way.? Leave them rather loose. 16.? Place the main board and back panel together back into the main chassis.? Line up the three front jacks (mic, earphone, cw key) to the holes in the front panel.? Carefully push the back panel into place until it mates correctly with the side and bottom panels. 17.? Line up the main board with the four screw holes.? Place the four screws in, starting them, but leaving them slightly loose.? After all four are started, tighten all four. 18.? Tighten the three screws that are in the bar that presses the two final transistors on to the back panel heatsink.? Use your best judgement. ?(I tightened until the two final transistors would not move with me pressing my finger nail on the side of them.) 19. (Optional step) ?Connect the power.? Turn on the unit and use a voltmeter to verify that the white lead from the new switching regulator has about 5.4 volts on it.? If it is not close to 5.4 volts, stop and troubleshoot.? If it¡¯s good, turn off the unit, disconnector the power, and proceed. 20.? Re-assemble the remaining parts of the unit.? Slide the pi and digital board subassembly back in, being sure to have the pins on the bottom meting correctly with the connector on the main board.? Be sure to connect the gray ribbon cable to the back of the digital board (it is keyed so it can be inserted only one way), the white ribbon cable to the display unit (blue side down, silver side out), and black & brown power cable for the display going to the digital board (brown is down, black is up).? The assembly manual has pictures that can help (). 21.? Reinstall the top panel, connecting the speaker to the digital board prior to putting the top panel on. 22.? Connect the power, and power up!
73 Goody K3NG
Are there instructions for installing the new regulator board On Sep 10, 2022, at 11:32, Anthony Good <anthony.good@...> wrote:
Received my kit here in W3 land.? Yeahhhhh
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: Audio Amp Wi-Fi Interference
#sBitx
Anthony - from what I have seen on the Wi-Fi interference, the
best solution is to disable the w/f & use an ethernet cable.
Gerry Sherman
Sent by the Thunderbird
On 2022-09-12 02:05, Anthony Good
wrote:
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I just installed a new LM380 with a socket and it didn¡¯t solve the
Wi-Fi interference issue for me. ?It did however improve the audio
quality, especially at low volumes.
I say ¡°new¡± LM380, but it has a 1993 date code on
it¡.
Goody,
The guys ar HF Signals were
saying that these are faulty LM380s. A replacement
works without the interference. I will attempt this on
my own board and report back with week.
Has
anyone attempted to troubleshoot this issue recently??
This evening I placed a grounded piece of PC board on
top of the LM380 and also tried 0.001uF caps between
pins 14 & 3 and 7 & 8, to no avail.
I may just bypass the LM380 audio amp and place an
outboard 386 audio amp board in to drive the speaker¡.
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: Audio Amp Wi-Fi Interference
#sBitx
I just installed a new LM380 with a socket and it didn¡¯t solve the Wi-Fi interference issue for me. ?It did however improve the audio quality, especially at low volumes.
I say ¡°new¡± LM380, but it has a 1993 date code on it¡.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Goody, The guys ar HF Signals were saying that these are faulty LM380s. A replacement works without the interference. I will attempt this on my own board and report back with week. Has anyone attempted to troubleshoot this issue recently?? This evening I placed a grounded piece of PC board on top of the LM380 and also tried 0.001uF caps between pins 14 & 3 and 7 & 8, to no avail.
I may just bypass the LM380 audio amp and place an outboard 386 audio amp board in to drive the speaker¡.
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: sBitx Update Kit Received!
#sBitx
Goody, It might be better to solder the ground to the nearby mounting hole's tinned collar.? The switching regulator needs a low impedance ground. - f
I figured it out.? Here¡¯s what I did, translated into directions.? These are preliminary, your results may vary.
1.? Take off the top panel and disconnect the speaker.? Lay this aside. 2.? Disconnect the white ribbon cable going from the Pi to the touch screen display.? There are little black tabs on each side of the connector on the display unit that need to pop straight out in the direction of the ribbon cable to release the ribbon cable. 3.? Disconnect the brown and black wire (touch display power) from the digital board. 4.? Remove the gray ribbon cable out of the digital board by pulling the gray ribbon straight backwards. 5.? Loosen the two nuts on the right side holding the metal bracket that the Pi and the digital board is mount to.? Do not take the nuts entirely off. 6.? Pull the Pi and digital board assembly straight up to remove and set aside. 7.? Remove the four screws holding the main board to the chassis 8.? Disconnect the two red wires from the power switch on the back panel 9.? Remove screws on the four back corners of the outside of the chassis to remove the back panel along with the main board. 10.? Put the rest of the chassis with the screen and controls aside.? Carefully place the back panel and main board on your workbench and loosen the three screws holding the bar that presses the two final transistors and the LM338 regulator on to the back panel heatsink.? Remove the bar and three screws.? The main board should be loose from the back panel now. 11.? Unsolder the LM338.? With the front of the main board facing you, it¡¯s the first three pin device from the left on the back on the back that was against the heatsink. 12. Solder the black (ground) wire of the new switching regulator to the negative side of the orange electrolytic capacitor.? This capacitor is soldered on top of R80, a SMD resistor. 13. Solder the red switching regulator wire (+13.8 volt input) to the right-most pin where the LM338 used to be.? This is the input pin shown in the diagram below. 14. Solder the white switch regulator wire (output) to the middle pin, where the LM338 used to be.? This is the output pin shown below. ?(The first pin of the LM338, labeled ¡°Adjust" below, will remain open. 15.? Place the main board against the back panel.? Place the bar that presses the final transistors to the heatsink place.? Place the three screws back in, but do not tighten all the way.? Leave them rather loose. 16.? Place the main board and back panel together back into the main chassis.? Line up the three front jacks (mic, earphone, cw key) to the holes in the front panel.? Carefully push the back panel into place until it mates correctly with the side and bottom panels. 17.? Line up the main board with the four screw holes.? Place the four screws in, starting them, but leaving them slightly loose.? After all four are started, tighten all four. 18.? Tighten the three screws that are in the bar that presses the two final transistors on to the back panel heatsink.? Use your best judgement. ?(I tightened until the two final transistors would not move with me pressing my finger nail on the side of them.) 19. (Optional step) ?Connect the power.? Turn on the unit and use a voltmeter to verify that the white lead from the new switching regulator has about 5.4 volts on it.? If it is not close to 5.4 volts, stop and troubleshoot.? If it¡¯s good, turn off the unit, disconnector the power, and proceed. 20.? Re-assemble the remaining parts of the unit.? Slide the pi and digital board subassembly back in, being sure to have the pins on the bottom meting correctly with the connector on the main board.? Be sure to connect the gray ribbon cable to the back of the digital board (it is keyed so it can be inserted only one way), the white ribbon cable to the display unit (blue side down, silver side out), and black & brown power cable for the display going to the digital board (brown is down, black is up).? The assembly manual has pictures that can help (). 21.? Reinstall the top panel, connecting the speaker to the digital board prior to putting the top panel on. 22.? Connect the power, and power up!
73 Goody K3NG
Are there instructions for installing the new regulator board On Sep 10, 2022, at 11:32, Anthony Good <anthony.good@...> wrote:
Received my kit here in W3 land.? Yeahhhhh
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: Audio Amp Wi-Fi Interference
#sBitx
Goody, The guys ar HF Signals were saying that these are faulty LM380s. A replacement works without the interference. I will attempt this on my own board and report back with week.
Has anyone attempted to troubleshoot this issue recently?? This evening I placed a grounded piece of PC board on top of the LM380 and also tried 0.001uF caps between pins 14 & 3 and 7 & 8, to no avail.
I may just bypass the LM380 audio amp and place an outboard 386 audio amp board in to drive the speaker¡.
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: How to set bias on sBitx?
#sBitx
- set potis to minimum current
- Select Mode as USB. Reduce the MIC to zero.
- Press the PTT.
- Without speaking into the microphone, carefully increase the
DRIVE_BIAS POT until the current increases by 200 mA. Note the
current.
- Keeping the PTT on the microphone pressed, now increase the
PA_BIAS POT until the current increases by another 200 mA.
- Release the PTT.
hth
dg9bfc sigi
ps just a copy from manual
Am 11.09.2022 um 05:30 schrieb PeteWK8S
via groups.io:
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I just replaced the
finals Q18 and Q19 and discovered a cracked leg on driver Q16 so
replaced it.
What is the
procedure (or where is it documented) for adjusting the bias?
Pete WK8S
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Audio Amp Wi-Fi Interference
#sBitx
Has anyone attempted to troubleshoot this issue recently? This evening I placed a grounded piece of PC board on top of the LM380 and also tried 0.001uF caps between pins 14 & 3 and 7 & 8, to no avail.
I may just bypass the LM380 audio amp and place an outboard 386 audio amp board in to drive the speaker¡.
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: sBitx Update Kit Received!
#sBitx
Mine arrived in Friday¡¯s mail. Thank you, Ashhar!
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Re: corrupted sbitx directory files
#sBitx
Before you replace files, try deleting (or renaming) your settings file, /home/pi/sbitx/data/user_settings.ini. ?I have had it several times where upon restart of the app or restart of the Pi, something goes wonky and deleting the settings file fixes it. ?I haven¡¯t gotten to the bottom of it yet.
If you need to toss a hand grenade, I would do the following:
cd /home/pi mv ./sbitx ./sbitx.old git clone? cd ./sbitx ./build sbitx ./sbitx
73 Goody
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On Sep 11, 2022, at 18:12, PeteWK8S via < pmeier@...> wrote:
My directory of sbitx files is corrupted. When I launch it I get strong raspy pulsing noise.
I have tried to redown load it but it's not working.?
I know the sbitx files are corrupt as switching to the current sbitx-K3ng all is working properly and quietly.
I want to replace all the files as I don't what's corrupt in the main sbitx directory.
What are the proper terminal commands to do this please?
Pete WK8S
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corrupted sbitx directory files
#sBitx
My directory of sbitx files is corrupted. When I launch it I get strong raspy pulsing noise.
I have tried to redown load it but it's not working.?
I know the sbitx files are corrupt as switching to the current sbitx-K3ng all is working properly and quietly.
I want to replace all the files as I don't what's corrupt in the main sbitx directory.
What are the proper terminal commands to do this please?
Pete WK8S
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Re: sBitx Update Kit Received!
#sBitx
I figured it out. ?Here¡¯s what I did, translated into directions. ?These are preliminary, your results may vary.
1. ?Take off the top panel and disconnect the speaker. ?Lay this aside. 2. ?Disconnect the white ribbon cable going from the Pi to the touch screen display. ?There are little black tabs on each side of the connector on the display unit that need to pop straight out in the direction of the ribbon cable to release the ribbon cable. 3. ?Disconnect the brown and black wire (touch display power) from the digital board. 4. ?Remove the gray ribbon cable out of the digital board by pulling the gray ribbon straight backwards. 5. ?Loosen the two nuts on the right side holding the metal bracket that the Pi and the digital board is mount to. ?Do not take the nuts entirely off. 6. ?Pull the Pi and digital board assembly straight up to remove and set aside. 7. ?Remove the four screws holding the main board to the chassis 8. ?Disconnect the two red wires from the power switch on the back panel 9. ?Remove screws on the four back corners of the outside of the chassis to remove the back panel along with the main board. 10. ?Put the rest of the chassis with the screen and controls aside. ?Carefully place the back panel and main board on your workbench and loosen the three screws holding the bar that presses the two final transistors and the LM338 regulator on to the back panel heatsink. ?Remove the bar and three screws. ?The main board should be loose from the back panel now. 11. ?Unsolder the LM338. ?With the front of the main board facing you, it¡¯s the first three pin device from the left on the back on the back that was against the heatsink. 12. Solder the black (ground) wire of the new switching regulator to the negative side of the orange electrolytic capacitor. ?This capacitor is soldered on top of R80, a SMD resistor. 13. Solder the red switching regulator wire (+13.8 volt input) to the right-most pin where the LM338 used to be. ?This is the input pin shown in the diagram below. 14. Solder the white switch regulator wire (output) to the middle pin, where the LM338 used to be. ?This is the output pin shown below. ?(The first pin of the LM338, labeled ¡°Adjust" below, will remain open. 15. ?Place the main board against the back panel. ?Place the bar that presses the final transistors to the heatsink place. ?Place the three screws back in, but do not tighten all the way. ?Leave them rather loose. 16. ?Place the main board and back panel together back into the main chassis. ?Line up the three front jacks (mic, earphone, cw key) to the holes in the front panel. ?Carefully push the back panel into place until it mates correctly with the side and bottom panels. 17. ?Line up the main board with the four screw holes. ?Place the four screws in, starting them, but leaving them slightly loose. ?After all four are started, tighten all four. 18. ?Tighten the three screws that are in the bar that presses the two final transistors on to the back panel heatsink. ?Use your best judgement. ?(I tightened until the two final transistors would not move with me pressing my finger nail on the side of them.) 19. (Optional step) ?Connect the power. ?Turn on the unit and use a voltmeter to verify that the white lead from the new switching regulator has about 5.4 volts on it. ?If it is not close to 5.4 volts, stop and troubleshoot. ?If it¡¯s good, turn off the unit, disconnector the power, and proceed. 20. ?Re-assemble the remaining parts of the unit. ?Slide the pi and digital board subassembly back in, being sure to have the pins on the bottom meting correctly with the connector on the main board. ?Be sure to connect the gray ribbon cable to the back of the digital board (it is keyed so it can be inserted only one way), the white ribbon cable to the display unit (blue side down, silver side out), and black & brown power cable for the display going to the digital board (brown is down, black is up). ?The assembly manual has pictures that can help (). 21. ?Reinstall the top panel, connecting the speaker to the digital board prior to putting the top panel on. 22. ?Connect the power, and power up!
73 Goody K3NG
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Are there instructions for installing the new regulator board On Sep 10, 2022, at 11:32, Anthony Good <anthony.good@...> wrote:
Received my kit here in W3 land. ?Yeahhhhh
73
Goody
K3NG
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Re: Some calculations on the IF filter and USB filter
Evan,
Thanks for the suggestion! Will definitely look at that.
I don't like the way the encoder is handled? in KD8CEC (which I believe lifted it from the OEM software) because it is not very portable. Some MCU's turnoff the pullups on analog line after a analogread (think that is true with the Nano BLE and RPConnect). So I had to add extra pinmodes to restore the pullups after every analogread. And of course, with different Vref's scaling on different processors, you can't count on 500 being half the scale...Yecch.
73
Mark
AJ6CU
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Gerard
Raj vu2zap
DEBAJYOTI DAS
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Craig Wadsworth