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Re: sBITX V3 Display and Enclosure Considerations
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI have used a Myantenna EFHW8010 for years, both in a horizontal configuration and as an Inverted L. I have had excellent? results with the Inv. L. However, last summer a storm took the inv. L down. The inv. L was up at 60¡¯ at the apex, tapering down? to 35¡¯ at the end. Ground plane is a few buried radials and a 8¡¯ ground rod. I have been using? the EFHW in a horizontal mode for the past 7 months and it does not perform as good as the inv. L. Using the reverse beacon network as an analyzing ?tool, I need to run three watts to light up the monitoring stations that I could with the inv. L at 1 watt. The current horizontal set up is? the feed end of the antenna is mounted on my tower at 30¡¯ going up to 46¡¯ in the tree, then going back down? to a 35¡¯ pole. I have tried sinker/slingshot, ?bow and arrow to get the wire up to the top of the? tree. So far, everything has failed. Limbs deflect the arrows and I have sinkers galore stuck in the tree, just dangling around like Christmas decorations. A tree trimming company ?put the wire in the tree four years ago after a tornado went through the neighborhood and took some of my tree top off. So, a bazooka is what I need? to get my beloved inv. L back up but no bazooka allowed in the hood.. I am interested in this pneumatic antenna launcher¡ info please. 73 Barry ? Sent from for Windows ? From: Aaron K5ATG
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2024 6:44 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BITX20] sBITX V3 Display and Enclosure Considerations ? Ok I'm gonna be a little bit brutally honest here about my experience with a EFHW.? Aaron? ? |
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Re: sBITX V3 Display and Enclosure Considerations
Ok I'm gonna be a little bit brutally honest here about my experience with a EFHW.?
I got a MFJ-1982LP a 135' EFHW. I strung that up through my (purely evil) Pecan tree. The 49:1 Balun was attached to the eve of my house at around 9 feet high. The counterpoise/ ground wire was attached to an 8 foot ground rod that was installed for just this purpose. The middle of the antenna was in the tree at 37 feet off the ground (I measured the height) and ended at another pecan tree in the back yard. It is like my back yard was measured to fit a 80 meter dipole in, it is 140 feet from my house to my back fence. Through a weird quirk of planning my back yard is the biggest in the neighborhood. The end was held in place by a small weight that allowed the antenna flex with the movement of the trees. I gave it about 10 feet of movement. That was my first mistake. I live in Oklahoma City and it was spring time. That antenna lasted for 3 weeks until it snapped. MFJ honored their warranty and soon I got another antenna. They were out of the LP (Low Power) model so they sent me a MP (Medium Power) instead. Bigger balun, same 26 gauge wire. Instead of running it over the tree limbs, I got my trusty pneumatic? antenna launcher and launched a rope over the limb and pulled a pulley up to the limb and had the wire go through the pulley (Note: My first attempt with the antenna launcher was a little off on the aim and instead of the little projectile going over the limb it hit the limb dead on and pretty much vaporized it and the loud boom echoed through the neighborhood and i got a special visit from Officer Butler, Officer Butler thought it was funny but due to safety I will no longer use the antenna launcher in town. Now I use it for launching my fishing hook way out to the middle of the lake). Second antenna I made sure that it had plenty of room for movement. This time it lasted for three months before it snapped. Told MFJ about it and said that i didn't want a replacement but I am not impressed with their choice of wire. So they sent me the HP version (High Power) much larger balun, same 26 gauge wire. This time to keep it from breaking I had it stapled to the eve of my house. Now I think that it could work ok, but it really needs to be tuned and I can't do that because I can't get on a ladder. I would like to get some wire with a higher breaking point and try that.? For my buddy I made him a 49:1 balun using a FT82-43 toroid and he has made a different wire cut for each band and he likes it a lot.? I have been looking at making a cobbweb antenna but again my physical limitations and very small budget prevents me. So for now I have a 20 meter inverted V and it is working better than no antenna.? -- '72 Aaron? |
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Re: Antenna's, battery clips and tuners
Doesn't your model have a tune button? If so, that should do the tuning without the need to interface to the radio. Scotty On Sun, Feb 18, 2024, 5:59 PM tony hanni <Toekneepony@...> wrote: Hello, My name is Tony and I am trying to figure out a few things. I do not have any clue how to order a battery clip that fits a lipo battery. I also am very curious to know what antenna people are using to be successful. Since you need an SWR of less than 2 : 1, the antenna needs to be pretty spot on. Tuner? What tuner is everyone using? I have an LDG Z-100 which has an interface cable. But there is no place to plug in the interface cable on this radio. I think I would like to start getting on the air thanks |
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FLDigi startup with SBitx- upgrade possible?
Has anyone updated their FLDigi software on their SBitx? On my V2 I cannot update the original included FLDigi. ?It¡¯s remains at version 4.00 which is what starts when SBitx opens. ?I¡¯ve found a workaround (sorta) by installing a newer version (4.10) of FLDigi and running that version after closing version 4.00. It works okay-ish for what I need (mainly using it with FLAMP, which version 4.00 doesn¡¯t do) but the tuning and PTT response is much slower this way using FLDigi 4.10, and still not able to change the offset or click on the waterfall to change frequency. ?
Has anyone updated their original version 4.00? |
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Hi,
SSB demodulation with an ESP32 is already working. I have changed the method followed in the sBitx to the Weawer method as described by Derek Rowell in I have used the "Audio-Demod" output of the sBitx that I have applied to the input of an ESP32-LyraT board. The basic demodulation diagram is It is programmed with the Espressif-IDE environment with the Espressif ESP-DSP libraries and the process is almost as simple as that used in the original sBitx. This is the part of code that decodes the SSB at 24khz: static void audio_modem_task3(void *pvParameters)??? ??? // Weawer method
{
?? ?xSemaphore = xSemaphoreCreateMutex();
?? ?size_t bytes_read = 0;
??? // Create cos & sin tables
?? ?float f_carrier = 24000;
?? ?float f_bfo = 1500;
?? ?float freq_carrier = f_carrier / 96000;
?? ?float freq_bfo = f_bfo / 96000;
??? dsps_tone_gen_f32(cos_carrier, N, 1, freq_carrier, 0);??? ??? // generate carrier cos
??? dsps_tone_gen_f32(sin_carrier, N, 1, freq_carrier, 90);??? ??? // generate carrier sin
??? dsps_tone_gen_f32(cos_bfo, N, 1, freq_bfo, 0);??? ??? ??? ??? // generate bfo cos
??? dsps_tone_gen_f32(sin_bfo, N, 1, freq_bfo, 90);??? ??? ??? ??? // generate bfo sin
??? while (1) {
??? // Step 0, read samples
?? ???? // 1024 4-byte samples are read, 1024 from the left channel and 1024 from the right channel
?? ???? i2s_read(I2S_NUM_0, samples, I2S_BUFFLEN, &bytes_read, portMAX_DELAY);??? // le¨ªdos 8192 bytes, 4x1024 left, 4x1024 rigth channel
?? ?// Step 1, copy samples to frf[]
?? ???? for (int i=0; i<N;i++) frf[i] = (float) samples[2*i] / 100000;? // rigth channel
?? ?// Step 2, multiply frf * cos_carrier & frf * sin_carrier
?? ???? dsps_mul_f32_ae32(frf, cos_carrier, f1, N_SAMPLES, 1,1,1);??? // multiply cos
?? ???? dsps_mul_f32_ae32(frf, sin_carrier, f2, N_SAMPLES, 1,1,1);??? // multiply sin
??? // Step 3, low pass filter 300-3000? TO DO
?? ???? float freq_t = 3000;
?? ???? float ft = freq_t/96000;
?? ???? generate_FIR_coefficients(fir_coeffs, FIR_COEFFS_LEN, ft);??? ??? ??? // Calculate 64 coefficients for the FIR filter
?? ???? dsps_fir_init_f32(&fir1, fir_coeffs, delay_line, FIR_COEFFS_LEN);??? // init fir filter
?? ???? dsps_fir_f32_ae32(&fir1, f1, f3, N_buff);? // Filter the input signal with FIR filter, f1 --> f3
?? ???? dsps_fir_f32_ae32(&fir1, f2, f4, N_buff);? // Filter the input signal with FIR filter, f2 --> f4
??? // Step 4,? multiply f3 * cos_bfo & f4 * sin_bfo
??????? dsps_mul_f32_ae32(f3, cos_bfo, f1, N_SAMPLES, 1,1,1);??? // multiply cos?? f5
?? ???? dsps_mul_f32_ae32(f4, sin_bfo, f2, N_SAMPLES, 1,1,1);??? // multiply sin?? f6
??? // Step 5,??? add f5 + f6 = f7
?? ???? dsps_add_f32_ae32(f1, f2, frf, N, 1,1,1);??? // f1=f5,?? f2=f6,?? frf=f7
??? // we copy the output in frf[] to the samples[] variable to send it to I2S
?? ???? for (int i=0;i<N;i++) samples[2*i]=10000000* frf[i];
?? ???? i2s_write(I2S_NUM_0, samples, I2S_BUFFLEN, &bytes_read, portMAX_DELAY);
?? ???? xtimes++;
?? ???? vTaskDelay(1 / portTICK_PERIOD_MS);
??? }
??? vTaskDelete(NULL);
}
I need to integrate it with the part that controls the sBitx, another ESP32 with a 2.8" screen, which is basically an adaptation of the Raduino32 software that I used with the uBitx v6. /g/BITX20/message/90933 I don't know if it will be useful, I hope so, but it has been a good learning experience. Saludos, Ram¨®n EA4GZI |
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Re: sBITX V3 Display and Enclosure Considerations
Thanks for sharing your experience here.?
Sounds like adding? a internal battery and a ATU would needlessly complicate things.? My HF antenna farm consists of just a 20 Inverted V with the center being 33 feet (10 meters) above the ground. 20 Meters is a great band but there are times when I wish to get on other bands. I been experimenting with EFHW and random wire and other multi-band antennas but I have not found one that works to my satisfaction.? Back to the star of the show the sBITX. Today looks to be a nice day and my son said that he would cut some wood up on the table saw for me so hopefully I will start construction of the enclosure today.? The sBITX V3 from HF Signals measures 10" X 6" X 2"? Would it be best if I were to strive to stay as close to hose dimensions as I can? -- '72 Aaron? |
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Re: Writing the ICOM EMULATOR for the sBitx
I have added a link on the "sBitx MODS" page within the WIKI to a page explaining how to make the interface cable, with photographs and links for required parts etc.??/g/BITX20/wiki/36015
Later (when I'm on the Raspberry computer) I'll work on a link for the Version 0.1 software that works unidirectionally in a very primitive fashion.? I've now managed to create a ICON (a first for me!)? that executes the program.? ?I have some ideas how to improve the software so it is a tiny bit more flexible.? ?But already it opens up the world of legacy Windows-based software.? ?? And I created my initial "go-box' for the Developer's Edition radio so it is easy to cart both of the radios to the high school for the project we are doing!? The open space under the top is for later addition of an auto-antenna tuner, and other small accessories.?? Gordon KX4Z |
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Re: sBitx no receive unless I restart the application
When a problem arises, people don't talk about what they did step by step. But the solution is in the details!
I think from your message that you changed the final stage FETs, did you do the Bias adjustment as well? Because this must be done with every fet replacement. Do you have a backup of the sd card where you have the data of the initial setting? Have you been using the device correctly since you first switched it on? This is an RPi controlled sdr radio. If the radio is broken somewhere, the program cannot fix it. You have to fix that. Even when the hardware and software are working well, there may still be things that need fixing. So you have to know the spiritual world of the device well. Where and what we do to ensure that everything works well. It is not an easy thing to fix or give tips without seeing the device. -- Gyula HA3HZ |
Aaron K5ATG
Scotty R
Adam N0ZIB
SP Bhatnagar
HA3HZ