Re: Issues with ordering the BITX40
I'm still not seeing any way to buy a raduino from hfsignals.com.
I see that the home page describes the "uBitx":
???
When I click uBitx at the top it takes me to a different page for the "MBITX":
???
Those two pages describe the same radio with most of the same section headers,
but give significantly different information.
I sort of know what's going on here, but have no idea which page is more current
without spending 15 minutes carefully comparing the two.
I suggest that the homepage just have a brief summary of all the various products:
? Bitx40, uBitx, Raduino, Antuino
plus a "Buy" button for all of them, a description of the company, and where to find the forum.
A page for each should fully describe the product, and tell us what the previous versions
of that product were.? For example, the Raduino page should make it clear that the previous
version was for the Bitx40 only, and that the connector has been changed to accommodate both
the uBitx and the Bitx40.? Also a pointer to where firmware and schematics and such are archived.
We get lots of traffic here in the forum wondering about versions of the various products,
how to plug a new Raduino into a Bitx40, what version of Bitx40 they have,
mods they should do, how and when to contact hfsignals.? That should all be on the website.
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Fri, Aug 2, 2019 at 05:52 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
I think that paypal has tweaked something and the old style button had stopped working. I will fix the raduino too.
- f
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I even coded a small display to show the passband of my digital filter¡ it has two encoders¡ used identically like the Elecraft K3 filter¡ move either the upper and lower cut-off point, or press the button, and move the center frequency and filter width (LEDs indicate mode).? Four stored adjustable filters (CW, SSB, RTTY, AM).? Uses a Teensy 3.6 and the audio board (like the JackAl).? See attached. ? ? ? ?
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The jackal board offers a very good choice of filters as well as many excellent features. It provides a fantastic value at such a low price point. - f
On Tue 13 Aug, 2019, 7:18 PM KD8CGH, < rkayakr@...> wrote: I'm using the tiny SOTABEAMS CW filter board. It is switched so that I can have it out for SSB and in for CW. It has two widths: 300 Hz and 1000 Hz. As a bonus it will also light an LED as a tuning indicator for those of us that are pretty tone deaf. Not bad for $30 + $5.79 shipping to USA.
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I'm using the tiny SOTABEAMS CW filter board. It is switched so that I can have it out for SSB and in for CW. It has two widths: 300 Hz and 1000 Hz. As a bonus it will also light an LED as a tuning indicator for those of us that are pretty tone deaf. Not bad for $30 + $5.79 shipping to USA.
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Go with the original build and make sure everything functions, I mean does it RX and TX. Then if SSB sound off do a BFO calibration and if you feel that the frequency is off do that. Just work on one kink at a time.? Then start your experimenting with other changes one at a time because you know that you had a working and functioning rig when you started.? Don¡¯t jump into a full blown calibration/modification at the beginning otherwise you won¡¯t know where to start with troubleshooting.?
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On Aug 13, 2019, at 04:57, dgclifford@... wrote: hello? i have just ordered my ubitx and i am wondering where? to start ,should i go with the original stuff first or update? asap any ideas on a logical progression would be great .i have a couple of spare (gifts) raspberry pi 3b that are doing nothing what would be a good use for these . purchasing the ubitx was an spur of the moment i now would like to plan the way forward a bit more than i have.? many thanks dave c
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SotaBeams sells a nice, compact DSP audio filter:
Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, August 13, 2019, 8:32:49 AM EDT, Dennis Zabawa <kg4rul@...> wrote:
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HI Tom:
Inexpensive DSP is incorporated into the JackAl board. This shot shows the "canned" SSB filters (1500, 1800, 2200, 3000), but the JackAl also provides "canned" CW filters, too (150, 300, 400 600Hz, and "Cust"):
The "Cust" choice is for a filter where you get to set the "skirts" to whatever best suits your needs. Al (AC8GY) and I made the JackAl project Open Source, and? you can get the assembly manuals, code, and schematics from:
| | JackAl groups.io GroupThis Forum is for exchanging ideas, suggestions, assembly instructions, debugging, and enhancements for the Jack... |
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QRP Guys sell the JackAl board, which has all on-board SMD parts mounted.
Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, August 13, 2019, 3:00:12 AM EDT, Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote:
Hi,
Are there any comparisons that would indicate if a narrower bandwidth crystal filter verses an audio bandpass filter perform better? In some ways the audio filter is just another filter in the IF chain, and the current crystal filter becomes a second roofing filter.
Also, it would seem with DSP technology, filters, noise reduction and such would be possible in ways that were never possible with tried and true crystal filters and analog techniques. Have DSP audio processors delivered on these possibilities?
My old school HF transceiver has a narrow CW crystal filter and it seems to work well, but for my UBitx maybe something new school would be more practical.
In a field day situation if a high power station was near by in distance and frequency it could help. But if the radio was good enough to not overload, in that case, is it due to the crystal filter or simply the design of the receiver can handle a high dynamic range?
Are there any good articles or comparisons of one over the other? I'd been thinking of adding a audio bandpass filter to my UBitx, but sounds like it is not difficult to add a narrower crystal filter if done in "parallel" as suggested here. The difference in IF frequency seems like it would just be a software change, unlike radios of old.?
Tom, wb6b
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Hi Dave -?
Great question and one I should have asked - hi hi. ? As a brand new kit builder and having just finished my build - and still debugging a few problems, here is my advice.? Build the kit stock and make sure everything is working before you do any mods.? I bought the amtateurradiokits case (which I love) at the same time I bought the board - and one of my issues has been case integration (mostly caused by my inexperience). I built it straight into the case without a smoke test which meant that when things weren't working I had one more variable to deal with - is the case or the ubitx the problem.? For example once I got the build complete and turned it on the first thing I noticed was the audio was garbled and the frequency display appeared off - but hard to tell because the audio was so bad.? After a bunch of fiddling - and with help from the group here - I got it down to the BFO calibration - about a 5 minute fix once I knew what to do.? I got lots of advice about doing things to the hardware - but believing that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one - I kept double checking my work and found a mistake or two. ? Second issue I had? (haven't fixed yet) is I think I miss-wired - or sloppy soldered the mic connection on the expansion PCB that came with the case.? Again - if I had tested the ubitx prior to wiring it up to the case I would know where to look.
It will be much easier to mod a working radio then to debug a m¨¦lange of original kit and after-market mods.
My two cents from the cheap seats.
Dean
KK4DAS
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If close in signals are not a worry then certainly a digital filter is indicated. The one large advantage of a digital filter is that there is no phase distortion. Thus ringing is minimum. But you need a very good 24 bit codec. - f
On Tue 13 Aug, 2019, 12:30 PM Tom, wb6b, < wb6b@...> wrote: Hi,
Are there any comparisons that would indicate if a narrower bandwidth crystal filter verses an audio bandpass filter perform better? In some ways the audio filter is just another filter in the IF chain, and the current crystal filter becomes a second roofing filter.
Also, it would seem with DSP technology, filters, noise reduction and such would be possible in ways that were never possible with tried and true crystal filters and analog techniques. Have DSP audio processors delivered on these possibilities?
My old school HF transceiver has a narrow CW crystal filter and it seems to work well, but for my UBitx maybe something new school would be more practical.
In a field day situation if a high power station was near by in distance and frequency it could help. But if the radio was good enough to not overload, in that case, is it due to the crystal filter or simply the design of the receiver can handle a high dynamic range?
Are there any good articles or comparisons of one over the other? I'd been thinking of adding a audio bandpass filter to my UBitx, but sounds like it is not difficult to add a narrower crystal filter if done in "parallel" as suggested here. The difference in IF frequency seems like it would just be a software change, unlike radios of old.?
Tom, wb6b
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hello? i have just ordered my ubitx and i am wondering where? to start ,should i go with the original stuff first or update? asap any ideas on a logical progression would be great .i have a couple of spare (gifts) raspberry pi 3b that are doing nothing what would be a good use for these . purchasing the ubitx was an spur of the moment i now would like to plan the way forward a bit more than i have.? many thanks dave c
|
Hi,
Are there any comparisons that would indicate if a narrower bandwidth crystal filter verses an audio bandpass filter perform better? In some ways the audio filter is just another filter in the IF chain, and the current crystal filter becomes a second roofing filter.
Also, it would seem with DSP technology, filters, noise reduction and such would be possible in ways that were never possible with tried and true crystal filters and analog techniques. Have DSP audio processors delivered on these possibilities?
My old school HF transceiver has a narrow CW crystal filter and it seems to work well, but for my UBitx maybe something new school would be more practical.
In a field day situation if a high power station was near by in distance and frequency it could help. But if the radio was good enough to not overload, in that case, is it due to the crystal filter or simply the design of the receiver can handle a high dynamic range?
Are there any good articles or comparisons of one over the other? I'd been thinking of adding a audio bandpass filter to my UBitx, but sounds like it is not difficult to add a narrower crystal filter if done in "parallel" as suggested here. The difference in IF frequency seems like it would just be a software change, unlike radios of old.?
Tom, wb6b
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Looks like PA1FOX has successfully added a second crystal filter for CW: ??? /g/BITX20/message/48555Perhaps Farhan has done this as well. A perhaps easier hack is to simply add an audio filter for CW, as many here have done. Some operators will prefer the narrow crystal filter for CW, as this avoids overloading the receiver audio pre-amp when a strong nearby signal is present. Evan's hack:? /g/BITX20/message/71042is well worth trying.? I have not tried the KD8CEC firmware, but should be possible to implement this with a firmware change only, no Nextion display, no hardware mods. Jerry, KE7ER
On Mon, Aug 12, 2019 at 06:10 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
The ubitx has an option for narrow band filter. There are pins to install it. The way it works is a bit of a hack :
1. The CW filter is at a different frequency. Let's imagine it is at 4.915 MHz. It is installed parallel to the 11.059 MHz SSB filter.
2. When choosing CW filter, you have to switch the second conversion oscillator from 56.059 Mhz (45 + 11.059) to 49.915 Mhz (45 +4.915). Shift the BFO to 4.914500 (According to your taste of CW tone).
Apart from designing the crystal filter, this hack is mostly about software changes.
?
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If you have the KD8CEC software and the Nextion display, using the IF shift and the sideband adjustment, I found that you can shift the received signal to be limited on one edge of the 2.5 khz filter effectively reducing the received bandwidth.? The two controls were designed to filter out unwanted signals.? Worth a try IF you have the Nextion display mod.??
FWIW
73
Evan
AC9TU
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The ubitx has an option for narrow band filter. There are pins to install it. The way it works is a bit of a hack : 1. The CW filter is at a different frequency. Let's imagine it is at 4.915 MHz. It is installed parallel to the 11.059 MHz SSB filter. 2. When choosing CW filter, you have to switch the second conversion oscillator from 56.059 Mhz (45 + 11.059) to 49.915 Mhz (45 +4.915). Shift the BFO to 4.914500 (According to your taste of CW tone). Apart from designing the crystal filter, this hack is mostly about software changes.
73, f
On Tue 13 Aug, 2019, 4:46 AM Jim, < Jscook@...> wrote: If I am remembering correctly my old SP600JX would go down to 200 cycles. You could pull a needle from a haystack with that one. It would sound somewhat hollow. Also remember the astronomical prices of the Collins filters for the KWM series! You could probably buy 3 BITx..for what they cost.
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Re: Antuino now available for purchase
There's an updated schematic in this July 26 2019 post from Farhan along with a list of changes:??? /g/BITX20/message/70551As he states in that post, it all got archived here: ??? The previous version of the Raduino is found here, last updated in May of 2019: ? ? Jerry, KE7ER
On Mon, Aug 12, 2019 at 04:08 PM, Joel Caulkins/N6ALT wrote:
I just ordered one also. Does anybody know where to find the schematic? I saw it somewhere but can't find it now.
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Re: Antuino now available for purchase
Sweet! Thank you very much for offering this.
Chris Shaker
On 8/12/2019 4:34 AM, Ashhar Farhan
wrote:
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It is a fully tested unit in the all metal case.
It has an internal battery case for 6 AA cells. Two SMA
connectors.
Does it come
with the case?
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If I am remembering correctly my old SP600JX would go down to 200 cycles. You could pull a needle from a haystack with that one. It would sound somewhat hollow. Also remember the astronomical prices of the Collins filters for the KWM series! You could probably buy 3 BITx..for what they cost.
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Re: Antuino now available for purchase
I just ordered one also. Does anybody know where to find the schematic? I saw it somewhere but can't find it now.
Joel
N6ALT
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MadRadioModder
Bob Benedict, KD8CGH
Skip Davis
Chris Shaker, KJ7BLE
Jim
Joel Caulkins/N6ALT