On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 11:26 AM, Robert D. Bowers wrote:
The problem with your argument is this: "Whatever the market will bear!"
I'm sorry, but I need to point out that my argument included options for spending the same, spending more, or spending less, and still ending up with a working sbitx radio.? The 'spend more' option means spending approximately $5-$45 more than the current Pi 4 models.? My 'spend less' option saves $20 for those who want to put in the work to enable support of a low-end CPU. I'm sorry you've been treated badly by the ham radio community. Since we're sharing personal stuff, I'll point out that I'm?I'm the child of immigrants who were raised in refugee camps in post-WWII Europe who came to the US knowing no English.? There was no one opening doors for me.? I had to find the right door and knock on it at it at the right time.? There definitely was a lot of luck and IMO even divine providence in the process, not to mention stress and hard work.? Yet I feel fortunate, I know many in worse shape, including many in my own family.??
My first ham radio stuff (Knight-Kit R-55 and T-60) came from a yard sale and was bought using money I earned on a paper route while in middle school.? My second radio was a used TS-520S bought with money saved after working in a factory each summer when I was in high school.I've been on the Elmer side of the equation in recent times.? I've put out a FlexRadio 1500 and a Hermes Lite 2 for extended loans to local hams getting started.? I've done bug fixes and tons of wiki updates for the sbitx community.
So, again, sorry you were treated badly, but not everyone in ham radio was born with a silver spoon in their mouth and looks down on others. ? -- Regards, Dave, N1AI
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Re: Strong click when switching on the transmission
#sBitx
The amendment was made for the following reasons:
Update sbitx_sound.c to fix sound bugs and reduce CPU load #69
The side effect appears to be undesirable.
I also reverted to v3.01 sbitx_sound.c.
--
Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: T/R switching audio issue
The amendment was made for the following reason:
Update sbitx_sound.c to fix audio glitches and reduce CPU load #69
It seems that the side effect is undesirable.
--
Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: T/R switching audio issue
To me it sounds like the RX audio is being opened up as the TX is coming on.? Just a burst of RX audio before being muted again. Perhaps a change in theRX/TX key timing?
--
Mike WB5LLI
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Hi,
I did some measurements with the oscilloscope. No signal (just noise) on the AUDIO-MOD line, I tested it on the node between pin 2 of Q6 and R56. Does this test help?
By the way, I connected a DSI touch screen to the Raspberry and nothing changed, so the issue it’s not HDMI audio related.
Thanks!
L.
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Ashhar, Unfortunately, he didn't win... I run wsjt-x in the background and <...> is visible just like on the sBitx v3.02 screen.-- Gyula HA3HZ  
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Further update…
Pi4 now booting but very strange fault, I have no RX. The set produces noise as if it is receiving but only noise. Even more strange, sometimes after booting, it will receive ok!
I have removed some of the TX/RX switching FETs - Q10, Q101, Q23, Q22, Q9, Q28. I don’t believe they are all damaged but I am sure if at least one.?
From the schematic, I can’t see anywhere in the RX chain that would inhibit RX.
Anyone?
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Gyula, The only way to actually find out what is going on is to run wsjtx in the background as well and sew which callsign went missing. Is this v3.02?
On Mon, Feb 5, 2024, 7:26 PM HA3HZ < gyula@...> wrote:
Today I was peacefully radioing in ft8 mode on 21 MHz when the image below appeared on my screen.
Since I had done the same thing 10 minutes before, only then another station called at the same time, so I answered it.
I was invited again by this station with an unknown call sign, even though I know that the sbitx ft8 encoder is not capable of encoding everything, so I avoid special call signs. Special: understand /p or / prefix or more numbers and more letters than regular callsigns.
So whoever deciphers it, I owe them a coffee or a drink. :-)
--
Gyula HA3HZ
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The problem with your argument is this: "Whatever the market will bear!"
If the radio starts using the new processor, it won't be long before there is pressure to make all of the radios use the new processor. Then because of demand, the price of that new processor will go up - maybe skyrocket.? Therefore the poorer among us (I'm one of them) will be priced out of the market.
I nearly trashed all of my radios four separate times - because of statements like "If you can't afford new, maybe you don't belong in Ham Radio!" That, by the way, is a quote I've heard a few times.? It reflects a common attitude which I regularly encounter.
I've got plenty of horror stories of the greed I've encountered in Ham radio.? I do have a few stories of decency too - for instance, my newest HF radio is a BitX40 that was given to me about a couple of years ago (Other than that, I have a Kenwood TS520 and Alinco DX-70 which I have had for a few years and which don't always work right).? My HT is one of those Chinese radios, and I've caught hell for having it (accused of supporting slavery) - when it was the only HT I could afford (I lost most of my radios especially HTs and equipment due to arson - total loss no insurance).
?People keep lamenting about how the hobby (it's more than that when you consider emergency communications and experimentation) is dying, but don't see the forces behind that dying - a good example is the demand that (homebrew/kit/whatever) radios meet the same specs as the big corporations meet and all the effort some big corporations have made to try to take over our bands.? Poor people can expand the "hobby", but are often (if not usually) made to feel unwelcome. Poor does not equal incapable or unintelligent - it just means lacking resources.
Bob
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On 2/5/24 09:07, Dave, N1AI wrote: On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 12:37 AM, Gerald Sherman wrote:
I noted a recent email suggesting that we go with the latest
processor and matching software.? That might be nice, but it's
just like with cars,? We might all like a new Rolls-Royce or
Ferrari (take your pick of other similar manufacturers), but the
budget says we might have to settle for a second hand Ford. I'd
even settle for that today - my driving days are over - lost my
driver's license - age-related medical issues.? Let 's all do the
best we can with what we have, and help some of the less fortunate
ones enjoy the hobby too.? I very recently provided some software
I created, and it will be going up on the local radio club's web
site, in case anyone thinks I don't do anything any more.
I get where you are going, but it's not as simple as that, IMO.
We might as well ask: why pay attention to cars at all, when all you should want is a faster horse?? Horses can eat the local grasses, not imported oil.? ?Horses leave behind manure, which is bio-degradable, not greenhouse gasses.? Horses even reproduce, so if you mange your stable correctly you will never need to buy a new horse ever again!? They also make lots of work for grooms and stable boys, providing employment to the community.? Sounds like trading in your car for a horse is the way to go.
Why play with radios at all?? Haven't we had everything we've needed in terms of radio technology years ago?? Why not sell everything and give the proceeds to the less fortunate?
Why have hobbies at all?? Why not spend every waking moment in the service of others?
Where does it end?
Don't we get to try to make the world a better place for ourselves and others, learn a few things, and share that with others?
Why not consider that the 2023 Pi 5 8GB is $85 whereas the 2019 Pi 4 8GB is $80 so only $5 more, can go 2x-3x faster, can do the same workload while consuming less electricity, and can provide fast access to an entire family of devices via PCIe?
This is why this is different than cars.? Your 2023 car does not cost just 6% more than your 2019 car while going 2x-3x faster with the same number of passengers aboard, being more energy efficient, and being able to travel on better road networks too.
The PCIe can connect to not just fast storage, but fast networks, fast AI co-processors, fast graphics processors, etc.
Pi 5 could be a path two a whole new series of innovations that might benefit future generations.
Moving on to Pi 5 helps one be ready for Pi 6 because we all know that's coming some day too, and presumably will be better in many areas.
But if you want to save $5, Pi 4 is still an options, as is selling it all and giving the proceeds to charity.
Or if you want a hobby, perhaps you should try to get a team of people interested in a port to the Pi Zero 2W and its 0.5GB of memory.
You should be able to get that to work, and if so it will cut $60 or so off the price of sbitx.
--
Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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Actually the sbitx comes with Pi 4 2GB which is currently $45 list price, Pi Zero 2W with headers is $21, so switching would save $21.
If you can get headers cheaply and do your own soldering, you may be able to save another $6.
Ref:??
--
Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 12:37 AM, Gerald Sherman wrote:
I noted a recent email suggesting that we go with the latest processor and matching software.? That might be nice, but it's just like with cars,? We might all like a new Rolls-Royce or Ferrari (take your pick of other similar manufacturers), but the budget says we might have to settle for a second hand Ford.? I'd even settle for that today - my driving days are over - lost my driver's license - age-related medical issues.? Let 's all do the best we can with what we have, and help some of the less fortunate ones enjoy the hobby too.? I very recently provided some software I created, and it will be going up on the local radio club's web site, in case anyone thinks I don't do anything any more.
I get where you are going, but it's not as simple as that, IMO.
We might as well ask: why pay attention to cars at all, when all you should want is a faster horse?? Horses can eat the local grasses, not imported oil.? ?Horses leave behind manure, which is bio-degradable, not greenhouse gasses.? Horses even reproduce, so if you mange your stable correctly you will never need to buy a new horse ever again!? They also make lots of work for grooms and stable boys, providing employment to the community.? Sounds like trading in your car for a horse is the way to go.
Why play with radios at all?? Haven't we had everything we've needed in terms of radio technology years ago?? Why not sell everything and give the proceeds to the less fortunate?
Why have hobbies at all?? Why not spend every waking moment in the service of others?
Where does it end?
Don't we get to try to make the world a better place for ourselves and others, learn a few things, and share that with others?
Why not consider that the 2023 Pi 5 8GB is $85 whereas the 2019 Pi 4 8GB is $80 so only $5 more, can go 2x-3x faster, can do the same workload while consuming less electricity, and can provide fast access to an entire family of devices via PCIe?
This is why this is different than cars.? Your 2023 car does not cost just 6% more than your 2019 car while going 2x-3x faster with the same number of passengers aboard, being more energy efficient, and being able to travel on better road networks too.?
The PCIe can connect to not just fast storage, but fast networks, fast AI co-processors, fast graphics processors, etc.?
Pi 5 could be a path two a whole new series of innovations that might benefit future generations.
Moving on to Pi 5 helps one be ready for Pi 6 because we all know that's coming some day too, and presumably will be better in many areas.
But if you want to save $5, Pi 4 is still an options, as is selling it all and giving the proceeds to charity.
Or if you want a hobby, perhaps you should try to get a team of people interested in a port to the Pi Zero 2W and its 0.5GB of memory.
You should be able to get that to work, and if so it will cut $60 or so off the price of sbitx.
?
--
Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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Today I was peacefully radioing in ft8 mode on 21 MHz when the image below appeared on my screen. Since I had done the same thing 10 minutes before, only then another station called at the same time, so I answered it.  I was invited again by this station with an unknown call sign, even though I know that the sbitx ft8 encoder is not capable of encoding everything, so I avoid special call signs. Special: understand /p or / prefix or more numbers and more letters than regular callsigns. So whoever deciphers it, I owe them a coffee or a drink. :-)    -- Gyula HA3HZ
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Oh, I forgot to add that during TX I can correctly hear the signal through the speaker (CW and FT8), if that can be helpful to the diagnosis.
L.
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Ashhar,
I was thinking about checking the signal "AUDIO-MOD" coming out from the WM8731 and following its path through Q6. What do you think?
If I understand correctly, all the signals are generated by the WM8731 codec and sent both to the LHPOUT (pin 9), to be sent to the earphone jack and speaker, and to RHPOUT (pin 10) to be sent to the TX stage through Q6, that's been enabled by the "TX" signal, correct?
Tonight I'll check and I'll report here. In the meantime, just wondering, could there be any reason why the RHPOUT output has been muted by software (maybe some corruption of the files during shutdown or something similar)?
Thanks!
L.
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Re: Have an extra V.5 board to part with?
Thanks, but no on the V.6 as I don't really want to have to adapt the monitor scheme.?? I appreciate the offer.
-ted
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Re: Have an extra V.5 board to part with?
I have a version 6 board I need to sell, could that work for your project?? No issues with the board, just lost interest.? ?I paid 180.00 for it.? I have some speakers and an audio output module that can be added.??
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Hi Ashhar,
yes, I have an oscilloscope, I can do tests.
thanks!
Lorenzo
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Lorenzo, The tx current is stuck at 1.2A, this means there is no modulation. Do you have an oscilloscope handy?
Hi Gyula,
thanks for your message!
I already checked those diodes and they are good. I think the problem is that there is no modulation, actually.
Thanks!
Lorenzo IU5RDU
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Re: Radio S32LE samples don't go negative?
"If the DAC is programmed to receive 32 bit data, then it strips the LSBs" p.38, so not only the samples in, but the samples out (tx/speaker) should also have LSB packed with zeros.
Cheers,
Rafael
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On 2/5/24 09:14, Rafael Diniz wrote: Thanks for the datasheet Gordon!
Ha! I think I got it. surprise surprise... the lower significant 8 bits are always 0... so, reading the datasheet - it is indeed padding. There is a table in page 39 with the modes of the wm8731. I'll look to the alsa driver to check if the mode is being correctly set (it seems ok indeed), and check the samples match what is in the datasheet - which should.
- Rafael
On 2/5/24 08:59, Rafael Diniz wrote:
This makes things even more strange of how data is packed. I'm getting samples, for example , 236775168, which is way more than 2^24. May be the data is shifted 8 bits to MSB? I'm dividing the samples by 2^31 - 1, the end of scale of 32 bits.
- Rafael
On 2/4/24 21:07, Gordon Gibby wrote:
Those are 24 bit a to D ?converters. ?They have 80 to 90 DB dynamic ranges from the spec sheet. They are 30 or 40 or 50 DB more than we need!
Some people are selling systems with only eight bit eight bit ADC and that sounds pretty crappy but these are astonishingly good
On Feb 4, 2024, at 16:03, Dave, N1AI <n1ai@...> wrote:
?On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 03:48 PM, Gordon Gibby wrote:
??? Dave, to give an accurate answer will take a little bit of study,
??? but remember these things work in an environment of positive
??? supply voltages, without any negative supply voltage. So it’s
??? likely that they only measure positive voltages. There are no
??? negative voltages. And it’s also likely that the analog to
??? digital converter is CD quality, with far more bits than our
??? communications grade channel can support with a normal
??? transceiver. So wasting 3DB worth of dynamic range may be
??? negligible. I think I remember comments to that subject much
??? earlier, when I get the chance I’ll go back and look at it, busy
??? trying to make measurements to protect our new EOC from noise
??? generators… Head is spinning with numbers
Thanks, Gordon, for the insights.? They are a good start!
--
Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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Re: Radio S32LE samples don't go negative?
Thanks for the datasheet Gordon!
Ha! I think I got it. surprise surprise... the lower significant 8 bits are always 0... so, reading the datasheet - it is indeed padding. There is a table in page 39 with the modes of the wm8731. I'll look to the alsa driver to check if the mode is being correctly set (it seems ok indeed), and check the samples match what is in the datasheet - which should.
- Rafael
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 2/5/24 08:59, Rafael Diniz wrote: This makes things even more strange of how data is packed. I'm getting samples, for example , 236775168, which is way more than 2^24. May be the data is shifted 8 bits to MSB? I'm dividing the samples by 2^31 - 1, the end of scale of 32 bits.
- Rafael
On 2/4/24 21:07, Gordon Gibby wrote:
Those are 24 bit a to D ?converters. ?They have 80 to 90 DB dynamic ranges from the spec sheet. They are 30 or 40 or 50 DB more than we need!
Some people are selling systems with only eight bit eight bit ADC and that sounds pretty crappy but these are astonishingly good
On Feb 4, 2024, at 16:03, Dave, N1AI <n1ai@...> wrote:
?On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 03:48 PM, Gordon Gibby wrote:
??? Dave, to give an accurate answer will take a little bit of study,
??? but remember these things work in an environment of positive
??? supply voltages, without any negative supply voltage. So it’s
??? likely that they only measure positive voltages. There are no
??? negative voltages. And it’s also likely that the analog to
??? digital converter is CD quality, with far more bits than our
??? communications grade channel can support with a normal
??? transceiver. So wasting 3DB worth of dynamic range may be
??? negligible. I think I remember comments to that subject much
??? earlier, when I get the chance I’ll go back and look at it, busy
??? trying to make measurements to protect our new EOC from noise
??? generators… Head is spinning with numbers
Thanks, Gordon, for the insights.? They are a good start!
--
Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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Dave, N1AI
HA3HZ
Ted