Re: BlueDV on sBitx is now available
JJ, I'm not very savvy with Linux, at least not to the point of figuring out how to get a piece of hardware working on it. I had to ask my partner to help me get my Ambeserver set to connect headless, I know so little Linux.
I can install a package so long as the installer is in working properly. If it fails, or a program fails?to run, I will likely have ZERO clue why or how to fix it. (sheepish)
I just looked at the BlueDV Linux page, and yeah, that's a little sparse. I'm also not going to buy a Bluestack. I would dearly like to have it in my SbitX, but I can be patient for David (or somebody) to move forward with it. I wouldn't know how to help. :(
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 73, Gwen, NG3P
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Re: BlueDV on sBitx is now available
According to PA7LIM's website, AMBE3000 USB devices do not work directly on Linux. I have a DVStick 30 which works on the Windows flavor, but not on Linux. I built and compiled AMBEserver as well, but haven't gotten far? due to other commitments. Maybe it will work. I am using the standard, Windows config file with BlueDV on Linux.
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Maybe we can work together and find a solution to use AMBEserver ports with this??
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-JJ
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Re: zBitx orders are closed
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Wonderful problem.? ?How many orders did you take before you stopped?? I am one of the lucky ones waiting anxiously for my delivery.?
Doug, KI6DS?
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
Hi Barry,
I'm no expert so just sharing my experience.? When i was first playing around investigating i had the radio open and noticed a huge change in hash noise at the target frequency just by moving the ribbon away from the main board.? My suggestion is to make sure, shielded or not, that the ribbon s carefully bent to stay as far from the main board as possible. just doing this make a bigger difference than the shielding from what? saw.? I started gently with the bending but at the end was fairly aggressive to get it to go straight up after leaving the pie. The tape i used also held it more upward away from the board.? the ribbons are cheap and readily available online if you were to adversely damage it.? I also re organized my cables to encourage it to stay away from the board as i closed it back up.?
to your question when i was first testing i did not have the shield grounded, i later grounded it at the PI's hold down screws, it did not make a notable difference. In networking and industrial automation, my professions, we never ground at both sides, not sure this applies here though. maybe someone else can chime in with good engineering practices.? ?hope this helps.?
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
Guys, on the shielding of the display ribbon cable, how many ground connections were used. I wrapped mine and grounded the shield at the display but not at the PI end due to lack of an easy ground point. So far, I have not noticed any change to the amount of junk I hear, especially on 20Meters.
Really interesting thread.
TU
Barry
K3BO
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
Just incredible work, wow...? few questions for you,?
the silver box with yellow red and black wires at the bottom, what is that, replacement buck converter?? can you send me a link to what you used?
id you 3d print a new end on the right side??
did you change to the DS3231 RTC or did yours come with that?
Your fan, are you managing the speed from CPU temp or just an always on?
did you notice any impact to overall Rx performance??
Again, im really impressed with your work
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Re: I need to regain control of the Raduino in my uBITX V6.1
I found this link:
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I have not tried using it, but it connects to my laptop mic and displays the spectrum.
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73
Evan
AC9TU
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Re: I need to regain control of the Raduino in my uBITX V6.1
On Sat, Jan 4, 2025, at 03:23 AM, Peter LB0K wrote:
I'm puzzled by your statement that BFO tuning page not working, I semm to remember it was out and it almost certainly is now but I'll wait until I've been into the Setting up AND have a freq counter before further comments & queries.not being
Hi Peter,
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The page displays, but the spectrum analyzer does not appear. I just tried it again, and it has the same symptoms.
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73
Evan
AC9TU
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Re: I need to regain control of the Raduino in my uBITX V6.1
Hi Evan
I had watched the video several times when I first tried setting up, but obviously had forgotten the 'up to 15secs' period. I will try that, it did seem strange that only one sub-routine was accessed by pressing the Tune knob. and most other things worked.
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I'm puzzled by your statement that BFO tuning page not working, I semm to remember it was out and it almost certainly is now but I'll wait until I've been into the Setting up AND have a freq counter before further comments & queries.not being
Have to clear a lot of snow around the house and car again today to go and get the frequency counter in town.
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
On Sat, Jan 4, 2025 at 12:11 AM, w9blw wrote:
big question is how is the noise. ill put it this way, if the radio performed as it is now i would had never thought there was an issue.? do i still see things when i crank the IF past 90 yes.. but it doesn't look abnormal, no birdies or hard hash in one spot. Ill be the first to admit the radio is a ton of fun with or without this shielding but it has seemed to make a difference and its a fun project.?
Thank you for introducing your work and for these words you wrote here:
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Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: sbitx v3 circuit and performance details
ps,: reverse voltage when it reaches and exceeds the set current the reverse bias: it does not reverse the voltage, but reduces it to the extent that the current consumption exceeds it.
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Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: sbitx v3 circuit and performance details
Gordon,
I don't have a Zener or suppressor on the gates of the FETs. I think about this differently and only limit the input power for protection.
My power supply is a current limiting and has a reverse voltage when it reaches and exceeds the set current.
I had to change FETs when I wasn't using it for broadcasting, because I didn't have an antenna, but it was powered by a battery and I only used it for monitoring (there was no current limitation). I don't remember the details, maybe it was on a dummy load in a setting.
That's why I mentioned that the sbitx is a male egg that needs to be taken care of. I made another modification around the power stage, which is more complicated. I did it because I couldn't do the Bias setting correctly.
The current consumption always jumped even with a small adjustment of the potentiometer.
That's why I built Didier's circuit control of the F5NPV.
The FETs are not connected to ground directly, but through an RC element (0.2 Ohm parallel 220n).
Also, the Bias voltage is temperature dependent, controlled by 6 diodes connected in series.
Yes, this is not easy to replicate, which is why I deleted my previous comment. I am currently using the device this way.
I bought 10 of the FETs and selected them with a transistor meter for the closest opening voltage, which I installed.
It worked for me. Everyone should decide for themselves how to use the device.
My suggestion of AlN (aluminum nitride) for installation was only made after the thermal photographs appeared.
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Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: sbitx v3 circuit and performance details
On Mon, Nov 20, 2023 at 06:45 PM, ajparent1/kb1gmx wrote:
Gordon,
That is true...? save for there is a transformer between the transmission line and the Drains.
If its 1:4 (impedance) step up going out it will work the opposite ways for the return
signal for a total return loss.? So the voltage is 1/2. (sqrt(4)).? Its greater for a
1:9 (1:3 turns) case.
Still I've used 3x to 4x as a safety margin.? The 100V irf510 is fairly resistant at 24V
and less so at 32.? For nominal 12V (13.8V DC) that means 55-60V device has
enough voltage margin.
However blowing devices is often a symptom of other things going on such
as RF instability or DC instability.
--
Allison
Puzzled still how I blew an IRFZ24N (just one -- the other appeared fine) in a highly modified V2 which has huge zeners across the gates to ground which have been shown with oscilloscope photos to literally protect the gates.? ? The drive level was 68% (and 100% had been set to move about 35 watts into 50 ohms) but the device was through an un-tuned autotuner, into the input circuitry (which has a tuned circuit) of an ancient Heathkit SB-200 amplifier.? Frequency around 3.550 MHz.? ?I had forgotten to hit the "tune" button on the autotuner between the sBitx and the amplifier.? ?After only a few dits and dashes -- shorted PA Mosfet, with current limiting by the power supply and huge current indicated on an external current meter.
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I'm guessing I created a situation that resulted in either damaging voltage or current on the 55V IRFZ24N device.? ?Voltage might be more suspect?? ?The MOSFETS were heatsinked using Aluminum nitride pads with goo, and had ben installed a year or more previously and no problems ever since until this moment.? ?
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Definitely a learning moment for me.? ?This is the FIRST MOSFET in a PA that I've ever had go south.? ?I don't operate hours and hours like others here; I'm more of a tinkerer who just puts things together, makes a few contacts, does some winlink and spends an hour or more just listening to relatively high speed CW in the early morning for practice.? ? But I've spent many hours and hours diagnosing problems with various units.? ?Maybe the IRF510 is indeed tougher due to its higher drain voltage rating?? Dunno.
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Gordon KX4Z
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Re: zBitx orders are closed
Wonderful problem.? ?How many orders did you take before you stopped?? I am one of the lucky ones waiting anxiously for my delivery.?
Doug, KI6DS?
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Re: zBitx orders are closed
Greetings Farhan !
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Awesome - Can't wait !
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Maybe start a list where we can register interest for next round of orders !
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73s
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
Wb9blw. ?
Looking good! ?I also had the problem with the speaker. ?I made a low profile shield from .030 thick lexan sheet and covered it with copper tape. ?It is secured with 2 of the board of mounting screws and has a bonding ground to the case next to the pi. The shield continues under the pi. ?Picture attached. ?I will add the aluminum shield on top of this. ?
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Re: BlueDV on sBitx is now available
JJ, Can it be used with the standard setup file for BlueDV? I have a ThumbDV on a Raspberry Pi, with Ambiserver and a port-forwarded hole through my firewall. I use BlueDV for Windows in the house, and BlueDV AMBE for Android to connect to it with my phone from anywhere else. Can the version you've made accessible to an sBitX also have the Ambeserver options in the setup file? Because if so, that's really huge for me!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 73, Gwen, NG3P
I created a software installation package for BlueDV on the sBitx. If you already have the ELF image installed, then it is fairly easy to install with my script.
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For more information, please see the forum post at ?
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-JJ
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
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Ryan, I mocked up some forms to act as a mold for shielding tape yesterday.? The output side had plenty of space to add a full shield and seems like a no brainer. The input side did not have any room to spair so i had to cut the middel part of the form out. The speaker literally touches some of the coils. I was able to add some shielding to the sides but i don't know if its really attributing to anything.? i added the .stl files i used to this post if anyone wanted to try this them selves, as a disclaimer I am self taught with 3d design so I'm sure someone could do much better. you will need to print them on their back and use an auto tree for the over hangs.? They print really nice, i use a bambu P1S. i printed 100% fill and they still print fast (~1 hour) with a .06 hotend . as you can see you will need to cut away at them depending on how you want them to fit but that is very easy to do.? big question is how is the noise. ill put it this way, if the radio performed as it is now i would had never thought there was an issue.? do i still see things when i crank the IF past 90 yes.. but it doesn't look abnormal, no birdies or hard hash in one spot. Ill be the first to admit the radio is a ton of fun with or without this shielding but it has seemed to make a difference and its a fun project.? some photos with notes.?  ?
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Re: S/N 0994 receiver internal noise
Ryan, I mocked up some forms to act as a mold for shielding tape yesterday.? The output side had plenty of space to add a full shield and seems like a no brainer. The input side did not have any room to spair so i had to cut the middel part of the form out. The speaker literally touches some of the coils. I was able to add some shielding to the sides but i don't know if its really attributing to anything.? i added the .stl files i used to this post if anyone wanted to try this them selves, as a disclaimer I am self taught with 3d design so I'm sure someone could do much better. you will need to print them on their back and use an auto tree for the over hangs.? They print really nice, i use a bambu P1S. i printed 100% fill and they still print fast (~1 hour) with a .06 hotend . as you can see you will need to cut away at them depending on how you want them to fit but that is very easy to do.? big question is how is the noise. ill put it this way, if the radio performed as it is now i would had never thought there was an issue.? do i still see things when i crank the IF past 90 yes.. but it doesn't look abnormal, no birdies or hard hash in one spot. Ill be the first to admit the radio is a ton of fun with or without this shielding but it has seemed to make a difference and its a fun project.? some photos with notes.?  ?
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Gwen Patton
HA3HZ
