So, Help. Please.... I'm confused, re: the input the DC power
supply.
- I thought I understood the input dc power requirement was 9.0
volts (using a barrel connector).? SO I bought one.
- Now I read that the max input power is to be no more than 8.2V
DC.
- Further, the two 18650 batteries (even fully charged) can only
supply 7.2VDC. SO I bought two.
What are the actual input power requirements for the ZbitX, so
I get it right before I power it up?
Thank you,? Don Lewis, Austin, TX.
==============================================
On
3/26/2025 5:45 PM, Ed T. via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I
ordered a 12v buck converter with adjustable power
output. Thought is I can use my current collection of
12v ?lipo batteries and still power the Z
Having just
received my zBitx, I'm looking for advice on the
proper batteries to use in the battery holder.
Since the zBitx does not include a battery
charging circuit (a good thing, in my opinion),
I'm looking for a recommendation for a pair of
cells for the attached battery holder (18650? Flat
top?) and ideally an included battery charger to
charge the two cells. The ability to order them
off Amazon is a plus, but not a requirement by any
means.
?
Also,
Bioenno offers 9v LiFePO4 battery packs in 3 and 6
amp capacities, I assume such a battery would work
FB with the zBitx, correct? Here's a link to the 3
amp 9 volt pack and charger I'm looking at:
?
?
It is not
the cheapest option, but it is an option - with a
suitable Powerpole to coaxial plug adapter it
should be fine, right? (My concern comes from
watching Farhan video earlier today and his
comment about "always" running the zBitx at 8.2
volts...
?
Thanks,
Ken, N2VIP
?
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zBitx upgrading the firmware.
The documentation should be here in the next 12 hours. But here is how you upgrade the firmware: 1. Go to ? 2. Download the uf2 file to your computer. 3. Unplug the zbitx power. 4. Keeping the knob button pressed, attach the supplied USB cable between the PC and the CAT USB port on the zbitx. 5. Remember, you have to attach to the CAT USB port, not the other. 6. Now, let go of the knob pressed. The zbitx front panel will light up with an all grey screen. The Pico controller will show up as a drive on your PC. 7. Copy the .uf2 file from the PC to the Pico controller. 8. You are done, remove the USB cable. Start up the zbitx. 9. The latest firmware should show up on the front panel.
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I ordered a 12v buck converter with adjustable power output. Thought is I can use my current collection of 12v ?lipo batteries and still power the Z
Having just received my zBitx, I'm looking for advice on the proper batteries to use in the battery holder. Since the zBitx does not include a battery charging circuit (a good thing, in my opinion), I'm looking for a recommendation for a pair of cells for the attached battery holder (18650? Flat top?) and ideally an included battery charger to charge the two cells. The ability to order them off Amazon is a plus, but not a requirement by any means.
?
Also, Bioenno offers 9v LiFePO4 battery packs in 3 and 6 amp capacities, I assume such a battery would work FB with the zBitx, correct? Here's a link to the 3 amp 9 volt pack and charger I'm looking at:
?
?
It is not the cheapest option, but it is an option - with a suitable Powerpole to coaxial plug adapter it should be fine, right? (My concern comes from watching Farhan video earlier today and his comment about "always" running the zBitx at 8.2 volts...
?
Thanks,
Ken, N2VIP
?
|
|
|
Ken,
I have been using flat top 18615 with a small charger pcb I bought for about a dollar. It is a 2S charger with a usc c connector at the other end. I can use my phone charger to charge the batteries with it.
Having just received my zBitx, I'm looking for advice on the proper batteries to use in the battery holder. Since the zBitx does not include a battery charging circuit (a good thing, in my opinion), I'm looking for a recommendation for a pair of cells for the attached battery holder (18650? Flat top?) and ideally an included battery charger to charge the two cells. The ability to order them off Amazon is a plus, but not a requirement by any means.
?
Also, Bioenno offers 9v LiFePO4 battery packs in 3 and 6 amp capacities, I assume such a battery would work FB with the zBitx, correct? Here's a link to the 3 amp 9 volt pack and charger I'm looking at:
?
?
It is not the cheapest option, but it is an option - with a suitable Powerpole to coaxial plug adapter it should be fine, right? (My concern comes from watching Farhan video earlier today and his comment about "always" running the zBitx at 8.2 volts...
?
Thanks,
Ken, N2VIP
?
|
Having just received my zBitx, I'm looking for advice on the proper batteries to use in the battery holder. Since the zBitx does not include a battery charging circuit (a good thing, in my opinion), I'm looking for a recommendation for a pair of cells for the attached battery holder (18650? Flat top?) and ideally an included battery charger to charge the two cells. The ability to order them off Amazon is a plus, but not a requirement by any means.
?
Also, Bioenno offers 9v LiFePO4 battery packs in 3 and 6 amp capacities, I assume such a battery would work FB with the zBitx, correct? Here's a link to the 3 amp 9 volt pack and charger I'm looking at:
?
?
It is not the cheapest option, but it is an option - with a suitable Powerpole to coaxial plug adapter it should be fine, right? (My concern comes from watching Farhan video earlier today and his comment about "always" running the zBitx at 8.2 volts...
?
Thanks,
Ken, N2VIP
?
|
I understand the Z has a built in microphone, however, I prefer a handheld mic. I searched around but can't determine what might be an acceptable mic for the unit. Ideas/insight appreciated.?
thanks
N2KVZ
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Re: First zbitx in the wild
Ha-ha, you must have posted your pictures just as I was taking mine - here's a link to my photo album, nothing really different from John's photos, but since I took them I'll share a link to them:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/03bTX7WhJFiI_nUMiada2kZWQ
It was packed very nice, thanks HF Signals!
?
Ken, N2VIP
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Please see this post by HFSignals:
?
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Is there any way to get on the list for ordering a zbitx or will no more be produced?
Nice video.
My number is 3377, when can recevid trx.
Matjaz
S56ZVD
Ashhar Farhan via je 26. 03.
2025 ob 11:57?napisal:
zBitx shipping is on the way. We are shipping out
about 30 per day. This is mostly due to the slow paperwork at
our delivery partner. We are pressuring them to bump us to
providing APIs for faster paperwork. We hope it resolves soon.
In the?meantime, I have uploaded a few videos about the
zBitx from my bench. They are in a playlist on?
Let?me know if you have any questions
- f
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Re: First zbitx in the wild
I followed the instructions here on this link and it still shows 1.02
Got mine as well, but I don't have a mini-hdmi cable that works for it, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get connected to the internet.?
We also need instructions to upgrade the firmware: I see you are at 1.02, but the videos show 1.04.?
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Re: First zbitx in the wild
Got mine as well, but I don't have a mini-hdmi cable that works for it, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get connected to the internet.?
We also need instructions to upgrade the firmware: I see you are at 1.02, but the videos show 1.04.?
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Re: First zbitx in the wild
More photos, including size comparison with QMX+ and truSDX:
?
?
?
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Re: First zbitx in the wild
Mine arrived this afternoon?? Very nicely packaged and all in good working order!
?
Many thanks to Farhan and the HF Signals team for all of your efforts in getting this unique and fun little radio over the line!
?
73 Chris M0KNF
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Now best steeps ever made. I calibrated on 14065 - here is the closed with abt 30 Hz Down to 40m and up to 12m the differences increases. Will calculate the Values and set.       --
**
73 de
HB9FIH Erich
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?
It has arrived. ? ?I'm slammed with work to play with it. In the package came with USB Cable, allen key, OTG adapter and a test report card.. Let me take a photo of it .
?
?
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Nice video.
My number is 3377, when can recevid trx.
Matjaz
S56ZVD
Ashhar Farhan via groups.io je 26. 03.
2025 ob 11:57?napisal:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
zBitx shipping is on the way. We are shipping out
about 30 per day. This is mostly due to the slow paperwork at
our delivery partner. We are pressuring them to bump us to
providing APIs for faster paperwork. We hope it resolves soon.
In the?meantime, I have uploaded a few videos about the
zBitx from my bench. They are in a playlist on?
Let?me know if you have any questions
- f
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Try again before going to a bigger audience:
Hardly used V3 with original paperwork and SD card ( 32bit version );? Only SWL.
I am a QRP guy and was fortunate to get on the first ZBITX list so my V3 is available.
$380 shipped in the US.
Ron
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So what is the status of the new sBitx V4? ?Nothing about it on the HFSIGNALS site
On Mar 26, 2025, 6:57 AM -0400, Ashhar Farhan via groups.io <farhanbox@...>, wrote:
zBitx shipping is on the way. We are shipping out about 30 per day. This is mostly due to the slow paperwork at our delivery partner. We are pressuring them to bump us to providing APIs for faster paperwork. We hope it resolves soon.
In the?meantime, I have uploaded a few videos about the zBitx from my bench. They are in a playlist on?
Let?me know if you have any questions
- f
|
You can always shut it down. Shutdown is a super user privilige. I didnt want to elevate sbitx executable to su
On Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 8:52 PM David T-- VE3TOS via <digiital= [email protected]> wrote: There were some parts of the Video he didn't have an antenna connected. Also noticed he had a high SWR.?
And I have to agree 100% that there should be a shutdown button?to powerdown?the system correctly.?
On Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 11:13?AM Shawn Rutledge K7IHZ / LB2JK via <social= [email protected]> wrote: Thanks for the videos!? Those are much more informative.? I’m surprised you don’t see more signals in your area.? FT8 has always been really crowded here, anytime the band is open.? I’ve had contacts from Norway to far-away places on all continents over the last few months, with the sbitx and simple wire dipole antennas.? Not with India so far, but I hope we can have a QSO some day.?
I see that you simply pull the power when you are done.? I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep doing that with a raspberry pi: eventually it may corrupt the filesystem, or at least some files on the sd card, if it happens to be busy writing something when you pull the power.? So I think you should add a shutdown button to your settings screen on the pico.? In the meantime I’d probably try to ssh to it and run the shutdown command.? That’s usually what I do with the sbitx, since I’m often running it over ssh anyway.
Even my 3d printer has an embedded board inside, runs Linux off an sd card, and therefore has a shutdown button in its UI, and I always use it.
zBitx shipping is on the way. We are shipping out about 30 per day. This is mostly due to the slow paperwork at our delivery partner. We are pressuring them to bump us to providing APIs for faster paperwork. We hope it resolves soon. In the?meantime, I have uploaded a few videos about the zBitx from my bench. They are in a playlist on?
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HB9FIH