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Re: zBITX CW Mode - Proof of Concept
Hi Miguel,
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Now I have mine running from a 7.5 vdc power supply., which about what 2 fully charged 18650's was providing.? ?I'm not having any erratic behavior problems at that voltage. I have been sending a little CW on it periodically as I'm testing a change to see if the memory leak or variable overrun goes away.? ?
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Do you have your Delay set to 1000 or close to that ?? ?I never tried lowering that Semi-QSK Delay time on mine.? A 1 second lag before it drops back into Receive Mode is fine with me.
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I usually do not worry about CPU usage unless it pegs at 100% for more than an instant.? ?I figure no use having some percent of it unused.?
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Off hand, I can't think of anything else to suggest.?
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72,
Jody - K3JZD? |
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Re: SBit V4 Thoughts
The current offering is to purchase a complete kit that includes a case, mic, RPi, and screen. ?The board only is just the board. ?There was a separate offering to upgrade the board only to the equivalent to the complete kit, though the cost advantage goes away. ?I do not see that offering now. ?Better off to buy the complete radio and add a 4 or 8 gb ram RPi4.?
73
Evan
AC9TU |
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Re: SBit V4 Thoughts
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýAt one point, when RPi boards were hard to come by, and HF Signals had to pay premiums to secure the boards we convinced them to sell radios without RPi boards (or displays) included at a reduced price.Yes, a comparable RPi 5 costs only $5 more than an RPi 4 with the same amount of memory, but Farhan has already indicated that the benefits of the RPi 5 are not needed to smoothly operate the radio, and those discussions (in part) led to the design of the zBitx with its RPi Zero 2 W board (the Zero 2 W is essentially a smaller form-factor RPi 3). The discussion is in the archive, it shouldn't be hard to find. Turning the radio into a nice ham radio PC may be something you are interested in, but I suspect HF Signals is content to sell radios to be used as radios. The 'wasted' cost of the 2 meg RPi 4 in the sBitx is what, $35-40? If you replace an RPi 4 with an RPi 5, you may be introducing thermal issues inside the radio - I can't remember how the discussion on that topic wound up... In my opinion, you'd have better luck getting HF Signals to omit the RPi 4 for a discount, rather then getting them to offer upgraded versions with either more memory, faster CPUs or both. Good luck!? Ken, N2VIP On May 13, 2025, at 16:52, AE9J via groups.io <merrow.jeff@...> wrote:
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Sbitx DE running V4.4 Loss of spectrum display
Hello to the group -- The yellow spectral display just above the waterfall has disappeared. I think the waterfall is acting a bit strange too, but that might just be noise. I have tried to adjust the IF but it does nothing to bring the spectral display back.
Suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated.
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Thanks -- Rick W7RNB |
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Re: Ubitx v3
Hello,
1. Check K1 and K3 relays for correct operation. You can press PTT and tap them with couple harder "kicks" from top - example with plastic head of screwdriver.
While whistling into mic - observe power meter (can also be CB swr/pwr meter) if does it helps. This is first common issue with this rigs - relays.
2. If this will not help - we will need more data. Example: does radio receives correctly?
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Regards
Tomasz
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Re: SSB query
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI tried the internal mic and with settings above 50 it tends to oscillate ¨C looks like RF feedback. At 60 it oscillates steady, at 40 it looks better but no idea how it sounds. If I¡¯m ever going to use it in SSB, I¡¯ll use an external mic. ? 73 Frank PA3CNO ? ? Van: [email protected] <[email protected]> Namens Martin Howard via groups.io ? Hi all I keep getting reports of quite severe distortion when I use my Zbitx in SSB mode, is it the fact that I'm only using the internal mic, ( reasonable signal reports for a QRP but unintelligible audio) giving it a bit more gain either goes from very little output to distortion, doesn't seem to be a right level, audio level meter is very jumpy too, do I have to adjust any other settings. FT8 seems to work fine and I'm getting output when I try 2tone tests. I'm only using 18650s so is it perhaps wanting a proper 9v supply. Any help would be appreciated. Martin? |
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Re: zBITX CW Mode - Proof of Concept
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On May 13, 2025, at 12:13, Jody - K3JZD via groups.io <k3jzd.jody@...> wrote:
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Re: zBITX CW Mode - Proof of Concept
While I was preparing my version 3.052 a thumbs up, my zBITX was sitting here running in receive mode.? ?And stopped to let my dog out.
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As other have reported, the zBITx gets hot.? I have it running on a 9vdc supply.? I suspect it would be better with a 7.5vdc supply, closer to what the batteries provide.? I have the smaller of the two Amazon Heat Sinks that was suggested here superglued to the back plate which helps a little.
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Shortly after sending my thumbs up message, I went to experiment with IambicB Mode CW some more.? ?Sending CW was now impossible.? The Receive Mode display was frozen.
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A heat issue?"? A memory leak issue ??? ?Removing power and restarting it restored it to usable.? ?And it was still hot.? So, it must be a memory leak corrupting something.
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72,
Jody - K3JZD? ? ?? |
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Re: zBITX CW Mode - Proof of Concept
I just downloaded version 3.052 from ? ??I have it running in my zBITX
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Version 3.052 has added Interrupts to the Key Inputs.? ?This version also did what I was avoiding - it made some significant changes to the program control rather than just applying band-aids. (the re is some advantage to knowing how all of the code is structured and the control flow - this code was all brand new to me).??
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I am finding that Version 3.052 is usable on CW, right out of the box.? All of the Receive Mode features on the screen are now frozen whenever sending CW.? Unlike my band-aided modifications to version 3.021, the Transmit? Mode features on the screen remain active.? ? The big yellow representation of the shape of the CW character is sometimes there, some times not there.? But when it is there it is frozen.? I think it would be better if that big yellow thing was totally removed - it does not add any value.
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I tried Straight Key Mode from 5 to 20 WPM - I had no issues with the Straight Key Mode at any speed.? I am barely adept at using an electronic keyer.? But I found that I could use Iambic Mode from 5 WPM to 20WPM - I had no issues with the Iambic Mode at any speed.? However, I found the IambicB Mode to be much more difficult to use.? I could not adapt to the timing that is required for this implementation of IambicB Mode. However, someone more skilled than I might find it to be OK.?
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I am running with my Semi-QSK Delay set to 1000 - that is what it was defaulted to in the github distribution that I downloaded. That Delay setting worked well for my style of sending, so I did not change it.?
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So, It seems to me that the folks who have received zBITX units with version 3.052 installed should be happy with the CW Modes on their units.? ?For those of you that have Version 3.021 installed, you should upgrade to version 3.052 rather than apply my band-aid fix for version 3.021.? ?If you already have version 3.052, have your Semi-QSK Tail Delay set to 1000, and you are having problems with the CW Mode, I would guess that you have some other problem.??
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I enjoyed the time that I spent doing my "Proof of Concept" study and adding my band-aids.? ?The zBITX/sBitx code is interesting.? It was educational.? ?In the end, it took Interrupts on the key inputs and freezing the waterfall, spectrum, and decoding on the LCD display to make the CW Modes usable.? That is what I had concluded that it would take --> the CPU needed to fully concentrate on manually sending CW.? ?So, all is well that ends well.
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72,
Jody - K3JZD
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Re: New zBitx - New User - CW operation
At the moment, yes, the CW doesn't work properly.? ?However, Jody has now demonstrated yet another way to fix the issue for one version and is working on another.? So the solution(s) are well with reach, just as we had to do with the sBitx.? ?Her solution may eventually carry back to the sBitx.
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I dont understand why there is said to be such a delay in going from R to T -- we fixed that a LONG time ago in the sBitx.? ?Perhaps the zbitx users will copy our solution?
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Oh by the way -- I? **just* figured out a problem with N3FJP and its connection to the Winkeyer.Arduino Emulator....and learned how to get around it.? ?We have had problems with N3FJP talking to winkeyers? (arduino emulator) for at least 3 years now....and finally I have a way to make it much more reliably work.? ?This is a famous set of equipment, I think the issue was present in the real winkeyer also -- and FINALLY I learned what is a workaround!? ?YEARS!
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Gordon KX4Z
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SSB query
Hi all
I keep getting reports of quite severe distortion when I use my Zbitx in SSB mode, is it the fact that I'm only using the internal mic, ( reasonable signal reports for a QRP but unintelligible audio) giving it a bit more gain either goes from very little output to distortion, doesn't seem to be a right level, audio level meter is very jumpy too, do I have to adjust any other settings. FT8 seems to work fine and I'm getting output when I try 2tone tests. I'm only using 18650s so is it perhaps wanting a proper 9v supply. Any help would be appreciated. Martin? |
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Re: Ubitx v3
friends,
I am sorry post covid etc, i got focused on other issues.? I am pick up this fix.
I ordered the parts for the rf probe and will put that together.
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Summary of the issue:
1. PTT on SSB results in no power.
2. PTT does kick the relay and i can hear the modulation on external shortwave receiver.
3. Humm on the internal speak when PTT.
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Re: Order # 3869 April 2
Quick update, mine actually shipped a few hours ago. Apparently the pace has sped up quite a bit, or there was a bottleneck of some sort. On Tue, May 13, 2025 at 9:10?AM Gordon Gibby KX4Z via <docvacuumtubes=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Order # 3869 April 2
Randy -- "de minimus" exclusions apply to most of the world, other than China, and so there really shouldn't be a problem from India.? ? Gordon KX4Z
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