zBITx First Impressions from M7NDB
#zbitx
First things first. I love it even though it does have some issues I need to address. As others have said, it is a fantastic bit of feature-rich kit for the price.
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Received it in the UK on the 4th of May, a little ahead of when I thought it might be shipped. No VAT or charges from the carrier have been requested.
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The date of this post is 22 May 2022 and the software versions in the shipped version are: display: v1.06 and main board v3.052.
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It is running nicely on two batteries. On RX: current drawn is 460 mA. On TX: at 100 drive into a dummy load it is 2.6 Amps.
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Power out (20m 14.035 MHz) Vbat = 7.7 V
Drive = 100 Pwr = 7.00 Watts?
Drive = 80? Pwr = 5.00 Watts
Drive = 50 Pwr = 2.65 Watts
Drive = 30 Pwr = 1.00 Watts
Drive = 25 Pwr = 0.69 Watts
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At Drive = 100 above, heating and power loss of the rx components is 3.85 watts; transmitted power is 7 Watts and the battery is supplying 20 watts.
The box is dissipating 13 watts when transmitting, so it is going to warm up. I'll try and get an estimate of the thermal impedance of the box to get an idea of how long it is wise to transmit, particularly with FT8. My morse is so slow and gappy it is not going to be a problem!!
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The morse keyer issues are already noted, and I find both the straight key and iambic modes unusable, but there is likely RF in the box causing issues. The question I am asking is this RF leak a likely cause of some of the keying issues when using a straight key or paddle??
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Using the automatic CQ (F1) facility as the benchmark for my investigation, it fails to complete a full 3x3 CQ call around 25% of the time. The code it produces is clean and easy to decode but it suddenly stops randomly without completing. Sometimes it is near the start, other times it is towards the end, and all points in between! I call this possible RF induce effect a truncated TX. The device continues to work normally after a truncated TX event.
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Applying some ferrites to the power cable from the cells gave a small improvement. This also made the straight key and paddle operation less glitchy.
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I also noticed the frequency of truncated TX incidents increased as the rear heatsink warmed up, hinting at some thermal component at work. Possibly, an inductor losing permeability as it warms??
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Another hint pointing the finger at leaking RF is when I touch and hold the heatsink during a transmission the frequency of truncated TXs goes down. Again, it does not eliminate them.
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I also tried short cables and ferrites for the morse keys, to no great effect.?
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FT8 also looked like its transmissions were being cut short. PSKreporter saw them but I didn't manage to complete a QSO. I need to do a bit more investigation here.
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The morse decoder works nicely. Its secret is twiddling with the IF setting and fine tuning into the blue bandwidth cursor. Once set it appears to work well in a range of conditions.
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I activated VNC so have a number of ways to access the machine. Could this additional overhead for the processor be a factor in the truncated TX issue? I feel it is unlikely.
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This is probably as far as I can go without taking the alan key to it and opening the case; which is the next step.
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Does anyone have any advice or guidance about tracking down this alleged RF issue? eg Where to Start? Applying some shielding?
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73 John
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Re: Unreliable WIFI on zBitx?
I have run SSH and RealVNC for hours at a time while trying out things.? But I am either 5 feet away from my WiFi Router or about 30 feet away.? ?I have not experienced any unexpected disconnects with either connection.? But I have only been using CW into a dummy load.? So, maybe my results are not typical.
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72,
Jody - K3JZD.??
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On May 22, 2025, at 13:12, Jody - K3JZD via groups.io <k3jzd.jody@...> wrote:
? I will second the idea of using a Drok Power Supply.? I bought a 10 amp 12vdc adjustable Drok wire frame supply from Amazon.? ?I run it at 7.5v - about the same as the two batteries would provide,? ?It seems to be very clean ad holds the voltage very steady.
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I had tried a 9vdc 5a brick power supply that was made for a computer. While it did not have any RFI that could detect, the zBITX ran pretty hot with a 9v supply, and the voltage dropped quite a bit whenever I transmitted.? It seemed like 5a wasn't quite? enough.
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And, I also found out that the JESSPOW 18650 Flat Top 3300mAh Li-ion Batteries that Amazon sells are good quality.?
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72,
Jody - K3JZD? ?
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I will second the idea of using a Drok Power Supply.? I bought a 10 amp 12vdc adjustable Drok wire frame supply from Amazon.? ?I run it at 7.5v - about the same as the two batteries would provide,? ?It seems to be very clean ad holds the voltage very steady.
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I had tried a 9vdc 5a brick power supply that was made for a computer. While it did not have any RFI that could detect, the zBITX ran pretty hot with a 9v supply, and the voltage dropped quite a bit whenever I transmitted.? It seemed like 5a wasn't quite? enough.
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And, I also found out that the JESSPOW 18650 Flat Top 3300mAh Li-ion Batteries that Amazon sells are good quality.?
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72,
Jody - K3JZD? ?
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On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 08:57 AM, Jay Bremner wrote:
I ordered one because I can deal with these minor issues, it weighs under a pound, so perfect for POTA/SOTA and self-contained digital modes.?
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Personally I think the issues with current draw and heat generation make it less than perfect for POTA/SOTA and self-contained digital modes. ?The review I linked has these two items as the first two negative points for the radio.?
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Hopefully these things will be improved over time, but from what I read here it sounds like most people are operating them from home using wall current and have added cooling solutions that add weight, as opposed to attacking the root cause of excess current draw and heat generation.??
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Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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zBitX offset waterfall passband
I picked up a zBitX at FDIM, but am just now getting it going as I had a backlog of storm-related stuff to deal with on the farm when I got home. So far it seems amazing. I have scanned the manual and have been reading postings, but this issue doesn't seem to be covered anywhere. In the photo below I am listening to 7.255 LSB and the signals are loud and strong and you can see the waterfall trace, but the red line for the carrier point is about 1500hz above the frequency, so the signal trace is offset in the indicated pass band. Is there a way to adjust the waterfall? Also, is there a way to increase the contrast for signals on the waterfall? Those there are nowhere near the intensity shown on other SDR devices, or maybe it is because the background shows a higher noise level?
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=Vic=
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Re: Any update on ft8 messenger you mentioned before?
I haven't done it myself, but I think you may be able to just:
1. Edit the update_zbitx script, line 11, which reads:
???? git checkout farhandev
to read:
???? git checkout messenger
Then update in the usual way by .
2. Use this ino file to update the frontpanel:
No warranty included, I haven't had time to dig into the software side of this properly yet. Someone else may have better instructions.
-Grant
On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 11:25?AM Vince d'Eon VE6LK/AI7LK via <vincedeon= [email protected]> wrote:
Can anyone please direct me on how I add Messenger to my zBitx? I don't speak github or linux very well ...
72,
.Vince
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Which power supply is recommended for this radio?
Thanks,
Bob
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Re: zBITX Crashes - Suspect Memory Leak
#zbitx
Hi Tom,
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Glad you were able to take advantage of my changes.? ?While I have a number of nice paddles that I have bought over the years, I just can't get good at using them.? I have been pounding on straight keys for many years, and can be thinking about something else while I'm sending.? With electronic keyers, I have to work at it.? ?Did not mind making mistakes in sending whenever I started out - but feel embarrassed when making mistakes today :-)? ?Should have jumped into electronic keyers back when they first showed up and stumbled along with everyone else.
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72,
Jody - K3JZD
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Re: Unreliable WIFI on zBitx?
Some additional data on this:
RealVNC test running with zBitX in receive only failed after about five minutes.?? In this case all that was running on the RPi desktop was start.sh and sBitx.?? No activity on RealVNC other than just display updates watching the waterfall.
wlan0 responded to wlan0 down, but did not respond to wlan0 up. Also attempted service networking restart with no effect.??? On sudo reboot, the RPi shutdown with a blank external monitor and did not restart.? A power cycle is required.? Whatever the failure mode is, something in the system is mad!
Suggestions or ideas??? Happy to trying testing further if there are suggestions as to what the test looks like.
73, Steve KF8KI
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On 5/22/2025 12:30 PM, Steve Weigold via groups.io wrote: Hello all:
New zBitX owner here too, after picking one up at Hamvention. I've been putting it through it's paces and trying to figure out how it best fits in my toolbag.?? I'm hoping to use it for various *OTA activations, but I need to make sure that I have determined the appropriate setup and am making sure it's reliable here at home before I head out somewhere with less resources.
That said, I've been using FT8 and I find that the built in FT8 interface is a bit clunky and I much prefer WSJTX, which I have configured and working well.? (I may start another thread on the built in FT8)? WSJTx of course requires access to the RPi desktop and I really don't want to haul a keyboard, mouse and a monitor out to a park somewhere if it can be avoided, so I was hoping to use RealVNC with a tablet or other device so I can access the desktop.
I have RealVNC set up and working fine, but what I'm finding is that when trying to operate, I can't work very long before the WIFI interface fails.? Worse, when it does fail, trying to restart just the wlan0 interface (using sudo ifconfig wlan0 down/up) will not work either.? It requires a full reboot.? wlan0 down causes the interface to show disconnected.? wlan0 up seems to do nothing.? In cases where the interface hasn't gone into failure mode, those commands work fine.
I've run the zBitX on the bench in receive only with an SSH connection open for hours and WIFI has been fine, so I thought it might be RF related, but I tried a similar test to see how long I could keep a RealVNC session open just in receive and it failed even just on receive after about 5 minutes.?? Of note in that case, the SSH session was still open too.? Trying it again currently with just RealVNC to see if that makes a difference. I'll report back.
Now I'm wondering if it's a WIFI "load" issue, since RealVNC is going to put much more load on the unit than an SSH connection open and doing nothing.
Anyone else run into this or have recommendations?
If the setup matters, zBitX is running on a power supply at 8.5V.
Thanks for any wisdom!
Steve KF8KI
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Unreliable WIFI on zBitx?
Hello all:
New zBitX owner here too, after picking one up at Hamvention. I've been putting it through it's paces and trying to figure out how it best fits in my toolbag.?? I'm hoping to use it for various *OTA activations, but I need to make sure that I have determined the appropriate setup and am making sure it's reliable here at home before I head out somewhere with less resources.
That said, I've been using FT8 and I find that the built in FT8 interface is a bit clunky and I much prefer WSJTX, which I have configured and working well.? (I may start another thread on the built in FT8)? WSJTx of course requires access to the RPi desktop and I really don't want to haul a keyboard, mouse and a monitor out to a park somewhere if it can be avoided, so I was hoping to use RealVNC with a tablet or other device so I can access the desktop.
I have RealVNC set up and working fine, but what I'm finding is that when trying to operate, I can't work very long before the WIFI interface fails.? Worse, when it does fail, trying to restart just the wlan0 interface (using sudo ifconfig wlan0 down/up) will not work either.? It requires a full reboot.? wlan0 down causes the interface to show disconnected.? wlan0 up seems to do nothing.? In cases where the interface hasn't gone into failure mode, those commands work fine.
I've run the zBitX on the bench in receive only with an SSH connection open for hours and WIFI has been fine, so I thought it might be RF related, but I tried a similar test to see how long I could keep a RealVNC session open just in receive and it failed even just on receive after about 5 minutes.?? Of note in that case, the SSH session was still open too.? Trying it again currently with just RealVNC to see if that makes a difference. I'll report back.
Now I'm wondering if it's a WIFI "load" issue, since RealVNC is going to put much more load on the unit than an SSH connection open and doing nothing.
Anyone else run into this or have recommendations?
If the setup matters, zBitX is running on a power supply at 8.5V.
Thanks for any wisdom!
Steve KF8KI
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Re: Any update on ft8 messenger you mentioned before?
Can anyone please direct me on how I add Messenger to my zBitx? I don't speak github or linux very well ...
72,
.Vince
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New zBitz owner and wannabe tinker/developer
Picked up a zBitz at Dayton, I couldn't pass this up.? My interest tends more to experimenting, developing and improving than operating, but I do enjoy operating also.? My development experience is mostly on embedded systems (flight computers for amateur rockets) where timing is critical and it has to work.? The RPi environment is totally new to me so I will be leaning for occasional help from some of the developers here for help in bringing me up to speed if they are willing.? Of course I will share all of my trials and tribulations.
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73, John
N2AFU
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Many of the reviews have pointed out some bugs or shortcomings, but all have stated that this is an experimenters radio. If you want a polished radio, buy a Yaesu , Icom, Kenwood, Elecraft, etc.?
I ordered one because I can deal with these minor issues, it weighs under a pound, so perfect for POTA/SOTA and self-contained digital modes.?
On Wed, May 21, 2025 at 09:33 PM, Tony wrote:
Read a few reviews that stated some issues with the unit.
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There's your answer.? If you can live with the issues in the reviews and/or look forward to trying to resolve them over time, it's worth buying.
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I think Vince's review ( ) is really thorough.
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It covers the highs, the lows, and everything else in between.
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Read it thoroughly and IMO you will be much better informed than the average buyer.
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Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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On Wed, May 21, 2025 at 09:33 PM, Tony wrote:
Read a few reviews that stated some issues with the unit.
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There's your answer.? If you can live with the issues in the reviews and/or look forward to trying to resolve them over time, it's worth buying.
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I think Vince's review ( ) is really thorough.
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It covers the highs, the lows, and everything else in between.
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Read it thoroughly and IMO you will be much better informed than the average buyer.
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Regards,
Dave, N1AI
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Order number 4001 is on the way.
I just got notice my order number 4001 is on the way.
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I am excited to get it in hand and play with it. I ordered it on 04.06/2025, so that's good with all the supply problem they have had.
I missed getting to Dayton, but watched the YT video. FT8 messaging sounds very interesting also. Another tool in the tool box to play with.
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Don
KB5KWV
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There was a ham here who found a 2MHz spur coming out of his radio, and also spurious signals 2MHz up and down from his desired signal.? ?He was pretty adamant that the level was above FCC allowances by a fair bit -- and far higher than any spurious signals from other transmitters he had.? ?Ashhar measured the spurs on his radio in house and found it was far lower and made a comment that ome of the stages were being overdriven, likely resulting in the spur.? ?I think he probably adjusted the currently released product as a result -- but I don't know if the ham who had the unit in question ever got a solution for HIS radio (which could not be utilized on the air as a result of violations of the FCC limits).? ? I think this may be the most concerning issue still out there and I wonder if he ever got a resolution?
(A long time back I had similar issues with one of the sBitx's?I was "refurbishing" -- and I eventually conquered?it by reducing drive current in the Si5351, and by somewhat improving the linearity of one or more stages in the power chain, to my satisfaction.? ?My issue was well resolved as a result.)? ?
Gordon KX4Z
I've had mine for several weeks now. I think it's an amazing radio. That it's open source just means there's more than just Farhan fixing bugs and extending its capability. There was an issue with what appeared to be latency in keying CW. Last I checked, it was fixed. Some things were fixed, modified, or extended by HF Signals or one of the hams who bought one, and could go into the firmware, find the problem, and eventually, fix it.
I had one of the first wave, around the middle of the 700-ish people who bought one. I saw Farhan post that orders were open, and within 10 minutes of his post, I had one ordered. It took a bit to get here, but I didn't mind, I had a Midnight Design Solutions "Old Friend" transceiver for 30 meters on my bench at the time. (I finished it, and it is a total champ.)
A few people didn't like the zBitX and sold theirs. People snapped them right up. I wouldn't part with mine. I've updated the main firmware and the UI firmware (two different processors), and watched it get better and better in real time. I'm going to have to send my KX3 in for repairs soon, and I'm probably going to put the zBitX in service for the duration. (If I find it annoying as my daily driver, I can put in my IQ32, my mcHF clone, or, if I clean up space for one of them, I could put my ICOM IC-746 Pro, or even my Yaesu FT-101 ("No bloody A, B, C, D, E, or EE" -- Montgomery Scott).
So, my opinion is that I have found it to be a worthwhile purchase. I like the thing very much, and am glad I jumped at it. For what you get, the price is insanely inexpensive. I've paid more for SHOES than the zBitX cost. (I have oddly shaped feet, and I buy specialty shoes for diabetics. It's quite easy to spend $200-300 on 3 or 4 pairs. I know because I did it. I'm wearing one of the pairs now.) But, since I don't know you at all well, I have practically no information upon which to speculate whether or not YOU will find the purchase safe to buy. I believe so, but as in all things, YMMV.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 73, Gwen, NG3P
I agree with Franco. If what he writes doesn't apply to you, get a G90.
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73 DF7II J¨¹rgen?
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Thanks Dave -- the only concern I have about these switching power supplies (I bought a few but haven't used them yet) is generation of radio frequency interference.? ?The noise level of the zBitx may already be internally so high that it doesn't matter, but I have fairly sensitive radios such as 7300 etc. (and I have added shielding internally to my sbitx's?to improve their receiver performance) -- and I HATE any noise generation in my house, where I run two Winlink RMS stations.? ?Any data on noise generation by the DROK's?? ?Filtering possibilities to deal with any?? ? The best data would be measuring the sensitivity or minimum discernible?signal in a calibrated way before and after adding the DROK to power.? ??
Thanks! Gordon KX4Z
On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 7:03?AM David Wilcox K8WPE via <Djwilcox01= [email protected]> wrote: Instead of all the diodes get a Drok voltage/current controller from Amazon or other places. I can then use the battery packs from my yard power tools and reduce them down to whatever voltage I need for the project at hand.? ?I mostly use one with my 12 volt BioEnno 12 volt battery packs.? The two 18650 batteries in the case attached to my zBitX works well too and that is what it is set up for.? No chance of over volting it.
In general a fun new radio that does a lot of things and is made for try this, try that without breaking the budget.
Dave K8WPE
> On May 21, 2025, at 8:32?PM, Gordon Gibby KX4Z via <docvacuumtubes=[email protected]> wrote:
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> ?Rafael, I would take a 12 V laptop power supply from a thrift store, and then add a bunch of series 5 or 10 amp silicon diodes until you get the voltage down to about 8 V.? Six diodes in series should do the trick
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> You can probably get the laptop power supply rated for 3 A or so for five or $10 at the thrift store and you can get the diets for less than $10 from Amazon. So you¡¯ll have about $20 into the project.
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> I hope that helps!? Be careful with polarity!
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> Gordon kx4z
>> On May 21, 2025, at 19:08, Rafael Diniz via <rafael=[email protected]> wrote:
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>> ?Could anyone recommend an affordable power supply I can use with the zBitx, to use with 110 or 220 VAC, 50Hz and 60Hz?
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>> Cheers,
>> Rafael
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>> <OpenPGP_signature.asc>
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Instead of all the diodes get a Drok voltage/current controller from Amazon or other places. I can then use the battery packs from my yard power tools and reduce them down to whatever voltage I need for the project at hand. I mostly use one with my 12 volt BioEnno 12 volt battery packs. The two 18650 batteries in the case attached to my zBitX works well too and that is what it is set up for. No chance of over volting it.
In general a fun new radio that does a lot of things and is made for try this, try that without breaking the budget.
Dave K8WPE
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On May 21, 2025, at 8:32?PM, Gordon Gibby KX4Z via groups.io <docvacuumtubes@...> wrote:
?Rafael, I would take a 12 V laptop power supply from a thrift store, and then add a bunch of series 5 or 10 amp silicon diodes until you get the voltage down to about 8 V. Six diodes in series should do the trick
You can probably get the laptop power supply rated for 3 A or so for five or $10 at the thrift store and you can get the diets for less than $10 from Amazon. So you¡¯ll have about $20 into the project.
I hope that helps! Be careful with polarity!
Gordon kx4z
On May 21, 2025, at 19:08, Rafael Diniz via groups.io <rafael@...> wrote:
?Could anyone recommend an affordable power supply I can use with the zBitx, to use with 110 or 220 VAC, 50Hz and 60Hz?
Cheers,
Rafael
<OpenPGP_signature.asc>
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Tony,
I just purchased one (a zBitX) at Dayton (FDIM, the QRP Meeting) and have tinkered with it learning everything I can. The bands have been less than stellar but everything seems to work well for me. ?What fun in a little box for $170 (no shipping if bought at Dayton). ?If you like to tinker and experiment it looks like a good choice. ?I would rather have a new thingy to play with (built an Old Friend for 30 meters and a CFT1 on the dining room table in our condo this past winter in Florida -the weather was ucky) so this was an ideal something new to get on the bands with when our club does a POTA adventure. ?I am always the first to try new things but our club has two more zBitX¡¯s on the way, one by a newbie and one by a more experienced ham. We have lots of fun with QRP and low power here in northwest Michigan. ?The G90 seems to be a popular item too.?
I remember when I first moved to this area 53 years ago there was a ham who was rather well heeled and always had the best and newest rigs back when they cost a month¡¯s wages or sometimes more. We had difficulty not drooling on his newest rig. ?Now it¡¯s easy to have the newest in the QRP field as the size and cost is much different by comparison. And if you want more power the amplifiers aren¡¯t that expensive today.?
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On May 21, 2025, at 9:33?PM, Tony via groups.io <wvperic@...> wrote:
? So, the Zbitiz has been out for a minute.?
Would you all that have the radio say it is safe to buy with no major issues??
Read a few reviews that stated some issues with the unit. I know nothing is perfect obviously.?
I would much prefer to spend $200.00 than $600.00 for the FX-C4R honestly.?
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Dave, N1AI
Vic WA4THR
Jay Bremner
Don Clark
David Wilcox K8WPE