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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, May 28, 9pm Local Time, 7.277 MHz

 

I have to wonder if we're not going about this from the wrong angle. The idea of a BitX QSO "Night" is appealing, but band conditions after dark on 40 meters currently are not the best for beginners with QRP, and I would hate to see anyone get discouraged because they are finding it hard to get out under these conditions. I know from experience that great things are possible with QRP and the Bitx DX-wise, but the band has to be right for it, and that can't be counted on every night or every Sunday. Closing in on summer in the Northern Hemisphere, near the bottom of the solar cycle, after dark we are competing with a whole hemisphere of thunderstorms and a continent's worth of QRM, and there may even be a skip zone covering a short path that would make a solid QSO before sunset.
The idea of making this a regional event set in each time zone is good, but why not move the local time to, say, an hour before sunset. At my location that currently works out to around 7:30 pm (and won't change that much over the next couple of months), There is variation from north to south, and across the time zone, so push that back another half hour for a margin and we get 7:00 pm. I think we'll find it easier to make regional contacts, and if the band is in good shape anyone can stick around until later and see what happens. What say you?
John AD0RW
TFT/VFO Board from FDIM talk #w8tee

Jack Purdum
 

All:

Attached is a JPG of the "Arduino Sandwich" showing all three boards/modules connected together. As for the MAR-3SM+, look on eBay, but drop the "+" sign. These are not RoHS compliant (e.g., lead free), but unless you plan on eating them, I wouldn't worry about it. I would buy at least 5 cuz I can guarantee you that one will fall on the floor and disappear before you can blink. I saw one vendor selling 10 for $8. Perhaps someone in your club can share the order.

Jack, W8TEE

From: KD8CGH <rkayakr@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2017 9:48 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] W8TEE TFT/VFO Board from FDIM talk

A few questions on parts.
Should the ATMEGA board have female connectors? I assume it plugs in on top of the male connectors on the board. A pic of the assembly would be useful.
Where can you find the Mini Circuits MAR-3SM+? Neither ebay nor Digikey claim that they have the "+". The only source I found was Mini Circuits, which had a minimum purchase on 20.



Virus-free.

ThreeBoardPicture.jpg

Re: Peter Parker improved audio hack

richard kappler
 

thanks

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 9:35 AM, OZ9AEW <madsen1960@...> wrote:
I think it is this one




--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: W8TEE TFT/VFO Board from FDIM talk

 

A few questions on parts.
Should the ATMEGA board have female connectors? I assume it plugs in on top of the male connectors on the board. A pic of the assembly would be useful.
Where can you find the Mini Circuits MAR-3SM+? Neither ebay nor Digikey claim that they have the "+". The only source I found was Mini Circuits, which had a minimum purchase on 20.
Re: Check out the BRITX from Indonesia

 

Cool! Wonder if an entire kit will become available...

Rich
KC8MWG


On Monday, May 29, 2017 9:10 AM, Bill Meara via Groups.Io <n2cqr@...> wrote:
Re: Step by step raduino software install instructions

 

i have got it working at last. i downloaded the driver from GOGO:TRONICS

thanks for the info from everybody

73's de terry gm4dso
Re: Peter Parker improved audio hack

OZ9AEW
 

I think it is this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IELJwapv5qs
Peter Parker improved audio hack

richard kappler
 

John Smith mentioned that he implemented the "Peter Parker improved audio hack." I seem to have missed that and I just searched and can't seem to find it. Can someone point me at it?

73, Richard

--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: Floor noise?

philip yates
 

Richard.

Inverted L....?


A design by GM0ONX.
Save you the research.

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 2:01 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
I have not heard of the inverted L. If it is what I imagine from the name, I "might" be able to get away with one of those, though it would have to be against, literally up to and touching, my building. Dunno if that would work. Ahh, more research, the joys of this hobby! ;-)

73, Richard

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 8:59 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

Could be your aerial, sounds like it gets out, but as for RX ? I have an inverted L up, small garden so not room for anything big.
I did start to listen for the nets last night, as here its a holiday today, but we had another night with thunderstorms. Typical long weekend, weather is crap and not radio friendly.

Anyone else have any other suggestions.

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:50 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.

73, Richard

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:45 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

As detailed by Allard...

Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.

The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).

See the operating instructions at




--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.






--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Check out the BRITX from Indonesia

 


Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, May 28, 9pm Local Time, 7.277 MHz

Jack Purdum
 

I'm gonna be really miffed if I'm not around when the solar cycle moves in our favor and bands finally open up. But, like they say, death is Nature's way of telling you to slow down. I just thought it would take longer to get old. Love this T-shirt.





Jack, W8TEE


From: John Smith via Groups.Io <johnlinux77@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2017 10:51 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] BITX QSO Night, Sunday, May 28, 9pm Local Time, 7.277 MHz

I think I am starting to understand why some hams say life is too short for QRP.
I can barely complete a contact with W1LY. But then again 1,471.5 miles is quite a distance for QRP with lots of lightning crashes. He fades in and out and gets more audible later in the evening. Yea, I can hear him fine now, but I can't hear anybody else.
Well, I got the impression he is an expert QRP operator. And should have a long list to post tonight.

Any chance anyone heard my signal, and could comment on the audio quality? I just implemented the Peter Parker improved audio hack. It sounds just a bit better at this end.

By the way I am putting 24 volts into the final, and In-Vee 18 feet at apex.



Virus-free.

Re: In praise of the BitX and this community

philip yates
 

Richard.

Thats the spirit, I last built a kit in the early 90's, struggled to get it to work, but it did.
I sit here with a decent black box shack... FT1000MP MK5 etc, but since getting the Bitx40 it has barely been turned on, the other bench is covered in bits of radio and the Bitx is amongst a pile of wires, its a wonder it still works when powered up.

Wish I was closer would have popped in to help, but being in the UK not much chance.
Hope someone in the group closer can help, if not keep asking the questions.

Have you seen the Facebook groups for the Bitx, I had quite a bit of help of there programming the Raduino. Theres a wealth of knowledge out there and others are very willing for us to succeed.

I am now gathering parts to finish my Bitx40, then when the uBitx comes out, I may go for that.

As we say at work, if the magic smoke has not been released theres not a lot wrong, and you have to be doing something right.

Regards

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:58 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
My wife and I had a discussion last night. She was very concerned that I have yet to find any real success with the B40 or this hobby at all other than through the local repeater on my HT. She was worried that I was going to get to discouraged and walk away from the hobby, which I have only been in for a few months now.

?I was unemployed for quite some time as well as had some health issues, so there hasn't been much money to divert to ham radio, which is what drew me to the BitX in the first place. I told her on the contrary that, had I had a butt ton (metric, not standard) of money to throw at the hobby from the beginning, I might well have gotten bored. It would have been too easy (Plug cord A into slot B, turn switch C to the D position, Bob's yer Uncle, you're on HF!)

Having had to try to do this on less than a shoestring, I have had to learn so much more than I most likely would with commercial rigs and fancy accessories. I have had my radio's guts all over the desk numerous times. I have had to build tools to help troubleshoot it and learn how to use them. I've made horrifying mistakes and learned loads from each and every one, I've had miniscule successes that felt like monumental victories. I have yet to make a contact on my BitX or arguably even get it running right, but I sure have had fun trying, and have learned so much in the process!

73, Richard

--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: Floor noise?

richard kappler
 

I have not heard of the inverted L. If it is what I imagine from the name, I "might" be able to get away with one of those, though it would have to be against, literally up to and touching, my building. Dunno if that would work. Ahh, more research, the joys of this hobby! ;-)

73, Richard

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 8:59 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

Could be your aerial, sounds like it gets out, but as for RX ? I have an inverted L up, small garden so not room for anything big.
I did start to listen for the nets last night, as here its a holiday today, but we had another night with thunderstorms. Typical long weekend, weather is crap and not radio friendly.

Anyone else have any other suggestions.

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:50 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.

73, Richard

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:45 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

As detailed by Allard...

Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.

The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).

See the operating instructions at




--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.






--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: Floor noise?

philip yates
 

Hi Richard.

Could be your aerial, sounds like it gets out, but as for RX ? I have an inverted L up, small garden so not room for anything big.
I did start to listen for the nets last night, as here its a holiday today, but we had another night with thunderstorms. Typical long weekend, weather is crap and not radio friendly.

Anyone else have any other suggestions.

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:50 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.

73, Richard

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:45 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

As detailed by Allard...

Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.

The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).

See the operating instructions at




--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
In praise of the BitX and this community

richard kappler
 

My wife and I had a discussion last night. She was very concerned that I have yet to find any real success with the B40 or this hobby at all other than through the local repeater on my HT. She was worried that I was going to get to discouraged and walk away from the hobby, which I have only been in for a few months now.

?I was unemployed for quite some time as well as had some health issues, so there hasn't been much money to divert to ham radio, which is what drew me to the BitX in the first place. I told her on the contrary that, had I had a butt ton (metric, not standard) of money to throw at the hobby from the beginning, I might well have gotten bored. It would have been too easy (Plug cord A into slot B, turn switch C to the D position, Bob's yer Uncle, you're on HF!)

Having had to try to do this on less than a shoestring, I have had to learn so much more than I most likely would with commercial rigs and fancy accessories. I have had my radio's guts all over the desk numerous times. I have had to build tools to help troubleshoot it and learn how to use them. I've made horrifying mistakes and learned loads from each and every one, I've had miniscule successes that felt like monumental victories. I have yet to make a contact on my BitX or arguably even get it running right, but I sure have had fun trying, and have learned so much in the process!

73, Richard

--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: Floor noise?

richard kappler
 

I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.

73, Richard

On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:45 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote:
Hi Richard.

As detailed by Allard...

Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.

The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).

See the operating instructions at




--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, May 28, 9pm Local Time, 7.277 MHz

 

Worked two local BITX40 stations on 7.277: VE3THR Tom, and VE3RDQ Jack. Also worked W4JLE Fred 58 on 7.178. Didn't hear anyone else on either frequency.?
73 - AL in Barrie, ON
running 7W into a vertical delta loop.
Jitter

 

just go and buy an RFM22B for three dollars. you don't know what that is? have you been living under a stone?

- f

bit off topic, but
datasheet say RFM22B don't go down to 2 meter !? Did U used 328P as MCU ?
Here used SR-FRS-1WV & unlike
it's working good, both RX & TX?


--
{ mailed mobile }
Re: arduino ide

 

can you give me step by step instructions on how to find and install the driver
terry
Re: Source of LDR required.

philip yates
 

Yes have the info now. It was your blog post that made me decide to have a go at this circuit.
Have built the other AGC circuit, but like most of us theres always the temptation to try the next circuit to see if thats better.

My bench resembles a sea of bits, worries me every time i power it up, will it survive...
Bitx40 now sitting in the base of its enclosure, liberated some tilting feet of an old junk radio, and the front panel is sitting with bits on top, trying to work out its layout.

Still quite a way from drilling anything, but thats the fun of it all.

Many thanks for the info all.

Phil - G7BZD

On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:13 AM, VK3HN <prt459@...> wrote:
Phil,

You might already have the answers, but regardless, here's my blog post and vid on this circuit:



FWIW, the first LDR I used from the junk box was 40-400k and did not work.? I sourced a 4-40k LDR from Jaycar (here in VK) and it worked fine. I didn't even bother to tape it for ambient light penetration.? Day or night on the bench seemed to make no discernible difference. ?

73 VK3HN


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