The bitx40 has two cascaded relays. One is the PTT activated one and the other is activated from the first.
These relays on my board "VRS.." have some <7ms according to the data sheet. So two relays cascaded would
have up to 15ms delay.
It will be better to power both relays from the PTT but this will put undue current stress on the PTT
switch. Fix: Add a couple of transistor to handle the PTT and drive the relays.
This is my next hack when I get back to my town house bench!
Any thoughts?
73
--
Raj, vu2zap
Kodagu/Coorg
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Toroid question...again***UPDATE***
I re-soldered the 6 "legs" but the problem is still there but less sensitive to bumps. I also added some glue to the toroid to make it more mechanically sound. I am guessing the twists and turns may be shorting to the core. I will leave it alone if this repair works. What is the best way to troubleshoot a toroid? My receiver is occasionally dead until I tap #? toroid, then it "jumps" to life. It remains working unless I accidentally hit that toroid again. It has 6 legs, 3 on each side soldered to/through the board. If I contact/tap each of the legs, there is no effect, so I think the problem is somewhere within the actual twists and coils. Can it be caused by the coil contacting the core and shorting? I am tempted to add some super glue to the coils while it's working and hope it stabilizes and eliminates the problem.
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Re: Raduino v1.18 (improved CW performance) released
Hi guys, I have my Bitx40 built and receiving. ?For some reason I think the final got whacked or it was shipped with a defective final so I have a few of those coming in. ?To date, mine has never transmitted but everyone seems to think that the new final will fix the issue. ?Let's hope.
To get back on topic my radio has the factory default firmware in it, something like 1.0 or 1.1, I don't have it here with me at the moment. ?If I install the new 1.18 firmware does anything need else added to the radio like the two switches to control the galloping VFO? ?So far I haven't added those yet but the switches are in the mail. ?I'm not going to be using my radio for CW so what's happened in the firmware between 1.0/1.1 that I will benefit from? ?Also, is there a place that I can get the original firmware in case I need to go back to that?
Thanks,
Curt
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I will be adding Rca phono pannel jack to use ptt switch ?to key up Amertron amp. I have tested ?so far maxium output near 100 walts Peaks ?with ?Bitx40 measure at 8 watts drive at 100% audio drive. Lady Francesca? -- I have ?bitx40 ?and completely wired up. get nice hiss when the volume up. display lights up only showing Raduino V1.01. ?frequency never shown, anyone have that problem? ?i think the software is not in the chip. Francesca W7LTG ? NV?
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Re: Raduino v1.18 (improved CW performance) released
Thank you, Allard, this works flawlessly.
Greg
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On Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 6:03 AM, lostfrogsrecords <dave@...> wrote: Thanks for your reply Keith, yes to all of that. My issue was not
downloading the proper file to compile. When I downloaded the .zip all went
well. Al Duncan VE3RRD pointed me to the information that helped me:
I had a good contact with VE3THR last night, great fun!
Dave, KI4PSR
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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
On Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 04:29 am, Nick wrote:
If interested you can find details here of the loop here:
Nick, thanks for the link! ? -- John - WA2FZW
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Re: Raduino v1.18 (improved CW performance) released
Thanks for your reply Keith, yes to all of that.? My issue was not downloading the proper file to compile.? When I downloaded the .zip all went well. Al Duncan VE3RRD pointed me to the information that helped me:
I had a good contact with VE3THR last night, great fun!
Dave, KI4PSR
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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
Did you use 1/4" tubing like that used in the url? If so, you can double
the efficiency by going to 3/4" pipe of the same length as the tubing.
Vince.
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If interested you can find details here of the loop here:
(
)
I couldn't make it as large as I wanted because I had to carry it up and
down the basement stairs. This size just makes it.??
I know it's not symmetrical. Just thrown together.??
--
Nick
--
Michigan VHF Corp.
|
Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
If interested you can find details here of the loop here:
I couldn't make it as large as I wanted because I had to carry it up and down the basement stairs. This size just makes it.?
I know it's not symmetrical. Just thrown together.?
--
Nick
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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
Thanks for being my first BITX to BITX Tom.? Same conditions on
this end as well.? You started out a good 56, 57 here and then
slid down into the noise.? Antenna here is a Butternut vertical
and also about 7 watts out.? Catch you next time & 73.
Armand
On 07/09/2017 10:58 PM, Tom VE3THR
wrote:
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worked tonight on
7.277 @ 7 watts into OCFD Started at app. 0000 UTC?
KI4PSR Dave 55
KC1FSZ Bruce 56
WA1UQO Armand was 55 then QSB took him out
VE3RRD Al 59
VE3RDQ Jack 55
N1PMA ?Craig 55
heard but couldn't work
KM4WII
KC9CEB
AD8J not qrp
W0BOY
K0GSG not qrp
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Hi all,?
I found a simple fix for my receive noise. I used an antenna tuner!
Thanks for all the good suggestions from the group.
As well as changing my Bitx40 enclosure, I had changed my antenna. I went from a 40m dipole (with a balun and coax feeder) to a ZS6BKW with parallel feedline, a balun and coax into the Bitx40.
I presume the feeder picked up more noise and my Bitx40 front end was being swamped. I guess the MFJ-901b tuner has improved attentuation of the out-of-band signals.
Now receive is good and I¡¯m getting about 4 watts out from 12v and 10w out from 20v (measured on a Daiwa CN-801HP).
73s
John, VK2VOL
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Hi all,
I moved my Bitx40 board to a smaller enclosure and somewhere along the line I ended up with massive breakthrough from AM stations.
This happened even with the VFO unplugged from the board.
The breakthrough stopped (surprisingly) when I grounded the centre contact of the antenna input. 7mhz ?SSB signals came through fine!
I experimented with a couple of capacitors across the antenna input instead of the grounding, and finally used a 100pf capacitor. Now the receive is great, no AM breakthrough at all and a reduction in noise. Signals still getting through fine.
Transmit seems ok (on a nearby receiver), but I haven¡¯t tested power output.
I¡¯m not sure how that all worked. I have Peter parker¡¯s improved audio transmit mod. Also?removed the 1uf capacitor between pins 1 and 8 of the LM386 and replaced with resistor/capacitor.
Any thoughts?
John
VK2VOL
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Re: W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD
Dr. Jack, W8TEE,?
Thanks for the reply and clarifications. ?
I have been reading and scouring thru each and every email as they pop up on this group and the soft group, its not like drinking from a firehose, more like a spillway gates are open, so many great directions and great minds to draw from. ?
I had understood the other details you mention, already had both versions saved and ready to put to work, I just wasn¡¯t sure you still had boards. I understand none of this is a kit, I built a couple of Heathkits back in the mid 80¡¯s. ?I explain all of this as being a platform to experiment with. ?It will be a group buy, we meet twice this week, so I will get a good number for the buy. ?
Keep on coding, I used to code on AS/400¡¯s real near you¡.all over Cincinnati area¡I thought that neuro domain was gone, Arduinos have opened up that world again, of me, in bite sized chunks that I can handle, no more 20k mainlines possible for me. ?Having a lot of fun. Starting from scratch all over again. Books work real good for me, that¡¯s why I have yours. ?Since I don¡¯t have short term memory worth anything, these online mazes are really tough.
I will be making an order by the end of the week.
Craig KM4YEC
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On Jul 9, 2017, at 11:23 PM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < econjack@...> wrote:
I'm selling the board for $7.50 pp. I have a bunch left as I think my club will do a build of it. I have uploaded a new assembly manual, schematic, and source code in the group's Files section. Since I just did it, sort the list by date and I should be close to the top.??is selling the AA PCB board. It's not a kit...just the board. Note that both projects use the Mega 2560 Pro Mini. The one from Banggod will NOT work, as it's pins are off by 0.10". I use eBay #162264493523.
If you want a board, use PayPal and my account is?econjack@.... Make sure you leave a shipping address. I can give you a better price if you order 10 or more.
Jack, W8TEE
From:?Craig Thibodeaux <km4yec@...>
To:?[email protected]?
Sent:?Sunday, July 9, 2017 10:26 PM
Subject:?Re: [BITX20] W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD
Dr. Jack, W8TEE,?
I have searched just about everywhere I can think, here, there and over there¡
Are any of your boards available? Enough for a group buy??
Are the details still what they were a month or more ago, because thats the last info I can find, and I can't make sense if you ran out or have more?
We are also looking at the upcoming AA, more than serious, we are using Arduino Projects for Ham Radio, probably going to go next to that ¡®C¡¯ book.
Our group has a dozen BitX¡¯s either in hand or on order, and probably more real soon.?
I would love to be working with this, have to figure out how to get your board.
Craig KM4YEC ?( @ ) g m a i l?
On Jul 9, 2017, at 10:02 PM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < econjack@...> wrote:
No, it should be changing without being connected to the main board. It sounds to me like the connections from the encoder to the PCB are on the wrong pins. CHeck those and make sure they are correct. You can download the latest schematic for the board from the Files section of the group.
Jack, W8TEE
From:?Charlie Morrison < charlie@...> To:?[email protected]?Sent:?Sunday, July 9, 2017 4:42 PM Subject:?Re: [BITX20] W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD Hi Jack
I have my board built and running with the latest code, however turning the rotary encoder does not move the frequency from 7.200 (I have tried 3 different encoders with same result). ?Pressing the encoder switch moves it to SW1, but further presses do nothing. I have not connected the VFO to the BITX yet, i dont recall seeing a connection diagram anywhere, i must have missed it. Does the VFO need to be connected to the BITX for the frequency to change and the switch to behave properly?
73, Charlie GI4FUE
|
Slight Inverted V light and easy
Thought I would share this one.
Used some cheap junk box spool of speaker wire, a banana connector and some plastic insulators with a case mount so-239.
?
?Originally my brother W8FI made one like this and called it a Luxembourg for the 1st qso he made with it.?
?
?Using the case divider on the banana post as a tension relief on the wire and added a length of para cord for the connector.
?
?The legs are just about 32 ft each as the dipole/Inverted V lengths are very close 31.6 and 32.6 so I figure a slight V or not 45 degrees would be safe to bet 32 is good.
?
Took it to the park the other day and worked W1AW for IARU HF Championship, if my cw copy was any better I'm sure I would have made more but test was complete.
?
Used a ZM-2 Tuner and a 12v APC battery.
?
?Happy building
73
?David
? N8DAH
   
?
?
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Re: TFT VFO/BFO by VU2SPF
These are very interesting projects all.
Take a look.
john
AD5YE
|
I have put the details of my TFT VFO + BFO on blog and github. It is a design where standard arduino Mega 2560 is used. The 2.4 inch TFT sits right on top and a specially designed board for Si5351 etc piggybacks on Mega next to TFT. All extra pins from Mega are brought out on this board on the back side, for ease of connection. These extra pins should be sufficient for controlling bands etc. It is a completely touch controlled version.
The Arduino sketch is working but pitfalls are expected. The basic manual detailing various touch buttons is on blogspot.
vu2spf.blogspot.in
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
73
SP Bhatnagar
VU2SPF
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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
On Sun, Jul 9, 2017 at 06:08 pm, Nick wrote:
No luck for me with my mag loop and bitx, called on and off for about 20 minutes before the mosquitoes got ridiculous. I did hear w3ttt but that is about it.?
What Vince asked: How big? I'm just finishing up a 2 loop 4' one. Not sure how well it's going to perform on 40, but that's as big as I can get into the attic. Have to finish up the feed mechanism. I'm trying a gamma match, but if that doesn't work, I'll go with the more conventional coupling loop. Then I have to add a Arduino controlled mechanism for the tuning capacitor. ? -- John - WA2FZW
|
Re: W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD
I'm selling the board for $7.50 pp. I have a bunch left as I think my club will do a build of it. I have uploaded a new assembly manual, schematic, and source code in the group's Files section. Since I just did it, sort the list by date and I should be close to the top. QRPGuys.com is selling the AA PCB board. It's not a kit...just the board. Note that both projects use the Mega 2560 Pro Mini. The one from Banggod will NOT work, as it's pins are off by 0.10". I use eBay #162264493523.
If you want a board, use PayPal and my account is econjack@.... Make sure you leave a shipping address. I can give you a better price if you order 10 or more.
Jack, W8TEE
From: Craig Thibodeaux <km4yec@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, July 9, 2017 10:26 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD
Dr. Jack, W8TEE,?
I have searched just about everywhere I can think, here, there and over there¡
Are any of your boards available? Enough for a group buy??
Are the details still what they were a month or more ago, because thats the last info I can find, and I can't make sense if you ran out or have more?
We are also looking at the upcoming AA, more than serious, we are using Arduino Projects for Ham Radio, probably going to go next to that ¡®C¡¯ book.
Our group has a dozen BitX¡¯s either in hand or on order, and probably more real soon.?
I would love to be working with this, have to figure out how to get your board.
Craig KM4YEC ?( @ ) g m a i l?
On Jul 9, 2017, at 10:02 PM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < econjack@...> wrote:
No, it should be changing without being connected to the main board. It sounds to me like the connections from the encoder to the PCB are on the wrong pins. CHeck those and make sure they are correct. You can download the latest schematic for the board from the Files section of the group.
Jack, W8TEE
From: Charlie Morrison < charlie@...> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 9, 2017 4:42 PM Subject: Re: [BITX20] W8TEE TFT/ VFO DISPLAY BOARD BOARD Hi Jack
I have my board built and running with the latest code, however turning the rotary encoder does not move the frequency from 7.200 (I have tried 3 different encoders with same result). ?Pressing the encoder switch moves it to SW1, but further presses do nothing. I have not connected the VFO to the BITX yet, i dont recall seeing a connection diagram anywhere, i must have missed it. Does the VFO need to be connected to the BITX for the frequency to change and the switch to behave properly?
73, Charlie GI4FUE
|
Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
worked tonight on 7.277 @ 7 watts into OCFD Started at app. 0000 UTC?
KI4PSR Dave 55
KC1FSZ Bruce 56
WA1UQO Armand was 55 then QSB took him out
VE3RRD Al 59
VE3RDQ Jack 55
N1PMA ?Craig 55
heard but couldn't work
KM4WII
KC9CEB
AD8J not qrp
W0BOY
K0GSG not qrp
|
Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
Worked local stations VE3THR and VE3RDQ. Also worked
KC1FSZ
N1PMA
W0OIC
KD9CKB
Heard KM4WII and a couple more that I couldn't work. Not much QRN tonight for a change.
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Re: BITX QSO Night, Sunday, July 9, 7pm Local Time, 7277 kHz in North America, 7177 kHz elsewhere
I heard one person all nite. In fact all the Sundays I've tuned in it's the only one that was half way legible (I'm not a fan of his mic). The last 3 of his call were CGH and the beginning was K? or W? might have been 4. Like I said, I'm not a fan of his mic, took 10 times to make out the word Golf when he said his cal phonetically.
Did anyone else hear him? He was in North Carolina.
Vince.
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On 07/09/2017 10:22 PM, KC8WBK via Groups.Io wrote: QSO: N0GSG
Heard
W4JLE, SC
KE5HBL, CO
Lots of static.
--
Michigan VHF Corp.
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Raj vu2zap
Craig Thibodeaux
N8DAH
SP Bhatnagar