Re: raduino v1.27 released (improved suppression of spurious burst)
Allard Your software is impressive!? I have been using v1.25 and adding in some features for my BITX40s (x2) - Voltmeter, SWR and S-Meter.? ?Space and ports represent a major issue now! I note your interest in using one of the PLLs instead of the BFO.? This would be great!? It would also make it easy to add in PBT and adjust carrier offsets and not have the issue of USB being subtractive (so not as deaf - unless you remove the caps in the VFO buffering stages).?? I am in the process of adding the following features/mods:
- Multi-banding using the QRP-Labs relay boards (LPF and BPFs)? ?- Requires 5 digital I/O ports (or 10 if you want to drive relays directly from a port)
- 2 Rotary Encoders with press switches (requires 6 digital I/O ports)
- one encoder for tune control (press switch to toggle between 10khz and 100hz steps)
- one encoder for selector control (rotate to step through the menu - VFO A/B, RIT, etc. and to set defaults, and press switch to set menu item)
So, I need at least another 11 ports and some more program space and SRAM!? Ideally I would like band stacking registers for each band, which will demand more memory! My feeling is that it would be good to decide collectively, on where we go with the processor!? ?Choices seem to be:
- Arduino Mega Mini Embed (available from China for around US$8 including headers).? This is functionally the same as a Mega meaning tons of room and ports.
- Maple Mini STM Clone (BAITE) - About US$5 - very affordable and solves headroom problem and it has sufficient extra ports (particularly if the display uses I2C)
- Teensy 3.6 (or earlier) - but about US$30 each.
I am tending to favour the Mega Embed as this has tons of ports and code shouldn't need much in the way of changes (some ports shift of course).? However, the Teensy would provide for DSP as well in future, albeit at greater cost.? There are readily available SI PLL modules that would be mated to any of these devices. I would be interested in what others think.? ?I would really like a better? UI (User Interface).? Pushing a button multiple times is not really very user friendly, and rotary encoders can do the job so much better for both menu select and tuning functions. 73 Mike ZL1AXG
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Re: RX and TX LED (LEDs 101)
we generally use RED (1.4V) for Tx and Green (2.1V) for Rx.
?let us imagine? 2V as led drop. ?With 12V power , i suppose that 4K7 is work older or newer (hi bright) leds. ?all the best. sarma vu3zmv
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 9:09 PM, Vince Vielhaber <vev@...> wrote:
> I buy 1K and 10K by the hundreds.? So that's what it gets.? Buy the way,
Raj > is correct.? One or 2 ma on the newer LEDs is usually bright
enough.? I go
> 1K on 5V and 10K on 12V for some reason.
I buy all my resistors by the hundreds.? At Tayda they're only a penny or
less each.? Doesn't cost much to have a good stock of the common values.
Vince.
--
? ?Michigan VHF Corp.? ?? ?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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Further to the LPF modification for 80m, I have done more experimenting and found that if you switch in a 470pf cap across L6 in the LPF, you will get about 37db attenuation on 40m, with a nice rolloff from 80m.?
The attenuation on 80m is negligible. See the attached graph.
Cheers
John de VK4JWT
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You may need this driver:??
Might want to see if other BITX's agree with this
It's in Chinese but I just down loaded a while back and fixed my problem.??
I find cheap China Nano lack this driver.. I have 7 ultra.? My old Vista machine need this driver as well. 73
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 6:59 PM, 1practical.man <1practical.man@...> wrote: Allard
Will your Raduino version 2 be based on the ATMega 2560 or similar platform?
Just curious about how that is evolving.
BREAK.
I still haven't figured out how to load your code in the original chip. My ancient windows 7 machine won't recognize the chip and allow a write. Thought it worked initially because the LED on the raduino came on, but no code on chip.
I will keep plugging away trying to sort it properly.
This is all new to me. I haven't tried programming since I did FORTRAN in school.
Thanks for your efforts and education that you provide on this list. It's really great stuff
John
KN4GUY
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Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
Thanks!
toggle quoted message
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On Nov 6, 2017, at 20:16, Vince Vielhaber <vev@...> wrote:
It's called a Pelican Case. Google it and you'll find several suppliers, even ebay. I got one from BHPhoto.
Vince.
On 11/06/2017 08:01 PM, 1practical.man wrote:
That's a nice box. Can you shared what make and model it is? Perhaps a
vendor?
John
KN4GUY
On Nov 6, 2017, at 19:55, peatmoss - ki6ssi <pete@...
<mailto:pete@...>> wrote:
Yoyo dipole is good but it takes more work to put up. Lately I've been
using an EFHW, its just a small 49:1 auto transformer and 67 feet of
wire for 40-10m no tuner, 15 feet of coax. Sling one end up a tree and
have the transformer near the ground. So far its the best portable
antenna I have tried. Here is a good Facebook group for all the
details
I also put the bitx in a waterproof box.<P_20170506_175244.jpg> --
Michigan VHF Corp.
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Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
It's called a Pelican Case. Google it and you'll find several suppliers, even ebay. I got one from BHPhoto.
Vince.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 11/06/2017 08:01 PM, 1practical.man wrote: That's a nice box. Can you shared what make and model it is? Perhaps a
vendor?
John
KN4GUY
On Nov 6, 2017, at 19:55, peatmoss - ki6ssi <pete@...
<mailto:pete@...>> wrote:
Yoyo dipole is good but it takes more work to put up. Lately I've been
using an EFHW, its just a small 49:1 auto transformer and 67 feet of
wire for 40-10m no tuner, 15 feet of coax. Sling one end up a tree and
have the transformer near the ground. So far its the best portable
antenna I have tried. Here is a good Facebook group for all the
details
I also put the bitx in a waterproof box.<P_20170506_175244.jpg>
--
Michigan VHF Corp.
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Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
Well that is fine,?
sounds interesting.? What if we just want to see it, WITHOUT
FaceButt?
I have a random wire
up, kinda like a portable would be.
Mike, WA6ISP
On 11/6/2017 4:55 PM, peatmoss - ki6ssi
wrote:
Yoyo dipole is good
but it takes more work to put up. Lately I've been using an EFHW,
its just a small 49:1 auto transformer and 67 feet of wire for
40-10m no tuner, 15 feet of coax. Sling one end up a tree and have
the transformer near the ground. So far its the best portable
antenna I have tried. Here is a good Facebook group for all the
details?
I also put the bitx in a waterproof box.
--
Mike Hagen, WA6ISP
10917 Bryant Street
Yucaipa, Ca. 92399
(909) 918-0058
PayPal ID "MotDog@..."
Mike@...
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Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
That's a nice box. Can you shared what make and model it is? ?Perhaps a vendor?
John KN4GUY?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Nov 6, 2017, at 19:55, peatmoss - ki6ssi < pete@...> wrote: Yoyo dipole is good but it takes more work to put up. Lately I've been using an EFHW, its just a small 49:1 auto transformer and 67 feet of wire for 40-10m no tuner, 15 feet of coax. Sling one end up a tree and have the transformer near the ground. So far its the best portable antenna I have tried. Here is a good Facebook group for all the details? I also put the bitx in a waterproof box.<P_20170506_175244.jpg>
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Allard
Will your Raduino version 2 be based on the ATMega 2560 or similar platform?
Just curious about how that is evolving.
BREAK.
I still haven't figured out how to load your code in the original chip. My ancient windows 7 machine won't recognize the chip and allow a write. Thought it worked initially because the LED on the raduino came on, but no code on chip.
I will keep plugging away trying to sort it properly.
This is all new to me. I haven't tried programming since I did FORTRAN in school.
Thanks for your efforts and education that you provide on this list. It's really great stuff
John
KN4GUY
|
Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
Yoyo dipole is good but it takes more work to put up. Lately I've been using an EFHW, its just a small 49:1 auto transformer and 67 feet of wire for 40-10m no tuner, 15 feet of coax. Sling one end up a tree and have the transformer near the ground. So far its the best portable antenna I have tried. Here is a good Facebook group for all the details? I also put the bitx in a waterproof box. 
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Re: raduino v1.27 released (improved suppression of spurious burst)
Hmm, maybe possible. But this would take extra program space and we're
already tight. I want to implement digital BFO first (v2) which also needs
some space.
If we would have 4 VFO's then we also need to consider how the SPLIT
function should work.
73 Allard PE1NWL
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On Tue, November 7, 2017 01:18, radiomanjwt wrote: Hi Allard,Would it be possible to have, say, 4 vfos instead of the 2? It
would make it a lot easier when switching bands to have 80m on one vfo
(which i have now) and 40 on the next, 30 on number vfo3 and 20 on
vfo4.??Cheers John de VK4JWT??
Sent from my SAMSUNG Galaxy S7 edge on the Telstra Mobile Network
-------- Original message --------From: Allard PE1NWL <pe1nwl@...>
Date: 6/11/17 7:11 pm (GMT+10:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re:
[BITX20] raduino v1.27 released (improved suppression of spurious burst)
Hi,
I discovered a bug that the carrier burst is still not properly suppressed
in CW-SPLIT mode. Normal (non-SPLIT) mode works OK.
I'll correct that soon.
73 Allard PE1NWL
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Re: raduino v1.27 released (improved suppression of spurious burst)
Hi Allard, Would it be possible to have, say, 4 vfos instead of the 2? It would make it a lot easier when switching bands to have 80m on one vfo (which i have now) and 40 on the next, 30 on number vfo3 and 20 on vfo4.? Cheers John de VK4JWT?
Sent from my SAMSUNG Galaxy S7 edge on the Telstra Mobile Network
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-------- Original message -------- From: Allard PE1NWL <pe1nwl@...> Date: 6/11/17 7:11 pm (GMT+10:00) Subject: Re: [BITX20] raduino v1.27 released (improved suppression of spurious burst)
Hi, I discovered a bug that the carrier burst is still not properly suppressed in CW-SPLIT mode. Normal (non-SPLIT) mode works OK. I'll correct that soon. 73 Allard PE1NWL
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Hi Joe, I have not tried re modelling the lpf yet, but will do when i get more time. Btw the software is called rfsim, and is free if you wanto have a go. Cheers John de VK4JWT?
Sent from my SAMSUNG Galaxy S7 edge on the Telstra Mobile Network
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-------- Original message -------- From: Joe <joeman2116@...> Date: 7/11/17 7:56 am (GMT+10:00) Subject: Re: [BITX20] 80 Meters on BITX40?
Thanks for info.
Wondering if you had a similar solution for the lpf?
Joe
VE1BWV
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017, 5:28 PM radiomanjwt < jwtitmus@...> wrote: Hi all,
I have done some experimenting with RFSIM, modelling the existing BPF, and analysing it. I have come up with an easy way to have some filtering, without just shorting out the BPF.
If you put a 470pf from the antenna input to the junction of L3 and C6, you will get a reasonable BPF at 80m.
Change it to a 6.3uh inductor , and you will get 30m. A 2.2uh will give you 20m.
These are not optimal as in the original nice 40m BPF, but an easy way to get at least some filtering from BCB and higher up. See attached pics.
P.S I have tried it, and it works great.!
Cheers
John de VK4KWT
|
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi all,
I have done some experimenting with RFSIM, modelling the existing BPF, and analysing it. I have come up with an easy way to have some filtering, without just shorting out the BPF.
If you put a 470pf from the antenna input to the junction of L3 and C6, you will get a reasonable BPF at 80m.
Change it to a 6.3uh inductor , and you will get 30m. A 2.2uh will give you 20m.
These are not optimal as in the original nice 40m BPF, but an easy way to get at least some filtering from BCB and higher up. See attached pics.
P.S I have tried it, and it works great.!
Cheers
John de VK4KWT
|
Re: Function button on A3 only working intermittently
I loaded? v1.27 and when I tuned the the display would not respond well. reloaded V1.27 works as advertised.? Sooo i suppose I had an upload for some reason did not load correctly.? you could try a reload first.?
Also check the orange pin where it enters P1 is making good contact along with the ground. Check the solder side of P1 for a good connection.
Re-seat P3.
?maybe with Fun Switch depressed "ON" wiggle the orange wire (just be careful where the Raduino is relative to other connections/cicuits) and see if things change as you view the LCD. 73
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Thanks for info.
Wondering if you had a similar solution for the lpf?
Joe
VE1BWV
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017, 5:28 PM radiomanjwt < jwtitmus@...> wrote: Hi all,
I have done some experimenting with RFSIM, modelling the existing BPF, and analysing it. I have come up with an easy way to have some filtering, without just shorting out the BPF.
If you put a 470pf from the antenna input to the junction of L3 and C6, you will get a reasonable BPF at 80m.
Change it to a 6.3uh inductor , and you will get 30m. A 2.2uh will give you 20m.
These are not optimal as in the original nice 40m BPF, but an easy way to get at least some filtering from BCB and higher up. See attached pics.
P.S I have tried it, and it works great.!
Cheers
John de VK4KWT
|
Re: BITX40 build for SOTA/POTA operation
I'm a greenhorn as well so take what I say with a small siberian salt mine, but I seem to spend most of my time on 40m anyways. ?You will definitely lose some capability being single band, but you will also be very power efficient, and with a few modifications, you can get a full 20W out, much more than most SOTA rigs. ?It seems a workable solution to me.? There are also mods to multi-band, but those are beyond me.
I do think a $300 antenna is overkill. ?You are running a single band, so I would cut a simple inverted V dipole, or maybe an end fed half wave with a Sotabeams pico tuner or similar.
I would start with the dipole. ?They say that as a beginner it's easier to make an antenna worse than a dipole, but hard to make one better.
I made a homemade version of the YoYoTenna out of two $4 Coghlan's Laundry reels. ?The reels are a bit hefty, but it packs up really nice and you can adjust it for multiple bands if I want - I cut it for 40m at full extension, and as long as I use it with the BitX40, I can just roll it out all the way to stake it. ?If I bring a different radio, I reel it in to spots I marked with a sharpie for whatever band I want to use.
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Hi all,
I have done some experimenting with RFSIM, modelling the existing BPF, and analysing it. I have come up with an easy way to have some filtering, without just shorting out the BPF.
If you put a 470pf from the antenna input to the junction of L3 and C6, you will get a reasonable BPF at 80m.
Change it to a 6.3uh inductor , and you will get 30m. A 2.2uh will give you 20m.
These are not optimal as in the original nice 40m BPF, but an easy way to get at least some filtering from BCB and higher up. See attached pics.
P.S I have tried it, and it works great.!
Cheers
John de VK4KWT
|
Function button on A3 only working intermittently
Hi all,
Extreme newbie here. I recently received a BITX40 and installed the pavelmc sketch from??.? I added a function button on A3 and GND (orange and yellow wires respectively from the Raduino 8-pin harness). Usually when I first turn the radio on the button will work a few times but eventually the button stops responding until I unplug everything and let it sit for a while, then on next power up it will work a few times again.
I checked the continuity from A3 to GND while pressing & releasing the button and it seems to be working as expected.? Also the same thing happens if I take the button out and just short A3 to GND.
I'm not sure what to look at next.? Keeping in mind I'm a novice at understanding circuits, my only guess is that maybe the internal pull-up resistor for A3 isn't getting turned on or isn't working correctly and allowing A3 to float instead of being pulled high?? However the sketch I'm using does appear to enable the internal pull-up for this pin, so I'm not sure if that's it or what else it could be.
Any other suggestions? Thanks.
Jason - W4JAL
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Re: Another protection diode is required
I know it sounds simple, bit like me, but can someone detail a diagram for me. As I have fitted a socket for programming the Raduino, without removing any connectors and dont fancy frying anything, let alone letting the magic smoke out.
I did notice when I updated to v1.26, I could still hear stations. Although it was the 1st time I had the all the leads connected.
Phil-G7BZD??
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 2:56 PM, Raj vu2zap <rajendrakumargg@...> wrote:
The Nano board has a diode that prevents your PC from getting
fried.
After a raduino fry up! there was a short that smoked that diode in the
nano and I pulled the plug in time
and that got me thinking and came up with a solution.
Raj
At 06-11-2017, you wrote:
I have that diode on all my RaduinoX
boards.?? The other thing, I have left the 12V on my test fixture on
many times while programming with the USB (by Mistake).?
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radiomanjwt
Allard PE1NWL
