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Have you tried re-installing the sketch into the Nano?? There have been a couple of people that reported that they had to reload.

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Where are you located? We have a wide geographic spread of group members here and possibly somebody local to you could lend a hand, or maybe even a spare raduino? I'm unlikely to be of any use in this regard, being located on the other side of the world, Downunder.

Bill, VK7MX

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It looks like you might not be very far from Birmingham.? ?There's a ham radio club there? with people who might be able to help you:

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I drove to your state to take an AUXCOMM course just a few weeks ago.? ?There should be a good club in or near Wetumpka also -- there were very bright people in the class there.

different hams have differing abilities --- not all are experts, but if you look around you might find an Elmer who would be willing to help you.......ask who helps out newer ham folk in your part of the country.? ? Use QRZ.COM to help find peole.

Ive got a relative in Tallahassee who can fix ANYTHING.....but he has zero formal training, he just perseveres.? ?You don't seem to like me, but if you get desperate enough, you can ship the thing tome and I can have a look at it and see (no guarantees!) if I can figure anything out about it.? ?Took me hours and hours to fix the last heathkit that i worked on.? ?It had MULTIPLE problems.? ? At least with the Bitx there aren't LETHAL voltages everywhere, and it is on a tiny board and you can get to every circuit.? ?Lots of people here are giving you lots of good advice --- break it down and try to get any one area working --- and then go from there.? ?The receiver is first to get working --- no danger of anything overheating just to operate the receiver and figure out which of its stages are functioning.....the transmitter is just a another step forward ofthat....

Gordon

Thanks, my friend,? I gave you several concrete suggestions to try

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Most of what you did was try to insult me and insinuate I'm a cb'er because I don't know how to do half the stuff you were talking about... As I've said, you have these skills. I don't.

But, arguing with you will not change anything. M. Garza helped... and I found someone on Facebook who would speak to me so I could understand what I needed to do rather than "Up and at 'em, you lazy sod!"

So, have a nice night

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All is not lost.? This is a learning experience.? That is part of being a ham.

You just need to find out what is wrong and repair it.??

0.? Make sure the antenna connector is wired correctly.? Test continuity with your DMM.

1.? Take a look at the schematic and familiarize yourself with it.? ?

2.? The receiver should still work, even with the final being bad.

? ? ? Connect the antenna and tune around the band, you should hear something.??

? ? ? You stated that you had another receiver.? Find a signal with the other receiver and try to find it on the BitX40.??

? ? ? The BitX40 frequency might be off, so you might have to tune around for it.

? ? ? The noise should rise when the antenna is connected.? If not, check the toroids in the low pass filter.??

? ? ? ?Try gently moving them, to see if the windings are shorted or there is a cold solder joint.??

? ? ? ? ?You can also use a toothpick to move the individual wires from the windings to see if there is an issue there.

3.? Test the transistor voltages and compare to this message:? /g/BITX20/message/21621

Thanks for that. Someone else helped me realize that I was shipped a bad raduino. I told them everything I said in this thread and they diagnosed it. Basically, this is the rundown:

On receive, no difference in noise between antenna connected or dummy load. I can tune from one end of the band to the other and never hear any audio indication that I've done anything. I did make sure the antenna connector was wired correctly, btw.

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I get .01 amps on idle. When I click PTT I get .02 amps. Yelling into the mic doesn't change that. Turning RV1 and RV136 does nothing. I get 12 volts to the final, but zero voltage on the dummy load.

If I tune to 5 mhz on my HF rig sitting right beside the raduino, I hear NIST but no carrier over it. If I tune all way up to 7300, I don't hear a carrier at 5.1 mhz.

He said that, with a bad raduino, there would be nothing to amplify...so you wouldn't get a boost from speaking into the mic and RV1 and RV136 wouldn't have anything to work on.....and also receive wouldn't work.

So, it appears the raduino is bad. But, there's no telling what I've torn up on this trying to meter things out. I know I've blown the final when I was told to measure the voltage on the legs of the IRF510...but I don't know what else I've destroyed. Not so sure it's worth even trying to fix and not chucking it at this point.

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Thanks, my friend,? I gave you several concrete suggestions to try --- if that is what you consider "not much help" and "hot air"? then the five people whom I help get the Extra Class license last year and? the 8 or more who started out with Technciians....oh well, I guess i was ofno help to them either.....? ?Why insult people trying to encourage you?? ?That doesn't get you anywhere....

Friend, it takes work, and if you can't be? appreciative of people giving you advice and encouragement.....then good luck!!!

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One of the differences between ham radio and CB radio is:

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You didn't try transmitting from that nearby main HF rig and try to receive on the BITX, I hope? If so, your's wont be the first to succumb to exposure to too strong local RF disease.

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One of the differences between ham radio and CB radio is:

1.? CB does not require any learning or any license.

2.? CB operators are not allowed to modify or build their equipment.

3.? Ham radio operators are required to LEARN and to PASS a license exam

4.? Ham radio operators are allowed to BUILD and REPAIR their equipment.

But no where in that does it say that becoming more knowledgeable is going to come easy.? Nor does it say that all rigs will always work, even the first or second time....nor does it say they will never be damaged!? ?

5.? ham radio operators have a CHANCE to fix things that aren't working

6.? CB operators ship it back to the factory or toss it into the trash and find another hobby.

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Guess who is more useful in a real emergency disaster scenario?? ?Both MAY be, of course, but one group has a distinct advantage.

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Yes I know but it may not have so much inductance that it is unusuable.? ?The one to avoid completely is WIREWOUND.

By the way I have the same circuit boards, arrived a few weeks ago.

I designed a PCB to try it myself but I'm swamped andmay not get to any of it for months.

If you have an antenna analyzer you can measure the inductance of resistors to determine whether they will present anissue at the frequency of interest.? ?

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Cheers!!

Gordon

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Hi friend, look, when I was 14 years old and building my first rig all by myself with zero significant previous experience (except for soldering together a shortwave receiver) --- I didn't know much EITHER.? ? You can't get upset with those of us who are now 45 years down the road, and have fought through a zillion little problems to learn what we learned --- you just have to do the work to learn whatever it is that you need to learn to solve YOUR problem.

Thats exactly what all the rest of us had to do also....

and along the way you begin to have better test equipment, and you find nearby Elmers who may or may NOT be able to help you --- and you begin to understand the radiocircuits better and better and that makes you faster and faster....

there are DUES to pay in any human endeavor.

In every problem, you try and break it down into sections, the same way you eat an elephant one bite at a time....

You check to see if ground is actually at ground potential with power applied

You check to see if +12 is really at +12 when whatever is turned on.

You try the relays --- measure voltages when you actuate them by shorting the PTT and see if they click, if contacts go from open to closed (pick something that would have a different voltage on it in RX or TX, and see if it actually changed

You try and see if you can find ANY stage that works --- if you put your finger on the volume potentiometer (to inject 60 cycle hum) --- do you hear hum in the speaker?? ?Is there any power to the speaker amplifier chip?

You work at it a little bit at a time, and when you get tired you come back later when you're fresh.

Some times it helps tremendously to have a second system to compare to.? ?I don't remember if you are doing a ubitx or a bitx40, but they are very similar and you could get a bitx40 inexpensively to compare to and/or learn from.

In one email no one can teach you 40 years of experience but I can tell you that the more you try, the more you will learn.? ?I have struggled for more than 12 hours on many a problem, only to figure out a way to diagnose it in my sleep --- many a rig has been repaired after I finally figured out the trick.....once it was that someone had literally put the WRONG TUBE in a Heathkit; another time I didn't realize what was the CORRECT tube --- a relative has fixed many an ICOM solid state rig by patiently working on them with a service manual.

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You'll learn.? ?

It doesn't come free of charge.

Cheers!

gordon

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You didn't try transmitting from that nearby main HF rig and try to receive on the BITX, I hope? If so, your's wont be the first to succumb to exposure to too strong local RF disease.

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just stack them on top of each other vertically sky-scraper style with the leads straight and close.? ?

You looked at DigiKey,? right?

you might have to use metal film, but here's something that might be in the right ball park;

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