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Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
If they're similar to MARS MMIC, input and output MUST be 50 ohms. 73 Ken VA3ABN On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 3:52 PM, MadRadioModder <madradiomodder@...> wrote:
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Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýWARNING:? Max Vd on that part is 4.5VDC !!! ? ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gordon Gibby
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 2:30 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BITX20] Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out.. ? So I read the BGA616.? ?$1.50 from Digikey?? ? ? I see you provide a 33 ohm collector load resistor, drive it with 6 volts or less, and it SEEMS to have a 50 ohm input impedance and its own biasing.? ? ? Pretty interesting little amplifier.? ?Supposed to provide a power gain of 20 dB.? ? Seems like more than we really need but extra gain is probably easy to throw away with MORE negative emitter feedback resistance, instead of fighting for every bit we can pull out of 2N-3904 or other transistors.... ? Are there any downsides that you see to adding this after Q90? ? Gordon ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io <jgaffke@...> ? Oh, I haven't done it.
-- ¡_. _._ |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Gordon Gibby
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýSo I read the BGA616.? ?$1.50 from Digikey?? ?
I see you provide a 33 ohm collector load resistor, drive it with 6 volts or less, and it SEEMS to have a 50 ohm input impedance and its own biasing.? ?
Pretty interesting little amplifier.? ?Supposed to provide a power gain of 20 dB.? ? Seems like more than we really need but extra gain is probably easy to throw away with MORE negative emitter feedback resistance, instead of fighting for every bit we can
pull out of 2N-3904 or other transistors....
Are there any downsides that you see to adding this after Q90?
Gordon
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io <jgaffke@...>
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 1:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BITX20] Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out.. ?
Oh, I haven't done it.
Just kibitzing. It could be another npn gain stage, just that an mmic involves fewer parts, so easier to patch in ugly-style on the bottom ground plane. An example might be U2 of Farhan's specan: ? ?? L5 is not totally needed, you just lose a little gain if all you have is a resistor between +12v and the output of U2. The input and output of U2 must be capacitively coupled to adjoining stages. The input and output of U2 are fixed at 50 ohms. So basically a 4 pin IC, a resistor, and two AC coupling caps. The MAV11 is an older MMIC, though certainly viable the manufacturer doesn't sell them at less than quantity 20: ? ??https://www.minicircuits.com/WebStore/dashboard.html?model=MAV-11SM%2B Beware of ebay clones, they may or may not work for you. There are hundreds of MMIC's available, at various power levels, gains, noise figures, frequency ranges, packages,? ... Choosing one at random, take a look at the datasheet for the BGA616,? Mouser pnum? ?726-BGA616H6327XT ? ?? Jerry, KE7ER On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 10:17 AM, Gordon Gibby wrote: Hi Jerry, can you produce a schematic with parts numbers on exactly how to do that? ? I¡¯ve never used one of those components before.? |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Oh, I haven't done it.
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Just kibitzing. It could be another npn gain stage, just that an mmic involves fewer parts, so easier to patch in ugly-style on the bottom ground plane. An example might be U2 of Farhan's specan: ? ?? L5 is not totally needed, you just lose a little gain if all you have is a resistor between +12v and the output of U2. The input and output of U2 must be capacitively coupled to adjoining stages. The input and output of U2 are fixed at 50 ohms. So basically a 4 pin IC, a resistor, and two AC coupling caps. The MAV11 is an older MMIC, though certainly viable the manufacturer doesn't sell them at less than quantity 20: ? ??https://www.minicircuits.com/WebStore/dashboard.html?model=MAV-11SM%2B Beware of ebay clones, they may or may not work for you. There are hundreds of MMIC's available, at various power levels, gains, noise figures, frequency ranges, packages,? ... Choosing one at random, take a look at the datasheet for the BGA616,? Mouser pnum? ?726-BGA616H6327XT ? ?? Jerry, KE7ER On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 10:17 AM, Gordon Gibby wrote: Hi Jerry, can you produce a schematic with parts numbers on exactly how to do that? ? I¡¯ve never used one of those components before.? |
Re: boosting the power on 28 MHz
#ubitx
Can the RD16HHF1 be used as a drop in replacement for the 510 or will these mods have to be made? Just looking to get my uBitx back on the air. Seems like a good idea to place these in the finals to get ready to make the mods, or would you recommend replacing the 510s and then do the mods all at once?
-- 72 and God bless KD4EPG |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Gordon Gibby
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHi Jerry, can you produce a schematic with parts numbers on exactly how to do that? ? I¡¯ve never used one of those components before.?It should be easy to reduce gain in previous day just by simply changing some resistors to higher values in the emitter circuits.¡ª though I haven¡¯t looked at them
Gordon
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Re: New Group Specifically for "Homebrew Test Equipment"
My 2-cents worth, homebrewtestequipment, homebrew test equipment, or?DIYtestequipment? My first choice when using a search engine is the four words home brew test equipment or three words if you combine homebrew. Terry - KB8AMZ Brimfield Twp, OH USA EN91hd Linux User# 412308, Ubuntu User# 34905,?PCARS#78, NAQCC#6668, QRP-ARCI#8855, SKCC#14195 On Sun, Aug 19, 2018 at 6:10 PM Arv Evans <arvid.evans@...> wrote:
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Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
An MMIC between Q90 and RV1 is an easy way to add an extra stage.
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? /g/BITX20/message/51211 Of course, you still have to adjust the other stages to distribute the gain properly. Including those IF amps. And to really clean stuff up, create a new board layout. Rapidly becomes way more than most of us want to take on. I think just operating the uBitx on 20,40,80m with an external LPF (or cleaned up on-board LPF's) and with mike levels appropriate for 5 to 10 watts out is acceptable. We may still have IMD issues, a somewhat unsuppressed suppressed carrier, some low level out-of-band spurs. But such operation can meet our legal requirements. I would not operate the uBitx with an external linear amp to boost power. Not without a benchfull of gear to monitor the result. Jerry ? On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 09:06 AM, Gordon Gibby wrote: Allison, what about adding an additional stage after the last mixer in the transmitter lineup? Better choice of transistors (replace Q90 and maybe the other 3904¡¯s)... add (insert) a tiny daughter board with an additional stage, could that allow for operating the existing stages at more reasonable gain goals with more negative feedback? ?? |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Gordon Gibby
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýAllison, what about adding an additional stage after the last mixer in the transmitter lineup? Better choice of transistors (replace Q90 and maybe the other 3904¡¯s)... add (insert) a tiny daughter board with an additional stage, could that allow for operating the existing stages at more reasonable gain goals with more negative feedback? ??Further ?Having intercepted the signal it might also give a point for bandpass filters to be easily inserted¡ª-
You might laugh at it, but even a single or dual-stage preselecter with variable capacitor(s) tuning a parallel filter, (like what I had on my heat kits),?once marked for the proper positions for each band, might significantly clean up most of them except
for the 21 MHz debacle. ?¡ª tune for maximum signal output making sure you¡¯re near the correct Mark. ?? If too much to ask from one inductor, add a tap for the higher end?
?Gordon
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Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Tom,
As a follow up I've built my own amp and also worked with Hands on his and? as a result I have two different amps that can do 3-30mhz with nearly flat power and very linear.? That's at 12V (not 12V is really 13.8 noninal). It I take both of those to 20V I get 20+ watts of clean for the effort but consider that the design was for 10W with headroom so that 10W isn't full up distorted. As to using a boot converter...? Hope the switching noise doesn't show up. The relays will tolerate 16V all day.? The rest should be regulated anyway. Allison |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
Tom,
Back when I was resorting to the full bag of tricks the goal was not more power! The goal was even power from 80 through 10 and improved distortion levels. Alas, the were other issues found that superseded that work.?? For the moment it was and is possible to improve the amp.? The problem is? All the spurious product presented to the amp would be amplified as well. That and the basic modulator/filter/if had issues as well.? The result was a good amp would be largely wasted.? Then a collective bunch of us noted other things like compromised output filters that allowed all that excess to escape.? I like Warren reached the point that salvage was not possible. I did literally cut the board up to investigate root cause issues and the conclusions are harsh. The amp is a disaster.? The radio is 80-10 the amp never made it to 20m. The choice of devices and layout were big issues and the IRF510 was blamed?for most of it and it was already a mess before we got to them.? Plain english, the 2n3904 was a weak choice and poorly implemented as asking it for more than 10DB at at 30mhz was impossible.? ?Layout made for further issues with stability. Output filters due to layout.? Again layout at HF still counts. Lack of band pass filters before the amp.? I'll repeat what I've said? garbage in nets garbage out, minimal filtering is wishful thinking. IF gain issues.? Asking for 18db from 2n3904s is not engineering its wishful. There are a few that will and many that will not.? IF one asked for 10db it would not be an issue.? On that same boat , the high gain of the transmit path leads to spurious signal creation.? To go from the modulator to the last mixer no more than 16db of gain is needed across the 12 and 45 mhz if for transmit.? We have on average 32 to 28db of gain.? Too much gain causes problems those include poor carrier to signal and overload. On top of that? The "12mhz" IF and filter layout made it susceptible to the 11.997mhz carrier further reducing the carrier to modulation.? Board layout is the major issue not circuit failure. The above applies to transmit only but echos of that are in the receiver as birdies and spurious responses. The whole 12V thing was a result of the TDA2822.? My board I put in a regulated voltage?for the TDA and end of issue. By doing that 13.8 was the standard.? However that does not fix all the broken.? We or at least I was not?tied to 12V.? If you think fixing that by running 20V or more? is a solution its clearly a CB solution. The bottom line is mod like mad for power?and your amping up a lot of spurious trash and putting it on the band. Allison |
Re: Wow... 15 volts in and a bunch out..
So a question. I know some of the power boost suggestions like shorting out parts the were put there to provide stability in the amplifiers or overdriving the audio, do indeed increase power, but at the cost of vastly increasing unwanted emissions.
However, are we working too hard to optimize the RF chain, finding super transistors and such, just for the sake of being tied to 12 volts. I don't want to see my audio amp IC go up in flames or make the relays melt, but what if we selectively applied an increased voltage, say 18 volts to pull a possible voltage out of the air, and applied that to the finals, the infamous Q90, and Q92, 93, 96, 97, 911, 912, and possibility further back in the TX amplifier chain? Would that result in a RF chain that has more useful gain to work with and allow more headroom for other power leveling efforts? I have some new 150W boost converters coming from Amazon. They are around $4 each. It seems like for that low cost, freeing ourselves from the bonds of 12 volts may be worth it. On a side note the boost converts have the worrisome name of "Gowoops". Sounds like if they live up to their name I should expect more smoke than volts to come out of them. Tom, wb6b |
Re: QRP SWR meter recommendation?
#ubitx
If you want SWR only I just got a nice cross needle MFJ-822.?? It covers 1.8-200 MHz, 30 or 300 Watts.? On the 30 watt range half scale is about 7 watts.
-- Lee - N9LO? "I Void Warranties" ? |
Re: QRP SWR meter recommendation?
#ubitx
Jack Purdum
Tom: You can get a marginal speed improvement by moving the data definitions out of the loops. For example:
float scaledReadin;
for (int pin = 0; pin < ELEMENTS(_analogValue); pin++) {
?? if (_analogActive[pin]) { ???? scaledReading = analogScalingFactor * (float)analogRead(pin);
???? _analogValue[pin] += (scaledReading - _analogValue[pin]) * _analogFilterValue[pin];
The macro ELEMENTS() allows you to determine the number of elements in an array automatically a compile time, thus eliminating the need to hard-code array sizes into the body of the program. That way, you can simply change the definition of the array in one place in the code, recompile, and the new size is automatically changed everywhere in the code. The really nice thing about the macro is that it's completely typeless...that it, it will work with any aggregate data type. Moving the definition of a variable before and outside the loop saves the compiler the instructions necessary to adjust the stack pointer on each pass through the loop in the "in-scope, out-of-scope" aspect of a data definition within the loop. Quite honestly, on 8 iterations of the loop it will not likely be noticeable. Still, in other programs where SRAM is pretty tight, it could mean the difference between running and a stack crash. Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 1:02:39 AM EDT, Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote:
Here are some code snippets from a project I did. It calculates SWR from the voltages read from analog pins A6 and A7. It does a number of other things, so here are the basic pieces of code for SWR extracted out into small snippets. This first code segments captures selected analog pin voltages and applies an exponential smoothing filter to them.
This next slice of code captures the max voltage and applies a slow decay to the max value.
And here the SWR is calculated from the Max values.
You can see the full code here: Tom, wb6b |
Re: uBitx diagnostic document from Facebook group
#ubitx
I must have missed something, where's this guide? Roy WA0YMH On Thu, May 17, 2018, 11:15 PM Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote: Thanks to?Ufi Auttorri for creating this guide. It was certainly a lot of work to do this.? |
Re: NEW DISCUSSION GROUP SPECIFICALLY FOR HOMEBREW TEST EQUIPMENT
Great! On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 5:40 PM, Adrian Waiblinger <vk5zbr@...> wrote:
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One of those ... ...
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