Hmm, if your credit card company is willing to insure you when building a kit like this,
that's ok with me I suppose.? Seems unlikely.
I doubt anybody (you or the card company) will be getting a refund from hfsignals.
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On Sun, Sep 8, 2019 at 09:26 AM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
That strikes me as unethical.
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Hi Roger,
Use your scope to determine if the DDS is producing a signal at the DDS connection on the DDS board. Also check to make sure there is a signal at the DDS connection on the main board. I remember that the colors didn't exactly match up and were a bit confusing at first.
Paul
KL7FLR
|
That strikes me as unethical.
You received a kit product, and damaged it by not following the instructions.
Generally, when buying a kit from most any vendor that you put together,
you don't get a refund when you screw up.
At these prices hfsignals is not making much of a profit per unit.
They can't afford to go along with that sort of thing.
And I doubt they will.
Unless you agree to pay a $129 "shipping and handling fee".? ;-)
Which may not be a bad option if this thing really got trashed.
Jerry
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On Sun, Sep 8, 2019 at 08:39 AM, <gustav316@...> wrote:
Luckily I purchased everything on a card with purchase protection that covers damage to products within 120 days of purchase, so I may just submit a claim and repurchase the kit new. Kind of the unsophisticated way out, but I probably do not have the experience necessary to diagnose and repair the radio. I¡¯ll check these items and see if I can¡¯t get it working, but I may just chalk this up as a loss. Thank you for the educated insight on the issue - very much appreciated!
best,
Gus
W9SSN
|
He can do the smell test for the vol control or the physical test as most probably if part of the vol control was burned?out he will fell it as he turns the control. He can also check with a multimeter but the first two are good indicators. Regards Lawrence
On Sun, Sep 8, 2019 at 5:14 AM Evan Hand < elhandjr@...> wrote: After I posted my replay, I read Jerry's recommendations.? I like the second receiver test for the BFO to verify that the Raduino RF section is working.? I will need to remember that for future references.? You can do that when powered by the USB connection as the Si5351a runs off of the 3.3v rail that comes from the Nano.
Another possibility for the source of the smell is it came from the volume control.? If you truly put 12v across it, and the wiper was close to one of the ends, you could have smoked it.? Since the resistor is behind a metal case, you may not see it without close inspection.? Run a resistance check on it as well.
73
Evan
AC9TU
|
Luckily I purchased everything on a card with purchase protection that covers damage to products within 120 days of purchase, so I may just submit a claim and repurchase the kit new. Kind of the unsophisticated way out, but I probably do not have the experience necessary to diagnose and repair the radio. I¡¯ll check these items and see if I can¡¯t get it working, but I may just chalk this up as a loss. Thank you for the educated insight on the issue - very much appreciated!
best,
Gus
W9SSN
|
Use your signal generator to inject the appropriate frequency into the mixer instead of the DDS and see whether you receive a signal. If you receive any signal that eliminates a faulty DDS.
After that start checking from the AF amplifier working your way to the antenna. Regards Lawrence
Thank you Raj. I really need to get some signal to know that the DDS board is ok. As it stands, I think its duff.?
Roger
Roger,
Take the two antenna wires black and brown and twist them to minimize
radiation and solder the black to the SO239 ground tab and
brown as you done. Keep those wires as short as possible.
Do the same for the Raduino RF out to the mother board.
All the long wires will add to the tuning click problem.
Raj
At 08-09-19, you wrote:
Thank you Vic.? The antenna
is a 30¡¯ vertical connected with RG213.? I have tried several
aerials without hearing anything other than the clack clack of the
tuning, whether the aerial is connected or not.? The display does
indicate a frequency as you tune, although the range varies which you say
is a design feature.
All the loose ends are taped as suggested in the online walk
through.? I should have waited before buying the metal case which
ended up costing more that the boards!? There are few connections
necessary to get a signal that I¡¯m thinking that the DDS board is
faulty.
Picture of unit below.
Roger
On 8 Sep 2019, at 10:39 am, Vic
WA4THR via Groups.Io
<
vhklein@...> wrote:
The frequency starting to step up or down at the ends of the tuning pot
rotation is normal and part of the design to allow moving the tuning
range. If you remember old SW receivers, it is kind of like the tuning is
the bandspread control and at the ends you are adjusting the main tuning.
Also, with no antenna connected the "clicks" when tuning are
typical. If you upgrade to the Allard Munter sketch, those will be
largely eliminated and you can further adjust the tuning range to your
liking.
So, some more information is needed to understand the issue. What antenna
do you have on the radio? Does the display indicate frequencies as you
tune? Can you post a picture of the board and wiring?
=Vic=
![[]](/g/BITX20/attachment/71757/)
?
|
Thank you Raj. I really need to get some signal to know that the DDS board is ok. As it stands, I think its duff.?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 8 Sep 2019, at 2:43 pm, Raj vu2zap < rajendrakumargg@...> wrote:
Roger,
Take the two antenna wires black and brown and twist them to minimize
radiation and solder the black to the SO239 ground tab and
brown as you done. Keep those wires as short as possible.
Do the same for the Raduino RF out to the mother board.
All the long wires will add to the tuning click problem.
Raj
At 08-09-19, you wrote:
Thank you Vic.? The antenna
is a 30¡¯ vertical connected with RG213.? I have tried several
aerials without hearing anything other than the clack clack of the
tuning, whether the aerial is connected or not.? The display does
indicate a frequency as you tune, although the range varies which you say
is a design feature.
All the loose ends are taped as suggested in the online walk
through.? I should have waited before buying the metal case which
ended up costing more that the boards!? There are few connections
necessary to get a signal that I¡¯m thinking that the DDS board is
faulty.
Picture of unit below.
Roger
On 8 Sep 2019, at 10:39 am, Vic
WA4THR via Groups.Io
<
vhklein@...> wrote:
The frequency starting to step up or down at the ends of the tuning pot
rotation is normal and part of the design to allow moving the tuning
range. If you remember old SW receivers, it is kind of like the tuning is
the bandspread control and at the ends you are adjusting the main tuning.
Also, with no antenna connected the "clicks" when tuning are
typical. If you upgrade to the Allard Munter sketch, those will be
largely eliminated and you can further adjust the tuning range to your
liking.
So, some more information is needed to understand the issue. What antenna
do you have on the radio? Does the display indicate frequencies as you
tune? Can you post a picture of the board and wiring?
=Vic=
![[]](/g/BITX20/attachment/71756/)
?
|
Re: BitX HW-16: full break-in high power ri
Ah, what the heck.
Topics are for veering off of.
No money back then, Heathkit was too expensive.
Was working with old TV parts and discarded WWII surplus (ARC-5's).
But I spent many hours digging through Heathkit catalogs.
These new kits are relatively expensive compared to stuff like the nanoVNA, but the website is persuasive.
I've got $100 bucks now.
And a thorough dislike for all the clocks I've bought in the last 20 years.
I hope they can get back into ham gear.
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Sun, Sep 8, 2019 at 06:24 AM, Don--AE4DW wrote:
Trying not to veer too far off topic, but I remember seeing that resurected heathkit site several years ago, before they had any products to offer. It does look like they got it off the ground.
As another of those hams who started their operating experience with an HW-16 (circa 1976), and then upgraded to an HW-101, I still, to this day, appreciate what Heath stood for eons ago.
|
Re: BitX HW-16: full break-in high power ri
Yes, you could compromise receiver sensitivity without much downside if atmospheric noise still exceeds front end noise. Though it is nice to be able to at least listen in when using a crummy antenna, such as a few feet of magnet wire thrown across the floor. In that 2018 paper on his website, W7ZOI simulates what a VNA would see using LTSpice. When you build hardware, would be nice to verify the results using a cheap VNA such as ? ?? as discussed in? ? ? /g/nanovna-usersAs mentioned previously in the forum, a VNA would not do the job of an Antuino when sniffing out signals in a working radio.? The VNA can only see the results of a signal that it injects into the circuit, at a frequency of its choosing. Jerry, KE7ER
On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 11:44 PM, Tom, wb6b wrote:
On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 06:59 PM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
Here's a 2018 treatment of T/R switches by W7ZOI, the Kang approach is figure 1:
? ??
A quick look at this article looks very good. I'm in the process of learning the Eagle Schematic capture and PCB design package. That package includes Ngspice. I can use the LTSpice schematic included in the article as a practice exercise for learning Eagle and Ngspice. As well as more about the operation of the T/R switch.
Just a thought though, if you were willing to comprise a little attenuation of the receive signal into the receive circuit and waste a little heat in a resistor while transmitting, maybe just using a resistor to limit the current flowing into the back to back diodes and a series resistor to the input of the receive circuit to keep the current there well below what would damage the receiver input, would work. That would work for a multi band transceiver.?
If you don't force the input of the receiver first stage to be 50 ohms and let it be significantly higher, the main resistor from the antenna connector to the back-to-back diodes could be a fairly high resistance. At HF the noise contributed by the receiver first stage is low compared to the main source of atmospheric noise, so a little signal loss wold not be a problem. (Of course, the answer to this is probably already covered in some part of these linked articles I have not read yet.)
I image there are receivers out there that don't bother to to supply 50 ohms, on receive, to the antenna terminal. I wonder how far you could deviate before the coax could create a 1/4 wave notch filter. I'm sure I'd end up cutting my coax just to the length so it would be a perfect 1/4 wave length at my favorite net's frequency.
Tom, wb6b
|
Roger,
Take the two antenna wires black and brown and twist them to minimize
radiation and solder the black to the SO239 ground tab and
brown as you done. Keep those wires as short as possible.
Do the same for the Raduino RF out to the mother board.
All the long wires will add to the tuning click problem.
Raj
At 08-09-19, you wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Thank you Vic.? The antenna
is a 30?€? vertical connected with RG213.? I have tried several
aerials without hearing anything other than the clack clack of the
tuning, whether the aerial is connected or not.? The display does
indicate a frequency as you tune, although the range varies which you say
is a design feature.
All the loose ends are taped as suggested in the online walk
through.? I should have waited before buying the metal case which
ended up costing more that the boards!? There are few connections
necessary to get a signal that I?€?m thinking that the DDS board is
faulty.
Picture of unit below.
Roger
On 8 Sep 2019, at 10:39 am, Vic
WA4THR via Groups.Io
<
vhklein@...> wrote:
The frequency starting to step up or down at the ends of the tuning pot
rotation is normal and part of the design to allow moving the tuning
range. If you remember old SW receivers, it is kind of like the tuning is
the bandspread control and at the ends you are adjusting the main tuning.
Also, with no antenna connected the "clicks" when tuning are
typical. If you upgrade to the Allard Munter sketch, those will be
largely eliminated and you can further adjust the tuning range to your
liking.
So, some more information is needed to understand the issue. What antenna
do you have on the radio? Does the display indicate frequencies as you
tune? Can you post a picture of the board and wiring?
=Vic=
![[]](/g/BITX20/attachment/71753/)
?
|
Re: BitX HW-16: full break-in high power ri
On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 12:42 AM, Tom, wb6b wrote:
On Fri, Sep 6, 2019 at 06:24 PM, Curt wrote:
my novice hw16 still lives
Interesting, I was looking around at sites that featured old Heathkit photos and product information. Found this link. Looks like someone is reviving Heathkit in Santa Cruz California. Maybe a nostalgic Dot Com millionaire? Much better than when Zenith was slapping the Heathkit name on cheap consumer products.
Tom, wb6b
Trying not to veer too far off topic, but I remember seeing that resurected heathkit site several years ago, before they had any products to offer. It does look like they got it off the ground. As another of those hams who started their operating experience with an HW-16 (circa 1976), and then upgraded to an HW-101, I still, to this day, appreciate what Heath stood for eons ago.
|
The total for the board is less than 3 amps, and the PA is not switched.? There is not more than 500 ma being switched by the main T/R relay K1. K3 is handling the antenna switching between the PA and the receive front end.? That could have high RF induced currents that would be difficult to measure.? The other band switching relays are also handling the RF power.
With the above, we need to know which relay is sticking.
There is one other possibility, that is RF feedback into the rig causing the Nano to sense that a key is pressed. I had this issue with an off center fed dipole feeding back into the rig and causing it to lock up.? Have there been any changes to the shack right before the relay started sticking???
Above are just some ideas.? Please take with a grain of salt and research before using.
73
Evan
AC9TU
|
Hi Chuck,
Has anyone measured the current that this relay is switching?? I wonder if it is exceeding the specification for these small relays which I think is normally 2A max.
In general though, I would expect a top brand relay would last longer.? Maybe you could try an Omron G5V-2 series relay.?
73,
Mark.
|
Thank you Vic. ?The antenna is a 30¡¯ vertical connected with RG213. ?I have tried several aerials without hearing anything other than the clack clack of the tuning, whether the aerial is connected or not. ?The display does indicate a frequency as you tune, although the range varies which you say is a design feature.
All the loose ends are taped as suggested in the online walk through. ?I should have waited before buying the metal case which ended up costing more that the boards! ?There are few connections necessary to get a signal that I¡¯m thinking that the DDS board is faulty.?
Picture of unit below.
Roger
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 8 Sep 2019, at 10:39 am, Vic WA4THR via Groups.Io < vhklein@...> wrote:
The frequency starting to step up or down at the ends of the tuning pot rotation is normal and part of the design to allow moving the tuning range. If you remember old SW receivers, it is kind of like the tuning is the bandspread control and at the ends you are adjusting the main tuning. Also, with no antenna connected the "clicks" when tuning are typical. If you upgrade to the Allard Munter sketch, those will be largely eliminated and you can further adjust the tuning range to your liking.
So, some more information is needed to understand the issue. What antenna do you have on the radio? Does the display indicate frequencies as you tune? Can you post a picture of the board and wiring?
=Vic=
|
The frequency starting to step up or down at the ends of the tuning pot rotation is normal and part of the design to allow moving the tuning range. If you remember old SW receivers, it is kind of like the tuning is the bandspread control and at the ends you are adjusting the main tuning. Also, with no antenna connected the "clicks" when tuning are typical. If you upgrade to the Allard Munter sketch, those will be largely eliminated and you can further adjust the tuning range to your liking.
So, some more information is needed to understand the issue. What antenna do you have on the radio? Does the display indicate frequencies as you tune? Can you post a picture of the board and wiring?
=Vic=
|
Re: BitX HW-16: full break-in high power ri
On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 06:59 PM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
Here's a 2018 treatment of T/R switches by W7ZOI, the Kang approach is figure 1:
? ??
A quick look at this article looks very good. I'm in the process of learning the Eagle Schematic capture and PCB design package. That package includes Ngspice. I can use the LTSpice schematic included in the article as a practice exercise for learning Eagle and Ngspice. As well as more about the operation of the T/R switch. Just a thought though, if you were willing to comprise a little attenuation of the receive signal into the receive circuit and waste a little heat in a resistor while transmitting, maybe just using a resistor to limit the current flowing into the back to back diodes and a series resistor to the input of the receive circuit to keep the current there well below what would damage the receiver input, would work. That would work for a multi band transceiver.? If you don't force the input of the receiver first stage to be 50 ohms and let it be significantly higher, the main resistor from the antenna connector to the back-to-back diodes could be a fairly high resistance. At HF the noise contributed by the receiver first stage is low compared to the main source of atmospheric noise, so a little signal loss wold not be a problem. (Of course, the answer to this is probably already covered in some part of these linked articles I have not read yet.) I image there are receivers out there that don't bother to to supply 50 ohms, on receive, to the antenna terminal. I wonder how far you could deviate before the coax could create a 1/4 wave notch filter. I'm sure I'd end up cutting my coax just to the length so it would be a perfect 1/4 wave length at my favorite net's frequency. Tom, wb6b
|
Reversing the power supply into the board can blow a bunch of stuff,
and thus be hard to fix.
But the fact that the Raduino works at all is a very good sign.
The Raduino is usually dead in the water after an event like this.
It is still possible that it is partially damaged (blown IO cells into the Nano?).
If a friend also has a uBitx, maybe try your Raduino in his uBitx to see if it works.
But it might have to be a very good friend.
If the encoder is wired up properly and the encoder did not come defective,
it should cause the frequency shown in the display to change.
If that does not work, check your wiring closely.
You can verify that the encoder is working properly with an ohmmeter,
disconnect it and measure the resistance from terminal A of the encoder?
(as shown in the wireup diagram) to terminal C.? It alternate between
open (thousands of ohms) and shorted (near zero ohms) as you rotate the knob.
Then do the same for between terminal B and terminal C.
If PA-PWR (the +12v into the IRF510 finals) got a reversed supply, then
look hard at L9 and the traces from it to the IRF510's and the PA-PWR connector.
Either L9 or the traces will fry, but probably not the IRF510's.
That could well be the source of your smoke.
With any luck at all, anything on the TX rail did not see -12v, only the RX rail saw -12v.
Most of the stuff that the RX rail goes to is pretty well protected by resistors, limiting current flow.
The LM386 at U1 and/or R71 could have blown, the 100 ohms at R71 would have limited currents
into U1 to 120ma absolute max but that's quite a lot.
I suspect most of the transistors would survive due to the nearby resistors, maybe all.
Once you prove out the Raduino somehow and have U1 working to where there's
a hiss in the headphones, you might try Farhan's procedure outlined here for the Bitx40:
? ??
Farhan is using a piece of wire maybe a meter long as an antenna to pick up
local QRM (digital clocks, microwaves, atmospheric noise)
and inject that noise into various parts of the receiver.
This could be very challenging to get working again.
Or you could be lucky.
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 08:09 PM, <gustav316@...> wrote:
Hi Jerry,
i am using the amateurradiokits.in enclosure, which comes with some extra items to wire up connections, one of which is a three pin connector for volume. What happened was that the red and black wires on the 12v power supply to the board were reversed, maybe 15 seconds of power supplied before I cut it.
i adjusted the contrast and the display is working and shows the frequency, although the encoder doesn¡¯t seem to change the frequency. I am going to disassembly, check all of the solder joints and see if I can see any obvious visible damage to any components. Right now, I don¡¯t see any, other than my on/off switch, which needs to be replaced since I need to hold it in to maintain the power on to the unit.
|
Re: BitX HW-16: full break-in high power ri
On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 06:59 PM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
Kang approach is in fig 2 of the W7ZOI article pointed to by post??/g/BITX20/message/70861
Hi, That?Wes Hayward article is pretty good. I'd recommend people read it, including myself. I think at the time I found that article we were trying to figure out just how much like a PIN diode the 1N4007 rectifiers behaved. And if 1N4007 diodes from different manufactures might be different in regards to the "PINness" of their diodes. I skimmed right past the "Resonate T/R Switch" description.? Tom, wb6b
|
After I posted my replay, I read Jerry's recommendations.? I like the second receiver test for the BFO to verify that the Raduino RF section is working.? I will need to remember that for future references.? You can do that when powered by the USB connection as the Si5351a runs off of the 3.3v rail that comes from the Nano.
Another possibility for the source of the smell is it came from the volume control.? If you truly put 12v across it, and the wiper was close to one of the ends, you could have smoked it.? Since the resistor is behind a metal case, you may not see it without close inspection.? Run a resistance check on it as well.
73
Evan
AC9TU
|
Hi Jerry,
i am using the amateurradiokits.in enclosure, which comes with some extra items to wire up connections, one of which is a three pin connector for volume. What happened was that the red and black wires on the 12v power supply to the board were reversed, maybe 15 seconds of power supplied before I cut it.
i adjusted the contrast and the display is working and shows the frequency, although the encoder doesn¡¯t seem to change the frequency. I am going to disassembly, check all of the solder joints and see if I can see any obvious visible damage to any components. Right now, I don¡¯t see any, other than my on/off switch, which needs to be replaced since I need to hold it in to maintain the power on to the unit.
|
Raj vu2zap
Vic WA4THR