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Re: BITX 14MHz Build #bitx20

 

If you are not using a Bitx pcb, then your question?is questionable.? Build instructions are for using a bitx pcb.? For one-off builds using manattan or ugly method you just need to decide your own layout and construction sequence.

Arv. K7HKL
_-_


On Tue, Apr 7, 2020, 6:58 AM Aaron Scott via <k5atg=[email protected]> wrote:
Hello everyone,
I'm going to start building the??build. It's going to be my first homebrew transceiver project so I will be learning as I go. The instructions say to solder the transistors first but since this is my first go around, I'm not really sure where I should put them on the PCB. I'm going to use Manhattan construction using the QRPme Little MeSquares. So if anyone has any tips or pointers for a newbie, I will be greatly appreciated.??

One possible substitute for a Spectrum Analyzer's "Tracking Generator" #ubitx

 

I got an email from a trusted friend this morning with some very interesting information for those who have spectrum analyzers that do not have tracking generators, or the new versions of inexpensive VNA's like Ashhar's "Antuino" or the NanoVNA which have sweep functions but I'm not sure exactly how they work in this respect.

Below is a link to a site that explains how to use a reasonably inexpensive wide band noise generator as a substitute for the tracking generator.? Short article that goes into enough detail to help you get started and the second link is to a possible source (eBay - there may be others as well) for the generator itself.? If the links don't work, cut and paste them into your browser's address window.

Link to the article on EDN:

One possible source of the noise generator:?


This info may help some of you with BFO alignment on your uBITX.

Jim Sheldon, W0EB
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

I'm still waiting for an antenna adapter for my V6 but am interested in setting it up for FT8.? So exactly how did you disconnect the PTT connection on the dongle?
I'm not sure how the dpdt switch is connected or when you would activate it.? Sorry for being such a dummy.

Russ
K5FJR
Re: Heatsink question #v6

 

I might mention that if you have some old junk PC power supplies, you can salvage these isolation kits from them.? These supplies have several transistors isolated from their heatsinks.? At 3 bucks apiece new, getting these is worth the effort.? You can find junk power supplies at almost any computer repair shop or Habitat Restores and secondhand shops that have old PC's.? I've a good supply of isolation kits from salvage.? Just remember to use some thermal paste.

BruceN / K4TQL
--
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"? -- Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
Re: Find an older style Raduino #raduino

 

Thanks Jason, but for everyone's info, I do not have any more old style Raduino's around here. ?Jason got the last one I had, sorry.

Jim, W0EB

------ Original Message ------
From: "Jason Pirok" <jason.pirok@...>
Sent: 4/7/2020 6:44:14 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Find an older style Raduino #raduino

Your best bet is if Jim W0EB (I believe) has any left. I purchased one he had left over, but not sure if he has another. I found something that looks like another original Raduino?clone on Ebay, but I am skeptical. It is pretty slim pickings for them right now. At worst you may need to have some PCBs made and build it yourself if you have that skillset/materials/time etc.

--
Jason Pirok
W4UNX
BITX 14MHz Build #bitx20

 

Hello everyone,
I'm going to start building the??build. It's going to be my first homebrew transceiver project so I will be learning as I go. The instructions say to solder the transistors first but since this is my first go around, I'm not really sure where I should put them on the PCB. I'm going to use Manhattan construction using the QRPme Little MeSquares. So if anyone has any tips or pointers for a newbie, I will be greatly appreciated.??
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

How has it worked on phone?

As a ham we are required to have control of our signals. Owning a radio is a start but you need to have an idea of it's power output Even a simple CB quality SWR/Power meter can give you an idea.?
--
73
Dave
Re: Find an older style Raduino #raduino

 

Your best bet is if Jim W0EB (I believe) has any left. I purchased one he had left over, but not sure if he has another. I found something that looks like another original Raduino?clone on Ebay, but I am skeptical. It is pretty slim pickings for them right now. At worst you may need to have some PCBs made and build it yourself if you have that skillset/materials/time etc.

--
Jason Pirok
W4UNX
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

Gavin,
I also have the same antenna as you do, mine is about 25¡¯ in the air. I¡®M making FT8 QSO¡¯S all over NA and the odd EU as well. I also found an antenna tuner works well with this antenna despite what the manufacturer says about matching.
--
?

73
Mick VA3EPM?
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

Gavin

At that height your radiation will mostly be straight up. The ground connection should matter little for radiation,? its to bleed off static charge to prevent rig damage. I sometimes use an EFHW at about 30 feet for its middle, but generally use my vertical antenna for 40m ft8 and ft4. With the heavy qsb we experience now, its not easy to make ft8 contacts unless the band is propagating well. Sometimes you can't qso a few hundred miles but then you contact many thousand miles. Learn about antennas and improve to what you fan erect there. late in Spring watch for 10m E skip, build a 10m dipole, moxon or quad.

Curt wb8yyy
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

Gavin,
I agree with Scott¡¯s antenna suggestion. Another improvement I discovered was to use a USB dongle sound device (see below, the one I use) The sound volume and quality are greatly improved compared to direct to computer connection.
You will have to make sure the PTT connection from the dongle is disconnected or it will constantly trigger your TX.
I eventually mounted a second set of 3.5mm jacks on the back of my rig (wired to the audio jack) through a selector switch (Dpdt on-off-on) on the front of my rig.


--
?

73
Mick VA3EPM?
Re: #firmware #i2c #smeter #ubitx #calibration #calibration #firmware #i2c #smeter #ubitx

 

Elecraft has (or used to have) a simple S-meter calibrator that put out a signal that was supposed to be S9 and was pretty inexpensive, if you really need to have accuracy. Then you could check it with another station adjusting their power remembering that each S-unit represents 4X the power (or double the voltage if you are measuring that). If it needs changing you will have to reprogram the second Nano. Having an S3 all the time is about right, that is typically the level of band noise. It should go to zero if the antenna is disconnected. As I said before, with the second Nano mine is agreeing pretty well with a commercial rig in the shack except for the timing as it is a bit slower to respond.

=Vic=
Re: uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

KN4SMO
 

Hello Gavin,
Certainly you will have a better experience?if you can get you antenna up, as high as possible.? I am a beginner as well.? My antenna performed great when I was able to get it up 50 to 60 feet in the air.

Good Luck Scott

On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 11:45 PM Gavin <gdesplin@...> wrote:
I just got things set up to try to do some FT8 with my uBitx v5. I am new to HF in general and have yet to make a QSO.
I can receive fine, but? says only 6 reports for my about an hour session tonight, all a in the same state a couple states away. To get that I had to get my computers clocked synced up as it was a couple seconds off. I am using CAT control and two simple audio cables from a usb sound card directly plugged into mic and phone on my radio, which is running off power from a 12v SLA battery.
My antenna is a?MFJ-1984LP EndFed 1/2 Wave?strung up 12 ft about in the air from a tree to my pergola, slightly sloping up. I have it grounded as well. This is my best guess as the problem, but I've heard others on here get much better results with similar setups I think. Its supposed to be a no-tune antenna, but I have no swr meter to confirm it has a low swr level like its supposed to.

Anyone have any tips or ideas? I'm a brand new beginner at all this. Thanks very much.

Re: Calibration needed ? #calibration #v6

 

Oh, and here's a link to the thread with some of my investigating and experimenting:

/g/BITX20/topic/bfo_calibration_and_ssb/70940600


Reed
Re: Calibration needed ? #calibration #v6

 

In my experience, you will leak unless you calibrate the BFO to only allow high treble to pass (sound super tinny). The diodes on the mixers just aren't balance well enough to stop the carrier otherwise.


Reed
Calibration needed ? #calibration #v6

 

Hi Folks,

I am using my uBitx with NKK linear. I have reduced the power by using RV1. I have calibrated both BFO and Frequency by watching Mr. Ashaar's video.?

If I increase the drive to 7-8w to get the linear push out a little more power, I get reports saying there's a leak in USB.?I came across this calibration "https://www.hfsignals.com/index.php/ubitx-tuneup/" of the PA. Should I do this for uBitx v6 too. Isn't it factory calibrated ?

Someone else told me to calibrate Carrier preset. Anyone know how to do that ? Or was he referring to the procedure in the above link ?

Thanks in advance,
Belthur ~ vu3gwn
Re: Si5351 voltage output #arduino

 

If you are using a 20MHz oscilloscope for measuring the 40-70MHz square wave, you are more likely seeing the loss in the amplifier gain in the scope than genuine drop in si5351 output.
This might be a place where a simple voltage probe with a fast shottky diode detector would work.
uBitx V5 can't make a contact on ft8

 

I just got things set up to try to do some FT8 with my uBitx v5. I am new to HF in general and have yet to make a QSO.
I can receive fine, but?pskreporter.info says only 6 reports for my about an hour session tonight, all a in the same state a couple states away. To get that I had to get my computers clocked synced up as it was a couple seconds off. I am using CAT control and two simple audio cables from a usb sound card directly plugged into mic and phone on my radio, which is running off power from a 12v SLA battery.
My antenna is a?MFJ-1984LP EndFed 1/2 Wave?strung up 12 ft about in the air from a tree to my pergola, slightly sloping up. I have it grounded as well. This is my best guess as the problem, but I've heard others on here get much better results with similar setups I think. Its supposed to be a no-tune antenna, but I have no swr meter to confirm it has a low swr level like its supposed to.

Anyone have any tips or ideas? I'm a brand new beginner at all this. Thanks very much.
Re: Si5351 voltage output #arduino

 

Steve & Judy Levine?sandjlevine@...???

3:15 PM (2 hours ago)
to?BITX20
Do you group owner, please ban me and remove me from this group someone has hijacked my address, and is apparently Spamming the group with useless trash. So sorry this is happening I am not sure how they managed to do so, my deepest apologies to the group, particularly for all the good things that they do for the hobby.

Steve Levine


On Mon, Apr 6, 2020 at 3:15 PM Steve & Judy Levine <sandjlevine@...> wrote:
Do you group owner, please ban me and remove me from this group someone has hijacked my address, and is apparently Spamming the group with useless trash. So sorry this is happening I am not sure how they managed to do so, my deepest apologies to the group, particularly for all the good things that they do for the hobby.

Steve Levine

?
Steve

There might be a simpler way.? With your permission I would like to place your ID on MODERATION.? That way?
if the offender sends a spoofed message it might be possible to do a back-trace on the message and take?
appropriate action.??

Placing your ID on MODERATION may introduce a slight delay in posting of messages.? Other than that you?
would not notice that the control has been put in place.? ? After a suitable period of time the moderation flag
could be removed and you would be back to normal.? This may be preferable to having you totally remove?
your history, etc. and start with a new ID.??

Arv
_._
Find an older style Raduino #raduino

 

I'm working on the idea of changing my BitX20 to 10 meters.? It was suggested that it would be a lot easier with a Raduino - and I've found a bit of information that might help me as far as the other component changes.

I don't want a Raduino with touch screens or any of the useless fancy stuff - just a basic Raduino that I can hack the software to get the radio on 28mhz (with a few other mods.? I've looked into different ways of making the change, and that seems the easiest.?

Any suggestions as to where I could find a decent working "old-style" Raduino that doesn't have a touch screen or anything like that (I understand that the original version can produce two different frequencies - one for the VFO and one for a LO - all I'd need).? If it's used but still in reliable working condition - no problem (might be better due to very tight budget).

Thanks!
Bob
N4FBZ
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