Gerard, it appears it is possible to import a PCB image into KiCAD and use it to create a new layout by using Bitmap2Component tool.? I haven't done it myself but here is a thread that discusses it:
Farhan, unfortunate that the PCB files are proprietary.? That only hurts the hobbyists as the professional cloners can strip, scan, and layout a small 2-layer board like the V6 in a couple days, even if they take long tea times.
?- Bill
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I used the pcb express free tool for a while. Then I switched to kicad. It has a bit of a learning discipline (you cant layout unless you have drawn out the schematic first, etc.). My only complain about it is the component libraries suck. In each version they try fixing and it breaks the earlier version and makes it even worse. I learn this useful tool from OM Bhatnagar, he is on this group. - f
On Fri 13 Nov, 2020, 6:46 PM Gerard, < kabupos@...> wrote: Hello,
Several decades ago, we made a PCB with a pen, then pellets and tape. Today we can make a nice PCB with software.
I used simple free software, where you have to connect all the tracks manually and place the components yourself.
That¡¯s what I used to feed my Ubitx power.
Some software are only in demonstration and do not allow to print or save.
With a little time, I focused on Kicad.
It is true that this software is not constrained and it is free.
At first, I thought it was fantastic software and making a pcb would be simple.
So I watched several videos....
I thought we could have imported a diagram from a pdf for example, and not possible.
So we have to recreate everything manually, the diagram, then choose the components.
After that, it remains to create the PCB. I told myself, that with all the informations it will propose me one, that to rigor I could modify.
No, there too none of that.
You must also choose everything manually.? Only positive thing, you have a 3d view of your circuit.
I may be wrong, but I have this observation.
What do you use to create your PCBs?
cdt
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Hello, Several decades ago, we made a PCB with a pen, then pellets and tape. Today we can make a nice PCB with software.I used simple free software, where you have to connect all the tracks manually and place the components yourself.
That¡¯s what I used to feed my Ubitx power. Some software are only in demonstration and do not allow to print or save.With a little time, I focused on Kicad.
It is true that this software is not constrained and it is free.At first, I thought it was fantastic software and making a pcb would be simple.
So I watched several videos....
I thought we could have imported a diagram from a pdf for example, and not possible.
So we have to recreate everything manually, the diagram, then choose the components.
After that, it remains to create the PCB. I told myself, that with all the informations it will propose me one, that to rigor I could modify.
No, there too none of that.
You must also choose everything manually.? Only positive thing, you have a 3d view of your circuit.
I may be wrong, but I have this observation.
What do you use to create your PCBs?
cdt
|
Re: #v6 connect ubitx V6 and Xiegu XPA125B
#v6
I cannot speak to the B version but the A version should not have more then about 3 watts.
Sincerely, ?Frank Krozel?
BSEE, ? AASEET, ? FCC Lic.# PG-18-19178, ? KG9H
Electronic Instrument Associates -?Central, Inc. ...since 1971
w:? ?
See our EMC-specific site ????
d/l our November 2020 linecard at?? ? t: 1-630-924-1600 ? LinkedIn: ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Nov 12, 2020, at 5:40 PM, Alejandro G S¨¢nchez Mart¨ªnez < lurkan@...> wrote:
Has anyone any experience or comment to make of connecting the V6 to a Xiegu XPA125B amplifier. I think there should be no problem but I would like to consult them if anyone has any comments on this. Also know if you can control the output power to the V6 from any menu on the radio. Because what I have read this is not possible. Thank you and 73
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Gary,
Is it possible to remove the Raduino and display from the case and connect to the USB port on your computer?without the mainboard?? The Raduino should powerup and the display should show the normal frequency screen.
If this does not work, then my next thought is the display or the Raduino board as the digi board supplier suggested.? If it does work, then there may be a wiring issue in the case.
This is really a head-scratcher.? I cannot see why the one Nano works and the 3 others do not.? Are you sure that the Arduino programs are the same?? When I read your statements it reads like you reprogrammed the original Nano with the files (sketch) that are the same as the 3 new Nano programs.
There is one other thing that you could try: reprogram one of the new Nanos with KD8CEC software that works with the 16x2 display.? That would be in this archive:
The correct file would be in the uBITXV234 folder.? The file for the parallel display is?UBITX_CEC_V1.200_16P.hex
you will need the Xloader program to load the hex file.
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Thanks yes I did.? I took the digi board completely out of the loop. If I put the original nano in the radio acts as a normal v 4 ubitx. I can't figure out why these replacements won't work?
On Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 7:09 PM Evan Hand < elhandjr@...> wrote: Gary,
Did you try powering up the rig without the USB connection to the Nano from the digi board?? There may be an issue with the digi board.
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Somewhere I read that after some changes were made, the V6 had to be turned off and back on for the changes to take effect. I think there was a few seconds delay in turning it back on required (in the commentary), IF I remember correctly.
Perhaps someone here can clarify this or report if there is any value to this suggestion.
Bob ¡ª KK5R
On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 6:58:03 PM EST, Gary Rindfuss <rindfussg@...> wrote:
I don't think I worded my first post very well.? I am trying to install a new nano board. The v 4.3 sketch loads properly no errors when it compiles or loads. This board seems to be the identical physical replacement from the same manufacturer as the original nano from HF. But when installed and powered up I get only "ubitx v4.3" in the display. No other function or lines of display. I have tried 3 different nanos from the bunch I got on Amazon all the same result.? The original nano works ok for normal ssb operation but not with the digi board and is loaded from the same sketch file as the others.? A foto of the screen?is attached. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Many thanks Gary
Sorry Gary. I misread your email.? Greetings i am pretty new here and I want to thank everyone in advance for their help.?
I am trying to sort out an issue with a digiboad that I had installed that worked for a while then quit. It had been suggested that I replace the nano board. I ordered some on Amazon. They are the kind where you solder the header pins in so they gave the right way.? The chip is marked 328p
I load the v 4.3 sketch on it and when you turn it on you get only "ubitx v4.3 in the display nothing else.? (Photo)
I have tried a couple of the nanos and get the same result.? I still have the original nano the radio works fine with it it just won't talk to the digi board.??
I am sure there is probably something I don't? understand about loading a sketch on a new nano board? But the sketch does load without error.??
Any help much appreciated
Gary
KC3KSC
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Re: #v6 connect ubitx V6 and Xiegu XPA125B
#v6
You would need to key the V6 on the freq you want to operate long enough for the tuner to go through the tune cycle. Otherwise, there should be no problem using it with the V6...
I am getting ready to build the N7DDC tuner which should require nearly the same thing. Keying it on SSB would not work unless you had a tone going into the microphone.
REF:
Xiegu also offers a connection hub for the G90 which may be of some use...
Bob ¡ª KK5R
On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 6:41:00 PM EST, Alejandro G S¨¢nchez Mart¨ªnez <lurkan@...> wrote:
Has anyone any experience or comment to make of connecting the V6 to a Xiegu XPA125B amplifier. I think there should be no problem but I would like to consult them if anyone has any comments on this. Also know if you can control the output power to the V6 from any menu on the radio. Because what I have read this is not possible. Thank you and 73
|
Gary,
Did you try powering up the rig without the USB connection to the Nano from the digi board?? There may be an issue with the digi board.
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Sometimes you see a Hotwater-8 or an HW7 (the -8 is more common) at a big hamfest going for $50-$125, depending on condition. They are usually bought for nostalgic purposes since in their heyday, they were what put many beginners on the air...
The V6 beats the pants off the Hotwater QRP radios. However, the Heathkit radios were pretty much king of hill when they first came out because of their popularity. Good design for that era but today, they are museum pieces. To say so, though, brings out the oldtimer's ire in many hams.
Bob ¡ª KK5R
On Thursday, November 12, 2020, 4:31:09 PM EST, Arv Evans <arvid.evans@...> wrote:
HW-8 (HotWire-8) was a single-conversion transceiver by Heathkit, from the 1970's era.? Not really
relevant today because of US FCC requirements regarding spurious emissions.
_._
On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 3:10 AM Gerard < kabupos@...> wrote: hello,
Hw-8. I dont know what is it? Is it a fabrication of this style? A Heathkit year 80?
?I would really like to see a similarly placed, larger layout with through hole components? >>> That exist...
cdt
|
I don't think I worded my first post very well.? I am trying to install a new nano board. The v 4.3 sketch loads properly no errors when it compiles or loads. This board seems to be the identical physical replacement from the same manufacturer as the original nano from HF. But when installed and powered up I get only "ubitx v4.3" in the display. No other function or lines of display. I have tried 3 different nanos from the bunch I got on Amazon all the same result.? The original nano works ok for normal ssb operation but not with the digi board and is loaded from the same sketch file as the others.? A foto of the screen?is attached. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Many thanks Gary
Sorry Gary. I misread your email.? Greetings i am pretty new here and I want to thank everyone in advance for their help.?
I am trying to sort out an issue with a digiboad that I had installed that worked for a while then quit. It had been suggested that I replace the nano board. I ordered some on Amazon. They are the kind where you solder the header pins in so they gave the right way.? The chip is marked 328p
I load the v 4.3 sketch on it and when you turn it on you get only "ubitx v4.3 in the display nothing else.? (Photo)
I have tried a couple of the nanos and get the same result.? I still have the original nano the radio works fine with it it just won't talk to the digi board.??
I am sure there is probably something I don't? understand about loading a sketch on a new nano board? But the sketch does load without error.??
Any help much appreciated
Gary
KC3KSC
|
#v6 connect ubitx V6 and Xiegu XPA125B
#v6
Has anyone any experience or comment to make of connecting the V6 to a Xiegu XPA125B amplifier. I think there should be no problem but I would like to consult them if anyone has any comments on this. Also know if you can control the output power to the V6 from any menu on the radio. Because what I have read this is not possible. Thank you and 73
|
Sorry Gary. I misread your email. Ignore my comments.?
Hi Gary, I flashed a spare Nano or tried to using the IDE Software with verbose ticked for the Upload option. It kept failing with a? can't sync 500 error. I found I had to select the OLD BOOTLOADER option under Tools. After that I was able to flash the Nano with one of the Ubitx Software version Sketches. Or did your flashing process terminate correctly. Arduino's can be a bit difficult so don't give up.
On Fri, 13 Nov 2020, 8:03 am Gary Rindfuss, < rindfussg@...> wrote: Greetings i am pretty new here and I want to thank everyone in advance for their help.?
I am trying to sort out an issue with a digiboad that I had installed that worked for a while then quit. It had been suggested that I replace the nano board. I ordered some on Amazon. They are the kind where you solder the header pins in so they gave the right way.? The chip is marked 328p
I load the v 4.3 sketch on it and when you turn it on you get only "ubitx v4.3 in the display nothing else.? (Photo)
I have tried a couple of the nanos and get the same result.? I still have the original nano the radio works fine with it it just won't talk to the digi board.??
I am sure there is probably something I don't? understand about loading a sketch on a new nano board? But the sketch does load without error.??
Any help much appreciated
Gary
KC3KSC
|
Hi Gary, I flashed a spare Nano or tried to using the IDE Software with verbose ticked for the Upload option. It kept failing with a? can't sync 500 error. I found I had to select the OLD BOOTLOADER option under Tools. After that I was able to flash the Nano with one of the Ubitx Software version Sketches. Or did your flashing process terminate correctly. Arduino's can be a bit difficult so don't give up.
On Fri, 13 Nov 2020, 8:03 am Gary Rindfuss, < rindfussg@...> wrote: Greetings i am pretty new here and I want to thank everyone in advance for their help.?
I am trying to sort out an issue with a digiboad that I had installed that worked for a while then quit. It had been suggested that I replace the nano board. I ordered some on Amazon. They are the kind where you solder the header pins in so they gave the right way.? The chip is marked 328p
I load the v 4.3 sketch on it and when you turn it on you get only "ubitx v4.3 in the display nothing else.? (Photo)
I have tried a couple of the nanos and get the same result.? I still have the original nano the radio works fine with it it just won't talk to the digi board.??
I am sure there is probably something I don't? understand about loading a sketch on a new nano board? But the sketch does load without error.??
Any help much appreciated
Gary
KC3KSC
|
Greetings i am pretty new here and I want to thank everyone in advance for their help.?
I am trying to sort out an issue with a digiboad that I had installed that worked for a while then quit. It had been suggested that I replace the nano board. I ordered some on Amazon. They are the kind where you solder the header pins in so they gave the right way.? The chip is marked 328p
I load the v 4.3 sketch on it and when you turn it on you get only "ubitx v4.3 in the display nothing else.? (Photo)
I have tried a couple of the nanos and get the same result.? I still have the original nano the radio works fine with it it just won't talk to the digi board.??
I am sure there is probably something I don't? understand about loading a sketch on a new nano board? But the sketch does load without error.??
Any help much appreciated
Gary
KC3KSC
|
HW-8 (HotWire-8) was a single-conversion transceiver by Heathkit, from the 1970's era.? Not really
relevant today because of US FCC requirements regarding spurious emissions.
_._
On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 3:10 AM Gerard < kabupos@...> wrote: hello,
Hw-8. I dont know what is it? Is it a fabrication of this style? A Heathkit year 80?
?I would really like to see a similarly placed, larger layout with through hole components? >>> That exist...
cdt
|
Re: Calibrated now no receive.. Ubitx V6
Jerry,
Great info and thanks for the input. In hindsight I added the zeros to match the info kindly provided by Reed N. I actually just turned on the Ubitx V6 and the additional zeros were not there...Had to check. It was a blurry day trying to get it calculated after hours of trying and a good learning curve albeit frustrating.
Jaytee
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Re: Calibrated now no receive.. Ubitx V6
Regarding calibration on the uBItx, a few recent posts:
/g/BITX20/message/83191
/g/BITX20/message/83197
/g/BITX20/message/83225
In that last reference, Vic's method of matching a known audio tone
probably is more accurate than trying to hear a beat down near 0 hz.
Assuming you can exactly match the audio tones, the resulting calibration
should be exact as well.? The math works.
Jerry, KE7ER
On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 08:35 AM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
Not obvious to me why the final line for setting CLK0 is there:
? ?? si5351bx_setfreq(0, globalSettings.usbCarrierFreq);
All three clocks should be updated whenever the cal value is changed.
I tend to do this explicitly where the call to si5351_set_calibration() is made,
but putting all three calls under si5351bx_setfreq() is not a bad idea.
Updating only one clock there IS a bad idea, and suggests to me why
so many are still having to make multiple passes when calibrating their uBitx.
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Re: Calibrated now no receive.. Ubitx V6
There's a PLL inside the Si5351 that locks the nominally 875mhz VCO to be exactly 35 times? the 25mhz reference oscillator frequency. The 25mhz reference is usually off by 100khz or more, we must somehow store the actual VCO frequency so that we can later calculate accurate divider values when generating CLK0, CLK1 and CLK2 at the required output frequencies from the VCO. A cal value of 178000000 Hz means the the crystal is at (875000000+178000000)/35 = 30085714 Hz as Reed suggests.? I sincerely doubt that is what is happening. I see no reference to "Locosc" in Reeds code or in the forum. I'm guessing jaytee1 added a few zeros to make the "cal" value look more like the other calibration values. A "cal" value of 178000 Hz into Reed's code makes good sense, Note that SI5351BX_XTAL is a constant of 25000000, and SI5351BX_MSA is a constant of 35.
void si5351_set_calibration(int32_t cal){
? ? si5351bx_vcoa = (SI5351BX_XTAL * SI5351BX_MSA) + cal; // apply the calibration correction factor
? ? si5351bx_setfreq(0, globalSettings.usbCarrierFreq);
} Not obvious to me why the final line for setting CLK0 is there: ? ?? si5351bx_setfreq(0, globalSettings.usbCarrierFreq);
All three clocks should be updated whenever the cal value is changed.
I tend to do this explicitly where the call to si5351_set_calibration() is made,
but putting all three calls under si5351bx_setfreq() is not a bad idea.
Updating only one clock there IS a bad idea, and suggests to me why
so many are still having to make multiple passes when calibrating their uBitx.
If a cal of 178000 puts the radio on frequency, that means the VCO inside the si5351 is actually operating at 875000000+178000 = 875178000 Hz, and so too high by? 1000000*178000/875000000 = 203ppm Which might be slightly alarming, since low end crystals from quality manufacturers? generally spec a worst case deviance of 100ppm. However, they also spec a fairly large load capacitance of around 20pf, whereas Reed's code is setting?SI5351BX_XTALPF to 8pf (max of 10pf)?and the traces to the crystal are quite short and won't? make up the difference.? So the Raduino's Si5351 VCO is usually more than 100khz too high, well above the nominal 875mhz. Here's an old thread where the loading capacitance for parallel resonance of the 25mhz crystal is discussed.? This particular post mentions a minor error in my original si5351bx routines, specifically that register 183 (which has the SI5351BX_XTALPF parameter in it) should have the LSB's set to 0x12:? ?? /g/BITX20/message/35275I'd guess those undocumented LSB's adjust the loop response of the PLL for minimum jitter in the VCO, but nobody has ever noticed much difference when the fix was applied. From post?? /g/BITX20/message/35324#? For a given crystal, there is a range of load capacitance for which it will oscillate, beyond that it does not. #? If curious, here's some resources for further reading: #? ? ?? #? ? ??
#? ? ? EMRFD My original si5351bx routines assumed that we would simply store the VCO frequency in Hz, so nominally a cal value of 875000000, which fits in 32 bits.? I find this business of storing cal as the offset from 875mhz to be a minor obfuscation that gives no advantage, still doesn't fit in 16bits.? Not a big deal, probably best to leave it as it is now.? Mentioned here only to demystify the code a wee bit.? Here's the original routines: /g/BITX20/message/28977Jerry, KE7ER
On Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 10:54 PM, Reed N wrote:
I'm glad to hear you're up and running again! I'm a little confused by the "Locosc from your setting of 110553300" statement, since that number looks more like a BFO calibration number than a local oscillator, but it doesn't matter too much as long as you're on frequency now.
My cal:
Local oscillator: 138,850
BFO: 11,055,300
Your cal (as written):
Local oscillator: 178,000,000
BFO: 11,055,300
A brief explanation:
The local oscillator calibration corrects for any error in your specific frequency generator chip and it's crystal. It determines if your system frequencies match the display frequencies.
The BFO frequency calibration it's specific to your radio's BFO crystal filter, and ensures that the right side band signal gets through the filter, and is passed to the audio stages.
With that in mind, the difference in our values can be explained by us having similarly tuned BFO filters, but your radio having a larger discrepancy between actual frequency generation and expected frequency generation. Based on your local oscillator cal value, it seems like your local oscillator reference may be running closer to 30MHz than the 25MHz the code expects. Nothing wrong with that if it's true.
Reed
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Re: Automatic antenna tuner (N7ddc) and loop antenna
Hello,?
Yes,?Yes, I made a collection of favorites on the subject.
I wonder if my order of this N7DDC antenna tuner is useful for a LOOP antenna.
A priori NO, because this does not affect the main loop capacitor.
It is not lost, it will be used for another antenna, or it will go back on E.. Y
You confirm that this has no use for a LOOP.
But, if you look here,?
it's the beginning to do one piloted with second nano. The swr exist.
But, you have to write the soft and imagine the circuit. (Relay control by the available legs).
cdt
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Gerard
Bob Lunsford
