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Re: S-Meter Pin A7 Location V6

 

I have used similar tools to this in the past for control connectors at work.


I have ordered a set for myself.? Seems like a low-cost tool to help prevent being stabbed in the hand with a screwdriver.

73
Evan
AC9TU?
Re: S-Meter Pin A7 Location V6

 

Very good idea, Mick. It will avoid possible confusion later, too. And it never hurts to keep things simple and direct.

Bob ¡ª KK5R

On Monday, November 16, 2020, 4:24:58 AM EST, Mick <m0gwd@...> wrote:


Hello Bob

Thanks for the reply.? Yes all too easy to injure yourself if you're not careful.
I'm going use the new pre-wired connector that came with my V6 and just reconnect the encoder on the end.
Seems the easiest and safest option.

All the best

73

Mick M0GWD

Re: S-Meter Pin A7 Location V6

 

Hello Bob

Thanks for the reply.? Yes all to easy to injure yourself if you're not careful.
I'm going use the new pre-wired connector that came with my V6 and just reconnect the encoder on the end.
Seems the easisest and safest option.

All the best

73

Mick M0GWD
Re: S-Meter Pin A7 Location V6

 

Hi Andy

Thanks for the information and the PDF.
I can see now that I was getting A7 on the Nano confused with Pin 7 on the connector.
Thanks for the clarification.? I've printed off the schematic.

All the best

73

Mick M0GWD
Re: S-Meter Pin A7 Location V6

Rene
 

Hello, i am doing at the moment the same "project"i soldered(not so clean but..) the wire to the A7, on the arduino, yello wire Volume High, but it doesn't work yet. This evening i am gonna try to ingrease the 1.5 nf to 2.2 nf to see what happens. would be nice in smd i think?
Regards Rene
Netherlands
And yes still learning for N
Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

Tom,
That suggesion to anneal comes from Roy Lewallen, W7EL.

On Mon 16 Nov, 2020, 10:20 AM Tom, wb6b, <wb6b@...> wrote:
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 07:47 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
I am worried that we are losing the skill to produce VFOs.
Hi Ashhar,

Good points on building stable VFOs. Likely any L/C oscillator would benefit from these points. When I was a kid building and experimenting with L/C oscillators and VFOs for radios this was an important part of the radio construction. Easy to forget how to make these correctly now days. Before the days of microprocessors in everything, I remember building a Heathkit audio generator that actually used a small incandescent light bulb to stabilize the output level and keep the waveform a sine wave. I love microprocessors, but still remember and have warm feelings for the analog cleverness of days gone by.

I don't know if this is practical to add to a list of improving oscillator stability techniques, but I was reading one of the earlier links (I believe it was in this group) to an older construction article. The author of that article suggested "annealing" the coils by dipping them in boiling water for a while. The idea seems interesting.?

Tom, wb6b

Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 07:47 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
I am worried that we are losing the skill to produce VFOs.
Hi Ashhar,

Good points on building stable VFOs. Likely any L/C oscillator would benefit from these points. When I was a kid building and experimenting with L/C oscillators and VFOs for radios this was an important part of the radio construction. Easy to forget how to make these correctly now days. Before the days of microprocessors in everything, I remember building a Heathkit audio generator that actually used a small incandescent light bulb to stabilize the output level and keep the waveform a sine wave. I love microprocessors, but still remember and have warm feelings for the analog cleverness of days gone by.

I don't know if this is practical to add to a list of improving oscillator stability techniques, but I was reading one of the earlier links (I believe it was in this group) to an older construction article. The author of that article suggested "annealing" the coils by dipping them in boiling water for a while. The idea seems interesting.?

Tom, wb6b
Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

The H and P works only with an already stable vfo that has a long term drift under the locking range. It cant fix a badly made VFO.
That said, I should repeat that a stable VFO is so not merely by design but construction and choice of components.? For instance, if you use the standard disc ceramic caps, it is bound to drift. If you keep it open without a shield it will drift too. At times, the heat from a regulator can move the frequency.
A stable vfo is made with a few rules of thumb:
1. Build the entire VFO circuit using point to point wiring directly soldering component leads to each other. Keep the leads short but dont stuff them very close together.
2. Use polystyrene capacitors if you can. These are transparent capactors with silver colored body cylindrical bodies. They are available from mouser. You will need high value (about 100pf caps paralled up) for resonating at the design frequency and low value (2.2pf) for coupling to the JFET.
3. Use either a T50-6 toroid or an air core inductor wound on a relatively stable thermal expansion. A teflon rod is a good alternative..so is a test tube. A drinking straw is not! Even free standing copper inductors change their shape as copper expands the wiring. It has to be held in place with clear nail polish lacquer.
4. Avoid the polyvaricons, they are noisy, rough tuning and drifty. Hunt around for the old, all metal broadcast tuning capacitors. Mount the VFO board on the tuning capacitor or mount the tuning capacitor on the VFO board. No loose wires!
5. Mount the regulator at least 2 inches away from the VFO's capacitors and the inductor.
6. For low noise operation, a JFET is the best choice. You have to bypass the voltage regulator at the input too, as well as the output. Mosfets make noise VFOs due to their increasing flicker noise at lower frequencies.
7. Avoid using varactor diodes, they are meant for PLLs where drift of the VCO is a given. A varactor that is used as fine tuning over a few khz is acceptable in parallel to a tuning capacitors. The drift will be proportionally less. A combination of a variable tuning capacitor and a varactor over a small range is a good, backlash free alternative to a good slow motion drive.
With these guidelines, it is possible to consistently produce VFOs that are stable enough for CW and SSB work. Even PSK31 and FT8 are possible with effort. An interesting idea is to cancel the thermal drift by using a diode like the 1N914 to sense the increased ambient temperature and provide correction offset DC to the varactor.
I am worried that we are losing the skill to produce VFOs. It is fundamental to our persuasion. Generating stable and clean RF is the start of any radio project.

On Mon 16 Nov, 2020, 6:21 AM Arv Evans, <arvid.evans@...> wrote:
Tom

You got it!? analog VFOs used to drift all over the band.? Then came the Vackar design?
which was very stable.? Next seems to have been H&P which made even a? Vackar design?
better (cheaper components and less stringent builds) stabilized by H&P).? With PIC?
and AVR/Arduino?came really good and inexpensive FLL designs.? PLLs were always?
available, but seen by many as too complex and expensive (not really true but still hard?
to dispel?the myth, mystique, hype, and traditions).

H&P was seen as an easy and quick fix for old equipment with drifty VFOs.

Arv
_._


On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 5:24 PM Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote:
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 03:57 PM, Arv Evans wrote:
It tries to hover around one particular frequency.?
So in following the part of this thread that is strictly related to Huff and Puff, was the original reason for the Huff and Puff circuit to create a manual VFO that would jump and hold in accurate increments rather than be free to drift around uniformly. A way to allow operators to dial up drift-free discrete frequencies before digital frequency synthesizers became the primary way to set the frequency of a radio?

The non-drifting VFO settings were more the goal than the actual circuit details of Huff and Puff, itself. Huff and Puff was likely chosen because it was easily implemented with a simple type-d flip-flop, in the pre microprocessors everywhere days?

Tom, wb6b

Re: No Rx from my V4.3

 

Patrick,
If you cannot work out the Xloader issues, then you can download the source code from the same link as the hex files.? It is a different zip file.

If you go that route, then you will need to go into the ubitx.h tab and be sure to set the?
#define UBITX_BOARD_VERSION 5? ? ? ? ? ?//v1 ~ v4 : 4, v5:?

to a 4, and select the correct display in the following lines.? Then compile and load.?

Since you have loaded a program to the Nano before, I assume that what you have works with the Raduino Nano.

I believe that the Xloader download has security issues in that it is not registered.? That means you need to allow it to download and then run.? I kind of remember the concern I had with bypassing the Windows security feature.

Feel free to post with specifics of your error messages if you need more help.? It is always best to do so in this same thread so that others can follow and learn.? If you would rather do so out of the groups.io then private message me if you wish.

73
Evan
AC9TU
Re: Can¡¯t shut off emails from this group

 

Thanks Arv, will let you know.?
Re: RV1 alignment?

 

Frank,
As far as I know, there is not an official way to adjust RV1.? It is a drive setting that I have used to set the output of the PA to a value that is about 12 Watts on 80 meters in CW mode with 13.8 volts supplied.? I have not tried to push the finals beyond that point with 13.8 volts.? Even so, RV1 tends to be close to the maximum level (fully counter-clockwise) to get that value. It seems that it was more a way to reduce power than adjusting to a point where later stages are overdriven.?

One of these days I will get around to measuring the effect on output purity.? So far have not had any issues with the above setting process.? I have tested my rigs for harmonic and spurious.? I have not tested for linearity other than from signal reports and monitoring with my other rigs.

73
Evan
AC9TU
Re: No Rx from my V4.3

 

Hi Evan , Thanks for Your Reply .? Yes , I seem to have uploaded the? wrong? firmware onto the Arduino Nano . I did origionally try the KD8CEC Software but the links?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?on his site didnt work for me . Spent a lot of time today and? ran into computer problems . Discovered that XLoader downloads? wont open on 1 Laptop?
Downloaded it onto a different laptop and cant put files onto the XLoader Box .... My Head was wrecked with all these problems? but I am 80% there tonight !

May even go back to the origional v4.3 firmware !??

Thanks Again for replying to my query and for sending me the links to the various bits of software ....all very helpful , Evan ..
Know a lot more tonight than I did last night !?
Thanks Again , Evan?
Kind Regards?
Patrick?
Ei2if?
Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

Tom

You got it!? analog VFOs used to drift all over the band.? Then came the Vackar design?
which was very stable.? Next seems to have been H&P which made even a? Vackar design?
better (cheaper components and less stringent builds) stabilized by H&P).? With PIC?
and AVR/Arduino?came really good and inexpensive FLL designs.? PLLs were always?
available, but seen by many as too complex and expensive (not really true but still hard?
to dispel?the myth, mystique, hype, and traditions).

H&P was seen as an easy and quick fix for old equipment with drifty VFOs.

Arv
_._


On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 5:24 PM Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote:
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 03:57 PM, Arv Evans wrote:
It tries to hover around one particular frequency.?
So in following the part of this thread that is strictly related to Huff and Puff, was the original reason for the Huff and Puff circuit to create a manual VFO that would jump and hold in accurate increments rather than be free to drift around uniformly. A way to allow operators to dial up drift-free discrete frequencies before digital frequency synthesizers became the primary way to set the frequency of a radio?

The non-drifting VFO settings were more the goal than the actual circuit details of Huff and Puff, itself. Huff and Puff was likely chosen because it was easily implemented with a simple type-d flip-flop, in the pre microprocessors everywhere days?

Tom, wb6b

Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 04:28 PM, Arv Evans wrote:
You might also change the ceramic resonator to a real crystal in your Arduino NANO boards for?
added stability so the H&P does not have to work so hard.
It is amazing how inexpensive standard frequency crystals are nowadays. No need to scrimp there. Maybe, for prototyping, just wire the components together with a brand new crystal, unsolder the old resonator and solder the new little assembly in its place. Rather than cutting and jumpering on the board.

Tom, wb6b
Re: No Rx from my V4.3

 

OK Jerry , Thanks for your reply . I think my problem is the wrong software / firmware is on the Chip and it isnt compatible with the Version 4.3 Board .

Have learned a lot in the last 24 hours ....but it sure is a lot od trial and error !

Thanks?
Patrick?
Ei 2if?
Re: Can¡¯t shut off emails from this group

 

I think it is fixed, but let me know if the problem persists.

Arv
_._


On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 4:43 PM <jaytee1@...> wrote:
I accidentally deleted my previous email on this, reposted havre reposted again.

Arv suggested to change from ¡° View all¡± to View Digest.¡±. I have selected ¡°No emails¡± and am still getting every post. Does this function not work?
Thanks Arv BTW for the quick response earlier.

Re: Can¡¯t shit off emails from group

 

Jaytee1

I just now logged in as administrator and found that you have successfully changed your?
email handling to "no email".? Just to be sure I also set it to "no email".? That should fix?
things but if not please let me know so I can take a longer look at what might be happening.

Please take a look at message headers to be sure that the offending messages are from?
the [email protected] group.? It might be possible that those?unwanted emails are from?
some other similar?group.

Thanks

Arv
_._


On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 4:41 PM <jaytee1@...> wrote:
I accidentally deleted my post about this.
Arv suggested to log in and change from ¡°view all¡± to ¡°view digest¡± Thanks Arv for the help :-)
I have selected ¡°No emails¡± ?and am still receiving them. Why does this function not work?
?Can include a picture of the setting options if that allowable.

RV1 alignment?

 

SO I have searched and searched, what is the adjustment for RV1 please.

--
Frank, KG9H
Re: Can¡¯t shit off emails from group

 

Okay.? Hold on for a few minutes and I will log in as administrator and see if I can?
change this for you.

Arv? K7HKL
_._


On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 4:41 PM <jaytee1@...> wrote:
I accidentally deleted my post about this.
Arv suggested to log in and change from ¡°view all¡± to ¡°view digest¡± Thanks Arv for the help :-)
I have selected ¡°No emails¡± ?and am still receiving them. Why does this function not work?
?Can include a picture of the setting options if that allowable.

Re: Follow-up Antuino question

 

Tom

That sounds like an excellent idea.? Should be able to hold the CPU clock to within 1 Hz of?
desired frequency.??

You might also change the ceramic resonator to a real crystal in your Arduino NANO boards for?
added stability so the H&P does not have to work so hard.

? ??

Arv
_._


??

On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 4:09 PM Tom, wb6b <wb6b@...> wrote:
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 01:54 PM, Tom, wb6b wrote:
This is an clever way to use an AVR chip to stabilize a 10mhz oscillator without a pre-scalier. Just use the 10 mhz oscillator as the main CPU clock.
Just a though. If I was willing to allow relaxed expectations for jitter and short term accuracy, I wonder if I could put a varactor diode in the xtal circuit already on an Arduino Nano and then adjust the 16mhz Nano clock to be very accurate; based on the 1 PPS signal from a GPS module?

Tom, wb6b

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