I recorded a video of FT8 operation with the sBitx.? it is here:
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Jack
Wow you are quite the wizard with coding, construction and maybe parts sourcing. Thanks for showing. Yeah the best variable capacitors might be as old as us.?
I didn't want the perhaps more recent op to think he needed a fantastic tuner to operate where his efhw already has low swr. That was the message of those who posted before me, or at least intended. Yeah we each have our opinions on tuners, but most can get us close to the center of the Smith chart while usually leaving enough power to radiate. Wow enjoy passing RF through your creation.?
Curt
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Curt:
I've been reading a lot of posts about antenna tuners and I've looked up what they cost. Not cheap by any stretch and most are 10W max! As I recall, this one:  cost me about $40 to build, but I had the caps on hand.
Jack, W8TEE
On Sunday, July 31, 2022 at 10:13:51 PM EDT, Curt via groups.io <wb8yyy@...> wrote:
Aaron
I confess I routinely operate into something like 1.6:1 especially if I know the feedline has a reasonable loss to the antenna. One of my antennas is an EFHW. Do gather its SWR across bands so you know where it's reasonable.?
You can make plenty of contacts while figuring out that tuner. It may be a bad connection somewhere or a backwards diode or insulation not removed from a coil. Trust you can figure it out when you study it systematically.?
Coax fed antennas don't do well operated into very high SWR. Well above 2 generally the antenna needs adjustment. A tuner with a coax fed antenna works decently to adjust moderate swr. At something like 1.6 you don't need the tuner. Much above 3 the tuner may not work so well.?
Enjoy your radiation.?
Curt wb8yyy?
-- Jack, W8TEE
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Aaron
I confess I routinely operate into something like 1.6:1 especially if I know the feedline has a reasonable loss to the antenna. One of my antennas is an EFHW. Do gather its SWR across bands so you know where it's reasonable.?
You can make plenty of contacts while figuring out that tuner. It may be a bad connection somewhere or a backwards diode or insulation not removed from a coil. Trust you can figure it out when you study it systematically.?
Coax fed antennas don't do well operated into very high SWR. Well above 2 generally the antenna needs adjustment. A tuner with a coax fed antenna works decently to adjust moderate swr. At something like 1.6 you don't need the tuner. Much above 3 the tuner may not work so well.?
Enjoy your radiation.?
Curt wb8yyy?
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Re: A short video of sBitx working
John, You must have seen that the video has a jump at 8:25. I switched to FT8 at that point, tuned around for about 2 minutes but 21 MHz was surprisingly quiet. I had to snip out that uninteresting part. I will get one recorded today. Usually 21MHz is bustling with FT8 activity during the day. - f
On Mon, Aug 1, 2022, 4:11 AM John AE5X < ae5x@...> wrote: Thanks for the video. Any chance of one showing the FT8 functionality in action?
73,
John AE5X
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The display you are looking for is the official Raspberry Pi display; that's the one the kit is designed for. Digi-Key currently has a bunch of them:? ry-pi/8997466/6152806
is also the correct display. The distinguishing mark is the Raspberry Pi logo in the center of the board that is attached to the back of the display.
The displays get redistributed by a number of companies. For example, I have one that I got at Micro Center a while back with the OKdo brand on the box. That's the one I plan to put in my sBitx. I have also seen them from element14 and RS. So long as you are getting the official display it doesn't matter which brand is on the package.
To answer another question in the thread, you can use any Raspberry Pi 4 with at least 2 GB of RAM. The sBitX software doesn't require more, but a 4 GB or 8 GB Pi will work just fine. Ham radio software isn't large for the most part so you're unlikely?to need the additional RAM even if you experiment with?running other?concurrent applications, but it doesn't do any harm other than cost extra.
On Sun, Jul 31, 2022 at 7:30 PM < msamis@...> wrote: I was looking over the Github site.? If we purchase the $299 version, is there an image for the Pi that can be downloaded and includes the OS and everything else, or do we need to load the RPi OS and compile and install the rest of the software? I did read the install.txt file, but it was a year old and did not seem complete. Thanks for your help.
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Thank you!? This is perfect.
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?There is a link on this page.
On Sunday, July 31, 2022, 06:30:39 PM CDT, msamis@... <msamis@...> wrote:
I was looking over the Github site.? If we purchase the $299 version, is there an image for the Pi that can be downloaded and includes the OS and everything else, or do we need to load the RPi OS and compile and install the rest of the software? I did read the install.txt file, but it was a year old and did not seem complete. Thanks for your help.
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I was looking over the Github site.? If we purchase the $299 version, is there an image for the Pi that can be downloaded and includes the OS and everything else, or do we need to load the RPi OS and compile and install the rest of the software? I did read the install.txt file, but it was a year old and did not seem complete. Thanks for your help.
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Re: A short video of sBitx working
Thanks for the video. Any chance of one showing the FT8 functionality in action?
73,
John AE5X
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Re: A short video of sBitx working
Great video. I love the feature for using a keyboard do send CW -- '72
Aaron K5ATG
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On Sun, Jul 31, 2022 at 12:47 PM, Stephen KO4CVU wrote:
Emtech ZM-2 manual tuner
Someone gave me a non-working Four State QRP Group??that at first glance looks like all of the parts are there. I need to get with David NM0S and get it figured out.? ? -- '72
Aaron K5ATG
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For the price and ease of assembly, it is hard to beat the Emtech ZM-2 manual tuner.
--
Stephen, KO4CVU
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Re: A short video of sBitx working
Very nice, and some fascinating capabilities.
I¡¯m hoping I have enough time while teaching part-time high school this semester to delve into some of this code!
Gordon KX4Z
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On Jul 31, 2022, at 10:30, Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
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Aaron, The best thing to carry to the field is an L match. A variable cap, even the polyvaricon, and a tapped inductor should tune anything with a good match. - f
I think that I have everything to make a little tuner, like the air variable capacitors but I have never used a manual tuner so I would not have a clue as to what I am doing.?
--
'72
Aaron K5ATG
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I think that I have everything to make a little tuner, like the air variable capacitors but I have never used a manual tuner so I would not have a clue as to what I am doing.? -- '72
Aaron K5ATG
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A short video of sBitx working
Here is something I recorded this morning. The RF was getting into the microphone cord of the camera, so I didn't transmit any audio.?
- f
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If you need to now how to become quirliger: copy the way some DMR transceivers have to be operated. Thats is I guess almost the Top of quirkiness.? Vy 73 and have a nice Sunday
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Am 31.07.2022 um 15:14 schrieb msamis@...:
?Hi Ashhar-? Yes- I have been following you and watched your intro to sBitx on YouTube about a year ago,? I have had more fun building the uBitx than making QSOs with them! I am sure there will be a few challenges with sBitx, but that's what makes it interesting.? This is certainly better that trying to get 40 or 50 year old boat anchors back on the air!? Plus it is state-of-the-art.
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Hi Ashhar-? Yes- I have been following you and watched your intro to sBitx on YouTube about a year ago,? I have had more fun building the uBitx than making QSOs with them! I am sure there will be a few challenges with sBitx, but that's what makes it interesting.? This is certainly better that trying to get 40 or 50 year old boat anchors back on the air!? Plus it is state-of-the-art.
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Thank you, Don.? That is helpful!? Sorry you had bad shipping.
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Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Aaron K5ATG
Rolf Schroeder