Hi Ashhar, Just got my sBitx.? Awesome!? You deserve many "pats on the back" and profits.? Thank you for making such a nice product. A few notes:
- Please program the tap to force volume control as discussed above.
- Native sBitx display on DS1 monitor is working great.? No need to move it to other display(s).
- Second (and/or third) monitor is scalable for third party applications.
- Consider providing Micro HDMI panel mount to right side above RPI penetrations.
Questions:
- I can't seem to get CAT control to work for WJSTX, WSPR mode.? Hamlib NET was programmed but not functional.? What should it be?
- What should the programming be for the Input and Output audio settings?
Maybe I am doing this all wrong so I will reread the Operating instructions but I am assuming that the external programs can work with sBitx and suppling WJST-X will work the radio but I must be missing something. Again, thanks for a great design! Cheers, Scott  ?
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Can the sBitx PA be run at a higher voltage like on the uBitx? If so, are there board connections for this? Or would it require major surgery on the PCB?
Thanks Max?
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Re: sBitx antenna-first warning
On Wednesday, August 3, 2022 at 01:45:51 PM EDT, Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
Jack, How much voltage were you running on the drains? - f
We've tested the T41 with its 510s to 40W and nothing fried. 80-40-20M all can deliver about 25W without much effort. 15M is about 20W and 10M drops to about 13W. Like I said, it is what it is...
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, August 3, 2022 at 01:14:06 PM EDT, Jerry Gaffke via <jgaffke= [email protected]> wrote:
The IRF510 can work dependably, Allison reports years of success with HF amps at 40W push-pull, surviving everything from accidental open antenna connections to dead shorts. In posts to this forum from several years ago, Allison went into plenty of detail. She even used them on 6m at several hundred watts (with bunches of them in parallel). The QSX amp from qrp-labs uses IRF510's in push-pull, does a consistent 10W from 3 to 30mhz. ? Clean and linear even when operating from 12v, tolerates any antenna condition. A product of collaboration between Hans and Allison.? ?Cost of $26 USD for the kit, a steal. If I were building a rig like the sBitx from scratch, I would start with that amp for a PA, perhaps add PIN diode TR switching with the HV supplied by rectified RF. HFsignals could steal that PA design for the sBitx-v2, give Hans $5 for every unit if feeling guilty. Using the IRF510 for RF power amps takes careful design.? Especially heat sinking, as the IRF510 is not very good at getting heat from the die to the TO220 tab.? The IRF510 prefers more like 24vdc for higher power and reduced distortion. Improper design can blow the gate due to exceeding Vgs max spec momentarily Needs more drive than an RD16HHF1 to get similar power levels due to moderately high gate capacitance. However, Vds max is much higher for the IRF510 than it is for the RD16HHF1, so for cases of high Vds the IRF510 would survive a high SWR better than the RD16HHF1. Allison was of the opinion that moving to the RD16HHF1 on the uBitx would not help much. Reading from?? "The power amplifier of Figure 6 is a conventional power chain, probably a little sub-optimal. Two stages of pre-driver amplification with metal 2N2222As boost the signal level from -15 dBm to a little above 100 mW" For "sub-optimal" we could substitute "inexpensive".? One necessary change if wanting somewhat even power output all the way up to 30mhz would be an additional stage of amplification.? Gong from -15 dBm to +20 dBm (100mW) in two stages of 2N2222's is 35 dB of gain, or 17.5 dB per stage.? That's pushing it,? Though as we saw on the uBitx, optimizing a power amp is complicated, especially when doing it for a low budget product.? If NFET's seem too hard to use and just too dang complicated, an 807 or 6146 should do fine with any SWR when operating at 40W.? ?;-) Names could be shorter 80 years ago, they didn't have 10 gazillion different electronic parts to keep track of. Jerry, KE7ER On Wed, Aug 3, 2022 at 09:29 AM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
The RD16HHF1s are no longer in production. There are some really good parts from Nexperia. They have no easy names like 807 or 6146. They have names like AFT05MP70. Why have short names when you can make up names that can't fit on the package?
- f
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Jack, W8TEE
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Jack, W8TEE
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Re: The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
I bought them off amazon!
I like this. This reminds me of waiting for the next article by W7ZOI or Doug DeMaw. I built a SW converter using a universal breadboard once. It was just a pcb with squares. I need some to pickup some pads for another Manhattan type build.?
?Where did you find the deep drawn box? I picked up two years ago at a hamfest that were made by Hamtronics for repeater modules. I haven¡¯t seen anything like that in years. I have my Bitx40 in one.
73s John N4HNO?
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Re: The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
I like this. This reminds me of waiting for the next article by W7ZOI or Doug DeMaw. I built a SW converter using a universal breadboard once. It was just a pcb with squares. I need some to pickup some pads for another Manhattan type build.?
?Where did you find the deep drawn box? I picked up two years ago at a hamfest that were made by Hamtronics for repeater modules. I haven¡¯t seen anything like that in years. I have my Bitx40 in one.
73s John N4HNO?
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I find that Elecraft's tap method for controls is easy and useful.
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? 73
??? Bob? KD8CGH
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
Hi
I may have solved the WiFi noise.
After having seen several schematics for LM380 I discovered that all of them have a 100nF cap in series with a 2.7ohm? from pin 8 to ground. This was not on the sBitx schematics.
Dismantling the sBitx again and study the pcb. No cap and resistor.
I didn't have 2.7ohm but 4.7ohm parallel with 10ohm gives 3.2ohm. I gave it a try.
And result was no strange noise with WiFi connected and no noise when disconnected from my net.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
Farhan, try adding a square inch of copper PCB tight against the top of the LM380, earthed. The RF could be getting direct into the silicon die.
Ian McCrum, MI5AFL
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
The LM380 takes the earphone out from the codec. If you plug in earphones, the LM380 is cut off. There is no buzz in the earphones, but the buzz in the LM380 continues eve though it is not connected to the ear out of the codec. The LM380 is possibly picking it up from the wifi radio that is directly under it, on the raspberry pi. - f
Interesting. ? Perhaps it is being demodulates before that? ? Where in the line does it first manifest?
Gordon ? I have to report failure with the current attempt at eliminating the burp from the LM380. I tried putting a 2.2ohms in series with 0.1uf across the speaker as a snubber. I added a bypass on pin 1. I put a 0.1uf across the input I loaded down the input to 220 ohms. None produced any difference. It is incredible that 2.4 GHz signal of about 1 mw is getting inside an audio IC. Maybe the microwave homebrewers should use LM380 instead of expensive GaAs FETs. I will still chipping away at this interesting problem. - f We are early adopters because of the confidence we have in you!? Looking forward to getting mine on Monday!
On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 10:09 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: It is tough and frustrating to be an "early adopter". I thank you all for taking the plunge, Respect!
The joys of mass production and finding little bitty problems. ? ?We have the same thing in drug product production and vaccine production of course.... only when you make a lot of some thing do you start to find a little bitty unexpected issues.?
We have the incredible advantage of having Ashhar right on top of everything!! ? My first Heathkit had horrible key clicks and I think I spent a year shipping it back-and-forth Benton Harbor (from earning money vacuuming the house ) before I learned enough to fix it myself. ?
Gordon ? Bob, Thats the LM380 having some kind of oscillations. I will have a fix for the quickly. The sound goes away if you turn the wifi off. Right click on the wifi icon and select Wifi off. - f On Wed, Aug 3, 2022, 2:46 AM Bob Losee KO9V < Loseeunc@...> wrote: I¡¯m having the same sounds¡ anywhere from 4 to 8 sounds then a several second pause, then starts again. ? Changing audio level makes no difference. I¡¯ve never tried transmitting¡ just listened to WWV across town from me and it is a clean stable receiver.? Tried logging in to my wifi but I still have two red X characters over the wifi symbol Bob, KO9V, Serial Number 20 On Aug 1, 2022, at 1:57 PM, Niels Jalling <niels@...> wrote:
?When I powered up my new sBitx I heard repeating noise from the loudspeaker. I knew I had seen the problem mentioned somewhere.
Found it on youtube:
Follow the description to turn off the WiFi and the noise goes away.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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Re: The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
Farhan,
Excellent writeup. This should make many brains to ring.
Madhu
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
Interesting. ? Perhaps it is being demodulates before that? ? Where in the line does it first manifest?
Gordon
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Aug 4, 2022, at 01:08, Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
? I have to report failure with the current attempt at eliminating the burp from the LM380. I tried putting a 2.2ohms in series with 0.1uf across the speaker as a snubber. I added a bypass on pin 1. I put a 0.1uf across the input I loaded down the input to 220 ohms. None produced any difference. It is incredible that 2.4 GHz signal of about 1 mw is getting inside an audio IC. Maybe the microwave homebrewers should use LM380 instead of expensive GaAs FETs. I will still chipping away at this interesting problem. - f We are early adopters because of the confidence we have in you!? Looking forward to getting mine on Monday!
On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 10:09 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: It is tough and frustrating to be an "early adopter". I thank you all for taking the plunge, Respect!
The joys of mass production and finding little bitty problems. ? ?We have the same thing in drug product production and vaccine production of course.... only when you make a lot of some thing do you start to find a little bitty unexpected issues.?
We have the incredible advantage of having Ashhar right on top of everything!! ? My first Heathkit had horrible key clicks and I think I spent a year shipping it back-and-forth Benton Harbor (from earning money vacuuming the house ) before I learned enough to fix it myself. ?
Gordon ? Bob, Thats the LM380 having some kind of oscillations. I will have a fix for the quickly. The sound goes away if you turn the wifi off. Right click on the wifi icon and select Wifi off. - f On Wed, Aug 3, 2022, 2:46 AM Bob Losee KO9V < Loseeunc@...> wrote: I¡¯m having the same sounds¡ anywhere from 4 to 8 sounds then a several second pause, then starts again. ? Changing audio level makes no difference. I¡¯ve never tried transmitting¡ just listened to WWV across town from me and it is a clean stable receiver.? Tried logging in to my wifi but I still have two red X characters over the wifi symbol Bob, KO9V, Serial Number 20 On Aug 1, 2022, at 1:57 PM, Niels Jalling <niels@...> wrote:
?When I powered up my new sBitx I heard repeating noise from the loudspeaker. I knew I had seen the problem mentioned somewhere.
Found it on youtube:
Follow the description to turn off the WiFi and the noise goes away.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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QR code and KD8CEC Memory Manager, "Error- data file is short"
Hi,
I can't use the QRcode function with KD8CEC Memory mangaer. I get? "Error- data file is short".
Should I maybe register at hamskey? I can't however find any function or a link for that.
73 de sm0try
Ulf
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
I have to report failure with the current attempt at eliminating the burp from the LM380. I tried putting a 2.2ohms in series with 0.1uf across the speaker as a snubber. I added a bypass on pin 1. I put a 0.1uf across the input I loaded down the input to 220 ohms. None produced any difference. It is incredible that 2.4 GHz signal of about 1 mw is getting inside an audio IC. Maybe the microwave homebrewers should use LM380 instead of expensive GaAs FETs. I will still chipping away at this interesting problem. - f
We are early adopters because of the confidence we have in you!? Looking forward to getting mine on Monday!
On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 10:09 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: It is tough and frustrating to be an "early adopter". I thank you all for taking the plunge, Respect!
The joys of mass production and finding little bitty problems. ? ?We have the same thing in drug product production and vaccine production of course.... only when you make a lot of some thing do you start to find a little bitty unexpected issues.?
We have the incredible advantage of having Ashhar right on top of everything!! ? My first Heathkit had horrible key clicks and I think I spent a year shipping it back-and-forth Benton Harbor (from earning money vacuuming the house ) before I learned enough to fix it myself. ?
Gordon ? Bob, Thats the LM380 having some kind of oscillations. I will have a fix for the quickly. The sound goes away if you turn the wifi off. Right click on the wifi icon and select Wifi off. - f On Wed, Aug 3, 2022, 2:46 AM Bob Losee KO9V < Loseeunc@...> wrote: I¡¯m having the same sounds¡ anywhere from 4 to 8 sounds then a several second pause, then starts again. ? Changing audio level makes no difference. I¡¯ve never tried transmitting¡ just listened to WWV across town from me and it is a clean stable receiver.? Tried logging in to my wifi but I still have two red X characters over the wifi symbol Bob, KO9V, Serial Number 20 On Aug 1, 2022, at 1:57 PM, Niels Jalling <niels@...> wrote:
?When I powered up my new sBitx I heard repeating noise from the loudspeaker. I knew I had seen the problem mentioned somewhere.
Found it on youtube:
Follow the description to turn off the WiFi and the noise goes away.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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Ashhar that sounds like a good solution
On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 2:04 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: I did try that, it was confusing. Should we put it on tap? The function decoder has a pushbutton that is not used.
On Wed, Aug 3, 2022, 12:08 AM Niels Jalling < niels@...> wrote: There is one knob I really miss on the sBitx, An easy accessible volume control.
Idea: Fallback for the function encoder when not not called for it could be volume control. Fallback time f.ex. 15-20 seconds.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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Re: Turn off WiFi on your sBitx
We are early adopters because of the confidence we have in you!? Looking forward to getting mine on Monday!
On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 10:09 PM Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: It is tough and frustrating to be an "early adopter". I thank you all for taking the plunge, Respect!
The joys of mass production and finding little bitty problems. ? ?We have the same thing in drug product production and vaccine production of course.... only when you make a lot of some thing do you start to find a little bitty unexpected issues.?
We have the incredible advantage of having Ashhar right on top of everything!! ? My first Heathkit had horrible key clicks and I think I spent a year shipping it back-and-forth Benton Harbor (from earning money vacuuming the house ) before I learned enough to fix it myself. ?
Gordon ? Bob, Thats the LM380 having some kind of oscillations. I will have a fix for the quickly. The sound goes away if you turn the wifi off. Right click on the wifi icon and select Wifi off. - f On Wed, Aug 3, 2022, 2:46 AM Bob Losee KO9V < Loseeunc@...> wrote: I¡¯m having the same sounds¡ anywhere from 4 to 8 sounds then a several second pause, then starts again. ? Changing audio level makes no difference. I¡¯ve never tried transmitting¡ just listened to WWV across town from me and it is a clean stable receiver.? Tried logging in to my wifi but I still have two red X characters over the wifi symbol Bob, KO9V, Serial Number 20 On Aug 1, 2022, at 1:57 PM, Niels Jalling <niels@...> wrote:
?When I powered up my new sBitx I heard repeating noise from the loudspeaker. I knew I had seen the problem mentioned somewhere.
Found it on youtube:
Follow the description to turn off the WiFi and the noise goes away.
73 de oz9ny, niels
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Re: sBitx antenna-first warning
Thanks Ashhar for this post. I shall now use this?in my QRP station (Hermes Lite 2 with Alexloop magnetic loop antenna, which shows SWR values largely over 40:1 to the tranceiver when tuning the loop (fortunately the LDMOS power amplifier can accept SWR>65:1 but I prefer to be cautious. This tuning-indicator brings the SWR seen by the tranceiver below 2:1 when tuning the antenna, as you say in your post.
I continue to watch the development of your sBitx, wich looks like a wonder and shall decide later to buy one.
73 - Pierre - FK8IH
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Re: The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
Ken, The radio is all point-to-point soldering and large sized components. The performance will suffer it built on a single pcb.? I guess someone can try it. The radio needs improvements, it needs cw to be added, the t/r is primitive and can be bettered too. - f
On Thu, Aug 4, 2022, 9:43 AM Ken N2VIP < ken@...> wrote: What a neat little radio, thanks for sharing.
Something like that, if it could be kitted out at $50 or so would make a great club project, but kiting up such a project is way beyond my skill set.
I know you're not offering it as a kit, just dreaming - thanks again for sharing your projects! Ken, N2VIP ? I had presented an all analog radio at the FDIM this year (not the expected sBitx!).? It is a fun radio. No, this will not have kit, you are on your own.
The write up is now up on my website at?
- farhan
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Re: The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
What a neat little radio, thanks for sharing.
Something like that, if it could be kitted out at $50 or so would make a great club project, but kiting up such a project is way beyond my skill set.
I know you're not offering it as a kit, just dreaming - thanks again for sharing your projects! Ken, N2VIP
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Aug 3, 2022, at 22:56, Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
? I had presented an all analog radio at the FDIM this year (not the expected sBitx!).? It is a fun radio. No, this will not have kit, you are on your own.
The write up is now up on my website at?
- farhan
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The Daylight Again - An All analog radio
I had presented an all analog radio at the FDIM this year (not the expected sBitx!).? It is a fun radio. No, this will not have kit, you are on your own.
The write up is now up on my website at?
- farhan
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Can't go wrong with Bender -- '72
Aaron K5ATG
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Bob Benedict, KD8CGH
Aaron K5ATG