Hi folks,
I am still on business trip so I have limited access to all my documents and home library, but I can share what I have in cloud...
Power output lab measurement protocol
Unit: sBitx v3
s/n: 766
Date: 30-Apr-2024
Time: 16:10
U(PSU): 13.5V +/-0.1V
-------------------------------------------
Frequency [MHz]: 21.050
-------------------------------------------
Drive [ ] / Power NAS [W] / Current I [A]
-------------------------------------------
10 / 0.2 / 1.7
20 / 1.0 / 2.1
30 / 2.5 / 2.7
40 / 4.4 / 3.2
50 / 6.6 / 3.7
60 / 9.0 / 4.2
70 / 11 / 4.5
80 / 13 / 4.8
90 / 14 / 5.0
100 / 15 / 5.1
-------------------------------------------
Frequency [MHz]: 7.010
-------------------------------------------
Drive [ ] / Power NAS [W] / Current I [A]
-------------------------------------------
10 / 0.2 / 1.8
20 / 1.0 / 2.3
30 / 2.6 / 3.0
40 / 4.9 / 3.6
50 / 8.0 / 4.3
60 / 11 / 4.9
70 / 15 / 5.5
80 / 18 / 6.0
90 / 20 / 6.2
100 / 22 / 6.4
-------------------------------------------
Used equipment:
Agilent E3632A PSU, ID: xxxxx4344, Cal due date: 15-Sep-25
R&S NAS Power meter, ID: xxxx0970, Cal due date: 20-Dec-25
BNC-N adapter: -0.02dB att at 50MHz
N-N cable: -0.06dB att at 50MHz
Total attenuation inserted: -0.08dB
All additional attenuations above were accounted.
Combined uncertainty for k=2: +/-5%
Hope it helps.
--
- p // v3 #766
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Re: 64bit v3 not reading rtc
On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 12:27 AM, Evan Hand wrote:
JJ,
Thank you for working this out. I am still unclear on how the Si5351 and ATtiny85 are now communicating with the sbitx software. Can the system-level I2C coexist with the bit-banged bus on the same I/O pins?
I need to go back to I2C documentation and see if it is possible to have multiple masters.
73
Evan
AC9TU
You can read the answer to your question here: ? -- Gyula HA3HZ
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On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 08:52 AM, <Yo8rc@...> wrote:
JJ a request ,at the next upgrade solve and problem sBitx version 3.02 on DE transmit switching problem possibly with the solution found by Jula(HA3HZ)Do as I do. Use v3.02 and replace sbitx_sound.c with 3.01.Thank you!
Ioan, now the priority is to get the RTC in order, because if you want to radio SOTA or POTA, there is no working clock in the device. ? -- Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: sBITX V3 no TX power out
?
It is very frightening ( ... and discouraging ! ) that a newly purchased
complete sBITX v3 does not work . It should be the least that a new complete
purchased sBITX also works as described and advertised on the website ! Too bad
that Farhan does not seem to care about his product . Also that there are
constant problems with this simple IPA . This is not the way to imagine a
transceiver for the 21st century ...
?
73 , Jens / HB9JOI
+++
?
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From: Dave
Fugleberg
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 5:56 PM
To: BITX20@groups.io
Subject: [BITX20] sBITX V3 no TX power out
?
I
bought a complete sBITX v3 from Farhan at Dayton on Saturday morning. Yesterday
(Monday) I set it up for the first time, entered my callsign and grid, connected
to my triband beam, and played with the receiver on 20m in CW, SSB, and FT8. All
worked well. I made one QSO on 20m CW with good report, and also attempted
answering a CQ in FT8.? I did not complete the QSO, but did see my signal
reported lots of places on the PSKReporter website, so TX was working.
I
then connected it to my wifi, a HDMI monitor, and a mouse. In the Raspberry pi
configuration GUI, I looked at the localization tab and made the required
adjustments for my location. The time reported by the OS was still off by 2
hours, but I found a thread dealing with that on this group, and made the
required change to /home/pi/.profile to set TZ=America/Chicago to fix
that.
When I then tried another CW contact, I noted that the display said
"Power 0 Watts? VSWR 1.0" when transmitting. My repeated CQs were NOT
picked up by the reverse beacon network. I checked with an external wattmeter,
and see no power out.? A QRP wattmeter showed less than 100mW with the
drive set to 100.? I tried shutting down and rebooting, but still no
TX.
There was no smoke or any smell of fresh roasted electronics. I have
not yet opened the case to look for hardware damage.? However, in reading
through old messages on this group, I noted that other hams had reported similar
symptoms after changing seemingly unrelated Raspberry pi settings (like
locale).
Unfortunately, I did not clone the SD card before starting, or
make note of what the initial settings were for localization, so I can't change
them back to see if that makes any difference.
Does anyone have any
recommendations on troubleshooting this before I go any further?? I'd like
to be reasonably sure to rule out a software/config issue before I start
troubleshooting the hardware...
73 de W0ZF
|
JJ a request ,at the next upgrade solve and problem sBitx version 3.02 on DE transmit switching problem possibly with the solution found by Jula(HA3HZ)Do as I do. Use v3.02 and replace sbitx_sound.c with 3.01.Thank you!
|
Thanks Jeff. Any idea where to find them? Mouser doesn't seem to...
I've recently learned the v3 uses mica between the IRF510 and the heat sink.? I plan to change this out to Aluminum Nitride as it has a significantly higher thermal conductivity.?
Hi Folks.
I'm putting together a parts list of what I need to upgrade my v2 board. One thing I'm not clear on...what kind of insulators do I need for the IRF510?
Thanks.
Don
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Re: sBitx version 3.02 on DE transmit switching problem
Do as I do. Use v3.02 and replace sbitx_sound.c with 3.01.
Then you need to build it ie cd sbitx and ./build sbitx
I use it this way and it's quiet.
?
--
Gyula HA3HZ
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Re: sBitx and Dayton roadtrip
On Tue, May 21, 2024 at 07:41 PM, Glenn VE9GJ wrote:
Two issues noted were that the RTC does not seem to work correctly. To get around this I would turn the Hot spot on in my cell phone before booting the sBitx. I would then let the pi sit for a minute or two before stating the sbitx app. This seemed to be the only way the time would be close enough for FT8.
The cmd \MYCALL did not seem to work. I had to edit the ini file to change calls. \MYGRID worked fine. sBitx was running JJ's 64 bit image.
73
Glenn VE9GJ
Hi Glenn. I worked out the RTC issue today and am working on an app to sync the radio from the RTC module. Glad to hear about your trip.? You are correct - \mycall doesn't work since the SET button is now used for this.
73,JJVisit my repo at??for sBitx tools and software.
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Re: 64bit v3 not reading rtc
what to expect from system log (run as root):
# dmesg | grep ds1307
[??? 9.875449] rtc-ds1307 22-0068: registered as rtc0
[??? 9.877509] rtc-ds1307 22-0068: setting system clock to 2024-05-21T19:19:56 UTC (1716319196)
- Rafael
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On 5/21/24 20:27, Jeff Duce wrote: If I use the 1307 line I get this:
pi@sbitx:~ $ i2cdetect -l
i2c-1 ? ?i2c ? ? ? ? ? bcm2835 (i2c@7e804000) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?I2C adapter
i2c-22 ? ?i2c ? ? ? ? ? i2c-gpio-rtc@0 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?I2C adapter
pi@sbitx:~ $ hwclock -r
hwclock: Cannot access the Hardware Clock via any known method.
hwclock: Use the --verbose option to see the details of our search for an access method.
pi@sbitx:~ $ sudo hwclock -r
hwclock: ioctl(RTC_RD_TIME) to /dev/rtc0 to read the time failed: Invalid argument
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Re: I need help reviving my sBITX V3
Aaron, The sbitx needs 5.2 volts, not 5 volts.? You should not cut the trace or fill the 5v gap with solder.? Instead, connect power to the regulator and adjust the potentiometer (variable resistor) on the component side to get 5.2 to 5.25 volts measured on the Vo+.? Note that the EN pin is unused, so do not connect it. Battery Pos to? IN+ Battery Neg to Gnd Measure VO+ to Gnd.? Adjust for 5.2 volts.  73 Evan AC9TU
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Re: sBitx and Dayton roadtrip
Its awesome that you got to use the sBITX for that.? I had the same setup as you did for the eclipse last month. We drove from Oklahoma City to S.E. Oklahoma, it took 3 hours to get there and 6 1/2 hours to get back to OKC because of the traffic. During the eclipse I had an old AM radio and was scanning the AM band and during totally I was able to pick up a station in San Antonio, TX about 400 miles from where we were. A mini van makes a decent ground plane for a mag mount ham stick.? -- '72
Aaron?
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Re: I need help reviving my sBITX V3
I'm just not having any luck with this. It is either: A:?I'm really stupid and I should admit defeat and give up on radios and electronics and become a appliance operator. B:?Mr. Murphy has taken up permanent residence in my shack. C: Me and the sBITX just isn't meant to be D:?The March of Dimes break into my house and sabotage my stuff while I'm fixing me a ice cold glass of tea. My level of frustration is at a level where I just have to step away and cool down some. You fellas that can just go into a room with a paper clip and a book of of matches and come out with a new radio design that works, I really envy you and you inspire me to eventually know this stuff like you.? Here is a report of todays adventures in radio electronics.? I got a new voltage regulator, here is what I got: ? On the Amazon site in the pics is a diagram and instructions on how to use this voltage regulator.? For your viewing pleasure I have decided to blatantly steal the image: 
First thing that I did was to take a box cutter and cut the little trace on the back of the PCB. Because my vision is not the best I used a USB microscope and magnified the image 10 times and then I was able to see well enough to cut the trace. I think that this is where I messed up and may not have removed 100% of the trace. I then soldered the pads for 5V as shown in the pic.?
I did not want to test and adjust the voltage regulator while it was on the sBITX and end up causing more damage. So I set it up on a solderless breadboard. I wanted to apply the closest thing to 12 volts as I can so I hooked a SLA battery to the voltage regulator. The SLA was producing a solid 12 volts (Why do we call it 12 volts when our power supplies produce 13.8 volts?) So I hooked the positive of the SLA to the IN+ pad on the voltage regulator. Then I went? to hook up the negative wire to the SLA battery and the magic smoke was released from the voltage regulator. Since I lack the skills to put the magic smoke back inside the voltage regulator, I just threw that one in the trash and thanked my lucky stars that I have 9 more of the voltage regulators.??
Does anyone see what I did wrong her or was it a bad regulator. I would really like to keep on charging ahead to the? point that I replace every component on the PCB but I'm getting frustrated and feeling pretty dejected.?
If anyone has any ideas that I can try please let me know. Trying something and it doesn't work is a lot better than just giving up and not trying at all.?
-- '72
Aaron?
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sBitx and Dayton roadtrip
VY2HF (W1PJ) and myself drove from Fredericton, NB to Hamvention 2024 and back. It is about an 19 hour, 2000km drive one way. We spent 2 days on the road in each direction.
On the return trip we hooked up the sBitx v3 to a LifePO4 30ah battery and a 20m or 17m hamstick on a MFJ triple mag mount on the roof of VY2HF's Toyota Rav4. We were missing the mag mount until purchased at Xenia. We were amazed at the results! sBitx reported an average of about 13 watts and 1.1 SWR.
Some casual operation netted us 82 FT8 and 1 CW contact. We logged 21 DXCC countries, many in Europe and included 2 JAs!
We attended the FDIM event and got to meet Asher and Hans as a bonus.
Two issues noted were that the RTC does not seem to work correctly. To get around this I would turn the Hot spot on in my cell phone before booting the sBitx. I would then let the pi sit for a minute or two before stating the sbitx app. This seemed to be the only way the time would be close enough for FT8.
The cmd \MYCALL did not seem to work. I had to edit the ini file to change calls. \MYGRID worked fine. sBitx was running JJ's 64 bit image.
73
Glenn VE9GJ
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Re: 64bit v3 not reading rtc
For reference, I came across this:
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To keep costs low, the Raspberry Pi does not include a Real Time Clock module. Instead, users are expected to have it always connected to WiFi or Ethernet and keep time by checking the network. Since we want to include an external module, we'll have to wire
one up. We'll go with the easy-to-use and low-cost DS1307.
learn.adafruit.com
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and
Which both recommended a -w, which is why I tried it. ?\_(ツ)_/?? Not sure why it needed to be written to first, but that did the trick for me.
Too bad the adafruit DS3231 is $17, that would have made for a much more compact board that doesn't run into the nearby toroids.? Think I'm going to de-solder the unused 90deg pins on mine save a bit of space.
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From:?BITX20@groups.io <BITX20@groups.io> on behalf of JJ - W9JES <w9jes@...>
Sent:?Tuesday, May 21, 2024 3:16 PM
To:?BITX20@groups.io <BITX20@groups.io>
Subject:?Re: [BITX20] 64bit v3 not reading rtc
?
I will have to go over my instructions again, but I believe they are correct. I had my sBitx unplugged and off for 5 hours and it maintained the time just fine. I wanted to add pictures to the steps, but I ran out of time and had to get back to work..
sudo hwclock -w is for writing the time from the system clock to the RTC.. It can be used if you manually set the clock to the correct time or let it automatically update via NTP when connected to a network.
The pinout documentation is incorrect on the schematic, btw.
I am writing an app for the ?that can make this easier to sync system/RTC time.. Again, this will also be corrected in the next version of my 64 bit build.
73,
JJ
Visit my repo at ?for sBitx tools and software.
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sBitx version 3.02 on DE transmit switching problem
I just updated my sBitx software from version 3.01 to 3.02, now when transmitting on FT8 there is a burst of recieve audio louder than what is set on the encoder.
To check this I used the sBitx Apps to roll back to version 3.01 and the problem went away.
What features am I missing by keeping the sBitx on version 301?
or is there a fix?
My sBitx is a DE version with all supplied hardware mods installed, still running the 32bit version of sBitx software.
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Re: S-METER /AGC kit for uBitx v6
On Tue, May 21, 2024, at 10:08 AM, Richard Lambert-Porter wrote:
AGC kit is available here for US$22:
I believe that this kit includes an S-Meter function.? You could use the supplied S-Meter or connect the S-Meter output to the A7 input used by the KD8CEC software through a voltage divider 10k pot.? Adjust so that the voltage does not go above 5 volts. 73 Evan AC9TU
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Re: S-METER /AGC kit for uBitx v6
Nick, The board pictured in my prior post has both the LED/LDR AGC and the KD8CEC op-amp based S-Meter sensor.? ?Here is a schematic of the total assembly:   73 Evan AC9TU
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Re: 64bit v3 not reading rtc
JJ,
Thank you for working this out. I am still unclear on how the Si5351 and ATtiny85 are now communicating with the sbitx software. Can the system-level I2C coexist with the bit-banged bus on the same I/O pins?
I need to go back to I2C documentation and see if it is possible to have multiple masters.
73
Evan
AC9TU
|
I've recently learned the v3 uses mica between the IRF510 and the heat sink.? I plan to change this out to Aluminum Nitride as it has a significantly higher thermal conductivity.?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: BITX20@groups.io <BITX20@groups.io> on behalf of dsay2001 <don.sayler@...>
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 2:36 PM
To: BITX20@groups.io <BITX20@groups.io>
Subject: [BITX20] sbitx v2 to v3
?
Hi Folks.
I'm putting together a parts list of what I need to upgrade my v2 board. One thing I'm not clear on...what kind of insulators do I need for the IRF510?
Thanks.
Don
|
Aaron - when you are operating from your trike, what do you use for an antenna?? I use a medical scooter, so I am in a somewhat similar situation.
Gerry Sherman
Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird
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HA3HZ
Jens/HB9JOI
Aaron K5ATG