Re: sBitx --> Transverter for 2m/70cm SSB/CW
So for the very first time, I have gotten gpredict to control the frequency of a radio, auto-adjusting for Doppler shift.? ?Didn't cost me a penny!
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I should have done this with the sBitx (which has NET rigctld responsiveness, rig "2" in rigctl-speak)? -- instead I thought (wrongly) it would be easier to learn by starting with a Windows Laptop and an ICOM 7300.? ?The 7300 does NOT have NET rigctl responsiveness.? ? Instead, I had to wade through all the learning to install a rigctld daemon on the laptop.? First I practiced with the command-line control program rigctl.? ?You get both of these when you download a hamlib installation system.? ?I had to learn the syntax to get rigctld installed to work with my Icom 7300 on COM3:
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rigctld -m 3073 -r COM3
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(the Icom is # 3073 in their long list....but you don't need this with the sBitx because it has NET responsiveness somewhere in the code.? This may not be the right way to explain that, but I think you get what I mean.? ?Gpredict on the default port is likely to directly immediately control the sBitx)?
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Then I got that radio installed in gpredict....but it took me a long time to discover the icon at the far RIGHT of the menu bar where you actually direct the system to USE the radio and "track" the doppler shift.? ? You can specify the local oscillator of the transverter.? ?I cheated by telling the system I lived in Canada so I could simulat access to a satellite immediately, rather than having to wait wait wait for another pass -- and by clicking "track" (I don't fully understand all of that yet) I was rewarded by having the ICOM 7300 slowly adjust automagically for doppler shift as gpredict computed and corrected.
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HOORAY!!? ? ? ?
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This is just one step in a huge line of things I think I need to conquer, but according to some of the experts, this can be done with simple yagis and rotator control, because a lot of the satellites have circular polarization already.? ? ?Apparently you need some POWER which I only have 5-10 watts worth of so far, but hey, I'm learning!? ? ?Next step will be to get on the sBitx and repeat all of this with it in the linux world.? ?Having now figured out rigctl, I think rotator control (rotcld) will be very similar, and the available commercial package that Vibroplex sells from the european ham who figured it out, will make that much simpler for me.? ? Here is a very simple article explaining how easily one can start with antennas:
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Gordon KX4Z
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Re: Sleep/Power Off Display
Joshua,
When you turn off the screen, the RPi still draws power. Have you tested how long the device will last under constant voltage?
I'm only asking because in the year and a half that I've been using the sBitx, I once forgot to turn off the main switch and turned off the input power after about 5 hours.
The next time I turned it on, the OS couldn't log in. I had to use the backup to start it up.
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Gyula HA3HZ
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The jack on the mainboard already has the wiring described on the ubitx.net page.? The diagram is for the versions before v6, where you had to wire up the jacks.? From the webpage:
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The v6 main board schematic has:
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The other half is on the v6 Raduino board (called raduino_tft):
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Have you checked the CW key setting in the setup screen?? You get to set up by holding in the tuning knob (encoder) for 10 seconds.
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Rotate the tuning knob to the CW Keyer selection and press .
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73
Evan
AC9TU
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Are the two jacks on the board in the full kit not ready then for paddle use?
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-- J R Parrick (K0TBS)
Si vis pacem, para bellum!
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Did you refer to this web page? It should be helpful:
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Ken, N2VIP
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It should.? Sounds like something is wrong with the
radio.
Gerry Sherman
Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird
On 2025-02-17 02:07, J R Parrick
(K?TBS) via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I just purchased and received my first uBitx, and I have a
question. Does it take regular paddle input on one of the 3.5mm
jacks? I changed the CW type from paddle to either iambic A or
B, and nothing changes, it only acts like one side is working,
primarily dit. I have three paddles I use on my other radios,
and all work as expected on those, but not on the uBitx.
I get the same reaction from the radio if I plug in the
microphone supplied to the left hand 3.5mm jack, and use its PTT
key in CW mode.
--
-- J R Parrick (K0TBS)
Si vis pacem, para bellum!
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I just purchased and received my first uBitx, and I have a question. Does it take regular paddle input on one of the 3.5mm jacks? I changed the CW type from paddle to either iambic A or B, and nothing changes, it only acts like one side is working, primarily dit. I have three paddles I use on my other radios, and all work as expected on those, but not on the uBitx.
I get the same reaction from the radio if I plug in the microphone supplied to the left hand 3.5mm jack, and use its PTT key in CW mode.
--
-- J R Parrick (K0TBS)
Si vis pacem, para bellum!
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Re: Sleep/Power Off Display
I figured it out:
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vcgencmd display_power 0
This will turn the display off and below will turn it back on
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vcgencmd display_power 1
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Re: zBitx installed softwares
I'll second the hope that JS8 will be able to be run natively. FT8 is OK for killing time but JS8 with its relaying and inbox is useful!
Daniel
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I’m planning on leaving the sBitx powered up but with the app closed. I’ve got VNC and VPN setup to remotely launch the application for when I want to remotely use the software.?
while it’s hooked up and not in use, I’d like for the display to be turned off. I’ve tried using xset, setterm, and tvservice but none of those will get the display to either sleep or power down. I’ve not used the Raspberry Pi screen before so am I missing something obvious?
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Re: How to fine tune the set frequency
Thank you for that link: perfect!
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On Feb 15, 2025, at 6:48?PM, Evan Hand via groups.io <elhandjr@...> wrote:
Hi WA4TPE,
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The short answer is not with the stock software. Other software, like the N8ME version, will show the current calibration frequency, which can be used as a starting point. The only way to recalibrate with the stock software is to start with the video from AshharFarhan and record each set before restarting the uBiTx.
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73
Evan
AC9TU
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Re: sBitx --> Transverter for 2m/70cm SSB/CW
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Ashhar’s ?tip has been very productive.
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a German fellow created some interface hardware between the software rotctld (which puts out serial ASCII characters to control rotators) an actual rotator, such as the yaesu’s, which we have:?
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(Vibro Plex is the US/candidate distributor for this gear)?
so with those simple pieces of equipment, we have the ability to control 2 rotators.
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and with basically free software, it looks like we can control the Doppler shift and these rotators. We may need to do some programming to deal with the frequency translation, but the software should be available in source form
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Re: Question about GitHub drexjj/sbitx
Pierre, You are correct.??
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Re: sBitx --> Transverter for 2m/70cm SSB/CW
Thanks, Ashhar! ?Beginning to read up on how to use that. ?
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On Feb 16, 2025, at 00:17, Ashhar Farhan via groups.io <farhanbox@...> wrote:
? You can install gpredict on sbitx!
On Sun, Feb 16, 2025, 8:20 AM Gordon Gibby KX4Z via <docvacuumtubes= gmail.com@groups.io> wrote: One of our local "satellite gurus" Ron Lewis KN4ZUJ has clued me into the CSN SAT-TRACKER device that has the ability to simultaneously control Yaesu Rotators to track satellites, and send CAT commands over CI-V (open collector bidirectional) to very high-end ICOM transceivers. to adjust the RECEIVER frequency for the doppler shift (I gather people leave their transmitter fixed -- but I'm very new at this).
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I had difficulty finding public domain solutions that did both these functions.? The solutions that were being built in the 2009-2010 era seemed to do one or the other and ground to a halt.
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The CSN SAT TRACKER produces open collector output (to control high-end ICOM VHf/UHF radios).? ?I think my UART input? (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36015 )? ICOM-emulator raspberry pi simple program (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36021 ) could read those CAT commands from the SAT-TRACKER and then perform the proper translation to the ten-meter band where the "receiver" portion of a full-duplex dual-sBitx/dual-transverter system were connected.? ? That would then allow for the proper adjustment of receiver frequency to account for the doppler shift; while the SAT TRACKER simultaneously control the az-el rotators to point at the satellite. ?
So that may be a viable set of steps.? ?Today I was able to drive 2 hours and pick up some amazing aluminum tower components, and 17-foot long VHF/UHF yagis.? ?I don't think we need THAT for this project; a much simpler set of antennas should do.? ?We have some Yaesu rotators.? ? This isn't going to happy quickly, but with the progress I made this weekend getting the transverter working, verifying frequency accuracy, adding real TX/RX control, this may work eventually.
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Gordon KX4Z
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Re: sBitx --> Transverter for 2m/70cm SSB/CW
You can install gpredict on sbitx!
On Sun, Feb 16, 2025, 8:20 AM Gordon Gibby KX4Z via <docvacuumtubes= gmail.com@groups.io> wrote: One of our local "satellite gurus" Ron Lewis KN4ZUJ has clued me into the CSN SAT-TRACKER device that has the ability to simultaneously control Yaesu Rotators to track satellites, and send CAT commands over CI-V (open collector bidirectional) to very high-end ICOM transceivers. to adjust the RECEIVER frequency for the doppler shift (I gather people leave their transmitter fixed -- but I'm very new at this).
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I had difficulty finding public domain solutions that did both these functions.? The solutions that were being built in the 2009-2010 era seemed to do one or the other and ground to a halt.
?
The CSN SAT TRACKER produces open collector output (to control high-end ICOM VHf/UHF radios).? ?I think my UART input? (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36015 )? ICOM-emulator raspberry pi simple program (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36021 ) could read those CAT commands from the SAT-TRACKER and then perform the proper translation to the ten-meter band where the "receiver" portion of a full-duplex dual-sBitx/dual-transverter system were connected.? ? That would then allow for the proper adjustment of receiver frequency to account for the doppler shift; while the SAT TRACKER simultaneously control the az-el rotators to point at the satellite. ?
So that may be a viable set of steps.? ?Today I was able to drive 2 hours and pick up some amazing aluminum tower components, and 17-foot long VHF/UHF yagis.? ?I don't think we need THAT for this project; a much simpler set of antennas should do.? ?We have some Yaesu rotators.? ? This isn't going to happy quickly, but with the progress I made this weekend getting the transverter working, verifying frequency accuracy, adding real TX/RX control, this may work eventually.
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Gordon KX4Z
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Re: Question about GitHub drexjj/sbitx
Thanks Evan, I guess these settings can be edited??
For exemple what does this lines make:
9? [tx_band]
10 f_start=7000000
11 f_stop=7300000
12 scale=0.0045
Can I right understand that they limit transmission between 35000000 and 4000000 edges? And that the scale=0.005 sets a value to the transmitted power?
If I edit the line 12 to read f_stop=7200000, will the transmission be limited below 7.2MHz to comply to Asia regulations?
73 - Pierre - FK8IH
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Re: Question about GitHub drexjj/sbitx
Hi Pierre,
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The settings for your radio will be on the microSD card d shipped with it. ?You want your make a copy of them first thing so that you have them when you upgrade to the new software. ?Those would be the best starting point for further optimization.?
There are instructions in JJ’s GitHub on how to transfer the files.?
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Re: sBitx --> Transverter for 2m/70cm SSB/CW
One of our local "satellite gurus" Ron Lewis KN4ZUJ has clued me into the CSN SAT-TRACKER device that has the ability to simultaneously control Yaesu Rotators to track satellites, and send CAT commands over CI-V (open collector bidirectional) to very high-end ICOM transceivers. to adjust the RECEIVER frequency for the doppler shift (I gather people leave their transmitter fixed -- but I'm very new at this).
?
I had difficulty finding public domain solutions that did both these functions.? The solutions that were being built in the 2009-2010 era seemed to do one or the other and ground to a halt.
?
The CSN SAT TRACKER produces open collector output (to control high-end ICOM VHf/UHF radios).? ?I think my UART input? (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36015 )? ICOM-emulator raspberry pi simple program (see: /g/BITX20/wiki/36021 ) could read those CAT commands from the SAT-TRACKER and then perform the proper translation to the ten-meter band where the "receiver" portion of a full-duplex dual-sBitx/dual-transverter system were connected.? ? That would then allow for the proper adjustment of receiver frequency to account for the doppler shift; while the SAT TRACKER simultaneously control the az-el rotators to point at the satellite. ?
So that may be a viable set of steps.? ?Today I was able to drive 2 hours and pick up some amazing aluminum tower components, and 17-foot long VHF/UHF yagis.? ?I don't think we need THAT for this project; a much simpler set of antennas should do.? ?We have some Yaesu rotators.? ? This isn't going to happy quickly, but with the progress I made this weekend getting the transverter working, verifying frequency accuracy, adding real TX/RX control, this may work eventually.
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Gordon KX4Z
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Question about GitHub drexjj/sbitx
I plan to buy a sBitx, which I would use with the 64Bit project.
I guess when I have loaded the (current) p064.img file I find in the Raspberry SD card the Kernel, the Touch Display Support, the Applications. I suppose I will find files like "default_hw_settings_V3.ini" and "default_settings.ini" which I will be able to edit according to my own needs? This question may look silly but my knowledge of Raspberry is still quite basic.
73 - Pierre - FK8IH
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HA3HZ
J R Parrick (K?TBS)