Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Yes - this would be the best way to move forward. I would accept the additional cost for a fully switched off radio not drawing current after turning off.
Best regards?
Peter DL4ZAQ
?
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The station arrived yesterday.?
Everything works, nicely packaged, even the
test report is included.?
73 Matjaz?
S56ZVD
Nigel Evans M0NDE via groups.io je 31.
03. 2025 ob 23:31?napisal:
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My Zbitx arrived today. I am new to these radios so expect a
learning curve. I have only received so far but here are my
observations and questions.
I installed the batteries and followed the set up in the
manual including setting the time using an hdmi screen. I linked
the wifi to my phone hoping this would pay dividends when in the
field. It first the radio seemed deaf, but playing around with
the IF I started to hear signals on 20m and 40m. I found CW
reception difficult the radio seemed to make a chugging sound as
the decoder tried to work. The back of my radio was warm but was
not excessively hot on rx. I tried FT8 decode seemed sluggish to
start but once running was fine.
When the time needs adjusting must I always connect to an
hdmi screen or is connecting to my phone wifi sufficient to
update the time? Is the chugging sound in cw mode normal? Will
the operating manual be updated further as time progresses.
Should I be upgrading software and firmware or are these updates
to be considered as beta and optional. How would HF signals
prefer feedback to be given as I assume they cannot monitor
every post trawling for bugs and questions.
Finally I like the radio and form factor. Thinking about a 3d
printed sloping stand which when reversed protects screen and
knob. Thinking 3d printing battery cover or using stand to hold
battery holder. Can audio be directed via Bluetooth to an
amplified speaker??
Thank you Farhan for this radio?
73 Nigel M0NDE
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Still a pain though. If the filesystem is corrupted badly enough you'd have to open up the radio, pull out the Micro SD card, and reflash it. If there were a way to do an orderly shutdown, including a dismount of the file system, that risk would be eliminated, even if you still had to pull the plug afterward.
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 2:16?AM Dick PD0DF via <dick.frijdal= [email protected]> wrote: I must agree,
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If nothing gets written, chance is that the filesystem corruption is minimal..
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And we do have good backups! Don't we? ??
?
73'
?
Dick
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Maybe the standard distribution could simply poll/interrupt a GPIO line to trigger shutdown.
Then a user could decide how to drive it.
(I would use a three position switch, with the middle position activating the line. Wait a few second and then switch off power.)
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
I must agree,
?
If nothing gets written, chance is that the filesystem corruption is minimal..
?
And we do have good backups! Don't we? ??
?
73'
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Dick
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Re: Power zero on 10m / Drive number
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What`s the reason that I get on all bands only 2...max.3 watts output
?
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73
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From: Vu3vwr via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2025 6:23 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Power zero on 10m / Drive
number
?
Matt,
I have logged the 10M power output bug on .
?
This seems to be a software bug. The current workaround is to switch to
another band (say 20M) and transmit (do a quick "qrl?" on CW) before going back
to 10M. Doing this brings back the power on 10M.?
?
I haven't seen the drive problem so far. Are you able to set it on 100 on
the other bands? Have you tried to restart the radio and see if you are able to
adjust this? Please log this bug on Github so that Farhan can look into it.
?
73,
Ragav
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The keyboard and pointing device I used was a BT thumb keyboard and trackpad. It works, but typing is slow due to the keys only being about 4mm across.
I'm replacing that little BT keyboard with a 2.4 ghz keyboard and trackball combo. All it requires is a type-A to microSD adapter. But I used a Bluetooth peripheral at first. BT was already active. So all I had to do was scan for available devices and verify the device I had was the one I wanted.
On Wed, Apr 2, 2025, 5:38?PM Ryan Wesolowski via <cosmo1stgen= [email protected]> wrote: David,
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I have no machine running on mine.? Got the 3B v7 deb package installed.? I use no machine on most of my computers. ?
Ryan
KK6DZB
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Hmm. You might (probably ) be right here with that no harm can happen to a system where nothing is written.?
Being a old Linux/UNIX-guy, I also simply get nervous doing a hard cut.?
--
Tilman D. Thulesius
SM0JZT / Sweden
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Re: ZbitX battery holder wiring
I have removed my battery holder. Looks ugly on the side of the radio.
I run my radio from external 9VDC source anyway.?
--
Tilman D. Thulesius
SM0JZT / Sweden
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Re: Zbitx RPI SD-card image needed
Ashhar
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You are probably right there- I might have done this in desperation.
After having downloaded the image and flashed it to a new 32Gbyte SD-card. Put et into the radio and started the radio and did a reconfig. When all done I did a copy of that SD-card (also using Balena Etcher) to have on hand if things go sideways again.
Learnt something new? ;-)
--
Tilman D. Thulesius
SM0JZT / Sweden
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Got my "wee beastie" early this afternoon.? Unboxed it & everything looks OK.? I haven't powered it yet.? I have a few questions.
I have an official Pi keyboard and mouse.? I intend to use this instead of the on-screen keyboard.
I have a USB to ethernet adapter.? I will be plugging this into a USB port on the keyboard.
How do I shut the zBit down properly?
Will connecting to the internet this way work for setting the RTC?
It's more likely I will send CW with the keyboard than paddles, as I don't have full and totally normal use of my hands.
How do I update the zBit's software, and what do I need to update?
Ken, N2VIP, made some recent comments about adding a proper shutdown command.? Perhaps someone with better programming skills than mine could do something with the article he referred to. There may be various options available to consider.
Initially I anticipate that I will operate CW and SSB.? Other modes may be used when I get familiar with them.
How do I back up the internal memory card?
I realize this is a collection of comments and questions, but it's what comes to mind quickly.
Gerry
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
After shutting down, it will still keep drawing about 150mA of power. We need a way for the linux to power down the full circuit.
It can, of course, be done with capacitors, 555 timers and smoke and mirrors. It will add another inch to the width of the radio and about 20 dollars to the price. Is it worth the hassle considering almost nothing gets written to the filesystem?
There's a world of possibilities once you open up the source code and start changing it - that is something the designers of this radio hope users will do with this radio...
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Ken, N2VIP
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Hi,
?
I don't know enough about the system and application's architecture to understand the latency issues yet.
Are you using the stock Debian kernel? ?Or a kernel with real-time modifications (RTLinux, et.al.)?
What does the CW sending loop look like? ?How often does it poll? ?What sample buffer sizes is it dealing with?
Are there any underflow or overflow issues to deal with when generating samples?
One thing you might try is calling clock_gettime() within the key ISR to time stamp pin state changes.
That information would allow the polling loop to determine which key input changed first, if both changed between polls.
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There are serious limitations with what can be done given a single-core processor running a non-real-time OS kernel.
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73, Ron, n6ywu
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Re: Power zero on 10m / Drive number
Matt,
I have logged the 10M power output bug on .?
?
This seems to be a software bug. The current workaround is to switch to another band (say 20M) and transmit (do a quick "qrl?" on CW) before going back to 10M. Doing this brings back the power on 10M.??
?
I haven't seen the drive problem so far. Are you able to set it on 100 on the other bands? Have you tried to restart the radio and see if you are able to adjust this? Please log this bug on Github so that Farhan can look into it.?
?
73,
Ragav
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
There's a world of possibilities once you open up the source code and start changing it - that is something the designers of this radio hope users will do with this radio...
?
Ken, N2VIP
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
In theory the action could be done as well as a button in say menu option?
Perhaps something like this?
?
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Now, if someone clever could incorporate the 6 second hold-down of the encoder switch to initiate a proper shutdown as described here...
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Ken, N2VIP
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Power zero on 10m / Drive number
So, I'd been watching another thread for resolution, but it may not be the same thing.
Questions up front.
1. Any reason why 10m is 0W??
2. See my drive? it's 96, and I don't know why I can't get it to 100. When using the wheel, it won't go any higher, though it certainly goes lower.?
These lead me to believe both are software configuration related.?
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The problem:
I initially had the issue with FT8 locking up the zBitx. Updating the both the Zero and Pico software resolved that.
I'm at 1.6 and 3.051 now.
Running sBitx on the external monitor resulted in 0W out.?
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However, I'd still get 0 watts out when transmitting FT8 on 10m.
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However, I remembered I get less output on my sBitx at 10m, so I setup a 20m vertical and I got power out. I haven't had time to check 12/15/17m. Could there be a problem with the calibration files that I absolutely did not backup when I did the update?
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Any guidance would be appreciated!
Matt
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Perhaps something like this?
?
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Now, if someone clever could incorporate the 6 second hold-down of the encoder switch to initiate a proper shutdown as described here...
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Ken, N2VIP
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Re: Tariffs and zBitx Shipments
#zbitx
I would agree with Ken.? However, we are assessing the impact of this on HF Signals (which is a Delaware company that files its taxes in the USA) the impact should be minimal. We will wait and watch.If any of the buyers face additional tariffs, write to us at sales@... so we can see how we can do an impact analysis. - f?
Please, let's keep politics off this group.
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There are plenty of places to discuss current events, politics, etc - as a world-wide community of of over 7,000 members, the likelihood of offending others is quite high.
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Just my 2 cents.
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Ken, N2VIP
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Re: Zbitx power cord connector
My plug failed on like the third start. I ordered this and they transmit power fine (one to replace the failed plug and one for the power supply), but they’re slightly longer. A very small o-ring would take up the space if that’s a concern.?
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DL4ZAQ_Peter
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Jens/HB9JOI
Gwen Patton
Tilman, SM0JZT