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,
?
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
?
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...
?
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.
?
There are serious limitations with what can be done given a single-core processor running a non-real-time OS kernel.
?
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?
?
?
Now, if someone clever could incorporate the 6 second hold-down of the encoder switch to initiate a proper shutdown as described here...
?
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.?
?
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.?
?
However, I'd still get 0 watts out when transmitting FT8 on 10m.
?
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?
?
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?
?
?
Now, if someone clever could incorporate the 6 second hold-down of the encoder switch to initiate a proper shutdown as described here...
?
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.
?
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.
?
Just my 2 cents.
?
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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Re: Tariffs and zBitx Shipments
#zbitx
Please, let's keep politics off this group.
?
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.
?
Just my 2 cents.
?
Ken, N2VIP
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
I would have to agree with you on this point.
Gerry
On 2025-04-03 02:03, James Kvochick
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I get a little nervous pulling power on a running Linux
computer. ?Probably 9 times out of 10, no issues, but the ONE
time....well, a corrupt SD card doesn't sound like fun.
?
The Raspberry Pi Pico running the display can probably deal
with things well, my concern is the other CPU. ?I would feel
tons better if there ws a formal shutdown item to click
on....any thoughts?
?
Cheers
Jim K8JK
?
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Re: Tariffs and zBitx Shipments
#zbitx
Who elected that addled egghead responsible for your country's
problems?
Gerry
On 2025-04-03 02:20, Gill W4BXA via
groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I don’t think the exception applies
here, but I could be wrong. The price of virtually all ham
equipment just took a big jump.?
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Re: Tariffs and zBitx Shipments
#zbitx
I don’t think the exception applies here, but I could be wrong. The price of virtually all ham equipment just took a big jump.?
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Ron, I would like you to review the code: 1.? Here, we setup the ISR (interrupt service routine) to call a function called key_isr whenever the state of the paddle chages (press, release). 2. The key_isr () reads the status of the the two paddles (DASH and PTT) and stores them in global variables ptt_state and dash_state. 3. the cw sending loop has to generate 96,000 samples a second. And it cannot spend?time reading the gpio pins to see if the any new symbol (dot/dash/space) has been generated by the user. Instead, it just reads these two variables. This is done by the routine key_poll(). .4 Read key_poll (). You will note that it executes very quickly. To know what type of key we are using, it doesn't even to a string compare of the CW_INPUT settings, instead it just samples the 6th letter with is different for all the three cases (Straight, Iambic and Iambic-B). Let me know what you think of the?implementation and if it can be improved. - f
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 6:57?AM Ron, N6YWU via <ron.nicholson= [email protected]> wrote: Have you considered using interrupts to handle the GPIO pins connected to the keying inputs?? Interrupts might reduce or eliminate the possibility of missing the first dot before a dash. ?
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A priority interrupt handler would need to be written with good real-time coding practices (bounded time algorithm, no locks, no API calls that could involve memory management, etc.). ? But this should be possible.? Then post the key inputs with time stamps to be handled by the priority keying sidetone process, which perhaps will run only a few milliseconds later.? The time stamps on the interrupt data would prevent the dash from being handled before any dot, if that was the key closure sequence, and solve at least one issue with fast iambic keying that polling with a slow CPU on a loaded system might never be able to completely solve.
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73, Ron, N6YWU
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Re: #zbitx I would really like a formal way to shut down the software gracefully
#zbitx
Agree.? With you being a Linux user.?? I think Farhan mentioned he wanted to avoid giving elevated access to do the shutdown. When at home I ssh into it to issue the shutdown -h now command?
I get a little nervous pulling power on a running Linux computer.? Probably 9 times out of 10, no issues, but the ONE time....well, a corrupt SD card doesn't sound like fun.
?
The Raspberry Pi Pico running the display can probably deal with things well, my concern is the other CPU.? I would feel tons better if there ws a formal shutdown item to click on....any thoughts?
?
Cheers
Jim K8JK
?
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Gwen Patton
Tilman, SM0JZT