Re: BITX40 - frequency spectrum - Raduino irradiation - intermodulation products -
#bitx40help
Greetings!
Would the 100pF cap added to the LPF work on the BITX40 model.
I just wired up the BITX40 kit I received two weeks ago and there was an extra smt cap in the bag of parts.?
It was not listed in the assembly pages on-line.? I have not yet found how that was to be used or if it was needed for
some other mod or update.
.? 72, Jeff K9JP
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 8:08 AM, <fgsom@...> wrote: Hello everybody,
while checking the ouput-signal of my BITX40, I found some nastygram signals in the frequency spectrum.
Interestingly the emission is at the begining and at the end of 40 m Band nearly clean, respectively the distance to the wanted signal is > 40dBm? - but? abt. +/- 70 kHz around 7.100 kHz.
I replaced the DDS-Wire with RG-174 Coax but without results.
Do any of you have a solution ?
73, Frank
-- Not all of me will die - - - The good I do will live forever.? <><
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Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
I remember hearing about ham radio as a cub scout.? It didn't appeal to me then because I only saw it as a way for cranky old men to argue with other cranky old men.? Two things that I think about a lot now that would have pushed me over the edge then are the fact that as long as you can find a battery ham radio works when nothing else does.? Be it hurricanes or zombies or whatever you can communicate to give help or find help.? Secondly, we have billions of dollars worth of radio spectrum that the government keeps out of the hands of big corporations as long as we keep using it.? I keep reading kids these days want to help and hate big business and big government.? With a few bucks and a wire in a tree you can address both.
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This design uses all of the above.? Grease, heat sink and oil bath.
https://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_antenna_dummy.htm
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Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
Stephen
Thanks for sharing your insights.?
My 2 cents worth. I'm in my 50s, with young kids at home. Just passed my license exam thanks to some encouragement from W8TEE.?
Foremost, younger folks don't use voice much at all. Text, Facebook, email or video chat. Since that's what people like, that's the direction ham radio has to go if it is to grow.?
Honestly I'm little interested in voice myself. Digital modes are ok, but not too exciting because they are so limited. I keep learning and trying new stuff.?
What really interests me and my kids is telecommand and telemetry. They are useful tool. Scant little is available to novices like me. So my few past projects are more failure than success. ?I have a pile of microcontrollers that lost their magic smoke.?
On Google. You get the results because of search engine optimization. ARRL and others pay to rank high in the results. A private user has to get a lot of traffic to overcome it.?
Outreach has to center on topics of interest. Like email without internet, etc. Video tutorials are popular with lots of people (tho I prefer written instructions with photo illustrations).?
I like the hobby a lot. My boys like to "help" make things like antenna and little circuits from Jacks book. I hope it encourages them to learn and explore.?
Lists like this are useful for novice learners. Thanks to all who contribute.?
I would like to know what books are best for telecommand and telemetry experiments.?
In closing up a random post I'll just summarize that I tell my boys and friends that radio is what makes most of our modern conveniences work, so it's fun to learn and build stuff. Parts aren't terribly expensive so it's good entertainment.?
-John?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Dec 15, 2017, at 12:24, Stephen Harrison < sdharrison.9@...> wrote:
I'm 28, maybe I can share a bit of insight, being a millennial...
I was first introduced to ham radio probably 20 years ago in cub
scouts, found it fascinating.? The cost of entry was always the
issue for me.?
In college I started playing around with the RTL-SDR dongles
(~$25) and got really interested in decoding or listening to
everything out there.. shortwave, air band, adsb, trunked p25,
pagers, sstv, etc.? I built a lot of different antennas in this
time and also learned a ton about radio and programming, mostly
through reading websites and experimenting.?
I've always had a CB around for work or other reasons, and
whenever I'd hear a signal from across the country I thought, "wow
I really need to get in to ham radio, that's really cool."? I
think about 3 years ago I came across the Baofeng HTs (~$35, yes I
know..) and decided to finally get licensed.?
I used an app on my phone to study.? I'm a civil engineer, but
the first few years of engineering school have a lot of overlap
and I found the test to be very easy.? Probably the most fun I had
was working SO-50 with a homemade yagi and my 5w HT shortly after
I got my license.? Living in an apartment made it difficult to
come up with a good HF antenna scheme.? Eventually I did get kind
of bored with it.?
After moving to a house with space for an HF antenna, I came
across the bitx40 which was a nice, affordable reason to go after
my General.
I've tried to get a few friends in to it but so far it hasn't
stuck with any of them.? One friend and I set up dipoles in our
attics and put CBs in our houses so we could talk to each other,
but that's as far as it went.? Another friend actually did get his
Tech but still hasn't bought a radio.? I demonstrated working
SO-50 to another friend who thought it was cool but wasn't really
interested in pursuing a license.
Maybe that will help provide some insight?
Steve
On 12/15/2017 11:24 AM, Jack Purdum via
Groups.Io wrote:
I changed the topic
to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites
have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every
month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up;
sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech
license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never
see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and
asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done
anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do
what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a
small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are
missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a
Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True,
you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost
all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have
with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they
give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all
bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can
chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a
couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries
calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so
I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some
younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently
married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't
know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but
probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root
around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
|
Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
That's how I got started...a cub scout visit to a local ham, Chuck Zeigler, W8FTQ (I think?). He became my Elmer and I became his pest, hanging out at his home anytime I could. He gave me my Novice test in 1954 and I've been licensed ever since. He also helped me build my first transmitter; a 2-tube affair with 15W. Without his efforts, I don't know if I'd be a ham today.
I just wish I new a sure-fire way to capture those people like your friends who never get pushed over the edge.
Jack, W8TEE
From: Stephen Harrison <sdharrison.9@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
I'm 28, maybe I can share a bit of insight, being a millennial...
I was first introduced to ham radio probably 20 years ago in cub
scouts, found it fascinating.? The cost of entry was always the
issue for me.?
In college I started playing around with the RTL-SDR dongles
(~$25) and got really interested in decoding or listening to
everything out there.. shortwave, air band, adsb, trunked p25,
pagers, sstv, etc.? I built a lot of different antennas in this
time and also learned a ton about radio and programming, mostly
through reading websites and experimenting.?
I've always had a CB around for work or other reasons, and
whenever I'd hear a signal from across the country I thought, "wow
I really need to get in to ham radio, that's really cool."? I
think about 3 years ago I came across the Baofeng HTs (~$35, yes I
know..) and decided to finally get licensed.?
I used an app on my phone to study.? I'm a civil engineer, but
the first few years of engineering school have a lot of overlap
and I found the test to be very easy.? Probably the most fun I had
was working SO-50 with a homemade yagi and my 5w HT shortly after
I got my license.? Living in an apartment made it difficult to
come up with a good HF antenna scheme.? Eventually I did get kind
of bored with it.?
After moving to a house with space for an HF antenna, I came
across the bitx40 which was a nice, affordable reason to go after
my General.
I've tried to get a few friends in to it but so far it hasn't
stuck with any of them.? One friend and I set up dipoles in our
attics and put CBs in our houses so we could talk to each other,
but that's as far as it went.? Another friend actually did get his
Tech but still hasn't bought a radio.? I demonstrated working
SO-50 to another friend who thought it was cool but wasn't really
interested in pursuing a license.
Maybe that will help provide some insight?
Steve
On 12/15/2017 11:24 AM, Jack Purdum via
Groups.Io wrote:
I changed the topic
to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites
have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every
month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up;
sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech
license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never
see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and
asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done
anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do
what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a
small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are
missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a
Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True,
you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost
all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have
with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they
give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all
bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can
chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a
couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries
calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so
I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some
younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently
married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't
know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but
probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root
around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
|
Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
I'm 28, maybe I can share a bit of insight, being a millennial...
I was first introduced to ham radio probably 20 years ago in cub
scouts, found it fascinating.? The cost of entry was always the
issue for me.?
In college I started playing around with the RTL-SDR dongles
(~$25) and got really interested in decoding or listening to
everything out there.. shortwave, air band, adsb, trunked p25,
pagers, sstv, etc.? I built a lot of different antennas in this
time and also learned a ton about radio and programming, mostly
through reading websites and experimenting.?
I've always had a CB around for work or other reasons, and
whenever I'd hear a signal from across the country I thought, "wow
I really need to get in to ham radio, that's really cool."? I
think about 3 years ago I came across the Baofeng HTs (~$35, yes I
know..) and decided to finally get licensed.?
I used an app on my phone to study.? I'm a civil engineer, but
the first few years of engineering school have a lot of overlap
and I found the test to be very easy.? Probably the most fun I had
was working SO-50 with a homemade yagi and my 5w HT shortly after
I got my license.? Living in an apartment made it difficult to
come up with a good HF antenna scheme.? Eventually I did get kind
of bored with it.?
After moving to a house with space for an HF antenna, I came
across the bitx40 which was a nice, affordable reason to go after
my General.
I've tried to get a few friends in to it but so far it hasn't
stuck with any of them.? One friend and I set up dipoles in our
attics and put CBs in our houses so we could talk to each other,
but that's as far as it went.? Another friend actually did get his
Tech but still hasn't bought a radio.? I demonstrated working
SO-50 to another friend who thought it was cool but wasn't really
interested in pursuing a license.
Maybe that will help provide some insight?
Steve
On 12/15/2017 11:24 AM, Jack Purdum via
Groups.Io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I changed the topic
to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites
have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every
month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up;
sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech
license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never
see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and
asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done
anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do
what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a
small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are
missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a
Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True,
you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost
all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have
with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they
give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all
bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can
chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a
couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries
calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so
I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some
younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently
married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't
know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but
probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root
around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
|
Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
Thanks, Jack. I have been working at private, accredited ?Christian schools for the pat 14 years and they allow people from colleges & ?industry to teach as long as they show "some progress towards getting certified" as a high school teacher with the ACSI. That¡¯s quite easy, really.
I don¡¯t have a teaching credential either, just a BSEE, extensive MSEE course work and a MaEd.
Sadly the public school system is paralyzed with this thinking that a teacher MUST have a teaching credential to teach. There should be other ways to become a public school qualified teacher.?
Warmly,
WERNER G VAVKEN ? BSEE, MaEd
STEM Director Rancho Christian School 31300 Rancho Community Way Temecula, CA 92592
Office: 951-303-1408 ?x6157 Cell: ? ?408-375-6165
On Dec 15, 2017, at 8:53 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < jjpurdum@...> wrote:
Werner:
That is so cool! I checked with a local high school when I was in Indiana about teaching a ham radio class as part of the STEM system. Even though I have a Ph.D. and 40 years of university teaching, I was told by the Principal I was not "properly qualified" to teach a HS class in IN. Maybe I should try again, as I now live in OH.
Dennis is a wonderful person to work with. I know just enough EE stuff to make him tear his hair out when I ask a question. Still, he has the patience of Job and can always frame an answer I can understand...and that's a?real?talent!
Thanks for this email...maybe I can fool some OH administrators into letting me in the classroom.
73, Jack, W8TEE
Jack, you are spot on. It is mission critical to get new hams ACTIVE both on the air (including HF) and also to get them on the road to get their hands dirty building hardware, including antennas. ?The uBitx is a great way to do this that I will use next month¡see below. I ordered 8 of them and 8 plastic cases from BangGood.?
I am a retired EE with over 30+ years experience in designing hardware and radio systems from audio thru 40GHz. Teaching is my new passion. I have been teaching ham courses (and how to put science experiments on the ISS) at the high school level for over seven years. My ham classes (disguised with the name Satellite Tracking) is a high school level ?¡°science elective¡± and I offer it over three semesters to allow students to earn their Tech, General and Extra class licenses. Doing it over a 4+ month period, for each level, I actually get to TEACH the relevant material, have students build stuff and get them on the air. They also learn a lot about tracking satellites.
Every one of my new ham student ¡°earns" an Alinco DJ-G7 triband HT ?and an Elk LPA Antenna to track satellites if they pass the Tech exam. They also build an EggBeater antenna I designed and presented at recent Pacificon events,?
Next Semester they will each build one of the uBitx transceivers and a 40M dipole and they WILL get on HF!
BTW, Jack, we have a mutually close friend, Dennis -W6DQ, I manage the Collins Collectors Association West Coast Friday night NET on 3895 at 7PM. He is one of my NET control operators for that net!
Thanks for all you do for our Ham Radio hobby and, of course, your contributions to this uBitx, etc.
? 73¡¯²õ
<PastedGraphic-1.tiff>
WERNER G VAVKEN, WB6RAW Cell: 408-375-6165
On Dec 15, 2017, at 8:24 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < jjpurdum@...> wrote:
I changed the topic to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up; sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True, you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
|
The dummy load my group (Greater Cincinnati Builders Group) built used mineral oil, which is non-toxic. We tested the DL with a 200W signal for 5 minutes without failure of any components, although the mineral oil could probably do French fries. A construction article on the DL has been accepted by QST, but no projection on the date of publication yet. This shows the top of the DL. The cost is under $20.
Jack, W8TEE
From: Mvs Sarma <mvssarma@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Ebay 282363911577 50ohm? #parts #w8tee
I had bought 10 lot of dummy loads made at florida i suppose.
?I am planning to use a heatsink mount and housed in a can. ?Later i can even fill that can with transformer? insulating oil, . regards ?sarma vu3zmv
|
Mine was shipped on the 12th and arrived on the 14th. Paid for DHL with tracking but never got to check tracking. As a kid every thing I ever ordered came parcel post and took 3 to 4 weeks to arrive. BTW I can't wait to get it in the air. Many thanks to the HFSignals staff.? ?Steve kb1chu?
Sent from my Smart Phone I said I'd never get.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-------- Original message -------- From: joe kallo <quietglow@...> Date: 12/15/17 9:12 AM (GMT-05:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BITX20] Not Arived yet Same boat here. Ordered on the at 2300z on the 9th. My Paypal transaction has no shipping number added as of a few min ago.
Joe KD9JLV On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 8:11 AM Karl Heinz Kremer, K5KHK < khk@...> wrote: Bill,
have you checked your PayPal transaction for a tracking number? The information should get updated, once the package ships.?
Karl Heinz - K5KHK?
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Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
Werner:
That is so cool! I checked with a local high school when I was in Indiana about teaching a ham radio class as part of the STEM system. Even though I have a Ph.D. and 40 years of university teaching, I was told by the Principal I was not "properly qualified" to teach a HS class in IN. Maybe I should try again, as I now live in OH.
Dennis is a wonderful person to work with. I know just enough EE stuff to make him tear his hair out when I ask a question. Still, he has the patience of Job and can always frame an answer I can understand...and that's a real talent!
Thanks for this email...maybe I can fool some OH administrators into letting me in the classroom.
73, Jack, W8TEE
From: WERNER G VAVKEN <wernervavken@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
Jack, you are spot on. It is mission critical to get new hams ACTIVE both on the air (including HF) and also to get them on the road to get their hands dirty building hardware, including antennas. ?The uBitx is a great way to do this that I will use next month¡see below. I ordered 8 of them and 8 plastic cases from BangGood.?
I am a retired EE with over 30+ years experience in designing hardware and radio systems from audio thru 40GHz. Teaching is my new passion. I have been teaching ham courses (and how to put science experiments on the ISS) at the high school level for over seven years. My ham classes (disguised with the name Satellite Tracking) is a high school level ?¡°science elective¡± and I offer it over three semesters to allow students to earn their Tech, General and Extra class licenses. Doing it over a 4+ month period, for each level, I actually get to TEACH the relevant material, have students build stuff and get them on the air. They also learn a lot about tracking satellites.
Every one of my new ham student ¡°earns" an Alinco DJ-G7 triband HT ?and an Elk LPA Antenna to track satellites if they pass the Tech exam. They also build an EggBeater antenna I designed and presented at recent Pacificon events,?
Next Semester they will each build one of the uBitx transceivers and a 40M dipole and they WILL get on HF!
BTW, Jack, we have a mutually close friend, Dennis -W6DQ, I manage the Collins Collectors Association West Coast Friday night NET on 3895 at 7PM. He is one of my NET control operators for that net!
Thanks for all you do for our Ham Radio hobby and, of course, your contributions to this uBitx, etc.
? 73¡¯²õ
WERNER G VAVKEN, WB6RAW Cell: 408-375-6165
On Dec 15, 2017, at 8:24 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < jjpurdum@...> wrote:
I changed the topic to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up; sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True, you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
|
I had bought 10 lot of dummy loads made at florida i suppose.
?I am planning to use a heatsink mount and housed in a can. ?Later i can even fill that can with transformer? insulating oil, . regards ?sarma vu3zmv
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 7:07 PM, Craig Wadsworth <cwadsworth@...> wrote: I already have the parts to build one of K4EAA / W8TEE¡¯s dummy load and power-to-voltage converters, but this is tempting as an even lower-cost option.? What do you all think?? Grease and heat sink?? Oil bath?
|
Re: ?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
Jack, you are spot on. It is mission critical to get new hams ACTIVE both on the air (including HF) and also to get them on the road to get their hands dirty building hardware, including antennas. ?The uBitx is a great way to do this that I will use next month¡see below. I ordered 8 of them and 8 plastic cases from BangGood.?
I am a retired EE with over 30+ years experience in designing hardware and radio systems from audio thru 40GHz. Teaching is my new passion. I have been teaching ham courses (and how to put science experiments on the ISS) at the high school level for over seven years. My ham classes (disguised with the name Satellite Tracking) is a high school level ?¡°science elective¡± and I offer it over three semesters to allow students to earn their Tech, General and Extra class licenses. Doing it over a 4+ month period, for each level, I actually get to TEACH the relevant material, have students build stuff and get them on the air. They also learn a lot about tracking satellites.
Every one of my new ham student ¡°earns" an Alinco DJ-G7 triband HT ?and an Elk LPA Antenna to track satellites if they pass the Tech exam. They also build an EggBeater antenna I designed and presented at recent Pacificon events,?
Next Semester they will each build one of the uBitx transceivers and a 40M dipole and they WILL get on HF!
BTW, Jack, we have a mutually close friend, Dennis -W6DQ, I manage the Collins Collectors Association West Coast Friday night NET on 3895 at 7PM. He is one of my NET control operators for that net!
Thanks for all you do for our Ham Radio hobby and, of course, your contributions to this uBitx, etc.
? 73¡¯²õ
WERNER G VAVKEN, WB6RAW Cell: 408-375-6165
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Dec 15, 2017, at 8:24 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < jjpurdum@...> wrote:
I changed the topic to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up; sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True, you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
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Give it some time.? I ordered on the 9th too.? About 30mins ago I got the paypal email with the tracking number showing it is out for delivery today.
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Re: BITX40 - frequency spectrum - Raduino irradiation - intermodulation products -
#bitx40help
@N8DAH: partial success: the harmonics are now < 55dBm - unfortunately the IRFs are still there.
When i reduce VFO-Driver current with a resistor (2,5k) the IRFs will disappear - but also the receivers sensitivity and the max. power lost 3dBm.
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Oh, I'm not. I already subscribe to QST, CQ, QEX, RADCOM, MAKE, Nuts & Volts and that's just the Electronics oriented ones.
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 7:51 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io <jjpurdum@...> wrote: I wouldn't throw them under the bus yet.?
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?BITX as a Tool for Recruiting New Hams
I changed the topic to narrow the focus. You're right, Joe, the social media sites have a lock on young people. My club gives the FCC exams every month (except Dec.) for free and we always have people show up; sometimes as many as three dozen. Most are going for the Tech license to get their toe wet. Then they buy a 2M HT and we never see them again. I did run into one guy almost a year later and asked how he was enjoying his license. He said: "I haven't done anything for the past several months. It doesn't even let me do what my cell phone does." We need to get Tech's more than just a small slice of 10M in the HF spectrum. Otherwise, I think they are missing out on 90% of what ham radio has to offer. When I was a Novice, we had small chunks of HF (e.g., 40M) to play with. True, you were rock-bound and limited to 75W and CW, but I spent almost all of my time on 40M. Britain has had more success than we have with young people, and I think part of the reason is because they give their Tech-equivalent hams small slices of spectrum on all bands, including HF. They are limited to 5W, but at least they can chase DX. Other than the rare atmospheric events, DX on 2M is a couple of counties away with the HT that most end up buying.
I look around at my club and I can almost hear the arteries calcifying. I can say that 'cuz I'm two years younger than dirt so I know the aging membership issues quite well. We need some younger members; perhaps younger than those who are recently married and starting their families. The real solution: I don't know, but there are things we can do. I have a FB account, but probably use it twice a year. I'm not on Twitter. I need to root around there for a while and see what I can do for the cause.
Jack, W8TEE
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Re: Rugged Case Options?
#ubitx
I did just stumble onto this, which is better.? Maybe a bit deeper than I'd like, but not bad.? The price is certainly better.? I'll have to measure to see if the board would interfere, or if the slots would work as expected.
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Re: Rugged Case Options?
#ubitx
Yeah, I've looked at Hammond's cases, and there is nothing in their extruded lines that is tall enough (or if it is tall enough, it's not wide enough).? The die cast enclosure are strong enough, but make it difficult to mount and service, though I've used these for several other projects.??
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Re: Rugged Case Options?
#ubitx
For that price, I'd check out something from Hammond on Digikey:?
My uBitx showed up yesterday, so I'm hoping to get it tested out on the bench this weekend.? My goal is to make a rugged version out of this, preferably in a die cast or extruded case.? I like the looks of this, and it would provide an option to include an internal power supply to run directly off of A/C power, but I'm not a fan of the price.
Many of these just don't come wide enough to accommodate mounting the board directly with the display still attached.? We need at least 6" for that. Anyone else found a good rugged case like this with dimensions that will work and a price tag that isn't half the cost of the uBitx?
On a side note, once the radio is proven and tested, is there any reason I couldn't hot glue the toroids to the board for stability?
73,
Kent
W9WB
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I¡¯m not young (47) but I work in the music industry directing music videos and work with young people and have to engage with them on social media. The best platforms I find getting to the youth is Twitter and Facebook, as well as Instagram. ?If you are really trying to bring awareness to the youth about ham radio my suggestion would be to create a Facebook Page related to ham radio, post your articles there or links there from a blog And run ad promotions and target the group of people you want.?
I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that the younger generation today is completely unaware of ham radio. ?It¡¯s not even like they heard about it but are just not interested, they never heard about amateur radio, ham radio at all. And it¡¯s not the inner-city kids either also the younger generation growing up in the suburbs and more rural areas.?When I explain it to some kids their usual reaction is oh that¡¯s old technology, we have smart phones but then some others get it and think it¡¯s cool.?
Searching ham radio in Google and not seeing cool interesting links on the first page is irrelevant if no one is looking for it. Facebook ads helps put information in front of their face and kids are more liable to click on something if it¡¯s presented to them and looks cool. This might be something you might want to consider if you are trying to reach the youth in masses and turn them on to all things ham radio.?
Hope to get your autograph someday Jack :)
Joe,
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On Dec 15, 2017, at 10:44 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io < jjpurdum@...> wrote: Hi Greg:
Anyone who read my March, 2016, QST article knows how ardent I am about getting young (< 21) people into our hobby. I think my foray into the QRP arena was because I saw it as a way to get into the hobby on a lawnmower budget. The question then becomes: Where does one turn in order to disseminate information to interested, albeit not licensed, people? If you type? "ham radio" into Google, the first entry is the ARRL. The same is true if you type in "ham radio clubs". I don't see a blog anywhere on the first search page.
Fame? Even after 18 books and over 30 articles I can walk through any airport in the land and not one person asks me for an autograph! Can you believe it: Neither Oprah nor Ellen have asked me on their show nor have any of the late-night people? I think it's pretty clear if I don't have fame now, it seems unlikely another article's going to do it. The money from writing an article is barely enough to let me Supersize my meal. Nope...fame and money just aren't there and, personally, neither enters into my decision-making process. The real issue is: Where/how do potential young hams gather their information? That's where the review needs to be, as I believe Ashhar has made a tremendous contribution to my goal with the advent of the ?BITX.
One area of information for newcomers is likely existing hams, many of whom read QST. Indeed, circulation figures suggest there are many more reading QST than CQ, so that throws the decision towards them. But, CQ can probably get the article out in half the time. Fortunately, the article's not done yet, so I have some time to chew on the problem.
Jack, W8TEE
QST surely is lagging. After ordering my uBitx, I was reading Jan 2018 QST , where they had a short article about the Bitx40. They have become irrelevant. Jack, post your article on blogs. Forget paper magazines, unless you like the fame and the few $$ they pay. By the time it's on paper, there will be a new version ;-).
My free opinion, and worth just what you paid.
Back in my hole. 73- Greg, KC8HXO
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