Re: ubitx with my Cabinet
Does your case get hot at all with the 510's mounted to the back panel? tim ab0wr On Sun, 21 Jan 2018 20:16:44 +0530 "Prathap Naidu" <vu2pop@...> wrote: Hi all
My new year & birthday wish came a bit late but feels great to have
the ubitx in my new cabinet
Farhan had given me a first beta ubitx some months ago for testing
and works great
In these pics you will see the latest ubitx wired up into my new
cabinet this afternoon and had many QSOs this evening, with very good
reports
More details on my facebook page
Enjoying homebrewing & ubitxing
thanks 73
Pop
VU2POP
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Tom, I don't know the impedance but I have always used commercial communications speakers like this: www.ebay.com/itm/GE-Mobile-Dash-Mount-Speaker-Black-Vintage-Classic-w-Wire-Harness-4389/311026638213?hash=item486aa1dd85:g:MWoAAOSwxH1T1DiK They just seem to work better with every radio I have owned, from Icom to Kenwood to Yaesu. I suspect even with a bitx/ubitx. I even used to have an old outdoor movie speaker that was terrific but it got lost in my various moves in the past. Shame. tim ab0wr On Sun, 21 Jan 2018 00:23:21 -0800 tommason56@... wrote: Hi. I'm new to these kits but before I get too involved with the
building is there a specific value of speaker (3.2/8 ohm) that
performs better. Any help greatly appreciated.
73.
Tom.
M3TEG
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Re: ubitx with my Cabinet
Very Nice POP jee
The design came out nicely. front panel is simple and decent. Congrats for such nice design.
regards
?sarma
?vu3zmv
On Sun, Jan 21, 2018 at 8:16 PM, Prathap Naidu <vu2pop@...> wrote: Hi all My new year & birthday wish came a bit late but feels great to have the ubitx in my new cabinet Farhan had given me a first beta ubitx some months ago for testing and works great ? In these pics you will see the latest ubitx wired up into my new cabinet this afternoon and had many QSOs this evening, with very good reports More details on my facebook page Enjoying homebrewing ?& ubitxing thanks 73 Pop VU2POP ??
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
We were thinking the same thing... shorting the opposite rail to ground of the mode you are in. ?My circuit was a bit different using a modified schmitt to the base of the transistors but it provides the same result (that way one is not on while one is off at any time). ? And i know i can design a diode switch that takes less current than the relay coil so good there. ?
Im a CW op too for close to 50 years ... in major contests too but I never got the QSK thing. Seemed like a telephone call in the middle of another call to me but thats just me. ?It would probably work for my wife who thinks much differently than me.?
Dr.?William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ ? Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC Staunton, Illinois ? Owner ¨C Operator Villa Grand Piton - J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it:
email:??bill@... ?
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On Jan 21, 2018, at 1:40 AM, Gary O'Neil < n3go@...> wrote: Hi Bill;
There¡¯s limited interest in CW these days much less QSK. I¡¯m off on a winter hiatus for a couple weeks or so, and was hoping to inspire Allard to hammer out a new Full QSK feature and have it awaiting my return. :-) It looks like I may need to get a bit more creative and wean the design off some of its software dependencies.?
I became a Navy radioman out of high school, and still pine for the return of those days when working Full QSK was standard operating procedure. I¡¯ve not met any hams yet that actually use it though... not even ex radiomen (including myself). LOL! Many never actually learned?how, and many hated having to even use CW if you can imagine that. I spent my entire time at Sea doing nothing but pounding brass while hurling into a bucket. Bittersweet times you might say.?
It sounds like you might be chasing the ¡°Pop Pop Thump Thump¡± problem with its myriad of patches that almost work. ?That¡¯s what I actually set out to solve, but I really wanted Full QSK, and once I convinced myself that fixing those issues wasn¡¯t going to lead me where I wanted to be, I decided to do the whole enchilada and make the problems go away on their own.?
I don¡¯t want to publish anything that I have to defend because it breaks what folks have already done. I¡¯m not compelled to purchase another BITX to verify what might work for you or others, but I can¡¯t come up with a reason (other than the horrible switching speed) why it wouldn¡¯t work with relays as well, and the speed isn¡¯t an issue on SSB.?
You¡¯re welcome to give it a try though, and I¡¯m pretty sure I floated the idea shortly after I got mine running. I never heard whether or not it was ever tried and confirmed, but I¡¯ve discovered that finding stuff in the threads of this group is daunting.?
Simply put, the root cause of those noises is stored supply energy, and they are easily mitigated by simply purging the supplies when they are switched off. It takes just 2 NPN transistors (2N2222/2N3904 or equivalent), and a pair of 2.2k resistors. Emitters of both go to ground, and the collectors go to each of the switched DC rails. The resistors are then connected between the base of each of the transistors, and the collector of the other.?
The the way it works is straight forward. When the transmitter goes active, it bias the transistor across the RX supply which dumps any residual RX supply voltage to ground. The opposite occurs when switching from transmit to receive, and the transmitter power rail is shorted out in the same manner.?The 2.2k resistors limit the base current to around 6 ma to protect it from overheating the base-emitter junctions, while turning the transistors on hard enough to create a healthy short circuit across each of the supply rails, but only when they¡¯re no longer being used.?
If no supply voltage. Exists (0 volts) on the transmitter, it can¡¯t interfere with the receiver and vice versa. This works for very fast QSK, and since the relays take 7 ms each to switch, (around 15 ms total), the relay clicks will be the only switching artifact you will hear.?
No guarantees though. I¡¯m not certain how close your radio resembles mine, and other issues may arise out of coexisting patch fixes.
BTW... Diode switches are not QRP friendly. Think 60ma or more. The switch I use consumes less than 100uA. Relays aren¡¯t too friendly either, but they only consume power when transmitting.?
72
Gary, N3GO
?
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Hi all My new year & birthday wish came a bit late but feels great to have the ubitx in my new cabinet Farhan had given me a first beta ubitx some months ago for testing and works great ? In these pics you will see the latest ubitx wired up into my new cabinet this afternoon and had many QSOs this evening, with very good reports More details on my facebook page Enjoying homebrewing ?& ubitxing thanks 73 Pop VU2POP ??
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Now thats a great place for a latching relay if you must use a relay. ?
Dr.?William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ ? Owner - Operator Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC Staunton, Illinois ? Owner ¨C Operator Villa Grand Piton - J68HZ Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I. Rent it:
email:??bill@... ?
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Show quoted text
On Jan 21, 2018, at 4:34 AM, Raj vu2zap < rajendrakumargg@...> wrote: Gary,What did you do about the TX final filter relays? they click every time the PTT is pressed.I have disconnected the line TX 12V line from the three filter relays next to K3 and directly wired 12V from C76 at the audio amp.Now the relays stay on BUT the RX power draw has gone up.Do share your mods.. I am interested in QSK!Raj, vu2zapAt 20-01-2018, you wrote:Hi Allard;
I replaced the relays to switch and purge the TX/RX supply lines, and a SPDT RF switch to isolate the receiver during Transmit. It all switches in less than a microsecond, but with all the capacitive loading it has to dump, it's probably moving up to somthing close to a millisecond. QSK speeds are not an issue. The transmitter transmits instantly, and the receiver recovers to full sensitivity between dits at between 40 and 50 WPM (measured it at 48 WPM with my keyer at max speed), but I rarely operate at 30, and 35 is approaching my maximum copying speed.
72
Gary, N3GO
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I have used this speaker from Amazon on several projects including a BITX40 and my uBITX:
DROK Mini 5W Stereo Audio Speaker 2" inch Hifi Speaker 4 Ohm Full-range DIY Loudspeaker?
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Gi¨¤ visto e messo da parte, ma i switching creano disturbi nello "shak" dei radioamanti. Per questo li ho messi a riposo!
Il 21 gennaio 2018 alle 8.16 Arv Evans <arvid.evans@...> ha scritto:
Rajendran,VU2SMM
If you look at the schematic of most older PC power supply units you will find that they almost
all use the same PWM IC to control output voltage.? There should be two resistors (one from +12V
and one from +5V, that join with a third resistor to ground at a pin on the PWM chip.? The combination
of the 12V and 5V inputs generate usually 2.5 volt potential at this PWM input pin-1.? That is matched
with a 5V / 2 = 2.5V reference connected to the opposite input of the error amplifier at pin-2.?
Matching of these two input voltages is used to regulate the PWM output and thus the 12V and 5V
levels.?
The PWM chip is usually a TL494 or something very similar.? The three resistors connect to pin-1
and control output voltages.?  By re-computing the value of the 12-volt resistor and disconnecting the 5V resistor it is usually
possible to make the 12V output be close to 13.8 or something similar and remove regulation
of the +5V.
You may notice that the 5V AC windings and the 12V AC windings on the transformer are in series.
This means that your total current output can be close to the original 5V rating as long as the 12V
rectifier diodes will stand that amount of current.? In some cases it is possible to interchange the
5V diodes with the 12V diodes to provide more current handling capacity.? Info from the diode
datasheet will tell you what the maximum current and PIV might be for your particular diodes.
It may be necessary to add more filter capacitance to this new 13.8 volt output in order to minimize
switching transients and LF ripple.??
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN WORKING WITH PC POWER SUPPLIES.? THE AC LINE
INPUT IS RECTIFIED TO 360 VOLTS DC WITH NO GROUND ISOLATION FROM THE AC MAINS.
IF NOT VERY CAREFUL YOU COULD EASILY ELECTROCUTE YOURSELF.
Arv? K7HKL
_._
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Sounds fair Allard;
im off bench until Mid Feb, so no rush.
72
Gary, N3GO
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
On Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 07:48 pm, Gary O'Neil wrote:
A1 is the assigned straight key input, and this is what Bugs and external keyers currently employ. No change here. You have already worked out the display correction for CW mode. Again, no change. All that remains is making D6 (CW Carrier) and D7 (TxRx) simultaneously track the state of A1 immediately without delay. Viola! Add it as a CW setup menu item and you¡¯re done. Adding a delay variable as a setup option (default = 0) would be icing on the cake.?
OK, I get your point now. Perhaps it is doable. I can try to fix this, but there is always a risk that it interferes with other functions (because of possible timing/delay constraints), however I'm unable to test this on my own radio. So I could try to do something and send it to you off group so that you can test it on your radio. 73 Allard PE1NWL
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Sorry, what I am referring to is the uBitx!
At 21-01-2018, you wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Gary,
What did you do about the TX final filter relays? they click every time
the PTT is pressed.
I have disconnected the line TX 12V line from the three filter relays
next to K3 and directly wired 12V from C76 at the audio amp.
Now the relays stay on BUT the RX power draw has gone up.
Do share your mods.. I am interested in QSK!
Raj, vu2zap
At 20-01-2018, you wrote:
>Hi Allard;
>
>I replaced the relays to switch and purge the TX/RX supply lines, and
a SPDT RF switch to isolate the receiver during Transmit. It all switches
in less than a microsecond, but with all the capacitive loading it has to
dump, it's probably moving up to somthing close to a millisecond. QSK
speeds are not an issue. The transmitter transmits instantly, and the
receiver recovers to full sensitivity between dits at between 40 and 50
WPM (measured it at 48 WPM with my keyer at max speed), but I rarely
operate at 30, and 35 is approaching my maximum copying speed.
>
>72
>
>Gary, N3GO
|
Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Gary,
What did you do about the TX final filter relays? they click every time the PTT is pressed.
I have disconnected the line TX 12V line from the three filter relays next to K3 and directly wired 12V from C76 at the audio amp.
Now the relays stay on BUT the RX power draw has gone up.
Do share your mods.. I am interested in QSK!
Raj, vu2zap
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
At 20-01-2018, you wrote: Hi Allard;
I replaced the relays to switch and purge the TX/RX supply lines, and a SPDT RF switch to isolate the receiver during Transmit. It all switches in less than a microsecond, but with all the capacitive loading it has to dump, it's probably moving up to somthing close to a millisecond. QSK speeds are not an issue. The transmitter transmits instantly, and the receiver recovers to full sensitivity between dits at between 40 and 50 WPM (measured it at 48 WPM with my keyer at max speed), but I rarely operate at 30, and 35 is approaching my maximum copying speed.
72
Gary, N3GO
|
Hi. I'm new to these kits but before I get too involved with the building is there a specific value of speaker (3.2/8 ohm) that performs better.?
Any help greatly appreciated.
73.
Tom.
M3TEG
|
Rajendran,VU2SMM
If you look at the schematic of most older PC power supply units you will find that they almost
all use the same PWM IC to control output voltage.? There should be two resistors (one from +12V
and one from +5V, that join with a third resistor to ground at a pin on the PWM chip.? The combination
of the 12V and 5V inputs generate usually 2.5 volt potential at this PWM input pin-1.? That is matched
with a 5V / 2 = 2.5V reference connected to the opposite input of the error amplifier at pin-2.?
Matching of these two input voltages is used to regulate the PWM output and thus the 12V and 5V
levels.?
The PWM chip is usually a TL494 or something very similar.? The three resistors connect to pin-1
and control output voltages.?  By re-computing the value of the 12-volt resistor and disconnecting the 5V resistor it is usually
possible to make the 12V output be close to 13.8 or something similar and remove regulation
of the +5V.
You may notice that the 5V AC windings and the 12V AC windings on the transformer are in series.
This means that your total current output can be close to the original 5V rating as long as the 12V
rectifier diodes will stand that amount of current.? In some cases it is possible to interchange the
5V diodes with the 12V diodes to provide more current handling capacity.? Info from the diode
datasheet will tell you what the maximum current and PIV might be for your particular diodes.
It may be necessary to add more filter capacitance to this new 13.8 volt output in order to minimize
switching transients and LF ripple.??
PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN WORKING WITH PC POWER SUPPLIES.? THE AC LINE
INPUT IS RECTIFIED TO 360 VOLTS DC WITH NO GROUND ISOLATION FROM THE AC MAINS.
IF NOT VERY CAREFUL YOU COULD EASILY ELECTROCUTE YOURSELF.
Arv? K7HKL
_._
On Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 11:32 PM, Rajendran Mayilsamy <mrajsuba@...> wrote: Dear James,
I tried with my old PC power supply. I am getting 11.6 between Yellow and Black .? On load it drops down to 11.3V.? Any info to modify to get 13.8V ...73 Rajendran,VU2SMM
|
Dear James,
I tried with my old PC power supply. I am getting 11.6 between Yellow and Black .? On load it drops down to 11.3V.? Any info to modify to get 13.8V ...73 Rajendran,VU2SMM
|
Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Hi Gordon;
I¡¯m away from the bench for a couple of weeks or so, and I have to sort out some refinements, like maybe a work around for the current software. My hope was that Allard might save me that task, and I was planning to spend my time learning Kikad so I can do a board layout to make it aesthetically appealing. Most if not all of the interface connections can be made via the K1 relay footprint which will accommodate a standard 16 pin DIP socket. That would make it easy to replace the relays with sockets, and simply plug in a daughter board. The Raduino hacks are a rats nest of wires, and I¡¯d like to clean them up to make the radio more reliable and field worthy.
Its not ready for prime time on its own, and I don¡¯t want to spend more time fielding questions I¡¯m not yet ready to address. It needs to work seamlessly with Allard¡¯s software or it will be a headache dealing with folks that don¡¯t quite understand how it has to be finessed in order to work. I can probably work through Allard¡¯s code and get it working well enough to get the data I need on performance to test and refine it appropriately. I think all that¡¯s required is figuring out how to disable all of the delays without causing it to branch off somewhere incorrectly.?
I think to make it work with Allard¡¯s code as is will make it too complex of a mod to be of any interest. Its nothing more than a relay replacement, that doesn¡¯t like the transmitter transmitting while it should be receiving. I could modify it to operate Semi QSK to make it compatible with the software, but what¡¯s the point?
72
Gary, N3GO
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Re: Software support Request for Full QSK BITX40
Hi Bill;
There¡¯s limited interest in CW these days much less QSK. I¡¯m off on a winter hiatus for a couple weeks or so, and was hoping to inspire Allard to hammer out a new Full QSK feature and have it awaiting my return. :-) It looks like I may need to get a bit more creative and wean the design off some of its software dependencies.?
I became a Navy radioman out of high school, and still pine for the return of those days when working Full QSK was standard operating procedure. I¡¯ve not met any hams yet that actually use it though... not even ex radiomen (including myself). LOL! Many never actually learned?how, and many hated having to even use CW if you can imagine that. I spent my entire time at Sea doing nothing but pounding brass while hurling into a bucket. Bittersweet times you might say.?
It sounds like you might be chasing the ¡°Pop Pop Thump Thump¡± problem with its myriad of patches that almost work. ?That¡¯s what I actually set out to solve, but I really wanted Full QSK, and once I convinced myself that fixing those issues wasn¡¯t going to lead me where I wanted to be, I decided to do the whole enchilada and make the problems go away on their own.?
I don¡¯t want to publish anything that I have to defend because it breaks what folks have already done. I¡¯m not compelled to purchase another BITX to verify what might work for you or others, but I can¡¯t come up with a reason (other than the horrible switching speed) why it wouldn¡¯t work with relays as well, and the speed isn¡¯t an issue on SSB.?
You¡¯re welcome to give it a try though, and I¡¯m pretty sure I floated the idea shortly after I got mine running. I never heard whether or not it was ever tried and confirmed, but I¡¯ve discovered that finding stuff in the threads of this group is daunting.?
Simply put, the root cause of those noises is stored supply energy, and they are easily mitigated by simply purging the supplies when they are switched off. It takes just 2 NPN transistors (2N2222/2N3904 or equivalent), and a pair of 2.2k resistors. Emitters of both go to ground, and the collectors go to each of the switched DC rails. The resistors are then connected between the base of each of the transistors, and the collector of the other.?
The the way it works is straight forward. When the transmitter goes active, it bias the transistor across the RX supply which dumps any residual RX supply voltage to ground. The opposite occurs when switching from transmit to receive, and the transmitter power rail is shorted out in the same manner.?The 2.2k resistors limit the base current to around 6 ma to protect it from overheating the base-emitter junctions, while turning the transistors on hard enough to create a healthy short circuit across each of the supply rails, but only when they¡¯re no longer being used.?
If no supply voltage. Exists (0 volts) on the transmitter, it can¡¯t interfere with the receiver and vice versa. This works for very fast QSK, and since the relays take 7 ms each to switch, (around 15 ms total), the relay clicks will be the only switching artifact you will hear.?
No guarantees though. I¡¯m not certain how close your radio resembles mine, and other issues may arise out of coexisting patch fixes.
BTW... Diode switches are not QRP friendly. Think 60ma or more. The switch I use consumes less than 100uA. Relays aren¡¯t too friendly either, but they only consume power when transmitting.?
72
Gary, N3GO
?
|
Re: Creating Gerber files for pcb construction
Thanks for yet another great suggestion.
I have now created a "flying jumpers" breadboard version using a couple of different resistive bridge designs --- the K6BEZ design driven by the Si5351 directly? didn't produce enough voltage to make the reverse measurement accurate and I gave up after several
hours on that.? ?Would need to add an amplification stage I believe...? ?The easy swr indicator kit from?? (no LED, just take the rectified?voltage and run into
an op amp with a gain of about 6)? produced a voltage that seemed to work.? ?My circuit is sorta haywire (with egloo jumpers everywhere) and the pcb version would be FAR MORE STABLE but I'm able to measure? shorts, 25 ohm, 50 ohm, 100 ohm, 220 ohm and open
circuit and get? "sorta close SWR" measurements at frequencies up to maybe 30 MHz.? ?There is so much haywiredness to the breadboard that I can't make any better observations at the moment.? ?The PCB should be a ton more mechanically stable.? Earlier today
I put it on a real antenna and it did find the resonance.? ?
A friend is working on the "single meter" SWR version using a toroidial swr measurement head (which I also have built and should also work).? ?The goal there is to emulate the $129 LDG big meter display of SWR.....?? ?The pcb that I cranked out (and now
being built in China, fingers crossed!) should work with both.? ?(2 different inputs).? ?
You folks are a lot brighter at this stuff than I am but it has been a ton of fun just getting this much to work!? I think this is going to be a great building project for our ARES group.??
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Another to consider is . I have just received 10 boards for a mere $2 total, including DHL shipping.? Note the there is a sixe limit of 100mmx100mm, and two layers, green solder resist and 1.6mm material.
This offer I think is limited to your initial order.
A subsequent set of 3 boards, 10 copies each, cost me $29, including shipping.
Bill, VK7MX
On 21/01/2018 12:38 AM, Gordon Gibby wrote:
Wow!!! Thank you for that wonderful tip.
Sent from my iPhone
Have you looked at PCB Shopper? You just set the size of your PCB and how any boards you require and it will list all the main PCB fabrication sites and how much it will cost:
For my latest PCBs I tried AllPCB and was extremely pleased with the results, they had an offer on at the time so for $5 I got 7 boards on one order and for my second $5 order I got 17 boards (if your boards are small they seem to add in extra to your order)
- they were all shipped using TNT and arrived in just 5 days. At the current time the total cost is $12 for 5 boards up to 35mm x 35mm with free TNT shipping:
The other site I would recommend is OSHPark:
They are the ones who do the purple PCBs which look really great and also pretty cheap, only a few dollars (around $9.50) for three
35mm x 35mm boards with shipping included.
I am so pleased that the price for creating PCBs yourself is now this low, up until now I have been carefully making my own by etching them but now I can get them in a few days if I need them fast or a couple of weeks if I don't mind waiting. There are so many
different fabrication sites there is always going to be a great deal to be had if you shop around a bit, the
PCB Shopper site I mentioned above is really great for this.
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Re: COVERAGE BELOW 500 kHz
I tried changing the lower limit to 135k in the sketch.? The display has a glitch that doesn't seem to let it go below 1mhz and display correctly.? I don't have any serious equipment to tell what frequency it was on.? It would go into transmission mode but I did not get any rf output.
Marco - KG5PRT?
On Jan 20, 2018 9:07 PM, "Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io" <jgaffke= [email protected]> wrote: Worth trying, will need to adjust the freq limits in the Raduino software.
I think 479 khz might work ok.
On receive or transmit, may need more windings at T2 so it can work at 137khz.
If transmitting may need more windings at T8,T9,T10,T11,
also an appropriate low pass filter.
The 137khz LPF can be a lump in the antenna coax, with the rig selecting its 80m LPF.
On Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 03:53 pm, David Eckhardt wrote:
Here in the US, we have two new bands, both below our AM BC band.? Can the uBITX be used on these new bands?? They are 472 to 479 kHz and 135.7 to 137.8 kHz.? I note that the advertised coverage is down to 500 kHz, but is is possible to operate these radios below that?
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Re: Looking for NOS or Pull with good leads 130 Ohm 3w
I did not etch the boards, they are through hole plated and a updated version of the WA2EBY that fixes a few errors. What I did not take pictures of was the bottom that I have added solder to the through holes for added contact. I did notice this while working on the boards and raised concern with my local EE/Elmer, all is well and tested.
This is the link for the boards I used:
Well worth it and avoids even having to deal with making the 510 slots bigger as well as a grounding error if you get carried away with the through hole grounding studs.
?
Thanks for the reply.
?
--
David
?N8DAH
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K9HZ
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Allard PE1NWL
Raj vu2zap
N8DAH