Joe, W3JDR,
I think I would like a roadmap of all the "Raduino+" boards and firmware being worked on by a number of people and what each provides. Hats off to you guys.....but I am getting a little confused.
Design by committee is more difficult than herding cats, but using one of the inexpensive STM32F103 boards is a great design point when/if you have decided the Nano is out of gas......the best of luck to you.
If a Gerber file or boards can be provided, that would be even better, Joe.
The big stumbling block is again the firmware and coordination/support/committment of that firmware over time.
73 Kees K5BCQ
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If it like my volume pot, it's just a switch. not polarized.
OK, but which one is "+"? ?
--
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N5WLF, Greggory (or my nickname, Ghericoan)
General Class, Digital Radio Hobbyist
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Re: ERF2030+ RF Power Mosfet Transistor, 30 Watt PEP per $1.00
They do claim that it's a drop-in replacement for an IRF520 - so we can probably just go by the IRF520 data sheet. This means it's similar to the IRF510, but with double the input capacitance, but a slightly better junction to case thermal characteristics.?
--
Karl Heinz - K5KHK
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OK, but which one is "+"? ?
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Mike, It appears to be doing what it's supposed to do when you press it.? Post a photo of the back showing how you have it wired.
Daniel, W2DLC
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That could work.
The uBitx could use some shielding, and around the Nano+Display is a good candidate.
Could filter the i2c bus to an? si5351 on the main board instead of filtering my UART lines into the Raduino
I've suggested having the si5351 on the main board multiple times starting well over a year ago.
That would remove the need for a Raduino entirely, just get whatever processor board plus display you want.
Though improving the electrical design of the Raduino to avoid the BFO beats might mean it can be
a drop in upgrade, no messing with shielding or adding an si5351 to the main board for current owners.
Jerry
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On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 10:41 am, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
Simple solution. Separate the 5351 from the controller and display. Get that controller a ways away and it also has the benefit of more case options.
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Re: ERF2030+ RF Power Mosfet Transistor, 30 Watt PEP per $1.00
I got my hand on two years ago.? Looks and smells like a? IRF520 or its kin.
I think I paid 2$ then but it was nothing to jump up and down about.? It was
specifically?aimed at CB radio power mods and takes advantage of the
narrow band interface typical of 2sc2166 and 2sc1969 CB radio designs.
Their datasheet is all about putting it in a Cobra GTL (and many other
similar Uniden chassis).
A crude measurement of one of them was Gate-source capacitance of about 870pf
the IRF520 is just a hair higher.
For a buck the worst you get is an IRF520.
In RF power devices the IRF510(and kin) is as close to the holy grail of cheap power
that is widely available.? Also anything in a TO220 case has a max power limit around
48W because the package does not get get rid of heat well.
Allison
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Free Gerber files for sound card interface printed circuit board
#ubitx
#bitx40
Well, I typed all of this out and never saw it again, hope this isn't a duplicate.
You folks helped me learn how to do DIPTRACE and now I have GERBER FILES free for a pcb that does a soundcard interface.? ?We use the $5 Adafruit USB sound dongle and bingo, we have access to just aboiut every digital mode.? ?40 cards made with an extremely expensive manufacturer--- now files available that can be uploaded to pcbway or any other chinese cheap fab shop.? ?Version 2.1 can be downloaded here:? ?
A manual written for the previous card is still generally relevant:??? ? The newer card is laid out slightly smaller (2.5" x 2.8" ) so that it will fit nicely inside Twinings loose tea metal tea-tins, which one of our ARES members provides us freely in abundance.? ? Make mic, speaker and ptt connections to bitx40 / ubitx? , set levels, should work very well.? ?The sensitivity of the VOX-type PTT circuity is determined by the resistor in the base lead from the Right sound card outlet --- 5K makes it quite sensitive,? 47K will require full speaker output in general.? ?
We have a slew of this type circuit (it is not original with me) operating digipeaters / nodes / stations all over our county.? ?I was able to order 10 boards with ePacket shipping for $15.? ?Might be a good project for clubs / groups etc.? ?Eventually I'll upload a revised manual for this version.? ?Thanks for encouraging me to learn DipTrace!!!
cheers,? gordon? kx4z ncs521
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Re: ERF2030+ RF Power Mosfet Transistor, 30 Watt PEP per $1.00
Unfortunately their "datasheet" is more of an app note on how to hack various radios.
Near as I can tell, they haven't bothered to create a real datasheet.?
Good luck.
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On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 10:08 am, Juan Carlos Berberena Glez wrote:
Hi Coleagues,
Please let me know any concern about this new RF transistor.
Thank you in advance
Qrv's?
73's Jc
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Route your +12V thru it. It's your on-off switch.
Vince.
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On 05/18/2018 01:43 PM, aronax37@... wrote: How to wire up the two contact on the black back of volume potentiometer?
Thank you.
Ivo,OK2SHI
--
Michigan VHF Corp.
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How to wire up the two contact on the black back of volume potentiometer?
Thank you.
Ivo,OK2SHI
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On 05/18/2018 01:33 PM, Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io wrote:
I'd prefer something other than an 8mhz resonator on the processor.
We're seeing trouble with the Nano's where the 16mhz and 12mhz
resonators can sometimes choose
to be of a frequency where fundamental or harmonics of that and the BFO
create audio tones that are hard to kill.
When that happens, best bet is to clip out the Nano and try a different
one as those resonators are dinky.
Simple solution. Separate the 5351 from the controller and display. Get that controller a ways away and it also has the benefit of more case options. Vince. -- Michigan VHF Corp.
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Bob
Some of the features, like the display, are intertwined throughout the code and hard to separate. Others, like the encoder, are just little pieces of code that mostly stand alone. However, even the encoder handler consists of code in the declarations area to define variables, code in the setup section to set up the interrupts, code in the actual interrupt handler and code in the main loop.. Plus, I made a hardware change to the Raduino to exchange some signal lines with others that were more appropriate for the encoder task. I'd have to clean up the sketch which consists of about 8 files and?is in a spaghetti-like state right now because it's under extreme development and contains bunches of debug stuff, and also document it as a first line of defense against the many questions it would raise.in its present state. I'd like to do all that when the functionality stops evolving, but for now the best I can do is describe my approach and send out-of-context? snippets. Having said that, I'd be pleased to answer pointed questions and provide example code snippets.
Joe
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Joe,
You've definitely got your S-Meter requirements taken care of.? ;-)
And would indeed be a shame to waste those dual SPI displays on a Nano.
Let us know what feels right in a final radio and what is stuff you maybe didn't need.
There's a wide range of STM32F parts available, different amounts of memory, ADC speeds and type, FPU.
Access to that in? pin compatible packages is worth a buck.
Quality and some details (is USB bootloader in flash?? which pin is the LED tied to?? does it work at all?)
on a $2 BluePill can vary considerably.? Pretty much zero glue needed except LED's and R's and a voltage regulator.
I'd prefer something other than an 8mhz resonator on the processor.
We're seeing trouble with the Nano's where the 16mhz and 12mhz resonators can sometimes choose
to be of a frequency where fundamental or harmonics of?that and the BFO create audio tones that are hard to kill.
When that happens, best bet is to clip out the Nano and try a different one as those resonators are dinky.
Likewise, I'd just as soon not have a USB interface running while using the radio, I'm fine with something like this
to program the firmware via the bootloader in ROM using a UART interface from a host USB port:
? ??
That item can be configured for 5v or 3.3v io to the Arduino.
It's much easier to choke out any RF from those 9600 baud UART lines than it is to clean
up a 12mhz USB interface, and sometimes we will want that running while operating the radio.
Jerry
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On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 08:12 am, W3JDR wrote:
BTW, I considered starting out at the STM chip level, but you can buy the whole board cheaper than you can buy the chip. And you'd have to put all the necessary 'glue' around it and then build it and burn an Arduino compatible bootloader into it. Also, an FPU is primarily useful in DSP applications, and I see that as being a separate unit, so I'm going the Pill route.
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Well, I opened the box for the BitX40 thinking I could borrow its rotary encoder until my replacements came in for the full band uBitX radio I am having an issue with. Lo and behold the single band radio uses a 10K potentiometer for tuning, so I will build it and wait for the new rotary encoder to arrive. After this one is assembled I want to explore the idea of tuning the uBitX with an alternative method aside from the encoder. Any ideas out there?
On Fri, May 18, 2018, 1:01 PM Mike aka KC2WVB < rb5363@...> wrote: I completed, to the point of testing, the UBitx's receiver late last night. There is little for the builder to assemble and since the board/raduino minus a few discrete components such as the rotary encoder was tested prior to shipping if something was to be amiss it is likely to be associated with the discrete components added by the builder.
?
Something is amiss. The push button feature of the encoder was not properly engaging the menus associated with the raduino. The rotary feature of the encoder was not properly resulting in the portion of the spectrum being listened to having undergone change. Specifically a single push on the encoder's shaft resulted in the display reading, "Band Select ?" and a subsequent or follow up push on the encoder's shaft resulted in "Press to Confirm" being displayed in the LCD screen. One more push brought the display back to "LSB A: 7.150.050" being displayed and any rotary motion applied to the encoder's shaft saw little or no change in the frequency being displayed or heard. It should be noted that the receiver seems to be fine because on a few occasions rotary input resulted in changes that led to several stations in the 40 meter band being heard.
?
I suspected an issue with the encoder and performed a simple voltage test of the encoder's pin outs. The output associated with the black wire showed voltage changing high/low as expected. The output associated with the brown wire was not as expected for it was a constant high or near 5 volts when the shaft was rotated. The output associated with the red wire was changing high to low when the encoder shaft was pushed but in a manner that was erratic.
?
At this point, knowing the main boards were tested prior to shipping, I am assuming the rotary encoder is defective. It also should be noted that wiring the rotary feature of the encoder backwards would only see a change in direction of up the band versus down the band being displayed/tuned by rotating the encoder shaft, so miss wiring is not the cause of the issue.
?
Late last night I ordered 5 rotary encoders, they are fragile, that match what came with the kit from the parts supplier, Digi Key. I also have the 40 meter version of the kit arriving soon that I can borrow an encoder from. My plan is to replace the rotary encoder.
?
?The encoder is more or less meant to be installed on a board with traces much like an IC and is rather fragile. I am thinking that when I make the change/swap that I will first mount the encoder on a bit of board that has foil traces leading to each pin out so as to prevent the pin outs from being damaged during the soldering of the wires leading back to the raduino.
?
Once the swap has occurred I hope to see that the radio is responding to input at the rotary encoder but electronics and micro controllers, not being in the domain of my field, lead me to ask if there is anything that I have overlooked that might be the cause of the issue that I experienced??
Incidentally, the BitX40 arrived today, so I will try sealing out the encoder and report back on the result. Also, the Digi Key part number isPEC11R-4020F-S0012-ND and runs $1.68 each.
Thanks, any useful information on this issue will be welcomed.
Mike
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Thanks! I just bought one with the ST-Link.
Vince.
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On 05/18/2018 11:58 AM, W3JDR wrote: Depends on which one you buy. Some (most) require that you put a
bootloader in via STLink. There are, however, a few on EBay that sell
them with the bootloader already burned in. They cost a buck or 2 more,
but it's worth it. The one I'm using has a Maple Mini bootloader in it,
which is supported by the Arduino IDE. Works great once you get your
system set up with the correct hardware mapping files. BTW, these boards
are advertised as having 64K memory, but every one I have works up to 128K.
See STM32Duino.com.
Joe
--
Michigan VHF Corp.
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ERF2030+ RF Power Mosfet Transistor, 30 Watt PEP per $1.00
Juan Carlos Berberena Glez
Hi Coleagues,
Please let me know any concern about this new RF transistor.
Thank you in advance
Qrv's?
73's Jc
|
I completed, to the point of testing, the UBitx's receiver late last night. There is little for the builder to assemble and since the board/raduino minus a few discrete components such as the rotary encoder was tested prior to shipping if something was to be amiss it is likely to be associated with the discrete components added by the builder.
?
Something is amiss. The push button feature of the encoder was not properly engaging the menus associated with the raduino. The rotary feature of the encoder was not properly resulting in the portion of the spectrum being listened to having undergone change. Specifically a single push on the encoder's shaft resulted in the display reading, "Band Select ?" and a subsequent or follow up push on the encoder's shaft resulted in "Press to Confirm" being displayed in the LCD screen. One more push brought the display back to "LSB A: 7.150.050" being displayed and any rotary motion applied to the encoder's shaft saw little or no change in the frequency being displayed or heard. It should be noted that the receiver seems to be fine because on a few occasions rotary input resulted in changes that led to several stations in the 40 meter band being heard.
?
I suspected an issue with the encoder and performed a simple voltage test of the encoder's pin outs. The output associated with the black wire showed voltage changing high/low as expected. The output associated with the brown wire was not as expected for it was a constant high or near 5 volts when the shaft was rotated. The output associated with the red wire was changing high to low when the encoder shaft was pushed but in a manner that was erratic.
?
At this point, knowing the main boards were tested prior to shipping, I am assuming the rotary encoder is defective. It also should be noted that wiring the rotary feature of the encoder backwards would only see a change in direction of up the band versus down the band being displayed/tuned by rotating the encoder shaft, so miss wiring is not the cause of the issue.
?
Late last night I ordered 5 rotary encoders, they are fragile, that match what came with the kit from the parts supplier, Digi Key. I also have the 40 meter version of the kit arriving soon that I can borrow an encoder from. My plan is to replace the rotary encoder.
?
?The encoder is more or less meant to be installed on a board with traces much like an IC and is rather fragile. I am thinking that when I make the change/swap that I will first mount the encoder on a bit of board that has foil traces leading to each pin out so as to prevent the pin outs from being damaged during the soldering of the wires leading back to the raduino.
?
Once the swap has occurred I hope to see that the radio is responding to input at the rotary encoder but electronics and micro controllers, not being in the domain of my field, lead me to ask if there is anything that I have overlooked that might be the cause of the issue that I experienced??
Incidentally, the BitX40 arrived today, so I will try sealing out the encoder and report back on the result. Also, the Digi Key part number isPEC11R-4020F-S0012-ND and runs $1.68 each.
Thanks, any useful information on this issue will be welcomed.
Mike
|
If you have a jack wired for a straight key you need another jack for the paddle.? Or you can make an adapter, which is what I did.
Sketch attached:
73,
Al, N1AW
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Re: ND6T AGC implementation for uBIT-X
Can I get on the list for 1 each of the kits. Let me know what I need to do on payment.
--
Kn4ud ?
Allen ?Merrell
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Ghericoan
Al Woodhull
