¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Date

WSJT-X Split Operations #ft8 #ubitx

 

Does anyone use the "Rig" Split operation in WSJT-X for FT8?? I have the KD8CEC v1.1 firmware.? When I have rig split control enabled the frequency increases by 1kHz every transmit cycle.? For instance, when I start out on 20m band I will start out listening at 14.074MHz, when I enable transmit frequency goes up to 14.075, then receive stays at 14.075 for the next receive period.? Next cycle again, frequency increases 1kHz to 14.076 and stays there for 1 receive period and the cycle repeats forever.

Is this a bug with either WSJT-X or the v1.1 firmware? Or do I have my settings messed up on the uBitx??

The "Fake It" setting seems to work as expected.? During transmit it raises and lowers frequency as needed during transmit and then it is set back to 14.074.

Thanks,
K2BWF


Si5351 correction question

 

I have finally got my "Franken" uBitx to the point where it is receiving
signals; at least from my HP 8642A signal generator. But, there is something
strange going on, and I am wondering if anyone else has seen the same
strangeness.

When I originally ran the si5351 calibration program, everything looked
great and I have up with a correction number of 15380. The 10 MHz was
measured by my HP 53131A counter referenced to a GPSDO.

Fast forward to a little more testing, and I discovered signals I had been
receiving were no longer where they once were.

Running the calibration program again, with the same Adafruit Si5351 board,
I arrived at a correction number of 14210.

So my question is: has anyone else seen the same Si5351 use different
correction factors to generate the same output frequency?

Really scratching my head over this one.

73

- Mark N1VQW


Re: Ubitx5 ?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Dennis

Ashhar is not very forthcoming about plans!? It would be nice to see the v4 boards getting the fixes we know about that work ... like substituting relays to reduce harmonics and a fix for the spurs using SMD components.? None of these fixes would necessitate a new v5 board.

I suspect a v5 board would first require identifying the cause of some of the other issues ... i.e. a fix for IMD issues in the bi-di stages, or addressing the issues with carrier leakage, etc.

Mike ZL1AXG ubitx.net

On 2/11/18 3:17 AM, Dennis Yancey wrote:
are there any plans in place for a v5 uBitx?
need to know if I need to startpitting pennies back to purchase it.
--
72 and God bless
KD4EPG


--
Mike Woods
mhwoods@...


Re: my uBitx Power

Joe Puma
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

I do have a device I can use to probe. But max rf voyage is 3v. ?I would have to use resistors with a little trick Jeffery here in the group taught me. I suppose I can try that route and see what it reads.?

Joe



On Nov 2, 2018, at 12:34 PM, iz oos <and2oosiz2@...> wrote:

I hope your coming wattmeter will come properly set with reliable readings at least for CW keydown or average SSB power. It seems there are many cases they sell stuff non properly set. When I got the licence I too had bought a new swr-power which was showing misleading values. Luckily enough at the local ham radio club my elmers not only found the problem but in few minutes set it right (three trimmers....). I have to say my wattmeter was neither Chinese nor Indian (!!!!) but made in Japan... A reliable and cheap way to measure the power (not the swr) on CW keydown is the RF detector as the one sold by Hendricks.


Il 02/nov/2018 03:11, "Joe Puma" <kd2nfc@...> ha scritto:
Ok? got it.
> On Nov 1, 2018, at 4:10 PM, Clark Martin <kk6isp@...> wrote:
>
> I should have said you need to subtract the Tx idle current instead of the Rx idle current.
>
> Sent from an iPhone, don't ask whose.
>
>> On Nov 1, 2018, at 12:13 PM, Clark Martin <kk6isp@...> wrote:
>>
>> You also need to subtract the Tx idle current.? You can find this by keying up the mic with no audio input.? This current is mainly the bias current in the finals but also the relays and some other things.? The Tx idle current will vary with band.
>>
>>
>>> On Nov 1, 2018, at 11:07 AM, Joe Puma <kd2nfc@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hey guys,
>>>
>>> I will probably have a watt meter in the coming weeks but I still haven¡¯t measured my power out on the uBitx. So with a dummy load hooked up I took some power measurements with my DMM. I am not sure if this is a good way to tell power output but here are some measurements.
>>>
>>>
>>> Voltage is 12.67 Radio idle and 12.45 while Tx¡¯ing. not sure which one matters most when calculating power or if the difference is negligible but I calculated wattage from the 12.45v
>>>
>>> band? ? ? ? current? ? ? ? watts
>>> 80? ? ? ? ? ? 2.18? ? ? ? ? ? 27.14
>>> 60? ? ? ? ? ? 1.50? ? ? ? ? ? 18.67
>>> 40? ? ? ? ? ? 1.97? ? ? ? ? ? 24.52
>>> 30? ? ? ? ? ? 1.42? ? ? ? ? ? 17.67
>>> 20? ? ? ? ? ? 1.65? ? ? ? ? ? 20.54
>>> 17? ? ? ? ? ? 1.22? ? ? ? ? ? 15.18
>>> 15? ? ? ? ? ? 1.15? ? ? ? ? ? 14.31
>>> 10? ? ? ? ? ? 1.0? ? ? ? ? ? 12.45
>>>
>>> If I take into consideration the .33a for radio idle (4w) is my RF wattage 4w less then my measurements.
>>
>> Clark Martin
>> KK6ISP
>> Another Designated Engineer on the Information Super Railway.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>




Re: Harmonics and Relay Replacement

Rob Bleumer
 

Hi all.
I was looking for the specs of the L5 and L7 replacement. I cannot find the exact yellow ones on the internet. The NLT on comkey are not there. They have NLV type. Is this a typo??
Please your source for me and some other builders in my club. We found the relays.But are looking for this parts.
Rob PA0RBL


Re: Harmonics and Relay Replacement

 

I'd appreciate advise on whether the 5303 should work, or whether it was a typo, since it's what I ordered.? The 5303 has a coil power of 200mw, vs. 400mw for the 5403.? See attached data sheet for other factors.

73, Al - va3iaw


Re: uBITX v3 for sale

Bill Carpenter
 

Dammit!? that email is gmail.


Re: uBITX v3 for sale

Bill Carpenter
 

Hmm, not sure my email was typed properly.

nz0tham@...

I would entertain offers.

73, Bill NZ0T


Re: my uBitx Power

 

I hope your coming wattmeter will come properly set with reliable readings at least for CW keydown or average SSB power. It seems there are many cases they sell stuff non properly set. When I got the licence I too had bought a new swr-power which was showing misleading values. Luckily enough at the local ham radio club my elmers not only found the problem but in few minutes set it right (three trimmers....). I have to say my wattmeter was neither Chinese nor Indian (!!!!) but made in Japan... A reliable and cheap way to measure the power (not the swr) on CW keydown is the RF detector as the one sold by Hendricks.


Il 02/nov/2018 03:11, "Joe Puma" <kd2nfc@...> ha scritto:
Ok? got it.
> On Nov 1, 2018, at 4:10 PM, Clark Martin <kk6isp@...> wrote:
>
> I should have said you need to subtract the Tx idle current instead of the Rx idle current.
>
> Sent from an iPhone, don't ask whose.
>
>> On Nov 1, 2018, at 12:13 PM, Clark Martin <kk6isp@...> wrote:
>>
>> You also need to subtract the Tx idle current.? You can find this by keying up the mic with no audio input.? This current is mainly the bias current in the finals but also the relays and some other things.? The Tx idle current will vary with band.
>>
>>
>>> On Nov 1, 2018, at 11:07 AM, Joe Puma <kd2nfc@...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hey guys,
>>>
>>> I will probably have a watt meter in the coming weeks but I still haven¡¯t measured my power out on the uBitx. So with a dummy load hooked up I took some power measurements with my DMM. I am not sure if this is a good way to tell power output but here are some measurements.
>>>
>>>
>>> Voltage is 12.67 Radio idle and 12.45 while Tx¡¯ing. not sure which one matters most when calculating power or if the difference is negligible but I calculated wattage from the 12.45v
>>>
>>> band? ? ? ? current? ? ? ? watts
>>> 80? ? ? ? ? ? 2.18? ? ? ? ? ? 27.14
>>> 60? ? ? ? ? ? 1.50? ? ? ? ? ? 18.67
>>> 40? ? ? ? ? ? 1.97? ? ? ? ? ? 24.52
>>> 30? ? ? ? ? ? 1.42? ? ? ? ? ? 17.67
>>> 20? ? ? ? ? ? 1.65? ? ? ? ? ? 20.54
>>> 17? ? ? ? ? ? 1.22? ? ? ? ? ? 15.18
>>> 15? ? ? ? ? ? 1.15? ? ? ? ? ? 14.31
>>> 10? ? ? ? ? ? 1.0? ? ? ? ? ? 12.45
>>>
>>> If I take into consideration the .33a for radio idle (4w) is my RF wattage 4w less then my measurements.
>>
>> Clark Martin
>> KK6ISP
>> Another Designated Engineer on the Information Super Railway.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>




Re: Ubitx5 ?

 

Is that the uBitx v5?
--
72 and God bless
KD4EPG


Re: PSK31 ghosts below my signal

 

On Fri, Nov 02, 2018 at 07:33:50AM -0700, Don - KM4UDX wrote:
Paranormal signal is about eyeballing 1400khz (I think??) below. Receiving websdr is miles away.?
I think you meant Hz not KHz.


If I reduce drive the ghost appears proportionally reduced.

? ?I was told by a club member that my radio was not suppressing the carrier. But I'm not smart enough to diagnose that, hence the pictures..hahah.
That's easy to check. Put the radio into transmit but do not feed
it any audio at all. Do you still see the signal? If so that's the carrier.
If it only appears with a tone into the radio then that's an opposite
side band suppression problem.

I see no attached graphics if you were trying to attach some.


Don
Km4udx


Diane
--
- db@... db@...


Re: K5BCQ agc

 

Sorry, I should have also included the place where the receive path is tapped on the BITX40. It is on a separate page .


Re: K5BCQ agc

 

Yes, it works just as well on the BITX40. Instructions can be found on ND6T.com .


Re: PSK31 ghosts below my signal

 

Paranormal signal is about eyeballing 1400khz (I think??) below. Receiving websdr is miles away.?

If I reduce drive the ghost appears proportionally reduced.

? ?I was told by a club member that my radio was not suppressing the carrier. But I'm not smart enough to diagnose that, hence the pictures..hahah.

Don
Km4udx


Re: PSK31 ghosts below my signal

 

On Fri, Nov 02, 2018 at 01:03:40PM +0530, Raj vu2zap wrote:
On 80M the relays make a big difference to spurs.

The ghost will be around -35db at the worst.. not stronger than that.
Reduce the drive and see what happens.
This sounds more like opposite side band is not being suppressed
properly, but hard to tell without more information. If it's a filter
problem the signal will be inverted.


Raj

At 02-11-18, you wrote:
Hello! I installed a sound card, checked drive levels, and monitored my psk31 via a online sdr that could hear me. I was thrilled to see my signal...I was getting out! I was also sending a mirror below my signal. I've been told my radio does this, and here I could capture it without using my own SDR. The online SDR was not over driven, as far as I can tell, so this looks like a problem on my end. The ghost signal looks almost the same signal strength as my target frequency! Is there anything I can do about this...or is this fixed with the inductors/relays?

How far away from your main signal is it? Does it always appear below
your main signal by the same amount?



And thank you all sooo much as always.
[]


Diane
--
- db@... db@...


Re: PSK31 ghosts below my signal

 

On 80M the relays make a big difference to spurs.

The ghost will be around -35db at the worst.. not stronger than that.
Reduce the drive and see what happens.

Raj

At 02-11-18, you wrote:

Hello!? I installed a sound card, checked drive levels, and monitored my psk31 via a online sdr that could hear me. I was thrilled to see my signal...I was getting out!? I was also sending a mirror below my signal. I've been told my radio does this, and here I could capture it without using my own SDR. The online SDR was not over driven, as far as I can tell, so this looks like a problem on my end.? The ghost signal looks almost the same signal strength as my target frequency!? Is there anything I can do about this...or is this fixed with the inductors/relays?

And thank you all sooo much as always.
[] ?


Re: Harmonics and Relay Replacement

 

I was having few NLT25T-R68J-PF?? made by TDK, as I bought from ? , a Bangaluru based seller? of India.
as Per spec they are 5% tol. and shielded.


On Fri, Nov 2, 2018 at 10:28 AM Raj vu2zap <rajendrakumargg@...> wrote:
You are right Jerry! I goofed on this 330uH !

At 02-11-18, you wrote:
>Gene,
>
>
>Raj found that replacing the toroids at L5 and L7 with 1210 surface mount inductors of 680nH improved the spurs.
>Note that he used a specific brand and part number of inductor, some of the others he tried did not work so well.
>
>He also swapped out L1,2,3,4 with surface mount inductors of the same type and saw some improvement there too.
>His post says to get four of 330nH for those, but I'd think it should be two of 330nH and two of 390nH.





Re: Harmonics and Relay Replacement

 

You are right Jerry! I goofed on this 330uH !

At 02-11-18, you wrote:
Gene,


Raj found that replacing the toroids at L5 and L7 with 1210 surface mount inductors of 680nH improved the spurs.
Note that he used a specific brand and part number of inductor, some of the others he tried did not work so well.

He also swapped out L1,2,3,4 with surface mount inductors of the same type and saw some improvement there too.
His post says to get four of 330nH for those, but I'd think it should be two of 330nH and two of 390nH.


Re: Harmonics and Relay Replacement

 

Gene,

Change the relays for sure. 3 axicom will do for KT1,2,3

With relay change the spurs decrease with lower 3rd 5th harmonics. You can change L5/7... they are same as
original values or close to. You have to replace them exactly to what was shown earlier.
The one I used is 1210 680nH a yellow one from EPCOS / TDK shielded. Others wont work..
The mod is to reduce spurs. L5/7 is optional, relays you MUST change.

Raj

At 02-11-18, you wrote:

HI Raj,

Thanks for the info, I have the relays on order.
Should I also change L5/7 at the same time?? (Exactly what is the L5/7 Change?, Is it a value change or just convert to SMT?)

Gene N2IJF

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Raj vu2zap <rajendrakumargg@...>
Sent: Thursday, November 1, 2018 1:25 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Harmonics and Relay Replacement

?
Hi Gene,

There is no final solution.

So far my conclusions... the harmonics floating around the board is the cause of the spurs.

Changing the L5/7 reduced the spurs but not the cause which is harmonics.

Changing 3 relays KT1/2/3 reduces the harmonics dramatically specially on lower bands.
Lower bands 40/80 can be driven higher without crossing the red line!

Keep the drive/mic level at where you get 10W on 40M and you should be kosher
without SMD coils on higher bands.

If you over drive the uBitx on higher bands then you will be in the red!

Some boards behave a bit different, relays are a good simple mod bet for now.

Raj

At 01-11-18, you wrote:

Sorry to ask but I been offline for a few weeks and the subject seems to have died out (after reading past posts).? So is there a final solution for the spurs/harmonics for the V3 uBitX?
  • Axicom replacements (soldered directly to PWB)?
  • Axicom replacements with SMD inductors?
  • K5BCQ uBITX Relay Switched LPF/BPF board?
I have an unbuilt V3 that I am not sure if I should even complete.? I want to be legal but do not have a lot of test equipment so verification will be difficult.

Thanks,
Gene N2IJF


PSK31 ghosts below my signal

 

Hello!? I installed a sound card, checked drive levels, and monitored my psk31 via a online sdr that could hear me. I was thrilled to see my signal...I was getting out!? I was also sending a mirror below my signal. I've been told my radio does this, and here I could capture it without using my own SDR. The online SDR was not over driven, as far as I can tell, so this looks like a problem on my end.? The ghost signal looks almost the same signal strength as my target frequency!? Is there anything I can do about this...or is this fixed with the inductors/relays?

And thank you all sooo much as always.