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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Jack Purdum
Something else to consider: Al and I have build a number of ?BITX's as have members of our Builders Group. All of them that we know about are within spec on 80M and 40M. All were also on spec on 20M, but 2 were "on spec", but close enough that it might be within or outside of spec on a lab SA. Both of those, however, were within 1.96σ. So, if you only have an antenna for 80 and 40 meters, it's likely a moot question. If you plan to work 20M and below, I'd say buy it and see if it's in spec or not. If not, chances are you can sell it on this Forum for close to what you paid for it. I'd hate to see you pass up the enjoyment this little rig can afford you. You're going in with your eyes open and if it doesn't make you happy, you have a plan for recouping the lion's share of your cost. What the heck...Custer took a chance... My $0.02 are in the ring...stepping down from soapbox... Jack, W8TEE
On Friday, March 8, 2019, 11:02:57 PM EST, Brutus Laurentius <markhamfarm14@...> wrote:
We all have our biases, which include maybe a bit of projection ... and I'm projecting that this is a fun kit well worth buying. Now, in saying that, I am pretty handy with a soldering iron and hot air too, along with magnified goggles and good lighting.?? I believe, especially if you adjust Rv1 for 5 watts and do the other calibration required, you won't be getting cited by the FCC. My experience is with a V4 with all the ubitx.net "fixes" plus I? incorporated most of the changes (except for the IF frequency change) from the V5, as well as replacing the driver transistors, etc.? I ultimately put the filters on a little daughter card on top of the originals.? Next I'll be adding agc. I happen to have access to a spectrum analyzer at work, and with that done, as long as I kept the output below 7.5 w on my band of choice, I had nothing that was a problem.? ? A bit of patience, tweaking and fun, and at least for me, the rig has turned out usable! |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
Brutus, you have said the magic words....hackable.? This has me hooked. Indeed, I will be ordering the? radio next month or so..due to finances. No I won't be selling my ts 590sg, hi hi.?
I welcome the things that I have learned from researching this radio... and all of you..on this thread. You CAN teach an old ham new tricks. Like the 9:1 un un I plan to build to utilize a long wire with the ubitx. Considering things like a tuner and or swr homebrew devices for qrp. 73,? Kelly K5AID? |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
We all have our biases, which include maybe a bit of projection ... and I'm projecting that this is a fun kit well worth buying. Now, in saying that, I am pretty handy with a soldering iron and hot air too, along with magnified goggles and good lighting.?? I believe, especially if you adjust Rv1 for 5 watts and do the other calibration required, you won't be getting cited by the FCC. My experience is with a V4 with all the ubitx.net "fixes" plus I? incorporated most of the changes (except for the IF frequency change) from the V5, as well as replacing the driver transistors, etc.? I ultimately put the filters on a little daughter card on top of the originals.? Next I'll be adding agc. I happen to have access to a spectrum analyzer at work, and with that done, as long as I kept the output below 7.5 w on my band of choice, I had nothing that was a problem.? ? A bit of patience, tweaking and fun, and at least for me, the rig has turned out usable! |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
There nothing call FINAL / ULTIMATE in any walk of hobby. Designs evolve sorting shrtvommings of previous, adding extra facilities, etc. IMHO, THERE IS NO POINT WAITING .? Obviously cost of making a rig would tend to go northwards, as material cost increases. V5 had solved many issues. Carrier supression is to be checked after aone or 2 calibration cycles. Calibration itself is not a difficult task. At hobby level most of us can't afford all T&M equipment at home. Thise who have are already serving the hams with their tests and improvement mods. We can perhaps implement them. All the best Sarma vu3zmv On Sat, 9 Mar 2019, 8:23 am Kelly Mabry <kmabry2007@... wrote: On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 06:37 PM, Dexter N Muir wrote: |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 06:37 PM, Dexter N Muir wrote:
Oh FGS, peeps. Buying a KIT does NOT get you a commercial RIG - it gets you the basis on which to work. I have a Bitx40 that I've never really got working in years (#4/9126V?). I might have, had I sussed out the whole-of-HF S8 interference. Help from the R.I tracked that to my disused VHF FT227 still powered up, but by then I'd taken down the dipole. I couldn't get hold of a 2N700-type FET to quell the Tx/Rx thump (I tried a transistor scheme that didn't work over 3 or 4 iterations), and won't get to it 'til I can afford some (I don't control the purse strings, and we have other more urgent (family) matters to deal with) - and the time and space to work on it, but I WILL! (and possibly AGC too). The love of RF - the very definition of "amateur Radio" - is in my very bones! Unless you go QRO with externals, the Bitxes are functional as presented. Spurs and harmonics? Piffle! GOTA! What nearby would likely be affected, let alone detect ithem? ?Gordon, I understand? your point.? Being disabled, I no longer have the resources for buying ready built gear. It takes months to squeeze? $$ for anything over $100 to$200. And Dexter, I am not saying this radio should equal a kenwood. Far from it.? I expect to struggle and modify this...I thrive on it. This is no noob ham here.? I am just getting opinions and logically proceeding. I am amazed at the work contributed in this group, et. al.? 73, Kelly? K5AID? |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Oh FGS, peeps. Buying a KIT does NOT get you a commercial RIG - it gets you the basis on which to work. I have a Bitx40 that I've never really got working in years (#4/9126V?). I might have, had I sussed out the whole-of-HF S8 interference. Help from the R.I tracked that to my disused VHF FT227 still powered up, but by then I'd taken down the dipole. I couldn't get hold of a 2N700-type FET to quell the Tx/Rx thump (I tried a transistor scheme that didn't work over 3 or 4 iterations), and won't get to it 'til I can afford some (I don't control the purse strings, and we have other more urgent (family) matters to deal with) - and the time and space to work on it, but I WILL! (and possibly AGC too). The love of RF - the very definition of "amateur Radio" - is in my very bones! Unless you go QRO with externals, the Bitxes are functional as presented. Spurs and harmonics? Piffle! GOTA! What nearby would likely be affected, let alone detect ithem?
73 Dex, ZL2DEX |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Gordon Gibby
开云体育If you want to really well-finished, ?ready-to-go Rig, buy something built by some commercial firm. ? Different strokes for different folks!??If you want a fun radio project that will teach you a ton with the traditional frustrations and successes Of that kind of learning, the bitx line ?are wonderful devices. ? I have shipped one to Haiti as a receiver to teach a fledgling technician class
Of ?students, ?along with speaker wire to make a transmission line and Antenna. ?They will likely never be able to afford expensive foreign radios, so learning from the beginning to work with their minds and their hands is a good thing
Gordon
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
Thank you very much. With the spring coming up soon, I'm anxious to get out and do some portable work with a new qrp radio. The Shack I have is still in the works being built from the inside now. The money I would have spent into a portable say ft-817nd radio, I'm putting into my shack. And until that's done I can't operate my? radio. So it's very important to me to be able to go portable. I'm very impressed with the ubitx and I will have the case next week and the display from banggood.com soon. EVERYONE,? thank you for your input.
73, Kelly K5AID? |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
Bill, I agree with the no amp comment. I have a TS590SG for that.
As for the other person's comment,? I am hoping to utilize this both qrp portable and mobile. I am a fatalistic optimist....(laughs are appropriate here) and I can merge a radio and maker hobby. Well Versed in arduino and pi architectures. No test equipment at my shack, but this seems fun and viable. $600 mobile rigs are nice, but not customizable,? which I prefer. I do not fear HW and SW; I embrace it....(hooo-peeeer). (Sorry for channeling my inner Vader) Kelly? K5AID? |
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Re: ScotchLok Two Wire Connectors
ScotchLoks are just another IDC (Insulation Displacement Connector) with the added bonus of silicone grease to weatherproof the connections. They're used all the time in the telecom & traffic signals industry, Certainly OK for low voltage/current. I think that keeping those wires as short as possible is the most important thing to be concerned about. You'll get no objection from me :) 73 de Mike
On Friday, March 8, 2019, 7:42:22 p.m. EST, Pat Anderson <anderson5420@...> wrote:
Anybody have heartburn if I were to use ScotchLok two wire connectors for the wires connecting the Raduino and the DDS instead of soldering them? I have used these connectors for most connections on my boat between GPS and autopilot and other devices that connect to the chart plotter. All solid as a rock so far.
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ScotchLok Two Wire Connectors
Pat Anderson
Anybody have heartburn if I were to use ScotchLok two wire connectors for the wires connecting the Raduino and the DDS instead of soldering them? I have used these connectors for most connections on my boat between GPS and autopilot and other devices that connect to the chart plotter. All solid as a rock so far. |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
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On Mar 8, 2019, at 7:02 PM, bill richardson via Groups.Io <ng1p.bill@...> wrote:
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
开云体育I have built 3 so far and have had great luck with no problems at all. My first 2 builds was with the V3 boards and both had great audio on RX and TX. I just got the V5 board and it has worked equally as well as the V3 boards. I skipped the V4 boards due to the audio issues. I’d feel completely safe getting the V5 ubitx. As long as you:1.) don’t over drive it turn down vr1. Just using one of the online SDR RX sites you will be able to adjust until your with in 3khz bandwidth. Since you are looking at QRP field ops this should be fine as I would recommend running an amp. 2.) get the BFO adjusted to minamize carrier. This is the case on all versions of ubitx’s 3.) Take your time wiring up the radio and double check your self. 4.) most important have fun building!? 73 Bill ng1p On Mar 8, 2019, at 6:43 PM, dey <deyoung1@...> wrote:
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
dey
开云体育Expectations?? ? ? Mine were to be able to purchase a kit, build it and have a working QRP HF rig (much like I did when I bought a HeathKit back in the ‘60s).? ? I purchased the V4 board and the case, spent several hours putting it together only to find that I have no audio and need to add an amplifier.? Also have problems with the display and encoder switch. ? Not sure that I will go back and finish this kit or not.? What I received was not what I was led to believe – the board did not work.??? ? No, I will not purchase a V5 board because I have no certainty that the V4 problems were fixed or what new issues were introduced. ? There are a number of enhancements on the market that address all of the issues I have, but all there is an associated cost in money and time that is discouraging. ? I wanted something small, that I could use on field day as well as while traveling.? This is not it. ? sorry ? Derrick ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Doug W Sent: Friday, March 8, 2019 5:31 PM Subject: Re: [BITX20] Should I wait to buy a ubitx? ? On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 02:36 PM, Kelly Mabry wrote: should I wait to buy a ubitx what are your goal and expectations? ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Doug W ? On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 02:36 PM, Kelly Mabry wrote:
what are your goal and expectations? |
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Re: Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
I want to work qrp out in the field... I want to have a worry free experience? without worrying about a threat of citation from the FCC. Since this equipment is sold commercially,? I fear reprisals could occur, and I am looking for solutions to those problems prior to ordering.
Kelly K5AID |
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Re: A Full Screen 3.5
#nextion
I have been looking for a different gui for my 3.5 as the CEC version is nice it does not fill the screen.. please keep me posted when the bugs are out? Thanks K3BO |
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Should I wait to buy a ubitx?
Kelly Mabry
开云体育Hi everyone! The question is should I wait to buy a ubitx due to the problems with version 5 with regard to suppression?? I have the Nextion display and case on order and have around $150 invested in it so far.?? Thanks & 73, Kelly K5AID? Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone |
VE3MIC