Tool advice: contemporary oscilloscopes and Spectrum Analyzers
In my RF labs, every bench has¡ at the minimum (entry level) a Rigol DS1054 4ch 50MHz scope, a Rigol DSA815 1.5 GHz SpecAn with tracking generator, and a Rigol DG1022U 2ch Arbitrary Waveform Generator.? This equipment is dirt cheap for what it is capable of compared to the HP/ Tek/ Wavecrest/Agilent like instruments of the past.? There are other brands out there who compete at the same price point as Rigol that are just as good. There is a little secret that you must know¡ around Dayton they all have competitive sales (and ¡°Show Specials¡±).? Two years in a row I have returned from Dayton with a car full of new test gear because the prices were so low (The first DS1054 I bought was $289 new). -- ¡_. _._
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Re: Tool advice: contemporary oscilloscopes and Spectrum Analyzers
Has anyone with more experience looked at the Seeed Studio RF Explorer series of Spectrum Analyzers?? I have one and on the surface looks like it does the job, especially when connected to a PC.? I did use it to verify that there are marginal issues with harmonics on the uBitx, not quite the -43 db required (more like -41 to -42 on my board).
It is low cost ($178) for the WSUB1G+ on Amazon. And it can be portable.
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Re: DIGITAL FREQUENCY READOUT
Did you check the 25MHz calibration of the si5351? If that's off, everything will be.
Also, what is the box above your uBitx (the one with the display that has PWR:0 SWR: 0.00 and RF: 0.0)?
Vince.
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On 11/08/2018 11:22 AM, MONEYSMITH wrote: THIS IS WHAT I SEE WHEN LISTENING TO 7.128
WILLIAM W4NFR
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: [BITX20] DIGITAL FREQUENCY READOUT
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2018 08:19:45 -0800
From: MONEYSMITH <w4nfr@...>
To: [email protected]
THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENTS. I HAVE LEARNED TO LIVE WITH IT. I HAVE TEST
THE OFFSET WITH KNOWN STATIONS
THAT ARE ON FREQUENCY AND MY DISPLAY IS ALWAYS 1 KHZ LOW FROM THE
ACTUAL. I SUPPOSE THE 1 KHZ OFFSET WORKS
FOR CW AND SSB AND MAY BE THE REASON FOR THE STRANGE THING.
On 11/8/2018 6:46 AM, Mark Pilant wrote:
Hi William.
MAYBE I AM MISSING SOMETHING, BUT ARE ALL uBITX V4.3 RADIOS HAVE A ONE
KHZ LOW READOUT. FOR EXAMPLE, IF I HAVE A STATION ON 7.150 SELECTED,
IT READS OUT 7.149 FOR CLEAR RECEPTION. IS THIS NORMAL? The short answer, maybe. (I apologize if you already know the following;
but for those who do not...)
Digital frequency readout is only as accurate as the calibration of
the sending
and receiving stations. (I had a recent thread going about the Si5351
calibration.) I'm assuming you have done the recommended calibration
of your
uBitx.
Even with a calibrated uBitx, there is likely to be some drift due to
thermal
heating from any number of sources: the components themselves, ambient air
temperature, etc. This being said, it is probably unlikely you would see
a 1 KHz drift.
The other possibility is the sending station is "off", they may say
they are
transmitting on 7.150 MHz, but in reality they are on 7.149 MHz. Without
knowing the calibration of the sending station, it is really impossible to
know for certain.
In the "good ol' days" of analog dials, you simply tuned for the best
reception
and went with that. (This is one of the reasons, back then, operating
near
the band edges was not recommended :-) I do it all the time with my
Collins
rigs: get close with the dial and then interpolate the frequency.
My suggestion, if you are confident of your uBitx's calibration, is not to
worry about it and enjoy the contact :-)
73
- Mark N1VQW
<>
Virus-free. www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
--
K8ZW
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0.1 = 100uF, 100 probably = 100V
Bill VK7MX
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Re: Tool advice: contemporary oscilloscopes and Spectrum Analyzers
Thank you all, your advices will be very useful to select the appropriate model. As for the possibility of a kit, if we are talking about assembling ready made boards I would be more than interested if it could be a reasonably priced yet valid alternative to the good models you mentioned.
Il 08/nov/2018 17:53, "ajparent1/KB1GMX" < kb1gmx@...> ha scritto: One comment...
My work-a-day scope for lots of things is a B&K 20mhz dual trace analog.? For most tasks that
is a useful tool and for the 399$ paid back in the 90s its served well and continues to.? I also have
an old NLS 15 miniscope (15mhz, 1.5" screen, and battery portable!) that is very portable and?
useful for lots of tasks where a tiny scope will do.
I also have a 25mhz Tek 7402, Tek 485, and HP 4 channel 150mhz analog storage scope.
I use maybe one of them once a year more the tougher tasks (usually high speed digital stuff)
or when I really want the legendary Tek trigger for a stable display.??
For decades a cheap 20mhz analog scope was the standard for a large number of applications
and for many still will be.? ?Most 20Mhz analog scope can still see to greater than 30mhz
but signal timing is hard to measure there.? Used scopes like this can be often be had for
cheap.? hint Arduino clock is 16mhz, low if on uBitx is 12mhz and a 20mhz scope sees
them well and can see, if only poorly the 45mhz stuff too.
For the new digital scopes nothing less than 1gs/s will do for more than audio..?Why?
You need at least 10-20 samples or the wave shape is distorted to non recognition.
So your talking maybe 50mhz max.? So sample rate impacts time resolution and
signal (waveshape) accuracy.
Allison
Allison
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Was it? in fact? use of a? switch mode power supply that caused this or is the problem on going ??
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Re: uBITX AGC - Adafruit TPA2016, A Success!
#ubitx
I like the ND6T but I think Id rather have an audio agc. How would you wire this up? In a V3 board?? ? Joe ? ? Sent from for Windows 10 ?
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From: John SchererSent: Thursday, November 8, 2018 2:23 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [BITX20] uBITX AGC - Adafruit TPA2016, A Success! #ubitx ? Wow, just found this thread.? I currently?use the nd6t AGC?and as playing around with controlling the hang-time digitally, but it takes 6 pins.? I just placed an order for the TPA2016 so I'll be playing with this for sure.? It would be really awesome if KD8CEC (or anyone) could add a config page for this to the Nextion?display and support for it CEC firmware!? I'd take a stab at it but after looking at the graphics editor for the Nextion?display, I'll pass.? It'd take me weeks to figure that hot mess out ;-)
John - N0CTL?
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Re: uBITX AGC - Adafruit TPA2016, A Success!
#ubitx
Wow, just found this thread.? I currently?use the nd6t AGC?and as playing around with controlling the hang-time digitally, but it takes 6 pins.? I just placed an order for the TPA2016 so I'll be playing with this for sure.? It would be really awesome if KD8CEC (or anyone) could add a config page for this to the Nextion?display and support for it CEC firmware!? I'd take a stab at it but after looking at the graphics editor for the Nextion?display, I'll pass.? It'd take me weeks to figure that hot mess out ;-)
John - N0CTL?
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Re: Tool advice: contemporary oscilloscopes and Spectrum Analyzers
Thanks for the response Allison
I also had access to a spectrum analyzer, function generator and VNA at work along with an anechoic chamber and a calibrated very wide band log periodic antenna. I mentioned the Siglent because it was referenced in a previous post and I own one. I freely admit that I have much to learn about it's capabilities, but your comment on single frequency puzzled me. Shouldn't the FFT display signals with periods from the sampling time period down to ~10 x the sampling interval? Wouldn't that be functionally equivalent to a spectrum analyzer sweep between those corresponding frequencies?
???? Bob
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I believe CEC "split" has been incorrectly coded since day one.
rOn
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On November 7, 2018 at 1:35 PM roger wincer <zedl2rx@...> wrote:
Bruce...I have had the same problem. So have disabled "split" on the WSJTX software and all is okay now. I have used the "split" facility before on another rig with no problem.
There appears to be a problem with the CEC software regarding all uses of "split" or "RIT". I have noticed when using "Split" VFOs in that, the receive VFO after the first transmission becomes the same value as the transmit VFO. This is also the case with RIT.
Has anyone else seen this? I have seen it with ver 1.08 ?and 1.1
Roger ZL2RX
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Re: Apparent component swap in design and assembly of pc board v3
#ubitx-help
Fine Ashhar, that was the idea.? Thanks to everybody else who
gave some good and some not so good advice. J
?
?
?
thanks for the spot. i will fix
this along with other changes soon.
?
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On Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 9:06 PM
iz oos < and2oosiz2@...>
wrote:
Mine is like yours, injecting a signal of around S3 was clearly audible
anyway, that swap does not jeopardise anything.
?
Il 07/nov/2018 03:05, "Howard Fidel" <sonic1@...>
ha scritto:
Really? R37 and C32 are in series, so the order makes no
difference, although the schematic is drawn incorrectly. Fix your schematic.
On 11/6/2018 8:38 PM, ce3afc@...
wrote:
According to the schematic v3, capacitor C32 should be
connected on one side to pin 2 (emitter) of Q32 and resistor R36 and the other
side to R37.? In my board both components are swapped and so are the silk
screened references.? Is this a general PC board design and assembly
mistake or just my board.? Correction can be made unsoldering both
components and swapping them again.? Just the wrong silk screened
references will remain.? Any advice will be appreciated.? Thank you!
?
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I have been using KD8CEC's 1.095 version of the Firmware and have been very happy with it. I am using a 3.7-inch?Nextion?display. My question is two-fold:
1) What extra benefits would I get for upgrading to 1.097??
2) I need to add an S-Meter, what sensor and setups are best for either version?
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@Praba - I've built a couple of devices like this and never had any issues requiring isolation transformers (I have some but never fitted them as it worked fine as is).
@David - I used a USB cable "Mini USB 5pin male to female with screw panel mount extention cable" from ebay (mine was wired incorrectly as the colours were wrong according to the USB standard and had to wire according to how they had it set).? I cut this cable to suit and hard wired it to the USB hub (removed the original connection).
My USB hub was a Startech one, but basically any similar one that you can fit inside your enclosure should work.? I removed 2 of the USB sockets on the hub and hard wired my stripped down USB sound card of which I also removed the USB connector and 3.5mm audio/mic sockets and soldered it direct to the hub, plus added connector pins for the audio/mic (CD-ROM) cable.? I only went to these extremes so it would all fit inside my enclosure.? If your enclosure is big enough, you may be able to get away with simply plugging it all together.
The USB sound card can be found on the famous auction web site. Mine was an "External Virtual USB 3D Sound Audio Card Adaptor Converter Mic/Speaker PC Laptop"
I hard wired the Raduino USB side of the connector to the hub as well, but didn't connect the 5v power line (the Raduino is powered as normal).
To program the Raduino you have to have it powered up as normal.
I started out by proving it all worked by assembling all the component parts externally, using USB and audio/mic cables to suit.
The inspiration for the basics are here??- I just fancied it 'all-in-one' with CAT control.
I use KD8CEC's firmware ?and use the pre-built hex files and xloader so no need to compile yourself.
Ian's firmware allows CAT control emulation without necessarily needing any hardware mods.
I've worked all continents on my ubitx on FT8, so it does work ;-)
Not tried a pan adapter and probably won't 'hack' my ubitx any more (maybe!).
Nigel
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Bruce...I have had the same problem. So have disabled "split" on the WSJTX software and all is okay now. I have used the "split" facility before on another rig with no problem.
There appears to be a problem with the CEC software regarding all uses of "split" or "RIT". I have noticed when using "Split" VFOs in that, the receive VFO after the first transmission becomes the same value as the transmit VFO. This is also the case with RIT.
Has anyone else seen this? I have seen it with ver 1.08 ?and 1.1
Roger ZL2RX
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Re: W0EB clone raduino and KD8CEC firmware conflict
OK Thanks for posting your solution.? Your post of it not working was a little vague and could have been construed by others that it was the fault of the Raduino Clone.? We tested it pretty thoroughly with all the available firmware at the time and it worked with everything that was available or it never would have been released in the first place.?
TSW Policy is to NOT release something unless it has been tested within the environment for which it was designed so I was a little worried you had found a bug we hadn't located in over a month of heavy testing before release.?
So many people these days tend to blame the hardware when a new software release doesn't work and that's really detrimental to the reputation of those who try to provide good or better hardware than the original supplied with a kit.
Jim, W0EB
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Re: CEC firmware installation using a MAC
Correction...the 340 driver does not seem to be in the Files here...at least I couldn't find it. Google 'ch340 driver mac' for other sources.
Mark
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Re: CEC firmware installation using a MAC
The uBitX Manager does not download firmware, it allows you to change the parameters stored in the EEPROM. AFAIK, it runs only under Windows altho I think it will also run in Linux if you have the correct emulator installed (I think the Manager is a .NET app).
The easiest way I've found to update from the Mac is to install the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and then download the firmware source and compile & load it from there. You also need to have the correct driver installed in your Mac to talk to the Nano...I think it's available in the Files here...look for the CH340 driver. The Arduino IDE download can be found on the Arduino web site.
Supposedly you can use the averdude utility on the Mac to download the hex file but it's kind of complicated to install and I found it easier to just use the IDE and source. Google 'averdude mac' for more info.
Good luck...
73...? ? Mark? ? AA7TA
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Re: Apparent component swap in design and assembly of pc board v3
#ubitx-help
thanks for the spot. i will fix this along with other changes soon.
- f
Mine is like yours, injecting a signal of around S3 was clearly audible anyway, that swap does not jeopardise anything.
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Re: not receiving messages
Look under 'Account' for 'Recent Bounces' and you'll find delivery error messages.?
I have been signed up for all emails but for the past week or so getting them only sporadically and then several days late. Bounces show the connection from the group mailer being rejected due to too many simultaneous connections. I'm guessing that something changed a week or so ago. Until then it had been working fine. I don't know whose end the changes, if any, were on tho. I just stopped the email and have been using the web interface.
73....? ? Mark? ? AA7TA
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CEC firmware installation using a MAC
Hi All,
I have recently completed by uBitx and now want to upgrade the firmware. I have reviewed Ian's webpages many times and viewed the wiki here. I use MACs at home and I see from previous posts, that uBitx manager is not really compatible.
Can you please tell me:
1. Is it possible to download the firmware to uBitx without using the uBitx manager?
2. Can anyone point me to a guide as to how to do so, on a MAC please? I am struggling to understand how I can apply Ian's installation guide to my MAC environment and want to simply download the HEX file (not compile myself.)
Thanks.?
Daimon.
G4USI.
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MadRadioModder
John Scherer
Bob Benedict, KD8CGH
David Posthuma
Jim Sheldon