Re: JackAl System Preview
Hello Al & Jack
Very good project. I'm interested. Please add me also to buyer¡¯s?with TFT 7" option.
Paypal Invoice to gilles.f1bfu(at)?(please replace (at) by @) Very good stuff 73¡¯s Gilles ¨C F1BFU /FR
All:
As some of you know, Al Peter (AC8GY) and I have been working on a display replacement for the ?BITX for quite some time. We have a preview video that gives an overview of the JackAl system. There are some software hiccups in the preview that should be fixed soon. We just sent Rev 4.0 off to the PCB fabricator which should be the final version of the board. All SMD's are on the board. JackAl makes use of either 5" or 7" 800x480 displays ($34-$44) using the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller ($30) and its companion audio board.($14) for the DSP. The Teensy has 1Mb of flash memory and 256K of SRAM, or which we are using less than 20% and 15%, respectively. We have also brought out a dozen "empty" pins for you to experiment with so, along with the I/O pins, there plenty of resources left to play with.
BTW, pay particular attention to the ALS Tuning it uses. It really makes it so much easier to zero in on a station. Details are in the video, but if questions remain, let us know.
Jack, W8TEE
Al, AC8GY
|
Re: Started my uBitx build
Thanks Mike,
I will order one this week, too bad there are no more local shops where I can pick one up today.
Joe
KD2NFC
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Show quoted text
On Sep 19, 2018, at 7:47 AM, Mike Short <ai4ns.mike@...> wrote:
You need to get a power meter to know what¡¯s going on. There are plenty of low cost suggestions that have been posted here.
--
Mike
AI4NS
|
Re: JackAl System Preview
If we went to a screen that small, I think we'd drop the touch screen feature and do complete menu system. The costs aren't cheap compared to those display sizes (e.g., > $10 versus $34), but 5" at 800x480 is nothing to throw rocks at and is easier on the eyes for us old people. Also, quite a few have adopted the Nextion display and they cost twice as much as ours and are about half the size. Also, we give you an experimenters platform with a dozen empty pins and idle resources to play with (see feature set below). Also, we have a pretty robust feature set:
5¡± or 7¡± TFT Touch Screen 800x480 TFT Color Display
Dual VFO
RIT
S Meter
Real Time Clock (add optional battery)
50 CW Preset Messages, selectable at runtime
Touch Screen Band Selection
Touch Screen Buttons for function selection and control
Dual Encoders: Frequency Tuning, ALS Tuning, Program Input
Frequency Tuning:
??? Standard
??? ALS Tuning--ALS Tuning: Special tuning using the second encoder. If the
??????????? frequency increment is set to 1KHz, ALS Tuning sets the second
??????????? encoder to one-tenth the increment of the primary tuning rate. This
??????????? allows for rapid tuning to an approximate frequency using the main
??????????? encoder and then using ALS Tuning with the second encoder to fine ??????????? tune the signal. Once you use it, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
?? ?CW presets (3dB bandwidth): 150 Hz, 300 Hz, 400 Hz, 600 Hz
?? ?SSB presets (3dB bandwidth): 1500 Hz, 1800 Hz , 2200 Hz, 3000 Hz
EEprom storage of user preferences and CW code presets
3 external hardware buttons for CW code messages (e.g., contest exchanges)
Based on Teensy 3.6 Microcontroller with Audio Shield
Hardware AGC using IF take-off
Mic Compressor with adjustable threshold
Mic 8-band equalization
Receive Audio Filter
48 dB/octave (8 pole equivalent DSP filters)
2 Variable bandwidth filters ¨C user-defined knee frequencies with Rotary Encoder control
Audio AGC with adjustable threshold
Variable Notch filter, encoder adjustable, use specified Q
CW code to Text converter
Code Practice Oscillator Mode
About a dozen I/O pins to play with plus 800K of free flash memory, 200K of free SRAM,
???? all clocked at 180MHz
Finally, this is Rel. 1.0 of the software. We think we can do some pretty clever stuff with Rel. 2.0. You can see these board in the video here:
We also think the system is flexible enough to adapt to other inexpensive rigs. Al and I plan to experiment with this after JackAl is released.
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 1:18:36 AM EDT, Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:
can this be adapted to small tft displays? the cost of going from a 2.4 inch to this display is quite high.
- f
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 5:34 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io <jjpurdum@...> wrote:
If you can run the Arduino IDE, I don't see why not. The software is all on the board. If you can't run the IDE, go to a school lab, borrow a Windows machine, ciompile/upload, take home and plug in...done!
Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, 3:58:45 PM EDT, Mike Lichtman via Groups.Io <tchrme= [email protected]> wrote:
Jack and Al,
? ? I concur. I also would prefer a ¡°all in one place¡± maxi purchase. Many of us have Macs and cannot use Ian¡¯s utility program. Will we also be able to utilize the Jackal? 73 Mike KF6KXG
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Re: JackAl System Preview
Hello Jack, I¡¯m very interested, Please add me also to buyer¡¯s list with a 7¡± LCD option. Paypal Invoice to f1apy(at)orange.fr (please replace (at) by @) Very good stuff 73¡¯s de Jacques ¨C F1APY ?
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Show quoted text
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jack Purdum via Groups.Io
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 5:09 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BITX20] JackAl System Preview? You're added to the list! On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 7:24:51 AM EDT, Mansueto Grech <mansueto.grech@...> wrote: Hi Jack and Al, Please add me to the buyer's full kit list with a 7" LCD option. ? On Tue, 18 Sep 2018, 02:04 Jack Purdum via Groups.Io, <jjpurdum=[email protected]> wrote: All:
As some of you know, Al Peter (AC8GY) and I have been working on a display replacement for the ?BITX for quite some time. We have a preview video that gives an overview of the JackAl system. There are some software hiccups in the preview that should be fixed soon. We just sent Rev 4.0 off to the PCB fabricator which should be the final version of the board. All SMD's are on the board. JackAl makes use of either 5" or 7" 800x480 displays ($34-$44) using the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller ($30) and its companion audio board.($14) for the DSP. The Teensy has 1Mb of flash memory and 256K of SRAM, or which we are using less than 20% and 15%, respectively. We have also brought out a dozen "empty" pins for you to experiment with so, along with the I/O pins, there plenty of resources left to play with.
BTW, pay particular attention to the ALS Tuning it uses. It really makes it so much easier to zero in on a station. Details are in the video, but if questions remain, let us know.
Jack, W8TEE
Al, AC8GY
|
Re: JackAl System Preview
You're added to the list!
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 7:24:51 AM EDT, Mansueto Grech <mansueto.grech@...> wrote:
Hi Jack and Al, Wow awesome project.? Please add me to the buyer's full kit list with a 7" LCD option. Keep up the good work.? 73's? Mans. 9H1GB?
On Tue, 18 Sep 2018, 02:04 Jack Purdum via Groups.Io, <jjpurdum= [email protected]> wrote: All:
As some of you know, Al Peter (AC8GY) and I have been working on a display replacement for the ?BITX for quite some time. We have a preview video that gives an overview of the JackAl system. There are some software hiccups in the preview that should be fixed soon. We just sent Rev 4.0 off to the PCB fabricator which should be the final version of the board. All SMD's are on the board. JackAl makes use of either 5" or 7" 800x480 displays ($34-$44) using the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller ($30) and its companion audio board.($14) for the DSP. The Teensy has 1Mb of flash memory and 256K of SRAM, or which we are using less than 20% and 15%, respectively. We have also brought out a dozen "empty" pins for you to experiment with so, along with the I/O pins, there plenty of resources left to play with.
BTW, pay particular attention to the ALS Tuning it uses. It really makes it so much easier to zero in on a station. Details are in the video, but if questions remain, let us know.
Jack, W8TEE
Al, AC8GY
|
Re: Started my uBitx build
Ok, calling it building seems a bit exaggerated as it is all assembled already. I found the stock mic element slightly better than the others I had. There are other more sensitive mic elements on the market with higher output which should allow the uBitx to deliver more average power and... IMD distortion :). I use the stock element as I am already quite satisfied with the amount of distortion hihi
Il 19/set/2018 03:29, "Joe Puma" < kd2nfc@...> ha scritto: I decided to start building my V3 uBitx I had since February. I was going to build It in a case but hobby funds are low at the moment so I decided to at least get the basics done in the plastic container it came in. I already replaced the audio chip, I had the WX one and I added a AGC that I purchased from one of our group members. I don¡¯t have a power meter or swr but I¡¯ve put it on a dummy load and tested current, I¡¯m pulling 160ma when it¡¯s on and when I yell it went up to. 600ma. I haven¡¯t played with the 2 bias pots and audio driver. I also upgraded to the latest CEC firmware.
I¡¯m interested in improving the power out and hope a good solution with minimal effort is available soon and I would also like to attack some of the IMD issues and spur issues i¡¯ve been reading about. I eventually want to get the Nextion LCD (sp?) and add a dedicated raspberry pi to it with touchscreen and SDR and sound usb so I can do digital modes. But so far the receiver sounds wonderful it really sounds much better than my commercial Yaesu FT 840 which seems to have a lot of noise coming out compared to the uBitx. Btw I¡¯m not sure if that mic is a good mic for the rig but I can hear myself from another radio and I can confirm that I at least hear my voice.
Anyway I really just wanted to show off these initial pictures with the group I¡¯ll see you guys on the bands.
73
Joe
KD2NFC
|
Re: Started my uBitx build
As for the power meter I agree it is important to have one. My first one was the kit RFprobe by Hendricks. You can probably make one 'plagiarizing' its schematic. Inexpensive, simple and it works really well.
Il 19/set/2018 16:16, "iz oos" < and2oosiz2@...> ha scritto: Ok, calling it building seems a bit exaggerated as it is all assembled already. I found the stock mic element slightly better than the others I had. There are other more sensitive mic elements on the market with higher output which should allow the uBitx to deliver more average power and... IMD distortion :). I use the stock element as I am already quite satisfied with the amount of distortion hihi
|
Hi everyone! I'm not sure I totally understand what are the spurs and harmonics, I have a faint idea, anyway. What I read on the net is that are no known issues about spurs and harmonics in the 40m and 20m bands. Can some of you confirm that or not? Thank you !
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Re: Started my uBitx build
Hey! I like the way you put the uBitx in the case. Well done! I have a uBitx V4.3 which I tested few days ago. Can you tell me please what's the impedance and the power of the speaker you use? Because I barely can hear mine. I used a portable, self powered audio amplifier connected in the place of the speaker but I can say it's still under any normal expectation. On the V 4.3 there is no IC for audio. Only discrete components.?
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BITX40 and uBitx for sale
I have a BITX40 radio and a uBitx radio for sale, including two new Excellway EF01 cases, two each of the Kees AGC kits and the Kees "Click fix" kits (both as-received, unassembled), an adapted speaker/mic, an internal USB extender cable intended for the uBitx, and the unused bits from each radio.
?
I bought the BITX40 and assembled it into a cardbox box, used it with a wire antenna, heard a few weak distant stations, but didn't make any contacts. Then the uBitx came out and this project went onto the shelf.
?
The uBitx also made it to the "cardboard box phase", then I got distracted by porting the Arduino code to one of W8TEEs VFT TFT kits (not included in this sale), then life happened and this project went onto the shelf too.
?
The BITX40 radio appears to have the "Raduino" firmware loaded. The uBitx has the stock firmware.
?
The uBitx has the TDA2822M component in location U1. It is not in a cardboard box though (that got raided for yet another project).
?
Both radios are setup to use a speaker mic on one jack. Wiring diagram of the jacks are provided too.
?
One of the cases has a bow in one of the clamshell pieces, but it closes up easily when the case screws are installed.
?
Both radios power up and appear to receive, but I have no way to test them on transmit at this time, so the radios are sold "as-is".
?
I would prefer to be on the air and experimenting with antennas instead of fiddling with the radio guts (too much like 'work' for me).
?
Everything above is now for sale as one lot, for $140, which includes shipping to the CONUS (lower 48). I will ship to other US addresses too, but the buyer would need to add any additional shipping cost over $25.
?
If you're interested, please send an e-mail to ag7fe AT arrl.net.
?
Ralph
AG7FE
~? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
         
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Re: JackAl System Preview
Im sure you could but there is a lot of stuff on that display. At some point it gets too small and almost unusable. Testing it now. ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sep 18, 2018, at 11:19 PM, Ashhar Farhan < farhanbox@...> wrote: can this be adapted to small tft displays? the cost of going from a 2.4 inch to this display is quite high.
- f
--
¡_. _._
|
Re: Started my uBitx build
You need to get a power meter to know what¡¯s going on. There are plenty of low cost suggestions that have been posted here.
--
Mike
AI4NS
|
Re: UBITX Q90 mod with BFR106
Glenn, What is the actual rf power being delivered by the 2 ea 2n2222a transistors in the predriver section?? Are you able to measure that?? I wonder if 2 ea 2n5770s would be a better transistor in that location.? Spec sheet shows a Po of 30mw each @ 500mhz...? I have attached a copy of the 2n5770 spec sheet. Do you happen to have this transistor around to try?
Thank you again for all this work you are doing!
Marco - KG5PRT?
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018, 12:43 AM Glenn < glennp@...> wrote: Strangely enough, bypassing had little effect.
I fitted a 150pF across the primary of T11 (output trans. wound 2t : 4t) and this made a huge difference.? 28MHz is now down about 1.8dB. Bottom end is affected a little also as you would expect.
The 150pF is no magic value, just first value pulled from the parts drawer, that that was fairly high voltage and seemed 'right'!? A disc ceramic. Further value changes might be interesting.
As Allison alluded to in some posts, the PA is susceptible to RF feedback with the heatsinks at RF hot voltages. (non insulated) I can see some instability at about 35MHz which goes away when the input RG174 (Chinese) coax cable is removed or some rough shielding of the 1st stage is put in place.
The board values are per the Wiki in this group, by Allison.? I did alter the turns on T9 down to 5 turns at one stage and it's still there. In my build I used a 2 turn bifilar wound on an unknown type balun? core to DC feed the IRF510's. ( ie there are no 60uH chokes)
I think one should not try to get more than 10W out of this PA. As built at least. Input level should not exceed -20dBm. Bias is about 200mA.
Glenn vk3pe
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Re: JackAl System Preview
Hi Jack and Al, Wow awesome project.? Please add me to the buyer's full kit list with a 7" LCD option. Keep up the good work.? 73's? Mans. 9H1GB?
On Tue, 18 Sep 2018, 02:04 Jack Purdum via Groups.Io, <jjpurdum= [email protected]> wrote: All:
As some of you know, Al Peter (AC8GY) and I have been working on a display replacement for the ?BITX for quite some time. We have a preview video that gives an overview of the JackAl system. There are some software hiccups in the preview that should be fixed soon. We just sent Rev 4.0 off to the PCB fabricator which should be the final version of the board. All SMD's are on the board. JackAl makes use of either 5" or 7" 800x480 displays ($34-$44) using the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller ($30) and its companion audio board.($14) for the DSP. The Teensy has 1Mb of flash memory and 256K of SRAM, or which we are using less than 20% and 15%, respectively. We have also brought out a dozen "empty" pins for you to experiment with so, along with the I/O pins, there plenty of resources left to play with.
BTW, pay particular attention to the ALS Tuning it uses. It really makes it so much easier to zero in on a station. Details are in the video, but if questions remain, let us know.
Jack, W8TEE
Al, AC8GY
|
Hi Tom
? ? ? ? ? ?Very tnx for the answer but ofr the 1st solution the lcd must worked a long time or has been schoked or mine is only 1 month in my hand.
The 2nd solution was tried in case but no change.
73s de CN8LI/Said.
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Re: uBITX schema relay K1
#ubitx
Looking at another QRR radio, they use separate relays for RX/TX signal and PWR(TX/RX).
Then during TX, they mute the RX section with a transistor to GND on the input side of the RX chain(relay at ANT).
Audio AMP and SSB Filter only turns on at RX too.
Thoughts?
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Re: uBITX schema relay K1
#ubitx
Hi All,?
Dredging up this old one as I'm starting to plan out my scratch build uBitx.
Did anyone try this and confirm the results?
73 Nick VK4PP
|
Re: UBITX Q90 mod with BFR106
Strangely enough, bypassing had little effect.
I fitted a 150pF across the primary of T11 (output trans. wound 2t : 4t) and this made a huge difference.? 28MHz is now down about 1.8dB. Bottom end is affected a little also as you would expect.
The 150pF is no magic value, just first value pulled from the parts drawer, that that was fairly high voltage and seemed 'right'!? A disc ceramic. Further value changes might be interesting.
As Allison alluded to in some posts, the PA is susceptible to RF feedback with the heatsinks at RF hot voltages. (non insulated) I can see some instability at about 35MHz which goes away when the input RG174 (Chinese) coax cable is removed or some rough shielding of the 1st stage is put in place.
The board values are per the Wiki in this group, by Allison.? I did alter the turns on T9 down to 5 turns at one stage and it's still there. In my build I used a 2 turn bifilar wound on an unknown type balun? core to DC feed the IRF510's. ( ie there are no 60uH chokes)
I think one should not try to get more than 10W out of this PA. As built at least. Input level should not exceed -20dBm. Bias is about 200mA.
Glenn vk3pe
|
Re: JackAl System Preview
can this be adapted to small tft displays? the cost of going from a 2.4 inch to this display is quite high.
- f
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 5:34 AM, Jack Purdum via Groups.Io <jjpurdum@...> wrote:
If you can run the Arduino IDE, I don't see why not. The software is all on the board. If you can't run the IDE, go to a school lab, borrow a Windows machine, ciompile/upload, take home and plug in...done!
Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, 3:58:45 PM EDT, Mike Lichtman via Groups.Io <tchrme= [email protected]> wrote:
Jack and Al,
? ? I concur. I also would prefer a ¡°all in one place¡± maxi purchase. Many of us have Macs and cannot use Ian¡¯s utility program. Will we also be able to utilize the Jackal? 73 Mike KF6KXG
|
I decided to start building my V3 uBitx I had since February. I was going to build It in a case but hobby funds are low at the moment so I decided to at least get the basics done in the plastic container it came in. I already replaced the audio chip, I had the WX one and I added a AGC that I purchased from one of our group members. I don¡¯t have a power meter or swr but I¡¯ve put it on a dummy load and tested current, I¡¯m pulling 160ma when it¡¯s on and when I yell it went up to. 600ma. I haven¡¯t played with the 2 bias pots and audio driver. I also upgraded to the latest CEC firmware.
I¡¯m interested in improving the power out and hope a good solution with minimal effort is available soon and I would also like to attack some of the IMD issues and spur issues i¡¯ve been reading about. I eventually want to get the Nextion LCD (sp?) and add a dedicated raspberry pi to it with touchscreen and SDR and sound usb so I can do digital modes. But so far the receiver sounds wonderful it really sounds much better than my commercial Yaesu FT 840 which seems to have a lot of noise coming out compared to the uBitx. Btw I¡¯m not sure if that mic is a good mic for the rig but I can hear myself from another radio and I can confirm that I at least hear my voice.
Anyway I really just wanted to show off these initial pictures with the group I¡¯ll see you guys on the bands.
73
Joe
KD2NFC
|
YO8UFO
MadRadioModder
Nick VK4PP
