Hi, I just finished my uBITX build. I was extremely careful with the wiring and double checked everything. The weather is extreme warm for the season here in Sweden. That's probably (;-) why I got a brain collapse and shifted the 8-pin contacts for the raduino resp. uBITX. I realised it after a short while. Everything looks ok, but I hear no signals, just birdies. Not a sound of even strong broadcast stations. Any hints?

Actually yes it did work out good for us.? We can run the same Remote Control Program on any Windows, Linux, or RPI

and control all the features of the uBITX.

?

rOn

On June 3, 2018 at 11:59 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

?True but that wasn't the question.

I'm sure your way works great for you though.

On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 08:46 pm, W2CTX wrote:

You can get an RPI-3 and a 5" color touchscreen for the price of the Nextion.? Use fltk to design your UI

and code in c.?

?

When you are done you can write code for many machines.? With Nextion your stuck.

?

Just my 2 cents.

?

rOn

On June 3, 2018 at 11:07 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

With the Nextion display you don't draw buttons in code. There is a program that you run that you use to design the screens that are shown on the display. Then you are just passing data back and forth between the display and the Arduino or whatever you are using.

Think industrial HMI programming. Also pretty simple for some people.

On June 3, 2018 at 11:59 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

?True but that wasn't the question.

I'm sure your way works great for you though.

On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 08:46 pm, W2CTX wrote:

You can get an RPI-3 and a 5" color touchscreen for the price of the Nextion.? Use fltk to design your UI

and code in c.?

?

When you are done you can write code for many machines.? With Nextion your stuck.

?

Just my 2 cents.

?

rOn

On June 3, 2018 at 11:07 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

With the Nextion display you don't draw buttons in code. There is a program that you run that you use to design the screens that are shown on the display. Then you are just passing data back and forth between the display and the Arduino or whatever you are using.

Think industrial HMI programming. Also pretty simple for some people.

On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 07:40 pm, Jack Purdum wrote:

?

I've taken the Sumatoy library for the BuyDisplay displays and modified it a little for our use. His library is about 10,000 lines of code, but we only use about 200 lines for our button library. I still call many of his routines, but adding buttons is really easy and the code to create and modify a button takes 4 lines of code. For example, to create the AGC button you see, these are the lines of code:

?

? DisplayButtons[AGC] = myButton.AddButton(10, 85, 70, 70, (char *) "AGC",? 1, AGC, 1);
? myButton.SetBackgroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], RED);
? myButton.SetForegroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], WHITE);
? myButton.DrawButton(DisplayButtons[AGC], 1);

?

You can probably guess what the arguments are. The 4 numbers are the X-Y coordinates and the button's width and height, in pixels. The yellow 1's are the screen page where the button should be displayed and the purple 1 says to only use 1 pixel to outline the button. DisplayButtons[] is simply an array of buttons. Pretty simple stuff.

?

Jack, W8TEE

On Sunday, June 3, 2018, 11:39:12 AM EDT, Allen Merrell via Groups.Io <kn4ud@...> wrote:

?

?

Jack, that is a very nice looking display, very impressive.?
Nextion ?users I would like to know what software is the easiest to use with it I downloaded their software and find it about as user friendly as an alligator , or it is to me. I am not finding any real good documentation on the v0.53 that is current and the older docs just don't ?seem to match up.
kn4ud ?
--
Allen ?Merrell

You can get an RPI-3 and a 5" color touchscreen for the price of the Nextion.? Use fltk to design your UI

and code in c.?

?

When you are done you can write code for many machines.? With Nextion your stuck.

?

Just my 2 cents.

?

rOn

On June 3, 2018 at 11:07 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

With the Nextion display you don't draw buttons in code. There is a program that you run that you use to design the screens that are shown on the display. Then you are just passing data back and forth between the display and the Arduino or whatever you are using.

Think industrial HMI programming. Also pretty simple for some people.

On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 07:40 pm, Jack Purdum wrote:

?

I've taken the Sumatoy library for the BuyDisplay displays and modified it a little for our use. His library is about 10,000 lines of code, but we only use about 200 lines for our button library. I still call many of his routines, but adding buttons is really easy and the code to create and modify a button takes 4 lines of code. For example, to create the AGC button you see, these are the lines of code:

?

? DisplayButtons[AGC] = myButton.AddButton(10, 85, 70, 70, (char *) "AGC",? 1, AGC, 1);
? myButton.SetBackgroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], RED);
? myButton.SetForegroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], WHITE);
? myButton.DrawButton(DisplayButtons[AGC], 1);

?

You can probably guess what the arguments are. The 4 numbers are the X-Y coordinates and the button's width and height, in pixels. The yellow 1's are the screen page where the button should be displayed and the purple 1 says to only use 1 pixel to outline the button. DisplayButtons[] is simply an array of buttons. Pretty simple stuff.

?

Jack, W8TEE

On Sunday, June 3, 2018, 11:39:12 AM EDT, Allen Merrell via Groups.Io <kn4ud@...> wrote:

?

?

Jack, that is a very nice looking display, very impressive.?
Nextion ?users I would like to know what software is the easiest to use with it I downloaded their software and find it about as user friendly as an alligator , or it is to me. I am not finding any real good documentation on the v0.53 that is current and the older docs just don't ?seem to match up.
kn4ud ?
--
Allen ?Merrell

On June 3, 2018 at 11:07 PM "n2vdy via Groups.Io" <n2vdy@...> wrote:

With the Nextion display you don't draw buttons in code. There is a program that you run that you use to design the screens that are shown on the display. Then you are just passing data back and forth between the display and the Arduino or whatever you are using.

Think industrial HMI programming. Also pretty simple for some people.

On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 07:40 pm, Jack Purdum wrote:

?

I've taken the Sumatoy library for the BuyDisplay displays and modified it a little for our use. His library is about 10,000 lines of code, but we only use about 200 lines for our button library. I still call many of his routines, but adding buttons is really easy and the code to create and modify a button takes 4 lines of code. For example, to create the AGC button you see, these are the lines of code:

?

? DisplayButtons[AGC] = myButton.AddButton(10, 85, 70, 70, (char *) "AGC",? 1, AGC, 1);
? myButton.SetBackgroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], RED);
? myButton.SetForegroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], WHITE);
? myButton.DrawButton(DisplayButtons[AGC], 1);

?

You can probably guess what the arguments are. The 4 numbers are the X-Y coordinates and the button's width and height, in pixels. The yellow 1's are the screen page where the button should be displayed and the purple 1 says to only use 1 pixel to outline the button. DisplayButtons[] is simply an array of buttons. Pretty simple stuff.

?

Jack, W8TEE

On Sunday, June 3, 2018, 11:39:12 AM EDT, Allen Merrell via Groups.Io <kn4ud@...> wrote:

?

?

Jack, that is a very nice looking display, very impressive.?
Nextion ?users I would like to know what software is the easiest to use with it I downloaded their software and find it about as user friendly as an alligator , or it is to me. I am not finding any real good documentation on the v0.53 that is current and the older docs just don't ?seem to match up.
kn4ud ?
--
Allen ?Merrell

?

I've taken the Sumatoy library for the BuyDisplay displays and modified it a little for our use. His library is about 10,000 lines of code, but we only use about 200 lines for our button library. I still call many of his routines, but adding buttons is really easy and the code to create and modify a button takes 4 lines of code. For example, to create the AGC button you see, these are the lines of code:

?

? DisplayButtons[AGC] = myButton.AddButton(10, 85, 70, 70, (char *) "AGC",? 1, AGC, 1);
? myButton.SetBackgroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], RED);
? myButton.SetForegroundColor(DisplayButtons[AGC], WHITE);
? myButton.DrawButton(DisplayButtons[AGC], 1);

?

You can probably guess what the arguments are. The 4 numbers are the X-Y coordinates and the button's width and height, in pixels. The yellow 1's are the screen page where the button should be displayed and the purple 1 says to only use 1 pixel to outline the button. DisplayButtons[] is simply an array of buttons. Pretty simple stuff.

?

Jack, W8TEE

On Sunday, June 3, 2018, 11:39:12 AM EDT, Allen Merrell via Groups.Io <kn4ud@...> wrote:

?

?

Jack, that is a very nice looking display, very impressive.?
Nextion ?users I would like to know what software is the easiest to use with it I downloaded their software and find it about as user friendly as an alligator , or it is to me. I am not finding any real good documentation on the v0.53 that is current and the older docs just don't ?seem to match up.
kn4ud ?
--
Allen ?Merrell

To keep the price down, I think hfsignals may as well continue to use the 45mhz filter.
Perhaps claim 80m through 17m, beyond that is experimental, disable 15m,12m, and 10m
in the stock firmware.? Different transistors for more consistent gain should be considered.


However, if we can instrument drive level into the mixers, sounds like we may be able to have
a clean signal on up to 30mhz.? ?Perhaps replace transistors to get consistent gain through the 45mhz IF
and the Q90 stage, then monitor the top of RV1 with a diode RF probe into a Nano analog pin.

Better yet, add another 10dB of gain after the mixers so the IRF510's show trouble (much more obvious)
long before the mixers do.? So maybe add an extra gain stage between Q90 and RV1,
existing rigs could easily patch this in with an MMIC.?


If we do decide to go to 70mhz and beyond for that first IF, there are viable filters available.

In this post:??/g/BITX20/message/33203
Farhan explains that the 45mhz filter must be narrow enough to reject signals 2 mhz away from center.

Here's the filters on Mouser that are between 70 and 90 mhz, and have a bandwidth of less than 4mhz:
? ??

The PX1002 from Murata looks good to me, center frequency of 86.85mhz.
25khz wide, 3dB insertion loss, over 60dB of rejection at 1mhz out,
datasheet shows how to use it in 50 ohm environment.
Not exactly cheap at $12 single unit, $6 if buying hundreds from Mouser.
The similar PX1004 at 82.2mhz is harder to get, especially in low quantities,
but might be preferred as it allows a lower vfo frequency.?

To operate at 30mhz with an 86.85mhz first IF, the vfo should be 86.85+30 = 116.85mhz.
The Si5351's internal vco is spec'd to a max of 900mhz, and our fractional output dividers can divide down
to a minimum of 8.0, so 900/8=112.5mhz max using the current si5351bx routines with the vco moved to 900mhz.
Hans, G0UPL, has found that the vco can be pressed to go much higher, beyond 1100mhz,
so we could just cheat on that, perhaps 935mhz for the vco giving 935/8 = 116.875mhz max.
I'd try that first.
The other possibility is to use the second Si5351 internal vco with fractional pll feedback and an
integer output divider on clk1, giving fine grained frequency control up to 200mhz (290mhz, according to Hans).
This second method would roughly double the size of the si5351bx routines, but that's not a major hit.
The other two si5351 outputs would continue to use the first vco, and be restricted to 112.5mhz max.

If using the equations of post?/g/BITX20/message/44278
the only needed change to the uBitx code outside the Si5351bx routines would be to change this
uint32_t? f45c? = 44995000;? ? ?// center of 45mhz filter
? to this:
uint32_t? f45c? = 86850000;? ? ?// center of 87mhz filter

The filter and 50 ohm matching networks could be on a very small PC board
glued to the back of the uBitx main board.
This daughterboard could include a new BiDi amp with appropriate transistors.
If the uBitx mixers are problematic at 86.85mhz, then perhaps a couple ADE-1's also,
replacing everything from T2 to T4 inclusive.? Parts cost of around $10 if building hundreds,
$15 bucks if adding the two ADE-1's.?

Then everybody will get fixated on making the uBitx work on 6 meters
and we get to do this all over again.

Jerry, KE7ER

?
On Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 03:44 pm, ajparent1/KB1GMX wrote:

Its not a drop in.? The filter would likely be hard to find and costly or for a one off salvage from?
an old junker commercial radio.?

I think Kenwood radios used a 63mhz filter or maybe ICOM.? so lets do a thought
experiment on what needs to be done.

The filter would need to be matched and like data for it will require experimental testing.
The T30-2 toroids could be reused and rewould and the cap for the L-networks changed
as needed.? The entire string of 3904s [all 6 of them] in the 45mhz section would have
to be some thing like 2n2369, or better BFR106s.?

Then the firmware has to be revised as the first lo needs to be higher to start maybe
65mhz and go up from there.??

So yes it can be done.? I don't have such a part so thats ruled out.? So for a one off
maybe, doesn't help everyone though. and even if the filter was not too expensive?
thats a lot of SMT and through hole work plus a new firmware.? At the production
level it could add significant cost and interrupt the product flow as you have all the
material in place and likely paid for.

Right now the most feasible option is bandpass filters and switching.? Cost wise the
parts are cheap is SMT inductors are used.? The trick there is drop in and play no
manufacturing tuning.

Allison

Its not a drop in.? The filter would likely be hard to find and costly or for a one off salvage from?
an old junker commercial radio.?

I think Kenwood radios used a 63mhz filter or maybe ICOM.? so lets do a thought
experiment on what needs to be done.

The filter would need to be matched and like data for it will require experimental testing.
The T30-2 toroids could be reused and rewould and the cap for the L-networks changed
as needed.? The entire string of 3904s [all 6 of them] in the 45mhz section would have
to be some thing like 2n2369, or better BFR106s.?

Then the firmware has to be revised as the first lo needs to be higher to start maybe
65mhz and go up from there.??

So yes it can be done.? I don't have such a part so thats ruled out.? So for a one off
maybe, doesn't help everyone though. and even if the filter was not too expensive?
thats a lot of SMT and through hole work plus a new firmware.? At the production
level it could add significant cost and interrupt the product flow as you have all the
material in place and likely paid for.

Right now the most feasible option is bandpass filters and switching.? Cost wise the
parts are cheap is SMT inductors are used.? The trick there is drop in and play no
manufacturing tuning.

Allison

?

Just made contact with Stan, WS4JM! Good contact! New York to Tennessee .
Dan W2DLC