Re: Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah
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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jack Purdum via Groups.Io
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 12:59
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah? ...retirement is the best job you will ever have... ? I also found out I am very good at it!
From: John Backo <jabac@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 1:19 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah ? Vince:
"Nothing to be sorry about... New job is retirement!!!"
Take it from one eleven years there, retirement is the
best job you will ever have...it will surprise you.
john
AD5yE
?
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Re: CW Key/Keyer/paddle idea
They're not too expensive and work quite well. See ebay #201042782490
Jack, W8TEE
From: ron van doremalen (PA3FAT) <ronvandoremalen@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 11:55 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] CW Key/Keyer/paddle idea
Probably the LCD isn¡¯t i2c capable. There are with i2c, or use a cheap available converter.
?
Ron ¨C PA3FAT
?
?
All:
The way Ashhar is using a single ?C I/O line to key the ?BITX is pretty clever, but some people are having issues with different keys/keyers/paddles. I think the main reason he used a voltage divider for key sensing is because he was running out of I/O pins
on the Nano. Looking at the code, the LCD display uses the standard LiquidCrystal library, which eats up 6 I/O pins. I know Allard has Rel. 2.0 of the software going, but I'm wondering if A4 and A5 could be moved and the I2C interface used for the LCD display.
That would free up enough lines for the keyer to dedicate a dit and dah pin for each. Quite honestly, I have not looked at Allard's code yet (too many alligators), so I'm just tossing this out there for discussion.
Jack, W8TEE
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Actually, I wasn't thinking of that, but rather just as a check for the 10 minute station ID we all forget about. I have a routine (somewhere?) that calls an input routine to set the time. The bad news is that it requires the USB cable to be present. With a TFT display, I could display a keypad and have it entered at runtime...something to think about.
Jack, W8TEE
From: David Arthur <mumrah@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] B40 small problem
What¡¯s the RTC for here? A display clock or keeping accurate time for WSPR/FT8 or some other digital mode? On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 12:15 PM DaveC < murzim@...> wrote: Jack
Thanks. One more question, where in the code do I change the clock update time.
Dave
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Re: Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah
Tausciam:
You're a very bright fellow for sure to pass all those exams in only 3 months.? ?If you decide you would want to venture forth a bit further, go for it!!!!
If you simply measure the emitter, base and collector voltage of each receiving stage, starting from the antenna (and I think Ashhar has provided some circuit description and you'll pick up much more as you go along) ---- then you may quickly grasp much
more yourself, or you can simply post all the voltage measurements (maybe a little table?) on this forum and bright people will also assist you.? ?
the receiver is a lot easier to start with.
If you're willing to do the prod tests (either before or after the sbove) and post the results of those also, that will add more data points.? ?
When we finally get you to start sniffing with your Yaesu, youll be able to add even more points -- just use an insulated wire.? And don't transmit from the Yaesu with it disconneccted from aan antena!? But I bet it has some protection circuitry in it already
--- my icoms do.
Whatever suits your fancy --- the goal here is to help YOU out whatever works best.? ?I think measuring voltages is a ton more fun than trying to do resistances....and as you figure out each state, ("get it to talk to you")? then you advance your knowledge
by leaps and bounds.....ALWAYS GET THE RADIO TO TELL YOU WHAT THE PROBLEM IS.
So just do whatever is best for you and keep us informed; I'm ready to help in any way I can;? getting FRUSTRATED might cause you to do something rash (like throw away a wonderful radio just because of one little sutble problem)....so back off when you get
there.? ? many times I've gone away and grabbed lunch....and an IDEA hit me!
or ship it to me....whatever is best.? ?Doesn't matter.
Gordon
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I haven¡¯t followed this whole thing, as too overwhelming at the moment, but I want to comment on this¡
You are correct, Sir.
You are hearing the collective knowledge and experience of an algebraic summation of help¡no way to pick that up and run with it¡because you are going to have to start by adding 1 + 1 and after you get two after a bunch of times will you be able
to start to think about doing algebra.
One question ?you asked earlier, about reading every component on the board with a multimeter ¡..go for it¡.I highly encourage it¡.but, you are highly unlikely to fix anything doing so¡but you will be doing 1 + 1 build up to move on interpreting
things later. Highly unlikely to fix anything until you understand, what each component means when it is talking to you. And if this was a tested new unit, probably unlikely anything wrong with it except assembly. Although, new units of anything are going
to have failures.
It is like playing music, one can know all the notes, be able to play every single note perfectly off a sheet of music, but not make music¡.I had that demonstrated in a jr. college class, when the prof played every note singly of Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star¡..and then asked the class what was the song¡.I looked around¡.and told him¡.no one else knew¡.and he replied, ¡®What instrument do you play?¡¯¡..
So, it is kind of like you are asking people on a forum to teach you to play Twinkle on a violin, without you ever having played one song and maybe only a few notes. ?When you do so, then it is necessary to follow instructions from one person
at a time from start to finish if you want a shortcut to work.
And after making a living fixing stuff for a lot of years¡.I make no assumptions, except to look at what changed, starting with when it left India. ?
Remember only you can decide if you get pulled. Just like this verbose offering, take what you need¡.and leave the rest.
Craig
KM4YEC
Ok. I feel like I'm being pulled in different ways....told one thing, told something different. Told to check one thing...then told it won't help.
I guess that's the nature of forums, but I will ship it off to Gordon and he has much more experience than me.
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It looks you could squeeze the banggood EF01 case inside the next size up harbor freight apache case for you guys traveling doing demos and shows.
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Very kewl. As a matter of interest, my old NorCal KC1 keyer has a
straight key input - finally found the documentation to hook it
up. So now plenty good CW until a possible upgrade improves
things.
John K0JD
On 12/21/2017 09:37, Jim Sheldon wrote:
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While
digging for parts to build the little 2N7000 key interface, I came
across a "Ham Gadgets"? mini keying adapter which was originally
designed to allow a low current keyer to work with old Cathode
keyed and high current MOPA solid state rigs that had keying
currents over 100 milliamps.? Just perfect for checking this out.
Wired it up so I could plug my bug into the uBITX through it.?
Baseline test, hooked the bug up direct first.? Keying was
terrible and kept throwing garbage into the characters.? I put a
.1uf capacitor across the bug as a quick & dirty contact
bounce filter which helped a little but didn't cure it.? Next,
hooked up the keying adapter and WOW what a difference.? There was
still a little bounce problem but a .1uF cap right at the input to
the adapter fixed it.? Might have been a bit of RF getting into
the adapter through the keying line as I don't have the adapter in
a shielded box, just open board on the desk top.?
It appears that the problem with the hand key circuit is contact
resistance in some keys is sufficient to upset the sensing in the
uBITX and will vary from key to key, with length cable and gauge
of wire and a whole bunch of other variables.? In my case it
appears the solution is to even the playing field by using a
simple transistor switch to present as close to zero resistance
between the A4 and ground on "Key Down" intervals.
I can now use my old bug with the uBITX and work on a simple
transistor interface for the key paddle inputs as well.? This
would give consistent resistance from the paddle inputs to ground
which would help the ADC read the voltage drop across the dot and
dash voltage dividers.? Just my opinion, but I intend to
breadboard a simple circuit to test that theory as well.
Jim Sheldon - W0EB
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Re: Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah
...retirement is the best job you will ever have... I also found out I am very good at it!
Jack, W8TEE
From: John Backo <jabac@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 1:19 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah
Vince:
"Nothing to be sorry about... New job is retirement!!!"
Take it from one eleven years there, retirement is the
best job you will ever have...it will surprise you.
john
AD5yE
|
I just picked up two of them and I think my QCX is going to live in one of them.
Jack, W8TEE
From: Roy Appleton <twelveoclockhigh@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Pelican cases
Picked up a couple of these. They look great for a portable ubitx radio project!
Thanks for the heads up on these!
Roy WA0YMH
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Re: Apology in advance if dumb question - How do I know my order has been captured?
Found the card in the mailbox (5 miles away), had a spot to sign for delivery if the package
did not require the recipient to be present.? But no indication on the card if that was the case.
Clerk at the post office (50 miles away) said it was indeed ambiguous, the carrier should have
added a note in there if that was a possibility.??
Package says "No weekend or holiday delivery signature required", nothing else in that regard.
So not sure, but I suspect I could have just signed the card and left it in the mailbox,
package would then show up in a couple more days.
Having called DHL with their 10 digit tracking number, I got from them the 30 digit US Postal Service
tracking number.? First attempt at delivery to our mailbox was Dec 19, tracking site said it would
be back on its way to India if unclaimed till Dec 24, so I wasn't taking any chances.
Ok, a phonecall to the post office would have been sufficient, but was looking forward to seeing the uBitx.
Well packaged, looks complete, not so much as a dent on the box.
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 04:24 pm, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
I don't really know if I can leave a signed card in the mailbox, will post again in this thread if I find out
and nobody else has posted that information.
I'll pick it up at the post office since it's then less likely to get stuffed into the wrong mailbox or something.
We're going to town anyway.
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i have been using a straight key for sometime. i have found no glitches in the straight key. i used the iambic keyer just for a few quick QSOs. I am straight key guy, hence the keyer code will need some improvement. the cw is NOT generated with a side tone injection. The CW is generated by the SI5351 by putting it directly on the tx frequency. For those wishing to have a narrower filter, all you hve to do is to add another 220pf capacitors in parallel to the 100pfs across the ladder filter.
- f
On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 12:10 AM, N8DAH <Dherron@...> wrote: I use mine on CW (granted not in a while but that's another story) with a qrpguys keyer, I don't use the built in keyer. Works great no sig issues and with the nescaf I built into it runs top notch for RX now as well. Give it a go they are fun little rigs.
?
?73
? David
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it seams, that it has to do witch my Touch key, sometimes I have the ?touch sensor and I can change the sensitivity from1 to 25
May it is a problem of long wire to A1 (KEY) - D1 (PULSE) - D3 (DAH)
A normal straight cw key is working well.
Now I will make the diagnostic sketch but it not easy, because I have no space by the ?the USB Plug from raduino, the tuning knob 10k is in front of them, so I have to change it to a other place...
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Re: SUCCESS, uBITX pop reduction with ONE added component
The corresponding place is C115 in the BitX40. Looks like the
circuit is similar enough that the other issues we're pursuing
would apply.
This isn't a total fix but for one component it sure helps.
John K0JD
On 12/21/2017 12:31, David Arthur
wrote:
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Is there a similar mod for the bitx40? I'm assuming
by "pop" you mean the PTT pop issue?
-David, K4DBZ
On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 1:29 PM John Seboldt K0JD
< k0jd-l@...>
wrote:
Success! Maybe there's more that can be done at Q6, but
it is MUCH improved with a 10k resistor to ground at the
output of C51. Still Could be multiple causes, so still
worth experimenting. I'll dig the scope out and see.
There's a ground point very near C1, so you can scrape
the coating off of that and bridge a 10k chip resistor
across the two. Photos enclosed.
John K0JD
On
12/21/2017 11:55, Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io wrote:
But Q70 gets powered up on RX, and
Q6 gets powered up on TX.
That power switching is really disruptive.
Might leave them both powered up, then the DC bias
resistor should work fine, if you somehow kill the
microphone
But given what we got, I'm leaning toward the FET clamp on
rx audio.
Reducing the size of C52 on Q70 might help get the pop
over with quickly.
In addition to the audio pop in the phones on rx, the
uBitx may have the Bitx40's? carrier burst on tx.?
? ??/g/BITX20/message/33707
Allard has been fixing some of this with delays in
firmware.
If we can get by without a special interrupt library in
the code, the sketch will be much easier to
understand, add features to, and port to other
processors.?
So I'd prefer to fix the rx pop and tx burst with hardware
hacks.
Jerry, KE7ER
|
I use mine on CW (granted not in a while but that's another story) with a qrpguys keyer, I don't use the built in keyer. Works great no sig issues and with the nescaf I built into it runs top notch for RX now as well. Give it a go they are fun little rigs.
?
?73
? David
|
Re: Help! I think I may have just ruined my 9 year old's Chanukah
I haven¡¯t followed this whole thing, as too overwhelming at the moment, but I want to comment on this¡
You are correct, Sir.
You are hearing the collective knowledge and experience of an algebraic summation of help¡no way to pick that up and run with it¡because you are going to have to start by adding 1 + 1 and after you get two after a bunch of times will you be able to start to think about doing algebra.
One question ?you asked earlier, about reading every component on the board with a multimeter ¡..go for it¡.I highly encourage it¡.but, you are highly unlikely to fix anything doing so¡but you will be doing 1 + 1 build up to move on interpreting things later. Highly unlikely to fix anything until you understand, what each component means when it is talking to you. And if this was a tested new unit, probably unlikely anything wrong with it except assembly. Although, new units of anything are going to have failures.
It is like playing music, one can know all the notes, be able to play every single note perfectly off a sheet of music, but not make music¡.I had that demonstrated in a jr. college class, when the prof played every note singly of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star¡..and then asked the class what was the song¡.I looked around¡.and told him¡.no one else knew¡.and he replied, ¡®What instrument do you play?¡¯¡..
So, it is kind of like you are asking people on a forum to teach you to play Twinkle on a violin, without you ever having played one song and maybe only a few notes. ?When you do so, then it is necessary to follow instructions from one person at a time from start to finish if you want a shortcut to work.
And after making a living fixing stuff for a lot of years¡.I make no assumptions, except to look at what changed, starting with when it left India. ?
Remember only you can decide if you get pulled. Just like this verbose offering, take what you need¡.and leave the rest.
Craig KM4YEC
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Show quoted text
Ok. I feel like I'm being pulled in different ways....told one thing, told something different. Told to check one thing...then told it won't help.
I guess that's the nature of forums, but I will ship it off to Gordon and he has much more experience than me.
|
But it's TRUE! And part of the point is to hack it and improve
it. I'm amazed already overall for how clean it sounds overall for
a cheap general coverage radio.
John K0JD
On 12/21/2017 11:49, WB4AEG via
Groups.Io wrote:
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Not very helpful....But tks anyway...
-----Original
Message-----
From: ron van doremalen (PA3FAT)
<ronvandoremalen@...>
To: BITX20 <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Dec 21, 2017 12:47 pm
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Cw only
it¡¯s a 100$ radio, think
some limitations are to be expected.
?
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Picked up a couple of these. They look great for a portable ubitx radio project!
Thanks for the heads up on these!
Roy WA0YMH
On Dec 21, 2017 10:37 AM, "Terence Taylor" < n6mon@...> wrote: I have one of the cases, they are just peel off stickers.
Does anyone know if the awful logos plastered all over the case are decals that can be removed or are the screened?
|
Thanks, I'm going to hide in the bushes and watch for a while...Hal/WB4AEG
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-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Smith <paulsmi55@...>
To: BITX20 < [email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Dec 21, 2017 1:28 pm
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Cw only
I operate mostly CW as well but I don't mind if the radio doesn't have an internal keyer.. But I am concerned about the ability of the radio to switch cleanly into CW without generating spurious dits and dahs in the process, as is being reported. Hopefully that's just a software fix.
Paul ZS2OE
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Re: SUCCESS, uBITX pop reduction with ONE added component
Is there a similar mod for the bitx40? I'm assuming by "pop" you mean the PTT pop issue?
-David, K4DBZ
On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 1:29 PM John Seboldt K0JD < k0jd-l@...> wrote:
Success! Maybe there's more that can be done at Q6, but it is
MUCH improved with a 10k resistor to ground at the output of C51.
Still Could be multiple causes, so still worth experimenting. I'll
dig the scope out and see.
There's a ground point very near C1, so you can scrape the
coating off of that and bridge a 10k chip resistor across the two.
Photos enclosed.
John K0JD
On 12/21/2017 11:55, Jerry Gaffke via
Groups.Io wrote:
But
Q70 gets powered up on RX, and Q6 gets powered up on TX.
That power switching is really disruptive.
Might leave them both powered up, then the DC bias resistor should
work fine, if you somehow kill the microphone
But given what we got, I'm leaning toward the FET clamp on rx
audio.
Reducing the size of C52 on Q70 might help get the pop over with
quickly.
In addition to the audio pop in the phones on rx, the uBitx may
have the Bitx40's? carrier burst on tx.?
? ??/g/BITX20/message/33707
Allard has been fixing some of this with delays in firmware.
If we can get by without a special interrupt library in the code,
the sketch will be much easier to
understand, add features to, and port to other processors.?
So I'd prefer to fix the rx pop and tx burst with hardware hacks.
Jerry, KE7ER
|
I operate mostly CW as well but I don't mind if the radio doesn't have an internal keyer.. But I am concerned about the ability of the radio to switch cleanly into CW without generating spurious dits and dahs in the process, as is being reported. Hopefully that's just a software fix.
Paul ZS2OE
|
OK, so it seems that the capacitive sensor is not detected during start up.
Please run the diagnostic sketch and let us know the output from the
serial monitor.
73 Allard PE1NWL
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On Thu, December 21, 2017 19:12, Franz.Rebholz@... wrote: Hi Allard,
thats my result
press Function Button 5 seconds => SETTINGS menu
press FB two times (set CW params)
press FB one time (first parameter: key type)
turn the tuning pot to select "paddle"
??
my result::
??
press FB ??
auto-space:ON
press FB ??
semi-QSK:ON
QSK delay 1000ms
press FB ??
side tone 1000 Hz
??press FB ??
??
answer:
did did
??
-----Settings--- ?? at LCD
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N8DAH
Craig Thibodeaux
Allard PE1NWL