¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Date

Re: 40 meters dead (again)

 

Tune around 7.047.5 up or down 1 KHz to snag W1AW code practice M-F (weekdays).? Look on the web for the schedule.

Larry

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 2:48 PM, Larry Acklin <acklin@...> wrote:
I hear the 'ol boys around ?.150-160 some evenings.? CQs also at times in the same area.? Foreign language in the lower end of 150-160 range.

If no one is talking is the band dead? Or is everyone listening? That bit about trees falling in forests...
Lots of CW activity most evenings at .30-60 early- till 10 or 11 PM EST.

If I tune the CW side and hear nothing going on, I warm up the soldering iron instead.

73
Larry
KB3CUF

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 2:36 PM, davetelling . <davetelling@...> wrote:

Some better news, kind of... this morning I heard a QSO on 7.255 MHz on my IC-718. I swapped the antenna cable to the bitx40 and heard the same QSO, about the same loudness, AND showing exactly the same frequency, so that was encouraging. I'm just amazed at how poorly my setup works!

I have an OCF 40m dipole, that typically gives me SWR in the 1.3-1.5:1 range, in a slight "V" configuration, with the feedpoint at about 25 feet, and th eends a bit lower. When prop is better, I can typically work most of USA, AK, and HI, and some south/central American countries using JT65, but SSB almost always seems totally dead; rarely do I ever hear any activity on SSB.

I'll keep trying, though, especially once I get the TX side up and running!




Re: 40 meters dead (again)

 

I hear the 'ol boys around ?.150-160 some evenings.? CQs also at times in the same area.? Foreign language in the lower end of 150-160 range.

If no one is talking is the band dead? Or is everyone listening? That bit about trees falling in forests...
Lots of CW activity most evenings at .30-60 early- till 10 or 11 PM EST.

If I tune the CW side and hear nothing going on, I warm up the soldering iron instead.

73
Larry
KB3CUF

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 2:36 PM, davetelling . <davetelling@...> wrote:

Some better news, kind of... this morning I heard a QSO on 7.255 MHz on my IC-718. I swapped the antenna cable to the bitx40 and heard the same QSO, about the same loudness, AND showing exactly the same frequency, so that was encouraging. I'm just amazed at how poorly my setup works!

I have an OCF 40m dipole, that typically gives me SWR in the 1.3-1.5:1 range, in a slight "V" configuration, with the feedpoint at about 25 feet, and th eends a bit lower. When prop is better, I can typically work most of USA, AK, and HI, and some south/central American countries using JT65, but SSB almost always seems totally dead; rarely do I ever hear any activity on SSB.

I'll keep trying, though, especially once I get the TX side up and running!



Re: CLAREMORE, OK Hamfest this weekend and my BITX40

 

To:??Lawrence Macionski

I have uploaded a fixed copy of the raduino software. Look for it in the files section. It has a description of what was fixed.

It's not your fault. The directions are a bit lacking, but adequate. Except for alignment?step?#5 should instruct you to adjust R136 to obtain that 1 Amp current draw. Which will give you full power without overheating, or distorting anything.

Ownership of this radio requires you to be a tinkerer, and an experimenter who believes they are capable of figuring out how to hook it up, set it up, and tweak it to suit you. It's not for experts either, but some solid documentation for the new comer would eliminate a lot of problems we are constantly talking about.

I think Farhan should finish writing?the instructions himself. Since it it his own product.?


Re: 40 meters dead (again)

 

Some better news, kind of... this morning I heard a QSO on 7.255 MHz on my IC-718. I swapped the antenna cable to the bitx40 and heard the same QSO, about the same loudness, AND showing exactly the same frequency, so that was encouraging. I'm just amazed at how poorly my setup works!

I have an OCF 40m dipole, that typically gives me SWR in the 1.3-1.5:1 range, in a slight "V" configuration, with the feedpoint at about 25 feet, and th eends a bit lower. When prop is better, I can typically work most of USA, AK, and HI, and some south/central American countries using JT65, but SSB almost always seems totally dead; rarely do I ever hear any activity on SSB.

I'll keep trying, though, especially once I get the TX side up and running!


New board design

 

so I was toying with the idea to create my own board using eagle software and include some different mods and also include the hardware for the radiodiuno. my concern is stepping on people's feet ( ie if it's copywriten).


any thoughts


73


ke8cpd?



Re: Quick turn around

 

Dave
Thanks
Randy

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 11:05 AM, davekn4ok via Groups.Io <davekn4ok@...> wrote:
Here you go Randy N3-715

Thanks


-----Original Message-----
From: Randy Hall <listk7age@...>
To: BITX20 <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Apr 5, 2017 12:29 pm
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Quick turn around

Dave

What is your serial number? I'll add you to the list.

Randy

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 9:30 AM, davekn4ok via Groups.Io <davekn4ok@...> wrote:
Randy,

I don't see my call on the list?

Ordered March 17th and delivered the 30th.

Dave KN4OK



Re: I think this is absolutely amazing!

 

Here's the video of the moment my Pixie started to give oscillation.?


Hope to purchase the Bitx40 soon!?

73
Horacio Nigro, CX3BZ?
Uruguay?

El 5 abr. 2017 15:06, "hanigrodx@..." <hanigrodx@...> escribi¨®:
Hi from Uruguay. It's amazing how these little rigs have renewed the motivation. I am participating in a small group of veterans and middle aged fellows that have modified the Pixie, (~500mW - CW) to include a 700 Hz filter. We've in the process of getting all the components at local stores, and began to solder. My own circuit board is already oscillating and amplifies audio. In the coming weeks we hope to finish it and put it on the air.?

Many of us don't have either an antenna to make it resonate with the little xcvr. We plan in the coming months to build a 5 W amplifier and several other projects (Noise Killer, Z-Match, loop).?

And the Bitx40 will be ?pretty much our next toy.
So, you can imagine the enthusiasm of renewed experience, friendship and learning. There is not only solder in those meetings , also some pizzas are usually in the afterhour.?

We have the great help of a tutor in the group ?and friend, who gives his best effort in his advice.?

73 Horacio Nigro?
CX3BZ?
URUGUAY?

El 5 abr. 2017 10:42, <dfdavis@...> escribi¨®:

I think this is amazing, how many people are actually getting into the nuts and bolts of these dandy little radios.? In these days of appliance operators, this I find a huge breath of fresh air!? And I might add.... in some cases actually learning something, maybe new to them for the first time! ?


Re: I think this is absolutely amazing!

 

Hi from Uruguay. It's amazing how these little rigs have renewed the motivation. I am participating in a small group of veterans and middle aged fellows that have modified the Pixie, (~500mW - CW) to include a 700 Hz filter. We've in the process of getting all the components at local stores, and began to solder. My own circuit board is already oscillating and amplifies audio. In the coming weeks we hope to finish it and put it on the air.?

Many of us don't have either an antenna to make it resonate with the little xcvr. We plan in the coming months to build a 5 W amplifier and several other projects (Noise Killer, Z-Match, loop).?

And the Bitx40 will be ?pretty much our next toy.
So, you can imagine the enthusiasm of renewed experience, friendship and learning. There is not only solder in those meetings , also some pizzas are usually in the afterhour.?

We have the great help of a tutor in the group ?and friend, who gives his best effort in his advice.?

73 Horacio Nigro?
CX3BZ?
URUGUAY?

El 5 abr. 2017 10:42, <dfdavis@...> escribi¨®:

I think this is amazing, how many people are actually getting into the nuts and bolts of these dandy little radios.? In these days of appliance operators, this I find a huge breath of fresh air!? And I might add.... in some cases actually learning something, maybe new to them for the first time! ?


Re: Quick turn around

 

Here you go Randy N3-715

Thanks


-----Original Message-----
From: Randy Hall <listk7age@...>
To: BITX20 <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Apr 5, 2017 12:29 pm
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Quick turn around

Dave

What is your serial number? I'll add you to the list.

Randy

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 9:30 AM, davekn4ok via Groups.Io <davekn4ok@...> wrote:
Randy,

I don't see my call on the list?

Ordered March 17th and delivered the 30th.

Dave KN4OK


Re: Quick turn around

 

Dave

What is your serial number? I'll add you to the list.

Randy

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 9:30 AM, davekn4ok via Groups.Io <davekn4ok@...> wrote:
Randy,

I don't see my call on the list?

Ordered March 17th and delivered the 30th.

Dave KN4OK


Re: I think this is absolutely amazing!

 

So true. I have a few commercial rigs. It has never been this exciting! There are quite a few interesting hacks and you end up customising a rig?that fits your requirement. Interesting learning experience too - sometimes steep like the Raduino programming - something I have never done before!
73
Sasi
VK5SN


Re: SD Card

Pavel Milanes Costa
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Hi.

Adding cat is (almost) plug and play tech now (if you know how to code), see and it's examples, a working sketch on

Cheers.


El 05/04/17 a las 04:06, Simon Rumble escribi¨®:

The Raspberry Pi wouldn't be able to do any of the timing tasks fast enough I'd expect. And there's no reason you couldn't do the CAT via the Arduino. Digital modes though, you could package a R Pi in with the BitX I suppose?

On Wed, 5 Apr 2017 at 09:34 Terry Bendell via Groups.Io <terry.bendell=[email protected]> wrote:

I've been toying with the idea of removing the arduino and using a Raspberry Pi 3

to facilitate everything from mode/frequency changes to CAT control and internal

digital programs like FLDIGI WSJTX etc.? Seems a simple enough project. I use

32GB SD cards in my Pi's no shortage of space :)




Re: CO7WT Si5351A New Sketch

Pavel Milanes Costa
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Hi Dimitri,

We use what we have at hand, and 2x16 LCD is (almost) ubiquitous spare part here in Cuba, I plan to add more options like a Nokia LCD (I have) and maybe a TFT/OLED display (I don't have), but all is simply a matter of what we have.

I have started to make it LCD or Nokia capable (selection just via a compiler flag), from that point forward the selection/addition of a new display will be easily integrable, anone with a different display (OLED/TFT) can make his own "driver" and plug it to the code (contributions are welcomed, this is free/libre software)

73 and thanks for the interest and kind words about the code.

Pavel, CO7WT.


El 04/04/17 a las 05:38, Dimitar Pavlov via Groups.Io escribi¨®:

This is excellent program code, but why all are use LCD ??? this power eating devil ...


On Saturday, April 1, 2017 3:58 AM, JuanCarlos Berberena Gonzalez <juancarlos@...> wrote:


Hi Guys,
Please take a look.
This sketch was made by Pavel -CO7WT-
Qrv's
73's Jc




Re: CLAREMORE, OK Hamfest this weekend and my BITX40

 

Jack:

You beat me to it.... there's nothing keeping someone from writing a more detailed assembly manual and posting it to the wiki.

James

KE4MIQ



Re: 40 meters dead (again)

 

I was working jt65 last night and made 5 contacts @20 watts 1 was New Zealand.

On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 8:58 AM, David A Rutledge via Groups.Io <al5m@...> wrote:

I had two QSOs last night with my newly constructed BitX40. One was 1860 miles (South Texas to Washington state)! Conditions weren't great but he could pull me out of the noise. My first Qs with this rig. I never thought he would come back to my call. I was using a 43' vertical in my back yard. Thanks Ashar?Farhan!?

David

AL5M



Re: Quick turn around

 

Randy,

I don't see my call on the list?

Ordered March 17th and delivered the 30th.

Dave KN4OK


-----Original Message-----
From: Randy Hall <listk7age@...>
To: BITX20 <[email protected]>
Sent: Wed, Apr 5, 2017 9:21 am
Subject: Re: [BITX20] Quick turn around

Hi

Below is my updated delivery list. Thanks to all that have posted their information.

We should start seeing the 4th batch of serial numbers soon.

73

Randy, K7AGE

BITX40 Deliveries ¨C Randy, K7AGE 4/5/17






Farhan says:
Number is like this :AB-xyz The xyz is the serial number within the batch B. A is not a number, it is the initial of the tester. 'F' is for Farhan, 'U' is Uma, etc







SN Ordered Shipped Arrived Num of Days
V3ABN 211 10/15/16 10/19/16 11/16/16 32
VE3MIC 412 10/24/16
11/17/16 24
KK6JTL 826 11/30/16 12/2/16 12/23/16 23
K7BYI 953 11/30/16 12/2/16 12/28/16 28
K7AGE 02-139 12/23/16 12/29/16 1/9/17 17
4X4LF 02-213 12/12/16
1/23/17 42
VE6KBI 02-229



K4RJJ 234



KC9LIF 280



Ralph Mills N2-414



KC8MWG
12/25/16
1/17/17 23
VE6GPO N2-586 1/9/17 1/16/17 2/7/17 29
KE0OG 02-607 1/11/17
2/7/17 27
Chris Homer 707 11/8/16 11/11/16 12/10/16 32
DM1VA 02-734 1/13/17
2/6/17 24
KF4FGI 02-782

2/3/17
AG7CT 2-875 1/22/17 1/31/17 2/23/17 32
KC9LIF 2-790



AndyH 02-869 11/19/16 11/22/16 12/19/16 30
W1PJE 2-883 1/25/17 1/30/16 2/6/17 12
W7DKO 02-925 About two weeks 02/22/22
KI6SSI 2-929 02/03/17
02/21/17 18
Richard 02-945

2/13/17
AG7CT 02-953 1/22/17


K3RLL 02-970 1/26/17
2/9/17 14
K6PFG F3-141 2/9/17
3/8/17 27
Bill Uebele F3-171 2/8/17
3/4/17 24
KD2BBW R3-185
2/14/17

KD2BBW R3-192
2/14/17

WB2GXM F3-194

3/8/17
KC5WA F3-203 2/13/17 2/23/17 3/11/17 26
KM4WII 43-228 2/12/17
3/7/17 23
DG6TOM 3-175 2/11/17 2/23/17 3/24/17 41
W2KAP N3-253 2/15/17 2/28/17 3/10/17 23
Simon Thompson N3-263

3/14/17
KE4MIQ N3-268 2/15/17 2/27/17 3/13/17 26
W5MCU
2/18/17 3/3/17 3/14/17 24
K3OG
2/19/17 2/28/17 3/20/17 29
Dave
2/23/17 3/6/17

Jeff 3-306 2/16/17 3/2/17 3/15/17 27
K7LJG 317 3/17/17
4/3/17 17
VE7HCW 3-318 2/22/17 3/1/17 3/20/17 26
AA0MS O3-321 2/2/17
3/15/17 41
W8EIR N3-398 2/23/17 3/6/17 3/16/17 21
K5ARN 3-411 2/23/17 3/6/17 3/18/17 23
DS5SIZ
3/3/17
3/21/17 18
MI0VAX N3-448 03/05/17 3/9/17 3/17/17 12
NZ1I
3/8/17 3/18/17

Dan Acevedo N3-554 3/2/17
3/21/17 19
NZ1I N3-575 3/8/17 3/18/17 3/29/17 21
WA6ISP N3-592 3/2/17 3/13/17 3/25/17 23
DougW N3-642 3/14/17 3/22/17 3/27/17 13
KB7UMN N3-722 3/18/17 3/22/17 4/4/17 17
NB0X 3-730 3/15/17 3/22/17 4/3/17 19
VK5SN N3-771 3/20/17 3/22/17 4/5/17 16

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 10:19 PM, Sasi Nayar <sasinayar@...> wrote:
Received?by BITX40 Ver2 today. Must add it was a quick turn around
Ordered on 20 March
Shipped on 22 March
Received on 5 April (Adelaide, South Australia)
Serian no. N3-771V
73
Sasi
VK5SN



Re: 40 meters dead (again)

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Or better yet, buy a cheap SDR dongle and find signals that you know are reaching your antenna. And then you have a way to verify your frequency accuracy and a lot of other useful things. After a DMM I think an SDR is about the most useful tool you can have around the low budget ham shack.

On 4/5/2017 1:28 AM, Ryan Flowers wrote:

Find an SDR near you (I use sdr.hu) and look for strong signals on 40m and then see if you can go hear it. It helps me a lot.


--
Ryan Flowers KC7RYS?




Re: CLAREMORE, OK Hamfest this weekend and my BITX40

 

After running a small business for some time there is one thing I have learned, no matter how good you are there are going to be people that just simply hate your product. Even the most expensive radios on the market have folks that are just not happy with the product. Its just not a good fit for them.

Personally I love my bitx. If it came out of the box working exactly as I wanted I probably would not have as much fun with it. If all the mods I wanted were laid out in a step by step document, same thing, probably not as much fun. I love figuring things out its just my personality and this radio is just what I needed to get me off my butt and have some fun.


Re: You can't fix stupid - current range?

 

If this has already been answered, please just tell me to go back and search again. I have a big rectifier diode across the power input pins with fuses in both lines. I hope to make time this weekend to add a +12 Vdc regulator to the lines feeding the BitX40 board and Raduino assembly and a fused direct line to the PA. My two questions are - how much current should be budgeted for the BitX40 board including the PA (for now I'm assuming 2 A) and how much for the PA alone at 24 Vdc?
Thanks from YAN (yet another noobie)


Re: CLAREMORE, OK Hamfest this weekend and my BITX40

Jack Purdum
 

A lot of this discussion about this rig depends upon your point of view. Andrew has taken a wise approach, in that he knows up front what's involved with the rig. Agreed, many don't, but whose fault is that?

My club is an FCC testing site and we give the exams before our meeting every month. Last month was typical, with 13 Tech exams and 2 General. Many are from the university's EE department and their objective is just "to get on the air". Most end up with a 2M HT because they are cheap. When I ran into one who let his license expire, I asked why. His response: "It's no different than my cell phone." Clearly, he never left 2M. The BITX40 provides an avenue to HF for anyone who is on a lawn-mower budget.

The BITX40 is a vehicle that allows such people to experience HF at a reasonable cost. When I'm done modifying mine, I plan on suggesting it for a club build. Because we have new members who don't even own a soldering iron yet, many are afraid to tackle building anything. This is why I take the time to write assembly manuals for such projects (e.g., the Forty-9er rig, the antenna analyzer). I understand John Smith's frustration with the directions. I've also seen he follows what goes on here, so perhaps he could write a set of new instructions and post them here and give distribution rights to HF Signals. I think all of us would appreciate that and I think we'd see the volume of posts from new members fall dramatically if he does.

Still, it's pretty hard to throw stones at the BITX40. It really does fulfill a hole in the market. It's a perfect solution to my club's Tech disappearance problem. I've been licensed since 1954 and I consider my BITX40 experience to be one of the best I've ever had. I've learned more electronics "stuff" in the past year than everything that came before. Yes, I've shot myself in the foot a few times, but the members of this group, either directly or indirectly, have helped my bind my wounds. It's one of the most useful groups I've ever belonged to.

How many of us have our gun loaded, new metal shoes on, and can't wait for the microBITX to hit the market??

Jack, W8TEE





From: Andrew Whaley <azwhaley@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 10:36 AM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] CLAREMORE, OK Hamfest this weekend and my BITX40

Just to balance. I'm a new ham, not even licensed yet but gathering my equipment slowly in readiness. I spent ages researching what to get after realising that 2m is pretty dead around here and HF is the way to go. There are actually very few options for a low-cost rig capable of CW (and SSB) which is tuneable i.e. not a single crystal like the various eBay QRP rigs.?
So I came to BitX40 and ordered the board and the various other bits and pieces that I needed. Through my own impatience, I've had a rough time with it and had to replace one Arduino and wrestled with a diecast box that was really too small which caused its own problems.?
I have to say, though, the basic design is brilliantly simple (and well documented and with open source software), Ashhar's service all the way from India has been exemplary and the encouragement and direct support I've had from other members of this community has been amazing. ?
I still have a few issues to sort out on the CW side, but the basic SSB rig worked right out of the box. I had no issues with wiring up that weren't due to my own inexperience or hast.?
It's a brilliant bit of kit - like a kind of Raspberry Pi for QRP. Can't wait to get on-air and speak to more of you there.