Pete, The two connectors are both I2C buses. one goes to the RTC (choose any), the other is a spare if you itch to add something more (like tx bandpass filters or an ATU). - f
Thanks for the info. We all appreciate your hard work and responsiveness.
Just curious why there are two 4 pin female headers where the RTC plugs in. I noticed it when I added the battery. They appear, at a glance, to be wired the identically but I didn't ring them out. BTW... beautiful layout work inside.?
Pete WK8S
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Thanks for the info. We all appreciate your hard work and responsiveness.
Just curious why there are two 4 pin female headers where the RTC plugs in. I noticed it when I added the battery. They appear, at a glance, to be wired the identically but I didn't ring them out. BTW... beautiful layout work inside.?
Pete WK8S
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Re: I need a proper sBitx V2 image!
The main power supply went into protect mode. I then connected the rig to a different power supply so that I could adjust the voltage and monitor input current. I opened up the V2 box to inspect for obvious problems. It looked clean, but the rig drew over 7 amps with an input of only about 3 volts, and the metal clamp for the IRFZ24Ns was getting warm. Then the current dropped to zero.
The board layout looks nice. I will try to switch out the finals with care.
Jack
N6LN
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Re: I need a proper sBitx V2 image!
John, I am not sure if I read it?correctly, was the power supply set to 3v or did it drop to 3v from 13.7v to 3v? A high current low voltage of less than 5v is bound to propagate more damage than just the transistors.? On way to test this is is to snip out the PA transistor leads and power up again. - f
On Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 7:19 AM John Terrell, N6LN < N6LN@...> wrote: The SD card that came with the new sBitx V2 wouldn¡¯t boot. (I¡¯ve tried different Raspberry Pi 4s.)
I¡¯ve tried several times to install fresh images from scratch, downloaded from Ashhar¡¯s site (the v1.0 works with limitations) but if I do a fresh git clone and git pull, and meticulously install by all the steps in install.txt, and the recompile with ¡°./build sBitx¡± I get no audio, no receive signal and no power output. I only get a clean, featureless waterfall. See the photo.
I was trying different SD cards with different images when I got a short. I was not transmitting¡ªit was at idle. It¡¯s probably one on the final MOSFETs because I connected it to an adjustable power supply and at 3 volts something was drawing about 7 amps, and the metal clamp for the finals was getting warm. By the way my regular power supply is a linear unit that can put out 12 amps, with a current limiting protection circuit, and I recently also put a 15v Zener in the supply to protect against higher voltage spikes in the line just in case. The normal output is about 13.7 volts.
One other thing I noticed on the inside, of which everyone should be mindful: there is a misprint on the pcb where the power comes in. The ground pin is printed ¡°+¡± and the real positive trace is inferior. The white printed ¡°+¡± and ¡°-¡° marks on the outside are correct, happily.?
I¡¯m assuming when I put in new finals I¡¯ll be back where I started.?
What I need, and I think I speak for anyone in a similar situation, is access to download a working image for the V2 because there is something that is not working when downloading the currently available software and doing a git pull. I have assumed that I¡¯ve made a mistake but I¡¯ve tried three times and the sound still doesn¡¯t come through the way it does with the old image.
Thanks,
Jack
N6LN  
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Can you do the folllowing: 1. Paste the contents of cleanup.sh here. 2. Check that the file sbitx.db is in the /home/pi/sbitx/data folder? - f
On Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 6:39 AM Bob Benedict, KD8CGH < rkayakr@...> wrote: I did a .update and ./cleanup.sh, rebooted and the logger still doesn't add entries for me.
Any other ideas?
73
??? Bob? KD8CGH
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I need a proper sBitx V2 image!
The SD card that came with the new sBitx V2 wouldn¡¯t boot. (I¡¯ve tried different Raspberry Pi 4s.)
I¡¯ve tried several times to install fresh images from scratch, downloaded from Ashhar¡¯s site (the v1.0 works with limitations) but if I do a fresh git clone and git pull, and meticulously install by all the steps in install.txt, and the recompile with ¡°./build sBitx¡± I get no audio, no receive signal and no power output. I only get a clean, featureless waterfall. See the photo.
I was trying different SD cards with different images when I got a short. I was not transmitting¡ªit was at idle. It¡¯s probably one on the final MOSFETs because I connected it to an adjustable power supply and at 3 volts something was drawing about 7 amps, and the metal clamp for the finals was getting warm. By the way my regular power supply is a linear unit that can put out 12 amps, with a current limiting protection circuit, and I recently also put a 15v Zener in the supply to protect against higher voltage spikes in the line just in case. The normal output is about 13.7 volts.
One other thing I noticed on the inside, of which everyone should be mindful: there is a misprint on the pcb where the power comes in. The ground pin is printed ¡°+¡± and the real positive trace is inferior. The white printed ¡°+¡± and ¡°-¡° marks on the outside are correct, happily.?
I¡¯m assuming when I put in new finals I¡¯ll be back where I started.?
What I need, and I think I speak for anyone in a similar situation, is access to download a working image for the V2 because there is something that is not working when downloading the currently available software and doing a git pull. I have assumed that I¡¯ve made a mistake but I¡¯ve tried three times and the sound still doesn¡¯t come through the way it does with the old image.
Thanks,
Jack
N6LN  
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I did a .update and ./cleanup.sh, rebooted and the logger still doesn't add entries for me.
Any other ideas?
73
??? Bob? KD8CGH
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I received the same error when building from?
?git clone https://github.com/afarhan/sbitx??
?
error in file https://github.com/afarhan/sbitx/blob/main/logbook.c?
?line 30:? #include <sqlite3.h>?
?
I need to perform the following:?
sudo apt-get install libsqlite3-dev
?
which added the missing?
/usr/include/sqlite3.h
?
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Same I'm having here. Tried to plug / re-plug the boards. No deal. I2C communication to the Si5351 seems dead (dunno exactly what is dead, but the Raspberry does not manage to talk to it).
For eg, trying to ptt I get:
i2cbb.c:writing address failed at 8
Ashhar, how do you debug the I2C lines?
Rafael
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On 4/27/23 23:43, loopMasta via groups.io wrote: On Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 10:15 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
Is the spectrum active?
Yes, but it only shows noise, birdies or intermodulation artefacts. It dosen't change if I plug or unplug the antenna. Even if I touch the antenna input coils I get nothing. On all bands. I tried all modes, RF gain, restarts, different antennas, etc.. The program and UI seem to work just fine. I haven't tried to TX so far.
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Re: Clock battery pics and mod
Petr,
I just checked my WiFi and I am able to connect fine with two bars which is good for my shack. It doesn't seem to affect it at all.
Joel
N6ALT
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Re: Clock battery pics and mod
Petr,
I used these, the MCU one rests against the clock crystal on the main board. I haven't tried WiFi yet as I use a Ethernet cable plugged into the Pi. I don't know what problems could come from the heat sink so close to the clock crystal so I may have to remove it.
Joel
N6ALT
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On Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 10:15 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:
Is the spectrum active?
Yes, but it only shows noise, birdies or intermodulation artefacts. It dosen't change if I plug or unplug the antenna. Even if I touch the antenna input coils I get nothing. On all bands. I tried all modes, RF gain, restarts, different antennas, etc.. The program and UI seem to work just fine. I haven't tried to TX so far.
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On Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 09:57 PM, Joel Caulkins/N6ALT wrote:
Do you have the if gain turned up?
Yes. But only the noise level raises. No signals. No bigger broadcast stations or FT8
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Re: Clock battery pics and mod
Joel
can you share which heatsink you used pls?
I guess there is not so much room between boards so I am interested in which one fits.?
Also, did you tested the Wifi coverage with heatsink added? Some people reports problem with Wifi signal when heatsink is mounted¡
Many thanks,
-P #5
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Hi,
Do you have the if gain turned up?
Joel
N6ALT
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New addition to the group, here.
Thanks for letting me join!
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I just got my?sbitx v2 board yesterday ( 0058 ) and did some rx tests today but the board seems to be completely deaf. Nothing. Even strong signal do not show up. I did some teste with the same antenna and another receiver and everything works as expected so it must be some problem with the rx on the sbitx v2 board. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Re: ptt ubitx v6 ext amplifier
#v6
Hi Merle,
Logically, it looks like that would work.? However you need a current limiting resistor to the LED.
I haven't built and tested the circuit.? But a starting point bias would be ~1.64V, 10mA.
So (5V-1.64V)/10 mA = 336 ohms.? Choose standard E12 resistor value of 333 Ohms.
(this can be placed? in series with the red +5V line you drew)
The nano output is rated for 40mA max, so you should be OK.? But stay aware of the extra loading.
I used the TLB 3558A for a conceptual design to control a AL-811H amp (with 100mA of current to sink)
Most likely not the most cost effective IC. (given the product cost and the postage when you have to pay for it)
The Chinese amp doesn't need the PTT controller to sink nearly that much current.
So please don't get stuck on the TLB 3558A??because I happen to throw it out there.
Be happy with yourself that you are walking through the problem and learning.
The more you put in, the more others will put in to help you.?
There are many satisfactory solutions.? Most are biased to parts on hand, or cheap to acquire.
Rgds,
Gary
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John Terrell, N6LN
Bob Benedict, KD8CGH
N0YWB
Joel Caulkins/N6ALT
Stefan Beck