Difference between sBitx V3.01 and V3.02 Board
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I recently acquired a second V3 sBitx and while doing some mods on it I noticed that the board version is now V3.02. Does anybody know what the changes are? Some things I noticed are that a lot of the through hole resistors are now surface mount devices, the silk screen now shows the proper polarity of the power connector, and the SWR meter diodes are now SMD also. Are there any other changes that anyone has noticed?
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Joel
N6ALT |
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And I also have a related question. Would simple zener diodes work on the gates? Or are they too leaky? Well, I guess that is two questions... lol. David On Sun, Nov 17, 2024 at 8:32?PM Mike Johnshoy via <mike.johnshoy=[email protected]> wrote: Does the board include gate protection on the final MOSFETs? |
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I keep seeing all this worry about the finals and gate protection and I get it. I have had the V3 finals in my radio since last May (aprox. 7 months at this point) with no TVS diodes or ESD either and it works perfectly. I know the danger is real, but I also know the finals are pretty inexpensive and my plan was to install TVS diodes when these finals died¡but they havent for some reason. I use mine for POTA alot (you can find numerous blog posts on my website sharing these events) and I love deploying it. ESPECIALLY with JJ¡¯s newest version of the software with the color coding on the FT8 information.? All that to say, dont let the lack of gate protection stop you from having fun with your sBitx. I am sure Ashar would agree. David - WK4DS On Thu, Nov 21, 2024 at 03:51 Jon via <vu2jo0=[email protected]> wrote:
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David, I agree with you 100%. I have a DE, a V2, and two V3 sBitx's, and we can't forget a uBitx V4 and a V6, and...... a Bitx 40, I am running the original finals from HFSignals on all of them, I have never blown one MOSFET! I did install the TVS diodes on the sBitx's that didn't come with them from the factory because when you are dealing with software controlling the drive to the finals thing can suddenly go south without you even knowing it. I don't think the diodes have ever actually kicked in, but at least they are there in case something happens. The best thing we can do for all our ham gear is to use resonate antennas or be sure the antenna is properly tuned before transmitting. In any case we don't let that scare us away from having fun with our radios including the sBitx. 73
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Joel
N6ALT |
Joel Caulkins/N6ALT
WK4DS