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Perhaps not a bitx question so much as a n00b ham question, but this is home so here I'll ask. I finally have my bitx working-ish. I can rx (barely) and when I tx I get measurable output to the antenna.
On rx, I can hear people talking, but it's very distorted. Additionally there is such a pronounced background noise that, even if the rx weren't so badly distorted I most likely wouldn't be able to hear it. I have no idea how to chase this rabbit down it's hole, can I get a hint?
73, Richard
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Here are some very basic things to check, sorry if they are too simple, I don't mean to insult:
Try different times of day/night.
You have to tune to the exact frequency or the voices will be distorted.
Are you using LSB? If you are on USB it will be distorted.
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I also found out that the drive setting if too high increases the noise from the speaker. My 2x Raduino's are set at 2mA drive, now and the RX is nice and clear. maybe nothing? But as I can barely hear the RSGB news broadcast from DL land on my FT1000 and inverted L, It now sounds the same on my Bitx40.
Phil- G7BZD?
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 3:35 AM, KC8WBK via Groups.Io <cruisenewsnet@...> wrote: Here are some very basic things to check, sorry if they are too simple, I don't mean to insult:
Try different times of day/night.
You have to tune to the exact frequency or the voices will be distorted.
Are you using LSB? If you are on USB it will be distorted.
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Also note that there is currently a solar storm going on, this may also
explain the increased noise on 40m..
see
73 Allard PE1NWL
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On Sun, May 28, 2017 11:07, philip yates wrote: I also found out that the drive setting if too high increases the noise
from the speaker.
My 2x Raduino's are set at 2mA drive, now and the RX is nice and clear.
maybe nothing?
But as I can barely hear the RSGB news broadcast from DL land on my FT1000
and inverted L,
It now sounds the same on my Bitx40.
Phil- G7BZD
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 3:35 AM, KC8WBK via Groups.Io <
cruisenewsnet@...> wrote:
Here are some very basic things to check, sorry if they are too simple,
I
don't mean to insult:
Try different times of day/night.
You have to tune to the exact frequency or the voices will be distorted.
Are you using LSB? If you are on USB it will be distorted.
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My noise was quieter one end of the band to the other than dropped off towards the top, now its fairly even, and the audio also sounds better, theres also more stations now to listen too.
Did try both Raduino's, now they are both the same. And the AGC ( not LDR/AGC ) seems to function better.
Phil - G7BZD
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 12:41 PM, Allard PE1NWL <pe1nwl@...> wrote: Also note that there is currently a solar storm going on, this may also
explain the increased noise on 40m..
see
73 Allard PE1NWL
On Sun, May 28, 2017 11:07, philip yates wrote:
> I also found out that the drive setting if too high increases the noise
> from the speaker.
> My 2x Raduino's are set at 2mA drive, now and the RX is nice and clear.
> maybe nothing?
> But as I can barely hear the RSGB news broadcast from DL land on my FT1000
> and inverted L,
> It now sounds the same on my Bitx40.
>
>
> Phil- G7BZD
>
> On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 3:35 AM, KC8WBK via Groups.Io <
> cruisenewsnet=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
>
>> Here are some very basic things to check, sorry if they are too simple,
>> I
>> don't mean to insult:
>>
>> Try different times of day/night.
>>
>> You have to tune to the exact frequency or the voices will be distorted.
>>
>> Are you using LSB? If you are on USB it will be distorted.
>>
>>
>>
>
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Phil, how did you set your drive level? I see LSBdrive in the code but, not having had my first coffee yet, I don't see where it is adjustable.
73, Richard 
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 5:07 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote: I also found out that the drive setting if too high increases the noise from the speaker. My 2x Raduino's are set at 2mA drive, now and the RX is nice and clear. maybe nothing? But as I can barely hear the RSGB news broadcast from DL land on my FT1000 and inverted L, It now sounds the same on my Bitx40.
Phil- G7BZD?
-- W2KAP In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
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The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the frontpanel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).
See the operating instructions at
73 Allard PE1NWL
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On Sun, May 28, 2017 14:19, richard kappler wrote: Phil, how did you set your drive level? I see LSBdrive in the code but,
not
having had my first coffee yet, I don't see where it is adjustable.
73, Richard
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Hi Richard.
As detailed by Allard...
Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.
The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).
See the operating instructions at
Phil - G7BZD
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 1:36 PM, Allard PE1NWL <pe1nwl@...> wrote: The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the frontpanel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).
See the operating instructions at
73 Allard PE1NWL
On Sun, May 28, 2017 14:19, richard kappler wrote:
> Phil, how did you set your drive level? I see LSBdrive in the code but,
> not
> having had my first coffee yet, I don't see where it is adjustable.
>
> 73, Richard
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I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.
On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:45 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote: Hi Richard.
As detailed by Allard...
Running Raduino v1.10 here at the moment, requires the function push to make button connected, as detailed in the instructions.
The VFO drive levels for LSB and USB can be set from the front panel with
the function button (SETTINGS menu).
See the operating instructions at
-- W2KAP In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
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Hi Richard.
Could be your aerial, sounds like it gets out, but as for RX ? I have an inverted L up, small garden so not room for anything big. I did start to listen for the nets last night, as here its a holiday today, but we had another night with thunderstorms. Typical long weekend, weather is crap and not radio friendly.
Anyone else have any other suggestions.
Phil - G7BZD
On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:50 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote: I have set LSB drive level to 2ma, this made barely noticeable improvement, if any at all. I can hear strong signals, but no one can hear me, and I'm quite sure the radio needs to be calibrated. We had our weekly net last night for my club, and one of my colleagues was kind enough to come up on 7.280 for me. I heard nothing, she could not hear my calls of CQ. We were concurrently on 2m through the local repeater to coordinate our efforts and she described to me the traffic she was hearing and I got nary a whiff of it. I think my cal might be well out. Going to try to come up with a scheme today to correct that. Beyond that, I think my problems are not the radio, I think it's my locale. When I run the B40 without an antenna connected, she's pretty quiet. Just enough static to let me know she's running. As soon as I attach the antenna it's a blast of RF static. Once I figure out how to verify and set my calibration, I plan to go out to someplace that's fairly rf "quiet" to see what there is to see. There's a state forest just north of me that ought to suit my purposes. The additional benefit there is I can run a dipole, whereas here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna. It is, however, what I am allowed to put up.
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I have not heard of the inverted L. If it is what I imagine from the name, I "might" be able to get away with one of those, though it would have to be against, literally up to and touching, my building. Dunno if that would work. Ahh, more research, the joys of this hobby! ;-)
73, Richard 
On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 8:59 AM, philip yates <phil@...> wrote: Hi Richard.
Could be your aerial, sounds like it gets out, but as for RX ? I have an inverted L up, small garden so not room for anything big. I did start to listen for the nets last night, as here its a holiday today, but we had another night with thunderstorms. Typical long weekend, weather is crap and not radio friendly.
Anyone else have any other suggestions.
Phil - G7BZD
-- W2KAP In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse.
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Richard.
Inverted L....?
A design by GM0ONX. Save you the research.
Phil - G7BZD
On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 2:01 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote: I have not heard of the inverted L. If it is what I imagine from the name, I "might" be able to get away with one of those, though it would have to be against, literally up to and touching, my building. Dunno if that would work. Ahh, more research, the joys of this hobby! ;-)
73, Richard
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That inverted L looks like good advice. ?It's actually a quarter wave vertical. ? You don't need the 7mhz trap if you are only operating on 40m, just a quarter wavelength of wire (about 10 meters worth) going up as high as you can get it and then over for the remainder of the wire. ?Bu need a really good ground, best if you can have a bunch of ground rods sunk deep, all tied together in parallel. ?Ideally include a tuner and swr meter, as impedance of that antenna will likely not be 50 ohms. ?I'd guess the calibration of most any stock bitx40 is off by less than a khz, so if you have a friend transmitting nearby you'd probably hear something, then a slight tweak of the tuning knob should make it sound right. ?I suggest you go visit some other ham's shack, have them plug your bitx40 into their known good antenna to see how it does.
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On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 05:50 am, richard kappler wrote:
here I'm running a tapped coil whip, which I realize is not the best antenna
?
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Most folks using vertical antennas have lots of radials, finding that ground rods don't always work very well. ?Could try placing a single quarter wave radial along the base of the wall, so you effectively have a dipole. ?The graphics for that "inverted L" make me cringe, imagining all the rainwater that would enter the exposed end of the coax. ?Another option is the end fed halfwave, makes a good stealth or portable antenna though it requires an appropriate tuner where it transitions to coax.
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On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 05:23 pm, Jerry Gaffke wrote:
Bu(t) need a really good ground, best if you can have a bunch of ground rods sunk deep, all tied together in parallel. ?
?
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Allard PE1NWL