In praise of the BitX and this community
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richard kappler
My wife and I had a discussion last night. She was very concerned that I have yet to find any real success with the B40 or this hobby at all other than through the local repeater on my HT. She was worried that I was going to get to discouraged and walk away from the hobby, which I have only been in for a few months now. ?I was unemployed for quite some time as well as had some health issues, so there hasn't been much money to divert to ham radio, which is what drew me to the BitX in the first place. I told her on the contrary that, had I had a butt ton (metric, not standard) of money to throw at the hobby from the beginning, I might well have gotten bored. It would have been too easy (Plug cord A into slot B, turn switch C to the D position, Bob's yer Uncle, you're on HF!) Having had to try to do this on less than a shoestring, I have had to learn so much more than I most likely would with commercial rigs and fancy accessories. I have had my radio's guts all over the desk numerous times. I have had to build tools to help troubleshoot it and learn how to use them. I've made horrifying mistakes and learned loads from each and every one, I've had miniscule successes that felt like monumental victories. I have yet to make a contact on my BitX or arguably even get it running right, but I sure have had fun trying, and have learned so much in the process! 73, Richard W2KAP In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse. |
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philip yates
Richard. Thats the spirit, I last built a kit in the early 90's, struggled to get it to work, but it did. I sit here with a decent black box shack... FT1000MP MK5 etc, but since getting the Bitx40 it has barely been turned on, the other bench is covered in bits of radio and the Bitx is amongst a pile of wires, its a wonder it still works when powered up. Wish I was closer would have popped in to help, but being in the UK not much chance. Hope someone in the group closer can help, if not keep asking the questions. Have you seen the Facebook groups for the Bitx, I had quite a bit of help of there programming the Raduino. Theres a wealth of knowledge out there and others are very willing for us to succeed. I am now gathering parts to finish my Bitx40, then when the uBitx comes out, I may go for that. As we say at work, if the magic smoke has not been released theres not a lot wrong, and you have to be doing something right. Regards Phil - G7BZD On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:58 PM, richard kappler <richkappler@...> wrote:
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开云体育Good on you Sir! That is what ham radio is all about, learning and experimenting. You are already head and shoulders above the appliance operator! ? v/r Fred W4JLE Building semi operable rigs since 1956. ? ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of richard kappler ? My wife and I had a discussion last night. She was very concerned that I have yet to find any real success with the B40 or this hobby at all other than through the local repeater on my HT. She was worried that I was going to get to discouraged and walk away from the hobby, which I have only been in for a few months now. ? ?I was unemployed for quite some time as well as had some health issues, so there hasn't been much money to divert to ham radio, which is what drew me to the BitX in the first place. I told her on the contrary that, had I had a butt ton (metric, not standard) of money to throw at the hobby from the beginning, I might well have gotten bored. It would have been too easy (Plug cord A into slot B, turn switch C to the D position, Bob's yer Uncle, you're on HF!) ? Having had to try to do this on less than a shoestring, I have had to learn so much more than I most likely would with commercial rigs and fancy accessories. I have had my radio's guts all over the desk numerous times. I have had to build tools to help troubleshoot it and learn how to use them. I've made horrifying mistakes and learned loads from each and every one, I've had miniscule successes that felt like monumental victories. I have yet to make a contact on my BitX or arguably even get it running right, but I sure have had fun trying, and have learned so much in the process! ? 73, Richard ? -- W2KAP In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself to protect the fuse. ? |