On 6 Jan 2020, at 19:49, Andy_501 <andrew.webb.501.ve4per@...> wrote:

Propagation here at my qth is and has been very poor for a long time.

In the documentation it states startup setup menu on power up and adjust
for 10MHz base ref freq exactly then set the BFO freq.

I am unable to get a base ref freq of 10 MHz to start with; mine will
only adjust to 10500. I have set BFO to 11.055.

I am unable to hear strong HF white noise and/or any of the CHU Canada
or WWV time broadcasts but I can obtain a couple of AM broadcast
stations; however the demodulated audio not being in AM mode is Donald
Ducky sounding but partially intelligent albeit rather weak both on
built in speaker and/or on ext powered amplified USB speaker connected
via the SPKR jack.

I am unable to tune through either side of the signal to get to get rid
of the donald duck sounding?? quality audio signal to listen to.

Seems as though audio passband is so narrow or restricted that listening
to a full sideband { 300-3000 Hz} is not possible. Is there a
calibration or software adjustment I can make on an immediate or test
basis using the Arduino immediate editor to adjust this. I am not very
happy with the receive so far.

I have the Arduino IDE installed per online instructions but not experienced
in using it regularly yet. (haven't got enough practical time/experience to sort
out the 17M unselectable fix yet even.

Also I noticed when I set the freq to anything below 1 MHz like 920KHz,
990Khz or 680 KHz and save it the VFO indicator adds an extra zero in
the display so 990AM KHz would appear as 9.9MHz on the display but the
audio signal is the 990 AM audio. If I select 1290 KHz?? AM the VFO
display reads correctly and audio is what I expect to hear (except for
the water barrel or Donald Ducky audio quality).

I have a kiwiSDR registered on sdr.hu under my callsign name and it can
produce reasonable sigs for WWV and CHU yet the BITXv6 doesn't when I
compare it.

Any suggestions? all help/tips gratefully accepted.

73 de ve4per / Andy

Have you set the BFO?

On 6 Jan 2020, at 19:49, Andy_501 <andrew.webb.501.ve4per@...> wrote:

Propagation here at my qth is and has been very poor for a long time.

In the documentation it states startup setup menu on power up and adjust
for 10MHz base ref freq exactly then set the BFO freq.

I am unable to get a base ref freq of 10 MHz to start with; mine will
only adjust to 10500. I have set BFO to 11.055.

I am unable to hear strong HF white noise and/or any of the CHU Canada
or WWV time broadcasts but I can obtain a couple of AM broadcast
stations; however the demodulated audio not being in AM mode is Donald
Ducky sounding but partially intelligent albeit rather weak both on
built in speaker and/or on ext powered amplified USB speaker connected
via the SPKR jack.

I am unable to tune through either side of the signal to get to get rid
of the donald duck sounding?? quality audio signal to listen to.

Seems as though audio passband is so narrow or restricted that listening
to a full sideband { 300-3000 Hz} is not possible. Is there a
calibration or software adjustment I can make on an immediate or test
basis using the Arduino immediate editor to adjust this. I am not very
happy with the receive so far.

I have the Arduino IDE installed per online instructions but not experienced
in using it regularly yet. (haven't got enough practical time/experience to sort
out the 17M unselectable fix yet even.

Also I noticed when I set the freq to anything below 1 MHz like 920KHz,
990Khz or 680 KHz and save it the VFO indicator adds an extra zero in
the display so 990AM KHz would appear as 9.9MHz on the display but the
audio signal is the 990 AM audio. If I select 1290 KHz?? AM the VFO
display reads correctly and audio is what I expect to hear (except for
the water barrel or Donald Ducky audio quality).

I have a kiwiSDR registered on sdr.hu under my callsign name and it can
produce reasonable sigs for WWV and CHU yet the BITXv6 doesn't when I
compare it.

Any suggestions? all help/tips gratefully accepted.

73 de ve4per / Andy

Oddly, I was able to tune my BFO by tuning into a net on 40 meters (I think it was at 7.185 or so) and getting Net Control very loud. It was like a miracle when all of a sudden I could hear a human voice on my radio! After that, CW sounded good too.

I am really happy with this little thing; I never managed to build a Heathkit (Griefkit), as they were out of business when I came along (their products were expensive, even in kit form - you were better off buying a Swan), so this has been en experience! I am hoping I can get a Baofeng mic to work on this thing, so I can see if transmit works. Also, going to wire up an old straight key to see if I can send CW - hope this thing does not have a built in keyer...

73 all!

Alex Netherton

On Mon, Jan 6, 2020 at 2:50 PM Andy_501 <andrew.webb.501.ve4per@...> wrote:

Propagation here at my qth is and has been very poor for a long time.

In the documentation it states startup setup menu on power up and adjust
for 10MHz base ref freq exactly then set the BFO freq.

I am unable to get a base ref freq of 10 MHz to start with; mine will
only adjust to 10500. I have set BFO to 11.055.

I am unable to hear strong HF white noise and/or any of the CHU Canada
or WWV time broadcasts but I can obtain a couple of AM broadcast
stations; however the demodulated audio not being in AM mode is Donald
Ducky sounding but partially intelligent albeit rather weak both on
built in speaker and/or on ext powered amplified USB speaker connected
via the SPKR jack.

I am unable to tune through either side of the signal to get to get rid
of the donald duck sounding?? quality audio signal to listen to.

Seems as though audio passband is so narrow or restricted that listening
to a full sideband { 300-3000 Hz} is not possible. Is there a
calibration or software adjustment I can make on an immediate or test
basis using the Arduino immediate editor to adjust this. I am not very
happy with the receive so far.

I have the Arduino IDE installed per online instructions but not experienced
in using it regularly yet. (haven't got enough practical time/experience to sort
out the 17M unselectable fix yet even.

??Also I noticed when I set the freq to anything below 1 MHz like 920KHz,
990Khz or 680 KHz and save it the VFO indicator adds an extra zero in
the display so 990AM KHz would appear as 9.9MHz on the display but the
audio signal is the 990 AM audio. If I select 1290 KHz?? AM the VFO
display reads correctly and audio is what I expect to hear (except for
the water barrel or Donald Ducky audio quality).

I have a kiwiSDR registered on under my callsign name and it can
produce reasonable sigs for WWV and CHU yet the BITXv6 doesn't when I
compare it.

Any suggestions? all help/tips gratefully accepted.

73 de ve4per / Andy

--
Alex Netherton, W5ALX
Buncombe County NC, EM85ro