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Hi all,

Brand new Foundation licensee here in the UK, looking forward to building a radio (BITX40 or UBitX) as part of my license upgrade practical. Having studied a number of topics? and you tube videos here's the initials mods I'd like to include;

• 1.8" TFT screen for text output
• rotary encoder for frequency tuning and tuning step adjustment

I was planning to go multiband with a BITX40 but I see the Elves have been busy. I'm torn as to whether to get the '40 as I'll be able to afford this sooner or go for the Multiband UBITX. Or I could do both....

Looking forward to sharing my progress once I get started.

I've been in a similar situation myself. when I got my own foundation licence. I went down the single band route (sadly not a bitx as the modules were not available at the time) and I didn't regret it. I chose 40m as it's a great all-round band, there's always an opening to somewhere!

sticking to one band also keeps the antenna/matching simple. allowing you to concentrate on getting a good basic setup going, before moving on to more complex setups.

my advise is to stick with one band and get the most out of that before moving on. although the new ubitx does look bloody tempting!

Jack,
?Thanks.? That reminded me of some links I saved on feed lines to share with others.


I opted for RG-8U for my first coax since it's fairly inexpensive and a good balance of cost vs loss.?? After that the price quickly jumps.? But both resources are a start.? Remind you I'm only doing HF at this point with a HF rig and a 40M dipole.? I've reached over 6,000miles with this setup with 50watts.

?Here is a couple of videos by Dave Casler that talks about feed lines etc.
- This one I think is extremely helpful in understanding coaxes and losses, etc.

?
?I love his videos.? They're pretty straightforward and down to earth explanations of things related to ham radio.

73, Michael
KM4OLT

Well done on getting your licence!?

I started with the BITX40, it's an amazing bit of kit and was perfect for my budget. I like how well it's supported too and you can go very far adding to the bare bones kit.?

I've had that now for about 6 months or so and haven't tired with it tinkering. I have just ordered a uBITX and it looks as if postage is after the 25th now, I'm happy to wait though!

I'd say start with the single band board and there's no such thing as too many radios anyway!!

73, Alex

Yeah, I am really surprised by the amount of thinking that I've put into an antenna.? It hurt to spend $20 on ferrites for a balun for the dipole (now morphing into OCFD an account of the pending ?BitX), so wire was going to be a challenge to do on the cheap.

Then I remembered the 100 foot extension cord in the garage that I had snagged with the hedge trimmer...