Trouble ahead

people,

I wanted you to hear it here first. there is a global shortage?of chips. they are saying it is a due to a double?whammy - covid shutdown hit the semiconductor fabs and a huge pressure on them to produce chips for computers?and phones that people are ordering as they work from homes, leaving out the less important lines line like the? RF ICs.

Many might have noticed that online stores are running out of other radios. This is the main reason. We are doing everything possible to keep the bitx radios rolling out. Luckily, our radio needs just two chips that are not generic : the si5351 and the arduino. We are securing these supplies for the next few months. there is a slight chance that we may be running low on the supplies.

Until now, HF Signals delivered the radios ex-stock, we plan to continue to do that but do expect some delays of a few days in the shipments in the future. At present, the stocks are fine.

- f

#86991

Every body seems to be suffering from this shortage it seems.
In regards to the si5351, there now exists a pin and software compatible chinese clone the ms5351.
Reportedly some nanovna clones now have ms5351 instead of si5351 due to sourcing and pricing problems.?

Maybe I should source a few of those and characterize their phase noise/jitter and frequency ranges to see if they'd be a viable 2nd source for radio projects.

-Ismo OH2FTG

#86993

Are the ubitx v6 kits in stock? I want to order a kit plus a extra chassis. I sent an emil to hfkits?

?

73 Mije N2MS

Show quoted text

On 03/20/2021 2:49 PM Ashhar Farhan <farhanbox@...> wrote:

?

?

people,
I wanted you to hear it here first. there is a global shortage?of chips. they are saying it is a due to a double?whammy - covid shutdown hit the semiconductor fabs and a huge pressure on them to produce chips for computers?and phones that people are ordering as they work from homes, leaving out the less important lines line like the? RF ICs.

Many might have noticed that online stores are running out of other radios. This is the main reason. We are doing everything possible to keep the bitx radios rolling out. Luckily, our radio needs just two chips that are not generic : the si5351 and the arduino. We are securing these supplies for the next few months. there is a slight chance that we may be running low on the supplies.

Until now, HF Signals delivered the radios ex-stock, we plan to continue to do that but do expect some delays of a few days in the shipments in the future. At present, the stocks are fine.

- f

#86994

Sounds like some ubitx should be available now. Don't? panic.?

Automobile factories are in dire straights, except in Korea where they have ample supply for their vehicles.??

Hang in there, we have bigger global concerns than supply of radio kits, well except for those employed in serving us.?

Curt

#86995

The good news is that Mouser has 30000 of the Si5351A-B ordered.
Bad news:? They are scheduled to arrive Christmas week of 2021:
? ??

Digikey has 1123 in stock of the Si5351A-B04486-GT variant.
? ??https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/silicon-laboratories-inc/SI5351A-B04486-GT/5799560
The datasheet addendum says they have an i2c address of 0x62, the standard part is at 0x60.
So change the firmware to try both, see which address responds.
? ??file:///home/chronos/u-ba688dba5e13d507cb8c8d472169a2b5e212d72b/MyFiles/Downloads/Si5351A-B04486-GT_datasheet_addendum.pdf
These?power up with a specific set of frequencies already on the outputs, but that shouldn't matter.
If anybody wants to ship product with an Si5351, they should buy a few hundred.

The Nano?
Excellent excuse to roll the Raduino for a better processor.
We might even think about alternatives to the Si5351A-B.

This year should be a good opportunity to sell the uBitx.
All the other rigs with the fancy DSP chips will have a much harder time.

Jerry, KE7ER

#86996

Arrow has 7500 parts of the si5351a-b02382-gtr, minimum order of 2500
? ??
Can't find a datasheet addendum, but again, our only needed change is likely a different i2c address.

I suspect there are a bunch of other distributors with oddball stock like this.
Having various i2c address is a pain, but less so than going out of business for a year.
If only used on a new Raduino that has a better processor, not much pain at all.

Jerry, KE7ER

#86997

For a processor, could go to an STM32F* in a popular package, placed directly on a new Raduino layout.
Lots of alternatives if a particular flavor dries up
? ?

#86998

I’m in Texas, and a month ago we had a historic winter storm that shut down the whole state for a week. 

One of the unexpected results was that many petrochemical manufacturers had their plants go offline. Now most of their products have extended lead times for new orders, and unpredictable lead times for existing orders. 

One of my preferred suppliers of specialty molding compounds has already issued price hike and stock shortage warnings for their entire product line. 

This event will ripple through the petro supply chain for months — anything made from, or containing, plastic or other products could be delayed indefinitely. 

Like ... the tapes used for tape-and-reel SMD components. Vinyl covers for coaxial cable. Use your imagination. 

73
Jim N6OTQ 

Sent from my quenched-gap spark transmitter.

#86999

Regarding those STM32F processors in the LQFP48 package,
if I click "Normally in Stock", it shows 101 results.
If I then click "In Stock", it shows 8.

No easy answers here.

Jerry, KE7ER

Show quoted text

On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 04:00 PM, Jerry Gaffke wrote:

For a processor, could go to an STM32F* in a popular package, placed directly on a new Raduino layout.

#87001

Some of us have more rigs and building opportunities than time, while other folk may rely on the ubitx as their primary rig. The designer is suggesting patience not despair over our passion to acquire at this time. I think we may be overreacting. So far we've managed to build HF rigs from the semiconductor devices available in each era. Hang in there and appreciate all the hands that make these opportunities happen.? Back to work thinking and doing technology, with what we can get or have.

BTW 15m was propagating wonderfully a couple days ago. Emit some RF from whatever you have.?

73 curt

#87002

Jerry,

I have been playing with the raspberry pico. It is easy to program and understand. The getting started book (pdf) issued with the board us fully of examples that we can easily use.

I have already ported your si5351 code to it, the display works as well. Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

That maybe the direction to go. 2 cores, 32-bits, 133 mhz cpu and 128K ram!

- f

Show quoted text

On Sun 21 Mar, 2021, 7:19 AM Curt via , <wb8yyy=[email protected]> wrote:

Some of us have more rigs and building opportunities than time, while other folk may rely on the ubitx as their primary rig. The designer is suggesting patience not despair over our passion to acquire at this time. I think we may be overreacting. So far we've managed to build HF rigs from the semiconductor devices available in each era. Hang in there and appreciate all the hands that make these opportunities happen.? Back to work thinking and doing technology, with what we can get or have.

BTW 15m was propagating wonderfully a couple days ago. Emit some RF from whatever you have.?

73 curt

#87006

I have two on order. They're also in short supply .
--
? 73
??? Bob? KD8CGH

#87007

Farhan,

Agreed, the RPi-pico looks like a wonderful long term choice, for many reasons.
But most vendors are out of stock on the RPi-pico, and I'm not seeing anybody
selling more than one or two at a time.? Nobody is selling reels of 480.

Perhaps the RPi guys have a special arrangement with Broadcom, I hope so.
And I hope the fabless Broadcom guys have a special arrangement with TSMC,
or whoever they are using these days to actually forge sand into RP2040's.
Because the $1k laptop builders and $50k auto manufacturers can't build enough product now
for lack of parts, and might gift TSMC an extra $10 per chip to get bumped up in the queue.
The RPi guys can't do this when selling a $4 RPi-pico.

Mouser doesn't expect stock on most of their STM32F* parts till Christmas.
That was an eye opener for me, lets hope things ease up long before then.

> Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

I haven't been impressed with Arduino.? Would tend to stick with the tool chain
RPi has developed for standard C, which I'd expect to be far better thought out
and easy for a beginning programmer to use.
The downside is that moving to a different processor would require
figuring out the peripherals, and for a beginning programmer that may
mean moving back to Arduino.? But if an Arduino program is trivial enough
to easily port between processors, it is likely trivial to port such a program
from the RPi C environment to Arduino.

Good to hear that the Si5351bx routines are aging well.
They were written to use a minimum of flash and RAM, no floating point.
A newer processor would make all that not nearly so critical,?
but the Si5351bx routines will likely remain the simplest way to get
three cleanly transitioning clocks out of an Si5351.

Jerry, KE7ER

Show quoted text

On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 08:05 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:

Jerry,
I have been playing with the raspberry pico. It is easy to program and understand. The getting started book (pdf) issued with the board us fully of examples that we can easily use.

I have already ported your si5351 code to it, the display works as well. Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

That maybe the direction to go. 2 cores, 32-bits, 133 mhz cpu and 128K ram!

- f

#87008

Jerry,

We have both , ILI9341 and Si5351 done. What remains is just the spaghetti code to tie up the things.?

I will do a release of a trivial implementation soon. Venu, VU2BVA build an adapter for the Pico to ride the regular Raduino. Rohit, VU2OIR and SWL Piyush wrote the code. Rohit came down with the fever that should not be named, but he is doing?well. We expect to resume in a few days. I will publish the git url so everyone can see what's going on.

- f

Show quoted text

On Sun 21 Mar, 2021, 8:43 PM Jerry Gaffke via , <jgaffke=[email protected]> wrote:

Farhan,

Agreed, the RPi-pico looks like a wonderful long term choice, for many reasons.
But most vendors are out of stock on the RPi-pico, and I'm not seeing anybody
selling more than one or two at a time.? Nobody is selling reels of 480.

Perhaps the RPi guys have a special arrangement with Broadcom, I hope so.
And I hope the fabless Broadcom guys have a special arrangement with TSMC,
or whoever they are using these days to actually forge sand into RP2040's.
Because the $1k laptop builders and $50k auto manufacturers can't build enough product now
for lack of parts, and might gift TSMC an extra $10 per chip to get bumped up in the queue.
The RPi guys can't do this when selling a $4 RPi-pico.

Mouser doesn't expect stock on most of their STM32F* parts till Christmas.
That was an eye opener for me, lets hope things ease up long before then.

> Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

I haven't been impressed with Arduino.? Would tend to stick with the tool chain
RPi has developed for standard C, which I'd expect to be far better thought out
and easy for a beginning programmer to use.
The downside is that moving to a different processor would require
figuring out the peripherals, and for a beginning programmer that may
mean moving back to Arduino.? But if an Arduino program is trivial enough
to easily port between processors, it is likely trivial to port such a program
from the RPi C environment to Arduino.

Good to hear that the Si5351bx routines are aging well.
They were written to use a minimum of flash and RAM, no floating point.
A newer processor would make all that not nearly so critical,?
but the Si5351bx routines will likely remain the simplest way to get
three cleanly transitioning clocks out of an Si5351.

Jerry, KE7ER

On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 08:05 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:

Jerry,
I have been playing with the raspberry pico. It is easy to program and understand. The getting started book (pdf) issued with the board us fully of examples that we can easily use.

I have already ported your si5351 code to it, the display works as well. Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

That maybe the direction to go. 2 cores, 32-bits, 133 mhz cpu and 128K ram!

- f

#87010

If replacing the Arduino with a Raspberry Pi then any of the RSPi

versions should be more than fast enough.?

If using a RsPi as the attached PC for interface with an Arduino the

fastest and most memory version of RsPi would probably be best.?

You will need a USB Hub if using more than one USB connection

to your RsPi (Kybd, Monitor, mouse, and Raduino).? Note that the

latest RsPi has USB-3 interface which is not compatible with any

USB-1 or USB-2 peripherals or cables.

I have never seen a RsPi Pico packaged on reels...that sounds a bit

awkward!? 8-)

I see that there is a work-alike replacement (?) for the Si5351a as

an Asian developed MS5351.? This seems to be built for China

internal use and for their space effort.? Quality should be good

because this was developed for their very critical space systems.?

Problem is that to-date I have not been able to find a detailed

datasheet or application notes in English.?

Tool chain (programming tools) for the Arduino is about as simple

as one can get if using the Arduino IDE.? But there is a gotcha that

affects Linux or linux derivative development.? The Arduino IDE available

in Linux repositories says it is version 2.x but actually it is version 1.0

and is not being updated by Linux repository maintainers.? This seems

to be close to being solved, but there are still rumors, hype, and facts

to be fixed.? See the URL below to find out all about the Arduino and

the Arduino IDE licensing fubar.

If you want to use some other IDE you may have to import and install

one of the several versions of arduino.h, and maybe more libraries if

using a more recent version of the Arduino PCB or its non-AVR clones.

Hope some of this helps.? I have been using Arduino and the Arduino IDE

for several years.? The IDE does allow one to write straight C-code and/or

C-code augmented with C++ routines.? It is also quite easy to write C-code

for debugging on a PC (I use "Geany IDE")and then port that code to the

Arduino platform by replacing PC I/O calls with Arduino I/O routines.? This

includes software based floating point and software printf( ) routines

specifically for the Arduino/AVR hardware.

Arv

_._

Show quoted text

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 9:13 AM Jerry Gaffke via <jgaffke=[email protected]> wrote:

Farhan,

Agreed, the RPi-pico looks like a wonderful long term choice, for many reasons.
But most vendors are out of stock on the RPi-pico, and I'm not seeing anybody
selling more than one or two at a time.? Nobody is selling reels of 480.

Perhaps the RPi guys have a special arrangement with Broadcom, I hope so.
And I hope the fabless Broadcom guys have a special arrangement with TSMC,
or whoever they are using these days to actually forge sand into RP2040's.
Because the $1k laptop builders and $50k auto manufacturers can't build enough product now
for lack of parts, and might gift TSMC an extra $10 per chip to get bumped up in the queue.
The RPi guys can't do this when selling a $4 RPi-pico.

Mouser doesn't expect stock on most of their STM32F* parts till Christmas.
That was an eye opener for me, lets hope things ease up long before then.

> Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

I haven't been impressed with Arduino.? Would tend to stick with the tool chain
RPi has developed for standard C, which I'd expect to be far better thought out
and easy for a beginning programmer to use.
The downside is that moving to a different processor would require
figuring out the peripherals, and for a beginning programmer that may
mean moving back to Arduino.? But if an Arduino program is trivial enough
to easily port between processors, it is likely trivial to port such a program
from the RPi C environment to Arduino.

Good to hear that the Si5351bx routines are aging well.
They were written to use a minimum of flash and RAM, no floating point.
A newer processor would make all that not nearly so critical,?
but the Si5351bx routines will likely remain the simplest way to get
three cleanly transitioning clocks out of an Si5351.

Jerry, KE7ER

On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 08:05 PM, Ashhar Farhan wrote:

Jerry,
I have been playing with the raspberry pico. It is easy to program and understand. The getting started book (pdf) issued with the board us fully of examples that we can easily use.

I have already ported your si5351 code to it, the display works as well. Arduino has announced though not released support for rpico yet.?

That maybe the direction to go. 2 cores, 32-bits, 133 mhz cpu and 128K ram!

- f

#87011

Arv,

First a quick paragraph for those who don't know an RPi-Zero from an RPi-Pico:

Using a Raspberry Pi running linux as a host computer has been done, could work well.
In post #86951, WA4THR mentioned that a Pi-Zero worked fine running Fldigi.
RPi's don't get any wimpier than the Zero, a Pi-4 would run circles around it.
Farhan is thinking of replacing the Nano on the Raduino with an RPi-Pico.
The Pico is a new microcontroller like the Nano, it does not run Linux.
One advantage of the Pico is that the RP2040? processor chip was designed less than 30 years ago.

Arv said:

> Note that the latest RsPi has USB-3 interface which is not compatible with any

> USB-1 or USB-2 peripherals or cables.

The RPi-Zero has a single USB 2.0 port (plus a second USB connector for power).
The RPi-4 has? four USB ports, two are USB 3.0 and two are USB 2.0.
? ??

I'd be surprised if you couldn't plug a 20 year old USB keyboard into a USB 3.0 port and have it work.

From? ?
"Yes, USB 3.0 backwards is compatible—meaning it’s designed to work with older USB versions including USB 2.0 and USB 1.1."

> I have never seen a RsPi Pico packaged on reels...that sounds a bit

> awkward!? 8-)

?

Now you have.
On a reel so a pick and place machine can load them up? on a board just like a 1206 cap.
They want to sell lots of them.
Looks considerably less awkward than a 1500 ball FPGA.

>? Tool chain (programming tools) for the Arduino is about as simple

>? as one can get if using the Arduino IDE.? But there is a gotcha that

>? affects Linux or linux derivative development.?

I'm running Arduino version 1.8.13 under linux with no trouble.
Actually, it's on a small Chromebook in developer mode under Crouton with Xubuntu focal.
Most linux installs won't be quite that weird, but even I had no trouble getting it going.

I find the Arduino IDE a bit infuriating at times, much prefer just building from a command prompt with gcc.
That may not be for everybody.
I suspect the RPi tool chain will be done right, yet quite beginner friendly.
And that if using hardware resources specific to the RPi-Pico, it will be easiest with the RPi tool chain.

> If you want to use some other IDE you may have to import and install

> one of the several versions of arduino.h, and maybe more libraries if

> using a more recent version of the Arduino PCB or its non-AVR clones.

Or you could just leave Arduinoland.
I'm looking forward to programming the RPi-Pico using the RPi C/C++ SDK?
on an RPi-4 host computer.??
Python could be even easier for beginning programmers, no reason the
entire uBitx project couldn't be coded in Python.? But I suspect many will
prefer the Arduino way, and sticking with C would make it easier to port
between the two.

The advantage of the Arduino IDE is that it supports dozens of microcontroller?
breakout boards ranging from the Nano to the Teensy4.1.
Easy to get an LED blinking on any of those boards.
The disadvantage of the Arduino IDE is that it is trying to support dozens of
different microntrollers simultaneously, which can get very confusing, and
means that it may not support all of them very well.
That, and even the documentation for the most basic Arduino libraries
is not very good, I suspect even those who programmed the libraries
haven't thought about many of the edge cases.

Jerry, KE7ER

Show quoted text

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 11:58 AM, Arv Evans wrote:

If replacing the Arduino with a Raspberry Pi then any of the RSPi

versions should be more than fast enough.?

?

If using a RsPi as the attached PC for interface with an Arduino the

fastest and most memory version of RsPi would probably be best.?

You will need a USB Hub if using more than one USB connection

to your RsPi (Kybd, Monitor, mouse, and Raduino).? Note that the

latest RsPi has USB-3 interface which is not compatible with any

USB-1 or USB-2 peripherals or cables.

?

I have never seen a RsPi Pico packaged on reels...that sounds a bit

awkward!? 8-)

?

?

I see that there is a work-alike replacement (?) for the Si5351a as

an Asian developed MS5351.? This seems to be built for China

internal use and for their space effort.? Quality should be good

because this was developed for their very critical space systems.?

Problem is that to-date I have not been able to find a detailed

datasheet or application notes in English.?

?

?

Tool chain (programming tools) for the Arduino is about as simple

as one can get if using the Arduino IDE.? But there is a gotcha that

affects Linux or linux derivative development.? The Arduino IDE available

in Linux repositories says it is version 2.x but actually it is version 1.0

and is not being updated by Linux repository maintainers.? This seems

to be close to being solved, but there are still rumors, hype, and facts

to be fixed.? See the URL below to find out all about the Arduino and

the Arduino IDE licensing fubar.

?

?

If you want to use some other IDE you may have to import and install

one of the several versions of arduino.h, and maybe more libraries if

using a more recent version of the Arduino PCB or its non-AVR clones.

?

Hope some of this helps.? I have been using Arduino and the Arduino IDE

for several years.? The IDE does allow one to write straight C-code and/or

C-code augmented with C++ routines.? It is also quite easy to write C-code

for debugging on a PC (I use "Geany IDE")and then port that code to the

Arduino platform by replacing PC I/O calls with Arduino I/O routines.? This

includes software based floating point and software printf( ) routines

specifically for the Arduino/AVR hardware.

?

Arv

_._

?

#87014

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 11:58 AM, Arv Evans wrote:

The Arduino IDE available

in Linux repositories says it is version 2.x but actually it is version 1.0

and is not being updated by Linux repository maintainers

HI,

I install the Arduino on my Linux machines (Raspberry Pis) directly from the download provided on the Arduino web site. That download and installer is up to date.

I have a RPi 4 and I really like that they switched to USB-C for power. Seems to be free of the low-voltage-blues that I get with my other RPi B3 and B3+ computers with anything but the official souped-up Raspberry Pi power adapter (and a very few other adaptors with heavy power only wire and no intermediate USB connector on the adaptor).?

It is especially bad if I try to use a "Dollar Store" USB cable that has wires so thin that the electrons have to line up single file and wait their turns to go down the wire.?

Interesting, I just set up a RPi with OpenWRT as my new router. Using the builtin Ethernet connector plus a USB Ethernet connector for the inside the firewall network, I could get 50mb throughput with the RPi 3B, but got 110mb throughput with a RPi 3B+. They must have made additional bus improvements between the 3B and 3B+. That maxes out my internet connection, so don't know how much faster it might go.?

I keep the RPi 4 on my workbench for flashing code into Nanos and such, displaying data sheets and pinouts of boards and chips, and connected to my cheapie USB microscope so I can see tiny little parts (and soldering jobs) on a moderately sized video screen. I, also, use VNC to access the PRi4 desktop when I'm downstairs on my regular computer to offload work to it and send files to it so they are ready when I go up to my workshop.?

Tom, wb6b

#87015

Jerry

I'm still confused.? Can I plug a USB 2.0 micro cable into a USB 3.0

connector??

On-line information on the RP2040 chip is somewhat limited, but implies

that it is compatible with code written for ARM-Cortex series processors,

which have been used in PDA's for many years.? Is the RP2040 an

improvement over a real ARM-Cortex, or just a clone of that device?

What language does the RP2040 run on?? Since it is an ARM-Cortex

derived system I was assuming that code for it could be developed

in C-language and loaded as .hex code applications...?? What am I

missing?

I have been using the US$5.00 Pi-Zero as a networked print server for

several years.? I added a power supply, USB-2 hub, network connection,

and a 512 GB TF card (gross overkill!). to make the server.? That allows?

one printer can be accessed by any of my PCs or cell phones.? I even

punched a protected hole in my firewall so the printer can be accessed

remotely.

Yes, if the Raduino could be redesigned to use a more full-featured OS

and applications it could really upgrade the features and opportunities

for Raduino and attached uBITX.?

Arv

_._

Show quoted text

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 2:10 PM Jerry Gaffke via <jgaffke=[email protected]> wrote:

Arv,

First a quick paragraph for those who don't know an RPi-Zero from an RPi-Pico:

Using a Raspberry Pi running linux as a host computer has been done, could work well.
In post #86951, WA4THR mentioned that a Pi-Zero worked fine running Fldigi.
RPi's don't get any wimpier than the Zero, a Pi-4 would run circles around it.
Farhan is thinking of replacing the Nano on the Raduino with an RPi-Pico.
The Pico is a new microcontroller like the Nano, it does not run Linux.
One advantage of the Pico is that the RP2040? processor chip was designed less than 30 years ago.

Arv said:

> Note that the latest RsPi has USB-3 interface which is not compatible with any

> USB-1 or USB-2 peripherals or cables.

The RPi-Zero has a single USB 2.0 port (plus a second USB connector for power).
The RPi-4 has? four USB ports, two are USB 3.0 and two are USB 2.0.
? ??

I'd be surprised if you couldn't plug a 20 year old USB keyboard into a USB 3.0 port and have it work.
From? ?
"Yes, USB 3.0 backwards is compatible—meaning it’s designed to work with older USB versions including USB 2.0 and USB 1.1."

> I have never seen a RsPi Pico packaged on reels...that sounds a bit

> awkward!? 8-)

?

Now you have.
On a reel so a pick and place machine can load them up? on a board just like a 1206 cap.
They want to sell lots of them.
Looks considerably less awkward than a 1500 ball FPGA.

>? Tool chain (programming tools) for the Arduino is about as simple

>? as one can get if using the Arduino IDE.? But there is a gotcha that

>? affects Linux or linux derivative development.?

I'm running Arduino version 1.8.13 under linux with no trouble.
Actually, it's on a small Chromebook in developer mode under Crouton with Xubuntu focal.
Most linux installs won't be quite that weird, but even I had no trouble getting it going.

I find the Arduino IDE a bit infuriating at times, much prefer just building from a command prompt with gcc.
That may not be for everybody.
I suspect the RPi tool chain will be done right, yet quite beginner friendly.
And that if using hardware resources specific to the RPi-Pico, it will be easiest with the RPi tool chain.

> If you want to use some other IDE you may have to import and install

> one of the several versions of arduino.h, and maybe more libraries if

> using a more recent version of the Arduino PCB or its non-AVR clones.

Or you could just leave Arduinoland.
I'm looking forward to programming the RPi-Pico using the RPi C/C++ SDK?
on an RPi-4 host computer.??
Python could be even easier for beginning programmers, no reason the
entire uBitx project couldn't be coded in Python.? But I suspect many will
prefer the Arduino way, and sticking with C would make it easier to port
between the two.

The advantage of the Arduino IDE is that it supports dozens of microcontroller?
breakout boards ranging from the Nano to the Teensy4.1.
Easy to get an LED blinking on any of those boards.
The disadvantage of the Arduino IDE is that it is trying to support dozens of
different microntrollers simultaneously, which can get very confusing, and
means that it may not support all of them very well.
That, and even the documentation for the most basic Arduino libraries
is not very good, I suspect even those who programmed the libraries
haven't thought about many of the edge cases.

Jerry, KE7ER

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 11:58 AM, Arv Evans wrote:

If replacing the Arduino with a Raspberry Pi then any of the RSPi

versions should be more than fast enough.?

?

If using a RsPi as the attached PC for interface with an Arduino the

fastest and most memory version of RsPi would probably be best.?

You will need a USB Hub if using more than one USB connection

to your RsPi (Kybd, Monitor, mouse, and Raduino).? Note that the

latest RsPi has USB-3 interface which is not compatible with any

USB-1 or USB-2 peripherals or cables.

?

I have never seen a RsPi Pico packaged on reels...that sounds a bit

awkward!? 8-)

?

?

I see that there is a work-alike replacement (?) for the Si5351a as

an Asian developed MS5351.? This seems to be built for China

internal use and for their space effort.? Quality should be good

because this was developed for their very critical space systems.?

Problem is that to-date I have not been able to find a detailed

datasheet or application notes in English.?

?

?

Tool chain (programming tools) for the Arduino is about as simple

as one can get if using the Arduino IDE.? But there is a gotcha that

affects Linux or linux derivative development.? The Arduino IDE available

in Linux repositories says it is version 2.x but actually it is version 1.0

and is not being updated by Linux repository maintainers.? This seems

to be close to being solved, but there are still rumors, hype, and facts

to be fixed.? See the URL below to find out all about the Arduino and

the Arduino IDE licensing fubar.

?

?

If you want to use some other IDE you may have to import and install

one of the several versions of arduino.h, and maybe more libraries if

using a more recent version of the Arduino PCB or its non-AVR clones.

?

Hope some of this helps.? I have been using Arduino and the Arduino IDE

for several years.? The IDE does allow one to write straight C-code and/or

C-code augmented with C++ routines.? It is also quite easy to write C-code

for debugging on a PC (I use "Geany IDE")and then port that code to the

Arduino platform by replacing PC I/O calls with Arduino I/O routines.? This

includes software based floating point and software printf( ) routines

specifically for the Arduino/AVR hardware.

?

Arv

_._

?

#87018

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 05:03 PM, Arv Evans wrote:

I'm still confused.? Can I plug a USB 2.0 micro cable into a USB 3.0

connector??

The short answer is yes, though it will not transfer at the higher data rate.? The extra data pins are not connected to the 2.0 cable.

73
Evan
AC9TU

#87019

Evan

Thank you for that info.? I had looked at both connectors and

apparently mistakenly assumed that 3.0 was not backward

compatible.

Arv

_._

Show quoted text

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 4:25 PM Evan Hand <elhandjr@...> wrote:

On Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 05:03 PM, Arv Evans wrote:

I'm still confused.? Can I plug a USB 2.0 micro cable into a USB 3.0

connector??

The short answer is yes, though it will not transfer at the higher data rate.? The extra data pins are not connected to the 2.0 cable.

73
Evan
AC9TU

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