Keyboard Shortcuts
Likes
Search
Multiband bitX40 questions
|
Hi all, I have 2 BitX40s one on 40 meters and the other on 80 meters.Both are working ok, but I have plans to convert one of them to multi band operation. The hardware modification of the BitX40 board is already well documented on various sites, so that should not be too much of an issue.? There are a number of issues I need to resolve mainly to do with the raduino programming. Firstly I am a complete novice at arduino programming, but I can upload a sketch to the raduino ok. so to my questions 1. How easy / difficult would it be to put some lines of code into an existing sketch to facilitate band changes? What hardware modifications would be required? say a momentary contact button like the function button used with the latest sketches (v1.09 etc). Say at the end of the tuning pot range instead of stepping 50 Khz up or down, when the button is pressed the rig steps up or down to preset bands ie 160, 80, 40, 20 etc. 2. Would it be possible for the sketch to automatically change sideband to USB for frequencies above 10Mhz? 3. Would it be possible to have a logic output that would could be used to drive relays to switch in and out various band pass filters used for the other than 40 meter band? Thanks in advance.
|
|
Jack Purdum
From: vk3xl via Groups.Io <vk3xl@...> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, May 1, 2017 9:13 PM Subject: [BITX20] Multiband bitX40 questions Hi all, I have 2 BitX40s one on 40 meters and the other on 80 meters.Both are working ok, but I have plans to convert one of them to multi band operation. The hardware modification of the BitX40 board is already well documented on various sites, so that should not be too much of an issue.? There are a number of issues I need to resolve mainly to do with the raduino programming. Firstly I am a complete novice at arduino programming, but I can upload a sketch to the raduino ok. so to my questions 1. How easy / difficult would it be to put some lines of code into an existing sketch to facilitate band changes? What hardware modifications would be required? say a momentary contact button like the function button used with the latest sketches (v1.09 etc). Say at the end of the tuning pot range instead of stepping 50 Khz up or down, when the button is pressed the rig steps up or down to preset bands ie 160, 80, 40, 20 etc. The Arduino family of microcontrollers all have I/O pins that can send out a 5V signal to an external device (e.g., transistor, relay, IC, etc.) under program control. ? 2. Would it be possible for the sketch to automatically change sideband to USB for frequencies above 10Mhz??The default sideband could be set based upon compile-time settings (e.g., 40L, 20U, etc) which could be interpreted in code to select the sideband. 3. Would it be possible to have a logic output that would could be used to drive relays to switch in and out various band pass filters used for the other than 40 meter band? Same as above. Chapter 11 in Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio shows how you can interface an Arduino with a relay. Jack, W8TEE Thanks in advance. -- Mike VK3XL |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI have a sketch that does everything you are looking to do. It is a modification of Gene Marcus¡¯ QEX article. If you are comfortable adding some wires and components it works great. In addition it uses a GPS engine to control the Si5351 and a multiplexer chip and transistors to drive the relays. The GPS engine ($6.99) holds the frequency to .01 HZ and requires no other calibration. Any of the options may be disabled in the code. As setup you can enable either Pot or Rotary tuning. The step may be by pot or push button. Band VFO and BFO frequencies are set in a tuning table and selected by pushbutton. I have tried to put together a sketch that is a Chinese menu, select the option and the way you want to control it. I need to add some of the changes floating around that keeps the pot control from bouncing between digits. See ? which is where I unabashedly stole most of the ideas from Genes nifty work. The display, in addition to displaying frequency displays step size, Maidenhead grid, GPS time etc. I have been playing with a 20 X 4 display and for lack of good sense display Satellites in use and elevation. If that sounds like something you¡¯re looking for, drop me an email at w4jle@.... ? v/r Fred W4JLE ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of vk3xl via Groups.Io ? Hi all, I have 2 BitX40s one on 40 meters and the other on 80 meters.Both are working ok, but I have plans to convert one of them to multi band operation. The hardware modification of the BitX40 board is already well documented on various sites, so that should not be too much of an issue.? There are a number of issues I need to resolve mainly to do with the raduino programming. Firstly I am a complete novice at arduino programming, but I can upload a sketch to the raduino ok. so to my questions 1. How easy / difficult would it be to put some lines of code into an existing sketch to facilitate band changes? What hardware modifications would be required? say a momentary contact button like the function button used with the latest sketches (v1.09 etc). Say at the end of the tuning pot range instead of stepping 50 Khz up or down, when the button is pressed the rig steps up or down to preset bands ie 160, 80, 40, 20 etc. 2. Would it be possible for the sketch to automatically change sideband to USB for frequencies above 10Mhz? 3. Would it be possible to have a logic output that would could be used to drive relays to switch in and out various band pass filters used for the other than 40 meter band? ? Thanks in advance.
|
|
Jack Purdum
I have the perfect book: Beginning C for Arduino. You can read the Table of Contents on Amazon. ? ?:>) Jack, W8TEE From: vk3xl via Groups.Io <vk3xl@...> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2017 12:32 AM Subject: Re: [BITX20] Multiband bitX40 questions Thanks Jack, it looks like I will have to get serious about learning programming arduino.? -- Mike VK3XL |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýMike, ? I have gone to the Mega 2560 and a 4X20 display. I am having way more fun playing with the programing than with the radio. Presently I can select any band, control band filter relays, display frequency, CW offset, step size, GPS time, Grid square or lat/long, altitude, SWR, Rotary or pot control and power. ?I have this built into a separate box and am using the GPS guided SI5351 in place of crystals for my vintage ¡°hollow state¡± equipment. The addition of a $6.50 GPS engine adds a ton of capability. The 1PPS signal guides the SI chip and holds it to .1 HZ or better with auto correction. ? Just for grins I connected it in place of the mixer oscillator and BFO in a Hammarlund HQ120 (circa 1939) and during the recent ARRL frequency measurement test was < 1Hz error On all frequencies. My best was ?-.173 Hz error on 20 meters. A far cry from the old days when I used an HQ-129X and an LM frequency meter to be within the required 10 , or maybe it was 20 Hz, (Not sure after 50+ years) to maintain my Official Observer status. ? If I never used the radio, the price of the radio was the best tuition I have ever spent. It has been a real adventure going from drinking from a firehose to becoming reasonably competent programming the Arduino. I had a lot of help along the way from members of the forum and especially Jack who never tired of answering my inane questions. My sketch will still run in the standard Arduino but utilizes a good bit of available memory. I have yet to master some of the elegant techniques that the old gray beards employ to save resources. ? More fun than the county fair! ? V/R Fred W4JLE ? ? ? ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of vk3xl via Groups.Io ? Thanks Paul and Fred I will have a look at what both of you have done and see if I can adapt things to suit my needs. I think I will start with a arduino and si5351 rather that playing with the reduino that is in the bitx40 / 80 as both of them are working ok as they are.
|
|
Could you share your sketch so me and others may learn from what you have learned with the coding.? Some of the things you speak of are of interest and I may just have to get a mega 2560 and 4x20 display On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 11:13 AM, Dr Fred Hambrecht <AAR4MI@...> wrote:
|
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI am cleaning up the sketch so you can select options that set up the sketch to be compiled. I should have this done in the next week or so and will distribute the clean sketch. ? Items you can select: 1.????? GPS engine present or not (any engine the puts out 1PPS as well as the GPS sentence.) 2.????? Rotary or pot control for frequency 3.????? Push button or pot for step size 4.????? Push button for band select 5.????? 16X2 or 20X4 display 6.????? CW offset 7.????? Items to be displayed - Frequency, Mode, step size, GPS time, Grid square, Lat/Lon, offset, altitude, satellites in use and band filter selected. 8.????? Relay control for band filters. ? Some of the features require minor wiring changes and the addition of components such as a GPS engine and a 75HC595 and dual channel optoisolators breakout boards to control band switch relays. An array allows you to enter VFO, BFO, default frequency on band selection, Filter Relay, Mode(USB, LSB or CW) to display Hopefully the gurus will show me how to make it better. ? A lot of my code has been pirated from Gene Marcus¡¯s QEX article and I would recommend reading his article. ? The optoisolator boards I am using may be seen at ? V/R Fred W4JLE
? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Greer ? Could you share your sketch so me and others may learn from what you have learned with the coding.? Some of the things you speak of are of interest and I may just have to get a mega 2560 and 4x20 display ? ? On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 11:13 AM, Dr Fred Hambrecht <AAR4MI@...> wrote:
? |
|
In another thread I got the following response.
?Giuseppe Callipo
Aug 13???#31306??
Hi, I done some extension to latest raduino firmware to operate in multiband mode.?
If you need the code is available here:. ? Ready to compile and load. A special function work in Place of rit, when push two times you change band 80 40 20 15 and 10. In the code follow the section market as MULTI_BAND to see the mods. Now I operate with a dual band bitx using QrpLabs LPF and BPF mounts on sockets. Bye. IK8YFW. I have not yet tried the sketch but have been using Allards sketches with the mods outlined on his github page? Good luck Mike VK3XL |
|
Has this code , a facility for usser defined crystal filter frequrency? and suitable for dual conversion too> regards Sarma ? On Tue, Oct 3, 2017 at 4:47 AM, vk3xl via Groups.Io <vk3xl@...> wrote: In another thread I got the following response. |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýGreg, The one in the QEX article is obsolete. I have found, and bought, a number of modules on Ebay. Most recently I picked up 3 equipment pulls from the same guy for $6.00 apiece. Any module the puts out the 1 PPS signal is what you want. ? v/r Fred W4JLE ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of greggaston@... ? What GPS engine did you use?? Where can I get one for $6.95?? ?The GPS device listed in the QEX article costs a lot more.? Definitely interested in duplicating this.?? |
VK3HN
Stephen Stocker