Got my uBITX v6 in the mail this morning, 7 days ahead of the scheduled delivery day. I put it together in no time, I did not experience any problems at all, and before I knew it, it was on the air! It is taking a bit to learn how to operate it but so far so good.?

I do have a question though, I do like to run digital modes. Has anyone figured out a way to hook a SignaLink USB up to the v6??

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I don’t know about the version six, but I used to use my version three by just connecting to the mic & the speaker and the push to talk, the way I do with any rig, and it worked pretty well! ? I did my first WINLINK using a vacuum tube Heathkit SB 102. ?So I expect you can take any single side band rig and make it work ? Just be sure you don’t have distortion, and get the frequency within about 100 Hz. ?You can use WWV to check what you have done to calibrate.?

have you tried cw?
mine is V6.1 and the keying with a paddle was awful
has that been fixed? or is it just me?
i think when? i got mine it had been upgraded to where the display was not super slow but i cannot tell if it has changed since then
(been trying for most of today to try and get a nextion display working, spent a long time with a usb cable with the right kind of end that i had for a raspberry pi, but i think that cable only sent power, so it was not seen by the pc and got no com port and couldn't get close to having xloader work....)

I'm sorry friend, but I can't do cw, although a CW Keyboard will soon bless my shack. I have been listening to CW on it. To me the sound is pretty good. I have the default TFT display and I have not noticed any lag on the display. It changes as soon as I touch the screen. I do see me adding the Nextion display in the future but right now I want to play with it as is.?
Just looking at the bands on the display, does this radio cover 60 and 12??

Aaron

While many of us have bought a signal link cable for our rig, I don't imagine they sell one for ubitx. Its audio and ptt can feed into your microphone connection.

As you have jumpers inside your signalink, it is like working a puzzle to trace the interface. Signalink website has complete documentation.?

Curt

Aaron,

Congratulations on the rig! You will have a blast with it.? Yes, it runs 60 just fine.? With the Nextion and the CEC firmware I save the 60 meters channels into channel memory and it is a couple of screen presses to recall them and tune, ? You should also have no problem on 12, ? I've made contacts on all bands from 10-80 (other than 30).

The rig has cat control for digital modes also? Plug in the USB and configure the software side as a Yaaesu FT-817.? That plus audio cable to the PC mic and speaker jacks and you will be in business.

73,
Dean
KK4DAS
73,
Dean
KK4DAS

Thanks.?
So I just need to run cables from the mic and phone straight to the PC with out an interface??

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This may be helpful, there are many many such exclamations probably better than this out there

Yes, it does, thank you, good sir!

Aaron,
you can run them direct into the rig but I found it worked better if I used a small USB sound dongle (I’m using a laptop, desktop with sound card should work without the dongle). You will also have to disconnect (Cut) the ptt line (tip on the mic jack), if you don’t it can trigger your ptt when you least expect it.
--
?

73
Mick VA3EPM?

Mick,
I do not have a v6, however, the v6 schematic from HF Signals shows the PTT signal on the RING of the cable, not the TIP.? The tip is the audio in for the mic.? Is there an error on the v6 schematic?

73
Evan
AC9TU

Hi Evan,
You are correct, I stated the connection incorrectly, sorry for the confusion.
--
?

73
Mick VA3EPM?

Aaron,

Yes.

PC phone jack goes to uBitx Mic jack.
PC mic jack goes to uBitx phone jack..
Connect a USB cable.

Assuming you want to run FT8, in the WSJTX software, configure the rig as Yaesu FT-817. Select the COM port for the uBitx, baud 38400.? PTT method: CAT, everything else at default.??

Depending on your PC, you may have to go to the audio tab in WSJTX and select the input and output devices.? The only other thing you need to be concerned with is the volume settings to get the levels right.? I find that on my uBitx V5 I need to turn the volume pot almost all the way down to stop it from clipping? in the software.??

Good luck and 73,

Dean

KK4DAS

The one thing that I would add to Dean's advice is to include snap-on ferrites for the lines in and out of the computer (audio and USB).? ?I found I had RF feedback issues that distorted the audio in both directions, and some intermittent cat issues.? The ferrites seemed to solve that.

Also, I did need to purchase an inexpensive USB audio dongle for it to work with my laptop.? For that dongle, I connected the mono audio into both of the stereo input lines for the best results.? BTW, I have 3 and all seem to work with the WSJT-X software, so do not have a specific version to suggest.? I am currently using a Plugable adapter that is no longer available on Amazon where I bought it.?


If you still have problems, then an? EasyDigi interface for the transformers will help in grounding issues.

Above are my experiences with both a v4 and v5 rig working FT8.
73
Evan
AC9TU

Yes.? Straight simple cables connecting mic to speak, and ditto for speak to mic.

And +1 for Dean's observations.??

Or you can use the creators approach, just put your laptop near the rig, and they will hear each other. Hahaha.

I used a EASYDigi interface.? It has transformers for audio isolation, caps to block any DC, even a optical PPT circuit ( think signal link on the cheap).?

I felt great about my interface. Digital operations were reliable? and a blast.? Just one little issue: It made no difference whatsoever compared to jumper cables.??

Moral?? Simple is better, most always.??

My buddies with rig blasters,? signallinks, custom builds, have gone to great expense and complexity to put in a volume pot in the signal pathway. I figured how to set volume levels in the application and OS.? So no worries on the lost? extra level set knobs...hahah.

Go digital and get your comms on!

Don

Thank you for all of the great help.?
Is there a way to reduce the power for digital modes??
This rig is supposed to run 8-10 watts and to me that is a lot of power for digital modes. Also are the digital modes hard on the finals??

Aaron,

I can think of 2 ways to reduce power when using digital modes.? The first reduces power for all modes via RV1.? That control can be adjusted to set the power for the rig.? The other choice is to reduce the audio drive to the uBiTx from the PC software.? This would allow full power when doing SSB, and reduced power when doing digital.

Digital does have a higher power level than the other modes, so reducing the audio drive would be a good thing.? Monitor the temperature of the finals and adjust accordingly.

73
Evan
AC9TU