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zBITX CW Keyer


 

If straight key would work with an external electronic then one could place a small keyer electronic inside the zBitx with a small pot for speed control. I could live with such a solution. Not the original idea, but better than today.
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73, Gerald - HB9CEY


 

Ken, you may be right. I looked at some benchmarks and it looks like the pinfour can be four times or more faster than the 3B plus.?

if that turns out to be the limitation then experienced CW operators might just have to wait for a faster processor or more RAM or something

It’s just surprising because a small change in the software of the SBitx, even tripling. sampling rate would likely work just fine. Johnshoy’s fix multiplied sampling by 20 times!! ? That was probably overkill, but it works great. You would think a similar solution on the slower processor could be arranged to give similar outcomes.

however, perhaps not!
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A new processor comes out every so often so eventually, this will get fixed!!
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gordon kx4z?
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On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 02:37 AM, Gordon Gibby KX4Z wrote:
Why only 18?
Current sbitx goes much faster!
That seems like a serious limitation……
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73
Gordon KX4Z
sBitx has an RPi 4, the zBitx has an RPi Zero 2 W, effectively a low-memory RPi 3B+ (the CPU on the Zero 2 is the same as the CPU on the RPi 3B+).
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The processing of the RPi 4 is significantly greater than the RPi Zero 2.
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Ken, N2VIP


 

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Looks like a copy paste error here for mode B
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? ? ? ? if (cw_mode == CW_IAMBICB){
? ? ? ? ? ? if (cw_next_symbol == CW_IDLE && cw_last_symbol == CW_DOT && (symbol_now & CW_DASH)){
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cw_next_symbol = CW_DASH;
? ? ? ? ? ? }
? ? ? ? ? ? if (cw_next_symbol == CW_IDLE && cw_last_symbol == CW_DASH && (symbol_now & CW_DOT)){
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cw_next_symbol = CW_DASH;???? this should be CW_DOT I think
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Adding 2 x 1nF caps to my bencher paddle did not help


 

I cleared out /var/log and I updated the software this morning. The CW keying in Iambic B is still rough... at 22 WPM keying K gets me a Q maybe 20% of the time. I tested this with two paddles

On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 11:44?AM John AE5X via <ae5x=[email protected]> wrote:
Ashhar, was the zBitx tested on CW in both iambic modes before being released for sale?


 

Ashhar, was the zBitx tested on CW in both iambic modes before being released for sale?


 

This just the kernel latency.
Btw, I had some dramatic increase in responsiveness of the radio when I deleted everything in /var/log


On Tue, Apr 1, 2025, 9:05 PM Lee via <kx4tt=[email protected]> wrote:
Could this be as simple as debouncing the keying circuit? I have a 0.1 uf disc ceramic across the output of my J-36 paddles to prevent this.

Lee KX4TT


On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM EDT, Gerald via <hb9cey=[email protected]> wrote:


The new firmware v1.05 / v3.051 is slightly better than before, but since CW still doesn't work properly for me even with the new firmware, I compared it with the QCX-Mini. Both transceivers were keyed and monitored in parallel, at the same speed, using a paddle. I also tried unsuccessfully with another paddle.

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While the QCX-Mini didn't lose any characters, the zBITX repeatedly produced errors, dots and dashes were lost or appended. This happened at slow and also faster speeds. This reminds me of my simple diy touch paddle where I always had to wet my fingers otherwise exactly such errors occurred.

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It seems strange to me that everything works fine for other users.

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If I use a macro from the zBITX to transmit, the zBITX keys everything flawlessly up to 50 wpm. No lost dots or dashes. How can this be, and where is the difference between keying by macro and the paddle input? I'm neither an IT nor an electronics engineer, but I would first look for the problem with the key input. Perhaps someone can explain this to me.

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73, Gerald


 

Could this be as simple as debouncing the keying circuit? I have a 0.1 uf disc ceramic across the output of my J-36 paddles to prevent this.

Lee KX4TT


On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM EDT, Gerald via groups.io <hb9cey@...> wrote:


The new firmware v1.05 / v3.051 is slightly better than before, but since CW still doesn't work properly for me even with the new firmware, I compared it with the QCX-Mini. Both transceivers were keyed and monitored in parallel, at the same speed, using a paddle. I also tried unsuccessfully with another paddle.

?

While the QCX-Mini didn't lose any characters, the zBITX repeatedly produced errors, dots and dashes were lost or appended. This happened at slow and also faster speeds. This reminds me of my simple diy touch paddle where I always had to wet my fingers otherwise exactly such errors occurred.

?

It seems strange to me that everything works fine for other users.

?

If I use a macro from the zBITX to transmit, the zBITX keys everything flawlessly up to 50 wpm. No lost dots or dashes. How can this be, and where is the difference between keying by macro and the paddle input? I'm neither an IT nor an electronics engineer, but I would first look for the problem with the key input. Perhaps someone can explain this to me.

?

73, Gerald


 

The new firmware v1.05 / v3.051 is slightly better than before, but since CW still doesn't work properly for me even with the new firmware, I compared it with the QCX-Mini. Both transceivers were keyed and monitored in parallel, at the same speed, using a paddle. I also tried unsuccessfully with another paddle.

?

While the QCX-Mini didn't lose any characters, the zBITX repeatedly produced errors, dots and dashes were lost or appended. This happened at slow and also faster speeds. This reminds me of my simple diy touch paddle where I always had to wet my fingers otherwise exactly such errors occurred.

?

It seems strange to me that everything works fine for other users.

?

If I use a macro from the zBITX to transmit, the zBITX keys everything flawlessly up to 50 wpm. No lost dots or dashes. How can this be, and where is the difference between keying by macro and the paddle input? I'm neither an IT nor an electronics engineer, but I would first look for the problem with the key input. Perhaps someone can explain this to me.

?

73, Gerald


 

Today I installed and tested firmware version 1.05 / 3.05.
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SSB and FT8 work as before. There is a delay in both modes of about 1 second when switching RX/TX. In SSB this is not ideal in contests and makes contacts difficult. I managed to log 16 Qs in the wpx contest, but it could have been many more.
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CW still doesn't work correct in iambic A and B. I have one CW contact in the log, and this was made with the installed macros, no chance with a keyer. It doesn't work in straight mode with an external keyer either. Overall in my opinion, CW is in its current state unusable. I hope it's not a hardware issue and that a firmware update can solve the problem! Actually I wanted to use the zBITX primarily in CW which is, at least for the moment, not possible. It would be interesting to know if my device is an isolated case.
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73, Gerald
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PS. The base plate gets quite hot during operation, which makes it uncomfortable to hold with your hand when using it portable.


 

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Why only 18?
Current sbitx goes much faster!
That seems like a serious limitation……

73
Gordon KX4Z?



On Mar 30, 2025, at 22:52, Ashhar Farhan via groups.io <farhanbox@...> wrote:

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The morse keying is now in a separate thread with critical priority. Pse read modem_cw.c . I can manage upto 18 wpm on the iambic key now


On Mon, Mar 31, 2025, 7:25 AM Mike Johnshoy via <mike.johnshoy=[email protected]> wrote:
Gordon and everyone? -

You might be right.? I don't have a zbitx, but looking in the zbitx repository, sbitx_gtk.c has code around line #4301 that looks like where the change worked on the sbitx.? Looks like there have been some changes to ui_tick() and I can't say if this will be effective - but I would try it!
Good luck.
--
Mike KB2ML






 

The morse keying is now in a separate thread with critical priority. Pse read modem_cw.c . I can manage upto 18 wpm on the iambic key now


On Mon, Mar 31, 2025, 7:25 AM Mike Johnshoy via <mike.johnshoy=[email protected]> wrote:
Gordon and everyone? -

You might be right.? I don't have a zbitx, but looking in the zbitx repository, sbitx_gtk.c has code around line #4301 that looks like where the change worked on the sbitx.? Looks like there have been some changes to ui_tick() and I can't say if this will be effective - but I would try it!
Good luck.
--
Mike KB2ML






 

Gordon and everyone -

You might be right. I don't have a zbitx, but looking in the zbitx repository, sbitx_gtk.c has code around line #4301 that looks like where the change worked on the sbitx. Looks like there have been some changes to ui_tick() and I can't say if this will be effective - but I would try it!
Good luck.
--
Mike KB2ML


 

Ron it looks like ui_tick does not have the improvements that we have mostly added to everybody’s code to make CW work that were proposed by Johnshoy
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if my understanding is correct, that oversight should be corrected.
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Gordon kx4z?
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You might want to look at the Winkeyer by Hamcrafters.? This can take a string of characters from a host system, read them into an internal buffer, and handle correct output timing.

Gerry Sherman

On 2025-03-31 01:11, Ron, N6YWU via groups.io wrote:

If the current source code posted is up-to-date, I don't think an external keyer will help. ?
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The pin connected to the key input is being polled within a GUI process by code in sbitx_gtk.c . ?Normal processes running on a loaded non-real-time Linux kernel on a single-core Raspberry Pi can have maybe up to 20 milliseconds or more latency when polled without interrupt handlers or kernel mods. ?This is a bit too long for decent CW keying at common WPM speeds. ?The key input handling could perhaps better be done in an interrupt routine, or using pigpio time-stamps to de-jitter the timing. ?Or possibly with some real-time kernel modifications to the standard Raspberry Pi Linux distribution.
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73, Ron, N6YWU


 

If the current source code posted is up-to-date, I don't think an external keyer will help. ?
?
The pin connected to the key input is being polled within a GUI process by code in sbitx_gtk.c . ?Normal processes running on a loaded non-real-time Linux kernel on a single-core Raspberry Pi can have maybe up to 20 milliseconds or more latency when polled without interrupt handlers or kernel mods. ?This is a bit too long for decent CW keying at common WPM speeds. ?The key input handling could perhaps better be done in an interrupt routine, or using pigpio time-stamps to de-jitter the timing. ?Or possibly with some real-time kernel modifications to the standard Raspberry Pi Linux distribution.
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73, Ron, N6YWU


 

The term is "iambic", pertaining to a dihDAH dihDAH dihDAH pattern, each of the three sounds in the above called an "iamb". This are "I" as in India, not "L" as in Lima.

Also, "Lambic" is a real thing. A Lambic is a beer or ale to which wild yeasty beasties are introduced to the wort by exposing it to natural wind and breezes. It's the sourdough of beer. It's easy to find combined with fruit juice or extract, apricots, peaches, and cherries are popular. I love cherry Lambic, and the beer drink called a "Dirty Hoe", composed of raspberry or cherry Lambic and Hoegaarden wheat beer.?

73,
Gwen, NG3P?


 

On Fri, Mar 28, 2025 at 03:58 PM, Gerald wrote:
I have tried CW with an external keyer of type K3NG and cw_input set to straight on the zBITX. But with no success.
Same.
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John AE5X
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I have tried CW with an external keyer of type K3NG and cw_input set to straight on the zBITX. But with no success. The connection between the keyer and zBITX is a Stereo cable. Does it need a mono cable?
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73, Gerald - HB9CEY
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