sBitx schematic for rotary encoder board?
38
#sBitx
#sBITX_v3
I've been digging through all the schematics and I don't see anything for the rotary encoder board? While the board that's in there is functional, I'm not a fan of how bent the board is. Seems like a quick easy task for me to design a board that fits properly, but I need to know which encoders are used and if there's any other devices on that board.
|
sBitx End of transmission time to start receiving again
2
#ssb
#sBitx
#sBITX_v3
i thought I had seen this on here but I am not sure how to search for it. In ssb mode when I end a transmission it seems like a long time before I can starting hearing the received signal again. Some times I miss as many as 4-5 words from the person replying to my transmission. Any ideas here? Jeff Darby
|
Quick Delivery of zBitx to Germany / VAT and DHL duty tax processing / First succesful FT8 QSOs
4
For those waiting in Germany or closeby EU countries for their zBitx, I can confirm, that the final shipping is really fast. I ordered my zBitx on 30-DEC-24 and it got shipped on Tuesday 8-Apr-25 in the evening. I got it delivered on Thursday 10-Apr-25 in the early afternoon, after I had paid the VAT and duty handling fees on 09-Apr-25 in the night with Paypal. Payment has been EUR 41.91 made up of 19% VAT on USD 155 = EUR 27.03 and EUR 14.88 for DHL duty tax processing. My zBitx was very professionally packaged and well protected by a cardbox and foam material. After unpacking it, I connected it to a lab power supply with current limted to 1A, got up to 8V and it worked fine (be patient for the Raspi Zero to boot the OS!). Current consumption in receive is ~0.5A. It came with the latest V1.06 firmware on the Pi Pico and the sBitx V3.051 (!) on the Raspi Zero 2W. After I connected an HDMI monitor and keyboard and mouse, I did a "./update" of the sBitx software and ended up with V3.021, i.e. an OLDER version, than the one OOTB!? Why is there a more recent version coming OOTB with the zBitx than the one on Github (both "./update" and "./update_zbitx" resulted in the same sbitx version 3.021)? After I had connected the Raspi to my WLAN, time had been synchronized and I had set set my timezone, I noticed, that the time displayed on the monitor was many hours off. I remembered, that there had been an issue with a timezone setting in ".profile". To my BIG surprise, this issue, that is known since >1 year, has not been fixed. I still found a line "TZ=America/Phoenix; export TZ" in ".profile". After I had commented this line and rebooted, my correct local time was displayed on the monitor. After that I ran 2 FT8 QSOs on 40m with the zBitx successfully in FT8 mode of sBitx. Afterwards I also ran 2 FT8 QSOs with the WSJT-X V2.5.4 installed on the Raspi Zero 2W, with sbitx set to "DIGI" mode. For WSJT-X I had to reduce the "Pwr" slider in WSJT-X to -29dB, to not overdrive the sbitx SW. The Raspi Zero 2W does not have enough computing power, to decode the received FT8 signal within the 15s timeslot, i.e. decoding runs into the next 15s cycle and you will loose this cycle for your response. I have been really surprised about the VERY high current consumption during transmit,as I had to raise the current limit to 5A. During the FT8 transmissions, the zBitx will run really HOT, so that you cannot touch the bottom aluminum plate any longer. Some additional cooling, as shown in other postings, seems to be highly recommended. Overall I am pretty impressed by this nice little toy and looking forward to small issues in the SW to be fixed (e.g. no CAT control via the "CAT" connector). -- 73, Joerg - DB2OO
|
An update to the sbitx software - v 3.02
81
Hello all, I have merged almost all the pull requests that fixed a number of small and big issues with the v 3.0 software. These work very well and it has eliminated many nagging issues. Most of this heavy lifting was by Steve Beckman, N3SB. We are all very thankful to him for these. Rafael, has cleaned up the code of the swr bridge to prevent a race condition. All these changes are transparent to the users. I urge you all to run an update and enjoy the better version. A few feature upgrades are pending, including a new form of AGC control. I will discuss this with Steve before merging it in. For those interested, there is an online devcon being planned in the coming weeks to gather the nascent development community together. - f
|
zBitx Battery for real time clock missing
5
After my first successful FT8 QSOs with the zBitx, I switched it off. When I later switched it on again in FT8 mode, I was surprised, that I did not have any FT8 decodes, although I could clearly hear and see the FT8 signals. Connecting a monitor showed, that the time was off, i.e. the real time clock obviously does not work. I opened my zBitx (very nice concept of 3D printed parts for the case!) and took a picture of the mainboard: There is a 2 pin connector next to the RTC DS3231, which I guess is J7 from the schematics. Most probably this should be connected to a battery, but there is none!? Has this been an oversight during assembly and if yes, will a CMOS BIOS backup battery work? -- 73, Joerg - DB2OO
|
sbitx_de update software
6
#sBitx
#sBitxDevel
I feel like I've fallen off the earth. I was busy playing along with my sbitx DE and suddenly we got the idea to move back to our home state after.. decades. Anyway, all SBITX DE went in a box.. still is. I was having fun with it.. but I fear that It may be lost at its current software. If that's the case .. oh well I had a ton of fun and it's still quite useable. If I can upgrade it, cool.. In the next few months I can see starting to have some time to do these things again. So anyone know the answer? 73 Brad N8YG
|
My HB zBITX Exciter
2
My zBITX Exciter stage HB is ready. Housed in a Cabinet and testing FT8 On the Air. Will try other modes tomorrow and maybe make some videos of the same. de VU2UPX charudatt
|
Tariffs and zBitx Shipments
27
#zbitx
Awaiting my new toy, but wondering what, if any, impact the new tariffs announced by the US will have on shipments to the US. AC9KQ
|
Purchase question for NA and Canada
15
Hi and ‘73. I searched and could not find this question covered so I would like to post it please. I’d like to purchase the kit version of the sBitx. Just the tested board. I have all the other components. However, I cannot use DHL as DHL has exorbitance additional prices and extra charges for Canadians. It’s absolutely ridiculous. It would cost me another $150 to get it into Canada. I would really appreciate if someone could direct me to another purchase solution for the sBitx board kit. Thank you very much. Gabe VE3SLJ.
|
Zbitx FT8 - Some wishes and Observations
3
I have been doing a fair amount of playing with the Zbitx. FT8- Is there a way to clear the screen area where the decodes are displayed? With so many decodes it can be difficult to sort through them. How about a button to turn off/on waterfall? WSJT-X: I have made contacts in FT8 In the settings, cat test did not work, however when actually running the software it controls the zbitx fine. Rig Rx Band control works fine Tx enable works and tune also. Remote mode:, A method to turn off the zbitx screen from the remote.. It might help reduce the the processing load? Screen timeout? I leave my zbitx running for days. Would be great if a timer could be in the settings to blank screen. Maybe just touching the screen would turn it back on. TX: When the radio goes from rx to tx I here noise thru speaker just before tx actually is on Maybe just a split second in timing to silence rx before tx goes on? Just a thought of a few things. I am very pleased so far and know there are plenty of things to add and or polish up, but overall a great first run so far. Thanks ! Joe VE1BWV
|
Does anyone have a solution to wsjtx not transmitting on zbitx?
20
I've tried all the suggestions and setting from various emails on how to get wsjtx to transmit on my zbitx. None of them work for me. Receive works just fine but when I do the "check cat" button nothing happens when I hit tune wsjtx goes thru the transmit motions. Same is true if I hit "auto cq". Wsjtx acts like it is transmitting but is not actually putting the zbitx into transmit. I am getting hamlib protocol errors. CAT is kinda working as I can change bands. I am also seeing rigctl timeout errors if I use rigctl to connect to the zbitx. Is it just me or does anyone else have these issues. FYI, I browsed the hamlib.c file and there is a comment in there about it being receive only. Much help is needed here. Leo, AI5II
|
Wsjt- x Now Working with the Zbitx
The bottom line problem was wsjt-x power slider defaults to maximum. This turned out to be a current draw issue that was causing the zbitx to reboot Thanks to all for your input and help resolving this issue. Thanks Again, Leo, AI5II
|
Hello, My ZBITx
3
This is DI1ZC My ZBTIX open the display but won’t boot up. Only starting display is seen Sent By: DU1ZC / KA4ZCC 73' Nomar
|
Trying to cancel an order
3
Due to unforeseen circumstances I have to cancel an order I made for a ZBitx. I have e-mailed HF Signals asking them to cancel and re-fund the cost. However, 1st email sent 4th April, another asking if they had received the first email on the 8th of April and to the present time no response from HF Signals. If anyone from the company is reading this or if anyone else has had a similar problem can they contact me please. 73 Regards Ian G4GIR
|
zBitx Running Hot
3
I'm starting to learn the idiosyncrasies of the zBitx. It appears to be running very hot (while not transmitting). The Pi Zero is reporting a core temp of 72 C. That seems too hot, ...and not even while transmitting. (I have a PI5 with a cooler HAT that runs around 50 C) Will external heat sinks on the back cool the Pi Zero sufficiently? Am I cooking it to a slow death? Don in Austin N5CID
|
sBitx Review
2
#sBITX_v3
#sbitx_v2
I purchased V2 a while ago and never really used it until a few days ago. I just wanted to say that I am impressed and would recommend it highly! In 2 days I was able to make contacts all over the world on 10 watts or less with FT8 and already hit 25 states out of 50 in the USA. So easy to use! Excellent work to all involved! I did have a few software crashes which I haven't looked into yet. (The software just closes). Is there a log or anything that I can look at to find out what may have happened? Something where I can submit a bug over? I would like to add to the software and make it better. I have some ideas that could increase productivity. But maybe it is just something I would like to see. Thanks again for an amazing product! 73 KC2NDA/Aaron
|
CW on zbitx
47
I have fixed the two issues of zbitx on CW. The new update has good keying with Iambic keyer and the cw decode noise is now gone as well. To get this update, you have to: 1. Flash the new firmware (the firmware version is now 1.06). The firmware is available from https://github.com/afarhan/zbitxfrontpanel/raw/refs/heads/main/zbitx_front_panel_sw.ino.uf2 2. Update the new software on the raspberry pi, the latest version with the CW keyng fixed is 3.051 (or later). Here is Jose, VU2JOS sending CW with the new firmware update. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEVyuFrkBd8 With this, I hope we have moved on with CW issues. - f
|
xBitX Product Question
12
zBitx group, I ordered my unit on Thursday last week based on what I read on the internet and the videos I watched. However since joining this group I have some concerns. My understanding was this is an "out of the box" ready to go radio. The comments I'm seeing here about setting up WSJT-X and recompiling code has me worried. Bottom line, is this unit a "READY TO ROCK" out of the box unit or not? I dont mind having to config WSJT-X but this groups is making look like you lucky if it even works on the radio you get. -- "POWER, WE DON'T NEED NO STICKIN' POWER" - EVERY KX2 OWNER Always respect the airwaves, 73 de KI7PBR, Gary
|
#zBitx Tilt Stand for zBitx anyone?
10
#zbitx
Has anyone found or devised a suitable tilt stand for the zBitx? The rear panel is a heat sink so likely stick-on tilt feet would become "unstuck" with the heat. I'd be interested in what users have come up with to achieve a viewing tilt stable against screen touches. Pete WK8S
|
zBitx Internet Observations
So far the internet connection and use of associated utils like the browser and remote connections using my iphone (sbitx.local) have been inconsistent. When I lose internet, I can restart the zBitx and all is ok with the zBitx browser for a short time, until I connect remotely, which seems to work the first time I try. If I try to connect remotely a second time, I am unable to. I also notice the zBitx browser gives me a DNS error and will no longer access the internet. I then have to restart the zBitx again. Perhaps the attached pic gives a hint of what may be wrong? --Ed, N3CW--
|