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Thanks Hans ....wasn't 100% sure about the frequency coverage .?

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These are great kits from Hans!
Ultimate3S assembled and checked out without problems.
Receiver had one shorted (measured 91 ohms) capacitor, C11, which upset bias to Q channel.? After changing C11 receiver worked perfectly.
Photos in album: K1LC breadboard assembly of the Ultimate3S and Receiver
Overall an enjoyable kit building experience.

73
Bud, K1LC

I switch my U3s off if I am not at home. ?What's the position on unattended operation?

Best not ask that question:-)
It's something much asked. In the UK or in most other countries I think the rules have to be stretched a lot for anyone to feel really comfortable about it. Even at home exactly what is attended operation?
But on the other hand who is going to notice a few 100 Mw in the ham bands when Ofcom allow so many interfering devices?

73 Alan G4ZFQ

Ordered the 20M version of this new kit & cant wait to get it !
Maybe I missed this in the Kit features & details , so my query is what is the frequency range of this Kit ??

Sorry if if this comes across as a stupid question but can't see where this is mentioned in the features .

Thanks?
peadar Ei2if?

I would have to dust off my licence or dl a new version it's been so long. ?Just a question for UK users as without checking I wasn't sure of the current situation. ?
For me with a full UK licence I'm taking no chances until I check and switch off I am not at home. ?
Thought somebody would have known the answer to the question however without sarcasm!

Thanks Hans,

Ah yes, I was thinking of the bandwidth of the CW filter - not the center frequency! But a simple add on bypass switch could possibly be used to link out the filter when receiving WSPR...

However, would I be right in thinking that in beacon mode the receiver is not active? My understanding so far is that in beacon mode the unit performs much like the U3S, doing its calibration etc, so would that mean that there is no active receive during the downtime between WSPR Tx periods? Or is the receiver active but just not shown on the LCD? I guess there would be a need to set the receive frequency differently also to the Tx, I suspect this would require a firmware mod?

Cheers
Martin G7MRV

On 23/08/17 10:13, cwheatley_hince@... wrote:

I switch my U3s off if I am not at home. What's the position on unattended operation?

Are you in the UK ? If so, and you read the License Terms you will see it depends on which License you hold and which band you TX on if I recall correctly.

But no flying to the Bahamas for a three month holiday, there's a two hour maximum shutdown clause.

It can run a couple days if I am around at home.

PS, IANAL

Additionally, how many are running unattended in the UK ?

CB was legalised in the UK when it was mainly because of the persistent demands of the continuing illegal operators despite prosecution (OK they were miffed when they were given FM but that's another story).

I am not sure that tactic would work with UK Amateur Radio Licensing though (so no, I am not advising it).

On 22/08/17 22:23, Chris Wilson wrote:

Chris Wilson 22 August 2017
Just curious as to how long people have had a U3S or other U series
powered up none stop for, and how the reliability has been.

LOL you can tell who the Windows users are. Better reboot it at least once a fortnight if you don't want to see the BSOD ;)

Luckily the U3S's are running HansOS.

I leave
mine powered up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, only a mains power
outage will stop it, was actually thinking of running it on solar but
probably not worth the hassle nor cost effective.

I switch my U3s off if I am not at home. ?What's the position on unattended operation?
It can run a couple days if I am around at home.

2 years easily.

I have 2 x U2's and a U3 DDS.

Only time they have been off is for the odd firmware upgrade, otherwise they sit their running 24/7 with GPS calibration.

In fact I thought about this only recently when I was up in the roof space (where they live in the dark). and I wondered about having an Uptime counter
on them (mechanical).

Maybe it's an idea for Hans in future U3S updates ?

73 de Andy

I have a number of ultimate 3s WSPR beacons up and running. I recently had an overvoltage issue with one of them which has damaged the OCXO, most likely the oven transistors as far as I can see. This unit is still recognized by the software (ver 3.11. However I decided to start afresh. I've finished the build of a new OCXO but not fully enclosed it yet. The oscillator tests out fine and is ok for frequency and level. However the OCXO is not recognized by the software. What is the software looking for as a valid unit? This may help me in further fault finding. I have a 100meh scope and 3gig spectrum analyser for fault finding.?
Dave ZL1TIU

Tips highly appreciated - I may need them.?

Perhaps also this thing uses more current than I think?? I can't find documented the current of the 3S nor the GPS.? Also i realize it varies with PA bias ... and the backlight setting.? I had wired mine to allow backlight adjustment - but never changed it.? Now that I reduce the backlight, the 3S is working flawless again.? As I see no regulation inside the 3S -- likely (to my surprise) I was up against the stops of this so called 1 amp supply - either with current under regulation or its manners when feeding a lot of current.?

I plan to build a better 5 volt supply -- with sufficient capacitance.? I had this homebrew (from another ham, now SK) open briefly - I did not count the uF's -- but there may not be quite enough.? It has a couple TO-whatever regulators bolted to the case (one for 5 volts and one for 12 volts) that likely aren't up to modern standards.?

I have enjoyed some cool radiation with 100 to 300 mW with this nifty transmitter.? Thanks again.?

Curt WB8YYY

On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 11:03 am, Alan Jones wrote:

I also have a Vichy DM4070 LCR meter that I bought about 4 or 5 years ago and it works great.

However, I have never tested how accurate it is with known accurate reference inductors/capacitors/resistors

I just bought one of these for $30 off eBay for $30 and I should receive it Thursday (my new oscilloscope arrived about an hour ago and I'm sitting here blankly wondering what possible purpose it's going to be put to).

I also wonder about accuracy, though generally these various Vichy meters test as accurate (or microscopically more so) with lab standard reference components than the corresponding Fluke$, according to the Youtube A/B tests I've seen.? I bought a VC99 on the basis of that, but of course, the tests are only testing that one unit.

All one needs for a reference component is something of any value tested with a known accurate device, but the hassle seems to be getting access to one of those in those? first place.

Good evening Alan (and all),

I have to admit that I couldn't see the forest for the trees in your query.

As to these simple LC meters suitability to assist in assembling Hans' kits I would have to say to yes, absolutely. Any tool is imminently helpful but as always you must knows it's limitations and work within those limitations. If in it's out of the box functionality it will not quite measure low enough to measure your toroid or capacitor then you must adjust your measurement technique.? Keep in mind that any toroid coil's value is not only related to the core material and number of turns but also in how those turns are wound around the toroid - close spaced windings over 1/4 of the toroid will have a different inductance that those same number of turns spaced over 90 percent of the toroid. the LC200 appear to be LC100 but in a nice case for twice the price. If it were me I would get one of LC200 versions just because it is nice package.

As an example, the QRP-Labs band pass filter suitable for 160m through 10m has coils of inductance values from 8.56uH to 1.40uH respectively. This LC meter has a stated specification of being able to measure inductance from .001uH to 100mH (low range) with a measurement accuracy of 1% and a test frequency of around 500kHz.? I suspect 1% is a bit optimistic and would expect something like 5 to 10%. Something else to keep in mind is that the value of the toroid themselves is subject to manufacturing tolerance as well.

I spent a great deal of time over the past couple of days researching some of these of LC and LCR meters.

First off, I was mistaken in my biased assumption that the bulk of these inexpensive devices on eBay were based on the AVR LC meter design. This just isn't so. The LC100/LC200 and similar devices have more in common with the AADE LC meter that they do the AVR base meter.? However, the are not just simply copies of the AADE meter. They may use a similar technique but whereas the AADE meter used a PIC micro these LC100/LS200 hardware is different and use a STM8 micro and not one but several comparators including an LM311 and LM383, at least in the more recent versions of these meters.? Since the basic measurement technique is similar I would expect the performance of these LC meters to be very similar to the AADE meter and being of a? it more recent vintage perhaps even having an edge.

Second, the AVR based LC meters are found in plenty of variations as well. Typically their description contains something like MK8 or MK168 or MK328 or similar with those numbers. These devices have three test point inputs and will do basic measurements on diodes, transistors [etc ...] in addition to L and C. The AADE and similar have two test point inputs and measure only L and C.

One learned gentlemen posted earlier that only way to truly measure a capacitance or inductance is to do so under conditions similar to which it will be exposed in operation. This is true and these simple LC, LCR, and component testers do their measurements at frequencies quite varied from those for which the device will be used. BUT, they will provide a good approximation and be helpful provided you keep in mind their limitations and don't simply take their results as gospel.

Being a test equipment addict I have ordered a couple of different versions of these simple devices so that I can have a close look and see what makes them tick. Being microcontroller based they should be able to reprogrammed and I may take some time and try to tweak. At the very least it will keep me off the streets for a while.

cheers, Graham? ve3gtc

Yep, I had the exact same problem. Better filtering on the power supply fixed it . The cap filtering suggested in the previous post fixed it, I used electrolytics

Chris Wilson 22 August 2017


Just curious as to how long people have had a U3S or other U series
powered up none stop for, and how the reliability has been. I leave
mine powered up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, only a mains power
outage will stop it, was actually thinking of running it on solar but
probably not worth the hassle nor cost effective.



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2E0ILY
Best regards,
Chris mailto:chris@...



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Best regards, Chris Wilson (2E0ILY)

Alan,

Well put. One of the reasons I like this list so much is that Hans rules with a loose grip. As long as the discussions don't get out of hand then general chatter is easily tolerated.

Besides, I am interested who is buying what kits. Lets me know what is popular and how much. Goes hand in hand with reports of success and troubles.

cheers, Graham ve3gtc

Hi all,

I checked the Tayda website where I purchased some serviceable die cast aluminum boxes previously:

They have one die cast Al model that would be a tight fit but might work: 120mm x 94 mm x 33 mm.? Price is $7 + shipping. Available in a whole range of powder coated colors (very important to make the correct fashion statement here).

Their largest plastic box is also an "almost" at 89 x 133 x 47 mm @ $4

Close maybe ok when playing horse shoes but not for a radio enclosure. ? I will check out the exterior PVC electrical boxes at the building supply store - not quite so elegant but certainly sturdy and weatherproof.

I am confident that someone will persist in their internet shopping and will come up with a suitable and affordable enclosure - if so please share.

73

Earl, VA6TJ