1. BITX20@groups.io
   Date   
Re: Sustained Transmit Power #firmware

ajparent1/KB1GMX <kb1gmx@...>
 

On Sun, Sep 2, 2018 at 05:42 PM, Larry Plummer wrote:
2.  WSPR has long 1 minute 52 second key down transmit times.  I plan to transmit on alternate cycles, i.e 2 minutes transmit and 2 minutes recieve.  Will the uBitX support sustained output of 5 watts sith this duty cycle?
Depends on what band and how big the fan is.  Seriously it does require moving air to cool it.
I wonder how many are in tight boxes and cooking the finals. 

I never noticed frequency stability issues. TCXO is better but I have no proof its needed or required.

Allison
Re: UBITX TX level diagramme

ajparent1/KB1GMX <kb1gmx@...>
 

To low res to blow it up to 200% and at the current size its really poor (fuzzy) to read.

I'll sketch it on paper and shoot a picture if I get time.  Either that or start all over in Impress.


Allison
Re: Stone Soup

Fanima Dekoi
 

Cheap, fun, accessible little radio projects like the bit x and the pixie, that get shat on all the time. even with all of their problems and lack of bells and whistles, (or more likely, because of them) are far more core to what amateur radio is and should be than even the most modest store bought radio.

"Out of the box" the ubitx does nothing illegal.  It does nothing, period. It's just a board.  Even putting it in a box and wiring it up stock buys you a lot more credence than going on the air with some more expensive toy, with which all you have accomplished is a consumer purchase.

I personally am unimpressed by someone's ability to choose and purchase nice stuff, and the pursuit of it doesn't make a hobby much more fun.  I see it on the water a lot too.  The miserable guy with a 40 foot yacht with radar masts and nuclear water makers doesn't ever seem to have nearly as much fun as the guy with the 22 foot sailboat with duct tape on his jib.

There was a time when cheap kit radios were a big boom for amateur radio and brought lots of fun and enjoyment and people. I read old articles as a youngster and they excited me.

But when I was a kid getting into radio it was a dark time, a time dominated by those I liked to call "big babies with their big CB's" if you couldn't buy the big  rigs, and half a million watt amps, you couldn't be on the air.

Personally I'd rather have all the noise on HD and dirty emissions coming from hundreds of ubitx radios than that small elite bunch of of old babies rag chewing on 80 about conspiracy theories and their latest colonoscopies and their expensive gear they bought. 

People are excited again, learning, having fun, there's nothing wrong with it.

This "garbage" is amateur radio reborn, and good riddance to the big overblown CB's, really. The appliance "niceties" grew so burdensome and covetous that they nearly killed off the hobby.

You don't need thousands of test gear to make the bit x compliant, you need a junk box, a soldering iron, a cheap Chinese lcr meter, and the arrl handbook page on filters. 


On Mon, Sep 3, 2018, 10:14 PM Lee <mr.olson@...> wrote:
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,  no matter how dumb they may sound.

And that's my opinion.
--
Lee - N9LO  "I Void Warranties"

 
Re: Stone Soup

Lee
 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,  no matter how dumb they may sound.

And that's my opinion.
--
Lee - N9LO  "I Void Warranties"

 
Re: Stone Soup

nemfield <nemfield@...>
 

Warren;

I've seen collaboration. learning, strangers supporting each other, the funds helping women in India, all sorts of amazing modification, an inexpensive WORKING radio. Simply, a lot of people world wide having fun. Pretty good for amateur radio. Far from garbage.

You may want to re-read stone soup.

Gabe VE3SLJ.


On 2018-09-03 9:26 PM, Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io wrote:
Warren,

The uBitx is just fine as a QRP 80/40/20 SSB transceiver once the LPF's are cleaned up. 
Or as a good general coverage receiver.
Or as a testbed to learn about radios and arduino programming.
Good luck finding anything better for the price.

Perhaps you should find yourself some other forum to haunt.

Jerry, KE7ER



On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 05:37 PM, Warren Allgyer wrote:

Folks

I refer you to a famous story. It comes in many variations and this is just one: http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/mtale.htm

I am the last person to discourage experimentation.... it is what I do, both for a living and for fun. But this is getting ridiculous.

We have here a platform that literally does nothing well. Nothing. Its only claims to fame are 1) It is inexpensive and 2) it is software configurable. The uBitx is a horrible transmitter, perhaps a worse receiver, bereft of simple operating niceties like AGC, ALC, preselection filtering, etc. As it comes out of the box it is illegal for air operations in most countries in the world. Its receiver has no front end, no filtering, miserly overall gain, and lousy audio. The transmitter cannot be put on the air legally and maintained without thousands of dollars of lab grade test equipment. Even as a core SSB generator it is 1960's technology executed badly.

And all of that would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that it IS put on the air, in the vast majority of cases, without the necessary lab equipment and testing simply because it does a lot of bands very inexpensively. This is the Twinkie offered to a starving child, the shipping container begging to become a multimillion dollar condominium,  the tricycle with dreams of winning the Indy 500. All possible..... but all ultimately futile for all but a persistent, doggedly stubborn few. And the others who try will simply add to the noise and junk that has become HF around the world.

Even the narrative that this represents employment for needy women in a third world country.... even that does not justify foisting this on amateur radio operators around the world. Producing garbage does not lift a segment out of poverty..... it just makes more garbage. It is very, very disappointing to see the hobby I have loved for 50 years be reduced to this.

If there was ever an electronic analogue for "Stone Soup", it is uBitx.

WA8TOD
Re: Stone Soup

Michael Hagen
 

I love the Bit and uBit.  It brought some hams to actually look under the hood.   A legacy of Heathkit?

I got my license in 1961.  Because of Ham Radio, I went on to college and struggled for a BSEE.

Always an experimenter, while posing for the dollar as an engineer.   I could have worked at the 76 Gas Station I worked for in

high school!  Wow, Circuit Design!

After all,  look what it has done to bring all these folks from EVERYWHERE together.

That's what working DX has done for years.  I love meeting folks from New Zealand or England or Anywhere!

In one weekend contest, I made 126 foreign contacts on a home made beam on 10M.  Yes  DXCC + in one weekend.

Long Live Ash and his projects.


Mike, WA6ISP


On 9/3/2018 5:37 PM, Warren Allgyer wrote:

Folks

I refer you to a famous story. It comes in many variations and this is just one: http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/mtale.htm

I am the last person to discourage experimentation.... it is what I do, both for a living and for fun. But this is getting ridiculous.

We have here a platform that literally does nothing well. Nothing. Its only claims to fame are 1) It is inexpensive and 2) it is software configurable. The uBitx is a horrible transmitter, perhaps a worse receiver, bereft of simple operating niceties like AGC, ALC, preselection filtering, etc. As it comes out of the box it is illegal for air operations in most countries in the world. Its receiver has no front end, no filtering, miserly overall gain, and lousy audio. The transmitter cannot be put on the air legally and maintained without thousands of dollars of lab grade test equipment. Even as a core SSB generator it is 1960's technology executed badly.

And all of that would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that it IS put on the air, in the vast majority of cases, without the necessary lab equipment and testing simply because it does a lot of bands very inexpensively. This is the Twinkie offered to a starving child, the shipping container begging to become a multimillion dollar condominium,  the tricycle with dreams of winning the Indy 500. All possible..... but all ultimately futile for all but a persistent, doggedly stubborn few. And the others who try will simply add to the noise and junk that has become HF around the world.

Even the narrative that this represents employment for needy women in a third world country.... even that does not justify foisting this on amateur radio operators around the world. Producing garbage does not lift a segment out of poverty..... it just makes more garbage. It is very, very disappointing to see the hobby I have loved for 50 years be reduced to this.

If there was ever an electronic analogue for "Stone Soup", it is uBitx.

WA8TOD


-- 
Mike Hagen, WA6ISP
10917 Bryant Street
Yucaipa, Ca. 92399
(909) 918-0058
PayPal ID  "MotDog@..."
Mike@...
Re: Stone Soup

Kees T
 

Warren, don't forget the very positive moral of the "stone story": 

Moral:  By working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.

I think the uBITX has been and is a wonderful educational opportunity for all and still is a great value rig to use on the air. In all my electronic history, which goes back quite a few years, I have never seen so many people learn and contribute so much to the hobby......anywhere.

If "in the old days", enough people had access to Rigol DSA815-TG (Spectrum Analyzer and Tracking Generator) test equipment, NONE of us would have successfully built anything to get on the air and we'd all be "appliance operators".   

I. for one, am having great fun and think this is what REAL ham radio is all about.

73 Kees K5BCQ

 
Re: 80 Meters Harmonics Fix Proposal

Howard Fidel
 

Jim:
You can't argue with success! However, I don't quite understand a few things. Why remove the electrolytics, the bulk capacitance can't hurt? Why not center tap the transformer primary and feed the DC there? It should have the same result and is simpler.

Howard

On 9/3/2018 9:04 PM, jim via Groups.Io wrote:

On Monday, September 3, 2018, 11:51:11 AM PDT, Warren Allgyer <allgyer@...> wrote:


Howard

When I measured 80 meter harmonics the particularly troublesome ones were 5th at 18 MHz and 7th at 25 MHz. In both cases the attenuation of the stock uBitx at those frequencies was limited by the layout of the board and by the coupling of relays sharing both filter input and output in the same frame. In such cases the characteristics of the filters, both existing and any modifications are immaterial. The attenuation of the stock filter supplied is more than adequate. But the harmonics bypass the filter and go via I/O coupling straight to the output. Please measure the 5th and 7th harmonics on CW. I think you will find you have not done much to improve the stock situation.

WA8TOD

Just a fyi ...see the picture of the 80 meter output from my unit ...after doing the L7,L8 mod and the output transformer mod .
A whole bunch of the cruft flying around in this radio is due to L7 and L8 having DC current flowing through them ...This DC biases the ferrite (shifting the BH curve who knows where) lowering the inductance and allowing RF everywhere ..

Put a proper inductor on the IRF510's that is NOT affected by DC current flowing through it and see what you get

Jim
Re: Stone Soup

Jerry Gaffke
 

Warren,

The uBitx is just fine as a QRP 80/40/20 SSB transceiver once the LPF's are cleaned up. 
Or as a good general coverage receiver.
Or as a testbed to learn about radios and arduino programming.
Good luck finding anything better for the price.

Perhaps you should find yourself some other forum to haunt.

Jerry, KE7ER



On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 05:37 PM, Warren Allgyer wrote:

Folks

I refer you to a famous story. It comes in many variations and this is just one: http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/mtale.htm

I am the last person to discourage experimentation.... it is what I do, both for a living and for fun. But this is getting ridiculous.

We have here a platform that literally does nothing well. Nothing. Its only claims to fame are 1) It is inexpensive and 2) it is software configurable. The uBitx is a horrible transmitter, perhaps a worse receiver, bereft of simple operating niceties like AGC, ALC, preselection filtering, etc. As it comes out of the box it is illegal for air operations in most countries in the world. Its receiver has no front end, no filtering, miserly overall gain, and lousy audio. The transmitter cannot be put on the air legally and maintained without thousands of dollars of lab grade test equipment. Even as a core SSB generator it is 1960's technology executed badly.

And all of that would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that it IS put on the air, in the vast majority of cases, without the necessary lab equipment and testing simply because it does a lot of bands very inexpensively. This is the Twinkie offered to a starving child, the shipping container begging to become a multimillion dollar condominium,  the tricycle with dreams of winning the Indy 500. All possible..... but all ultimately futile for all but a persistent, doggedly stubborn few. And the others who try will simply add to the noise and junk that has become HF around the world.

Even the narrative that this represents employment for needy women in a third world country.... even that does not justify foisting this on amateur radio operators around the world. Producing garbage does not lift a segment out of poverty..... it just makes more garbage. It is very, very disappointing to see the hobby I have loved for 50 years be reduced to this.

If there was ever an electronic analogue for "Stone Soup", it is uBitx.

WA8TOD
Re: 80 Meters Harmonics Fix Proposal

jim
 


On Monday, September 3, 2018, 11:51:11 AM PDT, Warren Allgyer <allgyer@...> wrote:


Howard

When I measured 80 meter harmonics the particularly troublesome ones were 5th at 18 MHz and 7th at 25 MHz. In both cases the attenuation of the stock uBitx at those frequencies was limited by the layout of the board and by the coupling of relays sharing both filter input and output in the same frame. In such cases the characteristics of the filters, both existing and any modifications are immaterial. The attenuation of the stock filter supplied is more than adequate. But the harmonics bypass the filter and go via I/O coupling straight to the output. Please measure the 5th and 7th harmonics on CW. I think you will find you have not done much to improve the stock situation.

WA8TOD

Just a fyi ...see the picture of the 80 meter output from my unit ...after doing the L7,L8 mod and the output transformer mod .
A whole bunch of the cruft flying around in this radio is due to L7 and L8 having DC current flowing through them ...This DC biases the ferrite (shifting the BH curve who knows where) lowering the inductance and allowing RF everywhere ..

Put a proper inductor on the IRF510's that is NOT affected by DC current flowing through it and see what you get

Jim
_._,_._,_
Stone Soup

Warren Allgyer <allgyer@...>
 

Folks

I refer you to a famous story. It comes in many variations and this is just one: http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/mtale.htm

I am the last person to discourage experimentation.... it is what I do, both for a living and for fun. But this is getting ridiculous.

We have here a platform that literally does nothing well. Nothing. Its only claims to fame are 1) It is inexpensive and 2) it is software configurable. The uBitx is a horrible transmitter, perhaps a worse receiver, bereft of simple operating niceties like AGC, ALC, preselection filtering, etc. As it comes out of the box it is illegal for air operations in most countries in the world. Its receiver has no front end, no filtering, miserly overall gain, and lousy audio. The transmitter cannot be put on the air legally and maintained without thousands of dollars of lab grade test equipment. Even as a core SSB generator it is 1960's technology executed badly.

And all of that would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that it IS put on the air, in the vast majority of cases, without the necessary lab equipment and testing simply because it does a lot of bands very inexpensively. This is the Twinkie offered to a starving child, the shipping container begging to become a multimillion dollar condominium,  the tricycle with dreams of winning the Indy 500. All possible..... but all ultimately futile for all but a persistent, doggedly stubborn few. And the others who try will simply add to the noise and junk that has become HF around the world.

Even the narrative that this represents employment for needy women in a third world country.... even that does not justify foisting this on amateur radio operators around the world. Producing garbage does not lift a segment out of poverty..... it just makes more garbage. It is very, very disappointing to see the hobby I have loved for 50 years be reduced to this.

If there was ever an electronic analogue for "Stone Soup", it is uBitx.

WA8TOD
Re: 80 Meters Harmonics Fix Proposal

Howard Fidel
 

Yes, I stand corrected, but Warren said 20 meters, not 20 MHz.

On 9/3/2018 5:35 PM, ajparent1/KB1GMX wrote:
 peeling the onion, slowly. I thought the problematic band was 15 Meters for SSB? 

No its basically 20mhz and up as in all 15/12/10 for SSB.

Allison


Grounding shematic for a Metal Chassis, which is the right way to wire up?

sdr freak
 

Hello again HAM's !

I have an really important question for all HAM's here, who have their Ubitx in a metal housing or have the knowledge about the grounding options for this way i looking for..

It's like..I want to have my Ubitx in an aluminium chassis and ground everything to this like i see in athread here in forum(i hope its ok to post the pics here), perfect showing what i mean and what i search to understand this correct wire up, look here please:

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/attachment/44890/2/IMG_4811.JPG

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/attachment/44890/3/IMG_4812.JPG

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/attachment/44890/8/IMG_4817.JPG


this is my problem, and i see enough metal cased ubitx's but only few pics with this grounding.. and this is what i look for but i don't understand this whit the logic of the wire up v1.9 in this forum, look here:

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/photo/49276/0

also i want ask for a picture to wiring the grounding when use a metal chassis, because i doesn't unterstand the wire up shematic(v1.7;v1.8,v1.9) here in forum. because in all this wire up shematic, i read that it's the best to use metal chassis and but be careful of 'ground loops' and then the 'sleeves are grounded'...
so that is really dificult for me to understand this shematic what does it mean whit Ground Loops and so on..

and now i don't know what is the 'wire up shematic for metal chassis' and which cable should have to stay at the place when i wish to build a nice grounded ubitx, like a chassis which is grounded + have a grounding-screw at the backside plate to ground the whole ubitx at the main ground in my home, for any secure and on the other side a have a nice grounded chassis where all the things have their ground like 'mic/ptt-jack , keyer-jack , audio-jack, ,the encoder-button, the turning resistor for nf voulume,  possibly additional switches, antenna conection,..

 ok i think you can be understand what i mean, i look for all things in the ubitx they are have ground connect, few things directly  to the raduino or the main board, and the raduino and the board + display are also this things which i doesn't understand to ground this when use metal chassis and i look for my idea to make all grounding to a main chassis-ground-screw..

Can anybody help me there, so that i don't make mistakes who destroy anthing in the ubitx..? Is there possibly anyone who have a ubitx in metall case and can say what he does in this obstacle. please don't laughing at me ...
(i'm really read for weeks and its not like a have not search for, but i'm really confused with this 'Grounding Chassis and make it Right' so now i must hope for all help of anybody who is know i feel whit this problem like ''why i'm don't understand..why? is it like,..humm..sh*t why does i find no way in this alone..'' .. it's like a war in me and feels like there is no way to get smarter.. but i would love to get this smartness, to understand this things mostly complete at my self alone.. but sometimes it shouldn't be..)

ok i don't make it any larger - i hope for help thanks!!

Best regards Fabian !
Re: K5BCQ uBITX Relay Switched LPF/BPF board

Kees T
 

Close.......

What I am doing on the 4x board (the one compatible with the existing uBITX) design point is:
#1) it fits in the space I cleared on the uBITX board picture,
#2) it selects 3 of the relay sets with the TxA, TXB, and TxC uBITX drivers for 80/60m, 40/30m, 20/17/(15)m,
#3) if any one of those 3 drivers is picked it selects the TXD driver (on the 4x board) which is driven by a 3 input diode dot-OR from the TXA,TXB, TXC inputs. The TxD driver has the 4th 10/12m filter on  the NC contacts so you don't have to have 1 LPF relay energized at all times and may not require K3 if it's the highest band LPF, like on the present uBITX. .....haven't decided yet). 
#4 yes, disabling audio M1/M2 with the same RF relay is strange.

73 Kees K5BCQ
Re: UBITX TX level diagramme

Glenn
 

Allison, is this the drawing (pdf) referred to?   Attached .BMP copy could be amended with MS Paint.



glenn
uBITX40 filtered

leventelist@...
 

Dear all,


I'm thinking about the adding low pass filters to the output of all
oscillators. The goal is to filter the square wave of the clock generator. I came up with this mixer solution. Using a JFET mixer is just my other experiment.

Question is if this circuit would clean the output signal?

Also, I'm thinking about modifying the IF amplifiers to be tuned.

Any ideas?



73s de HA5OGL

--
Levente Kovacs
Senior Electronic Engineer

W: http://levente.logonex.eu

PDF
mixer-mixer.pdf

Re: UBITX TX level diagramme

Lawrence Galea
 

Thanks Allison
Regards

On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 7:41 PM ajparent1/KB1GMX <kb1gmx@...> wrote:
Lawrence G.,

I tried a few things along that path.  made matters worse and that was also tried with
external level 7 mixer and level 17 external mixers.   It was then a rock fell on me
and I realized the output of the 45mhz amp with the TX producing power was filthy.
Add a filter module it got better but by then I had so many outboard modules
its was almost a breadboard radio.  Everything is talking to everything by sneak
paths.  

Allison
We need only one magik part.

Re: 80 Meters Harmonics Fix Proposal

ajparent1/KB1GMX <kb1gmx@...>
 

 peeling the onion, slowly. I thought the problematic band was 15 Meters for SSB? 

No its basically 20mhz and up as in all 15/12/10 for SSB.

Allison
Re: K5BCQ uBITX Relay Switched LPF/BPF board

ajparent1/KB1GMX <kb1gmx@...>
 

Now if one does all that and really wants 20 and up spurs and all....

Simple add an inline (between radio and antenna jack) 28mhz low pass filter.
and leave it there.  If it well made it will be invisible (low loss) and at worst
it catches harmonics like the old school TVI filter.  It does not fix the spur
Issue.

So the deal for the relays then is:
           
KT1 selects 20m filter via TXA
KT2 selects 40m filter via TXB
KT3 selects 80m filter Via TXC
none selected is straight through
and the external always inline 28mhz LPF is doing the work.

 **
 * Select the tx harmonic filters
*/  
void setTXFilters(unsigned long freq){
  
  if (freq >= 20000000L){ 
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_A, 0);
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_B, 0);  // 10m straight through
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_C, 0);
  }
  else if (freq >= 14000000L){ 
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_A, 1);
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_B, 0);  // 20M
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_C, 0);
  }
  else if (freq >= 7000000L){  
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_A, 0);
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_B, 1);  // 40m
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_C, 0);    
  }
  else {
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_A, 0);
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_B, 0);  // 80m
    digitalWrite(TX_LPF_C, 1);    
  }
}
Re: 80 Meters Harmonics Fix Proposal

Howard Fidel
 

Warren:
I'm peeling the onion, slowly. I thought the problematic band was 15 Meters for SSB?

Gordon:
I don't understand what you are asking me. I provided the simulation file for the 80 meter filter. I haven't touched the other bands yet, I was hoping someone would also try the mod and confirm 80 meter CW is now OK.

Howard


On 9/3/2018 5:05 PM, Warren Allgyer wrote:

Got it Howard. And I agree with both the strategy and the necessary amount of improvement. On mine, a six dB improvement would make all bands legal for CW harmonics. That would be a nice solution for a CW only radio. Of course you must not use it on SSB for 20 meters and above but perhaps that is not your objective. Good work!

 

WA8TOD
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