3D printers and the uBITx go together

Doug K4DSP hesitates to say that that is µBITx is actually finished, as he keeps thinking of stuff to add to the hardware and firmware! But the cover is on and he’s making QSOs.

Previously Doug had only used his rig on CW, but he used a 3D printer to make a mic case and got it wired up.   His first SSB QSO was with S51DX.

Doug is pleased with how well the little radio “hears”.   While drafting his update for the BITX20 IOGroups list he was listening to G0EVY on 40M SSB who was booming in.

Doug has yet to install the AGC board so he finds the static crashes are “pretty harsh”.   He says it reminds him of his old Heath HW-16 in that regard.

The mic case  design was sourced from Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3044144

It uses the mic element and microswitch that were included in the uBITX kit. He printed it with black filament and then rubbed some white paint into the front to give it some “character”.

Doug printed the uBITX case from here:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2823172

He only used the front and rear panels.  He designed his own middle section to add mounting holes and a baffle for an internal speaker.   He used FreeCAD to do the design.

Doug calibrated the frequency against a 10 MHz GPSDO. Then, based on advice of others, he used a PC audio spectrum analyzer program (Spectrum Lab by DL4YHF) to adjust the BFO frequency. That worked a treat, and he’s really happy with the way the audio sounds now.

He concludes, “It’s just a very pleasing little radio”

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