Category: Hardware

All hardware posts

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Replacement to Q70 for more audio gain, less overload

Tom W1EAT  has noted that Q70, the audio pre-amp, has a really big job in the uBITX and sometimes gets overdriven by very strong signals.   Tom also replaced the 2822 audio amp with an LM380 and lost around 8db in audio gain.

So he though he would try another transistor to try and improve this situaiton.

He had some 2SC945 transistors marked with the highest “beta”(AKA hfe) rating, so I took one with a 360 hfe and replaced Q70.   He made no other component changes. The 2SC945 is supposed to be specially designed for audio pre-amps, so it ought to be a good replacement.

With RX voltage of 13.6, the Q70 collector voltage is 4.67 on the 2sc945.

I should mention that I added a 16K resistor from the base to ground when Q70 was a 2n3904, which was suggested by W3JDR to reduce distortion. I did not remove that resistor.

The results were totally positive. Tom has more AF gain, and none of the signals in tje IARU HF contest overloaded it.

Something for experimenters to try out …

Reference
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Some great mods from PH2LB

 

Lex PH2LB  wrote to uBITx.net to tell us about a page on his website where he describes his uBitx (V3) mods.   This is a very nice build, and he has some good ideas.   Check his page out here

http://www.ph2lb.nl/blog/index.php?page=ubitx-mods

In particular Lex has developed some custom firmware that firmware geeks may be quite interested in …

“Second mod : custom firmware”

Originally based on the v2 software but merged to v4.3 and updated to code to have a lower RAM footprint (usage of F(…) macro and strcpy_P) with about 50%.

Source files can be found here : https://github.com/ph2lb/ubitx4

Over the last few months there have been a range of ideas to boost mic drive output or to add compression.  Here’s a mod designed to work with a dynamic microphone …

“Fourth mod : dynamic microphone amplifier.”

Because I like to work with dynamic microphones, I added a dynamic microphone amplifier based on the microphone preamp designed by Javier Solans Badia, EA3GCY for his ILER transceivers.

There are a whole bunch of ways to add buttons. KD8CEC does this through paralleling up buttons with different series resistor values on the encoder analogue port).   Lex has taken a different approach that will be of interest to some constructors.   He uses a PCF8574 I2C encoder (like the backpacks for a 16×2 or 20×4 LCD display) and uses the existing I2C bus…

“Fifth mod : again adding extra buttons.”

Using a PCF8574AP I2C IO Extender and hooked it up to the all-ready existing I2C bus on the Raduino for more direct menu buttons. Needs the custom firmware to direct switch between bands with a PA bandplan limitation (also has FULL option) and Step size up and down.

 

Something that a number of constructors have done is to remove the 7805  and supply 5v to the Raduio using a separate 5v supply.  Most are using buck or buck boost modules, but Lex has used a P-MOSFET.   There’s a good description of his approach on his website …

“Sixth mod : removing 7805 from Raduino and reverse power protection.”

Relocating the 7805 is a good idea, but adding a reversed voltage polarity to a uBitx is a must. I used a P-MOSFETs for that (also link to good video about using P-MOSFETS for reverse power protection).

Finally, you may be interested in Lex’s use of the Manhattan style technique for PCB layout.  It can look very professional as per this example:

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Analogue S-meter using a VU meter and driver module

Jean-Luc F6HOY added an analog s meter to his first BITx40 with a simple circuit on an audio line and a 500 microA vu-meter.  All was fine except that without any AGC it only provided an indication of the signal level.

Jean-Luc added a Chinese Audio Vu-meter that is much better on his µBITx.
For around 15€ he received a circuit module and 2 vu-meters.   Only one vu-meter is used of course.   The circuit board functions as an AGC, and for an extra bit of fun he has a nice warm light in the shack from the yellow light of the VU meter.

You can get this kit from several shops in China (one such  example).

Reference

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Adding the v4 pop fix directly to a v3 board

Nigel G4ZAL has added the v4 pop-fix to his v3 board by placing components directly onto the v3 board.

Instructions:

  1. Swap out R70 from 100 ohms to 1K.

  1. Drill a small hole (0.7mm or similar) to the right of R70 so as to be able to fix the 2N7000 transistor.
  2. Pin 2 of the 2N7000 is soldered on the underside of the board (ground).
  3. Scrape a little varnish from the tracks and tin ready to fix the 2N7000.
  4. Add some Kapton tape to stop any shorting of components.
  5. Add the remainder of the components and run a bit of enamelled wire to the trace near the Raduino headers to pickup the T/R line.

Seen from the front of the main board (ignore the cutouts on the front of the board)

Reference
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Getting prepared for the JackAl

Some of you are waiting with baited breath for the JackAl Board, announced by Jack W8TEE.   You can get yourself geared up for the JackAl by pre-purchasing some of the kit required, as it is due to be released shortly.  You will need a colour touch display panel, a Teensy 3.6 processor and associated Teensy audio board.

Display panel

There are two display options for the JackAl board: 5″ or 7″.  Neither is likely to fit in your existing µBITx enclosure, so you may also want to purchase a new enclosure.

The panels can be purchased from BuyDisplay.com. Their order numbers are:

ER-TFTM050-3 (5″)
ER-TFTM070-5 (7″)

Both displays use the following options:

4-wire SPI interface
3.3V
Resistive touch
No font (the library is being used for fonts)

Both are 800×480 displays using the RA8875 chip. If you run the samples using a touch screen, make sure you run the Calibration sample program first.

Teensy 3.6 and audio board

The Teensy 3.6 and its associated audio board can be purchased from the manufacturer’s website or from other sources.

Reference
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Dimming your Nextion display

Ian KD8CEC has been looking at power consumption on the Nextion display and how to effectively dim the screen for portable µBITx work, where you want low current drain.

The following picture show’s Ian’s display (2.8″ TJC Chinese version) at Full Power:

And the screen fed with a series 50 ohm resistor (1/2 watt rated or more):

The slightly dimmer display halves the current consumption from 89mA to 44mA with a series 50 ohm resistor (made up of two 100 ohm resistors in parallel (or 3 x 150 ohm resistors in parallel).  The Nextion screen has a built in software dimming function, and this can be adjusted in Ian’s Nextion display firmware.   However, the feature generates noise in the µBITx and is not recommended.

Resistor installation

Installing a series resistor (with a value between 20 ohms and 100 ohms) in the +5V power lead will cause the display to be dimmed, but function normally (except for use of the micro-SD card reader).  The resistor could be installed across a slide switch or toggle switch (with one pole shorted and the other going through the resistor) to allow for two settings (normal, dimmed).   This could be handy for night time or portable use.  The circuit diagram for this is as below:

For further details see Ian’s website.

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Breadboard uBITx

Jon Titus  KZ1G  shows off his breadboard construction  technique, which he uses while his rig is under development.  The board is mounted on a piece of plywood and usea 1/8-inch clear plastic as front and rear panels for controls and connectors. This “breadboard” technique has been used by Jon for other projects, because it lets him rearrange control locations, ensure clearances between components, jacks, heatsinks, etc.  In this way he doesn’t ruin a nice front panel when later adding an extra pushbutton or switch, etc.

After learning about the W0EB and N5IB RadI2Cino (Rad I2C ino) project he needed more room for the replacement board and a larger LCD. A section of plywood was glued on the front (see photo) and the front panel  was then able to be moved forward by about 4 cm.   Jon quickly added an extra pushbutton, and drilled holes to mount the LCD.

However, when do you make the call to put the whole thing in a proper metal case Jon?

Reference
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Evening up power out using KB1GMX and K9HZ solutions

Mike N6CMY has been doing some mods on his µBITx, including some of Allison’s mods by substituting 2n2222’s and a BFR106 for the 3904’s on the RF lineup (pre-driver and driver stages).

In terms of output power the results are impressive. But in terms of levelling  up the output… well not so good.

Mike measured 12W on 10M and over 35W  on 40M!  He was a bit taken aback at this point!

He finally bit the bullet and used K9HZ’s multi relay/pot method for levelling the response.

Mike was reluctant to use such a brute-force solution for a subtle problem but he now measures 15W on 80, 40, 20 M and 12 on 10M. VICTORY!!

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A fan for your uBITx

Arvo KD9XLC has put one of these 12v fans that cost less than a dollar on the back of his Excelway case from Bangood (which apparently now on sale for $8.88).

You could attach the fan to the cabinet with hot glue, or use the correctly sized bolts/nuts.

And if you don’t want those fans to run on receive connect them to the TX 12v line, namely at pin 3 on U2, which is what Arvo did.

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