Saturday, April 15, 2023

Miscellaneous updates

Ham radio is far from a static hobby:

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As is by now widely known, the (tr)uSDX is plagued with speaker howl when using the internal speaker and a volume setting of 10 or higher. The cure for this is to use headphones or an external amplified speaker.

Or you can perform a hardware mod.

But Manuel DL2MAN recently announced that, for those not wanting to do the mod, a new circuit board will soon be available with the modification already in place.

Mentioned elsewhere is the notification that a fully-built "classic bands" version of the (tr)uSDX will soon be available for purchase. Kit versions of the classic bands (10, 15, 20, 40, 80m) radio have been available for some time.

Here is a DL2MAN-recommended source to watch for when this version becomes available.

A new firmware upgrade for the (tr)uSDX dispenses with AM and FM modes and now offers a spectrum scope and additional CW memories. I did the upgrade two days ago and all went well.

Amount of spectrum displayed is controlled by the tuning step size chosen; either +/- 8, 16 or 32 kHz.

Julian OH8STN has other news associated with this radio's development via a video from DL2MAN. History repeats itself (RIP, mcHF). The video has now been removed (marked as Private).

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CQ Magazine has recently updated the two sample issues made available for free download. Previous issues were from 2017 - now they are from 2021. Particularly interesting is the June 2021 issue with the "Take It to the Field" theme.

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Maker of the highly popular (deservedly so!) Venus SW-3B, Dale BA4TB, will soon be offering a 6-band rig that will include both 10 and 60 meters.

When? "Soon". What price? What other bands? I don't know. How big will it be? I don't know.

But if its performance is anything like that of the SW-3B, it'll be a winner, especially due to the inclusion of 10m during this part of the solar cycle.

For the foreseeable future, I've sworn off any new radios/kits that don't include at least one of the higher HF bands. 20-80m radios - I've had enough of them over the years. No mas.

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A new video on POTA stats for the 1st quarter of 2023.

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And, in case you missed it - v2 of the sBitx is now available with shipping (via DHL to the US) beginning this weekend. If mine ships this weekend, it should be here within 3 days. This rig should be regarded as an experimenter's radio - not a finished, perfectly operating, product.

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Posted by John AE5X at

6 comments:

  1. Steve SilvermanApril 15, 2023 at 1:08 PM

    Here is the link to V2 of the sBitx: https://www.hfsignals.com/index.php/sbitx-v2/
    Steve KB3SII ... .. ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John AE5XApril 15, 2023 at 5:49 PM

      Thanks Steve - link now updated in posting.

      73,
      John

      Delete
  2. Thomas (K4SWL)April 16, 2023 at 7:11 AM

    Great info, John! I agree: a 6 band Venus radio would be brilliant.

    I didn't fully understand Julian's post and exactly what was happening with the (tr)uSDX. When I checked the post, DL2MAN's video had already been marked private. I'm sure it had more insight.

    It is a shame that the market gets flooded with clones. Frankly, I will not knowingly purchase a clone because I do like to support the original designer/s and project. I'll be looking out for DL2MAN's recommendations once the new (tr)uSDX is available.

    Also, this... "I've sworn off any new radios/kits that don't include at least one of the higher HF bands."

    Can I hold you to that?!?!? :) Ha ha!

    I agree. These days, those higher bands can do some amazing things again.

    Cheers,
    Thomas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John AE5XApril 16, 2023 at 10:27 AM

      Good morning, Thomas:

      Manual DL2MAN had 2nd thoughts about giving publicity to a hacker so I'll refrain from naming him here. His video was made 'Private' within a couple hours.

      We'll see if I can resist the temptation of any 20-80m rigs coming down the pike - when on the air with such a rig, spots on the POTA site or DX cluster for 10/15m DX put me in the mind to "sell & replace". In fact, I recently sold my TR-35 to a POTA op that I know will put it to good use.

      73,
      John

      Delete
    2. Steve SilvermanApril 17, 2023 at 4:02 PM

      Hi John
      What about a simple 28 and 21 MHz to 14 MHz transverter so any 20 meter rig could also be used to operate on the 10 and 15M bands? A push button could select 500 kHz sections of the 10M band to cover the whole band. A 5 or 10W watt PA and filters would be embedded. This would expand many QRP rigs to the higher bands at fairly low cost during a peak in this cycle.
      73
      Steve KB3SII ... .. ..

      Delete
    3. John AE5XApril 17, 2023 at 7:30 PM

      Hi Steve,

      I wish I had the brainpower to design such a gadget. I remember something similar in the early 80's (from a 73 Magazine article, I think):

      Lots of CB-to-10m conversions existed and 10m was beginning to fold. So someone designed a down-converter to allow 10m CB's to operate on 20 meters. I don't know how popular it was or how well it worked.

      73,
      John

      Delete

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