The zBitx: Many flaws

Four days with the zBitx has been an exercise in frustration. 

Where to begin...

CW

Unusable, at least for now (30 March 2025) with v1.04 firmware. There are 3 key-type settings for CW; none work properly and all have a very lengthy return-to-receive time regardless of the T/R delay setting dialed in via the menu.

Iambic-A: I am unable to send accurate CW characters at any speed I normally use (22-26 wpm) due to inconsistent timing issues of when the radio's internal keyer inserts a dot or a dash. An "N" may come out as an "N" or as a "NE". Or a "TI" as extra dots occasionally get added to what you intended to send.

Or the opposite occurs: above 15 wpm, opposing characters of a letter are usually omitted. In other words, going from a dot to a dash (or vice versa) often results in the second character not being sent at all. An 'A' comes outs as an 'E' and an 'R' comes out as an 'A'.

I am unable to send my own callsign unless I QRS to 15 wpm or less.

Iambic-B: Operates as if each paddle of my dual-paddle key is a straight key. Depressing either side of the paddles results in a steady tone.

Straight key mode: There is a very prominent delay between the time the key is depressed and the time the key closure manifests itself as a tone being sent. This is true of both the RF being emitted and the sidetone generation. Imagine speaking, but hearing your words delayed by a syllable.

Also, key closure seems "scratchy" and incomplete...or at least the sidetone makes it seem that way.

Trying to send faster than ~15 wpm results in omitted characters as described above. Like Mr. Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get." Omitted characters or additional characters...

Digital

FT8 functionality is built in to the zBitx and it is simple to start obtaining decodes. Once I proved this ability of the radio, I inserted my callsign and grid square into the radio's menu and called CQ on FT8.

I was answered on the second round of CQ's and the typical FT8 exchange began. All was fine up until it was my turn to send '73' at which point the radio locked up. The only way to recover was to cycle power. Another CQ had the same result - at the point at which 73 should be sent, the radio locks up.

Next, I tried to answer a CQ. Upon beginning to transmit, the radio's screen locked up although audio was still heard and the normal T/R sequences appeared to be taking place. But without being able to see an updated screen, I had no idea where in the sequence we were. 

Also, when answering a CQ, you will begin transmitting your initial call to the selected station after he (hopefully) calls CQ a second time. This is because of the time it takes decodes to appear and a selection made, you should have already begun transmitting.

The problem of the radio locking up is intermittent but frequent.

SSB

The zBitx has a built-in mic and I've listened to my own audio on another transceiver.

It sounded fine so I called several stations operating in this weekend's SSB contest. The problem here (as with CW) is that the return-to-receive delay is about a full second long. This is an eternity during a contest and annoying in non-contest phone operation. This is the only mode on which the zBitx "sort of" works.

Conclusion

And it's not just my radio:

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/zbitx_hangs_on_startup/111943835

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/zbitx_cw_keyer/111952342

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/the_pi_zbitx_process_is/111960544

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/zbitx_hung_up_on_startup/111928149

https://groups.io/g/BITX20/topic/zbitx_doa/111971633

I have yet to see a posting to the Group.io or a YouTube video showing proper CW operation with the built-in keyer at speeds above 15 wpm. But it's only been a few days and I'm hoping such a video will be forthcoming.

Something to ponder: The zBitx contains both an RPi Zero and a Pico yet it is powered down by simply removing the DC input. What are the ramifications of this over time?

While I hope these issues get worked out in future firmware updates, the truth is that the radio should never have been released in this condition, even as a beta-version radio.

I did record several video segments of my experience with the zBitx but when I thought about the time it would take to edit the clips together and narrate what is being shown, I realized that the radio doesn't merit that amount of my time.

Did I expect too much from a $150 radio? If so, blame it on the QMX+ for elevating (and delivering!) on the high Performance:Cost ratio that I was hoping might also be found in the zBitx.

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