UMBTX $109 SSB/CW 10W Dual VFO Transciever - Page 2

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - UMBTX $109 SSB/CW 10W Dual VFO Transciever (Page 2 of 3)

Posted: 1/10/2018 3:33:17 PM EDT

[#1]

Quote History

Quoted:

The uBitx just barely doesn't fit in a CU-3009-A BUD box (when turned with the heat sinks and screen on the long axis of the case), which is 8x6x3.5" exterior, due to being just a hair too wide on the 6" side. I really doubt the size case you posted will fit.

Kharn

View Quote

Info was obtained from the uBITX FB page.
A member posted pics of it in that case.
Just going with that info.
ETA PIC.

Attached File

Posted: 1/10/2018 3:51:17 PM EDT

[#2]

There's the linked LA-5 which is too small for the main board, or there is the larger LA-6 which it would definitely fit in.

LA-5 6.7x5.5x2"
LA-6 8.3x7x3.4"

The board is 6" wide.

Kharn

Posted: 1/10/2018 4:10:16 PM EDT

[#3]

Thanks for the clarification.

Posted: 1/11/2018 8:45:13 PM EDT

[#4]

I've been looking at a few add-on's to include in the box.

One is a DC boost regulator for 20 - 24v as an optional switchable PA power source besides the main 13.8v feed. That may also be accompanied by a larger heat sink for the PA transistors & probably a fan. I am also thinking about mounting a small fuse block for the power feed(s).

I have a bare easy-digi board that I plan to include so that audio connections can be switch selected for use with digi modes & extra 3.5mm jacks for PC audio connections. I am mulling over adding a small VOX module that can be switched in as needed as a digi mode PTT control option.

I have some spare kenwood style mic connector pairs so I may end up going with one for mic & PTT connection. Thinking to house the provided electret microphone in an old bao-feng handset & wire it to a kenwood connector.

I have a female B panel mount USB connector (w/mini USB male) that will allow easy PC access to the nano usb connector. An alternative is to feed a small passive hub mounted in the cabinet, which could potentially host a sound card dongle as well as the nano connection. The use of the mini hub would allow a single USB connection to service digi audio + CAT functions.

I already have a 4 line white-on-blue lcd panel I plan to use & an old PC flat cable & Dupont headers I can use to set it up as as a jumper between display & Raduino. Some example code mods for the 4 line are already on the net.

I already have stand-offs laying around for board mounts, so that is covered but thinking about getting some copper foil w/conductive adhesive, if I end up with the plastic cabinet I am looking at, to provide shielding.

I guess the extended wait for shipping is letting me get a bit carried away with the possible bells & whistles ....

Nick

Posted: 1/11/2018 9:41:16 PM EDT

[#5]

Lol Nick! The possibilities are almost endless. In my Bitx40 I incorporated a built in microphone element and a push button for PTT

so if the hand mic gets lost the rig is still usable.

I used some phenolic terminal strips to mount an LM 7812 regulator and filtering for board power and a switch

on the rear for selecting internal/external power.

I have a second Bitx40 kit I'm going to put in a much larger case so I can experiment with it without having to

cram daughter boards into the case.

Posted: 1/16/2018 8:22:27 PM EDT

[#6]

It'll be a while before the board shows, but I already received the case I'm planning to use. It is a slope face Bud box (plastic) w/ a roughly 8" wide x 7.5" deep interior, 2" at the front & 3" at the back.

The cover for the opening is a fairly heavy aluminum plate which should do nicely for mounting the display (via flat cable jumper) & controls. The skinny plate at the back of the box is plastic.

Just for grins, I lined the interior with self stick copper foil, covering the mating surfaces as well. The material uses a conductive adhesive which I verified with a multi-meter.

Posted: 1/17/2018 12:24:55 PM EDT

[#7]

I like those style cases. Way back when, SVGA-1 and myself used a similar

one to build a "voice chip" programmer using a ZIF socket on the main panel.

IIRC the chips were the SD1000a's from Radio Shack and we used them for CB

radio "noise toys". Silly truckers.

ETA - I received the Seahorse case for mine. Patiently awaiting the uBitx board.

Posted: 1/17/2018 3:54:13 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
I like those style cases. Way back when, SVGA-1 and myself used a similar

one to build a "voice chip" programmer using a ZIF socket on the main panel.

IIRC the chips were the SD1000a's from Radio Shack and we used them for CB

radio "noise toys". Silly truckers.

ETA - I received the Seahorse case for mine. Patiently awaiting the uBitx board.

View Quote

Still have it...somewhere around here. LOL

Posted: 1/26/2018 10:11:58 AM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Received this in an e-mail yesterday;
Dear Customer,

Happy New Year!

We have received your payment of USD 119 on January 2, 2018 through Paypal. Your payment has been included in the 'Pre order' list. The orders are being shipped in the order of the payment received. It is difficult for us to estimate the shipping date for your order. However, we are putting our best efforts to ship them asap. The tracking details of the shipment will be updated on the Paypal transaction once the order is shipped.

We are overwhelmed with your response for micro BITX and we are encouraged to do better and roll out new products.

Please cooperate with us for the delay in shipping your orders. We look forward to your continued patronage. In case, you have any issues, get in touch with us at [email protected]

HFSignals Team

View Quote

Anyone who received this email get an update? I ordered on Jan 1 and have not heard a peep since I received the original order acknowledgement.

Posted: 1/26/2018 11:22:20 AM EDT

[#10]

I also ordered Jan 1. No communication since the same email as yours, received on the 3rd.

Posted: 1/26/2018 12:35:42 PM EDT

[#11]

A couple of days ago they were working on December 14th orders.

Posted: 1/29/2018 9:50:11 AM EDT

[#12]

Ugh.

Add another project to the list.

Posted: 1/31/2018 5:03:43 PM EDT

[#13]

I got an update saying my order would be shipped in 2 to 3 weeks from 1/28/17.

Posted: 1/31/2018 6:46:22 PM EDT

[#14]

Thanks for the update. I've been working on the faceplate layout today.

Attached File

ETA - Oh yeah, the A/C is on today as well...

Posted: 1/31/2018 8:00:03 PM EDT

[#15]

Quote History

Quoted:
Thanks for the update. I've been working on the faceplate layout today.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4583-437304.JPG
ETA - Oh yeah, the A/C is on today as well...

View Quote

I would include a USB panel mount jack to update firmware without disassembly.

Kharn

Posted: 1/31/2018 9:00:43 PM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:
I would include a USB panel mount jack to update firmware without disassembly.

Kharn

View Quote

Yeah it's in the plan. I also need to add some connections for external power/charging.

Posted: 2/14/2018 8:39:40 PM EDT

[#17]

Still waiting...lol

Posted: 2/14/2018 9:22:55 PM EDT

[#18]

Me too. Good thing I have something to occupy my time

till it gets here.

Attached File

Posted: 2/14/2018 9:51:05 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:
Me too. Good thing I have something to occupy my time

till it gets here.
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/IMG_20180202_195450_130-452215.JPG

View Quote

Holy smokes! I hope noone knocks any of those over.

Posted: 2/14/2018 10:46:45 PM EDT

[#20]

I made 12 contacts during the CQ WPX RTTY contest with about 8 hours in the chair using my ubitx, fldigi, and 10-40m end-fed-half-wave, on 40 and 20m, with contacts including Hungary, Panama, and Canada. I could hear a ton of stations, but had problems with nearby users running 500+ watts. Whenever one of the 500 watt guys keyed, the entire fldigi waterfall would be overloaded from 0 to 3khz, so I would have to carefully tune to put them just above or just below the bandwidth once I attempted to work them. Sometimes that was hard to do when the bands were crowded.

It would have helped to know prior to Sunday afternoon what "QRZ?" meant, since I'd spin the dial and try to find someone else rather than returning my call when they had problems hearing me.

Kharn

Posted: 2/27/2018 3:57:56 PM EDT

[#21]

Heads up! Mine showed up today!

Posted: 2/27/2018 4:08:20 PM EDT

[#22]

When did you order yours?
ETA. Went to page one and saw your post, 12-27-17.

Posted: 2/27/2018 5:44:30 PM EDT

[#23]

Got mine too!

Posted: 2/27/2018 7:50:02 PM EDT

[#24]

Mocking (bird

) up the board and display to the faceplate template.

Attached File

Need to tweek a few control locations and add a few but so far the overall

"spy radio" concept is going to work!

Posted: 2/27/2018 8:00:23 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
Mocking (bird

) up the board and display to the faceplate template.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4650-466626.JPG

Need to tweek a few control locations and add a few but so far the overall

"spy radio" concept is going to work!

View Quote

I should have been thinking about an enclosure....so many projects so little time. lol

Posted: 3/2/2018 10:01:20 AM EDT

[#26]

Received mine last night as well. Have to get some time set aside to get it built.

Posted: 3/2/2018 2:00:02 PM EDT

[#27]

Showed up today. Paypal sent a shipping notice on 2/28/2018 (correction to earlier post).

Order date was 1/1/2018, so basically 60 day turn around.

Nick

Posted: 3/2/2018 2:19:16 PM EDT

[#28]

Good!
I just checked my e-mail and received shipping notice the same day you did.
*ETA-Mine arrived today*.

Posted: 3/2/2018 7:22:00 PM EDT

[#29]

Got it to day

Posted: 3/2/2018 7:49:13 PM EDT

[#30]

Christmas In March.

Posted: 3/2/2018 9:23:55 PM EDT

[#31]

Quote History

Quoted:
Showed up today. Paypal sent a shipping notice on 2/28/2018 (correction to earlier post).

http://www.skhowell.com/images/DSCN5152.jpg

Order date was 1/1/2018, so basically 60 day turn around.

Nick

View Quote

Did your kitteh have an obsession with the shipping box like mine did?

I had to let mine have it so she could try to squeeze into it. She failed.

Posted: 3/2/2018 9:45:43 PM EDT

[#32]

Odd that you would mention that.
I have a super keen sense of smell, the card board had an off smell, sort of fishy.

Posted: 3/3/2018 7:29:28 PM EDT

[#33]

Quote History

Quoted:
Odd that you would mention that.
I have a super keen sense of smell, the card board had an off smell, sort of fishy.

View Quote

Both my Bitx40 and uBitx had smelly boxes.

Kharn

Posted: 3/9/2018 4:51:42 PM EDT

[#34]

Mine arrived yesterday 3/8/2018.

Posted: 3/9/2018 9:30:20 PM EDT

[#35]

Quote History

Quoted:
Mine arrived yesterday 3/8/2018.

View Quote

Is it done yet? J/K.

I'm still trying to finalize the faceplate layout and display mount/cabling. I'm mounting the display

separate and postulating on how to make a ribbon cable to connect them but still have a

plug on one end.

Attached File

Gotta love long legged IC sockets, especially free ones with gold plated legs!

Posted: 3/11/2018 4:46:43 AM EDT

[#36]

Quote History

Quoted:

Is it done yet? J/K.

I'm still trying to finalize the faceplate layout and display mount/cabling. I'm mounting the display

separate and postulating on how to make a ribbon cable to connect them but still have a

plug on one end.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4665-476924.JPG

Gotta love long legged IC sockets, especially free ones with gold plated legs!

View Quote

I'm going to do a layout similar to yours. I'm using a Harbor Freight imitation Pelican box.
I got a thin polypropalene cutting board to mount it on.

I am hoping Micro Center has the cable to relocate the display. It needs to be short.

What would be a good small tuner to use with the radio?
Ideally, their is enough room room in the box over/under the radio for the tuner or a battery pack of 4 18650 li-ion batteries.

Posted: 3/13/2018 11:44:09 PM EDT

[#37]

Quote History

Quoted:

I am hoping Micro Center has the cable to relocate the display. It needs to be short.

View Quote

I saw on a website someone suggested using and IDE cable. short as possible.
found it again

Posted: 3/15/2018 12:09:02 AM EDT

[#38]

Quote History

Quoted:
I saw on a website someone suggested using and IDE cable. short as possible.
found it again

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:

I am hoping Micro Center has the cable to relocate the display. It needs to be short.

I saw on a website someone suggested using and IDE cable. short as possible.
found it again

Your can get this ribbon cable on Amazon that already has the male/female pins and single row headers in both 8 and 4 inch lengths for $5.99
GenBasic 80 Piece Male to Female 4 and 8 Inch Solderless Ribbon Dupont Jumper Wires for Breadboard Arduino Prototyping

Posted: 5/6/2018 8:43:16 AM EDT

[#39]

Thinking it may be time for me to order one to set up a portable FT8 rig.

How is everyones holding up with use? Any major flaws?

Posted: 5/6/2018 3:46:14 PM EDT

[#40]

I haven't put mine in it's case yet but it works fine wired up on the bench.

Posted: 6/27/2018 6:34:16 PM EDT

[#41]

Quote History

Quoted:
I haven't put mine in it's case yet but it works fine wired up on the bench.

View Quote

Got it in a case?

Posted: 6/27/2018 8:12:24 PM EDT

[#42]

The case is still in the layout stage.

Attached File

It was put on the back burner to make room for this..

Attached File

Attached File

I go back and forth between solid state and vacuum tube projects to keep it interesting.

Posted: 6/28/2018 5:31:19 PM EDT

[#43]

Quote History

Quoted:
The case is still in the layout stage.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4587-589349.JPG

It was put on the back burner to make room for this..

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4801-589357.JPG

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/108158/DSCN4835-589351.JPG

I go back and forth between solid state and vacuum tube projects to keep it interesting.

View Quote

Nice looking rig! Was it working when you got it?

Posted: 6/28/2018 10:01:26 PM EDT

[#44]

@j97531

It kinda worked when I got it but needed a little work before I put it in the rack.

See this thread for the full story.

Last night I test fitted it into my radio rack but need to trim or drill the side rails in the rack to clear some faceplate bolts.

I also learned that if I take my SX-110 receiver out of it's metal case it will also fit in the rack. Winning!

Posted: 7/16/2018 7:08:41 PM EDT

[#45]

So I just got my 3d printer up and running and found a uBITX case design already done online.

First person to respond here they want to try it I will send them one to check out.

"One ping only, Vasily."

Posted: 7/17/2018 7:47:40 PM EDT

[#46]

I want to try it.

Posted: 7/18/2018 12:45:26 PM EDT

[#47]

Quote History

Quoted:
I want to try it.

View Quote

PM me your address.

Posted: 8/11/2018 6:25:19 AM EDT

[#48]

I finally broke down and ordered the kit - it was delivered by DHL in five days.

Now I have to decide whether to fab my case out of PCB material or do something else. I do have a couple of pieces of thick single-sided FR-4 PCB stock that measure 6" x 12" - the 6" dimension is wide enough to hold the board if it's oriented sideways, with the RF output stage on one side and the raduino socket on the other, right up against the edge of the material, but that's not really the optimal orientation for the board.

The cabinet from Circuit Specialists mentioned earlier in this thread is back-ordered with an estimated 12-week wait, so that's not going to happen. There are some other metal case possibilities on eBay, some from US sellers and others from China, which I may consider.

But maybe I'll sort through the project boxes that I've accumulated over the years to see if I have something suitable, even if it's a little larger than what I'd like to use. I ran across some info about using a Nextion LCD display with the µBITX which would require a taller case than what I had initially planned to use, so maybe a larger case would work for me.

ETA: Found a metal case in my junkbox - it's not intended for portable use, rather it has an equipment rack form factor (without the rack-mount angle pieces) at about 17" x 8", and is only 1.5" tall so I'll have to monkey around with the raduino a bit to make it fit, moving it off of the main board socket, but it should work out OK. There will be enough room leftover in the case so that I may either put some LiPo batteries there, or maybe put an antenna analyzer there, or an audio amp with a slim speaker, or whatever...

Posted: 8/11/2018 8:57:28 PM EDT

[#49]

Got my kit and so I could check the fit of the boards in the case.

Looks spot on!

I could probably be convinced to print some of these for reasonable compensation if needed.

Posted: 8/11/2018 9:24:12 PM EDT

[#50]

Well, i might finally bite the bullet and order one. Seems like most of the bugs worked out, neednto read a little more on the harmonic issue and if its a problem with the current boards.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - UMBTX $109 SSB/CW 10W Dual VFO Transciever (Page 2 of 3)

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