If you're a responsible experimenter, then it is indeed a nice feature. I use a signal generator. In the past I've used my "big" HF radio for the same purpose.
Dave, a nice overview of the uBITX. I agree with you about the case, I also believe somebody or several somebody’s will be offering a case for this rig soon. As far as your measured output power, mine puts out 11 watts on 40 meters SSB running at 13.8V, so you may need to re bias the finals or turn the drive up a bit. Im not as concerned as you about out of band transmissions with this radio as all homebrew radios are capable of out of band TX, (at least mine are), and its never been a problem. This radio is a experimenters radio and thus was never meant to be FCC type accepted. I predict there will be a lot of custom firmware revisions available soon addressing a lot of different things. It would be fairly easy to put TX band stops in place by modifying the code. I love mine and am currently waiting for a enclosure to arrive to finish it out. Thanks for the video.
Your ham shack is in the doghouse too? Ha Ha! My dog house is of the luxury variety. Its basically a cedar sided 8'x12' tiny home with three dog beds each with their own picture window for spotting coyotes, Three doggie doors for rapid deployment, electric heat, A/C, a fridge, and two human upper bunks for our guests. The only problem that I've had is that I can only get my Border Collie interested in CW. My labs want nothing to do with it. Good Luck and 73
I just completed the assembly of my uBITX V6 rig and like a reviewer wrote on eHam the rig is a work in progress, not for the faint of heart. I would avoid this rig and look at the many low cost rigs coming from China.
As super nerd and "maker" I own a 3d printer, which is very valuable for the very issue you talk about. Watching this video and hearing you speak of the issue, I immediately headed over to Thingiverse and found many things just for the uBITX, including some nice cases. I find many 3d printable things for ham radio. Every maker and ham should look into getting a 3d printer, at least one member in your ham club. Invaluable!
If you aren't already aware, Gigaparts is now selling these. I think it is a little more expensive than from the site, but hopefully the shipping would offer a shorter wait till delivery.
Ha ha you are right about boxes. Then browsing a surplus shop. I saw a bunch of old style modems. Setting in a pile. My home made rigs filled them up quickly. Moral of my story don't turndown any thing. Even if they came at .25 cents .
Sounds marvelous. I too would love to see a case for this-particularly one designed for backpacking and camping. It's also be great to see it tested for various digital modes, where the low power matters less, maybe even as a combo WSPR beacon transmitter/receiver.
Thanks for show this radio is very popular in India along with VU3NKK linear amplifier for 150 watts give commercial effect on the air this radio is very good for new comer to come on the air Thanks 73es De VU2KOC
It would be very irresponsible to use the linear amplifier you suggest. This amplifier is cheap because it does not include any filtering on the output stage. Thus Harmonics are present on all bands. As a Ham would you really want to use an amplifier that does not include any filtering on the output stage? and end up polluting the air waves with harmonics from this cheap ass amplifier? Really? Hint any cheap amplifier that does not include a bad selector on the front does not have any filters. A Good inexpensive amplifier with output filtering is the MX-P50M.
Thanks for such informative revelations concerning this radio. Haven't received mine yet but our local ham radio society is interested in seeing it in action with all it's quirks.
Please remember our MARS operator's who are expected to operate on assigned military frequency’s outside the ham bands. As a past k4mcl USMC MARS club station tech who held a Technician License kb5zxy -kj5wi advanced as of Jan. 94, that is exactly why one was purchased for my birthday. Would never have it any other way. Also please keep in mind that today’s frequency allocations are at the whim of the FCC Director. The MicroBitX with WWV also serves as a very accurate programmable signal generator. Shades of the Collins S line of the 60's. For those unsatisfied with the peanut-whistle SSB output, grab 3 or 4 tetrodes & build a good linear amp. Just be sure it is really needed in the F8Call world today. Also many seem to need reminding that out-of-band operation is cause for permanent license removal including any held outside the ham bands.
Dave, looks like you are having fun. Looking forward to seeing you make some contacts. I haven't decided to buy one or not, busy with too many other things. And, nice mounting!
How can you fault Farhan for the software that comes with the radio? Given the whole idea behind the BITX design, it's meant to be modified. This is no different than with the BITX40. The software is modifiable by the end user, no mater what comes pre-installed in the Raduino, there will always be the ability to transmit where ever - that's what the filters are there for. And as for FCC type acceptance - HA! I think you are missing the point, perhaps you should stick with your Yaesus, Kenwoods, or other commercially built rig. This is not meant to be a plug-n-play rig, it's for experimenters and tinkers.
Whoa! Hold your horses man.. I believe Dave has a point, and by that he is not blaming anyone for that matter. The radio could come out of the assembly with a more 'rules friendly' settings. After reaching the hands of us, the user, it is then CAN be altered to whatever we want it to be, but it will be on us. I don't mind this, I think of it as rooting android devices. I have no commercially built rig either, all I have are homebrews. That is why I believe that these kinds of amazing yet economical kits and modules, things like bitx40, uBitx, and the likes should reach more people.. these needs to cross more borders.. and crossing borders means to stay within some legal measures.
Kind of a American centric viewpoint there, other countries have different frequency allocations so it is simpler to just leave it be. Why would a ham radio need type acceptance are your homebrew projects type accepted, or a commercial radio modded to work on the ham bands?
Bitx platform was already made to be very hackable. That is being hack by the user as we choose, not by the manufacturer. Om bitx40 the user added a mod to make it stop giving out 'illegal' spurious. Bitx40 too can be made to transmit out of band. Don't get me wrong, I believe that manufacturers like these needs to stay within certain 'lines', because we need then to 'stay alive', stay making amazing gears, not forced to close because law infringement, or got banned in some countries because they did not follow certain rules. I'm not afraid to snip few diodes, hell I'd snip every diodes possible, or solder a bunch of diodes, but that would be on me.
I think it's clever that some people use the plastic case as the radio case. If I ever take mine out of the box I'll spend time making a nice 3d printed case for it.
For those of us experimenters who have no great interest in purchasing a $1,000 to $10,000 appliance rig to ragchew, contest, or certificate chase with, it's cheap and easy to buy one of the $17 power amplifier kits on eBay and build it up, and build low-pass filters for any bands of interest. That's what I'm doing, and I'm adding a step-up converter module to select the drive voltage for the MOSFETs in order to get a more significant power output. 45 to 60 watts will get one within an S-unit of the expensive rig's 100 W or so. These days there's really no reason to let power limitations keep anyone (with a soldering iron who can follow directions,) from running a cheap rig alongside the big boys on SSB. We experimenters really have no use for appliance radios because of the price, but more importantly because they a dead-end. They are nearly impossible to modify or add features to, and far too expensive to give anyone the incentive to try, and one can't really learn much from them. They are a black box. A cheap and open layout like the uBITX rig you have there is best. There are even modification videos online for them, and rigs such as this can get repackaged for compact size if desired after all the learning and mods and add-ons are done. The most important privilege associated with a ham license isn't bands or power. It's the open authorization to do whatever we want with our equipment within the rules of the service. We can design and build, mix and match, modify and improve as we so choose. Appliance rigs are simply not conducive to that. No, a new ham may not know enough to do all that I described, but the ham license is a license to learn, and learning about RF is what the ham radio hobby is really all about.
Great review! One question: is it unwise to house this radio in fibreboard or other wood-based product? Modern QRP circuits typically run cool enough for it, and I suspect more people have woodworking skills than metal or plastic. (But I do totally dig that old-school cake pan chassis! Any chance you can mount a live tube somewhere on it, just to show the flag?) Thanks again for the excellent in-depth shakedown.
interesting radio, i bet a chassis could be built with some hardwood like birch, maple, oak or poplar and a miter box and would look nice if some care and patience is used while building, and some teakoil would give it a nice finish
@@davecasler I just ordered one last night. I've got a nice metal case from a 30 port USB hub that I'm going to use, I'm fairly handy with tools and build things all the time so I should be able to make it look pretty good in the end, I might design some 3D printed parts to pretty it up too. I think I remember reading they've added AGC to this version which is good.
Speaking of your objection Sir.David about (General Coverage Transmitter) .. i want to reveal that the (whole HF Band) originally is belongs to Radio Amateur who develop it initially without any help of Governments.. Which have been stolen (colonized) by FCC and ITU ...etc
Depends on your point of view. Certainly amateurs demonstrated what could be done with "200 meters and down." Once the benefits and needs were demonstrated, the blessings of HF were widely distributed to many, many users. Including amateurs.
I wonder Dave how many days did you have to wait for delivery from the day that your payment confirmation was received? I know there is a backlog on kits. I received email from HF Signals indicating there is a back log and there is no way at this time to give me an estimated date of delivery. I had the same problem when ordering from Hans. These kits unexpectedly are popular and the developers didn't expect the response that they have received. Now they are playing catch up and reordering. I waited 35 days for my kit from Hans but that was fine. I was kept informed. Had delivery gone beyond 45 days I would be seriously concerned. I suspect that HF Signals may take about 30 days for delivery too. Great presentation. Look forward to a future update. 73
Okay Dave. Thanks for the quick reply. I hope my order doesn't too long. I need it for a class project. I am taking the Extra Class, class at my local ham club. The kit is needed to learn the electronic theory.
The CW drop out or tx/rx delay can be adjusted just the same as the bitx40 in the cw menu settings.Once you have it set for a longer period (for using a straight key slower style) it works perfectly. You are using a 12V battery which may drop to 11V so yes your output will be lower. The figures quoted are for 13.8V infact on the Bitx40 you can supply the pa seperately with say 24V giving a higher output. Although I am uncertain if the uBitx has the same ability. As for the box well that is upto you. myself I think your cake tin build is a poor option. I mean why do we box transcievers? to cut down radiation of unwanted mixing signals etc. QRPLabs QCX transciever also does not come with a case. making it a flexible experimenters radio although it can also transmit anywhere if you remove or alter the filters. SO yes if someone comes up with a chassis design forthe uBitx or the Bitx40 or the QCX then that would be a good thing. metal screened ofcourse. it may cost as much if not more that the radio with shipping costs. One point, in the uk Novice hams are not allowed to use non type approved radio's So this radio is a no no for newcomers in the uk as it is not a kit. Cheers Mark G0NMY
I got mine just after Christmas. Still looking for an enclosure to mount it in. I had heard that someone was producing purpose-built enclosures for this model, but have not been able to find them yet.
While we may have an amateur in our titles, the HAM's in my area at least take allocations seriously. For the amount of learning you go through even for a General class license and the learning throughout your years of operating, I think a little trust is earned. I see this debate with the ICOM 718 which I have vs the ICOM 78. If I need to get a message across on HF in an emergency it is nice to know I have the whole band should the other bands not be open....especially considering some of the Marine SSB bands are monitored for life and death matters and are likely to get you a response. I take this type of thing seriously and anyone building a radio most likely does as well. As a side note: My ICOM 718 can transmit out of the band by quite a bit on some areas without any modifications and I haven't heard of this causing issues with other users that already will find a way to break the law. If te 718 was General TX as well I wouldn't need to snip a diode at some point for 60 Meters or whatever future allocations might hit us. I like to keep good products for a while. I also like a signal generator without buying yet another product when I have bills and student loans to pay.
Lol,that part about the transmit freq... if someone wants to transmit outside the ham bands,he will.I gave my BITX40 to my unlicenced friend,and we are talking on the 45m pirate band with it regularly.
Dave can you cite where there is a type acceptance for FCC Part 97 devices? I hear about it from older hams but I've read through it and there is nothing about type acceptance in Part 97. The responsibility and of good, in-band and non-spurious emissons is left to the responsibility of the operator under their own license.
It's under other parts of the FCC rules. I'm not a lawyer, so hesitate to venture further into that part of the regulations. Type acceptance means that a radio that is an example, or type, is tested for compliance with emissions regulations.
Mine hasn’t arrived yet but I think it’s a tremendous bargain. Anyone remember when you had to either layout a board with narrow rolls of tape and peel off doughnuts with an x-acto knife? If you were lucky enough to have a board layout in a magazine you still had to get a kodalith negative shot actual size to photo etch a board before you could drill and stuff it? Things are so much better. I just want 1980’s band conditions again. Find a used drill press on Craigslist. Buy a few files. Heat up that soldering iron and make contacts.
Harbor Freight has lots of tools that are not that expensive. They may not hold up for hard use, but good enough for a hobby. What gets me is that I just ordered one of the 'kits' and was looking for a box to put it in. Those aluminum boxes seem very expensive for what they are. I do have a few I have picked up at hamfests for a dollar or two. Even looking at removing the parts in some of the cases that are used for switching out 2 or 3 printers or other serial devices. I can do the wiring for electronics with out any problems but now most everything needs to be on a PC board, I do not have the skills to make them. I do have the tools to work on or build SMD items if there is a circuit board for them. I have heard of some companies that will make the PC boards for not very much money if you send them a computer file with the layout. I don't hardly see how they can sell the transceiver for about $ 109 shipped, but glad someone can. I have good low band rigs of the 100 watt class, but think this might just be a good rig to use with some transverters off ebay to use on 2 meters and up SSB.
Hi David, Did you ever try the HBR8HF from hambuilder.com. it's a complete rig with the enclosure. All bands based on the uBitx. Nice display, Not to expensive, but I don't know are well it goes? Yanick 73, de VE2YCF
will one fit in an ammo can??. ammo cans make awesome enclosures.. they also look fairly evil... you can get either steel or plastic (for non esd sensitive stuff)...
Well, after over 40 years of hamming, I still get out the chart to see where I can and can't transmit. And my memory isn't getting any better with age!
I agree. Locking the TX to only xmit on Extra class band limits, doesn't help the USA Novice, Tech, Gen or Adv class licenses, not to mention band limits differ in different countries... Leave it open. Make the operator responsible, as they should be anyway.
What would help the new comer and experienced is having a section of a band that those who are learning to gain their license can use without a license. A paid permit that is validated with a training course at radio clubs with a "learners" call sign. This would give the newcomer hands on. Limited band, limited power. This hobby could do with encouraging people. You learn as you do. You can't do without a license.
@@marklowe7431 Agreed. I always hated how you couldn't have a dual purpose HAM/CB rig where the CB side on 11 Meters was limited to 4 watts. Perhaps add a "90 Meter Band" from 3400-3500MHz for a learners call sign along with a corresponding band slightly above 10MHz for daytime propagation with an explicit power limit of no more than 50watts EIRP and periodic supervision of an Amateur Extra and/or VEC. Call it lazy but a lot of people are turned off by the tech test but once they learn the benefits and all the fun they really open up. I sort of wish I could share my HAM callsign with GMRS once I pass Extra......all the segments of very similar services make sense but also muddy things up. 3 radios for services that could be handled by one radio...
I have keyed down out-of-band on 30 a few times. It's easy to do; the ham slice of 30 is small and doesn't conform to our other HF bands. So I jump from 40, to 20, then back down to 30, and once in a great while will start tuning up at, say, 10040, before I realise I'm wildly out-of-band. I normally catch this within seconds, and I'm QRP at that point in the tuning process anyway, but if my rig prevented me from radiating a signal there, it wouldn't happen at all. Human brains don't work like computers. We make mistakes.
Dave, old boy, I say this with the most utmost respect for you, but a ham that can't stay within their licensed allocation is no different than a man that owns a drill press & can't make a simple chasis & cabinet for his radio lol Otherwise I really enjoyed your review & because of it I will probably order one of these since I plan on an upgrade to general within the next month
Dave, Keep a eye out for cases and control kits in the future from VU3SUA. Amateur Radio Kits.IN He has been supplying cases for the older Bitx versions up to the newer, and I bet this variant won't be any different. He also runs a store on Ebay. Lee, WA8QFE
Dave, Thanks for a Very Informative Video! I Agree, the Radio MUST be limited to the HAM Bands, as to NOT allowing signals to be sent where they “Don’t Belong”
Just an idea for the chassis, maybe some one could come with a design for a 3D printer? maybe this could be a front facia plate for the controls and lcd/micro pcb , this could then fasten to the bottom plate which you have mounted the main pcb to . This could be whatever you have available in the shack/garage eg bit of of plywood etc but i think people will get the idea keep up the good work regards Mark G7GEI
For those who can't use a drill or a saw, Sunil VU3SUA, is due to launch a custom case for the uBITX. He already produces custom cases for the BITX40: amateurradiokits.in/
you can get a step-bit at the Horrible Freight for about 3 bucks and any reasonably powered handheld drill is more than adequate to drill through an aluminum (or plastic) project enclose or cake pan.
Thank you for an interesting review of this transceiver. I however strongly disagree with your insistance that the transmitter be limited to the ham bands. We do not need to be protected from ourselves. What next, outlawing soda pop so that we don't become obese? Oh wait... that's happening in a few places.
Different countries use different band plans, why should everyone be limited to what you can use? To make every unit compliant with individual countries would make it too expensive, the alternative would be to use your intelligence and don't tx out of band.
It doesn't. I put my first BITX 40 in a plastic case. But a metal case provides more protection, plus more shielding against RFI. However the power levels are so low that plastic can work just fine.
If you look at www.hfsignals.com/index.php/ubitx-wire-up/ at the top left of the page there are three connections (Ground, PA_PWR and +12V) on the uBitx too.
But then carelessness should not be tolerated in our community, right? Surely you remember there was a time when we built our own rigs and used the computer between our ears to stay legal? Do you really feel that we need government assistance today which we did not need fifty years ago? In other words, if you can't stay between the lines, should you really be driving? Otherwise excellent video as usual. May I ask (just for reference and no insult intended) are you buying these radios and doing blind evaluations or are you telling the vendor *before* you do the build that you are going to make the video. Again no insult intended but your answer will influence my "impulse" buying. I went right out and bought the QXC radio and I will probably do the same with this one tomorrow but I'd like to know for future reference. Thanks.
Well he did talk to Ashar on the W5KUB roundtable before last, so its fair to say he did talk to him before doing the video. Hope that doesn't stop you from getting and enjoying the kit.
I 100% agree with your first paragraph. As to the second, I am confident based on Dave's messages on groups.io/g/BITX20 wondering when he would receive his radio that he ordered his radio like the rest of us with no extra help, qc, or anything else from Ashhar or anyone at hfsignals.com. I know you weren't implying anything other than that. I just wanted to throw my two cents in.
In fact I ordered my radio on Dec 10th and paid in full for it along with the DHL shipping via PayPal. As it turns out, I did talk with Farhan on W5KUB's show a couple days before it shipped, but I think that was a coincidence.
Hey Dave! I appreciate your comments about the general coverage and the lack of cases. I happen to disagree but that's okay, we don't have to agree to be friends ;) I posted a video with my take on the subjects here: ua-cam.com/video/6Xn9FLvstaY/v-deo.html
Thanks for the comments. I think the argument that operators cause problems, not radios is a bit like saying that automobiles don't kill people, people kill people. In fact the capabilities of the equipment affects operator behavior. I'd enjoy collaborating with you on some videos.
Dave. I am seriously thinking of a uBitX. It looks like a great little rig! You mentioned the problem with filtering for CW. I may have a solution for you. An Italian ham, IW2NDH, Luca Facchinetti, has come up with an incredible little DSP filter board (jackdev23.wixsite.com/iw2ndh-dsp ). It is reasonably priced, but even so, it will go almost as much as the uBitX at about $80. Now, here I submit a philosophy about the uBitX and a new direction for ham radio. A new General buys and builds his uBitX. As he progresses, he desires a little more radio, so he might add the DSP. Itching for more power, why not build a linear? For less than $20, you can buy a 70W amp kit that will match right up to it. This budding ham essentially winds up building a great rig out of building blocks. Like following a TunaTin 40, with a 6L6 (edit: I think it was actually an 809) amp. Don't think about the limits; think about the potential. I think the uBitX explosion has the potential to take ham radio back to its roots, much as it was back when I first considered ham radio, 50 years ago. de N4DFP, 73
Not that I know of. The radio is designed around the idea of suppressing the carrier for voice (double balanced modulator), so conversion to AM would be difficult. That's not to say it can't be done.
I'd be great if some came up with a panel that'd fit the uBITX inside one of Harbor Freight's two ruggedized, watertight cases, the Apache 1800 ($15) or Apache 2800 ($30). That'd make it great for mountain topping. Here is the former: www.harborfreight.com/1800-watertight-protective-case-9-316-in-63518.html
Box making isn't that hard and GUESS WHAT? There are a lot of extant chassis that could be gutted and refitted with this component kit. Refit/reuse or just buy a box from another box-making company. Or _masterfabricate_ as I might do (but then I have this great old Midland CB chassis that might house a couple of these, plus has power supply and such). A pal has one of these kits, but not assembled yet-and that's what brought me here. I'm about go nuts/QRP and building makes sense. Wondering about digital or crystal filtering this one for CW. Thanks for vid. FB 73 de W1ADE
Wow, you see what "lowest price is better always" mentality does? Where there's $$$ to be made, there will be a supply (of boxes). Economies of scale mean that my 10 boxes might retail at 3x each what a maker who could run 10,000 boxes might charge. WalmartHam mentality is totally for the cheapest on maximum scale (no matter the true cost). So I could make boxes to sell, but most hams would cry and whine about the price, and the last three boxes (any profit) would likely sit on the shelf forever. Maybe I'll sell some templates... no idea we'd slipped so far.
I'm not sure where your comments are leading. There's plenty of quality equipment out there at reasonable prices. As in any field, there is also equipment that is too inexpensive and will disappoint the buyer. I try in my reviews to provide some feedback on what works and what doesn't.
Sorry I got myself confused. Was lamenting the lack of hand/tool skills in your estimation of our population, then got carried away into economics of scale. Maybe I had too much coffee. Making stuff is second nature to me. Cheers.
Dave, the person behind Hambuilder is Dian Kurniawan (his ebay store is "jalapindai" stores.ebay.com/jalapindai) . He design the products and manufactured by a small team of builders, 'Hambuilder', based in Bandung, Indonesia. Hambuilder has several products that is quite popular in Indonesia for years now. Their products range from digital vfo's, keyers, enclosures, to complete, ready to use transceivers. They release their products in small batches, they are not a large scale firm, often times made to order or pre-order. If they have no ready stock at hand, they will hide the item from ebay. Their latest is HBR1HF, a beautifully made 50 watts mono band ssb/cw bitx variant. Dian Kurniawan's blog is here: diankurniawan.wordpress.com/
I bought one (Hambuilder.com) and was very disappointed by the performance. It is a radio that is not finished. The support from Dian is very good but the schematics are not complete nor accurate and the source code for the software is not available. Many functions that show in version 1 of the software are not available on rev 1.2. The CW is not really CW. it looks like it is modulated carrier. I just received my uBitx today. 73, Yvon NU6I PS; I love your videos Dave.
In fact, the FCC and the ARRL have just worked out an agreement so that the ARRL can help gather evidence to take to the FCC when there is egregious violation of rules, such as deliberate interference and so forth.
Another great video Dave. I'm glad to see you went with a non-stick cake pan. Solder and melted components should clean up easy. A good replacement for the volume pot that will give you more knob options is this one www.adafruit.com/product/3481 someone on the groups.io list found it to work well and I have one on order. As to your lower output, have you tried to adjust the PA bias as described here www.hfsignals.com/index.php/ubitx-tuneup/ ?
I say leave it open tx all. If you as a ham op cannot stay in your corner you need to hand your license back in as you will open/mod anything else you are running. That applies to ALL hams. It is up to the operator to refrain from poor behaviour not the radio or it's manufacturer. Why would one radio locked make a difference when you can mod your fabulous Yaesus and Icoms and all the rest? If I were an OP looking to play naughty I'd just get a radio off fleabay that is already modded or easy to mod. Hell my SR8 I purchased a whilst back 2nd hand was open modded doesn't mean I'm wandering all over the place. What concerns me more is at 4w peak ssb you are going to need but also have trouble driving an amp.
Why do you "need" and amp for a QRP rig??? You talk about an operator with brains to " refrain from poor behaviour" yet think QRP rigs need an amp..Odd i have never needed an amp for my ft817nd before yet have rarely had a problem making any contacts...If you "need" an amp for a QRP radio why bother buying a QRP radio..Just go buy a 100 watt rig and leave QRP for the ones who like the challenge of low power :D
Well my only HF rig is a Bitx40v3 simply because I can't afford more at this point. I've really enjoyed it and can usually make a handful of contacts a day, but I certainly would like to build an amp to go along with it for those times when i'm not quite making it.
Glen, you are spot on. If amateur radio operators can't stay within their privileges, then they shouldn't keep their license. Amateur Radio is one of the last places the FCC trusts the operator.
bentrider1972 the amp idea was for those who buy the rig as an only rig. Contacts here are getting scarce and it's a common complaint by many. Yes when the bands really open up a few w is all you need but not all of us can live in a city of millions with many HF contacts to be made rather we have significant distance to cover and for 90% of the time 3w is not enough. So rather than making an assumption and being arrogant and rude about it try opening the mind and realising that not everyone in the world lives in the USA and not everyone lives in high density areas.
...---... ...---... ...---... Please, someone help me! I've been away from HAM Radio for many years, but have been bitten by the bug yet again. I'm buying everything in sight! Someone needs to take my debit card away.........right after I get one of these radios. :-)
i dont appreciate your comments about the rig;s ablity to transmit on all bands, there are those of us, who may want to use this thing as a low power signal generator, or piece of test equiptment ... any ham, well, real ham, should know where he / she is suposed to be transmitting, and untill they abolish the cesspool called ( CB ) NO ONE, SHOULD BE POLICING ANY ONE ELSE ...
I like that it can TX out of band. It can be used as a signal source.
If you're a responsible experimenter, then it is indeed a nice feature. I use a signal generator. In the past I've used my "big" HF radio for the same purpose.
Dave, a nice overview of the uBITX. I agree with you about the case, I also believe somebody or several somebody’s will be offering a case for this rig soon. As far as your measured output power, mine puts out 11 watts on 40 meters SSB running at 13.8V, so you may need to re bias the finals or turn the drive up a bit. Im not as concerned as you about out of band transmissions with this radio as all homebrew radios are capable of out of band TX, (at least mine are), and its never been a problem. This radio is a experimenters radio and thus was never meant to be FCC type accepted. I predict there will be a lot of custom firmware revisions available soon addressing a lot of different things. It would be fairly easy to put TX band stops in place by modifying the code. I love mine and am currently waiting for a enclosure to arrive to finish it out. Thanks for the video.
I'll have to check out the tuning. As I mentioned in the video, it worked out of the box, so I didn't adjust it further. Sounds like I should.
Next video:
Field testing the All Band BITX from the doghouse!!
(for using Mrs. OG's cake pan) hihi
Great video Dave.... looks like a fun project.
I actually asked before I dared invade the kitchen!
I'm sure Dave is wise enough to buy Dollar Store/Walmart Basic cake pan for the project.
Your ham shack is in the doghouse too? Ha Ha! My dog house is of the luxury variety. Its basically a cedar sided 8'x12' tiny home with three dog beds each with their own picture window for spotting coyotes, Three doggie doors for rapid deployment, electric heat, A/C, a fridge, and two human upper bunks for our guests. The only problem that I've had is that I can only get my Border Collie interested in CW. My labs want nothing to do with it. Good Luck and 73
I just completed the assembly of my uBITX V6 rig and like a reviewer wrote on eHam the rig is a work in progress, not for the faint of heart. I would avoid this rig and look at the many low cost rigs coming from China.
As super nerd and "maker" I own a 3d printer, which is very valuable for the very issue you talk about. Watching this video and hearing you speak of the issue, I immediately headed over to Thingiverse and found many things just for the uBITX, including some nice cases. I find many 3d printable things for ham radio. Every maker and ham should look into getting a 3d printer, at least one member in your ham club. Invaluable!
People will do a lot of learning by tweaking and improving this rig! Bravo!
If you aren't already aware, Gigaparts is now selling these. I think it is a little more expensive than from the site, but hopefully the shipping would offer a shorter wait till delivery.
Thanks for the tip.
Ha ha you are right about boxes. Then browsing a surplus shop. I saw a bunch of old style modems. Setting in a pile. My home made rigs filled them up quickly. Moral of my story don't turndown any thing. Even if they came at .25 cents .
Now, of course, this radio is ubitx v6 with nice case, knobs, speaker and mic for $209. I have made tons of qsos with it
The Banggood EF01 case makes a fine home for the radio and it's easy to work being plastic. Very inexpensive , neat option.
Thanks for the tip.
Sounds marvelous. I too would love to see a case for this-particularly one designed for backpacking and camping. It's also be great to see it tested for various digital modes, where the low power matters less, maybe even as a combo WSPR beacon transmitter/receiver.
Indeed! It seems a great unit
Thanks for show this radio is very popular in India along with VU3NKK linear amplifier for 150 watts give commercial effect on the air this radio is very good for new comer to come on the air
Thanks 73es
De VU2KOC
Do you have a link for that amplifier
This amplifier interests me aslo. Where can I find one?
It would be very irresponsible to use the linear amplifier you suggest. This amplifier is cheap because it does not include any filtering on the output stage. Thus Harmonics are present on all bands. As a Ham would you really want to use an amplifier that does not include any filtering on the output stage? and end up polluting the air waves with harmonics from this cheap ass amplifier? Really? Hint any cheap amplifier that does not include a bad selector on the front does not have any filters. A Good inexpensive amplifier with output filtering is the MX-P50M.
Thanks for such informative revelations concerning this radio. Haven't received mine yet but our local ham radio society is interested in seeing it in action with all it's quirks.
I think you'll enjoy it.
I've been looking for something productive to do while getting my "therapy soldering" time in. Good timing, Dave! Thanks!
We used to use cake pans to build little two tube cw transmitters.
Well weren't YOU fancy, with your TWO tube CW transmitters..
Please remember our MARS operator's who are expected to operate on assigned military frequency’s outside the ham bands. As a past k4mcl USMC MARS club station tech who held a Technician License kb5zxy -kj5wi advanced as of Jan. 94, that is exactly why one was purchased for my birthday. Would never have it any other way. Also please keep in mind that today’s frequency allocations are at the whim of the FCC Director. The MicroBitX with WWV also serves as a very accurate programmable signal generator. Shades of the Collins S line of the 60's. For those unsatisfied with the peanut-whistle SSB output, grab 3 or 4 tetrodes & build a good linear amp. Just be sure it is really needed in the F8Call world today. Also many seem to need reminding that out-of-band operation is cause for permanent license removal including any held outside the ham bands.
Dave, looks like you are having fun. Looking forward to seeing you make some contacts. I haven't decided to buy one or not, busy with too many other things. And, nice mounting!
Randy, thanks! I gave you credit (which is due!) for inspiring my mounting technique. I have now had a QSO--last night on a net.
How can you fault Farhan for the software that comes with the radio? Given the whole idea behind the BITX design, it's meant to be modified. This is no different than with the BITX40. The software is modifiable by the end user, no mater what comes pre-installed in the Raduino, there will always be the ability to transmit where ever - that's what the filters are there for. And as for FCC type acceptance - HA! I think you are missing the point, perhaps you should stick with your Yaesus, Kenwoods, or other commercially built rig. This is not meant to be a plug-n-play rig, it's for experimenters and tinkers.
Whoa! Hold your horses man.. I believe Dave has a point, and by that he is not blaming anyone for that matter. The radio could come out of the assembly with a more 'rules friendly' settings. After reaching the hands of us, the user, it is then CAN be altered to whatever we want it to be, but it will be on us. I don't mind this, I think of it as rooting android devices. I have no commercially built rig either, all I have are homebrews. That is why I believe that these kinds of amazing yet economical kits and modules, things like bitx40, uBitx, and the likes should reach more people.. these needs to cross more borders.. and crossing borders means to stay within some legal measures.
Kind of a American centric viewpoint there, other countries have different frequency allocations so it is simpler to just leave it be. Why would a ham radio need type acceptance are your homebrew projects type accepted, or a commercial radio modded to work on the ham bands?
The kit is being sold commercially and in large numbers. My concern is there are a sad few people who are not experimenters but are troublemakers.
But David, how is that different than any other radio that can be made to operate out of band by snipping a few diodes?
Bitx platform was already made to be very hackable. That is being hack by the user as we choose, not by the manufacturer. Om bitx40 the user added a mod to make it stop giving out 'illegal' spurious. Bitx40 too can be made to transmit out of band. Don't get me wrong, I believe that manufacturers like these needs to stay within certain 'lines', because we need then to 'stay alive', stay making amazing gears, not forced to close because law infringement, or got banned in some countries because they did not follow certain rules. I'm not afraid to snip few diodes, hell I'd snip every diodes possible, or solder a bunch of diodes, but that would be on me.
I think it's clever that some people use the plastic case as the radio case. If I ever take mine out of the box I'll spend time making a nice 3d printed case for it.
For those of us experimenters who have no great interest in purchasing a $1,000 to $10,000 appliance rig to ragchew, contest, or certificate chase with, it's cheap and easy to buy one of the $17 power amplifier kits on eBay and build it up, and build low-pass filters for any bands of interest. That's what I'm doing, and I'm adding a step-up converter module to select the drive voltage for the MOSFETs in order to get a more significant power output. 45 to 60 watts will get one within an S-unit of the expensive rig's 100 W or so. These days there's really no reason to let power limitations keep anyone (with a soldering iron who can follow directions,) from running a cheap rig alongside the big boys on SSB. We experimenters really have no use for appliance radios because of the price, but more importantly because they a dead-end. They are nearly impossible to modify or add features to, and far too expensive to give anyone the incentive to try, and one can't really learn much from them. They are a black box. A cheap and open layout like the uBITX rig you have there is best. There are even modification videos online for them, and rigs such as this can get repackaged for compact size if desired after all the learning and mods and add-ons are done. The most important privilege associated with a ham license isn't bands or power. It's the open authorization to do whatever we want with our equipment within the rules of the service. We can design and build, mix and match, modify and improve as we so choose. Appliance rigs are simply not conducive to that. No, a new ham may not know enough to do all that I described, but the ham license is a license to learn, and learning about RF is what the ham radio hobby is really all about.
What a great option for any new ham.
Great review! One question: is it unwise to house this radio in fibreboard or other wood-based product? Modern QRP circuits typically run cool enough for it, and I suspect more people have woodworking skills than metal or plastic. (But I do totally dig that old-school cake pan chassis! Any chance you can mount a live tube somewhere on it, just to show the flag?) Thanks again for the excellent in-depth shakedown.
Wood cabinets are fine. Just make sure that the heat sinks are properly ventilated.
Thanks, OM!
interesting radio, i bet a chassis could be built with some hardwood like birch, maple, oak or poplar and a miter box and would look nice if some care and patience is used while building, and some teakoil would give it a nice finish
True!
Kit is up to $150 now, though I'm still giving serious thought to getting it
I just ordered one and bought the case as well.
@@davecasler I just ordered one last night. I've got a nice metal case from a 30 port USB hub that I'm going to use, I'm fairly handy with tools and build things all the time so I should be able to make it look pretty good in the end, I might design some 3D printed parts to pretty it up too. I think I remember reading they've added AGC to this version which is good.
Speaking of your objection Sir.David about (General Coverage Transmitter) ..
i want to reveal that the (whole HF Band) originally is belongs to Radio Amateur who develop it initially without any help of Governments..
Which have been stolen (colonized) by FCC and ITU ...etc
Depends on your point of view. Certainly amateurs demonstrated what could be done with "200 meters and down." Once the benefits and needs were demonstrated, the blessings of HF were widely distributed to many, many users. Including amateurs.
I wonder Dave how many days did you have to wait for delivery from the day that your payment confirmation was received? I know there is a backlog on kits. I received email from HF Signals indicating there is a back log and there is no way at this time to give me an estimated date of delivery. I had the same problem when ordering from Hans. These kits unexpectedly are popular and the developers didn't expect the response that they have received. Now they are playing catch up and reordering. I waited 35 days for my kit from Hans but that was fine. I was kept informed. Had delivery gone beyond 45 days I would be seriously concerned. I suspect that HF Signals may take about 30 days for delivery too. Great presentation. Look forward to a future update. 73
From the time I placed the order, it took 10 days for it to ship. After that, it was about a week via DHL to get the radio to me.
Okay Dave. Thanks for the quick reply. I hope my order doesn't too long. I need it for a class project. I am taking the Extra Class, class at my local ham club. The kit is needed to learn the electronic theory.
iI liked your video...and being the newbie...opted to try this new kit....ordered it today
The CW drop out or tx/rx delay can be adjusted just the same as the bitx40 in the cw menu settings.Once you have it set for a longer period (for using a straight key slower style) it works perfectly.
You are using a 12V battery which may drop to 11V so yes your output will be lower. The figures quoted are for 13.8V infact on the Bitx40 you can supply the pa seperately with say 24V giving a higher output. Although I am uncertain if the uBitx has the same ability.
As for the box well that is upto you. myself I think your cake tin build is a poor option. I mean why do we box transcievers? to cut down radiation of unwanted mixing signals etc.
QRPLabs QCX transciever also does not come with a case. making it a flexible experimenters radio although it can also transmit anywhere if you remove or alter the filters.
SO yes if someone comes up with a chassis design forthe uBitx or the Bitx40 or the QCX then that would be a good thing. metal screened ofcourse. it may cost as much if not more that the radio with shipping costs.
One point, in the uk Novice hams are not allowed to use non type approved radio's
So this radio is a no no for newcomers in the uk as it is not a kit.
Cheers Mark G0NMY
The only CW option I see in the menu is for keyer speed. Can you provide more info?
Hold the menu button in for about 5 seconds look for CW Params sub menu and then QSK delay
I got mine just after Christmas. Still looking for an enclosure to mount it in. I had heard that someone was producing purpose-built enclosures for this model, but have not been able to find them yet.
Look at some of the comments to this video. There are some specific references to cases.
This is for ham experimenters, not only hams. especialy for this price tag.
Elecraft's K2 also detects straight key or paddle
I have an old TenTec cabinet that would be perfect for that rig!
I guess I could design and 3D print a housing for the microphone element.
I see you're (also) using SDRUno :-) Still has a few growing pains, but what a powerful program.
There are plenty of chassis on the market now for the BITx, as well as .stl files for 3d printers
It would be nice if Farhan would include a list of links on his site.
3D print a chassis. Use copper tape to line it if need be.
Hi Dave, Happy New Year and thank you for another great video. Is Mrs.Casler looking in the kitchen for that missing oven cooking tray. ? :)
I was wise enough to make note there were two such pans and I also obtained her permission prior to proceeding!
While we may have an amateur in our titles, the HAM's in my area at least take allocations seriously. For the amount of learning you go through even for a General class license and the learning throughout your years of operating, I think a little trust is earned. I see this debate with the ICOM 718 which I have vs the ICOM 78. If I need to get a message across on HF in an emergency it is nice to know I have the whole band should the other bands not be open....especially considering some of the Marine SSB bands are monitored for life and death matters and are likely to get you a response. I take this type of thing seriously and anyone building a radio most likely does as well. As a side note: My ICOM 718 can transmit out of the band by quite a bit on some areas without any modifications and I haven't heard of this causing issues with other users that already will find a way to break the law. If te 718 was General TX as well I wouldn't need to snip a diode at some point for 60 Meters or whatever future allocations might hit us. I like to keep good products for a while. I also like a signal generator without buying yet another product when I have bills and student loans to pay.
Lol,that part about the transmit freq... if someone wants to transmit outside the ham bands,he will.I gave my BITX40 to my unlicenced friend,and we are talking on the 45m pirate band with it regularly.
I doubt the "pirate band" is FCC-recognized. I'd suggest a ham license for both of you.
Thanks for the timely review Dave. I have been watching for more details on this radio and you have filled the gap! VE6RJG ...73
I have an original Bit X 40 and I still have not put it together....
Dave can you cite where there is a type acceptance for FCC Part 97 devices? I hear about it from older hams but I've read through it and there is nothing about type acceptance in Part 97. The responsibility and of good, in-band and non-spurious emissons is left to the responsibility of the operator under their own license.
It's under other parts of the FCC rules. I'm not a lawyer, so hesitate to venture further into that part of the regulations. Type acceptance means that a radio that is an example, or type, is tested for compliance with emissions regulations.
I can look into designing some sort of 3d printed case. That would at least make it more accessible.
I am looking for a full size shorwave radio just a receiver kit, I still have my old CB call numbers can you help me
VU2POP is making chasi and etc...
Nice video Dave thanks
Mine hasn’t arrived yet but I think it’s a tremendous bargain. Anyone remember when you had to either layout a board with narrow rolls of tape and peel off doughnuts with an x-acto knife? If you were lucky enough to have a board layout in a magazine you still had to get a kodalith negative shot actual size to photo etch a board before you could drill and stuff it? Things are so much better. I just want 1980’s band conditions again. Find a used drill press on Craigslist. Buy a few files. Heat up that soldering iron and make contacts.
Harbor Freight has lots of tools that are not that expensive. They may not hold up for hard use, but good enough for a hobby. What gets me is that I just ordered one of the 'kits' and was looking for a box to put it in. Those aluminum boxes seem very expensive for what they are. I do have a few I have picked up at hamfests for a dollar or two. Even looking at removing the parts in some of the cases that are used for switching out 2 or 3 printers or other serial devices.
I can do the wiring for electronics with out any problems but now most everything needs to be on a PC board, I do not have the skills to make them. I do have the tools to work on or build SMD items if there is a circuit board for them. I have heard of some companies that will make the PC boards for not very much money if you send them a computer file with the layout.
I don't hardly see how they can sell the transceiver for about $ 109 shipped, but glad someone can. I have good low band rigs of the 100 watt class, but think this might just be a good rig to use with some transverters off ebay to use on 2 meters and up SSB.
I could make a wooden radio chassis and line it with aluminium foil to protected it from RF noise
Yes, that will work as long as you can make good ground contact to that aluminum.
Hi Dave. Has anyone informed you about completing the kit for the µBITX? thx
Hi David,
Did you ever try the HBR8HF from hambuilder.com. it's a complete rig with the enclosure. All bands based on the uBitx. Nice display, Not to expensive, but I don't know are well it goes?
Yanick
73, de VE2YCF
No, haven't looked at it. I didn't see a price on their website.
will one fit in an ammo can??. ammo cans make awesome enclosures.. they also look fairly evil... you can get either steel or plastic (for non esd sensitive stuff)...
Yes, I think it would. I have a fairly small metal ammo can from surplus and it would fit in there.
If a ham does not know where he/she is authorized to transmit then they should turn in their license.
Well, after over 40 years of hamming, I still get out the chart to see where I can and can't transmit. And my memory isn't getting any better with age!
I agree. Locking the TX to only xmit on Extra class band limits, doesn't help the USA Novice, Tech, Gen or Adv class licenses, not to mention band limits differ in different countries... Leave it open. Make the operator responsible, as they should be anyway.
What would help the new comer and experienced is having a section of a band that those who are learning to gain their license can use without a license. A paid permit that is validated with a training course at radio clubs with a "learners" call sign. This would give the newcomer hands on. Limited band, limited power.
This hobby could do with encouraging people. You learn as you do. You can't do without a license.
@@marklowe7431 Agreed. I always hated how you couldn't have a dual purpose HAM/CB rig where the CB side on 11 Meters was limited to 4 watts. Perhaps add a "90 Meter Band" from 3400-3500MHz for a learners call sign along with a corresponding band slightly above 10MHz for daytime propagation with an explicit power limit of no more than 50watts EIRP and periodic supervision of an Amateur Extra and/or VEC. Call it lazy but a lot of people are turned off by the tech test but once they learn the benefits and all the fun they really open up. I sort of wish I could share my HAM callsign with GMRS once I pass Extra......all the segments of very similar services make sense but also muddy things up. 3 radios for services that could be handled by one radio...
I have keyed down out-of-band on 30 a few times. It's easy to do; the ham slice of 30 is small and doesn't conform to our other HF bands. So I jump from 40, to 20, then back down to 30, and once in a great while will start tuning up at, say, 10040, before I realise I'm wildly out-of-band. I normally catch this within seconds, and I'm QRP at that point in the tuning process anyway, but if my rig prevented me from radiating a signal there, it wouldn't happen at all. Human brains don't work like computers. We make mistakes.
Dave, old boy, I say this with the most utmost respect for you, but a ham that can't stay within their licensed allocation is no different than a man that owns a drill press & can't make a simple chasis & cabinet for his radio lol Otherwise I really enjoyed your review & because of it I will probably order one of these since I plan on an upgrade to general within the next month
Dave,
Keep a eye out for cases and control kits in the future from VU3SUA.
Amateur Radio Kits.IN
He has been supplying cases for the older Bitx versions up to the newer, and I bet this variant won't be any different. He also runs a store on Ebay.
Lee, WA8QFE
Dave,
Thanks for a Very Informative Video!
I Agree, the Radio MUST be limited to the HAM Bands, as to NOT allowing signals to be sent where they “Don’t Belong”
Just an idea for the chassis, maybe some one could come with a design for a 3D printer?
maybe this could be a front facia plate for the controls and lcd/micro pcb , this could then fasten to the bottom
plate which you have mounted the main pcb to . This could be whatever you have available
in the shack/garage eg bit of of plywood etc but i think people will get the idea
keep up the good work
regards
Mark G7GEI
if you check out the main FB group there are several designs for 3d printed cases available.
Thanks!
For those who can't use a drill or a saw, Sunil VU3SUA, is due to launch a custom case for the uBITX. He already produces custom cases for the BITX40: amateurradiokits.in/
Thanks for the tip.
put it on a spectrum scope it only passes fcc spec's on one ( that's right 1 ) BAND ! the ubitx
that thing is asking to be installed in to a pelican case
my thoughts exact
you can get a step-bit at the Horrible Freight for about 3 bucks and any reasonably powered handheld drill is more than adequate to drill through an aluminum (or plastic) project enclose or cake pan.
...if you can hold your hands steady enough. That's my problem. I have a bit of a tremor--have had it all my life--so the drill press really helps.
Thank you for an interesting review of this transceiver. I however strongly disagree with your insistance that the transmitter be limited to the ham bands. We do not need to be protected from ourselves. What next, outlawing soda pop so that we don't become obese? Oh wait... that's happening in a few places.
Looks like we'll agree to disagree.
nice job
Is the transmit/Receive switching via relay or solid state?
Relay
Different countries use different band plans, why should everyone be limited to what you can use? To make every unit compliant with individual countries would make it too expensive, the alternative would be to use your intelligence and don't tx out of band.
I'm just here for the crazy Beto pic in the thumbnail
No Beto, I'm afraid. That's Ashar Farhan, creater of the uBITX
@@davecasler Oh. That poor man. At least he's a million times smarter.
Why does the case need to be a conductive material?
It doesn't. I put my first BITX 40 in a plastic case. But a metal case provides more protection, plus more shielding against RFI. However the power levels are so low that plastic can work just fine.
Dave is the micro BITX setup like the BITX40 were you can run the finale amp at a higher voltage for higher output?
DE N8QJU
Yes there is a separate connection for the PA!
TNX 73 n8qju
If you look at www.hfsignals.com/index.php/ubitx-wire-up/ at the top left of the page there are three connections (Ground, PA_PWR and +12V) on the uBitx too.
They've kicked up the price to 129 US$ now.
Their supply market is largely from China, so they're hostage to the exchange rates.
What about 3D printing a chassis?
3D-printed cabinets can be found, particularly plans and files.
But then carelessness should not be tolerated in our community, right? Surely you remember there was a time when we built our own rigs and used the computer between our ears to stay legal? Do you really feel that we need government assistance today which we did not need fifty years ago? In other words, if you can't stay between the lines, should you really be driving? Otherwise excellent video as usual.
May I ask (just for reference and no insult intended) are you buying these radios and doing blind evaluations or are you telling the vendor *before* you do the build that you are going to make the video. Again no insult intended but your answer will influence my "impulse" buying. I went right out and bought the QXC radio and I will probably do the same with this one tomorrow but I'd like to know for future reference. Thanks.
I do wish everyone were so responsible.
I have to agree with Old Dog here. Really not much else to say... I'd be curious to hear your answer to his last question as well.
Well he did talk to Ashar on the W5KUB roundtable before last, so its fair to say he did talk to him before doing the video. Hope that doesn't stop you from getting and enjoying the kit.
I 100% agree with your first paragraph.
As to the second, I am confident based on Dave's messages on groups.io/g/BITX20 wondering when he would receive his radio that he ordered his radio like the rest of us with no extra help, qc, or anything else from Ashhar or anyone at hfsignals.com. I know you weren't implying anything other than that. I just wanted to throw my two cents in.
In fact I ordered my radio on Dec 10th and paid in full for it along with the DHL shipping via PayPal. As it turns out, I did talk with Farhan on W5KUB's show a couple days before it shipped, but I think that was a coincidence.
Hey Dave! I appreciate your comments about the general coverage and the lack of cases. I happen to disagree but that's okay, we don't have to agree to be friends ;) I posted a video with my take on the subjects here: ua-cam.com/video/6Xn9FLvstaY/v-deo.html
Thanks for the comments. I think the argument that operators cause problems, not radios is a bit like saying that automobiles don't kill people, people kill people. In fact the capabilities of the equipment affects operator behavior. I'd enjoy collaborating with you on some videos.
I would enjoy that as well! 73 to you good sir :)
Where did you buy the cake tin?
My wife had two. I'm pretty sure it came from a grocery store.
@@davecasler 9:47 Is that what you say to your wife when she asks for money?
Dave. I am seriously thinking of a uBitX. It looks like a great little rig! You mentioned the problem with filtering for CW. I may have a solution for you. An Italian ham, IW2NDH, Luca Facchinetti, has come up with an incredible little DSP filter board (jackdev23.wixsite.com/iw2ndh-dsp ). It is reasonably priced, but even so, it will go almost as much as the uBitX at about $80.
Now, here I submit a philosophy about the uBitX and a new direction for ham radio. A new General buys and builds his uBitX. As he progresses, he desires a little more radio, so he might add the DSP. Itching for more power, why not build a linear? For less than $20, you can buy a 70W amp kit that will match right up to it. This budding ham essentially winds up building a great rig out of building blocks. Like following a TunaTin 40, with a 6L6 (edit: I think it was actually an 809) amp. Don't think about the limits; think about the potential.
I think the uBitX explosion has the potential to take ham radio back to its roots, much as it was back when I first considered ham radio, 50 years ago. de N4DFP, 73
Is there a AM mode mod?
Not that I know of. The radio is designed around the idea of suppressing the carrier for voice (double balanced modulator), so conversion to AM would be difficult. That's not to say it can't be done.
I'd be great if some came up with a panel that'd fit the uBITX inside one of Harbor Freight's two ruggedized, watertight cases, the Apache 1800 ($15) or Apache 2800 ($30). That'd make it great for mountain topping. Here is the former:
www.harborfreight.com/1800-watertight-protective-case-9-316-in-63518.html
I do all QRP; all the time. Why? Because no amount of power in the world will "punch through" when there's simply no path for propagation.
Box making isn't that hard and GUESS WHAT? There are a lot of extant chassis that could be gutted and refitted with this component kit. Refit/reuse or just buy a box from another box-making company. Or _masterfabricate_ as I might do (but then I have this great old Midland CB chassis that might house a couple of these, plus has power supply and such). A pal has one of these kits, but not assembled yet-and that's what brought me here. I'm about go nuts/QRP and building makes sense. Wondering about digital or crystal filtering this one for CW. Thanks for vid. FB 73 de W1ADE
Wow, you see what "lowest price is better always" mentality does? Where there's $$$ to be made, there will be a supply (of boxes). Economies of scale mean that my 10 boxes might retail at 3x each what a maker who could run 10,000 boxes might charge. WalmartHam mentality is totally for the cheapest on maximum scale (no matter the true cost). So I could make boxes to sell, but most hams would cry and whine about the price, and the last three boxes (any profit) would likely sit on the shelf forever.
Maybe I'll sell some templates... no idea we'd slipped so far.
I'm not sure where your comments are leading. There's plenty of quality equipment out there at reasonable prices. As in any field, there is also equipment that is too inexpensive and will disappoint the buyer. I try in my reviews to provide some feedback on what works and what doesn't.
Sorry I got myself confused. Was lamenting the lack of hand/tool skills in your estimation of our population, then got carried away into economics of scale. Maybe I had too much coffee. Making stuff is second nature to me. Cheers.
There's also hambuilder on ebay.
Hmm...I searched for hambuilder and ham builder on eBay and didn't get anything. Can you give me an alternate search term?
David Casler they seldom have them. As being sold out. Ìts a bitx design, but multi band, a 4 band and 10 band. They have a youtube channel too.
hambuilder.com/ he's currently sold out on ebay, here's his web site
Dave, the person behind Hambuilder is Dian Kurniawan (his ebay store is "jalapindai" stores.ebay.com/jalapindai) . He design the products and manufactured by a small team of builders, 'Hambuilder', based in Bandung, Indonesia. Hambuilder has several products that is quite popular in Indonesia for years now. Their products range from digital vfo's, keyers, enclosures, to complete, ready to use transceivers. They release their products in small batches, they are not a large scale firm, often times made to order or pre-order. If they have no ready stock at hand, they will hide the item from ebay. Their latest is HBR1HF, a beautifully made 50 watts mono band ssb/cw bitx variant. Dian Kurniawan's blog is here: diankurniawan.wordpress.com/
I bought one (Hambuilder.com) and was very disappointed by the performance. It is a radio that is not finished. The support from Dian is very good but the schematics are not complete nor accurate and the source code for the software is not available. Many functions that show in version 1 of the software are not available on rev 1.2. The CW is not really CW. it looks like it is modulated carrier. I just received my uBitx today.
73, Yvon NU6I
PS; I love your videos Dave.
Ham Band Police?
In fact, the FCC and the ARRL have just worked out an agreement so that the ARRL can help gather evidence to take to the FCC when there is egregious violation of rules, such as deliberate interference and so forth.
Another great video Dave. I'm glad to see you went with a non-stick cake pan. Solder and melted components should clean up easy. A good replacement for the volume pot that will give you more knob options is this one www.adafruit.com/product/3481 someone on the groups.io list found it to work well and I have one on order.
As to your lower output, have you tried to adjust the PA bias as described here www.hfsignals.com/index.php/ubitx-tuneup/ ?
Doug, thanks for the tips!
Made a QSO with uBitx v5 pumping 35 Watts from India to Argentina
de VU3HZW
Ugh no case.
If I have to mod a kit - I'd rather build from scratch.
Also VU3ELR
Hi Nagasai, good to hear from you.
Good video.
I say leave it open tx all. If you as a ham op cannot stay in your corner you need to hand your license back in as you will open/mod anything else you are running.
That applies to ALL hams. It is up to the operator to refrain from poor behaviour not the radio or it's manufacturer. Why would one radio locked make a difference when you can mod your fabulous Yaesus and Icoms and all the rest? If I were an OP looking to play naughty I'd just get a radio off fleabay that is already modded or easy to mod. Hell my SR8 I purchased a whilst back 2nd hand was open modded doesn't mean I'm wandering all over the place.
What concerns me more is at 4w peak ssb you are going to need but also have trouble driving an amp.
Why do you "need" and amp for a QRP rig??? You talk about an operator with brains to " refrain from poor behaviour" yet think QRP rigs need an amp..Odd i have never needed an amp for my ft817nd before yet have rarely had a problem making any contacts...If you "need" an amp for a QRP radio why bother buying a QRP radio..Just go buy a 100 watt rig and leave QRP for the ones who like the challenge of low power :D
Well my only HF rig is a Bitx40v3 simply because I can't afford more at this point. I've really enjoyed it and can usually make a handful of contacts a day, but I certainly would like to build an amp to go along with it for those times when i'm not quite making it.
Glen, you are spot on. If amateur radio operators can't stay within their privileges, then they shouldn't keep their license. Amateur Radio is one of the last places the FCC trusts the operator.
I think we're getting off topic here. Let's keep this focused on the uBITX.
bentrider1972 the amp idea was for those who buy the rig as an only rig. Contacts here are getting scarce and it's a common complaint by many. Yes when the bands really open up a few w is all you need but not all of us can live in a city of millions with many HF contacts to be made rather we have significant distance to cover and for 90% of the time 3w is not enough.
So rather than making an assumption and being arrogant and rude about it try opening the mind and realising that not everyone in the world lives in the USA and not everyone lives in high density areas.
Hi Dave!
Nice job !
73
David m6dfl
M.
...---... ...---... ...---... Please, someone help me! I've been away from HAM Radio for many years, but have been bitten by the bug yet again. I'm buying everything in sight! Someone needs to take my debit card away.........right after I get one of these radios. :-)
i dont appreciate your comments about the rig;s ablity to transmit on all bands, there are those of us, who may want to use this thing as a low power signal generator, or piece of test equiptment ... any ham, well, real ham, should know where he / she is suposed to be transmitting, and untill they abolish the cesspool called ( CB ) NO ONE, SHOULD BE POLICING ANY ONE ELSE ...
I guess we disagree.
À
Gen TX. Big deal. FCC. LoL. Poor Yanks. 😹👎
You asked for a completion kit - this vendor was amazing for my Bitx40 amateurradiokits.in
Their web page says they're working on the uBITX case and should begin to take pre-orders soon.