And so it begins :) I am just about finished with my uBitx and ready to start my Slop Bucket. Let us know all the mistakes NOT to make while doing ours.

Joel
N6ALT

Well I finally received the enclosure for the uBitx, this was the hardest part of this whole project. I crossed the first hurdle and measured and drill the holes for the main board. Now to cut the display into the front panel, this is my least favorite thing to do :'(. I came to a sad conclusion on this project, I will be separating the display from the main board so that the display can be in the middle of the panel. I just couldn't have looked at it with the display over on the left side of the panel. So now I need to devise a method of short jumper wires or a custom made flat ribbon. If I dont mess up the cutout this is going to look very good.

Joel
N6ALT

Looks great Gil, time to enjoy it now before the Slop Buckets get here :)

Joel
N6ALT

Well Steve emailed me over the weekend and said he has 14 left, so I have one coming ;D. Now I'm just getting nervous about soldering that little Si5351 chip. I have done it before twice with EtherKits Si5351 break out board and was successful both times but that was 3 years ago, I'm much older now:-( Steve recommends using solder paste and hot air, but I will be hand soldering all components. As long as they are not any smaller than 0805 I should be okay. Thanks for the tip on the box, I'll check it out.

Joel
N6ALT

Gil, I joined the new kd1jvdesigns groups.io group and requested a kit. We will see if I got one or not when Steve gets back to me.

Joel
N6ALT

I would love to get one of these but am not a member of any of Steve's groups and don't think I could pull it off before they are all sold out.

Joel
N6ALT

Yep, that's my take on it also. As for the current draw, I think it should be worse with the included TCXO ref osc with a heater running the whole time the radio is on. The thing is, you can buy all those options for the 817. The TCXO is cheap on Ebay and a 3ah LiPo from Windcamp is a much better idea than a 1900mah NiMh battery anyway. As far as the extra watt of power, that's useless but can already be done to the 817 if we want. Not much of a upgrade. :-\

Joel
N6ALT

Hi Gil,

A lot of guys are using this one, but I ordered the one from the same seller that is the same dimensions  but a little taller to accommodate the Altec lancing speaker I'm going to mount inside.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-5U-65-x-178-x-203-mm-DIY-Hi-Aluminum-Electronic-Enclosure-Project-Box-Case/122963505580?hash=item1ca13231ac:g:uYsAAOSwubRXJQAW

Joel
N6ALT

I have to say that this has turned out to be a great radio. Due to a chain of unfortunate supply and demand issues, I finally have a very nice case coming that will really make this uBitx look professional. A ham named Ian Lee on the uBitx group has completely rewritten the firmware and turned this into a professional radio with adjustable IF, memory, split operation, RIT, CAT control, and a whole bunch of other cool things. I can't wait to get this all finished and in my bedroom for nighttime ops. I hope those of you that bought one are enjoying it as much as I am. I think I will order another one.

Joel
N6ALT

I've been following this for a couple of weeks now and I'm just not sure whether this is real or not. Yeasu did file for FCC certification for a FT-818 but this doesn't mean it will ever see the light of day, think Apple Computer. It doesn't seem to have enough enhancements to warrant bringing it out, like a 1900mah Ni-Mh battery? I guess I'm just a little skeptical because I just bought a brand new FT817ND ???.

Joel
N6ALT

Cool find Gil. They would make a cheap 6 meter radio in the US. I didn't find anywhere on the site where it tells me what mode it operates in. I'm assuming its SSB though. It would be fun radio to take portable and operate on 50.125.

Joel
N6ALT

I received my new uBITX yesterday morning about 10AM, made my first contact by 1PM. A really nice sounding rig and putting out 10 watts on 40 meters. I'm trying to decide which case to use next.

Joel
N6ALT

Great video Andy, looked fun.

Hi Bob,

I found this from Ashhar Farhan himself regarding power consumption:

"Rx draws 150 ma on zero volume. It can go up to 200 ma on peaks.the tx draws south of 700ma without modulation, peaks to 2.5A on modulation."

Joel
N6ALT

Quote from: cockpitbob on December 11, 2017, 05:10:26 PM
Does anyone know how much power the uBITX draws during receive?  Battery life is important and nearly an obsession in this forum 8).

+

I'm not sure anybody knows yet Bob, but I'll bet it's not that good with a Arduino and a 16X2 display on top of what the radio itself draws. I will ask on the Bitx Group and see if I can get a answer.

Joel
N6ALT