Crowd Funding The Perfect Survival Radio?

Started by gil, August 22, 2017, 01:51:20 PM

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gil

I don't dislike the 817 mind you... I might yet buy one, if only for the 2m and 70cm bands in SSB.

Gil.

Andywragg

How about approaching Farhan (of BITX40 and UBITX fame) with regard to 'hardening' the UBITX for the/our intended use? As far as I can tell, the UBITX fulfils most of the radio specific goals, with the exceptions being the enclosure and battery.

For me having an internal battery is a negative attribute, as typically I'd want a number of battery packs that are easily swappable. No point having a radio you can't use cos the battery is flat (in the field away from charge facility or in the middle of the night when there's no sun to solar charge).
I speak from experience here as a former military signaller, experienced in pretty much all the PRC 3** Clansman range. Whilst these are bombproof radio's I wouldn't want to lug one (HF Variety) around as a civvy due to the weight of the pack and the cells.

When funds allow I shall be getting hold of a UBITX and looking to source a suitable field style case in which to install the guts of the radio.
Once a 'STAB in the Dark'
M6UAW

scarr

Farhan is an RF wizard - he'll design and build the magic circuitry, but it's probably for another enterprising soul to make rugged aftermarket cases - there are nice desktop cases made for other members of the BitX range: https://amateurradiokits.in/store/metal-enclosures/

Ideally I'd love stackable components what would click on to the case e.g. ATU/Battery/amp/empty cases to roll your own add ons.

As others here have found out - loose wires are a pain in the butt and prone to failure in the field/backyard.

gil

The uBitx would indeed be a good candidate for boxing up in a military grade case.

QuoteIdeally I'd love stackable components what would click on to the case e.g. ATU/Battery/amp/empty cases to roll your own add ons.

Definitely. My PRC-320 works that way. You clip the battery on. Also the PRC-351, with a bolt-on tuner and the same battery.

Writing Farhan is a good idea, I will do that.

Gil.

Andywragg

I just ordered the uBITX. It's on backorder so it will be a while before it arrives.

As for a case/enclosure.........

So of the builders  are using a cheap plastic case off Banggood for less than £10. I might get one of these and wrap it in Gorilla tape, after running silicon sealant over all the long joints.
Once a 'STAB in the Dark'
M6UAW

scarr

#20
That's great Andy! I have ordered one too. Over time I'm hoping to be able to put a tuner, NESCAF filter and battery in the case, so the only wires outside will be for the key, headphones and antenna

I've got an aluminium tin that came with a present, which I'm going to use as the test enclosure. If everything works and goes well with that, I'll look at getting something a bit more solid afterwards.

The tin is gold coloured, so it's going to look eh.... interesting...  even without my dodgy slicing and dicing for the display etc  ;D



cockpitbob

For what it's worth, there are two 3D printable cases for the uBITX on thingiverse
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2745287
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2732866

I've made a couple cases for RF stuff on my 3D printer.  For shielding I line it with copper tape.  This makes for a very light enclosure.  12feet of 1" copper tape is only $3 on banggood.com.

Andywragg

Thanks Bob.
Just out of interest, how much does it cost to print a box?
Once a 'STAB in the Dark'
M6UAW

cockpitbob

Quote from: Andywragg on January 08, 2018, 03:32:00 AM
Thanks Bob.
Just out of interest, how much does it cost to print a box?
I have a 3D printer and for the common materials (PLA or ABS) it's about $0.75/oz.  It's even cheaper than you might think because for areas of an item that have a lot of volume you tell the printer software to fill the areas with honeycomb of whatever density you want.  I use anything from 20% "infill" to 100% infill.  It saves weight, materials, print time and you lose very little strength.

Printing is a slow process.  I think printing all the parts for a uBITX box would be about 15hrs of printer time.  That's OK since it takes 5 minutes to set up a print, then I just let it run over night.

Andywragg

Once a 'STAB in the Dark'
M6UAW

cockpitbob

#25
This is the one I have.
https://robo3d.com/products/r1-plus-3d-printer
I got it 2.5 years ago mostly for my "engineer from birth" son.  I paid $850 for it.  It's print volume is 10" x 9" x 8".  Of course you can make bigger things in multiple pieces and glue them together.  Printers keep getting cheaper.  There's $250 kits that take about 6 hours to screw together that work very well(sorry I can't remember the names).

Bare in mind that there's no magic in these printers and often not a lot of difference between the $300 and $1,000 ones other than a pretty enclosure, display and no need to be connected to a computer.  They all have a heated print bed, 3 axes of stepper motors, an extruder and a controllable print cooling fan.  Most use the exact same set of Arduino boards and software to run them.  The good ones are a bit more accurate because they are stiffer.  The expensive ones use guide rods bigger than 6mm, but my printer with its 6mm guide rods does great work.