|
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
переключити цитоване повідомлення
Показати цитований текст
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Yoink!
I will be waiting with bated breath!
---
73,
Gwen, NG3P
It is for sale on www.hfsignals.com
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
I put its pictures and specs all over the groups.io of our active group here in Gainesville, FL. That QRP level isn't "my thing" but there are people in my group for whom this will be very exciting.
We just did an expedition to a nearby State Park and did our first 6meter meteor scatter. We are a wild group of emergency communicators. Gordon KX4Z
Yoink!
I will be waiting with bated breath!
---
73,
Gwen, NG3P
It is for sale on www.hfsignals.com
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Thank you and Merry Christmas Ashhar. The zBitx looks great and the price is incredible. I hope many hams enjoy it.
|
Fantastic. I placed my order
On Dec 25, 2024 at 3:39 PM -0500, Ashhar Farhan via groups.io <farhanbox@...>, wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
I am quite happy to see zBitx launched! Proud of seeing the state of the QRP from VU!
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Thanks Farhanji for releasing The zbitx . It looks like a masterpiece. This will certainly set new benchmark for its class of radios.
Happy Hamming.
VU2SPF/ Bhatnagar
|
I hope it provides fun to the tinkerers as well as the operators. We managed to squeeze all the circuitry with 0805 sized components. This still makes them tinkerable. The only special parts (apart from the audio codec, si5351 and the raspberry pi zero) are the BFU590GX transistors but they should be treated as standard issue for the homebrewers now. The last 4 years of experience with sBitx has shown that we have truly moved to being software defined. Most hacks are in software now. It then become imperative that software parts are easier to understand and to change. The next few weeks will go towards that. The zbitx is a collaborative effort, thanks to JJ and my Indian ham folks to keep this under their hat until we were ready. - f
Thanks Farhanji for releasing The zbitx . It looks like a masterpiece. This will certainly set new benchmark for its class of radios.
Happy Hamming.
VU2SPF/ Bhatnagar
|
Wow that’s a nice surprise!
I just wonder about a few things, of course.
Is 9V really the max voltage? So an 11.1V battery would be way too much?
I’m dubious that 512MB is enough for all the Linux software; it seemed worthwhile to upgrade the pi in the sbitx from 2GB to 8GB, and now you want to get by with 4x less memory? I guess only the most efficient software will be relevant then.
Does the pi run hot, or is there some sort of heatsink on it?
Is the microsd slot exposed externally this time, so we can upgrade images without having to take it apart?
I guess you use USB if you want an ethernet connection?
Is the receiver performance any better than the sbitx?
You say you have common software, but the display on this one is driven by the RP2040? How does GTK work then?
And for that matter, how many other responsibilities does the microcontroller take over from the main pi? Probably the zbitx does not rely on the pi’s GPIOs as much?
On Dec 25, 2024, at 21:39, Ashhar Farhan via groups.io <farhanbox@...> wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Shawn, My responses are in-line:
Is 9V really the max voltage? So an 11.1V battery would be way too much?
A 2S battery is what this has been designed for. At 11.1v, or for that matter, even 13.8v, the receiver will work. However, we have used a linear LDo regulator to bring the supply voltage down to 5v for the digital ciruitry. That can start to heat up the back plate that also doubles as the heatsink. At 300mA being dropped by 7volts (=12v-5v), We are looking at 2 watts of heating to the heatsink as long as the radio is on. The BFU590G too is not a 12v transistor. It will need to be re-biased. With those two modifications, the zbitx will work on 12v. I’m dubious that 512MB is enough for all the Linux software; it seemed worthwhile to upgrade the pi in the sbitx from 2GB to 8GB, and now you want to get by with 4x less memory? I guess only the most efficient software will be relevant then.
512MB is enough for every conceivable linux software. There is nothing to be gained with even going from 1GB to 2 GB. The software resides on the SD card, not in the memory. Only the required software is brought into the RAM. None of our software is RAM intensive. Some like the FT8 are CPU intensive but it is well within the capability of all the Raspberry Pis Does the pi run hot, or is there some sort of heatsink on it?
There is none. It consumes about 250 mA of power, which at 5v is about 1.25 watts. Even with the Raspberry Pi 4s, out of the thousand odd radios in the field, not a single has failed due to Raspberry Pi overheating. Is the microsd slot exposed externally this time, so we can upgrade images without having to take it apart?
This is a compact design. Though the SD card is on the edge facing the left panel, The entire radio is held together by four large bolts hence, you will have to remove at least two bolts to get to it. I guess you use USB if you want an ethernet connection?
Yes, unless you are satisfied with WiFi Is the receiver performance any better than the sbitx?
Actually, the spurs are way way lower, but being a diode mixer front-end as opposed to a passive FET front-end, the dynamic range is more in the range of 90 dB rather than 100 plus dBs. You say you have common software, but the display on this one is driven by the RP2040? How does GTK work then?
This way sbitx has a clear separation of user interfaces and the core software. All radio controls and actions are controlled by field structure. The web, the zbitx front panel or the GTK user interfaces just read and write values to these fields. You can play with the web vs GTK user interface to understand this. And for that matter, how many other responsibilities does the microcontroller take over from the main pi? Probably the zbitx does not rely on the pi’s GPIOs as much?
The zbitx's raspberry pi is still in control of the radio. You can still use it entirely independent of the RP2040 front panel. So, none of the GPIOs have been freed. This zbitx panel works as an I2C peripheral. The RP2040 (actuall the Pico) interfaces with the TFT display, touch controller and the tuning knob. It works more as a remote head than a peripheral of the Raspberry Pi. I am toying with the idea that the zbitx front panel with Raspberry Pico W can do the data exchange over wireless, making this a remote head. However, this will complicate the Raspberry Pi's own Wifi to work with home access points as it will be paired with the zbitx front panel's wifi.
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone that the original zBitx used. There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the tinkerers here. The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo batteries. Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base station. Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch screen with large text that is easy to read and type. Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base station with reduced power. Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small screen. Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks. The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
I've been thinking since the first one was released with a
raspberry pie that if we added speech dispatcher and a copy of
espeak to the pie, we could have a blind accessible ubix radio.
Now it's cheap enough, I might just try that. I can't afford the
399 for the regular ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with after a
couple months, so this is a project I'm anxious to try. I don't
really have any desire to have another low power radio, (all of my
handhelds fill that need), but 80-10 meters is fantastic, I only
have a broken 857 to cover that range for me. I can listen all
day long, but transmitting is broken on that radio, and I don't
have the funds to get it fixed, so this might be a nice way to get
online on those other bands.
Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's going to be
a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM, Ashhar Farhan
via groups.io wrote:
переключити цитоване повідомлення
Показати цитований текст
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in
production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD
for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch
screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without
needing even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the
tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2
inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your
pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that
holds the two LiPo batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could
ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is
meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base
station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch
screen with large text that is easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and
mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base
station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the
sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software
upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open
source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Hey Travis,
I’m no programmer, but if you work out something, or make any sort of headway do keep me in the loop. I’m awfully tempted by this one myself.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV, WRVB670 - Erie, PA
Email: buddy@...
Mobile: (814) 431-0962
On Dec 26, 2024, at 3:37 AM, Travis Siegel <tsiegel@...> wrote:
I've been thinking since the first one was released with a
raspberry pie that if we added speech dispatcher and a copy of
espeak to the pie, we could have a blind accessible ubix radio.
Now it's cheap enough, I might just try that. I can't afford the
399 for the regular ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with after a
couple months, so this is a project I'm anxious to try. I don't
really have any desire to have another low power radio, (all of my
handhelds fill that need), but 80-10 meters is fantastic, I only
have a broken 857 to cover that range for me. I can listen all
day long, but transmitting is broken on that radio, and I don't
have the funds to get it fixed, so this might be a nice way to get
online on those other bands. Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's going to be
a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM, Ashhar Farhan
via groups.io wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in
production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD
for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch
screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without
needing even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the
tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2
inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your
pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that
holds the two LiPo batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could
ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is
meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base
station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch
screen with large text that is easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and
mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base
station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the
sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software
upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open
source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Travis, Your post got me thinking...
Why not focus on an external box that communicates with radios via CAT commands and 'speaks' the results? I could imagine a device like an RPi of almost any model (RPi Zero thru RPi 5, whatever the user has) and a handful of momentary switches each of which could be preset to query one or more settings on the radio and speak the results?
Making commercial radios more accessible is a great goal, and such a device might help advance that goal. I suspect I'm not the first person to 'invent' such a device, but I wonder what you think?
Obviously, the buttons could also be set to easily put the CAT-controlled radio on certain frequencies, or set certain settings, including a "back to start" state to help an operator recover from a settings mistake...
On Dec 26, 2024, at 06:00, Travis Siegel <tsiegel@...> wrote:
I've been thinking since the first one was released with a
raspberry pie that if we added speech dispatcher and a copy of
espeak to the pie, we could have a blind accessible ubix radio.
Now it's cheap enough, I might just try that. I can't afford the
399 for the regular ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with after a
couple months, so this is a project I'm anxious to try. I don't
really have any desire to have another low power radio, (all of my
handhelds fill that need), but 80-10 meters is fantastic, I only
have a broken 857 to cover that range for me. I can listen all
day long, but transmitting is broken on that radio, and I don't
have the funds to get it fixed, so this might be a nice way to get
online on those other bands.
Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's going to be
a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM, Ashhar Farhan
via groups.io wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in
production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD
for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch
screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without
needing even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the
tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2
inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your
pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that
holds the two LiPo batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could
ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is
meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base
station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch
screen with large text that is easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and
mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base
station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the
sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software
upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open
source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Ken: This is a good Idea. If we can utilize smart phone/tablet pad as the hardware box, it already has screen reading for speech and Braille output. This is with using Voice over screen reader for I/Phone & Talk Back screen Reader for Android. The Smart tablet Pad will allow for larger text display.
The 705 Remote app on I/phone & Android does this in a basic way for Icom rigs vie blue tooth interface. There is the Smart SDR app for use with Flex Radios.
The key is do you want to carry around a smart phone/tablet pad/personal computer via Blue Tooth or USB verses having an all in all accessible rig. This would be like the Ubitx V6 with Reed BN firmware with Morse Code read out.
These are my thoughts!
73 Dave WD8AJQ
On Dec 26, 2024, at 2:36 PM, Ken N2VIP via groups.io <ken@...> wrote:
Travis, Your post got me thinking...
Why not focus on an external box that communicates with radios via CAT commands and 'speaks' the results? I could imagine a device like an RPi of almost any model (RPi Zero thru RPi 5, whatever the user has) and a handful of momentary switches each of which could be preset to query one or more settings on the radio and speak the results?
Making commercial radios more accessible is a great goal, and such a device might help advance that goal. I suspect I'm not the first person to 'invent' such a device, but I wonder what you think?
Obviously, the buttons could also be set to easily put the CAT-controlled radio on certain frequencies, or set certain settings, including a "back to start" state to help an operator recover from a settings mistake...
Ken, N2VIP On Dec 26, 2024, at 06:00, Travis Siegel <tsiegel@...> wrote:
I've been thinking since the first one was released with a
raspberry pie that if we added speech dispatcher and a copy of
espeak to the pie, we could have a blind accessible ubix radio.
Now it's cheap enough, I might just try that. I can't afford the
399 for the regular ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with after a
couple months, so this is a project I'm anxious to try. I don't
really have any desire to have another low power radio, (all of my
handhelds fill that need), but 80-10 meters is fantastic, I only
have a broken 857 to cover that range for me. I can listen all
day long, but transmitting is broken on that radio, and I don't
have the funds to get it fixed, so this might be a nice way to get
online on those other bands.
Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's going to be
a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM, Ashhar Farhan
via groups.io wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the zBitx in
production! We were able to price it at an incredible $149 USD
for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio with a large 480x320 touch
screen that allows you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without
needing even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will interest the
tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by 80cm(3-1/2
inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could slip it into your
pocket (if large enough). This includes the battery case that
holds the two LiPo batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You could
ofcourse power it by external DC source (max 9v). This is
meant to be a field radio that also works as a great base
station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive touch
screen with large text that is easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard and
mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category base
station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that runs the
sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit software
upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released in open
source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Hi Farhan and team,
This is truely a wonderful Christmas present!!!
What a great design! I love it...
Will place my order shortly, as I will be traveling the next month..
Thanks,
Dick
|
Easily done. I'd probably contact you anyhow, since you had some
good ideas with the quansheng firmware. I'm also thinking if this
works, then it's likely modifying the more expensive one will work
too. After all, it's just a matter of installing normal linux
programs to the initial install used for the radios. Really
shouldn't be a problem, even if compiling from source is
necessary. I've done that often enough that it shouldn't present
a problem.
Probably won't be until March before I can order one of these
though, but will certainly post to the list once I get under way
with the modifications.
On 12/26/2024 12:16 PM, Buddy Brannan
wrote:
переключити цитоване повідомлення
Показати цитований текст
Hey Travis,
I’m no programmer, but if you work out something, or make any
sort of headway do keep me in the loop. I’m awfully tempted by
this one myself.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV, WRVB670 - Erie, PA
Email: buddy@...
Mobile: (814) 431-0962
I've been thinking since the first one was released
with a raspberry pie that if we added speech
dispatcher and a copy of espeak to the pie, we could
have a blind accessible ubix radio. Now it's cheap
enough, I might just try that. I can't afford the 399
for the regular ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with
after a couple months, so this is a project I'm
anxious to try. I don't really have any desire to
have another low power radio, (all of my handhelds
fill that need), but 80-10 meters is fantastic, I only
have a broken 857 to cover that range for me. I can
listen all day long, but transmitting is broken on
that radio, and I don't have the funds to get it
fixed, so this might be a nice way to get online on
those other bands.
Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's
going to be a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM,
Ashhar Farhan via groups.io wrote:
After months of work, we finally have
the zBitx in production! We were able to price it at
an incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP
radio with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows
you to run CW, FT8 and other modes without needing
even the phone that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will
interest the tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by
80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could
slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This
includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo
batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells.
You could ofcourse power it by external DC source
(max 9v). This is meant to be a field radio that
also works as a great base station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320
resistive touch screen with large text that is
easy to read and type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor,
keyboard and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an
sbitx category base station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software
that runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship
with 64-bit software upgraded to handle the small
screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be
released in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few
weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
There used to be a device called the hampod that worked with
several radios. I never had one, but I think it was primarily a
Yaesu thing, since I know it worked with the 857 (which is the
radio I have now), but either in my efforts to reproduce the cat
commands, or by plugging in the wrong mic cable, I broke the radio
so it no longer transmits, but it still receives like a champ, but
sadly, the cat commands no longer work, and I don't have the $180
it would take just to diagnose the silly thing, much less fix it,
so sadly, my 857 is destined for ebay where I can hope to get
enough to purchase something like a yaesu 450 that has speech
built in.
On 12/26/2024 2:36 PM, Ken N2VIP wrote:
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Показати цитований текст
Travis,
Your post got me thinking...
Why not focus on an external box that communicates with
radios via CAT commands and 'speaks' the results? I could
imagine a device like an RPi of almost any model (RPi Zero thru
RPi 5, whatever the user has) and a handful of momentary
switches each of which could be preset to query one or more
settings on the radio and speak the results?
Making commercial radios more accessible is a great goal, and
such a device might help advance that goal. I suspect I'm not
the first person to 'invent' such a device, but I wonder what
you think?
Obviously, the buttons could also be set to easily put the
CAT-controlled radio on certain frequencies, or set certain
settings, including a "back to start" state to help an operator
recover from a settings mistake...
Ken, N2VIP
I've been thinking since the first one was released with
a raspberry pie that if we added speech dispatcher and a
copy of espeak to the pie, we could have a blind
accessible ubix radio. Now it's cheap enough, I might
just try that. I can't afford the 399 for the regular
ubix/sbix, but $149 I can work with after a couple months,
so this is a project I'm anxious to try. I don't really
have any desire to have another low power radio, (all of
my handhelds fill that need), but 80-10 meters is
fantastic, I only have a broken 857 to cover that range
for me. I can listen all day long, but transmitting is
broken on that radio, and I don't have the funds to get it
fixed, so this might be a nice way to get online on those
other bands.
Thanks for releasing this radio, it sounds like it's
going to be a lot of fun tinkering around with it.
On 12/25/2024 3:39 PM, Ashhar
Farhan via groups.io wrote:
After months of work, we finally have the
zBitx in production! We were able to price it at an
incredible $149 USD for a 5 watt, 80M to 10 M QRP radio
with a large 480x320 touch screen that allows you to run
CW, FT8 and other modes without needing even the phone
that the original zBitx used.
There are many things in the zbitx that will
interest the tinkerers here.
The size. It is just 15.5 cm(6 inches) by
80cm(3-1/2 inches) by 3.5cm(1-1/2 inch). You could
slip it into your pocket (if large enough). This
includes the battery case that holds the two LiPo
batteries.
Power: The zbitx runs off two LiPo 18650 cells. You
could ofcourse power it by external DC source (max
9v). This is meant to be a field radio that also works
as a great base station.
Touch Screen: The radio sports a 480x320 resistive
touch screen with large text that is easy to read and
type.
Base station: By plugging an HDMI monitor, keyboard
and mouse, the zbitx transforms into an sbitx category
base station with reduced power.
Software: The zBitx sports the same software that
runs the sBitx radios. The zbitx will ship with 64-bit
software upgraded to handle the small screen.
Schematics and Software: They will all be released
in open source, GPL v3 on github in a few weeks.
The deliveries will start in February.
Merry Christmas folks!!!
|
Would it be possible to run it on an Orange Pi?
These seem to run a bit faster (as I have been told) and have some more memory, so could run more apps simultaneously...
I wonder what it would take.. Anyone???
|
Farhan,
Can you confirm the size of the radio, the description mentions both 5.5 inches and 6.5 inches wide. Another thing, the power output is mentions to be 5 watts and 10 watts, which one? Thank you for offering this to the Bitx community.
Joel
N6ALT
|
Gwen Patton
SP Bhatnagar
Joel Caulkins/N6ALT