Bitx Vr 3 On Fast Track To Multi Bander

The Bitx Vr 3 has proved to be a home brewer's delight as the PCB designed by VU3WJM is very steady and reliable. The Vr 3 Bitx has a lot of scope for modifications, the pcb tracks can be cut and modifications made ,as the tracks are thick.

For the information of all my friends the Bitx Vr 3 is put in the Fast-Track to Multi Band soon.
There will be a number of options for a home brewer to make a choice for adding new circuits as add on to the tcvr.
The following features are going to be a reality soon as I will be giving all details of the items soon, but this is what is in store for Bitx Multi Band on FAST TRACK.
The Bitx Multi band Vr 3 Will have the following features which are modular:-

1. Band Pass Filter Multi band
2. Low Pass Filter Multi band
3. Vfo Multi band
4. BFO having LSB.USB,CW switching
5. AGC
6. Linear Modified 10 watts with 13.8 volts with more gain in pre driver
7. PCB for 30 watt qro
8 .DDS
9. RF Gain Control
10.Multi band Cabinet {work in Progress}

The Bitx is Multi Band now, HI Hi

The Next Post will shed light on the Great Ham Friend who has worked for putting the Bitx on Fast Track to a Multi Bander.
But I thank him for all the great efforts he has put up, in making Bitx a Multi Bander on FAST TRACK

I will request my friend for a short note as he is very busy in his other projects, and all info will be provided with pictures.

Bitx With QRO Linear of ARRL design

This is my first post in this new year 2009. My most warm greetings to all friends
who have been associated with the Bitx project.
Last year a record number of Hams ventured into the Bitx project and many have
completed their Bitx Tcvr.

Special thanks goes out to Om Leonard for bringing out the Bitx Vr 3 Manual for the Main Board and Linear Cum Power Supply.It is really helping all the Bitx users to build
the Bitx with very much of information in step by step method.

I have been trying to come out with a Cabinet for Bitx but it is not complete yet as
I would like the cabinet to be used in such a way that It could be used for the multiband Bitx and have enough space for some additional circuits that could be housed
in the cabinet.

Hope fully the Cabinet should be out soon.

Our Good Friend Vittorio has made a splendid QRO for Bitx for 40Mt and 20Mt,
this is a ARRL design and gives an output of 30 Watts. I have used this linear
with my Bitx and had many QSO's with it, and the performance is excellent.
The PCB for this ARRL linear will be available soon to all members very soon.

Update on Kits

FLL BY VU3SUA Sunil Lakhani
FLL BY VU3SUA Sunil Lakhani
FLL BY Godon Spencer
This is a short update on the new kits that are being added for sale.
The FLL Kit is ready and is for sale. Initially the PCB were made but the printing was done on the wrong side, but now PCB are made with the corrections.
My friend Gordon Spencer received one of the FLL kit with a wrong print,but still he
made the FLL counter in a very short time, he had to mount the PIC on back of the PCB.
But still it is working great for him.

After taking note of the error I immediately have got new pcb made for FLL and have also made one FLL to check if it works up to satisfaction.
It is working just great. The Kit for FLL will be complete components for the frequency counter part, which includes the Programmed pic 16f628A, LCD Display and rest of components, the kit also has a pcb for the VFO, but no parts are provided for the VFO as it is optional for use.The Kit of FLL is being put up for sale.
I am also posting my pictures of FLL without the VFO, just the Freq counter and stabilizer part of it.

The Bitx PCB now will have a complete set of toroid cores and binocular cores will
not be provided as there is a matching problem.
The Toroid cores have a better performance and matching so the use of it is
better, but the binocular cores may be used if a person wishes to use them.

The Bingo Universal Generator PCB is being added for sale, and the JDM Pic programmer too is being put up for sale.

More later.

73'
Sunil Lakhani
VU3SUA

Bitx Version 3 For 40 By Vittorio

Many friends wanted to know if the Bitx could be made for 40mt Band. Our friend
OM Vittorio from Italy has successfully made a Bitx for 40 Mt band and some
very fantastic pictures of his rig are being posted here. Thanks Vittorio for your
great effort.

Bitx By Cristian, YO3IAZ

To make a ssb tcvr with out a printed circuit board may be a fun and challenge for some Hams, well that is what a few hams like doing . Cristian, YO3IAZ has sent me some pictures of his Bitx v3 build on a plain copper clad board, he also sent me a video file. Some pictures are being posted by permission from Cristian, YO3IAZ, enjoy them hi hi.

Tips for getting your Bitx working

If you have build your Bitx and are not being able to receive or transmit with a very low power then I have some solutions that may be of help.
BFO tunning problem- Many of us are faced with the problem of adjusting the bfo to the correct frequency so that it is in the pass band of the filter. A simple way of getting the frequency would be to use a 10uh rf choke in L5 and 22pf capacitor with it.
This combination worked for me in several bitx I made. After the set is working you could wind the necessary turns to get 10uh, the rf choke will pick up broadcast so finally you should remove it.

The second cause for the receiver not working would be that your bandpass filter is not tuned. If you use 47 pf see that the bandpass coil slugs are tuned on the top of the coil,once you get the signals with connecting the antenna you could further tune them up or down according to the maximum signal strength.If you use 33pf it should tune somewhere in middle of the coil.

A problem that has been bugging some is the low output from the Bitx main board,so the linear does not give sufficient output, it maybe be as the IRF is not getting the sufficient drive and so a low output.
I found a interesting circuit in sprat sent and recommended by my friend Tony in U.K
A bsx transistor stage could be coupled to the 2n3866 in driver stage on Bitx version 3 linear and an increased output may be possible, i have not tried it out as yet but maybe guys having a problem with low output may try this mod.

The Bitx version 3 will now be easier to make with the manual by Leonard and all the help from Bitx forum members.
If correct procedures are followed then Bitx version 3 could be a quite easy to build,but sometimes due to some mistakes it sits around looking for further attention. hi hi.
Best Regards
Sunil
VU3SUA

Circuit For Increasing the driver output in Linear take from Sprat Magazine.

Request For Your Bitx Version 3 Pictures

kindly feel free to submit your Bitx Version 3 pictures and write down a few words on your moments spent on building the Bitx. It would be great to put some pictures of all the Bitx Version 3 being build by Hams.
73's
De
Sunil Lakhani
VU3SUA