Back in late 2022, I had the opportunity to visit home in the UK (on holiday!) for a couple of weeks. My wife said, “Now that you’re here, what do you want for Christmas?”. I replied; “ An Icom 7610”. I hot a pair of socks and a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
This transceiver project was built from an original ubitx kit from Indian company HF Signals. https://www.hfsignals.com/ Their original design is an excellent beginner transceiver which I assembled from pre-built and tested components in around 20 minutes. Here’s a promotional video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdnXn5oibpg
Undeterred, I ordered the ubitx kit (below) and when I next visited home in 2023, the kit had arrived and I built it on evening. After disappearing down the YouTube surfing black hole, I chanced upon a video by Joe Basque VE1VWB about his ubitx with dual nextion displays so that got me thinking.
In the box, you will receive the above components. The circuit board is pre-built and tested. The Daughter board/Arduino/display board connection is where issues can occur with poor connections. A few months later on another visit home, I had errors caused by this. My answer was to solder it directly.
This is the completed ubitx working.
The finished upgrade modifications. I added an inbuilt auto antenna tuner, a variable DSP audio filter and a weighted tuning knob.
When I get the chance, I will fix the issue of the S-Meter not functioning, add AGC and a manual RF gain and a better microphone.
To much delight of my wife when I was demonstrating the labours of my hard work, the first CQ call I made was answered by a station in South America.
My choice of Nextion displays were basic types so I had to modify the hmi files suggested by Joe Basque
And that’s the main screen done. The 2nd screen was identical but I have it going to the Channel memory screen so I can add or promote VFO to memory and read back. This does need a backup battery on the nextion.
Laying out the components in the (very) large case. I had to add a separate power supply for the 2 nextion displays to ease the current consumption from the main board.
Wiring the boards. You can see the antenna tuner I built from a AT100 kit vertically mounted on the right. I added a small OLED display and the “Tune” button to the front panel at the bottom-right of the picture. I added a small perf board with LED drivers and switch interface to keep inter-wiring neat.
I mounted the Sotabeams DSP processor to the rear of one of the nextion displays as it was convenient for wiring into the audio controls. I opted to use my own PAM8403 audio amplifier rather than the main board’s amplifier.
If you have one of these great DSP boards, be careful pressing that onboard switch. An incorrect setting permanently programs the prom on the processor and it is near-impossible to recover without sending back to Sotabeams. It was cheaper and easier to buy a new one. Sotabeams were superb with their support in diagnosing my fault.
The inexpensive but effective ATU100 kit after building and testing
On reflection, this ubitx v6 kit is an excellent choice for radio amateurs to tinker and modify. This is what the hobby is all about. Its not just the rich who can afford £5000 + transceivers and have antenna farms on their acres of real estate (although I’d love to do that too). You can achieve satisfaction building your own equipment in a modular fashion like this ubitx project at a fraction of the cost.
And this is why my website and YouTube channel is there to show you what can be done with very little cash outlay and modest tools. The home build process is a great way to learn and become confident in constructing.
My goal is to transfer what little knowledge I have to others and hope they have as much fun as I have had. I still work for a living albeit 99% of it is overseas and only get back to the UK for short periods – like a holiday really. It does mean I have to enlist the help of my Grandchildren to move equipment and radios from storage into my office. They absolutely love doing this as it’s like Christmas opening all these boxes. Since I am overseas all the time, I sometimes get the chance to think of projects and take part in some retail therapy ordering components (or even radios) online. You can imagine coming home for 3 days to find Santa has visited.
So that’s it.
DISCLAIMER: I am an electronics engineer with over 45 years professional experience from design, manufacture, test, diagnose and repair of Radio technology, computer technology, power technology with physical engineering experience. If you attempt anything which you have seen and you injure yourself, damage equipment and components or burn your house down, I am not responsible. Best of Luck!