{"id":41379,"date":"2019-12-31T10:15:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T14:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=41379"},"modified":"2019-12-31T10:15:24","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T14:15:24","slug":"assembling-the-ubitx-v6-qrp-transceiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/assembling-the-ubitx-v6-qrp-transceiver\/","title":{"rendered":"Assembling the uBITX V6 QRP transceiver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last Friday, after returning from holiday travel, I found a belated Christmas gift on my doorstep: the new uBITX V6 QRP transceiver<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of full disclosure, this package wasn’t delivered by Santa, rather by DHL in record time from India. As I mentioned in a previous post<\/a>, I simply couldn’t resist purchasing such an affordable general coverage transceiver.<\/p>\n

To be clear, the uBITX V6 isn’t really a kit. The boards are all fully populated by a women’s cooperative in India. You can purchase the uBITX V6 for $149 without a chassis and for $199 with a custom metal chassis. I purchased the latter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Assembly may take thirty to forty minutes following HF Signals’ online guide<\/a>. I employed my twelve year old daughters who pretty much assembled the entire radio–I only helped seat the display to the main board.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is no firmware or software to upload. Simply assemble the radio, solder a power cord to the supplied coaxial plug (hint: positive tip polarity<\/em>), connect an antenna, connect a power supply, and turn it on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You’re on the air!<\/p>\n

So far, I’ve only scanned the bands and listened to QSOs and broadcasters (no AM mode, so I’ve been zero-beating stations in SSB). Today, I hope to chase a few parks via the Parks On The Air program.<\/p>\n

I still need to calibrate the radio yet (although it does zero beat WWV perfectly).<\/p>\n

If you purchase the uBITX V6<\/a>, don’t expect a benchmark transceiver. This uBITX V6 feels more like a work-in-progress and I assume the pre-loaded firmware is simply a first iteration.<\/p>\n

Since the radio is open source, I expect hams will soon hack this rig to go above and beyond its basic (understatement alert–!<\/em>) feature set.<\/p>\n

If you’re a CW operator, you might hold off on purchasing until someone has properly implemented the mode. I made some test CW CQs into a dummy load just to check out the keyer and I honestly don’t think I could manage a proper QSO at this point. Sending is sluggish and…well…awkward<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Note that I will be writing a full review of the uBITX V6 for a future issue of Radcom<\/a> (the RSGB’s monthly publication). Check back here<\/a> for uBITX V6 notes<\/a> along the way.<\/p>\n

Also check out the excellent blog of our friend, John Harper (AE5X), who has also recently put the uBITX V6 on the air<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Anyone else order a uBITX V6? Please comment!<\/p>\n

\n

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Please consider supporting us via\u00a0Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0Coffee<\/span>\u00a0Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Friday, after returning from holiday travel, I found a belated Christmas gift on my doorstep: the new uBITX V6 QRP transceiver. In the spirit of full disclosure, this package wasn’t delivered by Santa, rather by DHL in record time from India. As I mentioned in a previous post, I simply couldn’t resist purchasing such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,836,3,5099,43],"tags":[1303,7379,6681,6682,8200,8229],"class_list":["post-41379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-new-products","category-news","category-qrp","category-shortwave-radio","tag-qrp","tag-qrp-transceivers","tag-ubitx","tag-ubitx-transceiver","tag-ubitx-v-6-0","tag-ubitx-v6-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-aLp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34890,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/robert-talks-ubitx-and-navigating-the-world-of-used-radio-gear\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":0},"title":"Robert talks uBITX and navigating the world of used radio gear","author":"Thomas","date":"November 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Robert Gulley (AK3Q), who shares the following announcement from his blog All Things Radio: I have posted two new articles in the\u00a0Reviews and How-Tos\u00a0section. These were both previously published in\u00a0The Spectrum Monitor\u00a0magazine earlier this year. The first article deals with buying used and new equipment,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/uBITX.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/uBITX.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/uBITX.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/uBITX.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41202,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/just-ordered-the-new-149-199-ubitx-v-6-0-qrp-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":1},"title":"Just ordered the new $149\/$199 uBITX v 6.0 QRP transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"December 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete (WB9FLW), who notes that Ashhar Farhan (VU2ESE) has recently announced the availability of the uBITX v 6.0--as Pete notes, \"just in time for the Holidays!\" Pete shared the following message from Farhan: Here is what [the uBITx v 6.0] looks like : https:\/\/youtu.be\/XdnXn5oibpg\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ubitx_v6_big-1024x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ubitx_v6_big-1024x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ubitx_v6_big-1024x600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41447,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/a-ubitx-v6-winter-weather-and-power-outages\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":2},"title":"The uBITX V6, winter weather and power outages","author":"Thomas","date":"January 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, a weather front moved through the area that dropped temperatures from an unseasonably high of 50F to 25F in the space of a couple of hours.\u00a0 Fronts like this always equate to high winds here at our altitude. This time, it packed a little snow as well. Last night,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ladder-Line.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ladder-Line.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ladder-Line.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Ladder-Line.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29594,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/the-ubitx-transceiver-pricing-and-more-details\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":3},"title":"The uBITX Transceiver: Pricing and more details","author":"Thomas","date":"December 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Eaton (WB9FLW), who shares pricing and additional information about the uBITX general coverage QRP transceiver: Here are the details, if purchased before Christmas $109 delivered! http:\/\/www.hfsignals.com\/ From uBITX creator, Ashhar Farhan: 1. The ubitx is now available for sale, for $109 dollars (includes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/uBITX-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/uBITX-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/uBITX-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29521,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/pete-reports-new-developments-with-the-ubitx-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":4},"title":"Pete reports new developments with the uBITX transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"December 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete\u00a0Eaton (WB9FLW), who writes: Last March, Ashhar Farhan (VU2ESE) the designer of the very popular BITX20 and BITX40 series of mono-band HF Transceivers announced a new low cost rig called the uBITX (micro BITX) a full blown 80-10m 10 Watt SSB\/CW Transceiver. Now comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_20171204_131821-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_20171204_131821-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/IMG_20171204_131821-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44630,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/whats-in-the-shack-here-at-swling-post-hq\/","url_meta":{"origin":41379,"position":5},"title":"What’s in the shack here at SWLing Post HQ","author":"Thomas","date":"August 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete, who writes: Thomas, I'm curious what radios you have in the shack now. I see lots of posts about various radios, but I wonder what's in your personal collection and what's being evaluated. You know what they say...\"inquiring minds\" and all that! If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mission-RGO-One-Paddle-Mic-Transceiver-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mission-RGO-One-Paddle-Mic-Transceiver-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mission-RGO-One-Paddle-Mic-Transceiver-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mission-RGO-One-Paddle-Mic-Transceiver-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}