"Triumvirate Skonk Worx" Website hosted by W0EB.
Pages last updated by W0EB - 06/30/2023 @ 15:0006/30/2023 @ 15:00 UTC
Some example screen captures using the TSW Firmware for the Arduino NANO Every in the uBITX V6 Raduino (V1.0)
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W0EB for the TSW Team.
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The W0EB Morse Code "BUG" Dot Stabilizers (click on the W0EB Dot Stabilizer tab above) WILL CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE, for the forseeable future, even though,
effective immediately, TSW has ceased it's operation. There are many reasons, not the least of which are age and health issues. This website will be kept active
for as long as possible as an archive for the software and the manuals for the hardware that was created before and during the pandemic.
The TSW team thanks everyone for their interest in our projects. -- The best of luck to all of you.
Since TSW no longer is selling the Teensy based modifications for the uBITX V6, and the subsequent lull in activity due to
a worldwide shortage of essential parts, Ron - W2CTX, TSW's master programmer was getting a rest from doing updates to our software.
One day recently he stated that he had gotten bored and was looking for a new project to tackle. He had read about a new MPU from the Arduino people called the "Nano Every"
that was basically a direct replacement for their original NANO but had a 20 MHz clock speed and more memory/EEPROM storage than the NANO.
Ron ordered a couple of the devices and when they arrived, he began the attempt to port the software for our older but very versatile Teensy 4.0 adapter and
subsequent replacement card (no longer available).
TSW's Project Coordinator gave him the go-ahead to see what could be done and Ron, being the great programmer he is, came up with a very nice program for the
NANO Every that performs very well, looks good on screen (some examples are shown above at the beginning of this page) and is one of the most inexpensive ways
to improve the uBITX V6, especially the CW keyer. To improve the keyer though required a very simple modification to the under side of the uBITX V6 main PC board
to bypass the voltage divider that allowed the keyer's Dit and Dah inputs to be done with one wire. It turns out that the microphone's PTT (Push to Talk) input
is only used for SSB operation and that allows us to tie the key jack's "Dah" connection to the "PTT" connection on the Microphone Jack and give extremely reliable
Dit and Dah operation for the keyer. It requires carefully soldering a wire between the "Ring" connection pads on the key and microphone jacks as shown in the following photo.
Once that modification is done, the software allows for all manner of CW keys to be connected to the rig. Within the software there is the ability to select
Normal & Reverse wired paddles (Normal has the dot on the tip and the dash on the ring of the plug and reverse has the dot and dash wires swapped), Manual for hand
keys, and finally "Cootie" that allows for Cootie keys to be connected and actually, when "Cootie" is selected, ANY paddles, single or dual lever can be used as
a "Cootie" key as both the tip and ring, when grounded by the key contacts key the transmitter like a hand key would. This makes it very versatile and allows for
pretty much any operator's preference.
There is one other mod to the overall uBITX V6 that you probably would want to make also and that is to replace the extension cable that the factory provided in the full
kit uBITX V6's for re-programming and CAT control of the rig through the USB port on the NANO. The original, older NANO used a USB "Mini-B" connector to connect to a
computer, but the NANO Every uses a USB "Micro-B" connector. You would need to purchase a 10 inch to 1 Foot long Panel mount Female Micro-B to regular Male Micro-B
extension cable. These are usually less than $10 on Amazon and other providers and changing out this cable will allow you to use CAT control with the rig and install
any updates to the program in the Future without opening the uBITX case. That is left up to the discretion of the user as one could open the cover and there is just enough room to connect your standard
USB Micro-B programming cable to the NANO Every. If you chose to do it that way, please relmove the original extension cable so the "loose" connector doesn't accidentally
short out something and ruin your Raduino or Main board.
The following photo shows the Factory Raduino with the Every installed.
Once you have the Every installed properly, reinstall the Raduino into the radio, making sure to reconnect the Encoder and power up the rig. Once it finishes
booting up, you should see a similar, but not identical screen to the one on the TSW test Raduino (shown powered but outside the case).
The TSW gang will announce any changes or updates to this program here on the website and via the BITX20 group on the internet.
Click on W0EB to receive further information on our latest project(s) via email. team,
W0EB, TSW Project Coordinator.
team members:
Jim, W0EB - Engineer and Project Coordinator,
Jim, N5IB - PC Board Layout Engineer and procurement specialist,
Ron, W2CTX - Master Programmer.
Contact Jim, W0EB.
Contact Ron, W2CTX.
Page, link pages & all images copyright (c) 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. Last updated by W0EB - 06/30/2023 @ 15:00 UTC