Today I had a chance to test the Digirig Mobile prototype on the air. Several dozen FT8 QSOs concluded that it was a success. The honor of the first contact on the new controller goes to…
As a bonus to significantly decluttered cabling, I also had a more reliable CAT control: with the old setup my Xiegu G90’s PTT would sometimes get out of sync with audio, bands would jump, transmission would kick out and WSJT-X would throw a rig control error message. I suspect that was result of some interference on the long serial cable. Not a single occurrence of this issue the new setup.
Excluding power/antenna/grounding, here is the comparison of where we started and where we are now with Digirig Mobile interface:
The interface could definitely use some enclosure. This could be as simple as heat shrink tube over it for now. I have the idea for a really robust one, but more on that later. Additionally there will be models available for 3D printing.
It is not clear at this time what difference the audio isolation transformers and opto-couplers in shack version will do. As far as I can tell the interface performs great as is, but I’ll try to figure out a way to test that out side-to-side. Speaking of Shack version, some of the components are on the way, but I made progress with the build with what I had on hands. Here’s where we are at the time of posting:
Later, when it is completed, I’ll post the detailed update for the Shack version together with the test results. For now I’m making updates to the PCB of the first revision of the Digirig Mobile and will be soliciting the manufacturing quotes for the testers batch on Monday. I plan several dozen units for early adopters. Please signup for updates to be notified about the availability.
73’s for now!