BATC Forum

We currently have no more stock of the Sharp NIM.

However, we do have 100 of the Serit FTS4335 NIMs which cover from 140MHz right through to 2450 MHz without the need for any upconverters!

This makes building a receiver for 146 or 437 much easier, although you will need a pre-amp followed by lots of filtering for each band, just like the Sharp did, and probably followed by a Satellite line amp from ebay as the Serit has less gain than the Sharp.

However, due to different pinouts, they also need a simple adaptor board to enable it to be plugged in to the MiniTiouner standard hardware - Brian G4EWJ has designed one and they are currently being made in China.
Brian is also ordering the components (no surface mount) to make up kits and once the boards arrive - end of next week? - these and the tuners will be on sale in the shop.

We'll post an update when they are ready.

Evening all,

I have just acquired a sharp nim..is this not as good as the upcoming serit? should i wait until it is available or will the sharp do the same?

Your words of wisdom would be much appreciated.

Regards

Dave
G7MEG

In case you hadn't noticed the wideband Serit FTS4335 tuners are now in stock - but not for long - my email has gone mad!

Why should I buy one?

* You should buy one if you already have a MiniTiouner but you want to be able to receive 146 MHz and 70cms without building an upconverter.

* You should buy one if you have not yet built a MiniTiouner receiver as the previous Sharp tuner went obsolete.

* If neither of those apply, you don't need one! It does not perform any better than a Sharp - in fact it needs more gain in front of it.

If you do buy one, you WILL NEED FILTERS and a line amp as it has less gain than the Sharp tuner. See https://wiki.batc.tv/Filters for some ideas - if you have designs (home brew or bought) please put them on the wiki for others to share.

For more details on the Minituner project see https://wiki.batc.tv/MiniTioune

There are several numbered items for sale in the shop under MiniTiouner https://batc.org.uk/shop/MiniTiouner - which should I buy?

* Item 1 is the Serit FTS4335 tuner PLUS a kit of parts including the blank PCB to build the adapter board you need to plug the Serit in to the BATC MiniTiouner board. Buy this if you want the easy route - and there's no surface mount components!! See above to work out if you need one of these!

* Item 2 is the main blank PCB for the USB tuner project - you will need one if you have not yet built a MiniTiouner

* Item 3 is the USB ihnterface module - - you will need one if you have not yet built a MiniTiouner

*Item 4 is the hard to get 1v regulator - you will need one if you have not yet built a MiniTiouner

* Item 5 is the standalone Serit FTS4335 tuner in case someone wants to go it alone. (we had more tuners than kits!) You will NOT need this if you buy item 1.

*Item 6 is the blank PCB for the adaptor board - again it's there in case someone wants to go it alone. (we had more PCBs than kits!) You will NOT need this if you buy item 1. It's dead easy to make up, just a few leaded capacitors but you do get the NIM plug and socket in the kit - the parts list will be available on the wiki soon.

Makes sense huh??

Please get it right as it is very difficult to give you a refund with our old dodgy software!

73

Noel - G8GTZ

OK - that was fast - seagulls and fish and chips spring to mind!

I will be shipping them in batches over the next few days so don't panic if yours doesn't arrive until after the weekend.

We will be getting 20 more kits, probably after the weekend but please don't ask me to reserve one for you - our s/w doesn't allow it!

73 Noel

Thanks Noel,

Delivery was almost faster! Mine has arrived already.

The most difficult part of the build was opening the anti-static bag the tuner was in. It took 30 minutes to build the adaptor board. Unfortunately, I will need a new case - will look and see what it might fit into.
Mike