Should I start with uBITX, sBITX or zBITX?

BITX is a very popular radio in this region among beginners in amateur radio. There are many in this region using uBITX, often coupled with a VU2EVQ linear amplifier. They have a decent signal on the air on SSB. Though I tried to buy a uBITX radio when I returned to amateur radio after a hiatus in 2023, it was not available. Hence I had to go for an FT-710, which is substantially more expensive. Ever since I have taken a keen interest in BITX radios and have tried to understand as much as possible regarding these radios from local users as well as the BITX mailing list. I enjoy reading the highly advanced level of discussion on the BITX group from the global amateur radio community, mostly from United States and Europe. I posted this question to the group as I am tempted to buy a BITX radio: Should I start with uBITX, sBITX or zBITX?

Most of the current discussions in the group is about the newly launched zBITX, which many have received in the past few weeks. In my post, I had posted my plan as follows: My experience in homebrewing was a few decades back, of a VU2VWN QRP with BD 139 final and a 3 x 807 vacuum tube TX running about 120W DC input. That means I have not meddled with any radio circuit for the past few decades. Which one should I start with: uBITX, sBITX or zBITX? As of now, I have no option for portable operations. Only a fan dipole for 40-10m and a dipole for 80m. I was happy to receive a lot of responses from the BITX community.

I found the first reply, which came from N2VIP quite useful for my situation. zBITX is a pocket sized version of sBITX with a lower power output and smaller screen size. The software is mostly that of sBITX. So that will be the best choice for portable operations as it is easy to carry to a remote spot. As I have no plans for portable operations at the moment, zBITX is not the radio for me!

For my operations from the shack, sBITX would be better, with a higher power output, though more costly than zBITX. Waiting for v4 may improve the chance of getting a better higher-resolution display. That suits me well as I am not urgently in need of a radio. My plan is to have one as a second HF radio, for some experimentation and if possible to get a feel of going back to homebrewing after a gap of several decades.

uBITX was to be considered if I want to have a more basic radio, which is also less expensive. Buying a kit and making my own case would satisfy a lot of homebrewing appetite. But being out of touch with even soldering for decades, that did not seem to be a very welcome option for me. Yet it will be a good option for my younger friends coming to the hobby for the first time.

For those who wish to tinker with the electronics, N2VIP suggested going for either sBITX or uBITX. It would be very challenging to work on the hardware of zBITX, at least based on the smaller size. In case one wishes to tinker with software, zBITX or sBITX would be the better options as they are based on the popular Raspberry Pi computer boards. zBITX is based on the smaller Raspberry Pi Zero 2W which gives it the designation z. As I have been reading about Raspberry Pi for the past two years, I am interested in trying it out. Initially I had read about Arduino Nano as that was the processor in uBITX. I have bought a couple of Arduino Nano and an Arduino Uno board for general experimentation. I have not yet acquired a Raspberry Pi board.

Then there was a discussion recently on the use of transverter for BITX radios to make them capable of operating on VHF/UHF bands for LEO satellite operations. So I wanted to know which one would be better for coupling with VHF/UHF transverters. W9JES, whose group had built the 64 bit software for sBITX responded saying that his build has extended operability for use with a transverter on 10 meters. He also suggested the sBITX platform. But as these radios were not designed for use with a transverter, one may need to go inside the radio to get the drive for the transverter and bring out the key/PTT connections. As my wishlist, I would suggest to VU2ESE to make sBITX v4 as a transverter friendly version as well! Maybe I would add outputs for linear amplifiers as most of the hams whom I meet on the air these days are on linears!