Re: Recommendations for solder temps and workstation
As I have said before, one thing you might fault this $16 iron for is that the plug has only two prongs for 120vac, no safety ground.
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I have used such irons occasionally for the last 40 years and never had an issue.
But if there were a fault inside around the heating element, the tip could become electrically hot with power from the 120vac mains.
If this is of concern because you have something irreplaceable to solder, you can tightly wrap some copper wire around the base of?
the metal barrel, bringing it back along the the cord to your 120vac outlet safety ground.? I assume any anti-static mat is also
tied to that same safety ground.
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If that seems too janky, it is possible to disassemble the iron and bring that wire back through the inside of the handle,
and replace the two wire cord with a three wire cord.? But that's not trivial to do, and I can't recommend it.
Let us know if anyone finds an iron that is as good but with a safety ground through the cord.? Should be around 100W,
display normally shows current temperature with little lag, shows the new target temperature for a few seconds after
any adjustment with the up/down buttons.
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Jerry, KE7ER
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On Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 05:18 AM, Dean - KC9REN wrote:
On Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 11:13 AM, Donald S Brant Jr wrote:
On Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 08:08 AM, Dean - KC9REN wrote:
This one addressed both those issues: ?
What is the spare tip situation?? Much of the Chinese stuff uses Hakko tips, if this one does I might look into it.?
?
?
73, Don N2VGU
Donald, Yes this soldering iron does use the Hakko tips.?
Dean - KC9REN
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Re: Recommendations for solder temps and workstation
I saw the Pinecil reviews on a ham radio website and I think it is available direct for about $25.00. It got good reviews.
Jim WB4ILP?
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Re: QMX and SOTA equipment organization
On 28/02/2025 14:14, Mike KK7MMN via groups.io wrote: my stuff is all strung out and a bit difficult on a summit. You don't know what strung out is! Here is dual QCX SOTA setup from a Portugal vacation. EFHW tuner, SWR meter, phones, 30m QCX, Palm Paddle, 3x18650 LiIon cells (ex laptop), 20m QCX, clock, box of penciles, wires, stuff and two phones roaming to different CT networks. I operated from a hilltop covered in wild Mountain Thyme. The smell in the warm sun was sublime :-) And if you think that is bad you should my 13 cm SOTA setup! Andy
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Re: QMX. Question about headphones and external speaker.
Thanks Dan for your impressions! I think in the same way. I wonder why 200 ohms impedance have better quality than 32 ohms. Dan - LU3MAM
El vie, 28 feb 2025 a las 10:48, Daniel Conklin via (<danconklin2= [email protected]>) escribió: Dan, I use an old set of Radio Shack communications headphones with the volume control on the side, or I've also got a modern pair of headphones that I have put an inline volume control between them and the radio. I find that adding just a bit of inline resistance makes everything work better.
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73, Dan - W2DLC
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Good fix
You can solder the led on board and then use clear acrylic stick/sheet to transfer the light to outside.
Like most of smd pcb use today.
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Re: QMX and SOTA equipment organization
And @Brien KE7WB, looks like you’ve got some floss mounted there for quick access, incase you get some beef jerky stuck in your teeth!!!
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I like the layout.. my stuff is all strung out and a bit difficult on a summit. ?I may give something like this a go!
TNX ES 72,
Mike KK7MMN
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We had nine folks join the MI QRP Zoom Chat on 27 February. Please join us Thursday March 06 (and every Thursday) at 4PM Eastern for the Michigan QRP Club weekly QRP Chat where the main topics will be QRP and other ham interests. New hams are encouraged to participate and ask questions. It's fun, it's easy, and it's free. You only need a computer, a smart phone, or a tablet that can connect to the Internet. OR if you can't be close to any of those you can join by audio with any standard phone. Just follow the directions below. No software needs be loaded or installed. Anyone can join and non members are welcome. Details are here:
The topic for Thursday, 06 March will be AN OPEN FOURM.
Pete WK8S Ed AB8DF Ernie W3ETE Casey KC9IH Larry AC8YE Dave N8SBE Frank KB4VU Stuart M0SGV Dick W4PID
Dick, W4PID is new to the chat. He has some QRP Labs kits and wanted to know how to repair and replace surface mount parts. We talked about heat guns and using Chip Quik. Pete likes to use the Flux gel and Dave likes his desoldering Hako gun.
Ed showed some slides he put together asking the question: SHOULD MY SHACK COMPUTER BE A RASPBERRY PI? ?
Ernie asked if Ed had an old windows machine? He installed linux on an old computer. There is a suite of linux ham software available.?
Dave said that there is a Linux hams shack podcast. There are no good contesting SW for Linux. SD cards wear out. Dave having problems getting 5G working on his older PI. He also uses a newer a mini PC with w11 under $200. Uses an Android table for POTA logging.
Larry says that the PI 5 can use an off board storage dive / SSD to get around the SD card limitation. MS is dropping support for Windows 10 in October. He does POTA off his pickup tuck tailgate.
Frank has built a couple QRP Labs kits and wanted to know about the QMX+. It has a little more room than a QMX mini. Older RPIs may not be fast enough for digital. Has a Sidecar.?
The agenda for the 06 March QRP Chat:
- Pete to do a short introduction and acknowledge any new folks to the Zoom chat.
- Next week will be an Open Forum.
During the open forum anyone can take the floor. We will go one by one until all have had a chance to have the floor. Files, pictures and presentations can be shared if you have any. Please try to stay muted when someone has the floor.
Thanks Ed AB8DF
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Sounds like the current is limited some how.
Since it appears you have tried different sources, I have to believe the issue is inside the box.
Since it happens on TX, I suggest the PA portion.
? ? Bias setting would be the first check
? ? FET(s) would be next check
Does the power supply you used show current?? Monitoring the current draw in TX would tell you a lot.
-------
Robert Giuliano
KB8RCO
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Re: QMX. Question about headphones and external speaker.
Dan, I use an old set of Radio Shack communications headphones with the volume control on the side, or I've also got a modern pair of headphones that I have put an inline volume control between them and the radio. I find that adding just a bit of inline resistance makes everything work better.
--
73, Dan - W2DLC
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Re: Recommendations for solder temps and workstation
On Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 11:13 AM, Donald S Brant Jr wrote:
On Thu, Feb 27, 2025 at 08:08 AM, Dean - KC9REN wrote:
This one addressed both those issues: ?
What is the spare tip situation?? Much of the Chinese stuff uses Hakko tips, if this one does I might look into it.?
?
?
73, Don N2VGU
Donald, Yes this soldering iron does use the Hakko tips.?
Dean - KC9REN
?
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QMX. Question about headphones and external speaker.
Hi.
I would like to read some experiences about the better headphones and external speakers that are used with the QMX. I have used several models but the best audio quality that I get is with the Heil Proset. I wonder if? impedance (200 ohms) is the answer.
Thanks in advance for the impressions.
Dan - LU3MAM
?
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QRP Labs QMX-PLUS-NRV-CW/FT8/USB
From Izmir to Cincinnati in nothing flat !
C'mon NEW RIG !
72,
Bill, N4QA/4/QRP Oak Island ( OKI ), North Carolina, U.S.A.
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Re: QMX and SOTA equipment organization
Thanks for sharing this. Some great ideas.
I used my QMX (60-15) on a SOTA activation this week. I use a linked dipole in an inverted vee configuration on a telescoping pole so no need for a tuner. It works well but I found that juggling all the parts and pieces while trying to make contacts on a windy peak was a little clumsy.? So I am experimenting with this setup.? It is a modified/repurposed plastic clipboard.? I have mounted my battery pack, converter, amplified speaker, CW paddle and QMX on the clipboard.? I moved the clipboard clip to the side so it will hold a folded sheet of paper for logging.? The paddle, speaker and QMX snap into 3-D printed brackets.? For now the battery pack and converter are mounted with velcro.? All items are removable for transport.? I will add a 90 degree BNC adaptor for optimum feedline routing.? ?Not pretty but functional.
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Brien - KE7WB
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Re: QMX and SOTA equipment organization
Brien,
I'm a fan of using a clipboard. Though the clipboard itself is the bulkiest part of my radio kit! But it makes a convenient surface to hold in my lap, or even standing up. It also makes it easy to set down my whole station if I need to go adjust the antenna or something.
The DG1JAN antenna winder/balun () has convenient holes to hang from the hooks that remain on the bungee cord securing the radio + battery. At one point I had a key mounted with velcro, but the velcro just tore off the top layer of particle board where it was mounted. If I wanted a mechanical key again, I would mount a metal plate where it would reside and use a key that attaches with magnets. In the meantime, I love my VK3IL pressure paddles for field operations.
Someday I'd like to figure out how & where to secure the speaker.
72 de Todd W2TEF
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Re: Anyone familar with sweeps that look like this?
Two very square waves in quadrature phase, 4/3 ms wavelength, 750 hz frequency.
You're not even going to tell which radio or which hardware test it comes from?
-- rec -- ad5dz --
On Wed, Feb 26, 2025 at 9:01?PM Daniel ZL2DTL via <radiodanzl2dtl= [email protected]> wrote:
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Daniel ZL2DTL/ZL4YOTA?
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Further info:
External power to 7805 equivalent p/s board was mostly from 9V LFP. But it also did it with bench p/s (known good) and 12V LFP. Also tried bench supply directly to U3S and bypassing the 7805 equivalent p/s board. Behavior similar with all of the above.?
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73, Dan? NM3A
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This is into a dummy load. All RF connections are well shielded with RG-316/SMA connectors or RG-8X/BNC connectors.?
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73, Dan? NM3A
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I have bought a cheap (though not the cheapest available) Z-match manual tuner for my new QMX+. It worked quite well, except I could not match my multi-band dipole on 28 MHz and even 21/24 behaved a bit strange.? Cross-checking with NanoVNA I discovered that the Z-match actually can match my antenna quite well, however the tune LED indication showed the minimum in a seriously different position of the load capacitor. After some investigation I discovered the main culprit - the PCB path connecting the indication LED with the rest of the respective SWR bridge diagonal runs directly below the load variable capacitor. That must have resulted in significant spurious transfer of RF energy from the antenna output into the SWR bridge circuit, which consequently have been balanced out by tuning the matching circuit somewhere off.
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The remedy was simple, but quite ugly (in the make of mine at least). I cut off the PCB path at both ends and soldered both the LED and rectifying diode out of the PCB, then build an airy construction. I also added a 1nF capacitor parallel to the LED to reduce possible RF potentials in the loop created by the necessary long leads of the LED (which has to be placed in the panel of course).
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The attached photos should suffice as an example. After the change, the 21/24 bands tune completely clean and 28 can be safely tuned, however still requires some small additional adjustment in the work mode. The LED shines a bit in the work mode indicating there is still some spurious RF in the circuit. I am willing to live with it, since further fixes would probably make more harm than good to otherwise neat construction.
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I hope this information helps someone. I suspect the PCB layout of these mini Z-match tuners is wide-spread.
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Jiri, OK5WA?
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Try it into a dummy load to see if it’s RFI
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I have my QMX+ with me in Tanzania, so I have a compact and easy
to set up radio as I travel.? I am having a big problem with USB
noise.
- noise level is high enough to obliterate most signals
- FT4/FT8 are unusable due to suppression of signals by noise
- I can't use a USB isolator because my computer takes USB-C
inputs only.? A standard cable USB-A cable with a USB-C adapter
does not allow the radio to be recognized.
- This problem is not apparent with my QDX, and very minimally
on my KX3.
- The QMX+ picks up birdies about every one kHz when the USB
cable is plugged in and active
- Laptop is a Dell XPS-13 9315
Are there any solutions for this?? Any bypassing that can be
added.? Suggestions??? I'd like to operate FT8 but as soon as I
plug in the cable the stations are all masked by noise.? Clearly
there is noise being generated in the laptop, but the QMX seems to
have absolutely no suppression to deal with it, unlike most of my
other radios.
73
Charles
5H3DX
NK8O
VE3ISD
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Dan
Ivica - YU1QRP
Mike KK7MMN
Daniel Conklin
Bill, N4QA/QRP
Todd W2TEF
Bruce Akhurst