|
Re: Argh QMX Q103/Q104 short
The space between the small transistor Q104 and the larger Q103 does not allow for a form-fit wire of almost any reasonable gauge to fit between the two—much less moving a sharp-tipped iron into that area to heat the wire up—so I don’t think the Mr Solderfix technique is likely to work on Q104. At least this is as far as I can tell.
|
|
Re: is there anyone who would be willing to replace the si5153a synthesizer chip on my qcx?
I agree on cutting back the leads where possible (also re solderable after testing) but the ChipQuik for Hi Reliability systems is surprising as their low temperature solder alloy is not fully compatible with normal solder so a major solder removal, cleaning and re tinning exercise is really needed after using it for any serious application (obviously phone repairers only need it to last 3 months :-) ) ? I've always found it easier to use hot air and have to date removed the 5351 from the same QCX 3 times without any problem (apart from my own increasing annoyance)?? |
|
Re: #qmx video: 52 tips for building your QMX successfully
#qmx
Here we found it easier to achieve precise alignment of the SMPS boards if the spacer nuts are NOT drilled out. The reason is that drilling them out, or shoving a soldering iron through them, either way distorts the shape of the nut so it no longer sits precisely. This is based on experience trying both ways here. So I will update the manual to remove the bit about drilling out nuts.?
73 Hans G0UPL
Now, you tell me! Har, har! No trouble here with reaming the threads but the method here is just as good and reduces one operation. Watched/listened to 52 tips on the youtube link and all I can say is: GOOD SHOW! Very well done production and I have tennis elbow from patting my own back for getting several tips all by myself! The example was that BNC 90° just did not look straight and testing with the end plate before soldering confirmed it. That video will help all the next group of builders immensely. 73 Karl KI4ZUQ |
|
Re: QMX ---PCB Rev 2 --
#qmx
开云体育
Hans,
Just completed my order for 1 QMX Kit + enclosure and received confirmation. Thanks for your help and honesty helping me make my decision.
Glad to be aboard, Billy
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Hans Summers via groups.io <hans.summers@...>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2023 10:31 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] QMX ---PCB Rev 2 -- #qmx ?
Hello Billy
?
My apologies, I think I was trying to be clever responding to several people in the topic in one post, but I confused you with the second poster who really was (is) Willie N1JBJ
?
Great story! A very?enjoyable?read, congratulations on a full and interesting life.?
I never dreamed of being a physicist. I dreamed of computers and electronics. But I couldn't choose between them, and as I had already read every book on both topics in the public library, the uni syllabus?in each case looked boring. And, Physics had always
been fun and interesting at school, and getting to grips with Einstein's special and general relativities sounded like it should be done. Furthermore if I chose physics I could postpone choosing between electronics hardware and computer software for a few
more years. So Physics it was!
73 Hans G0UPL
-- N5SE Billy Wayne Moore 7066 Shady Knoll Ln Willis, TX 77318-6324 Phone: 936-537-2975??? |
|
Re: QMX ---PCB Rev 2 --
#qmx
开云体育
Leland W9HIF,
I thank you. I grew up learning the hill country dialect. In addition, I was reading books way above my head and had to guess at the pronunciation. From day one, English was my weakest subject and still is. I never take umbridge with an honest helpful critique
of my mistakes. How else does one learn?
Of interest, I spent a week dealing with a physicist from Cambridge. It was amazing, his dialect and my hill country dialect were very similar.
Billy
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Leland Lannoye, W9HIF via groups.io <W9HIFmemorialstation5@...>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2023 10:02 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] QMX ---PCB Rev 2 -- #qmx ?
Grammar rule: Final y changes to I when suffix begins with a vowel.? Thus eighty changes to eighti before you add eth. HIF On August 28, 2023, at 10:41 AM, Hans Summers <hans.summers@...> wrote: Hello Willie
> I am a retired physicist on the north side of my eightyth decade.
I am also a physicist (graduated 1993, Imperial College Physics BSc, London university); but have never officially been a practicing physicist (debatable)! Please do also refer to my 52-tips video?
which gives construction advice.?
> In doing due diligence, one has to ask the tough questions.?
> Does management see a Revision 2 PCB board on the?
> way with all the known fixes on it??
I always do new PCB revisions, particularly in the early days of a product (say, the first year). There will always be a little tweak that I can make that will make construction marginally easier. Such as a slightly moved pad, or a slightly larger hole
someplace.?
There are very very few issues with QMX (surprisingly few).?
1) A manufacturing defect: the SMPS has a potential short between Q103 and Q104 drains which appears to affect around 10-30% of boards. However we are now testing all SMPS boards before shipment and fixing any that have the short. Therefore this problem
is ALREADY solved... nobody ordering now needs to worry about it. For the next batch I'll move Q104 a little further away just to remove the need for any corrective work pre-shipment.?
2) Missing 5.1K pulldown resistors on the USB CC pins, which are needed if you are using a device with a real USB-C port, and a direct USB-C-to-USB-C cable (not an adapter).?
3) 20m Low power was an assembly instruction error; 20m low receive sensitivity was also resolved and is just an amendment to the manual.?
So really, yes there will be a Rev 2 PCB, but it is minor stuff, and there will nothing wrong with having a Rev 1 PCB.?
> Would new firmware depend on having the new Revision?
> 2 PCB board leaving the Revision 1 QMX units behind??
NO! Like all the QRP Labs kits, all firmware revisions in general work with all PCB?revisions. Even the latest QCX firmware can run on the oldest Rev 1 QCX-classic PCB from 2017. If there is some new hardware feature such as the on/off controllable backlight
on QCX-mini, or the CAT control port in QCX, then yes that requires some specific hardware modification etc. or PCB revision.?
Hi Chris
> Also, I am looking forward to building a second unit for?
> high bands but I expect this will be delayed until the?
> problem with some QDX having low power on 10M?
> (Possibly QDX T1 identical to QMX T501) is resolved.??
> Hans does the QDX low power also happen with the?
> 9V T1 winding.
That was already resolved, Chris. The 12V QDX is less likely to suffer low power output, the 9V QDX is more likely to suffer low power output. The solution in both cases is a new output transformer design by Ross EX0AA. If you search this forum for "WTST"
(Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for a high-band 12V QDX. If you search the forum for "RWTST" (Really Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for the high-band 9V QDX. The twisted output transformers completely
solve the problem of sometimes getting low power output on 10m.?
FYI we are also using the same twisted transformers on all QMX we assemble here in QRP Labs HQ for people (12V WTST and 9V RWTST).?
I do need to urgently update the QDX documentation, and the QMX documentation (ahead of the high-band QMX where the twisted transformers shine).?
73 Hans G0UPL
On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 4:35?PM Chris KB1NLW via
<chrisrey1=[email protected]> wrote:
Hans incorporated two major hardware features that require future firmware.? These are SWR measurement and the ability to modulate RF amplitude.? I believe that the first firmware that combines the features of QCX and QDX has required more debugging than expected.? There have also been a couple of significant hardware issues that were resolved.? -- N5SE Billy Wayne Moore 7066 Shady Knoll Ln Willis, TX 77318-6324 Phone: 936-537-2975??? |
|
Re: QMX ---PCB Rev 2 --
#qmx
开云体育
Hans,
Just a quick note, I am not a William. Billy Wayne Moore is my real name. I was raised as a real Texas cowboy on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Yep, riding a horse, chasing cows, roping and the whole nine yards. Laid on the floor behind my father's rocking
chair and read by kerosene lamp (we only had two). From 8 years old on, I dreamed of being a physicist; and I made it. Just thought you might get a kick out of this. Look at my website
for the rest of the story.
Billy
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Hans Summers via groups.io <hans.summers@...>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2023 09:41 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] QMX ---PCB Rev 2 -- #qmx ?
Hello Willie
> I am a retired physicist on the north side of my eightyth decade.
I am also a physicist (graduated 1993, Imperial College Physics BSc, London university); but have never officially been a practicing physicist (debatable)! Please do also refer to my 52-tips video?
which gives construction advice.?
> In doing due diligence, one has to ask the tough questions.?
> Does management see a Revision 2 PCB board on the?
> way with all the known fixes on it??
I always do new PCB revisions, particularly in the early days of a product (say, the first year). There will always be a little tweak that I can make that will make construction marginally easier. Such as a slightly moved pad, or a slightly larger hole
someplace.?
There are very very few issues with QMX (surprisingly few).?
1) A manufacturing defect: the SMPS has a potential short between Q103 and Q104 drains which appears to affect around 10-30% of boards. However we are now testing all SMPS boards before shipment and fixing any that have the short. Therefore this problem
is ALREADY solved... nobody ordering now needs to worry about it. For the next batch I'll move Q104 a little further away just to remove the need for any corrective work pre-shipment.?
2) Missing 5.1K pulldown resistors on the USB CC pins, which are needed if you are using a device with a real USB-C port, and a direct USB-C-to-USB-C cable (not an adapter).?
3) 20m Low power was an assembly instruction error; 20m low receive sensitivity was also resolved and is just an amendment to the manual.?
So really, yes there will be a Rev 2 PCB, but it is minor stuff, and there will nothing wrong with having a Rev 1 PCB.?
> Would new firmware depend on having the new Revision?
> 2 PCB board leaving the Revision 1 QMX units behind??
NO! Like all the QRP Labs kits, all firmware revisions in general work with all PCB?revisions. Even the latest QCX firmware can run on the oldest Rev 1 QCX-classic PCB from 2017. If there is some new hardware feature such as the on/off controllable backlight
on QCX-mini, or the CAT control port in QCX, then yes that requires some specific hardware modification etc. or PCB revision.?
Hi Chris
> Also, I am looking forward to building a second unit for?
> high bands but I expect this will be delayed until the?
> problem with some QDX having low power on 10M?
> (Possibly QDX T1 identical to QMX T501) is resolved.??
> Hans does the QDX low power also happen with the?
> 9V T1 winding.
That was already resolved, Chris. The 12V QDX is less likely to suffer low power output, the 9V QDX is more likely to suffer low power output. The solution in both cases is a new output transformer design by Ross EX0AA. If you search this forum for "WTST"
(Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for a high-band 12V QDX. If you search the forum for "RWTST" (Really Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for the high-band 9V QDX. The twisted output transformers completely
solve the problem of sometimes getting low power output on 10m.?
FYI we are also using the same twisted transformers on all QMX we assemble here in QRP Labs HQ for people (12V WTST and 9V RWTST).?
I do need to urgently update the QDX documentation, and the QMX documentation (ahead of the high-band QMX where the twisted transformers shine).?
73 Hans G0UPL
On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 4:35?PM Chris KB1NLW via
<chrisrey1=[email protected]> wrote:
Hans incorporated two major hardware features that require future firmware.? These are SWR measurement and the ability to modulate RF amplitude.? I believe that the first firmware that combines the features of QCX and QDX has required more debugging than expected.? There have also been a couple of significant hardware issues that were resolved.? -- N5SE Billy Wayne Moore 7066 Shady Knoll Ln Willis, TX 77318-6324 Phone: 936-537-2975??? |
|
Re: QMX ---PCB Rev 2 --
#qmx
Grammar rule: Final y changes to I when suffix begins with a vowel.? Thus eighty changes to eighti before you add eth. HIF On August 28, 2023, at 10:41 AM, Hans Summers <hans.summers@...> wrote: Hello Willie > I am a retired physicist on the north side of my eightyth decade. I am also a physicist (graduated 1993, Imperial College Physics BSc, London university); but have never officially been a practicing physicist (debatable)! Please do also refer to my 52-tips video? which gives construction advice.? > In doing due diligence, one has to ask the tough questions.? > Does management see a Revision 2 PCB board on the? > way with all the known fixes on it?? I always do new PCB revisions, particularly in the early days of a product (say, the first year). There will always be a little tweak that I can make that will make construction marginally easier. Such as a slightly moved pad, or a slightly larger hole someplace.? There are very very few issues with QMX (surprisingly few).? 1) A manufacturing defect: the SMPS has a potential short between Q103 and Q104 drains which appears to affect around 10-30% of boards. However we are now testing all SMPS boards before shipment and fixing any that have the short. Therefore this problem is ALREADY solved... nobody ordering now needs to worry about it. For the next batch I'll move Q104 a little further away just to remove the need for any corrective work pre-shipment.? 2) Missing 5.1K pulldown resistors on the USB CC pins, which are needed if you are using a device with a real USB-C port, and a direct USB-C-to-USB-C cable (not an adapter).? 3) 20m Low power was an assembly instruction error; 20m low receive sensitivity was also resolved and is just an amendment to the manual.? So really, yes there will be a Rev 2 PCB, but it is minor stuff, and there will nothing wrong with having a Rev 1 PCB.? > Would new firmware depend on having the new Revision? > 2 PCB board leaving the Revision 1 QMX units behind?? NO! Like all the QRP Labs kits, all firmware revisions in general work with all PCB?revisions. Even the latest QCX firmware can run on the oldest Rev 1 QCX-classic PCB from 2017. If there is some new hardware feature such as the on/off controllable backlight on QCX-mini, or the CAT control port in QCX, then yes that requires some specific hardware modification etc. or PCB revision.? Hi Chris > Also, I am looking forward to building a second unit for? > high bands but I expect this will be delayed until the? > problem with some QDX having low power on 10M? > (Possibly QDX T1 identical to QMX T501) is resolved.?? > Hans does the QDX low power also happen with the? > 9V T1 winding. That was already resolved, Chris. The 12V QDX is less likely to suffer low power output, the 9V QDX is more likely to suffer low power output. The solution in both cases is a new output transformer design by Ross EX0AA. If you search this forum for "WTST" (Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for a high-band 12V QDX. If you search the forum for "RWTST" (Really Weird Twisted Sisters Transformer) then this is the solution for the high-band 9V QDX. The twisted output transformers completely solve the problem of sometimes getting low power output on 10m.? FYI we are also using the same twisted transformers on all QMX we assemble here in QRP Labs HQ for people (12V WTST and 9V RWTST).? I do need to urgently update the QDX documentation, and the QMX documentation (ahead of the high-band QMX where the twisted transformers shine).? 73 Hans G0UPL On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 4:35?PM Chris KB1NLW via <chrisrey1=[email protected]> wrote: Hans incorporated two major hardware features that require future firmware.? These are SWR measurement and the ability to modulate RF amplitude.? I believe that the first firmware that combines the features of QCX and QDX has required more debugging than expected.? There have also been a couple of significant hardware issues that were resolved.? |
|
Re: is there anyone who would be willing to replace the si5153a synthesizer chip on my qcx?
Hi Ted. I am not nearby, but will replace it for you if you can send it to me. I have build many many radios, even the QMX that is complete and working. I love smd and associated things like this and have built many for others. I will do it for free with the exception of postage. Do you have the 5351a? replacement?
Give me a text or look up N1GMM on QRZ and email me. Best! 73 Guy |
Garrett kc3unp
Bruce Akhurst
Karl
N5SE
Leland Lannoye, W9HIF
Guy Mengel N1GMM