Re: IQ mode Enabled on version 16
#qmx
Thanks mate, very nice of you to give this attention.
73 de ZR6TM
Timo
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Re: QMX locks up during keying practice
Is there a reason you're not merely using Practice Mode?
You could check your dummy load using an SWR meter or a NanoVNA to make sure it truly is 50 Ohms.
--
72/73 de Steve, K9NUD
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Is this book only available as a kindle version? I would prefer
good old fashioned paper if it is available!
On 14/02/2024 06:39, Fernando TUSELL
via groups.io wrote:
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I found this little book of use:
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Re: An interesting diagnosis
Great work, Jeff, and good luck with the micro replacement!
73 JZ KJ4A?
On Fri, Feb 16, 2024, 2:34?AM Andrew Lenton < a@...> wrote: A very interesting write up well done, not sure if I would have got there!!
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Re: PWR/SWR meter with FW #16
Hi,
I am using this PWR/SWR setting:
Update = 30ms,
TX to RX = 20ms
And it works well for me at around 22 WPM.
--
73 Bojan S53DZ
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Re: QMX V3? What does V3 bring?
?Hi?Gottfried
Is it advisable to add mods 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 to old Rev 1 boards as well?
There aren't any documented problems attributable to these issues on Rev 1 boards. The modifications 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 would work fine on a Rev 1 board. However - when you replace SMD parts there's a risk of damage to the board. Therefore I would in general, stop short of recommending these modifications be made to Rev 1 boards. In general I find that remembering "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" normally works very well for me.?
73 Hans G0UPL
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Hi all
QMX kits: FINALLY after some UNNECESSARY delays and FedEx FRUSTRATION Arrrggghhhh we finally got the 8 boxes of 1,000 QMX Rev 3 boards yesterday afternoon. My team are building two for testing right now. I don't expect any issues. My team are also flashing the bootloaders. The other components and enclosures are already prepared. Subject to successful testing we'll begin shipping the pending QMX kit orders today; there are around 250 orders pending so it will not happen instantly, but I hope we can clear the backlog within a week.?
QMX Assembled (and QCX-series, QDX-series): See attached: we are making good progress on reducing the size of the backlog. The assembled radio waiting list is here: and I update it normally every weekday unless I have a brain lapse. It currently stands at 815 orders, down from a peak of 906.?
Any urgent requests, please let me know.?
We have two new employees starting on Monday. Which reminds me I need to order some new soldering irons and solder today otherwise that's not going to help us much, is it :-/? ?And we have a carpenter building two new 90 x 270cm tables for our 4'th room up here in QRP Labs towers.?
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Re: An interesting diagnosis
A very interesting write up well done, not sure if I would have got there!!
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Re: IQ mode Enabled on version 16
#qmx
Hi all
I resolved?this issue in the forthcoming 1_00_017.
Thanks Adrian and Jim,
Glad I am not the only one.? Being a CW wannabe, but no where close to actually using it effectively, the SDR functionality is quite important to me, and seriously, the QMX pulls stations from everywhere.? It is absolutely great.??
No worries - will stick to V-14 until our guru "Hans" presents a solution.
73 de ZR6TM
Timo
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Re: PWR/SWR meter with FW #16
Ok....Roger that Hans. I'll go check it out now. Thanks.
Tim - K5DEZ
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Re: PWR/SWR meter with FW #16
Hi Tim
It isn't a bug, it's a change to the way the power meter operated; in 1_00_016 there are some additional parameters in the new "Pwr/SWR display" configuration screen (see attached). The reason you don't see power on dits is because the update interval you have, is too long, and the dits are fitting in between the power?meter updates; just make the update interval a bit shorter and it will fix it.?
?I'm not sure if it has already been reported or noticed yet but I have a low band Version 1 QMX and a High band V2 QMX. With FW #14 the PWR/SWR meter works fine but when I install FW #16 the pwr/swr meter only works "normally" with the Dah paddle. If you hold the Dit paddle only one line of pixels come up and does not show the power or swr correctly. If I reinstall FW #14 again all is well. Can anyone else produce this "bug"?? Let me know please.
Tim - K5DEZ
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PWR/SWR meter with FW #16
?I'm not sure if it has already been reported or noticed yet but I have a low band Version 1 QMX and a High band V2 QMX. With FW #14 the PWR/SWR meter works fine but when I install FW #16 the pwr/swr meter only works "normally" with the Dah paddle. If you hold the Dit paddle only one line of pixels come up and does not show the power or swr correctly. If I reinstall FW #14 again all is well. Can anyone else produce this "bug"?? Let me know please.
Tim - K5DEZ
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I don’t have a lot of scope experience. I bought this one 4 or 5 years ago and it is much nicer than the old tube scopes I have used. It is recommended in these groups often ?
?
Siglent Technologies SDS1202X-E 200 mhz Digital Oscilloscope
?
--
Colin - K6JTH?
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Thanks for suggesting "Oscilloscope Applications for the QRP Enthusiast." Just what I was looking for.
I don't have an oscilloscope yet and the one that McClanahan bases his text on, the "Rigol DS1102E 100 MHz digital" seems to be out of production. The book was first published 2015, so I'm guessing there are a lot of newer oscilloscopes on the market.
Does anyone have a suggestion for an inexpensive digital oscilloscope? I don't have any experience with which to choose one and there are many available on Amazon and other sources. At this point, I don't really have a need for a very complex instrument, just something suitable for analyzing my herd of QRP radios and test gear. Thanks.
Cheers, Michael KE7FZD?
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Re: QMX V3? What does V3 bring?
Is it advisable to add mods 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 to old Rev 1 boards as well?
Thanks,
Gottfried OE1IRA
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OCX+ T1 Toroid Continuity Process
Greetings and thank you for indulging a rookie question. I'm new to complex kits.
I have wound, then soldered T1 onto the board, and have continuity in each of these points:? 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 6 and 7 to 8.
Does this mean I successfully installed T1 and can proceed with construction?? I just want to know the precise continuity steps.
- Bill
W3WJ
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Re: An interesting diagnosis
That is an interesting failure mode - deep inside the cpu. After
all that meticulous soldering I can understand the sentimental
attachment. Good luck and thanks for all you do! 73, Sandy KB3EOF
On 2/15/24 19:21, Jeffrey W Moore via
groups.io wrote:
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Recently
a fellow ham sent me a QMX rig to fix.??This is to be my 100th
QMX that I have fixed - assuming that I accomplish that with
this one.???I
wanted to share the journey.??I found this one
interesting.??This
is a Rev 2 QMX with rev 14 firmware.??Wound for 12V.??This is the first part
of a story - the diagnosis and how I arrived at it.??I wanted to share
because this is more interesting than most and it may help
someone else.??More
will be posted later.
?
?My
usual routine with a new rig is to disassemble, inspect,
clean??and inspect
again.??I use a 10x
stereo microscope for everything with very bright side and
overhead lights.??I
scrape flux off, use 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean with an
extra soft toothbrush.??Then
I inspect again.??I
can fix almost all rigs this way.??There are always
solder blobs, solder balls, cold solder joints in every rig
that comes to me.
?
This
rig came in very clean.??No
excess flux, no bad solder joints, no solder splashes.??It did have a few long
pins that ended up shorting to the case, adjacent boards and
wreaked a bit of havoc.??I
fixed those before proceeding.
?
After
applying power at 7V with current limits, it came up only with
top row black boxes.??No
backlight, nothing on PUTTY.??Looking with a scope I
could see the 3.3V rail was good and 3.3V PWM was within
range.??But the 5V
rail was sitting at about 5.8-5.9 V and the 5V PWM was at
about 78% as measured on my scope.??Not Good!??But I knew the CPU was
running enough to produce PWM signals for the SMPS boards.??Thats good!
?
I
tested the SMPS power boards on my homemade test fixture.??They were fine.??I tested for near
shorts or low resistance on the 5V rail.??It looked fine also.
?
I put
the SMPS boards back into the rig and plugged in the controls
board.??I also
installed the jumper to force the QMX into firmware update
mode.??That
worked.??The QMX
came up wit the “disk drive” on my Linux desktop.??I installed rev 16
firmware knowing that Hans had fixed a bug in initializing the
EEPROM.??I thought
the forced factory reset upon installation of Rev 16 might
shed some light.??It
did.??Now the rig
came up immediately into Diagnostic mode.??It’s the only screen
that will come up in PUTTY if something is seriously wrong.??I could see that the
5V rail was at 78% duty cycle as I saw on my scope but the
reported voltage to the CPU was only 4.8 volts.??The CPU was trying its
hardest to reach 5V but it maxed out at 78% and couldn’t get
there.??I measured
the ADC_5V signal on the board and my scope read 2.4V.??That is consistent
with the diagnostic screen reporting 4.8V since there is a 2x
divider in the circuit.
?
ADC_5V
only goes from the SMPS board to the CPU.??Something was clamping
it at 2.4V.??It had
to be a short on the SMPS (no, because I tested those
separately), the main board in the traces (possible, but
unlikely), or in the CPU (UGH!).??I lifted pin 32 of the
cpu and confirmed that indeed the CPU was clamping that line
at 2.4 volts.??After
lifting that pin, the board showed 2.95V for ADC_5V.??And that CPU pin 32 in
the air showed 2.4V.??Proof
enough for me.
?
So this
means that replacing the CPU is the only option.??This rig has
sentimental value to its owner, so he said please proceed.??I have a few bare
boards with programmed CPUs that I have just for this kind of
occasion.
?
Tomorrow
I will proceed with the operation.??I have to accomplish
that in the morning when I am at my best and after only 1 cup
of coffee.??I’ll
post my progress here.
?
73 for
now
Jeff
W1NC
|
Re: An interesting diagnosis
I’m sure it’s due to an inadvertent short circuit somewhere along the path of assembly. ?I suspect the extra long pins that weren’t trimmed short enough to the board shorted against the case, ?this is a very tight assembly that needs close attention to lots of details. ?I never blame ESD. ?It’s almost always some small human error. ?
Jeff
W1NC
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Re: An interesting diagnosis
Amazing writeup Jeff thanks so much for sharing.? Do you think this is an anomaly (a single cpu that's bum from the factory), or a case of assembly mishap (errant and highly unusual? static discharge, or something else really crazy like that)?
|
Recently a fellow ham sent me a QMX rig to fix.??This is to be my 100th QMX that I have fixed - assuming that I accomplish that with this one.???I wanted to share the journey.??I found this one interesting.??This is a Rev 2 QMX with rev 14 firmware.??Wound for 12V.??This is the first part of a story - the diagnosis and how I arrived at it.??I wanted to share because this is more interesting than most and it may help someone else.??More will be posted later.
?
?My usual routine with a new rig is to disassemble, inspect, clean??and inspect again.??I use a 10x stereo microscope for everything with very bright side and overhead lights.??I scrape flux off, use 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean with an extra soft toothbrush.??Then I inspect again.??I can fix almost all rigs this way.??There are always solder blobs, solder balls, cold solder joints in every rig that comes to me.
?
This rig came in very clean.??No excess flux, no bad solder joints, no solder splashes.??It did have a few long pins that ended up shorting to the case, adjacent boards and wreaked a bit of havoc.??I fixed those before proceeding.
?
After applying power at 7V with current limits, it came up only with top row black boxes.??No backlight, nothing on PUTTY.??Looking with a scope I could see the 3.3V rail was good and 3.3V PWM was within range.??But the 5V rail was sitting at about 5.8-5.9 V and the 5V PWM was at about 78% as measured on my scope.??Not Good!??But I knew the CPU was running enough to produce PWM signals for the SMPS boards.??Thats good!
?
I tested the SMPS power boards on my homemade test fixture.??They were fine.??I tested for near shorts or low resistance on the 5V rail.??It looked fine also.
?
I put the SMPS boards back into the rig and plugged in the controls board.??I also installed the jumper to force the QMX into firmware update mode.??That worked.??The QMX came up wit the “disk drive” on my Linux desktop.??I installed rev 16 firmware knowing that Hans had fixed a bug in initializing the EEPROM.??I thought the forced factory reset upon installation of Rev 16 might shed some light.??It did.??Now the rig came up immediately into Diagnostic mode.??It’s the only screen that will come up in PUTTY if something is seriously wrong.??I could see that the 5V rail was at 78% duty cycle as I saw on my scope but the reported voltage to the CPU was only 4.8 volts.??The CPU was trying its hardest to reach 5V but it maxed out at 78% and couldn’t get there.??I measured the ADC_5V signal on the board and my scope read 2.4V.??That is consistent with the diagnostic screen reporting 4.8V since there is a 2x divider in the circuit.
?
ADC_5V only goes from the SMPS board to the CPU.??Something was clamping it at 2.4V.??It had to be a short on the SMPS (no, because I tested those separately), the main board in the traces (possible, but unlikely), or in the CPU (UGH!).??I lifted pin 32 of the cpu and confirmed that indeed the CPU was clamping that line at 2.4 volts.??After lifting that pin, the board showed 2.95V for ADC_5V.??And that CPU pin 32 in the air showed 2.4V.??Proof enough for me.
?
So this means that replacing the CPU is the only option.??This rig has sentimental value to its owner, so he said please proceed.??I have a few bare boards with programmed CPUs that I have just for this kind of occasion.
?
Tomorrow I will proceed with the operation.??I have to accomplish that in the morning when I am at my best and after only 1 cup of coffee.??I’ll post my progress here.
?
73 for now
Jeff
W1NC
|
K9NUD-Steve
Andrew Lenton
Colin Kaminski
Michael K7FZD