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For the past two days I have been on the air as VA3DUA on a beautiful Canadian weather (2C/34F) from Toronto.
QMX+ and ABS v1.1-beta (ATU Board v1.1, Companion Board v1.2).
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ATU tunes as expected, battery voltage drop is in the range of 0.1-0.2V.
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After 4 hours of FT8 continuous usage battery charge dropped from 12.2 to 11.8V.
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The only thing I can complain - in such antenna setup (attached behind the radio) - the SWR does not like human proximity :)
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73,
Sardar (AC8L, 4K6SA, VA3DUA).
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Gus,
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Thank you for your inquiry. Attached please find the summary of my modifications. I hope it is not overwhelming. This is the information I have been sending to those people who inquired to me directly in the past year.
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The capacitors and the LPF inductor values in your e-mail are the same as mine, except, I¡¯ve been using the 1uF 50V capacitors, supplied in the kit, as is without any problem.
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Latest 10m band results:
QCX+ with an extra LPF between QCX+ and the amp: 34.8W
(QCX used with 13.8V supply voltage)
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QMX+ with an extra LPF between QMX+ and the amp: 27.8W
(QMX+ built for 12V, used with 11.0V supply voltage)
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Please feel free to ask any questions any number of times. Please do not expect my replies to be technical though, as I am not an electric engineer. Friends call me a change-neer.
I would like to thank Allison, KB1GMX, for her kind guidance and inspiring me to explore these modifications.
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73, Aki, JO4MTH
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Re: QMX first time power up issue
On Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 01:01 AM, Grant wrote:
How can I load up the firmware now? Force load?
Yes
I dragged in the firmware file that I had downloaded ?and extracted
Please use Copy and paste for the firmware.
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Re: QMX first time power up issue
Thanks for the suggestions. This is my progress:
I identified that 2nd pin on the left rotary encode was not making contact so soldered in a lead offset.
1. Inserted a 200 mA fuse in line with the power chord.
2. Set the voltage to 7.5V
3. sudo dmseg identified QRP Labs etc being connected
4. QMX appeared on the File Manager.
5. Opened it and noted it only contained one file, the EEPROMS folder. No firmware folder
6. I dragged in the firmware file that I had downloaded ?and extracted.
7. Got a message saying access denied.
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So I shut down and restarted. This time I see no QMX as being connected in File Manager. sudo damseg still shows QRP Labs etc. On long pressing the encoder, I get 16 black squares on the LCD and that's all. To shut down I still need to disconnect the power.
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Does the fact that I didn't get the firmware folder have anything ?to do with it? How can I load up the firmware now? Force load?
Grant VK4JAZ
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Re: Another Recommendation for Jeff Moore W1NC
For future reference, you can look Jeff's email up on QRZ (W1NC). Groups.io seems to eat emails/urls sometimes.
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Re: 40,30,20,11,10m version of QMX ?
#qmx
3 LPFs
40,30 - 20,17,15 - 12,11,10
4 BPFs
40 - 30,20 - 17,15- 12,11,10
with 2 toroids (like the mid version (60-15)
use the LCs (calculations) from QMX+
be careful, you can only use T30s size toroids not T37s as QMX+ ,you have to calculate windings for those
73 DE muhsin, TA1MHS
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Thanks Jerry and you know what ?...? it did pass the smoke test :-)
Been on for over an hour at 12v / 0,02amp (started at 7v and slowly up to 12v)
Will have to see if I can get a wire out the window tomorrow to test if it picks up anything. (live in an antenna-prohibited building)
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Lasse
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Re: Another Recommendation for Jeff Moore W1NC
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Re: #qmx #QMXplus QMX dismantled awaiting QMX+
#qmx
#QMXplus
Sorry for the confusion Stan. I'm still in the build phase. I don't think I put too much heat in to it, soldering. Just one of those things! Luckily I had a spare so clipped the old bits out and soldered a replacement across the leads.
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Phill EA5JHA
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Jerry, you will have to be a bit more descriptive.?
Which radio model do you have - QRP labs sells several (QMX? QMX+?, QDX?).
Did you get it pre-assembled, or did you assemble the kit?
How do you know it is not transmitting??
What does the display look like when you try?? Does an 'S' or a 'P' appear after the frequency?
Do you have it displaying the battery/input power status?? If not, turn that on and see what voltage that shows in receive and when you try to transmit.
Stan KC7XE
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Re: Another Recommendation for Jeff Moore W1NC
I burnt my Tx part of QDX due to high voltage and I have tried replacing parts myself to no avail.?
how do I get in touch with Jeff Moore
Tnx
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73s,
AA6ST
Sameer
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Re: #qmx #QMXplus QMX dismantled awaiting QMX+
#qmx
#QMXplus
Careful, if that went pop, you likely have a short somewhere.? It should only get small current in receive from the Vcc (5V), or 30mA in transmit from the tx bias current.? Maybe you have a 12V short to one of those...
Stan KC7XE
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Re: Another Recommendation for Jeff Moore W1NC
Hello. I heartily endorse both of these commendations for Jeff's kindness and service to us individually and also to the amateur radio community. It's nice to know that if/when we run into the proverbial diagnostic brick wall, we can happily say "uncle" and ship it off to Jeff. He has helped me out with a QMX and a QCX-mini and both radios are giving me much enjoyment. Thanks Jeff.
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Jim
VE4BWG
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Re: ABS for QMX+. Battery/charger design improvements over version 1.1
#PSU
#QMXplus
#ABS
I have my name on a board for this antenna tuner, etc. for my QMX+ and was going to order the parts from Digi key. A friend of mine told me that there was a Ham collecting names and would order a large order and put them into separate orders for those interested ?but I had to get on a list. Can someone tell me who that person was that I need to contact about the bag of parts? Thank you.? Ham radio is not a hobby or a sport. ?It¡¯s an attitude.
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On Nov 27, 2024, at 2:33?PM, Sardar (AC8L) <me@...> wrote:
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think re-arranging pcb to reduce this ground plane interruptions is another practical approach.
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When analyzing your pcb I see that you have spread bstteries around the pcb which doesn¡¯t help the voltage drop situation.
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The battery placement is dictated by the ATU under it. That geometry was the only way I could fit holders under the pcb such a way they fit in between the ATU and walls.
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However I was able to rearrange holders such a way that battery connections with each other are shorter now.
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Wish you could use a 3 battery holder like this one:
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That holder will not fit even if I arrange ATU toroids flat and battery pcb can sit just 11mm away from it. I tried. Even if I cut the top plastic, the bottom part is still fat, enclosure does not close. For that scenario only 3cell holder that fits will be this:
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https://www.walmart.com/ip/Baright-18650-SMT-Battery-Holder-Rechargeable-Power-Bank-3-7-V-With-Bronze-Pins-3-Slot/10980301926?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222223000000000&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&veh=sem&c=mWebSmartBanner&vtcWeb=VCKu-apF8Px3cKZL-dfoFA&expiryTime=1732737088832
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But it is not easy to source. Even for those holder I will have to replace contacts from the holder that you shared. So, make one holder from two.
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i can create a printable 3d model, then it has to be printed with a semi flexible filament. And not all builders will want to buy a TPA just for this project.
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73,
Sardar (AC8L, 4K6SA, VA3DUA).
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Re: 40,30,20,11,10m version of QMX ?
#qmx
A little late to this party, but see the great write-up by AI6XG where he turned a high-band QMX into a 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 transceiver with some modifications to the hardware as well as some software setting changes
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Gus
W9SSN
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JARED - Before I hijack your thread :) I would also add that you might reach out to K6ARK who has all of the bits and pieces that you would need to make compact external LPFs to add on to you 50W PA that would allow for multiband operation. Out here, the consensus seems to be to build the amp for 15m as the output power above 15 seems to take a hit (although several have reported some success in getting decent power out on 10m here). If you build for 15m, I believe the LPF would be sufficient for 17 as well, then just add an external LPF for 80-20 (some of these bands shold be able to be doubled up on the same filter, I believe). These filters are essentially the GQRP filters on a custom board that he designed with 3-d printed covers that snap on nicely. You can see that I also have a 2-filter holder that is also 3-d printed but you could make this for however number of filters that you want.
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AKI - I would be interested in a summary of your modifications and results for the 10m version. I noted Hans's 2nd-hand recommendations for replacement caps from another thread:
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C14, C18 - 56pF NP0 250V
C11, C12 - 150 pF NP0 250V
C1, C2, C3, C6, C7, C13, C16 - 1uF ceramic-type 150V
C4, C5 - 22nF ceramic-type 150V
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I have also seen recommendations for:
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9 turns on T1 and T2 and also possibly switching to -61 material (which I assume would require many fewer turns for the same desired inductance)
9 and 10 turns on L4/L7 and L6, respectively
Swapping T1 tubes for a BN43-3312 core
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I'm still trying to work through all of the threads on this topic, but it seems that you have put the most effort into this and it would be great to have a consolidated summary of your findings and recommendations as it sounds like you're getting something like 30+ watts out on 10m at 20ish volts on the PS, which is much better than anyone I know out here had accomplished.
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Gus
W9SSN
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Hi,
As an extra, QCX+ has an on/off switch, Dev Board add kit, more space inside the case (battery, speaker, GPS vs)
and easier to built as a kit.
73 DE muhsin, TA1MHS
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Mods and experimentation are certainly easier in the QCX+. The mini is my favorite for packing out to the woods.
They are both fun to build and operate.
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regards,
Bryan, N0LUF
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Re: Diagnostics fail with no BS170s installed
#qmx
On the I2C bus, the only way SCK and SDA wires go high is through the pull-up resisters such as R201 and R202 on the QMX+.
The master and slave devices never do other than pull them down with an open drain output, a conflict can never do more than garble the information transferred, perhaps if a read is performed of a register that happens to have different values in the two devices.
The SDA line gets pulled low for an ACK simultaneously by two identical devices since the timing is determined by what the master does.
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That said, cutting the SDA trace on the QMX+ to the Si5351 as Chris suggested works if you think I might be wrong about the above statements.
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Hans has found the MS5351M to perform well, I'm not aware of any bad clones but they could be out there.
If anybody runs into parts with poor output drive levels, would be interesting to see a photo of the markings on the part.
An image from a cheap USB microscope would do.? Perhaps the output drivers got damaged somehow?
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Jerry, KE7ER
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On Wed, Nov 27, 2024 at 11:40 PM, Dave (G8PTN) wrote:
Hi Chris,
As per Jerry¡¯s suggestion, it may be possible to write to two devices simultaneously, so if you could easily couple up the SI5351 breakout board you may be able to see if CLK2 produces the same result.
I have used several of the SI5351 breakout boards and some have had problems at high VCO frequencies and have poor output drive levels. These are either using old versions or clone devices. If you do have problems, the SI5351A-B-GT part is available from RS in the UK for a very reasonable price.
73, Dave
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Pierre - FK8IH
Grant
Todd W2TEF
Phill
David Wilcox K8WPE
Gus (W9SSN)