Re: QDX - rig control error
Ken, Bob
Thank you for your thoughts.? I will try to find some time later today to try them out.? Mine doesn't pass the CAT test - the errors come up when the button is clicked and I'm pretty sure I've got 'Mode' set to none, but I'll check.
Chris
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Re: QDX firmware minor release 1_01b
#qdx
IC5 is very warm, almost hot. Normal ? Matt, I have never checked but there should be no reason for it to get hot. Have you checked the voltages on IC5? Someone has reported damage to IC5 after a similar BS170 failure. (Does your magnetic loop tuning ever change? When I used one it varied especially in damp weather.) 73 Alan G4ZFQ
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Re: QDX firmware minor release 1_01b
#qdx
hi Hans,
I burned two of the BS170 without making any action in the Software. I run about 25 QSOs on 40m an 30m . Than I changed to 20m using a Magnetic Loop Antenna. Before transmitting I tuned that antenna with my TS940 to get a good SWR. Output at first was 5Watts (12 V Version, I got about 13V with my Lead Battery). After 10 CQ callings I smelled smoke.
Before I started with 20m , I put the QDX in the metal case. FOr 30 and 40m the QDX was not enveloped. I had to cut a part of the case to get my QDX inside (A SMD part was too vclosed to the case, not possible to slide to the end.
Two of the BS170 are destroyd. I replaced all 4 and I still can receive, but not Power Output. I can hear my? transmitting? FT8 Signal with the TS940 and also I can measure a Voltage with the RF probe on all new BS170, but not the same (25V to 40V).
IC5 is very warm, almost hot. Normal ?
C32 ode C34? damaged ? Any solution ? How can I test, if the IC5 is o.K. ? C32 and C34 ?
72 de Matt, DL1SER
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Re: QDX , Lost my TX power
Hi Skip,
may I ask you a question ? What do you mean with B+ ?
Unfortunately the voltage is not the same on all BS170 . I think thats not good. The IC5 is very very warm even during receiving ! IC5 crashed ?? I will also trying to make a measure on the C34 and 32. I don?t like SMD. The parts are so small? and I don?t have the equipment soldering SMD. It was a success for me to unsolder the 47?H induktivities and to substitute them by "normal" parts. But it worked.
73 de Matt, DL1SER
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Re: Stuck in Grace-Hollogne :-(((
Jeff ,? ?some digimodes cannot be amplified with a class? C amplifier. For instance? PSk31? has? an amplitude component and a? PSK? component. If you run it through a non linear amp the Rx at the other end may not decode it reliably.?
I believe Hans has made comment on using the? 50 W Cw amp for? use with the QDX.? I suggest you check that out.?
There are some - a? few - digital modes that are FM only and should work in a non linear amp ok. ' For instance RTTY is just couple of FM tones and that is unaffected by a non linear amplifier.
This should get to you before the shock horror of finding out it possibly does not do what you expect...
TEF
regards? TEF?
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Re: Elecraft KXUSB with QCX Mini
It clearly uses 0/5V levels but it looks inverted compared to "normal" serial signalling at logic level. The first (leftmost) +5V pulse is the start bit which is always a logic zero, normally 0V.
It looks like 0x47, ASCII code for the capital letter 'G' transmitted at 38400 baud 8N1 :)
73 SM6LKM
Robert Campbell wrote:
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I have included a photo I took of my scope when sending an ASCII character to my KXUSB.
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Just out of curiosity and as I did not like the looks of it, I re-did the T2 trifiliar :) Numbers grew a little bit on the Y axis of the graph but almost no change at all on the filter shape I see on RF sweep. As a next step I will probably re-do the LPF's of 20/30m. For getting a decent output I had to squeze them a lot? anyway when I was doing the first tests. Which also tells me something maybe wrong with them. Also when I was winding them I measured them with my cheap Chinese Lcr meter and readings was a little bit off but I decided to stick to the number of windings in manual as I don't trust that lcr meter too much. As I'm pushing my luck and soldering skills a lot on this, I'll probably first wait for the weekend to at least enjoy a few more Qso's with QDX before I probably ruin some pads on the board while experimenting :) I deeply regret that I did not order two QDX's (one for using one for experimenting..)
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Re: QDX has no power out
#qdx
Hard work,? I noticed, that IC5 is very warm almost hot, also during receiving. is that normal ? The voltage is not the Same, testing the four BS170. Could the IC5 be damaged in addition to the BS170 (2 were definitively burned, I substituded all four).
73 de Matt DL1SER
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Still, I'm seeing in every case a rolloff on the RF sweep graph that starts before the LPFs are supposed to begin attenuating, which makes me think it's mostly the BPF.? And of course any attenuation on the lower frequencies is certainly the band pass filter. Dennis, Section 6.6 of the manual says it is for the BPF. It also shows a "bad" result that Hans dismisses. Obviously a low LPF will also affect it. A low LPF would show by low power output on an affected band. 73 Alan G4ZFQ
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Re: Elecraft KXUSB with QCX Mini
Hello Rich,
I happened to hook up my KXUSB to my oscilloscope a while back.? It went between 0v and 5v with it at 0v when idle.? I am not sure what the QCX Mini is expecting, but it may be expecting 5v when idle.
I have included a photo I took of my scope when sending an ASCII character to my KXUSB.
-- Rob Campbell KG6HUM
Thanks folks, I found an adapter?on Mr Bezos¡¯ store. It uses the?FTDI chip set and?has the ability to change TTL level to 3.3v. I¡¯ll wire up a cable and report back. Also sound like the TS480 protocol should work w the Mini. Thanks for all who commented.
Rich KQ9L On Monday, November 8, 2021, 5:52 PM, Milt <w8nue@...> wrote: John,
There are many USB to TTL serial cables on the market that should allow you to control the mini from either a pc or RPi. On Nov 8, 2021, at 5:39 PM, John Ogren <r2bqdnx@...> wrote:
?Rich,
I checked that the QCX mini heats up my dummy load, but I need test equipment to confirm that it's working right. And the receiver appears to be working as well, so I don't think that hooking up the KXUSB cable did any damage. But to answer your original question, it doesn't look like the cable works with the QCX mini.
John WX0M
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Mine arrived today also. I estimate that it took me about 4 hours to build. I'm happy to report that it is working great so far. I built mine for 9v power and am getting 4-5 watts on all bands tested (40m and 20m). Good luck with your build. 73,
On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 10:21 PM Don Melcher < don@...> wrote: And it¡¯s the perfect size!! Nearly identical to a RaspberryPi. This os going to be fun.?
Don
W6CZ
DM07bk
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And it¡¯s the perfect size!! Nearly identical to a RaspberryPi. This os going to be fun.?
Don
W6CZ
DM07bk
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One other thought before sleep.....it could be that heat in a bad connection is causing the flickering. But I have found it it's a bad connection with heat it will cause other issues. As I go through the setting while it's doing the flickering there is no change in any settings and no voltage drops in transmitting.?
We will continue to look into it.
Nite
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Re: On the TX signal, 5V tolerant I/Os and Pull-up resistors
Evan/ Fred: ?very interesting. My problems ended up being the same thing. I moved the QDX over to my Mac and it is performing normally. I have a USB ?cable with ferrites on order so am currently using the unprotected cable and it works great on the Mac. I¡¯m hoping the new protected cable and installing the radio in its case will improve the situation so it will work on the cheap windows laptop.?
I was getting a lot of warnings regarding the sound card on the windows machine. No warnings on the Mac.?
73¡ Ron
On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 13:05 Evan Hand < elhandjr@...> wrote: Fred,
Fred,
At first, I did think that the TX line out of the STM32 was at fault and reported the symptoms in the other thread.? After Hans posted the way that the PTT actually works I went back and change to the Raspberry Pi and found that the TX line DID work.? So you were not incorrect, just not informed on the latest news on the other thread.
So I apologize for any confusion that I might have created.? In my defense, the total logic on how that line is set was not explained before.? It was after the explanation from Hans and the RPi test that I confirmed it was not an output pin failure.
Thank you for the suggestions.
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Julian,
I do try to be the "trend setter" once and a while.
I am in the middle of seeing if my QCX mini is doing it also.
If they're doing it alternately, perhaps they're trying to converse with one another.......?
This is a kit I have had for over a year on the shelf. I have built several mini's first and no problems (except for my one BIG oops with one LCD display). I have been wanting an 80 meter for a while to travel with while camping. If it wasn't for the consistent timing of the flickering, I might think it was a bad soldered connection.
It's almost super precise in the timing and it's the only issue I find. It appears all functions work as they should.
I may do a factory reset on unit and start factory fresh. If it continues to do it I may change the 1.07a? chip with one of the fresh ones I have here to see if it still does it.
Regards and have pleasant dreams, I'm "hitting the hay"
73
James
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Re: Roots of Hans's supply chain issues
A cutting edge chip fab can cost more than $8 billion.
Stockpiling inventory doesn't always make sense if your product is subject to frequent changes.
Ports are jammed because of at least a half dozen different reasons these days.
It's a complicated world out there.
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 07:17 AM, Mike Perry, WA4MP wrote:
For years I¡¯ve been warning Apple on Mac news sites not to do so much single sourcing, particularly in China. Always have several sources even if some cost more, I stressed. Recently, Apple announced that it would lose $8 billion dollars due to supply chain issues. I feel like I should bill them for business advice not taken.
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Re: Elecraft KXUSB with QCX Mini
Thanks folks, I found an adapter?on Mr Bezos¡¯ store. It uses the?FTDI chip set and?has the ability to change TTL level to 3.3v. I¡¯ll wire up a cable and report back. Also sound like the TS480 protocol should work w the Mini. Thanks for all who commented.
Rich
On Monday, November 8, 2021, 5:52 PM, Milt <w8nue@...> wrote: John,
There are many USB to TTL serial cables on the market that should allow you to control the mini from either a pc or RPi. On Nov 8, 2021, at 5:39 PM, John Ogren <r2bqdnx@...> wrote:
?Rich,
I checked that the QCX mini heats up my dummy load, but I need test equipment to confirm that it's working right. And the receiver appears to be working as well, so I don't think that hooking up the KXUSB cable did any damage. But to answer your original question, it doesn't look like the cable works with the QCX mini.
John WX0M
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Now you've just sent five hundred anxious QCX owners leaping to their units looking to see if theirs is doing the same...
--
Julian, N4JO.
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Re: Stuck in Grace-Hollogne :-(((
Let¡¯s hope my package is secretly on the move then.?
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On 9 Nov 2021, at 10:48 am, Eike Lantzsch <zp6cge@...> wrote:
?
On Montag, 8. November 2021 20:19:48 -03 Jeff | VA2SS via groups.io wrote:
> Wow!
>
> Without any prior update since October 31st, information this morning
> was still stating my package was stuck in Grace-Hollogne, I finally
> received my order today.
>
> Ok¡ at least everything is now received.
>
> 73
That's what I thought. It seemed to be stuck but meanwhile was transferred to Liege Airport, loaded onto a plane and transferred to the US, passed customs and then transferred within the US and eventuall delivered. All this time the status was not updated. For TNT/FedEx shipping is still more important than administering status messages.
Happy soldering!
Mine was held in customs for just 1 minute:
?
06/11/2021, 03:00
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| Shipment arrived at TNT location (US?)
| 06/11/2021, 02:59
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| Held awaiting customs clearance. We have no influence on this process.
| 05/11/2021, 23:54
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| Shipment in transit
| 05/11/2021, 02:35
| Grace-Hollogne
| Shipment in transit
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I expect to receive info that it was delivered to my mailforwarder in Miami one of the next days.
Then forwarded to Paraguay - that usually takes 3 to 4 working days.
--
Eike Lantzsch ZP6CGE
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Definitely not an alignment issue. Just checked and it's all aligned correctly.
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Timothy Fidler
KB9NBL
Ronald Taylor
Julian N4JO