Troubleshooting DOA QDX
#qdx
I was so tickled to finish the assembly today. Did all the continuity tests in the manual. Checked for a power supply short. Scanned over and over looking for any joints worth reworking.
Then hooked it up to power and nothing :-(
8V battery power in (3:3 winding) in gives me 5V & 3.3V at the voltage regulators, but no LED action.?
So far it doesn't look like the computer is seeing it on the USB port.?
Appropriate VCC/VDD voltage or ground at all the IC?pins I checked.
Tried it connected to dummy load and antenna.
Nothing getting noticeably hot
And this is weird:
Touching a 10x scope probe tip to VXCO out causes LED1 to start flashing, rapid for a second, then ~2x/second for 35 seconds, then solid.
What should I be testing or looking for?
¨CBrent WT4U
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Many thanks Hans. It finally arrived yesterday Oct (10). in
perfect shape.
Just FYI, this email from you was the only shipping/tracking
document I got so that process got messed up somehow.
After coffee, my next job is to download all documents. Are there
any new ones or any change listings as well yet ?
Thanks again,
73 Hew VA7HU
On 11/8/2021 3:42 AM, Hans Summers
wrote:
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Hello Hew
Your QDX was already shipped on 28-Oct-2021 and an email
notification was sent to you with the tracking number. It
might?have been put in your spam?folder. TNT tracking
code?105271325
73 Hans G0UPL
On Sat, Nov 6, 2021 at 9:17 PM
Hew Lines < va7hu@...>
wrote:
I
ordered my QDX in the big gaggle (Order50063) and it has been
confirmed in my Order History as "shipped". However, even
though I was
advised by Hans that I would receive an email from QRP Labs, I
have
received nothing regarding the shipping , and I have received
nothing
from either TNT or FEDEX regarding "tracking" and I have no
idea where
it is.
I guess I'll continue to sit back and work on my 3D printing
of an
enclosure for it.
Hew VA7HU
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Re: QDX CAT Control Issue?
Hi Ryan,
I have just built my QDX yesterday so I haven't had enough time on JS8Call to see any problems. Your issue would be an excellent use case for enabling the CAT log function in the terminal mode to record what transpired. The QDX can't change frequencies without a CAT log record of it!
We should try a JS8Call QDX to QDX QSO now that I am QDX-enabled, ha, ha!
73, Gregg W7GRM
Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd post this to see if any others were having the same issue as I. I had my QDX doing JS8 today on 14.078.000 and when I came into the shack, it was not at that frequency:
Interestingly, it looks like 14.078.000 off by an order of magnitude! Resetting it to 20M (14.078.000) is successful, and life goes on:
Is anybody else having this issue?
--
Ryan Flowers - W7RLF
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Re: Hints for successfully building the QDX, part two.
The markings on the blue caps are very difficult to read.? To make them very easy to read simply illuminate them with a red light.? I am using an astronomers red LED light.
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Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd post this to see if any others were having the same issue as I. I had my QDX doing JS8 today on 14.078.000 and when I came into the shack, it was not at that frequency:
Interestingly, it looks like 14.078.000 off by an order of magnitude! Resetting it to 20M (14.078.000) is successful, and life goes on:
Is anybody else having this issue? -- Ryan Flowers - W7RLF
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The VNA should handle that.
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Re: Order "in transit" at Grace-Hollogne for 3 weeks?
Kent
Lots of globe between qrp labs factory and you, lots of variability. Amazing we can do this at all. Hang in there, expect arrival. In the small chance it would be lost, well each of us need to keep placing orders to allow Hans to cover those. Enjoy your rare qdx.?
Curt
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Re: Order "in transit" at Grace-Hollogne for 3 weeks?
Yesterday I indicated my package was also stuck in Grace-Hollogne but this morning I was notified that it was released from customs here in Australia overnight. It looks like some packages at?Grace-Hollogne aren¡¯t being scanned by the freight company prior to loading.?
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On 10 Nov 2021, at 9:34 am, Retired Doc <kbergphd@...> wrote:
?Hans,
I may need to be more patient but order #50620 has been in Grace-Hollogne since 21/10/2021 with the indication of "Shipment in Transit."? Since we are come up on 3 weeks "in transit" at the same location., I am wondering if there needs to be some investigation?? I understand only the shipper can find out information?
If there is no need to be concern, I will be more patient.
FYI, I have received my QDX from Sedalia and it is built and is on the air with 30+ Qs.
Thanks, Kent KC9LIF
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I'm replicating the 40m LPF on a breadboard mock up. I want to see the response of this filter with my NanoVNA and tracking generator so I made 3 coils, L1 - L3, and adjusted their inductance to meet the exact specifications from the manual. Caps C25 - C28 are no problem. The output impedance on the coax side I'm putting in a 50 resistor load. But to simulate the input impedance from the PA section I have no idea of what to use for this impedance or whether or not it will make much of a difference to the filter response. Since the circuit is symmetrical maybe 50 ohms there also is OK?
syd/wt1v
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Re: QDX - notes after day 1
Hi Frans
Good point !
I was concentrating on FT8 and will have to investigate the other digimodes.
Hope to work you soon, should be easy as you are only around 300km away :-)
73, Steve, G4GXL
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Re: QDX - notes after day 1
Hello Peter
I use a 40m End Fed Half Wave - not had any RF issues previously using 100W.
A choke might help but not needed up to now.
I used a ferrite ring on the USB lead and a couple of clamp-on ferrites on the power lead.
But I have now just found a USB with built in ferrite cores at each end - a bit neater and seems to work just as well.
The QDX is a fun kit to build and very capable given the tiny size.
On 20m earlier today I heard stations from 5 continents in the same 15 second FT8 time slot - then picked up two VK stations 10 minutes later for a 6th.
It's nice to have the bands open :-)
I hope you get a QDX in the next batch !
Steve, G4GXL
?
?
?
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Order "in transit" at Grace-Hollogne for 3 weeks?
Hans,
I may need to be more patient but order #50620 has been in Grace-Hollogne since 21/10/2021 with the indication of "Shipment in Transit."? Since we are come up on 3 weeks "in transit" at the same location., I am wondering if there needs to be some investigation?? I understand only the shipper can find out information?
If there is no need to be concern, I will be more patient.
FYI, I have received my QDX from Sedalia and it is built and is on the air with 30+ Qs.
Thanks, Kent KC9LIF
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Re: A wish for later version of the QDX :-)
Nobody is forcing you to use an amplifier. And if you really want a weak?signal challenge, run your QDX from a 6 volt supply.
A T/R output also has other uses, such as switching between transmit and receive antennas or switching in a noise canceller. I think it would be a good addition.
On Tue, Nov 9, 2021 at 5:24 PM N3MNT < bob@...> wrote: Since we are voting, my vote is not to add a PTT out.? I enjoy the challenge of WEAK Signal operation.
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Re: A wish for later version of the QDX :-)
Since we are voting, my vote is not to add a PTT out.? I enjoy the challenge of WEAK Signal operation.
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Re: QDX - rig control error
Chris,
I was using a Raspberry Pi 4 connected to the QDX and running WSJT-X software.? The only way that I could get it to work was by selecting the serial port that showed up when I had plugged in the QDX and restarted WSJT-X.? The baud rate was set to 9600 and the polling for 10 seconds as per Han's suggestion.? The PTT control is set to CAT.
I actually started with a Windows10 laptop and had trouble with it.? I went to the RPi4 to solve the communication issues.
73
Evan
AC9TU
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Yes, and now it's off. So are the error messages. Thanks ever so
much, Mike.
On 11/9/2021 4:09 PM, mike/w1mt wrote:
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Is the decoder on?
mike/w1mt
On Tue, Nov 9, 2021 at 4:05 PM
Jim Campbell < jecspasc@...>
wrote:
I
built my QCX+ some time ago. When completed the power out was
approximately 3 watts. Recently I decided to get it up to 5
watts with a
13.6 volts DC supply. After taking 3 turns off L3 I achieved
my goal.
After putting my covers back on the QCX+ I discovered I had no
RF out.
Going back through the Menu settings I found a few things
amiss so I
corrected them. When I did a save configuration I got an "0 7
0 7" on
the bottom right of the screen. I cycled power and got a "T"
on the
bottom right of the screen and then another "T" with a space
between
them several seconds later. This continued till I powered the
QCX+ off.
I did a cursory pass through the documentation looking for
error codes
but was unable to find any. Can some kind soul tell me where
they might
be found?
Thanks es 73,
Jim - W4BQP since 1953
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Is the decoder on?
mike/w1mt
On Tue, Nov 9, 2021 at 4:05 PM Jim Campbell < jecspasc@...> wrote: I built my QCX+ some time ago. When completed the power out was
approximately 3 watts. Recently I decided to get it up to 5 watts with a
13.6 volts DC supply. After taking 3 turns off L3 I achieved my goal.
After putting my covers back on the QCX+ I discovered I had no RF out.
Going back through the Menu settings I found a few things amiss so I
corrected them. When I did a save configuration I got an "0 7 0 7" on
the bottom right of the screen. I cycled power and got a "T" on the
bottom right of the screen and then another "T" with a space between
them several seconds later. This continued till I powered the QCX+ off.
I did a cursory pass through the documentation looking for error codes
but was unable to find any. Can some kind soul tell me where they might
be found?
Thanks es 73,
Jim - W4BQP since 1953
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Jim,
The qcx firmware doesn't produce error codes apart from the 5351a error. Sounds like random CW characters to me..
Dean G7EOB.
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Re: Roots of Hans's supply chain issues
I myself am guilty of it too. When I heard of the shortages I immediately bought 4,000 Si5351A from Digikey and Arrow which cleaned out their entire stock.?
Bigger, less frequent orders are a long term solution anyway, even if they exacerbate current shortages. The logistics are much more efficient. You did what most should have been doing all along.
Or we could just blame local pollution standards. Imagine living in a world with such simplistic boogymen.
?
On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 5:31 PM Mike Perry, WA4MP < editor@...> wrote: The captain of a large cargo vessel has a great video explaining the various roots of the issues Hans has with getting the parts he needs. This comment about the high-tech industry is particularly relevant.
> 4:26 "... delicately balanced supply chain ..."? What you should have said is "a perilously stretched supply chain that had no contingency plans." I have worked in the high-tech supply chain discipline for almost 15 years, and top management has refused to listen to warnings or do any risk planning for longer than I've been in it. Everything has been leaned out to the max, to maximize profits and bonuses. Now the economy and consumers are paying the price, while the execs who put us here are sitting on piles of cash.
>
When a system of trade is already being pushed to its limits by a desire to maximize profits with a just-in-time inventory, it has no reserves to call on when a crisis develops. We¡¯ve had several major ones in the last couple of years. The troubles then feed on one another. Those 70+ ships sitting at anchor off LA and San Diego aren¡¯t available to ship other cargos between other ports in other countries.
Interestingly, I¡¯ve not noticed any increased delays in the orders I¡¯ve made from China to ready for the arrival of that QCX mini. The last of them, an iambic key, should arrive today. They take several weeks to arrive just like before but not more weeks. Of course, what I was ordering was small and seems to have gone space available on cargo aircraft. The package may sit a week or so waiting for a flight out, but it¡¯s not on a ship waiting at anchor for weeks like larger cargos.
¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP
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N3MNT
Retired Doc
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Knut Steinar Fremme OE4KSF