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LightAPRS 2.0 APRS Tracker Info

 

I hadn't seen any recent posts about this tracker but had a few questions.

1. Is it in stock?
2. Is the BMP085 sensor on board or is it required to be externally connected?
3. Is there a manual of any sort?? [I found the github info useful but a manual would be nice :-) ]
4. More for the group: have y'all successfully connected other I2C Sensors to this tracker?? I'm planning on using this as a remote weather station.
--

73

?

Mitch N0DIM ()


Re: QMX Shipped, panic stage #qmx

 

Billy,

My $0.02, having built (1) QCX+, (2) 50W PA, and (2) QDX, is what others have said - carefully read the instructions, watch any videos, and then follow the instructions. Hans has done an excellent job writing them. I would emphasize the use of a magnifying device of your choice and the thorough use of a DMM so as to check for solder bridges, cold solder joints, and then for the toroids, I suggest checking not just the solder joints, but the next joints in line - I've had cases where it appeared that I had continuity, but it was actually just with the wire itself - it did not have a good connection to the pad - so follow the traces and do your continuity check at the next pads (does that make sense?).

Also, for the toroids, I have found that the best way (for me) is to install the toroid and to either mark where the solder joint will be on the wire with a Sharpie, remove the toroid and (at least mostly) scrape off the enamel - I use a box cutter - and then reinstall and solder OR, particularly for the larger wires, scrape the enamel off with the toroid/transformer?in situ. A key note is that that extra 1" or so of wire (you know, the excess so you can snug things down? :-) ) will act as a heat sink, so I scrape the enamel off, tack the wire in place, and then trim the excess down to 0.25-0.5" - long enough that I can both hold it with a pair of needle nose pliers (when really snugging things down, else they're a real heat sink!) and still solder. Speaking from experience, removing that 'heat sink' wire and removing as much enamel as you can before you solder is the way to go for the larger wires. For the smaller wires, I use a mix of that method and Hans' method of burning off the enamel?in situ. Ultimately, it's whatever way works best for you :-)

Finally, have fun! Breaks are allowed and a rested mind can catch things that a tired mind might miss :-)

Regards,

Charles Johnson
KF4AYT

PS I echo what has been said about this forum - for the most part, this is a SUPPORT forum, so while there are shared tips and 'watch out for this' messages, it is only natural that you'll mostly see 'problem' messages.

PPS Particularly for high density boards, I highly recommend a vacuum-operated desoldering gun. In addition to letting you target just THAT one pad, it reduces the amount of time heat is applied to the PCB. I don't recall how much I paid for my Hakka 808, but it's worth every penny!


Re: FT8 for U3?

 

On Sat, Sep 2, 2023 at 08:22 PM, GIUSEPPE wrote:
Good evening everyone, I agree with what Jerry wrote, the WSPR propagation does not determine the openings in SSB,
WSPR allows a typical signal of 30db below the noise to be confirmed depending upon the decode engine used.

1 watt of WSPR = 1000 watts of SSB for a typical S1 signal of SSB.

If you get a decode of -30db on WSPR then you need 1000 watts of SSB to make the trip with
an S1 signal.

WSPR reveals a path, but it doesn't guarantee that some some one on SSB is listening, or
has 1kw ERP to make the trip.

Whence the disparity of WSPR reports vs actual SSB QSO's.

--
- 73 de Andy -


Re: FT8 for U3?

 

On Sat, Sep 2, 2023 at 07:56 PM, Jerry Moyer wrote:
I wonder why WSPR is less effective at VHF?? Is it due to the more rapid fading as opposed to the almost 2 minute frame for WSPR?
Doppler shift.

That's is also why WSPR is crap when the path passes the polar zones.

Haven't you noticed that the successful reported wspr paths tend to be only basic north and south
or east to west or vice verce paths ?

Shove an interesting path that *traverses* either the north or south auroral zones and it turns
to complete crap.

What's the bloody point of sending? 6Hz wide signal across a path that smudges the signal by 30Hz ?

Hard facts dude.

There's another more useful? mode built in to all the all the QCX/QMX/U3S kits.

Seek and you will find.

--
- 73 de Andy -


Re: FT8 for U3?

GIUSEPPE
 

Good evening everyone, I agree with what Jerry wrote, the WSPR propagation does not determine the openings in SSB, I have a beacon on 6m with a QCX MINI modified by me and I noticed that when in Northern Europe they receive the beacon signal the 6m band is closed, this also applies to all wspr hf frequencies, I also have 2 U3S for all hf frequencies and a QCX MINI for 20 and 30m.? Nigel you are right, WSPR is not suitable for vhf and above frequencies, no.? I've never seen a spot and then there would be a need for powers above 10W to get some listening.? In FT8 I don't know, I don't use digital modes, certainly in CW it would be the most ideal thing for a beacon.? 73 and good evening everyone

Giuseppe iu8eun

Il Sab 2 Set 2023, 20:56 Jerry Moyer via <ac5jm=[email protected]> ha scritto:
WSPR is great for determining propagation conditions for digital communications like FT8 but really isn't all that useful for determining if conditions are great for SSB voice, at least that's what I've experienced on HF.? WSPR can seem wide open and voice communications aren't possible.? In my opinion CW beacons are best for determining if voice communications are possible and that both beacon modes are useful.

I wonder why WSPR is less effective at VHF?? Is it due to the more rapid fading as opposed to the almost 2 minute frame for WSPR?

-Jerry AC5JM

On Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 10:29:56 AM CDT, Nigel ZS6RN <zs6rn@...> wrote:


Hi John,

From research undertaken seems that WSPR on upper VHF bands for DX propagation is not very effective. Have found more than one study / paper that arrives at the same conclusion.

73

Nigel ZS6RN


Re: QMX and SSB -- how?

 

On Fri, Sep 1, 2023 at 10:08 PM, Colin Kaminski wrote:

I may have a simplistic view, and I hope to be corrected, but it seems to me that an EER method can only reproduce a single tone at a time. The code tracks the loudest frequency and duplicates. The wave shaping circuit changes the volume. ?This can not generate a true two tone signal.?

If you look in the audio domain, you have a two (or multi) tone signal. ?However in the RF domain, you see close to an almost pure single frequency RF waveform with nearly invisible frequency changes (on the 20M band, SSB modulation only changes the RF frequency by 2.5kHz/14MHz or a max of 0.02% change). ?Those changes are very slow (audio rate) compared to the RF frequency, but can include an array of many microscopic sidebands, a lot more than just two. ?So you can change a narrow-band close--to-pure RF waveform in amplitude and phase by tiny amounts at a relatively slow rate, and end up with tons of audio frequencies when those tiny-at-RF sidebands are modulated back down to baseband, where they now become large differences relative to each other in terms of rich audio.
--
73, Ron, n6ywu


Re: QMX and SSB -- how?

 

On Sat, Sep 2, 2023 at 02:17 PM, Stephan Ahonen KE0WVA wrote:
The real trick to understanding this will be to develop an understanding of the IQ representation of RF signals. Seeing what an FM signal looks like on an IQ diagram, and seeing what an AM signal looks like, and understanding why those signals look the way they do, is really the key to understanding the fact that every arbitrary signal can be broken down into FM and AM components.
Conversely, given sufficient bandwidth and precision of the IQ data stream it is possible to generate any arbitrary signal, or combination of signals, of any modulation types.??
73, Don N2VGU


Re: QDX - protection of BS17O PA

 

Motorola used to use a neon lamp in their VHF base station receivers at the RF input to ground.? Neon lamps usually start to conduct and light up at about 60 volts.? I wonder if that would accomplish the same thing?

-Jerry AC5JM

On Friday, September 1, 2023 at 04:20:22 PM CDT, <wb2cba@...> wrote:


QCX mini has a class E pa different than QDX which has class D PA with two sets of bs170s. In qcx mini one 1N4756 zener diode will do the job. In qdx we need two of them.

73

Barb WB2CBA


Re: FT8 for U3?

 

WSPR is great for determining propagation conditions for digital communications like FT8 but really isn't all that useful for determining if conditions are great for SSB voice, at least that's what I've experienced on HF.? WSPR can seem wide open and voice communications aren't possible.? In my opinion CW beacons are best for determining if voice communications are possible and that both beacon modes are useful.

I wonder why WSPR is less effective at VHF?? Is it due to the more rapid fading as opposed to the almost 2 minute frame for WSPR?

-Jerry AC5JM

On Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 10:29:56 AM CDT, Nigel ZS6RN <zs6rn@...> wrote:


Hi John,

From research undertaken seems that WSPR on upper VHF bands for DX propagation is not very effective. Have found more than one study / paper that arrives at the same conclusion.

73

Nigel ZS6RN


Re: QMX and SSB -- how?

 

On Sat, Sep 2, 2023 at 10:24 AM, Da Amazin' man G0FTD wrote:
Surely this just amounts to creating? at any given point in time only one sampled frequency
and then switching to another fast enough in order to give the effect of two or more
simultaneous tones ?

In an analogue system? then ALL the tones of speech are present simultaneously.

--
- 73 de Andy -
In the simple case of two simultaneous tones, you are not modulating frequency at all. You can produce two tones solely through amplitude modulation.

Think about the spectrum of an AM signal - an AM signal produces two full sidebands without changing the frequency of the oscillator at all, simply by modulating amplitude.

To produce an SSB signal, you add some frequency modulation to the above procedure. Not by tuning the oscillator to every frequency in the entire signal, but rather by tuning the oscillator to the "instantaneous frequency" of the signal at any particular moment, the same way you produce a full spectrum of sound by making a DAC produce the instantaneous voltage of the signal from moment to moment.

The real trick to understanding this will be to develop an understanding of the IQ representation of RF signals. Seeing what an FM signal looks like on an IQ diagram, and seeing what an AM signal looks like, and understanding why those signals look the way they do, is really the key to understanding the fact that every arbitrary signal can be broken down into FM and AM components.


Re: QMX on Android?

 

Hello Chuck,
I just noticed your message. I am trying to get my QDX-M to work with andFLmsg on an android phone, so a different application from you. I might however be able to solve the first part of your problem of getting the phone to recognize your QMX.
I obtained a terminal app from the Play Store, I used "Serial USB Terminal". Once the app was installed and I had connected by OTG cable to the QDX, I opened the app menu, selected USB devices and found there the QDX device. Selecting it caused the app and QDX to connect. I then selected the radio app I wanted to use (in my case andFLmsg) and I was able to communicate and send text to the QDX for transmission using Olivia (in VOX mode). I am still having problems receiving audio back from the QDX to the phone, but I figure I am more than half-way there!
Let me know if this works to establish communication between your phone and QMX.


Re: #QMX #BPF problems with fault finding #qmx #bpf

 

Also if one of the secondary windings is reversed it may cause the problem.


Re: #QMX #BPF problems with fault finding #qmx #bpf

 

You've probably already done it but I would check continuity from IC 402 pin 7 to IOC 403 pins 7 and 9. And to ground ~5k ohm


Re: I'm stymied....

 

After looking again, it looks like the pin on the far left may not be hitting the pad at all --?
Bruce


Re: I'm stymied....

 

Check that there is no short in this circled location.? Also, this IC is a little skewed to the right, make sure all of its pins are nicely connected to the pads.
This is the most likely area of concern giving your symptoms. Good luck!
73
Bruce
KG8IW


 

Hello all,
I have a 40m qcx+ and a qlg1, both working great together on wspr for several years now. Well, that until I went ahead and put my qlg1 in a new enclosure, on top of that I removed the 3mm LEDs (attached to the board) and replaced them with 5mm LEDs attached to longer wires so they would attach to the enclosure. On first test the qcx+ and qlg1 talk to each other fine, the qlg1 locked on satellites and all, but I noticed that the qcx was not outputting any power. The qcx+ transmits perfectly fine without the qlg1 attached. I obviously broke something, however I am not sure if I broke the qlg1 or the qcx, do you guys have any clues? Thanks


Re: I'm stymied....

 

?Don

If you would like to try signal tracing
Here is a? very nice PC soundcard oscilloscope for win XP and above
As you know surface mount components are packed tight
Be careful probing
I use a hat pin, small sharp point so not to skip off component es short to another,? plastic knob so personal contact does not introduce noise or 60 Hz junk

https://www.zeitnitz.eu/scope_en

It is also dual channel with a spectrum analyzer and sweep generator? And Free

72 73
John
N3AAZ


Re: QMX and SSB -- how?

 

开云体育

Yes, but in the RF domain you need frequency and amplitude.?

73, Willie N1JBJ

On Sep 2, 2023, at 11:28 AM, Da Amazin' man G0FTD via groups.io <punkbiscuit@...> wrote:

?On Sat, Sep 2, 2023 at 04:24 PM, Da Amazin' man G0FTD wrote:
In an analogue system? then ALL the tones of speech are present simultaneously.
Excepting xtal filter group delay params.

That's why SSB always has that SSB sound, unless you're using a DC RX ;-)

--
- 73 de Andy -


Re: #QMX #BPF problems with fault finding #qmx #bpf

 


Voltage on C406 is 2.42V so I guess its correct. Just in case I will rewind T401 trifilar transformer in case there is a shortage inside winding.
---------------------------------
73 de Marek SP9TKW


Re: FT8 for U3?

 

Hi John,

From research undertaken seems that WSPR on upper VHF bands for DX propagation is not very effective. Have found more than one study / paper that arrives at the same conclusion.

73

Nigel ZS6RN