interfacing Linux Mint apps to key socket via USB 2.0 to DB9 cable
Anyone using Linux apps to key the QRPLabs transceiver?
Linux Mint here.? I see several Linux apps for a laptop to generate code requiring a USB to DB9? converter cable + a simple isolating circuit.? My soldering iron hand shakes, but my wife made a living with a soldering iron as a youth of 27.?? :)? I'll hand her the parts and point to the spot on the PCB when the kit arrives.
|
Re: QCX to QLG1 cable: what are people using?
I use DuPont cable wires wrapped in copper foil. Works for me.?
|
Re: Taking another stab at getting my 80m QCX up and running
I may be covering obvious territory, but is the resistor good? Continuity between IC3c pin 8 and the resistor? Continuity between resistor and BNC center pin?
--Al
WD4AH
|
Re: QCX to QLG1 cable: what are people using?
Ive been using unshielded 6 inch dupont cables. I must not have read the instructions. No issues so far on U3S with 5w amp nor QCX.
|
Re: Taking another stab at getting my 80m QCX up and running
I had a fairly lengthy post typed up and the forum ate it so I'll condense it down to:
I traced the signal form the Si5351A pin 8 to IC3C pin 10 to IC3C pin 8. At each point I get about a 7V p/p ugly square wave with ringing using a 10x probe.?
The resistor connects to the BNC jack and LPF. The BNC jack / resistor essentially read nothing. 2mV at best and the scope is all over the place. Checking resistance to ground from the BNC jack - 550k¦¸
So the test signal disappears after the resistor yet there's no apparent short to ground.?
Vana... I think I want to buy a vowel...
Here's shot of a little extender board that I made to make it easier to poke around on the board with the LCD working. It looks kind of like the alien space ships in War of the Worlds
?
--
73
NE5U
Mike
|
Re: QCX to QLG1 cable: what are people using?
Thanks, came off no problem, & looks better without it.
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Keith, you might find swapping the kit 27 MHz crystal with a lower drift one might help. They are generally smt. I think Farnell stock Epson ones for a couple of quid. It¡¯s worth searching . Regards, Steve?
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK. **SOLD**
All,
This is now sold.
73 Keith.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi folks,
I'm selling my assembled 40m QCX transceiver simply because it's not quite as suitable for a QRSS grabber as I hoped. ?I won't use it as a transceiver so it'll just sit here. ?It might as well go to someone who will use it for what it's intended. ?I¡¯ve ordered a QRP-Labs receiver module, ProgRock and polyphase network kit instead.
This was built last week and has been running continually since then. ?The receiver is spot on, no problems with it whatsoever. ?I've done the startup mod.
I've not installed the keyer switch and it's never been put into transmit.?
The 27MHz crystal has a large hex spacer superglued to the top to increase the thermal mass and reduce any frequency drift. ?When I set it up, I had to reduce some turns on T1 so I just cut the wire, removed the turns and rejoined it. ?That part is a bit messy but apart from that, I think it's quite neat as I hope can be seen from the pictures.
I'll only sell this within the UK and I'd like ?50 for it which will include Royal Mail Special Delivery. Payment either via direct bank transfer or PayPal gift.
To buy one new works out at around ?40. ?I don't think that adding a tener to take into account postage and the time I spent building it is unreasonable. ?There's still a long delivery time on these so this is a chance to get one quickly.
Attached are some pictures of the unit and one frame from my QRSS grabber from a few days ago.
If you're interested, please contact me off list.
73 Keith G6NHU
-- QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
-- QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Hi Keith again, Ah OK I will have a read of the manual tomorrow myself. Sorry if I have caused confusion. Good luck with it anyway. 73 Roger G4IUP
On 16 Jan 2018 21:33, "Keith, G6NHU" < nentecular@...> wrote: Hi Roger,
The ProgRock is GPS disciplined.? The QCX isn¡¯t.? Even running in WSPR mode, the QCX only calibrates once per frame whereas I believe the ProgRock is continually calibrating.
At least, that¡¯s how I understand it from reading the manual.
73 Keith G6NHU
Hi Keith, Just a thought, but why are you expecting the drift from ProgRock to be any different from QCX as it is basically the same circuit as far as the frequency generation is concerned. What about implementing the OXCO kit with ProgRock?? Maybe I am missing something here but I am sure you will put me right! 73 Roger G4IUP
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Hi Roger,
The ProgRock is GPS disciplined. ?The QCX isn¡¯t. ?Even running in WSPR mode, the QCX only calibrates once per frame whereas I believe the ProgRock is continually calibrating.
At least, that¡¯s how I understand it from reading the manual.
73 Keith G6NHU
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Keith, Just a thought, but why are you expecting the drift from ProgRock to be any different from QCX as it is basically the same circuit as far as the frequency generation is concerned. What about implementing the OXCO kit with ProgRock?? Maybe I am missing something here but I am sure you will put me right! 73 Roger G4IUP
-- QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Hi Keith, Just a thought, but why are you expecting the drift from ProgRock to be any different from QCX as it is basically the same circuit as far as the frequency generation is concerned. What about implementing the OXCO kit with ProgRock?? Maybe I am missing something here but I am sure you will put me right! 73 Roger G4IUP
On 16 Jan 2018 20:26, "Keith, G6NHU" < nentecular@...> wrote: Hi Alan,
It¡¯s the very very slight frequency drift that¡¯s done it for me.? For normal use, it won¡¯t be even noticeable but when running as a QRSS grabber, a shift of up to 25Hz over the course of a day really makes it unusable for me as that¡¯s over 10% of the small space we use for QRSS. I managed to reduce it down to 10Hz by adding thermal mass to the 27MHz crystal, packing it with foam and running it in a sealed box.? I have no doubt that I could reduce that further without too much trouble and it would be perfectly good in an indoor environment but my goal is for this to be mounted on the side of a building, outside where it¡¯ll suffer much higher temperature variations.
I believe Dave said he¡¯s got a very stable 27MHz source to replace the crystal which is why he¡¯s running successfully.
The receiver kit, polyphase, progrock and gps option should be reasonably bomb proof and very stable.? Apart from anything else, it gives me another chance to spend time melting solder and building stuff :-)
73 Keith G6NHU
On 16 Jan 2018, at 18:32, Alan de G1FXB via Groups.Io < g1fxb@...> wrote:
Hi Keith,
Out of interest what limitations did you find with the QCX as an RX
only?
Back of the fag packet jottings were pushing me towards a QCX rather
than the RX kit & VFO or ProgRock.
(as long as it's 80-10M coverage and it's a QCX for each band or
it's a case of getting the soldering Iron out for band changes
rather than a BPF module change.)
I think Dave WA5DJJ uses multiple QCX's for his QRSS skimmers &
outboard convertors for LF coverage?
I had thoughts of either a Red Pitaya or multiple RX's, and skimmer
software.
I had access to multiple server racks each with 8 multicore
processors & ran them crunching for SETI-online. Well until I
got that quarters electricity bill....
Over doubled our normal bill & they sent a man round who just
happened to change the meter.
I couldn't get an explanation out of him, except " it's a bit old
and was on the list for a digital one. " (Pre smart meter days)
The good news was despite sounding like I had several jet engines in
the spare room, we didn't need to put the heating on.? ;-)
Alan
On 16/01/2018 14:28, Keith, G6NHU
wrote:
Hi folks,
I'm selling my assembled 40m QCX transceiver simply
because it's not quite as suitable for a QRSS grabber as I
hoped.? I won't use it as a transceiver so it'll just sit here.
?It might as well go to someone who will use it for what it's
intended.? I¡¯ve ordered a QRP-Labs receiver module, ProgRock and
polyphase network kit instead.
This was built last week and has been running
continually since then.? The receiver is spot on, no problems
with it whatsoever.? I've done the startup mod.
I've not installed the keyer switch and it's never been put into transmit.?
The 27MHz crystal has a large hex spacer superglued
to the top to increase the thermal mass and reduce any frequency
drift.? When I set it up, I had to reduce some turns on T1 so I
just cut the wire, removed the turns and rejoined it.? That part
is a bit messy but apart from that, I think it's quite neat as I
hope can be seen from the pictures.
I'll only sell this within the UK and I'd like ?50
for it which will include Royal Mail Special Delivery. Payment
either via direct bank transfer or PayPal gift.
To buy one new works out at around ?40.? I don't
think that adding a tener to take into account postage and the
time I spent building it is unreasonable.? There's still a long
delivery time on these so this is a chance to get one quickly.
Attached are some pictures of the unit and one frame
from my QRSS grabber from a few days ago.
If you're interested, please contact me off list.
73 Keith G6NHU
<qcx_1.jpeg>
<qcx_2.jpeg>
<qcx_3.jpeg>
<qcx_4.jpeg>
<qrss.png>
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:??
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Keith,
Thank you for the reply. So it's not such a obvious choice as I
had in mind...
regards Alan
On 16/01/2018 20:25, Keith, G6NHU
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi Alan,
It¡¯s the very very slight frequency drift that¡¯s
done it for me. ?For normal use, it won¡¯t be even noticeable but
when running as a QRSS grabber, a shift of up to 25Hz over the
course of a day really makes it unusable for me as that¡¯s over
10% of the small space we use for QRSS.
I managed to reduce it down to 10Hz by adding
thermal mass to the 27MHz crystal, packing it with foam and
running it in a sealed box. ?I have no doubt that I could reduce
that further without too much trouble and it would be perfectly
good in an indoor environment but my goal is for this to be
mounted on the side of a building, outside where it¡¯ll suffer
much higher temperature variations.
I believe Dave said he¡¯s got a very stable 27MHz
source to replace the crystal which is why he¡¯s running
successfully.
The receiver kit, polyphase, progrock and gps option
should be reasonably bomb proof and very stable. ?Apart from
anything else, it gives me another chance to spend time melting
solder and building stuff :-)
73 Keith G6NHU
On 16 Jan 2018, at 18:32, Alan de G1FXB via
Groups.Io < g1fxb@...>
wrote:
Hi Keith,
Out of interest what limitations did you find with the
QCX as an RX only?
Back of the fag packet jottings were pushing me towards
a QCX rather than the RX kit & VFO or ProgRock.
(as long as it's 80-10M coverage and it's a QCX for each
band or it's a case of getting the soldering Iron out
for band changes rather than a BPF module change.)
I think Dave WA5DJJ uses multiple QCX's for his QRSS
skimmers & outboard convertors for LF coverage?
I had thoughts of either a Red Pitaya or multiple RX's,
and skimmer software.
I had access to multiple server racks each with 8
multicore processors & ran them crunching for
SETI-online. Well until I got that quarters electricity
bill....
Over doubled our normal bill & they sent a man round
who just happened to change the meter.
I couldn't get an explanation out of him, except " it's
a bit old and was on the list for a digital one. " (Pre
smart meter days)
The good news was despite sounding like I had several
jet engines in the spare room, we didn't need to put the
heating on.? ;-)
Alan
On 16/01/2018 14:28, Keith,
G6NHU wrote:
Hi folks,
I'm selling my assembled 40m QCX
transceiver simply because it's not quite as
suitable for a QRSS grabber as I hoped. ?I won't use
it as a transceiver so it'll just sit here. ?It
might as well go to someone who will use it for what
it's intended. ?I¡¯ve ordered a QRP-Labs receiver
module, ProgRock and polyphase network kit instead.
This was built last week and has been
running continually since then. ?The receiver is
spot on, no problems with it whatsoever. ?I've done
the startup mod.
I've not installed the keyer switch and
it's never been put into transmit.?
The 27MHz crystal has a large hex spacer
superglued to the top to increase the thermal mass
and reduce any frequency drift. ?When I set it up, I
had to reduce some turns on T1 so I just cut the
wire, removed the turns and rejoined it. ?That part
is a bit messy but apart from that, I think it's
quite neat as I hope can be seen from the pictures.
I'll only sell this within the UK and
I'd like ?50 for it which will include Royal Mail
Special Delivery. Payment either via direct bank
transfer or PayPal gift.
To buy one new works out at around ?40.
?I don't think that adding a tener to take into
account postage and the time I spent building it is
unreasonable. ?There's still a long delivery time on
these so this is a chance to get one quickly.
Attached are some pictures of the unit
and one frame from my QRSS grabber from a few days
ago.
If you're interested, please contact me
off list.
73 Keith G6NHU
<qcx_1.jpeg>
<qcx_2.jpeg>
<qcx_3.jpeg>
<qcx_4.jpeg>
<qrss.png>
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Writing incorrect data to the Si5351a registers - Destruction of a Synth module???
#synth
Hi gang,
Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!
I believe I destroyed a perfectly fine Synth module... Question remains exactly how it happened???...
Here is the story:
As part of my multi-band 5W CW transceiver using an Arduino and various QRP-labs modules, I was tinkering with the code running on the Arduino to control the synth module on the QRP-Labs Arduino shield. Having gotten the basic part of frequency generation to perform as planned, I advanced the project and included the GPS disciplining function, using the 1PPS from the GPS as interrupts and the 16 bit counter on the controller to calculate the real oscillating frequency of the 27MHz xtal used for the synth. So far so good, all still working fine and disciplining the synth module was working well and results were great. (by the way, had to re-route some of the signals between Arduino and the shield to handle the correct interrupts and counters, but that's ok).
Now here is where things went south, yours truly made a stupid coding mistake where I was subtracting an already negative value instead of adding it for the compensation... Depending on which side of the curve the process started, it would either work fine or... it would go into a runaway mode where I was compensating the programming of the Si5351a with wrong values. Every time the process ran (I had it on a 20s GPS cal loop) it would correct in the wrong direction further and further and write more and more garbage into the Si5351a.
Another factor to the problem is that due to weather the air is extremely dry here right now and static is in the air, clothes, fingertips, etc... have been zapping myself all day long...
So: having said all that, I had the project running for several hours on a breadboard and all of a sudden I notice that the frequency being generated is very off... I pulled the synth module from the breadboard I was using and plugged it into my QRP-Labs VFO kit. Turn it on and... Argh... that dreaded error appears on the screen: Si5351a problems...
OK. I found my error in the code, that's now fine, and I actually put a safety in place where the correction can't go above or below a certain threshold to avoid this in the future. What I don't know for sure is if I blew the synth module by writing stupid values into the frequency programming registers or if I fried it by static discharge...
Also: If it was by register value error, is there a way to recover from this? Or do I need to order a new synth module?
Hans, or anyone who might have experienced something similar, input is welcome!!!
And, YES, it is absolutely MY fault one way or the other. Mea Culpa!
Joys of kit building and tinkering, but wouldn't change it for anything!!!
73 de N5GG
Colin - Dallas, TX
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Hi Alan,
It¡¯s the very very slight frequency drift that¡¯s done it for me. ?For normal use, it won¡¯t be even noticeable but when running as a QRSS grabber, a shift of up to 25Hz over the course of a day really makes it unusable for me as that¡¯s over 10% of the small space we use for QRSS. I managed to reduce it down to 10Hz by adding thermal mass to the 27MHz crystal, packing it with foam and running it in a sealed box. ?I have no doubt that I could reduce that further without too much trouble and it would be perfectly good in an indoor environment but my goal is for this to be mounted on the side of a building, outside where it¡¯ll suffer much higher temperature variations.
I believe Dave said he¡¯s got a very stable 27MHz source to replace the crystal which is why he¡¯s running successfully.
The receiver kit, polyphase, progrock and gps option should be reasonably bomb proof and very stable. ?Apart from anything else, it gives me another chance to spend time melting solder and building stuff :-)
73 Keith G6NHU
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 16 Jan 2018, at 18:32, Alan de G1FXB via Groups.Io < g1fxb@...> wrote:
Hi Keith,
Out of interest what limitations did you find with the QCX as an RX
only?
Back of the fag packet jottings were pushing me towards a QCX rather
than the RX kit & VFO or ProgRock.
(as long as it's 80-10M coverage and it's a QCX for each band or
it's a case of getting the soldering Iron out for band changes
rather than a BPF module change.)
I think Dave WA5DJJ uses multiple QCX's for his QRSS skimmers &
outboard convertors for LF coverage?
I had thoughts of either a Red Pitaya or multiple RX's, and skimmer
software.
I had access to multiple server racks each with 8 multicore
processors & ran them crunching for SETI-online. Well until I
got that quarters electricity bill....
Over doubled our normal bill & they sent a man round who just
happened to change the meter.
I couldn't get an explanation out of him, except " it's a bit old
and was on the list for a digital one. " (Pre smart meter days)
The good news was despite sounding like I had several jet engines in
the spare room, we didn't need to put the heating on.? ;-)
Alan
On 16/01/2018 14:28, Keith, G6NHU
wrote:
Hi folks,
I'm selling my assembled 40m QCX transceiver simply
because it's not quite as suitable for a QRSS grabber as I
hoped. ?I won't use it as a transceiver so it'll just sit here.
?It might as well go to someone who will use it for what it's
intended. ?I¡¯ve ordered a QRP-Labs receiver module, ProgRock and
polyphase network kit instead.
This was built last week and has been running
continually since then. ?The receiver is spot on, no problems
with it whatsoever. ?I've done the startup mod.
I've not installed the keyer switch and it's never been put into transmit.?
The 27MHz crystal has a large hex spacer superglued
to the top to increase the thermal mass and reduce any frequency
drift. ?When I set it up, I had to reduce some turns on T1 so I
just cut the wire, removed the turns and rejoined it. ?That part
is a bit messy but apart from that, I think it's quite neat as I
hope can be seen from the pictures.
I'll only sell this within the UK and I'd like ?50
for it which will include Royal Mail Special Delivery. Payment
either via direct bank transfer or PayPal gift.
To buy one new works out at around ?40. ?I don't
think that adding a tener to take into account postage and the
time I spent building it is unreasonable. ?There's still a long
delivery time on these so this is a chance to get one quickly.
Attached are some pictures of the unit and one frame
from my QRSS grabber from a few days ago.
If you're interested, please contact me off list.
73 Keith G6NHU
<qcx_1.jpeg>
<qcx_2.jpeg>
<qcx_3.jpeg>
<qcx_4.jpeg>
<qrss.png>
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:??
-- QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
A vaccum desoldering station helps..... I have one, many do not.
|
Ofcourse you can modify it, it just means unsoldering the band filters and capacitors
And that fiddly T1 Transformer? as it requires more turns on all taps. But it can be done.
If you are good at pcb work then its reasonably simple. if not then you could end up trashing the pcb by lifting track.
?
?
I
?
?
?
|
Re: QCX to QLG1 cable: what are people using?
Seconded on the DuPont connectors - they came in handy when I kept taking my board in and out of the box for repairs and upgrades - I broke a volume pot, and later retrofitted the box with a MicroUSB port for connection to the QLG1 - I opted for a MicroUSB and a regular USB connector (my particular connectors were from Adafruit) because they took up minimal space on the case, and I always have a microUSB phone cable available.
|
Re: Selling a built 40m QCX in the UK
Hi Keith,
Out of interest what limitations did you find with the QCX as an RX
only?
Back of the fag packet jottings were pushing me towards a QCX rather
than the RX kit & VFO or ProgRock.
(as long as it's 80-10M coverage and it's a QCX for each band or
it's a case of getting the soldering Iron out for band changes
rather than a BPF module change.)
I think Dave WA5DJJ uses multiple QCX's for his QRSS skimmers &
outboard convertors for LF coverage?
I had thoughts of either a Red Pitaya or multiple RX's, and skimmer
software.
I had access to multiple server racks each with 8 multicore
processors & ran them crunching for SETI-online. Well until I
got that quarters electricity bill....
Over doubled our normal bill & they sent a man round who just
happened to change the meter.
I couldn't get an explanation out of him, except " it's a bit old
and was on the list for a digital one. " (Pre smart meter days)
The good news was despite sounding like I had several jet engines in
the spare room, we didn't need to put the heating on.? ;-)
Alan
On 16/01/2018 14:28, Keith, G6NHU
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi folks,
I'm selling my assembled 40m QCX transceiver simply
because it's not quite as suitable for a QRSS grabber as I
hoped. ?I won't use it as a transceiver so it'll just sit here.
?It might as well go to someone who will use it for what it's
intended. ?I¡¯ve ordered a QRP-Labs receiver module, ProgRock and
polyphase network kit instead.
This was built last week and has been running
continually since then. ?The receiver is spot on, no problems
with it whatsoever. ?I've done the startup mod.
I've not installed the keyer switch and it's never been put into transmit.?
The 27MHz crystal has a large hex spacer superglued
to the top to increase the thermal mass and reduce any frequency
drift. ?When I set it up, I had to reduce some turns on T1 so I
just cut the wire, removed the turns and rejoined it. ?That part
is a bit messy but apart from that, I think it's quite neat as I
hope can be seen from the pictures.
I'll only sell this within the UK and I'd like ?50
for it which will include Royal Mail Special Delivery. Payment
either via direct bank transfer or PayPal gift.
To buy one new works out at around ?40. ?I don't
think that adding a tener to take into account postage and the
time I spent building it is unreasonable. ?There's still a long
delivery time on these so this is a chance to get one quickly.
Attached are some pictures of the unit and one frame
from my QRSS grabber from a few days ago.
If you're interested, please contact me off list.
73 Keith G6NHU
--
QSO365 - My amateur radio blog:?
?
|
Re: QCX to QLG1 cable: what are people using?
Hi
The plastic tape is merely a packaging item designed to help avoid damage during transit. It is applied by the factory. You can just remove it.
73 Hans G0UPL? ?
On Jan 16, 2018 9:22 PM, "ohwenzelph via Groups.Io" <Ohwenzelph= [email protected]> wrote: Two more notes:
1) the volume pot for my QCX arrived broken, was not obvious but I checked it with a multimeter before installing and it was infinite resistance across it. Later it fell to two pieces and then it was obvious. Substituted one from the junk box though not log taper.
2) there is a pice of clear plastic scotch tape across the ¡°RF MODULE¡± of my QLG1!!!? It is soldered so it is not holding it to the board. Do I leave it on, do I take it off, is it holding I the shielding or insulating it from static, does it serve some other purpose? Seems odd, and is not seen in any of the pictures.
tnx
|
Hans,
Yes, thank you. The reason I am asking, for those of you interested, there is someone on QRZ dot com selling an unbuilt 20 because he wants a 40. I have a 20 and am waiting for a 40 but I will wait. Someone here might want to jump on the QRZ post.
|
Keith, G6NHU
Alan de G1FXB
Colin Buckup
Mark G?NMY