...and I thougt I was 1st: #52487?

?

de DO7OO
ex DE8MSH

Hi Dave,
I am an OOGY. I did not get one, because I was too late.
If I would have got one, I certainly would have redirected it to you. I love your work and I learned a lot from you.
Maybe there is somebody else out there willing to help you out.
73 and Happy Holidays
Jakob AA0JR

The TCXO board is very small so not very heat tolerant, so avoid excessive heating. Normal care in soldering. ? I have found that using the longest cut off leads you have, leaving excess on both ends and not trimming until both sides are soldered appears to work better.? This will help in preventing the main board connection from coming loose while soldering the TCXO board.?

It's really sad how the supply of components has plummeted in such a dramatic way. Under other circumstances, a leadless variant of the MEGA328 on an adapter PCB might present an alternative, however there is no stock supply whatsoever. There seems to be 1k8 pcs ATMEGA328P-PU on stock $someplace here in Germay for just under €2.5 each, however I doubt that such an amount is sufficient for a business relying on this exact part. The farnell website is rather funny: " Back order today stock arriving week commencing 1/16/23". Yeah.

On that note, I always wanted to make the suggestion of doing a small run of a partly SMD assembled board variation of QCX+ to ease and speed up manufacturing time of pre-assembled QCX+ etc. which your co-workers would certainly appreciate. There's probably a bunch of resistors, diodes, and maybe all OP-amps that could be added as SMD footprint components in parallel to the existing THT components if space is not occupied by traces on top layer, as the board has to go through SMD for MS5351M and FST3253 anyway. However I highly doubt that all the things going on @ Labs QTH would allow for any additional time to do so.

73s Martin DH3MW

On 18/12/2021 14:56, George Korper wrote:

There is a warning in the manual advising extreme caution
In soldering the TCXO to three cutoff component leads.

George,

I don't see "Extreme"
It just says do not overheat.
Provided the PCB lies flat as shown then you really need to be hamfisted to do damage. Just follow the instructions.

73 Alan G4ZFQ

As I said earlier, ".....nailed one this time #52743". Alas, it was a small nail.?

73 Kees K5BCQ

Hi All,
There is a warning in the manual advising extreme caution
In soldering the TCXO to three cutoff component leads.
I would appreciate any advice elaborating on this warning and member's experience with soldering the TCXO as I see
a problem in my attempt.
Thanks,
K3GK

Not an expert, Alan, just my incredible old age....!

Incidentally, the problem does not arise with direct conversion transceivers as the LO/VFO is by definition always zero beat with itself. It can be an issue when using a separate receiver (such as the HRO), where it can cause interference to the wanted signal or desensitisation.

Have a great Christmas, and stay safe,

Terry

Phew 52705 what a relief

73 all
Nick G1BVI

On 18/12/2021 11:11, Terry Hart G3VFO via groups.io wrote:

The issue does not arise with 'modern' rigs where the vfo is one part of a mixer system, and other elements of that are turned on only on tx. 'Back in the day' where the vfo was

Terry,

Your call had not registered with me, you are obviously a VFO expert:-)
I've been a home constructor for a long while but have not been aware of such designs.
The QCX and other of Hans kits do use a VFO on the working frequency but do not need to mute..

73 Alan G4ZFQ

Hi Hans,

Seems the pandemic posed a major impact to the just in time economy.
Between shipping and materials plus the added demand the on the shelf
supplies became exhausted.? The sudden changes caused the forecasting
the vendors use at all points in the chain to fail as it based on long term.
Short term transient events tends to cause excessive overreactions.? Its
partly due to human nature that results in panic stops when slow down
is really what is required.? That sudden stop ripples back to the vendors,
faster than the forecasts.? The start requests take longer, and are of
lower initial volumes, or are collectively overwhelming volumes and
are reacted to slower and lead times stretch out.? Its a train that is
primed to stop suddenly and then takes a long time to get moving
at the required speed where it will be inevitably late to arrive.? I've
seen this many times in the last 50 years.

One of the things you might do is now that you have a working stock look into?
working with a distributor for long term committed buy.? That is? a long term
contract with vendor to stock parts you have committed to buy over the
next year or fixed period for agreed price.? You know what you expect to
need so you have forecasting.? if you "kit" the micros with other parts known
to be needed that may help the pricing of the deal.??

Distributors like that as the parts are forecasted and they can
deal with the?chip vendors better who also like forecasted volumes
to help with their build scheduling and all that.? The big deal is that
if the distributor has 20-30 clients buying 10,000 pieces a year they
can work with the vendor for several million a year and that allows
them some clout.? Factories that make semiconductors never could
respond well to market changes especially those forcing spot market
purchases.

The down side is that if material supply should improve and prices drop
your committed at the higher price until you run out the commitment
at that price.? ?

Allison
-------------------------------
Please reply on list so we can share.
No private email, it goes to a bit bucket due to address harvesting

QRP-LABS already provides more value than other Ham supplier, not to mention superior customer service so a small price increase to insure the continued supply of excellent products should be of no concern to any Ham.? Many of the worlds largest companies have had significant price increases and product discontinuations in the wake of the recent crisis. Thank you for you efforts and commitment to the hobby. Great job securing additional product, now go enjoy the holidays with your family.

On 18/12/2021 11:46, Chris Wood via groups.io wrote:

Well spoken Gerry.? I don't think you'd hear any complaint if Hans put the price up by $5 and kept a little more in hand as a financial buffer, for development work and to keep the family cared for.
Best wishes to all
Chris? G4CWS

<AOL>

:-)

Nick


--
There was not a lot that could be done to make Morpork a worse place. A direct hit by a meteorite, for example, would count as gentrification.
(Pyramids)
Sat 10336 Sep 13:10:01 GMT 1993
13:10:01 up 6 days, 2:38, 7 users, load average: 0.46, 0.50, 0.56


--
73 Nick M0HGU

Hans

If anyone has a problem with your price increase so you can take care of your family and remain in business, it is probably better if they go somewhere else to do their business. ?

Relax and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Larry NA0F?

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Everyone replying here are spot on! ?Great kits well engineered at a very reasonable price. ?All the best in 2022.

Hello Hans

Many in the hobby are amazed that you offer your kits at prices less than half of other kits with fewer features and functions. ?A small increase in price is not a problem from my point of view. ?I am hopeful that the business will sustain you and your family during the monetary crises affecting Turkey at this time.

I am very glad I was around to purchase and experience building your kits.

73
Art N9AEP

On Samstag, 18. Dezember 2021 09:10:30 -03 you wrote:

Hi Dan

Yes there is! In the next day or two!

73 Hans G0UPL

Thank you SO much Hans!
You brought back the fun of amateur radio to us so called little guns -
well I for one only having small cracker beans ;-).
vy 73 de Eike ZP6CGE