Re: QMX+160-6 ceased powering up
#QMXplus
Many thanks Chris,
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i'll try to acquire a regulated power supply during the Holidays and get back to you in January.?
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Sly VA2YZX
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They are not intentionally crossed; it is best practice to avoid crossing the wires on the windings.
However as you note, it will not have a noticeable effect on the functionality.? When orienting the ends to solder in the transformer, it is very difficult to do without crossing the last turn a bit.
Stan KC7XE
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Re: 12V battery not playing well with QMX
I would use a pre-made buck-boost converter, like this one I got from amazon:
or just search for buck boost converter -? there are multitudes of models, some with meters, etc.
You set its output for 12.0V (as measured by your DVM), and if the input voltage is higher, it regulates it down, and if the input voltage drops lower, it boosts it up to 12.0V.? Works very well to give a constant regulated voltage to the QMX.? And it is very small, so you can attach it to the housing of your battery.? Like any converter, it is not 100% efficient (varies between 85% and 95% depending on voltages), but that only reduces the runtime from your battery a small amount, while it removes any concern about the voltage level into your QMX.
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Stan KC7XE
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Re: USB-C to USB-C cable recommendation
I bought some great cables from? Fannoday on Amazon.com recently. They are very good quality, high speed shielded cables at a reasonable price.?
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73, Dan - W2DLC
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Re: Orientation of D33 on QCX-Mini Rev3 PC
No problem Brent, glad to help, we’ve all been there, you’ve only got a few years on me. 1961 vintage myself. Cheers Nick G0OQK
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12V battery not playing well with QMX
Hello all,
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When I go portable, I use a 12V Makita drill battery which voltage varies between 12 and 10.5V. It is really convenient, the circuitry protects against shorts, it is in a robust case and it lasts a good while.
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Nevertheless it doesn't play well with the QMX, for some reason sometimes the tension goes up while in RX. I imagine, there is some unintended interaction between the QMX regulation and the battery while the current draw is low.
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I can't really "afford" the 0.5V drop of a regulator in emission thus I would like to add in between the two a simple linear regulator that auto switch itself in the circuit as soon as the input tension goes above 12V.
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Anybody would recommend a circuit that is a good starting point ? Even if I need to make modifications/adjustment, a "scheme design" would help me.
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73 de Yannig - F4IUJ
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On Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 03:57 PM, Corey M wrote:
Hi Dave, I am curious what type of RFI you experienced, I have not experienced any with my 3d printed top. 
Looks really interesting. Have you got more photos to show?
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73 de Yannig - F4IUJ
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Re: RF output power on 160 and 80 meters
On Monday, 23 December 2024 17:29:13 -03 Chris KB1NLW via groups.io wrote: Until Hans fixes it through programming a lower PA voltage for 160m
and 80m I would recommend against operating or not operating above
10v supply since the PA transistors are actually operating above the
manufacturers rating even with a 1:1 SWR.
Dear Chris, Allow me to be a little bit confused by your statement. Are you referring to drain current or maximum power dissipation @ 25°C? What does the frequency have to do with the operation of the PA if it outputs into a pure resistive load of 50Ohms? Provided the frequency is far enough to the lower end of the transit frequency. Which is the case for 160 and 80m. People are fine with a SWR of 2:1 or even 3:1 because the resistance, which the PA is driving, is higher than 50Ohms. BS170 blow when SWR is high when the resistance is lower than 50Ohms. SWR does not indicate in which direction the mismatch goes. 73 de -- Eike Lantzsch KY4PZ / ZP5CGE
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Hi
I am looking at the WTS transformer instructions, and notice that the wires on the non-tapped side of the primary seem to be crossed. Is this intentional or a trick of the light.
I don’t think circuit wise it makes any difference but thought I ought to check.
73 and season’s greetings
Stewart/G3YSX
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Re: QMX+ with Macbook Air (Sonoma OS)
Folks, I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to
see so much help offered here with this group.
I am fully up and running now and everything seems
to be just fine.
Anecdotally, I have a UNIX working relationship
from my engineering days at work (long time ago) I could get
around the BSD flavor rather well in those days.? Alas, it has
been many years since I was near to anything running Unix and
the closest I have been was a Raspberry Pi a distant relative.?
I have been using Windows like everyone else it seems forever.?
I tried to load putty on my Mac with similar
experiences of failure.? I had to install mac-ports and
home-brew but it never worked so I gave up and asked the
question in this forum.? After learning how seamless it was and
waking up old UNIX directory and input/output nomenclature in my
cobwebbed mind,? it was so easy I am embarrassed that I could
not figure this out.
My apologies to Stan Dye who was spot on as far as
how the QMX serial environment appeared to the Mac-book. He had
it right and I had it wrong!
Lastly, I am getting MacLogger and some other
stuff to play with.
A huge thanks to all!
Joe
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Re: RF output power on 160 and 80 meters
Until Hans fixes it through programming a lower PA voltage for 160m and 80m I would recommend against operating or not operating above 10v supply since the PA transistors are actually operating above the manufacturers rating even with a 1:1 SWR.
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Re: QMX and power bank PD
On Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 11:01 AM, Bruce Akhurst wrote:
This can get confusing so do I end up tying the right cable to the right charger?? ?I'd rather buy a dedicated supply . .
I agree with that - particularly since the wall chargers are also often 'noisy' in their generation of the DC voltages.
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But when using a PD Battery power bank, the confusion factor is not there, and the power is reasonably quiet.? If you are using 12V, you do need to make sure the PD battery you buy supports 12V (not all do, but it is easy to see in their spec).? All of them do 9V, per PD spec, so I built my QMX for 9V.
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Stan KC7XE
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Re: Ultimate 3S overvoltage damage!
Good result John, glad the damage was limited to the MCU. ?You are correct that the power setting is only an indication inserted into the WSPR message. The only way to vary the power in the U3S is by adding extra BS170 transistors and increasing the voltage on the PA. ?It’s detailed in the manual. ?I run my PA on an 8V supply. 73 Nick G0OQK
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Re: QMX and power bank PD
I've been using NiMH batteries for various rigs for some time now, and was planning to migrate to 18650 batteries. But my Iniu LiPo powerbank with 9V trigger cable was so inexpensive and convenient to use, I doubled down and bought a 2nd one (Safuel brand) on Black Friday.
72 de Russ, va3rr
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Show quoted text
On Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 01:05 PM, Stan Dye wrote: Don't hesitate to use this very
convenient solution.
Stan KC7XE
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Re: USB-C to USB-C cable recommendation
A snap-on ferrite on either end of the USB cable will cut down on the RF getting into your laptop (and vice versa).
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Steve KA0SM
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Re: QMX+ with Macbook Air (Sonoma OS)
Ron et el .......
I am up and running on my Macbook air thanks to
Pierre.? This is going to be such a great help on my POTA
excursions and other portable operating with the ability to
control the radio and the logging.?
Ron, I don't think I am going to go through all
the steps just to be able to run N1MM as there is sufficient IOS
software to meet? my needs.? Thank you very much for your?
suggestion and detail.
73's
Joe K8FC
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Re: QMX+ Rev1 Not shutting down
Hi Stan,
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MANY MANY THANKS.? Even though pin 7 visually had a good looking solder joint, when I tested continuity it was giving me some resistance instead of full continuity.? A touch up with the soldering iron and full continuity.? Plugged the QMX+ in, startup normal.? Upon shut down, Shut Down Msg appeared, then disappeared and YIPPEE, the LCD screen shut off, and pressing the on/off button the QMX+ started right up again.
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Again, thanks for your clear directions and interpretation of a where the issue might be, and the fix.
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Scott,
K1SMK
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Re: QMX+ with Macbook Air (Sonoma OS)
Yes Ron that is what I select - TS480
I looked a little further and you can control the QMX from SkookumLogger. It's a bit tricky as there are sooo many shortcuts and having a MacBook Pro keyboard also adds to the fun (no Page Up / Down keys). I did manage to be able to shift either VFO A or B up and down in frequency and turn RIT on/off/up/down but still need to figure a few things out. Not sure the QMX has all the commands that are being sent to it or there are shortcut conflicts with macOS. It's a project!
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Pierre
VE3HQZ
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Re: QMX and power bank PD
I've patiently tried several.? Once negotiated the quality or not of? the? 9V? 15V etc is from the wall charger supply and as good as that is
Problems? ?The cable may output any available 'lower than requested' voltage if the wall charger socket negotiation fails or the wall charger socket doesn't do that particular nominal voltage.
e.g. I have a 20V trigger cable that gives 15V if plugged into one USB-C on my dual charger and 20V on the other (The Port PD capabilities vary) .?
Plug it into an old fashioned wall charger and out pops 5V
This can get confusing so do I end up tying the right cable to the right charger?? ?I'd rather buy a dedicated supply . .
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Re: USB-C to USB-C cable recommendation
Belkin, Anker etc are usually good.? ? ? Name-letter-jumble amazon Ebay etc 50Gbps 500W bargains less so?
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Daniel Conklin
dxradio33
va3rr
Pierre Robillard VE3HQZ
Bruce Akhurst