Re: QCX+ Menu 8.5 Ref frq
You can do some trial and error yes. ?
?
However all the QRP labs TCXOs I’ve seen are within a few HZ of 25MHz and that’s a beat note /error you couldn’t hear/zero sufficiently accurately by ear?
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On Wed, Apr 2, 2025 at 02:09 PM, VA2OJD wrote:
Would that be indicative of anything underlying problems or is that simply the screen's nature??
I think it indicates something very wrong.? Has it always been this bright?? The screen backlight, properly working, is brighter than some prefer, but it is far from being bright enough to wash out the LCD.? I have 4 QMX/QMX+ devices of different hardware versions, and the display works similarly on all of them, with a full range of contrast adjustment.
?
It would be helpful to measure the voltage on pins 15 and 16 of the display connector (the backlight pins) or the resistor.? Is it 5v?? Or do you somehow have a higher voltage there?? If it is 5V, perhaps the particular display you have was intended for 3V operation, and I would put an even larger value resistor in to reduce the current.?
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I have assembled and have working a QMX+, with one caveat;? all of the LPF sweeps are bad.
?
The audio filter sweeps, RF filter sweeps, image sweeps, and SWR sweeps look reasonable, although on a couple of bands the SWR sweeps aren't flat across the entire bandwidth swept, but were always good in the ham band frequencies.? The I/Q sweeps all looked good except for 160 Meters where the phases were in sync for some reason.? Not really a problem for me, I don't own that much wire.
?
Here's the real problem.? All of the LPF sweeps are bad.? For example:
?
?
0 ?| ? ? ? ? ?* .* ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ? ? . ? ? ? * ?* .* ?* ?* ? ?. ?* ?* ?* ? .
? ?| ?* ? ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ?* ?* ? ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ? ?* ?* ?* ?* ?*.
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-8 |* ? ? ? ? ? . ? | ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?.
? ? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 6 ? ? ? ? ? 9 ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? ? 15 ? ? ? ? ?18 ? ? ? ? ? 21
?
?
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? ? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
? ?16 ? ? ? ?24 ? ? ? ? 32 ? ? ? ?40 ? ? ? ?48 ? ? ? ? 56 ? ? ? ?64 ? ? ? ?72
?
All of the other bands exhibit a similar pattern.
?
I tried looking for something common to all of the filters, but nothing I came up with made any sense given that the other sweeps were 'normal'.
?
Since everything looked OK except for the LPF sweeps, I decided to perform a real-world test.? I hooked it up to my EFHW at 20 feet and worked Oklahoma on 40 Meters FT8, so the transceiver is working.? I don't have the necessary test equipment to check the spectral purity of the output signal so I'm hesitant to continue using it on the air until I resolve this problem.
?
I tried searching for a solution both here and with Google and read a lot about fixing issues I don't have, but nothing that pointed me in the right direction.
?
Thanks all for the great ideas I'm about to receive.
?
Andy
WB9YXA
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I have assembled and have working a QMX+, with one caveat;? all of the LPF sweeps are bad.
?
The audio filter sweeps, RF filter sweeps, image sweeps, and SWR sweeps look reasonable, although on a couple of bands the SWR sweeps aren't flat across the entire bandwidth swept, but were always good in the ham band frequencies.? The I/Q sweeps all looked good except for 160 Meters where the phases were in sync for some reason.? Not really a problem for me, I don't own that much wire.
?
Here's the real problem.? All of the LPF sweeps are bad.? For example:
?
?
0 ?| ? ? ? ? ?* .* ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ? ? . ? ? ? * ?* .* ?* ?* ? ?. ?* ?* ?* ? .
? ?| ?* ? ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ?* ?* ? ?* ?* ?* .* ?* ?* ? ?* ?* ?* ?* ?*.
? ?| ?* ?* ** * .* ?* ?* ?* .* ** ** ** ** ** ** * ?* .* ?* ?* ?* ** * ?* ?* ?**
? ?| ** ** ** **.* ?* ?* ?* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * .* ?* ** ** ** * ?* ?* * *
? ?| ** ** ** **.** * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **.* ** ** ** ** ** * ** * *
? ?| ** ** ** **.***|*** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *** *** ** ** ** **** ** * *
? ?| ** ** ** *** **|** *** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *** ** *** ** ** ** *** *** * *
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? ?|* ? ? ? ? ? . ? | ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?.
-8 |* ? ? ? ? ? . ? | ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ? ?.
? ? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 6 ? ? ? ? ? 9 ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? ? 15 ? ? ? ? ?18 ? ? ? ? ? 21
?
?
0 ?|. ? ? ? ?*. * ?* ? ? . ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? . ? ? ? ? .
? ?|.* ? ? ? *. * ?* ?* ?. ? ?* ?* . ? ? * ?*. * ? ? ? *. * ? ? ? * ?* ? ? ?.*
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? ?|** ** ** ***|** *** ** ** **** ** ** *** *** ** ** **** ** ** **** ** **.**
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? ?|. ? ?* ? ?. | ? ? ?* .* ? ? ? ?. * ?* ? ?. ? ? * ?* . ? ? * ?*. ? ? ?* ?.
? ?|. ? ? ? ? . | ? ? ? ?.* ? ? ? ?. * ? ? ? . ? ? * ? ?. ? ? * ? . ? ? ?* ?.
-7 |. ? ? ? ? . | ? ? ? ?.* ? ? ? ?. ? ? ? ? . ? ? * ? ?. ? ? ? ? . ? ? ?* ?.
? ? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
? ?16 ? ? ? ?24 ? ? ? ? 32 ? ? ? ?40 ? ? ? ?48 ? ? ? ? 56 ? ? ? ?64 ? ? ? ?72
?
All of the other bands exhibit a similar pattern.
?
I tried looking for something common to all of the filters, but nothing I came up with made any sense given that the other sweeps were 'normal'.
?
Since everything looked OK except for the LPF sweeps, I decided to perform a smoke test.? I hooked it up to EFHW at 20 feet and worked Oklahoma on 40 Meters FT8, so the transceiver is working.? I don't have the necessary test equipment to check the spectral purity of the output signal so I'm hesitant to continue using it on the air until I resolve this problem.
?
I tried searching for a solution both here and with Google, read a lot about fixing issues I don't have but nothing that pointed me in the right direction.
?
Thanks all for the great ideas I'm about to receive.
?
Andy
WB9YXA
?
?
|
I have a working QDX, REV-5 pcb, low band and would like to make it more bullet proof with the LTN20069 heatsink and 4 of the TN0110 transistors. I haven't seen any pictures of that. Are there some anywhere? My understanding is that I remove the BS170s and insert the TN0110s, but when folded down, would present their flat faces upward, on which the LTN20069 would lay, complete with a 3mm hole in the center to sandwich it all together. I have a teensie 12v fan to sit on top of the case, with proper holes in it.
?
I need more robustness due to using the QDX in the car, which can get hot. The TN0110s allow for higher voltage use, but I stick to 11.1V batteries because mobile antennas for HF whip around and the swr varies, adding further heat on the finals.
?
Any errors in my plan? I'll post pictures when I'm done.
?
Tnx,
W7LS
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Re: SSB audio distortion #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 02:02 AM, Mehmet Dinch wrote:
does it complete on consecutive runs for the same band or is just, seemingly, random?
I usually didn't try again after I got it to work.? So I don't really know.? In fact, I have no idea why changing the band settings would help it to work - I don't think it has a direct relationship - probably something more subtle.? But without changing band settings, it would repeat the same bad run each time.
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Re: QMX and power bank PD
I recommend using your voltage monitor to see what happens on the port with your 12V trigger cable, when you plug any one of the other ports into something.? Mine reduces the 12V port to 5V if I plug in a 5V device to its 2nd port.? Hopefully yours has independent port voltage switching.?
Stan
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Re: SWR and PWR does not show lcd
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 08:51 AM, <ec7zv0@...> wrote:
What does Hans's comment mean?
That there's no TX PWR & SWR display on the QMX+?
Hans' comment means that you need to read the QMX/QMX+ operations manual, and the correct data is there.
Yes, the power and SWR meter work on both QMX and QMX+.
If they are not working, it is possible that you didn't use the display/controls menu to properly enable them.
Or perhaps your T507 transformer is not properly soldered in, such that the CPU can't measure any forward/reflected power.
I have never seen the indicators malfunction in any of the firmware versions I have used, on either my QMX or QMX+ units, but it does depend on the T507 hardware is working properly.
?
Note that the receive S-meter and AGC meter do not work in DIGI mode, only in CW mode, because AGC is only implemented for CW.
Stan KC7XE
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On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 10:26 AM, <k2cwcqrp@...> wrote:
a 12 VDC power adapter measuring 13.4 VDC output at open circuit
If this is the power supply you have been using to operate your QMX, that is what caused the problem.? 13.4V is too high a voltage for QMX, as explained (in boldface red) in the assembly and operations documents.? Hans recommends using 2 simple silicon diodes in series in the power cable to lower the voltage, or you can use a buck or buck/boost converter.? Using 13.4V will eventually cause problems, like possible damage to your finals and to your power supplies.? If the supply voltage goes down lower than 12V during TX, it is still a problem, since it will bounce back up to a too-high voltage.? And if it droops to lower than 12V during receive, then it doesn't have the current capacity to properly power your QMX, and will cause operational problems.?
?
And if you weren't using that supply, good.? But you shouldn't use it for diagnosing the problem, either, unless you can turn it down to about 7V and set a 250mA current limit.
?
But back to the current problem -
If all is operating correctly, your current while pressing the button should go up to about 200mA for about 1 sec, then settle down to about 100mA after the processor starts up the SMPS supplies.? None of that appears to be happening.? Which means the 3.3V linear supply isn't even turning on - and that just requires hardware switching, so something is definitely broken.?
?
If you are up to doing some measurements, disassemble the QMX enough to remove the two power supply units, and test them independently using the procedure in the wiki. ? /g/QRPLabs/wiki/37128.? If one or both of these is bad (and you don't want to try fixing SMD stuff) you can order a new set from qrp-labs for $10. ?
Also on the main board, measure the resistance of the 12V, Vcc and Vdd pins with respect to board ground and with respect to each other.? These should all be at least a few k-ohms, if any is instead just a few ohms, that means something on the main board is shorting and needs to be found and fixed before installing and using new/fixed power supplies.
?
Or you can punt and send it to Jeff W1NC and he will fix it for you - but where's the fun in that?
Good luck - let us know how it goes.
Stan KC7XE
?
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I would like to know if I can apply the following procedure to calibrate the Ref frq without GPS?
Using a QCX+ 20M Band I would go to WWV 15MHz and read precisely the frequency for a zero beat. If I read 15.003.00 could I modify menu 8.5 to read 25.005.000 with the TCXO and have a more precise QCX+?
73 - Pierre - FK8IH
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On Wed, Apr 2, 2025 at 09:07 AM, Martin DK3UW wrote:
I finde, that the min. audio volume is still quite high but could not find a setting to alter that
There are three primary audio gain controls.? ?
?
The first is in Band Configuration.? Audio level set here is applied very early in the processing, and affects I/Q output as well as the rest of the audio path. [I think you earlier increased this value to increase the level into wsjt-x.]
?
The second is the volume control knob, which as a gain range of 0-200dB.? The third is in the Audio menu, an audio attenuator that can be set in steps from 0 to 100dB.? I think both of these only affect the audio output jack.
?
For SSB, there is are additional audio gain parameters in the agc settings.? The CW mode agc also has an 'S9 sounds like' setting which is essentially an audio gain control.?
?
Stan KC7XE?
?
?
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Re: QMX+ Power Output Question
Hi,
The power output list is fine.?
?It is what it is, and if you build another one,?
it will be just like that. Which is wonderful!
73,
George
K3GK
|
Re: QMX+ Power Output Question
Yep. Ran into that too.
Appreciate the possible alternative work around.
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 8:23 PM, Mark K9TR via groups.io <venchant@...> wrote: Greg,
?
I had to download the zip file version of Hamlib, that got it by Mcaffee.? Unzipping the file just to get the single .dll file I needed gave Malwarebytes a fit, so I disabled the anti-malware app, got my .dll and just copied it over to the Hamlib folder.
?
73! Mark K9TR
|
Re: QMX+ Power Output Question
Appreciate the info and that you checked the file too.
And of course, the great general group support. I've saved a bunch of your troubleshooting recommendations and signal flows explanations.?
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 7:55 PM, Stan Dye via groups.io <standye@...> wrote: It would certainly be nice for McAfee to fix it - I am pretty confident it is a false detection.
I checked the file with several other scanners; a couple had problems with it, others didn't.
Stan
|
Re: Gibberish characters appended onto end of Message 1
Braden,
I agree this is a bug.?
I also had this problem when I first entered and edited messages.
I found a way to fix it from the QMX front panel:
1 - enter the message menu, and select the message to edit it.
2 - using the vol knob, move the cursor to the end of the message, then use the 'backward triangle' char to delete all
3 - fill all of the characters of the message buffer with spaces, by pressing the 'select' button at least 32 times
4 - exit the menu to save the message of spaces.
5 - select the message again, and put in the 'enter' character (looks like a keyboard enter icon) in the first character of the message.
6 - the last three steps got the internals sync'd again, and won't send any extra characters or spaces.
?
I think what is happening is that when using the 'enter' or 'backward triangle' character to delete any unwanted characters, the firmware is only putting in some marker at that position, rather than clearing the buffer.? Then it honors that marker when showing you the message text (either on the front panel or in the terminal message editor), and you can't see the rest of the message buffer.? Then sending the (newly edited) message, that marker is not honored by the firmware for sending the message, and it sends all non-empty characters entered into the buffer and not individually deleted.? And sometimes some of the extra characters are corrupted, causing '*' to be sent.
?
So when a message memory is corrupted that way, you have to clear it out, either by the above procedure, or by using the terminal memory editor.? In the terminal memory editor, you still can't see the extra characters, but if you edit a character in the message, it seems to clear everything out and leave it correct as you see it.
?
BTW, while 'putty' is what most use, it is not necessarily easiest - any terminal emulator app will do (like the old Windows Hyperterm or whatever).? I use TeraTerm, which is also free and friendlier to use (in my opinion) and if you search messages in this group, I recently wrote some details on how to set it up.
Stan KC7XE
?
|
Thanks for suggestions Stan and co. Confirming that with GPS connected and RTC source set to "software" the clock became accurate within a few minutes.
de VK6XT?
?
?
?
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On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 07:35 PM, Greg McCain wrote:
Using a small gauge of insulated wire instead of a lead cutoff and tubing would work too. Get it close and flat on the PCB.?
?
?
Extra style points for tacking the wire/tubing down with Krazy-type glue.
73, Don N2VGU
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Re: QMX SMPS issues, and a possible cure
Don,
?
These are pretty dinky supplies, no need for your 3/8" copper bolts.
But the file certainly makes for lots of crud to study.
?
I loaded up the supply with 50 ohms on 5v, 25 ohms on 3.3v (100ma and 132ma respectively).
When scraping the 12v source to the supply across a file, I saw an occasional triangular peak
on 5v that got up to about 5.7v, the base of that triangle was about 100us.
This was overshoot as the supply recovered from a quick dip in 12v, and only when the?
5v rail didn't go below about 3v.? Scope photo attached.
?
This is exactly the case that was killing QMX's when 12v power was intermittent,?
though I can guarantee the overshoot then was far far worse.? That has mostly
been addressed through firmware changes, though I suspect issues remain.
?
In my Readme I say:
> Next rev of this board will have:
>? Larger inductors than the now 3x3mm, with pads large enough to do rework.
>? Inductors (1uH?) added at input to each switcher to reduce noise on supply.
?
Larger inductors, both physically larger and more uH.
Because the current through the inductors now rises and falls very fast,
it very nearly reaches 0 current in the valleys on VCC.? Planning to go from 4.7uH to 22uH.
That will slow the rate at which current rises, and I'd expect it to cure the spike.
Adding the 1uH up front of the switchers (cap still across the switchers Vin) should also
help, meant primarily to reduce noise on the incoming rail but may also help avoid
sudden dips on Vin to the IC's.
?
I also tried using the file as a load on both VCC and VDD, going from no load to 0 ohms.
Again saw spikes, the worst was still around 5.7v peak on VCC.
?
The 3.3v rail was relatively clean in all cases, in part because it is supplied from VCC.
?
Anyways, if there's enough interest and I have a few of these auto-stuffed,?
I'll plan on shipping a couple off to you for further tests.?
Also to Jeff Moore and Hans if they are interested.
These inductors are short and robust, the boards are small and cheap.
I'm confident the boards can go out as first class letter mail here in the US.
?
Attached is a scope photo of the VCC spikes when under load and?
running the 12v supply across a file.
?
Switching at 2mhz and a 100ma load on Vcc, 130ma on Vdd (typical for a QMX),
the efficiency is around 84%.
I don't expect switcher noise to be an issue, if so we can reduce it to around 500khz
by using a different variant of these IC's and significantly improve efficiency.
We may not quite reach the efficiency of the old scheme which operates at 100khz
but I for one am more interested in a robust design than the last few percent in efficiency.
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Jerry, KE7ER
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On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 01:18 PM, Donald S Brant Jr wrote:
From the readme:? "Behaves well when output is suddenly shorted and then the short is removed."??
Try this:
The most brutal power supply torture test I saw was to connect the supply output with heavy leads to two 3/8" copper bolts closely spaced in an insulating block.
Energize the supply, then take a coarse file and file the ends of the bolts simultaneously.??
Watch the sparks fly and monitor the supply for instabilities. ?The fast, random short/open transitions, with bonus negative-resistance arcs, will challenge any control loop.
I love getting paid to do stuff like that.
73, Don N2VGU
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Re: QMX+ Power Output Question
Greg,
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I had to download the zip file version of Hamlib, that got it by Mcaffee.? Unzipping the file just to get the single .dll file I needed gave Malwarebytes a fit, so I disabled the anti-malware app, got my .dll and just copied it over to the Hamlib folder.
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73! Mark K9TR
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Re: QMX+ SWR sweeps with SSB firmware?
On Thu, Apr 3, 2025 at 09:59 AM, mux_folder2001 wrote:
but I kinda don't want to go back one firmware level and lose my calibration.
You won't lose your calibration settings if you re-install v_027 of the firmware, unless you do a Factory Reset.
Firmware update preserves all compatible configuration settings across update versions.
Just this week I downgraded one of my QMX to 027, then went back up to 01_003, and the calibration was all still there.
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And I'm not seeing any improper behavior of SWR sweeps in 01_003 either.? They show my antenna behavior as expected.
Check to make sure you're really getting output power - SWR sweep will be wrong if the power isn't getting out (or back through T507).
Stan KC7XE
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Bruce Akhurst
Pierre - FK8IH
Donald S Brant Jr
Mark K9TR