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Re: External GPS Antenna

 

That is *exactly* what I did. My active GPS antenna sits on top of a
metal cabinet in the room where I have the U3S/QLG1 and works fine.

Paul N1BUG

On 09/28/2018 03:52 PM, Curt M. wrote:
Thanks guys! I think I'm going to pickup one of the active
antennas on Amazon. I guess I'll solder a jack onto the OLG1 and
use a 6" angled male to female bulkhead connector and drill a
hole in the back of the case to out the bulkhead connector
through. I can then screw on the active antenna onto that
bulkhead connector. Does that sound like that will work? Am I
missing something?
Re: External GPS Antenna

 

Thanks guys! ?I think I'm going to pickup one of the active antennas on Amazon. ?I guess I'll solder a jack onto the OLG1 and use a 6" angled male to female bulkhead connector and drill a hole in the back of the case to out the bulkhead connector through. ?I can then screw on the active antenna onto that bulkhead connector. ?Does that sound like that will work? ?Am I missing something??
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 

Got it working! It was a defective 10-way female pin header; the one into which clk2 connected. Fortunately, I had a couple extras in my junk box. Thank you, Hans!
BTW, another question: On the relay switched LPF board, does a filter have to be in position 1?? the problem is, I want to use an SMA connector (the one that fits flat on the board), but a LPF at position 1 partially covers the female SMA.

73, Tom N7JX
Re: External GPS Antenna

V Zecchinelli
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Hey Curt,
I built a small acrylic case for the QLG1 and used the DB9 slot on the back of the supplied U3S metal case.? I like to take my U3S on the road from time to time so I just pack the 2 separately for easy transport.
73 Vince N1VIN


On 9/28/2018 2:00 PM, Curt M. wrote:

Hi everyone, new member here. ?I have a 6 band WSPR kit on the way and I may be interested in buying a clock kit or two. ?I'd like to have the WSPR kit in the metal box that I ordered with it but I also realize tat the GPS signal isn't going to work well or at all with the patch antenna inside of the box. ?What are my other options for an external antenna? ?Is there a small whip that can be attached to a bulkhead connection? ?I see lots of antenna talk on here but I must be missing any threads that talk about actual antenna part numbers.

Thanks,

Curt

Re: External GPS Antenna

 

An alternative approach to an external antenna: I'm using the QLG1 with the VFO/SigGen.? The VFO is in the basement,
and? GPS reception down there was real spotty.? Rather than purchasing an active GPS antenna (which, BTW, you can
find pretty handily on Amazon, for example), I stuck the QLG1 in a corner of the kitchen, where GPS reception is fine, and
ran a power/data cable down to the basement to the VFO.

Cheers -

Bruce K1FFX
Re: QCX no transmit after assembly

 

Happily I can annouce: complete success! I had overlooked a foam pad that was clinging to the soldering side of the board and completely messed up the RX. After taking it away I had a whow-experience!? The RX seems to pick up all signals that I can hear with my big rig and has a very nice filtering, very quiet. Just nice to listen to.

I now have a fully functional QCX before me. The building experience was, well, tough, but thanks to you, Alan and Jim, very educational and eventually succesful. After that I love the little thing even more ;-)

So, thank you so much and alle the best to you!
Vy 73 de andre dm1aa
External GPS Antenna

 

Hi everyone, new member here. ?I have a 6 band WSPR kit on the way and I may be interested in buying a clock kit or two. ?I'd like to have the WSPR kit in the metal box that I ordered with it but I also realize tat the GPS signal isn't going to work well or at all with the patch antenna inside of the box. ?What are my other options for an external antenna? ?Is there a small whip that can be attached to a bulkhead connection? ?I see lots of antenna talk on here but I must be missing any threads that talk about actual antenna part numbers.

Thanks,

Curt
Re: Receive Module

 

Hi Andy,
I see your point, but I assume you have a single band operation. I have switched LPF/BPF boards in all my kits and you can't set the LPF/BPF position in Park mode. But thinking about it I wonder if it just stays in the last selected position. I have been using repeated two minute RX mode cycles for long receive sessions and only Park mode for during CAL. I'll have to give it a try your way.

73 Ken G4APB
Re: QCX no transmit after assembly

 

I have a working TX.
Great! That's a good start.
Now C1 maximises in a reasonable position. But I have a lot of noise and next to no signal. The noise reacts strongly to tapping on the board.
Andre,

The calibration signal is applied to the antenna input from IC3 by way of R43. If it calibrates you should receive something. Maybe a bad joint on T1?

when I tune to a frequency (RX only!), then my nearby other receiver responds with a strong continous tone (around 650 Hz) on that very frequency.
This is to be expected, it is a direct conversion receiver, the local oscillator will appear to be strong on a local receiver.

73 Alan G4ZFQ
Re: QCX no transmit after assembly

 

Hi Alan and Jim,

SUCCESS (well, more or less, see below). I have replaced Q1-3, Q4-5, Q6, and IC3. Now RX draws 125 mA (display installed) and shows a whopping 3,4 W TX-output with 12V input. The drains of Q1-3 show on TX the desired big signal on the scope. So many thanks, once again, for your super help. I have a working TX.

Sadly, however, now the RX side is fouling up. During calibration maximum I-Q balance was only obtained with C1 completely open. So I took off 4 windings from the third secondary of T1. Now C1 maximises in a reasonable position. But I have a lot of noise and next to no signal. The noise reacts strongly to tapping on the board. Moreover, when I tune to a frequency (RX only!), then my nearby other receiver responds with a strong continous tone (around 650 Hz) on that very frequency. This is only a preliminary report. I'll have to look at this more closely and will start by measuring the IC3 pins again.

73 de andre
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 
Edited

Then this explains the problem.

You have a signal at Clk2. Clk2 is supposed to be connected to pin 11. But you see no signal at pin 11. So for whatever reason, there must be a break in the connection somewhere. Switch off the power and follow the track between Si5351A Clk2 output, and processor Pin 11. Somewhere there must be a break!

The firmware is just correctly reporting this issue.?

73 Hans G0UPL?
?

On Fri, Sep 28, 2018, 18:54 tl10200 via Groups.Io <tl10200=[email protected]> wrote:
No signal at pin 11.
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 
Edited

No signal at pin 11.
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 

What is the signal on the 'scope at pin 11 of the AVR chip??

73 Hans G0UPL

On Fri, Sep 28, 2018 at 11:02 AM Chris Smith <me@...> wrote:
That's certainly mysterious. Vdd is in spec. I'd probe the Vdd supply line with a scope now and look for transients. Failing that it's replace the Si5351A and/or a software problem.

Chris M0XTE


On Thu, 27 Sep 2018, at 21:44, tl10200 via Groups.Io wrote:
Also, I have re-flowed every solder joint on both boards, with particular attention to pins 11 & 15 on the Atmega 328 socket and pins 13 & 14 on the Si5351A board. I have a good, clean, well-regulated bench power supply.




Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

Chris Smith
 

That's certainly mysterious. Vdd is in spec. I'd probe the Vdd supply line with a scope now and look for transients. Failing that it's replace the Si5351A and/or a software problem.

Chris M0XTE


On Thu, 27 Sep 2018, at 21:44, tl10200 via Groups.Io wrote:

Also, I have re-flowed every solder joint on both boards, with particular attention to pins 11 & 15 on the Atmega 328 socket and pins 13 & 14 on the Si5351A board. I have a good, clean, well-regulated bench power supply.




Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 

Also, I have re-flowed every solder joint on both boards, with particular attention to pins 11 & 15 on the Atmega 328 socket and pins 13 & 14 on the Si5351A board. I have a good, clean, well-regulated bench power supply.
Re: QCX no transmit after assembly

 

Hi Jim,

those 140 ohms at Q5 looked fishy to me too. Now I know why -- thank you. The present state of the board is this:
a. Q4 has been replaced.
b. Q1-3 have been taken out.
c. IC3 has been taken out (was a surprisingly easy job with a sidecutters and a combination of desoldering wick and pump).
To do:
- Replace Q5.
B. Put in new Q1-3.
C. Put in new IC3 (this time on a socket).
I? should get the new NAND-gate by the end of the week. With it installed I'll test again.

73 de andre
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 

The voltage on pin 2 of the LM317Z measures 3.43 V.
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 
Edited

Yes, I was using poor RF probe technique. Here's with the probe tip ground spring thingy...
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

 
Edited



Just for you, DC coupled.
Re: Ultimate 3S SI5351error

Chris Smith
 
Edited

The ringing there is likely the inductance of your probe ground strap. See LT AN47-8: High Speed Amplifier Techniques:

Worth checking the voltage on pin 2 of the LM317Z to make sure it's actually reasonably close to 3.3V. As I've mentioned before, the regulator implementation on the Si5351A boards is suspect if powered from a 5V source (like piggy-backing the U3S 5V line) as the drop-out voltage range of the LM317Z is exceeded and the resistor ratio is slightly off. This can lead to regulation failing and random problems including crashes because the regulator can't catch up with a power demand from the Si5351A. If you power it from some power supplies, like USB charger type things they aren't even guaranteed to deliver 5V which makes this even worse.

I had to replace the regulator with an MCP1700 on mine before it was stable. Made a world of difference.? Holtek HT75XX if you want something cheaper.

Chris M0XTE


On Thu, 27 Sep 2018, at 19:13, tl10200 via Groups.Io wrote:

Ok Hans, here's a screenshot of clock 2 on the synth module. I guess I should have said 'ringy' rather than 'lumpy' :). At first I could not get it to repeat the problem. The U3S and the SI5351 synth module sat overnight, connected to each other. When first I energized the U3S I got just the "Error: SI5351" without the "No Clk", just like it comes up without the SI5351 synth module attached. There was no output from any of the three clocks. I removed the SI5351 synth module from it's socket, waited a half hour, plugged it back in, turned it on, and this time I got "Error: SI5351a No Clk". This time the 9 MHz signal was present on clock 2 (nothing on the other two). This is the condition where I took the screenshot.

Of course, the U3S module is still non-functional, with or without the synth module connected. Just stops at the error message and doesn't respond to buttons.

Hope this helps,
Tom N7JX



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