On
3/24/25 I had a CW practice / rag chew session on 20 meters.
I worked three stations:
| Date
/ Time |
Call |
Bnd |
Frequency |
Mode |
Power |
Rec |
Snt |
SPC# |
Name |
Comments |
Off |
| 3/24/2025
19:25 |
AE4IX |
20 |
14.054 |
CW |
100 |
599 |
559 |
VA |
Rick |
K3
at 100 watts 100 ft sloper doublet |
19:43 |
| 3/24/2025
19:11 |
K4WNY |
20 |
14.054 |
CW |
100 |
589 |
599 |
TN |
Ron |
K3
at 100 watts 100 ft sloper doublet |
19:24 |
| 3/24/2025
19:08 |
K6GRD |
20 |
14.043 |
CW |
100 |
569 |
449 |
UT |
Rick |
K3
at 100 watts 100 ft sloper doublet |
|
Conditions were OK with
QSB on all stations but better than it was on Sunday. SSN =
110, SFI = 168, A = 10, K = 3.
My next CW practice session will be?March 28
at 09:00 EDT / 13:00 UTC on 20 meters.?Anyone and
everyone is welcome. This practice is intended for
operators who are new to CW or they need some practice. IT
DOES NOT MATTER HOW POOR YOUR CW IS. Mistakes are OK. Poor
fists are OK. Slow speed is OK. Really slow speed is OK.
This practice is meant for you to improve your CW. I will
do my best to adjust to your skill level. Operate at any
power level. If several stations show up, I will operate
as a round-table control station. I will do it as a
round-table so everyone gets a chance to transmit. Please
listen to my directions.
Details:
Date -
March 28 2025
Time - 09:00 EDT ?13:00 UTC
Band - 20 Meters
How to find me - I will find a clear frequency and call
CQ. Go to the Reverse Beacon Network and search for my
call sign AB8DF.
That will tell you
what frequency I am on. Tune your station to that
frequency and if you hear me give me a call. If there is a
QSO in progress, please wait for a break in the action.
Then send your callsign. If I hear you, I will invite you
to join the QSO and start a round-table QSO.
Reply to this email if you have questions.
IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW POOR CW IS
Ed
AB8DF_._,_._,_
|
Re: Updated Wiki Page: QMX QMX_plus SSB settings
#wiki-notice
Thanks for doing this Ludwig.
?
One suggested addition. Could you add a section at the end with the Default settings. Sometimes starting over with a clean slate is a needed option.
--
73, Rick
VE7TK
Website:
|
Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
Thank you Jim! Were exactly in menu can I enable "key to ground"?
|
I believe this is a question specifically for Hans :)
?
Having recently had the receiver mux chips be destroyed seemingly without any other failure of the switching circuit controlled by Q508, I'm wondering if there is a potential race condition such that the transmitter "switch on" code may be reachable without the receive switch pin on the microcontroller being pulled low.
?
I assume that transmit is almost certainly gated behind a command changing that pin state, but I'm wondering if there's a machine code level race condition that would let the transmitter operate without that pin being guaranteed pulled low?
?
Just a thought, as this seems like a strange failure mode.
?
Greg
N1TR?
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Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
Interesting observations on this thread.
?
Despite being CW only I am also an inveterate fiddler? ( it is ain't broke you're not experimenting hard enough :- ).
I loaded each of the recent software loads (from Linux desktop ) and all but one went well except for one which required shorting pad 2 to ground to forces dead device back to DFU mode and then reload.
?
After a calibration ( don't do this late at night when you are due to go to bed as it takes a while !! :-) ) I had dreadful distorted audio.? Thinking it was perhaps an issue with me driving from an external source ( USB), I found a near on 40-year-old electret I used to have as a neck harness for mobile 2M FM in the early 80s and wired it to a 3.5mm terminal break out ( see below - these are great for quick patching speakers/mikes/keys / ptt siwtches ).? I did test the electret first in a PC sound card and it sounded great.
Still with terrible distortion, I switched off the phase and amplitude predistort and the sound was then fine.? ?I was wondering if this was owing to calibration done on v...2 and now on v...3 ( seem to remember this is written to EEPROM so this should not be an issue). I re-ran the calibration and the audio is now fine.
?
73 Simon
|
FTAOD seems to be a legalese thing, had to look it up.
Took me some time to find that on the web.
A slight misspelling on my part brought up lots of very cute images of amphibians, which distracted me from my initial purpose.
?
Perhaps it is best understood by reading it in proper context, as written by a professional.
Here's an example of how it should be used, from ?
?
"For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph is intended to, shall be??to and,??does?avoid any and all doubt??provided that it shall not be deemed to, and shall accordingly not, amend, alter or affect the foregoing passage, which passage does not, for the avoidance of doubt and notwithstanding this present clarification as it may,??be amended updated or clarified, introduce any doubt, (other than, for the avoidance of doubt, those previously-identified doubts as may have been conclusively eliminated by the doubt-avoiding effect of this present clarification)."
?
TLDR:? FTAOD="To be clear,"
?
Jerry, KE7ER
?
?
?
On Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 01:57 AM, Chris wrote:
I've just started building my QMX+ kit and what I found was that I needed an indicated temperature of 440C to burn the enamel off. My normal 380C barely touched it.? I'm using a WEP 926 LED soldering station.? I'd like to use a little less and will be experimenting as the toroid saga continues.
?
FTAOD this is with the 0.33mm wire supplied in the kit.
?
HTH
?
Chris, G5CTH
|
Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
Hello Sergey,
?
My QMX+ seems to have neither issue you are reporting. I am driving a Juma PA 100D clone successfully with SWR protection enabled. To key the amp I had to go into the menu to enable the key to ground feature in the band settings.?
?
73,
Jim AC9YY
|
Re: QMX+ Initial Power Up Display Shows Only Boxes
Hi Dean -
?
Glad to hear you were able to get yours on the air!
--
73,
Don K0DBL
|
Re: QMX+ Initial Power Up Display Shows Only Boxes
Thanks Stan -
?
Actually, I ended up buying a new one already assembled.? I donated all of the internals from this one, except for the GPS module, to Jeff for his excellent service to our community.
?
--
73,
Don K0DBL
|
To Whom It May Concern,
When will SSB be ready???That was another endless topic. It's now put on clothes.?
Just curious is there room for DIP switches to juggle a microphone connection?? (I went through this concept with another branded kit when I first started.?Turned out that one already matched my desire.)?
Could it be on the QMX+ developer board?
73s Paul KY4XJ.
On Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 at 01:25, Paul - AI7JR via groups.io <paul.hanchett@...> wrote:
Just updated my QMX+ to 01_01_003 Beta. Plugged a modified Baofeng mic into the front panel and tried running the microphone test. It doesn't seem to work.
?
I can tap on the front panel, and that seems to get a bit of a response, but the mic is dead. Also, in USB/LSB mode, PTT doesn't switch to transmit. Hardware diagnostics indicate that the mic's PTT switch is working. Can see that the diagnostic notices the mic's FET...
?
Unplugged and powered the mic from 10V through a 2K resistor. I can see audio with my scope, so that looks like it's working.
?
Is there a setting I need to change, for the external mic to work?
?
TIA!
Paul -- AI7JR
|
Re: Leaving 50-watt amplifier in-line but off
The attenuator is after the TX diode switch.? Not a factor.
?
However the RX switch does not have enough bias current to
transmit thought it.
?
Still at, you cannot, even when powered and no ptt.
?
Assuming your using BNC cables its only a barrel coonnector
to bypass the amp.
?
--
Allison
------------------
Post online only,?
direct email will go to a bit bucket.
|
Re: Qmx Ssb intermittent transmit.
Do you have the mouser part number?
|
Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
On Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 06:09 AM, Glenn S wrote:
I settled on a 20m centre frequency of 14300000 which produced a smooth descending plot although not with as many points as say, 17m.
?
?
I played around with my band setting for 20 last night, and the plot did not change with much significance.? That said,? I have been able to Tx with good audio after re-running phase, and USB calibrations before messing with the band configs. Plots looks strange, but "it works"!? I did end up leaving Freq Center slightly adjusted, but all others the same.??
?
?
?
?
|
Meant to include.
?
This method worked equally well for the two wires twisted together, as on the transformer, as it did with a single wire.
|
I’ve been using my Weller WSD81 station set at 375C and a 1.6mm chisel bit with great success.
I've built quite a few QRP Labs kit, with last week a QMX+ and a QMX 20-10. On previous builds I’ve had to scrape the 0.6mm wire, heating just wasn’t good enough. But with the 0.33mm was easy.
What I found was the best way was to cut the wire a bit shorter, perhaps 6mm in excess of what’s needed to go into the pcb, then start the iron right on the cut end where the copper is exposed. Then work the solder blob up to the desired place. This works much better and faster than trying to burn the enamel mid way.
|
I've just started building my QMX+ kit and what I found was that I needed an indicated temperature of 440C to burn the enamel off. My normal 380C barely touched it.? I'm using a WEP 926 LED soldering station.? I'd like to use a little less and will be experimenting as the toroid saga continues.
?
FTAOD this is with the 0.33mm wire supplied in the kit.
?
HTH
?
Chris, G5CTH
|
Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
Plus PTT output doesn't work properly. Nothing changes there when I start TX.
BR/Sergey
UB3AZK
?
|
Re: #qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
#qmx
#ssb
Hello Hans! Looks like there is a bug with SWR measurement during usage of PA. QMX detects very high SWR during TX threw PA and stops it (if protection is switched on). In reality SWR is 1.1 (confirmed by Hardware test of QMX itself + Nano VNA).?
BR Sergey
UB3AZK
|
Menu -> SSB -> Input -> Ext. Mic
?
But it sounds like your mic cable is wired backwards.? Mic signal needs to go to ring, ptt to tip.
|
Just updated my QMX+ to 01_01_003 Beta. Plugged a modified Baofeng mic into the front panel and tried running the microphone test. It doesn't seem to work.
?
I can tap on the front panel, and that seems to get a bit of a response, but the mic is dead. Also, in USB/LSB mode, PTT doesn't switch to transmit. Hardware diagnostics indicate that the mic's PTT switch is working. Can see that the diagnostic notices the mic's FET...
?
Unplugged and powered the mic from 10V through a 2K resistor. I can see audio with my scope, so that looks like it's working.
?
Is there a setting I need to change, for the external mic to work?
?
TIA!
Paul -- AI7JR
|
Rick Williams - VE7TK
Si Smith
Howard Lamhut
Paul - AI7JR