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QCX+ Build

Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #104986 Just started on my first QCX+ build... I've built several U3S's and here's a stupid question.. on the secondary 3 winding (20m version) do I keep all the turns tight together? then space the other 3 windings evenly from the ends of secondary 3? Thanks ... This is gonna be a fun kit to build!
Curt wb8yyy All Messages By This Member #104987 Glenn It's always best to ask questions. If you are asking about T1, make it just like the picture. Very very important to get all the connections right.? No it's nothing like the transformer in U3S you are thinking of. No twisting desired.? Curt
Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #104992 Thanks for the reply... I get it.... i may try a tiny drop of CA to hold the windings in place after i finish each one.
w2eck All Messages By This Member #104999 CA?? 73 Paul
Evan Hand All Messages By This Member #105005 Paul, I believe that is cyanoacrylic glue. Glen, I suggest you complete the setup/alignment before you glue the windings in place.? If you have a problem with the bandpass filter adjustment, you may need to compress, expand, or even change the number of turns on the large winding.? ?The process is in the manual. 73 Evan AC9TU
Gary Bernard All Messages By This Member #105012 Don't use super glue. Nail polish works fine. Apply after the build is finished and working to your satisfaction. On Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 04:03:32 PM MDT, Evan Hand <elhandjr@...> wrote: Paul, I believe that is cyanoacrylic glue. Glen, I suggest you complete the setup/alignment before you glue the windings in place.? If you have a problem with the bandpass filter adjustment, you may need to compress, expand, or even change the number of turns on the large winding.? ?The process is in the manual. 73 Evan AC9TU
Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #105014 The problem about not gluing the winding in place before hand is that a winding of only 3 turns is almost impossible to keep in place on the toroid without some sort of glue... yes "CA" is crazy glue for those non-RC airplane flyers (grin).. Nothing wrong with using it for RF app's... been doing so for many years How exactly do you "change the number of windings" once T1 is soldered in place?? You can only remove a winding, not add. I have plenty 0f T-50-2 toroids so If I screw it up, I can easily try again...
David Wilcox K8WPE All Messages By This Member #105034 开云体育 Glen, There are emails on one of these lists from the past where builders have actually added a turn or two and run the extra winding under the toroid….. just takes patience and tenacity… never tell a ham (like never tell a woman) that it can’t be done. Also, may not look pretty but the writers were happy. Dave K8WPE David J. Wilcox’s iPad toggle quoted message Show quoted text On Jul 13, 2023, at 7:30 PM, Glenn W2BX <fintronicsusa@...> wrote: ?The problem about not gluing the winding in place before hand is that a winding of only 3 turns is almost impossible to keep in place on the toroid without some sort of glue... yes "CA" is crazy glue for those non-RC airplane flyers (grin).. Nothing wrong with using it for RF app's... been doing so for many years How exactly do you "change the number of windings" once T1 is soldered in place?? You can only remove a winding, not add. I have plenty 0f T-50-2 toroids so If I screw it up, I can easily try again... <20230713_184822.jpg>
Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #105035 If that's the case, i would think adding an extra turn or two from the start would be the smart thing to do. It may not be impossible to add a turn after its soldered in place but it's sure a hell of a lot easier to remove turns.
Bryan Curl All Messages By This Member #105041 I didn't use any glue on my qcx+ build and havent had any issues.? i have used hot melt glue on my unun balun and efhw transformer builds to keep things from rattling around. Nice thing about hot glue that may not be well known is that it lets go easily with a little IPA alcohol. Just dont use too much hot glue on a toroid winding, especially in the hole,? as the wires offer lots of nooks and crannies for glue to get into. But it will clean up nicely should you need to rework things. -- regards, Bryan, N0LUF
Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #105192 I just read on another thread that T1 rarely needs adjusting on the 20m version. ... continuing my build... just finished installing that boat load of caps!?The assembly manual is absolutely fantastic, and that's coming from someone who's done quite a bit of technical writing. I've built quite a few kits, homebrew devices over the years and I learned a long time ago to take it s-l-o-w one step at a time, no rushing in a quite, well lit place....? Can't wait to get this baby on the air!!
Glenn W2BX All Messages By This Member #105478 Done!... just finished building and calibrating.. bottom line? have already made several QSO's, getting 5w out with 12.5vdc supply. I powered it up yesterday and tested it right in the middle of a contest!. Great time to check out the receiver with all the big signals on the band. Very impressive opposite sideband rejection!. Honestly, I wasn't expecting performance like this but was very pleasantly surprised. A few observations.... If hadn't watched this video, I would have had a much harder time performing the alignment procedure and tweaking the LPF for maximum output. My worries about correctly winding T1 were for naught. Got the peak just where it should be. As Hans mentions in the video, the 20 meter version rarely needs changes. This verbal explanation in the alignment section of the manual at first had me like a deer in the headlights....? "It is very important to understand the number at the top right of the LCD, here shown as 09. This is an amplitude scaling factor, expressed as a power of 2. In this example, the actual amplitude is divided by a factor of 512 (2 to the power of 9) then displayed on the screen. In this photograph, 27 little vertical bars are shown, which means the actual measured amplitude value is 13,824." .... and again, after watching the video, the lightbulb went on and I figured out that the numbers in the upper right corner represented different ranges of amplitude... oh yea, I get it... (grin) I ended up removing 3 turns on L3 and moving the turns around to get max output. Just squeezing turns together a little on L1 and L2 and there? it was, 5 watts out. Didn't have to touch L4. I guess the only real "Issue" i had was fitting the front panel PCB to the optional enclosure. The "black 20mm M3 screws" that hold the LCD module to the PCB are too big for the holes on the LCD module. they will not just slide through. You have to actually force thread them through. I could have enlarged the holes in the LCD module slightly but I was afraid of damaging the multilayer LCD PCB. One more point... It would be WAY easier if you used non-threaded spacers between the PCB and LCD module and only used threaded nuts on the back of the PCB. I was having such a hard time getting everything tied down because of those threaded spacers, I ended up using some nylon, hollow, non-threaded standoffs that I happen to have and that did the trick. Not a complaint really, but I was disappointed in the AGC module.... Setup as suggested, setting the pot so it barely cuts down the background noise, it still let somewhat bigger signals come blasting through. Since this is an audio AGC, I was thinking there must be a better audio limiter/compressor circuit that can be implemented here. There isn't enough gain reduction when bigger signals hit. Let me say, in the end, I absolutely love this radio!. in fact I'm ready to order the 40m and 30m versions. An incredible design, Hans is a genius. If you take your time with the build, pay attention to details, you will end up with a box of fun! Glenn W2BX ?

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