I saw a speed knob in someone’s post and realized I needed one. I spent way too much time on it. Lol.?

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Colin Kaminski - K6JTH
https://www.qsl.net/k6jth/

Nice!

73, Willie N1JBJ

A word to the wise:? A crank knob would cause abnormal lateral mechanical stress on the tuning encoder which may cause it to wear out faster.? Elecraft actually warns users not to install those all-metal "weighted" VFO knobs for that very reason.?
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73/72,
Dean K5DH

Speed knobs ?
I don't get it.
Is this some sick xhamster.com reference?

That QCX looks goddamn cool!!

It’s a ham radio thing, you wouldn’t understand.

On Sun, Aug 7, 2022 at 09:01 PM, William Smith wrote:

It’s a ham radio thing, you wouldn’t understand

Why wouldn't I understand ?
I've been licensed for nearly 40 years.

Did I miss something ?

In the auto industry, they called them suicide knobs because:
?? Knob would leave an "impression" on the driver's chest in an accident
?? Knob would catch on something (clothes or such) and steer you into oncoming traffic.
?? Manual steering vehicle could break a thumb when the wheel 'kicked back'

I don't see how the name would apply here though - not that large a negative impact on use.

--
Rob KB8RCO

Thanks for the reminder, wanted to order one for my golf cart:



73, Willie N1JBJ

Dean, "abnormal lateral mechanical stress"? OMG, what a disaster! It sounds to me that I have to throw the QCX away after an afternoon of use. Think positive! It is a damn good idea! And if I have to replace the encoder after three years of fun, I will happily invest 15 minutes for the work and one Dollar for the part.
73 Jakob aa0jr

Where can I get some of these?

This was hard for me to print, so, I can't offer them. In removing the supports I destroyed half of the knobs. Perhaps someone here with more 3D printing experience can print them at a cost. Perhaps a local SLA printer can run them. They would be much cleaner.
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Colin Kaminski - K6JTH
https://www.qsl.net/k6jth/

While they are really fancy, they are hard to print, as either the supports are underneath (and the top surface is clean), or on top, which makes for a rough surface.

A different design, maybe in two parts that snap together, might work better, but life's too short. 8*)

73, Willie N1JBJ

开云体育

开云体育

When I get back to my printer, I’m going to try printing it and then polishing it with acetone or some thing, maybe that will work better. Still, curved upward facing surfaces are difficult for 3-D printing.

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Colin Kaminski - K6JTH
https://www.qsl.net/k6jth/

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Colin Kaminski - K6JTH
https://www.qsl.net/k6jth/

What material are you printing with? I used PTEG and it came out ok.

--
Colin Kaminski - K6JTH
https://www.qsl.net/k6jth/

Here is my speed knob...

I set the resolution of the factory tuning knob to 1kHz resolution. Depressing the tuning knob once /twice allows the finer tuning resolution occasionally needed.

Example: the dial changes from 7.031.00 to 7.032.00 with one increment of rotation of the tuning knob. The tuning knob has 19 separate increments / one full rotation.
With the underscore "_" set in position under the 4th digit, the number "1', ie., 7.031.00, the trailing zero's do not move. I find it very rare that I need finer tuning control than that.

I also find I don't need to tune faster than 1kHz resolution. I scan the band by rotating the tuning dial. If the tuning resolution is greater than 1 kHz, we pass over actively calling or receiving stations. Stations within 1/2 kHz can be heard, so they are not missed. Finer resolution might be helpful, during very busy band use. But that is not a speed wheel. that's the slow wheel.

What would be faster than depressing the tuning dial once, moving the resolution, "cursor" one position to the right to find and tune in that station that is somewhere between?two-whole numbers, 1 kHz.

Learn how to adjust the resolution of the tuning dial for any given need. The QCX has a built in "speed dial" that is much simpler to use, does not cause excessive lateral stress on the tuning knob if that be the case.

Sometimes, we go too far attempting to accessorize what does not need to be accessorized.

Think about what is being accomplished. I am not bashing the mod. It is very creative and there is nothing wrong with it. What I am suggesting is, think about this mod with those critical thinking skills. What would I accomplish with this mod that is faster or easier, "the mod" than the features already built into the radio by the designer who already understands how important having the tuning resolution adjustable both quickly and easily. The "speed wheel" is already designed into the radio.

If one feels it is worth the time and trouble to add a speed wheel to the VFO to accommodate your operating style, great! If you like that, it is ok.

The designer, already added this feature. Tuning resolution is an important feature for most of us. This is why the tuning resolution is so quickly and easily adjustable by depressing the tuning knob and moving the cursor one digit to the right for finer resolution if needed. Tuning resolution faster that 1 kHz skips over active frequencies and they are missed. I don't have any need to tune faster than this because it is too fast.

Finer tuning resolution is mostly unnecessary, most of the time. One or two quick depression of the tuning knob allows very fast fine resolution changes to tune in those stations in between one kHz very quickly.?

The CW segment of the bands is quite small. The QCX is designed for the cw portion of one band, a mono band transceiver. Where are you going in such a hurry?

The tuning dial changes 20 kHz / revolution. The design of the tuning control and its resolution adjustability is very well thought-out.

KE4LJH
Steve,?
Florida