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My QMX× kit arrived today, and I'm almost ready to go. Other than brewing a fresh pot of coffee, are there any tips or hints regarding this particular kit?
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I hope that tray is ESD safe.
Ed
AB8DF
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Me too. Ready to build mine. I love this setup. ?Mine is a small space; the only intimidation is winding the coils. :(
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Paul,
Your photo looks well organized! Make sure your soldering iron can get hot, I mean really hot. I think a lot of the problems builders have are caused by poor solder joints from the solder not flowing properly on the pads, on the leads and down the vias. Also, it's important to have a good magnifying system to inspect your work. Keep everything clean on your board, use your multimeter to check where indicated in the instructions and follow the instructions carefully step-by-step. In the final checks you need a dummy load.?
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73, Dan - W2DLC
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I just finished my QMX+ over the weekend and fired up (maybe that's the wrong term ;-) the first time. I've previously built a QCX-mini but do not consider myself a skilled builder. Take your time, read and reread the build manual. Plenty of heat and flux. And watch your alignment of everything, particularly the audio jacks. I used the "Alternative method of assembling the QMX+ front panel" and recommend it. And the toroid winding can become somewhat of a Zen if you let it.
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Mike W9LG
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P.S. If you opted for the QLG3 GPS, don't forget the jumper. Don't ask me how I know that.
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Read AND re read the manual a few times and then watch all the videos by the gurus. ?You will still have questions but there are those out here to answer your questions. ?And remember the first instruction from my old experienced college professors: ?THERE ARE NO DUMB OR STUPID QUESTIONS! ?There are just those too timid or shy to ask.?
Having the courage to ask a pertinent question that others were too afraid to ask (even if it IS in the fine build instructions but you did not see it…. You will on the next reading) is so important and if you don’t ask you will never know.
Build on my friends. ?The best lessons I have to teach my younger or newer fellow hams I learned by mistakes and sometimes assisted by the smell of the magic smoke. Be the REASON someone smiles today.
Dave K8WPE
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On Jan 27, 2025, at 10:29?AM, Paul Harker via groups.io <Paul.r.harker@...> wrote:
? My QMX× kit arrived today, and I'm almost ready to go. Other than brewing a fresh pot of coffee, are there any tips or hints regarding this particular kit?
?
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Great photo: it looks like you have fun times in store!
Personally, I would stay away from the coffee: you want steady hands for that soldering iron!
Enjoy!
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Dave and Paul,
Take your time! Be careful about static discharges, especially this time of year. Also scrape the wires of the toroids thoroughly before trying to solder them in place.
Have a bit wider solder tip for those ground points…..it takes quite a bit of heat to get the solder flowing….6 layer board and Han’s extensive ground planes. Many of the issues that people have had are due to poor soldering (I found it a humbling experience).
Read the assembly instructions carefully and take your time. As careful as I thought that I was, I stupidly soldered ALL of the controls on the front panel board on the WRONG side!!! Talk about depressing. I fortunately was able to undo this unnecessary mess. Moral to the story…..DON’T push it if you are tired or distracted
. The assembly is not rocket science snd I am certainly NOT a rocket scientist but I am definitely more humbled as a result.
Len KJ9E
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Lots of good lighting and a magnifier. Be sure to scrape the magnet wire well. Take your time!
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:29?AM Paul Harker via <Paul.r.harker= [email protected]> wrote: My QMX× kit arrived today, and I'm almost ready to go. Other than brewing a fresh pot of coffee, are there any tips or hints regarding this particular kit?
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Static wrist strap. You'll need to throw a lot of heat, quickly,? into component leads that go to ground. I always recommend stripping toroid wire leads using the 'solder blob drag method' before soldering to the PCB.?
Follow the assembly manual closely. Though, you might want to dig up the instructions for the slightly different assembly steps for the LCD display. I used that suggestion since it made good sense. Made it much better aligned and easier to get the pins well soldered without possible bridges?
GREG
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:29 AM, Paul Harker via groups.io <Paul.r.harker@...> wrote: My QMX× kit arrived today, and I'm almost ready to go. Other than brewing a fresh pot of coffee, are there any tips or hints regarding this particular kit?
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Lots of good tips already. I struggled a bit with effective enamel removal on my first and second kits. The new kits exclusively use the thinner enamel wire which is much easier to work with, but echoing the other comments, it's best to be sure you've done a good job removing enamel. To do that, I can heartily recommend using an exacto knife to scrape enamel and a very hot iron when soldering. I can also recommend additional flux for connections you?might have trouble with. I used ChipQuik liquid flux. Keep solder braid (flux your braid) and a solder sucker handy. Some re-work is inevitable or at least it was for me.
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 10:29?AM Paul Harker via <Paul.r.harker= [email protected]> wrote: My QMX× kit arrived today, and I'm almost ready to go. Other than brewing a fresh pot of coffee, are there any tips or hints regarding this particular kit?
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Regarding the toroid enamel removal: I have a solder pot and I'm going to attempt tinning the leads in it which I am hoping will achieve sufficient burn-off of the enamel. Oh, and not shown in photo is my esd strap.??
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A square inch piece of fine sandpaper to finish cleaning off the magnet wire enamel.
-- rec --
On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 12:46?PM Paul Harker via <Paul.r.harker= [email protected]> wrote: Regarding the toroid enamel removal: I have a solder pot and I'm going to attempt tinning the leads in it which I am hoping will achieve sufficient burn-off of the enamel. Oh, and not shown in photo is my esd strap.??
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In general I would suggest ignoring Hans's advice to use a soldering iron to burn off the insulating enamel from the toroid wires, I think you will have better luck if you physically remove the enamel, using a blade, sandpaper, or my favorite, a Knipex stripping tool: ?
Also remember that this is a 6-layer board and the grounded ends of components may require more heat. time, or both to make a solid joint.? Maybe even a larger tip.
Good luck and 73, Don N2VGU
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Hi Don,
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I completely agree with you, out of Han's many good advices, "burn off the insulating enamel from the toroid wires" is the worst one ;)
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To add my own tip: if you have a nanoVNA, it's a good idea to build the LPFs/BPFs on the test board and check their frequency response before soldering them to the board. It's much easier to add/remove a turn or spread/squeeze the wires in this case.
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72/73
Wei AG6AQ?
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Worth noting (maybe ... ignore otherwise) that I have been using the "solder blob" method
for many toroids for many kits over the past 15 or so years, and it has worked flawlessly in
each instance.? Since Hans has changed the QMX+ to use #28 wire, there are no issues at
all with pre-tinning the leads ... even for the double-wire taps on L403 and friends.
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Personally, I find winding the toroids to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of building
the kits.? I listen to music, illuminate my work, wear magnifiers, and use my cell phone to take pictures and
then easily count that I've got the turns rights.? I use a bit of sand paper to do any final cleanup
before soldering.? I've never used any additional gadgets when winding toroids ...
just feed through and pull tight ... and it's especially easy with the #28 wire.
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Oh ... and I'm 76 years old.
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Cheers -
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Bruce K1FFX
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When soldering WATCH THE SOLDER!!
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It’s not about touching the iron to the joint /shovelling a blob onto the board / holding the iron on a wire. ? ? All of there can result in poor joints, bridges, non-joints ?etc?
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The iron is there to heat the joint surfaces not shovel solder. ?(Start with the ‘biggest’ area then roll onto the other bits too then feed solder into the biggest area then WATCH closely? to confirm everywhere gets soldered.
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Without ?offending the environmentalists I will say that leaded solder with mildly active flux makes this very very easy compared to lead free?
Invest in a syringe of no clean flux for extra help on tricky /untidy areas?
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Watching closely (at least at my age) is best done with an illuminated magnifier and a small loupe for minute inspections of usb pin areas
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It’s easier to spot problems at this point than afterwards …?
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Double check most pedantically the identity and placement of every component and triple check anything that will be a challenge to remove.
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On assembly watch out for tall/ large wires and components touching as it all goes together. ?
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Bruce,
I second your thoughts about winding toroids. It is fun and the main reason some are afraid is because someone said it was a daunting task. ?Don’t believe that BS. It’s just putting a wire through the hole in a donut, pulling it tight, and keeping count. ?What can be difficult about that? If you stumble a few times you unwind the wire and start over. ? Be the REASON someone smiles today.
Dave K8WPE
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On Jan 27, 2025, at 10:18?PM, Bruce K1FFX via groups.io <rosen.bruce@...> wrote:
? Worth noting (maybe ... ignore otherwise) that I have been using the "solder blob" method
for many toroids for many kits over the past 15 or so years, and it has worked flawlessly in
each instance.? Since Hans has changed the QMX+ to use #28 wire, there are no issues at
all with pre-tinning the leads ... even for the double-wire taps on L403 and friends.
?
Personally, I find winding the toroids to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of building
the kits.? I listen to music, illuminate my work, wear magnifiers, and use my cell phone to take pictures and
then easily count that I've got the turns rights.? I use a bit of sand paper to do any final cleanup
before soldering.? I've never used any additional gadgets when winding toroids ...
just feed through and pull tight ... and it's especially easy with the #28 wire.
?
Oh ... and I'm 76 years old.
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Cheers -
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Bruce K1FFX
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I have been making notes from this thread because I will be starting my build of the QMX+ hopefully this weekend.? It's still inbound but, fingers crossed, it should be here on Friday.
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With all the excellent bits of advice listed above, I'm wondering what temperature you have your soldering irons set to?? Realizing that a lot of irons are preset only, if you could set a temp, what would it be?? I have read a lot of soldering posts and the preferred temperature seems to be all over the map.? Even if it's a "user preference" setting, what is a good starting point?
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Thanks Paul for starting this conversation.
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Derek VA3RFQ
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Regarding winding toroids, I use and iPad, iPhone or other device with a camera, take a pic of the toroid and then enlarge as max as possible - makes it very easy to count the turns through the centre of the toroid.
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On 28 Jan 2025, at 10:45, David Wilcox K8WPE via groups.io <Djwilcox01@...> wrote:
? Bruce,
I second your thoughts about winding toroids. It is fun and the main reason some are afraid is because someone said it was a daunting task. ?Don’t believe that BS. It’s just putting a wire through the hole in a donut, pulling it tight, and keeping count. ?What can be difficult about that? If you stumble a few times you unwind the wire and start over. ? Be the REASON someone smiles today.
Dave K8WPE On Jan 27, 2025, at 10:18?PM, Bruce K1FFX via groups.io <rosen.bruce@...> wrote:
? Worth noting (maybe ... ignore otherwise) that I have been using the "solder blob" method
for many toroids for many kits over the past 15 or so years, and it has worked flawlessly in
each instance.? Since Hans has changed the QMX+ to use #28 wire, there are no issues at
all with pre-tinning the leads ... even for the double-wire taps on L403 and friends.
?
Personally, I find winding the toroids to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of building
the kits.? I listen to music, illuminate my work, wear magnifiers, and use my cell phone to take pictures and
then easily count that I've got the turns rights.? I use a bit of sand paper to do any final cleanup
before soldering.? I've never used any additional gadgets when winding toroids ...
just feed through and pull tight ... and it's especially easy with the #28 wire.
?
Oh ... and I'm 76 years old.
?
Cheers -
?
Bruce K1FFX
?
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NF6P - Dave
Daniel Conklin
David Wilcox K8WPE
Todd W2TEF
Donald S Brant Jr
Bruce Akhurst
Derek VA3RFQ