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Qcx Mini as a 6 Meter CW Beacon
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If you bought it for the right band why wouldn¡¯t it work? A nearby lightning storm damaged that ?QCX at one point but replacing the RX multiplexer chip and 5351 got it going again? |
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GIUSEPPE
Hi everyone, for .and this is the second year that I have built a beacon with QCX MINI for 6 meters and it transmits 24/24 with many listens, powered by 13V with 3W power, never had any problems. Giuseppe iu8eun Il Lun 8 Gen 2024, 13:22 Bruce Akhurst <bruce@...> ha scritto:
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John. Great to hear you are doing a QRP Labs project, and I hope you have great success with the 6m beacon. I have just finished a QMX Rev1 kit and go it on the air late last week.? These kits are remarkable designs and fun to build.?? Wishing you success, Charles K5KXJ
On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 05:58:49 AM CST, John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> wrote:
I just ordered a QCX Mini kit and plan to experiment with it to get it to transmit a 6-meter beacon in the US. Has anyone had success doing this with the QCX kits?
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Well Hello, Charles,
I didn't expect to hear from one of my advisers from CWA. I hope you are well. I've been hunting pota activators and often make contact with Allen from our class. CW has become a daily activity since I started hunting Parks on the Air. It's so much fun once you just dive in and start sending on the air. This is my second QCX Mini kit and I'm hoping I'm up to getting it to transmit a nice clean signal on 6 meters. I bought this one to provide my radio club with a replacement for an ancient rig that's been operating as a 6-meter beacon for many years. I'm hoping someone in this group can give me some insight into adapting this great little radio for 6 meters. My first kit was for 20 meters and I finished it after this past Christmas. I was very impressed with the engineering of the build. Hans did a beautiful job fitting so much into a very small package. I took my time and enjoyed every minute of its construction.? |
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Hi Giuseppe,
It is great to hear of your success using the QCX Mini on 6 meters. I would like to know if you have any advice or comments about how you were able to wind the toroids and what other modifications you made. Did you run into anything that would be helpful for me to know as I try to duplicate what you have done? |
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John,? that is great news.? POTA is super popular.? I have been in touch with? Allen for some of his activations.? Recently I ran into him running a frequency in the CWops CWTs and doing very well. It is a great feeling for me to see you and others I have met in CWA enjoying? amateur radio and especially CW operation. Kudos to you on helping out you club with the QCX build.? I expect you will find a fine willingness to help among the QRP Labs groups.io. Happy New Year! de Charles K5KXJ
On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 12:23:32 PM CST, John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> wrote:
Well Hello, Charles, I didn't expect to hear from one of my advisers from CWA. I hope you are well. I've been hunting pota activators and often make contact with Allen from our class. CW has become a daily activity since I started hunting Parks on the Air. It's so much fun once you just dive in and start sending on the air. This is my second QCX Mini kit and I'm hoping I'm up to getting it to transmit a nice clean signal on 6 meters. I bought this one to provide my radio club with a replacement for an ancient rig that's been operating as a 6-meter beacon for many years. I'm hoping someone in this group can give me some insight into adapting this great little radio for 6 meters. My first kit was for 20 meters and I finished it after this past Christmas. I was very impressed with the engineering of the build. Hans did a beautiful job fitting so much into a very small package. I took my time and enjoyed every minute of its construction.? |
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GIUSEPPE
Hi John, I remember that when I decided to build a QCX MINI for the 6 m band I was advised against it by everyone because according to many it wouldn't have worked because the QCX Mini was intended only for the HF bands and the components wouldn't have been adequate for the 6 m frequency, I contacted many radio amateurs in the USA to get information on the construction without any breakthrough for the construction, then I decided to do my own thing, I had decided to build it my way using the LPF kit for the 6 m QRP LAB, I wound the toroids as described in the manual for the LPF construction with the number of windings for the 6 meters and the co capacitors each value in the right place. I only wound T1 without any criteria or formula, as soon as I finished building I immediately turned it on and sent a WSPR and CW, I had many listening reports including 9k and many other European stations, it has 3W output, these are enough for me, the signal is clean without distortions and frequency jumps both CW and wspr has been transmitting 24/7 with a 1/4 wave vertical antenna for cars for 2 and a half years now.? I hope the photos help, 73, bye.? on YouTube I uploaded some videos of radio amateurs who listened to the 6 m cw beacon, Giuseppe iu8eun Il Lun 8 Gen 2024, 21:05 C R Murrell via <crmurr=[email protected]> ha scritto:
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Hello Giuseppe,
I read your posts from a few years ago about this 6-meter beacon you wanted to build and I'm very happy to hear that it has worked so well for you. When you built it, do you recall any problems you had to work out? I just received my kit in the mail today and plan to start the build tomorrow. Hans suggested using 1 or 2 turns less on the L4 coil and the long winding of T1.? Can you remember if that is what you did? I'm very encouraged by your success. Anything you can remember would be very helpful. Thanks, John - KC3PBY |
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GIUSEPPE
Hi John, yes I can roughly remember what I did to build the QCX MINI for the 6m band.? Starting from T1, 2+2+2+18 laps, L1, 7 laps, L2, 9 laps, L3, 7 laps, L4, 6 laps.? I followed the windings for the construction of the LPF for the 6 m with relative capacitors, I transmit that for T1 and L4, I could not find anyone for advice and help, I sent emails several times on this group but no one could tell me what to do, in fact they advised me against building it because according to them it wouldn't work.? John, until 01/14/2024 I received beacon reception reports, after two years of uninterrupted 24/24 h transmission it always outputs 3 w and lately I use a 2 element directive antenna, it also transmitted for a period in CW with excellent ratings , however in WSPR I REACHED 3000 KM, the attached photos are the ones I sent.? Don't be discouraged to build it, in fact if you have any advice to give me for modifying the windings or anything else I would be happy to accept them, if you need send an email.? On my YouTube channel iu8eun I put some videos of the beacon also on 2 meters with U3S.? Bye and have a good day. Giuseppe iu8eun Il Mar 16 Gen 2024, 03:13 John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> ha scritto: Hello Giuseppe, |
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Hi Giuseppe, I have two questions.
First, the C30 (30pF) capacitor is not installed. Did you remove it? Also, I see that at L4 instead of the T37-2 (red) toroid you used a T37-6 (yellow), I was wondering if you first tried the designed parts in these two locations but decided to try something different. I have the kit finished to the point of beginning alignment and adjusting the windings for RF power out. I hope I can reproduce your results. This is a real learning experience. Regards, John |
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GIUSEPPE
Good morning John, I now realized that I sent the wrong photo, in reality the C30 is installed, instead for L4 I used the yellow T37-6 because on the color scale the yellow ranges from 3 to 50 MHz while the red one ranges from 1 at 30 Mhz, so it seemed appropriate to use the yellow one, I didn't find anyone who advised me, I did everything as it seemed right to do, after all we all do experiments with our radios and during the assembly phase of the qcx mini I experimented on the toroid, I think it went well, up to now it has been transmitting 3 W in the antenna without stopping for 2 and a half years without losing power, I had some nice positions in the WSPR map, also in CW, a few days ago it also arrived in Dk8ne on 01/14/2024 in the absence of propagation.? I can not complain.? I hope your project goes well too, keep me updated on the calibration and the first transmission you will do.? Hans has created some magical boxes that will never cease to amaze me.? With 5 W at 20 meters I managed to do MANY CW QSOs as far as the USA with my car's antenna, truly surprising.? Thanks to QRP LAB.? 73 Hi John I forgot, here in Italy I think I was the first to modify the QCX mini for the 6 m band and the first to have a fixed WSPR beacon, there aren't many WSPR enthusiasts on 6 m. Giuseppe iu8eun Il Gio 18 Gen 2024, 23:23 John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> ha scritto: Hi Giuseppe, I have two questions. |
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Hi Giuseppe,
Thanks for the information about the T37-6 yellow toroid. I seem to remember reading something about that while researching toroids. I'm only getting about 1/2 watt RF power out using the T37-2 so your discovery to use the yellow toroid must be reason for your results. I thought it was odd that the C30 cap was missing and now I understand the mystery. Hi Hi NIce images of the results of the beacon signals. I also subscribed to your YouTube Channel and enjoyed watching your videos. Did you use the GPS from QRP-Labs for your beacon or is it not needed for a CW beacon? Once I get my 6-meter beacon working, I'll give you a full report. |
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GIUSEPPE
hi John, the qlg2 GPS from qrp lab is not necessary if you want to use it in CW, only in WSPR, I use it with the qlg1 and it is always connected because I transmit in wspr, some times in the summer I let it rest to transmit in cw, anyway is essential.? Good weekend.? 73 Giuseppe iu8eun Il Ven 19 Gen 2024, 21:53 John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> ha scritto: Hi Giuseppe, |
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I replaced the L4 toroid with a T37-6 as Giuseppe suggested. I also changed the windings on L1, L3 to turns, and L2 to 11 turns and that resulted in getting about 1.5 watts RF out. But when I then went to the Alignment menu 8.7- Peak BPF, I hear the tone and see the number 3 in the upper right and there is no change when I adjusted C1. My T1 winding are 3-3-3-20, I have tried reducing the large windings to 18 but the number in Peak BPF goes down to 2 and is still unchanged when I adjust C1.?
I'm not sure what part of the circuit I can try to change to get the BPF Peak to respond. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.? |
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GIUSEPPE
hi John, L1,L2 and L3 must be wound with the exact number of things for the 6 m LPF as such and the capacitors must also be placed in the right place.? I don't know why you wound 11 coils as you described. Giuseppe iu8eun Il Gio 1 Feb 2024, 17:43 John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> ha scritto: I replaced the L4 toroid with a T37-6 as Giuseppe suggested. I also changed the windings on L1, L3 to turns, and L2 to 11 turns and that resulted in getting about 1.5 watts RF out. But when I then went to the Alignment menu 8.7- Peak BPF, I hear the tone and see the number 3 in the upper right and there is no change when I adjusted C1. My T1 winding are 3-3-3-20, I have tried reducing the large windings to 18 but the number in Peak BPF goes down to 2 and is still unchanged when I adjust C1.? |
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Giuseppe, I was trying to increase the RF power by reducing L3 and it did go up a little (from .75 Watts to about 1 Watt) so I thought I would experiment with the other two toroids (L2 & L1). I realize by doing this I was changing the Low pass filter characteristics. I'm not able to reproduce your 3 watt output with any changes I've tried. I even tried taking one turn off L4 but didn't see much difference so L4 is now 7 turns again on the 37-6 toroid.
I don't want to compromise the Low Pass Filter so I will be rewinding L1, L2 and L3 back to the specs suggested for 6 meters. I've been keeping notes on the effect each change to the T1 transformer has so after I rewind the LPF I'll try to do the BPF Peak again. I don't understand why I can't see any effect when I adjust the C1 capacitor. |
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GIUSEPPE
Hi John, keep in mind that the QCX MINI and the entire qcx series are created to transmit from 160 to 10 MT, so you will never be able to have the same configurations and the same BPF PEAK parameters as a qcx hf on a qcx modified for the 6 band mt, I succeeded, I only need it to transmit as a beacon in WSPR AND CW, and it does the job very well.? I'm satisfied with what I did.? I don't even expect more Ws, 3 is fine.? Happy testing and have fun, I hope you can transmit soon, I saw that there is a nice wspr propagation on 6 mt in the USA.? 73 HELLO Giuseppe iu8eun Il Ven 2 Feb 2024, 16:26 John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> ha scritto: Giuseppe, I was trying to increase the RF power by reducing L3 and it did go up a little (from .75 Watts to about 1 Watt) so I thought I would experiment with the other two toroids (L2 & L1). I realize by doing this I was changing the Low pass filter characteristics. I'm not able to reproduce your 3 watt output with any changes I've tried. I even tried taking one turn off L4 but didn't see much difference so L4 is now 7 turns again on the 37-6 toroid. |
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Success! After rewinding L2 with 9 turns and a very small adjustment moving the coils around on T1 I was able to Peak the BPF. I was able to receive a local signal? and was supprised at how clearly it sounded. I did some testing sending a CQ and could hear myself on a remote SDR so all seems to be working fine.?
Thanks for your help, Giuseppe. I really appreciate your guidance getting this radio working. Cheers and Ciao, John - KC3PBY |
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Congrats, John! de Charles K5KXJ
On Friday, February 2, 2024 at 06:37:34 PM CST, John Olsavicky <kc3pby@...> wrote:
Success! After rewinding L2 with 9 turns and a very small adjustment moving the coils around on T1 I was able to Peak the BPF. I was able to receive a local signal? and was supprised at how clearly it sounded. I did some testing sending a CQ and could hear myself on a remote SDR so all seems to be working fine.? Thanks for your help, Giuseppe. I really appreciate your guidance getting this radio working. Cheers and Ciao, John - KC3PBY |
Bruce Akhurst
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