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Hi all SSB firmware was released into beta on 17-Mar-2025 after 9+ months of development. Many thanks to everyone who bravely helped test it and patiently provided their feedback and observations. There are now quite a few YouTube videos, forum reports and other social media mentions about on-air successes with QMX SSB. Now that it has been at least 6 weeks in beta and I believe most of the issues have been resolved, it's time to promote it to an official version. I have called this version 1_02_000 and published it on the QMX page http://qrp-labs.com/qmx where I have also published the updated operating manual, which grew from 111 pages to 134 pages. The main changes are: SSB (obviously!) including CESSB, TX Equalization, Mic AGC, VOX, Pre-distortion and and and... Addition of up to two more USB Virtual COM serial ports (up to three total). All of the hardware tests such as RF and SWR sweep, and Diagnostics, are now available on the LCD too. New CAT commands for LCD contents, S-meter, AGC-meter, Power meter, SWR meter, SSB source Complete list (relative to 1_00_027 the previous official version): SSB modes added (USB and LCB), with CESSB, TX Equalization, Mic AGC, VOX, Phase pre-distortion and more Rationalization of menus, grouped into CW, Digi and SSB submenus (now Keyer and Decoder are submenus of CW) Added up to two more USB Virtual COM serial ports (configurable) LCD versions of AF, RF, Image, LPF, Test ADC I/Q sweeps (miniature graph on LCD) New function PA mod. test to check operation of amplitude modulator Diagnostics screens are now available on the LCD interface too Now remembers previous menu location on ALL menus regardless of nesting level Add way of forcing factory reset, press Menu (left) button during power-up Change TX color in diagnostics screen from red to blue, to avoid confusion since red things are errors Added CAT LC command to retrieve LCD contents Added CAT commands SA (AGC meter), SM (S meter), PC (Power meter), SW (SWR meter) Added CAT command SS (get/set SSB input source) Bug fix: PTT P did not work properly Bug fix: Incorrect PA voltage display on the Diagnostics screen 73 Hans G0UPL http://qrp-labs.com https://www.buymeacoffee.com/g0upl
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Greetings! First post. I'm a seasoned electronics kit assembler with above average skills. That said, I have virtually NO skills with radios, but am a quick learner... I'm confident the electronics assembly is OK, but unsure about the coils and possibly enamel coating issues. This is a screen cap of the results from ADC I/Q test: Based on the 1_00_027 operation guide, this should be a pair of sine waves slightly timed differently. All of the bands are pretty similar, and most tests are way off like this. I suspect the trifilar phase splitting is shorted and needs rebuilt, but wanted to make sure before I redo it. My concern is that when I twisted the 2 wires together, I used a drill and may have wrapped them so tightly the wire cut through the enamel coating. In the Operation guide, it seems to indicate this trifilar phase splitting transformer tends to be involved when multiple tests are not normal. What do you think? And THANK YOU in advance!
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40m and 20m RF Filter sweep peaks at higher freq
Just finished my QMX+ build today, and after tracking down one bad solder joint on L502 I¡¯m up and running with good TX power. I do see RF Filter scan that shows both 40m and 20m peaking off-screen to the right (high freq side). It¡¯s like the whole curve shown in the manual is shifted about +3-4 MHz. The on-band level is about -10 for both 40m and 20m¡ but I don¡¯t see any change when spreading or compressing coils on L403 (that should be the RX filter for 40/20 right?). Not sure what to try next or if it even matters much. Other performance seems good and tests report results as expected. Thanks! Andy
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I have this new lithium 14400 mah battery pack and new 12 volt trigger cable for sale. I run my 2 QMXs and QMX+ with this set up and they work great. The battery pack is capable of multiple voltages with the correct cable. The battery can display state of charge, voltage and current draw. I have a few of these and they are useful for charging other usb devices too. I just don¡¯t need 6 of them. This battery sells new on Amazon for about 50 dollars. Im asking 40.00 dollars with the trigger cable. The QMX and speaker shown in the pics are not included. Shipping by USPS Ground only. Shipping in Contiguous US only. I accept PayPal or Postal MO but it will have to clear before shipping. Don N6NLX
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QMX+ Low Power After SSB Update
4
Folks, prior to going to the most recent firmware on one of my QMX+ rigs, I ran PuTTY and documented my power out into a dummy load on each band. Then I installed the 2.0 firmware and ran another PuTTY session, noting the power - it was exactly the same. Last night I ran the calibration procedure - geeze, that took forever! Anyway, after doing that I did a mic gain adjustment and went up to the 40 meter phone band. OMG - a bazillion stations - the 7 district QSO party in full swing! Started adjusting my manual antenna tuner and noticed that my power output was much lower than it had been. Looked like less than three watts now. Tried calling a station but no reply. So, I fired up my recently built WA3TFS 20 watt amp and was successful working several stations before calling it a day. This morning I started PuTTY and checked power out on each band. Sure enough, the result was that each band is now showing 50 percent less RF out than before. Not cool. I was thinking about doing a factory reset to see if that would cure the issue. Or going back to 0.027 firmware. But that would mean doing that hour long calibration routine again at some point. So, any thoughts about this problem? Have others seen this after doing the calibration run? And if so, what was the resolution? -- Jim / K7TXA Eagle, ID SKCC 10447T BUG 301
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SSB Calibration Warning
28
WARNING!!! Running the SSB calibration in automatic mode has the potential to burn out the finals. I've read at least 1 other thread where running the SSB calibration resulted in failures in the output stage. I now have a non-working QMX+ because of this. I replaced the blown final, but there is still another problem in the transmit circuit. When I attempt to transmit from the diagnostics screen, I get 0 output power. If I put a scope on the gates of Q503-Q506, I see what I assume to be a good signal, it's at least at the right frequency. Q507 heats up when attempting to transmit. I also note that the duty cycle for the 5V SMPS jumps up to around 75%, I assume because it's trying to push out so much current. I'm kind of stuck here, I have the tools (meter, scope, rework station), but I'm sorely lacking in troubleshooting skills for this type of problem. This was my second QMX+ build, and I was ecstatic when it worked flawlessly on first power up. I made some contacts on it, and decided to get it ready to try SSB. Kicking myself for not reading more before diving in to the calibration or I might have not used the automatic option. I'm going to go read what I can find regarding an issue like this. If anyone can offer any troubleshooting tips they would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for what to check, and what a reasonable result would be. It's built for 12 volts. Currently (pun unintended), the supply voltage drops to about 7 volts during transmit when I have the power supply current limit set to 700 mA. I checked and the unit seems to be able to sink as much current as I dare feed it. My first unit is on its way to Jeff. I'm going to work through this one myself, I hope. Thanks and 73. Andy WB9YXA
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I like to think I am smarter than this but...
4
I fired up my QCX 20M for the first time in over a year. I didn't tune the antenna. I sent a few dits and dahs, then when I checked I was at 2:1. I am not transmitting into a darn near 1:1 and only seeing about 1.3 watts. I know the QDX is very sensitive to SWR. is the QCX also, did I likely blow my finals? or is there a alignment that may need to be done since it has been so long since it was powered up? Bob
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QMX+ VOX
2
I waited for and yesterday installed the 1_02_000 firmware. I did a bit of tinkering with the EQ to get some more emphasis in the mid-range (and worth noting that when I do live sound at folk dance events, I always cut back the bass and emphasize, not too much, mids and highs to improve intelligibility of the dance leader, just as Hans suggests). And I made 4 SSB contacts on 20 meters with some Italian stations in a contest setting .... running about 75 watts with the QMX+ and my HR-50+ amplifier. Worked great. Thank you, Hans ... you are a wizard! One glitch ... I cannot get VOX to work. I'm using one of Erik Larsen's microphones, which clearly works fine in PTT mode and sounds OK. I set microphone gain using the built-in Mic Test ... goes red on just the loudest peaks. On USB, speaking into the microphone apparently triggers the VOX, but it then cycles on and off until I manage to get QMX+ mode out of USB over to LSB. LSB doesn't work at all ... speaking into the microphone does not trigger VOX. Input device is set to "External Microphone". And I'm using TRS (stereo) 1/8" mini cable between the microphone and the QMX+. Any hints will be much appreciated! Thanks - Bruce K1FFX
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USB audio levels
3
I am using SSB ver 009 firmware ATM. Have noticed the audio levels into WSJT-X appear to be down by about 10dB.. Having trouble getting enough signal to get into the green even with the band config levels increased to 76 - 79
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QMX Internal Mic simulation
6
The internal Mic doesn't work. But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. To this end I built a little simulator to test how a "Little Hole" works and if that can be retained in a future revision of QMX.....or if it is a bad idea. In short, I drilled a small hole 1/16" hole in plastic box about the same size as a QMX and placed a working mic in the box. To my delight the laws of air pressure worked and not only does the result sound good, it may even be better than a foam muff. It tends to buffer the sound. Hans had a good idea, he just 'F' up the design. No shame there, we all do that. The real shame would be discarding the IDEA.
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I have completed the build without any major issue. First power up looked OK, no smoke. Out power on all band appears within range and RBN has picked me up OK. I have an very annoying background noise on receiving, it sound about the same on all bands, in a 550 to 900 Hz range, S4 minimum. The noise is there, with and without antenna or dummy load. I checked it outside, away from any man-made noise...I did a recording as an example. Other radios close by do not exbibit the noise. Any idea? Jean-Jacques - F5IJO
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Heavy ssb tx distortion
3
So built the qmx with no issues installed Hans latest firmware completed full calibration. CW tests were fantastic no issues. BUT! Ssb is not behaving. Built the small electret microphone and tested with quite a lot of distortion tried various adjustments up and down to no avail. I have a suspicion that it may be the electret which is -50db . 1-10v The one everyone is using is -25db could this be the issue.?? I can't source the -25db one here. Currently doing another recalibration. Any suggestions are gratefully accepted :)
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I have QRP-Labs build QMX mid-band Rev.4 f/w v_027 which is blowing finals. So far two sets, third set in. Transmitter Voltage is showing in RED to start with. Here are diagnostics screens After pressing "P", screen changes to this And after pressing "T" screen changes to this Off course all into dummy load. Calling few CQs into dummy load, I can see that finals get very warm and familiar smell is being emitted. As I said two sets of BS170 have been already smoked. Any pointers what to check. Display SWR reading seem correct as well as output power. Please help. --------------------------------- 73 de Marek SP9TKW
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QMX gets a full POTA trial
Park US-3843 today, central NC. Low humidity after yesterday's storms. Slight breeze. QMX built for 9w Dork regulator DROK Adjustable Voltage Regulator... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089ND7PTH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Bioenno 9v battery SOTA Beams Bandhopper Palm pico paddle Why I love this rig: even though it is menu-driven, it seems SO INTUITIVE that it doesn't seem difficult to do what I want. Hans must have done some serious human factors analysis with the rig. Also, the receiver is outstanding. I made 24 QSO in 45 minutes on 20. The beacon CW message capability is superb. Thanks to all for the Drok regulator suggestion. And thanks to Hans!! Mark Lunday wd4elg@...
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QMX+ Final failure on 12m
2
I have an odd situation here with my 12V QMX+. I could transmit normally on all bands with a 9V power supply. But at 12V when I transmitted on 12m (24.910 MHz) the current draw was quite a bit higher than on the other bands. My power supply's current limit was set at 1.0A and it hit that. All other bands drew less than an amp. After transmitting at that frequency the receive current had jumped to 300 mA (previously about 100 mA) and all the other bands transmitted about half the output power they had before. I replaced the finals and it happened again. Transmitting on 12m at 12V caused a failure in the finals. (Possibly Q507 as well. I get no RF output at all on any band now.) Any ideas on what might cause that one band to zap the finals? I've looked over its lowpass filter and don't see any visible shorts, and the inductors have the correct cores and number of turns. I was able to transmit on 10m before trying 12m and it seemed to work, although with less power out than the other bands.
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#QMX #bug
5
#qmx
#bug
Firstly, this is an amazing kit and the software development has been outstanding. I, for one, am very grateful. Three comments follow: - I have noticed that the band TX inhibit does not take effect, in SSB mode (USB/LSB) until you cycle through all the other modes and return to it. Also Errata in the operation_1_02_000000 manual, page 29. Passband 100 Center 600, 650, 600, 750, 800, 850, I think should read: - Passband 100 Center 600, 650, 700, 750, 800, 850. Lastly, I wonder if an SWR bargraph could be added to the Hardware Test, SWR measurement screen? This would help in antenna tuning in the field. Again thank you Hans. Mal
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SWR overshoot and SWR protection
3
The following report is for the latest (SSB-)firmware 1_02_000, 80-20m band version and SSB-mode. When transmitting in dummyload or resonant antenna, the same occurs: At the beginning of the transmit the SWR-meter of the QMX overshoots to maximum level for a very short time (about half a second) and then goes down to the real SWR. Generally not a big problem. But on 80m band the SWR protection kicks in every third or so TX-cycle. I think it is because of the overshoot(?). The other 4 bands do not have that problem Has anybody experienced the same?
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QMX: C107 burned
19
Hi all, Yesterday, I finally found the time to finish building my second QMX (Rev.2, 10m - 20m). Initial setup was easy, and after loading the latest firmware, all tests ran smoothly. Today was its first use, which was also successful with a few FT8 QSOs. But after about 3 hours, the QMX said goodbye with a loud pop. C107 looked like the picture below: https://www.bitquell.de/nextcloud/index.php/s/cf9tbs844aW2mgq I can't identify a cause for this defect. The QMX is built for 9V and was powered by the stabilized 9V output of a TelentCell LF4100. The antenna was a precisely tuned vertical. Will replacing C107 be enough? I'm worried about Q107. Could the burn that can be seen in the picture have been caused by C107, or is Q107 also defective? 73, Joerg DG0JDE
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Simple question about the QRP Labs Clock kit.
6
I just purchased the QRP Labs Clock kit along with the GPS unit, the QLG-2. Assembly was pretty darn hard with about four parts to solder up, but I managed to get them all mounted and the unit works well. My question is How do you program the clock to display anything besides the stock GPS display? It seems that the Clock kit that I received does not resemble any of the Clock kits listed on the web page. It does not have the two programming buttons and my feeble attempt to communicate with it was not very successful. The new Clock kit has none of the pats that are listed for the older designs on the website. The only parts I had to put in either kit were a contrast pot, a few headers, and a USB receptacle. I can talk to the GPS receiver and get the firmware version, but I have not been able to address the clock to show Maidenhead grid squares or anything else. That 6 digit Maidenhead info would be a nice feature for me. It seems that the Clock Kit shown on the website is not the clock kit that is being shipped and I am not sure how to proceed. 73 Dave K1WHS
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Feature Request List?
22
Hi Hans, Is there a maintained Feature Request list available somewhere where we can check if what we¡¯d like to see has already been asked for, and perhaps add a vote? I know posts can get lost in the volume, and I expect that is why there was no answer on my question on having variable TX power available as a setting (/g/QRPLabs/message/143397), but I don¡¯t want to bug anyone, so if there was a tracker we could look at, it might save you getting duplicate requests or being bugged by people like me :-) Love the pre-built QMX, am going to get a QMX+ kit to have a go at¡ 73, Stefan MI0PYN
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Sat 8:39am
Sat 8:39am