Sticky
#qmx #Firmware release 1_02_000
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#qmx
#firmware
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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QMX I/Q question
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#qmx
With the official SSB firmware now supporting 3 virtual com ports, are we able to use the soundcard and I/Q at the same time? So can I do digital modes and have a panadapter? Would I be able to use IQ for a panadapter and still be able to use my mic for SSB? Thanks Randal VE7NHW
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Release of version 2.0 of ABS solution for QMX+ (Automatic internal antenna tuner, internal battery and internal speaker with audio amp)
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#PSU
#QMXplus
#audio
#ABS
#ATU
Hi, I have released a version 2 of ABS solution. Please refer to the readme front page file at the git repository for full details and release notes: https://github.com/AC8L/QMX_Plus_Autotuner_Internal_Battery_Speaker/ The release includes new PCB fabrication files, BOM and detailed build instructions. This release took into consideration lessons learned and a feedback from first group buy participants fearlessly organized by Cal (AD8Q) and Stan (KC7XE). -- 73, Sardar (AC8L, 4K6SA, VA3DUA).
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SSB Calibration question
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I have two QMX rigs, one I built (mid band version) the other I ordered assembled. The one I built was successful with the SSB calibration. However, the one that I received assembled from QRP Labs (high band version) fails the initial phase calibration on 20 meters, but passes on 17, 15, 12, 11 and 10. After which the all the bands calibrates fine with USB and LSB. I'm not a big SSB phone guy, but out of completion I would like to know if I should send back the High band QMX. I did the configurations via a USB cable and Putty in Linux. I haven't tried to initiate the calibration via the radio tools without being connected to a computer. Any suggestions?
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At Dayton Hamvention we are seeing a revolution in amateur radio before our eyes
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(Right: Gerald Youngblood, Flex Founder) They launched their new product "Aurora", 160-6m, 500W transceiver that uses polar modulation just like QMX Hans: "So they visited me to admire QMX and I visited them to admire Aurora" https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Brw3LK9zY/ 73 DE muhsin TA1MHS
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New QMX - observations and best QSO
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My QMX arrived last week. Since I operate primarily digital, ( but seriously working on honing my CW skills) I was able to get several 'DIGI' mode programs to work. Not so easy with the SSB-required modes. I cannot believe the lack of YT videos on setting up this radio on digital modes. That will probably come with time. I now have Winlink, VARAC, FLdigi, etc. running. Some observations so far: 1. When I switched between two antennas I was testing last night, the QMX display suddenly shows only all horizontal lines, and the software loses contact with the rig. I have to re-start them. And NO, the rig is NOT transmitting when I remove the BNC connector. 2. I hope we will eventually have access to narrow filters in SSB digital modes. I have found that a weak DIGI signal becomes much stronger and copy improves when filtering to even 200Hz with my other rigs. 3. Finally, I must report my longest-ever ham radio QSO occurred last night on 40 meters. It was a QMX-to-QMX, JS8 contact with Cal, AD8Q in northern Idaho, 725 miles NW of my Colorado QTH, which lasted 2hrs, 17 minutes! I am very impressed with both the QMX and the INIU 10,000mAh PD power bank as recommended by the 'Ham Radio Duo' channel. On full charge, I am getting up to 22 hours of operating with moderate transmissions, and will probably see 14-16 hours of long QSOs like last evening. Not bad for $20 (on sale).
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3 cell lipo battery, how to use it anyway
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By doing this you recharge the pack with storage function and will have only 3.85 volts per cell at the end of the charge for a total of 11.55 volts. Another my hobby is rc airmodell and normally put in storage mode the cell packs when finished the flights. I use charter M6 by toolkitrc. 73 Luca
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QDX Low Receive but Xmit fine
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GM QDX¡¯ers. I was gifted a QDX still in kit form so I spent a day building it this week. Except for one band, 80M, I got between 4.8 and 5.4W output which is optimal. The cure for that was to just put some more heat and re-solder leads on the inductors. I get reports of anywhere from -2 to -20. My issue seems to be with the received signal getting into WSJT-x. Although I¡¯ve made a dozen or so contacts on 20M and 30M, the db meter (I¡¯ll call the S meter) barely hits 15db maybe 20db on a real strong signal. Never higher. Most signals reports I give out are in the -17 to -10 range which would correlate with the db meter. I know from experience it should be a lot higher than that. I¡¯ve seen no signals decoded on 40M or 80M but I haven¡¯t listened at night which is going to be the most likely time to see those out in the NW. I¡¯m using a retired MacAir as the computer using OSX. All radio and audio settings are set to the QDX settings and to full audio by default. The Radio is set to a Kenwood TS-440. It gives the impression there is not enough signal/audio getting into WSJT-x but I¡¯ve got no way to adjust that. The antenna is a hexbeam for 20M and a 100ft high loop for 30/40/60/80 The version of QDX is 1.4 Any insight into this receiver issue would be greatly appreciated. I can live with the way it is now but I think with the receive signal stronger, it will show me a lot more stations. It may be MAC thing. I just don¡¯t know. Thanks. John / K7RLD
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QLG2 GPS
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I plan to build a QLG2 GPS Receiver Module to use it with my QCX+ I will add: - the blue LCD accessory kit; - the Customized case kit (enclosure). I guess I will have to order it with the "Front blank cut/drilled plate. But what rear plate will I have to order? I might better build the Clock kit with its enclosure and the QLG2 GPS but will the GPS be inside the Clock enclosure? 73 - Pierre - FK8IH
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QMX 1n4007 diodes
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I needed to replace one of the 1n4007 diodes in my QMX (I cut the lead for an experiment) so I went looking for a replacement. None of the 1n4007 diodes at Mouser have the small diameter leads like the ones from QRP Labs. They are all about .7mm diameter where the QRPLabs diodes are more like .3mm. I ended up ordering Vishay diodes with the fat leads. I had cleared the holes with the solder sucker but the leads still did not fit so I used some PCB drill bits to clear the holes and finally got the diode in there. Hopefully the via barrel is still intact. I am waiting for some caps to put it back together and try it. Any discussion about these diodes? My experience is that 1N400x diodes all had fat leads. Thanks, Tony AD0VC
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QDX: low power on all bands but 80m after PA died
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Hey everyone, short story: After one of the PA transistors died, I replaced all of them. Now I only get 3,5W power on 80m but less than 0,5W on the other bands. Is this because of insufficient (fake) replacement transistors or could something else be damaged? long version: I built the QDX and after some wire pushing on the coils I got 5W@9V at all bands and was super happy. I am measuring DC on the detector diode of a QRP dummy load. After a some FT8 operation using an antenna, the output power dropped to 2.5W on all bands. Then I accidently shorted one of the transistors during some measurements and the output power went to a few mW. I removed the BS170s from the circuit and measured them using a diode tester and one was definitely broken. Then I bought replacments for the BS170 transistors at three different online shops (not really trustworthy ones). However during testing after replacing the transistors, the QDX behaved identically with each of the different BS170 sets. There was about 3,5W output power at 80m but only less than 0,5 W on the other bands. I supect that the transistors are fake because their performance decreased with higher frequency. But I am not sure. Is there a way to validate this? I used a LCR-T4 transistor tester to measure the transistors. This showed differences in capicatance. The original BS170s from the kit have 50pf, one of the sets I bought has 60pf and the others 30pf. Does this give any indication if the parts are correct? Or could it be possible that someting else in the QDX is broken? Maybe the IC that drives the PA (74ACT08)? However, I measured 2.5V at the BS170 gates so I guess it still works. Unfortunately I do not have an oscilloscope at the moment. Or is maybe the PIN diode switching circuit for the LPFs not working anymore? Reception is still fine! I would be really grateful for help on finding the issue! regards Chris
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Calibrate the QMX's time through Android APP(FT8TW)
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I wanted to try using WSPR, but every time I reboot, I have to set the time on the QMX again. A friend told me there's a GPS module that can help calibrate the QMX's time. I thought to myself¡ªmy phone already has GPS, so why buy an extra GPS module just to set the time on the QMX? So, I added a feature to calibrate the QMX's time through FT8TW. https://youtu.be/l8dey0vc6_E
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Jeff Moore
Jeff has done it again! Repaired my mid-band QMX - a couple suspected cold solder joints and improperly wound T507 (how¡¯d I do that?). Included was a free wax and polish (Jeff removed caked solder flux and scrubs the board with alcohol). All done in a day or two. I had my QMX back in ten days (could have been faster but that¡¯s our slow postal service). it is so nice to know that Jeff is available to bail you out should your build fails. I¡¯ve built two QMXs and he¡¯s made them right for me. Thank you Jeff! And Hans! (his info is on QRZ) Phil K3UT
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T507 and SSB SWR
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Hello everyone, I've seen in different topics that T507 solder joints should be checked & reflowed in the event of a high SWR spike on SSB transmit... a problem that several of us have mentioned, and in my case, makes the rig completely unusable on SSB. I do understand, looking at the schematic, how this could cause the protection circuit to trigger. What I do not (yet) understand is why this would be a problem that I see on SSB only, and not on CW. I have not witnessed this on CW. A theory I have is that maybe if the joint is just on the edge of continuity, then a higher duty cycle CW signal would temporarily "anneal" the bad joint, but that on SSB you don't have that effect. I am a skeptic about my theory...in any case, I do plan on trying reflowing T507 and associated circuitry. This was a factory assembled unit so I was hoping to avoid this, but I appreciate all that Hans is doing. I'm not complaining at all... just looking for guidance and thoughts so I can get this amazing rig on SSB. God bless, Joel W9JFK
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Hi SWR, sometimes
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This seems to be a complex problem because I do not understand what is happening. I will try to explain as best as I can. QMX mid bands built for 12 volts and Z-11 Pro auto tuner. I start on 40 meters and go to hardware then SWR tune and start the tune. The tuner light move and ends when a <1.5 SWR is reached. I then go to iambic and send CW at about 20 wpm. After about 10 dits the tuner jumps up to over 4 and the S protection letter shows on the screen after the last number. I cycle the menu, go to hardware, SWR tune and it shows <1.5 SWR. I go back to normal CW and the same pattern shows up again. It happens on multiple bands and is frustrating because I can't complete a POTA contact let alone a ragchew. My sBITx is also low power 1 - 4 watts and does not do this action with the tuner. Any ideas where to look? 73, Dean/ N2TNN
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Qmx L501 inductor Partially broken
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Received the kit from FedEx in a perfectly intact box. The content check was positive with the exception of the L501 inductor with the partially broken edge. Can this defect affect the operation of the kit?
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New QMX+ Calibration victim
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Hi, I¡¯ve had my QMX+ for a number of months and had tested the then beta now regular SSB firmware with good results except pretty low output power in SSB. As I had never gotten around to fine tune the LPFs when building it I decided this was the logical next thing. So I fiddled with spreading and compressing turns on the toroids and managed to get all bands to between 4 and 5w output for CW except 160m that was already at 6w. Running 12.0v input and build for 12v Being happy with results I then first tested resetting to factory defaults, and then tested SSB output power. Still max 2-2.5w according to the Bird. I then decided to run the SSB calibration again. Worked fine til perhaps 12m or 10m phase. I then heard some terrible noise from the speaker and saw the QMX crashing with all blocks in the display and turning itself off. I tried powering on again, but won¡¯t start now. Just blank display and current protection on PSU kicks in due to over current. I suspect maybe finals are fried with internal short as result? Jonas 7 maj 2025 kl. 23:12 skrev Stan Dye via groups.io <standye@...>: ? On Wed, May 7, 2025 at 01:38 PM, Wiggle Pig wrote: It¡¯s D503 and D504 These are placeholders for diodes that could be placed across the BS170 outputs, as was commonly done with QDX. Hans included them in the design, but has not encouraged installing the diodes, which he believes are unnecessary for QMX. They may suppress spikes, but they also add additional capacitance to the PA, which may affect it adversely in other ways. There were many posts on this list regarding this topic a year or so ago. Stan KC7XE
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QMX won't start after firmware update to 1_02_000
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Just upgraded from pre-SSB version to 1_02_000 and now the QMX doesn't start again. - Only POP at headphones - No display - No serial port visible at computer - With new upgrade all HW tests worked fine Battery voltage OK (not of course measurable from device). The device worked fine before this upgrade. What should I try to fix this?
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50 Watt Power Amplifier - Low Power, High Harmonics
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#50w
#50wpa
Hello. I'm assembling a 50 watt power amplifier for use with a QCX+ that I assembled last month, for the 80 metre band. I have very high harmonics at the output of T3 - as a result, I get only about 9.3 watts out when running at 13.8 V. Output from the LPF looks OK on the 'scope. I found the excellent videos by NA5Y which shows the output of T3 should be much closer to a sinusoid than what I get. I also found the discussion with KO1KR in August of 2020, but unfortunately I can't see his scope photos so I don't know if he had the same problem. I've since skimmed through the many discussions on this forum but haven't found the same issue exactly, though I did check out some of the suggestions given here. I found the amplifier took 67 mA with R5 fully CCW - I adjusted R5 till the amplifier drew about 70 mA with the QCX+ key-down in practice mode. Here are my scope traces: 0092 is the gate drive, yellow is Q1 gate, purple is Q2 gate - all is well here. 0090 is the drain voltage, Q1 in yellow and Q2 in purple - these look like there is oscillation ? 0091 is the voltage at the output of T3. This has a lot of third harmonic and doesn't look like the waveform NA5Y showed at this point. (QCX+ was set for 3.520 MHZ , amplifier connected to a dummy load.) I thought that perhaps my bench power supply is doing something odd when the amp is drawing power, but I probed the 12 volt line right at the barrel connector and the 'scope showed almost no disturbance of the +12 v supply. In frustration, I observed the output of T3 with the 'scope set for a long capture - it almost looks as if the distortion grows with time, for the first few tens of microsceconds the scope showed a small but sine-ish waveform, which over the span of a few hundred microseconds got wigglier and wigglier till it developed into the mess seen in my scope capture 0091. I've checked DC continuity to the windings of all the transformers and coils. I did find a bad joint on the primary of T1 but I cleaned it up and can now get power out of the amplifier. I haven't yet checked bias on all the 1N4007 diodes but the input looks quite sinusoidal at R3 closest to the input. The few watts the amplifier does produce look OK at its output. The QCX+ makes about 4.3 wats into a dummy load (43 V peak to peak) at 13.8 V DC. I'm assembling these units for a friend, and I had really hoped to have them ready for Field Day this year. The instructions are excellent and I have followed them closely. What can I look at next? Bill VE4STW
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R520 Wrong component value.
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When testing my newly built QMX+ I was getting high SWR readings while running the diagnostics SWR test. Even when connected to a dummy load the readings were around 2.7 to 1 across all bands. I removed and re-wound T507 (twice) but could not resolve the problem. So I removed T507 for a third time and started to check component values around the bridge circuit. I found that R520, although marked as 68X (49.9 R) , actually measured as 124.5 K. Has anyone else seen this problem. Regards Stephen
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