Sticky
#qmx #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_003 release
142
#qmx
#ssb
Hi all I updated the SSB beta testing webpage of the brave, here: https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp/ssbbeta.html and released firmware version 1_01_003 to it. These are the changes: Bug fix: Initial value for noise gate samples was 100 (should be max 99) - makes no real difference but it needed to be fixed Added TX indication underlining the A character when transmitting from USB sound card in SSB mode. Note that the two possible states for this indication are a single dot (indicating PTT has been applied and now the radio is in TX mode) and the solid bar (indicating audio is being received from the PC and transmitted). There is no double-dot like there is in Digi mode indicating insufficient volume, because in SSB mode the radio transmits whatever you give it, even if the volume is low. Bug fix: CAT command TQ1; did not cause transmit when in SSB mode. Now TQ1; and TQ0; work properly in SSB mode. Bug fix: Prevent button presses from accidentally activating VOX, which was happening due to sound picked up from the internal (cancellation reference channel) microphone when you pressed buttons right next to it, and that prevented band change because the second click of the double click was ignored because by then the radio was in transmit mode. All fixed! Now you can click buttons however you like and when button clicks are done, VOX is temporarily disabled until your button pushing frenzy is over. Power meter now reads Peak Envelope Power (PEP) when in SSB mode. Previously it was just reading a sampled value (NOT an average); so if the power meter was updated 10x a second, the updates would just randomly pick a value from the SSB amplitude envelope, which was most unlikely to be its peak value. Bug fixL Calibration hung at DAC 1300 when run on LCD. Now the calibration completes properly when run from the LCD. Many thanks for all the feedback so far, SSB in QMX is getting better and better! 73 Hans G0UPL http://qrp-labs.com https://www.buymeacoffee.com/g0upl
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Different phase error plots each time #qmx #QMXplus #SSB Firmware beta 1_01_009 release
#ssb
#qmx
#QMXplus
Hi All, Thank you Hans for your fantastic work! I'm now on firmware version 1_01_009 and getting successful competition of the calibrations. Previously, I was not able to get most of the calibrations to complete. However, I'm a little confused as to why I'm getting inconstant phase error vs dac plots on consecutive runs on the same band. Is this expected? Considering that the test, the injected signal and the output, should be identical on each run, why do I get a different plot each time? So, which one of these would be the perfected or optimal calibration? Mel. M0KMD
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QMX+ with ~1000 tone on 12M & 6M
61
The radio is a Ver. 1 QMX plus that in general performs exactly like I expect. It does not have the GPS option installed, and there is no battery in the clock battery slot. The radio is used for CW only. As the title suggests, I have an approximate 1000 tone on only 12M and 6M bands. It is internal, in that I can remove antenna and it's still there. It does not change in level or tone while tuning around the band. It appears to de-sense the receiver a bit, as a signal must be pretty strong for me to be able to copy it on 12M. There is normally a 'beat' frequency between the received signal and the tone when I can copy someone. I have run the I/Q sweeps in Putty, using a raspberry pi computer. The tone is present with or without the computer attached. The I/Q sweeps look very nice on the lower bands, and begin to deteriorate as the frequency goes up. They are still showing the two sine waves, but are a bit distorted( not a perfect line of x's ). This deterioration is also noted on 10M and 15M ( to some extent ) and the sweeps for 12M and 6M are not suspiciously worse than others. 10M works flawlessly, as do the other bands. The remaining filter sweeps look good, with some tweaking needed possibly, but totally functional as is. I have a set of QMX HB and LB radios to compare symptoms, and the HB QMX does not have the 'tone' on 12M when swapped into the system. I am curious what path to take troubleshooting this issue. I did not find anything in the archives that addressed this strange behavior. Thanks & 73 Dick W4PID
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Audio Setting on QMX +
Hello all, in order to have a good audio volume on WSJT-x (the green slider on the left of the WSJTX screen) I adjusted the audio level per band and some had to be set up to 70 istead of the default 54. So far so good but now I can not turn down the audion for the headphones down to 0. No I don't have the headphones on in DIGI modes :-) , but that applies also to CW and there now the audio is too loud for me on some bands. Could the audion setting be different for Digi and CW or SSB ? I believe the default setting would be fine for any mode except DIGI. -- Martin DK3UW
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#qmx SSB Firmware beta 1_01_009 release
16
#qmx
Hi all I updated the SSB beta testing webpage of the brave, here: https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp/ssbbeta.html and released firmware version 1_01_009 to it. Changes in this version: More small USB tweaks directed at Win7 to try and get the Serial COM port working again. Bug fix: USB gain not loaded at power-up. Bug fix: Sync calibration screens display issue (wrote over top of previous cals without clearing them first). Calibration quit and set error vector to zero when the phase error cannot be properly measured. Note that every QMX+ I have tried, has completed SSB calibration successfully using Run all. On some QMX some bands cannot calibrate phase error properly; what happens now is that (per change #4 above) the phase errors are written to zero which is equivalent to switching off phase predistortion for that band. At least the other bands can use phase predistortion and the sync optimization etc will also be correct; I will work on trying to find a solution to these less usual cases. Many thanks for your feedback so far. Hopefully if I can resolve Ludwig's Windows 7 issues we could be getting close to an official SSB firmware version. 73 Hans G0UPL http://qrp-labs.com https://www.buymeacoffee.com/g0upl
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New QMX Build
My apologies if this is a duplicate msg... Just finished my QMX (60M-15M), 12V build. Getting between 4.3W-5W on all bands, except 17M (about 3W). Played with the LPF coils windings (compression and # of windings) but any improvement in 17M resulted in a corresponding reduction in output power on 15M. Kept it with 15M at 4.7W. Decided to 3D print two knurled knobs to replace the supplied ones. Otherwise, all good. Might wait a bit before trying the SSB option. My 3rd QRP Labs kit - always well done. This one's a great kit, loads of fun - thanks Hans. 73, Robert VE7ZN
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Newly Built QMX
Just finished my QMX (60-15) - 12V version. I decided to 3D print some custom knobs - don't like the white marker line (which means nothing anyhow). Great little rig. 4.3W or more on all bands except 17M (about 3W+) @ 11.8V input. I tried messing a bit with the LPF coils for 17/15 but any gains on 17M resulted in losses for 15M so kept it at the maximized 15M end. This is my 3rd QRP Labs kit - and all have worked very well. Thanks Hans, great project and loads of fun to build. 73, Robert VE7ZN
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Help with QMX, Linux and WSJTX/FT8
9
I have been using my QMX on FT8 with WSJTX with few problems until recently. I use Linux Mint 22.1. With the WSJTX beta 7/rcx everything worked great using TS-480 as rig, PulseAudio, alsa and Hamlob 4.6.1. But after upgrading to wsjtx 2.7, Hamlib 4.6.2 and the SSB beta firmware I cannot get FT8 to work. I can get RX working fine TX is another story. If I do get it to transmit it stops after a second or so. I have tried TS-440S, TS-480 and QRPLabs QMX as radio and the QMX audio both with PipeWire and PulseAudio. I currently have QMX beta 009 installed. I have also tried going back to production firmware 27 with no luck. Help! 73, Bill NZ0T
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QMX+ not receiving on 10m
8
Hello all, my QMX can tx fine on 10m, but I can't even hear ft8, come to think about it, I have never heard anything on 10m. Here are some screenshots:
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QMX+ - Soundcard No Receive audio
3
#audio
I am having difficulties with ALL my USB soundcards, including the QMX+. My station computer is a Windows10 machine. All was working well and I have been playing with SSB recently. Today I decided to use FT8 and try my luck with ZS8M. When I opened JTDX I received the error "An error opening the audio input device has occurred." Interestingly I could transmit however there was no audio on the waterfall. Unsure of my dilemma I tried another rig and another external USB soundcard and again I had the same error. I have 3 USB soundcards (including the QMX+). One is a digital interface for my QRO rig the 2nd is for CW Skimmer and the 3rd is the QMX+. NONE of the USB cards can receive audio data? I have checked each audio device and they seem to be setup correctly and the sound icon on the taskbar is at full audio with the correct device shown. But no audio is received by any of the soundcards or their appropriate software. The ONLY fully working soundcard is the built-in card on my Win10 machine. I don't think that this is a QMX+ issue but much broader. (I am running firmware 1_001_003.) Has anyone encountered anything similar? Thanks, -- 73, Rick VE7TK Website: https://www.ve7tk.ca/
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installed firmware version 1_01_009. Ran full configuration. Bad things happened.
4
My QMX+ was built by QRP-Labs. It has worked well for about a month, listening and practicing CW. Today I upgraded from 007 to 009 and ran the full configuration routine with a dummy load. The radio felt warm, not hot. It is connected to an OCFD antenna with a SWR a bit below 2.0 on 10 meters. I cancelled Practice Mode, started sending QC while monitoring the SWR (about 1.8 on the display). After about 1 minute, the QMX+ shut down. When I turned it on again, the display grid was all black dots. I removed the cover and adjusted the display pot so it was readable. Turned the radio on and sent CQ a few times. After about 10 seconds the radio shut down again (and again, and again). I performed the factory reset (Twice) and reconfigured the QMX+ for my key and display options (SWR and battery). At this point the radio will power up, the display looks correct and the menus work. CW Practice Mode works, except each character is followed by a loud POOP! Transmitting CW or SSB causes the radio to reset and sometimes it shuts off. Any help is appreciated. Be kind (I've had a difficult day) 73
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SSTV
Got my QMX with version 9 of Beta firmware to work on SSTV this evening -- MMSSTV software, 12 volt build running at 9.5 volts, Mic = USB, Vox = ON, usual selections in MMSSTV. Solid contact with W2WTF in Flowery Branch, GA from Elizabethtown, PA. No over heating of radio. Bands are pretty rotten today, but thought I would give it a try!
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Feature Request List?
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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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SSB Calibration Warning
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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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#clock #QMXplus
12
#clock
#QMXplus
The clock on my QMXplus seems to drift many minutes every day. When I do an operating session or a POTA activation I will need to remember to set the clock when I sit down and power it up. I set the time to UTC to make paper logging easier. I have a new quality CR2032 battery in my QMXplus in case you wondered. i haven¡¯t yet measured the clock drift, but was surprised it was significant. I think a number of contacts I uploaded to LoTW had no QSL because my estimate of the correct time was wrong. (A day or two later I discovered the time was way off before I uploaded, and changed the times in my electronic log to my estimated corrected time) Or I could get the OLG3 GNSS module which I think will set the QMXplus time, but that requires another component and setup to my portable kit. I probably won¡¯t bother but keep thinking about other solutions. My Home QTH transceivers are spot on the correct UTC time. I can take a PC or IPad and do my logging on it. Another component to take. Q: Before I decide what to do, How much does your QMXplus clock drift?
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QSL Card Multilingual Editor
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For those who wish to create/print their own QSL Card my GitHub repository might be of interest: https://github.com/sparks72/QSL-Card-Multilinqual-Editor 72/73 de Paul DJ0CU Feedback welcome.
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Hamvention?
2
Will QRP labs be at Hamvention in Ohio? If so, what booth/building please. Will you have built kits (QMX+) on hand for sale? Thanks and ¡®73 Jim WX8J
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#qmx SSB Firmware beta 1_01_006 release - calibration
6
#qmx
Hans, I think calibration in _006 is better, but there are still some issues. I am attaching some screenshots from my QMX-lowband calibration that may help in diagnosing the phase-error cals that don't finish, and also a USB IMD optimization that was strange, and fixed itself when I repeated it. I did the initial calibration from a factory-reset condition, using the 'R' option to do all of the optimizations, which I then reviewed. The 80m Phase Error plot didn't complete - it stopped at about 700 on the x-axis. And retrying it with the 'O' repeated the same results. Then I retried a few more times and captured the attached 5 shots of the progression. Note that it for some reason started with a high DAC value, not the one corresponding to the x-axis, which is why it stopped early. Completely repeatable. The 20m USB IMD optimization looked crazy. The other IMDs looked OK. So I retried 20m using the 'O', and it cleaned itself up. See the initial and retry results in the last two attachments. I hope this is helpful- I will check the cal process/results on my other QMX*, and let you know if anything else interesting shows up. Stan KC7XE
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MI QRP Weekly Zoom Chat
We had 14 folks join the MI QRP Zoom Chat on 24 April. Please join us Thursday May 1 (and every Thursday) at 4PM Eastern for the Michigan QRP Club weekly QRP Chat where the main topics will be QRP and other ham interests. New hams are encouraged to participate and ask questions. It's fun, it's easy, and it's free. You only need a computer, a smart phone, or a tablet that can connect to the Internet. OR if you can't be close to any of those you can join by audio with any standard phone. Just follow the directions below. No software needs to be loaded or installed. Anyone can join and non members are welcome. Details are here: https://www.miqrp.net/zoom Zoom ID: 811 0835 6229 The topic for Thursday, 1 May will be an OPEN FORUM and maybe a who is going to Hamvention raise of hands. Ernie - NE3TE Harry - K9DXA Stan - WB8QJZ Pete - WK8S Bill - KU8H Tony - W8CDC Bill - N5IM (first time) Neil - N9NL Dave - N8SBE Yvon - AE7YD Cassie - KC9IH Kim - N8FNC John - M7FZC Jim - K8DDV (first time) I was not at the meeting so I have no notes to share. The agenda for the 1 May QRP Chat: Ernie to do a short introduction and acknowledge any new folks to the Zoom chat. The topic for next week will be an open forum. During the open forum anyone can take the floor. We will go one by one until all have had a chance to have the floor. Files, pictures and presentations can be shared if you have any. Please try to stay muted when someone has the floor. Thanks Ed AB8DF
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New SSB firmware and VARA
5
Hi, has anybody tried the new firmware with VarAC and/or Winlink? Does it work?
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