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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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New QMX+ Calibration victim
5
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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Onboard mic timeline?
4
Hey all! I¡¯m not saying it would be an ideal situation or anything, but does anyone know if/when we will be able to use the onboard mic for ssb operations? I really love the portable nature of my kit and don¡¯t mind using the onboard mic. Thanks! 73 Jeff KB3TVP
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QCX-mini LCD backlight not coming on
10
Just completed troubleshooting a couple of items on the QMX-mini build and the unit now up and appears in good shape except the backlight doesn't turn on. I've rotated the LCD pot all the way which changes character brightness but without the backlight illuminating. I have the backlight set to 'on' in the menu system. Is these somewhere obvious I can trace the issue ? I imagine the signal from the processor to the LCD to turn on the backlight is not getting through but I'm not sure where to start looking, which pin on the LCD is connected to which pin on the processor (IC2). Any help is appreciated.
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#qmx Don¡¯t Use USB-C PD to power your QMX?!
78
#qmx
My QMX released the magic smoke yesterday and I quickly traced the smoke to a crater in D108, the 5.6V zener on the 5V PSU board. Having recently read Hans¡¯ excellent SMPS analysis (http://qrp-labs.com/qmx/smpsstep.html ) it got me wondering what could have caused the fault. I had been powering my QMX from a USB-C battery and this 12v cable (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZL1WZ4G). I then remembered that USB-C PD adapters typically start with the output at 5V and then shortly afterwards increase the voltage to that negotiated by the device (in this case 12V). This would generate exactly the voltage pattern Hans has told us to AVOID. I took a trace of the voltage power-up sequence, and this is the result (no QMX¡¯s were harmed in creating this trace). Output power starts at 5V for 120ms before increasing to 12V, perfectly creating Hans¡¯ disaster scenario and causing D108 to sacrifice itself to protect the rest of the QMX. Thankfully the rest of my QMX appears to have survived unharmed, thanks to D108. Conclusion: don¡¯t use a USB-C battery to power your QMX, unless you¡¯ve confirmed your adapter behaves differently! Cheers, Dave M0JTS
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Hi, I recently finished building my qmx and after checking for shorts and not finding any I plugged it in but it draws too much current (200mA when applying 7V (which drop to 3.7V)). I can connect to the device via the serial console where it outputs the following data: Supply Voltage: 3.7 V 5V SMPS Status: Error Voltage: 3.34 V Duty max: 85 % Duty cycle: 85 % The 3V3 SMPS is working fine. When testing the 5V SMPS board it seemed to work. Any ideas where I should start looking? Cheers Lieven DF1CN
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Rev 1 vs. Rev 3 QMX Kit?
4
I have an unbuilt Rev 1 QMX kit, that I am finally seeing time ahead to build it. But am wondering, would I be better off getting a Rev 3 kit. Are there significant upgrades or differences in the current version that would make it worth getting the new kit revision? Tnx Paul w2eck
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qmx+
I sorry you mistook question I'm looking for 12volt input mine is burnd out do my error.
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New QMX Build
Just finished my QMX Midband V4 build. I built it for 12 volts. The audio and RF sweeps are almost exactly as in the manual. Battery was at 11.2V Power from diagnostics as follows: 60 meter 5.3w 40 meter 4.3w 30 meter 4.3w 20 meter 4.2w 17 meter 3.8w 15 meter 4.9w I was using my QRPoMeter as the dummy load. Am I at risk if I run it at 12v. My pack is 3 cell Liion 5000mah (12.6 charged) with inline diode to bring it back to 12.0v. Thanks John KY4WW
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qmx+
i had a short between the two left front of jp110 i can't wait to see output of tx on a spectrum analzer im 84 this year an so be cool.
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qmx+
can you tell me connections to front panel on qmx+ I doun't have +12volts
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File /QMX-PC-Controller.html uploaded
5
#file-notice
The following items have been added to the Files area of the [email protected] group. /QMX-PC-Controller.html By: Paul Harrison <dj0cu@...> Description: Control the QMX via the PC. Instructions just save the File to your hard Disc, right click and Open with Chrome, Edge etc. Make sure your QMX is connected to the PC and click on Connect.
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Hi everyone. With the release of the SSB firmware out of beta, I thought I would make my offer to source K6ARKs wonderful little microphones, which can be found here: https://www.printables.com/model/320559-mini-microphone-for-qmx-trusdx-usdx-kx2-and-kx3, one more time. Adam (K6ARK) made a super fantastic little miniature mic case, and they work with the QMX quite nicely. I print the cases in PLA, and have the following colors available: Black, White, Grey, Navy Blue, Orange, Light Green, Red, Gold, Purple, Sand Stone, Light Blue Stone, Turquoise stone, and Marble Stone (The stone colors look like marble or granite - little flecks of darker color in them - The marble one winds up looking like bleached bone). The kit includes: 3D Printed case in PLA 3.5mm jack Electret Mic Element Microswitch for PTT For each mic, $10 for kit, $15 fully assembled and tested. This price includes shipping in the US. I am happy to make you more than one, some people want one for home and one for the go bag, that's great. You will need to provide your own AUX cable (3.5mm male to male) to go between the mic and the radio. I have had several ask what cord I am using, So I have included this link to one I am using and that I test all my assembled mics with; it seems to work quite well: https://a.co/d/36GDDXf (This is a shortened, non-affiliated link to Amazon.com page for the cable I use) If you are interested, send me a private email, and I will send you payment details. My email address is good on QRZ.
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qmx|+
what are the connection to front panel i have lost track of the +12volts
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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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T507 and SSB SWR
4
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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I really appreciate this idea. I'm addicted to panadapter/waterfall displays when using CW. That said, I must be missing something. When I enable I/Q output to USB and use CW mode, I seem to totally lose front panel earphone audio, except keyer sidetone. I was hoping it would still be CW audio, as when I/Q is disabled. Is this the expected behavior? -- Brent DeWitt, AB1LF Milford, MA
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Updated Wiki Page: Home
#wiki-notice
The wiki page Home has been updated by @Ludwig_DH8WN <DH8WN@...>. Compare Revisions
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Updated Wiki Page: QMX QMX_plus Debugging
#wiki-notice
The wiki page QMX QMX_plus Debugging has been updated by @Ludwig_DH8WN <DH8WN@...>. Compare Revisions
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Hello All, In an unfortunate accident, I dropped my QMX+ pcb that I was working on and broke few of the toroids. Visually, other toroid looks ok. Can these broken toroids be salvaged? I Is there any website/ store in US that I can buy the new ones in small quantities( like 2-3 ) instead of buying 25 pcs? What other alternatives can I try to substitute these components? Your help is appreciated. 73 Subash KE2BKS
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Sat 8:39am