Re: Good morning and good evening to all
Dear Guy San/ N1GMM, Good morning to you, I appreciated your checking for my initiation into this mailing-list, QRP Plus group. I'm happy to hear your nice posting under the severe COVID-19. I'm praying your better performance of rehabilitation. In my case, I had been in heart disease, the arrhythmia. Since 2016, I'm free from this by being operated. It's a lucky accident, because a call sign of a friend of mine is JA3GMM, 78yrs old, who got cerebral hemorrhage almost 30 yrs ago. He is still safe now enjoying slow and quiet walks. I'm 76 with my idle activity on the Radio engineering, though I had been a top-highteen operator (so-called junior DXer) with CW on 40m band around 1961 long-long time ago, hi... Today, my finger play is not same as young days performance.....Hi! Last summer, I tried to climb mountains and hills in several weekend. I remembered this QRP+ transceiver which is convenient for my rucksack. I'm going to bring this QRP+ in next summer. I was a computer systems analyst to design operating software, ever. I'm a researcher (maybe hobbyist?!) of the information technology, now. In my U.S. staying days, I got a license of call sign, exN8EYH, in Dayton, Ohio. I had been in Yokohama almost 25 years since 1986. We were staying or working in the same city, ever. You remember a beautiful port of Yokohama at Sunset. Have your nice days, N1GMM de JA3ECA/ Katsuhiko in Nara, _._ _. -- Katsuhiko Hirai <mxc04040@...> in Ikoma, Nara, Japan. P.E. of Information Technology, Researcher of the Software Process Engineering, Amateur Radio Operator: JA3ECA. On Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:40:00 -0800 "Guy Mengel" <guy@...> wrote: Katsuhiko San;
Welcome aboard. This is a very slow group. I have not forgotten about it.
It is good to see you here and restarting your ham hobby. Indeed!
I am also restarting in a slow way. I am 65, had a second right cerebral stroke and have learned to walk again. I am still foggy a bit and dizzy at times.
I have 2 QRP+'s one with a companion. One QRP+ is operating correctly, the other, well, after replacing the mixer and powering it up all was well, it was receiving fine..that is until I tried to transmit into a dummy load.. the thing flashed and blew the fuse. Well something else is drastically wrong. I will be troubleshooting it on this blog.
I was a test engineer for Dominion Semiconductor and Toshiba owned it during this time. I spent a lot of time in Japan in the Yokohama area with the manufacturer of a VLSI tester we were purchasing and I was having them modify. The Advantest tester for flash memory devices.. That was over 20 years ago. I miss the engineering.
Anyway I hope this gets to you!
JA3ECA de N1GMM
Guy Mengel N1GMM
-- exN8EYH
|
Re: Good morning and good evening to all
Katsuhiko San;
Welcome aboard. This is a very slow group. I have not forgotten about it.
It is good to see you here and restarting your ham hobby. Indeed!
I am also restarting in a slow way. I am 65, had a second right cerebral stroke and have learned to walk again. I am still foggy a bit and dizzy at times.
I have 2 QRP+'s one with a companion. One QRP+ is operating correctly, the other, well, after replacing the mixer and powering it up all was well, it was receiving fine..that is until I tried to transmit into a dummy load.. the thing flashed and blew the fuse. Well something else is drastically wrong. I will be troubleshooting it on this blog.
I was a test engineer for Dominion Semiconductor and Toshiba owned it during this time. I spent a lot of time in Japan in the Yokohama area with the manufacturer of a VLSI tester we were purchasing and I was having them modify. The Advantest tester for flash memory devices.. That was over 20 years ago. I miss the engineering.
Anyway I hope this gets to you!
JA3ECA de N1GMM
Guy Mengel N1GMM
|
Good morning and good evening to all
Dear members of QRP Plus Group,
I'm a new comer, Katsuhiko Hirai, just joined to this group.
I got QRP Plus Ver.1 last month.
I'm trying to restart my ham radio hobby after very long QRT since 1985.
It seems for me to be young teen-age days just noticed Ham radio.
I'm going to build my HF antennas soon and modify my QRP Plus,
though my finger playing of CW might be so poor than ever.
Have a nice new day and evening time,
Best regards,
Katsuhiko Hirai
--
Katsuhiko Hirai <mxc04040@...>
in Ikoma, Nara, Japan.
P.E. of Information Technology,
Researcher of the Software Process Engineering,
Amateur Radio Operator: JA3ECA.
--
exN8EYH
|
I wish to join the mailing-list member of QRPPlus for transceiving e-mails with the user of QRP Plus.
Dear an office of QRPPlus mailing list,
Good evening and good afternoon.
I'm happy to join the mailing-list member of QRPPlus for
transceiving e-mails with the user of QRP Plus.
Best regards,
Katsuhiko Hirai/ JA3ECA
Nara, Japan
--
Katsuhiko Hirai <mxc04040@...>
in Ikoma, Nara, Japan.
P.E. of Information Technology,
Researcher of the Software Process Engineering,
Amateur Radio Operator: JA3ECA.
--
exN8EYH
|
Re: QRP Plus with blown C41 on Transmitter board
Hi Larry,
I didn't see your reply and checked my spam folder too, but I appreciate you replying here.
The damaged cap looks like any other tantalum I have ever seen.? The owner claims that he operated the radio after this happened and no other issues were noticed.
I think based on what I have observed + your input here, I will offer to replace the blown cap with a 10MF tantalum with no guarantees and see where it goes, or he can send it off to another guy he's dealt with in the past.??
I guess whoever was building these radios in the past had some kind of a backplane that they could use to work on these things without having to dismantle the stack.? And yes, I did read your article.
Thank you again for responding.??
John - N4WFK? ?
On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 07:18:55 PM EDT, Larry East <w1hue@...> wrote:
Didn't you
get my reply?
Hi John,
Is the damaged cap an electrolytic?? If so, it's value
probably is (was. . .) 10MF.?
At pointed out in first of my articles, the 1N4005
"reverse protection diode" is essentially worthless since
under revered polarity it will probably blow (open up)
before the fuse blows resulting in a number of things
being blown in the rig.? So -- I am afraid that you have
more to deal will than just a beheaded cap -- like the
output IRF510 (and who knows what else).? All I can say is
"good luck" . . .
72/73,
Larry - W1HUE
On 11/3/2021 2:01 PM, John via
groups.io wrote:
I'm trying to
help out a friend with his QRP Plus rig.? Power was applied in
reverse polarity and it blew C41 on the XMTR board.? It looks like
a tantalum cap but it was mostly destroyed so there is no way to
determine the value from looking at it.
|
Re: QRP Plus with blown C41 on Transmitter board
Didn't you
get my reply?
Hi John,
Is the damaged cap an electrolytic?? If so, it's value
probably is (was. . .) 10MF.?
At pointed out in first of my articles, the 1N4005
"reverse protection diode" is essentially worthless since
under revered polarity it will probably blow (open up)
before the fuse blows resulting in a number of things
being blown in the rig.? So -- I am afraid that you have
more to deal will than just a beheaded cap -- like the
output IRF510 (and who knows what else).? All I can say is
"good luck" . . .
72/73,
Larry - W1HUE
On 11/3/2021 2:01 PM, John via
groups.io wrote:
I'm trying to
help out a friend with his QRP Plus rig.? Power was applied in
reverse polarity and it blew C41 on the XMTR board.? It looks like
a tantalum cap but it was mostly destroyed so there is no way to
determine the value from looking at it.
|
QRP Plus with blown C41 on Transmitter board
Hi folks,?
I'm trying to help out a friend with his QRP Plus rig.? Power was applied in reverse polarity and it blew C41 on the XMTR board.? It looks like a tantalum cap but it was mostly destroyed so there is no way to determine the value from looking at it.
I have the XMR PCB board layout and the schematic.? The layout shows C41 just behind C39.? However, on Figure 18 of the schematic, there is no mention of C41 at all.? Instead, it shows two C39's flanking D7.? One is a 220uF electrolytic which I see on that board.? The other C39 shown on the schematic lists it as 10NF.? I'm pretty sure that should be labeled as C41 on the schematic.? Assuming I am correct, I also question the value listed on the schematic, as 10NF (nano farads), or .01MF or 10k PF, etc.
Can anyone help with a value of C41?
Thanks in advance,
John? ? ?? ?
|
Re: New Project the Repair of a QRP ++ rig I purchased for a song
Hi Guy,? What is the trick to get past?
Login required
on the Wiki and see content?
Thanks,
Jim Larsen, AL7FS
Anchorage AK
1-907-223-3548
On Mon, Sep 6, 2021 at 7:41 AM Guy Mengel < guy@...> wrote: [Edited Message Follows]
[Reason: I mis-labeled the Subject.? It Should Read QRP +? ?not QRP ++? I could not figure out how to change the title... Apologies.]
Hi All,
NOTE: I mis-labeled the Project.? This is a QRP+ not a QRP++? It has the old style (but still very good) SBL-1 Mixers... I will conntinue
My name is Guy and I have posted but few times. I thought it might be fun to post a series of notes about the repair of a QRP++ rig that I purchased for a song from K5APL (Mr. Wes Bolin on this group). I will be posting most of the updates on my wiki site (saves storage here and costs) with pictures and other things.? It was reported the radio is hard of hearing and the initial state appears to be mixers were changed out.? I have the old mixer as well and will be testing it.. there has been some discussion on the QRP ++ on the mixers.. It appears initially that the QRP ++ has had its mixer switched out from the original to an MCL-SBL-1 (both mixers are now the same).? This radio has been thru several hands.? ?I do not know the S/N yet as the unit is completely disassembled and I have not booted it.?
Initially for those who want to know a little bit more on mixers here is a nice article.
More as I put the radio back together and find a detailed description of whats going on.
Here is the link to my wiki..
Hope all are well.? I am going to have fun with this.
73 Guy
|
New Project the Repair of a QRP ++ rig I purchased for a song
Hi All,
NOTE: I mis-labeled the Project. This is a QRP+ not a QRP++ It has the old style (but still very good) SBL-1 Mixers... I will conntinue
My name is Guy and I have posted but few times. I thought it might be fun to post a series of notes about the repair of a QRP++ rig that I purchased for a song from K5APL (Mr. Wes Bolin on this group). I will be posting most of the updates on my wiki site (saves storage here and costs) with pictures and other things. It was reported the radio is hard of hearing and the initial state appears to be mixers were changed out. I have the old mixer as well and will be testing it.. there has been some discussion on the QRP ++ on the mixers.. It appears initially that the QRP ++ has had its mixer switched out from the original to an MCL-SBL-1 (both mixers are now the same). This radio has been thru several hands. I do not know the S/N yet as the unit is completely disassembled and I have not booted it.
Initially for those who want to know a little bit more on mixers here is a nice article.
More as I put the radio back together and find a detailed description of whats going on.
Here is the link to my wiki..
Hope all are well. I am going to have fun with this.
73 Guy
|
Re: QRPP+ Troubleshooting
Hi Larry thanks for your answer. I have already replaced the battery several times without any result. I did the operation regularly in the past but recently the rig showed a very?unpleasant issue at startup and even when it seems to apparently work, it hangs suddenly without any apparent reason. Another strange issue is the absence of code nr at startup (in my case 1313) on lcd where appears randomly strange or incomplete figures instead, in a very erratic and unlogical sequence. Sometime after repeated switches on and off the rig seems to work but after a variable interval it hangs again and lcd shows again garbled figures. It is really a headache for me and without a complete diagram showing test points and voltage values, it becomes very difficult to troubleshoot the rig. It is my feeling that the microcontroller is not working properly or firmware is corrupted but if this is the case it will be almost impossible to recover it as I know that parts are no longer available and also programmed controllers are now unavailable.
I have already disassembled and checked all boards without finding any apparent anomalies at visual inspection. I have also replaced the elec cap being the parts more sensible to?decay but no results. I never found any similar issue reported in the available literature about QRP + till now.
Thanks for any comment
Best 73 de I1MDQ Nino fm Genova Italy
|
Re: QRPP+ Troubleshooting
What is
the problem?? Perhaps the Li battery needs replacing -- not
difficult.? If you do not have a manual, you can download one .
W1HUE
On 8/29/2021 6:11 AM, tautog54 wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
I could be also interested.
My QRP+ shows now an erratic issue at start up which I was unable
to solve. It seems something wrong at firmware boot but without
any precise guideline
about this argument is not possible for me to proceed. Then I'm
interested to check the possibility to replace the board or even
the unit.
I1MDQ Nino fm Genova Italy
|
Re: QRPP+ Troubleshooting
Thanks but the radio has been sold. 73
I could be also interested.
My QRP+ shows now an erratic issue at start up which I was unable to solve. It seems something wrong at firmware boot but without any precise guideline
about this argument is not possible for me to proceed. Then I'm interested to check the possibility to replace the board or even the unit.
I1MDQ Nino fm Genova Italy
|
Re: QRPP+ Troubleshooting
I could be also interested.
My QRP+ shows now an erratic issue at start up which I was unable to solve. It seems something wrong at firmware boot but without any precise guideline
about this argument is not possible for me to proceed. Then I'm interested to check the possibility to replace the board or even the unit.
I1MDQ Nino fm Genova Italy
|
Re: QRPP+ Parts Radio For Sale
Wow.. this is a good deal for someone! i have a QRP+ with Companion ... that I have repaired. Works Great. If no one takes up this offer I will purchase this unit.. I love repairing and building my own rigs.
Guy
|
QRPP+ Parts Radio For Sale
I have my radio for sale because (1) I took it apart and don't have the skill to get it back together, and (2) my interest in QRP has waned.? It worked when I got it, but it was
not sensitive like it should be.? I replaced the mixer and no difference.? So I stopped there and put in a box.? It still worked "the last time I turned it on" but didn't work well.
I'll sell it for $100 as-is with manual and mic.? If interested, let me know.? Buyer pays shipping.
Thanks
Wes
|
QRP Plus (++) Reference Frequency Adjustment
Anyone have any comments/experience on the QRP Plus (++) reference frequency adjustment procedure?
I have a QRP Plus V2 in top condition. When first powered on the displayed frequency is off by 0.2 KHz. As the radio warms up it does improve. That may be within spec for the radio, but if it can be improved, I'd like to try.
With newer radios correcting an offset is usually as simple as tuning a single inductor or capacitor, but I see with the QRP ++ the manual process is more involved. It requires connecting a counter or spectrum analyzer to pin 17 on LO PCB chip U4 and adjusting C47 and C48 looking for specific frequencies while tuning.?Without disassembling the stacked boards, it appears the capacitors are adjustable via holes in the board above but pin 17 on the IC looks difficult to access. Anyone who has tried this have comments?
Is there an alternative process where one could simply adjust the caps during TX and simply correct the carrier frequency to better match the displayed frequency?
|
No worries Dave, I understand!
73 Renne PA1RP
|
|
|
Rennem
I think you are right m:-)
Plus, at my age (84), I really do NOT want to try going through all
the export/shipping paperwork!
Sorry
Dave G. KK7SS
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Tue, Mar 2, 2021 at 5:22 AM Renn¨¦ Smit <rpsmitster@...> wrote:
Hi Dave,
I'm interested, but living at this moment in South Korea and I think it's to expensive to send? What do you think?
73, Renne PA1RP
|
Hi Dave,
I'm interested, but living at this moment in South Korea and I think it's to expensive to send? What do you think?
73, Renne PA1RP
|
Katsu. Hirai
Guy Mengel N1GMM
AL7FS-Jim.Larsen