Anyone tried this HF kit? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / rf-microwave

author: retrev
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2018, 07:04:44 pm
content: Saw this on eBay, it's cheap and you usually get what you pay for and all that. Wondering if anyone has one or has heard anything about them? Are they worth the money? I'm looking for something that will run reasonably off of batteries for QRP operation while hiking (which is partly why I want cheap...if it breaks, it's <$50 to replace it). Hoping it'll make descent regional or close DX contacts probably on 40m.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2018, 08:02:35 pm
content: Ermm, which piece of kit?

author: hendorog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2018, 08:10:56 pm
content: Quote from: CJay on June 06, 2018, 08:02:35 pmWhat, can't you see it? Its the emperors new HF!

author: vk3yedotcom
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2018, 08:37:58 pm
content: There is only one sub $50 kit that could be considered high quality and with a good reputation for on-air use.This is the QCX from QRP Labs.https://www.qrp-labs.com/qcx.htmlI've not built one but have heard good accounts from people who have. It has many features that make it good for on-air work.Eg single signal receiver, 5 watts output, frequency agile transmitter etc.Much cheaper and widely on eBay is the Pixie. They're fun to build and modify. Not so fun on air as contacts will be hard.It's very low power (about 0.5w), stuck on a single frequency and has a very broad receiver that may be overloaded by broadcast stations.More detail at:http://home.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/projects/projpixie.htmThere are some kits of intermediate price and complexity but again you want a good receiver, frequency agility and decent power output.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2018, 08:40:02 pm
content: Vote here for the QCX. Own one on 40m and very much like it. It’s currently being the poor thing copying my awful CW. When I keyed my call the other month when I had foundation license it came out M6TIT

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2018, 10:57:43 pm
content: Mate of mine got given G7DUM or DIM, can't remember which but it caused him a fair bit of embarassment.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2018, 11:38:10 pm
content: Yeah never get auto assigned. Fortunately that was just me keying my old call which wasn’t M6TIT.Hopefully M0 after tomorrow

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2018, 12:32:09 pm
content: Luck with that (not that I think luck's necessary)

author: rhb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2018, 11:42:52 pm
content: I bought a pair of QCXs for 40 m. Haven't built them yet, but without a license it's not a rush item. But I looked at the design a good bit and was quite impressed. I'm interested in developing a low data rate protocol which will provide reliable low power communications over long distances. Point to point RFmail.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 07:06:10 am
content: Design of the QCX is very nice. It’s a phasing receiver with class E PA and built in diagnostic and test gear. It does actually kick out 5W with a couple of BS170s which don’t even get warm. Was very surprised. My only complaints are it comes with cheap shitty resistors and caps. There was a quality control problem with them for a bit. I built mine with higher quality parts and it worked straight up.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 02:16:41 pm
content: Quote from: rhb on June 12, 2018, 11:42:52 pmThats not far.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 02:22:21 pm
content: Check this out thenhttps://groups.io/g/QRPLabs/topic/i_have_moved_the_super/12934242?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,0,12934242

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 03:29:14 pm
content: In reply to someone who posted about there not being any schematics and then the post disappearing...It's in the manual:https://www.qrp-labs.com/images/qcx/assembly3_A4.pdfand herehttps://www.qrp-labs.com/images/qcx/assembly3_A4.pdfAll the schematics are available.Only thing that isn't is the uC firmware.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 03:41:56 pm
content: why do you make an Double Post and not EDIT your Post?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 03:43:29 pm
content: It wasn't a double post. I was replying to someone who asked where the schematics were. Then I did edit it and add the top line after the poster deleted it after probably finding them where I said. The edited post line at the bottom only appears if someone views the thread in the time between it being posted the first time and the edit.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 04:07:34 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on June 13, 2018, 07:06:10 amI'm on the brink of pushing the buy button on a QCX, even closer now they don't have to travel thousands of miles from Japan, what sort of results are you seeing from it?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2018, 04:23:40 pm
content: Pretty good. It’s CW only. Got Canary Islands and Finland on a sotabeams squid pole with hacked up inverted V and 8xAA batteries. Receiver is as good as my FT-450D. Also acts as a WSPR beacon. The CW decoder is good enough for local practice without transmitting as well.Don’t do what I did though and solder all the controls onto the board. Plan an enclosure up front and mount them on there.My CW paddle cost a ton more than the damn thing.Edit: fix stupid autocomplete failures. Also didn’t use an AMU with it. Cut antenna about right and winged it. Seems to be relatively SWR proof or I’m lucky