Received a QCX+ and assembled it for 20M operation. Initial output was 2.4W, after I evenly spread out the turns on the toroids, it only increased to 2.8W (compressing the windings didn't help). I then removed 1 turn on each end of the wire on the first series LPF toroid next to the 3 BS170 output devices and evenly spread them out. Also, I totally compressed about 6 turns on the middle series toroid. Used Bondic to keep them tight. Also used Bondic to secure each toroid to pcb. Power output at 13.8V is 6.2W.
Just so you know, all of Hans' QCX kits are masterpieces and landmarks of the QRP kit building discipline, but the QCX+ is my personal fave as a collector! You owe it to yourself to make sure you get one before they pass into history.
I have the QCX and it is a great QRP XCVR. Fun to build and operate. The assembly manuals are first class. I am excited to start my QMX multiband XCVR. Great job Hans
Thank you for providing the best build experience on the market! Your manuals are so well thought to out and complete, that a ten year old could build them. I have a number of your kits and have enjoyed everyone of them. The mini is no exception, I have been carrying a Fox-Three Altoids 20 meter in my pack for a couple of years now, but it has been replaced with the mini which is a far superior and versatile mono band radio. Just wanted to thank you and your team for providing such a wonderful product! Thank You!
I have one of your older kits (40m), and shoe horned into a plastic container. I use a QRP guys 40 meter tuned antenna kit with it, and I attached Mini paddle to the side of the enclosure, and I have to say it is my favorite CW QRP field units, looking forward to the mini you are coming out with, and will be putting an order in ASAP.
I'm a backpacker camper and the radio is still small enough and light enough to take with me. I have the 30m model and I was so impressed, I just ordered the 40m model.
I've built two of the qcx+ transceivers so far. 80 meter and 40 meter models. Also the 50 watt amps that go with them. Absolutely fantastic. Instructions are very well written and easy to follow for the amps and the tranceivers. They work nicely. I hope to get started on the 20 meter model sometime soon. Get these while you can. They are excellent. 73 WA7AXT
@@Max27653 I would buy the qcx+ putting it the communication port for the GPS was a pain plus you could add a 3s Lipo battery inside the + and it would a lot of fun. It looks like it would be easier to build. I also built a copper heat sink for my QCX as well; the qcx plus addresses that as well. Even though bigger it looks like a great unit.
🙂 Excellent that the QCX shall live on in improved QCX+ form. I have QCX "Mk1's" for 20m and 40m. Use them regularly and always enjoy using them. Thanks for the video Hans.
Since the whole design is bigger now it would be nice to have plugable components for multi-band support. A bit to big for just mono-band qrp cw only. Or maybe as an option you could sell only main board without front board if one wants more band options.
This may be sacrilege, but I love the QCX+ over the new Mini. Not being a SOTA guy or backpacking QRP into the raging wilderness of Southern California, I prefer a sedate setup on the back patio or up at a mountain campsite with tent, adjacent beer cooler, and immediate proximity to terlets, grocery stores, pizzarias, etc. So, sue me!
Hans, with the extra room on the circuit board, why was the AGC not included? or have taken this into the NEW QCX system. Thank you making easier to get HF with CW and extras. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
It makes a nice usb receiver too with a jumper from jp11 to jp12😍 . one pin per header. It bypasses the 200hz filter. can even receive the time at 10mhz tho the input filters it some.
People use a lot of different supplies, there's no hard and fast rule... you generally want about 12-13.8V and 1A. In my opinion linear regulated supplies are best, because modern switched mode supplies are often noisy and will ruin radio reception. 73 Hans
Brand new to this. Looking for a first radio that would make a good CW trainer. It looks like the radio decodes the received and transmitted CW and displays "*" if the morse code doesn't conform well enough to distinguish the character. Is that correct?
Hi Paul, yes. If it thinks it receives a character and the pattern of dits and days doesn't match any letter or number etc., then it shows a * on the display. I get very good feedback on the CW decoder in QCX. It tracks both keying speed changes and amplitude changes. Nevertheless if the other station sends poor Morse, or is weak, or if there is a lot of interference, then decoding is difficult. And nothing beats the well-trained human ear!
A few weeks, hopefully... I am about to start kit production. See qrp-labs.com/qcxmini and scroll down to see the 4 updates, there are lots of photos and details on those pages!
Yes there is. The format is fixed but the delimiter character is configurable. You can use any character you want. Default is comma. But you could choose decimal point, space, or anything else you wish.
@@relaxationmeditations5367 unfortunately not. Several people have reported success with power supplies for old laptops which are often around the right specs
@@relaxationmeditations5367 there isn't an internal speaker and I don't supply a kit for one. However I do supply a Dev Kit see shop.qrp-labs.com/qcxpdev which is a large PCB with a 0.1-inch matrix of plated through-holes, and pin header connections to strategic places on the main QCX+ PCB, including power and audio. It mounts on 4 spacers (screws etc supplied). The 3.5mm audio jacks have internal switches too which are also accessible via pads so it would be possible to switch an internal audio amp like that. The QCX+ is designed for easy modifications! The Dev board could be a place to install a small audio amp board etc.
YOUR AUDIO SUCKS! But this is a Great video- except the effin audio problem! Your inclusion of the QSO with Guiseppi in colored text at bottom of screen allowed me to follow your QSO word-for-word! Good idea; I need the practice!
Received a QCX+ and assembled it for 20M operation. Initial output was 2.4W, after I evenly spread out the turns on the toroids, it only increased to 2.8W (compressing the windings didn't help). I then removed 1 turn on each end of the wire on the first series LPF toroid next to the 3 BS170 output devices and evenly spread them out. Also, I totally compressed about 6 turns on the middle series toroid. Used Bondic to keep them tight. Also used Bondic to secure each toroid to pcb. Power output at 13.8V is 6.2W.
Just so you know, all of Hans' QCX kits are masterpieces and landmarks of the QRP kit building discipline, but the QCX+ is my personal fave as a collector! You owe it to yourself to make sure you get one before they pass into history.
I have the QCX and it is a great QRP XCVR. Fun to build and operate. The assembly manuals are first class. I am excited to start my QMX multiband XCVR. Great job Hans
Thank you for providing the best build experience on the market! Your manuals are so well thought to out and complete, that a ten year old could build them. I have a number of your kits and have enjoyed everyone of them. The mini is no exception, I have been carrying a Fox-Three Altoids 20 meter in my pack for a couple of years now, but it has been replaced with the mini which is a far superior and versatile mono band radio. Just wanted to thank you and your team for providing such a wonderful product! Thank You!
tu mama por si acaso
I have one of your older kits (40m), and shoe horned into a plastic container. I use a QRP guys 40 meter tuned antenna kit with it, and I attached Mini paddle to the side of the enclosure, and I have to say it is my favorite CW QRP field units, looking forward to the mini you are coming out with, and will be putting an order in ASAP.
I'm a backpacker camper and the radio is still small enough and light enough to take with me. I have the 30m model and I was so impressed, I just ordered the 40m model.
Meticulous design and engineering applied and critically reviewed. In my opinion a truly great QRP rig and great value at a most reasonable cost.
I've built two of the qcx+ transceivers so far. 80 meter and 40 meter models. Also the 50 watt amps that go with them. Absolutely fantastic. Instructions are very well written and easy to follow for the amps and the tranceivers. They work nicely. I hope to get started on the 20 meter model sometime soon. Get these while you can. They are excellent.
73
WA7AXT
This looks like a great radio. I built a QCX 40 and 20 meter radios and they worked great.
which one would choose for beginning if you only had one kit?
@@Max27653 I would buy the qcx+ putting it the communication port for the GPS was a pain plus you could add a 3s Lipo battery inside the + and it would a lot of fun. It looks like it would be easier to build. I also built a copper heat sink for my QCX as well; the qcx plus addresses that as well. Even though bigger it looks like a great unit.
🙂 Excellent that the QCX shall live on in improved QCX+ form. I have QCX "Mk1's" for 20m and 40m. Use them regularly and always enjoy using them. Thanks for the video Hans.
Since the whole design is bigger now it would be nice to have plugable components for multi-band support. A bit to big for just mono-band qrp cw only. Or maybe as an option you could sell only main board without front board if one wants more band options.
Excellent! QCX+ looks great, thank you Hans!
This may be sacrilege, but I love the QCX+ over the new Mini. Not being a SOTA guy or backpacking QRP into the raging wilderness of Southern California, I prefer a sedate setup on the back patio or up at a mountain campsite with tent, adjacent beer cooler, and immediate proximity to terlets, grocery stores, pizzarias, etc.
So, sue me!
Hans, with the extra room on the circuit board, why was the AGC not included? or have taken this into the NEW QCX system. Thank you making easier to get HF with CW and extras. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Hi Dennis, the AGC module was developed quite some time after QCX+ and QCX-mini. This is one reason why it is not included.
Just ordered my QCX+ today...now waiting for delivery.
Just received my QCX+ kit yesterday, thanks !!!
It makes a nice usb receiver too with a jumper from jp11 to jp12😍 . one pin per header. It bypasses the 200hz filter. can even receive the time at 10mhz tho the input filters it some.
QSX?
Looks like I need it :)
What kind of power supply do you us?
People use a lot of different supplies, there's no hard and fast rule... you generally want about 12-13.8V and 1A. In my opinion linear regulated supplies are best, because modern switched mode supplies are often noisy and will ruin radio reception. 73 Hans
Good job!
which of the band would you choose and why?
Brand new to this. Looking for a first radio that would make a good CW trainer. It looks like the radio decodes the received and transmitted CW and displays "*" if the morse code doesn't conform well enough to distinguish the character. Is that correct?
Hi Paul, yes. If it thinks it receives a character and the pattern of dits and days doesn't match any letter or number etc., then it shows a * on the display.
I get very good feedback on the CW decoder in QCX. It tracks both keying speed changes and amplitude changes.
Nevertheless if the other station sends poor Morse, or is weak, or if there is a lot of interference, then decoding is difficult.
And nothing beats the well-trained human ear!
When will the QCX mini be out? ~ k6sdw
A few weeks, hopefully... I am about to start kit production. See qrp-labs.com/qcxmini and scroll down to see the 4 updates, there are lots of photos and details on those pages!
What make/model paddle is that? I think I've seen it in other QRP vids.
It's a Palm Radio Pico Paddle.
P.S. Palm Radio are not trading online at the moment and they keys are hard to find
Looks nice, but I would never buy a 1 band tx. Sorry.
Clovis Curve
Just ordered mine. Has anyone done a project with interior battery?
Is there an option to use decimal points for frequency?
Yes there is. The format is fixed but the delimiter character is configurable. You can use any character you want. Default is comma. But you could choose decimal point, space, or anything else you wish.
@@QRPLabs Thanks. Do you offer a kit 20v power supply for the 50w amplifier?
@@relaxationmeditations5367 unfortunately not. Several people have reported success with power supplies for old laptops which are often around the right specs
@@QRPLabs Last question: Do you have provisions for an internal speaker? Thanks for your time.
@@relaxationmeditations5367 there isn't an internal speaker and I don't supply a kit for one. However I do supply a Dev Kit see shop.qrp-labs.com/qcxpdev which is a large PCB with a 0.1-inch matrix of plated through-holes, and pin header connections to strategic places on the main QCX+ PCB, including power and audio. It mounts on 4 spacers (screws etc supplied). The 3.5mm audio jacks have internal switches too which are also accessible via pads so it would be possible to switch an internal audio amp like that. The QCX+ is designed for easy modifications! The Dev board could be a place to install a small audio amp board etc.
It's a bit too large (length) for my taste. Just saw there's a QCX mini in the making. :-) Yay!
Julianne Light
nice :)
Would have to be sub £100 for me due to it being single band.
Excellent!!! KE5TJ
Bernadette Crossing
does the 17m band work with the smallest antenna?
Skiles Shoal
Johan Cliff
that cw is gibberish
Lewis Jeffrey Taylor Carol Martin Barbara
This would be very interesting if I could hear you. I have my volume all the way up to 100% and all I hear is mumbling. Sorry
Same here. Sorry. I had to find another video because I literally can't hear you.
Audio fine here on my iPad, and I am hard of hearing.
Dave K8WPE
@@davidj.wilcox6053 same here, all good.
Ok 73s gto
YOUR AUDIO SUCKS! But this is a Great video- except the effin audio problem! Your inclusion of the QSO with Guiseppi in colored text at bottom of screen allowed me to follow your QSO word-for-word! Good idea; I need the practice!