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Update on my new Hermes Lite 2
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Q R P e r
- Samβs Thunderbird Mk 1 Takes Flight: A Homebrew Radio Field Report from the American Southwest
Samβs Thunderbird Mk 1 Takes Flight: A Homebrew Radio Field Report from the American Southwest
Hermes Lite 2 arrives: QRP PC + QRP SDR
Build Your Own VK3IL Pressure Paddle: Alanβs (W2AEW) Step-by-Step Video Tutorial
QMX+ kit arrives
First QMX+ build, de Hannes DL9SCO - and is the QMX+ a pre-QSX?
Via AMSAT: CubeSatSim Kits Available at Hamvention
Success! Thump suppression in the QMX
Antenna Versatility: Pairing my Linked EFHW and the TR-45L Skinny at Lake Powhatan!
Via the ARRL: MFJ Ceasing On-Site Production
15-60m version of QMX now available for order
Planning a POTA Babe Trip β Part 2
A few thoughts on the QMX transceiver
Operating Notes: Iβm twitch-y, bye-bye X-6100, bring on the toroids
Iβm Twitch-y!
Last night, I worked Luis, EA1TG, and this morning, he sent me a link to a video on Twitch that he made of our contact. (Click on the image to go to Twitch. For some reason, I couldnβt embed the Twitch video here.)
This is kind of cool. Iβve been thinking of setting up my own Twitch channel to stream my contacts. Iβm not sure if anyone would actually watch them, but who knows?
Bye-bye X-6100
Last summer, I purchased a Xiegu X-6100 from Radioddity when they put it on sale. I had a lot of fun using it. In some ways, itβs Β more fun to use than my Elecraft KX-3. I attribute that mainly to the brightly-colored waterfall display.
Itβs just not the radio that the KX-3 is, however. For one thing, the KX-3βs antenna tuner is much better than the X-6100βs antenna tuner. The KX-3 tuner almost always achieves an SWR of 1.1:1 or less with my 66-ft. doublet antenna, while the Xiegu is satisfied once it hits 1.5:1. The color choices are also terrible, making it hard to read, especially in bright sunlight.
So, after making 36 contacts with it on my latest POTA activation, I sold the X-6100 last week. I hope that the new owner will have as much fun as did with it. And, find its shortcomings less annoying.
Bring on the toroids!
To replace the X-6100, I purchased a QRP Labs QMX kit. For less than $100, the QMX provides five band coverage (either 80m β 20m or 20m β 10m), CW and digital modes, an SDR receiver, a 24-bit 48 ksps USB sound card, CAT control, and synthesized VFO with TCXO reference. Since Iβll be using this for POTA, and propagation on the higher bands is headed in the right direction, I opted for the 20m β 10 version.
I also purchased the enclosure and power cord, so the price came to just short of $140, including shipping. Even so, thatβs quite a deal, I think.
When I told my friends Rick and Paul about my purchase they jumped all over me about the toroids. One of them in particular has a trifilar winding and is supposed to be difficult to fabricate. Iβm not a big fan of winding toroids, but Iβm not scared of them either. Bring on the toroids!
In the meantime, Iβve been watching this video:
After watching it, it seems to me that the biggest thing to watch out for is how crowded everything is inside the radio. For example, there are several warnings about how close some of the components and traces are to one another. Forewarned is forearmed, though, so at least Iβll know what to look out for.
Stay tuned for reports on how I get along with the kit. Who knows? Maybe Iβll live-stream my toroid-building on my YouTube or Twitch channel.
Long-awaited QMX arrives
Radio Items Picked-up at VWS Winterfest 2024 Hamfest
-- Behind the MXM there is a nice box marked "Diode Detector" I opened it up and there is just a solid state diode and a 50 ohm resistor to ground.Β Β Box may be useful.Β
-- I got a couple of books: "Weekend Projects" 1979 from ARRL, and "A History of QST -- Volume 1 Amateur Radio Technology 1915 - 2013" 2013 from ARRL.Β
-- On top of the Weekend Projects book you see a "Crystal Holder" from Gross Radio of New York City.Β W1UJR has some good history on this company:Β Β https://w1ujr.com/written-word/gross-radio-company-circa-1931/Β This device seem to be intended to hold in place a raw piece of quartz!Β Cool.Β
-- To the right of the books there is a serious-looking VFO.Β One dollar!Β Deal!Β It is a CB VFO, but the markings say it puts out 5.44 to 5.99 MHz.Β So it should be useful.Β The dual speed dial is very nice.Β Β
-- Above the VFO is a nice step attenuator from the "Arrow Antenna" company of Loveland Colorado.Β
-- Further to the right are some Electric Radio and Antique Wireless Association magazines that Armand WA1UQO gave me.Β Really nice.Β The AWA mags have a very thoughtful piece (warts and all) on Jean Shepherd.Β And the ER pile has an article by Scott WA9WFA that mentions my work on the Mate for the Mighty Midget receiver.Β Thanks again Armand!Β
-- I also got some ADE6+ surface mount mixers.Β The price was right!Β
Thanks to VWS for putting on this great hamfest!Β
20m 'Explorer' kit arrives
New all-mode QRP kit on the way