EQUIPMENT ROUNDUP

 

I was tidying up the boot of the car and thought it would be interesting to summarise the equipment I take portable.  It's quite astonishing how it grows but I think I have everything I need now.  

Did I really just say that???

It has been a very useful exercise for me.  Apart from tidying up the boot and boxes, I got to realise just how lucky I am to be able to have all this gear and get the enjoyment out of using it!  I live in an area of outstanding natural beauty, access to places to operate with very little background noise and enough space to play with aerials.

I always make sure to protect my portable radios with decent padded cases.  They are not cheap radios on the whole and spending a reasonable amount on protective cases makes a whole lot of sense to me.

My QRP GoBox is a case I have had for some years and I used to transport my K3 in it on DXPeditions.  I managed to get a piece of pick and pluck foam that fitted perfectly from eBay and relined it.

The QRO Box also came via eBay and cost a little more but was not overly expensive.  It's a great box and nothing inside will come to any harm, short of being run over by a Steam Roller!

My aerials have all been reviewed on the YouTube channel but it was interesting to get them out one by one and think of their individual benefits.  They all have a different part to play.

One thing I forgot to mention in the video was tools.  It is always handy to have a few small tools available.  Allen keys, cutters, screwdrivers, pliers, that sort of thing.  A multimeter is handy too.  Cable ties and tape complete this section.

I doubt I will be yomping up any fells, so I usually have the car close to hand but I could be very portable if needed and still be able to operate for 2-3 hours with a small backpack.

Portable radio is just such fun and you never know just what is going to pop up.  I am just hoping we get some decent daytime conditions soon.  I really would like to drop to QRP levels and see what I could achieve there but alas, the present conditions make it really difficult.

This video is a little longer than my usual fare but I hope you find it informative and enjoyable.

73 Ian

TERRIBLE CONDITIONS!

 

I had another go from the garden today and managed to nab a park for POTA and a couple of local portable contacts but conditions were appalling!  I tried several bands but it was hard going.  Even the FT8 frequency (don't even get me started there!) was fairly quiet on 40m.

I did manage to get one CW contact with David, G4HMC who was QRP.  Hard work but a valid contact and shows the power of CW.  I would never have managed to complete this contact on SSB.

Here is the video, for what it's worth.  Completely unedited this one ;)

73 Ian

THE QCX MINI FROM QRPLABS

 

I haven't built a full kit since building my K2 back in 2004.  I don't count the several K3's that I built as they are really just slotting boards together.  Actually getting the soldering iron out was brilliant!

The QCX Mini from QRPLabs is a lovely little kit.  It's a single band, 5W CW transceiver with some great features.  A lot of the components are surface mount but these are already soldered on to the board. This is brilliant for me because there is no way my eyes would allow me to use surface mount components these days :)

You still get the joy of winding toroids and fitting discrete components and hardware.  The manual is excellent and you start by winding the main transformer.

I also fitted the socket for the IC at this point.  Some care needs to be taken to ensure you don't get your soldering iron close to any installed surface mount components and melt the solder there but it really is not difficult.  The quality of the board is superb and solder flows well.  The transformer and other toroids are wound with enamel coated wire and this acts as an insulator of course.  I find the best way to work with this is to install the toroid and hold the iron onto the wire, add a little solder and leave the iron on for 10-12 seconds.  This melts the enamel and you can actually see when it happens.  Make sure you have got good connections by checking with a multimeter.  All it takes is a little patience and care.

I have put a short video on YouTube explaining how to wind toroids, which is also a part of my QDX video.  I thought it was worth putting out as a single short video though, so here it is.

The rest of the board goes together quite well and you end up with something that should look like this...

At this point you build the controls board and complete the kit, ready for testing and alignment.

Now comes the scary part! Get a bag handy, just in case you need to catch the escaping smoke! However, with any luck, the radio should turn on and the LCD should illuminate.  You will probably have to adjust the contrast to actually read what is on the display.

Now it is just down to alignment.  This is done via 4 pots and a menu item.  It could not be simpler.  The manual explains everything.

I did a short video on my build of the QCX Mini for 40m and you can find it below.

You might also find it useful to watch the following video by Hans Summers, G0UPL.  It shows the whole procedure of setting up the QCX.  Although this is not based on the Mini version of the QCX, it is exactly the same procedure on the Mini.

I have had several contacts on the QCX and it's really great fun.  It's a great receiver and the built in reader works very well.  There are memories as well.

If you want a nice little kit to build that will give you lots of fun, I can thoroughly recommend the QCX Mini.

The information below is taken from the QRPLabs website

Special portable-friendly features:

• Small size: 95 x 63 x 25mm enclosure (plus protusions)
• Low current consumption (for example 58mA receive current, with 12V supply and display backlight off)
• Low weight, 202 grams
• Sturdy extruded aluminium enclousre
• All-metal BNC short connector, bolted to enclosure

List of features: 

• Easy to build, two-board design, board with main circuit and connectors, display panel board with LCD; all-controls board-mounted on a press-out sub-board. No wiring, all controls and connectors are board-mounted
• Professional quality double-sided, through-hole plated, silk-screen printed PCBs
• Choice of single band, 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20 or 17m
• Approximately 3-5W CW output (depending on supply voltage)
• 7-14V recommended supply voltage
• Class E power amplifier, transistors run cool… 
• 7-element Low Pass Filter ensures regulatory compliance
• CW envelope shaping to remove key clicks
• High performance receiver with at least 50dB of unwanted sideband cancellation
• 200Hz CW filter with no ringing
• Si5351A Synthesized VFO with rotary encoder tuning
• 16 x 2 yellow/green LCD screen
• Iambic keyer or straight key option included in the firmware
• Simple Digital Signal Processing assisted CW decoder, displayed real-time on-screen
• On-screen S-meter
• On-screen real time clock (not battery backed up)
• Full or semi QSK operation using fast solid-state transmit/receive switching
• Frequency presets, VFO A/B Split operation, RIT, configurable CW Offset
• Configurable sidetone frequency and volume
• Connectors: 2.1mm power barrel connector, 3.5mm keyer jack, 3.5mm stereo earphone jack, 3.5mm stereo jack for PTT, 3.5mm stereo jack for CAT control,  BNC RF output
• Built-in test signal generator and alignment tools to complete simple set-up adjustments
• Built-in test equipment: voltmeter, RF power meter, frequency counter, signal generator
• Beacon mode, supporting automatic CW, FSKCW or WSPR operation
• GPS interface for reference frequency calibration and time-keeping (for WSPR beacon)
• CAT control interface
• Optional 50W PA kit
• Optional aluminium extruded cut/drilled/laser-etched black anodized enclosure

MY CW YEAR

 

I passed my Morse test in 1995 to gain my callsign, G0VGS.  For those of you who are not aware of how the licence used to be structured in the UK, it consisted of two classes of licence.  The B licence and the A licence.

Both of these were full licenses (despite claims by some ;)) and the difference was that the class A licence allowed the use of the HF bands (30MHz and below).

I passed my City and Guilds Amateur Radio Licence in 1994, gaining the callsign, G7RXM and then started studying for my Morse test. This was a 12wpm send and receive test and in my case was taken at my local club.  I actually passed 2 Morse tests but I will maybe go into that another time ;)

Since then, I have never really used the mode in anger.  To be honest, I found it really stressful.  I can be quite hard on myself and I was frustrated that I was missing letters and words!  If I lost track, I could miss a whole sentence until I was able to focus again.

At the end of 2022, I was talking with a friend and he mentioned that we don't worry on SSB if we miss things, we just ask for a repeat.  No stress.  That made me think.  Why should it be different on CW?

I made a decision to get my CW up to scratch in 2023 and the decision was totally made for me when I got back in touch with an old friend, G0TUE.  Ray is a great CW proponent and very enthusiastic and encouraging.  We set a sked and had a contact on 40m.

This year (2023) I have disconnected the microphone from my K3s and I am only working CW from the home station.  I made a resolution to have at least 2 CW contacts a day this year.  This sounds a simple enough task but actually, due to the usual life events and poor band conditions, I am slightly behind.

I started around 12wpm and was missing words as I have always done.  This time though, I didn't worry about it.  I stayed around the FISTS frequencies to begin with and started calling CQ.  That way, I should be able to control the speed of the conversation.  In the most part, this worked.  There were still some who insisted on going at their own speed but hey ho, if I can't copy, I can't copy.  I thank them and move on.

Since then, I have increased my sending speed slowly and I can now copy around 16wpm and head copy is getting better.

During my last attempt at improving my CW, I was lucky enough to purchase a really nice Begali Simplex key.  That's the one on the right in the photo.  It is a lovely key and I find it very comfortable to use.  It has spring contacts and occasionally needs re-tensioning.  This year I reached State Pension age and for my official 'retirement' and birthday present, my lovely wife, Linda (G0YLM), bought me a fabulous Begali Pearl.  That's the one on the left in the photo.  This has magnetic 'springs' and is much more reactive.  I am still tweaking a bit ;)

I love Begali keys.  Pietro engineers them beautifully and Bruna Begali is fabulous to deal with.  Their customer service is legendary and I bought directly from them.  I cannot praise them enough.

I also have a portable key from CWMorse.  I have their N0SA key and it's great.  You will see this key in later YouTube videos.  Again, great customer service, although I could do without the religious tracts that come in the box.  Still it is a small price to pay for a great product.

I am really enjoying my year of CW and it actually felt really weird to try SSB on a portable activation.  I hope to meet you on the bands at some point :)