Kits, New Products, News, Portable, QRP

The new QRP Labs QDX 4-band 5 watt digital transceiver kit

6 Comments

Many thanks to Pete  (WB9FLW) who shares the following information about the new QDX transceiver from QRP Labs:

The “QDX” (QRP Labs Digital Xcvr): a feature-packed, high performance, four-band (80, 40, 30, 20m) 5W Digi-modes transceiver kit, including embedded SDR receiver, 24-bit 48 ksps USB sound card, CAT control, synthesized VFO with TCXO reference. QDX transmits a SINGLE SIGNAL, it is not an SSB modulator with associated unwanted sideband and residual carrier, or intermodulation due to amplifier non-linearity. QDX outputs a pure single signal.

The Optional enclosure is black anodized extruded aluminium, very sturdy and elegant. The enclosure size is 89 x 63 x 25mm without protrusions. The front and rear panels are drilled and cut to match the QDX PCB with laser-etched lettering. The enclosure includes four self-adhesive feet.

List of features: 

    • Four bands 80, 40, 30 and 20m
    • 5W output at 9V supply (can be built for 4-5W at 12-13V supply)
    • Single signal transmission (zero unwanted sideband, zero residual carrier, zero intermodulation distortion)
    • Solid-state band switching and transmit/receive switching under CAT control
    • High performance embedded SDR SSB receiver with 60-70dB of unwanted sideband cancellation
    • Built-in 24-bit 48ksps USB sound card
    • Built-in USB Virtual COM Serial port for CAT control
    • Si5351A Synthesized VFO with 25MHz TCXO as standard
    • Easy to build single-board design, Professional quality double-sided, through-hole plated, silk-screen printed PCBs
    • All SMD components factory assembled
    • Connectors: 2.1mm power barrel connector, USB B (for audio and CAT control), BNC RF input/output
    • Built-in test signal generator and testing tools
    • Receive current 100mA, Transmit current 1.0-1.1A for 5W output with 9V supply (around 0.7A for 5W with 13V supply).
    • Optional aluminium extruded cut/drilled/laser-etched black anodized enclosure

Full details, see main QRP Labs QDX page.

Video tour of the QDX

Click here to view on YouTube.

Absolutely amazing! I’m not sure how Hans is able to innovate at the pace he does, but I think we’re all better for it. This will be a big seller for those who’ve been looking for a high performance QRP digital mode transceiver.

Thanks for the tip, Pete!

Click here to check out the QDX at QRP Labs.

Morse Code, New Products, News

Sneak peek at N0SA’s new “SOTA Paddle”

33 Comments

UPDATE 09 (Oct 2021): Larry (N0SA) informs me that he sold all of his SOTA Paddle inventory as of last night. In other words, very quickly. If he produces another run of them, I’ll post it here on QRPer.com!

A couple weeks ago, Larry (N0SA) reached out to me and asked if I’d like to evaluate a new set of precision field paddles he’s designed. Having purchased a set of 3D-printed paddles from N0SA last year, I didn’t hesitate.

Larry simply calls this model the SOTA Paddle. An appropriate name because this paddles is incredibly compact, lightweight, and perfect for hiking and backpacking. They also have a short Allen wrench cleverly stowed within the paddle body for any adjustments in the field. The Allen wrench is locked in in such a way, there’s no possibility it’ll fall out either. Clever!

They come with a high quality three foot cloth braid cord with molded 1/8” plug.

Over the past week, I’ve taken these paddles to two different park activations with the Elecraft KX2 and AX1 antenna.

My activation videos and field reports are perhaps a week down the road yet, but I couldn’t help but post my initial impressions.

So how would I describe N0SA’s new SOTA Paddles–?

The Bee’s Knees!

I love them.

These truly feel like precision paddles. They’re entirely constructed of aluminum and stainless steel parts.

Although the body/frame of the paddles are open, they feel incredibly sturdy. No doubt, they’ll survive the environment inside a backpack or field kit.

They’re very compact, yet feel perfect in the hand.

Larry also includes 6 pieces of 3M dual lock for mounting the paddles on a clipboard, radio, or any other surface.

As readers know, I love my CW Morse Paddles–they represent an amazing amount of quality at such an affordable price.

If you’re in the market for a compact precision aluminum key, however, I can recommend these without hesitation.

Here’s the deal as I understand it: Larry may only make a couple small production runs of these. He does this as a fun side hibby, not for scaled-up production and distribution. I believe he may have as many as 20 units available soon.

Again, you’ll see the SOTA Paddles in action in upcoming videos, but I wanted to mention it here on QRPer so that–if this sort of thing interests you–you might have a chance to place an order before the first and/or second production runs are spoken for.

The price is $125.00 US (each) plus $15.00 for priority mail shipping. You’ll have to inquire if located outside the US (I’m not certain if he ships internationally).

Payment can be made via PayPal to his email address which is his callsign @att.net. (You can also check out his contact details on QRZ.com.)

Email him with questions and to check availability in advance.

Larry is a long-time reader of QRPer.com, so he might add notes in the comments section.

Speaking of which, thank you so much, Larry, for sending me these paddles. They are simply amazing.

Antennas, Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP

Elecraft KX2 and AX1: Seriously…how effectively can such a compact field kit work?

19 Comments

On September 20, 2021, I had a full day planned in town. It was one of those days where my few errands and appointments were spread out across the day in such a way that driving back home between appointments made no sense. I knew I might have a bit of time to kill.

The big appointment holding me in town was recall service work on my Subaru that would take most of the day. The dealership reserved a loaner car for me.

That morning, I cleaned out my car (removing a couple of radios and antennas) and I packed a backpack with the supplies I’d need for the day; water, sandwich, laptop, and (fortunately) my Elecraft KX2 and AX1 antenna.

I would take this pack with me in the loaner car as I ran my other errands.  I remember thinking that there was  likely no possibility of doing an activation–it was rainy and I knew even getting set up at the service center might take an hour. I packed the Elecraft gear nonetheless. (Never leave home without a radio, I say!)

That morning, I drove to the Subaru dealership and–long story short–the service work had to be cancelled. While I wasn’t happy that I’d made the early morning trip to the dealership for nothing, this did essentially free up a good portion of my morning to play radio. Even though I had my own car for the day, I had completely emptied it of radio gear, so the KX2 and AX1 were truly all I had. Continue reading Elecraft KX2 and AX1: Seriously…how effectively can such a compact field kit work? →

Grab And Go, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Reviews, SOTA, Videos

Video: A tour of my Red Oxx “Micro Manager” Discovery TX-500 field radio kit

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Shortly after acquiring a lab599 Discovery TX-500 earlier this year, I did what I always do: invest an insane amount of time in researching and configuring a dedicated field radio kit.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I’m a serious pack geek, so this is incredibly fun for me even though the choice is often difficult.

I like to buy packs and cases from manufacturers in the US and Canada when possible, so started searching through all of the options.

Requirements

The Discovery TX-500

I wanted a pack that was compact, versatile, and offered proper padding (even knowing the TX-500 is a rugged little transceiver). I don’t handle my packs with kid gloves, so I expect them to cope with sometimes rough field conditions and still protect the gear inside. I also like a certain level of organization inside the pack.

I wanted the kit to be relatively compact, but large enough to hold the transceiver, all accessories and connections, logging pad and pencil, paddles, a proper arborist throw line, portable ATU, and a 3Ah LiFePo4 battery. A the end of the day, I wanted this TX-500 field kit to be fully self-contained.

For more on my field radio kit strategies and philosophies, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my Anatomy of a Field Radio Kit series.

In the end, I adopted a pack with which I’m already very familiar…

The Red Oxx Micro Manager

Product image via Red Oxx

Red Oxx is my favorite pack company and if you’ve been a reader for any length of time, you’ve obviously seen a number of their bags and packs in my field reports.

Back in 2016, when they introduced the first iteration of the Micro Manager EDC bag, they actually reached out to me–as an existing customer–knowing that I had been looking for a good radio pack with proper padding (many packs don’t require side padding and internal padding). They sent me a prototype of the Micro Manager for my feedback and then incorporated some of my suggestions.

My KX2 NPOTA Micro Manager kit

I ended up using the Micro Manager as my dedicated Elecraft KX2 field kit which served me very well during the National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) event.

I also purchased a Micro Manager for my wife who quickly turned hers into a mobile art studio!

She chose a red Micro Manager!
Her field-ready art kit

Much like my buddy Steve (AC5F)–whose XYL creates some amazing water color art in the field–my wife (K4MOI) is also an artist and loves to paint/draw during park and summit activations. Her art kit is always at the ready and she’s traveled with it extensively over the past five years.

The Micro Manager is a pack carried over the shoulder, much like a messenger or laptop bag.  Those times when my field activations require a lengthy hike, I’ve simply pulled all of the items out of the Micro Manager (since I do modular packing, this is super easy), else I’ve even been known to stick the entire Micro Manager pack into a backpack!

Over the years, Red Oxx has made iterative upgrades to the Micro Manager including a pleated front pocket, slip-in external pocket, and they started lining the internal pocket with a more flexible and thinner dense foam padding. The new padding not only fits the TX-500 better than the first Micro Manager version did, but I believe it will have enough dimension to accommodate the TX-500 battery pack when that’s available next year.

Inside the Micro Manager I also use a Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray to hold all of the TX-500 accessories: key, microphone, ATU, battery, and cables.

I own a number of these large travel trays and highly recommend them. I especially like the ballistic nylon versions for radio kits as they open and close so smoothly.

Video tour

I made a short video tour of the TX-500 Micro Manager kit before a recent activation at Table Rock:

Clci here to view on YouTube.

TX-500 Micro Manager Kit Contents:

I’ve used this pack for a number of field activations and couldn’t be more pleased. Looking back at the contents, it’s funny: the pack and almost every single item inside (save the notepad and pencil) are made in the USA while the radio is made in Russia! A bit of international harmony going on here!

If you have a field pack for the TX-500 (or any radio), I’d love to know more about it. Please consider commenting with details or even submitting a guest post with photos!

73,

Thomas (K4SWL

News

Chuffed…

32 Comments

I’m not much into awards and certificates, but I’ll freely admit that this letter absolutely made my day:

Whoever nominated me for this, thank you. Thank you very much.

73,

Thomas (K4SWL)

News

Appalachian Trail On The Air Day: Saturday, October 2, 2021

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Many thanks to Henry (K4TMC) who notes that the AT On The Air Day is tomorrow: Saturday, October 2, 2021. For full details, check out the AT On The Air website. I’ve pasted the announcement below:

Appalachian Trail (A.T.) On The Air Day
Saturday, October 2, 2021
1200-2100 UTC (8 am-5 pm EDT)

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, licensed amateur radio operators are invited to take their two-way portable radios to the trail on Saturday, October 2, 2021, for an on-the-air get-together. The goal is to contact other amateur (“ham”) radio operators either along the Trail or elsewhere in North America (or beyond) and to showcase our amateur radio hobby.

This is an impromptu activity and is not sanctioned or endorsed by any national or regional organization. It is not a contest, it is a get-together. Participants should read the Guidelines page for more details. We welcome participants from SOTA, POTA and WWFF. No awards will be issued, although a Summary Report will be published on this website afterwards to gauge participation levels and acknowledge the participants. This is intended to be a fun event !

Stay well & 73!

Mike, WB2FUV

[email protected]

 

BREAKING NEWS: In accordance with an opinion by AT Conservancy, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail consists of “the A.T. footpath and designated viewpoints, shelters, campsites, water sources, and spur trails linking these features” — in other words, part of the white blazed main Trail, or the blue blazed side trails to shelters, campsites, summits, etc. This is especially helpful to POTA activators who need to be within 100′ of the Trail. POTA also accepts activations from trailheads along the national trail.

Morse Code, POTA, Videos

Video: Park To Park with WB8JAY

3 Comments

Sometimes when I’m activating a park or summit and work someone who, like me, is activating a park or summit for a Park To Park (P2P) or Summit To Summit (S2S) contact, in my head I wonder what their station and operating situation looks like on the other end.

At least one instance was uncovered recently when Dan (WB8JAY)  reached out and shared a video he took while working me in a P2P contact. It’s awfully fun to hear what my signal sounded like on his end.

This took place while Max (WG4Z) and I were doing a joint activation at South Mountains State Park recently.

This video reminds me how CW distills the communications down to only those dits and dahs; unlike SSB, for example, where you might hear background noises and extra chatting during an exchange, in CW it’s just pure code.

Thanks for sharing this, Dan!

Click here to view on YouTube.

Morse Code, News, POTA, QRP

POTA Field Report: Picnic table activation with the FT-817ND, CHA UCM, and MPAS Lite

7 Comments

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the easiest POTA sites for me to activate when I’m at the QTH.

Pretty much anytime I head into Asheville from home, I’m going to cross the parkway. The BRP is such a refuge, I often take it to avoid hitting the Interstate or a busy highways. It takes longer, but it’s orders of magnitude more peaceful and pleasant than, say, Interstate 40.

On Monday, September 13, 2021, I had a small opening in my schedule in the afternoon and decided to  pop by the Folk Art Center for a quick picnic table activation since I was passing by.

The Folk Art Center is a site where I typically deploy smaller, lower-profile antennas to keep from interfering with others who are enjoying the park.  I try to keep my antennas very close to my operating spot and my counterpoises on the ground in a space where others aren’t likely to tread.

In the past, I’ve used the Wolf River Coils TIA, the Elecraft AX1, Chameleon MPAS Lite & MPAS 2.0, and once, a Packtenna 9:1 UNUN random wire. I avoid anything that slopes so that I don’t inadvertently “clothesline” unsuspecting vacationers!

On this trip, I had the Chameleon MPAS Lite vertical and a new toy: the Chameleon Universal Clamp Mount (CHA UCM).

Continue reading POTA Field Report: Picnic table activation with the FT-817ND, CHA UCM, and MPAS Lite →

Funny, Hams, Satellites, SSB

E21EJC and BG7XWF: Voice CW on RS-44

1 Comment

Many thanks to Dan (VR2HF) who writes:

Hi Thomas,

This is just too funny to keep to myself. My good friend, who I call Mr Satellite, Kob, E21EJC in Bangkok apparently was too bored to work BG7XWF on normal CW via the RS-44 linear (SSB/CW/FT-4) satellite again, so, they went to “voice CW (SSB).” You can even hear them adjusting for Doppler shift. 

E21EJC and BG7XWF Voice CW on RS-44:

Ain’t ham radio great!??

Yes it is, Dan! Ham radio is great!

This gave me a good chuckle–thank you for sharing!

New Products, News, QRP, QRP Radios

New lab599 Discovery TX-500 firmware upgrade, UK availability, and RadCom review

12 Comments

This morning, I finally remembered to do a firmware upgrade on the lab599 Discovery TX-500. I’ve been in the terrible habit of only remembering to do a firmware upgrade when I’m in the field.  Much like remembering to repair your roof while it’s raining! 🙂

New TX-500 Firmware

Fortunately, Lab599 just published their 1.10.10 firmware release this weekend, so my TX-500 will sport all of the latest upgrades including (in this upgrade) corrected AGC, improved receiver parameters, and (from previous upgrades) SWR analysis tool and message memory beacon mode.

I’ve been so incredibly impressed with the Lab599 team’s dedication to continuously upgrading and improving this already phenomenal little radio. It’s such a pleasure to take to the field.

UK TX-500 availability

I also understand that lab599’s UK distributors, Nevada Radio and Waters & Stanton, will soon have their first batch of Discovery TX-500s (first part of October 2021, if I recall).  Waters & Stanton (and possible Nevada) may even have a handful of units unallocated yet. It’s best to call them to check status and possibly reserve one.

Upcoming RadCom Review

Speaking of the UK, my full review of the Discovery TX-500 will appear in the November 2021 issue of RadCom.

Connecting an international community through low-power field radio adventures.