Category: Electronics

QCX Mini: Winding and Installing T1

A lot of hams have expressed trepidation about winding and installing T1 on a QCX Mini, QCX+ or even the original QCX, since they’re all the same. T1 looks hard because there are four windings on one toroid. In this video, I wound T1 and installed it on the QCX Mini. All that’s left to …

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QRP Labs QCX Mini is Here!

Article Updated 12/3/20: New video and links to shopping cart at QRP Labs QRP Labs’ latest incarnation of the venerable QCX QRP CW Transceiver is here! Hans Summers announced the availability on the QRP Labs Groups.io page: The QCX Mini is now available. Check Links below the picture That’s 11am PST and 2pm EST. For …

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Farewell, Arecibo Observatory Radio Telescope

It’s fairly unusual to have a common news item discussed in This Space, but this isn’t exactly common news. You’ve certainly heard that the platform on the Arecibo Observatory Radio Telescope collapsed today. Of course, it’s relevant here because what radio amateur hasn’t looked at the huge array at Arecibo and simply said to themselves: …

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Receiver Build Gone Wrong Part II: The Fix

The QRP Labs Receiver build was not destroyed! It is on the air now, and listening patiently for JS8 signals to filter in. It works great, and I’m a very happy ham because of it. What happened? Check the video below: Have you had experiences like this? Please, tell us about it in the comments …

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2020 Drone Review: Good? Yes. But it gets better…

Some time back I posted about a cheap little drone that I was gifted, and despite it getting ran over by a car, it still flies, mostly. With its 720p camera, the photos were as good as a digital camera from around 2002, and without GPS, there was no “return to home” function in case …

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Receiver Build Gone Wrong: Proper Troubleshooting and Accepting Failure

Last night I wrapped up the build of my QRP Labs Receiver project and fired it up. I’ll give more detail about the project itself when it’s done, but as the title says, it didn’t go right. In fact, I destroyed the receiver with the flip of a switch! Rather than expound on it here, …

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Cheap Soldering Iron: Which one?

This article was originally published in January 2017. It has been updated. In this entry we’ll talk about my search for a cheap soldering iron. I’ve been burning myself with cheap soldering irons since I was about 10 years old and I taught myself various bad ways to solder. I’ve dabbled in electronics here and …

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The QCX Mini: A truly Miniature QRP CW Transceiver

In May 2020 the QCX was killed off in favor of the larger, easier to assemble QCX+, and as a result, Hans over at QRP Labs found himself in a bit of a quandry! A lot of people loved the new radio, but a surprisingly large contingent of hams said “It’s too big!” Their primary …

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Windy Weather Antenna Damage: Fix + JS8Call fun (Video)

In this video we look at what happened to my antenna in a winter storm and build an antenna mast for with less than $10 worth of material. Then we head over to the computer and try it out with JS8Call. Come watch, it’ll be fun! Links mentioned in video: L-Match How To: https://miscdotgeek.com/qrp-l-match-tuner-build/ Jackite …

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JS8Call: Another “Zombie” mode?

Before anybody accuses me of a clickbait title, please examine the following comments taken from the JS8Call Facebook group: Over and over again Hams are disappointed with JS8Call because they have the impression that it is a “Zombie” mode, where the majority of stations are automatic, and that human to human QSO’s aren’t as common. …

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