Category: Amateur Radio

QCX: Tips for Winding T1

A lot of hams get pretty stressed out when they think about winding the main transformer in the QCX,. T1. It’s got 4 sets of windings on it, and looks intimidating- But it isn’t! In the video below, we show how easy it can be. It IS tedious. It IS time consuming. And to install …

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Critical QCX Mini Update and some Mini Tips

On 12/3/2020, Hans Summers of QRP Labs released the QCX Mini- a truly miniature 5W CW transceiver. By the December 7, all 997 units were sold! It was definitely exciting to see the response to this new product, and after having built most of my own QCX Mini, I can confirm- it’s an incredible little …

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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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QCX Mini Unboxing, and How to learn CW?

Just a week ago, the QCX Mini was released to the world. 997 units sold out in just 4 days, and we were fortunate to get one in the nick of time! It showed up at Ye Olde QTH this evening, and below is an unboxing video that shows all the contents and a review …

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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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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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Backpack SDR: A modular QRP SDR Transceiver

Edited 12/13/20 to reflect the move to Groups.io from Facebook Today I wanted to post about a new SDR project called “Backpack SDR” that’s taking shape. Since August, Keith Myles, VE3IFT has been sharing pictures of his Backpack SDR transceiver project on the Amateur QRP Radio group on Facebook: What is the Backpack SDR? The …

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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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