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July 2020 Update: QCX+, QSX, uSDX, BITX40, Drone, Suburban, YouTube Channels

We’ve been pretty busy with Life Stuff, and currently are behind on several posts! In this post I’m going to give a quick update on a few projects as well as share some of the latest YouTube channels I’ve been enjoying when my brain is too tired to do anything else.

QCX + Update

The QCX + has arrived at the bench of W7RLF, but unfortunately it’s been sitting. I have a lot of other priorities to take care of. But it’ sooo beautiful. I look forward to building one when the time comes. You can read more about it at the QCX+ page on this site or go buy one at QRP-Labs.com:

QSX Update

Yes, that’s right- there’s QSX news! People have been giving Hans Summers a pretty bad time about the long wait for the QSX, some even calling it “vaporware” because it’s not released yet. If you’ve been wondering what the deal is with the QSX (which you can read about here and Here) then I suggest reading the QRP Labs July 2020 Newsletter.

uSDX Update

I received an email recently asking me how I like the uSDX that I built out of a QRP Labs QCX. Well, I have to admit that currently, I don’t like it very much. It inexplicably stopped working, neither transmitting or receiving. I haven’t had time to troubleshoot it. I also dislike some of the choices that the leadership of the uSDX Groups.io group have made. Combined with the poor receive performance and the aforementioned problems, I’ve chosen to abandon this project. But all was not lost! I learned a lot and can still convert this back into a QCX if I choose.

BITX40 Update

When the uSDX died while JS8’ing in the middle of the night, I put my trusty BITX40 back in place, only to find that it wouldn’t transmit. Oops! It receives fine, so there’s likely a bad solder somewhere. This radio has been hacked to death over and over again, and so it’s no surprise. In its place, I put my Kenwood TS-140s into service. The receive is a lot more sensitive than either of my radios, which is refreshing. And, it pointed out how bad the receive is on the uSDX.

Drone Update

You might recall that my little cheap drone got ran over. While I did get it back in the air, it’s on its last prop! I decided to replace it with a new drone that has several features:

  • 1080 resolution
  • GPS Return To Home
  • Longer range
  • Ability to carry small load

I found all of these features, and a nice low price, in the MJX Bugs 2 SE. There will be a full post coming up about this, put here’s a preview of one of the pictures I’ve been able to take. I’ll be posting more about it soon.

Suburban Update

I’ve posted about my 1988 Suburban before, back when I fixed up the seats a couple of years ago, put in a new O2 sensor and more. This time around, a front brake locked up so I repacked all the wheel bearings and put on new rotors, calipers, brake lines, pads, and also had to put new dust boots on the drag link. I showed a little of it here on my latest YouTube video:

More YouTube Channels

YouTube can be an absolute MAZE of channels to watch. I have found myself really enjoying some outdoors based channels that are definitely not things I enjoy in real life, but really like watching others do. I’ll embed the videos below, and you can check out their channels on YouTube.

I really enjoy this guy’s videos, and his videography is pretty good too!
This fellow is that Professor in college that everyone loved.
This guy cracks me up every time, and does some pretty silly, but also pretty awesome, campouts!
This man is fascinating. He gets the most amazing foraged seafood, fresh from the tide pools!

Be sure to let me know what you think, and share your favorite YouTube videos/channels in the comments below!

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