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QCX Transceivers

QCX/QCX+/QCX-mini 5W CW Transceiver kit 

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

Firmware version 1.07

This is the Operating Instructions manual for the QCX, QCX+ and QCX-mini CW transceivers. 

All versions of the firmware are compatible with all PCB revisions and all models of the QCX 
family. However there are features which are specific to certain models. 

1) CAT control can only be used on the QCX+, QCX-mini, and the more recent PCB revisions of 
the QCX (unless you have modified your older QCX to add the three components that facilitate the
CAT port).

2) Control of the LCD module LED backlight is only applicable to the QCX-mini and these settings 
have no effect in the QCX and QCX+ models.

QCX operating manual, firmware 1.07, manual edit 0.03

1

Summary of Contents for QCX

Page 1: ...s of the QCX family However there are features which are specific to certain models 1 CAT control can only be used on the QCX QCX mini and the more recent PCB revisions of the QCX unless you have modi...

Page 2: ...3 Editing a configuration menu parameter 11 4 4 Editing a LIST parameter 12 4 5 Editing a BOOLEAN parameter 12 4 6 Editing a NUMBER parameter 12 4 7 Editing a TEXT parameter 13 4 8 Frequency presets m...

Page 3: ...or any answers As soon as you touch the key the message sending is canceled When message sending is in progress an M character appears near the top right of the display CW Keyer Operation with a Strai...

Page 4: ...elping people without much test equipment to debug the radio They can even be used for testing other projects too Voltage meter RF Power meter Audio channel amplitude measurements Frequency counter 0...

Page 5: ...s in between It may also be shown or hidden Transmit VFO in SPLIT mode the transmit VFO is displayed on the bottom row of the display RIT Receiver Incremental Tuning when not in SPLIT mode and when th...

Page 6: ...remembering while you are familiarising yourself with the operation of the radio that if you get into any unexpected function or menu you can nearly always press the Exit button to cancel and get bac...

Page 7: ...less of the keyer mode setting this is useful for quickly being able to key down for antenna tuning purposes It is much easier than going into the Keyer menu selecting straight key mode doing the tune...

Page 8: ...d receive VFO if non zero RIT is applied during receive Split VFO A is used for receive VFO B is used for transmit RIT is ignored completely Split mode is often used by DX stations they transmit and r...

Page 9: ...ssage memories The first four memories are 100 characters long the remaining eight memories are 50 characters long In order to send a pre saved message press the Rotary button with a single long press...

Page 10: ...elect button Use the rotary encoder to scroll back and forth between the nine sub menu groups listed To enter one of them press the Select button To return to the main operating mode press the Exit bu...

Page 11: ...ter such as used to control whether the battery icon shows 3 NUMBER a numeric parameter such as a stored frequency preset 4 TEXT a text configuration item such as a stored message 5 UNEDITABLE some me...

Page 12: ...to the next digit to the right OR b Press and hold the Rotary button while turning the rotary encoder shaft this allows you to move the cursor left or right Editing of the number is concluded and the...

Page 13: ...ions Insert Use this symbol to insert a character in the text Find this character using the rotary encoder then press the Select button to activate it All the characters to the right of the cursor pos...

Page 14: ...stored message 2 10 Message 8 50 characters text stored message 2 11 Message 9 50 characters text stored message 2 12 Message 10 50 characters text stored message 2 13 Message 11 50 characters text st...

Page 15: ...sion will be repeated in the repeat transmission mode The Repeat parameter is actually a LIST type since it can be a number from 1 to 99 or 0 In the latter case zero the Message transmission continues...

Page 16: ...e Tune rate power up Available values are 10MHz 1MHz 100kHz 10kHz 1kHz 500Hz 100Hz 10Hz or 1Hz The current Tune rate during ordinary operation is not stored in this parameter unless you Save settings...

Page 17: ...s yours at 700Hz audio output If you wish to change the CW offset frequency you may do so using this parameter However be warned that the 200Hz audio analogue filter in the circuit is still centred on...

Page 18: ...hich lets you swap the dit and dah connections in software if you find that your paddle is reversed 4 4 Keyer Weight 500 Ordinarily Morse dit and dah durations have a 1 3 ratio The space between symbo...

Page 19: ...In the even that you press the paddle too LATE there is nothing the keyer can do to travel back in time and force it to 3 dit lengths for you You might have intended an inter word space for example So...

Page 20: ...ur CW audio filter When you transmit you will also be netted accurately to his frequency All being well this should mean that your signal also ends up nicely in his CW filter passband too Then you can...

Page 21: ...ting to experiment with these settings and see if you can improve the performance of the CW decoder in your specific circumstances For example some stations may experience more noise interference than...

Page 22: ...ere exchanges are very short 5 3 Ampl Avg 60 The decoder maintains an amplitude threshold which it uses to decide whether a tone is detected or not The level of this threshold must be varied automatic...

Page 23: ...s CW transceiver kit We already have extensive experience for several years developing the Ultimate series QRSS WSPR transmitter kits current incarnation the Utimate3S These have a huge array of funct...

Page 24: ...the time configuration parameter as exactly as possible Be sure to keep the editing cursor under the rightmost 1 minute digit of the time parameter watch your clock until the seconds turn over to 00...

Page 25: ...easy and fun During the actual WSPR message transmission the display shows something like this 14 097 140 122 2 G0UPL IO90 37 The elements of this display are explained as follows 14 097 140 Transmis...

Page 26: ...using the radio as a CW transceiver The following sections describe the configuration parameters in the Beacon menu 6 1 Mode WSPR This parameter determines the transmission mode during beacon operati...

Page 27: ...peration In WSPR mode this is the frequency of tone 0 It should be noted that the WSPR sub bands on the bands are only 200Hz wide You need to have your 27MHz reference oscillator accurately calibrated...

Page 28: ...past the hour 6 5 WSPR call G0UPL The WSPR callsign is the first parameter which is encoded into the WSPR message Your callsign must obey certain restrictions imposed by the WSPR protocol These restri...

Page 29: ...into the WSPR message is the transmitter power defined in dBm Note that this parameter is manually edited here and is encoded into the WSPR message It does NOT indicate a measured power which is actu...

Page 30: ...n By default it is set to 300 milliseconds as shown here but you may alter this if you wish It is the number of milliseconds after first pressing the button at which certain decisions are made a If yo...

Page 31: ...1 bar 7 81V to 8 8V Empty 7 8V and below 7 5 Cursor blink OFF Two different cursor styles are possible You can select your favourite here The two possible values are an underline cursor the default an...

Page 32: ...irmware version number 1 06 in this example When you set the Custom splsh configuration parameter to ON the contents of message memories 11 and 12 are displayed on the top and bottom rows respectively...

Page 33: ...st commonly comma or dot are expected to be the usual choice 7 11 Backlight OFF This parameter is only applicable to the QCX mini model and it controls whether the backlight is ON or OFF This setting...

Page 34: ...g the I Q balance and audio phase shift adjustments 8 1 Align frq 14 020 000 The Align frq parameter specifies the frequency which the alignment tools operate You should ensure that the frequency spec...

Page 35: ...to 25 000 000 priort to using the GPS calibration function To build the QCX radios for 160m operation you must use a 12MHz crystal in place of the 27MHz crystal and manually set this parameter to 12...

Page 36: ...on the screen showing the measured audio amplitude The Low frequency phase adjustment trimmer potentiometer should be adjusted for minimum measured amplitude This process is described in the section...

Page 37: ...e including using the GPS calibration function When you press Select the calibration will go quickly through several phases resulting in a measurement of the reference frequency Calibration takes 6 se...

Page 38: ...f you are attempting to measure external equipment or circuits then you will also need to make a ground connection between the CW transceiver and the external circuit Ground connection pins are provid...

Page 39: ...tool Note that the RF Power meter and the DVM use the SAME Analogue to Digital ADC microcontroller input You must not try to use the RF Power meter and the DVM at the same time Ensure only one or the...

Page 40: ...Hz The upper frequency end of this range will only be achieved in the case of a nice tidy squarewave of adequate amplitude an 50 duty cycle Lower quality signals will result in a lower upper frequency...

Page 41: ...three components Remember QCX RxD connects to the computer TxD and the QCX TxD connects to the computer RxD there is a swap as shown Most PCs do not have actual serial ports anymore and the typical s...

Page 42: ...All the commands are like this Two character command code followed by to read a value To set a value just insert the parameter value between the two character command code and the semicolon terminator...

Page 43: ...an 11 digit number Example FB returns FA00007016000 FR Get Set Receive VFO Mode Set Set VFO Mode 0 1 2 correspond to VFO A VFO B or Split respectively This is the case for both the FR and FT commands...

Page 44: ...iate CW transmission of the text HELLO Get Returns KY0 if message sending is in progress and the transmit text buffer is not more than 75 full KY1 if message sending is in progress and the transmit te...

Page 45: ...ransmitted is abandoned If a message memory or message initiated by KY is transmitted it is cancelled immediately Note that when the transmitter is keyed using TQ1 closing the paddles or keying the st...

Page 46: ...he return is As an example consider the keyer mode menu which is menu item 4 1 and assume it is in IAMBIC A mode The simple query is QM4 01 The return is QM4 1 IAMBIC A The return format is QMm s v wh...

Page 47: ...a list menu item For numeric and text menus these are not present QM set command As an example consider the command QM4 010 The set command format is QMm ssv where QM The CAT command identifier m the...

Page 48: ...U format therefore implements a 2 digit numeric field which is bit mapped to 6 event flags that indicate what changed on the QCX The format of the notification is QUnnn where nnn is the 3 digit number...

Page 49: ...fficiently often that it does not fill up TB This GET command reads the contents of the decoded CW buffer to the CAT host and empties the buffer so decoding CW will CW filling it up again The format o...

Page 50: ...attempt to send text which would overflow this buffer is supressed and simply returns the error result code Decoded CW is stored in a 40 character linear buffer It is retrieved from QCX using the TB...

Page 51: ...A enable VA prosign not SK 6 Beacon 6 1 Mode OFF CW WSPR FSKCW 6 2 Frequency beacon frequency 6 3 Frame frame duration in minutes 6 4 Start minutes past the hour to start 6 5 WSPR call Callsign to enc...

Page 52: ...the assembly and operation of this kit please join the QRP Labs group see http qrp labs com group for details 7 Document Revision History 0 01 27 Oct 2020 Firmware version 1 06 0 02 06 Nov 2020 Added...

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