5.5 Enable Tx
ON
With this setting you can switch “Enable TX decode” to OFF and the transmit decoding is disabled.
When this setting is ON, the CW decoder will decode your own keying and display it on the screen
while you transmit. For an experienced CW operator that may be distracting too!
5.6 Enable edit
ON
This parameter enables CW decoding while editing. When ON, anything you key during editing of
NUMBER or TEXT type configuration parameters, edits the parameter. This is a really useful
feature that makes it very easy to enter frequencies or stored messages, for example.
5.7 VA
ON
This parameter only controls whether the SK/VA pronoun character, when decoded, is shown as
“SK” (this setting is OFF) or displayed as “VA” (this setting is ON).
The proper definition of this pronoun character is somewhat disputed; some people believe
passionately that it is SK, others that it is VA. For the sake of universal harmony this parameter
therefore lets you choose your preference.
4.13
Beacon menu
The beacon function is an added bonus feature of this QRP Labs 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 functionality and
modes including CW, QRSS, DFCW, FSKCW, Hellscreiber (full speed and slow FSK), WSPR,
JT9, JT65, ISCAT, Opera and PI4. The vast majority of people use the Ultimate3S kit for WSPR
operation. Since it costs nothing (no extra hardware, at least) to add this functionality to the CW
transceiver, why not! Let’s do it!
The CW transceiver beacon function therefore contains a simplified WSPR implementation which
can transmit standard WSPR messages. It also has a GPS interface for discipline of time,
frequency and Maidenhead locator. The implementation of course does not have the full range of
flexibility and functionality as the Ultimate3S kit.
WARNING: WSPR transmissions operate a continuous 100% key-down duty-cycle for
almost 2 minutes. You should check carefully whether the BS170’s get too hot during this
period.
WSPR is much more demanding on the PA transistors than CW. If you are operating with
higher output powers (by using a relatively high power supply voltage) then you might notice the
QCX operating manual, firmware 1.07, manual edit 0.03
23
