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QDX

QDX: 

Q

RP Labs 

D

igital 

X

cvr (transceiver)

Operating manual, firmware 1.04

QDX operating manual; firmware 1_04

1

Summary of Contents for QDX

Page 1: ...QDX QDX QRP Labs Digital Xcvr transceiver Operating manual firmware 1 04 QDX operating manual firmware 1_04 1...

Page 2: ...g terminal applications mode 14 4 4 Configuration 15 4 5 Band configuration 19 4 6 Audio filter sweep 21 4 7 RF filter sweep 22 4 8 Input analysis 23 4 9 CAT command test 27 4 10 Log file 32 4 11 Tran...

Page 3: ...ree firmware upgrades with QRP Labs Firmware Update QFU bootloader for easy firmware update on any OS with no extra software or drivers or programming hardware All SMD components pre installed by fact...

Page 4: ...labs com qlg2 so if in doubt please check this Linux special note On Linux systems a particular problem can occur When the QDX Virtual COM Serial connection is detected the PC thinks that a modem has...

Page 5: ...ication so that WSJT X can control the QDX via the serial comm port Open the WSJT X settings window from the File menu and select the Audio tab Select QRP Labs QDX Transceiver as the input and output...

Page 6: ...is QDX Note that none of the Serial Port Parameters need to be changed leave them all at their defaults Even the baud rate 9600 is unimportant because it is irrelevant to the USB Virtual COM Port whic...

Page 7: ...ill let you record all CAT commands received and investigate any issues If CAT commands are missing for your application QRP Labs can add support for them easily NOTE 2 As mentioned above CAT control...

Page 8: ...that best accuracy in determining the audio tone frequency being sent by the PC is when the Pwr is at the maximum setting There is no point to using any setting other than maximum because QDX only eve...

Page 9: ...second QDX is in normal Transmit mode operation LED flashes 2 times in quick succession repeating every 1 second the PC host software application is sending audio to QDX and QDX is detecting and measu...

Page 10: ...er firmware update mode 1 On powering up QDX you will see the QDX status LED flickers quickly for 5 seconds after power up then illuminates solidly If you power down QDX during this 5 seconds then app...

Page 11: ...X simply by dragging files in your file manager application On entering the Firmware update procedure a pop up window should appear on your PC On my system Linux XUbuntu 18 04 it looks like this Click...

Page 12: ...oad the new firmware file from the QRP Labs website unzip it and simply drag it into the folder where the existing firmware file version is shown Or copy and paste it however you wish The file on the...

Page 13: ...ications are hosted and coded in the QDX itself The terminal emulator is only used to display the results This keeps things simple and low maintenance After all the terminal applications are useful bo...

Page 14: ...minal applications mode will appear in your terminal emulator window as shown below The screen shows the QDX firmware version coloured yellow at top left and a list of applications coloured white You...

Page 15: ...CXO Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator and is used for calculating Si5351A parameters for setting the desired QDX operating frequency The supplied TCXO is a high precision component and will no...

Page 16: ...e https qrp labs com images wsprnet rxerror html Look for your callsign in the list which shows the error in your reception reports operating frequency error Alternatively you may operate as a WSPR tr...

Page 17: ...The value should not be set too close to 99 since higher frequency audio where the number of samples per cycle is small may not contain a value sufficient to trigger this threshold in every cycle Fal...

Page 18: ...o crossing therefore needs to be discarded because its period measurement will be too short The default value of 1 should be fine for all purposes IQ Mode When IQ mode is enabled the raw I and Q chann...

Page 19: ...key in order to delete the existing setting characters then enter new ones The setting is stored in memory when you press the Enter key or one of the arrow keys to move to a different cell of the tab...

Page 20: ...single band unless you are going to build an external switched Low Pass Filter Also remember that the 50W QCX series amplifier is designed for CW operation and not suitable for the high duty cycle of...

Page 21: ...spectively The vertical axis shows audio decibel dB level The offset is arbitrary Gridlines axis are displayed in blue Vertical gridlines are every 20dB and horizontal axis gridlines every 1000 Hz Gri...

Page 22: ...ustable The vertical axis shows audio decibel dB level The offset is arbitrary Gridlines axis are displayed in blue Vertical gridlines are every 20dB and horizontal axis gridlines as appropriate to th...

Page 23: ...the following keyboard buttons may be pressed to control the operation of the waterfall CTRL Q Quit the input analysis application Right arrow Increase the screen width higher number of Hz per horizo...

Page 24: ...ate rate various popular modes coded and when an update rate matches a mode the mode name is written here See below for the list of supported update rates 1510 Center frequency of the waterfall 1512 3...

Page 25: ...next to the vertical division rate on the top row of the display Update rate ms vertical Div s Matching mode Comment 10 1 Only display 10ms in top left 20 1 Only display gridlines and 20ms in top left...

Page 26: ...the FT8 tone spacing is 6 25 Hz The scroll rate is sped up the fastest rate 10 ms per horizontal row 100 frequency measurements per second We see clearly that at the moment the FT8 tone changes the me...

Page 27: ...the CAT specification Cat command set QDX implements a subset of the Kenwood TS 480 TS 440 CAT command set which is an old standard but contains all the necessary commands for WSJT X and other softwa...

Page 28: ...ceive 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 which are nominally Receive and Transmit VFOs because in the QCX...

Page 29: ...r any other value to set Upper Sideband USB Get Returns 3 CW if the mode is Upper Sideband USB which is the normal mode Returns 1 if the mode is Lower Sideband LSB Q0 Get Set TCXO reference frequency...

Page 30: ...and is not written to EEPROM Get Get Cycle Min parameter value Q8 Get Set Sample Min parameter Set Set Sample Min parameter see description elsewhere in this manual The setting is for the current ope...

Page 31: ...immediately puts the radio into receive mode It is equivalent to TQ0 SP Get Set Split mode Set Sets Split mode 0 OFF 1 ON For example SP1 switches QDX to split mode Get Returns the Split state 0 OFF...

Page 32: ...p of the screen if you wish The current logging status is displayed in yellow in the bottom right corner In this example the status is ALL which means that all events are being logged The available ke...

Page 33: ...uccessful The final entry is an error message Band because 1 84 MHz is in the 160m band and this is not one of the bands currently supported by QDX VFO A 7074000 sets the VFO A frequency to 7 074 MHz...

Page 34: ...t TX Can be either by CAT command or by VOX RX Radio switched to Receive RX Can be either by CAT command or by VOX VFO Mode VFO mode set to A B or Split VFO Mode A An error is generated for any attemp...

Page 35: ...n increases the band decreases the band p Enable PTT Highlights in YELLOW t Enable PTT and transmit highlights in RED Ctrl Q Quit The Transmitter test application respects the enable disable band swit...

Page 36: ...off for 0 1 seconds between flashes the sequence is repeated every 1 second Observe what the LED is doing when you think you are transmitting and diagnose the fault as below No flashes If the LED does...

Page 37: ...in principle there are THREE places on the PC that all affect the output channel volume and all three need to be set to 100 1 The output volume of the software application itself for example the Pwr...

Page 38: ...o your power meter QDX transmitter hardware problems are often the result of failure to properly remove the enamel from the enameled copper wire on the toroids and or binocular core resulting in no el...

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