| W5NR |
Rating:  |
2024-10-27 | |
| Great QRP transceiver |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I do run my QMX on 10vdc and with a 40 meter EFHW antenna at my QTH. I have been focused on working as many POTA stations on 20 meters as possible and really enjoyed the re-connection with CW using this radio.
After a couple of firmware updates and setting the AGC system and filter selection to my liking, this QRP radio has been a treat to operate. On 20 meters with the input voltage set at 10vdc, I can maintain 3 watts output and this is more than enough power to maintain QSO's. If your willing to take your time to build this radio and spend time setting up the filters and AGC system, you will enjoy this radio for many years... In my case this is a great way to get back into CW. |
|
| KE5CTT |
Rating: |
2024-10-19 | |
| Excellent radio for CW and Digital, SSB in work |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I bought the kit version for POTA field use. My other radios are: IC-746, TS-830S, and K2. The QMX has now become the rig I use most at home because it has enough power to answer almost any call I hear, and the receiver is very good. The latest firmware update added filters down to 50 Hz, all very listenable. The audio through an Anker powered speaker is easy to listen to. There are a LOT of features in this little radio, but only 2 buttons and 2 rotary encoders which are also push buttons. This leads to a deep menu system but it's implemented such that the most often used functions are a click or two away. I usually keep it connected via USB to my Chromebook, and I use Putty terminal software to access the menus, on board diagnostics, etc. I could go on about the features but you can get all that from the QRP labs website. I've used it with WSJT-X to run FT8, but my preference is CW. SSB capability is likely coming soon via firmware update. The kit wasn't terribly difficult to build, but component spacing is tight (this rig is TINY), and you need a lot of heat for some components, especially the torroids, I used a Hakko temp-controlled soldering station, magnifying lamp, and a panavise, and my QMX booted up without issue. I highly recommend the QMX! |
|
| K8FB |
Rating: |
2024-10-16 | |
| Great QRP Rig |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I purchased the factory assembled version of the 20 M through 10 M QMX. The radio requires an input voltage of 12.9 V or less. A good and inexpensive battery for the QMX is the TalentCell LiIo battery that has a voltage of 12.6V that is inexpensive and available online. I use the QMX as a substitute SOTA transceiver using an EFHW antenna in a sloping configuration from a tall tree.
Initially I encountered some issues with the radio. My EFHW had good measured SWR on all bands except 17 M. Yet, the transmitter shut down on a couple of bands with an SWR fault. I had SWR Threshold turned on and set for an SWR of 3:1.
I submitted a tech request about the issue and Hans, the owner, stated that the SWR meter was not very accurate and suggested setting the threshold higher. I ended up having to set the SWR Threshold to 6. Then things started working. Hans assured me that I would still have antenna open and short protection, which would present as an SWR of 10:1.
An additional issue that I had was that the transmitter would shut down on some bands and a G was displayed. It turned out that GPS Protection was turned on by default. Once the GPS Protection was disabled, the issue went away. This issue seems to be rather common and is documented in the QRP Labs group.io forum.
Once all of these issues were cleared up, the radio worked great. The receiver is quite good. Recently I went on a SOTA activation and worked 15 and 10 Meters CW. Within about an hour, I had worked a total of 37 stations. I also worked France and England on 15 M. On 10 M, I worked France, Spain, Germany x3, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. I worked a total of 10 DX stations from Arizona all with output power of around 3.6 watts..
The QMX can't be beat for the price. It has a tremendous number of features that are mostly menu driven and is a solid HF QRP transceiver. Basic operating features don't require accessing the menu, however. |
|
| WA6MOW |
Rating: |
2024-09-18 | |
| Amazing tiny rig. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I absolutely love this radio. My QMX was factory-built and arrived within a few months. It is loaded with features. I have made contacts world wide with a simple antenna. I may order another one just to keep in my car for spontaneous portable ops. |
|
| AD5MO |
Rating: |
2024-09-09 | |
| Follow directions, be rewarded!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Updated review (9/9/24):
Now that I've become a CW operator, the value of this rig has increased tenfold. With the v27 firmware it now has an EXCELLENT range of filters for cw that make POTA activations a breeze. Without digital gear, the radio, a key, and a set of earbuds all fit in one pocket, with the Talentcell battery in the other. Some coax and an MC750 vertical slung over my shoulder, and I'm ready to head anywhere, any time, and talk to Germany from Louisiana on 4 watts. I love it!!!!!!!!!
This initial review comes at almost exactly 3 months of owning and operating (11/28/23).
Firstly, to echo everyone else, there are two purchase options: kit and pre-built. If you don't have the patience to follow instructions on the kit METICULOUSLY, then the kit is not for you. However, I have to disagree with some other reviews on the angle that you need a lot of experience to do it correctly. This was my second time ever putting a soldering iron to a PCB board, winding torroids, etc., and I completed the kit *almost* exactly to spec on my first attempt. I have 3.6 watts out on 20m band as opposed to 5, but I've reached 9,070 miles to Australia from Louisiana on 3.5 watts FT4 with this exact rig (it's the only digital capable rig I have), so I've not taken it back apart to optimize the 20m band and probably never will. It works fine as is. To make this kit work, you simply need a 60 watt quality iron or better (buy once, cry once), the patience to not try and do the kit in a single sitting (probably...took me three days after work between dinner/kids' bedtimes, etc), and the ability to follow...the...instructions...step...by...step. Don't skip a line, even if you know what it says. Finally, when you do have a question, there is an EXTREMELY helpful and active online discussion board where the designer himself will step in and assist you if no one else can.
I do not have other digital capable rigs to compare this to, my only other rig is a Kenwood TS520. That being said, I've talked to Australia, Japan, Estonia, several African territories, most of South America, and nearly every state in the Union (come on, Hawaii...) with this powerhouse of a rig on 20m (3.6 watts) and 40m (5.1 watts) through a homebrew fan dipole 30 feet off the ground, oriented for north-south main lobes.
It's so small and light, you can put it in your pocket to walk from the car to your POTA spot, and run it on a cell phone recharging battery that fits in the same pocket. One day it should be SSB capable with firmware update, but not yet. It is CW capable, but I'm not a CW operator, yet. I bought this to learn about digital modes. For $130 with the aluminum enclosure and shipping to Louisiana from Turkey, I don't think you can beat this. |
|
| N7KM |
Rating: |
2024-08-31 | |
| Works very well! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This was a challenge to build. Being an older ham, over 80, I just wanted to try one more kit. I took my time and built it exactly as outlined in the manual. I did not make all the changes found on the forums. When it came time to program it, I found that “I’m not anyone” and had my son help me. In minutes the radio came to life and I switched to 40 meter and heard a CQ and proceeded to have a nice long rag chew, my son watched in amazement. I did find a bad solder joint in the 80 meter band pass filter. I get 5 Watts on all but 20 meters where it’s 3.5 Watts. I put it in the case and have been working many stations the best DX was a 40 meter ZL2, I checked into a CW traffic net on 80 meters and it went very well. My one concern is software. Several times the radio has quit transmitting and I’ve had to turn it off and back on to continue. (My SWR is flat 1:1) Also some software functions that are slow to respond or don’t adjust at all. Perhaps I just need to reload the software. Over all I’m impressed with the QMX as a CW radio rig and though it’s a challenge to build it’s worth the effort. I look forward to the forthcoming firmware updates.
Just a quick update. There are a few features that don’t work on this radio. I was frustrated, thinking I had screwed up, but now I see this radio is a work in progress. There have been four firmware updates in the last month or two. Each update has corrected a few deficiencies and made the radio much more usable. I’m sure over time this will be a first class portable rig. It’s fun and mostly usable now. It’s certainly worth the build. Get one, be patient and enjoy.
I was just reading the reviews and noted someone said the Semi QSK had been fixed. I did the latest firmware update and this is now a very usable radio. I had put it aside because I couldn’t handle the obnoxious full QSK on busy bands. Nice job Hans and I’m enjoying your updates. Great little radio! |
|
| W5NM |
Rating: |
2024-08-28 | |
| Great Receiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Received my QMX about 2 weeks ago after about 4 months since ordering.
At first did not know what to think. Had all kinds of
trouble with digi modes. (was pc not QMX)
Did 2 firmware updates and adding the wider cw
bandwidth and semi- break-in cw was huge for me.
I HATE very narrow receiver bandwidths. Rarely gain
anything from bandwidths narrower than 500Hz.
Also do not like to listen to loud horrible noise between
dots and dashes. To each his own I suppose.
So down to business. These radios are simply
amazing. The receiver on my QMX is sensitive and
the noise floor is very low on all bands, which makes
for wonderful listening. I have been using several other
qrp rigs lately and they are much noisier.
I think the engineering is absolutely amazing and these
radios are a good deal for my money.
I have used my QMX on RTTY and FT-8 with good results.
So after a rough start, I am Very Pleased with my QMX
which was pre-built for me.
Carmine W5NM |
|
| W4XEN |
Rating: |
2024-02-16 | |
| Genius Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I ordered the pre-built QMX (80m-20m) and yes, it was a very long wait time (8-9 months), but it was absolutely worth it. I'm sure buying it in kit form is much faster.
I built a QCX-Mini before and the kit-building quality of these radios is fantastic. The manuals are one-for-one what you see is what you get. I did not build my QMX however. Looking through the assembly manual, it looks very similar.
For operation, what is packed into this tiny box is quite exceptional. I'm always looking for the next best QRP radio and for now, into the foreseeable future, this is that radio. I built mine for 12v and yes, it can run off on 9v (Don't run a 9v build off of 12v though). The power output (measured by a calibrated wattmeter) is at or above the stated 5w output with 12v in. Running it with a 9v battery, that drops to 2-3w depending on band.
It's got a lot of good features with room for expansion via firmware. There is a built-in mic which, for now, isn't implemented. So, no SSB *yet*.
One of my favorites is the CW decoding which works great once you get it dialed in. That took me about 10 mins and I was decoding most of what was sent to me.
I had zero problems getting WSJT-X, JS8Call, FLDigi, or FLRig to see and control this radio. I worked a lot of stations and DX with this radio going into a Buddipole.
I'm sure there are some reviews that mention a click, pop, or other nefarious tones when sending CW. I also had that experience but playing with the sidetone options and the levels fixed that. The 1.00.017 firmware has made great strides into fixing that issue (even when it was an issue, it wasn't that big of a deal and easy to operate with). Now, it sounds on par with my KX2.
I ran FT8 on this radio for the better part of a day. I used a USB-C battery pack that detects the voltage needed and supplied 12v. It sips battery juice. Easily a Field Day radio.
The QSK is on par with Mountain Topper radios, with the option to drop down to Semi-QSK in the menu.
If I could give this radio 6 stars, I would. Easily fits the bill for SOTA and POTA. Highly recommended. |
|
| W6CJ |
Rating: |
2024-01-21 | |
| Pre-built QMX failed after two weeks |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
My pre-built 80-20M QMX arrived recently. I tested it with a service monitor and made CW contacts with it up until its failure two weeks after its arrival.
Likes:
1. Small size.
2. Easy to remember menu settings.
3. Green display is easier on the eyes.
4. Five bands (including 60m and 30m).
5. SWR and PO display.
6. Adjustable sidetone frequency and volume.
7. Adjustable CW offset.
Dislikes:
1. Pops/clicks in the earbuds after letting the key/paddle
up; worse on 80M. Needs to be fixed.
2. There is a menu setting for SEMI and full QSK, but
the QMX appears to be in full QSK regardless
of what was selected. Really need that semi-QSK,
especially with those key clicks.
3. When selecting a frequency that was stored in the
presets, that frequency appears in the display. But if
you want to receive and transmit on the frequency
you selected, you will need to give the VFO encoder
a twist I don't know if this is a bug or a failure.
4. The QMX has adjustments for CW sidetone and offset
frequency, and these are great relief for CW ops
hearing!... I'd like to see this taken one step further
- give us an adjustment to shift the IF passband
center to other than the default 700 Hz.
5. After two weeks, my QMX failed - no RF output,
keying or sidetone. After that failure, I had to
perform factory resets to keep it working. The
factory resets wiped out all of my presets and
settings.
This is a preliminary, owned for two weeks review. I'll re-write this review when there is more to share.
73 |
|
| KB1NLW |
Rating: |
2023-11-08 | |
| Amazing |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I agree that only very experienced builders should build this lit, however there is a an option to buy a fully assembled and tested unit.
I use mine for FT8. The receiver is just as sensitive as my Yaesu FT-DX10. The QMX has its own built in sound card that works well with WSJTX. QRP-Labs (Hans) is continuing to add features, the latest firmware includes power level and SWR and some protection against high SWR damage. A future upgrade will add SSB.
I have on order a kit for Bands 20m to 10m to supplement my current 80m to 20m unit.
An amazing unit, not much bigger than a pack of cards.
|
|
