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Reviews For: QRP-Labs QMX+

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : QRP-Labs QMX+
Reviews: 3MSRP: $125 (kit)
Description:
QMX+" (QRP+ Labs Multimode Xcvr): a feature-packed, high performance, 160-6m 3-5W CW and Digi-modes transceiver kit, including embedded SDR receiver, 24-bit 48 ksps USB sound card, CAT control, synthesized VFO with TCXO reference, CR2032 battery backed RTC, and internal GPS option.
Product is in production
More Info: https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
34.734.7
CU2IJ Rating: 2024-10-20
Great rig for building, testing etc Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this kit with the intent to be my main QRP rig, that hasn't sucessed due to the less positive points in my experience.
The list for the readly built rigs is long and I find some joy in building without the stress and expense of sourcing different components.

The positives:

- Beautifull (to my taste) and well thought;
- HF + 6m coverage (GREAT!);
- Good, clear, detailed building instructions;
- SWR protection (GREAT!);
- Fantastic test and diagnostic tools via serial terminal;
- Relatively big size, easyer to build;
- Easy FW upgrades whatever OS in your PC (Linux here);
- Super fast shipping;
- All components present in the kit (not one missing);
- SSB modulation in future FW releases (not important to me, but very significative to many);
- etc.

The less positives in my experience:

- High sensivity concerning quality of the DC supply, mine does not turn on if the DC is not to his liking (arround 12V);
- In some bands it has less than 2W RF out, even after rebuilding the main RF transformer and tweeking the windings the low pass filters;
- The coper for the windings is precicely measured, no much room for 2nd tryings;
- It has a SWR probing in the HW tests menu, but it is not easly readable;
- No loudspeaker, fortunaly there is space for this and some more in the cabinet;
- No antenna tuner (it would be nice as an option).

So would I buy it again after my experience?
Yes this is a fantastic rig for the price, the best kit I built so far, with many features to explore.
I have done a few rewarding QSOs with the low power and wire antennas, so it has earned my respect.
The way I see it it is not a field rig.

Best 73
Luis
CU2IJ

YO2LOG Rating: 2024-09-05
First test, wonderful rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A revelation this transceiver - QMX+!
STRONG POINTS... the fantastic reception, highlighted especially in CW, the beautiful and detailed display on only two lines of characters, the well-organized menus with huge testing and adjustment possibilities, the CAT + audio connection via a single USB-C cable, excellent manual, airy box, with a lot of extra space, allowing for the installation of a battery for example, frequent firmware updates, silent, no relays and noisy fans, CW decoder functional, effective protection against inadequate SWR, no heats up even after 4 hours of digimodes, cheap finals, quick setup and stability in settings... am I forgetting something?
WEAK POINTS... the critical supply voltage, the tune button, more than double the size of previous QRP Labs products (and still tiny compared to the Xiegu G90), lack of an internal ATU, hardly visible passthrough in the lack of noise of a relay, I feel the need for a red LED!
To be watched over time... RELIABILITY, but I have been assured that if I run it not at the limit, but only at 3 watts, it will have a long life!
N0ZIB Rating: 2024-09-04
An excellent CW/Digital (and some day SSB) QRP rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What a wonderful radio project. This can be ordered as a kit (which is what I did) or pre-assembled.
The kit build instructions are FANTASTIC with detailed descriptions and pictures to guide you. Any unique issues or overly difficult sections of the build are highlighted. Hans, the creator and owner of QRP-Labs, walks you thru those tough spots with plenty of detail. At no point was I lost or wishing more detail was provided. I wouldn't call this an easy build. But it's a worthwhile project

The way the main board and sub-boards go together is a thing of beauty. I had ordered the optional case, developers board and GPS module too. The case really gives the radio a compact, modern look. The internal GPS module comes with an external antenna too. It was getting a lock on several GPS sats from inside my house.

This is a well-designed kit that really performs. The QMX+ has the ability to store CW messages and has an excellent CW decoder. There’s even enough room inside the case for batteries or even a QRP auto tuner. And with future firmware updates (which are surprisingly easy to perform) it’s just going to keep getting better.

I've been a big fan of QRP-Labs since I got back into ham radio several years ago. They continue to impress me with very well thought out products.
Bravo Hans on a truly marvelous transceiver kit.