QRZ! Ham Radio 8/QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - Volume 8.iso/pc/files/q_review/qrp_plus.txt

Internet Message Format | 1996-06-25 | 10KB

Date: Mon, 7 Jun 93 08:41:15 PDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: QRP PLUS Xcvr
To: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
X-Envelope-To: [e-mail]

Greetings All --

I was at the SEA-PAC Ham Convention this past weekend and spent some time
talking to a ham and looking at a couple of units billed as "A Quality
Transceiver for the Serious Low Power Operator".  Basic specs are: 5 watts CW
& SSB 160M thru 10M, SCAF Digital Audio Filters (100 Hz to 2400 Hz Variable
Bandwidth), 20 Memories, RIT, Split, Full QSK.  Size is 5 1/2"W x 4" H x 6" D.
Power is 140 Ma on receive, and 1 amp on xmit.  Fully synthesized and LARGE
display and lettering on front panel (I could operate this rig without my
glasses!).  Simple (but full) front panel has LCD Freq display down to 100 Hz
though it tunes in 10 Hz steps.  20 dB switchable attenuator, Three pos switch
for XCVE, RIT, SPLIT. REV button for split.  BANDWIDTH button for adjusting
(and displaying SCAF bandwidth).  FAST button for tuning, MEM button for
scanning through the memories (used together these buttons store to a memory).
Mini-phones jack, S-meter, Volume/OFF control and Tuning Knob.  On the back is
Mic connector, screwdriver adjust output power level (for the milliwatters),
sidetone level (freq seems to be fixed at 700 Hz, oh well...), power, etc.
Most of the top of the case covers a "large" speaker chosen for efficiency.
Got the fellow to pop the lid and looked inside.  Construction was very clean
and neat and consisted of 4 or 5 (can't remember) PC boards stacked
horizontally and taking up most of the space.  the design is a single
conversion with up conversion to 50 MHz IF.  A number of units are out for
evaluation to fellow qrp enthusiasts and first production run in July.  Price
is listed at $595. For info you can write to:

Index Laboratories
19913 48th Street
Longbranch, WA 98351

[phone]

Comments: No detailed specs on performance -- he will send me a users manual
with schematic, etc when available in next month or so.  Was hard to judge
perf in ham-com atmosphere with no antenna to speak of and background noise,
etc.  This might be a very nice unit at half the price and size of an Argo II.
No separate modules compared to the Scout.  If the specs and performance turn
out to be as good as they should, this could be a real winner.  I really liked
the ability to operate split and the all-band function, as well as the
variable bandwidth on receive.  I suspect requests for info could help this
guy gauge the market and encourage him in his endeavor.  No connection at all,
but certainly interested...

72 de N7YQR, Ed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Edward W. Kleckner K6-84   Internet:   [e-mail] ~
~ Battelle Northwest                         [e-mail] ~
~ Battelle Blvd.             Packet:  [e-mail] ~
~ Richland, Washington       Voice:           [phone] ~
~ 99352-0999                  FAX:                   376-5368 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

======================================================================

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 94 10:58:57 -0500
From: [e-mail] (andrew comas)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: QRP Plus Rig Review


Well 6 months after ordering it, my QRP Plus arrived.  A small
box (5.5"w x 4"h x 6"d) and a lot heavier than I thought, maybe 4
pounds.  The QRP Plus covers CW & SSB 160 meters through 10 meters.
5 Watts out on SSB and 0 - 5 watts on CW.  It has a SCAF digital
audio filter covering 100hz to 2400hz in 100hz steps.  20 memories,
split and rit operation, and full break-in QSK.  It also has a 20dB
attenuator, a separate receiver antenna input and power/S meter.  It
claims .14 Amp (140 ma) power draw on receive and 1 Amp on transmit
at 12 V and an automatic turn-off at 11V and below.  I measured .13
Amp (130ma) on receive with 50% volume, 147ma on 100% volume.
Transmit drew 1.15 Amps normal and 1.51 Amps on >3 SWR.  I haven't
tried the 11V auto-off feature, but this would be great for not
killing off gel-cels.

The unit is well made.  Heavy 1/8" aluminum box holds 5 pc boards, 4
boards stacked on top of each other, separated by plastic-covered
aluminum shields.  The one other board holds the LCD and switches.
Attached to the top cover is a large 3.5" speaker.  The wiring is
well laid out.  The PC boards are connected with a detachable ribbon
cable.  I believe Bruce Franklin of Index Laboratories makes medical
equipment and he applied those high standards to this little rig.
Large switches, buttons and knobs make it a pleasure to operate.  The
display is easy to read, nice large .5" numbers on a .75" display.
The fuse is mounted on the back in a standard fuse holder.

The heart of this rig is an Intel 80C39 microcomputer chip.  The chip
controls the synthesizer (frequency control), display, filters, RIT,
split frequency operation, iambic keyer, sidetone, and memories.  I
spent some time talking with Bruce about his selection of this chip.
(My first job out of college was using these microcomputer chips to
build embedded systems).  I asked him why he used the 8039 instead of
the 8051 (a slightly newer and more functional chip).  He said that
the 8051 was more RF sensitive.  Well I have seen RF reset 8051s many
times myself and spent plenty a night trying to prevent just that.  He
has put plenty of research into this rig.  Another example is the
easy-to-access, standard lithium battery (for memory backup),
as well as recessed pots to set CW power, sidetone and mic-gain.  He
also includes a nice large tuning dial with a finger point for easy
tuning.

Having a nice tuning dial is very important, especially since all
your selections are done by it.  You press a FAST, MEMORY, or
BANDWIDTH button (or combination to store into memory or set keyer
speed) and then turn the main tuning dial to select.  In frequency
mode one full turn is 4Khz, in fast frequency mode one full turn is
about 60Khz.  You cover all the BANDWIDTH filters in a half turn,
all 20 memories in 3 1/2 turns.

The head phone jack is set for walkman type stereo headphones (don't
try mono headphones; they won't work unless you plug them in half-
way).  The volume output for the headphones is more than
adequate.  I never get beyond 3/4.

The receiver really shines.  I could hear a lot more then I could
ever hope to work and the SCAF filter is remarkable.  You press the
BANDWIDTH button and the display shows you the SCAF filter frequency
in Khz.  At 2.0 Khz, SSB is really clear, at .1 Khz it's a CW pile-up
solver (or so says Bruce).  The filters work very smoothly.

Other nice features are:
There are three recessed pots on the back which set:
    Mic Gain
    CW output power 0 - 5 watts continuous
    Sidetone volume (not frequency)
The MEMory button toggles between the frequency in memory and the
working frequency.  A nice way to monitor a net or sked.

The iambic keyer is not ready yet, but will be a free update when it
is.  The box is pre-drilled and labeled for the plug.  So all that's
needed is to upgrade the EPROM (the key is simulated in software like
the CMOS Super Keyer II is) and the jack.  The keyer speed is set via
the main tuning knob and a button press.

As with everything I have my complaints.  The antenna connect is via
a standard BNC instead of an SO-259 connector.  The FAST tuning
button moved at 60Khz per tuning dial turn.  There needs to be a 1Mhz
rate for quickly tuning bands.  Of course this is only a pain until
you set memories and use them to set bands.  (The rig has some preset
band frequencies which you can re-load into memory).  I would have
added a light for the LCD, but Bruce decided to save the 20-30ma and
not add one (I asked him about this).  I built my own mic from the
Radio Shack speaker mic, but I couldn't get the mic gain to give more
than 1 Watt out on SSB.  Bruce said people were having mixed results
with building their own.  Index Labs will be selling one as an
option.

Other observations: As we see more and more things controlled by
computers, functionality won't be our complaints, software bugs will
be.  And I hit one.  When in RIT mode, pressing REVerse is suppose to
give you the transmit frequency.  It doesn't.  It sets the receive
and transmit frequencies to the RIT frequency.  Nothing major and
Bruce promises to fix it with the iambic keyer upgrade.  Also the
display frequency on my rig has a tendency to drift down 100hz after
the first transmit.  This is solved by switching into SPLIT mode.
The SPLIT mode locks the frequency in and disables the tuning knob
(and yes this means the BANDWIDTH control is locked out too, another
software bug to be fixed).  But on the upside, a software controlled
rig allows for more functionality.  Bruce is talking about letting
the user set the QSK break-in time, paddle reverse all of which can be
accomplished via software.  The rig does not reduce power on high SWR
since the transmit components are rated at much higher power levels
than 5W, but may produce spurious signals.

Overall this is a fabulous rig for the money ($595).  It was built by
a man who loves QRP for the QRP lover and it shows.

The usual disclaimers:  I do not work for Index Laboratories nor am
in any way compensated.  Just a happy customer.  Opinions expressed
by the author are not necessarily those of Digital Equipment Corp.