QCX-mini update and test jig
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- Опубліковано 2 бер 2021
- QCX-mini 5W CW transceiver kit, high performance and feature packed, from $55 shop.qrp-labs.com/qcxmini
This video details the problems found in the batch 1 kits, and the changes in the Rev 2 PCB that fix everything.
Most of the video is about my very cool test jig that runs 21 functionality tests on the SMD-assembled PCB (Transmitter, Receiver and synthesizer). All 1,000 PCBs of the 2nd batch were tested so that we can guarantee that all boards sent to customers are working correctly.
More QRP Labs kits: qrp-labs.com
Hans, early in my career my job was designing and building the same test jigs for board testing. Watching this brought back fond memories. Your approach is methodical and we’ll done. I say that to tell you those pogo pins are VERY robust and survived tens and tens of thousands of cycles in automated insertion and vacuum jigs using negative pressure to suck the board down on the pins and hold them for test, then violently blown out with positive air only to repeat by sucking in the next one. You are giving your pogos a happy and relaxed life! I am going to purchase a QCX-mini after seeing this video.
Thanks Marty! Hope you enjoy the QCX-mini!
The electrical RF engineering combined with the case engineering is stellar for the QCX-Mini 20M I purchased. Even more impressive is this test jig, and I thank it and Hans for the added QC before my Rev2 mini crossed the seas and led to an uneventful successful build. I can honestly say though after a couple long sessions with headband magnifier, I would not want to build anything smaller than this, so if Hans starts on a QCX-micro, I will have to pass due to eyesight here :)
Really, quite impressive. The complete transparency of issues found in your products and process is quite something. This reinforces what a quality company you have, your personal integrity, and continues to prove your commitment to your current and future customers. BTW, I received my QCX-Mini kit about a week ago and am completely thrilled with it in every way. For the oldsters reading this I would say the kit quality is on par with the Heathkit kits from back in the 1980's. I give the mini kit my highest recommendation!
Hans is simply AMAZING. Clever design!
Outstanding Hans! You are truly a gifted and talented guy! Very, clever design and implementation.
I bought one original QXC mini but I NEED several more for other bands and can’t wait to get them.
Congratulations and thank you for your tireless pursuit of perfection.
73 Alan, W3AL
Thankyou for a confidence inspiring video. Great work.
It's a great point Matt, especially given some of the commentary in the groupsio forum. Even if a little incredulous of reports initially, Hans quickly diagnosed potential problems and provided work-arounds to mitigate the issues. With this video he confirms his commitment to ensuring a quality kit and building experience.
Unfortunate that Rev 1 batch had these issues. However, Hans, you are of the Engineering Right Stuff and you have pulled the rabbit out of the hat by designing and producing the test rig - as well as addressing the other quality issues. Happy to report that my QC tested Rev 2 kit #159 worked just fine after assembly. I agree, the QCX-mini is "insanely cute". 😀 Thanks for the update.
This test board is so clever, I'm very impressed ! Thanks Hans for this update on your work.
Great video. I recently receive QCX mini and successfully assembled it within 5 hours. Quality of the kit and assembly manual is outstanding. If you take into account the price it's even more astonishing.
Great job. I have become a big fan and definitely will acquire other older kits offered by Hans.
Brilliant video! Many thanks for sharing this update.
VERY FB, Hans. I am not sure there are enough superlatives to describe my admiration. Thanks for all of your hard work and GREAT KITS!
Hans, You are truly amazing! Every time you make a video I learn! Your ingenuity is simply amazing to a radio hobby guy like me. The test jig is as amazing to me as the radio itself if not more so. My next mini order is on the way I just have to decide which band. Thanks for sharing all with us.
Timestamps/ Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:54 QCX+ short history
1:39 QCX-mini short history
2:34 Issues with QCX-mini
3:29 Issue with Voltage Regulator
7:02 Issue with Assembly
8:04 Issue with Op-Amps
9:07 Intro to Test Jig
9:32 Attaching the circuit board and Pogo Pins
14:20 Display of Test Jig - Back circuitry of Test Jig
16:46 QC Passed Sticker
17:25 Circuit and Block Diagrams of Testing
21:25 A list of Tests
24:40 Demonstration of Testing
26:01 Close Up of OLED display while testing
26:30 Overview of Test Jig Project
27:47 Issue and Solution Summary
WOW. I was impressed by the QCX, Really impressed by the QCX Mini and I must saw totally blown away by this test jig. I cannot imagine any company going to the lengths that you have to ensure the identified problems have all been systematically addressed and corrected. Well Done, You!
Very cool! Thanks for sharing you interesting findings and the test kit. Very interesting stuff. Looking forward to starting the QCX build!
Well done Hans, Congratulations!
Iv'e ordered several kits, and I'll be ordering this update! Thank you for the excellent little rigs Hans!
Amazing little test box, Hans. Nicely done.
thanks for sharing - excellent work! I think we all learned a lot through this process. 73
Fascinating. Thank you so much for the overview of the test Jig. Very interesting!
Thanks Hans. I have a batch 1 17m mini that had zero problems, went together quickly, and I never had to tweak a thing, strong power out. Worked a bunch of DX via a mag loop in my family room. Couldn’t be happier. Though the hot plugging issues you brought up just means I will turn mine off before plugging anything in now.
Wow. Very very impressive. The pogo pin idea was brilliant.
Great video Hans. Love the guided tour on your test jig and even more that you are so open about it.
I have build various test jigs in the past and these pogo pins are indeed in all various shapes and sizes. The ones you have used look more durable then the ones I used in the on some of these jigs. One had to pin into very small test points on the main pcb (some even between SMD components) but that's why we used a separate adapter plate for the pogo pins. The customer replaced the adapter board every 2K cycle test cycles (a full test and pre calibration took aprx 15 minutes) so costs of the adapter board where low compared to the labor coast of the employees.
73 Lex PH2LB
A real education for this non- EE ham!! Thank you! I appreciate your work for the ham community and leadership in support of excellence. I’ll be starting my QCX-mini build soon, and look forward to being more aware of the product you have produced. 73 K6BEK
nice description! good luck with the new rev
pogo pins! takes me back to the days I worked at teradyne!
Excellent video, as usual. Plus, the 'form factor', of the video is industry standard 16:9
Very well done ! Thank you for sharing !
Nice work. My kit had problems 2 & 3, but works like a champ once I dealt with them. Happy to see you address the issues so comprehensively. Pogo pins are great things, good call on using the large ones like you did.
I wish I had known you were going to do a rev 2, and not just clamped down on QA. I would like to see a MOSFET perfect diode replace the schottky diode in front of the regulator.
73, and will be ordering more bands soon..
What a fascinating and factually-dense video. I didn't know that about multilayer ceramic SMD caps - who needs varicap diodes, eh? I've seen some designs go through production woes before, and I can just imagine the vocab used as the problems with the regulators became apparent. The jig, though, is a joy. Really smart design. Also, that's the first time I've ever seen those QC Passed stickers used honestly. Aren't you tempted to put a print-out of the test results in the bag with each board? If you've got it, flaunt it...
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the community. It is very appreciated. - KE8EAZ
Good job. Congratulations sir.
I was one of the one who had a cracked component. Thankfully it was an SMD transistor Q5 on the rear which was pretty much situated away from other components on the rear of the board. I've never done any SMD rework but it was relatively easy since I didn't have to worry about bridging to a nearby component.
Awesome work!!
Very interesting video, I only understood about half of it! That said, it is a real eye opener, and an insight into dedication to customer service. Your test rig seems to work well, and appears to be in the best tradition of Heath Robinson! (No insult intended) As a mechanical engineer I regularly make up test jigs that look awful, but get the job done, often to the stage where, what was intended as a prototype ends up in permanent use. A real shame that a 3rd party contractor let you, and your customers down so badly, as it could impact your reputation, mind you, this video will go a long way to resolving any problems, and, in the long term may do you some good by highlighting your search for perfection. 73 Jim M7BXT
GREAT VIDEO❗️. It looks like a ( Mini GenRad ). 73 KV5P
Awesome video .thanks for sharing.
very impressive!
What a massive amount of work to get that jig and testing in place!! Good Job. Stay safe. VE6KBI
Looking forward to receiving mine. I understand that there are delays but can not find any updates.
Thank You!
Posting on Facebook...
Very clever design Hans! I had to replace IC10 and make a wire bridge on the board. Fun to service.
All the best and good luck with future projects. Can' t wait for the QSX
Genius.
Started watching all of your videos, outstanding ingenuity. Do you test boards for the QMX the same way? Thanks for sharing. 73 de AI5DD Joe
Question: are there any plans for a multi band QCX?
Such a good video,such a good test jig! I'm amazed. Brilliant. And also very fast. My troubleshooting took too long :)
Something I was wondering, what is the yellow LED in the upper right corner of the Front Panel PCB for at 1:06?
Hi Abdullah Bey. On the QCX-mini a yellow/green LCD module is used, because these are visible even in bright S.W. Turkish sunshine, with the backlight off; backlight off, saves current. The backlight can be controlled via a configuration menu item, which causes one of the LCD signals to be parked at 5V (backlight ON) or 0V (backlight OFF) when the microcontroller is not writing to the LCD module. This LCD signal is routed to a simple R-C filter (to remove data transitions when the LCD is written) then to the gate of a MOSFET that powers the backlight.
The reason for the yellow LED on the QCX+ shown in the video, is simply that I was testing this concept prior to the QCX-mini implementation, during QCX-mini development; I just haven't got around to removing the LED yet!
Hans, just curious... Were any of the recent batch of 1000 boards flagged as faulty by your tester?
Ni Neall, yes... it is normal for production yield to not be exactly 100%. But the most important point here is that any defects are now detected and removed BEFORE shipping to any customer. The resulting reject boards can either be discarded if the percentage is small, or if there is a systematic frequently recurring fault, it can be investigated and understood, and resolved with the relevant party for example board manufacturer, parts supplier, etc.
Since the voltage regulator is somewhat larger than the SMD components, can a replacement be done with the proper voltage regulator?? WD8WV PS: I love the QCXmini, but miss the QCX. I am going to order another QCXmini.
AMS1117 and 78M05 are both proper regulators and both are SMD. The 78M05 used in Rev 2 boards is more tolerant of abuse so is preferred, hence the change. A 78M05 can be fit to a Rev 1 board but the voltage regulator pinout and footprint is different; you would need to shift the 78M05 one place to the left. It's doable but I'm not sure how worthwhile it is, you could have a higher risk damaging the board during the change, than the risk of AMS1117 failure - as long as you are careful, the AMS1117 should not fail anyway.
@@QRPLabs thanks. I will stick with the original then. WD8WV
Nice test jig Hans, Dont forget to backup your database. PC's can die at a most inconvenient time.
Thank you for sharing your test process it gives confidence to your customers.
I love my QCX's 20m and 30m hmm which band to choose next?
72 Mark G0NMY
I have the Revision 1 board. I haven’t started building it yet. It has the older AMS 1117 voltage regulator on it. Can I do a straight swap to the newer regulator available without doing other component changes ?
The Rev2 boards use 78M05. No other components changes are needed. The 10uF electrolytic or tantalum cap isn't needed with 78M05. Note: 78M05 has a different pinout. It can be done by moving the 78M05 left one pin compared to the original AMS1117 so that the left (input) pin is now on the D33 diode pad. Don't forget to connect the central 78M05 pin (ground).
There is more information I the QRP Labs groups.io discussion forum.
@@QRPLabs thanks ! I’ll check out info group.
So, with the more robust voltage regulator, is there no longer an issue with hot plugging the PTT and GPS ports?
There is no issue with hot-plugging, a 78M05 is almost impossible to kill.
Excellent!
I enjoyed seeing what you have done -- and corrections you have made going forward. But, what about customers, like me, that have Rev 1 boards that aren't working? I have gone thru alignment so many times and nothing. How do we get that issue resolved?
Rob N8BEG
If the alignment is not working, that could be due to a number of possible factors, including assembly error; only one possibility is that there are defective components on the board. The best thing is to email using the Contact form on the QRP Labs website and we can resolve it with you.
@@QRPLabs I did that -- Hans answered me, promptly, I solved a "cracked" SMD Resistor problem but I wrote back, now having alignment issues, and asked how to proceed next. He answered asking "Do you have a Rev 1 board?" I answered "Yes". and have heard no answer. I wrote again, no answer. So, now I am here. Rob N8BEG
@@robyounce4636 I had at least one bad op-amp that was preventing alignment.
This really seemed convuluted to me. I just couldn't follow it. Looks like you went out of your way to make it more complicated than it should be.
No, it was exactly as complex as it needed to be, no more and no less, to completely test all the functions of a QCX-mini board. Remember that nothing must be soldered to the QCX-mini board and the test has to be thorough yet quick and easy... there are 1,000 boards in a manufacturing batch and the testing has to be undertaken by a technician not by me.
How would you go about thoroughly testing all analog and digital ICs on 1000 partly populated boards? What's the simple way?