After building a QMX (without blowing anything up), I gave it a quick test at G/SC-004 on Sunday.
It seemed to work OK at first, save that I had an odd issue - occasionally, I’d get a ‘G’ message on the screen which would prevent TX. Digging a little deeper, I thought the probable cause was RF ingress. (other thread here: Shielded 3.5mm TRS jack? )
Armed with a new 3.5mm lead - I thought I may as well get up two summits to test it in anger. I took the lazy option today - driving as close to the summits as possible (I got stung on Sunday, and my right leg no longer fits into my jeans…I have a fever… and yes, I’m finally on antibiotics but it’ll take a while to get rid of elephant leg).
Summit 1: G/SC-005
I called CQ on 20m and I got two EA QSOs. Things dried up quite quickly, so I decided to chase S2S contacts. I was rewarded with 8 points for managing to get hold of GM5ALX - he sounded great on 40m, so that gave me hope that I might manage a few extra QSOs on 40.
Sure enough, I managed an extra 2 on 40 - so I went back to chasing S2S contacts having made a successful activation. I managed to get hold of M0JLA and HA5MIG before packing up to head to the next summit.
Summit 2: G/SC-001
I wasn’t expecting anything brilliant on this one - I’ve always had better success at G/SC-005. I started with a S2S chase on 20 with DG3GAI. I then went straight to CQ on 40 and managed 2 QSOs, again being rewarded with a S2S with GM5ALX. Argh… things dried up pretty quickly after that.
My final CQ call was on 20, and this one was confusing. Chasers were stepping on each other, not waiting for me to finish my current QSO… then when I called the next one in they weren’t there. I managed 6 QSOs on 20 and announced that I was QRT.
I spent the next few minutes eating my sandwich - and during that period, various operators were coming in with their call signs but I couldn’t hear anything else. Was someone else on the same frequency, or is this some sort of automated chasing thing being adopted?!!
The radio:
Everything (apart from the antenna and mast) fits into an A5 padded envelope with room to spare. Small and light - perfect for elephant leg.
Previously, I had a G106 - it was a similarly powered radio but much bigger and heavier. I could write pages about this, but in a nutshell I much prefer the QMX. Very pleased (so far).
