Those little QRP radios and operating portable are my favorite things about amateur radio. Just love it. I'm definitely going to grab a couple of those. I built the rockmite's back in the day when Dave Benson was still making those kits and I think that's the most fun I've ever had in amateur radio.
I do like Qrp-Labs radios, BUT the mini is not really a $55 radio. It's ~$57 for the board kit, then add $25 for the case and about $15-$20 for shipping making it closer to about $100. Still a great rig for $100. I've built about a dozen or so of them.
Good review, thanks. I have a built two of the original QCX kits (no longer available) and a QCX-mini like the one in your video. Been using them for a few years and really like them. If you buy the enclosure, TXCO and AGC the total cost is just over $100. However, I think they are great value. They are certainly not novelty "toys" like some kits but very cleverly designed transcievers that perform very well. You can even pay a little extra and QRP Labs will assemble and test the kit for you.
Great video! I built a 40m mini last winter and I’m still learning code, but I’m really happy with the rig and the support, whether from Hans himself or the IO group. You aren’t an orphan when you get one of these kits, as it’s well supported!
I have successfully built dozens of kits and I would not call this an easy build. If you have no kit building experience, I would buy the one already built. So far, I have built one mini and the version 1 QDX and both work very well.
I bought and built a mini for 17m when it was first released (Nov or Dec of 2020?). It was a wonderful build and I was getting great DX with my CHA loop that was setup in my family room. I have a dilemma though, I don’t dare try to active a SOTA summit or POTA park on 17m only. My last 6 activations or so (we sold our house last year and moved across the border to NH and there is a POTA park that is a 5 minute walk from my front door) have been pretty much on 20m the past three activations were only 20m. This started me to thinking about building another mini, but for 20m this time. With the QRP 20m dipole I’m throwing together, I could make this work pretty well. Thanks for the video. I wasn’t aware of some of the newer options, although I just want the basic with the TXCO option again. W1ND
Bob Nagy Hey! W5AWG , 73 Years Old, Pse Qsl Thx 73. I was talking to Kimbo Dryden when Temp. was 100+ degrees for a month, being in San Francisco [the air-conditioned city ] it was 62 Degrees.
Great review. I think they also sell a assembled version. I see you have one of those Black Widow kits too. Wish I used some blue Loctite on those pick screws before assembly.
Yes, it is a lot of bang for the buck. I got one for 40 and have just ordered another for 20 meters. I have been working a lot of Parks on the Air with it, both from home and out in the field. A small battery seems to last forever!
Thank you, Robert, for your excellent video! The battery icon on my radio is always empty. I saw the instructions in the manual but still don't understand how to make that icon work. Do you know of any video telling people how to change that?
You have to set it in the menu for the type of battery you are using. A LiPo battery has much different voltage vs. state of charge than a lead acid. First locate the menu setting, then google voltage vs state of charge for the type of batt you are using. Then set that menu setting accordingly.
I wish they hadn't tried to pack a GPS interface into the radio. Trying to use the 60m with a random wire or EFHW combined with a T1 tuner makes the radio unusable because of RFI triggering the GPS circuitry. The GPS input shares a data line with the key, so the key is locked out when it thinks a GPS is connected. I'll wager only a fraction of users use the GPS input. It's marketed to portable ops, the extreme RFI sensitivity makes it not suited for many portable antennas that work flawlessly with my MTR and a Venus.
I am a handy man and have a basic soldering kit, but I am not sure I have what it takes to put this together. I don’t have a radio license and have been learning CW for a couple of months, and want to get better at copy and consistently writing correct code. But, I don’t have a license and I am wondering if it is ok to get a radio and listen to it, or use something like this as a practice device. Can I practice sending without broadcasting, just for the oscillator?
Yes, you should buy this radio. It is a little challenging to build... but you will not have a problem. It is an amazing piece of gear. I believe you can practice CW with it. CW is big fun. Keep working at it... and study for your General Ham license. This is a GREAT hobby.
I watched a video showing this radio having a noisy tuning knob. Would this possibly have been his unit, or is there scratchy noise when tuning the VFO on the QCX-mini? Thank you.
Fantástico mi amigo. Disfruto de la radio todos los días. En el momento en que me despierto, enciendo la radio. Estoy en la sala de radio todo el día. Mi esposa dice: "Le diste toda tu vida a Ham Radio". ¡Creo que tiene razón!
thanks for another great review, Bob. I've ordered the multiband QMX. Yes, lots of menus to get used to with the QCX but you do get used to them. For your viewers that might not want menus, another great little radio is the Venus SW-3B. I've been using it for POTA and other portable ops. I have a video that gives a bit of an overview and also one showing it being used for POTA if your viewers are interested. tnx and 73 Ron ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FIMXTQ5gEN8.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J1889ic__KI.html
It takes good soldering skills, component identification, good workmanship, and like anything else worthwhile - patience. Some people find winding toroids hard - not sure why, but that's where patience and workmanship shines. Double or triple check your parts before soldering, follow the well written instructions (with plenty of pics) to the letter - and you'll have no problem. I inspect everything I solder with a magnifier to make sure it's as perfect as I can get it; it helps to keep a clean work area, and be sure to inventory your parts before starting. If you do all of that, it's not a particularly difficult build - but you do have to pay attention to some details so that it all fits together properly (and works)!! I have built three of these - each one came out beautiful and all worked as soon as power was applied. It really is a nice little QRP radio with lots of great features - and the beautiful case makes for a professional feeling radio - does not feel cheap at all!
No. The final transistors can handle it easily and the rest of the radio runs on down-regulated DC voltage. Since the heating of the regulator seems to be fine, I'm going to stick with it. Once the radio is in TX, there is a voltage drop through the wires and the battery V sags a bit too. Been running fine.
It comes with everything. The additional add-on improvements are the AGC board and the TCXO board. You will be fine without them, but they are not expensive.
