A shiny-new QRP Labs 4om QCX-mini joined the collection of QRP rigs today. My thanks to Jon, W8TY (Ohio), who did the heavy lifting for my first QSO using the mini. I’m still amazed at the performance of a transceiver that is about the size of a deck of cards.
I did some simple tests to see how things were working. Everything was done using a LiFePO4 battery with a voltage of about 13.1 volts.
- RX Consumption (backlight on): 65 mA
- TX Consumption: 850 mA
- TX Power Output: 6.2 Watts
I checked out the RX sensitivity, and had no issue hearing a 1 uV signal (S3). A 50 uV signal (S9) was very strong/loud. Not surprisingly, the mini has no AGC, so be careful with the volume control when tuning around, as the strongest signals can be painful if the volume is too high.
I was very impressed with the internal keyer, which did a fine job at 20 wpm.
It should be obvious from the photo below, that there is very little wireless about this hobby. I’ll also point out that the paddle, battery and antenna tuner weigh in at 11 times the weight of the QCX-mini and 6 times the volume.
I have another QCX-mini, for 20m, waiting to be built.
