3W QRP Portable Contacts with the uSDX/uSDR from eBay

I was out today for about 2 hours and got good contacts on 40m, 20m and 17m using a 80m half-wave EFHW antenna @ 20 feet in height using the radio's internal battery.

[@dl2man]

What a shame.... Not only did they just copy our work, and making profit from it, they do not even give credits to us. They even re-branded the software from uSDX to uSDR. This is no fun at all for me as one of the developers of that rig... The licence is CC BY-SA 4.0, which means, it´s ok to copy, but you a) have to name the source and b) release it under the same license. They did not do that, as there are no Schematics published. Feeling very bad about this behavior. 73 Manuel; DL2MAN

[@VA3OSO]

Hello Manuel - I bought both styles of these eBay versions, and both stated in the description that they were modifications of QCX-SSB and uSDX. I am on the groups.io forum for uSDX and thought I saw that you changed the license to allow commercial sales. Beyond the politics, your design is works very well and hopefully it creates a cheaper gateway into HF operating for people who couldn't afford it otherwise. Thank you for your great work!

[@dl2man]

@@VA3OSO Yes, CC BY-SA 4.0 includes commercial use. But they never re-published their "design changes" and yet people are expecting that we -the original developers- support it. And just to mention it: Their cost to produce that rig is around 40$. The Rest is their profit.... There will be some cheap alternative by us - the original designers, soon. They are simply too expensive and just sold to create profit for them. Anything above 50$ for that rig is a ripoff

[@jeffreypetchharrison4363]

@@dl2man this was very bad i got one and did not know this, same happened with the rs 918 . this should not be legal but treated as contraban under customs law .. jeff.. m0prf .. uk ham

[@4O6LEE]

Hi Manuel, thank you for your work. Is there any approximate date when we can expect release of your version?

[@dl2man]

@@4O6LEE If nothing is wrong in the prototypes, my final Version will be released in 2-4 Weeks. But since it´s only a hobby for me, I won´t give any guarantee

[@la7yka]

This is the coolest "Arduino" project I've seen (and heard) so far :) Shame that the original developers are not credited by the manufacturer. Best 73's - Einar

[@MagicRoosterBluesBand]

Great little radio. I believe it pushes 5w with internal battery, 10w with external 12v battery.

[@haramanggapuja]

Sweet! This is the second time I've seen this radio on YT. Looks like my decision to purchase one is not going to be a waste of energy. Of course it's no Xiegu X5105 or a Elecraft KX# but it does at least appear to be a useable radio. Once I get the one I ordered a while ago, I'll have some fun on the air with it too. Thanks for the super video and all the examples of reasonable QSOs. Stay safe & healthy, Carson. 73

[@VA3OSO]

It is a great radio for what it is and works very well when you have good conditions and a great antenna.

[@vu3mes]

For QRP HF communication this little gem can go anywhere. No frills and fancies of a 705, comparatively more value for 💰 per Watts to distances covered. Difficult to get one these days with month's of backlog due chip shortages and Corona pandemic. Thanks for sharing the details 73

[@VA3OSO]

Thanks for watching and sharing.

[@mostlypostie1]

Absolutely awesome. Great video - Mine is in the mail :)

[@OH8STN]

Excellent video! I see one of these in my future 👍

[@VA3OSO]

Hey Julian! You should definitely get one to check it out. Thanks for watching.

[@dinurotari9221]

Very good video, thank you so much!!!

[@UpinkProduction]

I love it good Keep uploading videos like this 👍

[@VA3OSO]

Thanks for watching

[@alexeyborealis4970]

QRP forever!!!

[@vinisepulveda]

73 from Brazil!

[@amercalifa5592]

Thank you!!!

[@vu3mes]

Sharing to my Ham Radio India FB group.73

[@dd3max846]

👍

[@CECS1]

Hey there's rolly! Great work with the radio

[@VA3OSO]

Thanks for watching

[@mikewelsh6282]

Hi Carson .. Mike VA3MJW in Cornwall ... Could you do a quick video with how you set the radio up .. thanks and 73

[@VA3OSO]

Hey. What aspects are you interested in? The radio and it's settings or the antenna system?

[@joewilson2258]

From the info on this radio I have seen I find a few major problems with it . one of the problem is the difference in power between the bands and the other is poor soldering on the pc board .

[@VA3OSO]

Yes! I have the other small version and it failed after 3 uses!

[@gotencool]

@VA3OSO Did you use a tuner? If so, which one? Or what kind of antenna. Looks pretty promising. 73

[@VA3OSO]

I used a MFJ travel tuner and 130ft EFHW

[@jamesgeorge1709]

Mine is anemic also anything above 20 meters is way too low, I'm going to try running the gambit on the 5 series transistor finals, 510,520,530, 540 . they are junk radios that need help.

[@4O6LEE]

@VA3OSO hello, did anyone you talked with report distorted voice from your side? Many of the operators using Usdx complained on that.

[@VA3OSO]

Hi. Before I used the radio I was on the groups.io forum and read about the distortion and the settings to get rid of it. The settings I am using at TX Drive 6, PA Bias min 20, PA Bias max 160.

[@caputo_py5cap]

Very nice!! Can we cahnge the output power of this rig? Or is it's output power fixed? Thank youand 73's from py5cap

[@VA3OSO]

By lowering the voltage it lowers the output down to 500mw at 5v

[@WASRT001]

Have you ever tried an external mic? Mine was provided but does not work. The radio only transmits utilizing the internal mic.

[@VA3OSO]

No, I haven't tried an external microphone yet.

[@edk6sdw600]

CW is the preferred mode when running QRp........73/K6SDW

[@VA3OSO]

Not now, digital is best for QRP.

[@edk6sdw600]

@@VA3OSO Digital is boring, I've been operating digital since PSK232 (well RTTY using old Western Union machines). First licensed Novice in 1965

[@VA3OSO]

@@edk6sdw600 check out JS8Call. Nothing boring about it. It does relays, mailbox, ragchew and APRS commands.

[@eddy2561]

@@VA3OSO I have when it was first out.....BORING!!!!!! 73/K6SDW

[@VA3OSO]

@@eddy2561 that explains it, you are the bore. Dit dit.

[@vetham100]

What is the uart port for? Thanks for sharing.

[@VA3OSO]

Looks like it is a serial port

[@vetham100]

@@VA3OSO Thanks, good video!

[@gaurav279]

Can you pls share the details of the End-Fed antenna used and also source you bought this. Is this uSDX cabinet available somewhere 73s De VU3OSA Gaurav, INDIA

[@VA3OSO]

Hello Gaurav! The end fed antenna is a half wave for 80m, about 130 feet of Davis RF Poly-STEALTH 26 gauge wire, with one 17ft ground radial and a 49:1 balun. The antenna is about 20 feet high setup as an inverted V, and I also used 10ft RG58 coax and an antenna tuner to make sure the radio stays happy. The seller I bought from on ebay is pincei_de. Maybe check on eBay or Aliexpress for the boxes, I think I saw a couple on there at some point. I would love to make a contact into India someday! Carson VA3OSO

[@user-fx9bf7tc6c]

QRP. мощность там вроде как 5вт. в некоторых моделях до 10вт в usdx.

[@VA3OSO]

internal battery = 3w

[@chriscomms.2399]

Can this also do 11 meters ? I am looking for a all in one radio so I can also talk on 11 meters.

[@VA3OSO]

Yes it will.

[@chriscomms.2399]

Do I need to do any mod for the 11 meters or is it a software mod ?

[@VA3OSO]

@@chriscomms.2399 seems it just works out of the box. Not sure how well AM works but LSB and USB work fine.

[@chriscomms.2399]

@@VA3OSO Thank you ! Great video by the way ! 👍🏼

[@VA3OSO]

@@chriscomms.2399 thanks for watching, I'll be making a couple more videos with this radio so stay tuned

[@chriscomms.2399]

Why does this radio on eBay sell for $ 130. To $ 525.00, is there a difference ?

[@VA3OSO]

Some come with a mic but other than that, there is no difference!

[@chriscomms.2399]

Thank you !

[@rogerrabbit80]

There do seem to be 2 versions of this radio - one with an internal battery, one without. The original designer says that the radios you get from China are over priced, and if you check the comments above they should be coming out with a less expensive version soon.

[@mehr_wolf_weniger_adolf]

Which frequencies can it be used for, including the 11m band?

[@ta1dr]

I bought one from Aliexpress ....I dindnt qso near room...I dont belive this equipment ....

[@mehr_wolf_weniger_adolf]

Which frequencies can it be used for, including the 11m band?

[@VA3OSO]

It's best between 80m and 20m., 11m works but with very low power, about 1 watt.

[@mehr_wolf_weniger_adolf]

@@VA3OSO So with this rig you can transmit between 3 and 30 mhz without gaps?

[@VA3OSO]

@@mehr_wolf_weniger_adolf there is no gaps but the performance degrades over 14mhz.

[@mehr_wolf_weniger_adolf]

@@VA3OSO txs