Measurements; Equipment; Transceiver Current Consumption - QRP Labs QCX-mini CW Mode D'emploi

6. Measurements

The measurements in this section were performed on assembled kits. There will always be
differences from one kit to the next, due to component tolerances, adjustment differences,
how you wound toroids, etc. In addition, it is often difficult to make good RF measurements.
Therefore, everything you read in this section should be interpreted as an INDICATION
only. Your actual results may (and probably will) differ. The following information just gives
a guide of very roughly, what you might expect to see.
6.1

Equipment

For reference, and for the sake full disclosure, the following equipment was used in making
these measurements:
OWON XS3102A 12-bit 100MHz Digital Storage Oscilloscope

ADVANTEST R3361C 2.6GHz Spectrum Analyzer with 50-ohm tracking generator

QRP Labs 50-ohm Dummy Load kit

XONAR U5 24-bit external USB sound card

Argo and Spectran audio analysis software from

QRP Labs Ultimate3S for test signal generation

Simple 14.000MHz battery-powered crystal oscillator signal generator

Two generic jaune DVMs

12V fixed power supply, and variable voltage bench supply

6.2

Transceiver current consumption

The current consumption of your radio may be an important consideration if you intend
portable battery-powered operation. Current consumption depends on supply voltage.
These measurements were carried out on a 40m band version of the kit. They will not differ
much for other bands. The receive current graphs shows measurements with and without
the LCD backlight. The transmit current graph below is measured with the backlight off.
http://qrp-labs.com/dummy
QCX-mini assembly Rev 1.05_Fr
http://weaksignals.com
http://qrp-labs.com/ultimate3/u3s
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