144 Q5 150 Watt transverter worked perfect as Mike said, Then is stopped transmitting FM

Gary W9GD

I purchase a Q5 transverter 2 meter 150 watt version. I used the recommendation of Mike and it came configured  as described.  No issues with PTT or anything. In fact i had on the air after 20 minutes. Got great reports on signal strength but everyone i usually talk to on simplex said i needed to work on my EQ to get it sound as good as my yaesu. In any case I left on a biz trip and returned to use it again and play with the EQ.  Since i felt confident I set my max power  Dbm to 15 and had it set to 12 previously. .  Smart SDR did crash so then i used the radio directly 6400M. The PTT is working and the transmit light comes on. Just a carrier on the Panadapter. Reset SmartSDR and still no FM.  I did start fiddling with many settings and walked away after a few hrs. Jet lag frustration. I love this radio and wanted the benefits of 2 meter in it and expand my power and get my feet wet with a high quality transverter. I don't believe the Q5 went bad as it worked fine a few days previous.  The Q5 is still working in RX fine.  I apologize up front if this is not enough detail, so ask and suggest what i should do next. 

David - KO1C

Believe me, I'm no expert.

First couple of thoughts are:

1. Do you have another HF radio you can test the transverter on?

2. Could RF be getting into the transverter?

David AB1XG

Gary W9GD

Thanks for the comment . I don't think any rf is getting in. And i don't have another HF rig that will accept this unit as i had it build for the FLEX. I sent the same post as here to Q5 it will be interesting what the solution is to all of this. It was working fine in 20 minutes of taking it out the box no issues, i was a very happy camper.

Gary W9GD

Update:  I Talked to Q5 today via email and i am getting the required power out of the transverter at 15 DBM per the setting with the carrier signal and the appropriate L E D's on the Q5. They believe this is software related within the radio. And the settings/software are not allowing FM modulation. . So i will be standing by hoping for suggestions. If nothing happens here i will open up a ticket and see what the experts tell me to do.

Craig_KØCF

Do you have a split setting on FM for local repeaters? Some have confused the setting, not being sure if it is kHz or MHz. If incorrect, it sets the radio to transmit out-of-band, which causes the Flex to not transmit at all.

Gary W9GD

Craig,

 We have a large local simplex group up here about 40 plus. So I never even tried repeater work yet with the Q5.  It worked fine for 20 minutes the night I took it out of the box. Then when I returned to try it again a few days later it didn't work. That's my confused state ? But smart SDR did crash and I rebooted and after that nothing.. I did open a ticket this am so will see what the experts say. Thanks for the help and the tip.

Gary W9GD

Problem Solved.  The Q5 (Demi)  Transverter was working as purchased , Great product well built.  My Flex 6400M had no software or hardware issues either. The problem was me not setting the proper audio transmit profile for FM.  Ken Wells from the FLEX support team is a audio genius .
He had me up and running after i opened a ticket very quickly. I suggest to anyone who wants to become a little more knowledgeable in this area to watch his videos. 

Youtube.com/nm9p

Thanks Ken great job !

W9GD

Geoff AB6BT

Just out of curiosity,  can you explain in detail what you were doing initially and what you changed?

David - KO1C

Screenshots of your transverter settings?

Gary W9GD

Geoff,

When I initially unboxed the Q5 and hooked it up I had previously had  set up everything for the Ukraine transverter that I was experimenting with. The  Mic Profile, Transverter settings, and power out settings were saved because the radio remembers the last settings.  So when I switched out to the new Q5 the old settings were still in tact and wouldn't work with the new transverter.
But the Q5 did work initially because I set it up from scratch on a different frequency, then when I went to  that  memory channel i used for  ukrain settings it used  what it remembered last, so surely it wouldn't work because the settings are different. . I hope I explained this well enough.

Gary W9GD

I will post some over the weekend as I am at work today and no access to radio.

Geoff AB6BT

Thanks Gary, do you know what specifically prevented the Q5 from operating correctly?

Gary W9GD

Yes, Improper mic selection to drive the Q5

Wilbur Doolittle

Newbie Q5 transverter
what is it doing for the flex
how does it interface
 cost

Gary W9GD

Go to Q5 signal, web page they make transverters which gets you on vhf uhf with a flex radio. If you search the community here you will find many thoughts on transverters and their function. Cost depends on how much power you want out and /or if you want a unit with a amp built in up to 150 watts output.

Wilbur Doolittle

Thanks the Q5 website was a little vague on hookup and use.

Gary W9GD

Hookup and Build depends on the radio your hooking it up to. They build to the options you want. So that is up to you and your setup. This is not a one size fits all device. But will be built to your specific needs.

Norm - W7CK

I've never used any of these transverters.  Am I correct in understanding that it will only cover 144-145 Mhz?   None of these will actually cover the entire 2m band will they?

Gary W9GD

yes the q5 does some do not.

Wilbur Doolittle

flex 6400 2m band 150w what type of parameters like ssb,cw,???
what is typical build look like ?

Gary W9GD

I had my q5 hooked up to a 6400 and i recently upgraded to a 6600m. Works fine on every mode no issues. You can see the build on their website . My suggestion is to call them, order on the phone. The reason is they know these flex radios in and out and know exactly what you need . They were awesome to work with and even followed up and asked me how i liked it after a few weeks. That's pretty much unheard of now a days.

You can email me directly if you would like a few pics of mine.

73