Welcome to the new FlexRadio Community! Please review the new Community Rules and other important new Community information on the Message Board.
If you are having a problem, please refer to the product documentation or check the Help Center for known solutions.
Need technical support from FlexRadio? It's as simple as Creating a HelpDesk ticket.

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

Gary W9GD
Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
edited January 2020 in FLEX-6000 Signature Series
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. 

Comments

  • David - KO1C
    David - KO1C Member ✭✭
    edited January 2020
    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    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
    Craig_KØCF Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    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
    Geoff AB6BT Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Just out of curiosity,  can you explain in detail what you were doing initially and what you changed?
  • David - KO1C
    David - KO1C Member ✭✭
    edited January 2020
    Screenshots of your transverter settings?

  • Gary W9GD
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    I will post some over the weekend as I am at work today and no access to radio.
  • Geoff AB6BT
    Geoff AB6BT Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Thanks Gary, do you know what specifically prevented the Q5 from operating correctly?
  • Gary W9GD
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    Yes, Improper mic selection to drive the Q5
  • Wilbur Doolittle
    Wilbur Doolittle Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Newbie Q5 transverter
    what is it doing for the flex
    how does it interface
     cost
  • Gary W9GD
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    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
    Wilbur Doolittle Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Thanks the Q5 website was a little vague on hookup and use.
  • Gary W9GD
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019

    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
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    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
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    yes the q5 does some do not.
  • Wilbur Doolittle
    Wilbur Doolittle Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    flex 6400 2m band 150w what type of parameters like ssb,cw,???
    what is typical build look like ?
  • Gary W9GD
    Gary W9GD Member ✭✭

    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

Leave a Comment

Rich Text Editor. To edit a paragraph's style, hit tab to get to the paragraph menu. From there you will be able to pick one style. Nothing defaults to paragraph. An inline formatting menu will show up when you select text. Hit tab to get into that menu. Some elements, such as rich link embeds, images, loading indicators, and error messages may get inserted into the editor. You may navigate to these using the arrow keys inside of the editor and delete them with the delete or backspace key.