Yesterday I finished building a QRP Labs QMX 5 band transceiver. It wasn’t an easy build but after loading the firmware, it lit up and I heard the sweet sound of QRN in my earbuds. Yay!!
Well at the very same time I finished up that kit, I ran out of solder. I realized that I had been using that roll of solder for over 10 years…ever since I built my first rig, an OHR 100 40M QRP transceiver. There have been a lot of kits and a couple of thousand end fed antenna rigs as well as thousands of keys.
Sorta weird, but that little roll of solder has been a fixture on my desktop for over a decade and I’m sad to see it empty, but on the other hand, I am grateful to know that its been there for me as I managed my way through the sometimes steep learning curve of being an enthusiastic builder and 100% CW op.
I’m 75 in a few days and I expect that the next roll will outlive me. With any luck perhaps my granddaughter or grandson will become hams and use it to create a new world of discovery in a spare bookcase tucked away in their future “computer room”, happy to be using my then vintage IC-7300, wondering how anyone could use such a primitive thing to communicate when their glasses could do the same thing.
Will there be such a thing as solder then?
W1SFR Handmade Torsion Bar Morse Code Keys 
Steven,
You also have a great second talent or ability as a writer. I enjoyed reading your post about your decade old roll of solder.
Maybe they will use a laser to attach the next generation of PCB COMPONENTS or a new type of conductive super glue, hi!
Bob Wilderman
K3SRO
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Thanks Bob. I’m going to start using my blog to write about things and this hobby that are meaningful to me. I’m glad you enjoyed it! 73
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Hi Steve,
Congrats on building your
QRP labs QMX.
Just curious…. What power
level did you use for your
soldering iron? I read that
you need at least a 60W soldering iron since the QMX
uses a 5 layer PCB.
73,
Tony Lyon (KJ5XF)
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Hi Tony, I use a Hakko soldering station that is 70w. I used small diameter Kester solder at 650 degrees. I took great care with every solder joint and they suggest that you hold the iron on the solder pad for 15 seconds to make sure the solder melts through all the levels. I also made sure that I didn’t touch any of the SMD’s in the process and held the iron as vertical as practical.
73,
Steve
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Hi Steve,
If you don’t mind, would you
share the model number of
the 70w Hakko soldering station
that you used?
I ordered a QMX (low band
version) and looking forward
to it’s arrival.
73,
Tony (KJ5XF)
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Hi Tony. The model is FX-888D
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