I have previously mentioned my failed attempt to upgrade my radio interface unit. The proposed replacement unit on that occasion was one of the very smart G3LIV Isoterm Multimode interfaces.
G3LIV Isoterm Multimode
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Despite my own best advice I have now done the deed and replaced my old SB-2000 unit with an Isoterm Multimode and this time I am happy to report that all went well and everything works at least as well as before the change.
You may well wonder why I bothered to try again having had the problems last time and having made a very public statement to the effect I really shouldn’t be trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. The answer is simply this - the G3LIV interface is a better fit in my setup when you consider how I like to operate and which modes I prefer.
Having had terrific help and support from Johnny (G3LIV) in identifying and resolving the issue I’d seen first time around (FSK RTTY wasn’t working) I was confident that I’d see no such problem this time…and so it proved. |
The unit is now installed and all modes tested and working with the respective software - CW (CWType), PSK31 (Airlink Express*) and FSK RTTY (Airlink Express). The SB-2000 will now be sold off to cover the cost of the new arrival. Job done!
* I will be writing a review of the Airlink Express software in a later post. I only recently discovered the software and I’m liking it a lot. Works well for PSK31 and FSK RTTY. More soon.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures CW, FSK, FT-950, G3LIV, PSK31, RTTY
Listening in to 20m a lot today and 17m at times hoping to hear a good signal from Iraq. Checked CW, RTTY and SSB on all the spotted frequencies - nothing.
Conditions were a bit grim yesterday but seem worse today. I’m seeing many others reporting nil heard with them so not just me.
Maybe 40m tonight…maybe…
Dean Amateur Radio CW, RTTY, SSB, YI9PSE
You may or many not know that YI9PSE are now active from northern Iraq. Well, I mentioned this DXpedition in an earlier post back in February and today was the first chance I’ve had to try and work them. Suffice to say the pile-ups were huge and it was hard work!
Suriname in South America
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I have heard YI9PSE today on 20m SSB at anything from strength 1 to strength 9, on 17m SSB between strength 1 and strength 7, 30m CW between strength 1 and strength 9 and 30m RTTY (all too briefly) at a consistent strength 7 to 9.
Despite all of this I have been unable to crack the pile-ups to get a contact. There are MANY stations calling YI9PSE and they are reporting EU stations at 30dB over 9 with them! One UK station had been trying for several hours and he was told by YI9PSE that he was 10dB over 9 and was still hard to hear under the EU wall of signals. I suspect my puny signal will only get through once the pile-ups thin out after a few more days of operations.
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But, there was some consolation in the form of another all time new one worked in the form of PZ5RA (Ramon) in Suriname on 17m RTTY. I’d been trying to work YI9PSE on 30m RTTY but he’d gone off air before I could snag him so I QSY’d to 17m where PZ5RA was good solid copy with me. Working simplex he was getting through a steady stream of EU stations but he wasn’t hearing me. Luckily he soon moved to working split and within 10 minutes of that I was in the log for country number 176. Now…let’s see if I can log YI9PSE before they’re all done.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures PZ5RA, RTTY, Suriname, YI9PSE
I found an interesting discussion thread on the eHam.net forums recently debating the merits (or otherwise) of macros in digital communications.
The thread I refer to is here - Macros after calling. Annnoying or Lazy?.
I thought I’d express some of my own thoughts on the matter given that I tend to spend most of my operating time using PSK31 and RTTY digital modes.
Read more…
Dean Amateur Radio PSK31, RTTY
The annual BARTG RTTY contest took place this weekend just passed. Plenty of RTTY activity on the bands and conditions were pretty good.
Highlights of the weekend for me were working AL9A in Alaska for a new one on RTTY and WX7P for a new WAS state (Washington), both on 20m.
Other DX contacts of note were YB4IR, HZ1PS and CO8LY all on 15m and P40YL on 20m. I also heard 6W2SC on 10m but he was fading in and out quite badly. I called him a few times (more in hope than expectation) but no QSO resulted.
Less impressive was my 40m effort which amounted to a meagre 3 contacts. The band was surprisingly devoid of RTTY activity (at least during the times I was able to listen in). A shame really as I’d hoped there might be some rich pickings late into Sunday evening but it just wasn’t to be.
Looking forward now to the CQ World-Wide WPX SSB contest next weekend.
Dean Amateur Radio BARTG, DX, RTTY, WAS
First things first - I’m not by nature an award chaser. However, entry to the DX Century Club (DXCC) is something I’ve had in mind ever since I was first licensed. It’s the award that most hams will identify with as being the one to work toward.
There are various DXCC awards for the common modes of operation and for stations contacted on any of the individual amateur bands but the most basic of all is the ‘mixed’ award for confirmed contacts with 100 stations across all bands and all modes.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, a few days ago I applied for the DXCC mixed award and the DXCC 20m award…through the ARRL Logbook of The World. I’ve been a LoTW user for about 4 years now and I used only LoTW confirmations when applying for the awards. This is a lot easier than submitting precious QSL cards for checking. Payment is all done online and I hope to receive the certificates before too long.
All being well I’ll soon be in a position to apply for my DXCC RTTY (currently 84 confirmed on LoTW) but beyond that I need to work hard at increasing my CW and SSB totals (currently 80 and 65 respectively). Time to hit the bands and make some contacts! CQ de G0RIF…
Dean Amateur Radio ARRL, CW, DXCC, LoTW, QSL, RTTY, SSB
The recent WPX RTTY contest resulted not only in an all time new DXCC entity worked but also in a new US state being worked in the form of in KR7X in Washington county, Oregon.
This brings to 41 the number of states worked towards the ARRL WAS (Worked All States) award. Of the 41 states already logged the current QSL position is that I have 37 of them confirmed (see map below).
WAS position as at February 2010 - 41 states logged with 37 confirmed
The states still needed for WAS are: Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Dean Amateur Radio, Pictures Oregon, QSL, RTTY, WAS
A little over a week ago I wrote that I was hoping to get on the bands for this contest. The only requirement was that I’d need to fix my wind damaged antenna. Well that was done and I did enjoy several hours giving away points seeing how many countries I could rack-up during a bit of casual operating.
Conditions (on the bands I used, 40/20/15m) seemed to me to be better than for the CQWW CW contest last November with 15m in particular showing increased activity (with only 1 contact there in the CW contest).
My 107 contacts yielded 46 DXCC entities which are shown in this table:-
WPX RTTY Feb. 2010. 46 countries worked (36 on 40m, 21 on 20m and 11 on 15m)
I adopted my usual (for now) contest approach of seeing how many countries I could work while giving away points to those who are looking to compile a competitive score. I reckon on 50 countries being a sensible target given my compromise antenna and to that end I am pleased with 46 countries worked in what amounted to some 5 or 6 hours operating over the 48 hour contest period.
Quite unexpectedly the highlight of my operating occurred within the first 5 minutes of my first stint early on Saturday morning. I’d popped outside to [quite literally] lash the far end of the antenna (which remember is a random length sloping end fed Zepp) to the back fence and then fired up the rig (Yaesu FT-950) on 40m, which just happened to be tuned around 7.080MHz, higher in the band than I’d usually go looking for RTTY signals, and there he was, PJ4R (Bonaire & Curacao) calling CQ WPX. I worked him within a few calls for one of the easier new ones of recent years. Having not been on the bands previously this year (due in part to the broken antenna) this was also the very first log entry of 2010. What a way to kick-start the year!
WPX RTTY Feb. 2010. Geographic spread of the 46 countries worked,.
Dean Amateur Radio antenna, contest, DXCC, FT-950, RTTY, WPX, Yaesu
This contest is almost upon us and it may well be the incentive I need to get my antenna fixed, it having suffered what I’m assuming is wind damage to the extent it’s been lying on the ground now for a week or more.
I had been contemplating a change to the antenna to move from my existing (but broken) end fed Zepp to a 40m OCF (off centre fed) Windom (with 14m and 7m legs) fed with coax via a 4:1 balun. That may now have to wait as time is short and I’d rather go with what I know at this late stage.
In time I will construct and test that 40m Windom and if it works I’ll see about installing it at home. For now though I’ll just be glad to get on the bands for a few hours regardless of what antenna I’m using.
Dean Amateur Radio antenna, contest, RTTY, Windom, WPX
I wrote back in June that I was making good progress toward working 100 countries since moving to Lichfield in September of 2008. Well I can now report that coming out of the CQWW CW contest this past weekend I have now reached that milestone - 100 countries worked from this location.
The details are 100 countries worked with 74 on CW, 66 on RTTY and 60 on SSB. This includes 8 all time new ones in the form of Anguilla, Desecheo Island, St. Maarten & St. Eustatius, Bermuda, United Arab Emirates, Alaska, Montserrat and the British Virgin Isles.
This brings the overall numbers to 170 worked with 119 on CW, 122 on data modes (RTTY & PSK31) and 111 on SSB. Here’s to the big push towards 200!
Dean Amateur Radio, Blog CW, DXCC, G0RIF, Lichfield, RTTY, SSB