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 This weekend was the WAG (Worked All Germany) contest which I entered CW low power and unassisted. About 10 minutes into the contest things started to unravel, I was on 10m calling CQ TEST when my contest software (N1MM+) had the contact log window turn black. It came back to normal within an instant but that is never a good sign. Next, I pressed my F1 key to send CQ TEST again and it did not respond, I pressed it again and nothing. Then all of a sudden the rig keyed and the macro started to send...twice. Then the issues got worse as when I had a station come back to me and I responded with my exchange the macro would not send right away. It was very confusing to the answering station and as he sent his call again, it was then my exchange macro decided to send. 

It was time to shut down and get things sorted out. I  have had this issue in the past and thought I figured it out. In the past, my wired Lanovo mechanical keyboard was picking up RFI and causing me problems. I was looking for a fast fix and added some mix  31 toroids to where the cable enters the keyboard. I now have toroids at either end of the keyboard cable. 

I then fired up the contest software and called CQ TEST again on 10m. For over an hour, I  had no issues and hoped I had fixed the issue. This was the first time this issue had ever shown up on 10m in the past it has always been just  20m but of course now that I am contesting "MR RFI" changes things up.  Heading up to 20m and again while calling CQ TEST I had the N1MM+ contest log window go black again. It was time once again to shut things down as I couldn't contest in this situation. 

As I sat there and went over things I knew in the past I had had issues with my wired mouse, I went wireless and the problem was solved. Maybe it was time to go with a wireless keyboard? I have a Logitech K830 hanging around and thought I would put that into service and see what happens. Of course, the keyboard's rechargeable battery was dead and needed about an hour of charge time before I could use it. That gave me time to label the keyboard and look up the instructions on how to pair it. 

Logi wireless keyboard.

I was up and running again with the wireless keyboard and things were working just fine! This is a much smaller keyboard and I found myself hitting macro F keys when I was supposed to be hitting numbers. This also is not a mechanical key-type keyboard. I tend to be heavy-handed while my hands are resting on the keyboard waiting for the  CQ TEST macro to finish. The keyboard was so sensitive by mistake that I would type letters into N1MM+ call box. When this happened my CQ macro stopped (as it should) I had to lighten up my heavy hands while I was using this keyboard. 

While waiting for the keyboard to charge I made my way to Amazon and ordered a full-size mechanical keyboard. I was sure this was the solution to the issue and so far I was right. It was getting more toward evening and 40m looked like it was hopping. When I pressed my F1 CQ key my N1MM+ , Win4icom  radio control software and the web page I had open all disappeared! With everything restarted I tried again with the same results, it was time to pull the plug and think about things over the evening. The wireless keyboard was not the answer. It was time to get back onto Amazon and cancel the keyboard order.

Winkeyer with ground lead to main ground bus

I  began contesting and all was good on all bands, my fingers are crossed  BUT I have had this false hope in the past. Today (Monday) I have my weekly Medium Speed Contest (MST) in the morning and afternoon. It will be a good test to see if the issue has been fixed.
Also, I posted my issue on the Groups.io N1MM+ site and had some excellent feedback.  One common thread was the USB outer metal shell on the PC. I was told most of the time they are floating and not grounded and this can cause issues. I have a lot of USB cables connected to my PC for radio-related things. I was given a very good idea on how to ground them but more on that in another post. 

UPDATE: This morning and this afternoon I took part in the MST contest and called CQ on all bands without any issues. Maybe I have the RFI issue solved. BUT in the past I have done the happy dance to only be greeted with RFI....so we are keeping this celebration very low key. 

Last evening we were treated to a nice light show courtesy of the active sun.  

Yours truely

In a previous post, I mentioned I had purchased a Zachtek WSPR desktop transmitter. I found a great site one can use to go over the data collected regarding your WSPR transmissions. The site is called Grafana  GUI and can be accessed at the WSPR live site. The Grafana dashboard gives you information on solar weather from 5 minutes to 1 year.   Station-specific information such as antenna radiation pattern, spot data per band and time, map of where your signal is heard and finally it can be used for receiving and transmitting signals. I use the TX  data as I do not yet have a stand-alone WSPR receiver. There is a ton of information you can gather, my advice is to visit the site and look around. I ran my WSPR transmitter for almost 24 hours and below I  have included the Kp index for that time period as well as the antenna radiation pattern of my Hustler 4BTV. 

Click on all pictures to enlarge. 

The Grand Manan ferry coming in to dock

Before the winter hits we thought it would be a great idea to head off to Grand Manan Island for some rest and relaxation. The island of  Grand Manan is located right in the middle of the Bay of Fundy and at this time of year, the island is starting to slow down. The population goes from 5600 to about 2600 winter residents. The Island belongs to the province of New Brunswick but seems on a map a lot closer to the state of Maine. During the summer 2 ferries operate between Grand Manan and drop to one ferry from late fall to spring. The island has one main road from north to south and a max speed of 80km. I sold my  Elecraft KX3 (bad move on my part) or I would have something set up here for radio operations during the vacation. 

The island has a few beaches that are great for sea glass which my wife Julie loves to hunt for and we spend about 2 hours each doing while the tide is still out. There is one grocery store, a small hospital, one gas station, a volunteer fire dept, a small police detachment and tones of fishing boats as this is the main industry for the island. 

Our view from the cottage with the tide out.

The cottage is in a cove off the Bay of Fundy and surrounded by fishing boat docks. The only ocean wild life up to this point was a seal just off our shore. Here are a few pics. 

Our neighbor again with the tide out.

The forecast

This past weekend was not shaping up to be a stellar contest weekend. The sun was very active and blowing bits and bits directed toward Earth. The predictions were not looking good. On the contest groups I  follow the scuttle was "rough seas ahead" I planned to participate in the California QSO Party, last year was my first year dabbling in this contest. I was shocked at the amount of activity and I made 61 contacts the previous year. I marked it in my contest calendar as a must-do QSO party.  With the solar forecast, I was hoping to meet my previous year's score at least. 

Now that the weekend has come and gone I ended up tripling my score from last year and doubled my contacts! The poor solar weekend forecast was a flop and conditions were great. My best band was 10m  hands down followed by 15m and then 20m. The way I look at the solar forecast is just that it's a forecast and you have to wait and see.

For some time I have been interested in the all-in-one type WSPR  transmitter. A fellow blogger Paul PA0K posts his WSPR adventures using the SOTAbeams WSPRlite model. This unit is no longer available and when I did a web search I found very few units on the market. The unit I  purchased was the Zachtek WSPR Desktop transmitter. The desktop transmitter has great reviews on Eham. The YouTube videos I watched about this product emphasized its compact size, works right out of the box, is easy to set up and can run independently without a PC. 

The unit I ordered was the 80m to 10m WSPR desktop. The package came from  Sweden and was at my door in under 6 days. Along with the Desktop device, you also get a USB to USB-micro cable and a GPS antenna with a 3m cord with an SMA connector. If you do plan to order one of these units be aware you will need an SMA to SO239 pigtail as it does not come with the unit. They can be ordered at Zachtek's website. Fortunately, I had one as it is used with my NANO VNA unit. 

Needed cable

Some of the selling points for me were:
- It's small size.
- Great reviews.
- Option to run it with or without a PC.
- Easy setup software available on Zachtek site.
- An LED light on the unit that indicates good or bad GPS lock, when transmitting and when idle.
- Automatic band switching.
- The unit is not affected by an extremely high SWR.

It was time to connect up the unit and I went to Zachtek and downloaded the operating software. I connected the unit to my PC via the USB to micro cable for the first time setup of the WSPR desktop, I connected the  GPS antenna and connected my Hustler 4BTV to the antenna port via the  SO-239 to SMA connector.  I entered my call in the box provided and selected the bands I wanted the unit to work on. As a side note, there is also a download for USB to serial driver but I already had that and it was working with no problems with my NANO VNA. I then pressed the start button on the software. I was supposed to see GPS information and the device status. Instead, I saw absolutely nothing.

Nothing happened

 I tried changing the USB port I was using, I then downloaded and installed the USB to serial driver from Zachtek as maybe it was a more up-to-date driver. I tried again and nothing happened. I know my NANO VNA has no issues working on my PC and using the USB to serial port driver, maybe a Win10 update messed things up. I connected the NANO VNA via its USB cable and it came to life. I then plugged the VNA into the same port the WSPR desktop was plugged into and it worked fine. I plugged the NANO VNA into the cable that came from Zachtek and the NANO VNA refused to start! I  plugged the WSPR desktop into the NANO VNA USB cable and the unit came to life. The device status came up and the GPS showed connection status. The issue was the USB-Micro cable from Zachtek it was defective right out of the box. I informed Zachtek of this a few days ago but as of yet, I have not heard back. 

The unit sprang to life

 Once the cable issue was solved the unit worked like a dream. In my next post the result of a 24-hour WSPR run with my Hustler 4BTV as well why the heck did I get this thing and how is it going to help my contesting adventures?

 Now and then I hit the sweet spot regarding my CW progress. For a while now I have jumped up to 38wpm contesting style CW. At this point in my practice time, I make around 2-4 mistakes per 10-minute session but then a perfect score happens and I am thrilled. I agree that in an actual contest sending CQ contest at 38wpm may hamper more than help as some folks come across this speed and move right along. If you are spotted the station will know your call and if it's a generic exchange  (CQ zone or ITU zone) you may get a hit from more stations. If you are sending a progressive serial number you may get pasted up more than contacted. In CW contests when calling CQ contest my speed varies from 30-34wpm and depending on the contest down to 28wpm. As always if a station comes back to me at a slower speed than I am sending I tap my page down key and that drops my CW speed in N1MM+ contest software. 

So why you ask am I practising at 38wpm? For me, it's all about keeping the mind sharp and working the grey matter with high-speed CW does the trick for me. Today's results put a big smile on my face....until I go at it again and reality sinks in with a few mistakes.