Archive for the ‘dx’ Category
Been a busy boy
March 26th, 2014 | 
Author: JT-65HF
I have been using my newly built datamode interface in anger.
As well as running WSPR on occasion I have also been active using JT65-HF.
JT65 is a communication mode developed by Joe Taylor, K1JT, (specification here) originally intended for amateur radio communication with extremely weak signals such as Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) contacts on VHF it has gained popularity on the short wave bands using JT65-HF an adaptation of the JT65A protocol.
Being restricted to 10W it is an attractive method of making contacts. The protocol includes error-correcting features that make it usable even when the signals are too weak to be heard or are being subject to interference.
There are several how-to guides available
Get On the Air with HF Digital (from the ARRL)
JT65-HF -- an 'Odd' but Fun Digital Mode (from eham.net)
A number of software packages support JT65, the most popular being JT65-HF originally developed by Joe, W6CQZ. Sadly Joe is no longer developing the software, but the last version released still works, and is available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jt65-hf/
Thankfully the project was open source and Beat Oehrli, HB9HQX as developed his own version with the catchy title JT65-HF-HB9HQX-Edition, available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jt65hfhb9hqxedi/ This is the version I have been using with great success, the colour coding and simple button pressing makes a QSO straight forward and the built in logging and exporting make uploading to QRZ, eQSL and HRDlog painless.
Whilst to a traditionalist amateur operator it is perhaps a little slow, remote and impersonal (each exchange occurs during alternate minutes) I really like it! One advantage is I can set up the radio in the shack with CAT control via HRD and then have QSOs while VNC'ing into the computer from the laptop whilst in front of the TV with the wife and the dogs! (Thanks Tim G4VXE for that suggestion!)
I have been active on the 10/20/30 and 40M bands over the past few weeks making contacts with Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.
Contesting 'DX' Headset and Interface
I have become hooked on the RSGB UKAC VHF contests, operating on a Tuesday evening on different frequencies (50MHz, 144MHz, 432MHz depending on which week of the month) Whilst my results are small-fry compared to the big guns I have been more than happy with my modest antenna set up and less than ideal location (previous blog posts)
I soon appreciated that using headphones rather than the speaker made life easier but I was still using the stock supplied hand microphone. Several times I have found it difficult to make myself understood and suspected that not only am I plagued by my 'Black Country' accent and poor enunciation but maybe the microphone wasn't quite cutting it.
Not able to afford or justify the purchase of a Heil headset just yet I took inspiration from Charlie M0PZT and his recommendation for a budget solution using a £10 computer headset from CPC (product AV21444).
On the Yaesu FT-857D the microphone connector is a 8-pin RJ45 socket which is behind the removable front panel with the lead coming out of one of a number of openings. Whilst the panel is easily removable I didn't want to keep removing it when switching between microphones, also re-purposing an obvious CAT5 network lead was problematic as they are often thicker than the openings.
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| The lead removed from MH-31, RJ45 on interface |
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| Mic lead connected and headset |
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| The budget 'dx' headset |
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| Yaesu FT-857D mic socket as view from front |
The box also has a PTT switch, this could have simply grounded the PTT line but I wanted to have a LED indication on the box and again I could have just wired a LED and resistor to 5V and to the PTT line so it would light when the switch was closed, pulling PTT to ground and completing the circuit. I opted to use a simple transistor open collector switch to add a little isolation.
The interface works well and I used it for the first time last night in the 50MHz UKAC with my homebrew MOXON antenna...
6M/50MHz MOXON
My first contest back in January was the 50MHz UKAC and as I blogged I made a solitary contact due to antenna issues, i.e I didn't really have one!
I missed the February contest so this month I really wanted to have a decent stab at it which meant building an antenna. I decided early on that a Moxon was probably the easiest to construct, so I downloaded the MoxGen program to calculate the element lengths.
Using 1mm diameter 'garden wire' for the driven element and reflector. I had various bits of flexible plastic pipe kicking about and decided to use them to construct an x-shaped spreader, unfortunately the pipe was obviously from different batches and as soon as it was tensioned by the wire it bent into all sorts of strange shapes due to the different elastic properties so I abandoned that design.
I had left the build to the last minute and needed a quick solution, so yesterday morning plan-B was to go an get some cheap timber from the local B&Q on the way to work and build a simple frame to wrap the wire round.
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| Moxon on garage floor |
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| Coax and common-mode choke, and sturdy support! |
One thing I hadn't appreciated was just how big the final antenna was, it wasn't heavy just big! So last night an hour before the contest started I fitted the choke balun and coax to the terminal block. To be safe I removed the other antenna from the mast and hoisted her up.
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| Up in the night sky |
Moment of truth, thankfully the VSWR was around 1.5:1 at 50.2MHz, rising to nearer 2:1 at the top end of the band. Not ideal but close enough. The VSWR measurements would suggest that the Moxon is a little bit long, interestingly some online Moxon calculators suggested dimensions for a slightly smaller Moxon than the downloaded Moxgen program did? Something to tweak/experiment with possibly using some thicker wire to increase the bandwidth.
50MHZ UKAC 25 March 2014
I was sorted! Moxon antenna up, contesting headset and interface plugged in and a quick scan up and down and I could clearly hear several stations testing and setting up. I poured myself a beer and soon the contest started.
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| Time between QSOs for a 'selfie' |
I was not disappointed in fact I was quite happy with what my 10W, my new headset and home brewed antenna had achieved. The Moxon showed great promise and directional characteristics but for some reason just couldn't get south as the map indicates.
Out of interest I wondered what the line of slight view from my mast looked like so I strapped a camera on to the moxon this afternoon..
Need more height I think, especially if pointing South and a rotator would be nice!
Well that wraps it up for the moment.. 73
The allure of DX
is a very good thing, but can be bad at times. My buddy W3BBO describes it as an “obsession” or an “addiction”. I’d have to agree with him there. Once you get your first taste and get hooked, there’s no turning back. Add QRP power to the mix and, if you’re addicted to challenges – stick a fork in you, you’re done.
The bands were alive with signals again during lunchtime today. But yet, I only worked two stations. My addiction got in the way. I worked Laci HA0NAR in Hungary, who I have worked many times before. I also worked LY10NATO, who asked me to spot him, as he was calling CQ without many takers. Being in the car, away from the Internet, I didn’t have that luxury.
My downfall came when I heard TX6G on 12 Meters. He was LOUD. 599+ loud at times. I immediately thought, “Wow! THAT loud, here’s my chance to work them QRP.”. Not today, Grasshopper, not today.
Undoubtedly, if I wasn’t so hard headed, I could have worked at least three or four more stations in my limited time allotment. However, my stubborn Polish side got the better of me, and I did a Don Quixote, and chased a windmill.
The windmill won.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Disappointment and then …. jubilation!
Amateur Radio is lot like other areas in life. There highs and there are lows – there are valleys and there are peaks. Often, the journey from one extreme to the other takes places within minutes of each other.
This evening, I was tooling around 10 Meters late. It was after 7:00 PM local time. The sun was already down, but sometimes – just sometimes, this is when the good ones can be heard. Twiddling the dial, I heard a very weak BY5WJ. China! So I turned up the power, as I’ve never worked China and started tapping out my call, Woo hoo! Success! “W2LJ UR 579 TNX LARRY DE JOSH”.
Josh? In China? Me, 579? Can’t be! Then I realized it was 6Y5WJ – not BY5WJ. It was Josh in Jamaica, and we have worked a few times before. Obviously, being in his log, my info popped up and that’s why he answered me by name. After a few minutes, the band changed, and he became “normally loud” for what I would have expected a Jamaican station to sound like in New Jersey. So in a few seconds, I raced around the globe from the exotic Far East to the warm shores of the Caribbean. A bit of a disappointment, to say the least (no offense, Josh!).
At that point I started switching bands. 12 Meters – not much. 15 Meters – W1AW/5 in New Mexico is coming in strong. 17 Meters – not much. 20 Meters – OK, a lot more signals than the other bands (as we all know, 20 Meters is usually open to somewhere). What’s that? VU2what? A few more seconds of listening – it was VU2PHD, Mat in India. Wow! I very rarely ever hear India on the air. Still set at 75 Watts from my failed China QSO, I tapped out my call. Holy crow – I hear “W2?” coming back. I sent out my call a few more times, following up with my suffix twice, “W2LJ W2LJ LJ LJ”. I got a “W2LJ UR 559 QSB. UR CALL AGN?” I immediately sent back “DE W2LJ W2LJ UR 579 579 IN NJ NJ. OP LARRY LARRY”. Or something like that, I’m so exhilarated right now, I can’t even remember the exact exchange. All I know is that this was my first QSO with the Indian sub-continent, and is only about the second or third time I have even heard them on the air! And I’m in his log!
I immediately ran over to my e-mail program to send a quick note to my buddy Bob W3BBO in Erie, PA. Bob is my friend, my DX Guru, and is the only person I actually know who is on the DXCC Honor Roll. To my surprise he had already written me, “Did I hear what I think I heard on 20 Meters?”
I was able to answer in the affirmative and asked him how he happened to be listening. He had worked Mat earlier in the week and was going to make another attempt, as he wasn’t sure that Mat got his call correctly the first time. He had heard Mat come back to me and sent a quick e-mail to confirm. Whatever the reason, one of my best friends was on the scene to hear me work a new one. It just doesn’t get much better than that!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Norway, Bulgaria and Philly – QRP!
Had a brief time to head to the park at lunch today – and once again had a blast!
Here is the low down….
LA5UF – Joe was calling CQ on 21.040. It took him a bit to dig me out and get my call right. He gave me a 449 and he was a solid 559 here in Kansas. Joe hails from Norway.
LZ2HR – I heard him calling CQ on 28.0299 with no takers. I threw my call out and he came right back to me. He gave me a 589 and he was a solid 599 here. Fun!
I called CQ for some time on 10 meters, and even though I was spotted all over on the RBN – no dice.
Then I heard….
K3DY calling CQ on 21.0469. We had a nice QSO with more than just a contest exchange. The band was a bit up and down, but solid copy both ways. Tony said he was reading my page as we talked. Thanks for the nice QSO Tony! Tony is outside Philadelphia, PA.
Any lunch time with a little CW is always fun!
I hope to get a version of my Portable QRP Antenna installed in the attic this weekend. We will see how that goes. I would really like to get a station setup at home, and eventually try some of the digital modes.
Another good day!
Two for two Thursday, let’s call it!
Second day back to lunchtime QRP operating, and another good day. The higher bands were alive again. This time I worked Russia R2014ME (I had worked R2014E yesterday), Belarus EW8O and Mexico XE2I. And …. for the heck of it, I wanted to see if I could break the monstrous pileup that was foisting itself upon W1AW/5 in New Mexico. 15 Meters was hot and the band was long. The amount of European stations calling W1AW/5 was huge and LOUD! Would it be possible for a QRP station, powered at 5 Watts to break that melee?
Not only was is possible, but it happened. I made it into the log. But it took some listening and some figuring. The W1AW/5 station set up a pattern. He was working split, and was announcing “U”, which of course meant that he was listening up. But he was listening “in an race track pattern” as it were. By carefully listening for a while, I was able to determine a pattern:
1) W1AW/5 works a station
2) W1AW/5 moves the listening frequency up a few Hertz
3) W1AW/5 works the next station
4) W1AW/5 moves the listening frequency up a few Hertz
5) W1AW/5 works the next station
But he did this only to a point. Once he reached a point known only to him, he reversed the procedure. He would work a station and then listen a few Hertz DOWN from the last station he worked. He kept doing this until he reached a “lower UP frequency” that he determined and then started the whole business over again.
If I didn’t make myself clear (sometimes I have a problem doing that), what he was doing was changing his listening frequency in a circular pattern, even though he was always listening “UP”. For example – W1AW/5 was on, let’s say 21.030 MHZ – he was working stations between 21.031 and 21.034 MHz. And he was ping-ponging between the two. He would start listening up at 21.031 Hz and would keep moving his listening frequency until he hit 21.034 and then work back down to 21.031 and then back up to 21.034 and so on and so on and so on.
After determining what he was doing, I adjusted my transmit frequency to “get in his way”. After about three or four minutes of trying, I was able to make myself heard. Now I suppose that if I didn’t listen as much as I did, I might have made it into the log anyway, just by sheer dumb luck. But by determining what he was doing, I shortened the time (considerably, I think) that it took to get into his log. And during these lunchtime QRP sessions, time is a precious commodity, so saving time is a very good thing.
As I’ve stated before, I’m not going out of my way to take the pains to work all 50 W1AW stations. However, today I sensed a challenge that I felt like taking on. It’s good practice for the Fox hunts and those pesky DXpedition pileups.
Speaking of the QRP Fox hunts, I am one of the two 80 Meter Foxes tonight. This is my last stint of the 2013/2014 season. It’s been fun and I hope to hand out a lot of pelts tonight. As a Hound, this has been a particularly exhilarating season! According to the last tally – I have worked 25 out of 32 Foxes on 40 Meters (78%). On 80 Meters, I have worked 24 out of 30 Foxes (80%). This has been my best season – ever! The season ends in just a few weeks, and I hope to continue with a strong finish. Wait a second, I probably just went and jinxed myself! Then again, I guess I can’t really jinx myself as I owe all my success to the extraordinary ears and antennas of the Foxes.
One last note. If you get a chance, take a gander at the February 2014 edition of CQ magazine, if you can get your hands on one. There’s an article on my lunchtime QRP sessions that was written and submitted by yours truly. Rich W2VU felt it was worth including – hopefully by accepting my article, he’s not scraping the bottom of the barrel too hard!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
From Russia with Love…
Its been to many months since my last lunch time QRP session! Finally had a warm day with no work activities over lunch so I headed out to my favorite park and had a blast!!
As soon as I turned the KX3 on I heard…
KC2EE calling CQ on 14.060 – we exchanged 559 reports – he was in Houston, TX. Working Sid brought back the great feeling of sending some CW – although I was rusty!
Then I went on to work…
NA6MG was spotted on SOTA GOAT, so I tuned to 18.090 and there he was coming in at 599. Dan was on W6/CT-231.
OH4MDY was calling CQ on 18.075 and was a solid 599 here. I had to call a couple times, but finally made it. Retu was in Finland!
Next up was my best DX yet!
R7LA – Vasily was calling CQ on 24.893 with no takers. He really had to work to pull my callsign out, but then it seemed to get better. He copied my well after getting my call, so the conditions must have improved. He gave me a 559 and he was 599 here. He must have pulled up my QRZ page while on air because he told me that my QRP signal was FB! What a hoot! Thanks Vasily for pulling my 5 watts out of the mud, you made my day!
Not that spring is here, I will be operating much more at lunch time. I am still working on getting my home station set up. Antenna is ready, I just need to get it in the attic! I really want to start working some digital modes from home. I think they might work best because of the loud interference I experience there. We will see.
Back in the saddle again!
You have probably noticed my lack of activity on the blog for the past little while. It’s been a hectic, topsy-turvy couple of months. Let me explain.
On New Year’s Eve, my co-worker left work early, telling me that he “might be back” in a few hours. Turns out that he was having some medical difficulties and checked himself into a hospital. Fortunately, he healed and got better. Unfortunately, he decided not to return to work, at least not where we work anyway.. So, since the beginning of the year, I have been alone at work, and have been busier than the proverbial “one armed wallpaper hanger”. One man doing the work of two made the possibility of leaving my desk for the car during lunch just a wistful desire. Add to that, numerous snows, a colder than normal January and February, and I’m not so sure I would have headed out there, even if I could have!
A replacement co-worker was hired and started yesterday. So today, even though it’s overcast, it is warm (comparatively). It was 40F (4C) at lunchtime and I took advantage of not being alone anymore and headed out to the car for some lunchtime QRP for the first time since last December. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but boy howdy, did it turn out to be great!
It seemed liked all the higher bands were just jumping with activity – 10, 12 and 15 Meters were alive with signals and I worked someone on each band. I worked CO6RD and R2014E on 15 meters. I worked HA9RT and OH4MDY on 12 Meters, and OK1DMZ on 10 Meters. I wish I had more time as it seemed like there were people from just about everywhere on the bands!
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin’ to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again
And it feels so good!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
