Posts Tagged ‘Condo ham radio’
A good afternoon on the radio
Just a bit more tidy |
I then slipped over to 15m and came across V5/DK1CE calling CQ he was running split and it's not very often I try the split thing. It was only once before I was able to make a contact running split. I gave him a go and with about 2 repeats I was able to get into Namibia with 5 watts! I was thrilled to not only make a contact operating split but also to have my MFJ 1788 loop antenna with 5 watts make the trip.
Giving PSK31 a go
Last weekend I was able to setup my Elecraft KX3, Toshiba netbook and Signalink for digital operations. The first mode I chose to try out was PSK31 as I had used this mode in the past and was somewhat familiar with it. The software I chose to go with was Digipan and again it was software I had used in the past. The sound card set up as I remember can be very frustrating but Signalink has provided a very good step by step setup for windows 7. Once I was finally setup and had the software and rig co-operating I only had time to receive some signals from the waterfall. Seems the setup is working just fine on receive (20m at the time) as I was able to decode France, Germany, U.S and Italy. I did try to answer some CQ's and was not heard but as I said time was running out for radio time and I had to pack it in. Some if the kinks that still have to be worked out are….
1. Getting the macros set up the way I want them.
2. Fine tuning the settings on the KX3 for digi operations.
3. For some reason the output on the rig is set to 5 watts but the Isoloop control box only shows 1 watt output but I also have my LP100 meter hook in (which for some reason started working fine again) as well and it shows about 4.87 watts. Im going with the LP100 meter.
4. Digipan does not have CAT control Im told you have to use another program for that. CAT control is nice for band changes compared to dialling band changes.
1. Getting the macros set up the way I want them.
2. Fine tuning the settings on the KX3 for digi operations.
3. For some reason the output on the rig is set to 5 watts but the Isoloop control box only shows 1 watt output but I also have my LP100 meter hook in (which for some reason started working fine again) as well and it shows about 4.87 watts. Im going with the LP100 meter.
4. Digipan does not have CAT control Im told you have to use another program for that. CAT control is nice for band changes compared to dialling band changes.
Sunday radio time.
MX0CCE Bob |
Not much going on |
A Friday evening nets some DX contacts.
On Friday evening I was able to pull some radio time out of my hat and it was time to try my MFJ 1788 loop antenna on 17m. I was very happy with the results it was very easy to tune (SWR of 1.2.1) and the band width was decent so retuning was not needed most of the time. I operate QRP at 5 watts so having the antenna on the balcony, it also being a small loop antenna plus QRP it's a bonus when I contact some DX. I first heard S59AA calling CQ at 18.078 and my first attempt was not heard and another station jumped in and made his contact. I threw my call in again and I was heard and given a 559 signal report. Franc was located in Slovenia and was operating an Elecraft K3 he was also booming in. The time was 5pm local time and 17m seemed to be wide open to Europe so I decided to spin the dial and see what else the ham god's brought my way. I then made contact with HB9CVQ in Switzerland, again another bonus for my ham setup. I was given another 559 RST but again I am just fine with that. I emailed both S59AA and HB9CVQ to give them a little more details of my station but most of all to thank them for sticking with me and passing along a 559 signal report. I did hear back from Andy HB9CVQ who passed along some info about his station as well and it too included an Elecraft K3 radio . I try to avoid using the spotting clusters as for this tiny station hopping over to a busy spot just does not end well. I did spin the dial for a final time and I came across KH2L in Guam! In the past I had tried to make contact with Edward as he booms into here and I was not able too. Friday was no different I dropped my call but it was not heard by KH2L.....oh well. It's now Saturday afternoon and the bands are in so so condition I ended up spending time writing this post with the radio cans on.
Sunday evening on the radio
This weekend brought great weather and so it was out and about with Julie, but I did find some time for radio on Sunday evening. The bands were busy with contests and not wanting to get involved with them I skipped up to the QRP watering hole on 20m. I started calling CQ as I could not hear to much action. In a very short time W5TM came back to me and I was only 449 but it was a contact and that was good enough for me! Our QSO did not last to long as I was very much in and out I did send Edwin an email thanking him for the QSO. During my next CQ calling a G station came back to me but they were down in the mud. I switch on the APF and we did try over and over again to make contact but things just did not work out. It was pretty cool that my QRP signal was somewhat making it into "G" land. My last contact for the evening was with KA5KMS and this was a long QSO with a solid contact at both ends. Terry was running a Ten Tec Century 21at 25 watts into a dipole. It was a good evening on the radio! They all were short QSO's but it will help keep me in the hobby, keep my code up and help me become more and more aquatinted with my rig. I have found that I can easily get lost in my ham programs, antenna issues and PC hiccups that involve radio. Bottom line it's great to put all that to the side and get on the radio and make some good old contacts.
Water + PL-259 = no radio for the day!
The waterlogged PL-259 |
A shot of the balcony antenna open for suggestions. |
A good day on 17m
We had another cold snap hit us here with a wind chill in around -20C it was time for some indoor radio activities. For some reason I settled in on 17m not a band that I frequent all that often, not sure why but never seem to stay long on this band. When looking at the P3 band scope the band did not look very active but as I slowly scanned across the band I came across some stations calling CQ. The first station was ZB2FK on Gibralter. There was not much of a pileup at the time when I made contact and I did receive a 559 from him and with 5 watts from an MFJ 1788 loop antenna I was very pleased with that contact. I then came across IW1DFU calling CQ again on 17m and I gave him a call he did come back to me but I had to repeat my call but again he gave me a pleasing 559 report. I then came across KH2L in Guam and he was in and out with the noise floor but I was very happy the loop was even picking him up! It was time to put the filtering of the K3 to use. I dropped the filter to 250 hz and added the Audio Peak filtering feature and that
was all it took to bring him off the noise floor and into plan old CW. There really was no pileup to speak of but some where in line before me and I wanted to wait my turn. The propagation was such that his signal was up around S5 and then just at the noise floor. This is the exciting type of DX I like to try to work, it's a challenge and it could be hit or miss. It is very unusual for me to even hear signals from this part of the world but today at times he is S5. When given the opportunity I dropped my call and hoped for the best. Have you ever had this happen.......I for sure thought he was coming back to me and it happen to be the one time he was in the noise floor but maybe I was not at his end but at a possible S5. So I came back to him..........but it was not to be it was if the static was playing head games with me and coding VE3WDMmmmmm. To make a long
story short one of his contacts had spotted him on a cluster and then all hell broke loose!! My time was up as a HUGE pile started. I'm not saying QRP stations have not busted pileups but time was moving on and dinner was soon going to be on the table. KH2L maybe next time, I am not at all disappointed as these types of events help sharpen your skills and really allows you to become familiar with your radio.
Add caption |
story short one of his contacts had spotted him on a cluster and then all hell broke loose!! My time was up as a HUGE pile started. I'm not saying QRP stations have not busted pileups but time was moving on and dinner was soon going to be on the table. KH2L maybe next time, I am not at all disappointed as these types of events help sharpen your skills and really allows you to become familiar with your radio.