ISS Cross Band Repeater QSO

Posted on December 19, 2022 by robert

While I’ve worked the ISS using their original cross band repeater a few times in the past, I don’t recall if I’ve worked it using the new gear on 145.990 (PL 67.0) / 437.800  (V/U).

Thanks to Magicalmike KO4PDI for the QSO!

By the way, lots of the information about the ISS Cross Band Repeater is out of date, especially many of the popular sources for the SATPC32 Doppler.SQF file.  The correct entry for the DOPPLER.SQF file is:

ISS,437800,145990,FM,FM,NOR,0,0,Cross Band Repeater

And the correct entry for the SATPC32 SubTone.SQF file (at least for the Icom IC-9700) is:

ISS,67.0,$3F,1

And don’t forget to set select T1 within SATPC32

Satellite Station: Icom IC-9700 being controlled by SATPC32. Antennas are M2 eggbeaters.

Posted in ISS, Satellite, SatPC32 | 4 Comments

Hit 20,000 contacts in my logbook

Posted on December 14, 2022 by robert

After uploading CWops Log #159 for this year, I hit the 20,000 QSO mark in LotW.  Most of those have come in the past couple of years and have been due to POTA or CWTs.  I started logging electronically back in 2011, so that’s a pretty low average over 11 years.  About 3400 of those have been in the past year.



Posted in CWops, LotW, POTA | Leave a comment

Completed CWT #150 This Afternoon

Posted on November 9, 2022 by robert

My internal goal for the year was to complete 150 CWTs, which I just did this afternoon.  Only 120 are required for the Gold Medal, but I wanted to get a few more under my belt.  Actually, in theory I could work another 30 if I tried really hard by year’s end.  I suspect I might pick up another 20.

Thank you CWops for a lot of fun this year!

Posted in CW, CWops, CWT, Goals | Leave a comment

Hunted 700 Unique POTA Parks

Posted on October 25, 2022 by robert

On October 21st, I received the Wiggn’s Acalpha award from ParksOnTheAir.com in recognition of having confirmation from 700 unique parks (out of 9,709 currently).

Posted in Activation, Hunter, POTA | Leave a comment

Island of St. Paul POTA Award

Posted on October 1, 2022 by robert

I’m always surprised at how inventive the Parks on the Air program is.  A week or so ago, I received yet another award, this one for working all the parks on the Island of St. Paul (pretty easy since there is exactly one park to work).  Thanks POTA!

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AMSAT DSTAR Reflector

Posted on September 19, 2022 by robert

While there isn’t a whole bunch of DMR activity in the New England area, one of the Talkgroups that is fairly active is 98006, which is the AMSAT Talkgroup.  That DMR Talkgroup has been bridged over to the DSTAR world.

Simply link your DSTAR radio into one of the XLXSAT, XRFSAT, DCSSAT, or REFSAT reflectors.  This means using a common link command like “REFSATCL” to join in.

Please note that using a Hotspot that is setup for BOTH DMR and DSTAR will cause some issues, since it will grab onto the first active digital service.  For example say you have linked into REFSATC and your hotspot is currently in the DSTAR mode.  As soon as someone uses the DMR AMSAT Talkgroup, then your hotspot will switch over to DMR mode.

If all you plan on using is the AMSAT Talkgroup, then turn off the DMR Mode in your hotspot.

Posted in AMSAT, D-Star, DMR | Leave a comment

N1MM running with Flex6600M & Maestro

Posted on August 25, 2022 by robert

I have been using a Flex6600M that allows me to operate “remotely” from my 3rd floor bedroom, if I don’t feel like navigating the stairs up and down.  After some firmware updates last year and a changeover to how I accessed the radio (direct IP address on my internal LAN vs. going through WiFi and the SmartLink servers), I had things working pretty well.

I didn’t want to risk doing anything until I had completed at least 120 CWT contests, which I did last week.  So this week I spent some time before the contests getting N1MM working with the Flex.  I wasn’t able to get things working correctly for the 1300Z one in the morning, but I had things running by the 0300Z one at night.  It really was as simple as loading the latest version of SmartSDRCAT onto my laptop upstairs and adding a port for their simulated WinKeyer.  The usual N1MM Radio setup applied, using the two COM ports identified in SmartSDRCAT.

I actually found out that I really couldn’t use the Function Keys in N1MM – they work, and CW is sent by the radio, but there is no sidetone.  This forces you to watch the Maestro Remote screen to see when the TX indicator turns off.  So I will continue to use my paddle and the Macro buttons on the Maestro Remote, which do generate a sidetone.

Flex Radio has a short YouTube video that describes the process here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lql8RReUvA

 

Posted in FlexRadio, N1MM | Leave a comment

Goals Completed for 2022: CWT #120

Posted on August 18, 2022 by robert

I was able to complete CWT number 120 early this morning at 0753Z.  Of course there are 76 more CWTs remaining in 2022 (4 a week for 19 more weeks), but I doubt I’ll be staying up until 4 AM to finish any more this year.   I’ll see if I can’t do 50 more.  Many thanks to CWops!

CWT #120 happens to complete my list of goals for 2022, which were all completed successfully:

  • Teach a CW Academy Course
  • Teach a Technician Course
  • Conduct NCRC’s first electronic VE exam
  • Build my QRP-Labs QCX 20m Transceiver
  • Participate in 120+ CWTs for the CWops Gold Medal

Now I have to start pondering my goals for 2023 (two of which will be related to CWops/CWTs)!

Posted in CWops, CWT, Goals | Leave a comment

Another Winter Project

Posted on August 13, 2022 by robert

I’m always thinking ahead.  The record-breaking summer heat and humidity (rare but becoming more common for Rhode Island) is making me think of the fall and winter, which are great times for radio projects.

I’ve fallen in love with QRP-LABS.COM, and have bought and built several of their kits.  A package arrived a couple of days ago containing their latest QDX digital transceiver.  This is a QRP 4-band (80/40/30/20) transceiver for modes like FT8.  It has a built-in sound interface and rig control, and is compatible with the WSJT-X suite of software.  The kit is shown below.  All the surface mounts are on the board already.  So it is a matter of adding in the caps & inductors plus the larger mechanical parts.  Assembly wise, it looks easier than their QCX-mini (no display, buttons, etc.), but more coil winding since it is 4 bands.

Posted in Digital Mode, FT8, QRP | Leave a comment

Standby Power Draw for a few rigs

Posted on August 4, 2022 by robert

In testing the linear vs. switching power supply consumption I determined the following standby power draws:

  • Astron RS-35M: 25 watts/hour; 600 watts a day
  • Powerwerx SS-30DV: 5 watts/hour: 120 watts a day
  • Kenwood TM-D710G: 15 watts/hour: 360 watts a day
  • Elecraft K3S: 33 watts/hour: 792 watts a day
  • Icom IC-9700: 22 watts/hour: 528 watts a day

It wasn’t unusual for me to have the Astron, Elecraft, and Kenwood powered on 24 hours a day, for many days a year (likely about 200), which is 1.75 KHW/day, or about $88 a year and going up!

Posted in Alternative Power | Leave a comment