Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2010

The Samsung OMNIA "smartphone"

This phone is the absolute top in user unfriendliness It abuses you with  its prototype software It will rarely connect to any WLAN access point. After entering the whole connection data it tells you it fails and you can try it again if you want.... nooooooooo! Using blue-tooth it is possible to get your pictures out but it is a quest to do it. The display is a billboard  everything is clear except that what you need  to see. It can not be used ( in daylight)  or never... One positive thing is that it can run I-GO.  Running I-go will always need an external power supply. Technically it has all the hardware to be a good smart phone  but   smart software is needed.. Luckily   i did not buy the OMNIA  just got it for use. Today I got the HTC Desire It was not possible to synchronise the phone data to Outlook since it just will not connect. Even a copy of  2  new phonebook entries to SIMM  gave an error: SIMM full! Just a couple of bytes that did not fit anymore to the SIMM.

calculating the DX-index for JO33hg using WSPR data

In an attempt to make more use of  the WSPR propagation data. I  try to calculate a  "DX Index"  the  DXI  for JO33HG  A simple calculation to start with: I take 100 WSPR spots of the last 12 hour period. Ordered by DX ascending.      calculated for my location. Unique calls checked    excluding repeating  spots Unique calls check can not be used with multyband. The number count of DX >5000km  is the "DXI"   for  my location: 26 December  morning  the DXI was 40       for bands 500/160/80 26 December  evening        DXI was 54       including 10/15/20/40 27 December  morning 06UTC    the DXI has dropped to  10! It is a start and gives some indication. But it can use improvement by weighing the doubles into the figure Now the activity is a major factor. That means  it is not representative outside EU and USA  since WSPR is rare in the rest of the world.  Why some HAM's never try WSPR in a DX location like FK8 VP8  but just leave their expen

One night WSPR 600 160 & 80 unique Calls >5000km

2010-12-24 23:02 KB5NJD 3.594132 -23 0 EM12np 10 PA0O JO33hg 7967 38 2010-12-25 00:56 PA0O 3.594172 -26 0 JO33hg 5 KB5NJD EM12np 7967 300 2010-12-25 07:38 W5JZ 3.594100 -23 0 EM12mt 0.1 PA0O JO33hg 7957 38 2010-12-25 06:22 PA0O 3.594167 -26 0 JO33hg 5 KE7A EM12kx 7952 301 2010-12-25 06:22 PA0O 3.594170 -28 0 JO33hg 5 W5OLF DM78hb 7948 310 2010-12-24 23:58 N4PJX 3.594038 -19 0 EM66gn 5 PA0O JO33hg 7082 42 2010-12-24 23:54 PA0O 3.594169 -28 0 JO33hg 5 N4PJX EM66gn 7082 297 2010-12-25 03:22 WF7T 3.594051 -24 0 EM66pe 1 PA0O JO33hg 7068 42 2010-12-25 01:56 PA0O 3.594166 -27 0 JO33hg 5 WF7T EM66 7064 296 2010-12-24 23:54 PA0O 3.594166 -17 0 JO33hg 5 AE0P EN13 7041 308 2010-12-25 03:22 AA0N 3.594081 -15 0 EN42fa 5 PA0O JO33hg 6866 42 2010-12-24 23:06 K9AN 3.594178 -21 0 EN50wc 5 PA0O JO33hg 6829 43 2010-12-24 23:42 PA0O 3.594168 -19 0 JO33hg 5 K9AN EN50wc 6829 300 2010-12-24 23:42 PA0O 3.594171 -15 0 JO33hg 5 W9SKP FM18gq 6304 292 2010-12-25 02:44 W9SKP 3.594096 -7 0 FM18gq 5

DELL OPTIPLEX as radio PC and Eminent w-lan router

Purchased an Dell Optiplex GX620  P4 3.2GHz HT  75GB HD  small quiet PC  occasion for 99€. Has the trusty XP  OS  so i hope to got rid of the communication hangers with the USB-serial i have with W7pro 64b  and N1MM  Also i wanted to have a WSPR N1MM dedicated PC in the shack. This one is RF(almost) and audio-wise quiet and has low power consumption for 24x7x365 purpose. I gave up W7pro-64 with N1MM and USB-serial converter it is not stable i have to reset the interface too often it is meshing up my logging and it is a nerving me.. Until now no hangups it is quiet almost forgot it is running on the desktop. In the same shop i purchased an Eminent Em4570 router  to replace the  RF  noisy Linksys WRT54G with its build in 2 step-down very noisy switchers i could not silence the RFI in 14-30 MHz band. This Eminent seems to be of higher quality  it has a metal case  whereas the Linksys is in a plastic box. The WRT54G has 2 external antenna connections of type reverse-TNC  i use an ou

Screen filled with WD2XSH/17 500kHz decodes

One night the screen was filled with  close to 40 decodes of WD2XSH/17. Best signal decoded -9dB  Until now WD2XSH/17 is the only USA experimental 500kHz station i have decoded.  In January there was good copy of the VX9MRC   cw beacon from Wireless Hill the historical radio location . This season the band conditions have not come close to that and we are top of season now... But I can decode WD2SXH/17  every night  at least a few times. Sometimes only a faint trace without decoding i seem to have lost the capability to decode <28db on him. Now our experimental 500kHz year is comming to end  and we will have to stop transmitting 31 december 23:59.. I was copied once by WD2XSH/17  with my 0.5W ERP approximately. That could have been better if i had a good tuning unit outside at the antenna base  or inside by feeding the wire direct trough the wall.    My receiving  is very good compared to the other EU 500khz active HAM's Clearly a credit to the K9AY loop receiving ante

WD2XSH/17 WSPR screen

WD2SXH/17 40 decodes in one night sofar with the K9AY

K9AY   10mAlu pole fiber top I wanted to know  if the  K9AY loop would  receive on 500kHz It really performed beyond expectation. As soon as I was tuned on the correct USA WSPR dial Freq USB 499.600 kHz   I started to receive  WD2XSH/17  21 decodes  until early morning  almost 08 local 2010-12-15 23:44 WD2XSH/17 0.503890 -18 -1 FN42pb 1 PA0O JO33hg 5630 49 last decode  2010-12-16 06:42 WD2XSH/17 0.501090 -26 0 FN42pb 1 PA0O JO33hg 5630 49 -18  to -28 SNR the internal  with both relays activated

lowband receive antenna K9AY loops

Last Top-band season was extreme good with dx-peditions to the Pacific being worked on top-band.  That is my (our N-EU) ultimate DX area of course.     Then I had my Beverage out to N-E  and  was spoiled by receiving loud and clear JA 's  JD1 FK8CP  and more.  It was fun be able to hear as good as the well known top-band specialists while before  I  was only able to pick up the stronger signals from JA  now i heard them all.  Even sometimes hearing JA's return without being heard by the running station... A Beverage is a very simple antenna but needs space  and I have to wait until all sheep's are converted into Kebab  ...  So I had to do something like a loop antenna. The K9AY loop antenna relay-box it seems to work there is a strong directional effect. The antenna is connected with 120m coax6  100m from the TX vertical and shack. Receiving VQ9LA very well  few evenings in a row. Could work hime bare food last night. 9Q50ON was worked on topband remarkable easy being

VK5ZAG 2 evenings in a row reported my 160m 5W WSPR beacon

Woow ! 2010-11-09 19:22 PA0O 1.838148 -26 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2010-11-09 19:30 PA0O 1.838148 -19 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2010-11-09 19:42 PA0O 1.838148 -20 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2010-11-09 19:50 PA0O 1.838148 -23 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2010-11-10 19:38 PA0O 1.838148 -23 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2010-11-10 19:46 PA0O 1.838148 -26 0 JO33hg 5 VK5ZAG PF84vf 15788 83 2 nights VK5ZAG was on 160m WSPR  both nights he received me  at the best gray-line time coincidence?   Almost zero activity in Africa Asia S.A.  I just wonder what would be possible if there where a few  VK ZL Oceania active.  Now almost exclusive EU and USA on WSPR Top-band!   I was on ON4KST low-band chat trying to raise some attention to the DX crowd but got almost no response. Only one HAM wanted to try it but his PC was out of order... It is very strange that almost no one of the Top-band dxers´s pay attention to this mode. This is a real dx mode!  Around
The PL259 the cheapest form with the brown dielectricum. I would not believe it but it heats up at 500kHz! At a rather high Voltage but even here at the very low frequencies this type must be avoided..

500kHz QTX PA input 120W output >100W

The  QTX  designed by Ron GW3UEP   can give 100W output at very high efficiency  but you have to tune L3 for maximum output. Untuned  the output can be less then half of maximum. Tuning is very easy using a ferrite bar. i use the IRF540   and  the IRL540  the last one is an improved version it gave about 5% higher output. Amazing performance  this MW QTX   n > 90%  imagine  a high power PA with such performance.  1000W out would be 1800W  with same input ... Only non linear modes   and low bands  helas.. http://groups.google.com/group/uk500khz/web/gw3uep-cw-tx  received often in 2010 http://www.qsl.net/pa0oos/VX9MRC 500kc/vx9mrc_500_18jan.mp3

All Asia * RUS RTTY * FD

The problems I had with N1MM  and the Prolific USB-serial on my W7  Laptop suddenly seem to have cured themselves ??? I did try again N1MM on the Lenovo W7 Laptop  + USB-serial Prolific to see how long it would run without problems this time. But strange  all was working normal  200 RTTY QSO's in the RUSIAN Radio RTTY  went okay. And  Al Asian and  Field day  no problems. I did not change anything in the meantime  but it worked okay! before it would always start to loose the connection with the K3 with wild  frequencies on the logging screen. Only I had a few times when switching from 1 log to another  in N1MM  an error pop-up message about not finding the database and switching to the ham.mdb came. Then it crashed all screens disappear like if N1MM was closed. But you can not restart N1MM because a message comes:  "N1MM is already running"  No visible instances on the taskbar however. Only the task-manager shows that N1MM is still in memory.  After manual killing

50Mhz LFA loop construction.

My 7 ele 50Mhz  G0KSC  beam  was a bit low band edge tuned. The SWR went up to 1:1.3  at 50.300 and 1:1 at 50.000 the edge to edge dimension of the loop should be 245cm  according to G0KSC I measured  246cm. I calculated 1cm # 200kHz Then i cutted  1cm of both ends (4x sawing) of DE1 and DE2. That was not yet enough. so another time 1cm cutting. Then the matching was  optimal  between 50.000  and  50.500   rising slight to 1:1.2 at both ends. The edge to edge size now is 142cm I used 12mm Alu tubing  for DE1 DE2  and the other elements. The end pieces are 10mm  2 x 1m each  leaving enough length left after bending. DE1 & DE2   134cm  allowing 4cm both ends for the radius  of the end pieces.  With the end pieces maximal inserted  the size is 142cm. I tested it  F/B was real good  it all looks fine. But the  50MHz  season is over and I replaced the beam with my HF multi-band again. The beam waits on the attic for next season.

EME on 6M K2ZD with the 7ele LFA

This evening I could be in time to catch the Moon set . I heard W7GJ direct when he started at his moon rise  -18  not bad here el: 018 Then I tried to work another call at 50193 K2ZD was active A challenge to contact a more average EME station. I had never heard another then W7GJ on this band but also I did not really tried hard to do. But now I copied K2ZD cq cleaned up log: 50.190MHz 175400 6 -18 1.9 -57 3 * CQ W7GJ DN27 1 0     at   50190 QSY 50.193 MHz 180715 Transmitting: JT65A OH6MIK PA0O JO33 OOO 181717 Transmitting: JT65A CQ PA0O JO33 182200 2 -24 1.9 -24 3 * PA0O K2ZD FN21 1 0 182326 Transmitting: JT65A K2ZD PA0O JO33 OOO 182400 4 -22 1.8 -24 3 * PA0O K2ZD FN21 1 0 182800 10 -25 -26 2 RO ? 183000 10 -26 -27 4 RO ? 183147 Transmitting: JT65A RRR (Shorthand) 183500 Transmitting: JT65A CQ PA0O JO33 183515 Transmitting: JT65A 73 (Shorthand) 183707 Transmitting: JT65A RRR (Shorthand) 183729 Transmitting: JT65A K2ZD PA0O JO33 OOO 190300 1 -31 -35 3 RO 1904

End of ES season

I transferred my 7el DK7ZB to a 7 element LFA  loop feeded beam by G0KSC  just to see if that could be an improvement boom lenght of 9m80. It seems okay the matching and radiation pattern seems clear. First signal I  heard when I just erected the mast was D4C !  by coincidence. It does not bring more signal   That was also not claimed  it should be a gain in noise and efficiency  the mechanical balance point was changed 50cm to the rear compared with the DK7ZB   http://picasaweb.google.nl/jaapoosten/LFA11Aug?authkey=Gv1sRgCPCrivvtnImiHQ&feat=directlink DK7ZB  with swallows gathering... meaning end of ES DX ! 

6M EME QSO with Lance W7GJ

FB signals from W7GJ Lance this evening at Moon-set  west WSJT 7.07  under W7-64  on a Lenovo W510 Thinkpad.  K3 + U310 preamp ( N6CA )  7 ele DK7ZB 9m60

It's a struggle W7 i see no improvement against even W2000 !

N1MM on my Lenovo W510 W7-64   with USB<->serial Prolific After installing yet another Prolific driver  I tested again with N1MM on the laptop.  At first some hours all was working normal but then suddenly again  the frequency readout and ruler in N1MM  starts to play wild . Complete random frequency's where shown. it hangs after some time communication poll still runs with K3 but crazy display. Reset radio's will bring it back to normal. Still not solved will have to get another USB converter based on the FTDI chip/driver to point out where this problem is coming from. Another thing in W7  some button text no longer fits in the objects.  Now I am testing with a rs232 breakout  box and will try to monitor the data over the port. The same Prolific is working okay with WSJT and WSPR I could run WSPR 24hours without errors Also WSJT  the latest version 7.07 runs good  except for some error messages in the dos-box regarding to MSSQL access. It seems WSJT is assumi

W7 USB-serial N1MM

Today Friday 13 ...I went to PC shops hoping to find  an FTDI  based USB -serial. It was again a beautiful summer day I was on my racing bike in Groningen where we have a number of  PC / Electronic shops  like Saturn Mediamarkt and more. I could only get a Sweex USB-serial but that one is using also Prolific chips and drivers I saw to late when i was home again no use to try that one it has  the same drivers.  There was a big crowd around the canal harbour  where the brand new  special "Eco"Sailing ship ECOLUTION  was lauched.  A project of  Prof Wubbo Ockels . Our own Groninger Space Shuttle astronaut (1985 Oktober)  brain of many innovative projects. Okay back to my subject.. This morning I tested real on  50MHz  after 2 logging's  suddenly the frequency ruler jumped into red and the input field was cleared again while I was trying to log a DL QSO ....    very sorry  but  the problem still exists ... So back to old  W2000 PC then... pity. FTDI  chips/drivers do

WINDOWS 7 and N1MM

Serious troubles running N1 MM on my Lenovo W510 W7-pro. At first glance after install it looked fine but then when trying to log an exceptional good 50MHz opening to midwest USA at 20 June, the input fields where wiped out as quick as I entered them... I saw the frequency display running wild at the N1MM input form. I was running 400W trying to get the attention of a W6 I heard at 50105 in contact with south -EU !! but he tuned away....  :-((( W6 never seem to run CQ?  Is it forbidden by Arnold Schwarzenegger because of the bad economic situation?? I thought it was RFI on the CAT prolific USB-serial to the Lenovo but same problem happend again in receive only at 10116kHz . The frequency display and the N1MM tuning ruler was just wild displaying anything but the right QRG... So now I am back to the old trusty P3 with W2000   I could not use Virtual XP either because it would'nt recognise the USB-serial. It seems to be a driver issue  with the Prolific. I thought to hav

ZL1JA WSPR 0.5W copied

last night i had WSPR running again at 30m with K3 on 1W copied at ZL 1JA with 1W and heard ZL 1JA 0.5W also ! sunspot 1089 Kitt peak USA Gill Esquerdo XT 2 EME was reported 50118 USB in OZ OH F everywhere ? but not here

WSPR

I saw some <-30dB decodings again at 28MHz real low signal levels that are not audiable like -32dB DK4OG -33db & -32dB & -30dB TF3HZ 3x in the 30 range! it happens every 40 spots or so. a -30dB is a very thin trace on the screen. Normaly it will not decode but if the signal quality is good it can decode. Some much stronger signals can give no decodes sometimes.

Archive

Show more