My First PSK31 Contacts

I made three PSK31 contacts this evening. They are my first ones. All occurred on the 40-meter band. The first two were at 7.0725 MHz and the third one was at 7.073 MHz. The actual QSOs however fell where they may on the waterfall display. If someone can explain how to read out the exact frequency, I would appreciate the tip. Or does it really matter?

My first contact was at 0045Z on 29 Jul 2008 with Ken. Ken, was doing the typing, but the station was under the control of Tim, WB8UHZ. Ken and Tim are located in Hemlock, Michigan. I gathered that Ken was a former ham who let his license lapse. I got the impression that he would probably get back into the hobby based on the fun he seemed to be having during the QSO. They were running an Icom IC-746 or IC-746Pro at about 40 watts. I was using my Kenwood TS-2000X with about 25 watts. Hemlock, Michigan is about 250 miles from me.

My second contact was with Jim, KB4MSU, at 0102Z on 29 Jul 2008. He was using a Kenwood TS-430S transceiver. Jim lives in Eaton, Ohio, which is near the Indiana border and west of Dayton. I used to live in Dayton and drove through Eaton before. Jim is west of downtown Eaton, however. Eaton is about 100 miles from me. I believe that Jim said I was his first PSK31 contact.

My last contact of the evening was with Patrick, AE5PW. Patrick is located in Newport, Arkansas, about 550 miles from me. This contact occurred at 0204Z on 29 Jul 2008. His radio was a Yaesu FT-950 and he was using a Butternut HF9V vertical antenna. He was the most prepared for the QSO. He already had macros made up with his personal information and his station information. He kept track of the number of PSK31 contacts that he has made. I was number 1900-and-something, so, of course, he had macros in place. I'll have to work on mine.

I had a very fun evening with this mode. I'll definitely be trying it again. I did notice that my logging left something to be desired. I use MixW version 2.18 but I am not used to its logging system. I also have Writelog version 10-something. I will need to become much more familiar with both applications.

73

Antenna Tuners

I'm considering the purchase of a couple of antenna tuners to add to my station. Currently, my Kenwood TS-2000X has its own built-in tuner and I add a LDG Electronics AT-897 to my Yaesu FT-897D. I noticed recently that LDG has released a new autotuner dedicated to Kenwood transceivers. This model is the KT-100. It is similar to LDG's other autotuners in that it can tune across a wide range of impedances. This is something that the TS-2000's internal tuner cannot do. Its tuner has a fairly narrow range. The inability of the Kenwood tuner to find a successful match many times is what leads me to use the FT-897D on the HF bands. With the KT-100, however, I should be able to use the TS-2000 much more often. I do have a commercial Buddipole antenna and a Palstar ZM-30 antenna analyzer, and so I try to first make adjustments to the Buddipole (the taps on the coils and the lengths of the whips), but sometimes this is inconvenient, so I hit the tune button on the radio. Of course, I realize that by not making adjustments to the Buddipole, and letting the autotuner make the match that I am losing quite a bit of energy in the tuner.

Another tuner that I am looking at is the Palstar AT2K. This is a full legal limit manual antenna tuner. Like the LDG tuners, it can match antennas over a wide range of impedances. There are several reasons to consider a manual antenna tuner (and one that can handle higher power). First, by virtue of the tuner being manual, you can dial in the match exactly. Most autotuners, but not all (notably the Palstar AT-AUTO which uses stepper motors to drive conventional variable capacitors and variable inductors), rely on discrete capacitors and inductors and a number of relays to switch those capacitors and inductors in and out of the circuit. This will mean that the match will always be close, but not quite on. Also, some of the autotuners won't even run through a new tuning cycle if the SWR starts out less than 1.5:1 (although you can usually force them to re-tune). The second reason to consider a manual tuner is when you are only receiving. Your radio will not broadcast a carrier for any tuner if you outside of the ham bands (unless you have performed some sort of mod). When you are shortwave or utility listening, you can still use a manual tuner and tune for the strongest signal. A third reason that I see to purchase a manual tuner, but specifically the Palstar AT2K, is that the tuner is overkill for the power levels I will be using (barefoot at 100 watts or less). From some of my reading, it appears that under certain conditions, tuners can start arcing over. I suspect that arcing is more of a problem for stations running QRO, but it is probably also a problem in a small autotuner when running 100 watts because the autotuner's components are not rated for the really high voltages and currents involved. Finally, the fourth reason to consider a manual tuner, is that it doesn't care what radio it is connected to. All you have to do is put it in line between the transceiver and the antenna. With an autotuner, you more than likely need a dedicated set of cables for each radio that you are going to connect it to. If it doesn't rely on control cables, then it requires you to supply the carrier first, and then you hit the "tune" button. Of course, the main drawback to a manual tuner is that it takes more time to make the necessary adjustments.

Down the road, when I buy my Icom IC-7000, I will probably pick up a LDG AT-200Pro. I realize that LDG manufactures the AT-7000 specifically for the IC-7000, but quite frankly, the AT-200Pro has more lights and buttons. However a more appropriate reason to choose the AT-200Pro over the AT-7000 is that you can manually adjust the capacitance and inductance values (based on discrete components, though) on the AT-200Pro and improve shortwave reception.

73

2008 Field Day

The annual amateur radio Field Day event is now over until next June. I had a lot of fun this year, and, of course, that is what Field Day is all about. Having watched the weather reports in the days leading up to this past weekend, I knew that it was not going to be pleasant the whole weekend. Also when I first showed up, it seemed that there was going to be a real issue with my station getting on the air. It seems that this year something happened to the first set of deep-cycle batteries that we were going to use. Most people simply decided to rely on generator power and use a power supply. I didn't pack a power supply. Fortunately, a second smaller set of batteries was brought out and my station ran fine the whole weekend. I set up my Buddipole antenna. One station was already running 20-meter PSK, so I configured my station for 20-meter phone. I used the station quite a bit and also gave other people a chance to use my radio, which, by the way was a Yaesu FT-897D. My radio was used on 20, 15, and 10 meters. I was really surprised on Sunday morning to notice that 10-meters was open. I did not expect it to be considering the level of the solar flux. I personally probably made about 70 contacts on my radio on the three different bands. Of course, numbers like that will not win awards, but I did have fun. Other people used their radios on 80-meters and 40-meters. While I used the search-and-pounce technique, some of the other people found a frequency and stayed put and called CQ. That method seemed to be more productive for them. I also spent the weekend taking photos and shooting video of the Field Day event, and I spent time just watching other people operate their radios, or listening to the stories that people told. This year, I did try out some relatively new equipment. The radio itself is less than a year old. I almost exclusively used my Heil Proset Plus boomset with the handswitch. That worked out great. Sunday morning I tried to copy the ARRL Bulletin. At first I tried to copy it on 15-meters, but then I found it was much easier to copy on 17-meters. It was easier to copy in the sense that there was less QRM (because 17-meters is not used for the Field Day contest), but the bulletin is read fairly quickly. So next year, I will be packing at least two extra things: a power supply, and a digital recorder. Another thing that I noticed at this year's Field Day, that I've noticed before but not recently, is the interference between radios. I was operating 15-meters while another station was operating 40-meters. Every time that they would key up to call CQ, it severely distorted my received audio. That was probably the third harmonic, or simply front-end overload from the main transmission. I think that I am going to pick up a set of bandpass filters between now and next year's Field Day. That pretty much sums up the Field Day that I attended: WC8OH, West Central Ohio Amateur Radio Association, 3A, OH. 73, N8OIF

More Ham Radio Purchases

I've been doing quite a bit of buying and selling lately with regard to my amateur radio equipment. Last summer I bought a second HF rig, the Yaesu FT-897D. Actually, it is a MF/HF/VHF/UHF radio. It's a great little rig and includes features such as AF-DSP, a TCXO, and coverage of the 60-meter channels. I also bought an AT-897 autotuner made by LDG electronics. This tuner bolts to the left side of the radio. That rig is rounded out with LDG's FT-Meter. This adds an analog meter to the 897D. I placed my order for a second Tigertronics Signalink USB, that will interface this radio to my computer for sound card HF digital modes. I have recently sold three HTs. The first to sell was a Yaesu VX-7R. It was a great radio, but I had four HTs and that was too many. The second HT to go was my Kenwood TH-D7A. Again, a great radio with APRS and packet capabilities, but I have other plans. Finally, the HT that I sold most recently was my Icom IC-91AD FM and D-Star radio. The reason that it had to go was because I had purchased the IC-92AD (a beefed-up, submersible, more-versatile version of the '91). Another purchase that I made at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention was a new mobile rig, the Icom IC-2820H. A few weeks after the show, I added the UT-123 digital voice and GPS board. Earlier I mentioned that I had other plans for packet and APRS. In a couple of months, I plan to buy the Kenwood TM-D710A mobile radio. There are times when I would like to run APRS but I need more than five watts of power. Another purchase that I will make shortly is a third HF rig, the Icom IC-7000. I will talk more about these purchases in a future post. 73.

My First DX Contacts

In the world of amateur radio, a DX contact is a contact made with a station located in a different country. I have had privileges for the HF bands--the bands usually necessary for the long distance contacts--for about seven months. Today, I made my first three DX contacts. For the first one, I'm not totally sure that the other operator got my callsign correctly, but on the next two, I'm pretty confident.

All of these contacts were on the 15-meter band which for me lately has been pretty quiet. However, this is the weekend of the CQ Worldwide DX SSB Contest. My first contact was with 6F75A with the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores Amateur Club. The club appears to be located in Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. I did not record the details on this contact. Juarez is 1400 miles from me.

The next contact was with VP9I located on the island of Bermuda. VP9I is the station of the VP9I DX Club. The contact was at 2100Z on 27 October 2007 on a frequency of 21220.66 kHz. I was running 50 watts at the time. His information was "59 05" meaning that his copy on me was great, hence the "59", and that he was located in CQ Zone 05. The "59" is a little misleading. Many contesters simply provide a "59" report because it is the easiest. In fact this contester had to ask me to repeat my information a couple of times. Bermuda, by the way, is 1100 miles from me.

The third DX contact was with V26B at 2118Z on 27 October 2007 on a frequency of 21211.75 kHz. His report was "59 08". I was running 75 watts this time. V26B is the station of Team Antigua and is located in the Carribean. Antigua is part of the Leeward Islands and is 2000 miles from me.

I also heard and tried to work AO8A on the Canary Islands. He was quite loud here at my location. The Canary Islands are 3800 miles from me.

For my station, I was using a Yaesu FT-897D and feeding a Buddipole antenna. I was using a Heil ProSet Plus boomset and had the DX microphone element activated. I was using the Heil HS-2 push button for quick push-to-talk action.

I had fun making these contacts and will try to make some more this weekend.

My first satellite contact

As you may have noticed from looking at my other posts and my profile, I am an amateur radio operator. One of the really neat aspects of amateur radio is the satellites that "hams" launch into orbit. I made my first contact via an amateur satellite. The satellite's designation is AO-51, but it is also known as Echo. In the mode that I used today the satellite as a FM repeater. It listens to my transmissions on the 2-mter ham band, specifically at 145.92 MHz, and re-transmits them at 435.3 MHz in the 70-cm band. My transmission consisted of saying my callsign phonetically followed by the word "handheld" and my grid square. I was using a Kenwood TH-D7A(G) five-watt handheld radio in conjunction with a dual-band Arrow Antenna. At least two stations acknowledged my transmission along I believe one was asking for a repeat of my grid square (which is EM89). What is most impressive is that this satellite is a cube less than ten inches on each side flying at an altitude of 850 kilometers (about 530 miles), and I think that it was transmitting to me with about one watt of power (if I am reading the chart on the AMSAT page correctly). I tried to make a contact on two occasions last night. The first contact was cut short by a dying battery on the handheld radio. For the second attempt, I had a fully charged battery and I heard the satellite fine, but I forgot about the 67 Hz PL tone that is required to access the satellite's repeater. I used my copy of Nova for Windows for tracking the satellite.

Actually this contact was not my first satellite contact, but it was my first voice contact. Several years ago when the Russian MIR space station was still orbiting, it had a packet digipeater on board. I used the same radio to send a packet to the digipeater. Seconds later I saw the message "My packet" flash on the display of the radio. That meant that my packet had been repeated. I used an AEA telescoping whip antenna on the radio for that contact.

References:

Kenwood: http://www.kenwood.net
AMSAT: http://www.amsat.org
Northern Lights Software Associates (makers of Nova for Windows): http://www.nlsa.com

Amateur Radio things

One of my other hobbies is amateur radio. This past weekend I attended what is most likely the largest amateur radio gathering in the world, the Dayton Hamvention, in Dayton, Ohio. Most of the amateur radio manufacturers and dealers are there and the are several hundred (maybe even a couple of thousand) people selling or swapping items at the outdoor flea market. For the most part, I didn't see anything new or earth-shattering within the amateur radio world, but during my last hour of attendance, I noticed that Icom had unveiled a new HF/VHF/UHF transceiver, the IC-7000. This radio looks quite a bit like the IC-706MkIIG, but has a color display and a bandscope. It apparently also incorporates IF-DSP. I had previously been researching the Yaesu FT-897D as I would like to start portable operation, but I think that with the right choice of battery, I could use a radio such as the IC-7000. It would just be a matter of lowering the RF output. The Yaesu 897D and the Icom IC-7000 are both 100W radios on HF, but the 897D only outputs 20W when on its internal battery packs. I think that a Buddipole system and a good HF/VHF/UHF antenna analyzer would round out a decent portable station. Now I just need to work on the Morse Code so that I can get out of the no-code Tech level.