tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42755446999959938002024-03-05T01:44:53.269-08:00M0WGF's radio musings.Escapades in the world of Amateur RadioDaft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-1528242395544104422020-12-17T14:57:00.000-08:002020-12-17T14:57:03.569-08:00First Year Moon Bounce.<p> My first full year of moon bounce has been to say the least interesting. </p><p>Firstly at the beginning of the year, during storm Dennis, the stub mast snapped resulting in the array hanging precariously by the bottom of the spid rotator on the remains of the stub. This resulted in me running for most of the year on a partial array due to not being able to have anyone fix the system due to Covid restrictions. </p><p>Secondly I have been having transceiver issues with the K3s and again due to Covid getting this resolved has been a long drawn out affair. In fact the rig has just been sent back to the dealer as it will no longer key the sequencer ho hum. </p><p>The new Gemini 2 1.2k amplifier has however worked faultlessly so there's something to be happy about. </p><p>So for 2020 I managed to work 62 unique stations, 15 DXCC and 36 squares. </p><p>The limiting factors to my system are now antenna size and there's nothing I can do about that other than move and that isn't going to happen and general noise level. </p><p>I did under stack the array when it went back up to see if it would help with the noise which it didn't so next year if I can find the people to do I may be able to gain a couple of dB back in gain. </p><p>Anyway tnxs to all those who I managed to work this year. </p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Date<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Time<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Callsign<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Locator<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Country</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">-----<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <span> <span> </span></span></span>----<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <span> <span> </span></span></span>--------<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-------<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-------</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15:17<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK2DDR<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55GN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16:19<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I2MEK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55SJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:45<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RX1AS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO59XW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">06/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:51<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>UR3EE<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KN88DC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ukraine</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">09/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:57<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>S52LM<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN65TX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slovenia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">09/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:18<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>WA1NPZ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FN43BK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">31/01<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>13:56<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RW6HM<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>LN14SF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I2FAK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN45OB<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:32<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RW3QJA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO90PH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:58<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>SV6KRW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KM09KP<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Greece</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:10<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>OK1UGA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO80CF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Czech Republic</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:24<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>S51ZO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN86DR<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slovenia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:32<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>OK1NI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO70OQ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Czech Republic</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:40<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>R3PA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO93JV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>23:26<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>PA5Y<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO21VO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Netherlands</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">06/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:44<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">06/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:58<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RX1AS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO59XW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>S51ZO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN86DR<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slovenia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:40<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">08/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>22:48<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK2DDR<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55GN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">10/03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>00:06<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>HA6NQ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN98WA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Hungary</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">03/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:02<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">03/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:22<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>PA9RX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO32BW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Netherlands</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:34<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I3MEK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55SJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:40<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:59<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ON4AOI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO21BA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Belgium</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">04/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:45<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RU3GX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO92SO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">28/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:34<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK2DDR<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55GN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">28/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:54<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F6HVK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN27LH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>France</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">28/04<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15:46<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>S52LM<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN65TX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slovenia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">29/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:44<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>HA6NQ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN98WA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Hungary</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">30/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16:14<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK7EZN<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN90DG<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">30/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16:57<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I2FAK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN45OB<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">30/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18:58<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>LZ2FO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KN13KX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bulgaria</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">30/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:25<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>WA1NPZ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>FN43BK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">30/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:45<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KU8Y<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EN61UW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">31/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18:17<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EB5EEO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IM98PG<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Spain</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">31/05<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:31<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>UR3EE<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KN88DC<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ukraine</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">01/06<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18:38<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>S51LM<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN65TX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Slovenia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">01/06<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:00<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F6HVK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN27LH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>France</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">01/06<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>19:16<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IW4ARD<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN64FD<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">01/06<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:58<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ES3RF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO29IF<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Estonia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">19/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16:33<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I3MEK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN55SJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">19/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>16:58<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>K5QE<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EM31CJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">22/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:03<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>UX5UL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO50FL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ukraine</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">22/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:47<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IW4ARD<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN64FD<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">22/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>18:11<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>W7OJT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>DM24UL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">23/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15:41<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>AA5C<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EM13SE<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">24/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>17:40<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>EA5CJ<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IM99PL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Spain</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">25/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15:23<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F4DJK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN15AI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>France</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">25/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>15:37<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I2RV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN45PL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">28/07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20:24<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">14/08<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>10:32<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RK3FG<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO86HP<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">20/08<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:07<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>DK3WG<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO71GI<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Germany</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">13/09<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>13:28<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KE7NR/P<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>DM54AH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>United States</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">16/09<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>13:57<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>LZ2FO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KN13KX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bulgaria</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">19/09<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:37<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK1UWL<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN33VT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">19/09<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>14:44<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RX1AS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO59XW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">29/11<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:41<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RX1AS<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>KO59XW<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Russia</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">29/11<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:49<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>PA5Y<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JO21VO<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Netherlands</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">29/11<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:56<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>OK1DIX<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN79HT<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Czech Republic</p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">02/12<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>21:48<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>IK4WLV<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>JN54XK<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Italy </p><div><br /></div>Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-87267216036959042892020-10-13T07:19:00.003-07:002020-10-13T07:19:50.219-07:0023cm on two Watts and a prayer<p>A few month back one of the members of my radio club posted to the clubs group.io group that he had participated in the April 23cm UKAC using a his new IC9700 and a tri-band vertical and managed three OSO's. </p><p>His foray into the world of 23cm's had me dusting off my SG-Labs 23cm transverter I had bought a few years previous and had sat on the shelf and actually give it a whirl. </p><p>The transverter is the MKII version and has a power output of 2.5W so real QRP compared to the IC9700's 10W. The only antenna I had was a similar tri-band (Comet GP-95N) with a gain of 12.8dBi if you believe that? The feeder was 15m of Ecoflex 10 so feed losses were going to be around 2.47dB. So all things considered ERP would be around 16.5W. </p><p>Using an FT817 with the above setup I entered my first 23cm UKAC and was amazed to work 7 stations with the best DX being G3MEH at 105km. </p><p>I can't remember now if I used the ON4KST microwave chat during the first contest but I believe I didn't but with all subsequent contests I did. </p><p>Anyway I was actually amazed I did so well with such low power and polarisation mismatch but that one contest had given me the incentive to do the next contest.</p><p>For the June contest I made the easiest change I could and bought an 18 element Yagi a PA1296-18-1.5RB from Antenna Amplifier in Serbia. The antenna gives a reported gain of 17.16dBi this of course gave me an increase in ERP from 16.5W to 45W which should give me improvement of around half an S-point and of course the 30dB improvement from having no polarisation mismatch. </p><p>You can see from the table below there has been a steady improvement in points and DX though in August there was some great tropo as shown by the fact I worked OZ1FF on 2W though it was mainly sea path but neither the less I was extremely happy.</p><table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="height: 180px; text-align: left; width: 500px;"><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align: top;">Month</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">QSO's</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">Points<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">DX Km<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">May</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">7<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">1877<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">105<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">June</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">11</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">2154<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">105<br />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">July</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">11<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">3070<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">180</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">August</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">11<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">3624<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">208</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">September<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">19</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">8357<br />
</td>
<td style="vertical-align: top;">670<br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><br /><div>So the next easy upgrade will be replacing the current feed cable with Ultraflex 13 but that will only yield another dB but it will be in place for the October contest. </div><div><br /></div><div>Next up will be finishing off the 80W amplifier I'm building and sticking it in a box. The finished unit will have a LPF by John G3XDY, a 80W PA based up John G4BAO well known design with a homebrew controller to switch the pa and tvrx while also displaying output power, temp and VSWR. </div>Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-43455660843990860232020-05-15T08:55:00.000-07:002020-05-15T08:55:10.358-07:00BG7TBL FA-2 Frequency Counter ReviewI’ve recently been playing around with creating my own GPSDO based upon an Arduino and Si5351a synthesiser and needed away to check the accuracy and all had to hand was a rather old Racal 9001 6 digit counter which wasn’t cutting the mustard.<br />
<br />
A friend of mine recommended a BG7TBL FA-2 with a precision of 11 digits/second at 10MHz which can be bought from eBay for around £100 pounds including postage which is a lot cheaper than buying an older Racal 1998 10 digit counter which go for silly money.<br />
<br />
For your £100 you get the following:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Two channels one for measuring between 1Hz - 200MHz and the other between 200MHz and 6GHz.</li>
<li>A sensitivity between 20dBm to -20dBm.</li>
<li>0.1, 1 and 10 second gate times.</li>
<li>A frequency resolution at 10MHz of 0.001Hz with a 0.1/s gate, 0.0001Hz with a 1/s gate and 0.00001Hz with a 10/s gate.</li>
<li>Switchable input impedance on CH1 between 50 and 1M ohms.</li>
<li>150kHz switchable LPF on CH1.</li>
<li>10MHz internal OCXO frequency standard with 0.5Hz/yr ageing.</li>
<li>RF power meter able to measure between 20dBm to -50dBm.</li>
<li>10MHz frequency standard at 4dBm.</li>
<li>10MHz external frequency standard.</li>
<li>USB serial interface.</li>
<li>12 Vdc PSU.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXb39cIHjE8cgKIw6YWBkAVKJIqs9fDFXE11of3udWL6oC9G1-v3wg4AzYM44ZdyHWVOBTAy8yJcbnXWKPpoqN8aXU5CgjTrqFPEaDy4LKWExA6kPvbOZVHGWAEuj6UDBra-8uFjiM8h4/s1600/FrontPanel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1600" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXb39cIHjE8cgKIw6YWBkAVKJIqs9fDFXE11of3udWL6oC9G1-v3wg4AzYM44ZdyHWVOBTAy8yJcbnXWKPpoqN8aXU5CgjTrqFPEaDy4LKWExA6kPvbOZVHGWAEuj6UDBra-8uFjiM8h4/s400/FrontPanel.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In the above picture of the front panel you can see its very simplistic consisting of three push and the two channel sockets. <br />
<br />
The mode button lets you switch between channels and whether or not to display averaging. Gate allows to you to select one of the three gate options. RST allows you to reset the averaging when displayed.<br />
<br />
Some buttons operate in tandem with another to select additional options such as RST+GATE to turn the LPF on and off, RST+MODE switch between input impedances on CH1.<br />
<br />
The rear panel has the 10MHz reference input and outputs, USB interface, DC power socket an on / off switch and access to an internal trimmer to adjust the internal OCXO.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXCfuCBfzePGNg3p_LPzK9ry1ZRQ2V7PxSf_3OkGyaclgSb_9XDR4oOMXLdp2c2oKs1UId3RDUDOnqfB3uo5yXCkEBad9mPYSe85wFEas5I5cwfXomys4HWHORMV4bxDiyed1AHA3FjQ/s1600/BackPanel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXCfuCBfzePGNg3p_LPzK9ry1ZRQ2V7PxSf_3OkGyaclgSb_9XDR4oOMXLdp2c2oKs1UId3RDUDOnqfB3uo5yXCkEBad9mPYSe85wFEas5I5cwfXomys4HWHORMV4bxDiyed1AHA3FjQ/s400/BackPanel.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
To test the unit I used a LeoBodnar single output GPSDO locked to six satellites with a SNR greater than 40dB and set to 10MHz at -3dBm.<br />
<br />
The Bodnar has a stated accuracy of 1ppb (parts per billion). At 10MHz a we should should see a deviation of +/- 0.01Hz.<br />
<br />
I wrote a piece of Python code to log the data from the USB serial interface and saved the data to CSV which I then processed again using Python and the matplotlib graphing library you can grab the code from https://github.com/M0WGF/RadioOddsAndSods<br />
<br />
Both the FA-2 and GPSDO were kept at a fairly constant temperature of 18 degrees C for three hours before the test began.<br />
<br />
On the FA-2 channel one was selected with the input set an impedance of 50 ohms, the LPF switched off and a 1/s gate time.<br />
<br />
With the GPSDO connected and locked I switched the FA-2 on and started logging and to be honest went off for a cuppa thinking it would take awhile to stabilise and as you can see from the following chart that wasn’t at all the case.<br />
<br />
You can see in the first five minutes there’s a rapid decrease before dipping below and returning to 10MHz as the OCXO heats up. The first data point being taken at 16:37.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwHTPmVRTvKG4z9i5vzjYWUMt4SdF2mc0hnDz6paltajtChXhXcHl-ySgB12PYrTiV6onbjcE9xgspNwM2i-UZaZwVq9drVR_65_D5d78NqR0kqLWCmU9_OIxAmoFS7Y2HHANCIXdSqP0/s1600/BG7_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwHTPmVRTvKG4z9i5vzjYWUMt4SdF2mc0hnDz6paltajtChXhXcHl-ySgB12PYrTiV6onbjcE9xgspNwM2i-UZaZwVq9drVR_65_D5d78NqR0kqLWCmU9_OIxAmoFS7Y2HHANCIXdSqP0/s400/BG7_01.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Below we zoom in just before the frequency dip.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtgvAG681ATN7I4Ut_IKTSfCyZlkUDgkgJQII0icJzt9UzB3WaGj2ji_oapEuXD3j62CFLcO6od9f5T80x2AN0KCb0ytWJJ5pAk9W4-w_u5TExbz9uUgIXxkyfBQwLmOLViiHcP_ADo4/s1600/BG7_02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtgvAG681ATN7I4Ut_IKTSfCyZlkUDgkgJQII0icJzt9UzB3WaGj2ji_oapEuXD3j62CFLcO6od9f5T80x2AN0KCb0ytWJJ5pAk9W4-w_u5TExbz9uUgIXxkyfBQwLmOLViiHcP_ADo4/s400/BG7_02.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As you can see the measured frequency at this scale is near as dammit spot on within thirteen minutes of switching the unit.<br />
<br />
Next lets zoom in further and see how the stability looks in much finer detail.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbry8ANU9rDVp_nFz7DzUNCsh7dwF9AdKudBaEGJerE-w9cAtd1-xi9DVdR8fxL6RhKYj7g9ihx7JnfTDgtnDXAZ62-LksKHVUv3ulYbHzn_pbgl81DjK3vuFT7nmCH8kIQPeuk46iKc/s1600/BG7_03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFbry8ANU9rDVp_nFz7DzUNCsh7dwF9AdKudBaEGJerE-w9cAtd1-xi9DVdR8fxL6RhKYj7g9ihx7JnfTDgtnDXAZ62-LksKHVUv3ulYbHzn_pbgl81DjK3vuFT7nmCH8kIQPeuk46iKc/s400/BG7_03.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
As you can see the readings from the FA-2 are well within the +/- 0.01Hz measurement we were expecting from the Bodnar GPSDO. <br />
<br />
I would have liked to be able to check the accuracy in the GHz range but sadly I don’t possess an accurate signal source at those frequencies.<br />
<br />
All in all I think for £100 unit from eBay it’s performance is excellent so if you’re in need of a cheap frequency counter the FA-2 seems to be a bit of a bargain.<br />
<br />
<br />Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-60914718703665547102020-03-30T14:31:00.002-07:002020-04-19T10:17:00.422-07:00QO-100 VFO display for Elecraft K3s and Yaesu FT817I've been using SDR-Console to listen to QO100 and now I've almost completed my uplink equipment I want some way of seeing what the uplink frequency should be when tuned to a particular downlink one so I knocked up a quick Python script to show me what the uplink and downlink frequency would be when tuning my Elecraft K3s or FT817.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNspR_iPy16TIX4b3cLXJxDFpvVflo6tnW-W_6UUP-eVt1f7bnnLvZ_FGHzxO-elwrEsQTWem8_CrjMYOaz3QaQ9rCgsj_DdbWHML5Fpf_qtiluRi5So_9HDyiN03mek_TJivHS4qZQ2A/s1600/QO100uplinkVFO.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="507" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNspR_iPy16TIX4b3cLXJxDFpvVflo6tnW-W_6UUP-eVt1f7bnnLvZ_FGHzxO-elwrEsQTWem8_CrjMYOaz3QaQ9rCgsj_DdbWHML5Fpf_qtiluRi5So_9HDyiN03mek_TJivHS4qZQ2A/s320/QO100uplinkVFO.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To use it you'll need Python 3 with PyQt5 and PySerial installed. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Edit the config.ini and set the LO in Hertz which in my case was my 70cm so 432000000</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Example:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table class="highlight tab-size js-file-line-container" data-paste-markdown-skip="" data-tab-size="8" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(36, 41, 46); color: #24292e; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14px; tab-size: 8;"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td class="blob-code blob-code-inner js-file-line" id="LC1" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: SFMono-Regular, Consolas, "Liberation Mono", Menlo, monospace; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre; word-wrap: normal;">[CONFIG]
LO = 432000000
PORT = COM10
BAUD = 38400
POLL = 0.01
RIG = K3S</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To start the application from the command line do. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
python QO100uplinkVFO.py</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If that'll be useful you can download the software from <a href="https://github.com/M0WGF/RadioOddsAndSods">GitHub</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-17406769180096806852020-01-23T14:30:00.003-08:002020-01-23T14:36:55.942-08:00Your stations crap why can't you hear me?When I moved to the Isle of Sheppey radio gaining my amateur radio licence wasn't on my mind I was doing some radio astronomy taking hydrogen line measurements of the milkyway so I didn't buy a property with the idea of operating a VHF/UHF station from it. <br />
<br />
I've had a number of comments in the 2m UKAC with why can't you hear me? Your station is crap.<br />
<br />
Well there's a couple of reasons.<br />
<ol>
<li>The noise floor at this location is around -125dBm all year round and in fact in winter is can be even higher.</li>
<li>The tropology of the location.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well number is primary worse than it was due to stacking the antennas and I still need to get someone up on the mast to understack the array for me. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Number two however is obviously nothing I can change short of moving house and I'm not doing that. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My QTH is around 40m above sea level and to boot I live on the side of a hill, consequently in certain directions I have a great take off and in others I might as well unplug the antenna and use a wet piece of string. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway to show the issue I've taken some tropology profiles which hopefully should show why if you live towards the East of my location I have such trouble in hearing you. 😀<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPdBlgShzWU_RUcMedYTuvB2DSJEAYtID0VfxSC-gYHbo28WBBQCfcwTF9j-RpmVrnKBTBZ8pOjeNN95J1azHw1rgw2-qi5S3kBBg7ACBe6fYz2-xza1GijLDWahCuPsC48RjZHipEa4/s1600/North.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPdBlgShzWU_RUcMedYTuvB2DSJEAYtID0VfxSC-gYHbo28WBBQCfcwTF9j-RpmVrnKBTBZ8pOjeNN95J1azHw1rgw2-qi5S3kBBg7ACBe6fYz2-xza1GijLDWahCuPsC48RjZHipEa4/s400/North.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddScMJy4Z9UnaWkRSoe8VRih21MMBi50_9vns8h3BzG8oUBNelktxxWOBj2QexG6ytYVPlqzeudSHf8Dtbs-rkO97SYyK_4stxKv2CUv-B9D1YWMLDoGIxMAbBOX5i0D15f3_7PcpRJ4/s1600/45deg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddScMJy4Z9UnaWkRSoe8VRih21MMBi50_9vns8h3BzG8oUBNelktxxWOBj2QexG6ytYVPlqzeudSHf8Dtbs-rkO97SYyK_4stxKv2CUv-B9D1YWMLDoGIxMAbBOX5i0D15f3_7PcpRJ4/s400/45deg.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">45 Degrees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWJ2zEL8dpfbPrhr-oPMlE6d5WiDvOGzGCm4_BNeowSuW8RtiXPzfAqLcVdxglKFz4CoYuSzlUDweFplZAVECBfTlFKW_GB13Yzbby8DbkS4BWoeFI26W5lYBwbgnhMTfEM10hUNOxro/s1600/East.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWJ2zEL8dpfbPrhr-oPMlE6d5WiDvOGzGCm4_BNeowSuW8RtiXPzfAqLcVdxglKFz4CoYuSzlUDweFplZAVECBfTlFKW_GB13Yzbby8DbkS4BWoeFI26W5lYBwbgnhMTfEM10hUNOxro/s400/East.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JstU-O7eglsEzFMV_AsNrZYEtbEyRTaMznxZThyFj1PIq7HAbXW2hv-DL7eecG9KuehZ4RVk6P1zr7tlTJ7pUHv0PBqDAz8cOrLSrJ96OU1Jv3cGq7013Au8qymbVK0gXmP5SwPJkEc/s1600/135deg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JstU-O7eglsEzFMV_AsNrZYEtbEyRTaMznxZThyFj1PIq7HAbXW2hv-DL7eecG9KuehZ4RVk6P1zr7tlTJ7pUHv0PBqDAz8cOrLSrJ96OU1Jv3cGq7013Au8qymbVK0gXmP5SwPJkEc/s400/135deg.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">135 Degrees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3pkKXdM5rz3KQXiFVxj0XlBxxmEE3yJfpGVA8uFCGf70Yy4mL1YQWFWhAs7_OXWYRF-t9kvaYJJImIRzGkfLsrjRNxzvxqFUuz01JCWe0NiMmwAH25Xh6A9ikjmBFYLn54zxYZvlUV0/s1600/South.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3pkKXdM5rz3KQXiFVxj0XlBxxmEE3yJfpGVA8uFCGf70Yy4mL1YQWFWhAs7_OXWYRF-t9kvaYJJImIRzGkfLsrjRNxzvxqFUuz01JCWe0NiMmwAH25Xh6A9ikjmBFYLn54zxYZvlUV0/s400/South.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtV5t4oO81bCeL04In7jA8ve8Afvc7KgJUdxr-IxX9zA7XqRfsQ0iiIqXrazA-ax4FrOWkMHR08jcVi5upUUIxSzzmp7NQ5DlU06ZxmOEW1mk0jvSRfruPmMtVl7B1_sKoO2z-d7cHiY/s1600/225deg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtV5t4oO81bCeL04In7jA8ve8Afvc7KgJUdxr-IxX9zA7XqRfsQ0iiIqXrazA-ax4FrOWkMHR08jcVi5upUUIxSzzmp7NQ5DlU06ZxmOEW1mk0jvSRfruPmMtVl7B1_sKoO2z-d7cHiY/s400/225deg.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">225 Degrees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0Q9UjcYmlOeWXZKzA3tPnUuIUELLiG1-qVw7qTCspTtGM-HnM4otEeANITS46JaXLXmSTzTY_frzIGNlfeZEtzDBHY5v300YYHNZeUwuV4bbyw2HjqMCR71dI5385kBcSH4DV1Lzi48/s1600/West.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0Q9UjcYmlOeWXZKzA3tPnUuIUELLiG1-qVw7qTCspTtGM-HnM4otEeANITS46JaXLXmSTzTY_frzIGNlfeZEtzDBHY5v300YYHNZeUwuV4bbyw2HjqMCR71dI5385kBcSH4DV1Lzi48/s400/West.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuNvNdGVkzjHnyf8azOURiCNiyE5bKFTo0M0A6pPqS0hopF2X8Yu93jQQ0ymK5iEGybNgsnjyRt7ZIEQ5U93_Dt0LB5KclIf9MKvzT5PbnyKjZcBJCqD6r1__xHVGzbGioxaXR77RohA/s1600/315deg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="1600" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuNvNdGVkzjHnyf8azOURiCNiyE5bKFTo0M0A6pPqS0hopF2X8Yu93jQQ0ymK5iEGybNgsnjyRt7ZIEQ5U93_Dt0LB5KclIf9MKvzT5PbnyKjZcBJCqD6r1__xHVGzbGioxaXR77RohA/s400/315deg.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">315 Degrees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You can see the take off in all directions on the <a href="https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=R913WL9P" target="_blank">HeyWhatsThat</a> website.</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-71470181418335479452020-01-01T15:47:00.000-08:002020-01-01T15:47:07.620-08:00Squares, squares, squares 2019Well the squares are in for 2019 I had quite a big improvement on 2m and sadly a slightly worse on 70cm oh well hopefully the new 70cm amplifier will give an improvement. <br />
<br />
For 2018 I managed 86 squares on 2m and for 2019 I've managed a massive improvement of 150 squares.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchvKMx9if11oHh36TLcwlYGKg6vA-bj_1AdQiSWdE_sFbnNLLPdS-KP3QUUfNOaZIIbB1U2DS1Zu7d7txhssNDYwifzQ5PW-ni8ScedoyKT3-2Y8gN7qVfCxRcyd021lHI41ASJNY6Bo/s1600/2019sQUAREStOTAL.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1230" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjchvKMx9if11oHh36TLcwlYGKg6vA-bj_1AdQiSWdE_sFbnNLLPdS-KP3QUUfNOaZIIbB1U2DS1Zu7d7txhssNDYwifzQ5PW-ni8ScedoyKT3-2Y8gN7qVfCxRcyd021lHI41ASJNY6Bo/s400/2019sQUAREStOTAL.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2m Squares 2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
On 70cm in 2018 I managed 25 squares while this year I only managed 24 which is a pity but then I still have an issue with my 70cm setup in that it's semi-permanent.<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-TGlpuAaN9EnY6N76yZg0gVuxVhCd10pbhRwUBsAZDTwrwpyBAdo-q36J0a7oJDbt-LjmPat-AqNhOBuqsXlBZCBJi7C7C8r-PMMy9F25ZOLNzX__o6n9yATVvwZk3X5vUB3zKA8wfM/s1600/219_70CM_SQRS.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="924" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-TGlpuAaN9EnY6N76yZg0gVuxVhCd10pbhRwUBsAZDTwrwpyBAdo-q36J0a7oJDbt-LjmPat-AqNhOBuqsXlBZCBJi7C7C8r-PMMy9F25ZOLNzX__o6n9yATVvwZk3X5vUB3zKA8wfM/s400/219_70CM_SQRS.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm Squares 2019 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<a href="https://m0wgf.blogspot.com/2019/01/squares-squares-squares-2018.html">Here's a link to last years squares round up.</a><br /><div>
<br /><br /></div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-46443252350458393472019-12-24T15:51:00.001-08:002020-12-17T14:38:12.881-08:00First two months of moon bounce operationsI finally became QRV on 2m EME on the 9th of November 2019 with my first QSO with K9MRI. <br />
<br />
I wasn't exactly trying to have a QSO but Joseph popped up on the waterfall as was so strong I thought what the hell I'd give ago and low and behold we managed my first QSO, happy days!<br />
<br />
My system isn't yet optimised and in fact I suffer with a lot of local QRM which is hampering activity but I think with some modifications to the antenna system in the new year should help greatly. <br />
<br />
A pre-amp may be worth trying but I think there's probably to much noise here to able to use one but only time will see.<br />
<br />
Anyway here's my first dozen EME QSO's.<br />
<br />
<table style="table-layout: fixed; width: 65%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">Date Time</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">Time</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">Callsign</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">Locator</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">Distance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">------ </td>
<td style="width: 20%;">------ </td>
<td style="width: 20%;">------ </td>
<td style="width: 20%;">------ </td>
<td style="width: 20%;">------ </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">09/11/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">23:13</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">K9MRI</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">EN70IU</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">6352km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">17/11/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">00:17</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">UA3PTW</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">KO93BS</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">2506km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">07/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">16:17</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">RX1AS</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">KO59XW</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">2143km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">08/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">16:49</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">I2FAK</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">JN45OB</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">943km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">08/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">19:27</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">UR3EE</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">KN88DC</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">2552km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">11/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">19:32</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">HB9Q</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">JN47CG</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">709km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">11/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">19:49</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">S52LM</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">JN65TX</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">1119km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">14/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">21:05</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">I3MEK</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">JN55SJ</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">1038km</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 20%;">14/12/19</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">21:15</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">RK3FG</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">KO86HP</td>
<td style="width: 20%;">2380km</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-12634926825976236372019-12-17T06:57:00.000-08:002020-03-28T09:59:37.809-07:00Dual Transverter IF switch and Sequencers for Elecraft K3 / K3s<div style="color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br />
I have a medical condition called Muscular Dystrophy which results in the muscles of body slowly atrophying over time which has resulted in my hand muscles weakening to the point I struggle connecting and disconnecting any type of RF connector; this poses a problem in that I use transverters for my 2m and 70cm systems and constantly need to swap the 28MHz IF lines.<br />
<br />
A sequencer is also employed to ensure any pre-amps are switched out of the TX signal path as well as to ensure hot switching doesn’t occur to any relays when RF is generated by the exciter.<br />
<br />
My original setup used a single sequencer shared between transverters and other devices and though this was perfectly adequate I wanted the new system to have separate sequences where each event could be configured or modified at a later date without too much hassle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwqsZ8ZhaDajfkjjDAq-VMJQvG1kZTHsQkexq8dKrK8MAQkt-VrfZCiFBK2ekZloOcg1POURHDxMVmfEiRKSMSpJCVTSWXWREVQnyTVsnaDvk5u3z2nk-KWNlfZO1awwBHIkSVPjVMZU/s1600/Old_Setup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="650" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwqsZ8ZhaDajfkjjDAq-VMJQvG1kZTHsQkexq8dKrK8MAQkt-VrfZCiFBK2ekZloOcg1POURHDxMVmfEiRKSMSpJCVTSWXWREVQnyTVsnaDvk5u3z2nk-KWNlfZO1awwBHIkSVPjVMZU/s400/Old_Setup.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Setup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Both of the transverters were built with a single RF port with an internal relay however this isn’t ideal and so I decided to modify both my transverters to provide a separate RX and TX RF ports.<br />
<br />
My station also utilises a Wavenode RF power meter to monitor in real-time the VSWR of each antenna. In the event of a high VSWR the Wavenode closes an internal relay this can be used to connect to an external monitor to cease operation of the station.<br />
<br />
I recently purchased an Elecraft K3S (K3) which provides both RX and TX IF ports with the TX port output at 0dBm giving the correct level of drive for the transverters.<br />
<br />
While reading the K3 manual I discovered the ACC port provides four TTL level logic gates where a combination of the four indicates which band is currently selected.<br />
<br />
So with the above in mind, I decided to completely re-engineer the station to give the best receive and transmit performance I could get on the 2m and 70cm bands, reduce the amount of cable swapping and have separate sequencers for each of the transverters<br />
<br />
The ACC port can provide PTT and TX inhibit functions which again would also reduce the amount of cabling required.<br />
<br />
The ACC port consists of a DE-15 socket where pins 3, 9, 13 and 14 provide access to the TTL logic gates and pins 7 and 10 provide the TX inhibit (TXINHIB), which can be configured to inhibit the exciter on either a high or low state and KEYOUT-LP (PTT) which provides a 10mA sink to ground.<br />
<br />
This was exactly what I needed to create a single control unit to switch IF lines, provide an independent sequencer to each transverter chain and to ensure that no RF was generated until all events in each sequence was completed all at the press of the band selector button on the K3 after some thought I came up with the following station configuration.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgB_-VL8PMm5c9fdVA-ijZiGePYUd5PF9DgjsxMaXgnH9SiQ_c0ySUwhk-dJW9PTcnRkWMTpMPONXTIXK5jc_D-_A6xn3cWXBKFfrKCKo3xLkDEnMNRk8r2Eql-dhDtMB7MNNqPbZDVs/s1600/NEW_Setup_VISIO.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="746" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgB_-VL8PMm5c9fdVA-ijZiGePYUd5PF9DgjsxMaXgnH9SiQ_c0ySUwhk-dJW9PTcnRkWMTpMPONXTIXK5jc_D-_A6xn3cWXBKFfrKCKo3xLkDEnMNRk8r2Eql-dhDtMB7MNNqPbZDVs/s400/NEW_Setup_VISIO.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Setup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The K3s band logic gates can be configured in one of three ways NOR for HF bands only, TRN for transverters only and HF-TRN for both the HF bands and transverters. I selected the TRN setting which made reading the TTL logic simpler as it only requires knowing the current state of two of the logic gates instead of the four gates required for the NOR or HF-TRN configurations.<br />
<br />
From here on forward when I reference bands it is taken to also include the transverters.<br />
<br />
The band switch logic matrix for the K3 is shown below.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXi7yUdZGMbC0VE4XkLd3-wImCf-2P8xsHa4vfHa28RA8-obLrCEBTWgtHzTltdrKxhjDGOnjDa470R4wHC0dT6Q3kJoQ1630uNvJnJ5fprM-3lHX6n-bvYiItqV1_rz2SWGoTI9mVKdc/s1600/Screenshot+2019-12-17+at+14.32.50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="872" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXi7yUdZGMbC0VE4XkLd3-wImCf-2P8xsHa4vfHa28RA8-obLrCEBTWgtHzTltdrKxhjDGOnjDa470R4wHC0dT6Q3kJoQ1630uNvJnJ5fprM-3lHX6n-bvYiItqV1_rz2SWGoTI9mVKdc/s400/Screenshot+2019-12-17+at+14.32.50.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">K3 band switch matrix</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As you can see from the table when TRN1 or TRN2 is selected the logic can either be on or off for either band but they can neither be off or on together for band 0 and 1 so any other state would be equal to another band.<br />
<br />
So with the above in mind, I needed firstly someway to read the K3 TTL logic.<br />
<br />
Secondly, to key the 2m and 70cm transverters as well as associated amplifiers a 10mA sink to ground is needed.<br />
<br />
Thirdly the change over relays, Tohtsu CZX-3500, which require 12V and draw around 250mA, which would be held closed for RX operation and released for TX. The CZX-3500’s also have an advantage or providing an extra 20dB of isolation between ports compared to the ones in the transverters which only provided 40dB of isolation.<br />
<br />
Fourthly the ability to control two mini relays to switch the IF lines between transverters.<br />
<br />
It would also be useful to have some indication of which band has been selected as a separate confirmation to the K3, and that events for that band are being sequenced correctly.<br />
<br />
And finally, it would be nice to have some kind of audible alert in the event of a high VSWR.<br />
<br />
I came to the conclusion using an Arduino microcontroller would be the easiest route to getting something working fairly quickly with little expense as well as keeping the electronics side of things simple.<br />
<br />
The Arduino UNO uses an ATMega328P which has 23 general-purpose digital I/O pins available however two are used for serial coms and one for a reset button, two pins are used for an external 16MHz crystal reference, so minus those five I/O pins eighteen pins are available to for other purposes.<br />
<br />
I decided I need the following pins:<br />
<br />
2 pins to read the band switch TTL logic from the K3.<br />
3 pins to light LED’s to indicate which band has been selected on the unit.<br />
2 pins for the IF relays.<br />
1 pin to monitor PTT enabled from the K3.<br />
1 pin for a PTT LED indicator.<br />
1 pin to enable and disable TX Inhibit function on the K3.<br />
1 pin to monitor the VSWR trip alert from the Wavenode RF power meter.<br />
1 pin for the VSWR trip enabled warning buzzer.<br />
1 pin for a VSWR trip reset button, for which I’ll use the default Arduino reset pin.<br />
6 pins for the two sets of three for the sequencer, one set for each band selected.<br />
<br />
Programming the Arduino is fairly straight forwarding using the Arduino IDE from the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/main/software" target="_blank">Arduino website</a>. The language used is a subset of the C/C++ language which is fairly simple to use and there are plenty of resources on the internet to get you started.<br />
<br />
The first iteration of the software was a simple loop that read the state of the I/O pins that monitor the band logic gates on the K3 and lit an LED to indicate which transverter / band was selected.<br />
<br />
What became apparent with this first simple loop was despite the fact there aren’t any mechanical switches the software was experiencing contact bounce. <br />
<br />
Contact bounce is caused when a switch is pressed or released and for a few milliseconds or more the switch state is unstable to get around this problem it is normal to get the state of the I/O pin and store it in variable and then wait for a defined period and check again when the stored state and current state are equal we can be sure the switch is either high or low.<br />
<br />
There were two issues caused by the contact bounce, one if the Arduino was switched on before the K3 then the band selected on the Arduino may not agree with the band selected on the K3 and secondly, when the band was changed on the K3 occasionally the wrong band was detected.<br />
<br />
To resolve for these issues I started writing a routine to take into account the unstable state of the switch while bouncing but in a sudden moment of genius decided not to reinvent the wheel and instead download and installed a library called <a href="https://github.com/thomasfredericks/Bounce2">Bounce2.h</a> which reduced the amount of code I had to write for myself.<br />
<br />
With the contact bounce cured it took an evening to write the software and that included having to remind myself how hardware is referenced on the Arduino, the web is great for these kinds of projects there’s always plenty of example code around if you’re unsure how to do something.<br />
<br />
With the software written the next thing to do was get on with the hardware, now electronics isn’t my forte so this wasn’t something I was looking forward too. <br />
<br />
I knew for sequence events two and three some simple NPN transistors in low side configuration would suffice however for event one I needed the ability to switch between 5V to 48V drawing up to 1A so that in the event I need to replace the change over relays I wouldn’t be restricted in what hardware could be used, so I chose to use a P-Channel MOSFET in a high side configuration.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r3AioHv4uQzJ8cIW9y1vVFlW1K3FE4woOydfxN8uiD5llY4w6JQJHnU_h2uG0oih5yW-Z98Y5oNdO9-WTSIeuuN1kbK_COW_e216v-BVWtzdcI4INyMfQ4w39A-w9D7fCb64kRWw7jo/s1600/PIC+Switch+Configurations.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="1548" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r3AioHv4uQzJ8cIW9y1vVFlW1K3FE4woOydfxN8uiD5llY4w6JQJHnU_h2uG0oih5yW-Z98Y5oNdO9-WTSIeuuN1kbK_COW_e216v-BVWtzdcI4INyMfQ4w39A-w9D7fCb64kRWw7jo/s400/PIC+Switch+Configurations.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Switch Configurations</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I had a discussion with a friend who convinced me that isolating the high voltage side of the circuit would be prudent, it’s not something I would have bothered with however optoisolators are cheap as chips so I decided to isolate all of the sequencer events this would allow me to change the hardware configuration at a later date if I wanted to.<br />
<br />
As I had moved to the optoisolators I decided instead of turning the sequencer event indicator LED’s on direct from the ATMega I/O pins I would instead add an NPN switch in parallel to the optoisolators to sink the LED cathodes to ground instead.<br />
<br />
This seems to be overkill but as MMBT3904 NPN transistors are only five pence each including them wasn’t going to cost any significant amount and ensure if I altered the circuit, later on, I wouldn’t run foul of exceeding the 20mA limit on the ATMega I/O pins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKyPAahcYl4BYxEitt4MIQPnPY0FDzXHWsQTjJN5AikAegIYfIt933SY28UHEpnGQMWCsGJN9ol8u5H4jkCtgs4DakUgU_PKbkCKfzdz2f3y79I2-4Glvcgv9eThiQERN6hJTMO2p7dM/s1600/Complete_Switching_Circuit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1114" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidKyPAahcYl4BYxEitt4MIQPnPY0FDzXHWsQTjJN5AikAegIYfIt933SY28UHEpnGQMWCsGJN9ol8u5H4jkCtgs4DakUgU_PKbkCKfzdz2f3y79I2-4Glvcgv9eThiQERN6hJTMO2p7dM/s400/Complete_Switching_Circuit.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opto-isolated Switch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
The complete circuit diagram is as follows.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3aj1KI703wugXERGlxexQy0bs-S309tbdMoI76ytvmhVrabLnLzIJzduv7i31GepYX1I5LTEjI7pem8dC0Ve56assEpoV2Hmj5gUL1gqQ0mz9OlocTgb_PqlczU920ezpsZLhveG_BM/s1600/PIC+KiCad+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1444" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW3aj1KI703wugXERGlxexQy0bs-S309tbdMoI76ytvmhVrabLnLzIJzduv7i31GepYX1I5LTEjI7pem8dC0Ve56assEpoV2Hmj5gUL1gqQ0mz9OlocTgb_PqlczU920ezpsZLhveG_BM/s400/PIC+KiCad+1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The complete schematic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
With a general plan of action, I decided instead of building the unit on stripboard I would instead have a go at using <a href="https://www.kicad-pcb.org/">KiCad</a>, to develop both the main PCB and front panel LED PCB.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejl_YAVP3ufNELfJK60d335-dYkel7YLeV7buWXkgqn4UzBmIpyUeU2JbMGjLuLWJsqqKhWlU-dVQ3wkDRuP3dHw6DPQOcqZsTtciP9bZqTqo4FYU9fNiE2nHdWZbZMc_NVNPOpfUB64/s1600/PIC+KiCad+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejl_YAVP3ufNELfJK60d335-dYkel7YLeV7buWXkgqn4UzBmIpyUeU2JbMGjLuLWJsqqKhWlU-dVQ3wkDRuP3dHw6DPQOcqZsTtciP9bZqTqo4FYU9fNiE2nHdWZbZMc_NVNPOpfUB64/s400/PIC+KiCad+3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main board</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBOBjMvZ03vUAvlrnD1c9GNDS8JSFMx8xxACJHy3qzSQOw0-n0938ffrg9uLs23REe4ZOMsJdVYmPXDqrYkQ8x1UaNyqbfsf6sUsjPJvg_NIsN0mKXs9zL2b4fsTpqMsR9r60q1vA2TI/s1600/PIC+KiCad+Front+Panel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1600" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBOBjMvZ03vUAvlrnD1c9GNDS8JSFMx8xxACJHy3qzSQOw0-n0938ffrg9uLs23REe4ZOMsJdVYmPXDqrYkQ8x1UaNyqbfsf6sUsjPJvg_NIsN0mKXs9zL2b4fsTpqMsR9r60q1vA2TI/s400/PIC+KiCad+Front+Panel.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I decided to place all the LED indicators, high VSWR buzzer and reset button on a small PCB, shown left, which could then be mounted to the front of the case this removed a lot of wiring that would have been required if I had mount everything individually. I used IDC connectors to connect the two boards.<br />
<br />
The KiCad project files, Gerber files and software can be downloaded from <a href="https://github.com/M0WGF/K3s-IF-switch-and-Sequencer">GitHub</a>.<br />
<br />
I do have a couple of sets of boards spare if anyone wants to build one of these units please drop me an email, see QRZ.com, if interested.<br />
<br />
Once the PCB’s had arrived and populated I mounted them in a Hammond ‘1550’ 275 x 175 x 67mm die-cast enclosure which matched the transverters.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vUGSRoUh-_hYlp6ifKTa9cyNYY0S9KdpkxKg7jYfFVwg9g0EG0PkpHBo0N-PHrZJKenPxSgMnqzOg8_3nMkzcjj6Cf6H-BYErlwWYeQGWrnlVZgoypVQENiDVBvrTJRTwWAwLiemmNE/s1600/IMG_3433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vUGSRoUh-_hYlp6ifKTa9cyNYY0S9KdpkxKg7jYfFVwg9g0EG0PkpHBo0N-PHrZJKenPxSgMnqzOg8_3nMkzcjj6Cf6H-BYErlwWYeQGWrnlVZgoypVQENiDVBvrTJRTwWAwLiemmNE/s400/IMG_3433.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Font Panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dsllVgV9sEA4yQBPKpPON7MNi8uIYWK6RF_L69j__b7Zyh29XgFtLFg_qXUWA1UZIYMBW18Smtjhd6yD5yoH73V3GtfnNgPx2B7F1JOC2Ew0BabIuVlPEI0Y-t_FbhcvvbWolzL43cg/s1600/IMG_3432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dsllVgV9sEA4yQBPKpPON7MNi8uIYWK6RF_L69j__b7Zyh29XgFtLFg_qXUWA1UZIYMBW18Smtjhd6yD5yoH73V3GtfnNgPx2B7F1JOC2Ew0BabIuVlPEI0Y-t_FbhcvvbWolzL43cg/s400/IMG_3432.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear Panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LTN7ZQ9Mi4ZQWYEubhl7cUwZ3eN1MEYGZsc0geEYmnZ90DQFZybHEe-f2g_O-Qos0fAGINiZitDs2XakRVxwPCvhMHmZaFwYffbIiFCXbSW_KiJE1dOL1lFwHgDzMyxe-yli-0fjeOA/s1600/IMG_3435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LTN7ZQ9Mi4ZQWYEubhl7cUwZ3eN1MEYGZsc0geEYmnZ90DQFZybHEe-f2g_O-Qos0fAGINiZitDs2XakRVxwPCvhMHmZaFwYffbIiFCXbSW_KiJE1dOL1lFwHgDzMyxe-yli-0fjeOA/s400/IMG_3435.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-12693141330386714082019-12-16T12:42:00.001-08:002019-12-16T12:42:48.292-08:0070cm 250W Amplifier from secondhand DVB-T PA Part ThreeYou may remember in my first blog post about this amplifier I mentioned I had bought from eBay an LPF for the unit and I was a little worried this wouldn't perform as well as the eBay listing had lead me to believe.<br />
<br />
I've finally managed to get hold of a cheap HP 8594e spectrum analyser from a fellow amateur through the second-hand advertisements in the back of RadCom and the seller very kindly included a nice directional coupler in with it, so with spectrum analyser and coupler in hand, I decided after much reading to finally connect it all up with the amplifier and see what the output looked like. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenOmWNYhUZEGD8ca6lEOi4cUjTNn0NtAPuCM2r3XeKSdESFzgUp1IjSvbyGtqfNDd7f8bBaa9qvQgMuV1DdKyeRmbksG7ZOLnmk-TyWSVhyI9fRQxYUfDKgAUxqe2DE5k5UDH2uYTYz4/s1600/IMG_3536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenOmWNYhUZEGD8ca6lEOi4cUjTNn0NtAPuCM2r3XeKSdESFzgUp1IjSvbyGtqfNDd7f8bBaa9qvQgMuV1DdKyeRmbksG7ZOLnmk-TyWSVhyI9fRQxYUfDKgAUxqe2DE5k5UDH2uYTYz4/s400/IMG_3536.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm Amplifier Output at 140W</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You can see from the above any harmonics that are present are at least -60dBc. The test was performed using the two tone generator within the Elecraft K3s.Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-71029018282402806852019-12-09T07:02:00.001-08:002019-12-09T07:02:35.976-08:0070cm 250W Amplifier from secondhand DVB-T PA Part TwoWith the amplifier built the next item on the list was finding a power supply for it. Originally I was going to use two HP DPS-600PB server supplies in series which would have given around 28V at 55A. <br />
<br />
While building the amplifier I had an email from a fellow amateur Steve G4MJW asking what LPF I was using and we have been helping one another out with ideas since.<br />
<br />
One of Steve suggestions was to use an old Ericsson 27.2V 55A PSU from a RBS 2216 900MHz GSM station which are / were available on <a href="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1PC-Power-Supply-28V-24V-28V-1520W-For-Linear-Amplifier-Army-Surplus/183924836158?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649" target="_blank">eBay</a> for £28 plus postage. The nice thing with the Ericsson PSU over the HP server modules was the fact everything was in one unit. <br />
<br />
I couldn't find much information on these PSU however I did find a <a href="http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/teardown/ericsson-rbs-2216-900-mhz-base-station-teardown/" target="_blank">German website</a> detailing a tear down of the RSB2216 unit including the PSU with a rather handy note that you would adjust one of the trimpots, the one on its own furthest from the three that are in line, to increase the output voltage to 28.2V from the standard 27.2V.<br />
<br />
One thing Steve noticed before me as he ran his for longer than a few minutes was the temperature of the case which was hot to the touch to the point the unit turned itself off. <br />
<br />
I ran mine for and hour and half an in that time the temperature got up to a rather barmy 39 degrees C, so some cooling was in order. <br />
<br />
My original thought was to use some small 30mm fans attached to the rear plate of the unit but in the end I went with two 28V 80mm fans purchased from eBay. <br />
<br />
The fans worked great and in fact I think a single fan would suffice and to be honest two or three 30mm fans on the back would also probably be enough. <br />
<br />
With the fans installed the unit now runs cold so a success all in all.<br />
<br />
The next thing to do was find a way of connecting equipment to the unit and again Steve came to the rescue when he pointed out he'd bought some banana jack sockets from eBay that by chance happened to have a thread big enough to self tap in the original DC power socket. <br />
<br />
All in all modifying the PSU and getting it and running took an afternoon of drilling and filing to fit the fans and 10 minutes to wire it all up. <br />
<br />
I have to thank Steve greatly for coming up with this PSU it saved me an awful lot of mucking around and gave a nicer / safer unit than the HP server supplies.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfoInp_RQa3Z9vVwD6FqpVlPp7x7FknFnQTCT0vhaLal8yQRxvzm1xP386rE2xde4Tbya1Q0921SFgoIX9WTZAFG9xLTKeR2ZX7gpwyGQZnrDPS972r29bkljvYytra7c6n99CQRMU8c/s1600/IMG_3470+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfoInp_RQa3Z9vVwD6FqpVlPp7x7FknFnQTCT0vhaLal8yQRxvzm1xP386rE2xde4Tbya1Q0921SFgoIX9WTZAFG9xLTKeR2ZX7gpwyGQZnrDPS972r29bkljvYytra7c6n99CQRMU8c/s400/IMG_3470+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished PSU</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-63339499725399634812019-11-26T14:32:00.001-08:002019-11-26T14:32:54.927-08:0070cm 250W Amplifier from secondhand DVB-T PA Part OneWhen I last posted in June I mentioned I had bought a secondhand DVB-T PA from a German eBay seller well I've finally got around to putting it all in a box and getting it up and running.<br />
<br />
The PA module is simple to modify and in fact I found during an internet search a website by a Dutch amateur <a href="http://www.pa0ehg.com/70cmpa.htm" target="_blank">PA0EHG</a> who had already modified one of these amplifiers and I followed his instructions which worked perfectly.<br />
<br />
The PA is coupled with a LPF again from eBay which looks like it's a based on a design by Jim W6PQL the specifications where 2nd order harmonics -35dB and 3rd order -55dB with an insertion loss less than 0.15dB. <br />
<br />
When measured with the VNA I found the 3rd order harmonic weren't rejected as much as specified so I expect it might need another coaxial stub filter to drop the 3rd order harmonic a little more.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiCiG834UZ9koW2q2Gu8OIp80vPjcFN9od1qGNMhJeXb8c77SoqbD_Ad9M68n8nBK7AZ4i4-Eo5qBZp8aO05zIhN7K21La0wqJz3CFCXYhzfWCS2jtVDLE8_ynyfU8mGCh4_9dn6temo/s1600/70cm_LPF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1280" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiCiG834UZ9koW2q2Gu8OIp80vPjcFN9od1qGNMhJeXb8c77SoqbD_Ad9M68n8nBK7AZ4i4-Eo5qBZp8aO05zIhN7K21La0wqJz3CFCXYhzfWCS2jtVDLE8_ynyfU8mGCh4_9dn6temo/s400/70cm_LPF.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm eBay LPF filter response.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I put the LPF in a tin box bought from Alan <a href="https://g3nyk.ham-radio-op.net/componen.htm" target="_blank">G3NYK</a> though I had to buy a bigger box than was required and trim it down to size using tin snips.<br />
<br />
To monitor the amplifier I was going to roll my own controller board but again Jim W6PQL has what he calls the <a href="https://www.w6pql.com/amplifier_control_board.htm" target="_blank">ultimate amplifier controller board</a> which at $50 for a kit I thought was a bit of bargain and a lot less hassle than making my own even if half the features of the board aren't being used.<br />
<br />
I stuck all this in a rather large Hammond box so its ended up not being a small amplifier but you go with what you have laying around the shack. <br />
<br />
I painted the case in acrylic paint and though the result was good looking I don't hold out much hope for it's long term durability.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jkkBRcm6QQxYVcJgr6s7zIKFtDL6rixwJKXs57gLDqEgs5WZzhdPjmQjnhDQxqHwG4wjKSBnafOkajgqPdHCRHgOMneoxug3zfKhHmFy9qLPKlPpAn3jhYhxgOICIQFmZfQMfKQromw/s1600/Amp_Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jkkBRcm6QQxYVcJgr6s7zIKFtDL6rixwJKXs57gLDqEgs5WZzhdPjmQjnhDQxqHwG4wjKSBnafOkajgqPdHCRHgOMneoxug3zfKhHmFy9qLPKlPpAn3jhYhxgOICIQFmZfQMfKQromw/s400/Amp_Front.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Thw7tEetu8a1aDHT-YSsN_oGaznHZQ7gc35wkp2bOmWGeKuMedLqHRr_OHC8cBsHkweKDjtWHLAUYPDYXe5Jlpqh2UV60Nc7PQfKk_VNQ2vWv1aadbS9ht5uaNuoML_rnLGPFZaaAtk/s1600/Amp_Rear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Thw7tEetu8a1aDHT-YSsN_oGaznHZQ7gc35wkp2bOmWGeKuMedLqHRr_OHC8cBsHkweKDjtWHLAUYPDYXe5Jlpqh2UV60Nc7PQfKk_VNQ2vWv1aadbS9ht5uaNuoML_rnLGPFZaaAtk/s400/Amp_Rear.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reat Panel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJd_HorrH46S5jlBFuRuQskCMyPsh6-fSnQn84sYCKvjxyoGOTLr5SXCe8GIQ4QMsEnm2_ZrIzAwr6zWoABnG2WnGW7R4OeJj7WBodeOpZveNcgeeuZZW326AEO-n8V4FGWHghLiaLT1I/s1600/Amp_Top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJd_HorrH46S5jlBFuRuQskCMyPsh6-fSnQn84sYCKvjxyoGOTLr5SXCe8GIQ4QMsEnm2_ZrIzAwr6zWoABnG2WnGW7R4OeJj7WBodeOpZveNcgeeuZZW326AEO-n8V4FGWHghLiaLT1I/s400/Amp_Top.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top View</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrMyrGyLjD8M7glxTas_UianbNeTMrA68SPpR6_geLXh0dc7n9K-22sjPIMWVxIR_SIPInB226HwDEjj2vKEWEwJRLwpSDS5Sud_WEc6lX31Qyebkv1O9iSAq1fk2_vSG4iBjFSpOEZw/s1600/Amp_Internal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrMyrGyLjD8M7glxTas_UianbNeTMrA68SPpR6_geLXh0dc7n9K-22sjPIMWVxIR_SIPInB226HwDEjj2vKEWEwJRLwpSDS5Sud_WEc6lX31Qyebkv1O9iSAq1fk2_vSG4iBjFSpOEZw/s400/Amp_Internal.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Internals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
The amp requires a quite hefty PSU 31V 17A but more on that in later post.<br />
<div>
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Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-68843358957432246122019-11-09T15:50:00.002-08:002019-11-09T16:08:42.033-08:00First EME QSO.I've just spent a couple of days listening to the moon and getting nowhere using WSJT-X.<br />
<br />
When I use WSJT-X with the K3s I have a hell of time trying to the get the RX levels right with the K3s LIN OUT set to 1 the PC Microphone level is set at 0.4dB the RX level indicator in WSJTX is still at 60dB and I haven't a clue why, anyway the upshot is I only had a couple of decodes.<br />
<br />
Anyway I switched to MSHV and low and behold multi decodes within 60 minutes of using it, yippie!<br />
<br />
So with half an hour before bed I noticed K9MRI in EN70IU and thought what the heck I'd give it ago not expecting much with such a small antenna array and low and behold we completed.<br />
<br />
I'm now off to party it's been a hard slog getting that first QSO via EME and I'm ecstatic or should that be over the moon?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oafZsV9FwVFQoULB7gDWk-f0hHvgT481BxvhWeAqEKeYmnhHQ7t-SNlhQ8pCMA1adkCQRTlmiIEcemK0ElczAwGMoRNai9eLGxwMMOPikvakr1BDDd3gV-2XxokB8hOQOLk0jepiKLw/s1600/FirstEMEContact.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="852" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oafZsV9FwVFQoULB7gDWk-f0hHvgT481BxvhWeAqEKeYmnhHQ7t-SNlhQ8pCMA1adkCQRTlmiIEcemK0ElczAwGMoRNai9eLGxwMMOPikvakr1BDDd3gV-2XxokB8hOQOLk0jepiKLw/s400/FirstEMEContact.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First EME contact with K9MRI.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rouxqjrOXuEkj4Qy0mYgu2nASZAGBydgr1TyWPsggtC8Bxy_znFKUJgCKniV7rPhoEpG2B-iaK-xRK5fJefgHSvrnD3k_sLa6-7aZXQ9nzTrnjCYDiNFQPiqwIct1GmCm0dsFRk84Ls/s1600/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+00.07.47.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1434" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rouxqjrOXuEkj4Qy0mYgu2nASZAGBydgr1TyWPsggtC8Bxy_znFKUJgCKniV7rPhoEpG2B-iaK-xRK5fJefgHSvrnD3k_sLa6-7aZXQ9nzTrnjCYDiNFQPiqwIct1GmCm0dsFRk84Ls/s400/Screenshot+2019-11-10+at+00.07.47.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-64869283787267286422019-11-08T15:38:00.001-08:002019-11-10T08:37:14.281-08:00Another change of the 2m antenna system.Though the 2 x 9 Element Powabeams I put up last year worked well I really wished I'd installed a system that had elevation and so I've now replaced the Powabeams with a small array 4 x 6 Element LFA from <a href="https://www.innovantennas.com/en/shop-page/12/1/vhf-uhf-ham-radio-antennas/144mhz-low-noise-lfa-yagis/6-element-144mhz-lfa-yagiInnovAntennas" target="_blank">Innovantennas</a>. <br />
<br />
Justin also provided the H frame as well as a new boom for the 70cm 12 element LFA I had so it could be rear mounted in the centre of the frame. <br />
<br />
While I was buying the antennas I also bought a SPID RAS rotator with Rot2Prog controller but more about that in a later post.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTy8hQzD4FYNEuyI3uuJnxR6_4uFHK7ZYZCkkBdfxBpw1sX-MUIsyu-u9YQ3t1YCaGt9sq7cGz-iVnIpHKgu5CRXcvsNviL6A1evJfaqSXxLHfKfvraYRa-Tp87m9AmkhrDQktEWhTyg/s1600/IMG_3454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTy8hQzD4FYNEuyI3uuJnxR6_4uFHK7ZYZCkkBdfxBpw1sX-MUIsyu-u9YQ3t1YCaGt9sq7cGz-iVnIpHKgu5CRXcvsNviL6A1evJfaqSXxLHfKfvraYRa-Tp87m9AmkhrDQktEWhTyg/s320/IMG_3454.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div>
The new array took around five days to put but mainly down to the fact I hadn't ever installed this type of system and so it took a lot longer than it would if I was to get it all done again. The main time consumer is in the fact I don't have a tilt over mast and so everything has to put up with the aid of an Aluminium tower. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The array tuned up quite well with each beam within a half a dB of RL.<br />
<br />
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Top Left Z 50.6, X 3.7, SWR 1.07, RL 28.6</span></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Top Right Z 52.6, X 3.2, SWR 1.08, RL 28.1</span></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">Bottom Left Z 53.0, X 2.8, SWR 1.08, RL 28.1</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Bottom Right Z 51.9, X 3.6, SWR 1.08, RL 28.2</span> </span></div>
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The whole array including coupler and 16m of Ultraflex 10 gave an SWR of 1.1:1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Justin kindly send me a </span>theoretical<span style="font-family: inherit;"> plot of the array at 8m high with a spacing of 2.2m horizontal and 2m vertical separation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguU4maZJkDJhQ3oI37kMjNqmMRwKB7sZlRF26tml_pYKVDfREnKK6G16rjXzk-gRX_gS63HY4z7JgsKlhOGsEl458AbHeh38Pe-Q6PxqUG8qSORQehcvtGLyOh4VvAUH5zwLbWQovVor8/s1600/2_2X2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="477" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguU4maZJkDJhQ3oI37kMjNqmMRwKB7sZlRF26tml_pYKVDfREnKK6G16rjXzk-gRX_gS63HY4z7JgsKlhOGsEl458AbHeh38Pe-Q6PxqUG8qSORQehcvtGLyOh4VvAUH5zwLbWQovVor8/s400/2_2X2.png" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Theoretical Azimuth Plot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can see from the plot the gain is quoted as 17.36dBi with a F/B of 23dB and beamwidth of 24 degrees. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
I took my own plot using the GB3VHF beacon which is near to me and was about to plot the results out by hand when I did a search for a blank azimuth polar plot and instead came across a great piece of software by Bob Freeth G4HFQ called <a href="https://www.g4hfq.co.uk/download.html" target="_blank">PolarPlot </a> this small piece of software saved me a good amount of plotting everything myself and I highly recommended it.<br />
<br />
I measured the gain as being 18.48dBi with a F/B of 22dB and a beamwidth of 24 degrees so in good agreement with Justins theoretical calculations.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkAeriiqfiFKwd6gax4FjUW9Vxx_IAaecTzJuTZY2fHNMzXtPrE3V8GwAy-iSK7sQpQixEQ_E43z75Nl9ETkhOW2TOj6l-UrhVBZ21rVna-VDAFjtmFYK1huqA4klzManEhYzohkXQFs/s1600/2mArrayAzPlot.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="760" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkAeriiqfiFKwd6gax4FjUW9Vxx_IAaecTzJuTZY2fHNMzXtPrE3V8GwAy-iSK7sQpQixEQ_E43z75Nl9ETkhOW2TOj6l-UrhVBZ21rVna-VDAFjtmFYK1huqA4klzManEhYzohkXQFs/s400/2mArrayAzPlot.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Azimuth plot as actually seen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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The rear lobe are a bit weird but then there isn't much space between the antennas and surrounding builds, hills, slopes, overhead wires but even so it looks very good.<br />
<br />Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-66745620171590824072019-06-14T15:34:00.001-07:002019-06-14T15:34:40.453-07:00Just a quick update to say I'm still kicking. Been a quiet month or so and so I thought I better write something for this blog. ;-)<br />
<br />
First off I got fed up trying to get a clean signal from the Gemini 2-500 PA using the Anglian transverter and Icom 7300. No matter what I seemed to do I could not stop it from occasionally causing splatter, along with the RF surges in power when first keying the transmitter. Now this isn't to say the IC7300 is a bad radio it isn't but it certainly doesn't like playing the transverter and Gemini. So to resolve the issue I went and bought an Elecraft K3S which has resolved all the issues and ok it's an expensive fix but the transmitter of the K3S is certainly worlds ahead of the IC7300, though I do still prefer the audio from the 7300 which is much easier on the ears. <br />
<br />
One of the nice things about using the K3S is the fact it displays the right frequency when using the transverters and in fact with in a few days of having it I also discovered it out from TTL logic from the ACC port so you can interface some kind of transverter switching. <br />
<br />
With the above in mind I wondered if a simple transverter switch and device sequencer could be bought and though I did find a couple they were quiet expensive so I decided to roll my own using an Arduino so a couple of prototypes later I've come up with a design with will switch between my 2m and 70cm transverters and handle the device sequencing for both units below is a couple of screenshots from KiCad of the front panel indicator and main board. I'll do a full write up once I've confirmed all works as expected. <br />
<br />
A quick feature list is as follows.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Handles two transverter. </li>
<li>Provides TX inhibit. </li>
<li>First sequence event can provide 12 - 28V up to a couple of amps to drive change over relays.</li>
<li>Sequence events two and three can sink up to 40mA, though you could chuck in a darlington pair if you want to sequence more relays.</li>
<li>The unit interfaces with my Wavenode so that if a high VSWR is seen the unit automatically ceases transmitting and puts the unit into the default RX mode.</li>
<li>All sequence event are optocoupled to the Arduino just in case a FET or BJT decides to go legs up in a funny way.</li>
</ol>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcTbkz-Hh3GP3Cc25aGo0mHhz64lAvBWSdG_umHobWItxkv_-DCivhJzkEhC4LFTNQ6PbMjvR-Z4iht752aB9xYYZclCOwCLDkPLtw0YZ4-alptwkuIkesmzRsPbYPklMcWnAiHskavk/s1600/Front_Panel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1600" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcTbkz-Hh3GP3Cc25aGo0mHhz64lAvBWSdG_umHobWItxkv_-DCivhJzkEhC4LFTNQ6PbMjvR-Z4iht752aB9xYYZclCOwCLDkPLtw0YZ4-alptwkuIkesmzRsPbYPklMcWnAiHskavk/s400/Front_Panel.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front panel layout from KiCad</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXC9y7sKUCAZ6J_FjRb3KK1gpNc6a72mXd9AerNT8tYDr2FFcXyS4eessAgEgww4YeFgCNCYfh51KYPi3mYH4y92w9ChSzcoI_F_5f_VFoM1TSrk9AvwHY_warZr2pzNosO_nnljM9XnM/s1600/Main_Board.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXC9y7sKUCAZ6J_FjRb3KK1gpNc6a72mXd9AerNT8tYDr2FFcXyS4eessAgEgww4YeFgCNCYfh51KYPi3mYH4y92w9ChSzcoI_F_5f_VFoM1TSrk9AvwHY_warZr2pzNosO_nnljM9XnM/s400/Main_Board.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main board layout from KiCad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I've also got another project on the go in the form of a 70cm 250W amplifier which I bought from eBay from a German amateur which was quite cheap at 55 Euros. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNETcaPCYGpnTgZTLTxuzpjXn2WwQwviYPo5GQJqrEMhUv7cxQs4KHtB4avPaL7S33GHhDmkPBjGMM8b4pq5I7yDbmF6kjAxwUaeA44SRXDqm8yQpYy3JUbp4MS5oC4NzwYS7X-2pHTE/s1600/70cm_250W_PA.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1004" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNETcaPCYGpnTgZTLTxuzpjXn2WwQwviYPo5GQJqrEMhUv7cxQs4KHtB4avPaL7S33GHhDmkPBjGMM8b4pq5I7yDbmF6kjAxwUaeA44SRXDqm8yQpYy3JUbp4MS5oC4NzwYS7X-2pHTE/s400/70cm_250W_PA.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm 250W PA module from eBay.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I rather helpfully came across the website of PA0EHG who had bought the same unit and documented what he had done to get the unit going on the 70cm band so once I've got a replacement RF terminator as the one that came with the unit the solder tab fell off as soon as I touched it I'll power it and see what's what.<br />
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So that's the end of this update I'll do a proper update once everything has progressed a bit further.<br />
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Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-40740649572850320482019-04-03T03:22:00.000-07:002019-04-03T03:22:45.135-07:00The Y FactorOver the past couple of years I’ve been attempting to build a high performance two metre station and as such have been slowly making modifications and upgrades with that goal in mind.
One of the upgrades I carried out was to change from an FT991 to an IC7300 coupled with an Anglian 3L two meter transverter from G4DDK<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>1</sup></span>.<br />
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Though the upgrades and modifications have worked quite well I felt there was still room for improvement but with no quantitative measurements being taken during the upgrades you start to fool yourself with how those changes are actually performing.<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">A good indication of receiver performance is to measure the noise figure, the Anglian 3L has a quoted noise figure of between 1.6 - 1.8 dB whereas the FT991’s noise figure is 5 dB at two metres, so how do we go about doing measuring this for ourselves?</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i>Caveat : I’m not going to talk too much about what is a Y factor measurement or about noise figures in general there are two excellent documents from Keysight that explain both in far more detail than I could do justice, these two documents are called “Fundamentals of RF and Microwave Noise Figure”</i></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i><sup>2</sup></i></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i> and “Noise Figure Measurement Accuracy: The Y-Factor Method”</i></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><i><sup>3</sup></i></span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i>.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">So what does the noise figure represent? Well the noise figure is a measurement of the degradation of the Signal to Noise Ratio introduced into the signal chain by the devices which make up the chain, a lower figure indicates better performance. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">To measure the noise figure of a receiver you require two pieces of equipment a calibrated noise source and a means of taking the measurement.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">A good quality calibrated noise source from Ailgent would cost you hundreds of pounds even for a second hand one which is out of reach of most amateurs. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">There is an alternative however available in the guise of the RXGen noise source from RFDesign</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>4</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">, also available from the same company are the RFD2305 ENR 5dB +/- 0.25dB and the RFD2315 ENR 15dB +/- 0.25dB precision noise sources available for around twice the cost.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The RXGen is a 2MHz - 2.4GHz noise source with a measured ENR (Excess Noise Ratio) of 10dB +/- 0.5dB which costs seventy eight pounds including postage. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">This means you can take measurements with an accuracy of +/- 0.5dB. </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">We will also need someway of measuring the noise figure but again a good quality noise figure meter such as the HP 8970 PANFI is likely to set you back hundreds of pounds second hand. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">We can however use simpler equipment but with the proviso we accept we’ll not be able to measure noise figures below 2dB with any certainty.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">A ‘Y’ factor measurement is defined as the ratio between thermal noise, defined as 290k for a 50ohm calibrated load at an ambient temperature of 17 deg C, and the noise source when switched on, we can make the measurement as a simple voltage ratio or the difference between the two measurements in measured in decibels. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">It’s worth mentioning temperature can have a profound affect on the measured noise figure this especially comes in to play for low noise figures.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">There are a number of ways of taking the measurement the simplest being to use a digital voltmeter, the accuracy of using this method will be dependant on the quality of the meter employed, I used a cheap UNI-T meter and obtained good results despite the meter not being a true RMS model. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">The second method uses a PC’s sound card with either SpectraVue</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>5</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> in continuum mode or an excellent piece of software called NFM from Owen Duffy VK2OMD</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>6</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">So let's try to measure the NF of a Icom 7300 on the 10m band with pre-amp one switched on.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">To measure the noise figure we first need to connect a calibrated 50ohm load to antenna socket.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">The RXGen will act as a 50ohm load when unpowered, technically we should use a calibrated 50ohm load but I’ve found the difference in measured noise figure is smaller than the indicated accuracy of measurement available and as such the RXGen is a perfectly adequate.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Before taking the measurement ensure the radio’s AGC is set to off otherwise set it to its slowest available setting. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Next we need to connect the headphone or speaker output to the DVM, I used a 3.5mm stereo jack to a couple of banana plugs to connect the DVM via the IC7300 headphone socket.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">With the load connected set the radio’s audio gain for a quiescent value of say 50mV.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">You can see in the following image the meter reads 50mV in reality the meter will vary by a few millivolts either way so I tend to watch the meter for a few seconds and take the lowest value.</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA84FBo91OIUjHO9NvI3pzohxRGx_PaZRY-bnnz7kZ7_7zsYLK_lfUTeBbCSS7CV8RckPJsivffOUioxRBFVcEYYzTteuyhqOrumVhxOa-e7wP6BOG-7o17zOIBUqOuNXd4-xi5FPXGs8/s1600/IMAGE_ONE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA84FBo91OIUjHO9NvI3pzohxRGx_PaZRY-bnnz7kZ7_7zsYLK_lfUTeBbCSS7CV8RckPJsivffOUioxRBFVcEYYzTteuyhqOrumVhxOa-e7wP6BOG-7o17zOIBUqOuNXd4-xi5FPXGs8/s400/IMAGE_ONE.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meter reading noise source switched off.</td></tr>
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</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Next we apply power to the RXGen and read the lowest active value in this case 90mV.</span></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYjpW9RA8jNNwqozamZejHF4Y8UioDZP0xi6ElkDUm3Y5V9Fn2i-_orJxPq-uln_6SkSRrw8O42c8RAiOgMwxfpv25FQcsTXnubb71Psd71jXyKg2cXqPIiACkBbRHLJiA784vXtI-MA/s1600/IMAGE_TWO.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYjpW9RA8jNNwqozamZejHF4Y8UioDZP0xi6ElkDUm3Y5V9Fn2i-_orJxPq-uln_6SkSRrw8O42c8RAiOgMwxfpv25FQcsTXnubb71Psd71jXyKg2cXqPIiACkBbRHLJiA784vXtI-MA/s400/IMAGE_TWO.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meter reading noise source switched on.</td></tr>
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</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">To find the Y factor we need to find the ratio between the quiescent and active values, 90 / 50 = 1.8, we can then use the chart supplied with the RXGen to find the noise figure for the given voltage ratio. </span></span></span>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Note you can calculate this by hand using the formulae given in the Keysight documents but with the level of accuracy available with the RXGen the chart method is perfectly adequate.</span></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpreTkjROnY1omTQufHusOhF38a8GAXaxnPMYdsauU91cY0GVi4epo93Gwy5vSn3SjrHhKUHZFvMrODQMI1vaX3ShG_ur2T4ExXYRCDnLCBgsuexOZdPm2NFBz04dypyQf-nIlxI8L3g/s1600/IMAGE_THREE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1120" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpreTkjROnY1omTQufHusOhF38a8GAXaxnPMYdsauU91cY0GVi4epo93Gwy5vSn3SjrHhKUHZFvMrODQMI1vaX3ShG_ur2T4ExXYRCDnLCBgsuexOZdPm2NFBz04dypyQf-nIlxI8L3g/s400/IMAGE_THREE.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measured NF using Voltage ratio method.</td></tr>
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</span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Reading from the above chart the measured noise figure is approximately 6.3dB, which is near to the figure quoted by Icom for the IC7300 of 7.12dB for the 10m band with the first pre-amp switched on.</span></span></span>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">When taking measurements with a DVM I would advise you take more than one reading and take the average however I found even if you do this unless, you have a true RMS meter, the result can be off by +/- 1dB.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">A more accurate way to measure the Y factor is to use SpectraVue, you will need to connect the device to be tested via either its headphone or speaker output to the computers sound card, this can lead to ground loops so it would be best to use a sound card such as the Signalink to carryout any measurement or use a 1:1 isolation transformer. </span>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></span></span>
The IC7300 has a built in sound card so I will use that to carry out the measurement, however this will mean the noise figure of the sound card will also be included in the measurement.<br />
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You can see in the image below SpectraVue is running in continuum mode with FTT averaging and smoothing applied, indicated by the red arrows, with the load connected SpectraVue gives a quiescent value of -83.35dB circled in red.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGeWI6KxUpsBzyyvWzlSTVBWwgid9_gXIoIXxeaETS9wUEMLJU3cBlPPQJWjq7rPhvhAj054xCGJgVJFA5N-fB_E2TNQO8kLTyLGySEMVfGqASS0OqjT2xtPsZMrqn9o_Rw5u8B054zQ/s1600/IMAGE_FOUR.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1067" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRGeWI6KxUpsBzyyvWzlSTVBWwgid9_gXIoIXxeaETS9wUEMLJU3cBlPPQJWjq7rPhvhAj054xCGJgVJFA5N-fB_E2TNQO8kLTyLGySEMVfGqASS0OqjT2xtPsZMrqn9o_Rw5u8B054zQ/s400/IMAGE_FOUR.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SpectraVue quiescent measurement.</td></tr>
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Applying power to the RXGen wait for the peak reading to stabilise in SpectraVue at which point obtain the active value -78.48dB, shown circled in red below. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5l9xDP83sesv2xmOfXjpSagNDYzMcHjUvg6FDGwUX41I1-E9RKORn86XLXQJpGsuctYoGitAW51fJvj86Bd4ia-rhHrFJc1zoFKcodKJ9hxuGFzflWlZhw8ikD6qvbwdcazasN2nzLc/s1600/IMAGE_FIVE.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1069" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5l9xDP83sesv2xmOfXjpSagNDYzMcHjUvg6FDGwUX41I1-E9RKORn86XLXQJpGsuctYoGitAW51fJvj86Bd4ia-rhHrFJc1zoFKcodKJ9hxuGFzflWlZhw8ikD6qvbwdcazasN2nzLc/s400/IMAGE_FIVE.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SpectraVue active measurement.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Subtracting the quiescent value from the active value will yield a Y Factor in dB of 4.87dB.</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Again using the documentation that comes with the RXGen we can read off the chart to obtain a NF reading of 7dB as shown below.</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIY2us4LO3r1BkfdLzShPGECBlUmmlptBisN8zxf4zaxZOCc2Yuh77RMFUaY4ayE6dVLnfAAvzGH1j1qBTBBFZjAN_oj1UwxG-9F7i4aiP-6RNsc2RtzlkLbuRWpZZ87jjfht1GnFPyU/s1600/IMAGE_SIX.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="810" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIY2us4LO3r1BkfdLzShPGECBlUmmlptBisN8zxf4zaxZOCc2Yuh77RMFUaY4ayE6dVLnfAAvzGH1j1qBTBBFZjAN_oj1UwxG-9F7i4aiP-6RNsc2RtzlkLbuRWpZZ87jjfht1GnFPyU/s400/IMAGE_SIX.png" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Y Factor measurement using dB method.</td></tr>
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We can see the reading is in agreement with the published NF and very close to our original reading using the DVM method.
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The last method utilises a piece of software called NFM from Owen Duffy VK2OMD the software is restricted by default to an integration interval of 0.5s you can however request a licence from Owen if you want to use a long interval, you can find his email address on <a href="http://qrz.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">qrz.com</span></a> he’ll email you a licence for free eventually.<br />
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When using NFM you must enter the noise source’s specified ENR specified in the case of the RXGen 10dB as depicted in the below image.<br />
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To obtain a reading set the sound card you are using as the default device for the system otherwise NFM will not use it. <br />
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With the noise source switched off press the ‘1 Noise LO’ button indicated by the red ‘A’ once a quiescent value has been found apply power to the RXGen and press the ‘2 Noise HI’ button indicated the by the red letter ‘B’ after a moment the calculated noise figure will be displayed as circled in red.
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NFM will indicate if the sound cards level is either too high or low by displaying a line of red asterisks, in this case just adjust the level to a suitable value using the gain controls for the device being used.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDzussqGTwVPjlGLXrUB3LM8IR24_cZeWH-a_364UMPP2QnoCaLx65DJeyjubKSVWuZLlLXkGgrlVR1x-E5aGPpTmbV1WcJBT09gHxEexLL96EW7NKTeeM2ljFqvCEoMc7cFI3UtlJkw/s1600/IMAGE_SEVEN.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="677" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDzussqGTwVPjlGLXrUB3LM8IR24_cZeWH-a_364UMPP2QnoCaLx65DJeyjubKSVWuZLlLXkGgrlVR1x-E5aGPpTmbV1WcJBT09gHxEexLL96EW7NKTeeM2ljFqvCEoMc7cFI3UtlJkw/s400/IMAGE_SEVEN.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NFM noise figure measurement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">We can again see this is in agreement with SpectraVue if you look at the Y(2)(dB) field, shown above, it gives the Y factor in dB which is 4.88dB a difference of 0.01dB but this time we have a slightly better noise figure of 6.83dB since this is calculated by the software and not reliant on use reading from the supplied chart. </span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">I have also included below an image of NFM doing the same measurement but with a longer integration interval of 30s and you see the noise figure has only changed by 0.2dB this indicates the longer integration interval isn’t of any real use when using the RXGen noise source. </span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNs7_WnkLTO99MqgwwMlkLeF4vQRM0pL09HINsqHGZUq8RHZXsg7QIMh_1nLgefkY4YvyojnoISMTjNMgHLob0z6TEuOKEpmljkfIDW82jSYkODOm1MLuK0HjnUuhOeAzJP0ONe2Juxfs/s1600/IMAGE_EIGHT.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="678" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNs7_WnkLTO99MqgwwMlkLeF4vQRM0pL09HINsqHGZUq8RHZXsg7QIMh_1nLgefkY4YvyojnoISMTjNMgHLob0z6TEuOKEpmljkfIDW82jSYkODOm1MLuK0HjnUuhOeAzJP0ONe2Juxfs/s400/IMAGE_EIGHT.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NFM extended integration time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The nice thing about NFM is its ability to do multiple stage measurements simply and quickly without having to crunch the numbers by hand saving a quite a bit of time if you’re making a lot of measurements.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">In the following example the equipment is set up in the following manner which is my default operating configuration.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-kerning: none;">NOTE : Normally you wouldn’t have any additional attenuation in the signal path when taking a two stage measurement it’s only included here because of the difficulty I have in reconfiguring my equipment.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtaz8yYEQ8CytnvcwNxt7AQV8rLBasSt5p7_3lTNKWPrpUtJk3LUBGC9owP7R3wEx6v2rNwQ4y6KKmk3sGRIJ_uTvvr2luG_u0dCaXe-EMFCLGEbvgojRygRnghVetUbdn-M3Wu8oYdw/s1600/IMAGE_NINE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="721" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtaz8yYEQ8CytnvcwNxt7AQV8rLBasSt5p7_3lTNKWPrpUtJk3LUBGC9owP7R3wEx6v2rNwQ4y6KKmk3sGRIJ_uTvvr2luG_u0dCaXe-EMFCLGEbvgojRygRnghVetUbdn-M3Wu8oYdw/s400/IMAGE_NINE.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">System configuration for two stage measurement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">First take a reading with just the RXGen and IC7300 connected, as we did in the above example, first by pressing the button labeled A to take the quiescent value and then the button labeled B with the RXGen powered to take obtain the active value which yields a noise figure of 6.28dB circled in blue.</span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Next we add the Anglian 3L, 3dB splitter and 20dB attenuator in to the signal path. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Now find the quiescent state value by pressing the button labeled C.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">For a two stage measurement you must include any attenuation between devices otherwise the measurement will either not work or be inaccurate, so we enter the total value of any attenuation in the box labeled D.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Lastly we find the active state value by powering on the RXgen again and pressing the button labeled E this yields a total noise figure for the system of 6.48dB again circled in blue.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">You may ask yourself why is the noise figure so high if the Anglian has a stated noise figure of 1.9dB? The reason for this is the attenuation introduced by the splitter and attenuator negates any additional gain the Anglian has provided and therefore resulting in a noise figure is more or less in line with the specified noise figure for the IC7300.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;">However since we’ve done a two stage measurement we can find the noise figure and RX gain of the Anglian by looking at the device under test section of NFM where we can see we have an RX gain of 25dB and a noise figure of 2.5dB both circled in red. </span><br />
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-kerning: none;">This is in good agreement with the Anglian’s quoted specification of an RX gain of 25dB and noise figure of 1.9dB. </span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAGFTBOzDdlCPeHG_BCmBeuMUqPUYzjNfPinds2wngs1D38cMQLEc7AjPmRvgw2FEwm7nzxNJUB_PsnyY6W3YeQ8A-jxfFSQu61He5fpEqXKgupxCW5rtcHsdx4ywzn9-kvIL88ehGuI/s1600/IMAGE_TEN.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="679" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAGFTBOzDdlCPeHG_BCmBeuMUqPUYzjNfPinds2wngs1D38cMQLEc7AjPmRvgw2FEwm7nzxNJUB_PsnyY6W3YeQ8A-jxfFSQu61He5fpEqXKgupxCW5rtcHsdx4ywzn9-kvIL88ehGuI/s400/IMAGE_TEN.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NFM two stage measurement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It’s worth pointing out the additional passive devices and cables in the signal path will have affected our measured noise figure for the Anglian you should attempt to keep any cabling between devices as short as possible at lower frequencies even the leads from the battery can add additional noise.<br />
<br />
I hope this short article has encouraged you start experimenting with taking noise figure measurements with a simple low cost noise source it can lead to hours of fun discovering where or where not your system is performing as expected.
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span></div>
<ol>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.g4ddk.com/" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">http://www.g4ddk.com</span></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5952-8255E.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5952-8255E.pdf</span></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5952-3706E.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5952-3706E.pdf</span></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://g8fek.com/noise-gen.html" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">http://g8fek.com/noise-gen.html</span></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.moetronix.com/spectravue.htm" target="_blank"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">http://www.moetronix.com/spectravue.htm</span></a></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://owenduffy.net/software/nfm/index.htm" target="_blank">https://owenduffy.net/software/nfm/index.htm</a></span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 14px;">This article was first published in the March 2019 edition of QUA the new letter of the <a href="http://www.cvrs.org/" target="_blank">Cray Valley Radio Society</a>.</span></span></div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-55093454807544735012019-03-27T03:35:00.000-07:002019-03-27T03:35:40.148-07:00A Tale of Spectrum Pollution - Update 2Typically as soon as a couple of kind amateurs from my radio club arrange to come down and to DF the source of the noise on 2m and 70cm which has been present for 9 months switching on and off at the same time it packs up, grrrrr. <br />
<br />
The noise has dropped from S6 between 15:00 - 08:00 to S4 between 08:00 - 22:00 by the looks of it the best we might be able to reduce the noise to is S3 but and improvement of 18dBm.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZVgylx7IA_YUgsSego5IHBHIh_urXW-M0YGLLjX63K919VqVpNbtdjRLFjg_IlevAgIF3vPmqtu5MGmmvsYTvauZmP1sfY5sPhnmJPKQHX5ZZqGDkkDkNSZ27xCpFWNRlurOPiv14e0/s1600/Original_Measurement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZVgylx7IA_YUgsSego5IHBHIh_urXW-M0YGLLjX63K919VqVpNbtdjRLFjg_IlevAgIF3vPmqtu5MGmmvsYTvauZmP1sfY5sPhnmJPKQHX5ZZqGDkkDkNSZ27xCpFWNRlurOPiv14e0/s400/Original_Measurement.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original spectrum pollution measurement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSJj7kaqVTXkbEX4TLnBrP9B687EYc_1TKOV6Ad3dCQbPHSvsd985duvP7Fb-5RU70a06qe75MjMNrt28M_9KpHgAQGO8drT-7a3PAlw36bj1zXiR84eMa5fIZ4iKID4Z73YXdOPTGzI/s1600/Latest_Measurement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSJj7kaqVTXkbEX4TLnBrP9B687EYc_1TKOV6Ad3dCQbPHSvsd985duvP7Fb-5RU70a06qe75MjMNrt28M_9KpHgAQGO8drT-7a3PAlw36bj1zXiR84eMa5fIZ4iKID4Z73YXdOPTGzI/s400/Latest_Measurement.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Latest spectrum pollution measurement.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-34333855487560853902019-03-11T04:01:00.000-07:002019-03-11T04:13:17.448-07:00A Tale of Spectrum Pollution - UpdateMy original measurements of spectrum pollution at JO01JK were slightly off. It turned out the noise floor for the sound card in SpectrumLab was -97dBFS and as such when I took the first measurement with the 50ohm calibrated load connected the generated noise was below the noise floor of the sound card, I've now corrected for this and taken another measurement.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ83oW5JaKV0Qc7OJdzIxlkV9hdGJI0niUaSptCkBM6sHGobsq3dQvOrnk3N1zUFqgDppTtuUMy9a8XIeYzOaDS5vZGTpJXUtq1cJqg27GesrpShio-gIvifrp3P3D2FoHM4kzN8aEcu8/s1600/figure_hf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ83oW5JaKV0Qc7OJdzIxlkV9hdGJI0niUaSptCkBM6sHGobsq3dQvOrnk3N1zUFqgDppTtuUMy9a8XIeYzOaDS5vZGTpJXUtq1cJqg27GesrpShio-gIvifrp3P3D2FoHM4kzN8aEcu8/s400/figure_hf.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noise against HF calibrated S-Meter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfesDt_ynyIhrRiFmXJvEZEatHEO5XiSSnLdEVae3eiXvAp0nnvm1LL9OHuniA4eqNUHXRCz7uyvKuxIVOEdBTlPMmkqvzH59Rhjo6lZfhiBozOaSTSSDUTmvTAxCkwHoAy65ObfCM0w/s1600/figure_vhf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfesDt_ynyIhrRiFmXJvEZEatHEO5XiSSnLdEVae3eiXvAp0nnvm1LL9OHuniA4eqNUHXRCz7uyvKuxIVOEdBTlPMmkqvzH59Rhjo6lZfhiBozOaSTSSDUTmvTAxCkwHoAy65ObfCM0w/s400/figure_vhf.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noise against VHF calibrated S-Meter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
This seems to show the noise here isn't quite as bad as I originally thought though the 6dB rise in noise caused by the apparent outside light coming on is still annoying and will need to be tracked down and fingers crossed replaced.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All the measurements I've taken so far are to the West which is the worse direction for noise and so I'll need to repeat the measurements every 45deg from North at some point just to get a base level at which to compare any apparent increase in noise in the future.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
<div>
While I was at it I also did a quick calibration of the S-Meter on the IC7300 with the Anglian 3L 2m transverter using a Marconi TF2015 signal generator. I set the output of the TF2015 to -47dBm I then used some SMA attenuators to reduce the level down to the various S-Point values for a HF receiver so in some cases I'm up to 2dB off the required power.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UvzxnYtY6wdObAjLCQDAO1PmjgHbo_F3096pxqYgs7PERJoQvv_o22jXPYrh1oh4f1RDUq2QC2XVGZYLy9cP3BcB0gD9thMxZTktYivjg6p7mh5spmzw9XQJmkZ62OkM4SUi-emzXNc/s1600/Screenshot+2019-03-11+at+10.45.41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1238" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UvzxnYtY6wdObAjLCQDAO1PmjgHbo_F3096pxqYgs7PERJoQvv_o22jXPYrh1oh4f1RDUq2QC2XVGZYLy9cP3BcB0gD9thMxZTktYivjg6p7mh5spmzw9XQJmkZ62OkM4SUi-emzXNc/s400/Screenshot+2019-03-11+at+10.45.41.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All measurements taken in 2.7kHz bandwidth with the AGC set too slow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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</div>
</div>
</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-83099195605320791952019-03-09T09:23:00.000-08:002019-03-10T15:13:07.506-07:00A Tail of Spectrum Pollution.Last autumn I installed a new antenna system for two metres and immediately notice a huge rise in wideband noise and birdies across the whole two metre band, other bother!<br />
<br />
As with all these things I tend to go at it like a bull in a china shop and only afterwards realise I should have taken some measurements of noise or even of the local beacon, oh bother!<br />
<br />
Well the first thing to do is turn the mains power off to house and take a quick look a the waterfall on the rig compared with it on.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVX1D1N2Eip_b3g2JXRbR5djReOp2mSerGbE5GrqZ1C8nK7v64AVficZ3E6PJSdhq6cuMHOKAffFN0gYeiahwCqPSO_VjGuNkjJmrbdsafdPlckNCULIkPOuPm2u8rd8vbZCJMWBGiu4M/s1600/MainOff.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="480" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVX1D1N2Eip_b3g2JXRbR5djReOp2mSerGbE5GrqZ1C8nK7v64AVficZ3E6PJSdhq6cuMHOKAffFN0gYeiahwCqPSO_VjGuNkjJmrbdsafdPlckNCULIkPOuPm2u8rd8vbZCJMWBGiu4M/s400/MainOff.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mains switched off.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
And with the mains switched back on again.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTkJagsLTMTTqcU_xxiErNteSL2gP0lfwnx-UHk5pdECS3vMTu13XxjTtV30KQjwjcm6Z5AcVM8iAxwGR23L_42QV77vxejU1BB20ouVyXAx3ok4cczbmcnp3gUaikDnTaTg4XE3MsNY/s1600/Before_Ferrites.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="480" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTkJagsLTMTTqcU_xxiErNteSL2gP0lfwnx-UHk5pdECS3vMTu13XxjTtV30KQjwjcm6Z5AcVM8iAxwGR23L_42QV77vxejU1BB20ouVyXAx3ok4cczbmcnp3gUaikDnTaTg4XE3MsNY/s400/Before_Ferrites.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mains switched on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
Wow! Ok I wasn't expecting that. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next thing to do is turn the mains off again and slow turn each circuit back on by the fuse box, in my case everything stayed looking good until I hit the sockets that power all my AV equipment and WIFI / Lan access point at which point all the birdies flew back in. ;-)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next up I switched off all the AV equipment and the router and slowly switched each item back on the first item happened to be the access point and low and behold the waterfall filled up again.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I then unplugged everything from the access point other than the power supply and again the interference vanished so wasn't being caused by the WIFI, SMPS or the unit itself. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now I should mention I run CAT5 cabling to various devices such as the media server, sky box etc ... </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For each CAT5 cable I wound 6 turns around a type 43 ferrite torrid, available from the RSGB shop, at both ends of each CAT5 cable in turn checking each time if the birdies had reduced. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What I found was any cable run over half a metre in length need to have ferrites fitted and with the longer run cables, in excess of a metre, need two of more ferrites at each end to get enough impedance to reduce the birdies. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After what seemed like an extraordinary length of time, hey these things take ages to do from a wheelchair, I finally managed to get a handle on the birdies to the point they're almost no existent. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuHQ_gRWJeSj62vkW7Zq7vTwcn-2luzVv0VKrvUJVbiprP-yn7XccatXU4BFz-ojAgyN7dlBBhNaPEj0g2x0EzN5BIMUbPALLWWGvwxZK9PsNo2N6nH1MJrALjGNNZnNwz717iBt3DQw/s1600/After_Ferrites.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="480" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuHQ_gRWJeSj62vkW7Zq7vTwcn-2luzVv0VKrvUJVbiprP-yn7XccatXU4BFz-ojAgyN7dlBBhNaPEj0g2x0EzN5BIMUbPALLWWGvwxZK9PsNo2N6nH1MJrALjGNNZnNwz717iBt3DQw/s400/After_Ferrites.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noise after ferrites fitted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ok this is looking good a lot better than it did originally, and again being a wally I should have a taken a measurement of the overall noise floor and not just glance at the waterfall.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I next setup <a href="https://www.qsl.net/dl4yhf/spectra1.html" target="_blank">SpectrumLab</a> to log my local noise pollution towards the West for a few days to measure the general noise level. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUXNJk_-NRjMGhHLATTXz8mZ1Hw0grPeztwQcHKqsgPeWiiq3mW01wg0uWugEH_YvxOgzDTLzMLlngcHZ1XshYIgFOEnOrChi-95tkzaikKPHhTPklIdmDSq9eD4uE-A1J7K3ZuJSpUQ/s1600/Screenshot+2019-03-09+at+16.53.57.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1600" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUXNJk_-NRjMGhHLATTXz8mZ1Hw0grPeztwQcHKqsgPeWiiq3mW01wg0uWugEH_YvxOgzDTLzMLlngcHZ1XshYIgFOEnOrChi-95tkzaikKPHhTPklIdmDSq9eD4uE-A1J7K3ZuJSpUQ/s400/Screenshot+2019-03-09+at+16.53.57.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SpectrumLab with Plotter logging Spectrum Noise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
To calibrate the system I took a long plot to start with of a calibrated 50ohm load @ 290K with a 2.7kHz bandwidth. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A 50ohm load at 290K is equal to -174dBm/Hz so in a 2.7kHz bandwidth -140dBm.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I only I had a couple of days measurement I wrote a quick Python program to display the results in dBm's and S-Points. </div>
<div>
<i><span style="color: red;"> </span></i> </div>
<div>
Now S-Points, a totally bloody useless measurement of anything if you ask me. ;-) I had a quick look at S-Meters on Wikipedia and there appears to be two IARU technical recommendations for S-Meters one for HF defined as -73dBm for S9 with a 50 ohm impedance and another for VHF as being -93dBm for S9 again with a 50ohm impedance system both with 6dB increments between points. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So I did two plots one with the HF specification </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqqVH0a47IrWFBwfRtcKEoBMr3UhYOJVnG-h-WIXLlqH63VK8p0KVWIBYsdh9EaihKOOJg9n9TseyN6c0lmSXTSEBG3phEJbJayIugcy-GHzjdjGSZn8yok4B7XrwLdSNhXVWYjrU82s/s1600/figure_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqqVH0a47IrWFBwfRtcKEoBMr3UhYOJVnG-h-WIXLlqH63VK8p0KVWIBYsdh9EaihKOOJg9n9TseyN6c0lmSXTSEBG3phEJbJayIugcy-GHzjdjGSZn8yok4B7XrwLdSNhXVWYjrU82s/s400/figure_1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scaled with HF S-Meter Specification.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
and another with the VHF spec.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-t5wZeaWhFtNcSsIxmiiSwtH4ZBUhVHdixw06fnoLWuXbxO_JV7x1yxdXkZIoRNg0XuwLEn4ZaPuROPr6WZ6PtXu-Av9qN355zM-t6Fd5KTJycjmPuYN0peovJ6T59aqKhYJNS7W32Y/s1600/figure_VHF.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-t5wZeaWhFtNcSsIxmiiSwtH4ZBUhVHdixw06fnoLWuXbxO_JV7x1yxdXkZIoRNg0XuwLEn4ZaPuROPr6WZ6PtXu-Av9qN355zM-t6Fd5KTJycjmPuYN0peovJ6T59aqKhYJNS7W32Y/s400/figure_VHF.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scaled with VHF S-Meter Specification.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The first thing we can see if the chart using the VHF S-Meter specification looks horrendous while the HF doesn't look that bad and I'm inclined to go with the HF chart instead.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The second thing we can notice is at around 15:00 everyday and until 08:00 the following morning there appears to be an outside light being switched on which is raising the noise floor by 6dB so that'll need to be tracked and sorted out. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I still need to take some measurement with the house mains off again just to see if the noise floor drop at all but I do now feel as if I getting a handle on situation even if there's plenty left to do. </div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-87177956349993994832019-03-01T16:24:00.001-08:002019-03-01T16:24:45.846-08:00Kuhne Electronics IC7300 IF Transverter Mod Board - Update 2I original posted I had issues with the Kuhne IC7300 IF interface and had removed the modification, I now believe the issue was partially the interface and board and partially a user issue.<br />
<br />
I bought a new interface board and fitted it along with the additional 47ohm resistor that is meant to resolve the TX oscillation issues and so far no funnies have been seen.<br />
<br />
The issues I originally reported with the RX side of things were all due to my lack of understanding than to do the interface board. <br />
<br />
The main issue was the Anglian 3L transverter gives about 21dB gain this is such a high amount of gain it reduced the dynamic range considerably which though it made the receiver very hot it also picked up all the local RF noise was causing me a headache. <br />
<br />
What I've since realised is I should have added some attenuation to the RX path before the 7300 in fact I've added just enough to give me a noise figure or around 2dB which is in line with the quoted specification for the Anglian this results in almost no loss in dynamic range.<br />
<br />
The only problem I found was having such a hot receiver was I need to pay a lot more attention to local generated RF noise than I had previously and after an afternoon of slowly switching all the electronics off the house and a huge amount of ferrite I managed to reduce the noise and birdies by 10dB. <br />
<br />
So I need to apologise to Kuhne for writing such a horrid review of the IC7300 IF interface when the reality is most of the issues were down to me being a draft bugger.Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-82130645947139880282019-01-01T10:18:00.001-08:002019-01-01T11:46:05.827-08:00Squares, squares, squares 2018Well the new year has been and gone and as we head into 2019 I thought it would be interesting to see my stations performance on 2m and 70cm since I was first licenced. <br />
<br />
The station setup has evolved greatly on the past 12 months and so I thought I'd share the evolution and how it performed.<br />
<br />
In 2017 I started the year with a Yaesu FT991 with a single 9 element 2m LFA and 13 element 70cm LFA from <a href="https://www.innovantennas.com/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">G0KSC</a>, my maximum output power was 50W.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2GSP9jGRHsKXSntLRpMWkxTzwEurYDuaMzcCxuG1bwFn4FsDVvhmfUdyHYtQlS24BFtEULYX2MHTm1ghUP4pC8tKlh54NwqkbzzO1CiGx3HzW3RHPnkqgR59vegNzT_uIeQV695qiYs/s1600/2m_2017_sqrs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1163" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2GSP9jGRHsKXSntLRpMWkxTzwEurYDuaMzcCxuG1bwFn4FsDVvhmfUdyHYtQlS24BFtEULYX2MHTm1ghUP4pC8tKlh54NwqkbzzO1CiGx3HzW3RHPnkqgR59vegNzT_uIeQV695qiYs/s400/2m_2017_sqrs.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2m Squares 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
You can see from the above I managed to work 55 squares using mainly SSB, JT65, FSK and JTMS.<div>
<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLypagX1ReHtNWRBi2EFI2Ey73ZzsdGB5pGnOgcK6jPtMS-j4hrPppAEp1oS3wqN6BE1K_VMmDVsHKdQFkYzOHOE6KQTcybd0DwILm4DjwEoKnJTVcqjdrjgGapqiP3ZSRvmR2MNDA-QY/s1600/70cm_2017_sqrs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="728" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLypagX1ReHtNWRBi2EFI2Ey73ZzsdGB5pGnOgcK6jPtMS-j4hrPppAEp1oS3wqN6BE1K_VMmDVsHKdQFkYzOHOE6KQTcybd0DwILm4DjwEoKnJTVcqjdrjgGapqiP3ZSRvmR2MNDA-QY/s400/70cm_2017_sqrs.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm Squares 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
Again from the above we see I managed a rather pathetic 9 squares all on sideband. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2018 the station evolved from the FT991 to using homebrew transverters the rather fine 2m Anglian 3L and 70cm Iceni units from <a href="http://www.g4ddk.com/" target="_blank">G4DDK</a>. I swapped to an Icom IC7300 for the exciter. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The 2m system started the year with a Microset SR100 100W linear and ended the year with the mighty fine Gemini 2-500 500W linear from the <a href="https://www.thedxshop.com/linear-amp-uk-linear-amplifiers/linear-amp-vhf-uhf-amplifiers.html" target="_blank">dxshop</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I actually had the amplifier and running before I got around to updating the 2m antenna system not because this is the right way but down to the fact taking an amplifier out of the packaging is a lot easier than updating the antennas. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I then changed the 2m antenna system from the single 9 element KSC to a stack of 2 x 9 element <a href="https://www.g4cqm.co.uk/home.html" target="_blank">G4CQM's</a> from <a href="http://www.powabeamantennas.co.uk/G6HKS/index.html" target="_blank">Powabeam</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It took me awhile to get the new CQM's built as I bought them as kits from Powabeam which meant I need to cut the elements and construct the driven element. I got the new system up and running at the beginning of September and it worked like a dream right up until it rained hard when the VSWR suddenly went to infinity so that put paid to any 2m work for September. </div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMplWKDdBeJYb_qGI68-bkETd-Z2LBPD15BOK0zs8wZyoZmrg-holZjhIix822OwODJ123eVIRWDanmet-D2GANBwjLUbJ9Mn71MoNnhvdh5BTrl8QGvej1hV584gYY4uuJitIUCHRyo/s1600/2m_2018_sqrs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="955" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMplWKDdBeJYb_qGI68-bkETd-Z2LBPD15BOK0zs8wZyoZmrg-holZjhIix822OwODJ123eVIRWDanmet-D2GANBwjLUbJ9Mn71MoNnhvdh5BTrl8QGvej1hV584gYY4uuJitIUCHRyo/s400/2m_2018_sqrs.PNG" width="373" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2m Squares worked from JO01 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You can see from above a slight improvement in performance this year and I think I managed to miss just about every opening typical! Anyway I still managed to work 86 squares and good improvement over the 56 from the year before.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The 70cm system didn't change much beyond the move the to the Iceni I stayed with the same antenna setup as the previous year still driven with 50W.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcYMKGnwtqRnlTLk-J_GsOCv_hXAgCZdaapp58xKT_8ZLK_W8TFqLvIpA__Tr8VxV50UweyMcGbjD2GkBBh8R7zxKYfdyEMA3nmV7F3HYbgQF2c-x06zGYr8nbWJO0d_xK8Tr5AfSzNs/s1600/70cm_2018_sqrs.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1085" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcYMKGnwtqRnlTLk-J_GsOCv_hXAgCZdaapp58xKT_8ZLK_W8TFqLvIpA__Tr8VxV50UweyMcGbjD2GkBBh8R7zxKYfdyEMA3nmV7F3HYbgQF2c-x06zGYr8nbWJO0d_xK8Tr5AfSzNs/s400/70cm_2018_sqrs.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">70cm Squares worked from JO01 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
You can see I didn't work on 70cm too much mainly down to no easy way of switching between the transverters but I still managed to work 25 squares, mostly during the 70cm UKAC, but still a big improvement on the 9 squares the previous year. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Fingers crossed 2019 will be even better and I'm actually near the shack during any opening but we'll have to wait and see.<br /><div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-3177757974982903382018-12-12T07:52:00.000-08:002018-12-21T07:53:54.982-08:00Easy Rotator Control 4 and the Yaesu G450C Rotator.For ages now I've been reaching across the bench keeping my finger pressed on the rotator controller switch when changing beam heading and I've finally got fed up with the agro of doing this when a PC based solution is available in the form of the Easy Rotator Controller (ERC) from <a href="https://www.schmidt-alba.de/eshop/" target="_blank">schmidt-alba</a>. <br />
<br />
The ERC is small PCB consisting of relays and a ATmega micro controller to monitor the rotator feedback voltage and operate the relays taking on the role of the existing CW and CCW switches.<br />
<br />
The controller is available in a number of configurations, I choose to purchase the Version 4 USB controller as most PC's today do not come with a built in serial port. <br />
<br />
The controller is available as either a kit or prebuilt. I decided to get the kit form, as any respecting amateur would, for £79.47 including postage and packing which is a £20 pound saving on the prebuilt unit.<br />
<br />
The kit comes in four packages consisting of a high quality USB cable, software CD, component bag and another bag with the PCB, DC power connector and some cable to wire the ERC up to your existing controller.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0GzPTxjYvIsFnQhijpB3HW-0DPl8izJrIyBUhq62cGoUAM61lMFC5oJUfHRCzwPPxi0Luv3aHYId50P57iO3uwk4Y9GrdP8mw6EEstxT328osS8Bzppx5LIF3avlj_ls4CTIkzfpFw0/s1600/IMG_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0GzPTxjYvIsFnQhijpB3HW-0DPl8izJrIyBUhq62cGoUAM61lMFC5oJUfHRCzwPPxi0Luv3aHYId50P57iO3uwk4Y9GrdP8mw6EEstxT328osS8Bzppx5LIF3avlj_ls4CTIkzfpFw0/s400/IMG_2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contents of ERC kit package.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The component bag consists of all the components to be soldered onto the supplied PCB.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyG3-93qHQYXuqwycbadZEeoHHh6svGddmoKtdlvZGXkVB0YEzhcBLLT93wyHvsyGEqJ68bwYEXAEIEYr7KO3NHdQrjf2EGVpYdxAaL_GZ_dh7vRRmphNvLpKZ-d4UZrdLc-RZ2jlulY/s1600/IMG_4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyG3-93qHQYXuqwycbadZEeoHHh6svGddmoKtdlvZGXkVB0YEzhcBLLT93wyHvsyGEqJ68bwYEXAEIEYr7KO3NHdQrjf2EGVpYdxAaL_GZ_dh7vRRmphNvLpKZ-d4UZrdLc-RZ2jlulY/s400/IMG_4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The supplied kit components.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzO25tvi-doIaQ9WI0-QOQL6zFuhLZ1bVXE1tAa3BbR4n6q-eH4ykI_TPIzmy4fT_XSrZ9K4gMeDFkJ9XylWgnJsVmYcJyELIqzqnCXpdCRkZYEdQDAUM2iM8SYpRll0dHaY9T-EtGbc/s1600/IMG_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzO25tvi-doIaQ9WI0-QOQL6zFuhLZ1bVXE1tAa3BbR4n6q-eH4ykI_TPIzmy4fT_XSrZ9K4gMeDFkJ9XylWgnJsVmYcJyELIqzqnCXpdCRkZYEdQDAUM2iM8SYpRll0dHaY9T-EtGbc/s400/IMG_3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PCB, DC power plug, cable and PCB standoffs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The kit has very few parts as you would expect based around a ATMega 328P 8 Bit micro controller, a crystal for the processor clock some capacitors, a couple of diodes and chokes, a few resistors and a small 70cm x 60cm PCB plus the USB interface, relays and terminal blocks.<br />
<br />
I started by first installing all the discrete components, IC holders and the USB interface board which took about half an hour to complete.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nO3KqWGHumhziUkBFxUU2OAn94ji7aM5BhQjBuH1ag92bIq4VLfWCgeIxAjYUx8nSx-rlcdni-Bmzizsl__m1RylOHtk7QKgxP4we41VJg8XzoqP8cAwG_c7XD02QcYhcm3_yDDSCuo/s1600/IMG_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nO3KqWGHumhziUkBFxUU2OAn94ji7aM5BhQjBuH1ag92bIq4VLfWCgeIxAjYUx8nSx-rlcdni-Bmzizsl__m1RylOHtk7QKgxP4we41VJg8XzoqP8cAwG_c7XD02QcYhcm3_yDDSCuo/s400/IMG_5.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed board minus relays and terminals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Once the above was completed I installed the rest of the components.<br />
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQWLgTJAo8ZpwfdPHNRR2gIZolQv_lWqbHKl84DOCRzygpGbeqhdShp2jHe0TfwDhqQu9mRZ9XMQ1P31ilcnWmurcBVHHL5adGSdYb9pKNLLVQPFg9K0WotEApBVs8mJDB2BAGVgOiHw/s1600/IMG_6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQWLgTJAo8ZpwfdPHNRR2gIZolQv_lWqbHKl84DOCRzygpGbeqhdShp2jHe0TfwDhqQu9mRZ9XMQ1P31ilcnWmurcBVHHL5adGSdYb9pKNLLVQPFg9K0WotEApBVs8mJDB2BAGVgOiHw/s400/IMG_6.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed board ready for the IC's to be fitted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Once the board is completed you apply 12V DC to the unit and test that you get 12V and 5V at the test points located on the DC port side of the board assuming these pan out you insert the ICs and then start modifying the original rotator controller to take the ERC board.<br />
<br />
With the easy bit completed the next job is to disassemble the Yaesu controller and do some metalworking. <br />
<br />
Taking the Yaesu controller unit apart isn't a five minute job what you need to do is unplug the power cable from the front power switch and then pop out the cable clamp and remove the lead from the case, you next need to desolder the fuse holder from the transformer and remove holder from the chassis again this isn't easy as everything is covered in blue thread lock, next up remove the control cable 6 pin molex socket. With all the cables removed you now need to remove screws holding the top instrumentation tray to the front and back panels, this is done to allow access to the nuts and bolts holding the mains transformer to the bottom of the chassis which again has blue lock thread, Yaesu really don't want this unit to fall apart. ;-) With all the above removed you can now get on with marking the holes from the DC PWR and USB ports.<br />
<br />
There's a handy sticky label template that comes with the ERC controller which is perfect for marking the hole placements.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTkAbUW04OpQRAILoYp70gCyiVXe-wenSPN1bOBAlJQEWVVJsUIdXB4SrDK7JvdzmjKI7Xk4xbnE6af86AzllSlhUKVsFeQe6MeeqSF2oJHkEApewk76ThhDePxKM7EtTtlh5A-wiJ30/s1600/IMG_7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTkAbUW04OpQRAILoYp70gCyiVXe-wenSPN1bOBAlJQEWVVJsUIdXB4SrDK7JvdzmjKI7Xk4xbnE6af86AzllSlhUKVsFeQe6MeeqSF2oJHkEApewk76ThhDePxKM7EtTtlh5A-wiJ30/s400/IMG_7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rear of the controller box with the holes cut for the DC power <br />
and USB connector.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now you can see from the above picture the holes didn't quite align horizontally and this was down to me being a wally and instead of adding a couple of millimetres to the template I did the opposite and removed a couple of millimetres instead, so had I carried out that operation successfully everything would have aligned. I still ended up with yet another problem shown below.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5XZubuemXyNYJpY0bpSlQe1SAb_id3p67qOcCQY0O8W-juOHnZvnhbKPhjOuM78QMwk_t9FbqfYi1t0PJUUXF32-6aqwMqYaBvFE2WBUDDaPrd1b4hM298GgiF01gG0CEvcP0BxX7Ts/s1600/IMG_8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5XZubuemXyNYJpY0bpSlQe1SAb_id3p67qOcCQY0O8W-juOHnZvnhbKPhjOuM78QMwk_t9FbqfYi1t0PJUUXF32-6aqwMqYaBvFE2WBUDDaPrd1b4hM298GgiF01gG0CEvcP0BxX7Ts/s400/IMG_8.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ERC fitted within the original rotator controller.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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If you look at where the PCB stand offs are in relationship to the case fixing holes in the chassis even though there is enough height clearance so that the screws do not foul on the underside of the PCB what I hadn't taken into account was the fact the case wraps around the chassis when screwed together, this meant I needed to mount the PCB using only the two PCB mounts towards the middle of the chassis. Now this is in fact fine the board isn't being put under any stress though these mistakes are annoying no one will be able to see them.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA4CyZteUS2YawEjrNXWiGM_7e2tt9Fsg9jzdgZm0VdNN6itdM8veJrhbNhU3naz-p00FqbW-GQvEtaTWitsMj1s0nxfJJLAbZlHxdv4YTaWpl1-Xf39n9HDtGrXolVmL_VWVAsQynSA/s1600/IMG_10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA4CyZteUS2YawEjrNXWiGM_7e2tt9Fsg9jzdgZm0VdNN6itdM8veJrhbNhU3naz-p00FqbW-GQvEtaTWitsMj1s0nxfJJLAbZlHxdv4YTaWpl1-Xf39n9HDtGrXolVmL_VWVAsQynSA/s400/IMG_10.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original rotator gubbins replaced and the ERC cables attached.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
I then replaced the front panel, power supply and original controller board with this done I could strip some insulation off halfway along both the brown and white wires this is so the ERC can be placed in parallel to the rotator and Yaesu controller to measure the feedback voltage which keeps track of the beam heading.<br />
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbh5EYOP_5qCPo6AeJU4c3peCgR2oKbxI6M89DMBroh5Op9mERm3I31T61DwoJnIhifhYh6L6fFcNJI2cWq6Sy2FuGT386snRrfzc2EBbToWy6BdrRjOD85FdlF-nuAFHyeH4WwEd76A8/s1600/IMG_9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbh5EYOP_5qCPo6AeJU4c3peCgR2oKbxI6M89DMBroh5Op9mERm3I31T61DwoJnIhifhYh6L6fFcNJI2cWq6Sy2FuGT386snRrfzc2EBbToWy6BdrRjOD85FdlF-nuAFHyeH4WwEd76A8/s400/IMG_9.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The control button side of the controller. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Now the tricky part is to connect the blue and black wires from the ERC controller on the original controller heading controls these switches already have a couple of quite thick gauge wires attached to them and attaching the new wires along with the originals is a bit of a pig but if you start with the switch nearest to the mains transformer it's not too bad.</div>
<div>
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<div>
With the ERC controller connected you can refit the outer case and reconnect the unit the rotator and plug the controller back into the mains and station DC power supply you can then move on to calibrating the unit.<br />
<br />
On the software CD you'll find two pieces of software one to calibrate the unit and another to control the unit with. <br />
<br />
The calibration is a little bit more involved for the Yaesu G450C rotator in that you need to do an extended calibration. This involves calibrating at more headings than would be normal. The general gist of the procedure is to start the calibration software as shown below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpXfocJJQXPQBuqlZg1pozo7r7JNG1FRAtCam7tT-sqFZf9vsVsBoAZJB6-7qKbgjAozwAgpxNuFG1rBh6yBguH_CdHK9w0LmHetnwXKYrzppluDGyzK6I2ckJciqvzgMNCT2CN7EhUU/s1600/ERC_Calibration_Tool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="838" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpXfocJJQXPQBuqlZg1pozo7r7JNG1FRAtCam7tT-sqFZf9vsVsBoAZJB6-7qKbgjAozwAgpxNuFG1rBh6yBguH_CdHK9w0LmHetnwXKYrzppluDGyzK6I2ckJciqvzgMNCT2CN7EhUU/s400/ERC_Calibration_Tool.png" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calibration Software</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Once you have set the controllers com port, which you find in the Windows device manager, you'll be able to read the ERC memory. Next you need to set the rotator fully counter clockwise, using the Yaesu controller, once set to 0 degrees you can perform an extended calibration by using the "Extended 1" function which measures the rotator feedback voltage at 30 degrees intervals once each interval has been measured the software will tell you to advance to the next calibration point. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A point to be aware of is make sure when you are setting the Yaesu controller that you look straight on to the Yaesu controller heading indicator otherwise you can calibrate to the wrong heading. </div>
<div>
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<div>
Once the calibration has been completed close the calibration software and start the rotator control software shown below.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyfwJ_zT3dIcgsy1NYZ260eWWcL65kMAsl1LR_QeygUfsA_NXQNDhwWs0MFbiC7auiILg4G6nz2y8nZMERyilX33zbe8BFSmeaIrJgPpI59ijIyg4FgC1E5cIgcbmLUsK-RzA2zD7HSg/s1600/ERC_Rotator_Controller_Software.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="436" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyfwJ_zT3dIcgsy1NYZ260eWWcL65kMAsl1LR_QeygUfsA_NXQNDhwWs0MFbiC7auiILg4G6nz2y8nZMERyilX33zbe8BFSmeaIrJgPpI59ijIyg4FgC1E5cIgcbmLUsK-RzA2zD7HSg/s400/ERC_Rotator_Controller_Software.png" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The control software supplied with the kit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once the rotator control software has started remember to set the com port and wait few moments for the software to connect. Now click on a point on the compass and the rotator should start to turn to the position you selected and check the Yaesu controller agrees with the software, try this a few times to confirm the calibration if the calibration is off you'll need to repeat the calibration again.<br />
<br />
Though the supplied software is ok it's very basic and in fact I replaced with PstRotator from <a href="https://www.qsl.net/yo3dmu/index_Page346.htm" target="_blank">YO3DMU</a> it's an excellent piece of software and though you need to pay 20 Euro's for the licence it's a bargain and I wouldn't use anything else. The software can set with presets for quick heading changes, you can open a map and click at any point and the beam moves to that head, the other nice feature if you live near the coast is have the beams turn into the wind when the wind speed exceeds a threshold of you choice. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9BsJy3lDPx6IKubt8o2iZ5jQFDFrTLsiMe586XXf2ZfGVz6FseQIHdEPay_lsbFe5S8FhGLgwLOojL2LivW8lM0c9qbOSDpepYCb3-oQtKdN6M7DPAl6zV4uUflWxZbRbm44cX1KzVk/s1600/PstRotator.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="1600" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9BsJy3lDPx6IKubt8o2iZ5jQFDFrTLsiMe586XXf2ZfGVz6FseQIHdEPay_lsbFe5S8FhGLgwLOojL2LivW8lM0c9qbOSDpepYCb3-oQtKdN6M7DPAl6zV4uUflWxZbRbm44cX1KzVk/s400/PstRotator.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PstRotator</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
This is one of those projects that starts off as a 'nice to have' which turns into 'how did I ever manage without it' I'm sure no one would regret adding the ERC to their rotator controller.<br />
<br />
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</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-67646188423842869712018-10-03T09:22:00.001-07:002018-10-03T09:22:58.954-07:002m Antenna UpdateAfter spending next to four weeks off the air due to the new antenna system suddenly going high VSWR 6:1 the guys, Dave and Fred, finally managed to get the system down for us to check where the fault lay typically when I test the VSWR before taking it down the fault had cleared on its own. <br />
<br />
Originally the system gave a VSWR of 1.1:1 until it rained when it went high, now since that point it hasn't rained so I can only assume during the intervening period whatever had got damp had since dried out. <br />
<br />
All the connectors looked dry with no indication of water ingress seen, the coupler was also bone dry. The powabeams use an ABS moulding to fix the driven elements to the beam and this is glued shut during manufacture so it's impossible to open without destroying the moulding in the process. <br />
<br />
We put more rubber sealant on around the Powabeam ABS moulding, the end caps on the coupler and around the N-Type sockets on the coupler as well I also wrapped self amalgamating tape around the ends and over the centre hole that gives access to the middle socket. <br />
<br />
We then put the system back together with all joint resealed with amalgamating tape it now looks like it should take being dipped into the sea before it leaks but only time will tell. <br />
<br />
The only modification we made was to make the quarter wave chokes as depicted on the <a href="http://www.powabeamantennas.co.uk/G6HKS/balun.html" target="_blank">Powabeam website</a> originally we put the loop over the back of the beam which certainly worked however both Dave and I have Powabeams and switched the recommended way of creating the choke which we both agree seems to give a better response. <br />
<br />
I used the system again in this weeks 2m UKAC and it worked flawlessly so fingers crossed it'll carry on working. <br />
<br />
Again a big thanks to Dave M1DNJ and Fred for doing all the manual labour.Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-47630299126093909222018-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:002018-10-03T09:23:18.117-07:00DCI-145-2H 2m Filter.I recently swapped an unwanted Daiwa VSWR meter for a DCI-145-2H 4 pole bandpass filter for 2 metres. I don't really need it however I have on the odd occasion thought it might help with some strong out of band signals that occasionally pop up so swapping an unwanted piece of equipment for a piece that might be useful I thought was a good deal.<br />
<br />
DCI quote the following specification.<br />
<br />
Centre Frequency : 145MHz<br />
Band Width : 2MHz<br />
SWR : < 1.3:1<br />
Return Loss : >18dB<br />
<br />
DCI measure the filter response at the following intervals.<br />
<br />
135 MHz : -72.650 dB<br />
140 MHz : -46.450 dB<br />
145 MHz : -0.755 dB<br />
150 MHz : -42.981 dB<br />
155 MHz : -65.548 dB<br />
<br />
Out of pure interest I thought I see what I measured the above as using the DG8SAQ VNWA.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzexG9dIJmzL1THvRMohE8tegTPUJIlByHl_jfDUeanCCMedzMijJGCJopklo_aka3yQ7YnPYgT9RN7hAKY6upFnWgdktmUKMRP1lyaeY1D0E7Dvz3Oip9gFnVWui8hyphenhyphenhCfZvyl-TKshg/s1600/DCI-145-2H.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="805" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzexG9dIJmzL1THvRMohE8tegTPUJIlByHl_jfDUeanCCMedzMijJGCJopklo_aka3yQ7YnPYgT9RN7hAKY6upFnWgdktmUKMRP1lyaeY1D0E7Dvz3Oip9gFnVWui8hyphenhyphenhCfZvyl-TKshg/s400/DCI-145-2H.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filter response etc measured with the VNWA.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As you can see the filter specifications for SWR, RL as described the only difference is with the filter skirt readings being slightly off but in quite good agreement with DCI which I'll assume used a slightly better VNA than the one I have. ;-)<br />
<br />Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-46038233847543611032018-09-08T14:47:00.004-07:002018-09-18T12:47:32.911-07:00New 2m Antenna Is Finally Installed. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
With the help of my nephew Fred and Dave M1DNJ I've finally got the two new <a href="http://www.powabeamantennas.co.uk/G6HKS/index.html" target="_blank">Powabeam</a> 9 ele CQM's installed, see my <a href="https://m0wgf.blogspot.com/2018/07/2m-antenna-upgrade.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> for specifications.<br />
<br />
Fred got the job of taking down the original system which consisted of a single 9 ele LFA from <a href="https://www.innovantennas.com/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank">InnoAntenna</a> this antenna has worked faultlessly and in fact I only switched to the CQM design due to weight, I don't have a tilt over mast so the stub needs to be lifted into place with the top beam as well as the coupler and 70cm beam by hand not a easy task while standing on a ladder, the LFA even survived being dropped into a hedge from 8m with the rotator and mast attached when the guys from MM0CUG took the antenna down before fitting it to the new mast.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuA7_UCdCes5MFdf70TiqFOLUJ5S1zxG77whQs5LhK08u6z8S-nTyNmWMw4sdIJ-Htuy61lxzSxZZVfYqJ8J2SVMb6_7aahFxX9ZZprO3TOXLz54bM0hbSjO-8sl-EucyxQSzGS42zbV4/s1600/OriginalSystem.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuA7_UCdCes5MFdf70TiqFOLUJ5S1zxG77whQs5LhK08u6z8S-nTyNmWMw4sdIJ-Htuy61lxzSxZZVfYqJ8J2SVMb6_7aahFxX9ZZprO3TOXLz54bM0hbSjO-8sl-EucyxQSzGS42zbV4/s320/OriginalSystem.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original 2m LFA with a 70cm 12 ele above.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first thing to do was remove the original antennas Fred duly got on the steps and disconnected the antenna tails and loosened the rotator stub clamps.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-28girN22C_1Ujmnwx60mO2D1220xoBnXwrccWy1apgiC855lKVS7SESJH6hr47-l3a48ThDzWGlfCZ2iX6XZ6teTy-ZJhGILdv6kDSYCFkLEYamL5EuyFHBNUL9DC6MkW9yag6E4rzs/s1600/GettingReadyToTakeDownOriginalAntennas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-28girN22C_1Ujmnwx60mO2D1220xoBnXwrccWy1apgiC855lKVS7SESJH6hr47-l3a48ThDzWGlfCZ2iX6XZ6teTy-ZJhGILdv6kDSYCFkLEYamL5EuyFHBNUL9DC6MkW9yag6E4rzs/s320/GettingReadyToTakeDownOriginalAntennas.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred disconnecting feeder and loosening clamps</td></tr>
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<div>
With antenna removed Fred G-Clamped the new rotator cage to the garden bench and fitted the rotator and thrust bearing which we both proceeded to align. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSHaSASgkOLOYaAQUW-syD6bc_iLNZs9LXuFe38CIzZKmEGIWjLLT7hryrK4smOYEplR3Xnpfz6eNiw_Y6fke4N8cJKEk2YzQb-qyB9umaRyf01AfV5_Y1xuDWVgcaZWxtjemiEg8Ik0/s1600/AligningThrustBearing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSHaSASgkOLOYaAQUW-syD6bc_iLNZs9LXuFe38CIzZKmEGIWjLLT7hryrK4smOYEplR3Xnpfz6eNiw_Y6fke4N8cJKEk2YzQb-qyB9umaRyf01AfV5_Y1xuDWVgcaZWxtjemiEg8Ik0/s320/AligningThrustBearing.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rotator, Thrust Bearing Fitted and Aligned. </td></tr>
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With the rotator and bearing completed Fred got on with the task of fitting all 18 parasitic elements as well as the driven elements to the booms ready for installation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq4pIHgALhMZJip0aAP8Lap7zxo7_uD3o50Gjv-mhdztt_H3Mb6A664PacfLflk8gCxS-jZRafC9VEeiM_WvDrmGL6vSAEcpbMot4tUBNBtoaEP0bAoXh5mGn6M3K0FVu0bR1SJZ0Yng/s1600/AligningParastics.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhq4pIHgALhMZJip0aAP8Lap7zxo7_uD3o50Gjv-mhdztt_H3Mb6A664PacfLflk8gCxS-jZRafC9VEeiM_WvDrmGL6vSAEcpbMot4tUBNBtoaEP0bAoXh5mGn6M3K0FVu0bR1SJZ0Yng/s320/AligningParastics.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred with set square fitting the parasitics.</td></tr>
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<div>
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<div>
Dave M1DNJ and Fred along with Amber then got on with fitting the rotator cage including stub mast, top beam, power coupler and 70cm to the mast thank the gods Fred has good arm strength and a taste of heights.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT3U969BZQhl17aicc-sqfXS-2pOBaHqUhl2Hp5BSAenX08kfZKb2Gc06UbgEVwRwohGABEb2uqC5r9tVTJwM1Cv2dAny1c5ilMhn3S9e42yaouwLs0x7clnXaLiXsdH17nazA6_RqTM/s1600/TighteningRotatorClamps.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT3U969BZQhl17aicc-sqfXS-2pOBaHqUhl2Hp5BSAenX08kfZKb2Gc06UbgEVwRwohGABEb2uqC5r9tVTJwM1Cv2dAny1c5ilMhn3S9e42yaouwLs0x7clnXaLiXsdH17nazA6_RqTM/s320/TighteningRotatorClamps.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stub with top beam, 70cm beam and cage fitted.</td></tr>
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Next up was fitting the bottom beam to the mast. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NxJx5izqWvdwvszIOjxRorfPMoTO04DAkDV4VJr16Le-OEbbL8XMkIZdDWrXYsGR8iGxVjT9RMc6XNY5IqyxeshtoTYRuU-uY8ZhDxS2VLj8AQE5e68_FSp_SS_dDMazurBEz77eJsA/s1600/FittingBottomYagi.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NxJx5izqWvdwvszIOjxRorfPMoTO04DAkDV4VJr16Le-OEbbL8XMkIZdDWrXYsGR8iGxVjT9RMc6XNY5IqyxeshtoTYRuU-uY8ZhDxS2VLj8AQE5e68_FSp_SS_dDMazurBEz77eJsA/s320/FittingBottomYagi.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom beam being attached to stub.</td></tr>
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And finally connecting up the bottom beam to the coupler and jobs a good un. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyzbtqXIT26A8a3_xqYl3d38SSNCikjy8Ur10QhD4vGGvqarQbrPMRitEEnm-Vo1O3OjzzQy-QWPsPkofA1KpVe7joJFrV64rQcKxB9Dyw6pE8zdfWxQ-3zssoC0kFRA9QLkpnOwy_0I/s1600/ConnectingCoupler.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyzbtqXIT26A8a3_xqYl3d38SSNCikjy8Ur10QhD4vGGvqarQbrPMRitEEnm-Vo1O3OjzzQy-QWPsPkofA1KpVe7joJFrV64rQcKxB9Dyw6pE8zdfWxQ-3zssoC0kFRA9QLkpnOwy_0I/s320/ConnectingCoupler.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coupler connections all done.</td></tr>
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And lastly fixing the cables to the mast.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6cDrH27T1N9Kj-Lm5qVSHfx6runub3X12YCNJSPjj4aWRbTjFicDSJLsczVFVaBgHQrQIV5dS5lTlymzWi9rg4zvim9a9fnjL6BNtWqYr8PTa8JzL90Xf1EYdbwD4kqigY-K4xMytXA/s1600/FixingFeederToMastJPG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6cDrH27T1N9Kj-Lm5qVSHfx6runub3X12YCNJSPjj4aWRbTjFicDSJLsczVFVaBgHQrQIV5dS5lTlymzWi9rg4zvim9a9fnjL6BNtWqYr8PTa8JzL90Xf1EYdbwD4kqigY-K4xMytXA/s320/FixingFeederToMastJPG.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All most done.</td></tr>
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Hurrah the finished system finally raised.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzH5m4MJjLHCvNNYk8ENu_MlmE5JJ2ymAcvsgRvCT-MWmWp9-Yj9qhTqp_w-d-2zv4PmGjjhur7GlF-TrbMRau0cVY1SYlsCfvNJvy6Q_sedvYa8_SO2502jYh3hes4R69mtRdXqZF3gY/s1600/NewSystemRaised.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzH5m4MJjLHCvNNYk8ENu_MlmE5JJ2ymAcvsgRvCT-MWmWp9-Yj9qhTqp_w-d-2zv4PmGjjhur7GlF-TrbMRau0cVY1SYlsCfvNJvy6Q_sedvYa8_SO2502jYh3hes4R69mtRdXqZF3gY/s320/NewSystemRaised.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new system raised.</td></tr>
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<div>
The system gives an VSWR of 1.1:1 @ 144.300MHz with a resistance of 45ohms and reactance of 2 ohms. </div>
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I must give thanks to Dave M1DNJ, Fred and Amber putting up with me trying to run them over with the wheelchair while I fretted over various bits and pieces. I've been told I'm quite OCD about my antennas. ;-))<br />
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UPDATE : 6th September 2018 -- Well the first hard rain since putting the antenna up and the SWR has shot up to 6:1 oh bother this means sadly I'll be off 2m for awhile until I can get the antennas down and workout where the water has got, I suspect the Powabeam driven element ABS moulded fixing block which I had heard can give issues I thought I had sealed it up with extra sealant but obviously not!</div>
Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4275544699995993800.post-47403023496526089472018-08-10T14:19:00.001-07:002018-08-30T09:40:17.553-07:00Kuhne Electronics IC7300 IF Transverter Mod Board - UpdateI recently fitted the Kuhne IF transverter modification board and found I had some issues with it.<br />
<br />
When I first fitted the board I had a strange pulse appear on receive when using the transverter I original put this down to having to much signal going from the transverter to the rig and so switched on the rigs attenuator to resolve the issue. Now I didn't do this in a very scientific manner I just put the attenuation in on gut feeling. <br />
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Next I noticed when using my Wavenode power meter when I de-keyed the transmitter I had a 1.3W RF spike out of the transverter which resulted in a 200W spike from the linear. After pulling the system apart in an effort to resolve the issue I discovered the cause was the Kuhne modification.<br />
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As I found the issue with the Wavenode was caused by the interface board I had another look at the RF pulse I was seeing without the rigs attenuator turned on. I tuned in the GB3VHF beacon which appeared as S9 on the S meter while using the transverter with the combiner and then switch back to IF interface where GB3VHF stayed at S9 without the rigs attenuator turn on however the pulse was present again so I again switched the attenuator back on resulting in the beacon losing an S point but the pulse had disappeared.<br />
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I did a quick search on the internet and found on the IC7300 io.groups reflector a PDF documenting a modification to do with instabilities found with the IC7300 power amplifier when the Kuhne board was disengaged and carried out the modifications which made no difference to my problems which in all honestly wasn't surprising.<br />
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I've now decided to remove the modification and go back to the combiner and attenuator method of driving the transverter which was far more stable and had no issues.<br />
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Another observation is the fact I kept seeing some IM products in the adjacent 3kHz from where I was operating from which I just couldn't get rid of it wasn't bad about -25dB in relation to output and wasn't always present but with the modification removed it vanished completely to the point where any IM product is now at least -35db at worst. Daft Buggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058651260749297516noreply@blogger.com0