WSJTX Improved

I found the brand new wsjtx-improved available on my Debian unstable system. It’s the next beta plus some UI enhancements including filters, color, etc, better location labels.

wsjtx  ft8  hf  digital 

FT Challenge

This weekend was the FT Challenge.

I made about 112 contacts over 14 unique “letter grids”. I operated QRP (<5W), single operator, single radio. We scored points for each contact plus each 3000km distance on a contact, and the multiplier was that number of unique letter grids. I uploaded my logs, and it’ll probably be a while until I see an official score, but I figure I probably got about 2000 points.

ft8  ft4  digital  hf  contest 

Yagi in the Wind

The Yagi spun around like a wind vane at times atop its flagpole, but it held up just fine. The aluminum pole swayed quite a bit as well. I’ve wrapped a loop of cord around the pole to use as reigns. so I can spin it straight again without really going outside.

985 Roundtable on Allstar

I used my Allstar for tonight’s 985 Roundtable as a test, since my antenna had been blowing around all day. I wasn’t not sure which way it would be pointing.

It’s really easy to miss the first word or 2, or prefixes of callsigns. I was listening along on RF as well. I got 2 random restarts of the Allstar connection, and I learned that I can’t send any commands to the radio while the node is transmitting simplex on RF.

The 985 Winter Field Day will be at Lines Self Storage in Chester Springs, PA.

A Bit of FT8

I got Japan, Colombia, and Uruquay on 12m FT8 today. I got so much Japan from Hawaii, I assumed I’d not see it for a long time. Winter is good in 10M and 12M.

ft8  hf 

Allstar Access

The 985 workbench suggested locking down the node to be safe, so I set only my node (63047) in the allow list via asl-menu and node configs. It needed at least one value, according to the UI, so I gave it my own node ID. It still allows me to connect to the W3GMS repeater, node 53085.

985 Workbench: 2024-12-02

My Week in Radio

  • Built an Allstar node from a PI 4 and a USB-C radio dongle to reach 985
  • Stumbled into and recognized some Olivia-8/250 on 20M
  • Lots of ISS repeater traffic at convenient times on my good ol’ 1/4 wave antenna in the tree
  • Got the radio blog up-to-date with all my adventures
  • Listened to Jim, AF3Z, talk about sideswiper keys, and I might give it a try as i’ve changed the way I’ve been using my iambic paddle to almost never squeeze.
  • looking forward to FT Challege

Questions

  • KC3WWC, John: I have the basic Allstar node configured. Should I leave it connected to 985 all the time? I recognize some of the repeater features, so what other cool things should I have this node do?
    • W3CRW, CR:
      • using it for a few years
      • not always connected
      • switch to other nodes
      • always disconnect from one node before connecting to another to avoid linking.
      • has a node in 2 vehicles to supplement the reception.
    • WA3VEE, Ron:
      • best thing for 985
      • not connected all the time
      • uses HTs anywhere in the house
      • operated at long distances
      • be careful to not cross-link
      • in vermont, connected to 53085, simplex 446.100, unknowingly connected the repeater to the entire vermont network
    • W3DIB, Greg:
      • Joe is adamant about avoiding crosslinks to other repeaters.
      • other danger: if you are always connected, someone else could link to you and cross-link.
        • prevent other nodes from linking to me.
        • disallow every other nodes
      • computer security:
        • keep the node up-to-date and secured.
        • it used to be ancient versions of debian and asterisk
        • now it’s much better….allstar 3
        • careful about forwarding ports to it.
        • uses a VM, flipperphone. will try to get a tutorial together.
      • W3CRW, CR:
        • supermon on the node allows cool monitoring with web access
        • On Tuesday’s at 20:00, there is a tech net on the East Coast Reflector. The net usually runs a couple of hours. You can connect, to the Reflector via Allstar on 27339, 45225 or 45192.
  • KC3RFG, Jim: When you setup a station and all the gadgets in the RF chain, where does a wattmeter prefer to be?
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • it should be between transmitter and tuner, so you can tell when the tuner is right
      • sounds like bad cable or other installation problems?
      • RF getting back through the chain?
    • KC3RFG will check that jumpers are good
  • W3DIB, Greg: On RF now, impressions of the NanoVNA?
    • W3QP, Tim:
      • 100% worth the money
      • depends on use-case
      • needs calibration all the time
      • can be fragile
      • great for building ununs, etc.
      • dedicated VNA can be much more convenient
      • uses nano vna saver python script to capture everything
    • KC3WWC, John:
      • so much cool stuff to measure, so opens up a whole world
      • lots of more features to learn on youtube every week
      • as a technical person, you’ll have a lot of fun.
    • KC3NZT, Harvey:
      • lots more data than a regular analyzer
      • maybe doesn’t need recalibrated all the time.
        • use saved calibrations
    • KC3RFG, Jim:
      • calibrated for each band, saved it, and recalls them.
      • does lots more connected to the computer

Sideswiper

KN3I, John, and AF3Z, Jim, were talking on 985 about Sideswiper keys. Technically, it’s a straight key. It’s 2 straight keys together, so it’s not considered an automatic keyer. You can optionally use either key to manually key a dit or a dah. Sideswiper is sometimes called a Cootie Key. It sounds interesting, since it’ll not race me on dits.

985  cw  sideswiper 

VE4ARM Beacon

I was able to hear a 10M beacon today at 28193.180kHz:

E E E E E VVV DE VE4ARM / B AMATEUR RADIO MUSEUM / AUSTIN MANITOBA / EN 09 E E E
cw  hf  beacon