KD0CLW
There was a little activity on 20m, but nothing higher, so I went down to
30M and found, surprisingly, lots of digital activity. I answered
KD0CLW Don, in
Topeka, KS. Don gave me
599 and I sent
579 for his OM
30W from his
TS-530 to a
fence-mounted vertical. Don has been a ham only a year or so, with a recent upgrade, after years of SWL'ing. I was running
5W from my
K3.
10141.721, PSK31Labels: QSO
ZL1AMO
I listened on
17M and heard some QSOs in progress, so I switched my
SteppIR to the band and checked the tuning on the last frequency I heard someone say "Standing by" on. I gave a quick CWID at 50W and got back a call from
ZL1AMO Ron in
Auckland, New Zealand. I upped to
100W from my
K3 and had a nice QSO with Ron, who reported it was 15C there. We exchanged a bit of CW fun as well.
Labels: QSO
V73NS
I just worked
Neil on
Roi-Namur on
14.003 with
5W from the
K3 and got a
559 first call,
CW. I gave Neil
599. We've QSO'd before and I was in the log and Neil said a quick hi when I let him know it was QRP.
Labels: QSO
K2 Emacs
Here's another update to
K2.el.
It still needs work!
;;;-*-EMACS-LISP-*-
;;; Leigh L. Klotz, Jr. WA5ZNU <klotz@graflex.org>
(defvar rig-device "/dev/ttyS0")
;;; Command definitions
(defconst k2-next-if-filter "FW0000")
(defconst k2-next-af-filter "SW29")
(defconst k2-dsp-notch-toggle "SW80")
(defconst k2-dsp-noise-reduction-toggle "SW81")
(defconst k2-qsy-vfo-a "FA")
(defconst k2-qsy-vfo-b "FB")
(defconst k2-set-mode "MD")
(defconst k2-modes '(("LSB" . 1) ("USB" . 2) ("CW" . 3) ("RTTY" . 6) ("CW-R" . 7) ("RTTY-R" . 9)))
;;; Command functions
(defun k2-next-filter ()
"Goes to the next K2 Filter"
(interactive)
(k2-rig-command-0 k2-next-if-filter)
(k2-rig-command-0 k2-next-af-filter))
(defun k2-qsy-vfo-a (khz)
"Sets the frequency of K2 VFO A"
(interactive "NFrequency: ")
(k2-rig-command-1 k2-qsy-vfo-a (format "00%06d000" khz)))
(defun k2-qsy-vfo-b (khz)
"Sets the frequency of K2 VFO B"
(interactive "NFrequency: ")
(k2-rig-command-1 k2-qsy-vfo-b (format "00%06d000" khz)))
(defun k2-set-mode ()
"Sets the K2 Mode"
(interactive)
(let* ((completion-ignore-case t)
(mode-name (upcase (completing-read "Mode: " k2-modes nil t nil)))
(mode-num (and mode-name (cdr (assoc mode-name k2-modes)))))
(if mode-num
(k2-rig-command-1 k2-set-mode mode-num))))
(defun k2-dsp-notch-toggle ()
"Toggles the K2 DSP notch filter"
(interactive)
(k2-rig-command-0 k2-dsp-notch-toggle))
(defun k2-dsp-noise-reduction-toggle ()
"Toggles the K2 DSP noise reduction filter"
(interactive)
(k2-rig-command-0 k2-dsp-noise-reduction-toggle))
(defun k2-get-vfo-a ()
(k2-rig-command-0-read k2-qsy-vfo-a 14))
;;; I/O
(defun k2-rig-command-0 (command)
(shell-command (format "echo -n \"%s;\" > %s" command rig-device)))
(defun k2-rig-command-0-read (command n)
(shell-command (format "echo -n \"%s;\" > %s; dd if=%s bs=1 count=%d" command rig-device rig-device n)))
(defun k2-rig-command-1 (command arg1)
(shell-command (format "echo -n \"%s%s;\" > %s" command arg1 rig-device)))
;;; Key Bindings
(easy-mmode-defmap k2-minor-mode-map
'(("\e`" . k2-next-filter)
([(control meta ?m)] . k2-set-mode)
([(control meta ?g)] . k2-qsy-vfo-a)
([(control meta ?n)] . k2-dsp-noise-reduction-toggle)
([(control meta ?m)] . k2-set-mode))
"Keymap for `k2-minor-mode'.")
(define-minor-mode k2-minor-mode
"Minor mode for k2-rig-control context diffs.
\\{k2-minor-mode-map}"
nil " K2" nil)
;;; Todo:
;;; Reading status (use Linux rigctl or read directly?)
;;; Mode line (use display-time-hook?)
G4RCG
I turned on the
K3 and heard a watery DX signal on
10.106. The QSO ended and
G4RCG called QRZ.
John heard me the first time but it took a few calls at
75W to the
550' loop to get the call in and receive
439 but things picked up after that and John mentioned our
previous QSO on 20M, which was with the same antenna but about half the power. Still
30M DX late at night to England is pretty fun! I sent
559 and we were on our way.
Labels: QSO
10Ghz
I got a some 10Ghz X-band motion detectors, an HP X532A X-Band Wavemeter, and an X421A mounted IN26 detector. I made a conical horn from W1GHZ's book out of aluminum foil and taped it on the detector. Approaching slowly I found the maxiumum output was in the 1mv range from the detector diode, so I felt it was safe to couple it directly to the waveguide.
Directly coupled, I get about 4mV max which would be 0.04mW (-14dBm) detected output from the Gunn oscillator my my X421A detector (IN26 plus matched resistor internal) is to be believed. There was a dip just below 10.55GHz.
With the X421A wavemeter in line I switched to measuring diode current as it seemed to have a better dip. 0.22mA and a good dip to 0.20mA from 10.538-10.5425 GHz. That's probably too many digits, but I can guess it's somewhere around 10.54Ghz.
So, I need to move it down into the ham band and either adjust the matching screw on the existing horn or get new antennas.
PY4SZ
15m was open a little so I listened and hear
PY4SZ Sergio in
Brazil who gave me a
559 and I returned
579 on
21.024 CW. He heard me at 50W but needed repeats so I went up to
100W,
SteppIR 3el,
K3.
HK3/IZ0GPY
I took a break from microwave experiments and worked
HK3/IZ0GYP on
7.001 CW with 50W but it took
100W to complete the
599599 exchange.
Labels: QSO
TI8/DL4MO
I heard TI8/
DL4MO calling CQ on
10.105 and got
599 and sent
559.
Lothar didn't hear me at 5, 10, or 35W so I went to
85W to the
SteppIR 30m dipole from my
K3.
Labels: QSO
Hughes HeNe Laser, 1mW
At the flea market I went in search of some 10GHz equipment, but wound up buying a Hughes HeNe laser for $5. It wasn't working but the OM thought it could be repaired easily.
The toughest part was getting it apart. The hex screws weren't quite the size I had but I managed to get them out. I used a pair of C clamps to hold onto the chassis top shell and compress it so it would slide off. Then I discovered that the key switch and remote plug had been jumpered (the OM had told me there was no longer a key) but the wire had broken off at the board. The board was riveted in place, and wasn't plated through, so I had to solder as best I could.
There's a 75K Ohm resistor that has gotten quite hot and darkened the board. I'll probably replace that with a metal film resistor at some point. The insulated HV line runs right above it so it may be a little trouble to raise off the board.
