QSO anyone?

[N2CHX]

I'm trying PSK31 on ~7.073

[NQ6U]

7.073 or 7.037? The latter is the more common freq for PSK31 on 40m.

[N2CHX]

7.073 or 7.037? The latter is the more common freq for PSK31 on 40m.

7.073. I've actually been in a QSO with WB9UHL from Rockfor IL right now. I guess my crappy antenna and power supply work. :)

[NQ6U]

Okay, I'm there. Not hearing your signal at all but that's just as likely the fault of my puny little station plus poor band conditions as anything else. We are a long way apart. Plus, it's still daylight here so 40 isn't really my best choice.

[N2CHX]

Wow. That was the longest HF QSO I've ever had. An hour and a half. My radio works. Woohoo!

[NQ6U]

Wow. That was the longest HF QSO I've ever had. An hour and a half. My radio works. Woohoo!

Kewl! I listened for you but it's still daylight here on the Left Coast so band conditions aren't really good for 40m.

[AA0CX]

I really need to get with the program here. I've been a ham since '87...and most of my qso's are in CW. Some AM on 160 and 75...Always wanted to try PSK31...sounds like something to try this fall....

[K7SGJ]

Ya know, I've got all the stuff to do PSK, but I just haven't go to it. I guess I need to type a little faster than 20 mistakes a minute, too.

[NQ6U]

I really need to get with the program here. I've been a ham since '87...and most of my qso's are in CW. Some AM on 160 and 75...Always wanted to try PSK31...sounds like something to try this fall....

It's fun, my favorite mode. PSK31 is lot like QRP operation since you don't want to run more than 35-40 watts, but that's been enough for me to make contacts with New Zealand, Argentina, Russia and Portugal from here on the Left Coast.

[KG4CGC]

It will work with old rigs, won't it?

[NQ6U]

It will work with old rigs, won't it?

I'm using an Icom IC-736, which about 15 years old. Works great.

[KG4CGC]

I was thinking about the interface because there were all kinds of digital parameters to set on the TS 570 (*).
I was just having a brain fart. If Kelli is running it on an old Atlas, then yeah and that rig is older than dirt.

[ki4itv]

Wow. That was the longest HF QSO I've ever had. An hour and a half. My radio works. Woohoo!

Yeah, there are some real talkers on PSK...once you get past the Macro-mancers.
AND, you don't have to listen to 'em go uuhhhmmm between the heavy mouth breathing.

[N2CHX]

I've made four contacts so far tonight. IL, IN, NJ and NYC. I love it. I call CQ once and get responses. All good signal reports. I guess the 240,000 uF of electrolytic capacitors is doing an adequate job of filtering out PS ripple. The rig drifts slightly when it warms up initially and when it warms from transmit, but not more than a few Hz. so it's liveable. The interface is simple... I had a couple of 600/150 ohm audio transformers sitting around. Two transformers, two 3/8" plugs, one 3/8" jack (to add a headphone jack to the audio output of the rig -- I split the audio output of the rig to the headphones and the sound card input of the PC) and two 1/4" plugs for the back of the rig... I have to manually flip the switch on the rig between TX and RX because my Netbook doesn't have a serial port to steal a control line from. Some day I'll get fancy and buy a USB/Serial adapter and build the little interface. Way back when, I used this rig for PSK for a while back in 2002 or so and the TR switching worked great off a serial port. Anyway, I'm very happy with it all. I may even try some phone...

[N2CHX]

Oh yeah, one more thing... I found out one reason why I couldn't hear squat earlier... My netbook puts out a crapload of hash all over the place when it's plugged in to the wall charger. Unlpug the charger/PS and the noise goes completely away and suddenly a world of signals... Good thing the netbook has an 8 hour battery life.

[KG4CGC]

Oh my, our little girl's all grown up now. :heart:

[N2CHX]

Here's the setup. It's on the window corner of my desk.

3245

...and the 120,000 uF caps. They are sitting on the floor. I have spring terminals that the battery charger clips to, soldered to the screws on the caps. The wire from the caps to the rig is stranded 12 gauge. Adequate for 30-50 watts but if I really want to run higher power I should probably put 10 gauge in there. During PSK transmit my input current is about 8 amps. The hand-wound toroid choke is located before the caps, so that any voltage sag from the toroid is absorbed by the caps and not between the caps and the rig. This reduces fluctuations from current draw on the rig a bit.

3246

[N2CHX]

Oh my, our little girl's all grown up now. :heart:

LOL... I may even upgrade to Extra... Just so I can annoy you wherever you may be.

[KG4CGC]

LOL... I may even upgrade to Extra... Just so I can annoy you wherever you may be.
I bet you could pass it blind folded and in braille.

[ki4itv]

You can't have your cat, and eat it too.:lol::lol::lol:

Unless, of course, that's how you keep it from going astray. ;)

[N2CHX]

I bet you could pass it blind folded and in braille.

I don't know about that. I think I'll study. What's even on the exam anyway? If it's all rules and regs I better study. If it's theory then I probably need to brush up a little. If knowing band limits is critical, I'm screwed :p

Just for you Charles... I know you'll get a kick out of this...

3247

[NQ6U]

Here's the setup. It's on the window corner of my desk.

3245

...and the 120,000 uF caps. They are sitting on the floor. I have spring terminals that the battery charger clips to, soldered to the screws on the caps. The wire from the caps to the rig is stranded 12 gauge. Adequate for 30-50 watts but if I really want to run higher power I should probably put 10 gauge in there. During PSK transmit my input current is about 8 amps. The hand-wound toroid choke is located before the caps, so that any voltage sag from the toroid is absorbed by the caps and not between the caps and the rig. This reduces fluctuations from current draw on the rig a bit.

3246


Now that's the true ham radio spirit! Good job, Kelli.

[N2CHX]

:lol::lol::lol:

Unless, of course, that's how you keep it from going astray. ;)

My poosy? Astray? Nevah!

[KG4CGC]

I don't know about that. I think I'll study. What's even on the exam anyway? If it's all rules and regs I better study. If it's theory then I probably need to brush up a little. If knowing band limits is critical, I'm screwed :p

Just for you Charles... I know you'll get a kick out of this...

3247
You made that just for me? I feel so touched!

[K7SGJ]

Hey Kelli, when you say it with the accent, it sounds like Sean Connery.

[N2CHX]

Now that's the true ham radio spirit! Good job, Kelli.

:) Thank you.

[N2CHX]

You made that just for me? I feel so touched!

Well actually it's for me, but I took a picture of it for you. Remember what you told me yesterday? I'll have you know this rig and antenna building thing is all your fault. D is gonna kill you :lol:

[N2CHX]

Hey Kelli, when you say it with the accent, it sounds like Sean Connery.

Poosy!!

[N2CHX]

I'm using an Icom IC-736, which about 15 years old. Works great.

I'm watching you on 40 PSK right now, talking to AA9WJ! Nice sig here.

[N2CHX]

I'm watching you on 40 PSK right now, talking to AA9WJ! Nice sig here.

Screenshot for you. Your waterfall is under the red diamond. 3248

[N2CHX]

Brief contact with Carl but then QSB got the best of us :(

That was cool though Carl!

Going to bed now. 73 and gnight all.

[NQ6U]

Cool, thanks! It was fun having a QSO with you, sorry band conditions were so crappy. Sunspots are picking up, though, so we can try again some other time.

[KJ3N]

I don't know about that. I think I'll study. What's even on the exam anyway? If it's all rules and regs I better study. If it's theory then I probably need to brush up a little. If knowing band limits is critical, I'm screwed :p

Just for you Charles... I know you'll get a kick out of this...

3247

Small point of order. Those allocations are correct if you're an Advanced, not a General. You might want to re-check that.

[NQ6U]

I'm doing PSK31 on 7.037.15 if anyone cares for a QSO.

[KG4CGC]

OK, I have to find a schematic for a manually switched interface to run on a Corsair.
Manual switching for the sake of simplicity. Push /ON=TX. Push /OFF=RX.

[N2CHX]

Small point of order. Those allocations are correct if you're an Advanced, not a General. You might want to re-check that.

I got them straight off the ARRL website. Maybe I copied them wrong.

[N2CHX]

Cool, thanks! It was fun having a QSO with you, sorry band conditions were so crappy. Sunspots are picking up, though, so we can try again some other time.

Yes, it was cool. I couldn't believe it when I saw your callsign. I do believe you are my record for distance on 40 meters. I've DX'd on 15 and 10, never used 20 ever I don't think, and 40 and 80 have always been more "regional" for me. I think Arizona was the farthest I ever got.

[N2CHX]

I'm doing PSK31 on 7.037.15 if anyone cares for a QSO.

Funny, I started out on 7.073 and ended up down on 7.037. When I first started hearing stations, they were all up above 7050. The only thing I heard down near 7035 were CW stations.

[kf0rt]

I got them straight off the ARRL website. Maybe I copied them wrong.

Got a printer? I just hang this on the wall:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Hambands_color.pdf

[ki4itv]

Yes, it was cool. I couldn't believe it when I saw your callsign. I do believe you are my record for distance on 40 meters. I've DX'd on 15 and 10, never used 20 ever I don't think, and 40 and 80 have always been more "regional" for me. I think Arizona was the farthest I ever got.

Keep pluggin away on 7.037, a lot of European DX can be had from the East Coast when forty goes long, just after 'dark thirty'
Also, you mentioned that your antenna is really meant for 30m, try 10.140+ (.142 really). It was a favorite haunt of mine for a couple years and you should find a lot of ragchewers there.

I really need to get my radio problems sorted out. Kinda shit out of luck right now and haven't made the time to will it my way.

[N2CHX]

Got a printer? I just hang this on the wall:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Hambands_color.pdf

Done, thank you. Yes, I see I must have copied some of those wrong.

[N2CHX]

Keep pluggin away on 7.037, a lot of European DX can be had from the East Coast when forty goes long, just after 'dark thirty'
Also, you mentioned that your antenna is really meant for 30m, try 10.140+ (.142 really). It was a favorite haunt of mine for a couple years and you should find a lot of ragchewers there.

I really need to get my radio problems sorted out. Kinda shit out of luck right now and haven't made the time to will it my way.

Yes, 7037 seems to be quite active. I don't have 30m on the Atlas. The 30m antenna I have was originally built for the 30m CW QRP rig I built last year, that got killed when one of the cats knocked it on the floor from the shelf downstairs and then the basement flooded :(

Someday I'll buy another nice rig like the Icom 706 I sold in the winter, and play some more on other bands. I regret selling that thing now, but I needed the money at the time. Come to think of it I could use the money now lol.