NAQP Phone August 2013

About 8 hours spent in this contest. Band conditions were horrible at the start (A index up around 30) but got a little better as the evening progressed. Still, not a great time for me.

Propagation Hell

Some of the states needed for Triple Play and 20m/40m WAS on LOTW that I worked were WV, MI, OH and TN (20m); OK, NE, and MT (40m); 15m was awful -- other than ME, NB and Mexico all I heard were CA stations.

I threw in the towel just after 0300 by which time the local RFI noise became unbearable. Haven't they outlawed plasma TVs yet?

QRV: Approx. 8 hours for 137 QSOs

• 1800-1900: Off
• 1900-1945: 20m (11 QSOs)
• 1945-2020: 15m (6 QSOs)
• 2020-0030: 20m (69 QSOs)
• 0030-0100: 15m (8 QSOs)
• 0100-0110: 20m (3 QSOs)
• 0110-0305: 40m (40 QSOs)
• 0305-0600: Off

Station: Elecraft K3 @100w, Tarheel screwdriver vertical.

Final Claimed Score: 7,124
33 states; 2 Canadian provinces (ON & NB); 2 DX (XE & KP2).

NAQP CW August 2013

First CW contest I've worked since 1996, I think. Just over 4 hours operating time (2330-0445), logged 68 QSOs, 28 States, 3 CanProvs.

K3 Receiver Sensitivity Loss With KPA500

Ever since adding the KPA500 to my station, the bands have been dead. Perfect timing as always, or so I thought at first. After a week and all propagation indices suggesting the ionosphere had not in fact packed up and left, it slowly began to dawn on me that perhaps there was something wrong in the signal chain.

I went as far as bypassing my Delta 4 antenna switch and connecting the antenna feedline directly to the amp -- a drop in signal strength being one of the signs that the gas cartridge might have gone bad --  but no change. I did not, however, bypass the amp and connect the antenna directly to the K3.

Finally, I saw a thread entitled K3 Receive Attenuation with KPA500 in Operate while perusing the Elecraft email reflector and it all clicked. Brian W3BW wrote:

I am running a newly assembled "K-Line" --- K3/100, KPA500 and KAT500.  The K3 is pretty "loaded" with KRX3, KAT3, KXV3A, etc.

I just noticed that received signals are down 4 S-units when the KPA500 is in Operate.  In Standby, signals pop right up. 

Reading past reflector emails on the topic, I found one thread that suggested this may have to do with the state of the KPA500 PTT.  I found that pulling the PTT RCA plug out ended the problem. 

This 4 S-unit drop was exactly what I was experiencing. A response from Don W3FPR confirmed it to be the PTT cable used in parallel with the KPAK3AUX control cable:

I have heard this before, and as I recall it has to do with the DB15 cable and the PTT cable when used together. 

Are you using the PTT cable in addition to the cable from the K3 ACC cable?  If so, pin 10 of the cable should not be included.  See the note on page 8 of the KAT500 manual. 

Normally you would not have to use the PTT cable with the K3.

The KPA500 manual does not mention this, at least not clearly, in the Cabling instructions:

1. Connect your station ground to the GND thumbscrew {10}. A good station ground is important for safety and to minimize local radio frequency interference (RFI).
   
2. Attach the RF INPUT {11} to the output of your driving transceiver or transmitter using a 50 ohm coaxial cable with a PL-259 male connector on the KPA500 end. The driving transmitter must supply up to 40 watts for full output from the KPA500.
   
3. Attach the RF OUTPUT {1} to a suitable load with an SWR of less than 1.5:1. A dummy load is strongly recommended for initial testing.
   
4. Connect the PA KEY {6} to the driving transmitter Key Output. A suitable cable is supplied with your KPA500. The transmitter must ground this circuit during transmit while sinking up to 1 mA from the PA KEY line. If the transmitter Key Output is not a contact closure or equivalent, it must be at a level between +4 and +16 VDC during receive. (Compatible with all known transmitters. No key line buffer required.)
   
5. Optional: An auxiliary (AUX) connector is provided that permits more closely integrating the operation of the KPA500 with many transceivers, including the Elecraft K3. A suitable cable for use with the K3 is available from Elecraft. See AUX Connector Interface on pg 18.
   
6. Optional: RS232 (PC) {9} connects the KPA500 to your personal computer with a standard 9-pin serial cable. Required for updating the KPA500 firmware.
   
7. Optional: RS232 (XVCR) {8} connects the KPA500 to a Kenwood transceiver using a standard 9-pin serial cable. This connector cannot be used to update KPA500 firmware (see pg 14).
   
8. Optional: ALC OUT {7} provides level information to control the driving transmitter RF level. The output is negative-going from 0 VDC to -12VDC. 
   

I read the above as, "You need to connect the PTT cable, and the AUX cable if you want additional control of the amp with the K3." And what receiver sensitivity might have to do with the PTT key line is beyond my understanding. But at least I had a clue.

Removing the PTT cable seems to have done the trick for me. Now both signals and background noise are back to normal levels.

July 2013 Wrap-Up

DXCC - Worked 57 DXCC entities in July, 20 of them new for Texas, 13 all-time new ones for me. I'm getting braver with the paddles, five of the new ones were worked on CW (SV5 Dodecanese, FO/M Marqueseas Is, V7 Marshall Is., 3B8 Mauritius, 5W Samoa). Ended the month with 142 worked/112 confirmed all-time (112/80 from TX).

WAS - Closing in on 50 for 20m and 40m WAS. Still only two states on CW (NJ & MD), but that will change in August after NAQP CW. Still need AK, DE, IA, MI, NE, OK, RI & VT for Triple Play Phone.

 Triple Play 

Digital: 50

Phone: 42

CW: 2

2013 RSGB IOTA Contest

I didn't really give this any serious effort, did not even get on the air until after 0200, so I'm not even going to send in a log. But it gave me a chance to give the KPA500 a good shakedown and she performed as well as I could have expected. The screwdriver antenna is still the limiting factor for me -- no amplifier is going to help me work DX that I can't hear. And it was slim pickings for a while. But when 20m opened up to the Pacific after 0330, I cracked a small pile and worked South Cook Is. (E51GC) on the first call.

In all, I only made 20 contacts (16 DXCC, 10 WAZ), picked up a new one (E51), worked Corsica (TK) and Ireland (EI) for the first time since moving to Texas, and the usual assortment of VK, ZL, KH6, and South America/Caribbean stations.

My hearty congratulations...

To GoDaddy.com for failing to inform me that my domain name was due to expire, and...

To the douchebag in Japan who snatched up WW2PT.com within minutes of its expiration, figuring he could sell it back to me. You know what? You can keep it. And suck a bag of dicks while you're at it, too.

KPA500 Passes Smoke Test

The KPA500 arrived Thursday. I started assembling it after work and got as far as sorting the parts and mounting the tilt bail and feet, power supply module, and left side panel. Finished the job on Friday night... er, Saturday morning, around 2am. Hit the sack after testing into the dummy load. Looks like full 500w takes about 35w drive from the K3 on 20m.

Flex 1500 and DM780

After a long and grueling day yesterday working the NAQP RTTY test (more on that anon), I decided Sunday was going to be spent getting the Flex 1500 working with DM780. Had to install Virtual Serial Port Manager to create (you guessed it) virtual serial ports, then Virtual Audio Cable to create (wait for it...) virtual audio cables, all so I can connect the Flex to the laptop with a single USB cable and run the PowerSDR software and Ham Radio Deluxe *and* pass TX and RX audio through the USB port to DM780 simultaneously.

What a ball buster. The first time I tried doing this, the VAC trial software refused to install. Today I downloaded the most recent version (whether it is the same version I tried previously, I cannot say) and tried again. No problems at all. I read the book of words on the Flex Knowledge Center, and fortune smiled upon me. Transmit and receive appear to be working, just a few issues to look at like long pauses after hitting the Send button, and even longer hangs whenever I seem to to anything at all in the Options panel.

NAQP RTTY July 2013

I worked the whole 12 hours (less 2 hours off time) even though conditions were pretty noisy for me and distractions were aplenty. Used HRD Logbook instead of N1MM since I still do not have MMRTTY installed and figured out. I know I picked up several 15m WAS state/band/mode grids on LOTW since the contest ended (NJ: mixed, digital, and, RTTY; TN: RTTY; WI: mixed, digital, and RTTY). Maybe more that haven't been confirmed yet.

QRV: Approx. 10 hrs, for 175 QSOs

• 1800-2145 - 20m
• 2145-2230 - Break
• 2230-0200 - 20m
• 0200-0230 - 40m
• 0230-0345 - Break
• 0345-0600 - 40m

Final Claimed Score: 14,175
38 States, 4 Canadian provinces, 1 DX.

KPA500 on the way

There goes the grocery money for the next two months. But it had to be done.

2013 IARU HF World Championsip

Phone operation only, low power (100w), three bands (40m/20m/15m).

Band conditions were not great, but my local noise level was downright oppressive, as high as S9+20dB on 40m. Bad transformer out on the pole? I dunno. Thankfully the K3 has the best NB system of any radio I've ever used, so I was able to knock it down to a mere (!) S7 or so and manage to hear stations near the noise level (thank you Elecraft!), otherwise it was going to be a short test for me.

N1MM Logger once again makes me wonder how people operated contests before contest logging programs.

DXCC: 26 Countries. Only new one, I think, was the "new" PJ4 Bonaire (PJ4NX on 20 and 40).

WAS: 32 States (per QRZ). Got some needed state/band combinations, I'm sure.

QRV: Approx. 16 hrs, for 176 QSOs -- not exactly big gun performance. Sometimes I felt like I was working QRP. Into a dummy load. With bad coax...

• 1230-1430 - 20m
• 1430-1830 - 15m
• 1830-2115 - Break
• 2115-0130 - 20m
• 0130-0300 - 40m
• 0300-0600 - 20m
• 0600-0700 - Break
• 0700-0745 - 40m

Final Claimed Score: 30,876

Two Needed Islands on LOTW: Saba and Rhode

Woke up to a couple of needed verifications. PJ5/K3TRM, who I worked on 20 RTTY twice (wasn't sure if the first one was a good contact, but I got the QSL for both so I guess it was...). And that's #107 in the bag.

Also in: K2C in Rhode Island on 20m PSK31, a state that I didn't really "need" (I have a paper QSL for RI), but it fills in another grid place for 20m PSK31 on LOTW, so I'll take it.

Three more to go (MS, NE and NH) for WAS 20m PSK31. To do it all on LOTW, I'll also need ME, MN and OK as I have those three verified on paper.

Two more on CW

Worked Greece (SV1CQN) and Nicaragua (H70ORO) on 20m CW this evening. That makes 21 DXCC countries worked on CW for me. Baby steps.

I'm starting to feel more comfortable dropping my call when I hear a DX station. I think my biggest problem at this point is being able to hear the DX. I mean, I might hear something when I pull up a cluster spot, but I ask myself whether I could really be able to copy my own call if he sent it back to me. Most of the time the answer is no. The noise level here is debilitating, a constant S8 or S9 with the noise blanker off. DSP noise reduction doesn't offer much help with that kind of noise level. Copying CW is difficult enough for me without having the double-handicap of competing with my neighbor's plasma TV and the noisy power lines and transformer that are just 10-20 feet away from my antenna. So I pick my battles carefully, try to go for the stations which are relatively pile-up free and easily copyable, and do the Happy Dance every time I put a new one in the log.

#106

Hmm. This CW thing might just be worth the effort.

June 2013 Wrap-Up

DX - I worked just 28 countries from June 12 through June 30, giving me four new DXCC (BV, DU,YB, and ZD7) and three new CQ Zones (24, 27, and 28).

So with DXCC behind me Triple Play has become my short-term goal. Digital is done, all 50 states confirmed on LOTW. Thirteen states are needed on phone, I should be able to close that column out with a few contests. CW... OK, this will require real commitment.

DXCC count as of 05-July

CW - To this end, I've been working some DX on 20m CW, which is great since "TU 5NN 5NN 73 DE WW2PT" is about the extent of my CW vocabulary at the relativistic speeds typically found at the extreme low ends of the bands. I'm getting more comfortable venturing into that territory, however. I can copy my own call at ludicrous speed, and that's pretty much all that's needed 90% of the time.

I've also been listening a lot to the QRP guys up around 14060; they usually operate inside my 15-20 wpm comfort zone. Haven't worked any of them, mind you -- I seem to get paddle shy at the prospect of having someone starting an honest to God conversation, sending me into a panic spiral once the QSO strays from the signal report exchange. It's completely psychological; if I'm not working a station, I can comfortably copy a CW QSO at this speed. Only when it's my QSO does the brain meltdown occur. This too shall pass.

Flex 1500 - Loving the new toy, for the most part. Still messing around with the settings, trying to get the noise blankers set to best handle the electrical noise ever present at my QTH. Unless I'm just not finding the optimum settings, I have to say the noise blankers are no match for those in the K3. The filtering, on the other hand, is simply amazing. Clean sounding CW right down to 25 hz. At times some distortion of signals starts to occur, gradually increasing until I have to reduce the size of the audio and DSP buffers. This makes the distortion go away, but also limits the minimum passband width, apparently. Not sure why this is happening, since CPU usage doesn't seem to be excessive (usually hums along in the 15-25% range while running PowerSDR, Ham Radio Deluxe, and Chrome). It's a clean install of Windows 8 (yeah, I know...) with a minimum of junk installed. Hasn't happened in a while, however, so maybe operator retardation is to blame.

I've been unable to install the trial version of VAC, and I've not yet wired up cabling for audio I/O, so no digital ops with the Flex as of yet. Really was hoping to run both control and audio through a single USB cable just to simplify things. But VAC simply refuses to install (I forget the error message). Compatibility issue with Windoze 8?

Also ran into latency issues with the CW keyer. Messing again with the buffers fixed the problem at the time. I've since set all buffers back to max size and there no longer seems to be any issue with sending CW. So again, maybe something I did.

So I continue to play with the Flex. Some CW contacts, but haven't been able to work anyone on phone. Patience is not one of my virtues, so if I don't get through after 5 or 6 calls, I switch over to the K3 and almost always get through at 100 watts. I remind myself that I didn't buy the Flex 1500 to work DX on phone.

Hardware - When putting the shack back together I discovered three pieces of gear were not working: the MFJ-267 wattmeter/dummy load is now just a dummy load; the meter is completely inoperative, as it the meter's light. My KX1 appears to have gone belly-up on me; just a very faint "0" on the display and no audio output at all. And my NCS-3230 Multi-RX audio console had no audio output, even though it powered up just fine and the input peak lights would flash when I turned the volume up on the radios.

Getting this last issue sorted out was No. 1 priority because the Multi-RX is a central fixture of my station -- audio from all radios go through it and feed a single set of speakers -- so having it out of action was not good. I emailed NCS to ask about possible repair suggestions and got a response from Doug, K4SWJ who told me he sold the company and the new company no longer supports the ham equipment, but he did offer some ideas about the cause. Sure enough, it was an internal fuse on the input of the audio output amp chip.

Since the chip manufacturer later determined that there is no need for the fuse, Doug advised simply soldering a jumper wire across the blown fuse. I did just that, and everything is working again. Image below shows the location of the fuse, in case anyone stumbles upon this page while Googling about their deaf Multi-RX.

The dead KX1 is more troubling, I have no test equipment anymore other than a voltmeter and honestly don't even know where to start. I suppose I'll apply power and start measuring voltages to see if I can find something obvious. If not, I guess off to Elecraft it goes. I really was hoping to finally building and adding the 80/30m board that I've been sitting on for years. Oh well.

As for the MFJ-267... I'll deal with it later. The SWR-Wattmeter never really worked that well anyway, the dummy load still works, and I have a Daiwa 410 meter that I've been using in its stead. From what I've been able to discover online, I'm not the only one who has had issues with this unit.

And that's June in a nutshell.

QRZ FD

More like "QRT FD" for me. Plans to stop by the Heart O' Texas ARC field day site were thwarted by other obligations. Instead, I operated 1D from the house for a couple of hours to try to pick up a few of the 13 states needed on phone for Triple Play, and 20m WAS on LOTW. Worked nine empty slots (MI and NC for Triple Play Phone, and GA, IL, MI, NC, OH and SC for 20m Phone), now waiting to see if these stations upload their logs to LoTW. Also HI on 15m, my only Q on that band.

Took the opportunity to update N1MM Logger to the latest version and make sure everything was working in prep for IARU HF.

One week later...

QRV: The station has been put back together, mostly. The K3 is connected to the old Dell desktop running XP, the  Flex 1500 to the laptop which I wiped clean and installed a fresh copy of Windows 8. Everything seems to be playing well together. One week back on the air and two new ones in the log: St. Helena and Indonesia.

Flex and DM780: Using VSP Manager, I was able to get the rig talking to HRD but still need to configure VAC to get DM780 working with the Flex. Either that or make a set of cables to get audio in and out of the rig. Much rather keep it down to a single USB connection, though.

DXCC!: The Awards tab in HRD kept telling me I had 80-something countries confirmed. Then I noticed a couple that were not checked, even though I know I had them. So a careful recount by hand ensued. Lo and behold, I have 102 confirmed. Only took 26 years of halfhearted card chasing.

I'm back.

Three years QRT after the move to West, and just now getting around to setting up the station again. Some prodding from my Google+ co-conspirators helped, but the clincher was the XYL who suggested demanded we go to the Plano Ham-Con so I could take my Extra Class test (passed with zero studying and just 6 missed questions!) and buy a new toy.

The new toy in question is a Flex 1500, something I've wanted for a while just to get dip my feet in the SDR pool. I had a chance to play with it a bit last night after finishing the coax run and setting the Tarheel up in the backyard. Initial impression is something along the lines of "HOLY CRAP!!!!" I envision this rig to be dedicated to digital modes. No intention of giving up the K3, just wanted to see how green the grass is on the other side of the fence.

We sat in on K5GJ's talk on SDR and the new 6000 series from Flex. Pretty amazing stuff they're doing down in Austin...

The Elecraft booth was hopping, and I lusted over the KPA500 amp. And the KX3. And probably would have picked up a K1 kit had I not already dropped $700+ on the Flex. Maybe next year.

Got to spin the knobs on a bunch of rigs I'd up until now only seen in QST -- TS-990S, FT-3000, FT-1200. All handsome rigs.

Did I mention I passed my Extra Class test? [Fist pump.]

They call it "wireless." They lie!

Elecraft KX3 Preview

Just heard about this little puppy. Need to save my spare pennies...

KX3 STANDARD FEATURES

• 160-6 meter ham bands; general coverage from 1.6-30 MHz (optional broadcast-band filter module covers 0.5-1.6 KHz)
• All modes: SSB, CW, Data (four sub-modes), AM FM
• Ultra-compact size: 3.4"H x 7.4"W x 1.7"D; 18 oz. (less options)
• Rear tilt feet fold up for transport
• Custom high-contrast LCD with alphanumeric text display
• Current drain as low as 150 mA in receive mode
• High-performance 32-bit floating-point DSP
• Built-in PSK/TTY decode/encode allows data mode operation without a PC; transmit in data modes using CW keyer paddle
• Low-noise synthesizer with 1-Hz tuning resolution
• Firmware updateable via provided application software

RECEIVER

• Quadrature down-sampling mixer compatible with PC-based SDR (software-defined-radio) applications
• Receiver I/Q outputs for use with PC soundcard
• Narrow roofing filter option with four bandwidths (500Hz, 1500Hz, 2700Hz, 3800Hz) for excellent dynamic range
• Switchable preamp (2 levels) and attenuator (2 levels)
• 8-band receive audio equalizer
• Dual watch over ±10kHz range; uses applicable roofing filter
• Easy-to-use PassBand Tuning (PBT) for shift/width/hi-cut/lo-cut; roofing filters automatically track DSP filter settings
• Automatic and manual notch filtering; adjustable noise reduction and noise blanking; binaural audio effects for enhanced receive
• Center-tuning indicator for CW and data modes
• Built-in speaker; stereo jack for headphones/external speakers

TRANSMITTER

• Adjustable output, 0.1 to 10W+ (100W+ with KXPA100 amp)
• Rugged, SWR and temperature-protected final amplifier stage
• Optional MH3 microphone with PT and UP/DOWN functions
• Optional attached keyer paddle with spacing adjustment
• Switchable PA output impedance for efficient 5-W or 10-W use
• Fast, silent, PIN-diode T-R switching - no relays
• DSP speech processing for excellent "punch"
• 8 band equalizer tailors passband to your voice and microphone

OTHER FEATURES

• Built in digital voice recorder (DVR) with two message buffers
• Internal CW keyer with 8-50 WPM range
• Six CW/DATA message memories
• 100 general-purpose memories store VFO A/B, modes, etc.
• Accessory/RS-232 port for computer control using supplied cable
• Full remote-control command set works with most amateur radio software applications (emulates Elecraft K3)
• One-click firmware upgrades via the web (with free PC software)
• Optional mobile bracket compatible with RAM-mounts
• Tutorial-style manual ideal for new hams

OPTIONS and ACCESSORIES

• KXFLE Roofing Filter Module (500/1500/2700/3800 Hz)
• KXAT3 Internal, Wide-Range 20-W Automatic Antenna Tuner
• KXAM3 Broadcast Band Filter Module (0.5-1.6 MHz)
• KXBT3 Internal 8-AA Cell Battery Pack with NiMH Charger (Batteries not supplied; nonrechanrgeable batteries can also be used)
• KXPD3 Precision Keyer Paddle
• KXMM3 Mobile Mount Bracket
• MH3 Hand Microphone with UP/DN Controls
• KUSB RS232 to USB Adapter
• KXPA100 High-Performance 160-6 meter, 100-W Amplifier; usable with most 5 to 10 W transceivers KXAT100 Wide-Range 100-W ATU with Dual Anenna Jacks (attaches to KXPA100 module)

(h/t: QRP-ARCI, W2LJ and AE5X)

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

I've been QRT (both radio- and blog-wise) for quite some time as the XYL and I have been planning and, over the past week, executing a move from Robinson to the charming little town of West, TX -- that's West (comma) Texas, population 2,690, which despite the name is nowhere near "West Texas" but just a dozen miles or so north of Waco in the central part of the Republic. According to the FCC database there are 18 licensed amateurs in West, including your faithful correspondent.

The new QTH is an old but freshly renovated 3 bedroom house with a detached garage and (praise Jesus!) trees, giving me antenna possibilities that did not exist at our suburban-hell duplex in Robinson. There's a tripod already on the roof; it's not exactly heavy-duty but it should be adequate for a vertical. Whether I'll put the Cushcraft R7000 back into service or simply mount the Tarheel on the roof remains to be decided. One of my priorities is to at least get a dipole strung up for 6/10/12 meters. Not yet sure if there's room for an 80m wire.

The shack/office is about the same size and layout as at the last QTH. There's a large walk-in closet that I will use as a library to store some of the 8.6 million books that I seem to have acquired over the years and which I hope to have moved for the last time. I no longer have a loud central air conditioning unit outside the window of the office; however, I now live across the street from the main Union Pacific train line that runs through the middle of the state. Being a lifelong fan of model railroading but never having the room, tools or skills to build the N-scale layout of my dreams, I can now enjoy a 1:1 scale road with regular trains that shake the entire house about a dozen times a day like a coin-operated bed in a cheap motel. Must remember turn the VOX off when I'm not at the radio.

Since we're still living out of boxes it may be some time yet before I can get the shack reassembled, antennas installed, and return to the bands -- needless to say, the IARU HF contest is going to have to get along without WW2PT's big signal, and the IOTA test in a couple of weeks will be a long shot, but I fully intend to be up and running in time for NAQP in August.