What did you do in the shack today?

Balls. I recreated the same exact setup that I used yesterday and that paddle might be a little better, but not good. I added a choke to the coax thinking it might be RF, no dice. Then I switched to a dipole with a choke at the feed point, nope. Added a choke at the radio end, nope. The thing is just haunted.

My backup was a straight key, which I didn't bother with. That was dumb, I should have brought my homemade paddle to see if that helped, but I didn't. I just used it like a single lever paddle and that was fine.

I broke down and ordered a BaMaTech BaMaKey-TP-III. They're not giving those away, but I am enjoying CW and life's too short to be frustrated with your gear. Of course they're out of stock right now. I'm looking forward to one that's not entirely metal so I don't freeze my fingertips off holding/operating it.
 
Now that I've spent stupid money on a new paddle I tried a whole bunch of stuff running into a dummy load (presumably no RF to come back on the coax). Choke on power, paddle, speaker, coax... no improvement. So I thought maybe the problem was with the Mountain Topper, since it's the only radio that gives me trouble. A quick search turned up a thread on a SOTA site...

It’s a Steve Weber special. A lot of people have said (including me) that it can take a bit of getting used to because the paddle timing rules in his code are different from most other keyer code.
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So then I started trying to figure out why it was never a problem before and it dawned on me that before I had only ever been hunting parks, so all I ever sent was my call, a signal report, MA, and <BK>. None of those contain an R, L, or F. Now that I'm having to send other people's call signs and states, it's showing up.

All of my practice has been on the Morserino and Yaesu rigs whose keyers must be just different enough that I don't have the same problem. So either I need to relearn my sending a little to be quicker on the dah paddle when sending R, L, F or switch to a single lever paddle where the Iambic doesn't come into play (or a straight key).

Anyway, I think I've run this problem to ground. No good solution, but maybe I'll start on a single lever paddle build.
 
ToddDubya said:
Now that I've spent stupid money on a new paddle I tried a whole bunch of stuff running into a dummy load (presumably no RF to come back on the coax). Choke on power, paddle, speaker, coax... no improvement. So I thought maybe the problem was with the Mountain Topper, since it's the only radio that gives me trouble. A quick search turned up a thread on a SOTA site...



So then I started trying to figure out why it was never a problem before and it dawned on me that before I had only ever been hunting parks, so all I ever sent was my call, a signal report, MA, and <BK>. None of those contain an R, L, or F. Now that I'm having to send other people's call signs and states, it's showing up.

All of my practice has been on the Morserino and Yaesu rigs whose keyers must be just different enough that I don't have the same problem. So either I need to relearn my sending a little to be quicker on the dah paddle when sending R, L, F or switch to a single lever paddle where the Iambic doesn't come into play (or a straight key).

Anyway, I think I've run this problem to ground. No good solution, but maybe I'll start on a single lever paddle build.
Click to expand...
Another piece of hardware in the form of a keyer (K1EL Winkey, or this type of thing EZKeyer III KIT )

I gave up on rig keyers or software keyers and use a WinKey in the main station or when mobile, never a problem with anything like you are seeing.
Pipe it in to the rig's straight key input.

UJay
 
I did the VT QSO Party from VT for about 4.5 hours today, SSB only. I tried searching for stations at first but that was a waste of time, so I ended up calling CQ wherever I could find an open frequency. When I hit a dead spot I jumped to another band and kept going. 80m was a total bust, but I don't usually have very good luck on that band anyway. If I understand the rules correctly I had 159 QSOs and 42 multipliers. Not bad for only running about 1/6 of the time.

One guy in WI claimed to have worked me long path. That doesn't seem right. Maybe off the back of his beam, but I can't imagine long path almost all the way around the earth and still getting a 59.

I was in the Super Secret Squirrel Location with the door open so I could enjoy the beautiful sunny day. When the sun went down it got COLD FAST. I had the tank-top propane heater going about 2' from my legs and it kept me mediumly warm, but my hands were frosty. When I finally got back to the car I realized it was 24 degrees out. That would explain it.

I had a good time. I used to be really afraid of running a frequency, but now I find it much more enjoyable than hunting around.
 
UJay said:
Another piece of hardware in the form of a keyer (K1EL Winkey, or this type of thing EZKeyer III KIT )

I gave up on rig keyers or software keyers and use a WinKey in the main station or when mobile, never a problem with anything like you are seeing.
Pipe it in to the rig's straight key input.

UJay
Click to expand...
That could be handy for rigs without memory keyers, too. My 818 and 857 both fall into that camp. For now I see calling CQ over and over as practice, but I can see the value of a memory keyer. When I'm out in the wild in the cold it gives me just enough time to take a sip of something warm or fondle a hand warmer.
 
Just back home from Hamcation. Peet WX station - probably spam APRS with WX reports... and a pair or homebrew 220Mhz transverters that I procured in the flea-market, ups-store shipped back north and when the seller said the (sk) owner used to write articles for QST--- I searched this morning and found a 2-part article from 1982 QSTs that have all of the tech details. It will be fun to get them goin and not talk to anyone.... lol

UJay
 
QTHNH said:
Lots of shack activity recently...
Prep'ing for AE exam next weekend, set-up a 2m/70cm portable kit, same for HF, tested out portable HF kit with MN QSO party contacts (shooting ducks...), and have parts enroute to improve radial grounding for my HF vertical.
Click to expand...
Good luck. Hope we get news that you passed very soon!!!
 
n1oty said:
God, you should have experienced 10 meters over 30 years ago!! There were frequent times when 10 meters was open half way around the globe in the middle of the night!! Now, THAT was some good times!!
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Aren't we still in the upswing of the sunspot cycle ? I don't think we are at the peak yet.
 
rogersmithiii said:
Aren't we still in the upswing of the sunspot cycle ? I don't think we are at the peak yet.
Click to expand...
Depends on who you ask. Some doomers say we've passed the peak but I think the general consensus is that it's still getting better.

Yesterday I made the 40m link to add to my 30m QRP EFHW. Both lengths were tuned using my 7m telescoping mast. So I know if I use that to set it up, I'll have a good tune. I even made a little laminated card to keep with it that explains how to set up each version. Just little things like for 20/40: "Inverted vee. Feed close to the ground, other end at head height". I have so many lengths of wire laying around cut for specific things that it becomes difficult to keep straight.
 
Talked to the Clinton 2M repeater yesterday. So, that confirms it is still up and running. The way I understand it, it is a private repeater, but is somehow sponsored by "Emergency Services". Not sure what that means. Anyhow, the guy was really nice, and he said he also uses a Wouxon KG-UV-7D HT (Handheld Transceiver) for 2 meter and 6 meter. Does anyone here have any experience with that radio? He said it works great and he loves it. He can reach Wachusett, Greylock, and other 6M repeaters around the state and New England. This is great news, as a lot of people have mentioned 6 meters and especially Mt. Wachusett, which is pretty much line of sight for me.

Had a conversation with a guy from Brimfield, who heard me on the N1WW repeater in Gardner. I found it funny that the two of us were both on this repeater in Northern Mass, even though we were both located in Southern Mass. I asked him how he found me up there, and he said he had his radio on scan, and it stopped when he heard me. This prompted me to check my own radio for scanning ability. So, I read through the .pdf manual for my radio, and figured out how to get it to scan. That was pretty cool. Now I don't have to manually check stations when I'm doing computer stuff (like typing this) or other things at the same time.
 
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My new homebrewed PTT button is on the fritz, so I switched to CW this afternoon. I hunted some POTA parks and then realized it was SKCC WES (WeekEnd Sprint), so I did that a little too. The RTTY contest going on made it tough, but I had fun anyway. Froze my ass off out at the Super Secret Squirrel Location, but it was better than a good day in the office. I'm always impressed with my little portable straight key. When I relax, it works really well.

I'm a little miffed about that PTT button. It was working great, now it chatters something fierce. If I get it just right it doesn't, but I don't know what just right is. It's just a damn button, sheesh.

ETA: That problematic paddle worked just fine on the FT-857D today. Up until I switched to the straight key for WES. Looks like it favors the Yaesus.
 
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After my struggles with no CW filter on my 857d, and the unobtainiumness of the aftermarket filters, I set to work finishing the little power supply board I came up with for a Hi-Per-Mite CW filter kit I'd assembled awhile back.

The "power supply" board uses a little board that takes in power from USB and charges a LiPo battery (like for RC stuff). It'll either output 5V power from USB or from the battery. That feeds into a 12V converter that provides power to the audio board as well as an "aux" output I ran to PowerPoles.

This was originally intended to use with a RockMite QRPp rig (<1w), and will power both the audio board and the rig from the LiPo battery.

Tomorrow I'll check continuity and make sure my hideous soldering is good enough, then slather it with liquid electrical tape. It's going inside an Altoids type tin, and I don't want anything shorting out.

I'm also kind of psyched to put the RockMite on the air. I used it once to see if the RBN would pick me up, and another time for a short QSO with my friend via ground wave. I'd love to see how far it'll reach.

* Technically you can still find the filters for the 817/818/857, but they're stupid expensive and I have three radios I'd like them for. The cheapest I've found on eBay is $250.
 
I tested out my power supply/audio filter with the RockMite QRPp rig today into a dummy load and it worked. I wish there was some indication that it was on, but that would also be a drain on the battery so I'll just have to live with having to remember to turn it off. The nice part is I can bring more than one battery and just swap it in.

I used a toggle switch that requires you to pull out before it'll change positions, so that should prevent it from turning on in a backpack while portable.

Next up I need to learn all the settings in the RockMite. There are a LOT, and I'm pretty sure I screwed it all up trying to get out of the menu earlier. Definitely gonna need to tape a field guide on the inside of the tin.
 
I wanted to try a single paddle and see if it would help me with the keyer on the mountain topper. Of course I was gonna build one, but I found one for sale on QRZ and thought I'd give that a try. It's one of the CW Morse 3D printed ones, which people seem to love but I have always been skeptical. Well, it arrived today and I've been playing with it. I gotta say, I see what the hype is all about. This thing is really well done.

One of the things I really like is that I can just hold it in my left hand and not worry about bumping anything that will send dits or dahs. Unlike the double paddle ones, you can press on those adjustment screws all you want and it doesn't care. This looks like it'll be very glove friendly.

It's gonna take some work to remember not to squeeze. When I started out I made it a point to learn proper iambic sending, and this is a little tough for my muscle memory.

Yeah, it's purple. Oh well.

1708009019184.jpeg

Soldered connections, wires dressed intentionally, strain relief on the wires, brass contacts, ball bearing, adjustable spacing. No adjustment on spring tension, but it feels fine to me. It doesn't have a cable, and I think I like that. I might incorporate that into my future home brewed paddles and keys.

Not shown are the magnets on the bottom. They seem plenty strong.

1708009097070.jpeg

I'll see how this does on the air in the cold, but so far I'm giving it 5 stars. I paid $40 shipped; I think these go for about $45-$50 plus shipping retail.
 
I put a paperclip across the adjustment screws/contacts so I could try it as a cootie. Wow, that looks way easier on TV. I started working my way through the alphabet once I realized I sucked at it, and even though the Morserino has a pretty lenient decode policy, I'd "send" an H and it was like [bs]. I wonder if I opened up the contacts a bunch to increase the space between elements if I could do better. For now, I sound pretty rubbish.
 
UJay said:
Just back home from Hamcation. Peet WX station - probably spam APRS with WX reports... and a pair or homebrew 220Mhz transverters that I procured in the flea-market, ups-store shipped back north and when the seller said the (sk) owner used to write articles for QST--- I searched this morning and found a 2-part article from 1982 QSTs that have all of the tech details. It will be fun to get them goin and not talk to anyone.... lol

UJay
Click to expand...
LOL...I brought a few 220 "things" when I moved here to Missouri a couple of years ago, hoping for the best. So far, nada as far as activity. I'm thinking about selling some of it off, maybe put it on QRZ.com. Not too much 440 activity here as well. They have quite a large networked system here mostly on 2 meters with 440 links. There are a couple of 6 meter links on the system as well but too far away for me to hit right now with the compromised antennas I have in the air. Hopefully that will change this year.
 
I always mean to listen to the 220 repeater on Greylock to see if there's any activity. I don't have anything that can Tx but most of my radios will receive it. I probably even have it programmed into some.
 
ToddDubya said:
I put a paperclip across the adjustment screws/contacts so I could try it as a cootie. Wow, that looks way easier on TV. I started working my way through the alphabet once I realized I sucked at it, and even though the Morserino has a pretty lenient decode policy, I'd "send" an H and it was like [bs]. I wonder if I opened up the contacts a bunch to increase the space between elements if I could do better. For now, I sound pretty rubbish.
Click to expand...
Toddude, check these keyer things out; they are well liked... I was thinking of grabbing one for standby; Runs portable from a USB powersupply/battery (In the case that the rig's keyer stinks)
True fsk RTTY transmit too.....
effit ordered one.......
timbo said:
LOL...I brought a few 220 "things" when I moved here to Missouri a couple of years ago, hoping for the best. So far, nada as far as activity. I'm thinking about selling some of it off, maybe put it on QRZ.com. Not too much 440 activity here as well. They have quite a large networked system here mostly on 2 meters with 440 links. There are a couple of 6 meter links on the system as well but too far away for me to hit right now with the compromised antennas I have in the air. Hopefully that will change this year.
Click to expand...
Well, 2x 220 transverters (1 on 28.0 IF and other on 28.5 IF) Custom power supply, custom 220 preamp, 220 50w amplifier and all of the switches. I tested the RX and they work!~
The 'wicked-cool' feature is that these were built by W9SR, photographed and reasonably well documented in a 2-part series of articles in 1982 QST magz; I mean, these are truly well built.
1708035379413.png


I dont expect much more than 2 QSOs during a VHF contest....... Anything more than that is a bonus..... Since the FT-modes kinda took over V/U Contesting, there could be more activity... No antennas in possession for this band.... I may have some available, that for the eventual tower #2.

UJay
 
ToddDubya said:
I always mean to listen to the 220 repeater on Greylock to see if there's any activity. I don't have anything that can Tx but most of my radios will receive it. I probably even have it programmed into some.
Click to expand...
does anything ever happen there? Kerchunks or anything? The problem is that the K3 needs a special filter for FM and I don't have it... looking into adding it though since most V/U contests allow FM now.

UJay
 
ToddDubya said:
I'll try and remember to listen.
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Meh.... Not necessary from my end - I may be too far off from Greylock without a gain antenna.... Central MA

Gearing up for this weekend's ARRL DX CW contest.... Would have loved to put up a 5el 15m under the 10 m beam... but.... snow and stuff. (Though they work better as previously pointed out)

UJay
 
UJay said:
Toddude, check these keyer things out; they are well liked... I was thinking of grabbing one for standby; Runs portable from a USB powersupply/battery (In the case that the rig's keyer stinks)
True fsk RTTY transmit too.....
effit ordered one.......




UJay
Click to expand...
I'll take a look. I really only have trouble with one keyer, and if this solves it I'm good. QSK is appealing though. My Yaesus all use relay switching for god only knows why, and I usually have to turn up the delay so it doesn't switch between elements. I'm having trouble picturing how an external keyer would work. If it has a PTT then the radio would probably click away anyway.

Come to think of it, my Morserino will operate as a keyer. That's how I practice with it these days. I just don't connect it to a radio.

I'm trying not to turn my tiny portable stations into a full backpack if I can help it.
 
UJay said:
Meh.... Not necessary from my end - I may be too far off from Greylock without a gain antenna.... Central MA

Gearing up for this weekend's ARRL DX CW contest.... Would have loved to put up a 5el 15m under the 10 m beam... but.... snow and stuff. (Though they work better as previously pointed out)

UJay
Click to expand...
Yesterday was about as good as you could have asked for in terms of antenna weather. 22 degrees, nonstop tree bending wind. Probably the only thing better than trying to put up a wire antenna would be a beam on a tower. You missed out.
 
UJay said:
Toddude, check these keyer things out; they are well liked... I was thinking of grabbing one for standby; Runs portable from a USB powersupply/battery (In the case that the rig's keyer stinks)
True fsk RTTY transmit too.....
effit ordered one.......

Well, 2x 220 transverters (1 on 28.0 IF and other on 28.5 IF) Custom power supply, custom 220 preamp, 220 50w amplifier and all of the switches. I tested the RX and they work!~
The 'wicked-cool' feature is that these were built by W9SR, photographed and reasonably well documented in a 2-part series of articles in 1982 QST magz; I mean, these are truly well built.
View attachment 850933


I dont expect much more than 2 QSOs during a VHF contest....... Anything more than that is a bonus..... Since the FT-modes kinda took over V/U Contesting, there could be more activity... No antennas in possession for this band.... I may have some available, that for the eventual tower #2.

UJay
Click to expand...
Point towards the Berkshires. My buddy will likely be on. I think they have a 220 activity night once a week (?) now that I think of it. I don't know about modes, probably SSB and CW. I think they use 2m to establish contact and move up from there, but I might be confusing it with the GHz contests. I've monitored them on 2m before just for fun

He's trying to convert me into a rover so he can be competitive in contests by sending me out as his target. That's my guess anyway. He used to rove but hasn't done much. Getting too old for that shit I think. I still like HF so I've been hesitant. V/U is a lot of work for not a lot of contacts. But he does get some pretty wicked distance on the higher frequencies.
 
ToddDubya said:
I always mean to listen to the 220 repeater on Greylock to see if there's any activity. I don't have anything that can Tx but most of my radios will receive it. I probably even have it programmed into some.
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The Greylock 220 repeater is "on the fritz". I don't know if someone is keying it or not, but it sounds absolutely atrocious. I made out a couple beeps when it was trying to identify. I hear it might be replaced this spring, which tells me people use it.
 

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