What did you do in the shack today?

I picked up a used 2m mobile rig yesterday. It's an old Alinco DR-150T. So old it can send a repeater tone, but it doesn't support tone squelch (without an add-on module that it doesn't have installed). The beauty of it is it's small, and 50w. I'm thinking about mounting it inside of a .30 cal ammo can along with a speaker. The coax connection is a pigtail that would allow me to bring that out the front as well. I've been playing around with it a little with a Signal Stuff whip, which would be kind of nice just connected out the front and then just rolled up inside when not in use. Out the side would give a better ground plane reference, but then I'd have a connector sticking out of the side of the can. I'm still in the planning phase but I might take a run to China Freight for an ammo can.

Strike all that, it won't fit in a .30-cal can. I don't want to use a .50-cal because it's bigger than I wanted. Back to the drawing board.
 
Playing at the WAE DX RTTY contest.

One of the most fun contests, due to being able to work anyone and the option to send/receive QTC traffic between continents. (Unlike the CW version which is also fun but you just work EU and send QTC to EU).

🐯
 
Coyote33 said:
How about a toolbox?
www.homedepot.com

PRIVATE BRAND UNBRANDED 19 in. Plastic Portable Tool Box with Removable Tool Tray SUMEX TB01 - The Home Depot

Introducing the 19 in. plastic Portable Tool Box with Removable Tool Tray from Jiangsu Sainty Sumex Tools Corp. Ltd. This tool box is constructed of durable polypropylene for lasting use. The large body
www.homedepot.com
Click to expand...
Or one of those Harbor Freight "ammo boxes"?

I was thinking of something for my office to put 2 radios, a scanner, and handhelds/chargers up top. Think this would work? A couple extra shelves for future radios?
1699729894381.png
 
I picked up a Mobilinkd TNC4 a couple of weeks ago but there’s no VHF packet nodes in our area. We are in Portland for the weekend and I sent / received emails from / to my Winlink address using an Icom ID-52 H/T, an IPad using the RadioMail app, and the TNC connected to the IPad by Bluetooth. I’ve done the packet email via HF before and want to get more proficient with that, but the VHF packet was a breeze.
 

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What did I do in the shack today? Well. first let's talk about what I did yesterday which was to be really annoyed!

Yesterday I wanted to reprogram my Yaesu FT1DR handheld, but the SCU-18 data cable has been made obsolete because the drivers for the Prolific USB-to-Serial interface chip that it uses are not recognized by Windows 11. The same thing goes for the SCU-20 cable for my FTM-100D mobile. I do have the option of using an old laptop with Windows 10 on it, but dragging that out is a pain as well.

So it looks like I am going to bite the bullet and buy after-market cables from RT Systems which have a compatible chip. But of course because the two radios use different connectors I will have to buy one for each.

Now today in the shack... I am working the CQWW CW contest which is the fastest paced contest of the year. The reason for that pace is the simplicity (and predictability) of the exchange which is just RST and CQ zone.

Have fun!


🐯
 
Got the Ed Fong antenna kit in the mail yesterday. Cut the PVC and put it all together today. Stuck it in a plastic wire spool on the porch roof temporarily. At first, not much of anything. Then later, in the evening, was able to get to the Warren repeater easily, and quite clearly. First on 65W, then 25, 10, and 5; and was still coming in and receiving quite clearly. I guess just nobody was on earlier. Overall, pretty happy so far. I'm sure it will improve once I get it up to roof level, and more in the air, above neighbor's and my own house.
 
It's good to hear it's working well for you. There's a reason those antennas are so popular.

Were you not able to hit that repeater before? Or at least not with so little power?
 
ToddDubya said:
It's good to hear it's working well for you. There's a reason those antennas are so popular.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I guess so. Now, I need to figure out permanent attachment. I'm worried about lightning more than anything. My house is in line of some hard storms that come in from the West.

ToddDubya said:
Were you not able to hit that repeater before? Or at least not with so little power?
Click to expand...
I could only hit it using my homemade ground plane antenna, which is a little bit of a prototype more than anything else, which I would have to haul out to the porch roof and fiddle with the radials each time I wanted to use it. The coax went out the door, which worked OK for warmer weather, but not now. I still have the out the door thing, but this one should be getting mounted, and will have a better cable run inside up to the attic, and out through a hole in the screen in a louver at the end of the house. I think I had to go full power using the ground plane (all steel). I started out at full 65, then 30, then 10, then 5 using the Fong.
:)
 
In anticipation of wanting to bring my FT-818 out for QRP work this winter, I started printing side rails for it that will also allow me to strap the tuner to it. It was something like 7 hours to do all the parts so I just did one side first to make sure it's going to work. It came out pretty nice and includes a mic hanger. The stock screws don't fit but I had a small box of assorted metric screws that did the trick.

I have to give the random wire antenna another try and make sure it's going to perform. I know it's not ideal, but it should give me 40-30-20-17-15-12-10 with only 35.5 feet of wire. I've used it once with some success, but I didn't really give it a fair shake. The idea is to have something that isn't a complete hassle to setup in the snow and possibly dark. The whole station should fit easily in a small backpack. One of my YousTubes guys used one of these bags for what I'm doing, and it fit a ton. I'm not a fan of the sling style, but it should be okay if I'm just hiking in a mile or so.

www.thingiverse.com

FT-817 Rails with Z817 rails and mic clip by ProfessorSparks

Remixed from 4118033 FT817 FT818 YAESU Protector by coxx06 January 22, 2020 This includes two strap mounts to hold a Z817 tuner in place on top of the radio
www.thingiverse.com www.thingiverse.com
 
The side rails and legs came out nice, the picture not so much. The mic holder on the right is a nice touch. There are even recessed hex holes for nuts into which the leg bolts thread. Good thing I had metric hardware laying around.

1701145573463.jpeg
 
Haha, it's a cover for the BNC connector. Turns out the lanyard doesn't reach the screws on the side so I'll probably either take the lanyard off or just take the whole cover off. I'm not sure what it's helping, but I had a couple covers so I thought it wouldn't hurt.

Re bags, those look nice. I'm trying to be careful with size. Bigger bag means I can/will bring more crap. That one looks like the main compartment unzips all the way down which is a feature I'd like. I'll look around a bit before I buy something.

The tuner fits perfectly on top, and I added some stretch cord to hold it down. It's almost like all of this was designed to work together!

Last time I used the LDG tuner for the 818 I got some blinking LEDs I didn't understand. So I ran through the manual, and made this to laminate and tape to the top:

1701197947712.png

If anyone wants to print it for himself, the top of the tuner is about 4" deep by 3.5" wide, so scale it accordingly to fit how you like.
 
Here's the radio with the tuner strapped on with some stretch cord. It holds surprisingly well. She's a beaut, Clark.

1701200366667.jpeg

Those two cables connect the tuner to the radio, and the ground wire with the alligator clip was a temporary solution that became permanent. I have some small bullet connectors I might use to make a more compact, less obtrusive solution. Honestly I don't even know if it helps, but it makes me feel better and that's what's important. I don't tie it to any kind of earth ground.
 
Today a follow up on this past weekend's contest as I check my log for LoTW confirmations. It was loads of action and especially fun Sunday afternoon when 10 meters was open throughout Europe as far east as Moldova and Belarus. Around 3 PM local time I had something to eat and took a little nap, but I made sure to come back down to the shack around 5:30 and was rewarded on 20 meters with several contacts each into China, Japan, and Korea. I could hear and tried to get 7A2A who was on from Indonesian put couldn't quite pull it off with 100 watts.

All-and-all it was one of the best contests in recent memory.

🐯
 
CatSnoutSoup said:
What did I do in the shack today? Well. first let's talk about what I did yesterday which was to be really annoyed!

Yesterday I wanted to reprogram my Yaesu FT1DR handheld, but the SCU-18 data cable has been made obsolete because the drivers for the Prolific USB-to-Serial interface chip that it uses are not recognized by Windows 11. The same thing goes for the SCU-20 cable for my FTM-100D mobile. I do have the option of using an old laptop with Windows 10 on it, but dragging that out is a pain as well.

So it looks like I am going to bite the bullet and buy after-market cables from RT Systems which have a compatible chip. But of course because the two radios use different connectors I will have to buy one for each.
Click to expand...

The RT Systems cables arrived yesterday and they are quite good it seems. The materials look to be of good quality and the assembly is excellent. Their USB-to-Serial interface chips were recognized by Windows 11 right away upon being plugged in. The Programing software that is part of each of the two packages is radio specific and worked flawlessly with less hiccups than the ADMS software that Yaesu has for download.

Yes, it was $44.10 for each radio (software/cable bundle) after a 10% coupon, but I am not unpleased as it seems to have been a decent purchase.

🐯
 
CatSnoutSoup said:
The RT Systems cables arrived yesterday and they are quite good it seems. The materials look to be of good quality and the assembly is excellent. Their USB-to-Serial interface chips were recognized by Windows 11 right away upon being plugged in. The Programing software that is part of each of the two packages is radio specific and worked flawlessly with less hiccups than the ADMS software that Yaesu has for download.

Yes, it was $44.10 for each radio (software/cable bundle) after a 10% coupon, but I am not unpleased as it seems to have been a decent purchase.

🐯
Click to expand...
That coupon still good? I'm thinking about getting it for my FTM-6000r.
 
edmorseiii said:
Just to program it? One of the things I love about my 6000r is how simple the faceplate programming is.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it is pretty easy. And I guess I just want to remove a couple repeaters that are just a nuisance when I drive through PA.

You're probably right, and saved me $50. I was going to bite the bullet and buy a cable from the same place I get all my cables, but I didn't see it for that radio.
 
ToddDubya said:
Yeah, it is pretty easy. And I guess I just want to remove a couple repeaters that are just a nuisance when I drive through PA.

You're probably right, and saved me $50. I was going to bite the bullet and buy a cable from the same place I get all my cables, but I didn't see it for that radio.
Click to expand...
I wanted the cable too, and almost bought it, but decided to wait until I actually started using it. I am glad I saved the money. I do enjoy the 6000r's simplicity of use.
 
edmorseiii said:
That's interesting, what are you going to do for an antenna?
Click to expand...
For the HF port I'm going to run a wire to the back of my bed cap so I can hook up an EFHW when I am parked. Not sure what I'm going to use for the 2m/70cm port yet, probably going to end up testing a few before I land on one.
 

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