new toy
2m transverter from Hungary. Working in combination with the Hiqsdr…
Tucnak, Quisk, HiQSDR, skimmer
In preparation for the Marconi memorial contest i tried to improve my setup. I use my HiQSDR with Quisk. Since a few versions Quisk has a built in DX Cluster client. Quisk forwards its baseband samples up to 192kHz bandwith to the skimmer and i managed to send the skimmer/lo_freq command if the center frequency of my hardware changes. The nice thing is that all decoded calls are printed right below the waterfall. The rest is reading the skimmer into the very nice and powerfull Tucnak log of OK1ZIA. The software mainly is a log for VHF/UHF/SHF contest operation. Lada also implemented a nice new feature. Now its possible to zap through the calls in the bandmap with ctrl-arrow and Quisk is automatically controlled via Hamlib. Further features of Tucnak are integration of ON4KST chat, airplane scatter prediction, cw keyer, ssb keyer, recording of all contest audio and a lot more. It can also work in environments with multiple stations connecting several Tucnak logs together. Available for Linux, Windows and Android.
UHF/SHF contest JO60LK
QRV from JO60LK on 23cm. The picture shows the setup. The HiQSDR was connected to the 23cm to 29MHz transverter. The Quisk software runs on my i7 notebook. On the same machine i ran Airscout and a client for the ON4KST chat. The notebook below runs the VUSC log under Linux in Wine. The log features a CW keyer which connects to the transceiver via the interface box in the middle. The rotator control at the left side can be controlled from VUSC as well and direct the antenna towards the locator entered.
The output power was 2x100W with 1.5m dish and Quados 8.
OCT15_HiQSDR_Setup
Two recordings:
PI4Z – 648km
PA6NL – 639km
IARU Reg1 VHF (qrp)
Only a few QSO just for fun from Hirtstein JO60OM. I just wanted to try the DK7ZB Oblong at this location in parallel to our fieldday operation. Therefore i just had my FT-817 with me and annoyed a few people with my QRP signal. Because of the stormy weather it was not possible to use the full length of the mast most of the time.
DK7ZB Oblong in stormy weather at JO60OM
DH5YM in operation ;)
Odroid U3 WebSDR
I want to run a temporary 4m WebSDR. The software comes from PA3FWM and there is a binary for raspberry pie computers. The binary can run on any ARM CPU. I purchased a Odroid U3 which has a lot more CPU power. The picture shows the Odroid as well as the rtlsdr connected and a wifi stick used for connecting to my network. Running the WebSDR with 1MHz bandwith gives about 50% CPU load.
The board runs Lubuntu 14.04.2. I did not measure the current consumption on the 5V supply.
My aim is to put it in a box to the balkony.
Today i heard my first station on 4m with that setup. SV2JAO.
Rainscatter 20150704 July contest on WebSDR
Saturday evening there were strong scatterpoints west and northwest of Berlin. Since the same time there was the July V/U/SHF contest this gave amazing scatters from the contest participants. I listened with our local 10GHz websdr and did some recordings and screenshots. Please see below…
Stations heard were:
DL6NAA, OK2A, SN7L, DL0GTH, DL1SUZ, DL0LN, DJ1LP, DM2EUN, DL9GRE, DF0XX, DK2ZF/P, DL3YEE, DC6UW/P, DC7BQ, DG6ISR, DL0VV, PA0BAT, DK7QX
Camping dish for 10GHz
40cm camping dish used for 10GHz. The feed is the W1GHZ duoband feed.
camping dish mounting
Rest of the equipment
Total: Only 3 QSO but only 30 minutes QRV during the DUR test.
DL6GL fan control
From time to time temperature dependent control of fans is required. At Georg’s DL6GL page i found a nice analog solution. He constructed a circuit with TL081 and NTC. I decided to build 4 pieces. (thanks to DG2DWL for etching the boards)
The switch temperature and the hysteresis can be controlled by the 2 adjustable resistors. In the middle you see the NTC, just soldered for a quick test.
Details you can find on Georg’s page:
http://dl6gl.de/selbstbau-trx/der-tx-signalpfad/temperaturgeregelte-lueftersteuerung
DL6GL fan control – 1 sided PCB
V/U/SHF Contest from JO60OM
23cm setup with HiQSDR…
HiQSDR 23cm transverter setup
Contest from Hirtstein. Qrv mainly on 23cm. Setup was composed new. The old 10m-23cm TRV, 2x100W PA, 1.5m dish, backside Quados-8. Changed the Transceiver to my HiQSDR. Seeing the complete Band at once is pretty nice. CW was done completely by keyboard out of VUSC. SSB voicekeyer also worked via a small audio switchbox made for that purpose. Problems upfront were dynamic microphone headsets not working properly with the soundcard input. In addition Murphy made my linear powersupply fail during testing the equipment which lead to a damage of the transverter. Luckily it was not too terrible ;)