JT65-HF HB9HQX, JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe Database configuration tips

If you read this blog you know that I use all of the above. I found a problem where JTAlert would not intercept QSO logging from HB9HQX and write it to HRD and online xml databases.

It appears I had configured HB9HQX incorrectly for it to work properly with JTAlert. Laurie, VK3AMA, the writer of JTAlert is a busy man and hasn't got around to fully completing the help files for JTAlert so there is a lack of information here.
I wrote to Laurie and he told me what the correct configuration should be.

JT65-HF HB9HQX should be set to log to its default local log. I had it set for HRD logbook which would negate JTAlert from functioning correctly.

JT65-HF HB9HQX log configuration tab

JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe

First of all I use JTAlert and JT65-HF-HB9HQX (both of which have kindly been given for free for the use of radio amateurs) as my method of transmitting JT65 modes.
I also use a paid for Ham Radio Deluxe Rig Control to operate my radio. I also use Ham Radio Deluxe Logbook to store contacts - I am a customer of HRDSoftwareLLC and this is well worth paying for. All was working well until the good people at HRD decided to incorporate a kill mechanism into their logbook software (version 6.3.0.435) which would kill the JTAlert.exe process.
The reason behind this was to protect their customers databases from being corrupted.

Essentially JTAlert when used with other JT65 software was being used to write the contact details directly to the HRD logbook database. HRD had found it was corrupting certain aspects of the database and numerous call tickets had been raised around the matter. So they took the drastic steps of preventing JTAlert from running when HRD logbook was running. I can understand the reasons behind this as they are a relatively small company and potentially could have been swamped with support calls to try to fix something that was not of their making.

Then there were various software updates to JTAlert after HRD had given the API details out publicly. This now means the current version of JTAlert (2.6.21 or greater) writes to the database via the API and is no longer corrupting the database.
Ham Radio Deluxe was updated (Version 6.3.0.439) to remove the kill mechanism and all is good again.

Reading between the lines it appears that the writer of the JTALert software and the developers of HRD initially were not in communication but now through an intermediary seem to have resolved their differences.

As it happened my particular setup never made use of JTALert to write to the database at all! JT65-HF-HB9HQX uses the API to write to the database without the use of JTALert. In fact the only reason I use JTAlert is to tell me what countries have been decoded and whether I need them for DXCC.

I have a paid for subscription to Ham Radio Deluxe and when the version came out with the kill mechanism it stopped my JTAlert from working so making me unhappy.

At the time of writing November 10 2015 I have the following software versions:

• JT65-HF HB9HQX Version 1.0 update 6
• JTAlert 2.6.22
• Ham Radio Deluxe Suite  Version 6.3.0.447

I'm so glad the toys are now back in the pram and the children are playing happily once again.

10m duck broken too on JT65

After reporting that I had gained contacts on 12m I managed to work stations on 10m too.
November 1st 2015 was a dazzling time on the 10 metre band - I'm not quite sure what the atmospheric conditions were for the day. For hours on end I was able to work 10m JT65A DX stations:

• UN7SB Igor from Baikonur in Kazakhstan (where the space launch centre is based) was the first - a not inconsiderable distance of 2900 miles east of this QTH
• many relatively close European stations 
• finally ending up in the Americas.

First contact with the continent came with Evan PU5SVE in Brazil - his QTH is 6150 miles away - finishing up with Cacho CX1DA in Uruguay again 6900 miles away.
At the time of writing 17:30 UTC November 1st 2015 the band was just closing for me. There were still a few South American stations giving -24db signals to me.

10 metres sure is a wonderful band and it's surprising what you can do with just 5 watts of RF feeding a piece of wire strung between a couple of trees!

Good DX everybody.

12m duck broken

After reporting that I hadn't ever worked a contact on the 12 metre band well I'm pleased to report that I have made multiple contacts today on 24.917 MHz using JT65A.
The first one was Alexander UT1AN in Ukraine who gave me a -7db signal report me giving him a -5db report. This was closely followed by Nick SV1BHF in Athens who gave me a -1db to his -5db.

The band suddenly became active in the UK at around 13:28 UTC and I continued to work multiple contacts throughout the afternoon.

Then the band suddenly, without warning, went dead - what an odd band!

HF Band analysis using JT65-HF-HB9HQX

I use JT65-HF-HB9HQX for JT65 for on all bands from HF to 6m. A great feature when displaying the "Band Statistics" window shows a number of useful items:

• QSOs - shows the total number of contacts per band and a total for all bands
• Stations - shows the total number of unique stations contacted per band and a total for all bands
• Grids - shows the total grid squares worked per band and a total for all bands
• DXCCs - shows the total number of DXCC entities worked per band and a total for all bands

Band Statistics window in JT65-HF-HB9HQX

VOAProp

The late Julian Moss G4ILO wrote a great piece of software (indeed he was a very prolific software writer) called VOAProp. This makes use of  VOACAP "the result of more than 50 years of R&D into HF propagation" and displays it in simple graphical form in a window that you can keep running all the time.
It automatically downloads forecasts from VOACAP and you can select whichever amateur band you are currently operating on and see the predictions for the current day. I have found it invaluable and have made a lot more 30m contacts in one day than the previous year since installing the software.

Here the 40m band is shown with predictions for likely signal strengths
based upon the current time, my QTH and VOACAP predictions.

New version of JT65-HF-HB9HQX and JTAlert released.

JT65-HF-HB9HQX

I have just installed Version 1.0 of JT65-HF-HB9HQX and it looks slightly different. You can't install this directly over the top of older pre 1.0 versions as it uses a different directory structure. No matter as HB9NQX has a readme with the software that tells you what to do. Essential copy the contents of the old JT65-HF-Appfiles folder into the new one which is just called Appfiles now.
I also copied the contents of JT65-HF-Logfiles into the new logfiles folder.

When you start the software you have to enter some information Callsign, Location data etc, and set the output level to your sound card. Oh you also need to reconfigure for the soundcards you have in use. None of that data comes across from the old versions.

You can now automatically upload to eQSL.cc - I don't believe that was possible before.
There is:

• Full integration with Ham Radio Deluxe 
• CAT integration with Omnirig, HamLib, CI-V Commander. 
• Logging to HRD, DXKeeper, Log OM and MixW2