6 metres is up

Today is 26 May 2016. I keep an eye on propagation predictions and current conditions using various websites. One of them is HRDLOG.NET which has current conditions shown in graphical format. This is a small piece of code that can be pasted into your own website to display this if you like, indeed I have it on this blog. Details on the HRDLOG.net website on how to do this.

Look how high the 6m bar is

4 metres is open too but I don't yet have a rig for that band

I noticed 6 metres was showing a lot of activity so I tuned the rig over to it. Lo and behold there were a load of stations both distant and close so I changed the antenna to my 6m vertical.

QSO after QSO followed for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Suddenly out of the VHF doldrums comes decent working.

Ham Radio Deluxe announces JT modes in their DM780 module

The management at HRD demoed a version of HRD containing JT65, JT9 and WSPR modes at Dayton. Not sure of what decoder they are using nor any more details of how it has been designed.
We'll see if it lives up to the hype when it finally gets released. Until then I will carry on using JT65-HB8HQX with JTAlert,

FT450D and Ham Radio Deluxe - Macro for switching to low power, initiating TX, tune external ATU, resetting back to original power.

As some operators of the FT450D know there is a CS button that can be programmed to do a number of useful features. Unfortunately Yaesu in their wisdom omitted this button from being controlled with a CAT command. So using a program such as Ham Radio Deluxe you can't press this button with a mouse click.
I have programmed my particular CS button to initiate a low power carrier to enable the antenna to be tuned. Note this is not the same as the TUNE button which initiates the tuning of the internal ATU.

I had been looking for ages to try and find a way of doing this then I thought of macros that are available from within Ham Radio Deluxe (other programs may also have this feature and the following commands also apply).

Most of my working is on digital modes such as JT65 or PSK31. This is normally transmitted on USB regardless of the band so I set out doing this:

• Change the mode to AM (or CW - my LDG RT-100 works ok on any mode but they recommend AM)
• Set the power at 5 watts
• Trigger the transmitter. This enables you to press any external ATU tune buttons or if like me you have a carrier triggered fully automatic remote ATU - nothing.
• Set the mode back to USER U (USB audio fed to the rig via the data socket)
• Set the power back to its original setting - in my case 30 watts

The CAT commands to do this are below

MD03;
EX048005;
TX1;
TX;
TX1;
TX;
TX0;
MD0C;
EX048030;

I put multiple TX1 TX commands in as HRD seemed to just switch TX power on and off almost simultaneously. So the addition of a couple more TX commands resulted in what I was looking for and latched TX on until I pressed the macro button again..
Save this as a macro in Ham Radio Deluxe and assign it to a button. (read the HRD manual to do this).

30 Watts and AM TUNE Buttons added

In use here is what I do

One click does the first part of the macro resulting in the TX button being set. Another press of the button switches off the TX and resets everything (apart from the power) back to the original settings.  Because there appeared to be a bug somewhere in having the the EX048005; and EX048030; commands in the same macro I wrote another separate macro to set the power to 30 watts.
If you use HRD try it out. If you have another CAT control program the same command should also work.

HRD Specific Macro Method

There is also another way to do this using HRD's own Macro commands but this is specific to HRD (not the CAT macro command editor)
In the Macro editor create a new macro
Add the following commands in

TYPE                            TITLE             VALUE
Advanced/Slide             RF Power        5
Dropdown Button                                  Mode: AM
Standard Button              TX                 Switch ON
Standard Button              TX                 Switch OFF
Dropdown Button                                  Mode: USER-U

AM Tune Macro

Set power to 30W

Logbook #1 completed - 36 years after it was started

In my blog entry from August 2015 g8yph.blogspot.com/2015/08/logbooks-and-logging-in-uk.html I posed the question to myself "I wonder when the logbook will be completed". Well the day has come and it was filled by the station RX1CV Sergo in Russia at 0929UTC on April 1st 2016.
This was almost 36 years after I started it as a teenager back in October 1980.

The first contact was Fred G8TLB who is now G4TJU a few minutes after I received the license through the post on October 4th 1980. I remember that first QSO as it was a nervous time taking the steps for the initial time speaking on air. I'm sure everybody has gone through that.

There are lots of gaps in my logbook, sometimes years without operating, others were exclusively logged electronically when operating on packet radio. Remember that? I'm not sure it still exists. Most of the off times were due to changes in circumstances, job commitments, family commitments, changes in lifestyle where I didn't have time for the hobby.

And here were are so many years later with a brand new blank logbook.

Hopefully it won't take as long to fill logbook #2!......

LDG RT-100/RC-100 Combo Review Part 2

If you want a fit and forget ATU that works then this one is for you. Since installing the ATU I no longer think about tuning up as it does it automatically and seamlessly. As many readers know I operate primarily using DigiModes. These are normally less than 30 watts and my Yaesu FT-450D can be adjusted to operate on any power level between 5 to 100 watts.
The ATU is rated at 30W on high duty cycle modes like PSK or JT65 for instance. I always have the power levels set less than this as it is not necessary to have high powers to work world wide DX.

As mentioned in the previous article I have not been able to get my UNUN end fed antenna to match on 80m at all despite the ATU being right at the feed point. So for now I have dismissed 80m until I make a suitable antenna. But the ATU is superb on all other bands to 6m and it tunes automatically without any user intervention. This can be overridden with the TUNE button on the RC-100 (essentially hold it down for more than 1 second when transmitting and it will force a tuning cycle).

So just to underline this is a fantastic piece of equipment and ideal for matching a multiband antenna to your feedline/rig.

Over-using Q codes in FM Simplex or while using repeaters

One thing that annoys me on 2m/70cm FM simplex or on repeaters is the overuse of Q codes in local contacts. Q codes are normally used in difficult to hear SSB contacts, most likely used in Morse code or digimodes.

One station near me uses "QSL" to punctuate sentences like some people use expletives.

He will say "Do you get what I mean QSL" or "I have a Raspberry PI QSL"

I overheard his conversation with another station today and it went something like this:
"I met a few of the guys from Manchester at a rally- one of the lads said you use satellites don't you - I said yes on my lickle (sic a Manchester word for little) HT - so we walked out to the car park and we had a do QSL - I worked a station by the satellite but he was a station in Croydon ha ha ha. QSL" (Croydon is also in the UK so irony of using a satellite to establish a local contact amused him hence the laughter)
He then continued:
"Satellites are alright and it would be ok normally but by the time they fly over I'm still in bed QSL" - then he drops carrier.

This station I use as an example is about 2 miles from me and is perfectly readable. It seems overusing "QSL" is a habit he just can't get out of.

LDG RT-100 Remote ATU Review

I have 2 LDG ATUs now, the Z-100 Plus and the other day I ordered the RT-100/RC-100 combo from Martin Lynch. I was fed up with having to press the CS button on the FT-450D that I had configured to send a 5 watt carrier to get the Z-100 Plus to tune! I have never found a way of configuring Ham Radio Deluxe to "press" the CS button. There isn't a CAT command defined by Yaesu for it.

On to the remote tuner.

The RC-100 Controller and the RT-100 Tuner