tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32478245499123736382024-03-13T19:18:30.108-07:00SM7THS Blogsm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-76040655631709609272020-08-02T11:34:00.001-07:002020-08-02T11:36:38.550-07:00Summer vacationThis year vacation did not involve any antenna work at all for the first time in many years.<div><br /></div><div>Did cleaned the dish and put it in storage but that pretty much all.</div><div>It recuired some elbow grease and it took most of a day to get it acceptable clean.</div><div><br /><div>I did start to rebuild the amplifiers I got from Peter and the PS is now up and running on all parts.</div><div>It required some gentle touch and fiddeling but overall it was in good shape from the beginning.</div><div>Have started the rebuild on the first amp but not done yet.</div><div>Sourced material to the output combiner thanks to Ronny SM7FWZ so just need to mill the two halves and make the brass sheet combiner.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last tuesday we had our annual gathering of SM7, VHF and EME operators and this year at Bjorn SM7SJR QTH.</div><div>It will be an impressive setup when he is done putting antennas in his 3 times 30m towers.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bA5FFs3vSb4/XycErCAmcPI/AAAAAAAAAbg/hRk9eg_Hh7ocqE4ZSeK6G0MxM_P3HSwsACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20200728_161123.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bA5FFs3vSb4/XycErCAmcPI/AAAAAAAAAbg/hRk9eg_Hh7ocqE4ZSeK6G0MxM_P3HSwsACLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h384/20200728_161123.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>The participans of the meeting</i></div><div><i>From Left. Hakan SM7GEP, Bjorn SM7SJR, Ronny SM7FWZ, Hakan SM7WSJ, Kjell SM7GVF and on the far right myself.</i></div><div><i>Missing is the photographer Ulf SM7LCB.</i></div></div>sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-21913494978732718942020-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:002020-07-18T01:01:32.717-07:00Dish rescueA neighbour to my son used to TV dx on sattelites a few years back and used a 3m Teleste dish he did not want anymore so I offered myself to remove it :)<br />
It is in realy good conditions and the stand is quite good and with some minor rebuild usefull for EME.<br />
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I have no specific plans for it at the moment but just wanted to rescue it from going to scrap.<br />
It needs a good scrubbing and I will attack it with the power washer and clean it before put in storage.<br />
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I have been on a few hous showings but not found a new QTH yet but the market is slowly increasing after a slow winter and spring so I am still hopefull to find something suitable.<br />
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Othervise is activity quite low and only a few QSO each time when moon at high dec.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-79876204981762495112019-10-28T05:33:00.002-07:002019-10-28T05:33:24.675-07:00No progress and some thought about the future.In the last spring I come to a conclusion to make some changes in my life situation and this will involve a move of me and all equipment.<br />
Until I find a new acceptable QTH the setup will remain the same and as its still in good operating order I do work from time to time.<br />
It may take some time to find a new QTH ss my wish list is quite large but it will happen eventually and I am actually not in any big hurry.<br />
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Worked Gene KB7Q in all 3 of his expedition states with good signals using the V array all the time.<br />
Polarization was locked for very long time and those Europeans able to use V pol worked him easy but without V it was struggle for most.<br />
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The A21EME dxpedition was also worked and very strong and often audible in the speaker.<br />
I went up early Monday morning before work and called them only once before they answered me.<br />
So a quick QSO and back to bed again :)<br />
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ARRL EME contest part 1 I worked some but not that seriously and only a few hours each morning.<br />
Total so far 27 QSO's and a few new stations in the log but will hopefully be more active the second part.<br />
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Have finalized the JFL controller but not yet put it in use on the array but will do so before the second part.<br />
Besides from that most of the time is spent finalizing the garage and workshop as the plan is to keep that for a few years after I move until I been able to build one at the new QTH.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-82958444944364519752019-05-05T11:00:00.001-07:002019-05-05T11:01:42.092-07:00Finally an update :)Finally an update of something.<br />
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Activity has been quite low and besides working the TO2MB and VP2EMB dxpeditions I have only worked a handfull QSO's.<br />
Both TO2MB and VP2EMB was quite strong and easilly worked when all the big guns worked them.<br />
Used H polarisation for both of them and the rig is working as usual.<br />
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In my struggle to work from time to time I discovered some time ago and written about before and that I need for more output Power.<br />
That has now been solved by Peter PA2V who had 2 times R&S VH501 amplifiers with an original PS for sale and at May 1 myself and the YL drow down to PA land to pick them up and they are now stored in the basement waiting the rebuild.<br />
The plan is the use them in parallell to be able to use 1kW in to the antenna system as my permit allows and the amplifiers will handle this with ease.<br />
Anyone with 7/16 connector relays suitable for 70cm. please send me an email.<br />
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The trip was smooth besides some unexpected snowfall on the way home and we had a couple of really nice hours with Peter and Petra at his QTH.<br />
A very nice setup and I am really impressed with his ability to work at the very urban QTH he has.<br />
I start to appreciate my noice free QTH more.<br />
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When we earlier lived in the city both 2m and 70cm was very noicy and spurs pretty much everywhere and EME would be impossible there at the time when we moved.<br />
Worked some EME from that QTH in the 90's but TVI stopped me from using more then 350W and using 4 times 8.5 Lambda DJ9BVs and CW limited the nr of stations workable.<br />
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Right now the time is spent building in the barn and making firewood for the winter but also planning for the summer activity and experiments too.<br />
Have some very early ideas of a new antenna setup that I will start to evaluate during the summertime.<br />
Working on a list of aluminium material I need to order soon for new antennas.<br />
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<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-30831156247040578162019-02-21T08:14:00.001-08:002019-02-21T08:14:44.056-08:00Dubus CW contestDid work some stations during the Dubus CW Contest last weekend.<br />
In total 18 QSO's and really good activity with many stations QRV.<br />
Heard a few more but had limited time to be QRV due to other engagement but it was really nice working CW and signals where strong overall.<br />
Some new stations and Alaska was a new DXCC which is allways extra fun.<br />
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Worked KL6M 559, DL7ON 579, DL9KR 579, OH2DG 559, SP6JLW 559, DL6SH 569, DK3WG 569, I2FHW 579, UA3PTW 579, OZ6OL 559, UT5DL 559, OE5JFL 569, OZ4MM 579, SM2CEW 569, DF3RU 559, DL7APV 579, OE3JPC RO and G3LTF 559.<br />
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Managed to find some settings for the SDR radio to be able to work CW but I need to elaborate some more as sometimes I had difficulties reading and especially with weaker signals.<br />
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Besides working during the weekend I have not been able to work so much due to high winds and some rain and today we got 10 cm of snow again.<br />
Have started with the firewood work now so radio activities will be limited as we need more this year then what we made last year.<br />
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Have ordered a box for the JFL controller but the delivery is slow so that has not been finalized yet and the same goes for a pair of LNB's for the Hail2 geostationary satellite thar recently started their transponders.<br />
Seems like shipping is slower nowadays compared to a few years ago but maybe that's the future.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-57956037717726030712019-02-04T10:02:00.001-08:002019-02-04T10:02:37.287-08:00Snow againA lot of snow fell last weekend and everything is now covered.<br />
Fortunately the declination of the moon is low at the moment and there will be some mild weather ahead so most of it will melt away the next few days or so.<br />
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Got in total about 17 inces now and a lot of snowmobile riding was done.<br />
Did manage to remove some snow from the antenna to release some strain of the supporting wires.<br />
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So the next few weeks will be spent Indoors with other projects and hopefully I will finalize the OE5JFL controller and make some more progress with the new amplifier.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-27326252000943583022019-01-22T12:18:00.000-08:002019-01-22T13:09:12.421-08:00Good Condx No update since before Christmas but not much of interest has actually happened here besides the last weekend where there has been some excellent propagation on the moon.<br />
Worked BD9BU for what I know is a first BY-SM QSO.<br />
7 new initials and several of them are single long yagi stations with a few hundred watts.<br />
But the really nice QSO was with Ian MM0GYX who used a single 15 el and 100W which is nothing more than amazing that it actually works but he was quite easy to work and i hrd him at -26db<br />
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Besides from that I spent most of the time relaxing with the family in the Christmas and New Year break and some carpentry work in the barn.<br />
I have also started rebuilding a Softrock Ensamble RX/TX for 630m that seems like an interesting band.<br />
I trew up a 85m inverted L antenna and hooked it up to the electrical fence and the 80m vertical ground and I do hear very well.<br />
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Have also been out planning for a 4 square on 80m for next season and I found a suitable field that will not be used from September to April so I will use that.<br />
It will be a temporary setup where I have the ground radials laying on top of the ground so I can easily remove it in the spring so the horses can use it again for their food.<br />
Main problem is that it is 200m from the house and I will need to either sit in the barn to work or make a remote station between the barn and the house.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-25169739410340758172018-12-24T01:28:00.000-08:002018-12-24T01:28:35.984-08:00Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas to all of you.<br />
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Friday night was the evening of miracles amd I got an early gift from Tom MX0CNS.<br />
We actually manage to work with him using his <a href="http://www.dg7ybn.de/432MHz/GTV70_17m.htm" target="_blank">17el DG7YBN</a> yagi and 60W at the feedpoint.<br />
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I forgot to save a screendump of the QSO so I borrrowed it from Tom but he was -27dB with me and a fairly easy QSO after all.<br />
The most amasing thing to it all is that he also worked Peter PA2V with his 4 yagis.<br />
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Did also work my neighbor Tobbe SM7EOI on the moon and he was also strong.<br />
Tropo signal was of course strong too but doppler was 700Hz so easy to detect the moon reflections and as I use SDR RX it was easy to just adjust the filter width to block the tropo signals out.<br />
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I wish all of you and your families a really merry Christmas.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-60355221843200435132018-12-18T12:58:00.000-08:002018-12-18T13:01:45.609-08:00FrozenThe antenna is completely frozen at the moment and return loss on the H Array is Close to 4 so not possible to work at this time.<br />
Did work some last weekend and Adelio IZ2DJP who has a single yagi and 200W was -21 dB and good own echoes.<br />
Plan to be on this weekend if the snow and frost melts as the open wire feed is completely covered with snow at some places.<br />
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Managed to program the OE5JFL controller too and it seems like the serial port on the computer was not working properly as it worked when using an USB to serial adapter.<br />
Will continue later this week with the encoders and buttons so I can make the necessary changes of time and location.<br />
I have the H bridges for controlling of both axis with PWM which will be a nice feature as the azimut axis sometimes moves too fast and a ramped start and stop would be really good.<br />
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Will take some time off work and relax after a very busy time at work where we have moved the whole office and all labs to a new location and someone thought it was a good idea to make me responsible for the whole thing. Puhhh.<br />
Will do some carpentry work at the workshop in the barn and hopefully start the renovation of a rear axle to the summer car as it has a slightly bad bearing.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-40321017975506724702018-12-01T00:43:00.004-08:002018-12-01T00:45:57.325-08:00ARRL 2ndSRI for no update but to much to do at work and at home with other stuff.<br />
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The total result for ARRL was 72 QSO and 37 multipliers for a total of 262 700 points which is more then double the score from last year.<br />
Activity seems higher then last year and I still missed a lot of stations I heard which is inspiring for the future.<br />
Worked a handful of single yagi stations with low power with the smallest I think was G3LGR with a 14 el DG7YBN and 200W who was -20dB with me.<br />
Heard a few small stations that did not copy me so I need higher power then the 500W I used now and the Italab pallet PA is on hold at the moment due to other projects priority.<br />
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The only hardware issue during the two weekends was that I lost elevetoin indication on friday evening before the 2nd part but it was a poor connector and easilly solved.<br />
Experimented a lot with the dual pol setup and it works exactly as predicted but I have some noise in the area causing problems in some cases but have not found anything while searching.<br />
It can clearly be seen both in the SDR spectrum display and Map65 as pulsating or changes in noise levels in both time and frequency domain.<br />
Need to continue searching as its quite irritating and lowers the RX performance quite a bit.<br />
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Had some problem with Map65 that stopped decoding after been on for a few hours and reporting to Livecq was irregular and missed a lot of stations from time to time.<br />
To resolve it I needed to reboot the computer so I need to evaluate that further to figure out why it happens.<br />
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Have been looking for a PA controller that is remotely controllable and able to monitor all parameters as my intention is to have the complete station remote controlled but have not yet found anything really usable.<br />
My programming skílls is limited and a task like that should be to much and take to long time for me.<br />
The search and work continues.<br />
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<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-49366226220864191132018-11-19T00:26:00.001-08:002018-11-19T00:26:07.739-08:00Low bandNothing new on 70cm builds but I did put up my 80 m 1/4 vertical last week.<br />
Its 20.5 m high and I did put out 80 radials 20m long and some 40m long ones too.<br />
Have a tuning box in the bottom where I tune it at 3.79 and also a switch and a second matching net to allow operation at 3.5 as well.<br />
Have an additional net for 40m but I have not put it in yet.<br />
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Have also spent some time building and trying to communicate with a OE5JFL controller I got a PCB to from SM7FWZ some time ago.<br />
The board is based on ON4BCB design.<br />
<a href="http://moonbouncers.org/Orebro2017/ON4BCB%20OE5JFL%20diy.pptx" target="_blank">http://moonbouncers.org/Orebro2017/ON4BCB%20OE5JFL%20diy.pptx</a><br />
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I cant communicate with the controller but I think it is a faulty RS232 circuit that causes it and I have ordered new ones so I can continue.<br />
The board only have TTL serial signals so I built a converter with a MAX232 but it seems to not react correctly on one channel so I hope exchanging it will help.<br />
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The new amplifier on 70 is slow progress.<br />
Got the controller working but need to get it all in the box and connect it together and to make the 24V regulator and switches.<br />
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Besides from that I waiting for the rain to stop and higher dec. so one can work and also the last ARRL part.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-67967135526646840712018-11-07T06:02:00.000-08:002018-11-07T06:02:02.678-08:00Nothing newNothing has really happen since last weekend.<br />
Worked some on the moon during the weekend but very low activity so mainly some tests with Bernie ZS4TX using different polarization.<br />
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Have continued with the Italab pallet amp I purchased a while ago but the progress is slow.<br />
Did CAD and milled a PCB for the ON7EQ Arduino controller and put in screened box with feed through caps and inductors on the board that will hopefully work as RF sheild to avoid problems with RF on the input pins to the controller.<br />
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Will reprogram it later to also include the designer ON7EQ in the startup sequence.<br />
I just did an initial test and tried to familiarize myself with the code.<br />
The startup sequence fault handling seems to jump the 50V supply voltage because it never stops there as it stops on every other voltage or current measurement so I need to test some more another evening.<br />
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Have received the boxes for the preamp and balun but need to CAD and print a support for the balun before I can put everything inside and attach it to the antenna.<br />
Hopefully the weather will be good in the weekend as now its very damp and wet so everything is soaked.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-45167597585926408082018-10-29T06:01:00.000-07:002018-10-31T00:04:52.921-07:00First part doneThe first ARRL weekend is over.<br />
It started with heavy rain Friday afternoon but it cleared up Saturday afternoon and the remaining of the weekend was fairly OK besides some snow Sunday.<br />
Managed in total of 39 QSO's with some new stations and some worked before.<br />
Think the activity was higher this year compared to last year and Sunday evening activity was very good with a lot of stations QRV.<br />
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I believe the smallest station worked was K1DS with single yagi and 100W or so.<br />
One funny thing was Tobbe SM7EOI who lives 35 km away uses 4 * 11 el DG7YBN antennas hrd good but we missed to work before my noise became to high at MS when I beam into my house.<br />
We can only work when doppler is high as the tropo signal is so strong.<br />
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Did make a switch box for the pol switching Saturday afternoon but it did not work on the RX side and the moon was on its way up so I left it with fixed RX H.<br />
Did work XE2AT with TX vertical and RX horizontal and tried to call CQ a few times V but got no reply's.<br />
Later on Sunday afternoon I found that the cable I used from the relay switching the two RX cables in the shack was short circuit so after replacing that it worked as planned.<br />
The preamp for the V antennas had lower gain so the noise level dropped but it worked well.<br />
Worked JE1TNL using both TX and RX vertical so the system works.<br />
Compared a lot with HB9Q RX on livecq when I changed the TX pol and all times it shifted 90 degrees and a bit lower level on V as expected.<br />
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Worked Bernie ZS4TX who has the exact same array as I do and when he TX V he was like -10 with me and when TX H he dropped to -27 so a huge difference.<br />
Listen a lot on Bernd DL7APV with different pols and at some point he was more or less gone when I RX V.<br />
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Experienced some noise from time to time and did walk through the house with my 817 with a rubber duck on but did not find any source of extra noise but need to continue the investigation as I believe I have something interfering.<br />
Some times I can detect noise with patterns in Map65 both in freq and time domain.<br />
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Sunday evening I had problem with MAP65 hanging when trying the decode so I could only at few times report to livecq.<br />
Do not know why and I have never experienced anything similar before but Sunday night it was constantly hanging.<br />
Besides from that and some high VSWR when antenna soaked the station worked without any problems.<br />
Need to find some good settings for CW until the next leg as I tried a few times but CW does not sounds pleasant with my settings at the moment so I did not work any.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-56395525398465518542018-10-27T01:56:00.001-07:002018-10-27T01:56:53.573-07:00ARRL first nightSo finally I got it all together in some way to be able to work.<br />
Finalized the antenna yesterday and the rain started the same time and has not stopped since.<br />
Had some other work to do yesterday so late afternoon I started the station up or thats what I thought.<br />
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For some strange reason had I lost the nw Connection to the computer which worked the week before.<br />
Tried to reconnect both ends on the cable but it did not help so I set up a WIFI nw instead.<br />
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Connected the rig together and got noice when switching on the preamp and the local beacon was fine but to amp did not TX when PTT was actuated.<br />
Started bu testing the RIG but it was working as usual so the error was in the PA intself.<br />
The investigation gave a broken PTT transistor in the PQL controller and fortunately I had an unassembled one so I could Exchange it.<br />
Why it broke is a mystery but the only way I believe was the thunder hit we had a while ago.<br />
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The antenna matching was terrible and for both pol only about -15 dB return loss.<br />
Did not bother to build the switching logic for the dual pol so I will do that today.<br />
The idea now is to just be able to switch between the two pols for RX and TX separately and one RX pol at the time.<br />
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Did manage to work 10 stations this morning with 300W output power and the propagation seems to be OK and hrd a lot but had some problems with getting both MAP65 and WSJT to work as I want them too.<br />
Had a 3dB increase in noice when connecting the FCD to 28MHz RX line so from time to time I did not use it.<br />
Experienced some increased noice and I need to look into that later today and when beaming toward west I beam in the direction of the house and the noice was increasing quite a lot.<br />
Had some strong strange burst noice from time to time that I never seen before but it later dissapered so I will not bother at this time.<br />
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Weather forecast is some rain and windy and at the moment its snowing but hopefully it will not be so much as the past night.<br />
Shall be QRV tonight and hopefully the propagation is good.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-18102159904713669382018-10-23T23:29:00.000-07:002018-10-23T23:29:49.303-07:00Slowly getting there.Slowly everything is coming together but still not sure I will be able to complete before Saturday morning.<br />
The weather forecast for Friday evening and Saturday morning is snow and heavy winds so the weather might stop all activities but I keep on working.<br />
One problem is that it gets dark just 2 hours after I get home from work so the time working in daylight is limited.<br />
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Weather proofing of the balun, relay and preamp for the horizontal antennas is a task and I was convinced I had a decent box for it but can't find it anywhere so I just bolted everything onto a piece of 2 mm alu sheet and covered it with a plastic storage box.<br />
Have ordered a couple of new boxes but they will arrive next week.<br />
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Have made all cables and the H/V relay and V preamp box done so everything just needs to be connected together and the two RX cables drawn into the shack.<br />
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Got my high power permit a few day ago so now I am allowed to use 1kW output power again.<br />
But I have only about 700W or so from the PQL amp and had no time to complete the Italab amp yet but it will be OK with that.<br />
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One funny thing is that there has been nearly 4500 readers to this blog and only one comment.<br />
A few times I have consciously wrote something that was not fully correct but still no comments.<br />
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Planned to have the Friday off work to sort out the last pieces but forecast is rain the whole day so maybe that is not such a good idea after all.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-30731427172239636772018-10-20T10:13:00.000-07:002018-10-20T10:13:50.588-07:008 Antennas feeding done.Today I was able to finalize the feeding structure of the horizontal array.<br />
The results was quite good after some tuning with moving the teflon pieces to acheive the best match.<br />
Will try to move them more equal and for a good support tomorrow.<br />
I struggled a bit finding a good solution to attach the balun in a good way so it took some time to complete and to assemble everything completely alone cause some extra moment to prevent anything brake or bend.<br />
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Next is to build the new relay box and to make some new cables for dual pol RX and also for the horisontal preamp that will be positioned closes to the balun possible and I need a TX cable into the relay box too.<br />
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Did some supports for the open wires to and hopefully it is enaugh but I need to make a second support for the balun and relay and cables as only one is propably not enaugh.<br />
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Needed to bend it or it would hit the mast when elevating and I need to have 70 degree elevation for to gain access to the the feeding.<br />
Hopefully I will have the time to finalize everything for the first ARRL weekend but I have some other work to do also.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-77598610211787558632018-10-14T10:12:00.003-07:002018-10-14T10:12:55.639-07:004 antennas feeding doneToday I managed to test the feeding I want to use for a 4 bay array.<br />
As my stacking distance in horisontal plane is not an multiplier of a 1/4 lambda i made the vertical feeding wires slightly longer and bent them toward eachother slightly.<br />
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The matching was some -25dB return loss but I did not try to tune it further but discovered that the vertical lines was slightly to long so I need to shorten them to fit perfectly.<br />
Will continue making the other 4 dipoles and wires for thoose and also make the wires to connect the 2, 4 bays together.<br />
Need to make some support for the balun and cables as the feedpoint will be at some distance from the main horisontal support boom.<br />
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The wires are interconnected with M4 screws and toothed washers and it seems ok but its a test but after looking at DL7APV solution using 4mm copper wires and soldered interconnections it looks as a much better solution.<br />
Will ask the local electrical motor repair shop if they can get hold of 4mm copper wires to make a test later on.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-65426416373182015132018-10-09T23:30:00.000-07:002018-10-09T23:31:18.318-07:00New dipolesLast weekend I adjusted the elevation axis rotor and I can stand and reach the horizontal antenna dipoles very easy from the ground.<br />
During the process I accidentally got stuck in a support wire for a HF vertical while rotating in azimut bending one antenna slightly but it was easy to bend it back again.<br />
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Earlier test dipole I used 4.76mm copper tubing but have now tuned the antenna and bending fixture to 6mm tubing and it seems to work fine.<br />
Tested to mount one dipole with through hole screws and nuts but discovered that the on the backside where the open wire line later goes the extruding bolt and nut was very close to where the feedline later goes.<br />
I need to use inserted rivet nuts on the boom to avoid extruding anything in that direction but I have not been able to test that yet as the wind has increased and I do not want to elevate fully in high winds.<br />
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The time is running out for the first part of ARRL contest so I need to step it up and make the feedlines any day soon.<br />
I have made the feedline distances yesterday and will try to stack 2 antennas together and measure the matching and if everything is as expected continue with 4 this week.<br />
Decided to go for 200 Ohms feedlines and with 6mm wires the cc is 16mm.<br />
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Need to make some support for the feedlines when I drill and thread then in the lathe to avoid bending or braking them while the lathe rotates.<br />
My idea is to use massive 6mm aluminium for the feedline and drill and thread in the end of each piece and then drill through the junction piece and with toothed washer just bolt everything together.<br />
Will try to weather protect each junction with isolating spray.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-62606463842819273852018-10-02T10:36:00.001-07:002018-10-04T02:35:29.785-07:00Antennas up again :)Today I lifted the stack up again.<br />
Managed it just before it started to rain so I need some time to level everything and adjust the readings of the indicators.<br />
A Quick test showed a 2 degree offset on elevation and 5 on azimut.<br />
Also tested to elevate maximum and I got Close to 70 degrees and thats enaugh to access the dipoles on the horizontal antennas from the ground.<br />
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Weather proofed all connectors and matching close to the ground was fairly OK but could not measure after the lift as it started to rain quite a lot so that needs to wait to a better day.<br />
Picture below is before weatherproofing connectors.<br />
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Will continue with folded dipoles and open wire feedings and the new switch n´box.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-73333634744057128872018-09-21T12:19:00.000-07:002018-09-21T12:19:08.823-07:00ThunderstormIntended to continue the work with the antennas this afternoon after work but after an hour a thunderstorm was approaching from west.<br />
Normally it is no problem but today we took a direct hit in what I have found out in a lightning pole on the front of the yard.<br />
Some damages on switched PS and TV recevier and internet modem as well as the robotic lawn mower was damaged.<br />
I hope its only the PS to the lawn mover so it will be an easy fix but whoos lucky. Not me:)<br />
All outdoor lightning broke and two night light switches too and when I tried to exchange the bulb in the lighning pole the lid was welded shut so it needed to be broken free with force.<br />
Thats why my guess is that it entered that way and the YL was standing in the stable door at the time and saw a huge flash and big smoke from the pole itself.<br />
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We got 12 mm of rain in 10 minutes and heavy winds caused a huge tree falling on my daughters yard but fortunately away from the house.<br />
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Tested all radios but could not find anything broken so I think we where lucky anyhow.<br />
Have not tested everything yet but I normally switch all power off to the schack and all SDR radios have their ethernet cables disconected.<br />
Need to go and source some new parts tomorrow and fix the stuff that broke so maybe no antenna work but sunday is free so hopefully I will get the antenas up.<br />
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<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-40217773886699438112018-09-20T22:57:00.001-07:002018-09-20T22:57:19.133-07:00Antennas doneFinally all antennas are done to be put back in the mast.<br />
Had some problems tuning the vertical antennas and at one point I thought I lost my mojo tuning these antennas but it turned out that for some reason I made all dipoles with to much angle to the back.<br />
So I needed to make new dipoles and the problem was solved and all antennas are better then 35dB return loss.<br />
Started yesterday evening to put them back and finalized the 4 upper ones and will continue with the lower ones today or tomorrow.<br />
The time was late so it was dark out so not photos of the work.<br />
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Had some rainy days last week too so I made a bending fixture for the folded dipoles I will use.<br />
Made it adjustable for material diameter and total length so I can use it for other 70cm antennas as well.<br />
Tried to bend a 6mm solid aluminium rod without any problems at all and the 6mm copper tubing I will use was very easy to bend.<br />
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One rainy day was spent making new stacking cables too but I wanted to measure the exact length when the antennas where in place, I only put connectors in one end and will make the other end now when I know the exact length.<br />
Will use the same combiner as last year was used for the horizontal antennas and I will also make new 1/2 inch cables combining the two 4 groups.<br />
Hopefully I will have the array up this weekend so I can continue with the folded dipoles and the open wire feeding.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-72387423336779821862018-09-03T01:50:00.002-07:002018-09-03T01:50:31.525-07:00Power limitationsSwedish PTS has decided that a general output power limit for amateur radio in Sweden will be 200W only on all bands from the 1 of November.<br />
If you have specific needs to use higher power you need a special permit but up to now no information on how, what fee and to who to apply for this permit.<br />
So this could be an interesting future for EME in Sweden.<br />
Hopefully the permit would be an easy formality and the handling time not too long.<br />
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Another funny thing I noticed the other day was a note in the June issue of the 432 and up EME newsletter that I am mainly QRV at contests and dxpeditions.<br />
I have participated in 1 contests and worked 3 dxpeditions the last year but a total of close to 300 QSO's on the moon in the same time.<br />
I do not know where it comes from but there is a higher activity on the band at contests and when dxpeditions are QRV so of coarse I am QRV then too but most of the time on the moon is spent any average day.<br />
Maybe its from this blog where I maybe make notes and comments of dxpeditions and not so much otherwise.<br />
So I need to be more active in between events :)<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-82942515301342326532018-09-01T13:05:00.000-07:002018-09-01T13:05:50.664-07:00Some progress.All antennas are done with regards of placing elements but the dipoles are not done yet.<br />
The delivery of bulkhead connectors for the semi rigid .250 Cables was delayed so I decided to continue with RFC400 cables instead.<br />
Had some issues at first tunig dipoles with the RFC Cable but sorted it out and has designed and are printing out mounting plates for the dipole elements and have prepared all 1/4 stub cables.<br />
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Sourced a pile of new relay too as I need at least three for the switching of polarisation and RX/TX switching.<br />
Will have separate preamps and RX lines for both polarisations so I need two RX/TX relays and a third to switch the TX polarisation.<br />
Will only switch between the polarisations at RX at first but will try to get some receiver so I can listen to both simultaniusly in Linrad.<br />
I have a set of WSE receiver boxes for 2m and one option is to build a dual RX converter from 70cm to 2m or maybe an SDR radio with 2 RX port which can be used at the same time.<br />
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Will try to get the antennas up as soon as possible and preferable next week so I can continue with the building of folded dipoles and the new feeding.<br />
The sleeve balun that will be from the 100 Ohms connection point to coaxial is allready done.<br />
Need to build a fixture for the folded dipoles too but have one for 2m I build a few years back that I will reuse.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-81935543624636605372018-08-19T13:20:00.000-07:002018-08-19T13:20:25.756-07:00Rebuild in progress.Have added vertical elements on 4 antennas now and it is clear that it does not impact the horisontal part regarding matching at all.<br />
Measured all 4 Before and after adding the vertical elements and no difference was seen.<br />
Put a vertical dipole on one of the antennas but will do a rebuild of the dipole mechanics as it has been a weak spot earlier using RG142 so will try to get some bulkheads for RG401 .250 semi rigid.<br />
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Needed to add a support for the support wires to the upper antennas and I did the support wires to evaluate and it looks good but I will need some support structure in the front and will order 15mm. fiberglass tubes.<br />
A bit tricky to assemble the 4mm Bayco wire in the cringles and wire locks trying to make 4 support wires the same length.<br />
Will continue this week with the remaining 4 antennas and and test a different mechanical dipole carrier.<br />
<br />sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3247824549912373638.post-30022935156388645502018-07-31T12:48:00.000-07:002019-01-23T22:44:18.807-08:00HP ESP120 Power supplyI have 2 HP ESP120 Power supplys and one of them I use on my 2m amplifier in the upstairs shack.<br />
This only because I do not have 3 phase outlet in that shack for a <a href="https://www.abn.by/pdf/Delta/SM3000eng.pdf" target="_blank">Delta SM70-45</a> power supply which I use for the 70cm EME amplifier.<br />
Have made some study of how others are enabling the ESP120 and I am a bit puzzled how they do.<br />
The most used way seems to be published by <a href="http://www.n4ga.com/enabling-the-esp120/" target="_blank">N4GA</a> where he advice to short out 3 pins without any description of their functionality.<br />
I read the only <a href="http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/132/hps3kw-5265.pdf" target="_blank">datasheet</a> I could find on a similar power supply that looked like a drop in replacement for the HP supply.<br />
This shows that when connecting these three pins together you short out Power on, PSKILL and the present pins.<br />
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PSON is the remote control input connector.<br />
PSKILL is a emergency kill pin that switch the PS off if it looses connection to the 5V rtn.<br />
Present pin is an indicator for the system to show that a PS is inserted in that slot.<br />
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Connecting these pins do not seems correct and I am actually surprised it works but it does.<br />
Only reason I can se is that if the Present pin have an internal path to ground.<br />
In my mind I would connect the PSKILL to the 5V rtn constantly and switch the PSON to 5V rtn to enabel the PS output and I tested to do so and it worked perfectly.<br />
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The reason for all this was that I wanted to remotely control the PS from the amplifier and when connecting the Power on switch of the amplifier between the PSON to 5V rtn it works great.<br />
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I have occasionally seen some noise from the PS on 2m. but I placed capacitors on the output connections to PS outer cover and also placed a copper braid screen around the two 10 mm Square cables to the amplifier and grounded that in the outer housing as well.<br />
This seems to fix the worst noise but its important to ensure the cables are routed in a specific way to totally get rid of any noise.<br />
This is most likely caused by the fact the 2m antenna is placed only 4 meters above the shack where the PS is located.<br />
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Got a half promise that a friend with an excavator will come this or next week to fill the whole for the concrete base and to dig down the anchor points for a 22m mast I have laying to use for tropo and a HF beam.sm7thshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07217130128403558680noreply@blogger.com4