Random
My random thoughts and postings
- Details
- Created: 15 March 2014
- Last Updated: 15 March 2014
Sometime in the 90's I bought an ICOM 706. Its a great radio and i used it alot HF mobile, with a rack of 5 hamsticks on the top of my van, plus an LDG Tuner kit I put together. After getting the FLEX-5000 recently, and putting my IC-736 and IC-820 up for sale, I began to miss having a radio that didn't need a computer behind it, mainly for a portable HF digital briefcase setup I wanted to put together (radio, tuner, interface, 10" netbook). I hadn't used, or even seen my 706 in literally years. I began to wonder if I sold it or, lost it. It finally dawned on me that it was installed under the seat in my current van, with the face/head in the glove box under the other seat.
So, as I said, I haven't used it in literally years, so I pulled it out got it on the bench and power it on... "click, click"... wouldn't power on.
- Details
- Created: 22 February 2014
- Last Updated: 22 February 2014
A couple years ago I had a couple months fun making several hundred JT65 contacts via HF. It was a fun challenge and I love QRP modes anyway. As I'm "back into HF" and other things now I revisited JT65, and found that the JT9 software has matured as well. The last time I tried it the software was clunky and I didn't find any sigs.
Well today, it seems both are better. I found sigs and good software, in the form of WSJT-X.
http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx.html
The JT9 signal is designed for HF, and boasts the ability to copy 2db deeper into the noise while being about 5 times narrower in bandwidth. Well I'm not sure about the noise boast, but it surely is narrower as the image below shows.
I'll be on JT65 and JT9 modes off and on, between DSSTV and other fun modes.
[Update] JT9 pulled out a signal that I couldn't see a trace of in the waterfall. It was on the end of a qso that had already been established, and it pulled out the 73 that I couldn't see in the waterfall, let alone hear.