Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Monday, June 21, 2021
If you dont like my cluster spots - filter them!
Some people don't like my dx cluster spots. If you are one of them, I respectfully suggest that you learn how to 'filter' them out on your home cluster (or whatever you are using to receive spots from dxclusters).
If your dxcluster provider of choice does not provide you with the ability to filter out my spots, then I respectfully suggest that you locate and make use of a dxcluster (or software) that supports your needs.
Check out THIS or something like it. A simple command like: reject/spots 0 call ww1l might solve YOUR PROBLEM.
I don't see your dislike of my spots as my problem.
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Opening
FK90 => 18
FK96 => 42
HM77 => 27
IM58 => 24
IM59 => 161
IM63 => 2
IM66 => 57
IM67 => 136
IM68 => 6
IM69 => 63
IM76 => 28
IM77 => 77
IM78 => 13
IM87 => 17
IM88 => 3
IM97 => 12
IM98 => 5
IM99 => 28
IN50 => 47
IN51 => 2
IN52 => 41
IN62 => 12
IN73 => 22
IN80 => 7
IN83 => 19
IN86 => 2
IN94 => 17
IN95 => 20
IO74 => 3
IO81 => 11
IO82 => 1
IO91 => 1
IO94 => 1
JM08 => 1
JM19 => 75
JM49 => 107
JM67 => 10
JM75 => 9
JM76 => 12
JM78 => 45
JM89 => 2
JN00 => 9
JN01 => 11
JN11 => 1
JN34 => 66
JN35 => 81
JN36 => 2
JN41 => 6
JN44 => 9
JN45 => 290
JN48 => 1
JN52 => 135
JN53 => 479
JN54 => 249
JN55 => 19
JN58 => 27
JN59 => 3
JN61 => 236
JN62 => 17
JN63 => 16
JN64 => 63
JN65 => 143
JN68 => 1
JN70 => 28
JN71 => 122
JN72 => 77
JN80 => 1
JN92 => 59
JO01 => 3
JO10 => 16
JO20 => 3
JO21 => 10
JO30 => 1
JO46 => 7
JO50 => 1
JO64 => 1
KI88 => 2
KM25 => 62
KM71 => 2
KO16 => 1
KO40 => 1
Callsign Detail Worked (Num. of QSOs):
EA7Z IM67 Spain 281 Lotw: (yes)
IW5DHN JN53 Italy 248 Lotw: (no)
N4EME FM13 United States 291 Lotw: (yes)
Sum-Totals By Callsign Prefix Worked (Num. of QSOs): EA(1),IT9(1),K(1)
Sum-Totals By Fields Heard (Num. of Decodes): DN(7),EL(7),EM(1552),EN(168),FK(60),FM(439),FN(3291),GN(11),HM(27),IM(632),IN(189),IO(17),JJ?(6),JM(261),JN(2151),JO(42),KI(2),KM(64),KO(2)
Sum-Totals By DXCC Prefix Heard (Num. of Decodes): 4O(42),4X(2),9H(1),9Y(10),CT(65),CU(8),DL(23),E7(1),EA(234),EA6(24),F(1),FG(19),G(12),GM/S(1),HB(2),I(41),IG9(211),IS(50),IT9(198),K(3027),ON(4),OZ(4),PA(3),S5(66),SV9(18),T7(7),TK(2),UR(1),VE(180),VP9(36),ZB(16)
Total Decodes: 8928
Total Worked: 3
Frequency Activity Heard
50.313 (8055)
50.323 (873)
Saturday, June 19, 2021
2021-19-05 Opening + 49.750 Video
The big 'balloons' are who heard my 170 watts, the small ones are who I heard.
Also heard 49.750 Mhz Video (first in this direction for 2021)
This is possibly Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Other likely candidates are:
Aktobe, Kazakhstan - Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Charjew, Turkmenistan
This would be good to ID for us because it might be a good indicator for VU path openings. It's past the UR and into unknown territory for us on 6m.
Arrow points to a yellow DOT which is Ashgabat. The red line going to the right is the path from UB7K to JA while I was hearing Video. From UB7K to JA where the two lines cross (me to video source) is about 900km to the line crossing from UB7K. That MIGHT be his peak of his first hop to JA. Guessing!
DX Grids Heard (Num. of Decodes):
DL95 => 12
DL96 => 42
DL98 => 15
FK42 => 5
FK49 => 26
FK52 => 8
FK58 => 45
FK68 => 76
FK78 => 8
FK90 => 4
FK94 => 5
FK96 => 2
IL18 => 146
IL28 => 9
IM98 => 5
IN51 => 1
IN73 => 13
IN78 => 31
IN80 => 1
IN82 => 12
IN83 => 23
IN86 => 2
IN87 => 33
IN88 => 74
IN89 => 28
IN93 => 8
IN95 => 41
IN96 => 30
IN97 => 60
IO51 => 338
IO54 => 160
IO62 => 43
IO63 => 113
IO64 => 32
IO65 => 12
IO66 => 48
IO67 => 97
IO70 => 219
IO71 => 4
IO72 => 40
IO73 => 6
IO74 => 142
IO75 => 152
IO76 => 71
IO77 => 184
IO78 => 268
IO80 => 70
IO81 => 82
IO82 => 22
IO83 => 87
IO85 => 122
IO86 => 157
IO87 => 31
IO88 => 75
IO90 => 11
IO91 => 72
IO92 => 19
IO93 => 108
IO94 => 25
IO97 => 1
JM09 => 1
JM19 => 4
JM49 => 198
JM75 => 28
JM76 => 48
JM78 => 4
JN00 => 4
JN01 => 13
JN03 => 45
JN05 => 70
JN07 => 6
JN09 => 13
JN11 => 12
JN13 => 13
JN14 => 21
JN17 => 1
JN18 => 8
JN23 => 11
JN24 => 39
JN33 => 1
JN34 => 99
JN35 => 31
JN36 => 13
JN37 => 2
JN38 => 6
JN40 => 43
JN41 => 40
JN44 => 45
JN45 => 19
JN46 => 2
JN47 => 24
JN48 => 34
JN53 => 76
JN54 => 28
JN58 => 12
JN59 => 10
JN61 => 11
JN62 => 2
JN63 => 1
JN65 => 174
JN66 => 8
JN71 => 1
JN75 => 65
JN76 => 60
JN77 => 2
JN84 => 11
JN86 => 11
JN93 => 16
JN94 => 24
JN95 => 48
JN97 => 33
JN99 => 96
JO00 => 12
JO01 => 31
JO02 => 27
JO10 => 39
JO11 => 2
JO20 => 10
JO21 => 13
JO22 => 2
JO31 => 1
JO33 => 7
JO45 => 15
JO46 => 34
JO47 => 12
JO48 => 6
JO49 => 1
JO54 => 1
JO55 => 47
JO56 => 43
JO57 => 58
JO63 => 4
JO64 => 101
JO65 => 65
JO67 => 21
JO71 => 12
JO72 => 12
JO73 => 50
JO74 => 24
JO75 => 61
JO76 => 24
JO77 => 75
JO78 => 4
JO79 => 12
JO80 => 50
JO81 => 14
JO82 => 6
JO83 => 28
JO84 => 22
JO90 => 42
JO91 => 64
JO92 => 8
JO94 => 189
JO99 => 29
JP20 => 19
JP50 => 3
JP80 => 2
JP82 => 6
JP90 => 15
KM08 => 21
KM09 => 4
KM17 => 1
KM18 => 11
KM25 => 86
KM64 => 13
KM71 => 2
KM72 => 3
KM73 => 3
KN01 => 9
KN02 => 7
KN06 => 64
KN07 => 21
KN09 => 2
KN10 => 30
KN11 => 7
KN12 => 36
KN18 => 106
KN19 => 9
KN21 => 1
KN22 => 5
KN23 => 1
KN24 => 4
KN28 => 8
KN29 => 64
KN37 => 12
KN56 => 2
KN59 => 49
KN68 => 23
KN75 => 62
KN77 => 71
KN78 => 118
KN85 => 13
KN87 => 153
KN88 => 38
KN89 => 84
KN98 => 57
KN99 => 244
KO00 => 31
KO02 => 111
KO03 => 198
KO05 => 13
KO11 => 17
KO15 => 1
KO16 => 1
KO25 => 22
KO28 => 4
KO29 => 5
KO30 => 17
KO38 => 2
KO40 => 55
KO50 => 210
KO60 => 91
KO80 => 19
KP00 => 23
KP01 => 44
KP11 => 2
KP20 => 1
KP21 => 3
Callsign Detail Worked (Num. of QSOs):
G4AYU IO83 England 223 Lotw: (yes)
G7KHF IO94 England 223 Lotw: (yes)
GI4FUE IO74 Northern Ireland 265 Lotw: (yes)
GM0UDL IO77 Scotland 279 Lotw: (yes)
GM1DSK IO86 Scotland 279 Lotw: (no)
GM3PPE IO85 Scotland 279 Lotw: (yes)
GM4PMK IO66 Scotland 279 Lotw: (no)
KX4YO EM74 United States 291 Lotw: (no)
MM0ULL IO77 Scotland 279 Lotw: (no)
OZ6FH JO47 Denmark 221 Lotw: (no)
SM7CAD JO77 Sweden 284 Lotw: (yes)
SM7GXR JO76 Sweden 284 Lotw: (yes)
SP1FJZ JO84 Poland 269 Lotw: (yes)
SP7AWG JO91 Poland 269 Lotw: (yes)
UR0MC KN99 Ukraine 288 Lotw: (yes)
UR1HR KO60 Ukraine 288 Lotw: (yes)
UR5LAK KN89 Ukraine 288 Lotw: (yes)
UT8IO KN87 Ukraine 288 Lotw: (yes)
UX5UO KO50 Ukraine 288 Lotw: (yes)
WW5M EM55 United States 291 Lotw: (no)
Sum-Totals By Callsign Prefix Worked (Num. of QSOs): G(2),GI(1),GM(3),GM/S(2),K(2),OZ(1),SM(2),SP(2),UR(5)
Sum-Totals By Fields Heard (Num. of Decodes): (2),DL(69),DM(27),EL(375),EM(2944),EN(1410),FK(179),FL(13),FM(592),FN(4740),FO(1),GN(12),IL(155),IM(5),IN(357),IO(2811),JJ?(3),JM(283),JN(1304),JO(1278),JP(45),KM(144),KN(1300),KO(797),KP(73)
Sum-Totals By DXCC Prefix Heard (Num. of Decodes): 4X(1),5B(9),9A(36),9H(8),9Y(2),CM(12),DL(129),EA(34),EA8(71),EI(337),ES(6),F(167),FG(1),G(348),GD(7),GI(47),GM(354),GM/S(172),GU(7),GW(17),HA(74),HB(2),HI(40),I(35),IG9(57),IS(81),IT9(64),J6(5),K(3960),KP4(50),LA(9),LY(10),LZ(25),OE(20),OH(29),OK(9),OM(6),ON(4),OZ(91),P4(8),PA(6),S5(80),SM(123),SP(233),SV(24),SV9(27),TK(14),UA(16),UR(493),VE(179),XE(48),YL(1),YO(3),Z3(9)
Total Decodes: 18919
Total Worked: 20
Frequency Activity Heard
50.313 (17001)
50.323 (1918)
Friday, June 18, 2021
Lunar Link LA-62 Amp - Fail - Repair
I've been using a Lunar Link LA-62 now for about 3+ years on 6m (50 Mhz). It's worked Almost flawlessly. There have been a few minor repairs needed in that time. A single $0.99 cent diode in the power supply. Several #85 lamps for the meters went last year spent about $5.00 to get 20, and it only needed 3.
Yesterday I started to notice that from time to time my output power would be only equal to my input power. So no amplification. 33w in, was about the same out. I tried retuning, and no change really. The one tell-tale sign was that this would happen sporadically. I'd key up and get no amplification on the output, or I'd key up and get full power out. All the indicators on the amp looked normal, including Plate, and Grid for the most part. I just wanted getting full power out reliably.
The LA-62 uses external TX/RX relays. And this one is equipped with the "VR-2" (vacuum relay - 2) which is meant for QSK.
So to debug what was happening...I removed the VR-2 assembly.
I opened it up by unscrewing 6 screws and looked inside. To my utter amazement...all that exists inside is two GigaVac GH-1 vacuum relays, and a micro coax with ground strapping, and some jumpers. There is absolutely NOTHING special about the VR-2, nothing fancy or exotic. It's just two relays configured for TX/RX normally. (if your familiar with such things, and thankfully I've created them like this myself on another amp of mine)
Thankfully, the grid of the tubes acts like a dummy-load in the case where the RF OUT has nowhere to go. Which to me...just seems like Black Magic. But thankfully this saves things from getting ugly!
But anyway...I continued the tare down and removed the failing GH-1 relay, and then I removed it's coil pack and inspected that, it tested OK for resistance about 346 ohm instead of it's spec of 335 Ohm. Close enough I think. I put it back together and testing continuity from COM (common) to NO (normally out) and found that I could feel the relay energizing, but it was failing to make contact from COM <> NO. This was the issue, and why I wasn't getting RF out.
These relays are spec'd at about 2 million relay cycles, which in normal FT8 operation for me would be about 50k to 100k cycles per year. So that's a LONG life time when you break it down like that. I can't speak to why the hardware armature has failed in this vacuum relay. But it has...so I ordered one from Max Gain Systems, Inc. overnight FedEx today and I hope it'll be here before tomorrow or Sunday. (it's Friday now) This is the season for 6m, and every single day matters BIG TIME. We're just getting into the peak.So I'm very confident that once the new GH-1 arrives it'll only take about 25 minutes to get thing back together and running again. But for now I'm relegated to 170w max. Which does get me some flags in EU, but it's a struggle when the band is marginal.
I'll post any updates to this status as they occur :-) I hope to report good things sooner than later!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)