Elecraft T1 ATU gone intermittent

http://www.elecraft.com/T1/T1_photo_b1.jpg

After 8 years of good service (kit bought 2005), my Elecraft T1 auto ATU seems to be playing up and it does not want to match SWRs of around 2:1 on 40m and on other bands. I have had this issue (not tuning) before, so will have to take it apart to see what is amiss. I am going to buy another one (or a Z817 from LDG) anyway. Means I cannot pull  my slightly off-tune Par 10/20/40 antenna in on 40m. Antenna is cut too long and because of my poor health/stroke I cannot climb a ladder to adjust it.. When the ATU works it is very good indeed. Battery lasts 12 months or more and the ATU is very small - pack of playing cards in size. Ideal for the FT817 and good for up to 20W.

10m 100mW WSPR

Today I WSPRed on 10m with 100mW RF, which is a little below the output of the unmodified Ultimate 3 WSPR beacon kit. Plenty of European and near east spots (best 4X1RF 3519km) received this morning, and transatlantic propagation after lunch. First transatlantic 100mW report at 1312z was from VE3SWS 5532km away to the north of the Great Lakes and the next from KZ8C 6290k away at 1334z and ND6M at  6914km.  Best DX report with 100mW was WA5NGP at 7878km. 100mW is obviously enough to lift me above the noise floor for several stations both sides of the Atlantic, unlike with 5mW. Reports from 4 continents today with 100mW.

10m 100mW spots received today

My last transatlantic  reception was VE3SWS at 1812z (way after dark), but the last report of my 100mW signal was at 1522z. Sunspot number 131-136 today.

Magic (well nearly) on 40m

This evening on 40m I returned to 2W out WSPR to my low Par 10/20/40 antenna. Initially the reports were from G4IKZ who is 18km west of me and they were not brilliant.  I was about to go QRT when my very next reports were from Western Australia (VK6XT) at 14719km and Tasmania, Australia (VK7BO) at 17244km.

Such is the MAGIC of HF propagation. With my low antennas I think 2W is a sensible WSPR RF power level. I have already proved that as low as 5mW gets some reports even with my antenna, but 2W is the level I really need to check propagation. It may well be much lower power if your 40m antenna is half decent.

Overnight there were plenty of stateside reports too. 40m is a good " all round the clock" WSPR band.

QRPp WSPR and small antennas

One thing the last few days of 5mW WSPR beaconing has taught me is others must be using better antennas than me.

At 5mW I am really struggling, whereas, for some, DX reports still flow in at this very low power level. All my antennas are low and compromised which is why 1-2W is a more sensible level for me. I suspect my ERP is lower than other QRPp stations when I use 5mW RF. Nonetheless, it was an experiment well worth doing.

In the end, 4X1RF at 3519km was my only report with 5mW on 10m.  I had no luck with transatlantic reports despite myself copying plenty of US and Canadian stations yet again,even with a 20dB attenuator in circuit.

From tomorrow I propose to run 100mW RF on 10m being much the same as the unmodified Ultimate 3 kit, although I intend to run 1-2W on my final version.

UPDATE 1700z:  10m closed transatlantic at 1700z.

10m 5mW WSPR so far

After beaconing at 5mW WSPR on 10m all afternoon, I have received not a single spot so far.

20dB attenuator directly on 500mW output of FT817 (note chokes on ground side)

I have copied many stateside stations today and yesterday. On Monday morning my 5mW 10m beacon as spotted by 4X1RF at 3519km, a new 5mW DX record for me. RX reports suggest reception in N.America of the 5mW beacon might  be possible, but no luck as yet.

10m WSPR spots, 5mW TX and RX via 20dB pad

40m 5mW Summary

After leaving the 5mW 40m WSPR beacon running for 24 hours, this is the summary.

In all I received 7 spots in that period with the best DX being a single report from Italy and a couple of reports from Denmark.

In all, quite an interesting exercise with very low power.  Clearly  my signal was sitting in the noise most of the time, being just over the noise floor on a few rare occasions for very small number of stations. I am convinced that 2W RF is a better level to aim for in any dedicated WSPR beacon. Even with a 20dB pad in series with the FT817 output, I was still copying stations from near and far including VK6XT on 40m. On TX it was much harder to be copied.

 40m 5mW WSPR spots received

Still, with my modest, low, 40m antenna 1183km is not bad with just 5mW. See later post about 10m results.

BitX 20m and 17m single band SSB kits

If you are looking for a basic 10W pep rig for 20m (or 17m) you can do a lot worse than build a BitX kit from Hendricks QRP kits.The basic "no nonsense" design came from India but these kits are well documented and on a neat PCB. See http://www.qrpkits.com/bitx20a.html  . The full kit is $180 in the USA.

Image is at http://www.qrpkits.com/images/tn_bitx20acase1.jpg

Hendricks do a number of other (mainly CW)  kits of interest.

Moonbounce or EME

This is a part of our hobby I have never done and am unlikely to do. Moonbouncers are a special breed with excellent equipment carefully optimised, low noise preamps and usually lots of power and a big steeraable antenna capable of tracking the moon in the sky. I am full of admiration for those who take the time and effort to overcome the immense technical challenges. With new digital modes EME is a little easier and some people with single horizontal yagis and more modest power are able to work larger stations off the moon. For me, it is all a step too far though. I shall stick to VLF, LF, MF, lightbeams, QRP and WSPR.

5mW on 40m WSPR

With considerable difficulty (because of my stroke) I made a 20dB attenuator to reduce my 500mW down to just 5mW. This attenuator is right at the FT817's output coax connector. It also reduces the RX signal by 20dB too of course. Let's see what happens!

Normally such a small project would take just minutes but I found the whole job hard work taking at least twice as long. In the same way, PC work takes me longer as I am forever correcting  typos.

My 5mW has been spotted locally once and in Denmark 853km away on 2 occasions and once in Holland. Results are in line with expectations so far. Sunspot count still good at 95. The last report of my 5mW signal was at 1744z. It must just be popping out of the noise with a few stations, rarely. I'll leave running overnight to see what happens.

On RX I see I spotted VK6XT, even with a 20dB pad in the antenna line.

RX reports (mine) with 20dB pad in line on 40m

40m 5mW WSPR spots this afternoon

Best Amateur Radio and SWL apps

The excellent Southgate ARS News page had a link http://wp.me/pn3uc-2cL to the best apps for smart phones (iOS and Android). If you have such a device some of these apps are worth considering.