FT8 TX and the IC-705

 My new USB leads have come and I still can't TX FT8 with the IC-705. This is most probably finger trouble. It is just possible it is a rig issue. When less tired I shall investigate. CAT control seems fine and RX. 

UPDATE 1604z:  I am still struggling! I have had two offers of help, but so far no luck. One person has offered help over Zoom, and I may have to avail myself of his help if all else fails. I have reloaded the drivers, swapped leads to make sure they are carrying data, rechecked settings in the IC-705 and WSJT-X. At the moment, I just cannot understand why it does not work. RX works fine.  Darn my muddled brain! Years ago this would have been so easy to fix, or at least understand why it is not working.

UPDATE 2045z: Solved!! My problem was RF getting back into the rig. When I tried 2m on the external antenna all was well. It seems that 10m on the internal loop is not acceptable. Now I know what the problem was, I can try chokes on the USB lead. It seemed odd that despite everything I was doing seeming OK things still would not function. First 2m QSO on FT8. Now QRT.

South Hams - NOT amateur radio

Where I come from in South Devon is very beautiful as this photo from 10 years ago shows. 

Sunspots - Saturday May 8th 2021

Solar flux is 75 and the SSN 15. A=3 and K=1. 

South Africa - NOT amateur radio

Some years ago we had a holiday in South Africa with Saga. It was one of the best holidays we have ever been on. 

Hotels and food were excellent and we were quite unprepared for the huge variety of scenery. In some parts it was like Scotland, others like the Med and others scrub. 

We saw "the big five" wild animals and many more. I still can't get over seeing monkeys and ostriches on the beach on the way to the Cape.

I expected to see lots of insects, but we see far more in our garden!

G3XBM website progress

All being well, I shall swap my website to the new format in the next few days. It is mostly done, although I need to find a way of attaching some files and making some schematics clearer. On the old pages, clicking a schematic usually brought up a "pin-sharp" image. There must be a way to do this, but I have still not found out how yet, HI.

At some point I shall swap over, but some pages may not be complete yet.   As time goes by I hope to iron out any omissions or errors.

Please give me feedback on the site when it "goes live". When the new site is ready I shall say so on this blog.

In the end, it should be at least as good as the old site and, I hope, better. Converting the pages appears to have been easier and faster than I expected.

You should still be able to go to www.g3xbm.co.uk  as before. It is just that the pages you see will look different.

Shopping - NOT amateur radio

This morning, we went shopping at one of the larger UK supermarkets beginning with T. It wasn't too busy. We stocked up on the wine I like, which was very inexpensive. I do not have great tastes! 

My wife drove as I was too giddy. 

Also she was unable to find a certain yeast extract at the shop beginning with W. There were huge stocks at this shop today so we bought a jar!

10m FT8 RX with the IC-705 and indoor loop

Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the indoor loop and IC-705. 2 stations spotted so far by 1002z.

UPDATE 1532z: So far today, 53 stations have been spotted on RX. My new leads (USB to USBmicro) are due before 1900z. I hope this solves my FT8 TX issue. Otherwise it is finger trouble or even rig trouble.

UPDATE 1732z:  111 stations so far spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

Sunspots - Friday May 7th 2021

 Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1. 

On our way to vote

These flowers were seen on our way to vote this morning. 

FT8 on the IC-705

It works on RX, but not (yet!) on TX. The drivers have been correctly installed on the PC and appear in the device manager. The audio CODECs appear too. Yet it still says the TX does not work as it cannot see the TX audio CODEC. 

Perhaps the lead does not have the TX audio connection? I have a new lead (USBmicro to USB) coming and will try this tomorrow. 

It could be finger trouble!