In praise of the FT817

My FT817 (not ND version) has been owned from new way back when these radios were new "on the block" at the beginning of the millennium when the price was still £799. In all that time it has performed faultlessly, mainly at the 2.5W or less settings.

Mine has worked the world on SSB (even handheld) and I get WSPR reports worldwide at 1W, even on 40m with a small wire antenna. I  intend to buy a new FT817ND soon so I can WSPR and work other modes at the same time. I can honestly say my FT817 does all I want and with 5W maximum output, which is more than enough power to work DX without upsetting the neighbours.

The best UK price currently seems to be around £513 but I hope to pay <£500 cash. At the current Yen-Pound exchange rate more like £450 is a reasonable price, unless the dealers want to be greedy. I hope the price includes the NiMH battery pack , charger etc. At best, the UK price fell to below £350.

The newer ND version covers 5MHz and all of 7MHz and has more rugged PAs.

Health update

Following my brain bleed I am getting better. Since being home my walking has improved and my swallow is improving too. I have still to hear from the DVLA (driving licence people) but am expecting to be prevented from driving for 12 months. I have applied for a "blue badge" for disabled parking rights. Today I surprised myself by walking quite a distance with a stick at Angelsey Abbey. I still feel punch drunk most the time and need people near me to support me.

Slowly but surely   ...a step at a time.

Thank goodness for amateur radio and all the very good friends I didn't realise I had.

New Solar Peak?

The most recent high solar activity looks likely to mean a new second sunspot peak for cycle 24.  See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

http://www.solen.info/solar/

This page was showing the peak as 66.9 (smoothed sunspot number) in Feb 2012 but expect to see this revised to a much later date! I find this site very useful.

6m GDX?

I get G8EPA consistently at 61km on 6m WSPR at up to -15dB S/N. This rather suggests that >100km should be possible inter-G on QRP 6m WSPR with a little patience. Anyone out there willing to give it a try?

10m 134km GDX tests this evening

This evening G3WKW and I are trying to span 134km on 28MHz WSPR. I run 2W to a vertical and Bob runs a little more.  Despite Doppler and rig drift problems we managed the path (just) on 144MHz this week.  28MHz may be much weaker but with far less Doppler and rig drift. We shall see. With WSPR about 12-14dB better than CW we have the best chance.

UPDATE 2200z: Nothing at all seen since 1816 (USA) and 1824z (Es).  Will keep looking but not hopeful. No GDX seen at all.

Chinese QRP transceivers

In my recent analysis of good value QRP radios I ignored the recent Chinese entries into the market. As far as I can see, these are still immature products, but they are getting better by the day. For example, see http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=302 . I judge this by how prepared would I be to buy a Chinese radio. The answer is not yet.

10m still brilliant

As 6m WSPR was only giving me inter-G signals today, I switched to 10m. The band is still wide open to North America and has been whenever I have checked in recent afternoons. Not one report  is from less than 5000km with 2W. Sunspot count is 178 which helps to explain the good conditions of late.  The good times will not last: make the most of them as it may be a long wait.

At 1716z the 10m band was still wide open to the USA, in total darkness here.Then the band just died for me here in East Cambridgeshire. And then, a full hour later KB9AMG (6300km away) and W8AC spot me at -22dB S/N. And it has been dark here since 1630z! At the moment it looks as if the band finally died cross-pond at around 1830z -very late for 10m.

Micro-40 DSB build

http://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/the-vk3ye-micro-40-dsb-transceiver/ has a beautiful description of the building of this little transceiver using Me-squares. There is  a complete walk-through of AA7EE's build - truly beautiful workmanship.

6m and 2m inter-G WSPR

Although inter-G DX is possible on 2m WSPR (witness the tests between G3XBM and G3WKW over a 134km path on 2m recently with 2W and a halo) the equipment drift and Doppler shift makes WSPR a marginal mode on 2m. Things on 6m are better and longish paths are possible.See the 6m WSPR results today so far below:

So far, only inter-G paths seem to be open on 6m today. The high drift figures are almost certainly due to aircraft Doppler.

Best value new QRP transenceivers

At  the moment the running order, ignoring wSDR designs, is:

• Elecraft KX3  - best RX, expensive with all options in the UK. n ternal auto-ATU option
• Ten-Tec Argonaut VI - excellent RX and ideal base station but no  5,24 or 50MHz coverage.Expensive.
• Yaesu FT817ND - excellent base/portable unit up to 432MHz,but RX not as good as KX3 or Argonaut VI. 13-14 year old design.
• Icom IC703 - excellent base transceiver,but no longer available new. Internal auto-ATU.

Overall, the FT817ND represents best value for money all things considered, in my view. It may be an old design but I can buy 2 FT817ND with plenty of change for the price of the KX3. And I get a better design for home station digital (WSPR) use with botj 144 + 432MHz bands. Even adding a Z817 or T1 auto-ATU to the price of the FT817ND units there is still change when compared with the fully loaded KX3.

Reviews on www.eham.net are similar for all radios listed.

10m still wide open

My first 10m WSPR transmission with 2W to a small antenna after lunch was copied in the  middle of the USA, in Canada, Israel and South Africa. Sunspot count today is 196. Conditions appear to be very good  still.

Oscilloscope-watch

John Mullin sent me this link which may amuse you.It describes a wrist wearable scope and frequency counter for $150.

http://www.ae5x.com/blog/2014/01/07/an-oscilloscopefreq-counter-on-your-wrist

First 2m WSPR results

This evening I got my first WSPR spot on 2m from G3WKW at 134km the other side of London in North East Hampshire. It was hard work with the unmodified FT817 because of frequency error,  drift, Doppler etc. Bob was visible with me but no decodes of his signal.

We should manage a 2-way QSO in due course with a more suitable mode. I was using 2W to a halo antenna. Bob was using 5W and a small beam.

The  next night I managed to decode Bob's signal (once only) although he was visible on most transmissions  but not decoding because of the Doppler shift.

NB post updated as I had G3WKW in the wrong county!

10m - often open

Although we are currently enjoying decent F2 long distance propagation on 10m, we must not forget that the 10m band is FREQUENTLY open by Es (sporadic-E) propagation.

The best months in the northern hemisphere are between late April and early September but the propagation can occur at any time of the year. This is very much a case where WSPR will be useful to winkle out brief periods of Es propagation. Sometimes multi-hop Es allows real DX to be workable.

Often Es signals can be very strong, but sometimes openings can be very, well, sporadic open briefly to one place with signals inaudible just tens of miles away.   In many ways Es is a more fascinating mode than F layer and one of the reasons 10m is my favorite band of all. Don't also forget inter-G propagation. In RSGB contests a few years ago it was possible to work out to around 100 miles with 10W SSB to dipole antennas. Imagine what the inter-G range will be with WSPR.

Beach 40 - a 40m DSB rig

Andrew,G6ALB, has introduced me to this simple DSB project. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siSgeljr4HE and similar links for pictures and build instructions. See also http://www.spencerweb.net/Ian_and_Julie/Hobbies/Amateur_Radio/Beach_40/beach_40.html .

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDrYOQV_BeUXub1PXz3HioLns_htLBhUkI6YKyH3V73luFIcEmefzF6dEzZDirqzW1Rv0ybz1KbbxADnGSb760kzc3IxWVwKtFVaN-j0cAo91_oHIBn3yY_oVR6u_xjqaM4AiP9tGF9N_/s1600/carrier_gen_balmod_audio.GIF

The schematic above does not show the simple PA,

K1SEA - amazing 10m signals

In the middle of my 10m WSPR reports of other stations I noted K1SEA (5234km) whose 5W was peaking an amazing +8dB  S/N. At this level, 2-way SSB QSOs should be well possible at 5W or less.

10m WSPR - excellent results

As my building skills are still poor because of my stroke, I have been sticking mainly to WSPR mode, today on 10m. Results on 10m have been excellent copying stations from S.Africa, USA, Finland, Israel and central Asia,with my own 2W getting reports from all over the place including  Israel, Canada  and the USA. A sunspot count of 245 no doubt helps! It will be fascinating to  see what 10m spots are possible when the sun is very quiet again. 4X1RF manages to spot me most days when I am on. For me, 10m DX propagation closed at around 1640z.

Unique WSPR reports on 10m (2W) up to 3pm

10m QRP homebuilt

With my posts about low cost ways of getting on to the 10m band don't forget homebrew. On my www.g3xbm.co.uk main pages there are details of several simple 10m rigs including the incomplete DSB transceiver for the band that I MUST complete  when my health  (and soldering ability) returns. Look for 10m Simple Sideband. My plan was either a VXO controlled rig or a mixer-VFO rig covering 28.4-28.55MHz where most sideband activity is.  It could also switch to the CW and beacon bands. At the moment my "build" projects are on hold because of my poor health.

£150 10m radios

There are several varieties of 10m radios available for just under £150, brand ne

w, nowadays. One example is the Alpha 10 Max and this (CB oriented) video is a walk-through of the radio. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFK20rmQayg . See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7Qjrk01Vc . If you are only interested in 10m (28/29MHz) this sort of radio may be a low cost way of getting on the band although they are basically CB radios.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFKsloygKqDq9g9FEpUBolji97deE2zJsHNMvDRFJisuTXn6Q9cN3aisN14JQV-IMha7FpYmZIcvF2N0NDosKd0_gwKZHD6yr-sYSAInxUSyNv3DvLHms5YwYew22_LA2wYCMGs8GOjg/s320/lincoln.jpg

 Image on G0IYA's blog.

Many years ago I used a Lincoln President multi-mode 10m 10-20W radio and I was able to work the world using it. One of the best QSOs with it was a solid QSO from the car whilst actually  driving around the outskirts of Cambridge one evening with an SSB station in India. The antenna was just a base loaded whip on a  mag mount. It was a very good little radio. Sorry I sold it really. For a video of the Lincoln President see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDUyLwFc2Pc .

There is a newer,smaller, version of the President Lincoln will be available for around £249 from mid-January. See eBay for details of suppliers.

6m WSPR at a quiet time

Path G3XBM-G4IKZ 6m

 

After a brief outing on 40m I have QSYed to 6m WSPR in the hope of getting a few European spots by wintertime Es or even some tropo. In  the last few hours my 2W has only reached G4IKZ who is 18km west of me. Signal reports are (expectedly) consistent within +/-2dB but I'm not sure if Nick is using a vertical antenna (like my V2000) or a horizontal beam. This evening I spotted G8EPA at 61km. Judging by how poor my report was compared with G4IKZ, I think we must be cross-polarised.

40m WSPR - instant success to Australia

Keeping at 1W from the FT817 into the Par end-fed I got instantly spotted in Australia at over 17200km this early evening. WSPR really is amazing. Reports from VK now both on 40m and 20m with the low wire antenna. Lots of other spots followed. More spots from VK7BO followed. Nearest station was G4IKZ just 18km away.

First 40m WSPR results with 1W to my Par end-fed

20m WSPR - too easy

Late this afternoon I have been on 20m WSPR with 1W RF to my compact Par end-fed antenna. Best received signal was from the USA west coast but all the reports of my signals, so far, have been from this side of the pond.

Really 20m is too easy on WSPR at this level of QRP power. I should  be running 50mW or less.

20m 1W reports late this afternoon

Home at last

This morning, Jan 3rd, I was discharged from hospital after 3.5 months due to to a bleed on the brain.I am far from well  still and have lots of work (exercises)  to do to to regain  my health,  which I hope to do in the coming months. I know it will be a hard slog.

My 2W 10m WSPR session over New Year was very successful with plenty of USA spots in the log. I hope to get back in the shack again soon.

Logging into a Windows PC and 10m WSPR

When I came to log in on my old (lab) Windows XP PC today it was a nightmare. Firstly it had not been used for almost 4 months and refused to bring up the log-in page. Then I'd forgotten my log-in details: even my old hint did not help. In the end after many attempts all was sorted but what a struggle with my poor addled brain currently. I've even made a small start on the tax return online. At the moment I am making lots of typos on the PC and everything takes twice as long as it did.

 I've started WSPRing on 10m for the first time since September! My old life is slowly returning, thank God. Not bad reports too.

Initial 10m WSPR reports with 2W out

Release Date

The latest news from Addenbrooke's Hospital is I should be  home for good by Jan 6th. After that, apart from continuing to get better, I hope to buy a new rig and do my on-line tax return! Expect blogging proper again within a week or so. I continue to slowly improve on all fronts but find I am making lots of errors typing on the PC still.

Currently on 2 days' home leave over New Year (1 night at home) but have to return to hospital by 5pm Wednesday.

IC7100 from Icom

When it comes to new 100W HF rigs the new IC7100 looks to be relatively good value at just under £1300 in the UK. This includes 4m and 70 cm coverage and DSTAR. I am a little skeptical about the clarity of the LCD touchscreen display.  Other good rigs don't cover 4m or bands above 6m.I am still tempted when I get " released" from my hospital prison. My heart is still in QRP but the Elecraft KX3 is a similar price with  just 8-10W,fewer bands and arguably less well suited to base station digital use. We'll have to see when I get out of my hospital  "prison". I may just buy a second FT817 and another auto ATU. 

Books

The last few weeks has seen me devouring a number of novels to kill the monotony of being in hospital still. Latest estimates are mid January for going home ,when I hope to be able to swallow some soft foods. Books read include:

"Oranges are not the only fruit" by Janice Winterton
"Night Fire" by Ken Follett
"Eye of the Needle "
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo " by Stieg Larsson

At the moment it takes about 3 days for a 560 page book. I am REALLY looking forward to going home when the ham radio blogging can resume.

Interestingly, I have read very few amateur radio books apart from  1 QST and a few RadComs and PWs. So far I have had visits  from around 45 people including a few local hams. My brother has raised over £1000 for the charity "Headway" as a result of my bleed on the brain.

Latest Health News

All being well, I should get home from hospital for brief home visit within the next 3 weeks. Thereafter, the is a good chance of getting home for good, probably in January. I still cannot eat or drink normally but I can do the excercises to improve my swallow as well at home as in hospital. My walking is wobbly on a walking frame, but getting better, and my writing and speech are a mess still, but also heading in the right direction. Being at home will be so much better after around 4 months in hospital wards. Physically I can see and hear well, my  memory seems to be maily intact, so  I have lots to be grateful for. The facilities lacking should work eventually. A good chance of more "normal service" on the amateur radio blog  from mid-January.

In the meantime my brother John  has raised almost £1000 for the brain injury charity Headway. I cannot thank hi  enough. My continued thanks for all donations including some very large donations from my American friends. This has been a very long haul personally and a big reminder how precious normal, everyday life is. We take everything for granted whereas we need to remind ourselves just  how wonderful everything is.

Health "progress"

Got told today that my swallow response is not progressing and it is possible I may NEVER be able to eat normally. I have been given a series of exercises aimed at helping to correctly position the larynx.Only lots of time will tell.

My return home full time is likely to be in the new year after more therapy on my walking and writing.All the hard word on speech would be at home.

8 plus weeks and still in hospital

Sorry that my stroke is still making the hardest job near impossible. This has taken 10 minutes.

Still in hospital

In hospital -bleed on the brain

At the weekend I was rushed into Addenbrookes hospital with excruciating headaches and punch drunk legs. After CAT and MRI scan they have confirmed it was a bleed on the brian from a blood vessel in the cerebellum which is being dispersed with drugs and can be treated. Service and care has been excellent at NHS Cambridge. We are lucky to have a world class hospital so close to us.

Optical forward scatter and frequency?

Perhaps some of my readers can help me - what optical frequency is likely to be best for forward scatter off air molecules and dust particles? My tests to date have been over non line-of sight paths up to about 9km at 481THz (red light), but IR should work in daylight with filtered PIN diodes on RX, but I don't know whether infra-red frequencies scatter more easily or worse than red light?  With red light, the RX can easily be de-sensitised by bright sunlight, and this should be (?) less of an issue with filtered IR detectors, I think.

As the atmosphere scatters blue light very well (giving it a blue colour) one might expect IR to scatter less well than shorter wavelengths like visible red or ultra-violet? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth .

On 472kHz again this evening and future plans

In the next few days I need to buy some more wire and coax to continue my antenna experiments. The first thing I shall be trying is the larger "in the air" TX loop for the LF and MF bands - probably 136kHz , 472kHz and 1.8MHz coverage. The lower part of the loop can be several strands of PVC covered wire or coax in parallel to reduce resistive losses but the "up in the air" part will have to be 1mm diameter to avoid sag and being visible to the neighbours. I think I should be able to increase the loop area by 50% and reduce the wire losses by about 50%, so there should be a useful increase in ERP. This could be some weeks away though.

In the meantime I am continuing to TX and RX on 472kHz WSPR with the odd shape loop I currently have running along the garden fence and back along the surface of the lawn. It works, but as I said yesterday, it is some dB below what I can achieve in my small back garden whilst maintaining low visual impact to avoid neighbour issues.

After confirming the performance with the larger loop in the coming weeks, I shall try a short Marconi vertical to compare results - better omni coverage expected, but may not be as effective as the loop in the best directions?

After that, I shall probably be returning to 481THz and infra-red frequencies for more over the horizon scatter tests. I particularly want to try some IR scatter tests in daylight as I find going out on dark nights unpleasant.

World's oldest photographs

As I have come down with a bug of some sort, feeling light-headed and with a headache, I've been sleeping a lot today and not doing too much. My 472kHz WSPR has been running periodically.

Sitting here this afternoon, I chanced on this interesting YouTube video showing the world's earliest photos. Fascinating to look at - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkaFCa29mQ .

You may also like The World's 10 Most Mysterious Photos - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Cd5FWMusE.

472kHz (630m) WSPR experiment results

Comparing the loop in the air against the simple earth electrode (EE) antenna across the garden these are the results. Remember the loop could be improved by making it larger, using thicker wire and mounting it more fully vertical.

G4KPX - about 6dB better on loop
G6AVK - little difference
PA3ABK/2 - 1-3dB better on loop
G8HUH - little difference
M0PPP - copied on loop, no copy on EE
G3WCB - just copied on EE, no copy on loop

Conclusions?  Well the loop, as it currently is arranged, is a bit better than the EE antenna by a few dB, in some directions, but not amazingly so. Will try a loop up in the air more in the coming weeks and we'll compare results again.

TXing tonight with a 472kHz "in the air" loop

As the next stage in my experiments from the new QTH at LF and MF, this afternoon I converted my earth-electrode antenna into a complete "in the air" loop by removing the earth connections and joining the wires with a length of wire along the grass. The DC resistance of the loop is 0.9ohms and the enclosed area somewhere around 60-100 sq m although the loop is far from vertical and the bottom wire actually runs along the grass rather than up in the air. The measured loop current is around 0.9A and tuning very sharp with around 1.7nF in series and matched with a 3C90 step down transformer. According to my calculations of radiation resistance, the ERP should be in the 20-40mW region, considerably greater than with the earth-electrode antenna.

630m WSPR spots of G3XBM so far this evening

My first report this evening was from PA3ABK/2  at -28dB S/N but I am hopeful of a few more 472kHz spots tonight. I expect that the results with the loop will be better than with the earth-electrode system, but the loop can be further improved by raising the upper wire (bigger vertical enclosed loop area) and thickening up the lower wire to reduce resistive losses further.

I am doing things one step at a time so I can assess the difference.

UPDATE 1800z:  M0PPP has spotted me several times this evening but had failed to copy me in the last 2 weeks, so this is encouraging. Also reports from G8HUH and G6AVK.

More 10m WSPR

With the weather miserable here today - I just managed to cut the grass before the rain set in - I went on 10m WSPR mid-afternoon to see what was doing. With 2W I got a couple of reports from 4X1RF at 3519km at -3 and 0dB S/N, which is VERY strong, but nothing else so far.

This evening, I hope to be WSPRing on 472kHz again (using the original earth-electrode arrangement still) whilst we entertain my brother and his wife. They are coming to stay for a few days. I shall be checking results periodically using my iPod Touch monitoring the WSPRnet database in between drinks and eating dinner.

POSTSCRIPT: I was just about to QSY away from 10m when I noticed I had spotted K3NAL at 5930km. At the time of writing, I seem to be the only European station copying him. Maybe I shall stay on 10m a little longer this afternoon, or perhaps try 10m PSK31 for some QSOs. 10m is another "magic band". Less so at the peak of the cycle but often open to distant places when not expected and definitely under-used in the quiet solar years.  

472kHz - 7 unique WSPR reports so far on earth-electrode antenna

Although not working as well as I had hoped, my very simple earth-electrode antenna is getting WSPR reports. As of this evening, I have been spotted by 7 unique stations so far. Results remind me of my first efforts on 500kHz with a simple wire down the garden some years back. My ERP then was in the uW range and this may well be the sort of ERP I am actually using now currently. A better antenna IS a must!

First 10m spot from the new QTH + more on 20m

Today I ran WSPR on 10m to see what propagation was like. Although European stations further south were catching N-S openings trans-equatorial openings and even VK6, it was harder going from here in the UK and I only managed 1 spot with 2W and that was from 4X1RF - thank you.

Back on 20m it was a different story where I had a huge number of reports from places including KL7L in Alaska,  with just 500mW to the Par EF-10/20/40 antenna. 20m is always a good bet, although not one of my usual favourite bands.

As the autumn progresses I hope 10m will come back to life again. Conditions should be excellent in October and November with still decent sunspot numbers and of course the big CQWW DX contests to add to the activity levels. By autumn next year things will certainly be on the slide down to the next minimum, but the slope down is gradual and conditions can remain decent for several more years yet.

I really must get the full transceiver version of my 10m WISPY WSPR rig boxed up so I can free up the FT817 to do other things.