JT65 issue

I "think" I may have a faulty cable from my SignaLink unit to my FT817. I shall get a new one to see if this makes it better. The PC sees the SignaLink unit, I have TX enabled, and the FT817 works fine on USB so the FT817 PA is OK. In days gone by I'd have tried to fix the lead, but not these days as I am still unable to manage fine motor skills as a result of my stroke. I do not think this is a Windows 10 issue as I can hear the TX if I select the PC's own speakers.

Luckily I am still able to be on 10m WSPR with the stand alone beacon.

Knowing my luck 6m will be wide open across the Atlantic these next few days!

UPDATE 0948z: New lead ordered from W and S. Should be here later this week.

USB powered direct conversion RX

G1INF has a neat idea on his blog for a simple direct conversion RX that is powered from the USB connection of a PC. His application was for LF reception but it would work equally well as the front end of a simple SDR for any HF band, replacing the loop with a bandpass filter. The audio output from the NE602 is connected to the PC's mic connector. Simples!

WSPRing

Today I made my first foray into WSPR mode (Weak Signal Propagation Reporting).

I've managed to decode WSPR signals on 30m and 40m OK, but every time I tried to TX with the program it bombs out and wants to send Microsoft an error message. I'm using a SignaLink USB interface (working fine on PSK31) and have set the WSPR PTT option to "0", which should allow VOX operation on TX via the SignaLink USB interface rather than via a COM port. Anyone know why this fails to work and crashes the program?

WSPR is a mode which allows specially encoded very weak signals to be decoded and then the resulting report uploaded to a central database. So, for example, you TX with a QRP mW signal on 10MHz and someone receives the WSPR message. Using the software, a report appears on the internet, so you know how far the signal reached.

See http://www.g4ilo.com/wspr.html for a good introduction to WSPR. Spots (uploaded by the program or manually to the internet) can be seen at http://wsprnet.org/meptspots.php