Linux in your shack....

The title, "Linux in your shack" could/shoud have some other title's then this for what this post is going to be about....

• New competition for HRD
• Linux now good enough for all kinda HAM's
• CQRLOG... omg !

Let's start with some background about me... I am a IT consultant, and i do this for most platforms available today, window, Mac and most UX flavours. I even remember some OS/390 and mainframe from the days. The reason I made the choice not to be a windows only consultant is.... well i just don't like to use windows.... I love it because it makes sure I have a nice income and plenty of work.

So do i use windows in the shack.... Yes i do.... Do i like it... no not at all....
Then you all probably wonder why i did not throw windows out and installed Linux.
 Well for 1 reason... I use Ham Radio Deluxe 5.... Which is in my opinion the best all in one free (wel version 5 is) solution for a ham. Or isn't it....

There already was a really nice alternative on the MAC, being MacLoggerDX
The people at "dog park software ltd" made a realy nice piece of software.
But it will cost you 95USD (which is not bad tbh as HRD6 is 99.95 )

But now for linux...
I tried to find a good replacement for HRD for a long while now and i did not find anything near to HRD. This does not mean i did not find any good software on linux, just not 1 program (or set of programs that communicate together)  that will do everything. Until a few days back....
I stumbled on CQRLOG ,  don't ask me how, but i did...

Now.... CQRLOG.... this piece of software has been developed by 2 Czech Hams...
Petr, OK2CQR and Martin, OK1RR, and they made what I think is the 1st real alternative for HDR for when you want to swap to linux.
Now for screen shots look at their website. The screen shots  show a part of what the program can do.
User screen shots are there as well and look awesome

Yes, CQRLOG has (almost) all!! Log, cluster, rig and rotor control, QRZ and HAMQTH, LotW/eQSL, and the list goes on and on .....

Now, the main thing with linux.... installing niece software can be a pain in the a$$.
Is this the case with CQRLOG.... uhmmm yes and no.
I installed it on Debian Weezy (7) and all went fairly smooth until i started to do rig control.
I forgot to add my non root user to the dailout group. and the debian installer does not do this for you!
Now i imagine this is the same for ubuntu, but i don't use that.
So after smacking myself over the head (which did not help my headache) I added myself to the dailout group , and tried the whole install again..... and it worked immediately!

Now the last remark i am gonna make..... on their website you will find this piece of text....
 Anyway, CQRLOG is here and is for you. Try it out and if you decide to stay with this logger, we will be pleased. Of course, it will be very heartwarming if CQRLOG will became the reason to leave Windows and migrate to Linux.

Petr and Martin, if it is the reason to migrate to linux, i don't know... But with your piece of software, 1 main reason for me to stay on windows, just disappeared....

p.s. no they did not pay me or gave met shares in their compagny ;)

73's
Alex
 

I'm addicted to.... Kenwood....

For those who never really took a look at what i run in the shack....

I LOVE KENWOOD!!!!

So this week the local ham club had an auction to help the club financial funding.
Amateurs could have the stuff they did not want anymore put up for auction. the i think 10% would go to the club.... Next time they should raise that to 25% :) serves a good cause.

so what comes on for auction ... a Kenwood tr-7200g
And i cant help myself... it's old, its kenwood, i gotta have it ! so i got it...
for sure the best EUR 12.50 i ever spent.

I borrowed this pic from the internet, due to me having no time to make my own pics yet....
But its AWESOME! , and it works... now how cool is this....

On the wishlist for this summer is still a R5000 (recv) and a th-79e (ht)

73's
Alex
PA1SBM

BITX20 - 22. VFO ups and downs ....

Hello all....

It has been a long while since i wrote on my blog... sometimes live just gives you no chance at all do do hobby related stuff.....
I always try to put my gf 1st , then work, then the rest....
Unfortunately sometimes my work takes so much time that even the gf gets put back to 2nd place... and i have to make up for this... People who are finding them self in this same problem will know that it takes twice as much time to make the gf happy again then what is should have taken to keep her happy.

So back to tech stuff....
First of all, i had some people message me and talk to me on local repeater to help me fix my problem.
And one person with a question.

lets start with the first one....

john robertsApril 13, 2013 at 12:06 AM

Have you set up the IF offset on the frequency counter. from john GW0TBT

John... I so hoped this was the problem... :) unfortunately , it was neatly set to 0...

Then i received this question...

Вячеслав ВдовенкоApril 23, 2013 at 12:11 PM

hello
Сan you show how connect is new VFO (variable-capacitance diode) to the transceiver?
thanks

Not really sure how to type your name on my us-gb qwerty keyboard so i hope you can forgive me :)
I have not found this out myself.... as i am not at this point yet. I talked to PA1ED, and he said that it its really easy to see in the schematics.


So how about my VFO then....
Well it's still the same.... i went to a fair and i bought the stuff i needed and put that in. Still no proper frequency. At least now all parts are brand new and i can't blame those 2 trim capacitors anymore.
So now i really have to get into measuring every damn thing. This takes some time, and the 15 to 30 minutes i find these last few months will not give me enough time to really get this done.

I have a week off in a few weeks , and i hope to find a few hours to solve this.

As soon as i get stuff done, whatever the outcome i'll post it here off course :)

till then
Alex
PA1SBM

PACC 2013 "evaluation"

Today, the Monday after the PACC, I am still on something like a sugar rush.....
This PACC had e few memorable events for me....

First of all, i worked 2 of the most loyal followers of my blog.....

• PE4BAS, Bas. I worked him and i don't think he noticed i was that guy from the blog..... So Bas, your prediction came true, you did work me :)
• PA3GNZ, Tjeerd, Now i did not know it was him as he worked under a contest group call, but he was friendly enough to tell me his real call as well.

I am very happy i have worked them both :) I hope you guys did well in the contest....

So the other thing that happend......

On Saturday afternoon, i heard a small pile up on 20m and they were all yelling to HV5PUL.

This is a call from the vatican (a university). He was not working the PACC so i stopped PACC for a minute and called for a normal QSO to him, and i worked this station.(after he got annoyed from a few other dutch stations asking him for their number :) )

A nice adition to my own log, rare call, and a new dxcc for me. 

Then after diner on Saturday , i got this huge headache..... So i did not participate the whole Saturday evening night....

But !!!!

On Sunday morning i was back in action! And what action it turned out to be!

My first QSO on Sunday was............ VK2GWK !!!! 16.500KM !!!
This of course was a superb way to start the Sunday morning....

Now why am i so happy you might ask if you have like this huge beam etc.
I work with no amps (so 100w max) and i worked this on my Falcon OUT-250b, an antenna that a lot of people revere to as a dummy-load. (and so it shows it's far from that)
I of course put this in my personal log as well.... the QSO did not go easy, but it happend and i worked eastern Australia. I am well pleased with this.....

So looking back on the PACC... I did not make a huge number of QSO's... just 120....
But i had a great time, made contact with Bas and Tjeerd, worked the Vatican, and worked Aussie country!

For me it was all worth it.... i will be there next year... then with coffee, as i ran out of it saturday just befor the contest.....

I hope you all had a great PACC as well!
73's
Alex
PA1SBM

1st experiences fiddling around with my 1.8kHz filter

I have no audio clips yet, but i have been playing around with the different settings.
Some things did not  work the way i assumed they would be.

1. A filter screws up your audio quality...
   No, the DSP in the 480 has enough power to keep the signal sounding normal.
   The people do not sound nasal at all.
   just add/remove some high/low and the signal sounds like your used to.
2. You wont hear the nearby signals anymore....
   No, you will still hear then , just a lot, i mean A LOT less.....
   Especially with a strong signal, when you punch in the ATT you will really hear the difference.

These are for me 2 huge huge HUGE advantages.....

Also the overall feeling of the receiver becomes more calm, not really sure how to explain...

I'll try to make it more clear when i have the time to make some audio clips.

Especially when listening to the 40m band it's an awesome thing to have in your set. Stations become more distinct and clear.

Yes its expensive, but after 3 days i already forgot the price ;)

73's

Alex

BITX20 - 21. PA part 1... the start....

So i said that this weekend i would finish my PA for the Bitx.
That was some nice wishful thinking. I build the first part , and i stopped when i needed to wind a coil.

Two other reasons that i could not finish the PA were a) my work and b) 1 of the coils which were in the kit arrived broken :(

well , its build untill here.....

More soon to follow......

73's

Alex

A new toy for the TS-480...... a 1.8kHz filter..YF-107SN

Today i drove a long way down south to collect something i wanna use during the upcoming PACC contest.
I can tell you , its worth its weight in gold.it's small and its tiny :)

Yes, i finally got my 1.8kHz filter. The YF-107SN. It was a 80 minute drive getting to the store, and the same 80 minute drive back to where i live.

So how tint is this thing actually then.....Let's open the box...

Big box, small content....

Ok , i dont think the ppl who never have seen a filter, know exactly how small current filters are...
So i took a picture with a standard sized lighter and a standard 1/4 watt , 5% resistor.....'

Seriously, the lighter is not a big one , its a standard size :)

I forgot to take a few pics when I installed the filter sorry :(
So I will take them next time i put in an other option.

I listned to the audio with the small filter , and it does what i wanted it to do so that's a good thing.
Nearby stations (frequency wise, not distance) do get a lot softer to the point that they do not disrupt the station anymore which i am listening to. so hurray for that :)

I will see if I can get a few audio samples and upload them somehow, so you all can hear the difference.

73's

Alex
PA1SBM