Digital QSO
Conversation between two hams
Informal (Keyboard to Keyboard)
RTTY (FSK-170-400Hz) and PSK31 (PSK-31 Hz BW)
Formal (Formatted Data)
JT9 (9-FSK-20Hz BW) and FT8 (8-FSK-50Hz BW)
IC7300 FT8 20m - QRP - Five Watt
Another example of a QSO with 5 watts. Using Ham Radio Deluxe and WSJT-X. Attached to make it more interesting are JTAlert and Grid Tracker for Audio and Visual alerts. Radio is the IC7300 feeding a Delta Loop antenna.
IC7300 FT8 20m - QRP - One Watt
The radio is an IC7300. Delta loop antenna. Power is 1 watt on 20 meters. In the second half of the video shows two monitors being recorded at the same time. JTAlert and Grid Tracker makes the QSO so much more interesting. QSO is between Washington and Illinois. Contacts can be made with only one little watt.
IC7300 FT8 QRP - 20m - 5w
Using Two Instances of WSJT-X
feeding JTAlert and GridTracker
The radio is an IC7300. Delta loop antenna. Power is 5 watts on 20 meters. This video show how I connected the software WSJT-X using multiple instances to feed JTAlert and GridTracker. Ham Radio Deluxe Rig Control and HRD Logbook are also used. I use a drawing I made showing the sequence to be used and Ports I connected. At the end of video I make a QRP QSO from Washington state to Arizona state. This is one possible connection method. Nice audio and great visual QSO data.
IC7300 FT4 QRP - 20m - 5w
Using Two Instances of WSJT-X
feeding JTAlert and GridTracker
IC7300 with 5 watts out into a Delta Loop antenna. Using the same setup as with the FT8 video with two instances of WSJT-X, I make a FT4 contact. FT4 is really fast. 7 1/2 seconds on each reply. Not many FT4 stations. Arizona comes in good for me. Great visual display on Grid Tracker and nice audio from JTAlert.
FT817 QRP - FT8 - WSJT-X - 20m - 2w
Washington State to Japan. Using only 2 watts on 20 meters. Equipment is a Laptop, FT817, Z817 Tuner and USB SignaLink. Antenna is a Delta Loop 15 feet up and horizontal. Software is WSJT-X, JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe.
FT817 QRP - JT9 - WSJT-X - 10m - 2w
Washington State to England. Using 2 watts on 10 meters. Equipment is a Laptop, FT817, Z817 Tuner
and a USB SignaLink.
Antenna is a Dipole up about 15 feet.
Software is WSJT-X, JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe.
FT897 QRP - JT9 - WSJT-X - 20m - 5w
Washington State to Hawaii. JT9 QSO on 20m with 5 watts. Equipment is FT897 and SignaLink USB. Software is WSJT-X V1-4, JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe V6-2.
FT897 QRP - FT8 - WSJT-X -20m - 2w
Washington State to Arizona. FT8 QSO on 20m with 5 watts. Equipment is FT897 and SignaLink USB.
Software is WSJT-X V2, JTAlert and Ham Radio Deluxe-V6.
Exploring The Digital World of
Amateur Band Communications
N7JFP
Setting up FT817 for Digital Mode communications
FT817, SignaLink
FT817 Connect the Dots
Following the drawing I connect WSJT-X, Ham Radio Deluxe, JTAlert to the SignaLink USB, Z817 Tuner and the FT817. Dimension 4 is used for a clock.
FT817 to Laptop Cabling
I made a diagram of how the equipment is connected. I walk thru connecting the FT817, Z817 Tuner, USB SignaLink, watt meter and my Laptop.
FT817 setup for PSK31
I set up my laptop running Windows 7 and my FT-817ND to produce a quality PSK31 signal. Equipment is Z817 Tuner and a USB SignaLink.
FT817 setup for JT65-HF
I set up my laptop to run JT65-HF. I used a FT-817ND and a SignaLink USB sound card interface. Software is JT65-HF and Ham Radio Deluxe V5. Dimension 4 for clock. I overlayed a receive video to show my transmit Data.
Setting up FT897 for Digital Mode communications
FT897, SignaLink
FT897D Adjust Transmitter for PSK31
This video will show how to adjust the Transmit Level on the FT897D . I was able to produce a clean PSK31 signal using the TX volume on the USB SignaLink
and Digital Master 780.
FT897D connects to Ham Radio Deluxe
This video shows the menu items in the FT-897D to change so it can communicate with your PC
that is running Ham Radio Deluxe.
Menu item 19 is CAT Rate.
FT897 CQ - FT8 - WSJT-X - GridTracker
I connected WSJT-X V2, JTAlert, HRD-V6-5, GridTracker V1-19 and sent out a CQ using FT8. SignaLink USB with 5 watts out into a top-fed Delta Loop. I run two instances of WSJT-X. JTAlert needs UDP port 2237. GridTracker uses UDP port 2238. The last half of video is edited to keep it short. I captured two monitor screens at a time. At 9.5 min I say Shift for setting Rcv frequency, I meant Left-Mouse-click.
Antennas
6 meter Dipole
This video slideshow shows how I built my portable 6 meter dipole antenna. The mast is 1 1/4 inch PVC. The elements are 1/2 inch aluminum tubing with 3/8 inch tube that slides inside the 1/2 inch.
I used a MFJ-269 SWR analyzer to check the antenna.
6 Meter Portable Dipole
I made this 6 meter portable dipole using collapsible antennas and PVC. To center the hex coupler nut and to keep the epoxy cement contained I used a rubber grommet around the coupler nut. A length of 51 to 52 inches per side will enable a
usable SWR over the entire 6 meter band.
List of parts needed is at 13:28 of video.
Baluns
Winding a 1:4 Current Balun with 8 Turns
This video shows how I wound a single toroid core T-130-2 with two sets of solid 18 gauge copper wires to create a 1:4 current Balun.
Winding a 1:4 Current Balun with 15 turns
This video shows how I wound a 1:4 Current Balun using 15 turns per side. I used a T-130-2 toroid and 18 gauge copper wire