really not real radio!

Just over two years ago I purchased an Icom ID-51 Dual Band handheld radio. What was unusual for me about this radio was that it had D Star Capability. This was a mode that had never interested me in the past after all it wasn’t real radio as it depended on repeaters and or internet links to work. However, at that time I was about to move house, had dismantled the shack and taken down my antennas so I thought it would give me some radio interest to occupy my time.

Two years on I still have the Dstar gear, have set up a personal D star private node so I can work within a few Kms distance from my shack when I am portable or mobile and using Dstar has also introduced me to the delights of the Raspberry PI mini computer which I use with my node.

I have also obtained a DMR handheld, DMR equipment generally is much cheaper than Dstar or the Yaesu digital mode Fusion. The problem with DMR as it of course is a commercial mode and was never really designed for the amateur market. Programming DMR rigs is a real nightmare (for me at least) but I am learning.

I am also lucky enough to know a very generous amateur in our local radio club that has loaned me a Yaesu Fusion Rig to try. So now I have all three of the digital modes to hand.

Three modes, three radios- Icom ID 51-Dstar, Radioddity GD-77 DMR and Yaesu FT1D Fusion.

One thing all of these modes have in common is that they rely heavily on the internet. Yes of course you could have simplex QSOs in any of the three -Dstar, DMR or Fusion but generally this is not how these modes are used. Most people are either working through a repeater or a personal node or hotspot all of which use the internet as its backbone.

The three modes are incompatible and at present there are no transceivers that operate more than one of these modes. So, if you want all three you need three rigs! This also has the effect of diluting activity, as some are on one mode, others on another.

Activity wise my Experience is DMR is marginally the most active, followed by Dstar and lastly Fusion.

Whilst as I have written before it is fun to have Crystal clear worldwide contacts from an armchair using a low power handheld it doesn’t have the same magic as working HF or even FM on VHF. These days VHF 2 metres is all but dead in this area, maybe these digital modes are to blame who knows? But using these digital modes tied into the internet I suppose is no more magic than a telephone call! That said I do use these modes from time to time.  Who can deny how useful these systems would be for someone who cannot put up antennas of any description but still wants to keep in touch with other amateurs? The problem I believe is that there are newly licenced amateurs who will never progress beyond their DMR handie and experience the fun of the HF bands simply because its so easy!

Latest Addition

Latest addition to the shack is an "Isoterm Multicon USB" soundcard interface for PSK/DATA etc wired for my FT1000MP. Whilst I dont find the FT1000MP ideal for data modes it does allow me to clear a bit of space on the desk as the Kenwood FT450 I was using as a dedicated Data modes rig can now become a backup rig.
I am very Impressed with the construction of the unit and once I had downloaded the right driver for it all was quickly up and running. Trying a bit of PSK on 10 metres, running around 20 watts  resulted in QSOs with VE3FGU and LU3CM.

Progress................of a kind!

Well my TS830s isn't quite as badly damaged as I thought.It is now working OK on receive at least. Why is it now receiving? Well I am almost too embarrassed to admit this-but lets just say its important to make sure the fuse holder in the rig is screwed fully home!!
In any case switching on the heater switch shows that I have some plate current to the PA valves but the current rapidly increases within seconds and if the heaters were left on the fuse would simply blow again. The fault here seems to be similar to the one I had with my small SRW linear- that too showed a rapid increase in plate current. That fault turned out to be a combination of a blown capacitor in the finals stage along with a dying resistor. I hope to get some time over the weekend to open up the PA stage of the rig to have a close look.

I spent some time this evening trying to get the data lead I bought to work with my FT1000MP but to no avail. The DIN plug on the lead was indeed incorrectly wired according to the pinout data in the Yaesu manual. Two of the wires (earth and PTT) were going to the wrong pins. I resoldered these to the correct pins but I still cannot get the software to key the rigs PTT. I think I will stick to the TS450 for data-it works well in this mode and is simple to use. I feel a bit annoyed that I am left with a lead that doesn't do what it was bought for-but I guess it could be easily adapted to suit another rig. I have come to the conclusion that the 1000MP is not really suited to the data modes.

Data troubles

I had an idea to try and tidy things up in the shack and reduce the clutter. Why not use my under used Yaesu FT1000MP on data modes? I could then dispense with the little Kenwood TS450 I use for data, I could keep it as a backup rig or maybe sell it and buy some extra filters for the Yaesu.
So, I obtained a very reasonably priced data lead from http://www.radioarena.co.uk/. This arrived two days after placing my order-great stuff! I must say that although delivery was prompt there is no documentation with the interface whatsoever, nothing is labelled, even the two audio leads leave you to guess which is audio in and which is audio out!
Well this lead connects to the 5 pin DIN socket on the back of the Yaesu-labelled "packet"". I soon had the lead connected and was receiving PSK signals.Several hours later however I was still unable to get the rig to go into TX mode using Digipan or any other program. I could get data transmitted by manually keying the rig but no way of getting the PTT to operate via the interface. There could be a number of reasons for this- firstly the interface lead uses a USB rather than serial connector for which I had to install a Prolific driver. Secondly the Yaesu has to be set into "packet" mode for the PTT on the socket to activate, however despite doing all of this -no luck.
When DIGIPAN goes into TX the LED on the interface lights-so it is not a com port problem or a driver problem with the USB interface- the problem appears to be at the rig end. For now I have given up and re connected the little TS450 which works very well on data.This is not the first time I have tried and failed to press the Yaesu into use on Data.
The Yaesu FT1000MP is one of the few rigs I have owned from new. In fact it was the most expensive piece of equipment I ever purchased. For that reason alone I suppose I have tried to like this rig but in reality it is nowhere as good as perhaps I had thought it would be. for CW I prefer my old TS830s- it sounds so much nicer, for general receive I prefer my R5000 receiver, and the TS450 is easier for data. I guess the FT1000 does produce nice quality transmit audio though!

JT65a

Just downloaded and installed the JT65a software I have been reading so much about. It looks really complex! I have also been reading a handy guide to this mode "The Complete Bozo's Guide to HF JT65A ( a work in progress)"by Andy K3UK. I'm not sure I will get the hang of this mode but will try monitoring first to see how I get on. In the meantime I have also been playing around with the Flidgi software and managed to decode an MFSK16 transmission with it today. I have been using Digipan for years on PSK31, I can see Flidgi is a more versatile piece of software but I think it will take me a while to get used to the user interface.

Little and often

I am on leave from work for a few weeks while the YL recovers from an operation.This means a little extra (but not a lot!!) of time for radio in between the household chores and looking after the YL.Some of this time I am using for CW practice, a little time on the CW teaching software on the PC, a little time sending to myself on the paddle key and some time listening to and writing down CW off the air. Added to which when I am in the shack and not transmitting myself I am listening to CW. I am hoping that by doing this for a while I will be able to get back on the air with the key!
In the evenings I am still doing a little work on PSK31, as far as I can see HF conditions are still pretty poor though. I may download and give the JT65 mode a try sometime too.

Picture Quality

As any readers of this blog have probably noticed one of my favourite modes of operation is PSK31. I have also dabbled with SSTV and modes like RTTY . I do listen from time to time on 3733 LSB where you can find the digital slow scan TV activity, this can be quite a busy frequency in the evenings.. I use the "Easypal" software to decode these pictures, unlike analogue SSTV, you never get a noisy or difficult to see picture , the digital SSTV either gives you a perfect picture or nothing at all. The software is more resource intensive than that for the other data modes and my "radio PC" with its old AMD 1.2 Ghz CPU struggles to run it, but just look at the results. The pictures take a little longer to transmit than standard SSTV and I always felt that the duty cycle was a bit harsh for the rig, particularly if I was to run 50 watts or more. Now I have the SRW linear I could run the rig at 10 watts and get 50-60 watts from the linear, that way I won't be overdriving anything and  I may try a few Digital SSTV QSOs of my own.

Digital Mode Samples - v2.0

A very useful little video I found. Thought it was worth sharing.

So Many modes....So liitle time!

My first experience of HF data modes was in the 1980s was as a Short wave listener decoding RTTY (Commercial and amateur) using a Microwave Modules decoder fed into an old black and white portable TV. Many years later, as a licenced  ham I used a PK232 terminal, mainly on RTTY again, but I also recall dabbling in AMTOR and even monitoring some HF packet.
These days with PC soundcards taking care of most of the decoding all we need is a simple interface between radio and PC and we can transmit and receive so many different digital modes.
In this respect perhaps I am a little lazy as the only Digi Mode I really use at the moment is PSK31. I do from time to time notice other modes in the "waterfall" display, particularly OLIVIA with its distinctive sound. Recent entries by some of my fellow bloggers have inspired me to Download the FLIDGI software and try to see if I could find some OLIVIA contacts.
So far I have limited success I have managed to decode a few OLIVIA QSOs but it seems quite difficult to determine what particular settings the are being used e.g 8/250, 8/500, 16/500 etc- is there a standard setting I wonder? Most times I cannot find the settings in use so can't get a decode. This morning, before leaving for work I even saw a very wide looking signal on 20 metres using 32/1000.
This leads me on to the number of different digi modes available. Just look at all the modes listed on Flidgi. Just as an experiment a couple of evenings ago myself and another local amateur found a quiet spot on a dead 10 metre band and ran through a couple of the modes to see how they worked.
We tried OLIVIA, FELD-HELL and THROB. FELD-HELL in particular was a very interesting mode. Its output on the screen looks almost like a FAX printout. I believe by the way that HELL is a shortened version of the proper name HELLSCHREIBER.
I wonder what the advantages of each of these modes is? It would require  some time to familarise yourself with each of these modes and their advantages. Yet in the meantime new modes are being developed- all quite confusing.
Myself the only modes I really hear on HF( I am not counting SSTV and the digital DRM version)  these days are PSK, OLIVIA and RTTY, but maybe other modes are in use. Does anyone use HELL on HF now, and what ever happened to AMTOR and PACTOR?