Update

My confidence in CW operating is slowly improving. As well as a couple of QSOs with local amateur MW0IAN I have also managed a QSO on 80 metres CW with 2E0ROD in Peterborough. This evening I have some time in the shack and I was going to try a few CQ calls. Switching on the HF rig however I was met with S9 of noise over most of the HF spectrum. Lets hope it is only Temporary, it sounds like some localised electrical QRM.
As an extra incentive to improve my CW I have joined the FISTS club. Their website can be found here.

Because I have been concentrating on CW I have not been on the air on PSK31 for some time now, this was a mode which I was using quite heavily up until now. Whilst I am sure I will return to the data modes it is nice sometimes to be able to operate the radio without having a PC switched on. Maybe thats why I am not really interested in SDR at the moment. I have however been using a borrowed "Softrock" SDR receiver connected to the IF output of my TS830 to monitor the CW section of the bands and I find it very useful.

More on the Softrock

I have been loaned another Softrock SDR radio. This one connects to to the 8.83 Mhz IF output on my Trio TS830. Therefore wherever the TS830 is tuned the Softrock gives me a second receiver with a bandspread of plus or minus 24 Khz from the frequency the TS830 is tuned to. It also gives me all modes AM and FM which the 830 doesn't have. Its a novelty to be able to listed to AM from the 830S.I am playing around with the "Power SDR IF" software which seems to work quite well. All in all very interesting but I still haven't worked out how to properly interface the Softrock for Data decoding.

General Update

I haven't made an entry for a while, mainly due to less time in the shack (due to the good weather we have been enjoying) but there have been a few radio related activities going on here.

I am still enjoying playing around with the little Softrock SDR radio. The one I have covers roughly from 7070 to 7020 Khz on 40 metres and is well down in the CW end on 80. I have settled on the Winrad software and am slowly getting the hang on it. Since the Softrock is connected to the same antenna as my R5000 receiver it is easy to compare the two. So far there has been nothing I have heard on the Softrock that I could not hear as well or better on the R5000. Of course the little SDR radio has the advantage of a spectrum display and infinitely adjustable filters but my practical experience is that its not noticeably better than my traditional receiver. From my experience SDR radio is not "plug and play". There is quite a steep learning curve in using the software and I still haven't worked out how I can decode PSK etc as the soundcard is tied up with the SDR rig. I believe I need a "virtual audio cable" and indeed I found and downloaded some software, could i make it work? No! I'm afraid it was beyond me at this stage- further research required.

I have now assembled most of the items I need to install the Icom 706 HF rig in my car. Since it also involves changing the in car stereo unit (to free up space on the dashboard) I am going to have to set at least a day aside to install it. Other commitments hear mean that won't happen for a few weeks yet.Rest assured news of the HF mobile will appear here when its underway. In the meantime the Icom 706 will continue to be my portable rig.

First Steps in SDR

I mentioned in an earlier entry how a local amateur friend had purchased an Elektor, general coverage SDR receiver board. After some initial problems , he is up and running with it and it sounds like quite a promising piece of kit.
In the meantime he has loaned me a Softrock receiver board which he built some time ago.
The Softrock is a crystal controlled receiver. This one covers both 40 and eight metres.  But only a portion of those bands. With my sound card I get a 96khz section of both bands (largely the CW section).You may not be able to tell from the pic but it is very small in size with lots of tiny components on the board. I wouldn't fancy my chances at building one!

Initial impressions of using the Softrock is that I have a lot to learn! In addition to your receiver and antenna your results are also affected by the quality and type of the sound card you use. The SDR software seems quite confusing to someone like me who is used to turning knobs and pressing buttons. In any event I have the receiver up and running. I have decided to use the Winrad software with this board, after having compared a few programs including the "Power SDR" program pictured.