Moon-net July 2021

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88 participants
97 discussions

DL0SHF 10GHz beacon status and request for help

by Charles

Hi All Per noted a couple of days ago that the beacon is off the air at the moment. and has returned the failed PA to me to look at. The active device seems (on the basis of DC checks) to have survived. It is possible that the primary cause of the failure was a shorted 1uF 0805 decoupling capacitor on one of the drain bias feeds. There is a lot of charring in that region, and a melted PCB trace leading from the point where the incoming bias lead was soldered to the capacitor, suggesting the capacitor was the source of the failure. However, there is also evidence of black sooty looking deposits in the region where the RF output lead connects to the output 50ohm line. Measuring DC resistance from RF output to ground shows about 77 ohms, whereas it should be an open circuit. This suggests the deposits are partially conducting, not a good thing where there is high power RF present! It is not clear whether these deposits were a contributing factor to the present failure or whether they would have caused a failure in the future. This is the second such failure of the beacon PA, and we feel that it would be beneficial in terms of future long term reliability, to try to determine the exact cause of this present failure. We would really appreciate help in finding out the cause of the failure. One avenue that is no longer open to me since retirement would be an EDAX analysis of the various deposits around the failed and charred areas, to determine their chemical composition. This is big machine stuff (electron microscope with EDAX attachment) which is only likely to be found in semiconductor manufacturers' facilities or universities. Maybe someone has contacts? If so, please let us know. Also, help from anyone who is experienced in failure analysis would be appreciated, in case we are missing something simple. Photos and details of how the PA is used, including its operating enviroment can be made available. We are holding off doing any invasive investigations until we have planned out what to do next, so as not to contaminate the 'crime scene' further. In the meantime, DL0SHF 10GHz is off the air. 73 Charlie G3WDG

1 year, 11 months

PTT control of RIG

by Earl Shaffer

Hi All. For some time now I have been successfully using MAP65 v2.7 on a windows XP computer. I use Com1 and I use pin 7 (RTS) and an NPN transistor to key the PTT on the Yaesu FT736r. I am now forced to use a Windows 10 computer that does not have a native COM port. I purchased this USB to serial adaptor: https://www.ebay.com/itm/382464598962 They say " *You May download different Drivers to make this adapter function with Windows 8 Or 10"* I did not find anything specific, but Windows found a prolific driver that it seems to favor. The included CD does not have any driver newer than Windows 7, but that driver IS in a Prolific folder. I can not open the adapter without destroying it to check the chipset. On device manager under ports it says "THIS IS NOT PROLIFIC PL2302. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER." I click on that and device status reports that the device is working properly. I go to port settings and advanced and it reports that Com3 is selected. I'm not sure if so far so good. I go to MAP65 v3.0 and set PTT to COM3. I test PTT on Map65 and get an error message, Can not open COM3. I have read all the manuals for MAP65 and WSJT that I could find and there is no information about what is expected on the serial port. Is it expecting a CAT connection? Does it do PTT on the RTS line? I tried WSJTx 2.5 and while it is a bit more complex, it seems that I have it set correctly, but I get the same error. Can someone shed some light on this? I know when it works, it works and there is no need to give it a second thought. -- Earl Shaffer, WB9UWA My EME array photos https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bbn2ktonko8e3az/AACHBBOhf6Djk5Pf2c86Br5ja Detailed array photos http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/WB9UWA/ Facebook http://www.facebook.com/earl.shaffer Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/pub/earl-shaffer/12/881/735

1 year, 11 months

Test

by fr.strihavka＠seznam.cz

Test only OK1CA

1 year, 11 months

10ghz beacon

by Per Dudek

hi pa is broken.will take some days. vy73 per dk7lj

1 year, 11 months

WV + TN DXpedition

by Bob McCormick

This fall Frank NC1I and I are planning to head south to activate West Virginia and Tennessee - likely around the end of October. We will operate on 23cm using a setup similar to our previous DXpeditions in New England - typical of a modest home station. Is there any interest in having us also activate 70cm? Please let us know ASAP so we can plan accordingly. (Frank has designed a whole new 4-yagi setup that we hope to be able to test out sometime later this summer - if it works well this is what we would bring with us.) We have been busy working on a new trailer setup including a slew drive from Sub-Lunar. At some point I hope to be able to post some pics and videos of our efforts. We will post updates here to moon-net and (eventually) on MMMonVHF. 73 Bob W1QA

1 year, 11 months

IMPORTANT: MAP65 3.0.0-rc3 with Xpol systems

by Joe Taylor

Dear Users of MAP65, Shortly after making a public announcement about release of WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 and MAP65 3.0.0-rc3, we diagnosed and fixed a bug that can occasionally cause the MAP65 decoder to hang. The Windows installation packages for WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 (which include MAP65 3.0.0-rc3) have been updated with the corrected code. The change affects ONLY those using MAP65 3.0 in a dual-polarization ("Xpol") system. If you are using MAP65 in an Xpol system you should download and install WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 again from the WSJT web site: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-2.5.0-rc3-win32.exe https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-2.5.0-rc3-win64.exe Just install the new version over the old one, and you will have the correction. The SHA code displayed on the About page will be 7eac85. Sorry for any confusion this may cause. -- 73 from Joe, K1JT; Bill, G4WJS; Steve, K9AN; and Nico, IV3NWV

1 year, 11 months

WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 and MAP65 3.0-rc3

by Joe Taylor

Dear WSJT-X and MAP65 Users, We are pleased to announce that a public Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 is ready for download by beta testers. On Windows the installation package also includes MAP65 3.0.0-rc3. See the Release Notes for changes since WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc2: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt We are especially interested in feedback from users of the new mode Q65 and the separate program MAP65. If you have been using Q65 with WSJT-X 2.4, 2.5, or MAP65 3.0, please send us a a summary of your experiences. If you have found bugs, please send us details. Links for downloading WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3 can be found on the WSJT-X Home Page, https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html Scroll down to find "Candidate release: WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc3". WSJT-X and MAP65 are licensed under the terms of Version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv3). Development of this software is a cooperative project to which many amateur radio operators have contributed. If you use our code, please have the courtesy to let us know about it. If you find bugs or make improvements to the code, please report them to us in a timely fashion. We hope you will enjoy using this beta release of WSJT-X 2.5.0 and MAP65 3.0.0, and especially exercising the new mode Q65. As a beta tester you should report on your experiences with new features, successful and otherwise, on one of the relevant WSJT forums. Bugs should be reported by following instructions found here in the User Guide: https://www.physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.5.0-r… -- 73 from Joe, K1JT; Bill, G4WJS; Steve, K9AN; and Nico, IV3NWV

1 year, 11 months

Need Coax relay

by iw4ard＠aririmini.it

Hello all lunatics, I'am looking for a relay for 1296 MHz with N female (for a moment go with 150W). If anyone has any please contact me. Vy 73 de Gianni IW4ARD

1 year, 11 months

10ghz beacon

by Per Dudek

hi 10ghz beacon died this night vy73 per dk7lj

1 year, 11 months

by Damien FORESTIER

I cannot get my TERRATEC DMX 6Fire USB sound card to work correctly under Windows 10. I spent 2 full weekends pulling my hair out with no results. So I'm looking for a working replacement that would allow MAP65 v3 and an IQ + (dual polarization (Xpol) system) to work under Windows 10. I had a look at Linrad but I think I no longer have the patience for the settings ... I want to keep things simple (first) before considering the complications. any solutions? 73 - Damien F5RRS

1 year, 11 months

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Moon-net July 2021