Let's Get This Week Started

Some things are so great that they need no explanation.  Others merely defy explanation.  Some achieve both.

PSKer & EasyDigi Update

I haven't been using my iPhone & EasyDigi interface to do PSK-31 digital as much as I used to.  Mostly, out of practice, but there was also a documentation issue.  My little 3x5 card "field manual" didn't quite have everything on it, including some oh-by-the-ways/gotchas I used to know but have somehow forgotten, and some features I knew were there but was also out of practice of using.  Too many after-findings scribbled in the margins.  Also, some iPhone 4s-specific things like "take off that bulky case."  Worst of all, there were no "now let's get back to voice" instructions, meaning that that procedure had to be reverse-engineered on the fly in the field every time.  Doable, but another layer of unneeded complexity.  So, I've spent the last week fiddling with the interface and the FT-817nd, and re-documenting things. (here's the original, now superseded documentation)  Before this too gets lost in a miasma of half-remembered things, here's the new doc:

EasyDigi Setup; (done) = set once & forget

1. PSKer: Gears > Always use built in speaker: Off (done)
2. iPhone:
• Settings > PSKer > Mic: On (done)
• Phone Volume 4-5 bars
3. Radio:
• Sp/Ph Switch --> Ph
• Volume/AF: all the way down, then slightly up; avoid overload
• VOX f-10A: On (only works with SSB, which we'll be using)
• VOX Delay #50: 100ms (done)
• VOX Gain #51: 35 (done)
• SSB Gain #46: 10 for digital (65 for voice)
• Set PWR to 2.5w
4. Use V/M to get to correct memory to set frequency, then use < > to use USB mode.
5. Adjust phone output, watching ALC meter while transmitting.

To Get Back to Voice Operations

1. Sp/Ph --> Sp (unless using phones)
2. VOX f-10A: Off
3. SSB Gain #46: 65 for voice (10 for digital)
4. Set PWR to 5w
5. Use band, mode, volume, etc. per usual voice operations.

Also Useful:

• #38 Op Filter: CW/Off/SSB -- my '817 has a 500 Hz CW filter under the 'SSB' setting. YMMV.

Finally, the 3x5 card was replaced by a 4x6 Rite-in-Rain page.  Slightly larger, much more robust.

This lightweight interface and a little plastic USB keyboard chops 3 out of 4 lbs off of pack weight relative to hauling out the laptop and SignaLink.  (That's -6 dB in weight!)  It's a little cramped for contest weekends, but all I really need for weekday trail afternoons on 20m.  Don't forget the 3.5mm-to-Lightning dongle, the EasyDigi interface box needs it.  I keep a dedicated dongle the same bag.

Rainy day.  Read, nerd out, fiddle with gear.  What else you gonna do?

Two Good Things

With so much going on, two good things have crossed my desk in the last few days.  First up, here's Tuesday's launch of a Falcon 9 ISS resupply ship.  The entire video is 22 minutes, but the good part is all in the first 10.  Watch for the booster's beautiful landing, starting around minute 7.  Go full-screen to watch.

Additional commentary at The Silicon Graybeard's blog about the unusual partnership between SpaceX and Northrop-Grumman for this flight.

Next up, over at Lawdog's blog, Cedar recounts an encounter with a pollster pushing for solar power-friendly results.  Her response: Nuclear Power or Bust!  Smart.  Go & read.

Some of those images of the Falcon 9's landing look like something out of a sci-fi movie, but nope.  This is real life.  There are good things in 2024, as much as we may have to look around for them.

ps: Back to the Falcon 9, here are some screen grabs of the booster landing.  Just.... wow.

And that is how it is done.

So, you're having a bad week already?

 

No you're not.  At least, not in comparison.  Get back to work.

WFD 2024: An Attenuated Outing

With wet & nasty weather forecast for Friday and Saturday with clearing and cool on Sunday, I chose the path of dry comfort and decided to forgo the camping trip and just operate QRP with the FT-817nd from a picnic table at Wright's Lake for the last few hours on Sunday.  Altogether, it was far better than dragging home a pile of wet tent and damp gear.

The rules have changed somewhat for 2024.  There are no vast tubs of bonus points for the various outdoor/disaster related themes (alternate power, outdoors & away-from-home operation, etc.).  Rather, this year there's a simplified point system (1 point phone contact, 2 points for digital keyboard contacts, 2x multiplier for QRP operation) and a set of seven Objectives:

1. Operate 100% on alternative power: Check, with a solar panel no less.  See left side of pic.
2. Operate away from home: Check, at Wright's Lake.
3. Deploy multiple antennas: Argh.  Did all ops on the EFHW QRP antenna.  Would've picked this one up if I'd just screwed the rubber duck antenna onto '817, it was right there on the table.  Interesting twist on the rules: they only say deploy multiple (i.e. n > 1) antennas, not actually make a contact.  So call CQ a couple of times on 70cm and check the box?  That seems a little... gamer-ey.
4. Make a satellite contact: Nope.  Maybe next year?  I keep saying this...
5. Operate on at least six different bands: Nope.  40, 20, 15, & 10 were open (mostly).  160 & 80 are primarily nighttime bands (and good luck with QRP power levels there), and VHF-up simplex is always a long shot here in NFL.
6. Send and receive at least 1 Winlink email: Nope.  Maybe next year?  I keep saying this...
7. Operate 6 continuous hours during the event: Nope.  Squeezed it all into the last 4 hours.  Better than nothing.

So, 2 of 7 Objectives, and a big 12 contacts – 8 phone, 4 digital.  Still had fun.  Maybe the weather'll be dry next year.  I really don't like a big tent having to dry out in my living room.  Looking on the upside, last year would've been 5 of 7 objectives (1,2,3,5,&7), so knocking them all out of the park next year is entirely possible.

ps: Log submitted to WFD's site.  Another year, another foray into the world of frozen operations.  Even if it was a dry & pleasant 60F on Sunday.

Weird of the Week

Two weird things crossed my path this week:

• Wild Apples: The 12 weirdest and rarest Macs ever made at ArsTechnica.  I've seen several of these in person, and while they were sort of interesting (some with unique features of dubious utility), they were seldom worth the asking price.  Mostly these are associated with the early-to-mid-1990's flailing seen prior to Jobs' 1998 re-entry at Apple.
• The Frenzy about the weirdest continent that never existed, Lemuria, at Atlas Obscura.  Sometimes name-checked on late night radio, but seldom actually explained.

So there they are, things that may have crossed your consciousness without explanation sometime in the vague past, now well explained.  Onward.

What the hell were they thinking?

Weather's Looking Soupy for WFD

I think the camping trip's a scrub.  Will go up to Wright's Lake mid-morning on Sunday, operate through to the 2pm EST (1900z) stop time.  Probably be down at the tables near the lake, in the day-use area.

Eh, still gonna be fun.