Hoping it would catch on and do just that ...

John,

I must not be "hanging out" at the right times for these modes. I never have heard or worked any of the modes you listed.

But I'll have to give them another try. I'll look up the freqs again online.

David, N1ZHE

See this:

http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html

Click on "Frequencies for QSO" on the left.

David, N1ZHE

Hey there!

I was nearly addicted to JT65 (ok, there was no "nearly" about it) and recently "rediscovered" PSK31, MFSK16, etc.

One thing that turned my off about PSK31 (etc) was it was a button pushing mode, lots of macros, no real human contact.

Many of you have probably discovered what I'm about to propose so I admit I'm probably reinventing the wheel here.

Let's make Sundays a Macro-free day on the digital modes (outside of contests).

You can still use macros but you have to insert a LOT of rag chewing in between.

What think you???

Hope to meet you on the waterfall soon!

David, N1ZHE

I have a lot of excellent 300 ohm twin lead feedline. Seeing as how a Moxon is a balanced antenna (and I would be constructing a 6 meter SSB Moxon) it seems to be a match made in heaven considering the low loss characteristics of the twin lead.

So if I use this twin lead instead of coax, do I need to change in my Moxon's dimensions (and if "yes" by how much)?

David, N1ZHE

Very good ideas indeed. At this point, I wouldn't have one of their products in my shack on a bet. Sure I lost some money in this but if they keep this up the market will take care of the problem by ceasing to do business with them. Hard to make a profit, meet payroll, etc with no business.

I'm going to stick with HRO because they are only 30-40 miles from me.

If I order something before noon to be shipped normal UPS, I get it the next business day.

I've only ordered once from AES, it was a closeout item only they had. I made a mistake on the shipping and I was going to be changed much more than their standard shipping costs but it would have taken longer to arrive than with their standard shipping.

They immediately called me on their dime and explained the mistake, we corrected it on the phone. I paid the smaller amount and it got here quicker.

Glad you got good service from them, I got just the opposite. See my post elsewhere ...

You should know from the very beginning that Radiowavz's stated return policy posted on their web site and probably on the packaging somewhere is any antenna that has been put into service cannot be returned.

Last winter I bought a 6 meter double bazooka antenna from Radiowavz. It arrived well packaged and in apparent excellent condition.

So I had a problem, a ham with a new toy. Way too much snow on the ground to try to put it up permanently so I hung it loosely from the rafters in the garage. When I wanted to play with it I would string a piece of coax out to it and hook it up, I never put more than 100 watts through it, I don't own an amplifier.

One day I hooked it up and when I tried to transmit my Omni VII gave me a high current warning which means very high SWR. I tried to get a reading on my SWR meter but my radio shut itself off so the finals wouldn't be hurt. I tried a different piece of coax with the same results. Both pieces of coax tested good with an ohm meter. The antenna showed a dead short but it's a "shorted design" antenna so it would.

In my frustration I called Radiowavz in spite of their stated return policy. I asked the very nice lady who answered if there was something I could do to repair the antenna, she got one of the engineers on the line. He stated that the way the antenna was made and sealed no user repairs of this type were possible but he would really like to see that antenna back to see why it failed. I was then put back on the line with the lady and she told me Radiowavz would replace my antenna at their expense, regardless of their stated return policy. All they requested was when I received the replacement antenna that I return my failed antenna so they could an analysis to determine why it failed.

This was before Memorial Day, she said it would be fabricated and shipped the week after Memorial Day (2011). I'm still waiting.

I tried contacting them through their web email form, no answer. I call and leave voicemail, then never return my calls.

I guess they decided to honor their stated return policy after all. I wish they had the guts to tell me instead of leaving me hanging.

I have a 30 foot vertical that was made for 6 meters through 40 meters. The manufacturer suggested a 4:1 unun to make the antenna easier to tune. This ended up being a bit of overkill as my Omni VII will tune a 10:1 swr. The tuner in it was originally designed or based on tuners built by LDG.

I started off with a 4:1 unun and I found the antenna with my tuner would easily load on 80 meters as well and work with fair to good results. But I had a real problem with RF in the shack so I replaced the unun with a choke or isolation 1:1 balun.

I can no longer tune 80 meters but that no real loss as it wasn't supposed to work there anyway. Besides, I'd like to have something more efficient for 80/160.

David, N1ZHE

4:1 unun at the antenna, 130 feet feedline, Rascall interface, choke balun on the feedline.

I have an Omni VII. I use it with my Mac to work digital modes.

Because my Mac doesn't have a com port I use VOX to key the rig when working digital modes. I do have a USB/COM port adapter but it's in use reading frequency data, etc for my logging program.

When I work JT65 or psk31 I have no problems on 10 meters - 30 meters. But when I try to work digital modes on 40 or 80 meters, either the rig won't key or it keys sporadically during the transmission.

I'm pretty sure it has to do with my settings on the radio, I use different programs for JT65 and psk31.

Right now my pertinent settings are:

Line Gain: 50%
VOX Trip: 88%
Anti-VOX: 15%
VOX Hang: 14%

I don't use VOX otherwise, no experience with it. What would you suggest for my settings?

Thank you!

David, N1ZHE

In your JT65 program, where it wants to use COM1 or whatever com port, replace the COM 1 (COM2, etc) with "NONE" (no quotes).

Then make sure in the menu settings on your Omni VII you have selected "Line" for your Audio Source. This is especially important if you have your microphone connected.

Switch on your VOX and it should work. You may need to adjust your VOX settings. Leave your transmitter at 100 watts, then use your volume control on your computer to adjust your power out. 35 watts should be the max you need to use. If you use more, then it will impact other ham's ability to receive signals other than yours.

Good luck!

David, N1ZHE

Phil,

I read some are having trouble with the amp faulting on the voice peaks. They seem to feel it has to do with the switching power supply because when they switch to the non-switching power supply the problem seems to cease. Would this be more likely to be ALC related?

I have a dedicated 240 volt 20 amp line into my shack.

What is the difference between the ALS-600 with the switching power supply and the one without the switching power supply? Would the switching power supply model be better or can I just save the extra bucks and get the non-switching model?

David, N1ZHE

Alan,

I checked over my antenna and mount and discovered those 4 little Allen screws that are supposed to ground against the body and keep the mount tight were loose. Duh!

I tightened them and 440 works as advertised.

After learning what I have (a lot from your web site, thanks! It rocks!) I am not so pleased with this antenna setup. I normally keep a vehicle until I "drive the wheels off" so drilling a hole in the trunk lid is not a problem.

I'm going to have to "live with what I got" for the next month or so, then I will replace my current antenna and mount with an NMO mount and antenna.

I don't know anything about that company in California you warned me about, I usually stick with the "big brand names" such as Diamond, Larsen, etc.

Thank you VERY much for all your help.

David, N1ZHE