Stan, please define what "real CW". Is that using a straight key, bug, iambic or perhaps a spark rig? I looked for it on the web but could find not a definition.

At your leisure could you explain why using a keyboard is not "real"? If I use a keyboard for DX contacts is ok to have them verified by QSL or LOTW or are they not "real" either?

Zack
FlexFanBoy
N8FNR

I use CWX that is built into PSDR to do CW on a daily basis for DXing with my Flex-5000 and could not be any happier. Of course I don't use an external key but do love the memories in CWX and actually enjoy using my keyboard. The memories are great in contests.

Recently I bought a Elecraft KPA-500 amp kit and find it and the 5000 to be a killer setup with my SteppIR vertical.

Put me down as a "True Flex Fanboy^TM" as I really love this rig. I sold a fully loaded TS-850SAT to help pay for it and never looked back. BTW my PC never crashes while running PSDR and I find it to be very stable.

Yeah, I know that according to some who lurk in this group that any Flex rig is the worst radio ever. According to them I should sell it and replace it with any other rig as a Flex is no better than one of these. http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/marconi/exhibition/7777.htm

73
Zack
N8FNR

You are welcome Don.

I have the Flex-5000A and love it. Here is my eham review if you are interested (http://www.eham.net/reviews/review/80800). One of the very cool things about Flex radios is that you get significant software updates several times a year. Another very nice feature is the tracking notch filter. Take a look at this to see how it works (http://www.flexradio.com/tnf.aspx).

Last of all, having variable, non-ringing filters that are built into the software and can be narrowed down to less than 25hz is way beyond cool! Name another rig that can do this.

Take a look at the Sherwood data on the Flex-1500 (http://www.sherweng.com/table.html). This rig is number 13 on the list.

Some people complain about these rigs not having knobs. To tell you the truth I have never missed having them at all!

Zack
N8FNR

For $620 (http://cart.flexradio.com/FLEX-1500_p_10.html) you could get a Flex-1500 which includes a panadapter and then get a new laptop for $320 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Satin+Black/6978457.p?id=1218818470335&skuId=6978457) and have a complete portable SDR station.
The Flex-1500 is only 5 watts PEP though. But you get 160-6M with no gaps and never have to buy any filters or a special sound card cable.

Zack
N8FNR

That's right! The end is finally near. According to one of the three Mayan Calendars, the End of the world will occur on December 21, 2012. To celebrate this—literally—once in a lifetime event, Special Event Station N0D (Now Zero Days) will be activated for three days during and possibly after the end of the world. December 20; is a celebration of the end of the world. December 21, the day of destruction, we will be on the air as long as possible. December 22...that is a little iffy right now.

Amateur radio stations around the crumbling globe are invited to contact N0D, who will be operating from a secret undisclosed location. QSL with SASE to the address in QRZ. If Doomsday actually does happen, we regret that a QSL will not be possible so hold on to your SASE until the 22nd at least.

You can celebrate Doomsday by contacting N0D directly on the air. Amateurs can also become an official Doomsday station by registering on our website. You will be given a registration number and the authority to identify yourself as an Official Doomsday Station followed by your Doomsday number.
http://www.nowzerodays.com/index.html

Zack
N8FNR

"This sounds like there may be a situation where you need to perhaps slow down, study manuals, check and recheck info from the manuals and such things. "

Actually I do read the manuals. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong. In fact I have PDF versions of the manuals for all my ham equipment. Makes it easier to search for key words. Looked in the Steppir Yahoo forum and the Elecraft user archives but could find nothing.

However I do understand where you are coming from. I support 350 PC's in a car factory and get stopped several times a day by users asking the simplest questions and my usual reply is did you look at Help? Rarely does anyone say yes they did.

Guess what? It just got weirder. I powered up the PC last week and all of the equipment as I was going to call Steppir support. Figured that they were going to talk me through some tests. All of a sudden the Steppir was now tuning OK and the amp started working on the bands that were inop. Both of these issues cleared up at the same time on the same day. These devices do not talk to each other in any way so I have no explanation as to why they are now working as I made no changes.

It must have been a disturbance in the Force.

Zack
N8FNR

Now it get even weirder. Fired up the rig today and was tuning around using the remotely tuned wire. Just for kicks I thought that I would try using the Steppir before I called their tech support and now it works OK on all bands 40-10. The hell?? Well I can live with that I guess. I did call Steppir about the 80M coil and was told to send it in as there are some updates that can be applied to it.

Was going to call Elecraft today to see about returning the KPA-500 because it would not TX on 160, 30 & 17. Fired up the amp and now it works OK on those bands now! Uh what? It had not worked on those bands for a while and now all of a sudden it works OK and all I did was power it up. This makes no sense.

Sadly the TH-D72A did not fix itself as it sat on desk. Perhaps if I wait another day or two it will make note that the antenna and amp are now OK and that it should step up to the plate too!

Zack
N8FNR

I did note the the Steppir failed on Sunday 12/1. Forgot to say that the TH-D72A failed on Saturday 11/30.

Zack
N8FNR

Fall of 2012 has not been a good time in my shack.

First I had to send in my Flex-5000 rig as the 2nd receiver was not working. Now I have a bad hum when TXing on SSB that I cannot isolate after I hooked everything back up. And it is not coming from the headphones and I have a second set and they also exhibit the hum. This is very frustrating and I have spent a lot of time trying to correct it. I still love this rig though.

I use CW Skimmer a lot and also bought a program from Afreet calledBandmaster. These programs were all integrated with DXlab and the PSDR software that controls my Flex-5000. In September Skimmer and Bandmaster stopped talking to each other. I wrote to the seller for help but have never heard back from him. I bet that if I rebuilt my PC that the problem would go away. But I work in a large factory and have to support 350 PC’s and rebuilding my own is one of the last things I want to do in the shack.

Then my SteppIR BigIR vertical started having problems on 80 meters. I could not get the controller to hold settings on 80 and had to retune every time I switched bands. After a while the antenna would not hold settings for any bands. The Steppir helpdesk suggested a lot of things but also told me to remove the 80M unit and after I did that it would tune 40-6M just fine. But then this past Sunday I tried to operate on 40M and found that it was not tuning correctly. After changing bands I found that it was no longer tuning ANY bands. In fact if you try to tune it with the controller the SWR never changes. Oh great. I will have to call the helpdesk again and probably send the 40-10 and the 80M units in to get fixed again.

At the beginning of the year I bought a Elecraft KPA-500 amp kit and built it. Very nice kit and easy to build. The thing worked great until October. Then it stopped transmitting on 160, 30 and 17. The helpdesk suggested that I reseat all the ribbon cables but I tried that and it made no difference. It is not going to be cheap to send this back to Elecraft for repairs as it is very heavy. Was never able to work PT0S because I never had enough power to be heard using the Steppir vertical. Oh well….

In August I bought a Kenwood TH-D72A as I wanted to play with APRS and also want to sell pair of old Kenwood TH-G71A HT’s as I would no longer need them. Well the volume/tuning knob on the TH-D72A always seemed like it was a bit loose but I really did not think too much about it until last week when I got no audio out of the rig. Just makes a weird noise. Guess it will have to go back to Kenwood for repairs. Oh and by the way the old TH-G71A HT’s sill work just fine.

The only HF equipment now working in my shack is the rig on CW/digital and my remotely tuned longwire. And true be told it is not that bad as I did work a lot of DX for years with that setup. Also I know that this setup is better than what many have. But man oh man did the amp and Steppir vertical help fill in my log with a lot of DX lately.

So there you have my tale of woe. I am not looking for suggestions or sympathy as I just wanted to whine and this is the only place I can think to do that. The XYL just rolls her eyes when start talking about any of this.

73
Zack
N8FNR

My wife and I take ocean cruises at least once a year and I like to take a portable MW/FM radio to listen to the local radio stations while in port. I also like to use one in hotel rooms while traveling.

However my old Grindig MW/FM/SW radio is starting to fail and I want to replace it.

What I want is a rig that weighs less than 3 pounds, has digital tuning, memories and only receives MW and FM. I do not need SW. If possible would like the price to be $100 USD or so.

It does not have to have stereo speakers, in fact I would prefer a larger mono speaker over stereo

Can anyone a suggest a rig for my uses?

Found these and they do look tempting. Has anyone any experience with them?

Sangean PR-D5
http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-PR-D5-Portable-Digital-Tuning/dp/B005GTO0DI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1349102787&sr=1-2&keywords=Sangean+PR-D5

Sangean PR-D9W
http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-PR-D9W-Weather-Rechargeable-Portable/dp/B003XU76O2/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1349102577&sr=1-5&keywords=Sangean+PR-D5


If you know of any active MW forums where I could also post this that would be appreciated.

Zack
N8FNR

Uh well that was the ONLY time I tried to work him.

Well that is a nice thought to use VFO-B but he was bouncing around like crazy. Without the panadapter I would have never been able to figure out his pattern.

I am a Flex Fan Boy ^_TM and am proud to admit that I have drunk gallons of their Coolaid (yum!!).
On 9/14 I worked NH8S via CW on 17M at 00:37 when the propagation was poor from my QTH near Detroit. Was using my 5000a at 80 watts and a SCG-239 tuner to a wire of unknown length (the far end broke in a wind storm). By watching who he was operating last I was able to make the QSO even with a lot of big guns around me. Without the panadapter I would have been operating blind and no amount of knobs on a regular rig would have been able to help me.

Zack

I recently bought a switching gasafet ARR preamp for 70cm to use with a Arrow dual band handheld antenna to hear the downlink from the FM satellites. http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page7.html

The preamp draws 100ma at 12v and the wire I am using is 16 gauge and about 1 meter long.

I would like to fuse the positive line because I really want to protect the preamp and wonder what is the ideal fuse rating I should use?

BTW I went to Radio Shack today and the smallest rated fuse they had was a quick blow 1/4 amp for 250v.

Would it be ideal to use a blade type car fuse rated for 1 amp for my application as that seems the lowest rated commonly available one?

Any suggestions on this will be greatly appreciated.

Zack
N8FNR

Thanks Clint!

Zack