Post SKM Depression, K3Y 2025 preliminary results more about my VR-N7500

 Post SKM Depression

Well maybe not depression exactly, but certainly a let down. I really enjoy SKM. Chasing all those K3Y operators and filling in all those area band slots. What fun!!

Below is this years QSL card design. Personally, not my favorite. I like a little color and some human presents. Just saying.

K3Y 2025 preliminary results 

I've posted some stats for the month below.

(last years totals)

Total QSO for January : 385 (281)

Total SKCC Brags : 230 (170)

Total K3Y unique operates worked : 168 (135)

Total Band slots : 128 (124) 

US Entities Worked (50 States + DC & PR): 45 (45)

Continents: 6 out of 6

DX Entities: 15 out of 20

We are at the peak of cycle 25 right now, so I expected good results. Hopefully next year I will have 160Ms. Can't wait to see if it makes a difference. I am thinking it will be about the same as this years, do to the fact we will be past peak.

VR-N7500

There has been a firmware update to the N7500 (about time!). The biggest difference is the there are now 32 channels available per region instead of just 16. There are still 12 regions.

It turns out there is a feature missing from this radio which is useful, at least here in the states and that is the reverse function. This feature allows you to reverse the receive and transmit frequencies on a channel so you can listen to the input frequency of a repeater. Good for seeing if you can hear other stations from your location so you can contact them directly without going through a repeater.

My biggest gripe of this radio is the lack of a good manual.

All for now.

Some changes for my Cootie, Flex 6400 update, New rope for my Antenna, HNY and K3Y!

 

Slipping and sliding

Trying something different for anchoring my cootie key. I have been using a piece of anti-slip rug material but it has the annoying habit of slipping at the most inopportune moment. I have some Quake Hold Museum putty that I used for anchoring pictures and such that seems to work pretty well. I placed a small piece on each foot of the key and pressed it down on my desk. Seems to be holding nicely.

using anti-slip material

Key now anchored with Quake Hold.

6400 Bug

The latest software update, v3.8.20,  for my Flex 6400 has a subtle bug. The CAT interface sometimes stops sending the correct frequency. Flex is working on it but no fix as of yet. My work around is to close the CAT and restart it. Most of the time this works.  Sometimes I have to do it twice.

New Antenna rope

A couple of years ago (2021) while I was trying out my 160-6m OCF dipole, the rope on one end of my setup broke. I tried to shoot a new line but lost the projectiles and ended up with a much lower antenna height on one end then I wanted. ( see posts 5/16/2021 and 5/20/2021 Note: click on dates in the right panel to see those posts.)

I have never been happy using monofilament fishing line with my antenna launcher. I always felt the line was too light and it got tangled in the trees too easily. So I have been procrastinating on shooting another line until I come with a better solution. Well, finial I got a solution. I am using some Micro paracord. It is only 3/64 in diameter but is 100 lbs. test and is small enough to slide easily into into my antenna launcher. The only minus to this is I had to spool out 250 ft. of paracord on my lawn and hope it doesn't tangle. 

Well all went without a hitch and I got a new rope over a big tree in the back yard.

Position of antenna now compared to old position

old antenna position.

Operating

Basically from the beginning of May until the end of September I really didn't do much operating.

I only made 11 CW contacts during that period. I was off doing other things. Weather was good and I was playing a lot of golf. But since then I have had 174 CW contacts. 148 of those came in Dec.

Well, it is Jan 1 2025 now and time for K3Y. This is my favorite event. I really like filling in the band slots and contacting as many unique K3Y operators as possible. BTW I am also the Brag Bonus Station for January.

All for now. 73!!

K3Y QSLs arrive and more wallpaper.

 I wrote this back in March/April, but just getting around to posting it.

K3Y QSLs:

Received My K3Y QSL card the other day. Pictures of the front and back are below.

Wallpaper:

Received my WAS for my MA QTH. I already have my WAS for VT.

Wallpaper, another great K3Y event and Remembering Curt K2CWM

 I'm back! I haven't posted since May 2023. I got sidetracked for the Summer and Fall playing golf and really didn't do too much Ham radio. Actually none at all. 

But January came along and my favorite activity was in full swing (K3Y)  so here I am, so let's get started!

Wallpaper:

Last spring I decide to get my ARRL DXCC. I was finally awarded it on May 6 2023. I decided it was time to put up some wallpaper. The ones displayed aren't all of my awards, just the ones I felt needed to be displayed. 

I also use eQSL.cc but yet to achieve either WAS or DXCC. I have certainly made enough contacts to earn these awards but I guess people are not using the service as much as LoTW and QRZ. Actually, QRZ can import my LoTW log so I guess it is just LoTW more then QRZ. (nit picking).

ARRL WAS and DXCC also QRZ DX and WAS.

These are some of my SKCC awards, WAS-S, Senator and 2xQRP

K3Y Event:

K3Y event is now over and it was a great month for me. I've posted some stats for the month below.

(last years totals)

Total QSO for January : 281 (208)

Total SKCC Brags : 170 (130)

Total K3Y unique operates worked : 135 (115)

Total Band slots : 124 (120) 

US Entities Worked (50 States + DC & PR): 45

Continents: 6 out of 6

DX Entities: 13 out of 18

As you can see results are much better than last years. I also got the Grand Sweep.  QSL card are usually sent out before June. Anyone can participate, you don't have to be a member and you can still get a QSL card.

We are pretty much at the peak of sunspot cycle so it was much easy to make those rare contacts. For equipment I have a Flex 6400 100W and an 80-10M OCF Windom dipole up maybe 35 to 50 feet. Really don't need much to do well.

Log band slot map

Remembering Curt K2CWM:

I never meet Curt in person but we chatted many times in QSOs and on the Sked page. He always left a comment on my posts to encourage me to keep at it. We were also FB friends and I followed his  many  exploits and his travels to Tennessee to visit his family. I do miss him. God Bless Curt 73!

All for now. Hope to post again soon.

73!

Linux, the Anarchist of OSs, K3Y QSL card and working on DXCC

Time for a little update.

Linux:

In my last post, someone suggested I install Linux on my old laptop computer.  Ubuntu seemed like a reasonable choice. The problem with any distribution of Linux is there is really no organized plan. And if there is a bug... Oh Well! Really wished I had not done this. I ended up losing my Windows installation. I guess I will never learn my lesson on Linux. Both the SKCCLogger and skcc_skimmer run on Linux. I just wish there was a native version of SmartSDR for Linux.

K3Y QSL card:

I have received my K3Y QSL card last March.  Below are the pictures of the front and back of the card. It was nice to get the grand sweep again. This is my favorite SKCC event.

 

Senator x7:

Finally made it to Sx7. It has been really difficult this last year going from x6 to x7. A lot of Ts are doing POTA and are not likely to do a SKCC number exchange. Also many now want to do Marathons or Ragchews and will not do just a number exchange. 

I have over 10,000 SKCC contacts in my log. I think I am going to limit my SKCC activity to sprints only from now on.

DXCC:

The next thing I would like to accomplish is DXCC. For this, I am doing FT8. It seems the fastest and easiest way to do this now. 

As of this writing, I have 100 for LoTW, 96 for eQSL.cc and 100 for QRZ. Hope to finish this soon. Already have my QRZ and LoTW certificates on the way.

Screen shot of my FT8 setup

Something total different:

I heard this quote awhile ago and I thought it worth repeating. 

" I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant."

H. L. Mencken

I would also like to add "I believe it is better to love than to hate."

All for now. Next time I hope to have finished the DXCC for eQSL.cc

73 - KB1WOD

New life for my old HP laptop, Flex6400 scare, Social Media Police ( wannabes)

 HP Laptop:

I bought this HP back in 2010. It has been largely a disappointment, but I decided to try and extend its usefulness by adding another 4G of memory, bring it up to a total of 8G which is the most it will take. Also the battery was not holding a charge so I bought a new battery for about $30 from BattDepot. The cost of the memory was only $15 from  MemoryStock.

Adding the memory help some especially since this PC was upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and finally to Window 10 64bit.  Only issue now is it won't be able to upgrade to Windows 11 due to some BIOS issue.

Flex6400 scare:

Well, it happened to me again. My 6400 starting losing communication with my computer. But this time we were able to recover, and I think I know what might of caused the problem!

A month after I received my first 6400, I tried setting it up with SmartLink. Just to see if I could get it running, which it seem to run correctly. Not really being interested in remote operating and not willing to add all the traffic to my local network, I powered down my radio and reconnected it directly to my computers Ethernet port and powered it back up. That seems to be when I started having communication problems. see the post:

 https://dsckb1wod.blogspot.com/2022/02/flex-6400-issues-end-of-k3y-2xqrp-award.html 

 So for some stupid reason, I decided to redo the experiment. I was going to see if I could allow some of our local hams to get on the HF bands who could not do so from their QTH for what ever reason.

Well, guess what? you guessed it, I started having communication issues again. Fortunately, between updating to the latest software and doing a factory reset, we were able to resolve the problem. We meaning Flex tech support. They do a great job. Very responsive and knowledgeable.

Social Media Police (wannabes):

Well, I posted this on a Facebook page and got a couple of comments that questioned the "relevance" to that particular page. Implying I should not have posted.

What is the relevance? Look at it! This is wrong on so many levels. First, someone is overdriving his audio and generating spurious harmonics that are exceeding bandwidth restriction and causing interference over at least 70kHz on the band. 

As you can see, It is interfering with a CW signal on 28050kHz. Which by the way, is one of the calling frequencies for a certain club. So I ask you is this relevant? (rhetorical)

The good thing about a blog is you don't have to accept comments.

I think I have said enough.

All for now 73!!!

Andy's Ham Radio For Linux, K3Y 2023

Time for some updates

Andy's Ham Radio For Linux:

The nice thing about Ham Radio is there is so many variations of the hobby. One such variation is software programs that aid and enhance the enjoyment of Ham Radio.

The other day a local Ham Radio Club (NSRA) invited Andy KB1OIQ SKCC #6265S to give a presentation of his Linux base collection of Ham Radio software that he has integrated on to an Ubuntu distribution of  Linux. Andy is a very personable and energetic and has just released his 25th version of his distribution.

Here is a link to his presentation on YouTube that he gave to the RATPAC group. This the same presentation as he gave us.

Andy KB1OIQ and Dave(me) KB1WOD ( Team Flannel HIHI)

I first "meet" Andy late 2013 early 2014. At this time I was living in Wakefield, MA and working in Boxborough, MA. A 40 minute drive one way on a very busy Interstate 495. I had put one of my Baofeng HT in the car so I would have something to do on those long rides to and from work.  The PART Westford repeater is located about half way between Wakefield and Boxborough so I could reach it for almost my whole commute and I was a regular user. Andy was a regular check-in and we chatted many times.

Andy also participates as a K3Y operator during SKM . Please visit his QRZ page and watch his presentation (Links above). I am sure you will enjoy it.

K3Y:

K3Y event is over and it was a great month for me. I will post some stats for the month.

Total QSO : 208

Total Brags : 130

Total K3Y unique operates : 115

Total Bands slots : 120 

Not too bad considering I didn't start until the 7th. I also got the Grand Sweep.  QSL card are usually sent out before June. Anyone can participate, you don't have to be a member.

Band slots I had QSOs

This years QSL design was by Steve N0XC # 10091

K3Y QSL cards, Flex-6400 update, New radio - VGC VR N7500, RFI solved finally (I hope)

 Time for some updates.

Well, K3Y is under way so I thought I would post same past QSL cards.

K3Y QSL Cards:

Just thought I would put these here.

Flex-6400 update:

Well the replacement 6400 has been working great now for about a year. At some point I would like to try the remote capability of the software.

There was a problem with version 3.3.29 where the radio would forget the ATU settings when switching bands but that was solved in the next version 3.3.32. I have been happily running 3.3.32 for almost a year now. 

Vero NR-7500:

This radio is a headless 2M 70CM radio with APRS capability.

2M, 70CM with APRS

Attached Mic.

I bought this radio sometime ago. Here is the link to there web page N7500. It has some interesting feature. I like the hardware, but the software, documentation and support is less the acceptable.

As you can see there is no front panel controls. Everything is controlled via a Blue Tooth connected Android or iOS device that is running their app called HT that can be download via the play store. You may have to type in "VGC VR-N7500" to find it.

However, channel select and volume can be controlled via the Mic. If you press the OK button, it will announce the channel you are presently on. Pressing the M button will effect the functions of the up and down button. For volume mode it will change the volume up or down and for channel mode, it will change the channel up or down.

This is a YouTube video that is the best I have seen on the product Review by Tech Minds 

Here is another review that you might like:

 VGC VR-N7500: APRS! Android, iOS, Bluetooth, Dual Band 2m/7cm Ham Radio Review

RFI:

I think I finally solved my 20M RFI problem that was setting off my smoke detectors.

I bought 25 clip-on chokes and put them on both the antenna lead wire and the power cable for the smoke detector. It seem to work at full power. If this doesn't fix it, I don't what to do next.

Bought the chokes form Digi Key

Clip-on chokes spaced about 5 to 7 feet apart on antenna lead cable.

Clip-on chokes on power cable to the smoke detector.

All for now 73!

Flex-6400 issues, end of K3Y, 2xQRP award, and more!!

Flex-6400:

Well, my brand new 6400 died less then a month after I received it. The problem seems to be that the audio, spectrum and waterfall data was not being sent by the radio all the time. There would be times it would start working for about 10-15 seconds and then just stop. 

However, the command interface seem to work fine. Also it was still able to transmit.

I was communicating with an apps person for awhile. Since nothing he suggested worked, I got a phone call from Dan Quigley, N7HQ, the support director, who connect to my Flex via TeamViewer and determined there was nothing else that could be done remotely. Dan started the process of having Flex build me another 6400 to be shipped to me before I had to send the broken radio back.

This whole process took about 12 days. I have the new 6400 running now. Hope I have better luck with it.

I discovered there is a bug in the CW mode. If you set the the delay in the P/CW window to certain values, it will randomly stop transmitting. But it does recover, so you only lose a little. This seems to be a know bug and if I set the delay to a small value it does not happen.

Flex-6400 number 1

K3Y event:

January was the SKCC anniversary event. It lasted from Jan 2nd to the 31st.  This is the second year in a row that I was able to complete the grand sweep.

I worked 86 out of 174 band slots, 110 K3Y operators worked, 12 DX Entities out of 17 worked, 5 Canadian Prov/Terr of possible 6 and 42 states worked. 

All in all a good result. Not bad considering I worked the last 11 days with no WARC bands.

My band slot results for the 2022 K3Y Event.

2xQRP award:

This award I am very proud of. It took me sometime to get, but it was worth it.

Operating:

I ended up with 147 brags for January. Might be my best brag total ever.

I had 47 QSO in the January WES. I have not been as active in the WES lately. Hope to change that in the future. 

February's WES I did a little better, 70 QSOs. All were S&P, no CQing this WES.

Bands seem to be opening up. I have had a lot more 12 and 10M QSO lately. Come on Cycle 25!!!

Repair of DG-5:

Well I finally seem to have fixed all the problems with the DG-5 Digital Display for my TS-520S. I had to replace a 7454 IC that had a bad input. I also re-soldered all the through holes and ran a piece of copper wire through each. Hopefully this is the end of it!

before: The digit third from left should be a "0"

After Third digit is now a "0"

Well, I guess I will end this here. CUL es 73

NEAR-Fest failure on my part, COVID, New Radio !!

Yes, it has been awhile. A lot has happen in the past few months, not all good. 

NEAR-Fest:

The week before NEAR-Fest, my wife and I went for a three day vacation up to Vermont. We didn't realize how many people would be up there this year. They were wall to wall. Needless to say, we both got COVID. That ruined my plans to have a table for the SKCC at NEAR-Fest the next week. A couple of SKCC member tried to man the table in my stead, but without the banners not many people know who they were. Sorry for that guys. I hope to do better. However with the latest surge of COVID, I am not sure the NEAR-Fest will be on in the spring.

Thanks to Mark, NX1K and all the rest who help out.

COVID:

As I stated, my wife and I got COVID. I was pretty sick for about 10 days. My wife had somewhat milder symptoms. I am still have some problems with a lingering cough. The doctor did a x-ray and it showed my lungs have some scaring. I am going to have another x-ray next month to see if it has gotten any better. By the way, we are both vaccinated and wore mask when ever we went in side anywhere. So you can still get COVID even if you are vaccinated and take precautions. 

Do yourself a favor, DON'T GET COVID!! get vaccinated please. A Ham friend for mine and his wife didn't get vaccinated. They both got COVID and died. Very sad.

New Radio:

As my Christmas/birthday/Christmas/birthday gift from my wife for the next two years , I traded in my 6300 for a brand new 6400. Just got it yesterday and am having a ball with it.

My new Flex-6400

I trade my 6300 in for the 6400. So I was without my Flex for about 3 weeks. I had to send my 6300 back to Flex so they could check it out before they would finalize my purchase of the 6400. It took a week for shipping, another week for them to check out my 6300 and then another week to ship my 6400. So in the mean time, I set up my Kenwood TS-520S and used that for awhile.

I don't have an antenna tuner for the TS-520S, so before I setup the TS-520S, I checked my OCF antenna with my RigExpert antenna analyzer.

80, 40 and 20 meters seem to be OK to run without a tuner. 15 meters was a little iffy. Since the TS-520S has tube finals and I wasn't going to be doing a lot of 15M QSOs, I figured it would be OK for the short term, and it was.

Analysis of me 80-6M OCF 

While my 6300 was back at Flex, I was using my Kenwood TS-520S.

Operating:

I hit a couple of milestones recently. I finally got a 150 points for the 2xQRP award (still waiting for it to be approved) and also made Sx6. In general I have not been as active recently but hope the change that next month when the K3Y event is going on.

160-6M OCF:

Well this is on hold now. Because I was sick with COVID, I missed my opportunity to run some new lines to hang the antenna. I will try again in the spring (I hope). 

All for now. Thanks for dropping by es 73!!