GPS fun, New Windows 11 machine, HTCommander, Winter s#cks and Code Copy Speed

GPS Fun:

One of the things that HTCommander doesn't do is provide my VR-N7500 with a GPS position. It needs a position in order to start beaconing. The radio does not have a built in GPS chip, so it has to be provided by some other means. I am hoping this feature could be provided by the HTCommander app.

So I decided to see what it would take to get GPS on my computer. I found this GPS dongle on Amazon. I plugged it in and said "Now what?" I expected something to happen, but nothing. So I went spelunking on Google and found this program: VisualGPSView. It is freeware and is very useful for understanding GPS. For less than $20 it is a great learning aid.

It turns out the GPS dongle provides GPS data in a  NMEA 0183  ASCII serial format. If you want to get a copy of this standard it will cost you a minimum of  $1,500 but no need, there is plenty of free info on this standard available. The link above is a Wikipedia page that tells you all you need to know.

GPS Dongle blinks green when it transfer GPS position to the computer.

Below are screen shot from the VisualGPSView.

Front panel status

 

Scatter plot

Position plot

NMEA Data

I was surprised as to how many GPS satellites there are in orbit. I guess it would not be too hard to integrate this dongle into an app.

New Windows 11 Machine:

Well, my "old" Alienware R6 was crashing more frequently and since it can't be upgraded to Windows 11, I decide to bite the bullet and buy a new computer. 

I am not a big fan of Windows 11 and I feel like BIG BROTHER is getting too much involved with my computer and what I am doing with it. If only more people wrote more programs for Linux I would ditch Windows.

So far almost every program I use runs Windows 11. The only app that didn't run was JTAlertV2. I had to disable the Smart APP Control.

HTCommander:

I have been doing more testing on this APP. Unfortunately version 0.44 does not run on my Window 11 machine, so I have keep my Windows 10 machine running 0.44 to allow me to do some A/B comparison.

One feature that I have been exploring is the speech to text.  It is interesting(funny) as to how it translate some words. Such as icicles to icecoats. I suppose it has it uses.

Winter s#cks:

I have lived in New England area almost all my life. The only exception is my years in the service. This winter has been especially bad. Both December and January were colder then normal. There has been a lot of snow to go along with it. A lot or 3 to 5 inch storms, a two footer, today was a very wet 5 inch storm and Sunday into Monday a major Nor'easter of 12 to 18 inches. I hope we don't lose power on Monday. One bonus, The town took down FIVE diseased Ash trees in front of my house this year, so I don't have to worry about a tree coming down on the wires or my house.

That is my OCF dipole covered in wet snow.

Code Copy Speed:

I have been working on my copy speed using the Word List Trainer. It is coming along but man, do I hate doing it. But taking a line from the movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales" : "I will Endeavor to persevere."

I guess this is enough for now.

73!!

SKM K3Y Event, K3y 2026 Preliminary Results, EOL for my Alienware computer and Misc

 SKM K3Y Event:

The Straight Key Century Clubs 20th anniversary has just ended. There were over 3500 SKM QSOs made during the month. I don't know if this was a record or not, but pretty close I would imagine.

Below is my band/region log for this years SKM. It is not as good as last year, but there were several days I could not work much. I did get the grand sweep, but with only two days to spare. It was a close one this year. I swear next year I will have 160m antenna up... Really!

K3Y 2026 Preliminary Results:

I've posted some stats for the month below.

 {last year}(two years ago)

Total QSO for January : 187 { 385} (281)

Total SKCC Brags : 128 {230} (170)

Total K3Y unique operates worked : 121 {168} (135)

Total Band slots : 112 {128} (124) 

US Entities Worked [50 States + DC & PR]: 41 {45} (45)

Continents: 6 out of 6 {6 out of 6}

DX Entities: 12 out of 19 {15 out of 20}

As you can see, not as good as last year. But with the down turn of the Sun spot cycle, it is to be expected.

Below is the winning QSL design for this year. The other entries can be found here .

EOL for my Alienware computer:

As with a lot of people, my computer cannot be upgraded to Windows 11. But I can still get security updates until October 2026. However, my computer seems to freeze a lot, especial when viewing videos. I mean I have to do hard reset i.e. push the power button until it power cycles. I have run all the extended diagnostics, but they seem to pass no problem. It is six years old, which is old for a Windows computer. Notices I said "Windows" computer, not for a Linux computer.

So I ordered a new Dell and it arrives Feb 3rd. We will see what that brings. Hopefully my old computer can live a longer life as a Linux machine. We will see.

Misc:

I am still playing with both the HT Commander and StationPilot. It has been awhile since there has been any updates to either program. I guess we will see if these programs fall by the wayside.

Still trying to get my Morse code head copying speed up. The ICR seems to help.

January has been a bad month weather wise. Over two feet of snow and temps in the single digits for a lot of days. I hoe Feb. warms up a bit.

All for now 73!!

HTCommander, ICR, New Flex licensing program, StationPilot and SKM

 Yes I know, it has been too long without a post. Really preoccupied with summer activities not related to ham radio. Also, not much new until recently.

HTCommander:

This is a Windows based APP that allows me to connect to my VR-7500 2m 70cm radio from my computer rather than my tablet or phone. Here is the link to the repository:  HT Commander .

ICR:

ICR stands for: "Instant Character Recognition" . Basically you set your character speed really high. Like about 30+ c.p.m. and instead of trying to count dots and dashes, you try to recognize the sound of each character. You should start by watching these YouTube videos by CW Innovations. CW Innovations provide training for CW at there cwinnovations.net. I think I will look into it.

Flex Licensing:

Flex Radio has changed the licensing as explained here New License . The good thing is, bug fixes are no charge. It is only new features that require a new license fee. This OK with me. You should be able to get bugs fixed for ever.

StationPilot:

This is sort of like SmartSDR app. Here is a link to the StationPilot project. What I like about it is that it runs on Linux and you can run it concurrently with SmartSDR. Still playing with it. Hope to have more info in the future.

SKM:

Well, SKM is under way. Bands aren't as good this year. I am having trouble getting AF. I may not get the grand sweep this year. Below is the winning design for this year QSL card. I am not sure what key manufacture this is. Any guesses? BTW SKM make easy blog post helps with finding K3Y operators.

All for now 73!

Its BACK!!

 Yes, it is back! My 6400 arrived on July 12th and it has been working great. Made 32 contact this weekend during the SKCC WES . 

First sent my 6400 in April 15th and really didn't get it back until July 12th. That is a  total of 88 days, of which about only 11 days was actually spent working on the issues. The rest of the time was either in transit or waiting for service. See the three previous posts to see the whole story.

The theme for WES this month was 13 Colonies. I worked 11 colonies. I didn't get GA or RI. I heard GA stations but they weren't hearing me. I missed RI because the only RI station that gets on the air regularly was on for Saturday but not Sunday. Oh well. 

Bands are terrible lately. I don't know why. I did get a 6m QSO with FL though.

All for now -73

More 6400 problems!

More 6400 problems:

Well I finally got my 6400 back June 2nd and discovered I was having a problem that I had previously in which the radio would stop sending (CW) intermittently. This is some sort of interlock problem and is very annoying.

While in the process of working with Flex Radio engineers, I discovered my PA temperature sensors was erratic. 

I used FRStack to monitor the PA temperature. I setup the radio in CW mode and press the MOX button to enable the PA but did not key the transmitter to generate any RF.  The PA temperature slowly increases until about 39C. Then it jumps to about 120C. This leads me to believe that there is an issues with the circuit the generates the PA temperature. See the following  video . So back off to Flex on a warranty return (no cost to me). 

Notice the interlock (lower right ) that occurs on startup.

I am a little annoyed that this wasn't discovered during their "testing and burn-in".

Flex received my radio on the June 18th but won't service it until the 26th! EIGHT DAYS!! I am starting to regret trading in my 6300 for a 6400. 

More to come on this.

73!

Life without my 6400, VR-N7500 update and Bad Bands for WES

 Life without my 6400:

It has been four weeks+ since I sent my Flex 6400 in to get the power poles replaced. Of course next week is Hamvention and I am wondering if there will be anyone at Flex to work on my radio. We will see.

My TS-520S has been working OK for a 50 something radio. I did have to spray some contact cleaner on the AG gain and RF gain controls, which were very noisy.

I did learn a couple of things about the TS-520S. First, in order for the S meter to work correctly, the RF gain has to be fully on. Second, use the fast mode AGC for CW. Third, use the RIT so you don't wonder all over the band trying to chase the other station, who might be slightly off frequency for the CW filter. Fourth, using the VOX allows for semi-break-in operation. Sometimes the VOX doesn't work. There still some issues with the side tone volume. I think the pot to adjust the side tone volume might be dirty. Also the pots for the VOX circuit might need a little cleaning.

VR-N7500:

The other day I was checking in on our local social net, when my radio decided to reboot. Not a good thing. I can't decide if it was a firmware glitch or a power glitch. I checked the power cables and they seem OK. We'll see if it happens again.

WES:

So the May WES was a little disappointing. Bands were terrible and with my boat anchor I had trouble making contacts. Hopefully the bands will improve.

All for now - 73!

K3Y QSL, LIDS, Flex-6400, Antenna rework, awards

 K3Y QSL:

Arrived today 3/4/2025

LIDS:

I have been thinking about the different types of LIDS. There are at least four that I have run in to.

1) someonewhorunswordstogethersoyoucan'tcopythem.

2) Those that send faster then you can copy and refuse to slow down even when you ask QRS.

3) Those who have no idea how to send, or make mistakes and don't correct them.

4) Those that the dots and dashes are almost the same.

To me sending code is like playing a musical instrument. There is a rhythm to it, with spacing and tones. I usually tap my foot while I am sending code. Most times I am told  "easy copy" to my sending.

Three of these LID types (1,3,4) can be rectified with practicing off line. However, number 2, maybe they are running a keyer or keyboard and don't know how to change speeds? I don't known.

Flex-6400:

Well my radio is at Flex Radio having the Power poles changed.  I think what happened was the Plus wire might have been damaged causing the resistance to increase through the power pole that caused it to heat up under high current and melt.

What surprised me was it will take them THREE WEEKS before they can get to it. That is ridiculous amount of time for backlog repair. Maybe they should hire a few more techs to help. Just my option.

Antenna Work:

I have decided to rework my antenna system to make it easier to changes antennas . My support ropes are up in trees. The problem with this is the ropes can get entangled in the branches and also the tree will start growing around the ropes, making it difficult to lower the ropes to change antennas. 

What I have done is attach three pullies to the rope and run secondary ropes to these pullies to make it easier to raise and lower the antenna. 

I also strung a rope across the whole distance so I can support my antenna at the balun. This will lessen the strain on the whole antenna. 

Right now, I have my 80-10M OCF dipole up. 

Eventually I would like to put my Radiowavz DX 160 meter OCF SHORT dipole up to see if 160M will work. 

I also have a Alpha Antenna 160-6M EFHW HF Jpole that I want to put up to see how that preforms. And also use it with my TS-520S and HW-8.

Awards:

Recently received mixed 20M WAS for my MA location. Had to wait over three months to get the sticker. I don't why it took so long to get.

I also got awarded my Senator times eight award. It took me a year and a half to go from Sx7 to Sx8. It was not easy. It seem like all the Ts disappeared for some reason HIHI.

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.