More of a Shout than a Whisper…..

The key to converting your treasured and incredibly versatile FT-817 or similar into a digital powerhouse seems to be an A. computer and B. a sound card interface.

So, armed with a tidy little Signalink USB interface, I’ve been attacking digital modes with vigour, starting with WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporting). The Signalink USB is basically a remote sound card in a box, powered by your computer’s USB. This solution allows controlled audio isolation between your rig and transceiver. Level adjustment is available on the front panel too which means you don’t have to navigate clumsily through several windows on your PC and adjust sliders with your mouse to optimise levels.

FT-817 and Signalink USB Interface

The interface connects directly to the data port of my FT-817 and provides a PTT function, if required. However, I’m also using a CAT interface which provides PTT (Push To Talk) as well as frequency configuration from the WSPR program that I’ve started with.

So, straightforward then? Nearly but not quite. There are a few small pitfalls to be aware of. Firstly, the ‘817 needs to be put into DIG mode as opposed to USB mode. This routes the input and output signal to the data port on the rear panel. The data port is inactive in SSB modes. Secondly, the correct data mode needs to be selected in the second-level menu, namely USER-U. This means that it will be operating in USB mode and the passband will be adequate. If this were to be set to RTTY or PSK, then the filtering for WSPR would be too narrow. WSPR signals are individually narrow, but several occupy the given passband. Finally you need to follow the instructions on Windows setup that comes with the Signalink box to the letter. One unchecked box or misplaced slider will drive you to madness.

WSPR Control Software

Apart from that, it seems to be ‘plug and play’! My first play on 40m with a random wire of some 20m in the back garden pulled in a VK straight away. I was heard up in the Norwegian Arctic Circle with 1W. Elation. Simply tuning to 472kHz pulled in a Dutch station with absolutely no special equipment.

For one whole day I exercised near-military discipline. I stayed on the 30m band all day long without jumping to other bands. 1W into my rear-garden wire antenna reached Israel and the Arctic Circle again. East Coast US stations starting to come in at 20.00 GMT and I was reaching the Mid-West by late evening. Within ten minutes this morning on 17m I was heard in New South Wales and Iceland.

10 mins on 17m!

10 mins on 20m!

I finally unleashed my single Watt on the 20m band for the first time this afternoon, immediately yielding a nice path to the Philippines as well as Europe and the East US.

No wonder this aspect of the hobby is so absorbing. I’m absolutely addicted. Did the developer, Joe Taylor, K1JT, realise what he was unleashing on us? A ‘big shout’ goes out to the man who invented WSPR!

QRP v QRO – Blood on the Floor?

The mighty, omnipotent sun that our precious emerald and sapphire orb circulates is nearing the crescendo of its eleven year repeat-performance.

For the first time since 2003, I have revisited the high frequencies: the short waves of equal delight and frustration that ebb and flow with the days, seasons and years. Back then, I worked the world with 10 Watts and a rather long wire antenna. I stayed up all night sometimes to listen to the magical waxing and waning of distant continents on 80m. It was like listening to a sublime symphony. Having moved to a new house with more limited prospects for creating a good HF antenna system, I turned my back on these noble frequencies to chase the excitement of VHF and UHF.

Ironically, the drive for portable operation at V/UHF has led me to flirt with HF again. It's the inevitable purchase of arguably one of the best amateur radios ever manufactured, the Yaesu FT-817. Five delightful Watts from top band, all the way to 70cm. MF to UHF. Sea level to mountain top. CW to FM, with all modes in between. What a gem of beautifully packaged, miniaturised happiness.

FT-817. 5W on 10m.

With 5W of HF readily to hand, I’ve hastily run 10m of vertical wire in the back garden to listen to a more contemporary performance of a classic favourite. Happily, 10m has truly sprung into life. This morning I’ve just completed a QSO from home (Wales) to Greece with 5W at both ends. Deep joy. A quick bargain has even brought a Miracle Whip into the ensemble – just experimenting for fun.

But scanning through the bands in general I’m noticing a tendency to transmit at powers of 1kW and above, whatever the band, whatever the conditions. Abrupt reports of 5/9+ are exchanged with a seemingly insatiable appetite to amass as many transient contacts as possible. Then there are the pile-ups. Those ungentlemanly bun-fights where the loudest (or largest bank account and electricity bill) wins. I’m sure that there are whole streets in Palermo where the lights actually dim when DX from Pago Pago is heard on 20m.

We’ll never know if was possible to work Pago Pago with QRP because we were never given the chance. This is on SSB at least. CW operators have a greater appreciation of low power. This is an old argument that will attract equal venom and praise from our electromagnetic community. But I do believe that as technology advances, there is a global drive for efficiency. Low power is in fashion and with solar conditions as they are, we should all be ‘turning the wick down’ a little bit, shouldn’t we?

I do believe that when the sun takes its rest, there is a place for high power, particularly on the more difficult bands. There – you see? I’m not anti-QRO at all. I’m just advocating using (as your exam tells you) the minimum amount of power necessary to maintain a comfortable QSO.

The Man Who Fishes For DX

I live on Anglesey, a mystical Celtic island steeped in the legends of the Druids and lapped by the misty waters of the Irish Sea. There was whispered talk amongst the old people of an elusive man who fished for DX and caught specimens from Borneo, Antarctica and other strange lands.

Actually, it’s only Dave.

Dave, GW4JKR, has an antenna system that you can’t buy from any supplier. He uses a carbon-fibre fishing pole on a metal spike and several acres of saltmarsh. The system is blindingly simple, takes minutes to erect and is devastatingly effective.

“I set up on the 20m band and all was quiet. I put out my first call (SSB) and you know what? I worked Borneo 5/9. Because he was an English ex-pat, I thought he was local until he gave his callsign for the second time! Other local stations here couldn’t even hear him.”

In a similar vein, Dave related how he’s had a 5/9 chat with a chap with a German accent. Only turned out he was on holiday in Guadalcanal. “You’re the only station in Europe I can hear,” he said from his sunny patio.

One of Dave's many QSL cards

The DX takes the bait each time. Reports come in from the Pacific islands, China, Japan, Korea, Antarctica and New Zealand. I think Dave’s witnessed more pile-ups than the M6 motorway.

The antenna system comprises two ultra-efficient parts, making it a genuine ‘killer’ setup. For the antenna, Dave uses a carbon-fibre fishing pole, also known as a ‘roach pole’. He specifies the better quality versions that use high modulus carbon for optimum conductivity. The pole is approximately 12m in length, coming in seven sections. It is featherweight at under a kilogram. The base of the pole mates to a large ‘agricultural’ steel earth spike, which is actually a brutal pummelling device for digging holes in rocky ground. A plastic sleeve insulates the two components. Coax is easily attached by jubilee and croc clips. The second part of the antenna system is the saltmarsh on the edge of an expansive tidal sandy bay. The saltwater saturation, even at low tide, is high. Ask the shellfish.

Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey

Like a latter day St. George, Dave holds the spike aloft and plunges it deep into the salty mud where it stands at the ready. If there’s a small pool of salty water nearby, all the better – in it goes. Wet, sandy beaches work, but not nearly as well as dark, oozing mud it seems. Lovely.

Clearly the vertical radiator, wide open aspect, perfect electrical ground and ultra-low angle of radiation give the best start a radio signal could ever want in in its sinusoidal life. It’s as electrically quiet as a library down on the beach which makes for reception most of us can only dream of.

Base section of carbon fibre
vertical in situ

Follow Dave’s simple formula and you too can become a fisher of men and the stuff of legend.

SAFETY: Dave would like to warn all readers to exercise care when handling a carbon fibre pole in the open. Do NOT venture anywhere near power lines. You may render yourself permanently QRT.

More photos available on Dave’s Flickr site.