when conditions start to go bad...

Thank you everyone for all of the great tips! I had a QSO this evening and had some bad QSB in the beginning and QRMD (did I use that right?) at the end. So I learned something. It's great to have all of these tools at my disposal, and I worked the filters and the RIT to make it happen, but employing these tools and copying at the same time is no easy feat! I feel like a hurdler in a way. Learning to copy the code was just the first hurdle of many. You have to be able to send well too. And then you have to be able to copy on the air with all of the challenges that come along. CW isn't a planet; it's a whole universe!

 

Yeah, sometimes it can be like trying to fly a helicopter while playing a pipe organ...

I *think* I have the ability to sort of follow what the other op is sending while I'm noodling with the filters, passbands, notches, RIT and RF gain.

I expect there's a certain number of things you can pre-set or at least have turned on so you can bring them into play.

73,

Chuck VE7PJR
In one little corner of Planet CW...

 

I'm also new at this, which perhaps offers a different perspective than 30 yrs of experience.

I am handling the problem of "QSO administrative tasks" by sending/receiving at 12 wpm, even though I am pretty comfortable receiving at 15 wpm.

I find there is just enough CPU left between my ears to handle copying the QSO and adjusting the passband at 12 wpm, but at 15 wpm I'm not sure where I put the pencil while I was sending.

My plan of attack for this is to work up to 20 wpm, so I can be comfortable at 15...

 

How do you "feed" your LOG? What sort of transmission line?

Tnx

de KA5GEX

 

My rig is an IC-7200, so I have added a DX Engineering RTR-2 interface in order to be able to use a receive antenna. I optioned the interface with all three available options: a preamp, a receiver-overload protection circuit, and a 75-to-50 ohm matching circuit. The other end of the coax is a DX Engineering DXE-BFS-1 Beverage antenna matchbox.

The matchbox comes with F connectors, set up for 75 ohm coax. The RTR-2 unit's manual says it will accept a 50 ohm cable with F connectors with little loss, but it seemed like a good idea to match the impedance all the way through.

I ran some 75 ohm coax up the hill behind the house, installed the matchbox to a chunk of rebar I hammered into the ground, hooked the end of my spool of wire to one terminal, and took a long walk around the area. Then I hooked the other end to the other terminal, covered the connection box with a plastic bucket, and that was that.

My review-in-brief of the options is:

1. I LOVE the receive antenna.
2. I can take or leave the preamp. Mostly it's off because as I mentioned earlier it amps the noise as well as the signal. The preamp in the rig is just as good, and also stays off most of the time.
3. I don't know if I've come close to overloading my input, but if I have the protector took care of it.

You will have to set your rig to semi-break-in. The sensors and relays in the RTR-2 don't switch between TX and RX fast enough for full break-in.

On the whole I'm quite pleased with it, though all told it wasn't a cheap purchase. Well worth the cost, to me.

73,

Chuck VE7PJR

 

Chuck, tnx fer details. I'm thinking about an LOG here.

Vy 73 es DX de KA5GEX John

 

wow! you do all of that during a QSO?!








Dave
W7UUU

 

Eh, no...

 

Go back and read his question: he wants to know what people do when a CW QSO starts to go sideways... add filters, tighten filters, etc.

Your post just made me smile that's all.



Dave
W7UUU

 

Eh, no...