Författare: Lars Thunberg

Kategorier
Amateur Radio

Rot2Prog powered with Dell 19.5V adapter

I have been powering my Rot2Prog rotor controller for my RAS rotor with 13.5 volt. This means that the rotor turns slow. My 13.5 volt power supply also has a very high idle consumption of 10 watts.

I changed the power supply to a standard Dell power adapter – LA130PM121 19.5V 6.7A PA-1131-28D1 130W. It can be found very cheap. I just cut off the power plug and connected the wires from the Dell adapter to the Rot2Prog controller wires.

Now the turning goes MUCH faster! The Dell adapter also has a very low idle consumption – under 0.5 watt. So it can be connected all the time. What I can see there is no interference from the adapter on VHF and UHF.

I highly recommend using the Rot2Prog controller with an old computer adapter. Below is a short video of how fast it is turning.

Kategorier
IC-705

IC-705 operation and satellite memories

Please see the following posts at AMSAT-SM about IC-705 satellit operation and memory files/settings:

Working satellites with IC-705 PstRotator SDR-Console
Satellite Memory File for IC-705
Kategorier
IC-705

IC-705 Mic 3V or 8V?

In IC-705 it is possible to set the MIC output voltage to 8V instead of default 3V. I have done some tests and I do not hear any difference with the standard microphone HM-243. What do you think?

FM 3V

FM 8V

USB 3V

USB 8V

Kategorier
Amateur Radio

JS8CALL

Tested new mode today, JS8CALL, and got first QSO with SM4INV:

Read more and download at http://js8call.com/

Kategorier
Amateur Radio IC-705

Satellite Memory File for IC-705

This is a memory group file over satellite frequencies for Icom IC-705 and CS-705 software. It is not complete and will be updated. Feel free to use it, change and add.

The memories for FM transponders are used like this:

  • Channels named with satellite name, for exemple ”PO-101”, are used in split mode. This channel can be used when using the IC-705 for portable operation or without an extra receiver .
  • Channels named with satellite name and Uplink, for exemple ”PO-101 Uplink”, are used only for uplink (not split). This can be used with software like SDR-Console v3 (external radio) or if you have an extra receiver.

Import the memory file into CS-705:
Note! Be sure that you not overwrite anything in your IC-705 when cloning. Make a backup of your current settings!

  • Create a new memory group
  • Mark this new group
  • Choose File->Import->Group and choose the .csv file
  • The memories will now be imported to CS-705
  • Clone to your IC-705.

IC-705_SatFrqMemGroup.csv (Downloaded from AMSAT-SM website)

Kategorier
Amateur Radio IC-705

First satellite QSO since 1993

Today, 2020-11-11, I made my first satellite QSO since 1993 (when Oscar-13 was alive). My two QSOs was via PO-101, IC-705, 10 watts output to 13 el X-Yagi.

Kategorier
IC-705

IC-705 vs RS-918 with FT8

I was interested to know how my RS-918 (a mcHF SDR HF radio clone) performed with FT8 compared to my new IC-705.
I have done a series of test. Very non-technical tests, without any promise if this is the truth. But it was possible to repeat the results several times. I have done the following:

  • RX test: 10 minutes with one radio, switch antenna and then 10 minutes with the other radio. Then counting number of received stations.
  • TX test: 10 minutes with one radio, switch antenna and then 10 minutes with the other radio. Then counting number of stations that could RX my signals.
  • Test done on 20 meter (14 MHz) and 40 meter (7 MHz) band during day and evening time.
  • 5 watts output was used. The RS-918 needed a little PA calibration to reach 5 watt.
  • The tests has been repeated three times on both TX and RX.

RX:
What I can see is that the number of station received are similar, in the image below the RS-918 actually received more stations but in the other tests I could not say that one of the radio was better than the other.

IC-705 RX 40 meter
RS-918 RX 40 meter


TX:
In all tests, the IC-705 performed better. The output (5 watts) is the same but it seems that the IC-705 have some more punch in the modulation. I do not know, I have not investigated this further…

So, for some ”local” FT8 contacts in Europe I can use the RS-918 but if I would like to hunt some DX I will use the IC-705 with 10 watts.

IC-705 TX 40 meter
RS-918 TX 40 meter