Blogs and posts about my amateur radio and satellite projects. Most posts are in english,
This is my first ESP8266 project, for control of my LNAs and antenna relays via a web interface. More info and code at my Github:
https://github.com/LarsThunberg/antenna-lna-ESP8266WebRelaySwitch
My setup for amateur radio satellites is SDR for receiving (RX) and Icom IC-705 for transmitting (TX). To my antennas I have two separate coax feedlines. Before, when switching band between RX and TX I was forced to manually change the coax feedlines connectors between SDR and IC-705.
I started to plan a simple relay switch to be able to switch fast and easy between TX/RX and UHF/VHF antenna – I call this a ”Simple full duplex relay switch”. The plan was this:
The relay used was this mini SMA relay by OK1CDJ. It can handle 10 watts (up to 20 watts according to hamshop.cz). The short coax between the relays are RG-405.
I have done SWR and loss measurements and it is very low. The original design and measurements can be found here:
http://blog.ok1cdj.com/2011/08/levne-koaxialni-rele.html
This is the result, it works very good. Todo: put the relays in a nice box.
I got the PstRotator to work with OmniRig and IC-705 over WLAN. I’m using ”Icom Remote Utility” on Windows to set up the virtual COM-port. And I’m setting up OmniRig like this:
I had several problem getting the OmniRig to communicate with IC-705 via WLAN, but after re-installing to the OmniRig supplied with PstRotator (v1.18) I got it working OK. It is also working from SDR-Console V3.
So now it is possible to do doppler control of the IC-705 without any cables for true portable operations! See short video below:
My signal heard on almost all continents. 8 watt with IC-705, antenna EFHW. Band: 20 meter, 2021-03-28 daytime UTC. IC-705 connected to PC/WSJT-X via Wifi.
This is a very fast guide to set up the IC-705 with UISS for sending AX.25 packets and APRS.
Important update!
When using automatic control from PC then both the elevation and azimut is controlled (moved) at the same time. It seems that the Dell power adapter can not handle the current amp spike and turns off (overload protection I guess).
I have now return to using my 13.5 volt power supply.
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.
Tested new mode today, JS8CALL, and got first QSO with SM4INV:
Read more and download at http://js8call.com/