I think I might hold the record for the most complicated solution to the
warmup time problem.
I used to have the shack in the basement. In order to be able to get DX
spots without living in the basement all the time, I wired the TNC to both
the shack computer and the computer in my home office with a Y cable and
some diodes. The office is centrally located, so I could hear the CW spots
while working, watching TV in the family room, eating in the kitchen, etc.
Whenever there was a DX spot for a country I needed, I would run downstairs,
hit the ON switch for the 87A, and wait an agonizing 3-4 minutes calling the
DX on low power. Sometimes, those 3CX800A7s really made me pine for the
3-500Zs in my old SB-221 (except when they helped me bust the pileup, of
course.)
I happened to have the shack and office computers networked together, so I
wrote a little script for an async communications program that would turn
the amp on. That's easy with the 87A, because it has RS232 for remote
control. The script ran all the time on the shack computer, looking for
files called 'ON', 'OFF' or 'STOP' to appear. To control the amp, I'd just
drop one of these files on the shack computer over the network from the
office computer (that's a little programming trick called semaphore files,
sometimes used to compensate for lack of interprocess communication over the
network.) When the script detected one of the files, it would send the
appropriate command to the amp or shut itself down. It took less than 20
script instructions to do this.
So, whenever a spot would appear for a country I needed, I would click on a
.BAT file to signal the amp and the 87A would be warming up when I got to
the shack. This probably saved me at least half the warmup time (all of it
if I stopped to get a cup of coffee on the way.) A little elaborate, but
worth it. Now the shack is in the home office (where it belongs!), so I
don't need a separate computer or the control script anymore. In fact, if I
really need instant on, I use the second radio with the SB-221. I can make
several calls with it by the time the 87A warms up. This was an unexpected
benefit from upgrading the station for single-op two-radio contesting with
automatic rig and antenna switching. See -- DXing and contesting *can* live
side-by-side in the same shack!
73, Dick, WC1M
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Chadwick <Peter_Chadwick@mitel.com>
To: 'amps' <amps@contesting.com>
To: <amps@contesting.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1999 8:50 AM
Subject: RE: [AMPS] CW amplifier progress (well, daydream progress) -- lon g
>
> > I NEED INSTANT ON!!! OK?
>
>Of course, it is obviously impossible for the non-technical weenies to
>actually switch the amplifier on into a standby mode when starting the
>operating session - in which case the amp is ready to go by the time you're
>comfortable in the chair and decided which band to go on..............
>
>
>73
>
>Peter G3RZP
>
>--
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>Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
--
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