Chet,
Let me know if you need a local test signal, and I’ll fire up the
transverter. I think we worked on 222 in the past.
73,
Paul N1SFE
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 11:46 AM <chetsubaccount@snet.net> wrote:
>
> During this past June's VHF contest, I found that I heard no stations on
> 222
> cw, ssb, or FT8, and none answered my CQ's. This seemed odd. Digging into
> it
> after the contest, I found that I could not even hear any beacon stations,
> not even the regulars. Have they all gone off the air?
>
> So, I started checking my end.
> The antennas measured OK with a nanoVNA.
> The Elecraft transverter made the expected transmit power.
> The sequencer T/R relays were operating fine.
> The bias voltages of the active devices in the 222 transverter receive path
> seemed normal.
>
> Then, using the nanoVNA as a signal source, I found that a 222.1 input
> signal was about 1.2 MHz higher than it should have been at the IF freq!
> Has
> the crystal LO shifted frequency? Weird. Tried to fire up my Airspy SDR to
> verify, but Win 10 would not recognize it being plugged in. Wasted an
> afternoon trying to get that to work without success. Fiddled with the
> transceiver's LO inductor tuning, no luck. Sigh.
>
> Plan B: Last year I built an external LO for my 432-transceiver using a
> nice
> stable synthesizer PCB from Q5 Signal and incorporated an additional LO
> output for 222 if ever needed. Guess it is time to modify the Elecraft to
> use this LO source. Success! The beacons were received again and transmit
> seemed normal.
>
> Though my time was limited, last night was a good chance to test it in the
> real world. Initially I heard many stations on ssb exchanging pleasantries.
> And I think it might have been WZ1V's strange broken up CW coming in with
> good strength.
>
> Eventually I got everything else back together and fired up on FT-8 and
> called without getting any answers for a while-hmmm? Then a loud WA3NUF
> appeared. It took me a couple of sequences before correctly setting WSJT-X
> to respond, and it was a quick Q, followed by one with K1WHS. Next I heard
> a
> weak WA4VA in FN42 calling me but could not complete the contact. Seems 222
> here is well again.
>
> TU and 73,
> Chet, N8RA
>
>
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