[3830] RTTY Roundup VE7FO Single Op LP

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                    ARRL RTTY Roundup

Call: VE7FO
Operator(s): VE7FO
Station: VE7FO

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Vancouver
Operating Time (hrs): 16

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:   50
   40:   12
   20:   39
   15:  143
   10:   50
------------
Total:  294  State/Prov = 46  Countries = 18  Total Score = 18,816

Club: British Columbia DX Club

Comments:

Just a part time, non-serious effort here.  The station now sports an old R5
10-20m vertical sitting above the even older TH3 tri-bander at 45 ft.  This
gives me an antenna I can listen on with the even older yet 75A4 Rx from my 50s
dream station.  (The CE 100V resides in the box it came in.  Haven't found a use
for it yet.)

The main objective was to work on using the 75A4 to hunt for mults while running
and to document the setup for doing it.  I'm using WriteLog with RITTY on the
MkV and a PK232 on the 75A4.  

To start with, there was concern about damaging the A4 by connecting it to an
antenna so close to the tri-bander.  I put the A4 on the same frequency as the
Tx and tried transmitting 5-10W.  No problems here.  Gradually increased the Tx
out to 100W RTTY.  A4 S-meter says S9 + 40.  I've heard W5s working JA louder
than that so this configuration seems safe.  

Next was the concern about phase noise and desensing.  Well, there is some of
both but not a problem if S&P on a different band.  Forgot to try it on the same
band.

I had a lot of trouble getting decent print out of the 75A4/PK232 combo. 
Finally figured it out.  The A4 has something called passband tuning.  (Nowadays
it's referred to as IF Shift.  Prior to the 75A4 it wasn't called anything
because, AFAIK, it didn't exist.)  If the passband tuning knob isn't set right,
the mark & space tones are at the wrong frequencies so no print.

I also had a lot of trouble staying focussed on the objective.  Being a contest,
I kept trying to make Qs.

Finally, in the last hour, I was at the point where I was able to tune in
stations fairly rapidly on the A4 using the moderately hopeless LED tuning
indicator on the PK232.  A scope on the discriminator outputs would be a lot
better.  It actually worked very well on strong signals, however.  Not at all on
weak signals in QRM.

Once I had a station printing on the PK232, the next issue is how to get the MkV
on frequency so I can call him.  Not many digital computers around when the A4
was designed so no computer control.  The A4 dial has 1 kHz increments.  So I
tuned in a nice strong station on the MkV, tuned the A4 to the same station and
then adjusted the Zero Set on the A4 dial so it read the same frequency, as near
as I could interpolate it, as the MkV.  So, I find a station on the A4 that I
want to call.  Looking at the dial it's at 14083 plus a little bit.  Hmm..
14083.2 or so.  So I type 14083.2 into the WL entry window and hit Enter. 
Bingo, the MkV has moved from 15m to 14083.2.  A very slight amount of tuning,
and sometimes none at all, puts me on the mult's frequency.  Give him a call,
work him and back to running on 15.

This actually works.  Cumbersome when compared to the properly done SO2R setups
but, in the last hour, while running on 15 I made 6 Qs and 1 mult on 20.  This
compares well to the 18 Qs I made running on 15.  While these are pretty trivial
numbers for a serious contester I am encouraged by them.  Of course, if I had
been running on 20 I probably would have done much better in that hour.

I guess the next thing to do would be hook up a counter to the 75A4 VFO, send
the result to the computer and have the computer send CAT commands to the MkV so
the Sub Rx tracks the frequency to which the A4 is tuned.  A better idea would
be to just get a 2nd computer controllable radio and be done with it.

I had some difficulty with the different Rx output in each ear.  I found that I
was concentrating too much on the mult ear and saw, when looking at the monitor,
that people had been answering my CQs and I hadn't noticed.  I don't think that
the alligator term works here.  Need an animal with one ear and one eye (closed
much of the time), I guess.

Heard 3 or 4 other VE7s on so hope everyone found one.

A poignant moment when a VE8 called me 1 minute after the end.

The objective was achieved.  The station can do the SO1.75R thing (SO1.5R is
when you use the main rig's Sub Rx and so can't hear anything while
transmitting) and it is now thoroughly documented so I can do it again.  Hmm...
BARTG in 3 weeks.  Should be good training for WPX RTTY.

73, tnx for the Qs es HNY de Jim Smith	VE7FO


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