There is plenty of published information on how to build common mode chokes (CMCs), but not much related to measuring their performance. This post details three such tests using a Nano VNA. If anyone is aware of additional tests which will shed light on a CMC’s performance, I’m all ears.
Continue reading Measuring Common Mode Chokes
Getting voice digital voice keying (DVC) working between N1MM+ and my TS-590SG has been an elusive target, but after another contest without it, I decided it really was a bullet which needed to be bitten. The post will explain the vagaries of the TS-590SG, and why it’s not as straight forward as perhaps some other radios.
Continue reading Digital Voice Keying a Kenwood TS-590SG from N1MM+I’m super stoked. I listened to the International Space Station (ISS) pass yesterday with my kids. Lots of beeping and screeching, but it was coming from a radio on the ISS, that we were hearing in Margate, so it was exciting none the less. So this morning I thought I’d best install some decoding software (MMSSTV) to see if we could receive the images they were transmitting, which I did, and wouldn’t you know it, the ISS was due for a long pass (eight minutes) almost directly overhead as soon as I’d finished. 
I’ve got a VKLink node that doesn’t get a whole lot of use, so seems a little daft to have a radio on all day just in case. Most of my “radio time” happens in my office, so I always have my computer on. Seeing as the VKLink internals uses Asterisk, I should be able to connect and monitor the node from a SIP client on my phone or computer.
I’ve only got it configured to access via the LAN at the moment, but there’s nothing stopping you accessing the node via the internet too.
This post demonstrates how to set it up for yourself.
It’s my fault, I fiddled.
Radio was working fine, then I attempted to DIY a remote head cable as they can’t be purchased any more.
Long story short, after trying my funky cable, the radio wouldn’t power on any more, so assume some pins shorted one of the other lines perhaps.
I left it for a couple of days, trying it again each morning, in the eternal hope that by some magic or via electrical fairy helpers, it would spontaneously start working again. I kept telling myself things like “Perhaps the capacitors need a little more time to fully drain. Yes. that’s why it hasn’t started working again.” For a hyper logical person like I am, it’s amazing the flights of fantasy we can summon in times of need. I even offered a little prayer, while all the time knowing that in the grand scheme of things, there were more worthwhile causes to which God’s attention could be better addressed.
Continue reading Fixed IC-208h with no power with remote head.