RGO ONE transceiver 60m option available...

Hi all,

there is good news from Boris, LZ2JR - the developer and manufacturer of the new compact high performance transceiver RGO ONE...

"At last we have working RGO ONE on 160m (1.8MHz – 2.0MHz) and 60m (5.25MHz – 5.45MHz). All needed are two boards – LPF for  160m and BPF 160/60m"

If you do not know what is the RGO ONE then more infor you can find in three parts article here: https://ok1rp.blogspot.com/
...or directly here: http://lz2jr.com/blog/


73 - Petr, OK1RP
http://ok1rp.blogspot.com

Upcoming DXpeditions by Joe, W8GEX

Upcoming DXpeditions

Rotuma: 3D2R Mid Dec. to early Jan

Gambia: C5YK Mid Dec to March 16

NEW COUNTRY South Orkney Islands: VP8/VP8DXU - Feb. 20, to Mar5
 
Swains W8S: March 10 – 25, 2020

Western Kiribati: T30ET- March 11, to April 2, 2020

Ivory Coast: TU2R March 23 to April 3


73 - Petr, OK1RP
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The Icom IC-735 on 60m band article revisited...

Hi all,

I decided to revisiting the old article about the 60m band modification of the Icom IC-735. Thanks to Rudi, DK7PE for letting me know about the non-functional link in that article. Also I found major mistake by copycats or even original author of the mod article on internet so I decided to completely reworking it...

https://60mband.blogspot.ch/2011/01/icom-ic-735-on-60m-band.html


73 - Petr, OK1RP
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ARES Teams in Three West Central Florida Section Counties Ready to Support Shelters

ARES Teams in Three West Central Florida Section Counties Ready to Support Shelters

As Hurricane Irma moves closer to the Florida Peninsula, ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Darrell Davis, KT4WX, reports that Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams have been requested to provide communication support at evacuation shelters in Highlands, Hillsborough, and Polk counties.

“Other counties in the West Central Florida Section are considering shelter operations,” Davis said. “Therefore, in support of these activations or planned activations, West Central Florida Section ARES is going to a Level 2 activation to provide any needed support for these activations, either current or planned.”

As of 1500 UTC, Hurricane Irma was about 75 miles east-northeast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and about 120 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island. Maximum sustained winds have abated somewhat to 175 MPH. The storms present movement is west-northwest at 16 MPH.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC), has issued a hurricane watch for the Florida peninsula from Jupiter Inlet southward and around the peninsula to Bonita Beach, including the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida Bay. A storm surge watch has been issued for the Florida peninsula from Jupiter Inlet southward and around the peninsula to Bonita Beach, including the Florida Keys.

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds — conditions that make outdoor preparations difficult or dangerous.
Davis called on all ARES, ACS, and CERT personnel to continue closely monitoring National Hurricane Center advisories on Hurricane Irma and to be in communication with their respective leadership, in case their assistance with communication support is needed.

Davis said a special session of the ARRL West Central Florida Section ARES Net was being planned.
Source:ARRL

73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Carribean Emergency Response – Update [ IARU ]

Carribean Emergency Response – Update [ IARU ]

Hurricane Irma is currently progressing through the USA state of Florida and Hurricane Jose is still threatening the Carribean. At the same time Mexico is still dealing with the after effects of the Earthquake which affected that country earlier this week and the remains of Hurricane Katia. To add to the problems, an X8.2 solar flare is causing a major HF blackout in the Americas which will potentially affect communications until Monday (UTC).
As Hurricane Irma progresses through Florida there will be more HF frequencies in use by local ARES groups but these will lie mostly outside the IARU Region 1 band allocations ( West Central Florida planning to use 3940, 3950 and 7247 kHz for example ). More information on this should come from the ARRL .
Updates to frequencies in use are;


Mexico
7060 and 7080 kHz to deal with the Earthquake and Hurricane Katia


St. Maarten
14290 and 7190 kHz ( Voice or PACTOR )


US Wide Area traffic handling
14115, 7115 and if necessary 10115 kHz ( all CW )


Carribean Emergency and Weather Net ( CEWN )
3815, 7188 and possibly 7162 kHz


FNRASEC in France are reaching out to French speaking areas in the Carribean on 14132kHz.


As Irma moves away from the Carribean islands, Radio Amateurs are entering the area to help. The Red Cross asked for assistance on Sint Maarten where communications had been badly affected. Tom Braam PJ2DD volunteered for this task and left September 8th on one of the first relief flights to Sint Maarten with a Pactor HF station and 9 VHF/UHF handheld radios to start providing communications. Frequencies in use are as above.
Enquiries about persons in the affected areas should be referred to the various Red Cross websites set up for this purpose. ‘Welfare’ messages from outside the area are not expected to be handled for at least three days, with thousands of displaced people, locating them for message delivery is difficult.
As always, please listen carefully and avoid causing QRM to frequencies in use for distress and emergency traffic. The operators in the affected areas already have a difficult job, please give them as much room as possible to work.
Source:IARU

http://www.tcpalm.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2017/09/10/responsibility-large-but-rewarding-indian-river-county-ham-radio-operators/651819001/

http://qrznow.com/ae4fh-checking-into-the-hurricane-watch-net-and-giving-a-report/

As we are worrying about all of our mates from Caribbean isles and close to FLA, GA... please let us know how you survived Irma hurricanes and if you and relates are ok!

Please let me/us know if we can help somehow! Do not hesitate to ask for help or support by email or ham radio...!


73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Armed Forces Day Crossband Military/Amateur Radio Communications Test is May 13

The US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard will sponsor the traditional military/amateur radio communication tests on Saturday, May 13 to mark the 66th annual Armed Forces Day (AFD). Armed Forces Day is May 20, but the AFD Crossband Military-Amateur Radio event will take place a week earlier in order to avoid schedule conflicts with those attending Hamvention.

FINAL 2017 ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY v1.pdf

Complete information, including military stations, modes, and frequencies, is available on the US Army MARS website at, http://www.usarmymars.org/home/announcements .

The annual celebration is a unique opportunity to test two-way communication between radio amateurs and military stations (authorized under Part 97.111 of the Amateur Service rules). It features traditional military-to-amateur crossband SSB voice, CW, practice using legacy interoperability waveforms, and the opportunity for participating hams to utilize more modern military modes, such as MIL-STD Serial PSK and Automatic Link Establishment (ALE). Military stations and Amateur Radio stations are authorized to communicate directly on certain 60-meter interoperability channels - 5,330.5, 5346.5, and 5,371.5 kHz.

These tests give Amateur Radio operators and shortwave listeners a chance and a challenge to demonstrate individual technical skills and to receive recognition from the appropriate military radio station. QSL cards will be available for stations successfully contacting participating military stations.

The Armed Forces Day message will be transmitted via Military Standard radioteletype modes (MIL-STD 188-110A/B). Software is available to demodulate the military serial PSK waveform, and detailed instructions can be downloaded from, http://www.n2ckh.com/MARS_ALE_FORUM/MSDMT.html
Utilizing this mode with soundcard equipment can be challenging; review the instructions carefully.

A short practice transmission will be sent at 1930 and 2330 on May 6, 7, 10, and 12 on 13.506.5 MHz USB and 17.443.0 MHz USB.
Military FSK is Baudot at 850 Hz, 75 baud, low mark, and 2000 Hz center. Most RTTY programs can be set to decode this mode. To achieve low mark while receiving in USB, select reverse shift.

QSL cards are available for individuals that receive the Armed Forces Day test message. To receive a card, copy the printed text of the test message as received from the military station, and include it in your report. No attempt should be made to correct possible errors.

Stations copying Armed Forces Day messages transmitted from US Army and US Navy stations and requesting a QSL card, can complete the QSL report form online at, http://www.usarmymars.org/ . Stations copying the Armed Forces Day message transmitted from US Air Force stations and seeking a QSL card should send a request to Armed Forces Day Celebration, Chief, Air Force MARS, 203 W. Losey St, Scott AFB, IL 62225.

Include a transcript of the received text, time observed, frequency observed, military station call sign, your full name and Amateur Radio call sign (if applicable), full mailing address (including ZIP code).

Stations with Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) capability can contact a military station on specific half duplex crossband channels established for this purpose. ALE is a selective calling and linking method utilized by government, military, and amateur radio communications.

Military stations will scan and receive certain amateur HFLINK ALE frequencies and transmit on the corresponding military ALE frequency. Military stations will also transmit ALE station identification (soundings) on each military frequency at 30- to 90-minute intervals.

Amateur stations may scan military frequencies and monitor the soundings to build the LQA database or select the channel manually. Amateur stations will call military stations using ALE selective calling on one of the paired cross band channels.

73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Putting the K2 on 60m using K60XV module

Putting the K2 on 60m band using K60XV module


The K60XV adds 60-meter ham-band coverage to the K2 and K2/100 transceivers. In addition, it provides a low-level (0 dBm) split path interface for use with transverters such as the Elecraft XV Series.

60 Meters
Revision 2.04 K2 firmware allows the operator to quickly hop among the five fixed channels, as well as do channel-based scanning. The KPA100 option can be also used on 60 meters, but units shipped prior to March, 2004 will require modification (see page 2 of assembly manual).

Complete manual is here.

Specifications

60-meter coverage Approx. 5.0 to 5.5 MHz; see text for permitted transmit frequencies

Transverter T/R control PIN diode switching

Transverter output Low-level, approx. 0.1-1.0 mW (-10 to 0 dBm); linearized RF/ALC detector

Current drain Typically 1 to 2 mA in receive mode, 2 to 15 mA transmit

PCB size 2.0 x 2.6" (5.1 x 6.6 cm)

Firmware Requirements

K2: Revision 2.04P or later main microcontroller firmware is required (U6, Control board), and revision 1.09 or later I/O Controller firmware (U1, RF board). Serial number 4060 and higher K2s already have these revisions. To check the revision, hold any switch while turning the K2 on. Two numbers will be displayed: your main microcontroller revision on the left (e.g. 2 . 0 3 D ), and the IOC revision (e.g. 1 . 0 7 ).

If either is not current, you must obtain an update from Elecraft (order #FWK2MCIO). This new firmware is included free of charge with the purchase of the K60XV kit on request.

Source: http://www.elecraft.com

73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Putting the K2 on 60m w/o K60XV...

Putting the K2 on 60m band w/o K60XV

 
An Elecraft re-post information on how to put the K2 on 60 meters for those who are anxious to try out the band without the K60XV optional module. K2 firmware does not at present include 60 m in the band map, so the modification works by "sharing" 40-meter components.

Note: This modification is recommended for experimentation only. However, a few hams in the UK have made these changes successfully, and Elecraft own initial tests show that performance is the same as on the other bands.

1. The 40 meter band-pass filter must be resonated on 60 meters:
Install a DPDT switch on the rear panel, close to the 40-m band-pass filter. The two switch commons should be wired to either side of C6, the top coupling cap in this filter. In the 60 m switch position, a 4.7 pF capacitor should be placed in parallel with C6. From either side of this capacitor to ground, you'll need a 50 pF trimmer and a 47 pF fixed cap, in parallel. The filter will be peaked later.

2. Memories can be set up for easy 60m or 40m access:
Turn on the K2 and switch to 40 meters. Select the 1-kHz-per-step VFO tuning rate and tune the VFO down from 40 m to the center of the 60 meter band (~5.3 MHz). Hit A=B to set both VFOs to this frequency, then STORE the setup in a frequency memory (I used #5 since this is 5 MHz). Then tune back up to 40 meters, hit A=B, and STORE this in another memory (#7 makes sense: 7 MHz). Now you can jump to either 60 or 40 meters using the RCL button. Of course you could assign up to 5 memories for use on the new channelized 60-meter assignments.

3. The VCO requires additional capacitance:
Use RCL #5 to get back to 60 meters. The PLL will be out of lock because the 40-meter VCO capacitance is too small to allow the VCO to tune down to 5.3 + 4.9 = 10.2 MHz. To get the PLL to lock, you'll have to parallel some 30-70 pF of extra capacitance across C71. Connect a voltmeter to R30, and find a value of C that results in a VCO voltage of 1.5-7.5 V over the desired 60 m segment. Then install a tiny SPST switch on the board which, when thrown to the 60 m position, puts this cap into the circuit. Use very short leads, and cut an access hole in the bottom cover. (Note: the K60XV will be supplied with two MV209 varactor diodes, D19 and D20, that will work in combination with the K2's new "D19" menu entry to change the VCO tuning range so that it covers both 40 and 60 meters with new VCO relay combinations. You don't need new K2 firmware to use the fixed capacitance method described here. But if you have it, leave "D19" set to "N".)

4. With both the VCO and BPF switches in the 60 m position, and a 60-m memory recalled, align the BPF trimmers on 60 meters in RX or TX mode.

5. The K2's original 40-m low-pass filter and push-pull PA does a decent job of suppressing the 2nd harmonic on 60 meters, but if you want some extra margin, use the new 40m/60m elliptic low-pass filter components shown in the Revision D K2 manual. These components are already present in K2s s/n 3000 and up.

You're now ready to use the K2 barefoot on 60 meters (up to 15 W). Remember to use upper sideband *only* as we haven't yet convinced the FCC to let us use CW. 

The KAT2 and KAT100 automatic antenna tuners will both work on this band, so you can use a 40 or 80-meter antenna or a random wire.

DO NOT use the KPA100 on 60 meters unless you have the means to check 2nd harmonic suppression. Since the KPA100 uses a 40/30 meter low-pass filter, the 2nd harmonic attenuation on 60 meters would be determined solely by the balance of the PA strip, which may or may not meet FCC specs. A future modification to the KPA100 will allow use on 60 meters. (Also note the carefully-defined 50-watt power limit on this band. See http://www.arrl.org  for details.)

Source: http://www.elecraft.com/


73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Kenwood TS-590 (ver.E) TX modification for 5MHz by Roar, LA4AMA

Kenwood TS-590 TX modification

The E version (Europe) has no TX on 5 MHz, but the K version (USA has 5 MHz TX between 5.250 MHz and 5.450 MHz. According to the service manual (page 120) the difference between E and K version is a jumper (R968) which is installed in E version but missing in the K version.

There are 2 possible TX extensions on the E version, either full TX (1.705 – 30 MHz) or just open up 5 MHz (cut the R968 jumper and make it into a K version).

Complete modification guide is here

Thanks to Roar, LA4AMA for sharing this mod.


73 - Petr, OK1RP
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Icom 7300 on 60m band modification

Hello,

the wide band modification of IC-7300 by removing some of diodes on the diode matrix board (close to the big RENESAS chip see below) is going to open your RX and TX in few different ranges.

Most known modification article is by Marcus, PA2DB...

Open RX 0.030-74.8Mhz (REMOVE D416)
Open TX 0.1-74.8Mhz (REMOVE D422) (D419 is and must be in)

If you don't want to modify your radio for out of band TX operation then you can just open the TX for 60m band:

Only Open TX 60Mtr 5.255-5.405Mhz (REMOVE D405)

As Markus saying about the modification...

"Well, I made the mods (both for wide open and for 60 m band and it worked perfectly on an european version with the first firmware.
After flashing the updates, the mod remained there..."

"A proper modification, at least how I made it, can be watched on the video below.
Check at min 21:00 to see the diode matrix after the mod!"

https://youtu.be/ENU_rCQtdXo

Also I really like to recommending every time follow the instructions written very well below:


Some words of "wisdom" to read BEFORE you proceed to the mod:

Just like any other mods, beware that you do it on your risk and you loose the warranty!

1. Check the radio to be disconnected from power supply

High grade Industrial ESD mat

2. Please, use ESD discharge measures! No kidding, use ESD countermeasures both for your body and for the soldering station!
3. Use a lot of soldering flux! The diodes are very sensitive to high temperature and the solder Flux (I use GEL type) help in reducing the temperature for the areas not touched by the soldering station's tip.
4. Use 60/40 soldering alloy to reduce the melting point for the ROHS solders!
5. Use unsolder braid to clean the PCB pads!
6. Use a good soldering station!
7. Use good tweezers.
8. Use good magnifying glasses AND/OR microscope. The diodes are very very small.

I had some e-mails form a fellow ham who removed the D413 from error and the radio is not working on 6m band! He put the diode back but the radio remains without 6 m band.

I do not know if he fried the original diode but AFAIK, the diode matrix established the country version.
I suggest to put the diodes just as above and do a re-flash.

I just test to see if a downgrade to 1.12 (now I have 1.13) is possible and it is!

(Many thanks to Markus, PA2DB for his good job and hope it will help to some others.)



73 - Petr, OK1RP
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