posted 4/8/13
De Charlie - NN3V:
Howdy.
Well,
I’ve updated my shack to the digital age.
Knowing
I was going to do this, I built a new homebrew computer also, this one capable
of two simultaneous displays and a quad core processor with 8 GB RAM. Needed a
bit more power than my old Pentium could give for SDR operation.
Now
running my FT-5000 with the LP-PAN 2 software defined radio, and using NaP3
software designed radio application.
In
all honesty, all I do now is turn the radio on, and forget about it. The
software and the LP-PAN 2 do all the rest. Band change, filter change, mode
change, etc. And I have the SteppIR antenna programmed to follow the band
changes automatically (but you can’t change the electronic orientation on then
computer HI HI).
So
the result is attached.
The first file, a .jpg, is a picture of the operating position. Note the dual display (with HAMMY up at the top).
On
the left display is the logging program, Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD). On the left ½
of the left display is HRD is showing all the recent contacts (the size can be
made bigger or smaller to suit the operator as to how far back the contacts are
shown).
At
the bottom of the left ½ you can see the spots from the reflector. It shows who
the spotted station is, who spotted the station, at what time, on what band and
frequency, and gives me the azimuth from my station to the spotted station.
Unfortunately
the detail is not good enough, but every spot also includes an icon generated by
HRD that tells me whether or not I’ve worked the country before, whether or
not I worked the country on the band to which I am tuned, and whether or not I
worked the country on the mode I am using.
It
also tells me whether or not my previous contact with the country in question
has been QSLd on LOTW, WQSL, QRZ, or by direct QSL card exchange.
The
display on the right hand side shows two images of the portion of the band to
which I am tuned. The upper ½ is the RF spectrum, and the lower ½ is a
waterfall (time generated display) of the signals that are present in the
spectrum displayed above it.
To
understand what the display shows, I’ve included a .png (now a 'jpg) file of
your activity in this morning’s net.
On
the left display you will see the list of recent contacts, and on the right ½
of the display you can see that I am ready to enter you in the log. At the
bottom left ½ of the left display you can see that HRD is telling me whether or
not I’ve worked you before, and of course in your case the entries are
hundreds long.
On
the right display you will see your signal as it appeared on the pan scope
display. The center red line is 14.215. You can see that your signal is 3 KHz
wide, no5t overdriven (or the bottom display would show a lot of red falling
vertically from your signal), and you can also see that your audio is mostly in
the base area (close to the red center line).
The
solid white line dropping down the waterfall to the left of center was a bizarre
digital signal that came on the air about 15 minutes before our net started, and
just stayed there.
Yes.
I’ll
be attending the SDR forums at
73
de
Charlie
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Here's another look at Charlie's new shack...
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Many thanks to Charlie for showing us the latest and greatest!
73, Keith
