No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
August 22, 2009 - 00:31
I'm trying to figure out why my PSK31 CQ calls on 20m go unanswered. I am new to this mode but I'm pretty sure the IC-718 is delivering 15 watts to my outdoor all-band loop antenna. IMD measures around -20dB.
Sunspot count is zero and solar flux is very low right now which is not conducive to DX. However I'm hearing strong signals from the Carribean and South America around the clock.
Is it something in the station setup... hardware or software (DigiPan)? Or is it my inexperienced keyboard technique? Could it be that the stations I'm hearing are running high power?
Curious to hear how others hams are doing...
Roger AB8IF, Ohio
August 22, 2009 - 21:09
#2
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Hi Jacob,
Thank you for your comments.
I am using a horizontal loop, something called a skywire. It is a full wavelength long at 40m and self resonates on 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m. It meanders through 5 trees to make a pentagon at a height of 15' to 25'. The antenna is connected to an antenna tuner via speaker zip-cord. In years past this set-up has worked well on SSB. Maybe the zip-cord has weathered and is now past it's prime. I suspect an open wire feeder would be a better choice in the first place.
I haven't yet tried running more power. Forty watts is probably the maximum continuous output I can get from the IC-718, and that is less than a single S point increase over my present 15 watts.
Another possibility... those trees that the antenna wire runs through have gotten pretty big over the years. Maybe most of my radiated power is just warming up all those leaves... ha ha!
Roger AB8IF
August 23, 2009 - 01:17
#3
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
I haven't heard of of a skywire antenna before; that's interesting. Personally, I use a G5RV dipole and a tuner.
Are you able to transmit via SSB voice? Or is this a dedicated digital setup?
Also, what are you using to connect your computer to your radio?
Jacob,
KD5TEN
August 23, 2009 - 22:37
#4
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Thanks again Jacob for your inputs. They are helpful for clearing the dust that has settled around this OT ham!
Hooked up a mike and tried to make some SSB contacts this afternoon. Again, no luck.
I noticed that the tuner settings were no different from the time I had no difficulties. Also the SWR was unchanged and looked pretty good... <1.2 This says the antenna is pretty much in original condition (as in 4-5 years ago)...
My last contacts were in fall and winter seasons (i.e. no leaves on the trees) and were at a time when the sun was much more active. I figure in those conditions the antenna worked fine.
The trees that fill my yard and adjacent properties are 60' to 80' high... way above my loop antenna. Being an antenna-unfriendly neighborhood I can't take a chainsaw to the trees and erect a 100' tower. Gotta be sneaky instead... (hams are good at that!) ... think I'll look into a balloon hoisted long-wire (fortunately all of the utility lines are underground here).
73, Roger AB8IF
P.S. The computer-rig interface is homebrew. Transformer isolated links for audio in/out, and an photo-FET driving the PTT from an RS-232 port.
August 25, 2009 - 01:47
#5
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Further information I have found on the Internet that should help me... and perhaps others in similar cicumstances...
- Trees could be attenuating my signal up to 6dB (1 S-point)
- Add leaves... That's another S-point!
- Speaker zip-cord for transmission line? That's another S-point!!
i.e. My 15 watt output could effectively be as low as 234 mW!
For starters that zip cord is history...
AB8IF
August 25, 2009 - 13:09
#6
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Sounds like you'd better trim those trees! :)
Jacob, KD5TEN
August 26, 2009 - 22:31
#7
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Looks like Mother Nature is doing the job for me!! The trees that hold up two corners of the loop are breaking up under the weight of this year's apple crop. The loop antenna is no more. And on close inspection the zip-cord transmission line looked weathered... not good.
This is a good time to revisit antenna design for this heavily wooded lot.
I'll be back... PSK31 or Bust!
Roger AB8IF
September 2, 2009 - 00:11
#8
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
I'm back on the air, this time with a 20m longwire antenna. Receiving good DX signals (as before) and still unable to make contacts.
I came across this website which allows you to monitor your PSK transmissions...
http://psk.gladstonefamily.net/pskmap.html
I was amazed to find out that my signals were getting into Europe and South America.
Then I came across a QRZ forum that said no one calls CQ or "monitoring the frequency" on PSK31 (it didn't mention the accepted means of making contact). That was bit of a surprise since DigiPan has the traditional CQ protocols built in.
I guess the trick to making a PSK31 QSO these days is to have a nice DX prefix on your callsign??
Roger AB8IF
September 2, 2009 - 13:31
#9
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Glad to hear you're back on the air! I haven't heard about the no CQ calls; last I checked, it was the customary way to initiate a contact. :) I usually call CQ this way
CQ CQ CQ de KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN
CQ CQ CQ de KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN K
I believe that is called a 3x2 (or 2x3?) since I repeat CQ and my callsign 3 times, then repeat the whole thing 2 times. Usually for answering another station (you for example), I would send:
AB8IF AB8IF AB8IF de KD5TEN KD5TEN KD5TEN pse K
Then, all future transmissions would start with:
YOURCALL de MYCALL ...the message... YOURCALL de MYCALL K
At the end of the contact the last thing would be:
YOURCALL de MYCALL sk sk
With the sk repeated so that the other station would be sure to catch it.
If you're familiar with CQ, this should be very similar. This format is not the "rule," just what I use and have seen many other hams use.
For software, I use DM780, which is part of the Ham Radio Deluxe Suite. I have macros set up for all of the repetitive stuff like MYCALL de YOURCALL. I can double click on the other station's callsign and it is automatically added to the box for the log and is then usable in the macros. It also has that website that you mentioned built right into the program so you can always check where your signal is going. You can find Ham Radio Deluxe at http://www.ham-radio-deluxe.com.
Hope that info helps! See you on 20m sometime!
Jacob, KD5TEN
September 4, 2009 - 20:52
#10
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Up 'til now I have been making 3x1 calls. I have extended these to 3x2 and 3x3. Automated signal reports continue to come back from countries as far away as Europe... but still no live contacts. This is very puzzling!! Given the very low activity on this forum I suspect PSK31 activity is also down... something to do with the sunspot cycle, maybe?
I'll keep in touch and keep trying. There might be some ideas on the QRZ and eHam forums. I'll go check 'em out...
73 Roger, AB8IF
September 5, 2009 - 13:42
#11
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Well, I wouldn't say that bpsk31.com would be an indicator of PSK31 activity... I haven't been on the bands in the past few months, but before that, I was always able to find someone to talk to.
As for the low activity on the forums, that is probably due to a lack of time on my part. We do not receive many visitors per day, and frankly there is not much reason for people to come to the site. Over time, we have been growing, but very slowly (I started the site in 2007). If I was able to devote more time to news / article writing and posting events and software packages, I think the site could really take off. However, I am still in school, which requires most of my time, with several other website-related jobs afterwards, so bpsk31.com often gets put on the back burner when my schedule gets busy.
I would like to find someone (or several people would be better) to manage some of the areas of the site before this time next year (and I go to college). That would enable bpsk31.com to be a more helpful resource for PSK31 operators by freeing it from my schedule and providing more content of interest / usefulness.
73,
Jacob, KD5TEN
September 17, 2009 - 00:50
#12
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Success at last! After racking up reception map reports like I was going for DXCC I finally made human contact on PSK31(TG9AHM in Guatemala City)! Rather than calling CQ myself, I listened for CQ's from other hams and responded. Not exactly rocket science... if you have a weak signal, you're more likely to get a response from someone already on the frequency than someone surfing the band.
Best of luck to you Jacob as you head of to college. Hopefully one or more will step up to your challenge and take this forum to greater heights!
73, Roger AB8IF
November 15, 2009 - 00:02
#13
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Roger,
i havent been on the air to hear you but one of the reasons that many folks dont answer some cqs is overdriving your transmitter and smearing your signal across the band.
You might want to check, if your alc is reading upscale, you might want to back off the audio drive so there is no upscale alc meter movement. It varies by radio, for example to get any kind of output from my ft-857 I need a little ALC, but on my TS-2000 I actually have to back off a bit Below no ALC.
also hang your headset on the tx audio to make sure you actually have audio to the transmittter.
October 21, 2009 - 08:31
#14
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Hello!
I am present in 20 and 30 meters mode PSK31 in the late afternoon and evening until 31 December I have call special event HE8OAE and he would appeal to to me to connect QSL to you via Bureau + eQSL !
73s' de maico HB9OAE
PSE visit my home page: http://www.geocities.com/hb9oae/
November 25, 2009 - 16:34
#15
Re: No PSK31 Contacts on 20m
Roger,
Are you set for USB or LSB. Most stations use LSB
Well, let me see... What kind of antenna are you using? Are you using a tuner? Have you tried more power?
Jacob, KD5TEN