brainwagon

For fun, I’ve got my new RFSPACE SDR-IQ running on my laptop using Spectrum Lab and monitoring the 30m QRSS beacon subband. I enabled its HTTP server, and now have set up a little cronscript to copy its display to my webserver once a minute. You can see an example display below (showing KC7VHS, AA5CK […]

Well, we are beginning to get some lightning in the area, so my radio is disconnected, but before I did so, I managed to hook Spectrum Lab up to my SDR-IQ radio, and got these two DFCW signals: KC7VHS and WA5DJJ.

Paul, M1CNK, has a very nice webpage that details his QRSS beacon, constructed as several different kits assembled as modules. Very cool. qrssbeacon (wiltonpaul).

Over on NT7S’s Ripples in the Ether blog, he presents a link to a project by Joachim, DL1GSJ, a very nifty little SDR designed to operate near the 30m QRSS watering hole frequncy. It uses pair of subharmonic mixers, whose operation I admit I don’t completely understand, but I’m bookmarking the circuit for later consumption. […]

A while go, I posted a link to AA5CK’s website and his use of the iduino as a QRSS keyer. He used a little oscillator/buffer from Nightfire Engineering along with a home brew, single transistor amplifier. So, I ordered two. And built one. At $7, who could resist? It works, but it obviously isn’t very […]

This morning I was scanning my WSPR logs and my MEPT screenshots for the night. It seemed to be pretty good. I had quite a number of spots into Australia overnight: both from VK6DI (who is nearing the end of his time in VK6 land, we hope to see you again back on the eastern […]

Alan, VA3STL posted a nice list of captures of his QRP beacon on his blog, including a link to a spot of him that he got from my grabber. I didn’t notice it then, but now that I’m back on 30m, I’m seeing it nicely at the moment:

Well, I’m not sure that the Softrock I put together is working entirely well. I’m beginning to believe that the transformer that I wound might be bad. My receiver seems a bit deaf, and also seems to have only about 20db or so of opposite side rejection (I’m getting images of signals on both sides […]

This morning, I have a particularly nice array of signals streaming across. First NM5DV at the top. He put a T-attenuator onto his Softrock transmitter, knocking his 1watt down to around 400mw. WA5DJJ is banging in again as usual (he’s on virtually the entire day). You can begin to see WB3ANQ’s snake, running in at […]

Cool.

Bill posted today about W3PM’s design for a dedicated WSPR beacon transciever. It’s very slick: basically a crystal oscillator that can be mixed with the signal from a PC sound card, then piped through a narrow crystal filter and through an amplifier chain into an antenna. Check out the PDF, it’s quite nice. SolderSmoke Daily […]

WA0UWH announced that his awesome grabber was back in a new temporary location, fed by satellite internet. I had some difficulties getting images earlier in the day but it’s up now, and you can easily see my DFCW beacon, sending K6HX.

This morning I see that Dan, NM5DV has worked out his issues with this Softrock, and is now putting out a nice signal up above WA5DJJ. Yesterday, his signal made it briefly into Belgium alongside WA5DJJ: I’m wondering if anyone has been using Softrocks as beacon transmitters. Down below, you can perhaps see hints of […]

Alan, VK2ZAY apparently has changed his beacon to send MT Hellschrieber, in addition to his FSK CW. If you look carefully, you can see VK2ZAY in letters. Very neat!

After more or less a full day where I made almost ever mistake possible (exaggerating) on gettin my Softrock Lite built (which it is, except for connectors, it’s ready for final testing), I put the grabber back up in receive mode. I didn’t bother to get the WSPR beacon back up for now, but that […]