My new class started. It is a Senior Capstone. Basically I have eight weeks to design a software project. I chose to build a CAT cable for my Kenwood TS-450S and write software to control said radio. I ordered the CAT cable parts from Jameco and built the cable/electronics this weekend. I am happy to say that it works! I am still in the ground stages of writing the software but have had success with reading and writing frequencies to the radio. I will try to post the source when I finish. Overall, it has been an excellent learning experience for me because I have always wanted to control something via the computer's serial port. The board (pictured below) is basically a converter that changes the RS-232 signal which has the logical bits swinging above and below ground to a standard TTL level. It was fairly easy to build and implement.
I was given a big surprise by my fellow amateur co-worker. He dropped off a Bencher paddle at my desk and said "here, this is yours"....!!!! It made my homebrew paddle go obsolete immediately. I must say I was happy to build my own paddle, but having a heavy commercially built paddle wins for me!With that, I have made a few digital QSO's as of late and a few CW QSO's. Most of my time now is spent trying to debug the CAT software.
Only two states left to go for WAS. I confirmed MO for WAS! Yay!
I was off for Christmas shutdown and was busy doing a lot of different things. It is a special time for me because it is the only time during the year that I do not have classes or work so I have the chance to truly relax and get things around the house done too. This break I visited my family in Waterloo a few times and my wife and I are in the process of re-finishing our kitchen floor.
On the radio side of things, I have been having trouble with my digital interface box I built. I suspect the variable pot is bad. This is causing no audio from my computer to reach my radio. The problem is intermittent and the last time I thought it was fixed, it was not working the next day.
I worked Croatia on 80 meters the other night. It was at about 1AM local time (0700Z) and I heard a 9A calling CQ and not getting any responces. When I answered him, he came right back to me. Mind you I am using a 40 meter dipole on 80 meters! I am not sure how I am pulling it off but I am more then happy to work DX late night while everyone else is asleep!
I'm just an average guy in the midwest. I have been hooked on amateur radio for 16 years and now that I have my own house, can hang antennas and build things with my modest supply of test equipment. I really enjoy operating CW and power levels around 100 watts. I only have a 30 and 40 meter dipole and am just fine with that for now. I am very interested in homebrewing my own equipment to save money and to understand how radio electronics work.
My new bencher!
