RV Net - 10/8/2020

Below you can listen to an MP3 file of audio from my FLEX-3000 transceiver, recorded during the second hour of the RV Service Net. I edited an 18-minute recording to remove long periods of no usable signal. I left in a few short segments where a signal was marginal. The result is less than 15 minutes long.

RV Net - part of 2nd hour

The stations heard include: AI1N,W5BUY, W8MQ, N0JHX, KC4GO, and W4BXI. You'll hear W4BXI as net control station transmitting from the following sites, in order: N4GYN, WA5MLF, KC4GO, W4UOA. W4BXI connected to each station via the Internet, using software from RemoteHams.com.

When transmitting from WA5MLF, there is no background radio noise, since the recording captured the VoIP audio coming into the transceiver from the RemoteHams software components.

I have a few other short recordings, from that same net session, that also may be worth sharing.

73,

John WA5MLF

Ionosonde sweeps the 40 m band

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While viewing the 40 m band with my SDRplay receiver I saw a strong ionosonde signal sweeping across the band, as shown in the above screenshot. The top part shows the signal on the panadapter view (horizontal axis is frequency, vertical axis is amplitude). The bottom part shows the waterfall display (horizontal axis is frequency, vertical axis is time, progressing downward). Signal amplitude is represented by brightness. The sweep shows here as a diagonal line. Other stations on the band are operating on fixed frequencies.

Data collected by the ionosondes around the world are publicly available. See my blog posting: Graphs of Maximum Usable Frequency from Ionosonde Data for more information. The collection and analysis of data from ionosondes is managed by the GLOBAL IONOSPHERE RADIO OBSERVATORY.

I captured a video of the SDRplay window that includes a sweep, as seen below. There is no sound in this recording. Normally one hears only a short chirp as the sweep passes through the receiver's audio bandwidth. On this view the 2.8 kHz audio bandwidth is the thin vertical column in the center. Other active signals on the band are seen as the up-and-down white vertical spikes.

 

RCForb testing with foot switch

W4BXI is using a custom circuit to interface an ordinary foot switch to the TX function of the RCForb client program on his Windows PC. We have observed occasional stuttering in his transmit audio during the first 2 seconds or so after the foot switch is pressed. Today I made a recording of his contact on 40 m, transmitting from W4UOA, with a Virginia station. The full 3.5 minute recording is available below for listening.

QSO on 7193 kHz

You can hear the audio stutter just past at about 2:24 in the recording. Below is a 2-second excerpt from the recording along with a screen capture of the audio waveform that shows several quick drop-outs as received in Baton Rouge. 

2-second portion with audio stutter

Additional testing is being arranged to isolate the cause of the drop-outs.