My latest PSDR skin for my Flex 5000A. This would look right at home in the batcave!
Thanks to Bob, W1AEX for a great online tutorial and some great PSDR skins! This skin is primarily composed of Bob’s “Dark Metal” skin.
73,
Bill – AB4BJ
I have owned my Icom IC-9100 since May of 2011, but never had much luck getting the DR mode to operate through the D-Star gateway system (it worked well for local repeater use, but I could not get it to work through the gateway to talk to my friends on Reflector 30C). I eventually gave up and just programmed the local D-Star repeater (KA4RVT B) into a standard memory slot and used it that way in DV mode for access through the gateway.
I recently acquired an Icom ID-31A HT, and noticed that it used a DR structure very similar to the 9100. This caused me to once again tackle this problem, especially when I realized I could upload the entire ID-31A CSV formatted repeater list into the 9100 repeater list. Fueled with a new desire to make this work, I was finally able to successfully program the DR mode in the 9100 to work through the gateway system. Here’s what I did:
Note – in the DR mode, the memory display will show “r1” and “DR” where the memory channel number is normally displayed.
I used the ID-31A CSV data set (repeater list) for this as it has the city names already assigned to each repeater. When you turn the dial, it will change the city name at the bottom in the R1 field while at the same time changing the frequency readout at the top of the screen. The data files for this can be generated on the ID-31A page at dstarinfo.com.
This may be old news to other users of the 9100, but it was not to me. I hope this is useful for anyone who wants to use the IC-9100 in DR mode for repeater gateway access.
73,
AB4BJ
Everyone had a great time at the Dalton Amateur Radio Club Hamfest on February 26, 2011. Here are some photos of the event, including some great photos of a few members of the Geratol Net.
As I mentioned on the main page, I use the FT-2000 with a Signalink USB for PSK31 operation on 20 meters. A while back I was looking at the HRD forum and found this helpful post about FT-2000 menu and front panel settings for optimizing PSK31 performance. Thanks to Henk, PD5DP for posting this information. Here’s his post:
Hi,
I have a Yaesu FT-2000 and here are my findings about my ideal settings for PSK31 and maybe all other digital modes.
First: set menu option one at the lowest rate. That’s 20. Menu option two has to be set to 0. This setting guarantees the most optimal performance for the receiving of the signals. There is no need to turn the AGC off in this case, because the FT-2000 AGC behaves very fast with this settings, because the low rate and mainly the hold setting which we set to 0 (menu option 2). Be sure that the AGC is set to FAST by pressing the AGC button. Look at the display for that. ATT = OFF, IPO = AMP2 and R.FLT = 6khz. or AUTO.
Second: PSE turn off all DSP except VRF. This means DNF, DNR, Contour and the NOTCH. All of this influence the quality of the signal received. VRF will keep unwanted signals from outside the bandpass ‘out the door’. This works fine and this way we do not have unwanted splatter and other signals created by the FT-2000 in our bandpass due to strong signals elsewhere on the HF.
Third: be sure that the IF is in the default position and set the WIDTH to the maximum. This ensures us to have to maximum passband to use for RX. This is almost a flat 4khz. Be aware that if you go to TX that the FT-2000 is capable to use this bandwith only to about 3khz. After that you have change the frequency a little up if you want to work that station.
Fourth: Set the power to maximum and if you TX listen to your own audio by turning the MONI know clockwise after you pressed the MONI button. Set the meterknob in the ALC reading position and increase the audio in DM780 till you have the disired power output without an ALC reading. A signal with an ALC reading will be a bad wide signal…so be aware of that. Also do not drive a full maximum power. It can costs your radio the finals. Not more than 50% of the maximum power will be fine. I use 25% all the time… this is 25 watts and I am not allowed to use more.
Fifth: I connected my radio to the soundcard through the packetconnector at the back of the radio. After that I had to make some adjustments in the radio menu. I increased menu item DATA OUT LVL to 100 (at the moment that is menu item 69) and menu J3E MIC SEL is changed to DATA (menu item 84 at this moment). DATA OUT LEVEL is the audio from the radio to the soundcard. J3E MIC SEL will route the TX audio from the soundcard via the PACKET connector in the radio. Some people set the radio in the PACKET mode, but there is no need to. In packet mode the passband width is smaller then in normal USB mode.
I hope this will help some people and maybe I forgot something. I am glad to hear any findings.
If you want to read his post at the forum, click here.
I am by no means an “expert” when it comes to adjusting the audio settings in the FT-2000, but through a lot of trial and error I’ve adjusted mine to the point where I get pretty good audio reports. All it really takes is some patience and helpful hams on the air to get great sounding audio out of the FT-2000. It also helps to benefit from those who have plowed the ground before you. Through a lot of reading on the FT-2000 Yahoo group listserve (particularly the contributions of K3UR) and some excellent resources on the web (one of the best is by VK6HZ), I’ve at least become satisfied that my audio is in good shape.
Now, before you adopt what I’ve found to be the best settings (or what anyone else has reported), be aware that the quality of your audio is directly dependant on the quality of your voice. The audio characteristics of your voice will in large part determine the optimal settings for your equipment, so be prepared to experiment. That’s the nature of amateur radio anyway, right?
There are a large number of audio components designed for amateur radio and others adapted from studio use, but I’ve kept things relatively simple. My audio chain consists of four components.
You should always start with the obvious: Read the manuals and follow the instructions therein! It will save you a lot of grief.
Connecting the equipment is just as important as tweaking the settings. My outboard components interface with the rear panel RCA audio jack on the FT-2000 (FT-2000 Manual, page 32, item 15). I find this gives better results than going through the front panel 8 pin microphone connector. The front panel mic connector is empty. I have a PTT line running to the rear PTT jack (Manual, page 32, item 14) for use with a foot switch, etc.
After you get the radio’s ALC where it needs to be (mine is just below the peak of the ALC meter), then move into the adjustments of your internal EQ and outboard audio equipment. Another great word of advice from K3UR and others: Don’t eat your mic! You should try to stay about 3 inches or so away from the mic when adjusting your settings.
After all of the above and many QSOs where adjustments were made, here’s where I ended up with my settings:
FT-2000 (PEP version with latest updates)
With the outboard equipment in line, I leave the internal speech processor OFF (don’t confuse the speech processor with the internal mic eq). I have placed my mic gain at level 55. I then entered the internal menu system and made the following settings (Note: Once you make these settings, the “MIC EQ” display will light on the FT-2000 front panel. There is no “on/off” switch for this. It is active once you apply the EQ to your audio).
Note: the above menus are for your transmit audio when the speech processor is off. Menus 134-142 adjust transmitted audio when the processor is active. Again, I do not use the internal speech processor in my set-up.
W2IHY 8 Band
After the above, I made the following adjustments to the W2IHY 8 Band:
W2IHY EQplus
Here are the final settings to the EQplus:
These settings are used for my day-to-day rag chewing and are not designed for any specific application such as contesting, chasing DX, busting pile-ups, etc. When I want to add a bit more punch to my audio, I generally adjust the FT-2000 internal menu 85 to give the characteristic I am looking for. For this reason, I keep the C.S. front panel button programmed with menu 85 as its shortcut. This simplifies quick and easy audio adjustments from that menu.
As stated at the start of this post, I don’t profess to be an expert at the intricacies of FT-2000 audio processing with outboard equipment, but these settings have served me well.
I look forward to comments anyone wishes to share about this topic. Hopefully, the more we experiment with these settings, the better we’ll sound.
