Posts Tagged icom
June ARRL VHF Contest
Posted by jeff in Contesting on June 14th, 2010
I just got finished up participating in the June ARRL VHF contest, a first for me. With my Field Day expedition only 2 weeks away, this contest was a perfect chance to shake out the portability of my gear.
Initially I started off the contest in a field very close to my QTH with my Icom 706 and an Arrow dual-band satellite antenna. I needed to fabricate a mount where I could easily rotate the yagi as well as adjust azimuth and elevation. I ended up cutting a 1 inch piece of SCH40 PVC at 15 inches long and a piece of SCH40 1 1/4 inch PVC at 6 inches long. I used a hose clamp to secure it down to a photography light stand adapter, as I didn’t have access to a tripod. As you can see in the photos, it seemed to workout just fine for the contest.
Since I was operating the 2nd day of the contest from home, I needed to change the polarity of my Cubex 2m quad antenna to be horizontally polarized. Granted I’ve only made 20 contacts in my first VHF contest, but I ended up having a blast and learning alot.
Icom 746 FAQ
Posted by jeff in Shack Stuff on February 9th, 2010
Last night while on the 1900 Net, I heard that it was possible to run the Icom 746 with separate transmit and receive antennas. According to Sky’s Daughter’s FAQ it was possible to do this running split, setting VFO-A on Antenna 1 and VFO-B on Antenna 2. Unfortunately I have been unable to make the Antenna selection follow the VFO but I’m going to keep trying to figure it out. Links available below:
Sky’s Daughters 746 FAQ PDF Link
My local link to the 746 FAQ PDF
Icom USB driver
For those of you with the cloning cable (OPC-478UC) for the Icom IC-2200H, below is the driver for it. I had a hell of a time with the driver that came with it.
Today’s Find: Filters
Posted by jeff in Shack Stuff on July 3rd, 2009
With all the research I’ve been doing lately trying to decide what radio I plan to purchase, I started reading about filters. Currently I’m running an Icom 746 and found that Laurie’s (KB3SIK) Heathkit SB-301 has the edge on recieve. Having a look closer at the 746 configuration I found that I don’t have any add-on filters installed. Bummer!
So in an effort to breath additional life into the 746, I’m planning on the purchase of 2 narrow bandwidth SSB filters for both the 9 MHz and 455 khz sections of the IF. I’m also looking at a 250 khz CW filter for the 9MHz end of the RF chain for PSK operations.
With my frustration of Icom’s lack of clear documentation in the radio manual, I found an interesting document on the 746 operation and tweaking and placed it up on the server. Section 4 contains the information about filtering. Also has some interesting notes about setting the PBT, again something the manual hardly explains.
In addition to my upgrades to the reciever, I plan on purchasing a Ten-Tec Model 715 RF Speech Processor. I’m trying everything I possibly can to 
optimize my signal without plopping down a minimum of $750 on a linear amplifier. I’ve gotten great results processing my audio through VE3NEA’s Voice Shaper software via my Rigblaster Pro, although I’d like to accomplish this outboard and not worry about computer audio being accidently transmitted… Gotta abide by Part 97 you know.
The D-Star bug.
Posted by jeff in Shack Stuff, d-star on May 30th, 2009
…and when I say bug, I don’t mean a software or design flaw.
On Thursday night my Icom IC-91AD arrived from Ham Radio Outlet in Delaware. After speaking with a few local hams, Dave, K3GMT and Ken, N3IYX I decided to go the D-Star route. Just in the last 3 weeks at least 3 club members started playing around on the local D-Star repeater, W3OI. I decided to go with the 91AD over the 92 for a few different reasons.
1) The price. $200 more for an HT is a bit much.
2) GPS speaker mic. I don’t really see myself needing a $300 microphone for an HT. I’m guessing there is a cheaper version without the GPS functionality.
3) Submersibility. Is that a word? I don’t think I’m worried about dropping it in a lake and if I am, the probability of using D-Star where such lake would exist will most likely be remote.Â
The one thing I do like about the 92 is the power output flexibility. Although the 91 does make it simple. Low is .5 watts and high is 5 watts. This leaves another brain cycle to concentrate on D-Star signal routing.
After 2 days with the new mode, I’m finding it both fun and frustrating at the same time. Our local region currently has only 1 repeater, which is more than most places have. Philadelphia has 2 on the outside of town, which I was unable to get into either one today. Our repeater in Allentown is at the tail end of the “testing” phase, with the current antenna only being 30 feet off the ground running at minimal capabilities. Once the antenna and pre-amps get in place, coverage is going to be phenomenal and more worthwhile to the D-Star HT owners. The mobiles seem to be doing ok and those of us with HT’s at home tend to hook up to our rooftop antennas.
Today we made a road trip down to the Newcastle, DE to HRO to pick up a few odds and ends. BTW, don’t bother buying the Icom folding headset (can’t remember the model number). First off the headset band is too big all the way at it’s smallest adjustment, and the ear phone hangs off of the headset like an iPod ear bud. Highly uncomfortable and hardly worth the $60 asking price. After 5 minutes in the parking lot I promptly returned it for an Icom speaker mic, which doesn’t have quite the audio output I would’ve expected but was $20 cheaper. I also picked up a Diamond SRH77CA antenna for the 91AD, looking for a little edge over the stock antenna. It measures double the length of the stock rubberduck, but I haven’t really completed a comparison.
After arriving home this afternoon I happened to hear a JA station (Japan) call CQ through the gateway. His audio was flawless and full quieting, unlike me who was having a hard time making the repeater on a rubberduck antenna.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. I think it’s a much needed boost that the local bands need. And if you’re a D-Star user, try giving me a shout, I’m usually on W3OI-C.
73
-jeff N3QO (still getting used to that one).
New shack addition!
Posted by jeff in Old Shack Posts, Shack Stuff on February 11th, 2009
This morning I just happened across a craigslist ad for some ham gear for sale and ended up picking myself up a nice Icom IC-746 from KB2SDP. I figured since I’m just getting into HF I didn’t necessarily need to go with the pro version or a 756. Currently only receiving until I get my HF privileges later this month and also until I get a higher capacity power supply, I’m very happy with the selectivity of the radio. This afternoon I’ve been listening on 40 and 80 meter bands.
–jeff