Virtual Serial Port Pro From Eltima - Control Your Transceiver From Multiple Apps Simultaneously

I was recently contacted by Helga from Eltima Software who design software and apps which can be used in the field of amateur radio. Helga offered me the chance to take a look at a couple of software solutions of interest which are Virtual Serial Pro and Serial to Ethernet Connector.
Helga has been involved in the research of what can be achieved using the Eltima Virtual Serial Pro com port application in regard to Amateur Radio and has written an interesting article called How to Control Ham Radio Transceiver from Several Apps at a Time.

1. Virtual Serial Port Driver: creates pairs of virtual COM ports.
2. Serial Port Splitter (Virtual Serial Port Driver Pro): helps to create bundles of virtual serial ports and set custom port parameters, allows managing real and virtual COM ports.
3. Serial Port Monitor: displays, logs, and analyzes RS232/422/485 COM port activity.
4. Serial to Ethernet Connector: allows sharing serial ports over Ethernet, LAN, and the Internet.

I believe that this could be of interest to Hams who have multiple transceivers, satellite antenna controllers, regular antenna rotators and run data modes and packages like Ham radio deluxe, TRX Manager, WX to IMG etc. This of course would be only useful if you like everything on at the same time in your shack all functioning simultaneously or if your PC has limited or only one serial port. For myself I have been playing around trying to configure a couple of apps that run my YAESU FT-847 and West Mountain RIGblaster plus.

I will be taking a look at the Serial to Ethernet software next which could be a winner for Hams that operate remote stations which is something that I fancy having a look at once I have found a suitable app or program to run/connect to my station via the Eltima serial to ethernet connector.

If any of you are running a remote station and using an android app to control your station I would be interested in hearing what your results are and any recommendations you may have.

I shall continue to play around with the software packages kindly sent through from Eltima Software solutions and I would like to thank Helga for getting in touch and offering the Ham radio station of M0YKS a chance to look at something that could be beneficial to a lot of radio amateurs.Follow the links for detailed info if this is something that interests you.

Best 73 catch you all again soon and thanks once again for visiting Ham Radio dot Blogspot dot com.

VHF ON

The holidays are going well, after a trip to the Welsh island of Anglesey I'm now enjoying the good wx and occasional VHF openings as well as some short skip HF qso's into G land from the cabin on the Yorkshire moor tops.

Holiday Operating - Ham Radio

Its almost the end of another busy academic year at College where I have been busier than ever getting all our learners through their welding and fabrication programs.

The good news is as from this weekend I will be free to operate my ham radio equipment without too many distractions as I begin my annual summer leave and spend time enjoying life with the family.

I plan to be active from the shack at home, the holiday cabin as well as the DX machine whilst camped up somewhere cool. I hope to catch some of you guys on the bands and maybe I will continue to enjoy more 10m band propagation which has been worth tying over the past few weeks giving some good DX as well as into EU openings.

Evening DXing will also be on the cards over the next few weeks as we move into the mid summer nights so listen out for M0YKS, M0YKS/M, and maybe MM0YKS/P or MW0YKS/P.

73 thanks for the visit. catch you on the air - Simon M0YKS

Ham Radio Poems - M3TLL

Over the years I have received many emails and comments regarding Ham radio poems that Louise M3TLL wrote a few years ago. They have been very popular so here it is brand new for all who love poetry.

An Ode To The Antenna Tower
Written by Louise M3TLL.

Your shining steel standing proud

I hear your signals coming in loud

Many countries, every nation

Booming in to my humble station

Shining brightly in the sun

You help me enjoy hours of fun

Hearing signals coming through

Spending time calling cq

Radiating across the land

How great it is to see you stand

So tall and proud in my backyard

I hold you in such high regard

While others prefer a tree or flower

I have my antenna tower

CQ WW DX SSB 2017 Results/scores Are Out

I'm pleased enough with 3rd place low PWR England. I'll try harder this year!

So called new replacement from Moonraker?

Last March I was 50 so my YL bought me a RM KL405 from Moonraker (UK). The amp lasted about two weeks despite running low power, I was offered a replacement from Moonraker and was told that I would not be able to return the so called new replacement should it go faulty. With this in mind I made sure I took the greatest of care to minimise any possible risk of over powering the amplifier and have only run 5 to 10 w on SSB with a maximum output of 180w out. After using the amp for a couple of weeks the pre amp became stuck on which was annoying but it seemed to be working ok. Last week I was in my shack and heard an interesting station so I gave a shout out. I noticed straight away that the output was down thanks to my West Mountain Radio PWR Check. So I decided that I will have a look to see if anything was obvious in the way of a fault.

The first thing I saw was the sticker and hand written note which seemed a bit strange for a so called new replacement. Then I noticed a resistor was completely blown off of the board and solder was splattered everywhere. On closer examination and a bit of solder spatter removed I repaired the preamp switch which had been in short circuit due to the spatter. Unfortunately the damage to the output is beyond my electronic ability so I decided to pack the amp away until I decide to either throw it away or donate to Someone who can use any components.

The solder can be seen below stuck to the front panel and spread around over various components.

As for the lesson learned. I won't be buying any more RM equipment from Moonraker and I won't be believing that their customer service is as good as they make it out to be. And finally if you work in the repair service at Moonraker do you recognise the handwriting on the repairs sticker of the so called new replacement.
I am also unsure as to how the date on the sticker is one year before I purchased the amp if it was a new replacement which arrived in April 2017.

80m dipole

It's been a while since I posted which has been mainly because of the poor propagation on the HF bands. I have made a few decent DX contacts on 15m and 17m which have been good on occasion. Otherwise nothing to spectacular has been happening here at the home of M0YKS.

As usual during the winter months I enjoy listening lower down the HF bands especially on 80m and 40m. To do this I use a HUSTLER 6BTV vertical and also CAROLINA WINDOM antennas. I have had both in use for 8 years and the outcome is that the vertical is excellent and the WINDOM is good on transmit but far too noisy on receive to continue using it. With this in mind I altered the off centre antenna of 131 feet to a balanced equal legged 80m dipole by shortening one leg to 65 feet and adding 15 feet to the other leg to make a doublet of 130 feet which I soldered and clamped together. I didn't require another Multi banded wire as I have my Cushcraft MA5B, HUSTLER 6BTV and 20m Delta LOOP, I had decided to try a more resonant mono band 80m dipole in the hope that I might pick out the DX on 80m a bit better. I will let you know my findings over the next few weeks. So far the dipole is showing 2.5 swr and seems to receive less noise and has cleaner sounding signals. Catch you in my next post or on the bands soon. Best 73 de M0YKS Simon



Update first couple of hours
After a couple of adjustments I managed to get the swr down to 1:2 - 1:3 across the 80m band. The reception is very nice with a significantly reduced noise level on the new dipole compared to the WINDOM. I am very optimistic about the dipole so far. Best 73

Happy New Year To All !

I would like to wish everyone a very happy & healthy new year for 2018. 

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve and all is well. Hope you have a lovely Christmas Everyone !

Catching Some New Satellite Signals

Its been quite a while since I operated my satellite set up which comprises of a 15 element 435 Mhz X beam and 5 Element 145 Mhz Yagi mounted on a GS-5500 elevation rotation controller into a YAESU FT-847. Tonight I managed to get into a new one for me EO-88 as well as a couple of other SSB satellites. I enjoyed the tests as I familiarized myself with the operating technique and equipment and I will be trying my luck over the next few evenings on the amateur satellite bands as HF on an evening after work is not very reliable at the moment due to poor conditions. Listen out for M0YKS via the ''birds'' as well as from the mobile on 20m most mornings. Best 73.

Seasons Greetings from M0YKS and Family

CQ WW DX SSB CONTEST VIDEO 2017

Some of the 2017 CQ World Wide SSB Contest caught on video at my radio shack.

CQ WW DX CONTEST 2017 - M0YKS

After a great weekend of CQ World Wide contesting I ended up with 103 countries and 21 zones with almost 400 qso's in my log. Conditions were reasonable and I had lots of fun whilst operating on and off throughout the 48hrs. A video will follow shortly. Best 73.

Final Tweaks For This Years CQ World Wide Contest 2017

I just spent a couple of hours checking out my radio equipment making sure everything is nipped up tight, I also gave the radios and accessories a wipe down and dust off. I re-positioned the layout which ended up with a more user friendly line up which lines up better with my comfy chair!
The CQ WW Contest is on for 48 hours this weekend and starts this evening at midnight local time, I wont be operating for 48 hours but I do plan on getting a good lengthy duration of contest fun. I wouldn't say I was much of a contest operator as compared to others but I do enjoy the CQ WW contest as it is the best one in my opinion to catch some new distant countries in the log, and for that reason I will be once again participating over the weekend aiming to smash my record of 22 out of 40 zones. Last year was lots of fun but poor band propagation with only a few long distant stations and the 10 meter band never opened up at all at my end. Hopefully this years conditions will be slightly improved, I worked a few stations earlier on 15 and 17 meters so with a bit of luck all of the WARC bands will be usable this contest.
As usual I plan to make a video of some of my radio contest activity which will be on my blog and YouTube channel shortly after the contest finishes. In the meantime I will be counting down the last hour for the 2017 CQ World Wide CQ Contest to begin. 73 G L

The Shack of M0YKS ready for action

West Mountain Radio Quarterly News Letter - The Beacon

I recently wrote an article that was published in one of West Mountain Radio quarterly ham radio news letters - The Beacon. I have been enjoying testing out the PWR Check device over the past couple of months and was very pleased to see my story appear in their news letter - The Beacon  Five Reasons Why I Love Ham Radio So Much

Many Thanks to everyone at West Mountain Radio. Best 73.