... | ... | @@ -3,8 +3,52 @@ |
|
|
Don't be shy about adding new pages
|
|
|
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
ARRL MI Section S.E.T
|
|
|
09-26-15
|
|
|
WB8TQZ – Presque Isle County
|
|
|
|
|
|
Random thoughts and observations that occurred to me in the course of the S.E.T.
|
|
|
Some of this stuff might not matter to most participants but it sounded like there were a few people new to the mode and they might be able to use it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
RxID is good for providing a Date/Time stamp if you miss something and want to record that data later. Just scroll up and there it is.
|
|
|
|
|
|
It sure is easier watching the info scroll by on the FlDigi screen than having to type or write notes down in a hurry on phone. I found, though, that keeping a separate note pad helped me to pull out the highlights such as Call Sign, County, Operator Name
|
|
|
|
|
|
People who are worried about their typing speed can get a lot of mileage out of Copy/Paste by opening up a notepad or word processor program, doing their composition in that sandbox while waiting for their turn to transmit, and copying it over to FlDigi or FlMsg. Some may already know this, some may not.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I found it helpful to use a little (not a lot) Squelch in FlDigi to suppress most of the random characters that would otherwise garbage up the screen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I get my RX audio out of the headphone jack and find it helpful to leave the plug “ajar” so I can listen to the speaker. If something else grabs my attention in the shack, the modem tones remind me to look at the screen. Good when you're trying to multitask. Of course, if things are really loud and obnoxious on the band I find myself wishing for an independent volume setting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have to keep a list of setup parameters to make sure I don't miss something. It really helped today.
|
|
|
|
|
|
As with the MITN/MACS sessions, you can really tell when somebody comes on for the drill and is doing this stuff for the first time but, hey, at least they're trying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signals were none too strong up to 0900/1300Z but I had at least 98% copy. A few messages were corrupted and either did not save or would not open as wrapped for me but I was able to view almost all of their info in the “raw” as it came in.
|
|
|
A few were copied successfully down into the noise
|
|
|
|
|
|
SEOC faded badly around 0950/1350Z.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I inquired as to an alternate mode prior to sending my ICS-205. Did not get a response to that so used Olivia 8-500. Probably a good thing. The way conditions were, when I listened to a few others try different modes later, my transmission probably would have failed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
This was the first time I sent an ICS-205 with this or any other mode/application and I see where I should have left the unknown or undefined (TBD – To Be Determined) stuff out. The info characters were bad enough but the “overhead” imposed by the field designators in the wrapper were worse. My mistake. I don't think I'll make that one again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Presque Isle County ICS-205 really was a big one but those are all of the frequencies that are actually available and usable for us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SEOC faded badly around 0950/1350Z
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some SWL reports:
|
|
|
W8KQ Alpena good readable up to around 0950/1350Z. I need to check that path out on 40M. Communications between our two counties has recently been a topic of conversation
|
|
|
|
|
|
NK8X Kalamazoo ICS-205 faded around 0956/1356Z, could not complete the copy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
N8JRN Marquette copied “raw” around 1000/1400Z but it was unable to unwrap.
|
|
|
|
|
|
N8OSL MT63-1KL 1006/1406Z started okay but faded quickly
|
|
|
|
|
|
KB8TAR Lapeer raw signal looked good at 1016/1416Z but FlMsg did not even save the wrapped file.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The QSY to 7.043 at 1019/1419Z brought SEOC up to very good readaS.E.T. a good one. Learned a few things, confirmed a few things. More practice couldn't hurt but I feel confident that I can handle ICS forms this way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
... | ... | |