M1VPN

Custom Keypad for N1MM+ Contesting Using the ELSTRAsmart PK-2068 Keypad

After progressing to SO2V, it was clear that some of the key combination shortcuts could be better implemented on a programmable keypad. A search of viable keypads was then started !

RPi or Arduino based keypads, such as the ones available from Pimoroni would work well in this usecase, but needed both assembly and programming, and building a case (3D print would work well here) A good example is this one – https://www.on5mf.be/2016/03/26/arduino-leonardo-external-keypad/

One-handed Gaming Keyboards looked like an option too, although some of their specific gaming features and additional display would not be supported within N1MM+ natively and I was not sure I wanted the additional work of writing software.

POS terminal keypads – Fulfil the use case and are pre-packaged and have programming software already built.

No surprises that I went with the last option, and one of the cheapest options here was an ELSTRAsmart keypad, at £37.

ELSTRAsmart PK-2068 Keypad

Not much to say about the keypad, apart from the device itself is sturdy, and has a good footprint on the desk, and has removable keycaps (tool included) to put new labels in for the new key function and two modes, one as a traditional keypad, and one for being a fully customisable keypad.

Programming software isn't exactly intuitive, but with some testing started to understand what was going on. There are a few issues with Numlock etc, but all workable. The software driver download was fairly easy and install was typical for Windows.

The other good thing with this keypad is that I can actually configure it on another machine with the client software, but then use it on my Shack PC. The software looks fine, but isn't signed and therefore was sceptical about installing onto the shack machine as it's well configured. I have the Shack PC backed up weekly, and also image the whole disk to a spare on a regular basis using Acronis too.

N1MM+ Config

The first config plan was to have along the top row (both modes), the following ;

Move Focus to VFO A and start CQ – CTRL + < (1 sec pause) F1 Move Focus to VFO B – CTRL + > Move Focus to VFO A – CTRL + < Duelling CQ Alternate VFO's – CTRL + F1

Row two are the typical N1MM+ QSO keys ;

Call CQ – F1 ( CQ TEST de M1V M1V) Answer – F2 ( xxxxxx 599 001 001 M1V) TU – F3 (xxxxxx TU, M1V QRZ) M1V – F4 (M1V M1V)

Row Three, Bandmap Navigation ;

Prev Spot – CTRL + up Next Spot – CRTL + down Prev Mult Spot – ALT + up Next Mult Spot – ALT + down

Row Four, Band Switching ;

VFO A – Up – 160 > 10 – CTRL + PgUp VFO A – Down – 160 < 10 – CTRL + PgDn VFO B – Up – 160 > 10 – CTRL, Shift + PgUp VFO B – Down – 160 < 10 – CTRL, Shift + PgDn

N1MM+ skips the band that the other VFO is on.

Row Five is only 3 keys ; Used for FT8 Ops, distinctly labled.

FT8 Enable/Disable FT8 HALT FT8 Erase

and Row six is also 3 keys ;

FT8 TX1 FT8 TX5 FT8 TX6

N1MM+ Keycap Labels

Microsoft Custom Labels, defined as 13.04 mm Square.

Typed in the Key functions and printed/sliced on 80gsm paper. Can print onto A4 Label sheets instead when settled with the layouts.

Keypad configured and labeled for M1V Contesting

Performance

To be Confirmed !

73 de M1VPN, damian.

Building a Single Op, Two VFO Digital Contest Station (SO2V)

Following on from the blog post about how to progress in RTTY Contests, I decided that SO2V was the cheapest and easiest way to get extra stations in my contest log. I already have the Yaesu FT-2000 Transceiver which is Twin-Receive capable, so an additional Soundcard input is all that is needed above what I have already.

Station Logging is via N1MM+, again SO2V capable so just needs configuration. This is available from the N1MM+ documentation website.

Audio

The Yaesu FT-2000 provides second receiver audio via the rear AF socket, on the Right channel of a TRS plug. As I take my main VFO audio from the Packet port currently into a G4ZLP interface, I built a new cable for my Signalink USB, to pick up the additional audio input, and take into the PC.

[AF Out Socket] > [TRS] (Main/Sub/Gnd) to [Signalink USB Interface]

Software

Software changes are also needed for RTTY decoders, with another folder for MMTTY , GRITTY and 2Tone applications, and the secondary DI config setup for the additional audio input.

Screen Layout is important for Context switching, therefore I have VFO A on the Left Screen, VFO B on the Right, which are a mirror image for window placement. This may develop as I use the set-up.

Operating

N1MM+ operating for SO2V requires a number of new keystrokes. The main one is CTRL + < or > to move between TX VFO. There are others that you need to review on the N1MM+ Documentation Site.

Contesting

As ever, the best way to get an understanding of just how SO2V works, is to enter a contest and try it ! In this case, the EAPSK63 contest was a good place to start, as geographically I'm never going to get a great placing in this contest and it is similar enough to RTTY, but less complex as there is only one decoder to configure, FLDigi in my case.

I started off with just the main VFO, and listening around on the sub VFO to understand how usable it was. One of the down sides of SO2V from SO2R is that you loose receive on the second VFO on TX. This means that you do miss quite a bit of the other VFO signal decodes, but there is enough between CQ calls on the main band to be of use.

With main VFO set to CQ repeat, it is then easy to tune around another band looking for stations, and more importantly multipliers. I started with main VFO on 20m, Sub VFO on 10m but there was not much to work on 10, surprisingly. A shift to 40m did bring some more stations, enough to understand the S+P on one band, Running on the other. With 20m degrading with the daylight, 40/80 were then up, and more activity followed.

Running with S+P in the gaps started to work well, and when the rate dropped, I then turned to Running on two bands. This is as daunting as it sounds, and thus took some time to work through the keystrokes and procedures, but again learning by doing, it resulted in a lot more QSO in the log.

Summary

Overall, the SO2V experience was a positive one, and almost certainly improved my score significantly. The mental load however is high, and whilst with practice this should be easier, I was very tired after only 15.8 hours in the contest, with sleep in the middle.

The downside of SO2V, loss of receive on TX can be managed, but is a significant factor between SO2V and SO2R. That said, I don't have two Multi-band Antennas on HF to allow SO2R, or the investment into a SO2R controller at this time, so SO2V gives me a chance to at least try to compete with SO2R stations.

Improvements after one contest. – EAPSK63

I reused my SignalinkUSB for the Sub VFO audio channel, and this is OK, but the radio output is very low, and the SignalinkUSB does not have enough gain to bring the signal up, and at full level is quite noisy. I need a better external USB soundcard so will keep an eye on Ebay for a pre-loved Focusrite Scarlett or Presonus Audiobox USB 96 unit.

The SO2V keystrokes on N1MM+ are quite a feat to keep up for multiple hours. For Dual Band Running, CTRL and F1 are distant enough to hurt after a while, so I need a programmable Keypad. The ELSRA Keypad looks like a good choice, and highly configurable. Not sure how it will cope in an RF situation, but I have very low RF in the shack, so should be fine. At £37 from Amazon, looks to be a cheaper alternative to the more expensive units.

73 de M1VPN, damian.

Beyond contesting with a wire, How to move up the HF Contest Scoreboard.

I'm at that point that consistently getting into the top 5 in G means that if I want to progress, I need improve contest operations or my equipment. Changing QTH isn't going to happen, and that's fine.

Analysis of the stations placed higher reveals a consistent equipment difference, namely a directional HF Antenna. RF equipment-wise, it's not that different against my FT-2000 based station, maybe a Microham Interface instead of my G4ZLP one but on paper these are fairly evenly matched in performance.

One of the lowest cost options would be to move to SO2V, as the FT-2000 is already capable of that mode of operation. N1MM+ can automate, but I would need a new sound card and cabling to support dual receive.

Other RTTY options here are a Microham interface, which I've always wanted but at £400 inc cables, is quite expensive for functionality that I already have. I could look at the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface, but is £50 – £130 used on eBay, as a second USB Sound Card, but it may need work on RF immunity.

Cost – £400/£130 – 24bit External USB Sound Card (RTTY Contesting) Benefit – 2 bands – 1 for Running, 1 for S+P. Difficulty – Medium Complexity – (Need to develop Op Skills)

Antenna Improvements could make a difference, with perhaps a Hexbeam on a portable, guyed mast for contest weekends. Not as usable as a tower, but I'm never going to get Planning Permission for a Permanent Tower at the current QTH. I already have a BevFlex Beverage which works well, at just 264ft in length and is a real benefit on Phone Contests.

A Push up / Swaged mast, guyed with rotator and Hexbeam would be possible, although quite hard work for a single op to get ready every contest weekend. I already use a similar set-up for 6m in the Sp.E season, so it is not an unknown. It is certainly capable, but not a low cost option.

Cost – Mast + Hexbeam = £250 + £700 Benefit – Additional directional antenna for 10 – 20m Difficulty – Low – (Already have rotator integrated into Log4OM for 6m)

Not withstanding the above, the actual ultimate station upgrade for this location would be a Trailer mounted 100ft Tower, with an Innovantennas XR7 and Prosistel BigBoy Rotator, guyed with Mastrant Cables. If stations couldn't hear me with that, they never would, but the sheer economics of this option would be a big investment.

Cost – Trailer Mast + XR7 = £9,000 + £1,300 Benefit – Directional antenna for 4m – 20m (7 bands) Difficulty – Low

So, what do I do ?

Reality is that SO2V means more multipliers and log entries, and needs the smallest investment in equipment. The operating skills will need practice, but can be transferred to SO2R if that ever became an option. I can repurpose my Signalink USB and the Sub-RX on the FT-2000 to get started too.

The Hexbeam option, when set in context with storage, installing and clearing down, makes this not viable at the current time, and cost is high for the potential improvement in scores.

Tower/XR7 is a serious investment in Amateur Radio and I'd need to be convinced I could use it more than just contest weekends at this QTH. I don't believe that 100ft of tower and an XR7 wouldn't raise comments from neighbours, even if it was only extended on contest days !

73 de M1VPN, damian.

2024 Contest Calendar

It's that time of year to sort out the schedule for contests, and how to fit them into everyday life of a working, only parent. It's not particularly easy for the big 36/48 hour contests with some of the break rules but we make it work. I've learned a few ways of organising and planning home and radio so it means I get to contest, and daughter manages to not be bored, or need things.

This year's contests have already started, but here's my intended working list ;

• SARTG New Year RTTY Contest – Jan 1st [69 Q's – 4 hrs]
• ARRL RTTY Round-up – Jan 6th-7th [444 Q's – 18.5 hrs]
• BARTG RTTY Sprint – Jan 27th-28th [535 Q's – 18 hrs]
• CQ WPX RTTY – Feb 10th-11th [844 Q's – 29 hrs]
• RSGB FT4 Series – 1 [56 Q's – 1.5 hrs]
• EAPSK63 Contest – Mar 9th-10th [394 Q's – 15.8 hrs]
• BARTG HF Contest – Mar 16th-18th [602 Q's – 25.8 hrs]
• RSGB FT4 Series – 2 [61 Q's – 1.5 hrs]
• CQ WPX SSB – Mar 30th-31st [340 Q's – 14 hrs] – Illness caused short entry.
• EARTTY Contest – April 6th-7th [431 Q's – 15.8 hrs]
• PACC Digi Contest – April 20th (New Contest)
• BARTG RTTY75 Sprint – April 28th (New Contest)
• RSGB FT4 Series – 3
• CQ VHF – Jul 20th-21st
• SARTG WW DX RTTY – Aug 17th-18th
• BARTG PSK Sprint – Sep 15th
• CQ WW RTTY – Sep 28th-29th
• PL259 Makrothen or Scandinavian Activity Contest – Oct 12th-13th
• CQ WW DX SSB – Oct 26th-27th
• WAE RTTY Contest – Nov 9th-10th
• ARRL 10m Contest – Dec 7th-8th

Year Totals [3775 Q's – 143.3hrs]

73 de M1VPN, damian.

Starting off the Radio Year

The start of 2024 has also announced the start of the World Wide Award stations, to celebrate the 150th Birthday of the Marconi.

Lots of stations to contact, lots of activity on all modes and a chance to chase a list of stations. After 2023, I thought my CW skills were probably good enough now to chase some stations, but little did I know my intention would turn into a bit of an obsession! Although I've got many contacts with SSB and FT modes, som RTTY too, I have lots on CW ! Many of them new DXCC for CW. Now, it's hardly a stretch to send Callsign & 5NN, TU however its more about the operating than the sending when you are new. No matter how much LCWO or morse copy prepares you for sending with a pile of other Ops, usually Split too. (Up Up, says the band police)

I've also found that I'm less worried about contacting that CQ calling station on the bands now too, so it's made me more comfortable with CW. I'm still not a great RagChew Op, but I'm not on Phone either! I've always been a digital modes station since I found them and enjoy all of them, from HF Packet to FT modes, RTTY and PSK. Something more exotic like Olivia, or even AMTOR/PACTOR.

So, M1VPN is now on Phone, Digital and CW, QO-100, HF and APRS VHF.

73 de M1VPN, damian.

Amateur Radio Goals for 2024

For 2024, I want to further consolidate what I have so no more new equipment unless it results in more Q's, or more DXCC. Tough for a equipment junkie like me, but a harsh reality of a lower budget for the foreseeable future. I have plenty of kit so maybe a clear out/swap for things that I no longer use, or have two of.

DXCC, I'd like to break 250 confirmed which is a hard total with what is left to get, but achievable with the station I have. I want to get more band slots too, to improve DXCC Challenge Score.

5 Band DXCC, Get those 80m slots filled to finish this. I should also get 30, 17 and 15m endorsements as these are either done or close. 160m won't be achievable with the current antenna, nor 6m.

VUCC, I'm not sure my current station/antenna for 6m has much more than 350 squares in it, so getting to 350 confirmed would be nice to do. A new 6m Yagi might help marginally with this. I have looked both at the Powabeam and Innovantennas, as a possible replacement for the 3 Ele, but would it be worth it based on the location ?!

QO-100, I'd like to get to 100 DXCC, and 200 Sq. Also improve antenna situation for receive, as that's not as good as it can be. A DL6YCL helix was part built in 2023 ! The station build went well so it just needs refining, no major changes needed that I can see.

Other awards, I'd like to get the ELK award, so need to work a OH73ELK station Op to get that. I'd also like to finish the Worked All Japan Areas (WAJA) Award, but I am 3 Prefectures short and have been for a while.

Contesting, Improve SSB Contest Ops, maybe add SO2V capability as the FT-2000 is capable of it and I need to Run more than I currently do. S+P works fine in some conditions but I can usually achieve better rates when running. RTTY has got better so just need to keep at that. There is a limit with wire antenna's though, so adding a directional antenna would help, but not an option currently. (Analysis of the stations placed ahead of me with similar station equipment usually have a Hexbeam or at least a Tri-bander)

General Station Goals, I'd like to achieve the ones left over from last year too, so QSL cards need to be up to date to start with, then re-cable the antenna's and patch cables. (This needs some digging in the garden for conduit laying) I want to add a switch the UHF/VHF antennas across radios and some cable tidying required on the back of the IkeaHacked desk, and finally finish the Audio chain install. (Sort out the boom mic, and further EQ settings)

Projects, Finish K3NG rotator controller (at least the basic pointing functions) before May and SpE season, and start my QRP Labs QCX build.

Stretch Goal and very much budget dependant, I want to build a sit/stand operating desk based on the Flexispot 4 leg chassis. From my IkeaHacked current desk work, I was made aware of a self-flat-pack service from a local sheet wood distributor who can CAD cut to size, so I need to break out the CAD software and build an extendable, future proofed, desk/console ! Easy, huh ? This is looking quite expensive, so one to plan at least in 2024, and design.

Finally, I want to make time to go out portable like I used to do. Maybe SOTA like I did back in 2004 – 2008, or just some HF operating.

Circle back in Dec 2024 and see what I actually achieved !

73 de M1VPN, damian.

Amateur Radio Goals from 2023

It's been a good year on the bands, and somewhat stable with respect to equipment so time has been spent on configuration settings and the operating position. This has for the most part been software, such as incorporating additional RTTY decoders for N1MM+, ready for RTTY Contest season and refining Log4OM integration along with Omnirig.

The only major addition has been an AOR AR8600 Communications Receiver, as I wanted an additional receiver instead of having to power on the HF/VHF/UHF Transceiver just for listening (See I'm justifying this purchase based on wear and tear on my other radio's). Originally I wanted a Lowe HF series (HF-150 preferred), but an AR8600 became available and I was fully aware of its short comings with HF front-end overload. I also bought a somewhat niche Mizuho SX-3 Preselector and that sorted the problem and now I have a DC – 3Ghz receiver ! I need to look at rx antenna designs in 2024, Wideband types as scanning is all completely new to me.

For Contesting, I applied and got the M1V short call in March, and used that for all contests onwards. Some good scores, some less good, but all enjoyable contests. My RTTY scores have finally improved, a mix of better operating, software setup and of course experience (time in chair).

Stats :

11,124 QSO's (for M1V, and M1VPN Calls) 204 DXCC for the Year

Goals for 2023 were ;

Learn CW and have a QSO – ✔ – Achieved, Studied with CWOps for both the beginner and Fundamentals course and have had some CW QSO's, both contest and QRS ragchew/nets ! Still not proficient, but having fun with the mode anyway !

Increase DXCC count to 200 – ✔ – Achieved this, currently at 214 confirmed, 228 worked.

Achieve 5 Band DXCC – ✘ – Not Achieved. 80m left to go, firmly stuck at 86 confirmed, 103 worked.

Achieve DXCC Challenge – ✔ – Achieved. 1003 slots confirmed, in December.

Increase VUCC 50Mhz grids – ✔ – Achieved – Gained 300 sticker, with 314 confirmed, 356 worked.

Get QO-100 Station finished – ✔ – Achieved. Station operated since April and gained QO100Club, 50 DXCC award. (Mixed modes, FTx, RTTY, SSTV, SSB, Packet)

Improve Contest skills – ✘ – Partially achieved. RTTY has seen better scores down to op skills, SSB contest scores improved by rate, but placed lower in CQ WW contests.

Re-coax cable station – ✘ – Failed, M+P Ultraflex 10 still on the drum it arrived on.

Get up to date with QSL Cards – ✘ – Massive Fail, but one for Jan 2024.

This Blog – ✔ – In the last throes of 2023, I finally got this installed. The main hold up was I didn't want another Wordpress to look after, and wanted something cut down, functionally. I settled on writefreely, which is also fediverse enabled, so I hope to integrate this soon. As with all things, this needed some infrastructure code changes here for hosting it, but a morning wrestling with NGINX and DNS, and it's done. Will sort out TLS at a later date as that's a bit more complicated for my hosting env.

Not specifically a goal, but I wanted to do more on HF Packet on Net105 and whilst I don't have an always-on node, I do tend to turn the TNC on when I'm at home. I have had a few K2K QSO's and mail flowing between PBBS's. It's not a busy frequency, but I've seen an increase in nodes although very few running TNC hardware. I need to consolidate TNCs in 2024, I don't need 2x PK-232 and 2x PK-900, so fix up and ship out time.

So in summary, not a bad year for amateur radio achievements. I've had some good contests and some good QSO's with ATNO's. No Bouvet, but wasn't expecting to after their issues at the island. W8S was a surprise after being told it was a Pirate, then the logs being found and it being confirmed was good ! FT8WW, Crozet Island on Jan 1st was a good start too.

And that's about it from M1VPN for 2023.

73 de M1VPN, damian.