X5105

Recent acquisition is a Xiegu X5105.
The nice thing about the X5105 is that it has it's own built in battery (good for a few hours operating), a built in ATU, built in speaker, built in microphone and PTT button.
This makes it an all-in-one radio for 160m through to 6m with 5W output.

3D printed a bracket to mount a mini telescopic fibreglass fishing rod and made it into an HF 'walkie talkie'.

Click images to go SUPERSIZE...

Need to see how it performs when hooked up to my loading coil...

https://g4zal.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-3d-printer-to-make-loading-coil-for.html

HackRF One SDR

HackRF One SDR

Click image to SUPERSIZE

N2ADR wifi Buffer

 

Initial test of Jim's N2ADR wifi Buffer.

Installed on Raspberry Pi 1 with USB wifi dongle(s) following these instructions from Github...
https://github.com/jimahlstrom/HL2WifiBuffer

All current testing is on my LAN.

As the R-Pi 1 does not have wifi, I tested both of these dongles, results were disapointing, with stuttering in Quisk and unuseable with Thetis.  Both are designed for R-Pi and are 'plug n play' in Raspbian.  The R-Pi was only about 6 feet/2 metres away from the wifi router in my shack.

As always, click any image to go SUPERSIZED!

Next test was with a USB ethernet cabled adapter, and setup (eth1) as the wifi adapter in the hl2_wifi_buffer.txt file.
Results are very encouraging in Rx, but using Thetis in Tx resulted in errors, Quisk rarely threw an error in Tx.  In both instances I was using VOX.

Thetis is rather bandwidth hungry at ~22.6 Mbits/sec download rate (19200 sample rate), whereas Quisk is ~9.9 Mbits/sec (9600 sample rate).

This would explain why Thetis was unuseable on my wifi dongles.

When using Pure Signal, it's advised to use 19200 sample rate.

Also, when using VOX I have an issue where VOX keeps tripping at the end of an over as there is a large 'pop' of audio on reverting to Rx and VOX constantly activates/de-activates until I disable VOX.

This will surely need fixing for me as I quite like VOX as opposed to spacebar PTT.

Multiple instances of Thetis

How to run multiple instances of Thetis or simply segregate multiple installs.

First you will need to organise your install folders and the same for the 'hidden' user folder(s).

I have Thetis for Anan as I have an Anan 200D and also Thetis for Hermes-Lite 2 as I have an HL2.

I install Thetis for Anan as per normal and create a desktop shortcut for it.

Rename the Anan Thetis desktop shortcut to Thetis 200D (for example).

Install Thetis for HL2 into their own seperate folders - I use C:\Thetis-HL2\Thetis_x64....

It's useful to keep seperate version folders so if one doesn't work so well, it's easy to revert.

Click any image to SUPERSIZE!

Inside each folder, find the Thetis.exe and right click on it, Send To > Desktop (create Shortcut).

On the desktop, rename the shortcut to Thetis-HL2-b2 (for example) or Thetis-HL2-b3 etc.

In Windows Explorer type %appdata% in the address bar and hit 'Enter' and then go into the OpenHPSDR folder

Create some new folders such as Thetis-x64-HL2-b2 etc

In my example below, I have one folder for 'normal' Thetis for Anan and then additional ones for Thetis for HL2.

Now, back to the desktop shortcuts, this is where the 'magic' happens.

For each HL2 shortcut, add something like this to the end of the text in the Target field...

 -datapath:"%appdata%\OpenHPSDR\Thetis-x64-HL2-b3"

Obviously, the name after the last backslash ( \ ) part must correctly match each folder name.

The whole line should look something like this...

C:\Thetis-HL2\Thetis_x64_2_10_3_4-HL2-beta3\Release\Thetis.exe -datapath:"%appdata%\OpenHPSDR\Thetis-x64-HL2-b3"

Don't forget the critical 'space' after ...\Thetis.exe above.

You can now start the required version of Thetis and the first time it is run, it will create a new wisdom file for that version - you can copy an existing HL2 wisdom file from one folder to another to prevent the time consuming creation.

A new database will be created inside each new 'hidden' folder so each is now independant of one another.

WSPR Tx-Rx on a Raspberry Pi

 Raspberry Pi4 running Quisk and WSJT-X connected over the network to my Hermes-Lite 2 as a WSPR transmitter and receiver.  I use VNC viewer to connect to the R-Pi remotely as it's running headless.

Quisk is really useful as it creates a pair of 'virtual audio cables' for digital modes making it very easy to link to WSJT-X as audio is otherwise a nightmare in Linux.
I've left it running 24/7 for a couple of days.

Can only get the power down to 0.5W on the HL2 but have also connected the R-Pi to my Radioberry and with no PA connected it only produces ~10mW, but still getting spots on every continent.

Antenna is a 1/4 wave vertical for 40m used for 15m as well.  I guess the antenna works quite well.

Amazing what you can do on the 'grey line' - the difference is night and day!

Click images to SUPERSIZE

K3NG keyer

K3NG keyer using boards by UN7FGO and an Arduino Nano

Click any image to go SUPERSIZE

I ordered a set of boards via JLCPCB in China (5 of each board for ~£21 delivered)

Main board
https://oshwlab.com/UN7FGO/K3NG_KEYER_V2_1

Control board
https://oshwlab.com/UN7FGO/K3NG_EXT_PANEL_2

Front & back panels
https://oshwlab.com/UN7FGO/K3NG_PANELS_CHINA_PROFILE

The schematics in the above links will give you the components needed to complete the keyer.
Obviously some of the components can be omitted from the main board PCB as they are reproduced on the control board PCB.

My case came from Amazon UK but can also be found on other sites
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098TNTGFP

All other parts came from my parts stock or from Amazon/ebay etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FXXPGKM

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SSLZX77

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008DS11IQ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125216704009

The black front & back PCB panels do need saw cutting through the middle and sanding down to finish them.

Once assembled and the code loaded, it turned out rather well.
I 3D printed the various spacers I needed (bright orange !)
The front panel buttons I had were too short really and buttons that are 12mm or longer, as listed above would have been better - mine were 8mm (3D printer to the rescue again).

The main code can be obtained from here...

https://github.com/k3ng/k3ng_cw_keyer

The following changes need to be made to the code...

In the KEYER_PIN_SETTING.H file, specify the microcontroller contacts, as they are organized in this device:

define paddle_left 6

define paddle_right 5

define tx_key_line_1 12

define sidetone_line 4

define potentiometer A0

define ptt_tx_1 11

define analog_buttons_pin A1

define command_mode_active_led 7

define ps2_keyboard_data 2

define ps2_keyboard_clock 3

The remaining contact names must be set to "0".

In the KEYER_FEATURES_AND_OPTIONS.H file, specify the device options used by removing the "//" sign in front of them:

define FEATURE_BUTTONS

define FEATURE_COMMAND_MODE

define FEATURE_MEMORIES

define FEATURE_MEMORY_MACROS

define FEATURE_POTENTIOMETER

define FEATURE_PS2_KEYBOARD

All other options must be commented out with "//".

When choosing a set of desired functions, be careful, because not all of the desired set will fit into the memory of the Arduino Nano microcontroller.

In the KEYER_SETTINGS.H file, you must specify the following parameters for variables:

define potentiometer_change_threshold 1.0

define default_ptt_hang_time_wordspace_units 1.0

define potentiometer_always_on 1

define analog_buttons_number_of_buttons 6

define analog_buttons_r1 10

define analog_buttons_r2 1

All other parameters can be left unchanged.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modified for internal sidetone... cut 2 tracks and add wires as pic

Yellow wire goes to one of those LM386 audio modules and outputs to an old laptop speaker... works fine!

Quisk Remote operation

The recent development of Quisk allows for remote operation of supported SDR radio's - that could be at the end of your garden using wifi or some completely remote station in another location.

The bandwidth requirement is around 55Kb/s, which is quite small for an ethernet operated SDR.

I run the Quisk remote 'server' on a Raspberry-Pi 3 hooked to a Hermes-Lite 2 (HL2) and another instance of Quisk as the Control Head (Client) running on a Windows laptop or PC.

The install and operation of Quisk is as described here... (upgrade your install(s) to the newest Quisk if not already done as old versions will not work for remote)

https://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html
https://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html#Remote

For remote operation, you must make sure both 'Server' and 'Client' versions of Quisk are the same and ideally the newest release.

The settings below are the same for a home network situation or a fully remote internet setup.

My setting of Quisk 'server' - I used a Raspberry Pi 3 as my remote 'server' as it is more than capable and cheap to run!   Click any image to SUPERSIZE!

Create a new radio of type Hermes, give it a useful name - I used HL2-Server, then Add as screenshot

Select the new radio, HL2-Server and on the Hardware tab, check the settings as in screenshot - adjust the hardware file path/python path according to your operating system

On the Remote tab, set a password for the remote client to add to the Control head/client setting

All other settings are pretty much standard and should be enough to get you going (see also the video linked below)

My Setting of Quisk 'Client' - I set this up on a Laptop or desk PC as the Control Head/Client

Create a new Radio of type Control Head and give it useful name - I used HL2-Client, then Add

Select the new radio HL2-Client and on Hardware tab select as screenshot, adjusting the path according to your operating system

On the Remote tab, add the IP address of your Quisk remote (HL2-Server/R-Pi) and enter the same password as you used for the Quisk Server

Once you have all the above setup, start the server and once it is connected to the radio, start the client and it should connect :-)

Here is a useful video on setting up an HL2 with Quisk for normal stand-alone operation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pPbQplSBoo

------------------------------------------------------

Below is a rough schematic of how I plan to run a fully remote station when I can find a suitable site.

Click the image to go SUPERSIZE !

In the UK we need to have a way to power ON/OFF the whole operation independently of the internet.
I will use a GSM operated relay that only responds to SMS messages from approved/registered cell phones (mine!).  It ignores all other calls/messages.

Once the system is powered on, it supplies 5v power (from the 12v PSU) to the internet router and an ESP32 controlling an 8 way relay module.  These relays are used to independently power ON or OFF the various other equipments via a web browser interface.

Once the router has full booted (around 1.5 minutes) I can then connect to it from my PC and control the relays via a web browser.  I use a Wireguard VPN on the router and a Wireguard client software on  my Windows PC to establish a secure point-to-point VPN.

I then power up the Raspberry-Pi.  I can check it is up via VNC viewer on my PC.  Once the R-Pi has booted, I then start the radio, a Hermes-Lite 2.  Once the HL2 is booted, I start the Quisk server on the R-Pi.

The reason I will do it this way is that to power the whole station at once would lead to failure as some devices would not be ready at the correct time(s).

With the relay control, I can also gracefully signal the R-Pi to reboot or power-off.

I will also have the ESP32 relay control an antenna changeover relay or relays and a linear amplifier (not shown in the above diagram for simplicity).
My Quisk Remote internet router has a fixed public IP address but it may be possible to use a DDNS service if you can't get a fixed IP address for the remote station - I haven't tested using a DDNS service.

Using a point-to-point VPN means I don't have to open ports at the remote station.
If you are not using a VPN, you will need to port forward the below to the internal IP address of the Quisk/R-Pi server (potentially risky long term).
TCP 4585

UDP 4586 and 4587

If you are using Quisk remote on your own home internal network then you will not need to fuss with the above ports.

You will always need to add a secure password into the Quisk Server software and add the same password to the Quisk Client as well.