RigBlaster Pro Mic Wiring

I promised more detail, so here it is.

I have ripped the setup apart to make room for dinner on the kitchen table, so now I am cleaning this blog up by finishing the setup details. Brad N1JIF shot some closeups of the equipment as we ripped it all down, and I will compile the details in seperate posts.

I am getting ready to record the audio exchanges and put the finishing touches on the laptop setup and while all of this is fresh in my memory I have decided to document as much as I can to not only help me, but others who may have questions and are brave enough to navigate this blog for answers. The following info is direct from the RigBlaster Pro User Manual:

YAESU with 8 Pin Screw on Microphone Connectors
(This jumpering is for newer Yaesu radios that have Microphones with isolated PTT & audio grounds.)

INPUT SIDE
Pin #
1 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 1 OUTPUT Side
2 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 2 OUTPUT Side
3 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 3 OUTPUT Side
4 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 4 OUTPUT Side
5 White Jumper to PTT GND – INPUT Side
6 White Jumper to PTT – INPUT Side
7 White Jumper to MIC GND – INPUT Side
8 White Jumper to MIC – INPUT Side



OUTPUT SIDE
Pin #
5 White Jumper to PTT GND – OUTPUT Side
6 White Jumper to PTT – OUTPUT Side
7 White Jumper to MIC GND – OUTPUT Side
8 White Jumper to MIC – OUTPUT Side

Here is the diagram as published in the RigBlaster Pro manual:

Here is the actual photo of the jumpers as I have them configured inside the RigBlaster Pro:

The 2 jumpers to the right of the block are not connected to anything, they are for jumpering receive audio at the mic connector. Neither is the GNDTIE jumper on the block, the actual jumper sits on a single pin. Jumpering this introduces a horrible ground loop that gets passed on thru to the transmitter.

This wiring is for the Yaesu MD-100 mic, which is screwed into the front of the RigBlaster Pro via its 8-pin cable (8-pin RJ-45 modular to circular screw-on 8-pin). Output to the rig is accomplished out the back of the RigBlaster Pro through the 8-pin cable (8-pin modular RJ-45 to circular screw-on 8-pin) to a Yaesu CT-69 connector, which adapts an 8-pin to the modular 6-pin RJ-11 that is required by the FT-100D. The CT-69 contains a 27K resistor as well as a small capacitor (i dunno what the capacitor is for, but Randy N1GWL will explain it to me, as he as well as Chuck WA1NBU are the kings of capacitors) built into the 8-pin circular screw-on shell.

I will forego the MD-100 wiring for now, but I have successfully interfaced the MD-100 to the FT-100, the UP/DOWN buttons work and the audio is outstanding. Problem is, I haven't built the cable for the RigBlaster Pro yet... That requires yet another cable... If anyone wants the details, it is easy to email me for more info, or leave a comment.

Complete 40M-75M Field Day Setup

OK, here is my contribution, listed as best I can.
I hope KT1Q and N1GWL can list their contributions here as comments...
(note you can click on many items and view either the manufacturers site or the actual product itself)

Yaesu FT-100D HF-440 rig
Yaesu MD-100 Microphone
West Mountain RigBlaster Pro
Dell Latitude D630 running Win 7
Astron RS-50M Power Supply
West Mountain RigRunner 4010S
LDG Z-11 Pro Auto Tuner
Daiwa CN-101 SWR/Power Meter
Heil HC-4 ProSet headset
Bird Model 43 ThruLine Wattmeter
Decibel DB4303G Dummy Load
West Mountain PwrGate Controller

Another important piece of equipment often overlooked is the User Manuals. I cannot say how many times I have been told to RTFM (Read The Fine Manual), and equally as many times it has saved my ass. I do have to confess that my book-reading for pleasure was replaced long ago by reference materials and technical bulletins. One of the easiest things to do is to compile all the manuals in .PDF format and put them in your My Documents folder. If you have the ambition, write the manuals to a CD or DVD (depending on size) and if you have a duplex (print on both sides) printer, print them out and place them in a 3-ring binder. Personally my 3-ring binders tend to come out more like a 3-ring circus, but you get the drift of what I am trying to say.

Here is a shot of the setup on the kitchen table:

There isn't a lot of detail you can see in this shot but I will post more about the specific setup. I know a lot of you are thinking 'Jeez, just bring your rig and set it up, no need for all this extra crap...' and at times I tend to agree. But that is what eventually makes the difference between an average station and a top-scoring station. Field Day isn't just an exercise, it is a contest.

I Was Wrong Yet Again...

Windows 7 DOES do full-duplex out-of-the-box...

Here is the dialog box that controls this action, I overlooked this in my overzealous attempt to bash Microscum's new OS. I guess I can chalk this up to yet another instance where this new OS is waaay smarter than we are, but I WAS correct when I said you will love this OS for the control it gives you. It just WORKS.

Problem is, when you use this control it introduces a bit of a digital delay into the recorded audio, probably an attempt by the almighty Microsmut to prevent feedback when monitoring a high output condenser mic. I can still use the playback control registry hack in the same exact fashion as before, WITHOUT the delay as well. Either one will work, it just depends if you are monitoring your own voice in full-duplex. The delay will throw you for a loop...

The codebase of the OS is a cumulation of NT, XP, Vista and it shows. This is a mature, stable platform that takes up less space and because of that, will appear to run faster and better than any OS you can install on the computer. I can say this because I have installed several different OS's on this laptop, in several different configurations. Currently I am in the process of obtaining a version of OS X that I will be able to run on this machine, too bad there isn't the software base for OS X and Linux that there is for Winslowz, not that I would run anything else at Field Day anyway...

And that includes OS X, this is gonna blow Mac users away. They will never admit it, but this Win 7 thing is gonna revolutionize how people interface with computers. It is the EXACT thing Microsnuff needs to do in order to make up for the failed Vista attempt... When 4-year-olds can run Win 7 without difficulty it kinda sez something about computers - They have truly become just a tool to do things. The OS doesn't necessarily matter anymore (unless you are doing specialized things) if you are only getting info or communicationg, the ability to integrate this tech stuff into our society is key in unlocking the educational process. Everyone gets smarter because of these technical advances, and in turn general crime goes down, but unfortunately terrorists get smarter too, so you can draw your own conclusions there. Best part is that your kids get to do things you only imagined as a child yourself. Truly amazing.

You're Gonna Love Windows 7...

Because it works. It just WORKS.

It is almost CREEPY how well it works. You just put the DVD in, and boot. Answer a couple simple questions, choose some drive options if you want (optional) and go. Come back 15 minutes later and it asks you what you want to call the computer and your account. Simple enough for a Mac user to do all by themself.

Now to see if it will do full-duplex... nope. At least not without some modifications...

Apparently I need to have the Sigmatel HD Audio driver installed in order for the Dell Latitude D630 to do full duplex. But yes, with the registry modifications listed in a previous post, I can get the laptop to do full-duplex on Windoze 7 easily. Works great now!

Windows 7 comes with almost every driver known to man, except for some older or possibly specialized devices. The audio came up easily on this laptop by default out-of-the-box, using the Microsux driver built into the OS. It hasn't recognized the USB-to-serial adapter yet, and I don't quite know if I even need it (this laptop has a 9-pin serial port), but it would be nice to have multiple serial ports available if necessary. Problem is, I don't know if I wanna deal with the inherent latency of the USB operated stuff...

Win 7 runs incredibly fast, on this laptop it is not a fair comparison to what most people run, but I installed it on a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop system this morning (32-bit version) and it is fine. The system is a single-core 2.8GHz machine with standard integrated Intel video and networking. It ran XP before (not great) but WIn 7 runs as well or better. I did need to trick the video driver so that I could get it to display a resolution greater than 640X480, but everything else was recognized easily and the system joined my domain after I authenticated properly.

The trick I used to fool the system is a standard procedure that is commonly used for 'compatibility'. The Dell 2400 has integrated Intel video on the motherboard, and unfortunately it is old enough (from 2004) so that Microskank feels it doesn't need to include drivers. So what if it is only 64M video? I extracted the video driver I got from Dell's Support site to a spot on the hard drive, and then ran the Setup.EXE file in 'compatibility' mode. This effectively removes the driver header information that specifies the designed OS from the .inf file and allows the program to run despite the OS mismatch. Worked great, and I had resolutions up to 1280X1024 when I was done. Piece of cake...

N3FJP Field Day Logger 2.8 seems to install and run fine, I will give it a workout this weekend when I get a chance to record some audio. I also wanna try GoldWave vs. Audacity to see where the better/easier audio will come from. I have never used Audacity, maybe Brad N1JIF can give me a hand. He also said he would snap some shots (not like I couldn't do it...) of the setup so we have something to refer to when it comes time to set it up again. I mainly wanna get shots of the RigBlaster jumper setup, we may need to change that if we have to switch to the backup rig (Yaesu FT-897). I have a feeling the backup rig can be used for VHF/UHF very easily, I think I will bring the truck-mounted mast down. I have a rotor for the thing (light-duty) all we need is a decent 2M/440 beam and an amp or two. We are allowed 150 watts you know...

I still can't get over how slick Win 7 installs and gets up and running. I started the install at 9:PM, and it is 10:30 and I have been blogging on the laptop for over 30 minutes now. Even when I go look for problems, it apparently just takes care of itself with a button-click or a check-box. It DOES take a little getting used to, but if you have used Vista it will be easy to migrate your skills. Moving from XP to Win 7 will throw you for a loop if you aren't ready for it, you will ask yourself over and over 'Where the hell did they put it this time?'.

One neat aspect of the new OS that photographers will like is the ability to calibrate your monitor. This is HUGE. Color accuracy isn't so much a big deal to color-blind people like me, but I have always felt that because of my handicap I have an increased sense of contrast and dynamic range. I think I can see better than most in the dark, and I can tell subtle differences in things others might miss. I can't tell green from brown, but I can see details...

Here is what my current Win 7 desktop looks like, I know it is hard to see because the resolution of the text is so small (1440X900) but you can get an idea at least of how the interface looks.

I am certain it will become a bit more cluttered than this as I get things installed. This evaluation doesn't run out until March of next year (June actually...) and the HD I installed this on is only 120G, so I imagine I can't cram too much crap into this. Time will tell.

N3FJP Logging Software

In an unprecidented move, FD Chairman Chuck WA1NBU authorized a change in the logging program used by SOVARC at Field Day 2009.

I find it hard to believe that the previous logging software, WR9R lasted as long as it did. Must be everyone upgraded from DOS machines to those new-fangled Winderz computers. Now all we need to do is get Skip to fork out the $6.00 it will take to get a registration code...

This is pretty easy software to use, you can use either the spacebar or the enter key to advance between fields in the exchange, and you can edit easily also. There is a networked version available, but operating 3A with a GOTA station really doesn't lend itself to networking, the need just isn't there. Maybe next year I can get some fiber adapters and connect everyone up, but with this rinky-dink operation (in comparison to some 24A station setups) it is really pretty easy to dump the logs and figure things out on paper.

DVK and CW really work well with this package if you have the time, patience and interface to connect it all up. Skip NC2T and Bob WA2VYZ will do well in the CW tent, they are both pretty saavy operators and will have things totally automated while everyone else is still struggling to get antennas tuned. Even Novice operators will find it easy to use, dupes are displayed almost immediately and in a large font that is easily read. The operators just need to insure that you set the band and mode appropriately, especially on multi-band stations.

The window size seems to fit the screen well, especially on a wide-screen laptop. The color scheme looks good, but there are a couple text color changes you can make if you find differentiating worked callsigns difficult. There is even a graph and map available, but I haven't investigated those options yet, I have been busy with the DVK stuff as well as work and travel as of late. As mentioned in a previous post I should be able to get the voice exchanges recorded over the weekend if I can find some quiet time, and then start to take a few pix of the setup so I can have something to refer to when it comes time to set it all up again.

In the next couple weeks I will be installing Windows 7 on a couple laptops, I just got my RC (Release Candidate) in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Wouldn't it be cool to run Win 7 at Field Day! The Win 7 RC won't officially expire until June 1st 2010, but it will start shutting down every two hours starting March 1st 2010. Plenty of time to play!

I wonder if Win 7 will do full-duplex...?

Talk it up...

OK, officially 1 month until Field Day. 4 weeks. It is time to start talking it up, time to get fired up and get everyone else you know going! There is no way just a handful of hams are gonna pull this off, EVERYONE needs to help.

Chuck WA1NBU has done a great job compiling the FD plan (as always), but there is much yet to be done. The best thing everyone can do is get on the radio, and start talking about it. You will be surprised who might be listening, scanners everywhere should be hopping with activity. You have access to a repeater, so USE IT! Of course I am speaking to the Ham Radio operators out there, you know who you are. I know the SOVARC crew, who were kind enough to extend their FD invitation to myself and Brad N1JIF have got things in gear, it is gonna be an exciting time!

Try and talk up this blog, mention it when you can and I will use it to keep everyone informed. I apologize for all the personal opinions, but then again this is MY blog, if you have something to say about a post, then leave a comment. Everyone can see the comments, no matter how rude and crude they might be. Use your computer for something besides searching the Internet for useless stuff...

The point here is, get off your ass and do something. No matter how trivial it might seem or how unimportant you may think it is, someone will appreciate what you do. One thing I have found useful, especially when you are preparing for FD or getting things ready for portable use, is to measure your coax runs. Put a string label with the length on the end of the coax, and you will be amazed at how useful a small little thing like that really is. Also, put your callsign on everything, because I have enough crap to haul around, I don't wanna haul your crap too.

The 40M station preparations are almost done, today I found the perfect microphone for recording the FD exchanges. Just so happens to be a discarded camcorder electret condenser microphone. It was being thrown away because it didn't work, turns out all it needed was a 2025 button battery. Thing works great, with full, rich fidelity (wide frequency range for all you audiophile types) and a high level of directionality. This weekend I should be able to find some quiet time to record all the exchanges I need, and at least write down the text so that other ops can get their voices recorded for their operating periods. Looks like it will be a pain in the ass to swap file configurations around within the N3FJP software, but we can give it a go, and let the author know about our wish list after the event is over.

I promise to get some photos of the setup, including jumper configurations inside the RigBlaster. Chances are I will have Brad shoot the macro stuff, he does pretty well hand-holding the Nikon and the 85mm macro setup he uses. You can see some of Brad's photos HERE , he wanted to attend FD but will be in Cape Cod on a school-sponsored summer trip. Bummer.

Brad sez I have a friggin' recording studio setup in the kitchen, I think he overstates things. It is only a Behringer mixing board and a few mics and cables. It was the only efficient way I could find to convert lo-z mics to a hi-z input such as a soundcard. I am certain there are others who have done this, maybe if you have a tip or suggestion you could leave a comment and let me know what you might have done successfully.

So far it is working out well, it is becoming apparent that we will have much more equipment than actually necessary. I personally think it will make sense to setup for 40/75 as well as VHF/UHF. We will have the gear for it, why not use it? But yet again that is a good subject for my next post...

Field Day is gonna be FUN...

If you can't already tell I am excited again to participate in Field Day this year, this should serve as a gentle reminder.

Brad N1JIF and I drove down to Bennington tonite to attend the May SOVARC meeting. It has been a long time since I saw a lot of these guys and gals, and it was worth every penny. We had other chores to do before the meeting that actually brought us to Bennington, but it was really nice to see everyone again after a long time.

Kudos to Randy N1GWL for being the adhesive that brings these people together. He has served as President in the past, and personally, I think leadership falls naturally upon this guy. Except for the piss-weak coffee, he did a great job in the short amount of time available to update everyone and then throw the floor over to Chuck WA1NBU to cover the Field Day planning. Randy did bring along some cookies, so I guess that made up for the coffee. And no, Randy's last name is not Friehoffer...

Longtime friend and former Catamount Radio Club President (SOVARC predecessor) Jack Evans WA1DLA was present, along with his son Mark. It was great to say hi, I haven't seen Jack or Mark in years. Here is a shot of Jack and President Randy:
You can see the rest of the shots from the meeting HERE, as well as other radio related shots.
The link to the general Ham Radio galleries is HERE you can get there if you go to http://K1XH.SmugMug.com

Apparently the SOVARC squad will be operating 3A (three alpha victor tango) this year, even though I think there is enough gear to operate 4A, there may be only enough dedicated operators to run 3A. Oh well. I guess 2A is the most competitive class, and 3A is probably best suited for us, seeing how we will have a GOTA station as well.

Looking over the 2K9 Field Day summary sheet as supplied by Chuck it is apparent there is a bigass hole in the station setup. Where is 75M phone? Chuck! What were you thinking?

Personally (again with this personal opinion crap!) there should be a shift in the stations, KT1Q/N1GWL/K1XH should be 40-75 (phone only), the N1RZ/W1VY station should be 10-15-20. I have an old (last used during Field Day 1999) 75/80M dipole we could string as an inverted vee that would work great on 75, I think if we don't setup for it we will be missing literally hundreds of QSO's as well as a great chance to piss off all the AM'ers. I guess it is time to start measuring coax...

I wonder what it will take to get everyone out to operate? That is probably better left for another post, but I have to admit that it would be great to see Alan N1LSZ, Wayne KA1CXD, and some of the others that we have all had a blast with in the past at FD 2K9.

Of course it won't be the same without some of the Silent Keys, Chet, WAZ, Tony, Ken, Chris, Ron, Bob, Ray & Ed just to name a few. I know they will be listening from above...

16Gb Makes for a LONG POST

Power On Self-Test that is...

I was fortunate enough to slam 16G of RAM into one of my spare Dell PowerEdge servers today at work (school). It runs Microstank Windows Server 2008 64-bit, and can use every bit of memory I can put into it. Problem is, it took over 10 minutes to POST for the first time. Reboots since then have been considerably faster.

One of the most significant performance increases you can perform on ANY computer is to increase the amount of memory it contains. I purchased 16G of REGISTERED ECC memory for my server for under $400. Anyone running XP or Vista 32-bit should have 4G installed in their computer. Period. Windows will only take advantage of 3.5G (approx) so it is best to install the fastest memory your computer can use in matched pairs. Your computer will love you for it. The system 'may' make use of the other 512M or so, but it depends heavily on the motherboard. No use getting memory that is faster than what your motherboard will support, the speed limit is set by the BIOS and you cannot exceed that unless you have a motherboard that supports over-clocking. Best to leave well-enough alone at this point.

I use Kingston memory, they have a memory configurator on their website that works great if you have a name-brand computer. You home-brew guys with hand-made stuff are on your own: If you built your computer from sctratch chances are you already know what memory it will take and what voltage it requires. Personally I try to stick with name-brand stuff because of the warranty. Generally I will replace 1 or 2 things out of the thousands of warranty items I purchase each year.

After I installed the memory into the server, I had to replace one of the drives that had failed. (this is why it was a spare...) The first RAID array is a RAID 1 (mirror set) array, and this particular server has a really nice Dell PERC 4di controller. The drives (6 front-panel drives) are all hot-swapable, and this particular array was 2-146Gb drives mirrored. I had the OS up and running, and I pulled the bad drive. I inserted the new drive (cheap-ass Fujitsu, I normally purchase Seagate drives, but this was a warranty replacement so I shouldn't complain...) and then went to my server administrator software (Dell OpenManage) and tried to tell it to rebuild. It barked at me that it 'cannot start the rebuild process on this drive as the drive is in the process of being rebuilt'. Cool. Truly hot-swapable. Didn't even need to tell it to 'just do it'. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know the drive was failing except that when I fired up this server after we eliminated its need, the OpenManage software informed me there was a problem. Still booted fine, it even allowed me to install the new 64-bit OS. All I had to do is argue with a few towel-headed Dell server 'associates' to get my drive replaced. And they assured me they would be sending out a Seagate replacement. Right. And his real name was 'Bob'...

Testing... 1 2 3 Can You Hear Me Now?

This is episode whatever of the Field Day Setup Blog...

So it turns out this DVK thing is pretty cool. The hard part is getting it setup properly. Using it during a contest will actually work out well, as long as you pay attention to the radio..

The other thing that is kinda difficult is getting your audio levels setup properly. Mike W1ECT turned me on to a nifty audio editing program called GoldWave, which actually overcomes many of the weaknesses of every other audio program known to man. This little gem will do anything. Problem is, you need to be an audio engineer to even understand what half the tools are. For christ's sake, I haven't seen a Parametric Equalizer since the '70's. This has one built in. A Flanger. Compression/Expansion. All I need to find is the Cry Baby wah-wah pedal and I can sound like Jimi Hendrix. (EDIT - turns out this program called Audacity has wah-wah, I may need to try this. Brad has this installed on one of his computers...)

But seriously folks, you will discover every weakness in your audio system while running this program. Fortunately, there is a tool built-in to overcome every weakness found in your system. Now all I need to do is find a decent microphone to plug into the laptop to record all the exchanges I need to record. It will be kinda neat to get this setup, I can already envision how this is gonna go at Field Day. Problem is, what to do when you switch operators...

N1MM has a neat feature that configures things (like audio and CW messages) when you change operators, all you need to do is remember to tell the program when you switch. It stores your exchanges in a seperate folder for each operator. Chances are we will end up recording each operator's exchanges in a seperate file folder and resetting the program each time we switch.

N3FJP 2.8 is pretty straightforward, currently I have it setup with 4 DVK messages, CQ Long, CQ Short, Exchange, and Thanks QRZ. Chances are I will need to setup a couple more, and I might even set them up similar to the N1MM scheme just to keep things similar. I think I need to find a better microphone first though.

I have a nice Shure downstairs, but I am leaning towards using one of the Heil mics I have just so I can have a good base to build on. The GoldWave program allows some pretty neat adjustments, I might even throw in some reverb to make Alan N1LSZ happy. 10-4 good buddy...

Problem is there are so many differences it will be tough to fine one with the appropriate response characteristics. Then you have the problem of impedence matching, and ultimately it is all very, very dependent upon the soundcard you are plugging into, in my case it is a Sigmatel High Definition Audio. I can't recall the exact model number of the device (just looked it up... SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio) but I will bet it will work oooh so much better with a cheap-ass Dollar Store mic than with any other conceivable divice I might be able to plug into it. Chances are a cheapo condenser will outperform a $1K Sennheiser...

I wonder if I can plug a mic into the USB port...

EnableInputMonitor = 01

Here is installment #5 of the continuing Field Day Setup Progress Report (no longer named FIASCO!)

No longer a fiasco because I was able to get full-duplex audio working on the Dell D630 Laptop!

For those of you with a Dell Latitude D630 running Microstink Vista (or any computer that uses Sigmatel audio for that matter...) who want to enable full-duplex audio, you will need to edit the registry.

Here is the fix:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000\Settings\filter\SpeakerHp\

Change the Binary Value for EnableIntSpkrMute to 00

Add the Binary Value EnableInputMonitor and set the value to 01

Reboot

Right Click the Volume Speaker Icon by the clock on the taskbar, Select Playback Devices, Double-click Speakers/Headphones, Click the Levels tab, then unmute the Input Monitor option.

LET ME MAKE THIS DISCLAIMER - Editing the registry can be dangerous to your computer and your sanity. I cannot be held liable for anything you do while editing the registry of your computer. If you have never edited the registry, or if you feel uncomfortable even thinking about editing the registry, give your laptop to some geek who has done it before, and let them do it for you.

Works like a charm. I now have inserted a REAL laptop into the main slot, let's see how this one reacts...

Anyway, busy day today, spent all day at a conference in South Burlington at the High School. I used to think our school and network were screwed up. Turns out Woodstock is miles ahead as far as technology is concerned, and we are doing things in a small school that bigger schools can only hope to implement some day. Go figure. It appears as though they have plenty of money though, their auditorium was one of the nicest I have ever seen. Really cool audio and lighting boards. Wish we had that.

Testing will continue with the Dell D630 this weekend. I hope to setup some .wav files, but I have to remember to start Sound Recorder from the command line, as by default it wants to record .wma files. Damned Vista... Yet another ill-behaved Microscam product. At least the D630 has a REAL 9-pin com port. No serial to USB adapter to worry about. Besides, I have always thought the delay introduced by the USB stuff was a problem, I will use the ThinkPad with the USB to serial as a backup now. Mike KT1Q won't need to scrape up a backup laptop after all...

Now that the laptop is working (so far) I am actually getting excited about working Field Day with the SOVARC boys (and girls... I haven't seen Mandy AI1A in ages!). The thought of loading all this crap into the truck is a but unnerving, but I survived the NEAR-Fest, so I guess this isn't too much different. I will be hauling real radio-related stuff instead of junk computer crap. It does seem a bit different to go and play radio in a different area, it would make more sense to hang out with the guys around the Upper Valley (TSRC). Ever since they ruined Field Day for myself and Mike N1MS, I have held a grudge. As past president of TSRC I am utterly appalled at what they have become and the money they waste each year. It is not as though they are rich, but they insist on maintaining a used vehicle lot in the guise of 'Emergency Service'. Best thing I ever did was dis-associate myself from those losers. Now I get to play radio with REAL hams... Or as Ed WA1MAG would say, Ham Radio Buffs...

Sometimes taking a break from things can allow you to clear your mind, look at things from a different perspective, and gain some insight that one would normally overlook. That is what happened here, I had to think about things for a bit, then figure out where to look for answers. And that brings me to the whole purpose for these recent posts, a convenient method to document the trials and tribulations of setting up a Field Day station. It really can only get worse from here...

This Dell Latitude D630 is an awesome laptop. I just can't help bragging about what this thing contains:

Intel T9500 dual-core processor @ 2.6 GHz (this may change, I may swap in a slower processor just for testing purposes, probably a T9300 @ 2.5 GHz...)
8Gb PC2 memory (all addressable, requires BIOS A15)
MS Vista SP1 64-Bit
300Gb 7200 RPM Seagate HD
Sony 16X DVD Dual-Layer optical drive
Optional 9-cell battery (approx 4-hours battery life... depending)
Optional Device Bay battery
Actual 9-pin comm port
1440X900 Display Resolution
Intel 4965 BGN Wireless (230 mps wireless connect to an N-Router)
Gigabyte ethernet

I think now you can see why I prefer to use this laptop. It is a road-warriors dream machine.

Anyway, now that it works, let's see what it can do over the next week, I will keep you all posted here. Leave a comment if you get a minute.

Not all software is created equal...

This is part 4 of the continuing Field Day Fiasco saga...

Catch up with the progress by reading the 3 previous posts below.

Anyway, it is time to move all this crap to an actual 'test' environment similar to what one could expect at Field Day. (one NEVER knows what to expect at Field Day, that is why they call it an 'exercise'...) Gotta clean off the kitchen table, Doreen is gonna be pissed as all hell when she realizes all of this complicated radio/computer/power/wiring is gonna occupy the kitchen table for a whole month. What the hell, dealing with her is GOTTA be easier than connecting all this stuff together and making it work.

Mental note - 50 amp power supplies are friggin' heavy. Try to get someone else to move it next time. So it looks like I can fit almost everything into a 4-foot square space on the table. This is good - there may be about this much room at the FD site, I will need to ask Chuck WA1NBU about where we will be and who will be there. So far I think the station will be on 40M phone. It better be, as I have no plans to bring a key or set anything up for CW.

Setting things up in the kitchen requires several trips back to the shack in order to obtain all the necessary connectors and cables, but this is why we test things in an actual test environment. At this point all is connected in a basic way, power to the radio, (and everything else) and computer to everything. Now the setup starts to break down...

Apparently not all software is created equal. At this point I have no clue that the Dell Latitude D630 running Vista 64-bit isn't going to work. Nevertheless, I plod on, installing software package after software package trying to get the rig control set just right. I can get Ham Radio Deluxe to work just as it did in the shack, it is what I use for PSK using this very setup except for the lack of a docking station and flat-panel monitor. The D630 has an actual 9-pin com port setup as COM1, and it works well to control the rig. As I have it setup, it will even key the rig and pass audio, albeit one-way. BUT WAIT! I haven't used this laptop here before! I used a different computer to run PSK with this setup! How does this even work? OK, ok... calm down, let's see what else will work. Chances are the SOVARC boys (and girls) will be using N3FJP Field Day Logger 2.8 as their main logging program. Let's run that and see what happens...

LOCK-UP... oh wait, it is just KEY-DOWN... unplug everything, and let's set this up... FD Logger is a simple program, it does one thing at a time really well. Problem is I won't find that out until later on in the process. Looks like it will do DVK, so let's set that up. Here is where I run into .wma versus .wav file difficulties. Apparently, logging programs will only recognize .wav files. The Dell D630 running Vista 64-bit will only record .wma files. What the hell!

Rip the Dell outta the setup, and place the IBM in its place on the table. WAIT - NO serial ports... Off to find some sort of adapter... YES I have 2 that actually work on XP Pro 32-bit. This is good. The Targus wants COM5, and the Belkin wants COM4. Looking in the FD Logger setup, it appears that I can use COM5, so I pick the Targus adapter, and I am off to the races. More like racing nowhere really fast...

Apparently the N3FJP FD Logger software cannot read the rig via rig control and key the rig for DVK on the same port. Took me 3 days to realize this. I had to turn off the rig interface (set to NONE) before the DVK would even begin to work. Even THEN the software keys the rig on the RTS (so it sez...) line which in all reality is the DTR line. (on the FT-100D I guess you need to key the rig via DTR and send CW via RTS...) I can tell this by looking at the front panel of the RigBlaster Pro, it has LED's for PTT & CW. Also when you activate the rig via one of these lines, it automatically switches the MIC out of the circuit and switches IN the output form the sound card in the laptop. But when I finally get it working, there is this strange buzzing being fed into the front panel mic input on the rig. What the hell! Where is this coming from?

So I pull the cover on the RigBlaster Pro, something I don't like to do because there are jumpers and wires and such inside. Besides, there are 4 screws holding the cover in place. I figure if God wanted us to play with the innards of stuff, he would have designed it with a quick-release hatch. This is a place where no normal person should ever venture. Referring to the User Manual again, I am still befuddled as to what I have configured wrong. At first I think it is something mis-wired with the rig control, after all FD Logger says I am keying the wrong lines... so I spend a day re-wiring all the serial stuff, A-to-B connections, FSK this and PSK that. All I succeeded in doing is breaking the rig control stuff, which, thank God for Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) gave me a quick and easy way to see if everything was still working. HRD is pretty easy, and it has a fairly long development path. I have used it and its associated programs for several years, and it is to the point where I am actually considering making a donation. Just like West Mountain stuff, HRD just works.

After successfully breaking and then reconnecting all the rig control stuff, I decided to move my attention back to the mic jumpers and all that associated wiring and configuration. Referring back and forth between the User Guide and every other reference I could find, I ended up back at trial and error. What could possibly explain the wierd buzzing noise in the mic audio? Then it hit me. The FT-100D uses the same GND between the mic and the PTT line, as configured in the mic connection. In the RigBlaster Pro there is a GNDTIE configuration jumper used to tie the two grounds together. Somehow, I thought this jumper was necessary in order to get the rig to key with the PTT button on the mic. Yet again, apparently I was wrong. I pulled off the GNDTIE jumper and stored it on a single pin, and all my (well, most) audio woes went away. Mental note - Try things with ALL the software running, not with the computer turned off. I needed to have the stuff running in order to insure all was working correctly together.

Along comes N1MM Logger, my preferred software since I dumped WriteLog a few years ago. N1MM is pretty neat, it is what all the big guns use (unless they have custom proprietary software, written especially for that particular contest station) because it will allow SO2R operation as well as a host of other options such as SO2V, rotator and CW keyer control, and so many more this blog ain't big enough to list them. It is ULTRA configurable (if that is a word) and it would be real nice to have it up and running just in case the powers that be realize they can save $6.00 (that's right folks, N3FJP costs a whole $6.00) by using N1MM instead. This might be the subject for my next blog post - Why does N1MM say one thing and FD Logger say another? And why can't WriteLog use COM5?

Trying to setup N1MM was another exercise in futility, pressing F1 to start the DVK made the program spit and sputter, like a handicapped kid with a speech impediment, a lisp and a big 'ol Tootsie Pop all stuck in his mouth at the same time. Tried this with changing every configuration setting known to man, combinations and permutations numbering well into the square root of a bazillion somewhere. Better leave this for yet another day, yet another post...

So it comes time to actually feed some audio from the computer into the rig, and here is where I actually discover what the meaning of 'full-duplex' really means. Remember back when you could purchase an audio receiver that actually had jumpers where the pre-amp output was? There were actually jumpers that connected things in a bigass loop, allowing you to put whatever piece in or out you needed. Along comes the new millenium, where everything is controlled with an actual 'switch' of some sort allowing you to switch things in and out easily with the touch of a button. In today's world, buttons have been replaced with check-boxes and such that one must 'click' on in order to configure. Here is where you can turn full-duplex on or off on a Windows XP Pro 32-bit computer...

Right-click (or double-click) the audio icon in your System Tray and bring up your Audio Properties dialog box. Click Options and choose Properties. Choose the Recording Controls. To enable full-duplex, find where the mic is muted, and 'un-mute' the microphone. This is the KEY to all the RigBlaster Pro operations.

Try to do this in Vista...

My Blaster is ALIVE! Everything works! I can hear static out of my headset! HOLY SOUNDCARD, BATMAN! Why didn't they tell me this already? How come it took 2 weeks and an ungodly number of hours of trial and error to set this up? Because the words 'full duplex' are mentioned in the RigBlaster Pro manual only 1 time, under Advanced Audio Considerations. And only then it talks about the ability to process your audio properly. Nowhere does it mention that if you wanna have headphone audio, you MUST have a soundcard capable of full-duplex audio.

OK, if I sound overly excited, it is probably because I am. I now have almost everything working as I think it should. I have a base system working, with DVK setup to call CQ FD... There are many other things yet to accomplish, such as setting up all the other voice messages, and trying to get the Rig Interface working with FD Logger so that it will at least read frequency and mode. Remember, I need to make this as simple and bulletproof as possible (yeah, right...) so that when I have a 6-pack or 2 into me it will all be as clear as day how to setup and operate 40 meter phone...

This is not to mention the other equipment yet to interface, such as the D630 running Vista 64-bit. I am determined to get this baby setup and working, as I have never seen a more stable OS in my life. This 64-bit stuff is incredible. Not only can I fully address 16G (that is 16 GIGABYTES) of memory, it is pretty much immune to the 32-bit puking of programs one would normally experience on XP or a Mac. Shit flies on this laptop. When you double-click an icon by mistake, the program is up, running and waiting for user input BEFORE you realize you made a mistake. I imagine this will consume the next week or so.. at least it will give me time to blog some more about software.

Stay tuned...

This should be easier than it is...

This is part 3 of the Field Day setup fiasco...

Anyway, to continue the saga, I believe I have a full station setup and working. It is not exactly how I would like it to be, but again, this is a work in progress and I finally have a good working base from which I can build.

See the two previous posts below for more info on exactly what I plan on setting up as well as the components I am trying to interface.

To summarize, I have a Yaesu FT-100D rig interfaced to a West Mountain RigBlaster Pro which is connected in many ways to an IBM ThinkPad T60 laptop running 32-bit XP Pro. Power to this system is provided by an Astron RS-50M supply thru a West Mountain RigRunner 4010S, attached to a West Mountain PwrGate and a rather large gel-cell battery as backup. In addition, there is a Diamond cross-needle power/swr meter in the mix as well as an older Panasonic speaker used for audio output. Voice input is provided by either a Yaesu MD-100 desk mic or a Heil ProSet headset (HC-5 DX element).

These are the parts I have working so far. To say I am a fan of West Mountain products is an understatement, their shit just works. Period. Now onto the things I would PREFER to get connected and working:

Dell Latitude D630 laptop running Vista 64-bit
David Clark H10-60 headset with M7 mic
Bird ThruLine wattmeter
Additional Heil headset

The next task to tackle is the D630. In order to use a laptop fully with the RigBlaster Pro interface, you need to have what is called 'full-duplex' audio through your computer. Basically this is the ability to 'un-mute' the microphone input so it can be processed and then passed through the soundcard and back out to the RigBlaster Pro. This is critical to the ability of the Blaster to provide output audio to your headphones as well as the connected rear-panel speaker output. So far I have been unable to accomplish this, but there have been a few posts where I have seen users employ full-duplex on their Vista computers using the proper drivers and settings. All hope is not lost...

On top of that will be the ability to use the David Clark headset, it is an incredible piece of work that has the ability to completely cancel all ambient noise via custom engineered gel-filled earpads. It is no wonder they use these in aircraft. Put these babys on and you are isolated in a world where silence is golden and the ONLY audio you hear is that passed thru the tiny 1/8" plug connected to something. To say these are incredible again is an understatement. Bose could learn a lesson...

The DC H10-60 is the set I have, it has an amplified M-7A microphone that I would love to be able to use while connected to radios or computers. Got these at the Hosstraders hamfest (now NEAR-Fest) years ago, but only have been able to use them as headphones because of my apparent inability to wire the microphone correctly. This shit ain't plug & play, it is more like plug & pray. Maybe I can enlist Randy N1GWL to help, he is wiz-bang at this electronics crap. It needs DC bias current at the mic, so chances are it is either gonna work slick as shit or he will destroy a $70.00 headset cable.

The specifics of the RigBlaster Pro are the neat thing here, it is ultra customizable. It will interface virtually ANY computer & soundcard to ANY radio. The problem is generally gonna be the software you use to git 'r dun. That will be the topic in Part 4 of this diatribe, the insane ramblings of an Extra class part-timer. Psychobabble as Mike KT1Q puts it...

Despite what others might tell you, the most important part of the Blaster interface is not the RS-232 stuff and TTL conversion to control the rig, that is incredibly simple according to the RigBlaster Pro User Guide. It is the Mic connection and configuration to your rig that is the heart of the matter. This took me a week to understand and configure. Thanks Yaesu, for making every rig you manufacture different from the model before.

The FT-100D is a strange beast, but it remains as a workhorse in my shack, even though it was designed to be used mobile. It has data connections on the back, as well as rig control and key/speaker connections. The strange part is the mic connector in the 'front'. You need to remove the faceplate in order to connect the mic, and only certain microphones will work. You can find a link to Yaesu's official list of supported accessories on the web, but I tend to ignore official crap like that. I figure if I have a microphone, and it has some sort of connector, that I am intelligent enough to connect it to the radio somehow. Generally this is the case, and this example is no exception.

The Yaesu MD-100 is a wonderful desk mic, with built-in audio filtering and PTT as well as up/down 'buttons' laid out on a really nice looking stand. Again I bought mine at the Hosstraders (now NEAR-Fest) hamfest a few years back at a very reasonable price. I figured because it sez Yaesu on it that it should connect easily to a Yaesu radio, right? Yeah, right...

Not only does the FT-100D use a non-standard RJ-11 6-pin connector, it apparently multiplexes all the features available on certain mics via some sort of strange resistance matrix. Just to get the PTT to work using a standard mic on the Ft-100D it requires a 27K resistor in the PTT line. When you add the up/down buttons into the mix, it adds another couple resistors in a series/paraallel arrangement. Try fitting all that crap into an 8-pin plug shell! Let's put it this way, this type of cable pushes the limit of my soldering abilities. You won't be creating one of these with a 250 watt soldering gun.

Anyway, I successfully built a cable specific to this combination, it won't work with anything else as far as I know. It might work with my broken FT-8500, but I dunno, 'cause it's broken. The up/down buttons work fine, they advance the frequency up and down just like they are supposed to when the mic is connected, holding either of the buttons will initiate scan mode in the direction of the button you are holding. So far all is good. Until you try to tailor your audio via the switches on the bottom of the mic...

The MD-100 requires voltage in order to use the 'active' filters. Oh well. The FT-100D supplies the wrong voltage, and there just isn't any more room in the 8-pin plug for a couple zener diodes to drop the voltage enough to make things work. Did I attempt to make it work? No, I read about it and decided I can run the mic in 'thru' mode without the need for active filtering. Besides, this is Field Day, and we don't need no mic filters on Field Day. Or do we? I kinda figure I can get the RigBlaster Pro to process stuff if I really need to , but I generally just crank up the mic gain and the processor (compression) in the rig and let it go at that. Real filters are made of crystal...

So with the MD-100 working, and a brief test on VHF FM with Brad N1JIF confirmed the mic actually had some output, I decided it was time to move on and plug the MD-100 into the RigBlaster Pro to see what it did. So I plugged it in. What did it do? Nothing. Seems I have to build another cable... But wait! I have this CT-69 thingy, which is an 8-pin male (mics generally have an 8-pin female...) connector to an RJ-11 6-pin connector that I got somewhere and never figured out exactly when and where to use. Taking the CT-69 thingy apart, I see it has a resistor and a small capacitor connected to the lines that an FT-100D would use for PTT! OK, so I connect this adapter to the RigBlaster Pro cable... and still nothing. Back to the User Guide...

Seems as though I need to configure the RigBlaster Pro for this particular radio/mic combination. Aha! Who would have figured! Since I had never used a mic with this setup before (PSK-31 and CW only, yes... CW. I made one contact...) there was nothing configured correctly as far as the jumpers inside the Blaster were concerned. Here is where the FD Setup Fiasco actually begins...

So you already know Yaesu doesn't do the same thing the same way twice, and when you deviate from the official accessory path you kinda can expect no support whatsoever. This is a bad place to start from. Fortunately I have a few people who will help by offering advice (I don't have any real friends...) and then again, there is the Internet. One thing to remember - Google is your friend. If you don't know something, Google it. Strange how our society will develop new verbs for doing strange shit. Anyway, between that, the Blaster manual, the rig manual and some good old fashioned trial-and-error, I got the RigBlaster Pro 'kinda' wired up to accept the MD-100 PTT. No up/down button control of frequency, but I may add that at a later date now that I know I can build a special cable for that operation. Why not use a hand mic you ask... Hand mics are for lightweights and amateurs. They are for people not adventurous enough to stray into the realm of hi-fidelity audio electronics. They are for the weenies we unfortunately call 'Appliance Operators'. Apparently they are for people who want things to work, and need to have the impedence matched properly...

So I key the mic, the MD-100 forces the FT-100D into life, keying the rig, activating the fancy eee-lectroniks inside the rig and making the LED on the front panel turn from green to red. All is good in the K1XH shack - so far. Until I look at the power/swr meter, which should indicate no output because I am not speaking into the mic. But yet the meter is going crazy, with some sort of strange modulation going on, being fed into the radio from the Blaster in apparently some sort of wiring mis-hap. WHAT THE HELL!

Son of a bitch, I am ripping this all apart. Enough is enough. I need to see this all in its ripped-apart glory, only to be re-assembled on the kitchen table in its planned Field Day configuration. I will work on the audio later, as I have PTT and I think that is all I need for now. Time to strip one side of the shack...

Apparently I need help...

OK, so I admit I am not a brain surgeon, but then again this is not brain surgery.

I have been trying for a week or so to get a DVK (Digital Voice Keyer) of some sort to work with the equipment I have.

I thought I had everything I needed as far as equipment goes:
Yaesu FT-100D
MD-100 Microphone
MH-42 BJ6S Hand Mic
MH-36 BJ6S DTMF Hand Mic
RigBlaster Pro
Astron RS-50M Power Supply
PwrGate & Battery Backup
RigRunner 8-Port
Various USB to Serial converters
IBM T-60 ThinkPad (no serial port) running XP 32-bit
DELL D630 Laptop (COM1 serial port) running Vista 64-bit

I thought I had all the software I needed as well…
N3FJP Field Day Logger v.2.8
N1MM Logger v.9.5
Ham Radio Deluxe v.4.01

Apparently, every piece of software that I have uses a different method of rig control and PTT keying.
All I want to do is press F1 and have it key the rig and play a .wav file, and then repeat after 4-5 seconds ‘till I press escape or key the mic.
Do any of you have any experience with this? Any tips that can help?

Anyway – I have tried 2 different laptops, and both act differently. Get this – I tried to record a .wav file with the Dell running Vista. Simple task. Except for the fact that Vista no longer records things with Sound Recorder in .wav format any longer. It now records in .wma format, which logging programs won’t play. You have to start Sound Recorder from the command line with a /recordfile .wav modifier in order for it to do this with Vista…

But on to Serial port issues… WestMountainRadio had a link (http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/writelog/2004-April/019714.html ) to a forum article I found interesting… Anyway it is becoming apparent that all serial ports are NOT created equal. The IBM T60, with NO serial port whatsoever needs a USB to Serial converter in order to interface to the RigBlaster Pro, and seems to work well as far as rig control goes. Problem is, the IBM ThinkPad T60 is a piece of crap I lifted from school. No wonder why we were getting rid of it… Next thing I wanna do is try the DVK aspect of things, I have not explored this yet. The Dell running Vista 64 is a bit more complicated, only certain USB to Serial converters will work, because of the ‘Vista 64-bit’ thing. Still looking for drivers for one Serial to USB device, I think I have another that will work but haven’t tried it yet.

My main concentration has been on the Dell D630, really nice laptop, 8G RAM, 9-pin COM port and 64-bit OS. You would think this would be adequate for logging at Field Day… Well you thought wrong. N3FJP won’t do rig control, it won’t even read the frequency and mode from the FT-100D, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the DVK to work, as it won’t even recognize the COM1 device (RigBlaster Pro / FT-100D) attached to it. Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) works just fine, rig control is great and I can key the rig fine, except there is no DVK built into HRD. I don’t even know how the logger works, as I haven’t got to that yet… Add to that the lack (seemingly) of support for .wav files on the Dell and it appears hopeless. N1MM Logger keys the rig, and seems to read the frequency and mode, but when you push F1 to initiate the DVK the rig keys OK, but the .wav file stutters and spits and goes real slooooow thru everything. Frustrating at best…

At least when I attach one of the 3 microphones to the rig, and then attach an antenna to the output, I can press the PTT button and speak and it actually works. I worked a special event station from Ukraine on 40M like shooting fish in a barrel. I know Ukraine on 40 barefoot is no big deal, but it fuckin works!

Why can’t the rest of this crap be as easy?

Field Day is not for lightweights...

Here is the 2nd installment of the trials and tribulations of a Field Day station…

I may have things setup and working properly… Time will tell.

I haven’t had a lot of time to test things ‘on-the-air’ yet because a breakthrough just occurred with my setup.

After diddling with EVERYTHING last night after I got home from school, I think I found the answer to the three or four nagging problems that have been plaguing my setup for the past week or so since I pulled everything outta the shack and set it up on the kitchen table.

First let’s review the setup:

Yaesu FT-100D interfaced to a
RigBlaster Pro connected to an
IBM ThinkPad T60 running XP 32-bit

The RigBlaster Pro is the heart of the setup. Connected to it is everything needed to interface a system together. Currently I have a Yaesu MD-100 desk mic attached, as well as a Heil ProSet headset. This also connects the IBM laptop via soundcard Line in and Line out 1/8 inch stereo connectors. Rig control is accomplished via USB to Serial on COM4, with a Targus adapter. In a nutshell, this is all you need to get working, everything else I will describe here is extra ‘fluff’.

Of course, all of the equipment you have needs to have certain ‘features’ in order for things to work. For example, I want to have a Digital Voice Keyer (DVK) connected so that I don’t wreck my voice over a 24-hour period of a contest. Not only is it physically challenging, it is mentally exhausting as you get into the wee hours of any contest. The ability to record audio and then play it back is key here, add to that the audio levels you must control and this by itself is quite challenging. In addition, you will need to key the rig, and then pass audio into the transmitter. Simple statement ‘eh? Well as you know it is not quite as simple as that. Let me list some requirements:

Audio interface between the computer and rig – RigBlaster Pro. The rig must be able to be keyed by the computer (rig control) and the audio must be sent from the computer to the rig after it is keyed up (DVK) The Blaster handles this easily, but not without extensive configuration and testing. Not only must you insure the unit is interfaced correctly for rig control, you must insure the mic wiring is correct as well. This is well-documented in several manuals, but one must research and put together your own ‘manual’ of sorts in order interface radio ABC with computer XYZ. In my case, I could not have chosen two more incompatible products.

The key, as it turns out is to have full-duplex audio within the computer you choose. This is more a function of the Operating System (OS) then it is with the computer itself, as Microsoft Windows XP Pro seems to handle this extremely well, and Microsoft Vista does not. The ability to ‘un-mute’ the mic input on the computer is critical to the success of the RigBlaster Pro interface. If you cannot pass-thru the audio from the radio thru the soundcard and back to the RigBlaster Pro, you will not hear any audio in your headphones that are plugged into the front of the RigBlaster Pro. You also may not be able to use the soundcard as a ‘processor’ to fine-tune or hone your audio characteristics passed back into the rig. (I have not tested this yet, maybe by Part 3 I can get to it…)

For the life of me I cannot get Vista to pass-thru mic audio. Maybe it is a function of the soundcard, maybe it is the OS, maybe it is God trying to tell me to stay off the friggin’ radio. Apparently this isn’t the only annoying Vista glitch, the first one I came across was the apparent inability to record .wav files. Vista (Business Edition) wants to record things with the Sound Recorder in .wma (Windows Media Audio) format. While I don’t know the differences between the two formats, and I personally don’t care, this is yet another blunder by Microshaft that will add Vista to the likes of Windows Millennium (ME). Jesus I can’t wait for Windows 7…

There is a workaround though… but I don’t know why I am telling you this, as I don’t think Vista will work as far as setting it up to use as a DVK and rig control computer. From the Run command, start Sound Recorder like this: SoundRecorder /recordfile=.wav and you will be able to save in the .wav format. You just cannot rename a file extension and expect it to work. Such a shame, as I have a really nice Dell D630 running Vista 64-bit with 8G RAM and a 250G HD. Even worse is I have a duplicate laptop just like this one (except with a faster processor) as a spare that I use daily for regular stuff at home. Not only can I not get full-duplex audio, I can’t find drivers for any of the Serial to USB adapters I own. Thanks again Microshit for offering a wonderfully stable 64-bit OS with virtually no support whatsoever.

OK, so I have temporarily resolved myself to the fact that I need to use 32-bit XP as the OS of choice for Field Day. At first I thought FD was an exercise in emergency preparedness… Why all this fuss about computers and digital this and interface that? Well, as it turns out, anyone with a radio and antenna can plunk it all down on a table and operate Field Day. Apparently it is some sort of contest requiring a set of rules 30 pages long that you need an engineering degree in order to interpret. Back in ’91 when I got my license, all we needed for logging was a pencil and a ‘dupe sheet’. Sure you may have needed a sharp knife in order to sharpen your pencil after a couple hours, but you could use the knife for other things that weekend. Who could have predicted that this ‘exercise’ would turn into the nightmare it has become? With about 5 weeks to go, I still am not ready for this. Don’t get me wrong, as it stands now I could drag all this crap out, set it up and operate and still have a good time. But I want to do it right. I want to use this technology for something good rather than horde it all in my shack to make evil contacts on my own in the dead of night. Turns out, Field Day is not for lightweights…