#CQWW RTTY contest 2020 review

Event: CQWW DX RTTY 2020

Section:  Single Operator Low Power  All Band 

Logger: N1MM+ newest version

RTTY engine: MMTTY & 2Tone

Station: Icom IC-7300 100W

Antenna 1: Multiband Inverted-V 2x20m ladderline fed, apex @12m agl

Antenna 2: Multiband vertical @16m only used on 15m

Antenna 3: 4 element LFA for 10m @14m

The IC-7300 worked as advertised. In my opinion it is the ultimate setup to work RTTY. If you're running it is just a matter of paying attention and push the right function keys at the right moment. I didn't have all the time last weekend but worked about 70 QSO in 80 minutes on 80m at Sunday evening, so it went well there. However on other bands it was tough, running was no option with "only" 70W. I know it is all a matter of propagation and antennas, both not in my favour. Best DX on 20m was probabely with WI9WI Wisconsin, USA over a auroral path given the fluttering signal. Yes, I did hear (see) DX on 20m and 40m but most didn't see me unfortunately. I don't want to blame anyone but I got the impression some stations do not receive well on RTTY. For that the IC-7300 with tone pass filter is excellent. Some propagation was present on 15m and 10m on saturday evening. On sunday I only worked T70A on 15m in the evening, it was the only station I could decode on 15 at that time. Strange thing, I saw some strong signals on the FT8 freq. there. So, no one noticed 15m was open I guess. I checked 10m regularly but nothing could be heard (decoded).

Anyway, what's the news? Well I guess I broke my personal record. I realized that when I was looking for my last year efforts on the CQWW RTTY website. I once worked 213 in a high power effort 10 years ago (probabely mistaken, I never had more as 100W), This year I made 300 contacts, wow, and I didn't even spend much time in the contest. It has to be the great setup I guess.

Map from some of the contacts. Since locator is not needed the
software has difficulties displaying all contacts.

#60m United Nations Headquarters worked

 

Well, 4U1UN has quite a history. Although I really don't understand why this station counts for a DXCC. It's no separate country or island it's just an organisation. I guess it's the same reason as the sovereign Military Order of Malta that counts for a DXCC as well. I think it's just a "collectors" item to be honest. Read more about the station here:

http://www.4u1un.net/

Although the site is not updated after 2015 it contains a lot of info about the station before 2020. I believe at the moment the station is operated remote via the internet.

The proof:

IC-7300 USB configuration at one place

Have you got your IC-7300 configured with only the USB cable for CAT/FSK RTTY/CW Keyer/SSB (Keyer)? Well you're happy and doing fine. I recently got some questions how this is done. You can find all info on the internet of course but unfortunately not always at one place and there are some differences in setup which is confusing. So I gathered all the information for myself to be here in this post. For others to take advantage as well. And for archive purposes.

On the internet used these links as a guideline:

http://www.cedrickjohnson.com/2017/03/icom-ic-7300-usb-for-radio-control-fsk-keying/
https://enioea2hw.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/configuracion-n1mm-para-cw-con-el-ic-7300/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaOo3D3NAlQ

Unfortunately the description of the settings are quite different and confusing for those that are not that computer minded. It took me a while to find something that would work well for me. Hopefully it will work for others as well.

First of all, I only describe the settings I need for the software I personally use. It might be different for someone else. For instance I do not use CAT control directly in WSJT-X/JTDX/MSHV but let Ham Radio DeLuxe do the CAT control since I use that software for logging on a daily basis. WSJT-X/JTDX/MSHV can be connected to HRD for CAT control and this works perfectly. The main advantage is that I can also control the radio via remote for instance with Teamviewer or Google Desktop. 

What is left now is 2 configuration files saved on the SD card in the IC-7300. And 2 VSPE configurations saved on my desktop.

First configuration is with HamRadioDeluxe.

Second configuration is with N1MM+. Since I sometimes change settings for SSB and memories I did add the date to the HRD configuration name.

First configuration 

WSJT-X/WSJT-Z/JTDX/JS8Call/MSHV software in combination with HRD V5 (last free version). It also includes DM780 with digimodes and CW.

First of all you need to set up the IC-7300:

Menu > Set > Connectors

CI-V Menu

CI-V Baud Rate: 19200

CI-V Address: 94h

CI-V Transceive: Off

CI-V USB -> REMOTE Transcieve Address: 94h

CI-V USB Port: Unlink from [Remote]

CI-V USB Baud Rate: 19200

CI-V USB Echo Back: ON

USB SEND/Keying menu

USB Send: OFF

USB Keying (CW): DTR

USB Keying (RTTY): OFF

Keying FSK RTTY like in N1MM+ is not possible with DM780. Essential to key CW mode in DM780 via the USB cable you need to create a extra virtual COM port with a splitter in the VPSE software. Don't ask me why exactly but it seems you can't use the DTR/RTS lines to activate the CW keyer and the CAT control at the same without this. With this piece of software you can access the radio's COM port via the virtual COM port with multiple programs at the same time.

I suggest to watch this video about the download and setup of VSPE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtB-DfBMmB0

What you need to know is what COM port you radio is assigned to originally. You can find it on your computer under device management. Look for "ports (COM & LPT)" and click on to see what the driver "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge" is assigned to.

Because sometimes text is easier as a (fast) video I publish the setup here:

====
VSPE Setup
Start VSPE

Click on Create New Device

Select device type: Splitter, click Next

Data Source Serial Port: COM6 (or whatever the radio serial port is for your radio)

Virtual Serial Port: COM5 (or whichever you want, make sure your logging and FSK CW keying programs use this port).

Click settings:

Speed: 19200 (HRD 5 doesn't go beyond 19200)

DTR/RTS: NO

Parity: no

Bits: 8

Stop bits: 1

Click OK

Redirect modem registers: CHECKED

Initial Modem Registers State: RTS: NOT CHECKED, DTR: NOT CHECKED

Once you’re all setup, click the Play button. VSPE should say that the initialization is OK.

You now are ready to go. To ensure that you don’t have to remember all of these settings each time you restart your computer or VSPE, save the profile to a place you can remember.

Each time you stop VSPE or restart your computer, you will have to open the saved profile. It will automatically load the settings and create your virtual com port. You can minimize this app.

For HRD, I point the radio control (CAT) function to COM5. I now have radio control.

For DM780, I point CW to COM5 for CW keying.
====

As you can see I use the virtual port COM5 to connect CAT control from HRD. SInce the old HRD V5 doesn't know the IC-7300 yet I use the IC-7700 configuration and changed the CI-V address to 94.
In DM780 choose CW mode and find the Options button to get into the menu.

In DM780 choose CW and find the CW options button to get in the configuration menu.

Choose enable (COM) port keying. In my case I choose again COM5 virtual port and toggle pin DTR.

This is how I did it. And so far no problems occured.

For digimodes in DM780 just choose the right IC-7300 soundcard settings in the configuration of the software.

Second configuration:

N1MM+ with FSK CW and FSK RTTY via MMTTY. Including the spectrum window. This software is of course especially for contesting.

First of all you need to set up the IC-7300 (we can't use the same setting as HRD due to baud rate settings):

Menu > Set > Connectors

CI-V Menu

CI-V Baud Rate: 19200

CI-V Address: 94h

CI-V Transceive: Off

CI-V USB -> REMOTE Transcieve Address: 94h

CI-V USB Port: Unlink from [Remote]

CI-V USB Baud Rate: 115200

CI-V USB Echo Back: ON

USB SEND/Keying menu

USB Send: RTS

USB Keying (CW): DTR

USB Keying (RTTY): DTR

Next we setup VSPE, we cannot use the HRD VSPE setting again due other baudrate settings:

VSPE Setup
Start VSPE

Click on Create New Device

Select device type: Splitter, click Next

Data Source Serial Port: COM6 (or whatever the radio serial port is for your radio)

Virtual Serial Port: COM5 (or whichever you want, make sure your logging and RTTY FSK/CW keying programs use this port).

Click settings:

Speed: 115200

DTR/RTS: NO

Parity: no

Bits: 8

Stop bits: 1

Click OK

Redirect modem registers: CHECKED

Initial Modem Registers State: RTS: NOT CHECKED, DTR: NOT CHECKED

Don't forget to save the profile!

Now we open N1MM+ and choose ports configurer. We use the new virtual COM port for CAT control and for CW keying. When tick the "CW/Other" box you can open "settings" and fill in speed, DTR, RTS and PTT settings.

You're now able to do CW keying with the programmed function keys during a contest or QSO.

To use MMTTY (RTTY software) we need a small piece of software called EXTFSK. I think it is already in the MMTTY sowftware package, at least it was here. But if you need to download it you can do that here.

Assume you have installed MMTTY you have to configure it to work with EXTFSK. Go to the setup and choose the TX tab.

Just choose EXTFSK64 at the PTT&FSK port and set this FSK send port in the Misc tab.

Don't forget to disable the transmit output by the soundcard. Just choose nothing...

Somewhere this pops up: 

Port is the virtual com port set up with VPSE and also used for CAT control. In my case COM5. Choose DTR for FSK output and RTS to switch PTT.

You're now able to transmit FSK RTTY with the programmed function keys in a contest or during a QSO.

Well, the above is one possebility to connect you IC-7300. There is another way which is with the Omnirig software. I have no experience with it but you can find a lot of info on the internet just by searching for "Omnirig CAT control IC7300". However I'm not shure if omnirig is supporting N1MM+.

#60m Saint Barthelemy worked

 

It looks like the 60m DX season has really started again. Yesterday evening I noticed TO0Z was spotted in the morning and from info on the internet I noticed today was the last day of the activity from St. Barths Island. So, when I woke up this morning first thing I did was checking the DX cluster. I already saw spots that TO0Z was active with strong signals on 5360 F/H mode. I quickly finished breakfast and moved to my shack. 5 minutes later I was in the log.Ok, this is a new DXCC on 60m for me. But did I really have fun? ....well this one was too easy. Well, you can't have it all...

The proof:

For those that want to ask. Yes, JTDX doesn't know were TO0Z was. That's because a file called cty.dat hasn't got the call listed. You can add it to this file manually: 

Saint Barthelemy: 08: 11: NA: 17.53: 62.50: 4.0: TO: TO,FJ,=TO0Z; 

Or wait till the next cty.dat update. (tnx DB6LL for info)

#60m 5Z4VJ Kenya worked

I was lucky yesterday. After my successful efforts with WSPR I managed to have a QSO with 5Z4VJ from Kenya. Andy was formerly on air as 5Z4/G3AB and I have seen him once on 60m with that call but so far I didn't work him (I did on other bands). It was late in the evening and after I finished my previous blogpost I decided to have a look on facebook. First of all a posting from DB6LL, my fellow 60m band DXer, showed up. He worked 5Z4VJ earlier in the evening. Most of the time a DX station is long gone after a hour or so. But I decided to have a look on 60m just to be shure. And was surprised to see 5Z4VJ with signals up to -02dB which is quite strong on FT8. However the pile-up was still huge and it took me some time. But finally I managed to get into the log.

So, you think, another 60m band DXCC worked. What's so special? Well, with 161 DXCC worked on 60m it is getting more difficult to contact a new DXCC. Every new one is special now. The 60m band is not allowed in every country and so there are a limited amount of DXCC that can be worked. I like the challenge, it gives me a real feel of hunting DX. One of the things I like in this hobby.

WSPR DX hunt

Paul PA0K wrote about this DX station  and how his 200mW signal was received there yesterday. Well, I'm writing about S79RP from the Seychelles and found that Paul actually was heard last Sunday around 16:58 UTC. Since it is a new one DXCC on WSPR for Paul and also for me I had to hunt it for my WSPR DXCC list.

So, I thought about setting up my 1W WSPR station again. The only time I had was early in the morning before going to the job. I figured 15 minutes was enough. I would not be returning to the shack before 19 UTC due to other duties. The FT-817 did fine, computer started. But I couldn't find my CAT control box. So I was unable to do TX via CAT control.  I decided to connect my old PSK-10 digimodem with VOX control. It did fine but now I didn't get any power output. 15 minutes were over and I had to go to my job. So, I quickly decided I would put my IC-7300 on 1% and started JTDX with WSPR. It would not do 1W but about 800mW this time, but who knows....it's not that much difference and Paul did it with only 200mW. I did use the inverted-V antenna.

The result at the end of the day is 73 unique spots TXing with 1W. I reported 130 unique stations.

WSPR 1W TX spots

That includes a new WSPR DXCC for my list:

A first new WSPR DXCC for 2020. Hopefully there will be a few more to follow! The power issue with the FT-817 was solved when I was on my way to my job this morning....I forgot that there is a difference between USB and USB-D. 

QTH pictures

 Some pictures I made in my neighbourhood. I do not have a high resolution camera, only my iphone. Making photographs has my interest. However I have other priorities right now....

Enjoy....

The sky & landscape direction south in the evening as seen from my home

Near the railroad towards the north

On the dyke towards the harbour

Train approaching from the harbour

View over the waddensea

View towards Borkum Isl. (Germany)

#60m CP6CL Bolivia worked

I'm very happy with this Bolivia contact. I've been chasing this station since last year and almost got him around Christmas last year. It seems he doesn't have a really good receive or has a lot of noise, around that time and he didn't decode me. Of course I programmed the call in the HamAlert app so I can see when he is on air on 60m. I recently noticed CP6CL was active around 4:45 UTC (6:45 local time for us). But every time I was on the radio at that time he was already gone or I didn't decode/receive him. But this morning he was reasonable strong and up very high in the waterfall which is favorable for me. Actually I saw him jumping around everytime even further up. And finally after a couple of times calling he decoded me with -20dB. 

All the DXers that tell us FT8 or any other digimode isn't real DX are wrong, I got at least the same fun chasing DX stations like this one and feel exactly the same happiness when a contact is finally made... 

Counting 160 DXCC worked now on 60m. This one was not only new for me on 60m but also a ATNO.

I know I'm very controversial but I think we don't need any QSL exchange anymore for proof that we made the contact. A QSL card, digital or paper, is a nice trophy of course but taking a screenshot like this one is proof enough I think. (I will now get the curse over me from all those QSL card chasers ;-) )

Fun to see how the amateurradio world changed so much in the last 3 years.,,,