Wednesday 1 November 2017

Setting up ALE^Stat to work with PCALE

ALE^Stat is a great tool that can monitor PC-ALE / MARS-ALES activity and will post events (ie "soundings" received) upto HFLink or relevant web portal.

Head over the PC ALE Support Site and download the latest version of "ALE^Stat".   Install was easy and the documentation and configuration is fairly straight forward.

What had me initially stumped, was where was the "telnet" config option under PC-ALE ?  Well I found it but for some reason its not document under the "PC-ALE User Manual" or even ALE^Stat documentation.

Open  PC-ALE and under "Configuration->SWALE"  put in your PC IP and port number (63023) and check the "Interace Enabled".  If "ALE^Stat" was running you will see that it will "connection".  Then any activity decoded my PCALE will be reported to HFLink assuming you have enabled HFLink Reporting and entered you HFLink details correctly.

Load the same QRG file you have used for PCALE under ALE^Stats "frequency" menu.  Then ensure you have ticked the frequency under HFLink column that you wish to report / upload events to HFLink.

Not much more to say here! Have fun

73!!
de VK4TMZ

Setting up PCALE with YEASU FT-991A

For the last week I've been trying to setup PC-ALE with Yaesu FT-991A and have managed to do so. However having the station running for last 2 days for extended periods (i.e from early morning to late at night) there doesn't appear to be too many "sounding" occurring where I can hear them at least.

Locally I've heard 1 VK station "VK2EHQ" a handful of times through the day and evening on different bands with good S/N reports.  I've just heard "YD0OXH8" there on 12m but due to a small misconfig on ALE^Stat it did not upload the report to HFLink.

So at this stage I'm probably not going to run it much longer but will keep eye on forums and the HFLink Portal.  For now though I thought I'd share with you how I setup PC-ALE to work with my Yaesu FT-991A.

Firstly head over to HFLink.net to sign up and where you can get access to download the following files

1. Download the latest PCALE Full Install
  • Currently a file called "PCALEv108B1000TB3_2_FI.zip" is latest

2. Download the latest PCALE Update
  • Currently a file called "PCALEv108B1000TB3_3_UD.zip" is latest and is required as this adds in the radio-type MMI-RADIO  interface which  allows you control the Yaeus FT991A as its not one of the radios currently supported.
3.  Download the latest version of the MMI-Radio library to support FT-991A
  • Currently a files called "MMI-RADIO_FT-991_Library.zip" is latest. I'll described the couple of changes I made to the macros further down.

Follow the instructions for installing the full install and the update which are fairly straight forward and well documented.

At this time the FT991A is not available as under the standard / common available radio interfaces under PC-ALE. However as part of the patch they have introduced MMI-RADIO which allows you to define a set of macros to control your radio.  Thankfully the was a FT-991A MMI-RADIO library already implemented that I just had to change the channel macros.

So to install the FT-991A MMI-RADIO library, extract the  "MMI-RADIO_FT-991_Library.zip" files in under "C:\PC_ALE\MMI_RADIO"

Under the menu option "Configuration->MIL-STD 188-141 Options" set the following at minimum:
  • Sounding to TWS Sound (if you wish to TX "Soundings")
  • Set Radio-Type to "MMI-RADIO" this will tell PC-ALE to use the macros under "C:\PC_ALE\MMI_RADIO" how to control the radio.
  • Under "Radio Port" - Set the Baud and setting as needed to match what you have set on the FT-991A.  For me I was  38400, 2, 8, N and make sure you select "Split VFO" (more on this later)
  • Audio level - 
    • TX - Manual says so that ALC is barely trigger.  I currently have sit so ALC ~ 50%
    • RX - So the RX meter signal level was about half which for me was ~%50
  • CAT  - Set to the "Enhanced Serial Port"
  • PTT - Set to the "Standard Serial Port"
  • BTW - to be resolved,  I had to uncheck "LBT - Look Before Talk" as for some reason it was detecting activity and not allowing "Sounding".
QRG - I utilised the "AUSTRALIA_NOCALSIGN_USBD_2014C.qrg" as this sets the channels to use "USB-D" mode.

Antenna Tuning - I was fortunate that my 1/4 WL 40m vertical antenna could be tuned by the Yaesu FT-991A built in ATU. Obviously you may have a broadband Antenna that does not require any tuning but either way all I'm going to say is for me I went through each of the channels and "tuned" them.  So as PC-ALE was scanning and then TX on any of the frequency the Freq was in memory so I did not need to have PC-ALE run any ATU steps.  But if you do then you may need to read up on the MMI-RADIO macros and add commands to the QSS_nn_CHANNEL macros etc etc

To operate the FT-991A in quiet mode while scanning, I put the radio into split-mode "manually" and as you say from the "Radio-Port" settings above we have told PC-ALE to operate via SPLIT VFO.  What this means is that while scanning the VFO A will be updated as the channel changes and upon needing to TX the VFO B will be set to match VFO via the MMI Radio Macros and then TX will take place.

MMI-Radio Changes for Me -
  • The "MMI_RADIO__CHANNEL_nn"  and "MMI_RADIO_QSS_CHANNEL_nn" were not the frequencies for my region.  So I had to alter / create as necessary "MMI_RADIO_CHANNEL_nn" for each channel from the QRG file I was using.  Each frequency needs to have a corresponding macro file starting at 01.  Failure to have these sync'ed will mean you scanning and TX will on frequencies not matching the PC-ALE display.
  • Obviously make sure there is a corresponding QSS channel macro
  • In each of my QSS macros files I set the "preamp" to the desired level.
That's it!! Have fun with PC-ALE and your Yaesu FT-991A

73
de VK4TMZ

Choosing your Callsign

Here in Australia and I'm fairly sure else were round the world, when you apply for you amateur radio license you have the choice of letting ACMA auto allocate a callsign to you or you can pay a little extra and nominate a set of 3 callsigns that you'd like to use and based on availability.

So if you choose your own, what would you choose ?  what logic to you apply ?

The following is not exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, however was what I empoyed when coming up with my callsigns:

A. Status / Contesting - In Australia we have the 2 letter suffix which was is reserved for those who have obtained their advanced call VK$nn where $ is the Australian state/territory you are registering the call in  and XX is the 2 letter suffix.  After you have worked hard to obtain your advanced call then obtaining a 2 letter call clearly indicates you are advanced call were as the 3 letter callsign it not immediately clear.

As a little FYI the below is the Australian callsign format:
  • VK$Fnnn - Foundation Call (4 letter call - large range of personalisation possible (ie FART, FAKE, FMAX etc )
  • VK$Qnnn - Not allocated to reduce confusion with Q Codes
  • VK$[H,L,M,N,P,V]nnn - Standard Call (3 letter call) - BTW the phrase "Hiring Lawyers May Not Prove Valuable" - is how I currently remember the standard call set !!)
  • VK$[A-G,I-K,O,S-U,W-Z]nn - Advanced Call (3 letter call)
  • VK$nn - Advanced Call (2 letter call)
  • VK$Rnn- Repeater Callsign
  • VK$RSn, VK$RTn - Beacon Callsign

A lot of advanced call operators prefer to have 2 (or more) callsigns and reserve the use of a 2 letter callsign for contesting etc especially in CW realm for more efficient sending of callsign. Then outside of contest use their 3 letter advanced call.

There are obviously a finite number of 2 letter callsign, and they do and are running out in some states. In my case there was only 6 two letter callsign available and they were reducing each day. So I err'ed on side of caution and did not just select set of 2 letter call as the sequence did not mean anything to me or suite me.

Many operators hold onto multiple callsign, especially callsigns belonging to ex-mates or club members as gesture of respect and ensuring the callsign get reallocated to a club member to ensure the callsign continues with in the club.
 

B. Initials - a fairly straight forward one that many operators are able to locate callsigns within their class of license that matches the initials of their name, family member(s),  or something other meaning to them.   In my case VK4TMZ (Tanya, Mark, Ziva) first initials of the Wife, myself and Daughter!!

C. Word, Phrase or Sound - The sequence of letters forms some funny word, phrase or sound (i.e. VK4FART,  VK4FWIT which is available, but I wonder if anyone would be willing to use it!!)

Logic / Sanity Check

The following are checks that to may consider when deciding if your callsign is going to be a good fit for you:

A. Sound - Does it role of the tongue, when responding and talking with others does the callsign flow.

B. Poor Condition Test - How would other operators go trying pull your callsign out under weak condition ?

C. CW - If your are intending on operating CW, are the sequence of character as DITs and DAHs clear and efficient ?  By this I mean is it easy to send and receive sending VK$HHH may not be the easiest for someone starting out in CW to send and receive.


Well that's all for now!!  and I hope this may have assisted in some little way to help narrow down and possible even select your callsign!!


73
de VK4TMZ


Tuesday 31 October 2017

Introduction - de VK4TMZ

de VK4TMZ my name is Mark and I enjoy Amateur Radio (aka Ham Radio) and dabbling in with electronic. I've been into SWL since grade 8 back in 1990 when my English / Science  teacher introduced me to the world of radio.  Its taken me nearly 25 years of enjoying SWL and the fact I'd turned 40 yrs old I finally bit the bullet and start of 2017 I got my Foundation Call and the call sign VK4FMAX.   Within 5 months I then rose up the ranks to  my Advanced Call VK4TMZ so 2017 has been the year of the "radio" so to speak for me.

VK4TMZ Advice #0001  -  DO NOT WAIT 25 years to go for your radio license! Hook up with a local radio club and they will help you work you way into radio.

This blog site is a place were I can put some posts about my adventures into this funtastic (fun and fantastic) hobby of Radio (antennas projects, digital mode, software etc), Computers and Electronics.

Disclaimer!!
Hope you enjoy the content I put up, BUT!!! please keep in mind, I'm not responsible for any damage to self or equipment that my occur while following my blogs and attempting to reproduce the activities.

73!!
de VK4TMZ