Frustrating POTA Activation today

[Northcutt114]

1 minute ago, WRYS709 said:

Good results then from an only 13 Watt solar panel. 

When you're dealing in QRP, it doesn't take a lot.

 

[WRYS709]

5 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

When you're dealing in QRP, it doesn't take a lot.

 

Good point: I use QRP for FT8 but also my 100 watt amplifier/antenna tuner for SSB so I draw larger amount of amps. So far I have not brought my solar panel to POTA

[WRYZ926]

I would not wrap a battery with faraday cloth. It would be too easy to short the battery out.

Is there a way you can add a sheet metal shield to your box? Something that will block the battery and not short it out?

Have you put ferrite beads on the radio's power leads?

Xiegu states in the G90 manual to do so. They suggest a toroid near the radio end of the power wires.

I get it that you want to keep everything in the box as most of us do. But sometimes you have to make compromises.

[Northcutt114]

11 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

I would not wrap a battery with faraday cloth. It would be too easy to short the battery out.

Is there a way you can add a sheet metal shield to your box? Something that will block the battery and not short it out?

Have you put ferrite beads on the radio's power leads?

Xiegu states in the G90 manual to do so. They suggest a toroid near the radio end of the power wires.

I get it that you want to keep everything in the box as most of us do. But sometimes you have to make compromises.

Two ferrite beads on the radio's power leads, yes. Sheet metal...probably not. I'm going to pout tonight and work the problem tomorrow. At least I know the radio isn't kaput...I was worried for awhile.

And I was able to successfully deploy and tune an EFHW for the first time. So that's a win, I guess.

 

[WRYS709]

3 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

Biggest question is, is it worth messing with this JCP-12 antenna or should I just send it back to amazon? How does an aluminum vertical antenna just stop working? 

I have a JPC-12 antenna on order since December 23rd via slow boat from China, I guess!  Frustrated in its delay, I have asked them to upgrade it to the JPC-350 and we'll see how they respond.

I did my POTA Activation with my first time use of the Radioddity HF-009; and I was very impressed with its ease of setup and installation and its effectiveness with its ground spike and three supplied radials.

I forgot my SMA to BNC/PL259 adapters so I could not use my nanoVNA to help me adjust it, so I did it the old fashioned way: Since it was 20 meters, I opened the telescoping whip all the way, set my Xiegu G106 to 14.074 and adjusted the slider on the coil to the loudest FT8 noise I could receive, which was 1.4 SWR on my XPA125B antenna tuner, which got it down further to either 1.0 or 1.2; I forget which.

I added 12 100 watt SSB QSOs to my 19 FT8s.

I straddled 4pm PST with a minimum 10 QSOs on each side so I actually qualified for two days Activations.

Everything I read on the Internet says 10, 12 and 15 are dead due to the Solar flare.

Some say 6 meters might get some Aurora this afternoon!

[WRYZ926]

Yes 10, 12, 15, and 17 meter bands were pretty dead all day.

[WRYS709]

11 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Yes 10, 12, 15, and 17 meter bands were pretty dead all day.

10 Meters FT8 from Los Angeles @ 5:15pm

 

[TNFrank]

20 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Yes 10, 12, 15, and 17 meter bands were pretty dead all day.

I actually did better today on 10M then I did a couple days ago. I guess a lot depends on location. 

[WRYZ926]

19 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I actually did better today on 10M then I did a couple days ago. I guess a lot depends on location. 

Yes location definitely plays a part. 

[Northcutt114]

Ok, I know I said I was going to pout tonight but instead I disassembled the entire box. Hooked the head unit back up to the radio body ,wired it to the radio and put them right next to each other and zero interference. So it's not the battery! Something else in the system is causing the RFI. Maybe my box build can be saved after all...

Gemini also says that high RFI can overwhelm the ATU's ability to tune, resulting in high SWR. So I'm going to try again with the JCP-12 with just the radio and battery and see if it works. May be nothing wrong with the antenna.

Ahhhh....back to square one. 

[WRYZ926]

Sometimes walking away for a bit then going back to trouble shoot is best. And it could be the remote cable for the G90 that is letting RFI in. I say that since you said you reconnected the head to the main unit and didn't have any RFI issues.

If you decide to run it with the head separated then try putting a ferrite bead on each end of the remote cable. 

[Northcutt114]

21 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

And it could be the remote cable for the G90 that is letting RFI in. I say that since you said you reconnected the head to the main unit and didn't have any RFI issues.

If you decide to run it with the head separated then try putting a ferrite bead on each end of the remote cable. 

Soooo ... I got home from work tonight and tested this theory. With the battery 2' away and two ferrite beads on the power cable, I dead keyed with the head unit on and then with it attached via cable.With the head unit on, 0.0w. With it attached by cable 11.XW!

So, if the power lead from the battery to the radio has ferrite chokes on it shouldn't that be cutting out the RFI to the cable? Or do I not understand how RFI works? further could the cable just be damaged? 

 

[WRYZ926]

Either you have a defective remote cable or you are getting RF into the radio through that cable. Try again with a ferrite bead on each end of the remote cable.

[Northcutt114]

20 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Either you have a defective remote cable or you are getting RF into the radio through that cable. Try again with a ferrite bead on each end of the remote cable.

Already ordered some. Will report back in two days. This is good news, though...because if it's just the cable, I think that can be sorted and I can put the box back together. 

[WRYS709]

2 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

Already ordered some. Will report back in two days. This is good news, though...because if it's just the cable, I think that can be sorted and I can put the box back together. 

Great little radio. Watched many YT vids about it: Good Luck!

[Northcutt114]

So I did some testing today. Tested the radio with three antennas, both with the head unit attached to body of the radio and via the cable.

First antenna was a 27mhz CB whip attached via a BNC adapter. Radio failed to tune it below 3.0 SWR and transmissions both with head unit attached and via cable produced significant RF on TX. I'm guessing the antenna was just too short and the G90 couldn't tune it. 

Second antenna was EFHW. Radio was able to tune it to 1.0 SWR. With the head unit attached, zero RFI on TX. Attached via the cable, 9w of RFI on TX. So it looks like the cable is indeed picking up RFI and inducing it into the system. Ferrite beads arrive tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Last antenna was the JPC12. Radio again failed to tune it below 3.0 as it did in the field. However, I just had it sitting on my deck, not spiked into the ground which makes me wonder if that was the issue. And then, upon further thought, I wonder if the reason it wasn't tuning in the field when the antenna was spiked into the ground was because the RFI going into the system via the cable was preventing the ATU from tuning. In the field, it couldn't get below 4.0. On my deck tonight, it got down to 3.0. I disassembled the antenna and checked the SO239 connector and the solder joint looks fine. I don't think it is physically compromised. 

So, next steps are to put ferrite beads on the wire and see if the EFHW will TX with zero RFI when head unit is attached via the cable. If that works, I'll then head to the park and try again with the JCP12 properly deployed. If it still doesn't work, I'm still within my amazon return window and I'll just send it back.

 

ETA: I should also add that I dead keyed into a dummy load, too, just to test. No RFI or noise with the head unit attached to the radio or via the cable. So it would appear that the cable isn't faulty, but is really getting RFI. It's just crazy to me that there aren't videos out there about this with this radio.

 

[Northcutt114]

If anyone is still following along, I did some more testing today. Ferrite beads came in and I attached them to the DB9 cord between the head unit and base at both ends. Still got interference. I'm beginning to think that the cable may be damaged or have a short in it. I moved it around and flexed it and something I got the noise, others I didn't. So I ordered a new one to test that.

In antenna news, the JCP12 is fine. I put it in the ground with the spike and radials and attached the radio with the head unit on the body of the radio. Tuned it up to 1.0 SWR no problem. So i'm guessing whatever interference this cable is causing is the culprit there, too.

It's crazy to me to think that I am the ONLY person who has had this issue. I can't find a single post anywhere about anything like I'm experiencing. Hopefully the new cable fixes the issue. I can not believe that this just "doesn't work." It has to be a fault somewhere.

 

[WRYZ926]

I haven't heard of anyone having an issue with the remote cable either. Though that issue does not surprise me as the cable is probably not shielded.

I've never used my G90's with the head units removed so I have not noticed your issue. It does make me want to try in the shack and portable to see if I notice any noise. It's a bit cold to go outside for the next few days. It's currently a balmy 4 degrees here in the state of Misery.

[Northcutt114]

4 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

I haven't heard of anyone having an issue with the remote cable either. Though that issue does not surprise me as the cable is probably not shielded.

I'm really quite baffled. No one runs their G90 with the head unit detached and if they do, none of them have ever had this problem? I've watch K8MRD's videos with his G90 go box and he never once mentioned a single bit of trouble.

If it is the cable, I have to imagine that I just got a bad one. The one I ordered is shielded, so we'll see.

 

[TNFrank]

I've also set up a hacked chromebook(in the pic) that's running MX Linux KDE and a Lenovo ThinkPad that in just did a fresh install of MX Linux Xfce onto. All I'm going to do whither them is HAM radio stuff so they should work great for that.

[Northcutt114]

New cable came in today. I hooked it up and it still showed some RFI...but, it was significantly less than the other cable. I put a ferrite bead on either end of the new cable and boom. Zero RFI with cable attached.

 

I'm guessing that all that back and forth was just down to having a defective cable. Good grief! Now to put the whole box back together and see if I can get some WFD stuff done before this ice storm hits tomorrow!

 

Fingers crossed when I get it all put back together that it all works!

 

 

[Northcutt114]

All back together, zero RFI. Glory be!

[Northcutt114]

Just hunted a guy in AZ with my EFHW strung up off my deck. No comments about RF in mic. 

 

Looks like I'm back in business!

[WSIP936]

Good luck WSIP936/KE2GJT 

[Northcutt114]

Well...I think the vertical antenna is kaput. I went out to the park to try and do WFD things and the radio would not tune it below 4.0 SWR. The band was on fire, but I couldn't talk to anyone.

Came home and tuned up the EFHW again to make sure I wasn't crazy. 1.0 SWR. Hooked up a dummy load and tuned all bands. Immediate 1.0 SWR on all bands. So, it's back to amazon for the JCP12....I can't imagine how an antenna just ceases to become tunable. But looks like it has. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow and figure out a way to deploy the EFHW at the park, provided all this snow and sleet stays at bay.