Projects, projects, projects

I’ve got several small projects I’m working on in the Radio Room.

(1) TenTec RX-320: it’s up an running fairly well – my work horse for shortwave, but can also monitor the ham bands up to 30MHz. I’m using Noël Bouchard’s RxPlus which has so far proved to be an awesome piece of software (PSK-31 works great, but haven’t gotten the RTTY to work yet). I’ve got an active antenna up an operational (McKay Dymek DA-100E), which makes a huge difference.

The only thing left is to get the ILGRadio database to work properly. So far it’s been a bit wiggy working with RxPlus.

(2) IC-PCR1000: I haven’t got this hooked up yet. My intent is to connect it to my discone antenna – I’d like to use the IC-PCR1000 for monitoring all the activity from 30MHz to 1.3GHz.

There’s a few things a need to do before I get it up and running. I’ve got to get the computer ready first. (a) Add a PCI card with 2x serial ports and (b) load the computer with software (probably RxPlus), (c) either find the AC power adapter or use one of my Radio Shack wall warts, (d) I guess I shouldn’t forget to mention that the discone needs to be installed outside – I don’t really have a plan for that yet.

(3) Palm m125: it’s a step up from my Palm IIIxe. The best feature about the m125 is that it accepts a SD memory card and for power it takes 2x AAA batteries. I’ll use an SD card to keep the m125 backed up (i.e. backupbuddyVFS) and I don’t have to worry about a proprietary power charger. When the power dies, I just pop in 2x AAAs and then use the SD card to revive the Palm – no need to worry about getting the Palm back to the home computer for a sync in order to restore it.

What I’m using (or going to use) the m125 for are:

(a) learning Morse Code with Smart Morse…

it’s a great program that teaches the letters individually.

(b) – but I need a cable to connect the m125 to the TH-D7A. Fortunately, Mobile Driven offers the answer..

… this will allow me a simple solution for using my TH-D7A for both packet radio and APRS.