Agreed, same experience here. I think today’s “cheap tablets” are more than adequately powerful. Huge strides in cpu speed and core numbers have been made in the last few years.
As I mentioned before, what they may lack however is sufficient storage to handle operating systems updates that Microsoft shoves down your throat periodically. I recommend 64GB system drive minimum because of this.
Barry N1EU
You are right - alerts are not required by SOTA rules, but alerts help both
(chasers and activators) to make contacts.
I will be QRV by around 0900z this morning, on 20m FT8 from a SOTA summit. I will self-spot and will welcome all calls, especially DX, S2S, and Chasers.
Hi Tom,
I listened for you but your signals must have been flying over my head - nothing heard - sorry.
Ed.
Hi Tom.
Nothing here Tom did look for you.
Terry
Also same as Terry, too close on 20m as expected. In FT8 I saw a Ukranian station working Terry at the time you were on Tom. I then worked a Bulgarian and then stopped looking.
73 Phil
Anyone want to try for FT8 S2S this afternoon?
Hello Tom !
Today is not the best for aerials here.
My SOTA spot will be fordidden of access.
But tomorrow i will activate two summits.
You will be able to follow me via F5LKW-9 and -7
QRV DCS933S (DStar) and TG973 (DMR) for any alive sked.
73 QRO
Roger
OK Roger, I shall be on summit from about 1430z and stopping for a couple of hours, so hope to make the S2S with you on FT8. Unfortunately, I don’t have DStar or DMR, just C4FM.
Any chance of some more 80m FT8 Tom?
I should be around for at least part of this afternoon & will keep an eye on the spots for you.
Yes, I’m taking the SOTABEAMS Bandhopper 4 linked dipole, so will have 80/40/30/20 - as per my alert.
I was here at 1 pm, Tom, as per your original alert. Unfortunately you have been delayed and I have to go out, so will miss you today. Hope to catch you on FT8 another day.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
Hello Roger.
I called you on 10.136 MHz at 1315 UTC, but then you moved to 14 MHz so I lost you.
SRI.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
Sorry Walt, I went out a bit later to better coincide with Roger’s alert time. But looks like he summitted and got QRV on FT8 an hour early - so I missed him too!
Here’s a live photo from the activation which is still in progress!
Will try on 80m shortly.
Auto logging isn’t working. I’m getting the failure message each time. Seems to be interfering with auto sequencing of QSOs too. One step forward, two steps back…
Thanks for info, Tom. I’m back now, so listening for you on 80m now.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
Tuesday 15th January 2019 - Shining Tor G/SP-004
I walked to the summit from the Cat & Fiddle, then a little further along and slightly down the ridge. I wanted to find a spot where the wall backed into the direction of the wind, and a little lower so that the load on the mast would not be as severe.
As it was, I ended up snapping the mast in two during setting up anyway - although it was on a section that had been weakening for some time (that I had kept forgetting to do something about!). So the apex of the BH4 linked dipole was 1.5m lower than intended, but all was fine with that.
Not fine was the way the various software were interacting on my tablet. As well as WSJT-X 2.0, I’ve now also got Log4OM, Log4OM Communicator and JTAlert installed and running. The idea of this is to allow proper logging, with an aspiration for it to become automated as part of a future macro which will also cycle the QSO process to return to calling CQ after that.
At present, I’m getting the logging dialog box up automatically at the end of a QSO, but I still have to manually then click to confirm I want to log the contact. I’d rather that bit was automatic. A few seonds later, I get an error message with the word “Failure” as the headline, telling me that it wasn’t possible to log the QSO to Log4OM, but that the data has still gone into the log file (text file I think).
As well as these issues, I noticed several instances of someone replying to my CQ call and WSJT-X not automatically launching into the QSO process as it normally would. I had to manually click on the station calling to trigger it. Sometimes it worked, but many times I had to do it manually. I wondered if the other processes running (JTAlert, Log4OM, Log4OM Commuicator) were interfering in some way, so I closed them down. However the intermittent problem persisted.
22 QSOs made on the activation:
2m FM: 7 - including S2S with Neil M0WBG/P on Gun G/SP-013
30m FT8: 11
80m FT8: 4
There was a short shower during the activation, but I kept dry inside my bothy bag at that point. Otherwise it remained dry, but very cloudy, cold and breezy. I walked off the hill at dusk, headtorch in pocket, but not required.
Hi Tom,
I was curious about your WSJT-X issues. I am running WSJT-X on a Tinker Board running Linux so I rely on the logging function in WSJT-X. This generates two logs, a CSV file and an ADIF file which most logging programs accept. These can be found by going to the File menu and selecting “Open Log Directory”. Also under “Settings” on the “Reporting” tab there is a checkbox “Log Automatically”. I have found this only seems to work when you are in one of the contest modes. It worked fine for an activation during the ARRL RTTY contest but still seems that you need to confirm logging when making contacts normally. Looks like a bug to me.
At home on Windows I have enabled “N1MM Logger + Broadcasts” on the reporting tab. This broadcasts the logging information to two logging programs on my PC. I am running N1MM and Logger32. Both of them were working fine until the last update to Logger32. N1MM still works fine but Logger32 gives me an error and is now telling me that it does not appear to be a valid call. There may be some non printing character causing the problem. This just started with the last update to Logger32.
Your issues with when someone responds to your CQ may be related to the load the other applications are placing on your PC. The program may not respond because the responding station’s message may not be decode in time. This is especially a problem when the band is busy with lots of stations to decode. If you look at the messages in the RX windows you will sometimes see the time on the messages are out of order because of this overload on the CPU. It also may be an issue if your station or the other station’s clocks are off by too much. My Windows tablet had issues when the band had lots of stations to decode.
Hopefully when propagation between Arizona and the UK improves maybe we can have an S2S contact. During the last NA/Europe event I was able to complete two S2S contacts with Germany on 20m SSB.
73 Burke
KF7NP
Another thing you might check is the space available on your flash drive in your tablet. Check the “Save” folder size which is located in the WSJT “log” folder. This can easily become quite large because it saves the .wav file recorded during each 15 second sample period. If you flash drive is full and fragmented this may also slow down your decodes. The File menu has a selection to “Delete All .wav and .c2 files in SaveDir”
73 Burke
KF7NP
Hi Tom,
I have another question about the failure of the program to respond to a stations responding to your CQ. Under the Decode menu which is selected? Fast, Normal or Deep. Unless you have a fast Windows tablet like a Surface Pro or there is very little activity on the band the only choice is probably “Fast”. If you can remember or in the future note the time or station that was a problem you could examine the ALL.TXT file for clues. This is a text file that contains all the text that has appeared in the WSJT Band Activity window and every transmission you have made in a sequence. I have included below a sample from this file. As you will see in fast mode the program starts decoding the lowest frequency and works to the higher frequencies. When you are calling CQ WSJT keeps working up in frequency until it finds a station responding to your CQ assuming you have Call 1st checked. This means calling a CQing station at a lower frequency may get you recognized first, In the sample below I responded to a CQ from another station. In this case WSJT starts by decoding the CQing stations frequency first then working up in frequency to decode the remaining stations. In the sample below you will see that after I changed to Normal decode that some of the stations are decoded and then I start transmitting. After the transmission starts more stations are decoded from the previous time slot. If the responding station is decoded after the window to start transmitting has past the program may not respond to his response to your CQ. In the sample below I then change to Deep mode and this caused even more stations to be decoded after the transmission started. I have added comments in the sample below. This was WSJT-X running on an old laptop with a second generation I5, 8GB ram and a fast SSD. It has a USB connection directly to an IC-7610. Look for !!! for the comments because this did not format well. I hope this may provide some clues to the problems you are experiencing when calling CQ.
Sorry for the long post.
003530 1 2.3 412 ~ BH3PTL K6BR R-14 !!! Decode set to FAST
003530 -21 1.2 507 ~ KK5PK NP4LW FK68
003530 4 0.1 622 ~ JA3BVD NO7E -16
003530 -2 0.1 890 ~ HS0ZNR KM6GUO CM88
003530 3 -0.3 963 ~ PY2LPM JK1OZS -15
003530 -10 0.3 1148 ~ K0QC JJ2ONH RR73
003530 -4 0.1 1338 ~ W6JCH AC7QO DN31
003530 18 1.4 1497 ~ W0IZ KB5HPT R+00
003530 -15 0.1 1693 ~ WB6DJI LU3HZK +02
003530 -3 -0.9 1894 ~ KB8TLU LU1BR GF05
003530 -13 0.1 2231 ~ KG7V JR1NHD 73
003530 -24 0.1 2507 ~ KB6DAN JA1NLX -14
190116_003545 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: JL1TZQ KF7NP DM33 !!! all the messages from the previous time slot are decoded before transmitting
003600 -18 1.1 2294 ~ KF7NP JL1TZQ -17
003600 1 -0.3 963 ~ PY2LPM JK1OZS -15
003600 -7 0.1 1338 ~ W6JCH AC7QO DN31
003600 14 1.4 1497 ~ W0IZ KB5HPT R+00
003600 -17 0.1 2170 ~ CQ JI1FLB PM95
190116_003615 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: JL1TZQ KF7NP R-18
003630 -24 1.1 2295 ~ KF7NP JL1TZQ -17 !!! note the frequency of the station I am calling
003630 19 0.3 338 ~ HS0ZNR K2AK DM41 is decoded first
003630 -24 0.1 621 ~ JA3BVD NO7E -16
003630 -10 0.1 890 ~ AG7OB KM6GUO CM88
003630 -10 0.0 1100 ~ HS0ZNR N6QQ R-14
003630 -13 0.2 1148 ~ W5FQP JJ2ONH -14
003630 -21 0.1 1338 ~ W6JCH AC7QO R-13
003630 9 0.0 1874 ~ W2CSI PY1SX R-19
003630 -14 0.6 1977 ~ K3NQ JA6IUQ PM51
003630 -10 0.1 2081 ~ CQ WY KE0SYJ DM79
190116_003645 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: JL1TZQ KF7NP R-24 !!! Decode set to Normal
003700 -21 1.1 2295 ~ KF7NP JL1TZQ RR73
003700 17 1.4 561 ~ W5BXE KB5HPT DM61
003700 -11 0.1 776 ~ VA7GEM JK1KSB RR73
003700 2 0.1 891 ~ AG7OB KM6GUO R+03
003700 2 -0.3 963 ~ CQ JK1OZS QM05
003700 -11 0.0 1100 ~ HS0ZNR N6QQ R-14
003700 -8 0.2 1148 ~ W5FQP JJ2ONH -14
003700 -13 0.1 1338 ~ W6JCH AC7QO R-13
003700 -20 1.5 1404 ~ W7BOB DS2LOE -21
003700 -11 -0.0 1473 ~ KB6DAN LU5FOW -15
003700 15 2.3 1665 ~ YC1TQL K6BR CM97
190116_003715 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: JL1TZQ KF7NP 73 !!! some messages are decoded after the transmission starts
003700 -1 0.0 1874 ~ W2CSI PY1SX R-19
003700 -13 0.7 1977 ~ K3NQ JA6IUQ PM51
003700 -8 0.1 1693 ~ CQ LU3HZK FF87
003700 -19 0.3 2800 ~ K3NQ BG2WRJ -15
003730 -1 0.1 272 ~ RQ0C K6KML CM98
003730 15 1.4 561 ~ W5BXE KB5HPT DM61
003730 -5 0.1 622 ~ JA3BVD NO7E -16
003730 1 0.1 891 ~ AG7OB KM6GUO 73
003730 -3 -0.3 963 ~ CQ JK1OZS QM05
003730 -6 0.2 1148 ~ K0QC JJ2ONH RR73
003730 -9 0.1 1282 ~ W6JCH AC7QO R-13
190116_003745 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: LU3HZK KF7NP DM33
003730 -11 0.2 1351 ~ CQ JQ6RUP PM53
003730 -10 1.8 1529 ~ HL2ADY KC4EZN CM88
003730 8 2.3 1665 ~ YC1TQL K6BR R-05
003730 7 0.0 1874 ~ W2CSI PY1SX R-19
003730 -5 0.6 1977 ~ K3NQ JA6IUQ R-08
003730 -8 0.1 2055 ~ CQ KI5AHH EM12
003730 -19 0.1 2170 ~ W2VX JI1FLB RR73
003730 -15 1.1 2295 ~ CQ DX JL1TZQ PM95
003730 -14 0.0 2433 ~ JF3PRS RX0F QN17
003730 -10 0.4 2800 ~ K3NQ BG2WRJ -15
003730 -13 0.9 833 ~ W7OTL JA0GCI -17
003730 -15 0.0 1101 ~ HS0ZNR N6QQ 73
003730 -19 0.1 2873 ~ CQ JR3GPP PM74 !!! Decode set to DEEP
003800 -10 0.1 272 ~ YC4NSY K6KML CM98
003800 -18 0.4 426 ~ JF8LWU W2PKY EL88
003800 12 1.4 561 ~ W5BXE KB5HPT DM61
003800 -3 0.1 622 ~ JA3BVD NO7E -16
003800 -17 0.9 833 ~ W7OTL JA0GCI RR73
003800 -1 -0.3 963 ~ CQ JK1OZS QM05
003800 11 0.1 1026 ~ HS0ZNR W6OU -15
003800 -8 0.2 1148 ~ K0QC JJ2ONH RR73
003800 -10 0.1 1282 ~ W6JCH AC7QO R-13
003800 -18 0.2 1351 ~ CQ JQ6RUP PM53
190116_003815 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: LU3HZK KF7NP DM33 !!! many messages are decoded after the transmission starts in Deep Mode
003800 -16 1.5 1404 ~ W7BOB DS2LOE 73
003800 -11 2.0 1529 ~ HL2ADY KC4EZN CM88
003800 -9 0.1 1600 ~ W1FIT N0KJI DM79
003800 8 0.0 1874 ~ W2CSI PY1SX R-19
003800 -10 0.5 1977 ~ K3NQ JA6IUQ 73
003800 -16 0.0 2120 ~ UA0NL N6QQ R-16
003800 -19 0.1 2170 ~ CQ JI1FLB PM95
003800 -12 1.1 2295 ~ CQ DX JL1TZQ PM95
003800 -3 -0.1 2433 ~ JF3PRS RX0F R-06
003800 -22 0.3 2800 ~ K3NQ BG2WRJ -15
003830 -12 0.3 1693 ~ CQ LU3HZK FF87
003830 1 0.1 272 ~ YC4NSY K6KML CM98
003830 -21 0.4 427 ~ JF8LWU W2PKY EL88
003830 12 1.4 561 ~ W5BXE KB5HPT R-22
003830 -2 0.2 714 ~ KA6U PY2XIZ GG66
003830 -22 0.1 776 ~ CX7BBR JK1KSB -19
003830 2 0.1 891 ~ CX7BBR KM6GUO CM88
003830 10 0.1 1026 ~ HS0ZNR W6OU RR73
190116_003845 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: LU3HZK KF7NP DM33
003830 -3 0.1 1282 ~ W6JCH AC7QO 73
003830 -19 1.5 1404 ~ CQ DS2LOE PM37
003830 -21 0.3 1450 ~ VE7LGP BV1EK PL05
003830 -13 0.1 1630 ~ HS0ZNR W6HDG DM13
003830 6 0.0 1874 ~ W2CSI PY1SX R-19
003830 -1 0.0 2121 ~ UA0NL N6QQ 73
003830 -13 0.1 2170 ~ CQ JI1FLB PM95
003830 -4 1.1 2295 ~ CQ DX JL1TZQ PM95
003830 -8 0.0 2433 ~ JF3PRS RX0F 73
003830 -17 0.3 2800 ~ KF7NP BG2WRJ -03
003830 0 -0.3 963 ~ NC6V JK1OZS +01
003830 -13 0.0 1600 ~ W1FIT N0KJI DM79
003830 -14 0.2 1671 ~ YC1TQL VE6CSX R-18
190116_003845 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: BG2WRJ KF7NP R-17
003900 -8 0.3 1693 ~ CQ LU3HZK FF87
003900 13 1.4 561 ~ W5BXE KB5HPT 73
003900 4 0.2 713 ~ KA6U PY2XIZ R-12
003900 -10 0.1 776 ~ CX7BBR JK1KSB -19
003900 -4 0.1 891 ~ YC4NSY KM6GUO CM88
003900 -3 -0.3 963 ~ NC6V JK1OZS RR73
003900 -11 0.2 1147 ~ CQ NA JJ2ONH PM85
003900 -12 0.2 1351 ~ AG7OB JQ6RUP -14
003900 -15 1.5 1404 ~ CQ DS2LOE PM37
190116_003915 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: BG2WRJ KF7NP R-17 !!! 7 stations decoded after start of xmit window in Deep decode
003900 -8 0.1 1600 ~ W1FIT N0KJI DM79
003900 9 0.1 1874 ~ CQ PY1SX GG87
003900 4 -0.5 1902 ~ CX7BBR JA7AUM QN00
003900 -3 1.1 1949 ~ CQ K4TXX EM95
003900 -6 1.1 2295 ~ CQ DX JL1TZQ PM95
003900 -19 0.1 2502 ~ W7OTL JA1NLX -19
003900 -21 0.3 2800 ~ KF7NP BG2WRJ RR73
190116_003915 Transmitting 14.074 MHz FT8: BG2WRJ KF7NP 73
003900 -14 0.1 1631 ~ HS0ZNR W6HDG DM13
003900 -16 0.2 1670 ~ YC1TQL VE6CSX R-18
003930 -11 0.2 1693 ~ CQ LU3HZK FF87
003930 15 0.2 714 ~ KA6U PY2XIZ 73
003930 2 0.1 776 ~ CX7BBR JK1KSB -19
003930 -12 0.9 825 ~ KA6U JA0GCI -24
003930 -6 0.1 891 ~ YC4NSY KM6GUO CM88
003930 -7 -0.3 963 ~ VE7LGP JK1OZS -10
003930 -1 0.3 1148 ~ W2VX JJ2ONH -20
003930 -13 0.2 1351 ~ AG7OB JQ6RUP -14
003930 -12 1.5 1404 ~ CQ DS2LOE PM37
003930 3 0.1 1874 ~ K6YES PY1SX -03
003930 -3 -0.1 2119 ~ UA0NL RX0F QN17
003930 -13 0.1 2170 ~ CQ JI1FLB PM95
003930 -3 1.1 2295 ~ K4PPK JL1TZQ -13
73 Burke
KF7NP
