Comments for W4KAZ http://w4kaz.com/qth Amateur Radiosport from the Cheap Seats Mon, 07 May 2012 02:36:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Inrad Roofing Filter For Yaesu FT-920 by w4kaz http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127&cpage=1#comment-2540 w4kaz Mon, 07 May 2012 02:36:15 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127#comment-2540 Thanks for the heads up. The radio sounds good for ordinary rag chews. selectivity would help. Thanks for the heads up. The radio sounds good for ordinary rag chews. selectivity would help.

]]> Comment on Inrad Roofing Filter For Yaesu FT-920 by Jer http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127&cpage=1#comment-2539 Jer Mon, 07 May 2012 01:33:42 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127#comment-2539 I installed the stock filters for the 920 and it did make a lot of difference. Then I installed the Inrad roofing filter. It was like a new radio I could not believe the difference. Every time I go on the air I am just amazed and if you install this filter you to will be amazed too. Jer - KJ4RVA I installed the stock filters for the 920 and it did make a lot of difference. Then I installed the Inrad roofing filter. It was like a new radio I could not believe the difference. Every time I go on the air I am just amazed and if you install this filter you to will be amazed too.

Jer – KJ4RVA

]]> Comment on Inrad Roofing Filter For Yaesu FT-920 by Jer http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127&cpage=1#comment-2538 Jer Mon, 07 May 2012 01:32:49 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=127#comment-2538 I installed the stock filters for the 920 and it did make a lot of difference. Then I installed the Inrad roofing filter. It was like a new radio I could not believe the difference. Every time I go on the air I am just amazed and if you install this filter you to will be amazed. Jer - KJ4RVA I installed the stock filters for the 920 and it did make a lot of difference. Then I installed the Inrad roofing filter. It was like a new radio I could not believe the difference. Every time I go on the air I am just amazed and if you install this filter you to will be amazed.

Jer – KJ4RVA

]]> Comment on Rocky rocks softly by w4kaz http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174&cpage=1#comment-2537 w4kaz Fri, 04 May 2012 11:39:11 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174#comment-2537 Xonar DG only 24 bux at new egg.....20 bux after factoring in rebate and 5 bux shipping. They must be dumping the PCI bus version, cuz the DGX is still 45 bux. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132020 Next experiment is to see if the sound card driver is smart enough to co-exist with siblings of its own model. Xonar DG only 24 bux at new egg…..20 bux after factoring in rebate and 5 bux shipping. They must be dumping the PCI bus version, cuz the DGX is still 45 bux.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132020

Next experiment is to see if the sound card driver is smart enough to co-exist with siblings of its own model.

]]> Comment on Rocky rocks softly by w4kaz http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174&cpage=1#comment-2536 w4kaz Thu, 03 May 2012 21:09:38 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174#comment-2536 It is an internal card. Amazon had the ASUS Xonar DG on sale, and Xonar had a 10 buck rebate, so the upgrade card was 18 bucks. It comes in both PCI(Xonar DG) and PCI-Express(Xonar DGX). The more expensive ASUS cards can sample 192 khz, but the one I bought gives me 96Khz. Outboard cards are more pricy. The card gets good reviews from audio geeks, and I agree - much better sounding than the on-board sound. Probably more about that in the next post...... It is an internal card. Amazon had the ASUS Xonar DG on sale, and Xonar had a 10 buck rebate, so the upgrade card was 18 bucks. It comes in both PCI(Xonar DG) and PCI-Express(Xonar DGX). The more expensive ASUS cards can sample 192 khz, but the one I bought gives me 96Khz. Outboard cards are more pricy.

The card gets good reviews from audio geeks, and I agree – much better sounding than the on-board sound.

Probably more about that in the next post……

]]> Comment on Rocky rocks softly by John AE5X http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174&cpage=1#comment-2535 John AE5X Thu, 03 May 2012 19:18:30 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2174#comment-2535 The show-stopper for me and SDR is the lack of a stereo input on the sound card of either computers. Are you using an external or internal card with your set-up? The show-stopper for me and SDR is the lack of a stereo input on the sound card of either computers. Are you using an external or internal card with your set-up?

]]> Comment on VirtualBox by w4kaz http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2132&cpage=1#comment-2530 w4kaz Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:46:20 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2132#comment-2530 Thanks for the link. Looks like a useful site. Perhaps I didn't read the documentation well enough, but I gathered the impression the Virtual PC was for win 7 pro only. I'll go read some more..... I considered the windows pro upgrade for that very reason, but that's really the only feature I saw that I wanted. Not worth the premium extra expense. Most of the XP aps I use run under win 7. Funding for putzing around is limited..... So far, no burning need to upgrade to win 7 pro. Besides, my opinion is that the xp compatibility should have been provided with the base win 7 OS. Ultimately, I'd prefer to run VirtualBox on a Linux host, once I lay hands on a good surplus box with enough horsepower. Thanks for the link. Looks like a useful site.

Perhaps I didn’t read the documentation well enough, but I gathered the impression the Virtual PC was for win 7 pro only. I’ll go read some more…..

I considered the windows pro upgrade for that very reason, but that’s really the only feature I saw that I wanted. Not worth the premium extra expense. Most of the XP aps I use run under win 7. Funding for putzing around is limited…..

So far, no burning need to upgrade to win 7 pro. Besides, my opinion is that the xp compatibility should have been provided with the base win 7 OS.

Ultimately, I’d prefer to run VirtualBox on a Linux host, once I lay hands on a good surplus box with enough horsepower.

]]> Comment on VirtualBox by Bryan http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2132&cpage=1#comment-2529 Bryan Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:03:48 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=2132#comment-2529 One thing you can do with Windows 7 (edition >= Professional) is boot to a VHD. What this does is use the free Virtual PC from Microsoft to let you create a virtual machine and run it directly on the metal instead of having a virtualization layer between the "guest" and the "host". Not sure how hard it would be to do with a Linux "guest" os, but it works very well for Windows. <a href="http://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToGuideToInstallingAndBootingWindows8ConsumerPreviewOffAVHDVirtualHardDisk.aspx" title="Boot Win8 from VHD" rel="nofollow">Here's</a> an article by Scott Hanselman about setting up Windows 8 that way. One thing you can do with Windows 7 (edition >= Professional) is boot to a VHD. What this does is use the free Virtual PC from Microsoft to let you create a virtual machine and run it directly on the metal instead of having a virtualization layer between the “guest” and the “host”. Not sure how hard it would be to do with a Linux “guest” os, but it works very well for Windows. Here’s an article by Scott Hanselman about setting up Windows 8 that way.

]]> Comment on Band Pass Filter Fever – The Tangled Web – Part 1 by w4kaz http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=210&cpage=1#comment-2524 w4kaz Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:08:12 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=210#comment-2524 No, I expect they would fail dramatically at power levels much above 100w. With a mismatched load, I have managed to toast one of the silver mica caps on a 20m filter. It did not fail dramatically, but it changed its value from 220pf to about 20pf. So even at low power levels its important to have a good match on the antenna system. These folks have components for low pass filters rated for 300w. It may be worth calling and discussing the idea.: http://www.communication-concepts.com/new_page_3.htm I suspect that is the approach taken by solid state amps builders. Finding beefy enough components is difficult. The commercial amps have protective circuits to reduce power it the load is mismatched. Good luck with the project. No, I expect they would fail dramatically at power levels much above 100w. With a mismatched load, I have managed to toast one of the silver mica caps on a 20m filter. It did not fail dramatically, but it changed its value from 220pf to about 20pf. So even at low power levels its important to have a good match on the antenna system.

These folks have components for low pass filters rated for 300w. It may be worth calling and discussing the idea.:
http://www.communication-concepts.com/new_page_3.htm

I suspect that is the approach taken by solid state amps builders. Finding beefy enough components is difficult. The commercial amps have protective circuits to reduce power it the load is mismatched.

Good luck with the project.

]]> Comment on Band Pass Filter Fever – The Tangled Web – Part 1 by Gary Jacobsen (KQ2P) http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=210&cpage=1#comment-2523 Gary Jacobsen (KQ2P) Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:20:05 +0000 http://w4kaz.com/qth/?p=210#comment-2523 I have been looking into bulding a 600 w FET amp and I wonder if the filters could be used for a high power BPF. I have been looking into bulding a 600 w FET amp
and I wonder if the filters could be used for a high power BPF.

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