After a couple of months of dead air time, the W4KAZ skimmer returned to service on 2021\/4\/1.\u00c2\u00a0 The basement area housing the skimmer station required overhauling in order to replace the leaky old water heater.\u00c2\u00a0 After repairs, the project to return the skimmer system to service was delayed by other issues.\u00c2\u00a0 Foremost issue was lack of ambition to tackle the organization project spawned by tearing apart the shack.\u00c2\u00a0 Oiy.<\/p>\n
Part of the re-org was to add in a new shelf rack, and put all of the shelving on casters.\u00c2\u00a0 The area is also used for general storage. Being able to wheel all of the shelving out into the garage will make access easier all-around.<\/p>\n
The skimmer SDR was also found to have a dying cooling fan, so there was some delay acquiring the replacement.\u00c2\u00a0 Also some of the old input feedline system was replaced.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was also a good chance to downsize the computer system used to run the SDR.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A “new” micro form factor system was acquired, a refurbished Dell i5 in a teeny 8x10x2 box.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a huge improvement over the desktop tower sized system previously in use, and the space savings\u00c2\u00a0 will be appreciated.\u00c2\u00a0 The new system has a slew of USB ports, but little else.\u00c2\u00a0 The desktop box will be stored and can be swapped in if needed as a backup.<\/p>\n
The skimmer as currently being run still consists of the Red Pitaya used as an SDR, with the 160m inv-L over FCP antenna system.\u00c2\u00a0 The new Dell system is a Dell Optiplex 3020 micro form factor equipped with a 4th generation i5-4590T processor, 12gb ram, on a win8.1 pro OS platform.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This processor is 4-core\/4-threads and runs somewhat faster than the previous platform.\u00c2\u00a0 On a lightly used band the skimmer is humming along using about 5% of capacity.\u00c2\u00a0 On a heavy contest this will probably max out at about 20% CPU.\u00c2\u00a0 Good enough for CW skimming, but probably not too hot for RTTY.\u00c2\u00a0 Other SDR software has not yet been migrated to the new CPU.<\/p>\n
The main reason for the CPU\u00c2\u00a0 parallel “upgrade” was the micro form factor of the acquired system.\u00c2\u00a0 Having the computer be the size of a SMALL cigar box is a huge convenience for a cramped shack location.\u00c2\u00a0 It also sports a solid state drive, which has been the single most likely point of failure for previous CPU’s installed in a somewhat humid non-climate-controlled location.\u00c2\u00a0 But the size is most important.\u00c2\u00a0 (That’s what SHE said….)<\/p>\n
So now that the system is up and running, more shack clean-up and resurrection is coming.\u00c2\u00a0 Organizing mediocrity out of the mayhem is the plan.\u00c2\u00a0 But can the plan survive contact with the mayhem?\u00c2\u00a0 heh – probably not.<\/p>\n
Update-20210406<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
After a couple of months of dead air time, the W4KAZ skimmer returned to service on 2021\/4\/1.\u00c2 The basement area housing the skimmer station required overhauling in order to replace the leaky old water heater.\u00c2 After repairs, the project to return the skimmer system to service was delayed by other issues.\u00c2 Foremost issue was lack of ambition to tackle the organization project spawned by tearing apart the shack.\u00c2 Oiy.<\/p>\n
Re-Organizing <\/p>\n
Part of the re-org was to add in a new shelf rack, and put all of the shelving on casters.\u00c2 The area is also used for general storage. Being able to wheel all of the shelving out into the garage will make access easier all-around.<\/p>\n
The skimmer SDR was also found to have a dying cooling fan, so there was some delay acquiring the replacement.\u00c2 Also some of the old input feedline system was replaced.\u00c2 <\/p>\n
This was also a good chance to downsize the computer system used to run the SDR.\u00c2 \u00c2 A “new” micro form factor system was acquired, a refurbished Dell i5 in a teeny 8x10x2 box.\u00c2 That’s a huge improvement over the desktop tower sized system previously in use, and the space savings\u00c2 will be appreciated.\u00c2 The new system has a slew of USB ports, but little else.\u00c2 The desktop box will be stored and can be swapped in if needed as a backup.<\/p>\n
Skimming System <\/p>\n
The skimmer as currently being run still consists of the Red Pitaya used as an SDR, with the 160m […]<\/p>\n