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Andy Keir
Australia
Приєднався 15 жов 2006
The exploits of a retired network administrator and electronics technician who is a lifelong gadget tragic and who enjoys tinkering with anything technical.
Відео
Andy’s Workshop -beacon checking
Переглядів 107Рік тому
An easy way to check a radio against a beacon or a beacon against a radio for frequency accuracy
Andy's Workshop - home brew mini VHF repeater
Переглядів 5332 роки тому
Details of a little VHF repeater I built using some inexpensive modules and an Arduino.
Andy’s Workshop - Linear amplifier keying
Переглядів 2,4 тис.2 роки тому
A low cost interface to key older linear amplifiers from modern transceivers
Andy's Workshop - HF magnetic loop antenna
Переглядів 21 тис.2 роки тому
Mechanical details for a couple of simple home made magnetic loop antennas. One covering from around 14 MHz up to beyond 30 MHz, the other covering the 6m band. These loops were both originally built by Bruce VK2EM who kindly gifted them to me. I subsequently made some mechanical changes, added the square feed loops along with a reduction drive and a switch to add some fixed capacitance. The an...
Andy's Workshop - IC-705 Portable / Field QRP HF
Переглядів 7842 роки тому
Some lockdown silliness … BYOTA ... back yards on the air with an Icom IC-705
Andy's Workshop - MFJ998 antenna tuner repair
Переглядів 2,7 тис.4 роки тому
A short video on how a ten cent component can stop a $1600 antenna tuner from working!
Fiat Ducato Check Engine Light
Переглядів 98 тис.4 роки тому
How to reset the Check Engine Light on a 2007 (and others) Fiat Ducato using an inexpensive OBD2 code reader.
Andy’s Workshop - Kenwood TR-751 repair
Переглядів 3,5 тис.4 роки тому
Repairing the volume, squelch, RIT and RF gain pots on a Kenwood TR-571a 2m transceiver.
Andy’s Workshop - The IFR 1000s
Переглядів 2 тис.4 роки тому
Tidying up a newly acquired bit of test gear for my workshop. This is the IFR 1000s radio test set.
The Tea Trails. Episode 1 - Nowendoc
Переглядів 5807 років тому
Riding a Kawasaki KLR650 motorcycle to Nowendoc via Wingham, Mount George and Cooplacurripa and then back via Thunderbolt's Way ... at a relaxed pace, with plenty of stops to admire the scenery and have another cup of tea. This is not extreme off-road adventure riding, just an old bloke on his bike, enjoying retirement and having some fun.
Tower Climbing
Переглядів 5 тис.12 років тому
Climbing a communications tower at Cabbage Tree Mountain, NSW, Australia, to replace a failed microwave data link. I filmed this with a head-mounted GoPro HD camera.
I’ve heard the noise issue is not present when running off the internal battery. Have you found this to be true ?
No. The noise was there when the meter was running from battery. It was not charging and was not connected to USB. Tony Albus has confirmed the noise issue. ua-cam.com/video/W03w-dh7qgY/v-deo.htmlsi=I8glgVFTPDSr8j25
@@VK2AAK thanks I’ll avoid it for now. Hopefully feedback will motivate them to resolve the problem with a design update to improve shielding or similar
I purchased a model CQV-SWR-508 on Banggood and this meter inserted bad noise into the signal. I am fighting with them right now to return it and get my money back as it was bad out of the box.
Hello, Congratulations ! I am a beginner in mobile CB. I have just finalized my mobile CB registration with a DX27 helical antenna (1m80) + MC KINLEY+ KL-203P. So I have a beginner's question for you.👇 You must start by configuring (tuning) your antenna in "Tune" mode ('Tune' button activated) to lower the TOS/SWR, do we agree? Then, when the antenna is tuned with the MC KINLEY Tx linear amplifier, I can return to "ByPass" mode (BPS) and use (modulate to AM/FM/SSB) my CB radio? Sincerely
I have this meter and it did restart every time i went over 70 watts on battery, not with the charger Connected. The text SWR and FWD change to Chinese text when i go over 125 watts. I changed the battery to a 5000 mAh and it looks like it is stable now and will not restart as long as the battery power is good, but i have to live with the Chinese text(i dont care to much ). The charger give some noise but not all the time, no noise on battery. Banggood wouldn't give me a refund or exchange it for a new one(i am done with Banggood). But i am happy with it now as long as it works? It is maybe the most beautiful SWR meter on the marked i think so it is sad it dosent work as it should. The bilt quality is good.
Wow, that's horrible.
Really disapointing because the meter was brilliant in all other respects. The large touch-screen display was fantastic.
@@VK2AAK I thought you commented on my video but I can't find it now. Anyway Idid more testing... I've used this meter a few times with no problems, but I was never charging the unit while operating. I just did a test with the meter being charged and I got no noticeable noise on; 10; 20, 40 and 80. Could your problem be related to the charger you are using?
@@TheSmokinApe I wasn't charging. The meter was running on its internal batteries. On 40 metres there was broadband noise ... the S meter went from below S1 to above S3 whenever the meter was powered on. On 80 metres there was a similar increase in noise, but also some serious spurs which were very strong. I should probably have kept the meter for another day or two to test it on the spectrum analyser ... but too late, it's been returned and a refund received.
Tony Albus highly rated the unit until he found the noise issue. John, k0ebc
@@techjohnc3379 Yes. I alerted Tony to the problem and he tested his own meter and confirmed the issue.
They didn't even get the "SWR&POWER METER" decal straight. Shiny garbage is always tempting, but I'll stick with my boring cross-needle display that's worked perfectly for decades.
Yes, I noticed that. Looking at a few UA-cam videos I see a few with the same thing ... the printing isn't parallel to the meter.
Would be ok if "the price is right" just for literally testing the antenna for a few seconds. But unless it's really the right price it's not worth it.
Useless for being left in line and used for real time monitoring though. On 40 metres it brought the noise level up by more than 2 S points. On 80 metres it was even worse. It's disappointing because the display is fantastic. If they fix it and come out with a version 2 I might take the chance. The sensing section needs to be in a completely shielded enclosure with just the DC voltages representing FWD and REV power coming out ... preferably via feed through caps and through some ferrite beads. Looking at a disassembly video here on UA-cam it's obvious that the sensing circuitry is on the same board ... and even the same side of the board ... as active electronics.
@@VK2AAK I completely agree about the leave in line part and yes there is evidently a lack of design and/or shielding there somewhere (my guess is the display modules).
Thanks for the heads up Andy, we were going to bring one in to play with but that changed very fast of course watching your video. Cheers Brenton vk3cm
Disappointed because the display was really nice. Hopefully the manufacturer will read the feedback and fix the problem.
Hope you can get a refund
I've already sent the meter back and the refund is approved and on the way. I probably should have held off for a day or two and done some more thorough testing with the spectrum analyser.
Good info Andy, just working on a beautiful looking IFR1000S right now, found a few problems with connectors needing retensioning and have lock on both lock lights now, but now chasing generate mode is working but very low output and when we put 5 watt signal in, seeing power on power meter(which unfortunately means very little) but no ability to hear or see the signal. So far, we have a very limited signal generator with cro working, so not terrible. Not hearing any relays click and I own 5 other different IFRs and thats the common denominator on all of them so I have some detective work to do yet, possibly quite a bit. Looking at your video helps to open my mind to other possibilities, much appreciated. I swapped an FT290R old Yaesu for this so I'm not too heavily invested in the unit but I agree with what you said in the video, they are a great unit in relation to parts availability, our newer IFR units are not so simple that's for sure Cheers Brenton vk3cm
My IFR1000S (which came from you) keeps on keeping on. It is used almost daily and has paid for itself many times over. They are a pretty honest piece of kit and rugged enough to stand up to field use. Mine gets an easier life now ... never leaves the workshop.
youtube.com/@dorotheebotte-wx6tm?si=Gw-Cyr1oldoDS7DD
Interesting designs, tnx. May I ask where you've purchased the capacitors from, or are these a DIY solution? 73!
The capacitors were found at a ham radio boot sale.
Andy Thank you for your interesting variation on the ever changing Mag Loop Theme ... lol
$1600? Holy cow!
Australian dollars :)
I have an issue with mine where it no longer wants to do offset -600 +600 anymore and just does 3 beeps on TX on any frequency
Does it work correctly on simplex? … no offset?
@@VK2AAK Yeah it does which is weird...
It will be something to do with the offset or split mode. The beeps indicate it’s trying to transmit out of band.
@@VK2AAK Thanks for the reply:) It doesn't matter what I set it to it still beeps claiming it's out of band, even though I set it to my usual repeater frequencies. I will double check split setting. Cheers, VK5LEX
Ive been through all of the settings and tried VFOA and B , no change. Definately on 147.000 which I always use for our local repeater, and it gives me the 3 beeps like out of band. It used to beep out of band but now it's all frequencies... I'm stumped.
My 2012 2.3 ducato threw up a solid amber engine light because of an EGR fault code. Owners manual nearly gave me a heart attack as under "amber engine light" it says "injector issue". My injectors are very likely seized from the scuttle leak issue and would pretty much write my engine off. So relieved to live another day lol
Hello Andy....I am having a similar issue with my 998 at the moment but my analog meters are not working 1 out of 4 transmissions only....its intermittant.... Is this possibly a diode issue on that rf sensing board??? Do you have a schematic for this unit at all?? Do you know what the actual diode part#s are on this board? How can I test these diodes to be sure?? Any help or suggestions welcome 73 Ted VE3SS
Hi Ted, I don’t have a schematic as MFJ won’t provide one. I just had to trace the circuit as best I could, however the sensing board is a conventional design. I do not know what the diode part numbers are but as long as they’re matched it probably isn’t critical. The unit would probably need recalibrating if they’re replaced. Diodes are unlikely to be intermittent. I would be inclined to look for poor solder joints in the unit. Tsp things lightly with a screwdriver handle to see if you can provoke the problem. The solder joints associated with heavy components like the large toroids are known to be problematic.
Hi there is it possible to do a video showing the SDR system you use to protect the SDR from RF thanks
Yes, but right now I’m away from home, touring in our motorhome. I’ll post a reply when I get home in a few weeks. There’s really nothing to the SDR protection. It’s just a coaxial relay activated by the transceiver. When the transceiver is put into TX mode the relay disconnects the SDR antenna and grounds the SDR input.
@@VK2AAK Thankyou
Andy, do you have the plans with dimensions for your magnetic loop available? I would like to build them for my dad to use in Arizona. They have restrictions but feel this would be a great way for him to get back on the air running low power. Thank you!
Hi Mark, I don't have any written plans but I will take some measurements for you when I get a chance, however nothing is particularly critical. Some typical values and dimensions can be found at this link. My loop are square but use much the same dimensions as circular versions. www.66pacific.com/calculators/small-transmitting-loop-antenna-calculator.aspx
@@VK2AAK Thank you so much Andy!
Awosome
I adopted a similar approach with a couple of Yaesu FL2100 amps I overhauled but built the modern rig compatible TX switching into the amps themselves using the 18vac amplifier transformer winding as a power source via a rectifier and 5v regulator with an opto -isolator switching a BD139 to work the amplifier changeover relay. That presented the rig with +5v at less than 10ma for switch over and of course no external box of tricks just a cable between amp and rig.
Hello Andy. Enjoyed the video. Have you heard of any situation where the MFJ-998 powers up but the digital display does not come on? Any thoughts on this? Thank you! Paul KA1GIJ
HI Paul, Glad you enjoyed the video. I'm afraid I have no direct experience of the fault you describe. I would just have to try troubleshooting techniques based on a best guess approach because MFJ will unfortunately not publish any information or schematics for their products. I would be probing around with an oscilloscope looking for microprocessor activity and signals to the display module.
Good info Andy.
Download Spectran here: www.sdradio.eu/weaksignals/spectran.html
So...Andy was this part that was replaced an inductor or a resistor ? If it was a resistor, what value was the replacement ? By the way, did the replacement work for this repair ? I have the same mfj- 998 unit. My reflect will tune with vc1, but my forward tune only goes to 40 at vr-1. With that said, my tuner fails to tune an antenna and says oops....low power or something of that nature. It basically will not tune anything right now. Purchased this a few years ago and sat on a shelf. But has never worked properly. I recently downloaded the manual and started trying to do an internal tuning and found that the rear rf board could be the culprit. I only get less then a volt with an input of 100 watts. So you can see my problem at this point. I called mfj and they are going to send me an rf input board at the price of $18.00. Really just wondering if this will actually turn out to be my problem and fix. Thanks....Billy / Albq. N.M. 2 / 8 / 2023
The failed component was an inductor. The video shows the actual component that failed. It looks like a resistor but it is an inductor and it was open circuit. I'm not sure of the value and the video isn't clear enough to read it.
Andy...where did you get the swr sensor inductor with the proper micro Henry's as a replacement and how did you know the value of the part ? Thanks
@@SKYHAWK0115 Looking at the video, the failed component appears to be brown, black, brown which means it's a 100 uH inductor. The part is labelled L41 on the board overlay. I would have simply found a suitable replacement in my stock of parts. I'm a retired technician but I still have a quite well equipped workshop with lots of parts on hand. The SWR sensor board is very simple. There's only a handful of components on it and it's easy to troubleshoot. The most complicated part is actually unsoldering and removing the board. I was able to determine that there was no voltage on the FWD connection when RF power was applied. The two diodes tested OK. The inductor was open circuit. The voltage on the FWD connection is likely to be quite low with 100 Watts applied. It should not be zero however.
Yes ...that is exactly my problem. I have a .9 voltage reading as I key up with a 100 watts and vr1 cannot come to a full 100 watt reading as it is adjusted. If you will look towards the bottom of the blue looking component, it says r-64, a 68 ohm 2 watt and the L41 to the right and shows to be a 1000 micro Henry inductor, according to the schematic. I would send you the schematic. But it won't load on youtube message.
@@SKYHAWK0115 Look me up on QRZ and send me an email. I'm VK2AAK.
where can I get a Kenwood TR 751 display ?
I think your only chance is finding a junked radio and stripping the parts out.
thanks for taking the time to show us how to do this Andy. Ive purchased the u480 for my daughter because shes bought a used 2019 ducato from a dealer and it has literally been displaying codes from the moment she was driving it back ( apparently melbourne to the gold coast is not much fun when youre in limp mode), and despite having spent well over $5k more at our local mechanics it has decided it wants to keep showing error codes ( despite being told by mechanics that everything is Ok) so Im hoping with this video she will be able to reset it herself and then carry on driving. Fiat should change the name from Ducato to Dunotgo based on what Ive seen of them...
I'm not sure whether the U480 will work with a 2019 Ducato. Mine is a 2007 model. If the U480 doesn't work there will certainly be other code readers which will ... and the resetting principle will be the same. Merry Christmas. :)
@@VK2AAK happy christmas to you too mate, thanks for the prompt reply. yeah we tried this evening ( no time like the present eh ) and it showed no error codes this time but the engine light is still on and its still underpowered... bloody Fiat vehicles - so frustrating 😡
FIAT - Fix It Again Tomorrow!
Another Kenwood revived! ❤
What a gem …. What”s been fixed ? (ABC FM)…. Talk about a Jungian correspondence!! What is the “modern” equivalent! …. A sig gen….. and spectrum analyser? 73 de VK2AOE
My god I already made that comment…. I have the CRAFT!! 😂😂😂
Pure awesome!
Thank you. No nonsense solution.
Thanks so much, just killed a MFJ ARB-704 with a Collins 30L1..this should work great and it less than $6 on Amazon.
Just a little note that this fool belittles people on Social Media if their views are not consistent to his.. FYI Contrails Disapate after a few minutes, They don't hang around all day. Keep taking your boosters, keep you mask on, which as a stated man of science you are pretty silly( ill keep it g rated for now) Ill explain it to you very simply, as you don't seam to be very smart.. Wearing a mask for protection against a Virus is like wearing chicken wire on your face to protect your from mosquitos.. Thats the best way I could explain it to you. Im trying to get to your level.. Seeing the sky with chemtrails and denying them you are in fact a Science Denier.. All the evidence, videos of them spraying Yet you refuse to believe the science, Remember Hallidays Point is a VERY small place.. Best remember that when people find out where you live. They don't take too kindly to people like you calling them names. Thats Just a tip for you personally... But thats me done, your unvaccinated, Unmasked and STIll Covid Free Fan.. Enjoy you booster big fella and when the blood clots come... Ill be thinking of you, having a beer and laughing at the science deniers. Chin up big fella, you will reach maturity one date.
Just a little note that this fool belittles people on Social Media if their views are not consistent to his.. FYI Contrails Disapate after a few minutes, They don't hang around all day. Keep taking your boosters, keep you mask on, which as a stated man of science you are pretty silly( ill keep it g rated for now) Ill explain it to you very simply, as you don't seam to be very smart.. Wearing a mask for protection against a Virus is like wearing chicken wire on your face to protect you from mosquitos.. Thats the best way I could explain it to you. Im trying to get to your level.. Seeing the sky with chemtrails and denying them you are in fact a Science Denier.. All the evidence, videos of them spraying , but Yet you refuse to believe the science, Remember Hallidays Point is a VERY small place.. Best remember that when people find out where you live. They don't take too kindly to people like you calling them names. Thats Just a tip for you personally... But thats me done, your unvaccinated, Unmasked and STIll Covid Free Fan.. Enjoy you booster big fella and when the blood clots come... Ill be thinking of you, having a beer and laughing at the science deniers.
Hi Andy, I have one of these radio, the pot is OK but I have a slight buzz on TX audio, even on battery power so not PSU, any ideas PS it's a great radio love these old style radios. Brian
It could be any number of things so I would just be guessing. Check the power supply is clean, then start looking at the audio starting at the microphone and working your way . You will need an oscilloscope.
Thanks Andy in getting back to me so quickly very much appreciated 73's
@@Guru-sh9mz Look for poor grounding anywhere in the audio path. You've eliminated the power supply so that's a start. Try to put the radio in TX mode with the microphone disconnected ... for example, try CW mode. That should eliminate anything in the audio path.
Hi Andy would a 2mhz oscilloscope be OK for checking as there is one fir sale with leads for £50 a few miles from me on market place again thanks for your help
20mhz not 2 mhz sorry
I was just thinking "those modules I have would be perfect for this" and low and behold you are using them.
Best explanation on UA-cam not going in circles and struggling for 30 minutes like the few videos on this subject. However, if one of those cheap Chinese relay modules fails in the process of keying, that's the end of your transceiver correct?
No. If a relay module fails then the amplifier won’t key and will be straight through … the transceiver will essentially be connected directly to the antenna via the relays in the amplifier … just the same as if the amplifier is switched off. If the relay module contacts fail short circuit then the amplifier will key continuously …even when the transceiver isn’t keyed. Neither of these scenarios will pose any risk. You won’t damage the transceiver.
@@VK2AAK Much appreciated. This clears up many of my doubts!
Why reset, does it not mean there's something g wrong?
I didn’t say there was nothing wrong. There is a fault code, meaning that there is a fault. In this case it’s a throttle position sensor fault. It might not be serious and it may be OK to continue driving but it’s still a fault and needs to eventually be rectified. Listen carefully to my words. I make it clear that you should only reset if you’re confident it’s only a minor issue and that you should check with a mechanic. The point is that the Ducato is one of the most popular base vehicles used for motorhomes. Australia is vast and resetting can make the difference between getting the vehicle out of limp mode or being stranded in a remote area.
Brit's and their cups of bloody tea. :D
Thanks for sharing Andy! Quick question....if you get this?? What does "over coupling" look like? i.e. what does it do to receive / transmit signals and/or the match obtained? In short how do you know when you are over coupled? Cheers VK2AOE
The effect was that I could tune the loop through the point of minimum SWR but the minimum SWR was still about 2:1. By turning the feed loop in relation to the main loop and thereby reducing the coupling, between them I could tune for a minimum SWR of close to 1:1. The coupling didn't seem to affect anything other than the matching. I probably could have achieved the same thing by keeping the feed loop in the same plane as the main loop and just increasing the spacing between them. Some of the problem could be due to the fact that both loops are square and therefore one side of the feed loop runs parallel to one side of the main loop for a fair distance. That wouldn't be the case if the loops were circular.
@@VK2AAK Thanks for that! So at resonance the feed point z was not a correct match. The coupling fiddle gets that correct load match for the tx final stage. The loop is a fascinating beast....gonna build one soon. Now I know one thing that I might need. Thanks much appreciated. 73 George
What"s been fixed at your place??? The ABC radio chat is a Jungian correspondence!
Cool om zoon Repeater een keer vanbinnen te zien groeten uit Nederland
You are one game but crazy person Andy Keir, going up a tower that far up, you need wings.
Haha ... it was part of my job. One day in a nice comfortable, air-conditioned office, the next up a tower on the top of a mountain :)
something a bit different, nice job!
I most certainly am interested in your design on this antenna. My primary interests is to build one that I can use on my Toyota SUV. I really like what you have demonstrated because it's like having a "Proof Of Concept" demonstrator. I don't mind the unconventional looks because it's the performance enhancement to my radio that means a lot to me. Thank You!
Andy I have looked at your code...thats a lot of work you have done there. Very well done. You obviously are very experienced at coding. Excellent job. Have ordered a few modules to have a play with them. Really great project :)
Thanks Mark. I've done a bit of coding over the years but I was mainly a hardware person during my career. If you need any help with the code or the modules feel free to give me a shout.
Well done mate
A couple of 8010's or PRM80 anything and Simoco SRM9000s the same would do most of the job :P BUT I do like the build of this. I've been slowly building 2x SRM9000's per band (AC/TU/UW) for the ability to cross band and in-band commercial, 2/70 and more including when helping ORARC with their rallies etc. I have a baofeng repeater lead using 2 UV5's but I don't like the lag so that'll be BOB only. Are you printing your own boards or paying a service provider?
Hi Glen. I printed those boards here ... just using the laser printer toner transfer method which is fine for simple, one-off boards. The boards are single-sided.
Here is a link to the Arduino code used in the repeater controller. This is a bit kludgy ... sorry. This code was written on a Windows machine using the Arduino IDE Version 1.8.19 www.rewbarb.com/VK2AAK_repeater_stable_v1.0.zip
Link doesnt seem to be working
@@SimjetAU I checked it and downloaded the file OK on both a Windows laptop and a MacBook. You may get a security warning as the server is not https.
@@VK2AAK Yes my Imac at work and my macpro at home rejected it but its the security on monteray...got it sorted ..thanks a lot :)
Can you post a link for your code for the arduino please?...nicely put together. I will investigate those RF modules...I havent seen them before VK4KZK
I’ll find somewhere to host the code and I’ll post a link here.
I have posted a link in a pinned comment.