POTA 101: Operating CW with the Icom IC-705
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- Опубликовано: 19 окт 2020
- This is a one edit, real-time, real-world video performing a CW activation of a POTA site. My goal here is to show how POTA activations can typically play out.
Equipment links:
- Icom IC-705: www.universal-radio.com/catal...
- Bioenno 6 aH LiFePo battery: www.bioennopower.com/products...
- Ham Radio Workbench Distribution Panel Kit: swling.com/blog/2019/08/the-h...
- Chameleon CHA Emcomm III Portable antenna: chameleonantenna.com/shop-her...
- CW Morse Pocket Paddles: cwmorse.us/
- Elecraft T1 antenna tuner: elecraft.com/products/t1-mini...
- ABR Cables: abrind.com/
- Arborist Throw Line: qrper.com/2020/09/a-field-ant... 
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How did I miss this video. I was desperately looking for a video I had not seen. I thought I was settling for a rerun and realized this one escaped me. Thomas you need to get some new Potas out there. I need my fix.
A really lovely video, I am watching in early January 2024, its cold damp and miserable outside here in the uk.its chilly here in the house.. .but suddenly i am transported to your warm sunny park location while you send and receive CW...all of a sudden horrible cold England has had its temperature raised a little, lol... Thanks, I really needed it! Nice morse sending btw, 73 de M0TWA.
We've had some really cold dips here this winter too in the mountains of western NC. -13 to -15C a week ago. I remember cold winter nights in the UK all too well. Proper pub weather! Best, Thomas (K4SWL / M0CYI)
Even though it’s been a year since you’ve made this video, it was enjoyable to watch like all of your other videos. Another thing I appreciate about your videos is that you just upload the raw content so it almost feels like real-time to the viewer. Every time that I had a question in my mind while watching it, you answered it in the video at the same time. Two questions were about the third memory message on the radio and the CW paddle. Thank you for the time and effort that you invest to make your videos. 73. AE0IT
Thank you so much for your comment, Michael!
ic705, outdoor operation is good! It's a transceiver that really suits telegraph. In Japan, the telegraph mode has become obsolete for amateur radio. In Japan, the latest trend is all about FT8, which is boring. Since the ic-705 is selling well, I hope the QRP + telegraph style will spread.
I feel that spirit when you hunting stations on QRP! Very pleasant to wath this vid. Thanks for upload
Started learning CW about 11 months ago and am planning my first CW activation. Great video! Thank you!!!
Woo hoo! You've got this! Hope to work you on the air soon!
Nice video!
G'day Thomas, I'm enjoying your QRP operations, your a real CW operator in all weathers. Thanks for getting me back into CW mate. God bless you and your family. 73 cu agn mate. Cheers & beers de Dennis vk4oc.
Thanks, mate! 👍So glad the CW bug bit again! :) Cheers & 73 OM! Thomas
A thought on the ATU use. You may want to drop the power down before doing a tuning cycle. During the cycle, the SWR will be bouncing around as the tuner seeks a match. Some of the spikes, although short, can be quite high. High enough that it's possible for the short spike to cause a voltage across the final amp that could exceed it's break down voltage.
I once popped the finals in my first FT-817 during a tuning cycle. I had it at 2.5 watts, half it's max power so I thought I was safe. Nope. I drop it to 1 watt when tuning now. Even if the radio has SWR protection, those spikes come fast and furious and the protection circuit may not be fast enough to react.
Indeed a very good suggestion. I actually typically do this with transceivers--I tend to lower power to 3 watts or so. Not sure why it didn't even cross my mind in this case. Thank you!
Thomas thanks for putting these videos out! I am a QRP SOTA activator with nearly 100 activations in the past year all phone. A couple of activations were failures and I started to see the value of CW, I can identify individual characters at 18wpm no problem after practicing 30 minutes a day for the past 6 months but when I listen to your QSOs I’m picking out maybe 1 character in 10...I still have a lot of work ahead. I have the hardware FT818/IC705 to make it work but the software (brain) is not there yet!
Bravo on those QRP SOTA activations! That's an accomplishment for sure!
Rex, I would highly recommend the free application "Morse Runner." It simulates CW pile-ups. It really helped me. You can begin by setting the WPM speed at a lower rate, tuning off the LID interference, fading, and only allowing one or two stations at a time. As you build confidence, you can add some of those distractions back in and up the speed. It really helped me. Here's an article I wrote about it: swling.com/blog/2020/07/upping-my-cw-pile-up-game-with-morse-runner/
Good luck! Your brain will soon kick in an absorb those CW calls!
Cheers,
Thomas
Thomas update here! From skyscratcher88 I used your advice and also listened/listening to Kurt Zoggleman CW stuff and have 3 QRP POTAs with @60 QSOs under my belt via CW!
I am using a MTR4BV2 the humidity is rediculous so I’m waiting for drier weather to bring the 705 out.
I always wondered how prolific SOTA activators could have 40-60 QSOs on a summit. Now I know the secret of QRP CW!
Anyway thanks for the inspiration!
I'm working from home today browsing for QRP rig videos, found yours tuned to 10.113 and that's where my basestation rig is tuned listening for CQ. Oh the Irony hi hi de KI5JCO
Great video! Do you ever give the POTA # during the exchange or do most people know where you are from the spots?
Great question! So if using phone (SSB), yes, you give the signal report and park number "K-1234" during the exchange. The other op gives you a signal report and their state/province/country. In CW, however, you generally only give a basic signal report as an activator unless asked to give a park number. Some ops always give a park number but 97% only give the signal report. Same in SOTA. If it's a park-to-park contact, I give my park number, though, because the other op may not have that info available to them via spots, etc.
@@ThomasK4SWL Thanks! Looking forward to spring...
Love your videos, hope to work you one day from a park, de Andy, VK5LA
That would be brilliant, Andy!
13:08 - Is that a Microsoft Surface Go that I spy? Now the question is- did K4SWL and the MS Go come before a certain famous Norwegian and his? Given that you’re not using Icom’s RS-BA1’s integration software on the MS Go, I’m guessing the former . Nice to see you using one in the video 👍.
I purchased my Surface Go tablet in 2019 at the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro, Alabama. $170--one of the best purchases I've ever made. This year, I purchased the Surface Go 3 for the same price from the same store! :) I love that tablet.
I am about to purchase one of these radios, I read somewhere that it can record your qso’s as you ptt, I don’t know If it would do the same with cw. 👍🏻
It does. The recording functionality on the IC-705 is exceptional. I've recorded SSB and CW QSOs (both TX and RX).
Hi, Thomas. Quick question - what becomes of your paper log books? Do you discard them, save them forever, or is there some middle ground where you determine they're no longer required? If you're a pack rat like I am, forever isn't long enough... 🤪
I save logs forever. :) Ha ha! I get a bit nostalgic for logs.
Do you have the CW button wiring diagram for icom IC-705?
I don't, but it could be in the full IC-705 downloadable advanced manual: www.icomjapan.com/support/manual/3063/
@@ThomasK4SWL DONE!
Sounds like your about 12-15 wpm? What are you sending at
Usually I'm floating around 17WPM, but honestly? 17WPM sounds different on each rig I use. :)
Just how noisy is the 705 on CW, can you hear the relay much? Can you operate full break in without the relay clacking away? Nice vid, I just ordered a T1 kit after seeing this! I'm torn between the KX2 and 705, what to do? Cheers de GW4OKT
Great question. So you can hear the relays, but they're very quiet. If you've been operating a KX3 (which has PIN Diode switching) and move over to the IC-705, you'll notice it. But honestly? It's quiet enough I forget there is any sense of clicking and that's with me running full break-in. All of the Icom radios I've used have at least reed relays involved in the T/R switch. I'm not entirely sure how the IC-705 is designed.
@@ThomasK4SWL Thanks for the info, I Iove the facilities on the 705, like being able to precisely adjust your local noise floor with the aid of the 'fish finder' display. RX current seems to be low, according to other vids I've seen. I'd love to see a serious comparison between the 705 and KX2 from a CW operator perspective (QSK etc.). Also, I suspect CAT control of the 705 may be possible, not so simple with the KX2. Thanks again for the vid Thomas. 73 de GW4OKT
@@ThomasK4SWL Ah, thank you. I've been wondering about this. I don't know how it compares to the 7300 relay noise, but I sold my 7300 because it annoyed me so much, even after mitigation.
@@ksb2112 Before you buy, if there's any way you could listen to one in person, that might give you a better idea. If I think about it, I'll try to record the sound of the relay click next time I make a video.
I think the clacking of that paddle would put me off more 😂.. Looks light weight but it makes its self heard!
Can the IC-705 decode CW like the Electraft KX2?
Good question: I need to dig into the manual a bit and find out. It will--and I have--on RTTY.
@@ThomasK4SWL It only decodes rtty not morse. great video though 73's
Nope, only RTTY, just like the 7300. I wish they'd add it. Another thing the KX3 and 2 do that I really wish they'd add, is RTTY and PSK31 transmission using the key. You send CW with the key and the radio just takes that like keyboard input and actually transmits in psk31 or RTTY. A seriously cool feature I had a full PSK31 QSO on my KX3 just using my paddles for input.
There's no reason they couldn't add that in software on the 7300 or 705.
@@loughkb Agreed. I'll never forget a Field Day perhaps three years ago when I completely blew a friend's mind by making a PSK-31 contact with my Elecraft KX2. We were at Mount Mitchell State Park operating from the internal battery (very lightweight!) and he simply couldn't get over that functionality. Not sure why they wouldn't have added this to the IC-705.
Wait, my $75 Russian/Chinese Malachite receiver can decode Morse, badly, but the iCOM can't? Yikes!
QRZ no one was calling you
QRZ is often used in field activities as a part of a normal CQ call. I'll often use QRZ at the end of a voice exchange even if I don't believe someone is waiting in line.
@@ThomasK4SWL I bet you also say hi hi, for id, QSL
@@ThomasK4SWL A lot of things make no sense. I don't say who is knocking on the door if no one is knocking at the door.