[OZAPRS] Re: Bad Signal on 30m

[Ray Wells]

Hi All,

Thanks to all who got involved with this and sorted it out quickly. 
Larry should be especially happy that he can be seen once more, hi.

Ray vk2tv

Larry wrote:

> Hi All
>
> Well I think the duck is dead!  Seems like I may have been the guilty 
> party.  It seems a program running on the gateway server has reset 
> drive levels to the HF radio so that it was overdriving.  As I dont 
> monitor my HF packets locally except when HF mobile (which hasnt been 
> for a few months) I wasnt aware of the reset.  My station gates 
> directly to the net so as Tony has correctly pointed out I was not 
> aware it was not beaconing correctly - lesson here is to monitor your 
> own transmissions from time to time!.  In any case the HF beacon has 
> been turned off until I can complete some station reconfiguring which 
> is currently going on.
>
> Apologies to all animal lovers who are concerned for the duck's welfare.
>
> Larry vk5ly
>
> Tony Hunt wrote:
>
>> Yep .. I gotta agree with Rod.. Its like a Duck dying or being strangled
>> perhaps.. Ive heard this on and off for over 12 months. Usually when 
>> I am
>> listening mobile its around on 30m. I tend not to listen to 30m via a
>> speaker at home. I think its been raised before on this group some 
>> time back
>> but was never solved.
>>
>> Dont be fooled though.
>> Just because you get a good decode on a station at times does not 
>> mean he is
>> on the clear list so to speak.. HF mobile and RF feedback can be a funny
>> thing. The whole thing can be a bunch of variables.
>>
>> Think about it. Who of us would not start wondering about the 
>> functionality
>> of our gear and start looking if it wasnt showing up on maps? Thats 
>> if we
>> checked occasionally on the intenet or Findu etc.. Chances are this 
>> "dead
>> duck" RF feedback candidate is sitting there now thinking its not him
>> because he gets reasonable tracking on HF and others are seeing him 
>> ok. It
>> just takes the occasional decode to lull us into a false sense of "it 
>> must
>> be all working ok" .. If its a Home station then its probably 
>> connected to
>> the internet feed and will allways show up on Findu even though its 
>> warbling
>> dead ducks on air..
>>
>> Occasionally I turn the radio on in the car with no antenna and 
>> listen to
>> the packets comming from the HF station inside to see if it sounds ok 
>> on air
>> and also Vice Versa. I even turn the power up beyond normal and see 
>> if it
>> starts to goto RF feedback.
>>
>> I rarely hear Larry 5LY-4 here because he is too far to work direct 
>> most of
>> the time and too close via the E and F layers but I have not seen him 
>> listed
>> as copied in VK2 VK4 as yet.. He may not be beaconing on HF presently
>> either.
>>
>> All I can say as a definite is thats its not 3MY-4 as the signal 
>> strengths
>> are vastly different.
>> Perhaps one trick would be to sit across the Internet feed and see if 
>> any HF
>> home/Gate stations are beaconing around the time this warble goes to 
>> air.
>> Thats assuming its a home station and assuming its beaconing at the same
>> time on HF as the Net.
>>
>> I would really love to know where this one is comming from so we can 
>> put a
>> stop to this cruelty to ducks..
>>
>> Tony Hunt VK5AH
>>
>> --- Original Message ----- > Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:13:51 +1000
>>
>>> From: Ray Wells <vk2tv at exemail.com.au>
>>> Subject: [OZAPRS] Bad Signal on 30m
>>> To: VK / ZL APRS Users <ozaprs at aprs.net.au>
>>> Message-ID: <4853295F.50409 at exemail.com.au>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> A few days ago I was monitoring the 30m aprs frequency (I don't 
>>> normally
>>> have the volume turned up) and I heard a "crook" signal that won't
>>> decode. I've heard the signal on suvsequent days and as recently as 
>>> this
>>> morning.
>>>
>>> The preamble (during TXD) sounds ok but then the signal sounds like
>>> there is a hash (for want of a better decription) mixed with the tones.
>>> RF feedback?
>>>
>>> It is not coming from the following stations ....
>>> vk3my-4
>>> vk7dik-4
>>> vk4yro-4
>>> vk4kmr-4
>>>
>>> The absence of any particular callsign in that list does not imply 
>>> it is
>>> your station, but it might be. I'll add to the list of callsigns as I
>>> log them.
>>>
>>> Perhaps other 30m stations might like to have a listen.
>>>
>>> I'm sure the station responsible would like to know, because the 
>>> beacons
>>> are currently a waste of time.
>>>
>>> Ray vk2tv
>>>
>>
>>
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>
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