Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Hojo and the case of the Powerless Alinco DR-1200T

Alinco DR-1200T repair




So, our ham club was using an Alicno DR-1200T for our local APRS iGate/Digipeater.       It failed a while back, and we picked up an identical radio as a replacement.  Well, the other day I grabbed the dead radio and figured "You can't kill what's already dead!" and decided to attempt a repair.

I confirmed that I could apply power and nothing would light up.  There was no current draw.

I disassembled the radio and poked around.  I confirmed that the internal power connectors seemed to be attached, and that I had power as far as a jumper near the on/off switch.  I removed the front panel, and discovered that the circuit board for the controls was pretty bad looking.  Alinco didn't go to great pains to clean the flux off this board prior to shipping.  I cleaned up a few particularly bad places, as I reviewed the radio.  Then I saw this FET.



Looking carefully, I could see that the FET at Q4 was cracked.  I pulled it off the board.




Sure 'nuff, this sucker is broken.  Looking at the schematic, this is a switching FET used with the power switch.


So, activating the power switch (SW2) completes the circuit for a voltage divider on the Gate to the FET.  R34 is a 120k resistor is acting as a weak pull-up to the gate.  When SW2 is turned on, R35 basically acts as a stronger pull DOWN on the gate.  The R34/R35 voltage divider pulls the gate DOWN to about 0.1 volts when S2 is thrown.  Pulling the gate DOWN allows current to pass through, so the FET must be a P-channel MOSFET.  

I believe the failed part is in the SOT-89 form factor, based on its dimensions.  It measures about 5mm wide by 2.5mm tall.  However, it's wider than it should be due to the crack.  Sure 'nuff, SOT-89 should be about 4.5mm wide and 2.5mm tall.

I don't have any P MOSFETs in my parts box in SOT-89, but I DO have a SOT-23 MOSFET. Looking at the specs, it can handle 12 volts.  Not sure about the current draw, but it's worth a test.  I figured I might wire in the FET with some wire-wrap wire or something, just as a rudimentary test to see if anything else was broken.

As I got started, I looked at the footprint of the two form factors  It looked like I could actually get away with sticking the SOT-23 onto the SOT-89 pads!  See the illustration below.








Here are the three pads with the failed MOSFET removed.   Note that the Drain pad is nice and long.


This is the SOT-23 FET installed over those pads.  It's not a perfect fit, but it seems to get the job done.

Well, it's all over but the testing.  Let's see if this radio will once again power up and hear APRS beacons.





Results

So, it looks like replacing this FET will bring the radio back online.  Taking a look at the Alinco web site,  you have to call them with part numbers in hand, and speak to a human (eww!).  There is a $10 minimum on parts, and a minimum $13.50 shipping charge.   Given that I can replace this radio with another from eBay for about $50, it seems a bit insane to spend $23.50 to get a FET.  Checking Digi-key, it appears I can find a pretty beefy FET in SOT-89 form factor for about $0.75.  I'll go that route, since I'm ordering from Digi-Key regularly anyway.   

For the record:

Alinco Part:  Q4:  Part Code: XE0011.   Part name:  "Chip FET, 2SK508K51T1"
Digi-Key substitute:  893-1236-1-ND

I'll update this blog when I substitute the part and confirm it works OK.

Alignment Notes

I went ahead and did an alignment on the radio, since I had it open on my bench, and I had been looking for an excuse to test my new (to me) Service Monitor.  I followed the steps as outlined in the service manual.
  1. Corrected VCO P/D voltage (RX) from 2.37 volts to 2.04 volts.
  2. Corrected VCO P/D voltage (TX) from 2.21 volts to 2.06 volts.
  3. Corrected Frequency error from -600 hz to +20hz
  4. Power output VR6 (Hi): Maxed at 26w.  In spec.
  5. Power output VR7 (Lo): Improved from 3.5 to 5.0 watts.
  6. RF Power Meter: Adjusted from 4 segments to 3.
  7. Deviation: Adjusted from 4.7khz to 4.9khz.
  8. MIC gain: Adjusted from 4.9 khz to 4.2 (SUPER sensitive)
  9. Discrimination adjustment: Adjusted to maximize.  Some improvement.
  10. Sensitivity: No improvements with adjustment.  -117 dbm. (spec is -123).
  11. Subaudible Tone: Adjusted from 0.8 to 0.7 deviation.
  12. S-Meter: Adjusted to -104db (3 dBuv).
  13. Squelch Sensitivity adjusted to -113 db (-6 dBuv).

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Known Flight IDs

Known Flight IDs


In order to avoid collisions, it's going to be necessary to avoid stomping on one another's "Flight ID" WSPR telemetry packets.  The Flight ID comprises the first and third character in the callsign field in a Type 1 WSPR packet.   So, for example, the callsign "QL6EXB" would be flight ID "Q6".

Please note, there is "controversy" over whether a Flight ID may begin with the letter "1".  The "1" prefix is unauthorized by the ITU, however the following 1x prefixes have been used:


1B (North Cyprus): 
1A0 Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Rome, Italy)
1C, 1X Chechnya Rep. (Russian Federation)
1L is being issued by Liberland Amateur Radio Association and is referred to as temporary prefix of Liberland
1P Seborga Principato (Italy)
1S Spratly Archipelago 9M0
1Z has been used in Kawthoolei, an unrecognized breakaway region of Myanmar

Some people have chosen to use "1" since the ITU has not sanctioned it, while others argue it is in use, and therefore should no be used for FlightIDs.  I include it in this list for completeness, for those hams who chose to use "1".  You do so at your own risk.   If you intend to use the letter "Q", please tell me "Q" not "1" when you are looking for a Flight ID.   Some people chosen to say "1" when they mean "Q" for reasons I can not comprehend.

I've created a table of those flight ID's that I'm aware of.  If you have updates, please comment on this post, and I'll update the table.



Flight IDCallsign Slot Telem Slot User Last Updated Renewal Req Sent
00
n/a n/a
Reserved (lots of jibberish packets on this channel)
03/22/2020
N/A
01
:x0 :x2
N7SMI
03/12/2020

01
:x2 :x4
N7SMI
03/12/2020
01
:x4 :x6
N7SMI
03/12/2020

01
:x6 :x8
N7SMI
03/12/2020

01
:x8 :x0
N7SMI
03/12/2020

02
:x0 :x2
YO3ICT 
03/22/2021

02
:x2 :x4
YO3ICT 
03/22/2021

02
:x4 :x6
YO3ICT 
03/22/2021

02
:x6 :x8
YO3ICT 
03/22/2021

02
:x8 :x0
YO3ICT 
03/22/2021

03
:x0 :x2
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
03
:x2 :x4
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
03
:x4 :x6
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
03
:x6 :x8
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
03
:x8 ::x0
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
04
:x0 :x2
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
04
:x2 :x4
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
04
:x4 :x6
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
04
:x6 :x8
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
04
:x8 :x0
VE3KCL
10/31/2019
Renewed
05
:x0 :x2
N2NXZ
10/31/2019
Renewed
05
:x2 :x4
N2NXZ
10/31/2019
Renewed
05
:x4 :x6
N2NXZ
10/31/2019
Renewed
05
:x6 :x8
N2NXZ
10/31/2019
Renewed
05
:x8 :x0
N2NXZ
10/31/2019
Renewed
06
:x0 :x2
G8SRV
08/12/2021

06
:x2 :x4
KC3GMG
02/11/2022

06
:x4 :x6
G8SRV
02/11/2022

06
:x6 :x8
LY4LT
03/25/2022

06
:x8 :x0
Available
04/14/2021

07
:x0:x2
WB8ELK
04/14/2021

07
:x2:x4
WB8ELK
04/14/2021

07
:x4:x6
WB8ELK
04/14/2021

07
:x6::x8
WB8ELK
04/14/2021

07
:x8:x0
WB8ELK
04/14/2021

08
:x0:x2
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
08
:x2:x4
WB8ELK
11/02/2019
Renewed
08
:x4:x6
WB8ELK
11/02/2019
Renewed
08
:x6:x8
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
08
:x8:x0
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
09
:x0 :x2
PC4L
05/09/2020

09
:x2 :x4
PD7R
07/26/2020

09
:x4 :x6
G7PMO
07/26/2020

09
:x6 :x8
PE2BZ
05/07/2020
Renewed 05/07/2020
09
:x8 ::x0
PC4L
07/26/2020

10
:x0 :x2
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
10
:x2 :x4
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
10
:x4 :x6
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
10
:x6 :x8
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
10
:x8 :x0
DL6OW
06/19/2019
TBD
11
:x0 :x2
LY4NZ 
08/10/2021
ends 06.01.2022
11
:x2 :x4

03/23/2021

11
:x4 :x6

03/23/2021

11
:x6 :x8

03/23/2021

11
:x8 :x0

03/23/2021

12
:x0:x2
AB5SS
01/22/2021

12
:x2:x4
AB5SS
01/22/2021

12
:x4:x6
AB5SS
01/22/2021

12
:x6:x8
AB5SS
01/22/2021

12
:x8:x0
AB5SS
01/22/2021

13
:x0::x2
KD2KDD
12/08/2019

13
:x2:x4
KD2KDD
12/08/2019

13
:x4:x6
KD2KDD
12/08/2019

13
:x6:x8
KD2KDD
12/08/2019

13
:x8:x0
KD2KDD
12/08/2019

14
:x0:x2
KN4IUD
12/08/2019

14
:x2:x4
KN4IUD
12/08/2019

14
:x4:x6
KN4IUD
12/08/2019

14
:x6:x8
KN4IUD
12/08/2019

14
:x8:x0
KN4IUD
12/08/2019

15
:x0 :x2
UB8SFY
03/11/2020

15
:x2 :x4
UB8SFY
03/11/2020

15
:x4 :x6
UB8SFY
03/11/2020

15
:x6 ::x8
UB8SFY
03/11/2020

15
:x8 :x0
UB8SFY
03/11/2020

16
:x0:x2
W7MJK
06/14/2019
TBD
16
:x2:x4
W7MJK
06/14/2019
TBD
16
:x4:x6
W7MJK
06/14/2019
TBD
16
:x6:x8
W7MJK
06/14/2019
TBD
16
:x8:x0
W7MJK
06/14/2019
TBD
17
:x0 :x2
WB8ELK
04/14/2021
Renewed
17
:x2 :x4
WB8ELK
04/14/2021
Renewed
17
:x4 :x6
WB8ELK
04/14/2021
Renewed
17
:x6 :x8
WB8ELK
04/14/2021
Renewed
17
:x8 :x0
WB8ELK
04/14/2021
Renewed
18
:x0 :x2
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
18
:x2 :x4
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
18
:x4 :x6
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
18
:x6 :x8
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
18
:x8 :x0
WB8ELK (unused)
10/31/2019
Renewed
19
:x0 ::x2
K9YO
01/30/2020

19
:x2 :x4
K9YO
01/30/2020

19
:x4 :x6
K9YO
01/30/2020

19
:x6 :x8
K9YO
01/30/2020

19
:x8 :x0
K9YO
01/30/2020

Q0
:x0 :x2
LY1BWB
03/27/2022

Q0
:x2 :x4
LY1XD 
04/14/2021

Q0
:x4 :x6
DG4NOB
04/17/2021

Q0
:x6 :x8
DG4NOB
07/05/2021

Q0
:x8 :x0
DG4NOB
08/29/2021

Q1
:x0 :x2
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q1
:x2 :x4
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q1
:x4 :x6
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q1
:x6 :x8
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q1
:x8 :x0
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q2
:x0 :x2
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q2
:x2 :x4
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q2
:x4 :x6
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q2
:x6 :x8
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q2
:x8 :x0
W7QO
10/20/2016
10/27/2019
Q3
:x0 :x2
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q3
:x2 :x4
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q3
:x4 :x6
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q3
:x6 :x8
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q3
:x8 :x0
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q4
:x0 :x2
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q4
:x2 :x4
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q4
:x4 :x6
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q4
:x6 :x8
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q4
:x8 :x0
K6RPT
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q5
:x0 :x2
LY5ZZ
03/25/2022
Renewed
Q5
:x2 :x4
YO3ICT
03/23/2021
Renewed
Q5
:x4 :x6
 YO3ICT
10/27/2019
Renewed
Q5
:x6 :x8
KD2FOU (Pittsford/Mendon HS) 
10/27/2019
Renewed
Q5
:x8 :x0
KD2FOU (Pittsford/Mendon HS) 
03/25/2022
Renewed
Q6
:x0 :x2
IZ7VHF
05/07/2020
Renewed
Q6
:x2 :x4
IZ7VHF
05/07/2020
Renewed
Q6
:x4 :x6
IZ7VHF
05/07/2020
Renewed
Q6
:x6 :x8
IZ7VHF
05/07/2020
Renewed
Q6
:x8 :x0
IZ7VHF
05/07/2020
Renewed
Q7
:x0 :x2
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q7
:x2 :x4
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q7
:x4 :x6
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q7
:x6 :x8
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q7
:x8 :x0
KD2EAT (Olean HS)
08/13/2021

Q8
:x0 :x2
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q8
:x2 :x4
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q8
:x4 :x6
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q8
:x6 :x8
WB8ELK
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q8
:x8 :x0
WB8ELK (unused)
10/31/2019
Renewed
Q9
:x0 :x2
N7AGF
12/08/2019

Q9
:x2 :x4
N7AGF
12/08/2019

Q9
:x4 :x6
N7AGF
12/08/2019

Q9
:x6 :x8
N7AGF
12/08/2019

Q9
:x8 :x0
N7AGF
12/08/2019

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Assembling "Service Jigs" for the Kenwood TS-480 and TS-2000 radios

Service Jigs

So, Kenwood, requires a few special parts which they refer to, collectively as the "service jig" to do alignment on their TS-480 and TS-2000 radios. As of the date of this blog, both radios are still being actively marketed by Kenwood.  Unfortunately, their service jig parts are mostly discontinued.  In many cases, they don't even offer replacement options.

I found a few parts online, and was able to build others from components I secured from Digi-key. I will list them below for posterity.  If some other poor bastard tries to find them, and googles around, perhaps this blog post will be of some use.


Jig parts

TS-480

Part Status Replacement Part Purchase Link
(3) 37cm Coax Cable E37-0620-05
Discontinued
Used coax E37-0878-05 from the Kenwood TS-2000 service jig (below).  It's 56mm, but has the same connectors on the end.
E37-0878-05
Note: Order 3 of them.
15cm Flat Ribbon Cable E37-1129-08
Discontinued
Found a cable on Digi-key.  I ordered a much longer 20cm cable, just to make working a little easier.
WM10546-ND
Data Terminal Short Plug W05-0611-00
Discontinued
I purchased a 6 pin DIN plug from Digi-Key, and soldered  pins 3 and 6 together as described on page 57 of the TS-480 service manual.
CP-2060-ND

TS-2000


Part Status Replacement Part Purchase Link
(1) Lead Wire with minipin plug E37-0878-05
Available
Shockingly, this one is still available from Kenwood, bless their hearts.
E37-0878-05
17cm Flat Ribbon Cable E37-0572-05
Replaced
Replaced with another cable, but at least it was available from Kenwood.E37-0591-15


I hope my suffering has been of benefit to someone in the future.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Flight Wisp1c_12

Flight Wisp1c_12

Planned Changes

  • Tracker is in the basic configuration as Flight Wisp1c_10..
  • Wisp1l code base.  Added modifications to have the interrupt service routines do a bit more of the processing for GPS and 5351 transmissions.  This is a baby-step toward moving to a non-blocking main driver routine.
  • Swapped out a resistor on the voltage divider, allowing the supercap to charge to 4.8v.

Preparation


Item Weight (g)
Tracker
13.9
Tape and String attaching balloons
0.8
Free Lift
5.0
Total
19.7



Day 1 - 10/19/2016

Launch

Launched at 12:58pm local time from Rhodes Hall, Cornell University.

Here is Harry holding the two balloons in preparation for launch.  You can see that the balloons are only partially filled, and that we're using two 36" mylar balloons, attached to one another.  A tether with counterpoise runs from the balloons to the tracker, which I am holding while taking this picture.


Here's the tracker.  The wire and string coming out of the top lead to the pair of balloons, which Harry is holding to my left.  The antenna comes out the bottom, and goes off to my right, where Mark is holding it.  We're holding everything apart to keep it from getting tangled in the wind.

You can see a blue light blinking on the left side of the tracker.  It's transmitting one of the initial packets.  It's a bit hard to tell from this picture, but it was very sunny.  The solar panels charged it right up, and it booted up and started beaconing.





Here's Mark holding the very end of the antenna, keeping it from getting tangled on anything prior to launch.



And it's away!


Day 1 results


We traveled 235 miles before the tracker ran out of daylight.  It averaged about 58 mph throughout the afternoon.  The yellow prediction line was calculated right after launch.  We followed it beautifully.



We were received quite well during the day, averaging 12 receiving stations per packet.  We were heard across the ocean in Germany quite early in the day.

The hysplit model seems to give us about a 50/50 chance of doing a big loop-de-loop in the Atlantic.  Here's hoping we follow the track going east in to Africa!

We'll see what tomorrow brings.


Day 2 - 10/20/2016


The tracker awoke on schedule, but pleasantly north of the projected path, which improved the likelihood that it would move east rather than south.  It had traveled 1,247 miles overnight.

The altitude climbed steadily through the morning and settled out at 10,777 meters, which is right on target.


WSPR was received very well throughout the day.  Lots of stations received on each transmit cycle.  The only lost packets happened at the beginning and end of the day.

Predictions look good going into tomorrow!

Day 3 - 10/21/2016



Day 3 went very well.  It averaged around 82mph all day, and the night before.  It held around 10,888m in altitude for most of the day.

Predictions look good for the coming days.

WSPR reception was incredible.  Australia even heard us!

Day 4 - 10/22/2016




The day went smoothly weather-wise.  We traveled about 81 mph over night and 71 mph throughout the day.  All seemed well, except that we had an exceptional number (6) of GPS resets today.  Not sure what's up with that.  Also, for the second time, we experienced a watchdog reset at boot time (or perhaps shutdown last night).  Altitude remained solid at 10,888 for most of the day.

WSPR reception was exceptional throughout the day.  We were overheard in Antarctica, Australia and Japan in the wee hours of the night!

The prediction continues to be "due east" for the coming days.  Awesome!

Day 5 - 10/23/2016



Flight day 5 complete this morning, and went quite smoothly.  The speeds are down a bit, averaging only about 39 mph during the daylight hours of the flight.  The altitude remains great at 10,888 meters through the day.


The hysplit predictions remain awesome.  The balloon is moving slowly, but steadily almost due east!


Propagation wasn't as amazing today as it was yesterday, still we had a few distant stations picking us up.  Europe was hearing it very well.

Flight Day 6 - 10/24/2016



Flight day 6 was a strong one.  We remained at around 10,888 meters for most of the day.  We were moving a little slowly the night before, but the winds picked up as the day wore on.

The flight day ended as we entered Tehran air space.  Marvelous! hehe!


Predictions still look excellent for the coming days.  Let's hope that dip in the Pacific straightens out as we get closer!


WSPR traffic was a bit spotty today.  We had a few distant stations, but on average only about 3 stations per cycle.  We had the most dropped packets of any day.  We're getting to a bad area for WSPR.


Flight Day 7 - 10/25/2016



Flight day 7 ended just barely over the border into China.  All systems look good!  Altitude was great at 10,888 meters.  Speeds remain about 65 mph for the most part.

We're getting more remote, and have many fewer receivers.  Still, we have enough to get the job done!

Flight Day 8 - 10/25/2016 - 10/26/2016



Flight Day 8 was a little nerve wracking!  It was supposed to wake up and beacon starting at about 9:30pm eastern.  It wasn't heard until after 5am.  The remote location, coupled with terrible band conditions due to a solar storm led to very poor reception.  Still, thankfully, when it finally popped up, it had covered serious ground!  The final few beacons of the day were the only ones heard, but they gave enough data to show we were still going!


The predictions updated with the latest location look totally awesome.  They show the tracker coming right back to New York.  Way cool!



As mentioned above, band conditions were miserable.  These were the only receiving stations for today's data.

Flight Day 9 - 10/26/2016 - 10/27/2016


I didn't think to get imagery for today.  We cleared Asia and made it to the Pacific!  Statistics below.

Flight Day 10 - 10/27/2016


We blazed across the Pacific today, averaging more than 150 mph.   The altitude came up a bit, to 10,555 through the day.


The weather ahead is a little scary.  We should make landfall about the time the tracker awakens in the morning.  Hopefully the weather ahead will continue to move with us.


Reception was good across the US.  With luck, we'll hear the tracker from Ithaca tomorrow!

Flight Day 11 - 10/28/2016



The balloon awoke on schedule today in Washington State.  I progressed quickly NorthEast into Canada, averaging speeds in excess of 100 mph.  The altitude was great, climbing to 10,666 meters.

The predictions for tomorrow look optimistic that the tracker will have already circumnavigated by the time it wakes up in morning


WSPR reception was solid throughout the day.

Flight Day 12 - 10/29/2016 - The Circumnavigation!!




I awoke on Saturday morning, waiting for the tracker to beacon.  It was expected at around 8am local time, and to be east of the original launch location in Ithaca, meaning it would have circumnavigated. The white box is pointing to about where I expected the balloon, in Vermont or New Hampshire.

Unfortunately, it didn't beacon.  Investigating the weather, I saw this new split in the prediction. Uh oh!  That usually means a front is in front of us.



Oh no!  There was a HUGE storm right in the area where the tracker was expected!  It probably went down due to weather.  I assumed the flight was lost.  I listened for a few days, just in case and gave up on Monday.  I shut down my WSPR -> APRS gateway.

This was an epic bummer, as I presumed I had circumnavigated, but had no evidence to prove it.

Lo and behold, just on a whim, I hit reran an SQL command to check the database on Thursday morning and discovered that my tracker had beaconed the night before! WOOT!   The telemetry indicated that the tracker was in grid square FN44be, at 333m in elevation.


A quick peek indicates that it was indeed in New Hampshire, pretty much exactly below where I suspected it had hit that storm.  Presumably it's in a tree, and it managed to catch enough sunlight late in the afternoon on Wednesday to beacon.

Given that the flight had flown east of the launch point, and had beaconed under its own power, it seems to me I achieved circumnavigation!  Woo hoo!


This is a closer look into the area.

Here's a Satellite view.  It's pretty hilly there. Poking around on Google Earth, it seems that the elevation ranges from 200m to 400+m, which jibes with my beacon report of 333m (accurate to 111m increments).



These are the only two stations that heard the tracker on Wednesday.  Presumably it was one bounce away in the atmosphere.  My home station, W2CXM, did not hear it.

The tracker may still be alive in a tree.  At this point, I'm planning a road trip to New Hampshire to see if I can foxhunt it!  It should be sunny on Monday.

The Foxhunt - 11/7/2016


My tracker hanging in a tree 9 hours away is just too tempting to leave alone.  It was be beyond cool to not only circumnavigate, but also recover the tracker myself.  To that end, I'm going to head out to New Hampshire and give it my best shot on Monday.   My chances are extremely slight, but the payoff of recovering my flight would be huge, so I need to try.

Hank Riley, N1LTV, has hiked in the region from which the tracker beaconed.  He was kind enough to provide a topo map, which he annotated based on the predicted elevation of the tracker.  The tracker beaconed an elevation of 333 meters.  It has a granularity of 111 meters.  So, theoretically, the tracker is at an elevation of 333-444 meters.  However, the telemetry packet indicated that I only had 5 satellites in the lock.  Padding a little for error, I presume the tracker is somewhere between about 300-475 meters.

Further, the tracker beaconed at 15:58, 16:00, and 16:08 local time.  At this time of year in the Northeast, the sun is quite low to the horizon.  Given that, it's not an unreasonable assumption that the tracker is on the west side of any hill that might be there.  Also, looking at the WSPR coverage above, you can see that the receiving stations were to the SouthWest of the tracker.  Again, that reinforces the idea that we're on the west side of a hill, rather than the east side.

Hank annotated the map.  The areas surrounded by the blue are too high in elevation to be considered.  The orange-ish section is centered around the 333 meters that was beaconed.  The pink dots denote the lower extremes in elevation in which we might find the tracker.
I've also made an APRS overlay, indicating the grid square, and gone through and cached maps. I'll have my mobile APRS setup as well as my mobile HF operating.  This will help me keep track of areas I've investigated as I search.

If I do get signals, APRS will also allow me to cast lines on the map for triangulation.


I've assembled some foxhunting gear, including a loop antenna and Kenwood TH-F6, and done a little practicing against a test tracker that I set up at home, and put in a constant beaconing mode. With the tracker laying on the ground, with the antenna draped over a tree branch about 10 feet high (emulating a poorly deployed antenna), I was able to hear the tracker from about 1/4 mile away with my mobile HF rig.  Watching the S-meter, I was able to home in on it pretty well.  Further, the TH-F6 with the loop antenna demonstrated pretty good directionality.  If I can't get too close by road, I should be able to triangulate a bit with the directional antenna.

Of course, this plan presumes that the tracker wakes up and beacons on Monday (which is forecasted to be a sunny day),  If it does not, Plan B is to use field glasses from the road, and work a circuit of the driveable area.  I am also packing an RC airplane upon which I can mount a camera.  The area is heavily wooded, but I might be able to fly over the woods with my camera pointing down and perhaps catch a glint of balloon.

Chances are slim, but I'm committed to spending all the daylight I can spend on Monday to try it!


Foxhunt results

Well, there was a hard frost the night before the hunt, but I got started around 9am.  I circled the area and traversed all the roads, with my HF radio on, listening on 20m, and running WSJT-X in my vehicle.   The tracker never woke up, and never beaconed.  The area was beautiful, but fairly heavily wooded.  I spent the day finding open spots and looking at treetops through my binoculars, but really didn't spot anything.

The balloon icon in this picture is not an accurate representation of the location, but it shows the grid square, and where I searched.


The day after the Foxhunt

I drove home, disappointed but not surprised.  Without a beacon it would be VERY difficult to find the tracker.  As if to spite me, the tracker woke up and beaconed again, for most of 3 hours!


As before, most receiving stations were to the west-southwest.


I'm making plans for a second trip out.


Statistics



Day Rcvd / Lost
Pkts
Pct
Rcvd
Late GPS locks GPS Resets Watch
dog Resets
Farthest Rcv Station (miles) Average stations / beacon
Max / Beacon
Start Grid / Stop Grid Dist covered Night / Day (miles)MPH Night  / DayAvg Float Altitude (m)
1
56/ 3
94.9
2
0
0
3,897
12 / 22
FN12sk / FN42bu
n/a / 235
n/a / 58
10,222
2
109 / 5
95.6
5
0
1
3,258
13.6 / 23
GN65nr / HN25nd
1247 / 478
93 / 73
10,777
3
127 / 5
94.5
4
0
0
9,952
12.2 / 22
HM75lj / IM12ow
849 / 807
83 / 86
10,888
4
106 / 1
99.1
12
6
1
8,960
24.9 / 43
JM08en / IM69ev
763 / 550
81 / 71 
10,888
5
111 / 6
94.9
14
2
0
2,368
10.7 / 23
KM27qi / KM55pj
802 / 548
54 / 39
10,888
6
107 / 15
87.7
0
0
0
4,721
3.1 / 10
LM04uq / LM55dt
591 / 789
44 / 89
10,888
7
21 / 81
20.6
1
0
0
3,480
0.2 / 2
MM36gm / MM86ks
907 / 573
65/ 66
10,888
8
10 / 110 (est)
8.3 (est)
??
0
0
5,334
1.6 / 3
ON22uj / ON32kn
1576 / 61
74 / 120
10,555
9
76 / 20
79.1 
3
0
0
3,889
1.6/ 4
QN10qv / RN16kw 
1871 / 1053 
152 / 130 
10,333
10
87 / 17
83.7 
2
0
0
3,125
2.4 / 6
BN22vn /  BM98ch
2101 / 775
161 / 144
10,555
11
88 / 8
91.6 
2
0
0
2,114
5.3 / 16
CN97do /  DO60ul
1144 / 725 
78 / 105
10,666
Final
?? / ?? 
??
?
0
0
922
1 / 1
FN44be /  n/a
1653 / n/a
?? / ??
??