APRS+SA on old 386

I like to use things until they're worn out, shot, kaput...I have an old computer in my shack from 1994 a Pionex 386 running Windows 3.1. For abt 20 years, it has been running DOS APRS. For many of those years, it was a stand alone APRS station, lacking many of the things that newer APRS stations have.

A few years ago, I installed Win98. I tried winXP, but this old PC was far too feeble for a newer OS in it's current state, but it runs Win98 just fine. I put it on my home network, and connected 2 TNCs. It did a great job running a local packet cluster RF port on one TNC, and my DOS APRS application on the other TNC. A year or so ago, I pulled the DXCluster RF port down, as no one was using it. The PC was left running only the simple DOS APRS program...but doing a great job at that.

Recently, I decided to see what could be done to "upgrade" my APRS operations with better maps and such. I found APRS+SA was available, and is now has free registration. I already had SA 6.0 (Street Atlas) on this old computer, so the mapping part would be much better. I got it installed, registered, and sorted out for the most part. Wow, what a great improvement it was over what I was running. It can run as an IGate, interface my WX station, sends & receives messages very easily, and the mapping is a huge improvement.

It's not the newest whiz-bang option out there for APRS, but it really gave this old junker APRS station a new lease on life :-) Thanks to Brent KH2Z for a great APRS program that still runs on this old platform!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Grandson of local ham needs help!

A good friend and local ham, Ken Dimaio KF4GOQ, had a grandson born premie, during a family emergency. A horrible story, so sad. Little Paulie's mom had just lost her brother and the stress was more than she could endure..

From Ken:  "Requesting assisted funding for my son and his wife for their newborn premie baby boy. Little Paul was born 8 weeks early under duress circumstances as the baby's mother's brother had just passed, and was being buried the same day as the unexpected birth. Little Paul is stable but as with all premies the future is unknown. Please help, as their medical bills will undoubtedly be stagering with a 6-8 week stay in NICU. Insurance will not cover it all. Thank you all so very, very much."

Their family needs help. Anything you can do is most appreciated by them. Please help with anything if you can, and share.The link to the funding site is:

http://www.gofundme.com/cboigg

Ken can also accept donations on behalf of Paulie to his QRZ address of KF4GOQ, in the event someone wants to donate in that way. 

You can also reach Ken via email at:
50dot200ssb@earthlink.net

Need 2m ops for the ARRL VHF Contest!

Propogation is good on 2 meters for the ARRL VHF Contest, but we need more stations on the air! I just worked a guy who was in the parking lot at Ft. Fisher, NC. I've made contacts on 2 meters with 50 watts to: SC, all over NC, Va, Pa, & De. Most all had good signals, and everyone reported "slim pickins" on 2m SSB and CW due to the lack of participation. Lots of folks are on 6m SSB for the contest. C'mon hams, if you have a 2m SSB station, get it on the air for a while. The ops on that band need your contacts.

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Field Day Near You!!

Upcoming Ham Radio Field Day operations are June 28–29, 2014. The following locator might help if you 're a ham and looking for a local Field Day site to participate at, or if you're not a ham radio operator and are interested in ham radio. Find a site near you and check it out! Here's the link to the Field Day Locator:

 http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Want to know more about Field Day? The ARRL has put together a little .pdf file about it, and you can find it here:

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2013/2013%20FD%20Flier.pdf

Info on Icom IC-756 CI-V repair...

I made these repairs in September of 2013, but a post this morning from another ham with the same problem prompted me to dig up the info and post to hopefully help others with the same problem.

My Icom 756 (not pro model) lost it's CI-V port from energy induced into the CI-V cable during a near lightning strike. I've read where folks have found the problem to be the transistor pair q801 & q802. This is a buffer circuit on the CI-V port input on the rig, prior to the processor. I found them on the schematic and ordered those in. VERY cheap, only a couple of bucks. My problem was, I couldn't physically find them on the main unit board. All of the pdf's I found online are far too blurry to see the part...

I was referred to Scott Malcom at MTS. He was a tremendous source of help, and sent me a couple of pics of the main poard with the parts I was looking for, circled for my ease of location. Super nice guy, really knows these rigs, I'd recommend him for service if you need to send your rig somewhere for repairs.

I replaced q801 & q802. I tested all of the smd resistors in the circuit and found them to all be OK. Once I got the CI-V port transmitting data (nice TTL level data seen on a scope), I tried every possible combination of baud rate setting on the USB port, the rig, and the software...but nothing worked. I verified the rig address (50H), and everything was OK. Really had me scratching my head...I pulled the rig apart 4 times while testing voltages and ruling out problems, bit by bit.

I used a little breakout board and level converter I borrowed from a local ham friend, and went directly from the DB9 com1 port on the computer and could get things to talk. I had installed the drivers associated with the USB CI-V replacement cable I got from Kawamall (same folks the previous cable came from), but it would not talk, no matter what. I got an email from Clint W5CPT that directed me to this link for drivers:

http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Drivers.php

I found, running winXP, the drivers sent from Kawamall with the level adapter cable were a version that was not compatible. I downloaded ver 2.0.2.1 from the link Clint sent over, installed them, and all is now well.

Thanks for the help and feedback from everyone, especially Scott Malcom for assistance locating the transistors on the main PCB and answering several questions and giving his opinion, it helped me work my way through this process and get my rig up and running again.

I've uploaded the bits that might help someone else with a blown CI-V port like I have, and you can find them at:

http://www.wb4iuy.net/wb4iuy6e.htm

By the way, I use the ribless programming cable from Kawamall on eBay for my CI-V interface, instead of the Icom CT-17. It works on most all Icom rigs and only costs only about $20.Lastly, I'd recommend, when you disconnect your antennas for protection from an electrical storm. also unplug the CI-V cable from the rig :-)






Sincerely,
Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net