[600MRG] Bad news / help request

[Edward R Cole]

Paul,

Why not consider an amplifier for the Ultimate 3S?  Building an amp 
is easier than any of  your alternatives with the TS2000X.

73, Ed - KL7UW
probably not QRV until spring - Inverted-L on ground for maint on 
2m-eme system that supports one end of the antenna.

At 04:59 AM 12/31/2018, N1BUG wrote:
>So, the latest SlowJT9 test is completed. I regret I was not able to
>run one night on 630m as planned.
>
>I used a QRP Labs Ultimate 3S beacon transmitter for these tests.
>Yesterday I checked my ability to use JT9-5 for QSOs and found that
>I have none! My FT-2000 transceiver has too much drift to be of any
>use on JT9-5 and is very marginal even for JT9-2. What a huge
>disappointment, though it did not come as any surprise.
>
>I can think of several ways to solve this but am not sure any of
>them can save some part of this winter season:
>
>1. Add insulation and a heater to the FT-2000 TCXO area. I will try
>this but I am not convinced I can make enough improvement. The drift
>is really ugly!
>
>2. Replace the FT-2000 TCXO with an outboard programmable GPS
>referenced oscillator, for example a Leo Bodnar unit. The trouble
>with this is I do not have sufficient knowledge or experience to
>know what kind of problems might be encountered. The GPSDO is enough
>of an investment to kill any and all other attempts at a resolution
>if I am unable to make it work.
>
>3. Use a divide-by-100 circuit with the FT-2000 operating at 13.6
>MHz instead of a LO/mixer converter from 10 MHz. This should reduce
>drift to the order of 0.1 Hz, probably quite acceptable. So far I
>have not found a divide-by-100 circuit using a modern/available part.
>
>4. Run away from the junk FT-2000 completely, using audio to 136 kHz
>converter for Tx and 136 kHz to audio converter for Rx. This is
>finally the direction I want to go but there seems to be much
>learning left to do and a lot of building. It's probably not a
>solution which can be completed in time for this winter season.
>
>If anyone has experience in any of these areas and is willing to
>share knowledge, please get in touch with me. This may be the last
>solar minimum for me, and I would like to make some LF/MF DX QSOs
>before these incredible conditions fade away.
>
>73,
>Paul N1BUG
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73, Ed - KL7UW
   http://www.kl7uw.com
Dubus-NA Business mail:
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