[ARC5] Using WSJT-X with R-23 or BC-453B

[K5MYJ]

Remember there is no voltage regulation in ARC-5 receivers. They work just fine for the purpose they were designed for.

If you want to mess with things like WSJT use a modern receiver.

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: J Mcvey via ARC5 
  To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net ; Peter Eijlander (PA0PJE) 
  Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2017 6:57 AM
  Subject: Re: [ARC5] Using WSJT-X with R-23 or BC-453B


  The drift issue is definitely due to the receiver, because I have two other radios that I can switch in and out to check the traffic. The modern radios do fine with several successful decodes per interval ( yes I use D4 for synchronization) . 
  Bill suggested that the BFO may be the culpret on the BC453 and maybe the others as well. In fact,  the BFO oscillators are a bit flakey. 
  I pulled the BFO coil can apart on the R-26 and tried cleaning the variable cap rotor contactors, thinking it may be some kind of corrosion issue ans also replaced the 200pf coupling cap, It;s ok for CW , but I can actually hear slight pitch variations from time to time, so there are  more minute fluctuations that I don't hear.


  The waterfall indicates a tilt drift left ( decrease in f) which could be caused by an drift upwards of the heterodyne 

  frequency.
  There isn't much to the BFO LC circuit to go bad , just air variables and the coil. I even re tightened the internal ground lugs and resoldered the joints. Still not very stable!


  I have an old military signal generator that once warmed up, is quite stable, so stability can be achieved.
  I wish I knew how to do it with the ARC BFOs!
  Any suggestions?



  On Thursday, November 2, 2017, 5:48:45 AM EDT, Peter Eijlander (PA0PJE) <pa0pje at xs4all.nl> wrote: 




  http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/WSPR_3.0_User.pdf
  page 5, second paragraph:

  Each decoded WSPR signal produces text showing the UTC, measured 
  signal-to-noise ratio in dB (in a 2500 Hz reference bandwidth), time 
  offset DT in seconds,measured frequency in MHz, drift rate in Hz/minute, 
  and the decoded message.Time offsets greater than about ±2 seconds 
  indicate a significant timing error at transmitter or receiver, or 
  possibly both. For best performance your computer clock should be kept 
  accurate to within ±1 second.

  Apparent frequency drifts greater than ±1 Hz per minute can usually be 
  traced to the transmitter, and should be corrected if possible. Of 
  course, receiver drifts could also contribute to a measured drift — but
  they are easily recognized because nearly all signals will appear to 
  drift by the same amount.

  Page 22 item 3:

  3. Is your receiver drifting in frequency? If most WSPR traces slope 
  either upward or downward in the spectrogram, the receiver is probably 
  drifting too much. Try waiting half an hour to see if it stabilizes.

  73,
  Peter


  Op 2017-10-29 om 15:37 schreef J Mcvey via ARC5:
  > Has anyone been able to get successful WSPR decodes using either of the beacon receivers? For me, it appears that they have too much drift to allow the algorithm to work properly.The waterfall has a slight sideways tilt!.Even after an hour, they will not yield any stations although they are audibly there.
  > It's a shame, too, because I think the beacon receivers seem to have better sensitivity on 630M than my YAESU or converted dongle SDR, both of which do produce good decodes.
  > I swear I hear more stations using the BC453 and R-26!
  > 
  > 
  > 
  > 
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