I finally got around to making the CW Invaders kit. Works great, now just need to start practicing...
K1FM posted on Reddit while visiting Japan. I noticed that it was the one and same magnetic loop dude I had been following (see this, and his other posts), and after a few PMs, we ended up visiting the Tsukiji outer market for sushi.
Great eyeball QSO, thanks!
Some time back in November 2018 I read an article HF Ham Radio on a Budget QRP and learned of the QRP Labs and QRPGuys.
In the following April, 35 USD (about 3,800 JPY) and 11 days later, I had the QRPGuys no tune end fed half wave antenna kit.
More time passes, and the device is finally built.
Finally today, use it with the FT-817ND on 10M from Shibuya, hanging a 4m wire in the window, works great, band is dead though.
Next to try: lower frequencies from the Mt. Fuji environs.
I am using the Pocket RxTx Pro software with an FT-817ND via a bluetooth CAT adaptor.
The application runs great, and is a fabulous addition to the radio.
To change the skip paramaters, I wanted to edit the configuration file, however the app crashed when trying to load or export configuration files from disk using the CFG LOAD and CFG EXP buttons under the EXTRA menu, likely because jAReC is not installed.
Earlier versions of the manual had users editing the radio configuration files found in a prxtx directory in the root of the Internal Storage.
This is not found in the current version, and it was not possible to see configuration files on a non-rooted device.
Using a rooted file manager, the configuration files could be found in the /data/data/ro.yo3ggx.rxtxpro/files/prxtx/Radios directory.
Editing the yaesu_ft817.radio file and restarting the app allowed for the configuration change.
Purchased a Chinese bluetooth CAT adaptor for the FT-817ND off Amazon.co.jp for 1,665 JPY (appx. 15 USD), arrived from China in about 20 days, so could have just ordered off AliExpress.
Hooked it up to the ACC port. Using F menu 14 "CAT RATE", changed the CAT baud rate to 9600 to match the device.
Installed Pocket RXTX Pro. Set up FT-817ND with the defalt configuration.
Connecting using bluetooth to the device FBT06 with password 1234, the software connected to the adaptor.
Long press on the power button, and the software connected and powered up the FT-817ND.
Changing bands, modes, etc. all worked, except no sound on 70cm FM.
After a long fruitless search for solutions online, looking closely at the FT-817ND screen the T and SQ display icons were shown. This indicates that CTCSS (Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System) was active.
The green function key [FN 1/4] can be used to select from multiple function key groups, in the third group [FN 3/4] the D/C button can be used to turn off CTCSS or DTC.
Doing this, sound returned.
Using the FT-817ND and the 4-element loop Yagi antenna, I made a long contact on 70cm FM for me, about 153km (95 miles) from Ebisu to JQ2RYH in Yaizu Shizuoka (静岡県焼津市). Looks like a lucky thread through the mountains between us.
