Because I receive so many tips from readers here on QRPer, I wanted way to share them in a concise newsletter format. To that end, welcome to QRPer Notes, a collection of links to interesting stories and tips making waves in the world of radio!
VU3HZW’s News blog primarily for South Asian Amateurs
Many thanks to Saquib (VU3HZW) who writes:
Hello Thomas,
My name is Saquib VU3HZW from North Eastern India. Your blog is a trove of knowledge for any QRP operator. Your style of writing is awesome!
Now, here’s the story. I’ve started a Amateur Radio News & Blog – itshamradio.com. As a QRPer, you must be familiar with VU3SUA (Sunil Lakhani) from https://amateurradiokits.in.
We would be pleased if you [and your readers] could read some of the articles and give us some valuable feedback. This is just an honest attempt by us to create a vibrant amateur radio news blog primarily for South Asian Amateurs.
Good luck with the new site and thank you for sharing it with us, Saquib!
IC-705 Mic A/B button CW Keyer Challenge
Many thanks to Keith (GW4OKT) who points out that the Icom IC-705’s A/B buttons can be set up to send dits and dashes. It doesn’t allow for proper iambic keying and, as Keith admitted, isn’t terribly easy in practice. Nevertheless, he gave it a go and provided these short videos operating the IC-705 at 20WPM CW:
UPDATE: My review of the mAT-705 ATU below is accurate as of its original posting. Since this review, however, I’ve discovered some design issues that prevent me from continuing to recommend it. Click here for details.
UPDATE 2: Mat-Tuner released the latest updated and upgraded version of the mAT-705 in December 2020. It’s called the mAT-705Plus. Click here to read my initial review of the mAT-705Plus. Note that the following article pertains to the original mAT-705 which is no no longer being produced, but still available for sale (at time of posting) both new and used.
Last week, Vibroplex sent me their new Mat-Tuner mAT-705 external ATU on loan to evaluate with my recently acquired Icom IC-705.
The new mAT-705 antenna tuner is designed specifically for use with the new Icom IC-705 QRP transceiver. Connect the mAT-705 directly to the TUNER jack on the IC-705 with the included cable and control the antenna tuner directly from the front panel of the radio or use RF-sensing to actuate the tuner when changing bands. 1.8-54 MHz, 5-1500 ohms matching range, 16000 user memories recalling previous used settings internal to the tuner when returning to an earlier used frequency.
The tuner is powered by an internal standard 9 volt alkaline battery. Power saving technology inside the tuner allows the use of the unit for months without replacement. No battery power is consumed by the unit when powered off.
Yesterday, I stopped by South Mountains State Game Land (K-6952) to give the mAT-705 some field time. Up to this point, I had not used the tuner other than tuning to the 80 and 40 meter bands from home (mainly to make sure it worked before hitting the field).
To really give the mAT-705 a workout, I deployed my CHA Emcomm III Portable random wire antenna. The Emcomm III is the only field antenna in my arsenal that covers 160 meters – 6 meters–an exceptionally wide frequency range.
What I like about this particular POTA site is the open parking area which allows me to configure the Emcomm III a number of ways.
The Emcomm III, being a wire antenna, is incredibly stealthy. Since you can’t see it in the photo above, I’ve marked up the configuration below (click to enlarge):
I’m guessing the apex of the antenna was easily 45′ high.
Activating
I started my activation on the 80 meter band.
After working a few stations on 80 meters, I decided to test the mAT-Tuner over a fairly wide frequency range before calling CQ on the 40 meter band.
Here’s a short video:
POTA Hunters: look for me on the 160 meter band this fall and winter! I’m so impressed how well it matched the Emcomm III on 160.
Indeed, I am very pleased with how quickly and efficiently the mAT-705 found matches on every band I tested.
In terms of form factor, the mAT-705 is quite compact, but a little longer in length than I had anticipated. Honestly, though, there’s nothing here to complain about.
The enclosure/chassis is incredibly strong. I’m willing to bet you could accidentally drive over it with your car and it would survive in tact.
The mAT is powered by an alkaline 9V battery. Vibroplex expects that this battery will last for months under normal use.
Note that there is a specific procedure for replacing the battery in order to protect the LED “illuminators” that are press-fit to the board.:
Remove the case by removing the 4 rear 2mm allen screws.
Turn the tuner upside down and shake it a little to get the PCB to slide out of the case enough to grab.
Carefully grasp the PCB sides and slide the board out slowly.
Update: I’ve followed the procedure above and still had an issue with the illuminators falling out. They really need to be secured better. I was able to re-insert them and close the ATU, but when you open the mAT-705 to change the battery, be in a space where you can capture both of them if they fall out.
Any mAT-705 negatives?
Not really, but I do feel the price is a little steep at $219.95–but then again the mAT-705 seems to do the job and do it well. I have to assume the TBA Icom AH-705 ATU will cost at least as much. I’m okay with paying at the top end of the market if I’m getting a quality product and this certainly seems like one.
I like the fact that the mAT-705 integrates perfectly with the IC-705 via the control cable and that I don’t have to worry about protecting it at all in my backpack. It’ll also take the IC-705 through the entire HF spectrum and even up to 6 meters.
I plan to continue using the mAT-705 for a while and even test it on severely non-resonant antennas just to see how far I can push it for a match.
Stay tuned! (See what I did there–?)
Many thanks to Vibroplex, again, for lending me this mAT-705 for review and evaluation.
Thursday, I set out to test how long the Icom IC-705 could operate during a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation with one fully-charged Icom BP-272 Li-ion battery pack. This, following my listening endurance test.
I knew conditions were pretty terrible Thursday in terms of propagation, but that didn’t really matter. I intended to call “CQ POTA” in CW until the ‘705 finally shut down due to low voltage. In my head, I imagined this wouldn’t take much longer than 1.5 to 2 hours and during that time, despite propagation, surely I’d work 10 stations to validate the activation, right–?
Sandy Mush Game Lands (K-6949)
I picked Sandy Mush Game Lands as my test site. Since I’d been there before, I knew there were ample trees to hang the Vibroplex EFT-MTR end-fed antenna, and I knew I’d likely be the only one in the parking area as this site is secluded and this was not a designated hunting day.
The Vibroplex/End-Fedz EFT-MTR antenna
Setup at the site was pretty straight-forward. I quickly deployed the EFT-MTR antenna–using my arborist throw line–in a “V” shape hanging over a high tree branch.
I picked the EFT-MTR because it’s resonant on my three favorite POTA bands: 40, 30, and 20 meters. Note that the IC-705 does not have an internal ATU.
Although I have an mAT-705 external ATU on loan to test, I didn’t take it to this first activation–I wanted to keep the set up simple for testing battery endurance.
On the Air
I started calling CQ at 16:30 UTC on the 40 meter band and set the IC-705 to beacon mode call “CQ POTA K4SWL.” No replies for 10 minutes. At that point, I discovered the POTA spots website was down for a scheduled upgrade (I have impeccable timing!), so I posted my spot on the POTA Facebook page.
Then my buddy Mike (K8RAT) sent a text message stating that the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) had spotted me, but with a very low signal report. Hmmm….why would that be?
Note to IC-705 owners: zero watts is not zero watts!
I turned up the power to 5 watts (the max the IC-705 will achieve on a 7.4V battery pack) and was greeted by an instant CW pile-up.
What a blast! I started on 40 meters in CW, but eventually worked both 40 and 20 meters in SSB and CW. I then lowered the antenna, removed the SMA cap on the EFT-MTR coil, and worked 30 meters CW for the remainder of my time.
I logged my first contact at 16:28, my last at 18:18 UTC. So 1 hour 50 minutes of near constant operating.
Remaining battery capacity after 1:50 of operating.
The IC-705 battery pack was still going strong and had about 40% capacity left, but I simply ran out of time as I needed to run an errand in town, so had to shut down the radio and pack up.
I must admit: the IC-705 is doing a much better job managing battery usage than I would have expected. I’m guessing I could have operated for 3 hours or so at 5 watts without needing to recharge the BP-272 1880 mAh Li-ion battery pack.
I do believe I’ll invest in the larger BP-307 battery pack which has a capacity of 3100 mAh. It’s a pricey battery, though, at $130 US.
How does the IC-705’s battery endurance compare with the Elecraft KX2? I’m not sure yet, but I’m guessing the KX2 will have even better longevity as its current drain is less than half that of the IC-705. The KX2 will operate at 10 watts output for about 1 hour 15 minutes with the internal battery pack, before decreasing to 5 watts output. I’ve never tried a battery endurance test with the KX2 at only 5 watts.
Of course, with an external 12 volt battery, the IC-705 will pump out a full 10 watts of power as well.
Five watts and a wire–wow!
The biggest surprise of the day?
I worked stations from Oregon, and Saskatchewan to the Azores…in single sideband!
Here’s a map of my contacts–red signal paths are SSB, CW in green (click to enlarge):
This was one activation where 5 watts SSB actually snagged more DX than CW. Great fun!
While I’d like to think it was a little IC-705 “mojo” on its first field outing, in truth it had everything to do with the EFT-MTR antenna and what must have been a moment of propagation stability.
This was also my maiden voyage with the CW Morse Single Lever paddle. CW Morse sent this paddle, along with their double lever paddle and a selection of straight keys, for me to evaluate. If you’ve been considering an affordable, portable single-lever paddle, this is a brilliant one. I really enjoyed using it and the action is very easy to adjust.
I’m already regretting the decision to send it to my buddy Eric (WD8RIF) for a proper evaluation. (Just kidding, Eric! (Maybe.)) He only uses a single lever paddle for his numerous field radio adventures.
Eric will give this single-lever paddle a proper workout and give us a full report.
I must admit, I had a lot of fun with the IC-705/EFT-MTR antenna combo.
Of course, I’ll be taking the IC-705 to the field a lot in the coming weeks.
IC-705 Questions?
Feel free to comment and ask any questions you may have about the IC-705. I’ll do my best to answer them.
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Because I receive so many tips from readers here on QRPer, I wanted way to share them in a concise newsletter format. To that end, welcome to QRPer Notes, a collection of links to interesting stories and tips making waves in the world of radio!
