Tag Archives: Tony (K2MO)

News, QRP Radios, QRPer Notes, Reviews, Videos

QRPer Notes: TR-45L Overview by K2OM, 8 Year Old Isabella Works the ISS, and POTA with the CW Flea

2 Comments

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!

K2OM’s overview of the Penntek TR-45L (YouTube)

Click here to view on YouTube.

Tony (K2MO) adds, “I suggest adding this link to your TR-45L [videos in the field]”

Isabella Payne’s amateur radio contact with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren on the ISS (YouTube)

Click here to view on YouTube.

POTA with the CW Flea/Belka twins (AE5X)

Check out this short article by John (AE5X) where he uses a CW Flea transmitter and Belka-DX receiver for a QRPp POTA activation. I love what John’s done here and I think I may have to give the CW Flea a go too someday.

Here’s the video that accompanies his blog post:

Hacks and Hints, How To, News, QRP Radios

Tony tames X6100 audio with a simple ground loop noise isolator

2 Comments

Many thanks to Tony (K2MO) who writes:

Tom:

My X6100 arrived this week and I did notice some noise on the receive audio when wearing headphones. It shows up as a 1000 Hz tone with a few harmonics and it’s loud enough to make the audio a bit fatiguing to listen to. The good news is that the noise disappeared when I added a mini line isolator between the rig and headphones. It also removes the hiss!

Click here to view on Amazon (affiliate link).

I thought you’d be interested since you have the same rig so I recorded a short video that illustrates how well the isolator works.

You can see the 1000 Hz carrier and it’s harmonics appear in the audio spectrum when the line isolator is removed. You’ll also notice an increase in the audio noise floor.

X6100 Internal vs. External Speaker

I also uploaded a short video that shows how the X6100 audio sounds with the internal vs. external speaker.

Note that the ICOM speaker requires a mono-to-stereo adapter to work with the 6100. Plugging the speakers mono jack directly into the rig wont work.

The camera mic doesn’t do justice to how much better the rig sounds with the external speaker, but it should give you some indication.

https://youtu.be/mmuu_a4Po_o

Click to view on YouTube.

Thank you for sharing this, Tony!

I like how the isolator is such a simple solution and imagine it could help other radios with similar issues. Often these noises and harmonics come from display noise. Also, your video certainly shows the improvement using an external speaker on the X6100! Thank you for sharing!