Simple Morse beacon keyer updated 2014/03/01

W4HBKgrab001

Above is a clip from W4HBK’s 40m grabber today, the signal is VK2OMD running 5W QRSS6 over a 14,700km path. We can infer (Duffy 2012b) from the 15dB S/N in that capture in 0.25Hz noise bandwidth, that in an 800Hz CW filter for say -5dB S/N (threshold of copy) we need 15dB more signal, or 160W for reliable copy. (Less power may be adequate for very short QSOs at the peak of fade cycles.)

Continue reading Simple Morse beacon keyer updated 2014/03/01

I2C – LCD interface – Type 1

A range of inexpensive serial to Hitachi style LCD interfaces are becoming available.

This article describes the settings for one sold by NYplatform on eBay (about $25 for 5 inc post at the time of writing – but they are getting cheaper). It uses the Philips PCF8574T I2C expander chip which is supported by the user developed Arduino LCD Library V1.2.

IICLCD

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