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Author Topic: The Desert Whooper  (Read 37130 times)

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #90 on: October 14, 2024, 1409 UTC »
DW's battery is dying. I've been watching the telemetry for a few weeks now and noticed the battery voltage was not as robust at night and was trending lower and lower before dawn. It seemed to charge normally during the day so that part of the box appears to be working. Then it seemed to start shutting down in the hours before dawn. Shutdown occurs somewhere just below 12.6 volts. Some time after sunrise it will restart and the first telemetry numbers indicate 13.0 volts and a little under 1/2 Amp of charge current. It appears to have some sort of repeatable disconnect/reconnect sequence in it's program? Lately it is shutting down earlier and earlier in the evening as the voltage dips towards 12.5 volts but always seems to restart soon after dawn. Signal strength seems to be normal while it is running. Just now it restarted at 7:09 AM PST
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #91 on: October 26, 2024, 1522 UTC »
At sometime after I last posted DW seems to have had repairs or a new battery installed. BAT telemetry seems to be back to normal levels and the beacon seems to run all night without shutting down.
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Token

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #92 on: October 27, 2024, 1319 UTC »
At sometime after I last posted DW seems to have had repairs or a new battery installed. BAT telemetry seems to be back to normal levels and the beacon seems to run all night without shutting down.

Just came here to post that same thing ;)  Noticed this morning that DW was on well before sunrise.  Not sure when it was repaired, but pretty sure last weekend it was daytime only.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #93 on: December 03, 2024, 0006 UTC »

The sun is on it's way down and DW is still getting a trickle of solar power into a healthy battery

4095.700  BAT  13.2  oTMP 65  iTMP 73  PV 39   UTC is 00:04:01
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #94 on: December 28, 2024, 1519 UTC »
4095.72 KHz  BAT  12.8  oTMP 55  iTMP 62  PV 51 

Weak here at home but S9 on the Half Moon Bay kiwi SDR
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #95 on: January 24, 2025, 1540 UTC »
4095.75 KHz  BAT 12.8  oTMP 44  iTMP 50  PV 2   1435Z decent signal here in SoCal Still hearing it at 1541Z
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #96 on: January 26, 2025, 1509 UTC »
After about half an hour of monitoring the signal,  DW is starting to get some sunshine (PV number increasing)

4095.75 KHz  BAT 12.8  oTMP 44  iTMP 52  PV 2   
4095.75 KHz  BAT 12.8  oTMP 43  iTMP 52  PV 167   
Jim
NRD-525, Elecraft KX3 and Elecraft PX3 Spectrum Display
76' end fed long wire & 66' off-center fed dipole for 10/20/40 meters
Orange County, SoCal, The better half

Offline SonoranDesert

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #97 on: April 05, 2025, 0530 UTC »
Nice signal into central Arizona this evening. Slow fades in and out, but mostly in.

4095.67 kHz BAT 13.0 OTMP 62 ITMP 69 PV 1

Edit: correcting frequency
« Last Edit: April 05, 2025, 1403 UTC by SonoranDesert »
Marty

Loc: Central Arizona, DM33
Rx: RSPdx, RSPdx-R2, FT-857D
Ant: LZ1AQ Active Loop, DIY YouLoop, DIY Umbrella "Umtenna"

Offline SonoranDesert

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Re: The Desert Whooper
« Reply #98 on: April 05, 2025, 1403 UTC »
Starting to get some sun:

1345z 4095.67 kHz BAT 13.0 OTMP 58 ITMP 63 PV 153
1355z 4095.67 kHz BAT 13.1 OTMP 58 ITMP 63 PV 357
1400z 4095.67 kHz BAT 13.4 OTMP 58 ITMP 63 PV 542
Marty

Loc: Central Arizona, DM33
Rx: RSPdx, RSPdx-R2, FT-857D
Ant: LZ1AQ Active Loop, DIY YouLoop, DIY Umbrella "Umtenna"

 

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