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Author Topic: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?  (Read 48353 times)

Heathkit

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #360 on: September 01, 2021, 1642 UTC »
I’d love to see Windy in person some day.

With a can of compressed air in hand and see who logs the hurricane? ;D

Naughty Healthkit.

73's

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #361 on: September 02, 2021, 1551 UTC »
Windy is starting to show signs of battery depletion again. As the "W" is keyed or telemetry is being keyed the transmitter frequency is pulling low. Easily seen on a waterfall display.

The battery and solar panel must be sized on the small side.
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: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #362 on: October 06, 2021, 2012 UTC »
There have been some clouds and thunderstorms moving through the SW deserts. Windy is mostly off the air right now, sending "H" during the day and "S" at night. Hopefully the current sunny weather gets it running again!
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: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #363 on: October 08, 2021, 0022 UTC »
Windy was still sending 4 dits in the morning but now I hear healthy telemetry this afternoon.

Good wind dits  TMP  80  BAT 12.0
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 ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #364 on: October 08, 2021, 1036 UTC »
Hearing Windy at 1036 UTC 8 OCT 2021 with a fair signal.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #365 on: October 14, 2021, 1442 UTC »
Generally I check both Windy and the Desert Whooper to compare temp readings and signal strength.

Just now DW is the usual S9 on KFS-SE but Windy is a faint whisper. Windy’s telemetry was TMP 61 and B 11.9 so it seems to be functioning well.

That leaves idle speculation at:

Weird propagation
Antenna or coax damage
Output amp level lowered or damaged
Windy was moved or vandalized
Other transmit circuit malfunctions
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 syfr

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #366 on: October 15, 2021, 2308 UTC »
Windy is certainly weaker than it has been by quite a bit.

It could be any of the reasons you suggest .... battery hasn't gotten any worse or better than it has been in the past 6-8 months.  Occam might suggest antenna damage.  :(
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #367 on: October 19, 2021, 1258 UTC »
It looks as if a repair mission was completed yesterday.

Windy was back up to full strength last night. Currently about equal to DW on KFS SE kiwi at S9
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 syfr

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #368 on: October 23, 2021, 0038 UTC »
Hooray!

Can't hear it tonight as the ))#$(&%  WSPRdaemons are parked on KFS , but will keep trying.

Thank you , whoever did the work!
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #369 on: October 23, 2021, 0045 UTC »
Hooray!

Can't hear it tonight as the ))#$(&%  WSPRdaemons are parked on KFS , but will keep trying.

Thank you , whoever did the work!

I’d recommend a few other kiwis to hear Windy

Radio Ranch in Nevada
Utah omni kiwi
KPH
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: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #370 on: November 02, 2021, 1938 UTC »
Windy is operating normally at the moment

Slow wind dits
Internal temp of 92
Battery of 11.8
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 syfr

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #371 on: November 04, 2021, 0025 UTC »
Thanks for the recommendations, Jim.

It's pretty easy to configure a Kiwi to keep folks from parking on it.  It's a shame.
Kiwsdr x 2. TenTec Paragon/NRD535

Offline Teotwaki

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Re: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #372 on: November 04, 2021, 0107 UTC »
Thanks for the recommendations, Jim.

It's pretty easy to configure a Kiwi to keep folks from parking on it.  It's a shame.

I suspect the Whisper folks donate enough money to get a access password and be allowed to park on SDRs as much as they want
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: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #373 on: November 07, 2021, 1718 UTC »
Windy sounding normal today, with the usual downward frequency pull on Morse characters . Steady wind dits, TMP 82  B is 11.9
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: Windy 4102.85 malfunction?
« Reply #374 on: December 15, 2021, 1646 UTC »
No signal at all from Windy, either locally or on SDRs. The cloudy weather must have flattened the battery. Windy really needs to upsize its solar panel and battery. No one is going to suddenly find it if there is a 20 watt panel instead of a 5 watt panel  8)
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