team w4aaw totally remote multi-multi...
TRANSCRIPT
TEAM W4AAWTOTALLY REMOTE
MULTI-MULTI CONTESTING
… THE NEXT BEST THING TO BEING THERE!
PVRC-NC -- OCTOBER 1, 2015
ROWLAND K4XD / JIM W4TMO
ADAPTED FROM A PRESENTATION GIVEN BY JOHN PESCATORE K3TN AT DAYTON
AND WITH MUCH INPUT FROM MIKE W4AAW (EX-W0YR)
AGENDA
• Politics of Remote Operation
• The Stations – K4VV & W4AAW
• What’s It Like to Operate Remotely?
• What About the Results?
• What’s Next? Join the Fun!
REMOTE OPERATION IS A HOT TOPIC…
BUT HARDLY A NEW ONE…REMOTE CONTESTING 1.0
Source: Nov/Dec 1996 NCJ
REMOTE CONTESTING 1.1
http://www.kkn.net/dayton2008/contesting_with_28_miles_of_feedline.pdf
AS ALWAYS, CHANGE BRINGS CONTROVERSY…
IS IT LEGIT?
ACTUALLY, THE DEBATE ENDED 6 YEARS AGO:N6TR OPERATES VE8EV REMOTELY IN SS CW
November 2009
LIKE MOST TECHNOLOGY, REMOTE OPERATION CAN BE USED … OR ABUSED!
INGREDIENTS OF A CONTEST OPERATION
RADIO OPERATOR(S) RADIO(S) ANTENNA(S)
K4XD’S VIEW: THIS IS COOL
RADIO(S)
ANTENNA(S)
VIRGINIA
NORTHCAROLINA
URUGUAY
ONE QTH
THE INTERNET
K4XD’S VIEW: THIS IS NOT COOL
VIRGINIA
NORTHCAROLINA
URUGUAY
VIRGINIA
THE INTERNET
EUROPE
JAPAN
Actually even this was briefly “OK” in CQ’s Extreme Category, now defunct
THE REAL DECIDER: THE CONTEST SPONSOR AND LAWS OF THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED
ARRL AND CQ ARE BOTH OK WITH REMOTE M/M CONTESTING AS TEAM W4AAW PRACTICES – WE ARE VERY CAREFUL TO ADHERE TO THE RULES!
TEAM K4VVW0YRW4AAW*
A TOTALLY REMOTE MULTI-MULTI CONTESTING LABORATORY
• This grand experiment started at Jack Hammett’s super-station, K4VV• Due to Jack’s failing health, his XYL decided to dismantle the station in mid-2015• Mike W0YR, the team’s spiritual and real leader, offered to continue the effort
using his own very fine station and a very similar technological approach• In Sept 2015, Mike changed his call sign to W4AAW to accurately reflect his location
FIRST A LITTLE HISTORY – K4VV
USED IN OUR 2014-2015 CONTEST SEASON
JACK HAMMETT’S DREAM
• Jack Hammett, K4VV built his massive contesting station atop Catoctin Ridge, VA on property once owned by Arthur Godfrey, K4LIB.
TRUDGING UP THE HILL
• Jack grew weary of trudging up the hill to the K4VV shack. He asked Mike, W4AAW (ex-WØYR), to help develop a way to operate the big station from his house, about 600’ away.
• Mike first used LogMeIn and Skype to connect from K4VV’s house radio room to the K4VV shack.
• Then, sadly, Jack’s health declined.
THE BERTHAS
THE RADIATORS AT K4VV
• Tower 1: Big Bertha10 M 5/5 OWA Yagis15 M 5/5 OWA Yagis20 M 4/4 OWA Yagis
• Tower 2: Super Bertha10 M 7/7/7 OWA Yagis15 M 7/7/7 OWA Yagis20 M 6 /6 OWA Yagis
• Tower 3: 112' monopoleFixed 5 element yagis at 135° , 20-40' for CA/SA
• Supports 80 M dipole at 106'
• Tower 4: 120' tower.40 M 4/4 OWA Yagis
• Supports 160 M dipole at 115'
THE WALL O’ RELAYS
THE STATION
POST 2015 CONTEST-SEASON K4VV IS DISMANTLED
MIKE W4AAW STEPS UPAND TEAM K4VV BECOMESTEAM W4AAW
ANTENNAS AT W4AAW
• MONOBANDERS for 10-40M
• Tower 1: 20M 5 element widespaced yagi @ 82’
• Tower 2: 10M 5 element widespaced yagi @ 72'40M 2 element yagi @ 82'
• Tower 3: 15M 5 element widespaced yagi @ 82‘ (under construction)
• FIXED LOW CARIBBEAN YAGIS (can be switched instantly)
• Cushcraft A4S tribanders on Towers 1 & 3 at 40', aimed at 135 deg. for Caribbean
• LOW BAND AND RECEIVING ANTENNAS
• Full-size 80M phased vertical array.
• Inverted L for 160M at 80'
• DX Engineering YCCC 3-inline vertical receiving array for 160-80-40M. To be expanded later to a YCCC 5-square.
W4AAW TOWERS 1 AND 2
TOWER 3 - READY FOR THE 15M MONOBANDER
THE WALL O’ RELAYS – W4AAW
• W4AAW – same switching capability as at K4VV
• 6 x 3 Automatic Antenna Switch –any antenna switchable remotely to any radio using TopTen devices
• Dunestar bandpass filters at each position
• W2VJN Coax harmonic stubs as required
• AUTOMATICALLY PREVENTS TWO RADIOS ON SAME ANTENNA
• Ops look at N1MM+ screen to see what bands other positions are on
W4AAW OPERATING POSITIONSLEGAL LIMIT ON ALL
Rick N1RM Operating Position 2 at W4AAW
POSITION 1: FT-2000D, Acom 2000A
POSITION 2: K3, Acom 2000A, RemoteRig
POSITION 3: FT-1000MP, Alpha 87A
All amps have automatic band-switching and can be monitored/controlled remotely.
Pos 1 & 3 can be operated remotely by any TeamW4AAW member. Pos 2 requires a RemoteRig client ($)
YCCC 3 INLINE VERTICAL RECEIVE ARRAY COMBINER
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO OPERATE REMOTELY?
OPEN SOURCE REMOTE OPERATION – ZERO COST
• N1MM+
• Windows VPN
• VNC Remote Desktop
• Skype for SSB, Mumble for CW audio
• WKRemote for CW keying via paddle
This is the Setup Used by Most Team W4AAW Members
REMOTE CONTESTING 2.0 – REMOTERIG
Client side optionsK3/0-mini K3/0, K3/10, K3/100
Almost seamless operation – turn the VFO knob, gain, filters, etc. and remote K3 follows.
VNC REMOTE DESKTOP VIEW(NOW USING N1MM+)
VNC REMOTE DESKTOP VIEW
ALPHA 87A CONTROL SOFTWARE
Monitor power output and faults, reset amp if needed
ACOM AMP CONTROL
N-Button Lite widgets turn amp on or reset it
ACOM Director shows amp status, faults, forward and reflected power
• Each position has a USB relay board• Widgets created with N-Button Lite software control the relays• Relays currently used for antenna switching and amp power / reset
AUDIO, KEYING AND RADIO CONTROL
Function POS 1 & 3 POS 2 (K3/RemoteRig)
N1MM+ F-keys Keyboard or Mouse input to VNC remote desktop
Local N1MM+
AUDIO Skype (best SSB), Mumble (best CW)or Rem AUD by DF3CB
Headset to RemoteRig
Local Mixer for N1MM+ SSB macros
CW N1MM+ (ctl-K) or WinKeyerRemote
N1MM+ or local paddle to RemoteRig
Radio controls (tuning, filters, gain, etc)
N1MM+ and radio control app on VNC remote desktop.
Local N1MM+ and local K3/x
ROTATING ANTENNAS, CHAT
N1MM+ widgets show current antenna bearing
Enter call-sign or prefix or bearing and Alt-J to rotate to new bearing
N1MM+ window shows inter-position chat
Overlaid here with instant-select buttons for low Caribbean yagis
N1MM+ window shows what bands each position is on – POS1 on 40M, POS2 on 80M, POS3 on 15M
SCHEDULING
Schedule app by N2IW
PROS AND CONS
• PROS
• Open source means anyone can play. Just need a computer and Internet
• Can be part of a M/M team even if you have limited time / family obligations
• Cool technology and fun to see progress – we are breaking new ground
• Contest using a station that exceeds many of our personal setups
• CONS
• Missing the social element of in-person M/M
• More software to configure (and curse at)
• Internet issues can introduce audio delays and dropouts
• Tuning with OpenSource model is clunky. RemoteRig much better
SO… WHAT ABOUT THE RESULTS?
THE FIRST TOTALLY REMOTE MULTI-MULTI W3UL IN CQ WPX RTTY
2015 ARRL DX CW
• With yet another snowmageddon bearing down on the DC area, Mike W4AAW says “Hey, kids – let’s try an all remote multi-multi!”
• Ops:
• W0YR, N1RM – in VA
• K3TN, W3UL – MD
• W4TMO, K4XD – NC
• W3UL – FL (after a long train ride)
K3/Remote rig ops
2015 ARRL DX CW - 3830
INTERNET QRM/JITTERMAGEDDON
Pinging xxx.xx.xx.xx with 32 bytes of data:Reply from xxx.xx.xx.xx: bytes=32 time=426ms TTL=247Reply from xxx.xx.xx.xx: bytes=32 time=450ms TTL=247Reply from xxx.xx.xx.xx: bytes=32 time=381ms TTL=247Reply from xxx.xx.xx.xx: bytes=32 time=242ms TTL=247
Ping statistics for xxx.xx.xx.xx:Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:Minimum = 242ms, Maximum = 450ms, Average = 374ms
ARRL DX CW 2015 – FINAL RESULTS
TOP TEN FINISH – IN GOOD COMPANY!
ARRL DX SSB 2015 - 3830
ARRL DX SSB 2015 - FINAL RESULTS
ANOTHER TOP TEN FINISH – MOVING UP TO SIXTH PLACE!
CQ WPX SSB 2015 - 3830
CQ WPX SSB 2015 – FINAL RESULTS
SECOND PLACE NORTH AMERICA M/M!
LESSONS LEARNED
• The all free software approach has limitations (tuning, delay) but makes things widely accessible.
• The Remote Rig approach solves most problems but adds cost and complexity – and single point of failure.
• The Internet connection is your coax – don’t skimp.
• Contesting is different from Dxing – especially M/M!
NEXT STEPS
• Finish tower 3 and receive antennas
• Webinars and training
• Investigate new technology and refine the station
• Recruit more ops – fill the schedule!
• Continue to have fun!
TEAM W4AAW OPS
Rick N1RM
Bill KJ4VTH John K3TNMike W4AAW
Bill W3UL Tom CX7TT
TEAM W4AAW OPS
Gary NC4S Tom N9NC (with tie) Rowland K4XD
Jim W4TMO Eric KJ0D Rick WW1ME
TEAM W4AAW OPS
Joe NE3H Larry N6NC
We have room for YOU!
TEAM W4AAW BEHIND THE SCENES
Paul N4PD John W5ODJ (w/XYL) Jeff K0ZR
TEAM W4AAW WANTS YOU!
• Usually have open shifts to fill – you can participate as little as one shift (two hours) or (almost) all you want
• W4AAW should be back on the air by mid-October
• Will do full efforts in most CQ WW and ARRL events
• Emphasis is on learning and fun – but we enjoy putting up a good score too!
Join the fun / madness! For more info contact:
Mike [email protected] (probably soon [email protected])
Rowland [email protected] or any team member