This weekend I wanted to score some contacts in the Ukrainian RTTY contest. Saturday night at 21:00 local time I set down, opened a new log in N1MM with the appropriate contest and went off. But after 4 or 5 contacts I noticed N1MM keeps sending number 001. In the logging windows it shows the correct number but MMTTY keeps repeating 001 with each new contact. Aaargh, searching N1MM manual of several thousand pages didn’t come up with a solution. Double checked contest layout, all seems correct. Restart N1MM a few times. After an hour of searching I gave up. I didn’t had the time or the energy to search any more. I did want to participate in the contest for only a few hours anyway, now I blew the whole thing off.
Next time do some test sending exchanges first long before the contest starts!
Serial ports on a Mac Pro
Since one of the best contest logging free software N1MM is running on Windows only, I had to install Windows on my Mac Pro. Running via Bootcamp it works fine. I want to run CW skimmer together with N1MM so I can read the very fast stations in the contest. But N1MM needs 2 COM-ports (cat interface and keying port) and CW Skimmer won’t run properly without a cat interface too. My TS-590 has two possibilities for cat interfacing: via USB and via serial port. So I need 1 com port for cat interface with N1MM, 1 com port for cat interface with CW Skimmer and 1 com port for N1MM keying. At the moment I have only 1 serial – USB converter. So I looked around on the webs and found a PCI express card with two serial ports! Right away I ordered the card. Let’s hope my plan will work. I don’t think the card is supported by MacOSX but that not a big deal since I’ll use it with Windows anyway.
The Belgium route
The other day I was browsing the club’s website (which has a very 90’s look and feel btw) and spotted a news article about a morse exam being organized in our neighbour country Belgium. That might sound weird but wait untill I explain!
When our Dutch FCC (AT) dropped the morse requirement for amateurs, they cancelled the whole possibility to do a morse program. When you think that is a bit radical, you’re right! Because now we have a situation where a Dutch amateur can do his/her full license exam, pass, but still can’t use HF in some countries like, for instance France! If in a country there is still a morse requirement and this country did not adopt the harec agreement, Dutch amateurs officially are not allowed on HF!
This wouldn’t be a problem if at least there was a option of doing a morse exam. But since dropping the morse requirement in The Netherlands, there isn’t. So when a Dutch amateur (who passed his exam for full license) still want a “CW included” notation on his license, he has to take the “Belgium-route” as it is named here. You have to take a d-tour to Belgium, attend a morse exam there and when you pass you can submit your paper in The Netherlands to get your “CW included” sign on your license. I think this is ridicoules but it’s the only way. Only a few indivitual amateurs did this “Belgium-route” so far, but now our club is looking for the opportunity to organize this for more interested amateurs.
I did contact the organizer for more specs of the exam. The next one is in March. But I concluded that I’m not ready for this one. You need to be able to receive at a speed of 13 wpm (that wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t had the actual speed set for 6 wpm ) including the pro-signes. I did not yet trained those. And you need to be able to send 13 wpm. That would be a real problem since I didn’t send at all.
Maybe I can join the next exam!