I just realized that it's been quite a while since my last blog entry.  I've been busy with a new job and haven't had a lot of time for radio lately, so that has a lot to do with it.

I have rejoined the Chanute Area Amateur Radio Club (CAARC), based out of Chanute, KS, which I was a member of years ago.  Since I'm now working closer to Chanute, I thought it would be a good idea to join up again.  It's nice to see all the old members as well as the new ones who joined since I left.  This year I plan to operate field day with the CAARC since they are planning to camp & operate just north of town.

The last blog entry has to do with my BitX20a transceiver, and now I'm putting together a digital interface in order to operate PSK31 with it.  I modified the radio to cover the digital portion of 20 meters as well as the voice portion.  My old laptop should be able to work as a digital terminal as it is old enough to have a serial port, but new enough to run Windows- based software.  The PSK interface is similar to the one I built and can be seen on the website, but will only need a 4-pin mike connector.  I should be able to take this one to the field while leaving the other hooked to my TS-140s and computer at home.  I have added a small cooling fan to the BitX20a in order to keep the final transistors cool, and I plan to only operate at 5 watts for digital modes.

Speaking of operating in the field, I recently acquired a couple of hard cases in which to carry my radio gear.  The first is a plastic or fiberglass case which was used to house batteries for a roadside radar speed detector trailer.  It came from the trash bin of the company which manufactures the trailers.  The second case is a wooden case of some sort.  Once I lined them both with foam padding, they became suitable to carry my QRP gear.  The benefit is that the radios are padded in foam and don't bang around against each other, gel cell batteries, or anything else I carried in the nylon sports bag I used before.  After spending so much time carefully building this radio gear, I want to keep it from getting ruined.