SunSDR2 in CQWW at R7AB
R7AB is a contest station with a vision for the future. Sergey UA6AA explains that all Yeasu radios have been sold to take the step into the modern way of amateur radio with SDR, Software Defined Radios. R7AB currently have three SunSDR2 in use and the new top of the line MB1 transceiver has been pre-ordered and will be put in use at R7AB very soon.
R7AB is active in all major contests, and CQWW CW was no exception. This time R7AB planned to flex its muscles on a band were they are really capable.
Sergey UA6AA operated Single Operator Single Band 15 meter with the goal to be #1 in European Russia. R7AB is well equipped to be competitive on 15 meter with several mono band antennas including a H-frame with four 6-element yagis at 42 meters.
In addition to the H-frame, other 15 meter mono yogis on different heigths are also used. Home brew band pass filters and an OM Power amplifier made sure the signals are clean and competitive from R7AB.
A high performance SunSDR2 HF+6m+2m transceiver was configured for CQWW CW. With a possible bandwidth of more than 300 kHz the panadapter can display the entire CW portion of the 15 meter band. This gives the operator overview of all contest activity in an easy and useful manner.
The SDR transceiver was controlled by N1MM via virtual serial ports making control and CW keying precise and reliable. Spots are clickable in the N1MM band map and the SunSDR2 will instantly change frequency. More importantly Clicking anywhere in the panadapter will change the frequency and update N1MM to display any spotted call on this frequency.
N1MM, the Panadapter and the transceiver plus connected accessories all work in synchronisation. A big wide screen monitor provides the main user interface with all information about the activity in one plane (click photo to enlarge).
The claimed result of Sergey’s effort is 1860 contacts in 149 countries and 38 CQ zones which translates to a claimed score of 750,992 points.
We congratulate Sergey to a very nice result in CQWW CW 2015, well done!