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title = 'An (other) attempt to operate portable'
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summary = '''A short story of another failed attempt on a portable operation
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from January 2023.'''
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date = '2023-02-17T21:27:11+0100'
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categories = ['amateur-radio']
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tags = ['portable', 'tx500']
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+++
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This is me with the usual luck that I have (which is not limited to amateur
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radio).
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## The plan
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I actually wanted to go way higher, but I did not felt like it so I decided
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on my way to stop at a nice place and setup my 20m dipole at a clearing.
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There is a nice view over Längenfeld (looking south, south-west).
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## The setup
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After a few minutes of just sitting there and relaxing, enjoying the view
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and nature, as is, I setup the antenna. I had to re-adjust the length a bit
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to get it down to somewhat 1.1-1.3:1a. I usually just put a leg on the mast
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and put the other one on the ground, which works ok most of the time.
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## Listen, listen, listen (and listen if you can't transmit)
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I usually listen for a while before I start calling CQ and most of the time
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I first answer others people calls---but when I tried to call a station from
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EA I wasn't very successful. Yeah, move on, my setup is just crap and he won't
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hear me. Tried another station but my call was interrupted by the other station
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whilst I was still talking, that made me a bit suspicious. Another try and this
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time I looked at the power meter of the TX-500: 0W. On a second view I saw the
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transceiver was not switching to TX. Tried a few times more, power off, power on
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but nothing really happened.
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I finally gave up and spent probably half an hour with SWL :)
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## Back at home
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Back home, I already thought it might be the mice (it actually doesn't look very
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sturdy) so I went into my all-purpose-room and cut off the plug, opened it and
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I quickly saw the faulty white wire.
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That white wire belongs to the pin in the middle, so I decided to remove all the
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other pins too to get better access to that pin.
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The plug is small and I already wanted to throw everything away but somehow I
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got all the wires soldered to the plug and it worked.
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Finished with some shrink tubing (which I usually have mixed feelings about
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using them) and it is now able to TX again.
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## Fin
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The mic works again, but meanwhile (it is now mid of February already) I got
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another nice replacement for the mic: I ordered a clip-on microphone that I can
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use with the adapter set made by [W2ENY](https://w2eny.com/tx500/).
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I can just recommend the adapters made by Robert, W2ENY.
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I think the original PTT adapter only works mono, Roberts delivers stereo sound.
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