I discovered another use for the new CW filter I put in my FT-817; I found out it also works in digital modes!
During my stay in Montreal, working as VA2/PA1CA, I decided to work an hour or so in the 2013 Russian RTTY contest. Because I was using my Yaesu FT-817 I was missing all the nice filters and other possibilities of my Yaesu FT-950.
Then I remembered I installed the CW filter so I decided to see if I could use it on digital mode. This was possible! So it gave me a bit more of an edge in the contest. Seeing I only participated for an hour or so I could use all the help I could get!
In the end I made 9 contacts. Because it was low power (5 watt) with a mobile stick antenna I don’t even feel bad for such a small amount of contacts. The furthest contact I made was 7500 km (4660 miles), which makes it 1500 km (932 miles) for every watt of power used! 🙂
Below are some pictures of my setup during the contest. I used a FT-817, an MFJ Manual Tuner, a Signalink USB interface, my Macbook Air and of course a beta version of the new iPad logging app I made; Mircules HAM Quicklog, to do my logging! 🙂
My Montreal setup for the Russian RTTY Contest
My “antenna” setup in the contest; a hamstick stuck to the balcony. Not much of an antenna but it turned out to be more effective then I expected.
My hamstick “antenna” in the Russian RTTY contest