It Was The Microphone!

So I Rewired It!

I had some lingering suspicions regarding the microphone.  After all, when I bypassed the amplifier in it, I just left all the other wiring intact.  I started to wonder if perhaps the amplifier in the mic was acting strange since I unhooked it.  So, I decided to do an experiment:  I moved the mic audio wire back from contact #2 to contact #8 (the amplifier output), put in a 9V battery for the amplifier, and turned the volume down most of the way.

Also, I had taken the stalk apart to take a look at the relay contacts.  Tonight, I cleaned them by pulling an eyeglass cleaner patch through the contacts - a little alcohol and the slightest bit of abrasion.  I also straightened a couple of the springs, and I bent the spring at the bottom of the stalk so that the PTT grip bar would spring back out like it should.  I've read horror stories about trying to get these things back togethers; I expected it to take about 20 minutes, a microscope, four hands, tweezers, and a dose of Divine Intervention.  But somehow I managed to get the relay and the mic plug back into the stalk in only a couple minutes.

I hooked it back up to the radio and talked into the dummy load.  I had good ALC and power meter movement.  I ended up with the Mic control on the radio set to about 4 and the (unlabeled) volume control on the mic base to about 1 or 2.

So, it was time for a test.  40 meters was wide open tonight, so I hunted around for an empty portion of the band.  I tuned up the transmitter into the dummy load, and then tuned the antenna.  And then I started talking to myself (saying "K9MJA testing").  And the radio was behaving like it should!  At least as far as I could tell by looking at the meters.

So, it was time for the real deal.  I heard VE4VT in Winnipeg calling CQ on 7.264, so I answered him.

And he repeated my call back to me, without confusing "Juliet" and "India"!  He gave me a solid 59 report.

Time for another test.  I saw on DX Summit that WK9U from Wisconsin was calling on 7.272, so I went there and answered his CQ.  He was coming in at well over S9.  I asked him for a quick audio check due to my lingering audio issues.  He said that my audio was strong and clear, and that I didn't have any sign of RF on my signal at all.  I thanked him and looked around for another contact.

I found Milt, AD5XD near Dallas, on 7.239 and had a quick little conversation with him.  He was being very polite and patient, as the conversation was interrupted by my phone ringing in the background.  I could heard Barb asking me to answer it, while I was also trying to listen to Milt.  I jumped up to find a phone, and I finally found one - just after it quit ringing.  I jumped back to Milt and apologized for missing his last comments because I was running around trying to find a ringing phone.  He just laughed and repeated his comments, which were well wishes for my family for the Christmas season.  I returned the well wishes, thanked him for his patience, and bid him 73 so that he could make more contacts (hopefully more coherent than me).

Epilogue

I wrote this and left it sitting for a half hour while I spun around the 40 meter band.  It was just so noisy.  I heard a few guys speaking Italian and lots of pileups.  I decided to try somewhere else.

I peeked at DX Summit again, and saw that RX0AK was calling CQ on 20 meters.  So I found him.  He was just above the noise level; I had to strain to hear him.  But I could hear him.  I tuned a little off-frequency and tuned up the radio and the antenna tuner.  I tuned back to him and heard him answer a couple calls.  So, after a couple minutes, I answered his CQ.

And he heard me, with the correct call on the first try.  I gave him a 57 report; he gave me a 55 in return.

From Asiatic Russia, over 5,800 miles away.

Two minutes later, the path to him had faded and he was gone.

This is one happy guy sitting right here!

Tonight's contacts from my QRZ logbook:

73 - and look for me on the air, where I will now be able to be understood!

- Mike, K9MJA