CQRLOG locks up after a few minutes on the air

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ka1oz
ka1oz's picture
CQRLOG locks up after a few minutes on the air

I've been using CQRLOG for several months and found that often after transmitting for a short time, the program often locks up. The cursor, normally blinking in the "Call" field of New QSO, will disappear and that will be the end of my session. I have to force the program closed.

Has anyone else seen this? I tried putting a ferrite on the USB-RS-232 adapter cable, but it doesn't help.

I'm using 0.6.0.

Tnx & 73,
Dick, ka1oz

ok2cqr
ok2cqr's picture
Re: CQRLOG locks up after a few minutes on the air

Could you try to run CQRLOG without radio control?

Please set Debug to 1. Open configuration file cqrlog.cfg which is located in log_data directory, find [Program] section and add Debug=1 into it. After that, run program from console and paste here what it writes down. Thank you.

73 Petr, OK2CQR

ka1oz
ka1oz's picture
Re: CQRLOG locks up after a few minutes on the air

Hello--

I followed the directions and made extended test transmissions both into a dummy load and to my antenna: SSB @ 100 W, 10, 20, 40, 80 meters. The errors noted below only occurred when transmitting on 80 meters into the antenna. I repeated the tests several times to rule out coincidence.

As it happens, with band conditions as they are and my schedule allowing for only 40 and 80 meters, this can be a problem. I did note that in this experiment, the program did not lock up, possibly because TRX Control was not in operation.

[dick@c-75-69-199-70 ~]$ /stuff/ham_stuff/RIG_CONTROL/cqrlog
GTK Accessibility Module initialized
Starting CQRLOG ...
RootDirectory = /stuff/ham_stuff/RIG_CONTROL/
RootDirectory = /stuff/ham_stuff/RIG_CONTROL/
ExternalFileAccess = Restrict /stuff/ham_stuff/RIG_CONTROL/log_data
SELECT * FROM version

SELECT * FROM cqrlog_main ORDER BY qsodate DESC,time_on DESC
Config: /stuff/ham_stuff/RIG_CONTROL/log_data/cqrlog.cfg
Error my_get_freq: RIG_ERJCTED: Command rejected by the rig
Error my_get_freq: RIG_EPROTO: Protocol error
Error my_get_freq: RIG_ERJCTED: Command rejected by the rig
Error my_get_freq: RIG_ERJCTED: Command rejected by the rig
Error my_get_freq: RIG_ERJCTED: Command rejected by the rig

73,
Dick, ka1oz

73, Dick, ka1oz Elecraft K3/100 (Kit) GAP Titan-DX Vertical G5RV Doublet

ok1rr
ok1rr's picture
RFI

Dick,
if you are using the GAP Titan antenna, I bet the common mode currents is your problem. The Titan antenna is known to produce a significant amount of CM currents. Snap-on chokes on your RS-232 cable can't help but better, more efficient current balun will. There are also some 'line isolators' which can help (they are 1:1 current choke baluns). So, put a 1:1 current choke balun just into the feed point in the Titan's base and, if needed, another one into the coax entrance point (to your home).

Remember, that an efficient balun must have an inductive reactance of 4x the system impedance, so 200 ohms - at lowest operating frequency. I recommend the 'A Ham's Guide to RFI, Ferrites, Baluns, and Audio Interfacing' by Jim Brown, K9YC, which can be downloaded here:
http://audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf
It is worth to read, also very nice explanation of the facts mentioned above.

73,
Martin, OK1RR

ka1oz
ka1oz's picture
Re: CQRLOG locks up after a few minutes on the air

Thanks for the analysis and the link to the document. It will be several months before I can get to the base of the Titan, but I'll see about getting a balun to install at my cable entrance.

Thanks again for the advice.

73, Dick, ka1oz Elecraft K3/100 (Kit) GAP Titan-DX Vertical G5RV Doublet