FIA Formula1 motor racing from Azerbaijan this weekend - 29/30 April 2023

 I find Azerbaijan a very interesting and beautiful place and GP is on this weekend on Foxtel. I very impressed  with this city.

1296.500 MHz WSPR weak signal

 VK2BLS and VK2HC playing WSPR on 1296.500 MHz today

extract from VKspotter.com

Holden Jackaroo / Isuzu Trooper - 4L30-E Automatic Transmission with Torque Pro OBD-2

  A few things I have done to improve the Holden Jackaroo (aka Isuzu Trooper) UBS-26 4WD. Holden Jackaroo is built by Isuzu Japan, which is owned by General Motors. Hence, the 6EV1 engine designed by GM, but fortunately it is built in an Isuzu factory in Japan. 

January 2023 - I finally got the Torque Pro OBD2 App to give me the Automatic Transmission information, most importantly, the Automatic Transmission Fluid Temperature (ATFT)  data, I been mucking around with it for a couple years, but finally got it to work, I found some extra clues on the IzuzuPlanet discussion forum, there been talk for a long while, but some details were misconstruded, I guess some people quote  details, as generalizations without making specific  and exact references to specific models/year ranges etc.

For my vehicle, a 2002 build,  with a 3.5litre V6 petrol (6VE1 32bit) built in Japan, with a Borg Warner 4speed (4L30-E 32bit) Automatic Transmission, built in Strasbourg, France, there were slight variations of the OBD2 codes. Anyway, I can now measure the ATFT and see how it behaves under different driving conditions. Under extreme 4WDing on very hot days, it was hard to tell if I pushing the auto to its limits or past its limits, but in testing during summer I got  to do some road tests, put it under heavy load on hot days to get the tests results I needed to see, to then know what I needed to do to improve cooling performance of both engine and automatic transmission. I can now get the Air Fuel Ratio (AFR) data as well.  You don't want unnecessary extra fuel being consumed.

Basically, I learnt from the specifications that this 4WD designed to  cover a wide range, but realistically, in terms of engine cooling  and auto transmission cooling, it is really meant to be used in cold climates,  that running in hot climates like Australia, you pushing it to the limits and shortening the life of the engine and auto transmission and I think this is probably the case for most cars and 4WD's, the operating range and emissions controls are designed specifically for cold climates like Siberia, or northern Japan, or Canada, you can pick the deliberate things they did.  So for running this in above Zero degree C conditions (0-50degreeC) is a good range  for Australian conditions, then you can modify things to work better for this range.

What did I do:

1. cold boxing the air intake system to reduce manifold air intake temperature, running 20 degrees above ambient is ridiculous in Australia,  pre-heating the air is great for Siberia, but is bad for Australian conditions  causing the engine to chew more fuel.

2. replaced the ageing radiator, with a full aluminum radiator with dual tube, 40mm core, instead of 26mm core. Using two x 12inch high power Davies Craig fans (22amp @ 13.8V each) pulling air, giving 2500CFM, controlled via thermostat control box.

3. added Plate and tube oil transmission cooler from Davies Craig with 8inch fan pulling air, fitted in series with radiator feedline. This is recommended for towing, but equally important for 4WD'ing, as climbing mountain tracks causes a big load on the transmission and raises the fluid temperature very fast.

The engine temp sits in low 80's driving along open road, the fans kick in at 85 deg C, pulling it straight back to 80deg C within a minute,  The ATFT runs in the 70's deg C on flat open road,  the fan kicks in at 88deg going up hills and pulls the temperature back to the low 80's. Now I should not need to keep stopping when driving up mountains.

on this day, is after installing new 40mm core radiator, ambient temperature was 35degreesC,  the engine doing great, but ATFT shot up to 114 degreesC after coming up a long hill at 70km/h  it took 10minutes on flat road before it dropped again. AFR 14.7%  good, considering it was hot & humid day.

this is testing on another hot day, after installing the auto transmission oil cooler,  it was only a short trip to find some steep hills to get the ATFT up, got to 88degreesC  and 8inch fan kicked in.

here is PID Editor in Torque Prod app,  to get ATFT  you need a PID of 221940, Min is 0 degC, Max is 200degC, Equation is A-40   and Header value is 6c18f1(hex) 

NOTE: depending on the Holden Jackaroo model and year, (same applies to Holden Rodeo) you may need to use  Header code of 6c18f1   or  try 6c10f1 (hex)

In summary, if you have a 4WD and using it for off road activity where you driving  on bush tracks and mountains and doing a lot of low speed driving and it has a auto transmission, then I recommend you add an transmission oil cooler, preferably with a fan and thermostat control to reduce the heat build up. If the 4WD is older then radiator may have reduced efficiency due to clogging of tubes due to build up, then when its times to replace it, get a higher performance radiator with thicker core.

10metre 29.600 FM simplex activity

 just heard  Murray ZL3MH on 29.600 MHz FM simplex chatting to a whole swag of VK's between 05:30 and 05:45 UTC,   s9,  now that's not a big deal, but this was received  on my quad band FM, using a 2metre 1/4 wave whip inside a cupboard in my shack.  If it had been a 10metre external antenna, then I guess he would have been 20/9 +

The point here is, when 10metres is, then its OPEN.

10m FM (29MHz) Activity

 Seems that over the last month there has been some good openings on 10metre FM (29MHz), it appears that JA like to use 29.200 MHz FM simplex, as well as the usual 29.600MHz FM simplex. There has also been some VK-Nth America contacts on 29.600MHz FM simplex.

23cm FM voice repeater systems centered around Sydney as of 9th April, 2023

 An update on 23cm FM voice repeater systems centered around Sydney as of  9th April, 2023

Here are the operational 23cm FM Analogue repeaters I can work:

1273.100 / 1293.100 VK2RTZ at Mt. Sugarloaf  - working,  it idents every hour, at 6minutes before the hour, requires 91.5Hz ctcss to access

1273.200 / 1293.200 VK2RWC  at Chatswood  - working

1273.400 / 1293.400 VK2RAG at Somersby - working, has beep on the tail

1273.500 / 1293.500 VK2RWI at Dural  -  yes, it is working again.

1296.850  VK2RMP FM Simplex analogue parrot repeater at Maddens Plains - working, it idents regularly every 10 minutes with a long CW message

Activity:  mostly found on Chatswood repeater, with some activity on Dural repeater on Sunday after the WIA NSW broadcast 10am and 7.30pm local time

1294.000 FM Simplex, not heard anyone on here since July 2022.

6metre voice repeaters in and around Sydney, as of 9th April, 2023

  Repeaters status as of 9th April, 2023

VK2RAG, Somersby, 53.725 MHz  requires  91.5 Hz  CTCSS tone  - they run Sunday WIA b'cast and callbacks

VK2RWI, Dural, 53.850 MHz - working,  WIA Sunday b'casts will move to here from 52.525MHz

VK2RBM, Blue Mtns, 53.875 MHz - working  requires 123Hz CTCSS

VK2RMP, Maddens Plains, 53.650 MHz  - working  requires 123Hz CTCSS

VK2RSN, Mt Sugarloaf, Newcastle, 53.625 MHz    nil response, I tested this in December 2022 when up that way.

VK2RGN, Goulburn, 53.700 MHz, off air according to the Goulburn ARC website.

VK2RMB, Terrey Hills, 53.675 MHz, still off air and still planned to return it to service.

P25 Activity for NSW & Qld areas as of 9th April, 2023

 P25 Activity for NSW & Qld areas.

we have some P25 repeaters linked to the network on TG10700, these include :
VK2RCG GPT Sydney City 438.200 MHz
VK2RNS Asquith (Sydney North) 439.975 MHz
VK2RHP Horsley Park, (Sydney south west) 438.1375 MHz

VK4RVR, The Knobby, Ipswitch - NEW P25 rptr  has joined the network

Other Operational P25:
VK2RMB Terrey Hills 438.175 MHz but is standalone, waiting to be configured and linked to P25 network
VK2RWK Kurrajong, standalone
VK2RGN Goulburn - not sure if it linked into network yet.

Non-operational or redeployed :

VK2ROT Paddington, off air, 
VK2RWI Dural - now a VK-DMR rptr
VK2RHT Chatswood - now a VK-DMR rptr
VK2RAG Somersby - gone, redeployed
VK2RHR High Range - failed, getting fixed
VK2RCF Carlingford - gone
VK2RLE Heathcote - gone
VK2RWS Berowra - gone

Planned :
possibly a P25 repeater for central west NSW (Bathurst-Orange region).

Activity:

I heard yesterday VK4AZ and VK4MCU testing on the VK4RVR multimode P25/DMR rptr, others heard this weekend VK2LP, VK2PCH, VK2GUM, VK2PET, VK2PTB, VK2JDS, WB9COY

F1, V8 Supercars, MotoGP racing weekend 1st-2nd April 2023

 this is a big weekend of racing for F1 and V8 Supercars combined at Albert Park street track, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, plus MotoGP racing from Argentina. Last week MotoGP was on at  Portugal,  I spotted Jorge Lorenzo,  he was great MotoGP rider along with Dani Pedrosa and of course Valentino Rossi.