Solving The Time Problem for JT65HF

From all the advice I received concerning my efforts to get up and running on JT65HF, the one thing I learned is that Windows 7 does not and will not keep accurate time. I tried manually syncing to WWV and while that would solve the time problem it was only temporarily. In a matter of minutes, the time sync would drop and I was out of sync. I went back to the forums to look for a solution, and I found that most people doing JT65HF were using some sort of time server. I tried a couple and I won't bother you with the ones that didn't work for me. One I had to run in WINXP mode, another had to be run in administrative mode, and another simply would not work at all. I'm one of those rare HAMS who actually like Windows 7. Sure I have a windows XP partition, but only seldom do I migrate there.

I finally found BktTimeSync http://www.iz2bkt.com/BktTimeSync/BktTimeSyncEn.htm written by IZ2BKT. Quoting from the website, "BktTimeSync adjusts the clock of PC using a time reference server internet ( NTP server ) or by using a GPS receiver connected to USB, serial port or Bluetooth."

Because I never throw anything away, I dragged out my old Garmin LT-20 USB GPS receiver and plugged that baby in. I was writing a program to read the NMEA data from the GPS, when I realized that the time was syncing quite well from the NTP server and was definitely controlling the computer time.

Since then I have worked Hawaii, Greenland, France, Ukraine, several South American countries and a bunch of stateside guys. I've had contacts on 20, 30, and 40 meters, I have yet to hear anyone on 17, 21, or 10 meters. I got to say one thing about this mode, if you are challenged by the 140 letter restriction of Twitter, then the 13 character limit of JT65HF is not for you! I find it amazing how creative HAMS can get with those 13 characters! TU73 10W OCFD is enough to send "Thank you and good luck. I made this QSO with 10 watts from an Off Center Fed Dipole"

If you're ready to get your feet wet, come on in, the water's fine. Remember though that JF65HF is a QRP mode. More power doesn’t mean more QSO's! That's the main reason I switched from my TS440SAT back to the TS-480SAT so that I can more accurately control the power out. Selecting power out on the 440 is analog, and on the 480 it's digital. These tired old eyes don't need to be squinting at those little yellow lit meters!

Like one of the guys I follow on Twitter signs, "QRP - when you care enough to send the very least!"

One of the HI HI moments of this entire exercise is that I've had to reset all the clocks in the shack.  It seems that when I set them to coincide with the time on the computer, I was not seconds off, but minutes off!