Ham Radio

Day 1 February QSO Challenge

2012-02-01T21:04:00.001Z

I accepted the challenge set by Louise without too much persuasion and I am pleased to report my first QSO of February.

The QSO took place today at 18.01 utc on the 15M Band where I managed to catch Bill - VY2LI located on Prince Edward Island (IOTA NA-029).
Bill was 5/5 with QSB to my FT-1000 and Carolina Windom antenna, I was given a 5/3 report also with QSB back from VY2LI - Bills station.

So I guess I have got off to a nice start working a total distance of 2699.5 Miles short path for my 1st of many February QSOs. I was also pleased with an opportunity to work on 15M catching the bands last minutes before it closed down.

I have read the comments from Bas - PE4BAS and Paul - M0PCZ and hope we bump into each other one evening somewhere on HF, it would be very nice indeed! I hope to succeed in this terrible challenge Louise has ordered hi hi I wonder what the prize will be ;-)

73 for now, I shall be back tomorrow with hopefully another nice call sign in the log, until then this is 2E0HTS signing out and listening out for his next QSO.

February QSO Challenge (Guest Post from M3TLL)

2012-01-31T20:59:00.002Z

Hi everyone, Louise (M3TLL) here.

Louise - M3TLL and ham-in-the-making Elsie

Just thought I'd share with you a radio-themed challenge I've set 2E0HTS which begins tomorrow. Every day throughout February Simon must make at least one contact on the radio. There's no conditions other than he must post the callsign, frequency and time he works the contact here on his blog. It can be any band, any time of day, any country, mobile, portable or from home.

Feel free to join in his February QSO challenge or just visit his blog to see if he actually can make at least one radio contact every day. Listen out on the bands for 2E0HTS who should be more active than usual this month.

Now I just need to think of a reasonable forfeit (if he fails the challenge) and get some earplugs (in case he succeeds and I get sick of it!)

Good luck Simon!

M3TLL - Louise

Ham Radio Links - Update

2012-01-30T22:56:00.001Z

Just a quickie to inform you that I have removed any tired or inactive links found on the right hand side of my home page. In return I also added quite a few new useful and informative links which include many satellite sites. All links to other amateur radio information and resources can now be found in an organised list, enjoy checking them out during your visits to my site. 73

SAUDISAT 1C SO-50

2012-01-29T21:37:00.000Z

I managed some nice QSOs via SO-50 earlier this evening whilst operating from my radio shack. I caught the contacts on camera as the bird passed me by at around 46º above my horizon.

The video shows me working into the bird without too much difficulty running 25w from my FT-847 into my Satellite Array. During the pass signals were coming in well, I worked a total of 4 stations – CT2GOY, F0FVK, SP6XSD & EA6SWportable 6.My Daughter gets very excited when I am active on the Satellites as you can see she is taking after her Dad and straight over for some radio hi hi.

AO-7 Satellite QSO - Video

2012-01-24T22:22:00.001Z

I was active earlier on the Satellite bands and made QSO with F6HRO, DG1EA, IK8YSS & OH5LK all via AO-7 during a 45° Pass.

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My YL caught me on camera getting a little help from my new shack assistant as I Worked F6HRO & DG1EA via AMSAT OSCAR 7.My new assistant is showing signs of having good radio com skills already? Especially rotating & elevating my SAT Antennas. 73

4U1WRC Special Call - On Air 23 Jan - 17 Feb

2012-01-23T19:31:00.000Z

During my lunch breaks from work I usually get the chance to "ride shotgun" as my YL - Louise (M3TLL) picks me up from work and brings some lunch followed by a pleasant walk with our dog Dudley and baby daughter Elsie.

I try to get 10 minutes of SWL-ing in as I eat my sandwich, catch up with Louise and grin like a fool at Elsie. Today however, we were waiting for a rainy spell to ease when I came across Nic operating the World Radiocommunication Conference special call sign 4U1WRC

4U1WRC is operated at the station of 4U1ITU (International Telecommunication Union) which is located at thier headquarters in Geneva.
4U1WRC is only on the air from today 23rd of January until the 17th of February. There is a special QSL card to collect confirming DXCC Entity - ITU HQ EU 28 14.

Lucky for me I was told by ITU Op Nic that I was the first station to work the 2012 4U1WRC station, which was pretty cool especially from my mobile station.

Our QSO took place earlier today on the 20M band - 14.264MHz at around 12.12 utc. As usual the signals exchanged were nice and strong, I received Nic at 5/9+20 and my report was 5/9 solid copy.

I am still running the same equipment: YAESU FT-100 into a mono Band Maldol HFC 20 antenna. I have had several years of excellent results using the same radio and antenna that I got back in 2005.
I might consider changing the vehicle but the ham radio gear will be staying!

The FT-100 can be seen below

Shack B

2012-01-22T20:55:00.000Z

With the dark days of winter nearly over we decided to head up to our moor top retreat to check on how things have been holding up.We have been getting lots of gale force winds lately however my antennas were all where I left them and still in good shape.

Our hill top holiday shack is now becoming very interesting to our 10 month old baby girl, she spent the afternoon exploring the long corridor. I got some spare minutes when she had a short nap where I managed to set up some of my other radio equipment.

I shuffled my rigs around to find a pleasing lay out and then connected them up to my antennas. Shack B is now up and running ready for our visits up there once the WX starts to change.

I plan to be experimenting with various kit and equipment in the future but for now Shack B consists of:YAESU FT-2600M - X200 Vertical & IO Beam
YAESU VR5000 - 10 EL 435 Yagi
YAESU FT-767GX - Hustler 6BTV & 20M Delta Loop
HAM INT Multimode II - 10M Vertical

Listen out for me working portable from Shack B from spring time onwards, until then I will be operating from my QTH and hope to catch some of you somewhere on the bands! 73

National Communications Radio System Cabin

2012-01-20T22:50:00.000Z

I stumbled across the perfect portable radio shack and would love to have it parked outside. Someone will be grabbing themselves a bargain as the MOD (Ministry Of Defence) are having a surplus equipment sale.
Check out National Communications Radio System Cabin for more details.

Radials

2012-01-10T22:14:00.002Z

I hope you are all having a great New Year! Its been a busy couple of weeks and its great to be finally back here on my old ham radio blog catching up with some of my Ham buddies around the globe.

Last year I fitted a selection of wire radials covering 40m through to 20M which have now become almost hidden in the grass. If you look carefully you can make a few blue radials out at the base of the mast in the picture above.

I have been making up some additional radials for my 6BTV which I cut for 20m, 15m and 10m. This time I wanted to fix them slightly above the ground so I fed them directly at the antenna base where I used a mounting bolt as a stud to clamp too. The picture above shows the new radials attached and pinned to the ground which keeps them tidy as well as trip free.

THE RESULT: My Hustler 6BTV now has a few more 1/4 wave radials and is working well on transmit as well as receive. During a test transmission I recently worked Ian - VK3MO again up on 20m at about 10.30 utc. As usual Ian was 5/9+.
The 6BTV is also working really well on 40M as is my other antenna - Carolina Windom 80, its nice having the choice and switching between the two. 73 happy DXing

Have A Very Merry Christmas From 2E0HTS & Family

2011-12-18T18:27:00.000Z

Today's NOAA 19 Weather Image For UK, Spain & France

2011-12-10T14:13:00.001Z

Today's NOAA 19 weather satellite image recieved at my ham radio station in Yorkshire UK at 13.55 UTC. Equipment Used: Yaesu FT-847, Radiocom 5.2 Decoder, 5 element Yagi, G-5500 Elevation/Azimuth Rotator.The UK can be seen with lots of cloud cover at the middle right hand side of the decoded image.

More Ionospheric Ducting From The DX Mobile

2011-12-09T18:43:00.001Z

As I entered the Car park at work this morning I gave a shout outto Chris VK1GG/P2, who for the second time this week was booming into my mobile"FT-100 Maldol Combo" on 20M.

VK1GG/P2 - Chriswas working a pile of Europeans and fellow VKs (Australians) when he heard mecalling him from my mobile at around 8.25 UTC this morning. We had a quickcouple of overs and It was time for me to begin my working day. (With a smileon my face, you know the one. Only DXers have it hi hi)

Later in theevening at around 18.25 UTC, I was once again out and about in the mobile withthe rig turned on listening in on 14.222 MHz.

Whilst driving, Iheard JM1WBB - Isao coming in great as he worked lots of stations from variouscontinents located around the world.

Isao - JM1WBBwas hitting my little Yaesu FT-100 with a 5/9 signal all the wayfrom Setagaya, Tokyo Japan.

Once again Iengaged the PTT calling "HTS/Mobile" where again I was in look as I wasreceived by Isao - JM1WBB with a 5/2 report into Japan. I wassurprised to make the QSO at that time of day as well as being absolutelydelighted.

Its always agreat feeling getting good reports from DX Stations whilst using my mobile hamstation, I hope you all have a great weekend, 73 happy DX.

Toyota Mobile Still Working Well On The 20M Band

2011-12-05T21:03:00.001Z

My Monday morning work journey looked rather bleak for riding my motorcycle. It had been snowing over the night leaving icy patches and slippery surfaces which I prefer to avoid whilst travelling on two wheels.
So taking the easy option I proceeded to fire up the little Toyota 4 X 4 and at the same time I gave myself an opportunity to switch on my good old Yaesu FT-100 mobile radio.

Within a mile of leaving my QTH I heard VK1GG/P2 calling CQ DX on 20 meters with a loud 5/8 signal.
I gave Chris - VK1GG a couple of calls back and Chris heard me via the long path with a 5/4 signal. I was very pleased to make the QSO into VK2 land from my mobile at a distance of over 15000 miles.

I have worked many DX with the same FT-100 and Maldol HFC-20 mono band antenna throughout the years with excellent service and reliability not forgetting their superb performance. I first obtained this particular mobile set up back in 2004 and after today's DX performance into Canberra, Australia with Chris - VK1GG, I can say it is still doing a very nice job for me.

Ham Assistance Needed

2011-11-21T21:23:00.001Z

Radio Amateurs are needed to help The Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TSNIIMASH) in Russia with some space plasma experiments taking place onboard the International Space Station (ISS) Nov 25nd - 28th and Dec 2nd -5th. The experiment will use the ISS Amateur Radio 145.825 MHz FM AX.25 1200 bps packet radio downlink.

For more information visit Amsat or find the website about the experiment here

Mexico On 10M FM

2011-11-04T19:00:00.004Z

After work this evening I fired up my ham radio shack and started tuning up and down the bands.
I had heard recent reports that the 10m repeater KQ2H was coming in strong on a regular basis with lots of interesting stations working through it.

I tuned my FT1000 to 29.620MHz FM and sure enough I could hear the KQ2H repeater. KQ2H is located across the Atlantic near New York in the Catskill Mountains.

I heard lots of stations calling through to begin with, it was slightly chaotic at times but then I suddenly heard Jose - XE2YHR coming in well with a big signal.

After calling him three times Jose pulled me out of the crowd and we had a short QSO exchanging reports and location information.

It was very nice indeed getting into Mexico via a repeater in New York on 10 meters FM.
I'll be listening up on Ten FM over the weekend to see what activity might be found as well as enjoying time with the family.

73 all have a great weekend & happy DXing

Operating 10 Meters during CQWW

2011-11-01T20:18:00.003Z

Over the weekend I enjoyed some of the fantastic openings up on the 10 meter band during this years WWCQ Contest.

I managed to work some excellent DX for the first time in a long time up on 28MHz. The last time I heard conditions as good as they were, was back in the 80s when I was an avid 11 Meter DXer as well as a spotty faced teenager. My old President Adams at the time brought exotic signals to my early radio days.

I still have some old chicken box kit from way back which includes a couple of 40 channel AM rigs, an original colt as well as a little president AR7. I also have a Ham International Multimode II.

This years WWCQ contest was worked mainly on 10 Meters for me using my FT1000mp MKV field and Carolina Windom antenna (CW80). I exceeded my previous total of 15 Zones by spending my time up on 10m more or less throughout the contest and working a total of 21 World wide zones. This is the best I have done since getting on the air during WWCQ and I am pleasantly surprised how well my humble station is working for me at my relatively new QTH.

I made many great contacts into 25 different DXCC during the 2011 CQWW contest and had a lot of fun doing it.

Countries I worked include:

1 The USA

2 Argentina

3 Cyprus

4 Iceland

5 Uruguay

6 Montenegro

7 France

8 Kazakhstan

9 United Arab Emirates

10 Asiatic Russia

11 European Russia

12 China

13 Japan

14 French Guiana

15 Turks & Caicos

16 Costa Rica

17 Bermuda

18 Brazil

19 Surinam

20 Dominican Republic

21 Turkey

22 Canada

23 Greece

24 Morocco

25 The Gambia

As usual I made sure that I caught some of this years WWCQ contest on video whilst working up on Ten meters. The video shows lots of fantastic signals booming in from various World wide zones.

I hope you enjoy it. 73!

Radio Equipment Rack

2011-10-26T22:52:00.003+01:00

Whilst enjoying the half term break from work we have been getting a few household jobs done. One job I have been considering doing involved moving my radio gear from one side of the room to the other.

I made a metal racking system that has been on standby and today was the day I was going to get to use it. I began by dismantling my radio equipment carefully and then I moved one coax at a time avoiding any possible mix ups. I decided to run a new earthing wire to the outside, where I soldered it to a brass grounding spike.

I made the box section rack big enough to house all of my equipment and rigs including my PC tower.

It fits nice and snug inside a corner alcove wear I can operate the various rigs and bands nice and comfortably with ease.

The new layout is more spacious and user friendly than the previous shack set up and better still, the YL likes it!

I took a few pictures showing the new radio shack layout with my home brew rack housing my YAESU powered station.
View of the Shack in twilight operations
Close up view showing the sturdy construction of box section tube joined together using the MIG welding process.

Now that's all sorted, its time to make some coffee and QSOs. 73

VK2GWK Worked on 15M Long Path - video

2011-10-24T11:39:00.004+01:00

Up early as usual and listening around 21.290MHz this morning, I heard a strong signal coming out of Australia. It was coming in at my station at around 5/7 to 8 from the Ham station of VK2GWK, operator - Henk.

VK2GWK - Henk was calling CQ DX so I gave Henk a quick call back making it back around the globe into Henks QTH which is nearby to Sydney, making another great DX qso.

During the contact I was running my FT1000mp MK-V hooked up to the CW-80 wire antenna. Henk was beaming long path to my QTH coming in loud and clear as seen in the video.

After our qso I checked VK2GWK on QRZ.com and found a neat link by Henk where I downloaded his QSL card for our recent QSO. Great idea Henk! Tnx & 73.

ZL2WL - New Zealand

2011-10-16T08:40:00.004+01:00

I continued the early breakfast DX by working into New Zealand. I tried my luck on my Carolina Windom this time and got my signal heard at 5/1 when I made QSO with Wayne - ZL2WL. Once again the good old 20m band performed its magic and another good DX QSO enters my log. 73

Early Morning Long Path To VK

2011-10-16T07:52:00.002+01:00

Another advantage of having a 7 month old baby Daughter is that I am up and awake very early. Lucky for me I can also catch up with some long path DXing on my Ham Radio Station.

This morning at 06.25 utc I was tuning around the 20m band when I heard Neil - VK2IZI coming through with a 5/9 signal out of Australia. The exact frequency where I caught up with Neil was 14.178MHz, I gave just one call using the Hustler 6BTV which was received long path by Neil 5/7. I was surprised the vertical was working so well for me, I did my usual comparison test whilst receiving Neil on my wire Carolina Windom, which was almost the same as the vertical. The wire RX the signal from VK at the same 5/7 to 5/9 strength, so I decided to stick with the vertical during our QSO.

Neil - VK2IZI is located in the Blue Mountains near by to Sydney and was running an Optibeam antenna system. The Optibeam was working very well for him. Yesterday morning I heard lots of Japanese Stations coming through up and down the HF bands, its great catching the bands so lively during the early morning openings.

Well that's it for now, guess its time to change a nappy and get get some more coffee, happy DXing catch you on the long path!

Surface pressure forecast

2011-10-06T23:21:00.005+01:00

Strong winds have continued throughout the day so I decided to receive some forecast information from Northwood RN (London). I tuned my receiver to 4.608.09 MHz USB where I decoded a +20db signal using Radiocom 5.2 on my P.C as seen in the screenshot.

The surface pressure analysis received at my location shows tightly packed isobars across the UK indicating strong winds.
RX 2

RX 1

Happy Birthday Sputnik

2011-10-04T00:01:00.000+01:00

It's 54 years since the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik. Launched on Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik paved the way for satellite communications which has been enjoyed by many radio amateurs around the world.

Named after the Russian word for satellite Sputnik was 22 inches in diameter and thanks to heavy batteries weighed 184 pounds. According to Wikipedia:

"The satellite had a one-watt, 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) radio transmitting unit inside, developed by V. I. Lappo from NII-885, that worked on two frequencies, 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. Signals on the first frequency were transmitted in 0.3 sec pulses (under normal temperature and pressure conditions on-board), with pauses of the same duration filled by pulses on the second frequency. Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere."

The satellite travelled at a whopping 18,000 miles an hour. Its elliptical orbit varied from between 584 miles and 143 miles from the Earth which it circled once every hour and 36 minutes.

As well as technologically paving the way for satellite communications Sputnik heralded an important era of the Cold War, heightening tensions between the US and Russia which would take many years to thaw. Now on the ham bands Russians and Americans share many happy QSOs and rather than being a signal of suspicion and discontent Sputnik is seen as a key point in Ham Radio history.

So, Happy Birthday Sputnik! I hope to be making some satellite QSOs in your honour to celebrate!

Martinique - FM5BH on 17 Meters

2011-09-14T21:32:00.005+01:00

I am pleased to report that conditions are again quite favourable for some evening DX as I just worked into Martinique on the 17 meter band.I was scanning the 17m band on my MARK-V Field and CW-80 antenna when I stumbled across FM5BH booming in with a 5/9 signal on 18.154MHz.
His signal sounded great as he worked through a nice pile up of callers, I got through after a couple of calls receiving a 5/9 report back.

I am spending more and more of my radio time on 17m these days and enjoying the band very much. I am pleasantly surprised how well the Carolina Windom works on that particular band especially into South America and the Caribbean. I hope to work some more DX stations soon and maybe catch a few on video. 73.

Operating The HF Night Shift

2011-09-12T21:32:00.003+01:00

Over the last month I have been mainly active in the late evening time where I have spent my radio time mainly on the HF bands. I have managed some nice QSOs with reasonable conditions using the Ft1000MP MK-V, Carolina Windom and a mug of hot coffee.

As usual a big thanks goes out to all stations worked. I decided to list a few of my favorites including the bands that I operated on.

17m - HZ1BL Saudi Arabia & FG5DH Guadeloupe.
20m - WA1P U.S.A. & CO6LC Cuba.
40m - OJ0OUR Market Reef, LU1IV Argentina & CM8AKD Cuba,

I wonder where and who I will be getting in the September log? 73 happy DX!

First SSTV Image Received From ARISSat-1

2011-08-14T22:15:00.004+01:00

I have been waiting for the new bird ARISSat-1 to pass by and tonight at 21.03 UTC I was in luck. Above is my first ARISSat-1 SSTV image received at my home QTH using a Yaesu FT-847 and Dual Yagi Satellite antenna array. I am looking forward to some closer passes and better reception over the next few days.

Early Start For Short Wave Listening

2011-08-14T20:41:00.003+01:00

During the weekends and holidays the family and I have been spending plenty of time up at the old QTH (the shack on the hill) taking in the fresh Moorland air. When we bought our new family home we decided to keep our old Moorland QTH which comprises of a luxury 40ft Static Caravan up at 1000ft asl on the edge of the Pennines here in Yorkshire. Its a great place to hangout with a wonderful view!

The old shack is still working as well as ever with my trusty FT-767, FT-890, FT-2600m and VR5000. The rigs are all connected to my original antennas. The antennas are also holding up exceptionally well. I have still got my home made IO-10EL Sat beam up as well as the 20m Delta loop, Hustler 6BTV, X200 Co-linear and 10m vertical.

Our lovely baby daughter is starting to take an interest in the hobby of amateur radio, She has the makings of becoming a keen SWL.

Hope to work some of you from both of my shacks/QTH during the next couple of weeks as I enjoy my summer holidays. 73 have fun!

NOAA 18 - Image of todays weather (UK & Europe)

2011-08-14T15:25:00.005+01:00

Whilst surfing the HF bands on a lazy Sunday afternoon I had my satellite tracking equipment on standby ready to receive and decode NOAA - 18.
Here is the received transmission from NOAA-18 received at 3.15 pm (local) at the QTH of 2E0HTS - Yorkshire, U.K.
If your intrested in recieving signals from NOAA Satellites check out NOAA SAT Status for frequencies and up to date information.

Latest YouTube Video: Operating From The Ham Radio Shack of 2E0HTS

2011-07-03T13:51:00.003+01:00

The video above was filmed in my recently finished radio shack, I hope you enjoy it 73!

Video Information
Stations worked in the video are: LU1IV - Argentina & GI1CET/p - Northern Ireland.

Bands worked in video: 40m, 2m, & 70Cms

Equipment used; Yaesu FT1000MP MARK-V & Yaesu FT-847. Antennas used in these contacts were 5 element Yagi (2m) 15 Element X Yagi (70cms) and a Carolina Windom wire antenna (80m - 10m) 131 feet in length.

Thanks for watching and if you would like to see more amateur radio videos from my self, check out the 2E0HTS YouTube Channel

Bedtime Stories

2011-06-23T21:45:00.003+01:00

I arrived home from work earlier to find my Daughter investigating this months edition of my favourite amateur radio magazine - RadCom.

It looks like she is following the "HTS" path hi hi, perhaps I could read some of the articles like SOTA, IOTA and tell tales of DXpeditions far far away during bedtime stories.

Strong Winds Take Out Carolina Windom

2011-05-23T21:29:00.004+01:00

The wind has been battering the trees at the bottom of the garden for the last two days which is a pain in the rear as I use the nice tall trees to support the far end of my wire antenna, you can imagine the rest.
I had been watching my Carolina Windom wire slap about until eventually it fell to the ground. In between a rain shower I decided to brave the gusts and managed to get a next piece of rope up into the tree and wound the wire back up in the air.
It looked good, nice and straight with an extra 10 feet of height after a lucky throw that I pulled off earlier.
I ended the evening the way radio amateurs like best as I made a very nice QSO on 17 Meters into Tokyo Japan with Yoshi - JA1OJJ. JA1OJJ signal was a 5/8 solid copy on my Ft1000mp MKV, Yoshi give me a 5/6 report on the tree swaying Carolina Windom (CW-80).

When I awoke this morning the CW-80 was still in the air but not for long! The dreaded wind took it out again sometime today, as you can see in the picture above I wont be active on 17 Meters tonight.

Ham Radio Station Reaches Completion

2011-05-09T21:42:00.003+01:00

Since moving in to the new QTH I have been regularly tweaking my amateur radio set up and testing out various equipment configurations. I have now finally got my station working effectively and have settled for a lay out that I can comfortably work with, which can be seen pictured below.

Equipment Used
YAESU FT - 857
YAESU FT - 847
YAESU FT – 1000MP MARK – V
YAESU SP – 102 Ext Speaker
YAESU FP – 1030A Power Supply Unit
YAESU G – 5500 ELEVATION – AZIMUTH DUAL CONTROLLER
YAESU MD – 1 Mic
YAESU MH – 36 DTMF Mic
HEIL GOLDLINE GM5 Mic
Labtec Head set & Mic
RIGblaster plus Interface
MFJ – 962D VERSA TUNER III
1942 CW Key

22” Monitor and Dual Core 3800, 2Gig Ram - P.C, Running XP Pro.
Software Used
Winlog32
RadioCom 5.2
Satscape
MMSSTV
PSK31 Deluxe
DX Atlas
Ham Radio Deluxe

Decorative Equipment
I also enjoy making models in my spare time usually out of metal. In my shack you can see a couple of models I made for my collection.
Supporting my HEIL Microphone, I made a mast like structure with a PTT switch fitted neatly to the side.
I also have made a few mini towers that have manually rotating miniature scale Yagi beams on top.
My favorite model radio mast and antenna can be seen on top of my SP – 102 Loud Speaker. My other model tower is up at the holiday Shack along with the rest of my equipment.

Well that’s all for now, I look forward to working some of you somewhere on the bands from my fully tried and tested ham radio shack!

Good DX & 73 thanks for the visit.

Great Path to Japan

2011-05-08T14:27:00.004+01:00

Earlier this afternoon whilst receiving NOAA weather images on my FT-847, I was listening to 17m on my FT-1000MKV mp hooked up to the Carolina windom, when I heard Mega - JA3EGZ. I listened for a while as he worked a nice steady flow of Stations located across the globe.

After about 30 minutes once the initial pile up had diminished I heard him with a signal strength of 5/7 calling "QRZ." It was then when I gave just one Call and to my great satisfaction was heard by Mega - JA3EGZ.

JA3EGZ gave me a 5/5 signal report during our qso, I am very pleased with the CW-80 antennas performance on 17m as well as from 80m right through to 10m.The Carolina Windom is a great wire antenna when installed well, with the 6 band Vertical as a second choice, this new QTH is working well on the HF bands and seems to have a great path to JA.

Happy DXing, 73!

2R0HTS - Special Prefix Celebrating The Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T01:28:00.004+01:00

I applied for a Royal wedding special Prefix which is "R" and have been celebrating the Royal Wedding on the airwaves working lots of stations and getting spotted on the DX cluster a couple of times in the process. The best DX I have worked with the 2R Royal call so far is VO1JNS on 80M. Thanks to all other stations I worked and catch me throughout the week airing the Royal Call sign 2R0HTS..73!

Flight Engineers Cady Coleman, Paolo Nespoli and Ron Garan send a congratulatory message to the royal couple on behalf of the Expedition 27 crew.

2011-04-29T14:00:00.000+01:00

Final Antenna Installations Completed!

2011-04-26T16:19:00.009+01:00

I am halfway through my two week break from work and I have had a great week so far spending lots of quality time with Louise, Dudley and our six and a half week baby Daughter. As you know from my last post I have also been busy in between times trying to get my antennas set up and working more effectively.

I finished off my antenna installations by putting up a second mast to support a Tri-band vertical covering 6m, 2m & 70cms. The shorter leg of my Carolina Windom is also attached to the same mast and terminates at my out building. You can also see Dudley keeping an eye on what's going on in the doorway.

My HF antennas are simple but effective, in the background is my Hustler 6BTV and the previously posted homemade radial kit. Hanging at about 30 feet is my Carolina CW-80 wire antenna which is working really well on all of the HF bands, so is the 6BTV. Its nice having both antennas fed into the FT1000mkv mp as I can easily switch between the two as and when required, making the most of the varied angles and radiation patterns that change throughout the day.

Here is a different angle showing my Sat array, CW-80 wire and Tri-Band Vertical nice and elevated up above the QTH.
Here is a close up of my Satellite Antennas comprising of a 16 element X beam, a 5 element Yagi and a G-5500 Rotator. This antenna set up is now putting an excellent signal into both FM and SSB Satellites. I changed the 145MHz Yagi back to Horizontal polarity allowing me to also use the sat set up whilst working on 144MHz SSB now that it is up high clear of obstructions.

Listen out for me via the birds and on the HF bands over the next few days as I test out the completed final Antenna installation, that is until my next antenna idea. 73 for now.

Raising The 145/435MHz Satellite Array

2011-04-23T22:27:00.006+01:00

Earlier today we had a visit from a fellow Radio Amateur and friend Adam - 2E0LXA. I had asked Adam if he wouldn't mind lending a hand to fit my 145/435MHz Satellite Array up on the house. Adam installs antennas as well as supplies various radio communication equipment for a living so I was extremely fortunate to have his expertise on board and the antenna array went up a treat! Thanks Adam!

The 435MHz X beam and 5 Element 145MHZ Yagi dismantled from its tripod and fixed to a 15ft ally mast

Adam 2E0LXA up the ladder drilling the brick work to fix the home made "very heavy" mast brackets.

The result - 25 ft above the ground my 145/435MHz Satellite Array which is now working really well now it is clear of all obstructions. The tripod used previously was great but the house blocked signals from the south that were below 45° elevation which was a little annoying when the Sats passed by on that particular path. A problem no longer thanks to Adam and his ladders!

I borrowed Adams ladders for the rest of the day and also managed to fit my 6/2/70 Triband vertical up high on a second set of brackets I made. I attached a leg of my Carolina Windom off of the Triband vertical which now has also gained in height.

The remainder of my day was spent with the Family who are doing very well indeed seen below checking out the motor Cycles. I'll get some snaps of my Triband Vertical Antenna and post them tomorrow.

Happy Easter All, 73.

Testing Out The New Satellite Antenna

2011-03-21T21:06:00.003Z

Here is a quick video of the latest satellite gear in action. The first Call I made is through SO-50 on FM, followed by 3 QSO using SSB via VO-52 with SQ9MES - IW4BIF - EA6SA.

Thanks for all the comments regarding this project, as you can hear in the video I am getting my signal into the satellites quite well with the Ft-847 and Tripod array. I hope to work some more of you via the "birds" as its always a pleasure to catch some of you guys that actually follow my crazy antics. 73 Happy DXing and SAT Chasing.

Vertical Polarisation Is the Icing On The Cake

2011-03-20T21:16:00.003Z

I have been having some good results with the latest Satellite array but still found AO-51 a little difficult at times due to the regular European pile up hi hi.

However, after receiving an interesting comment from Tom - F8COD regarding the Sat antenna set up, I decided to act on Toms advice and have a tinker around with the 145 Yagi.

Tom - F8COD advised me to try vertical polarisation instead of horizontal on my Yagi antenna after noting better performance on his own satellite array.

I set the 145MHz Yagi vertical and since then I have been hitting AO-51 with ease. I have also had some excellent QSO's via AO-7 and VO-52 on SSB. I am really impressed how well the Tripod mounted system is working. Merci Beaucoup Tom! Catch you via the "birds" soon!

Weather View From NOAA 15 Received Sunday 20th March at 16.50 UTC - Over N.W Europe

2011-03-20T17:19:00.005Z

Video Tour Of Simon's New Shack And Antenna Systems

2011-03-14T19:52:00.002Z

Earlier I got lucky in between a nappy change when I worked TJ3FC - Cameroon on 12 meters using my Carolina Windom antenna and FT-1000MKV. I Hope you like my second station its slowly taking shape and getting nearer the finishing stages. I shall hopefully finish off soon by fixing the SAT antenna and Tri-band Vertical up on the house.

Its a Girl!

2011-03-14T07:59:00.003Z

Finally after been two weeks late I am proud to be able to tell you all, we were blessed with a beautiful Daughter.

She is only 3 days old and is already practising her CQ call as seen in the picture. We were up early again listening around the bands for some rare DX All the best from a very Happy Ham Family. 73

Latest Home Brew Metal Work Project - Tripod Mount For Satellite Yagis

2011-02-25T09:20:00.005Z

This week I continued with my latest radio project which was to be some kind of rotator mount that I could use to set up my latest Satellite array.

As mentioned in my last post, I am planning on fixing the new Satellite antenna high up on the house. However, before I can begin working on that installation I want to build everything up at ground level and give it all a good testing out, ironing out any problems there may be on the way.

With all this in mind I began to search through my scrap material pile that I have stashed away for a rainy day etc.
I soon came across some heavy duty pipe and found some screwed/threaded bar. Then with a bit of sawing, grinding and hammering, I began fabricating the scrap pipe and metal which I finished off by welding it all up into a fairly substantial tripod.

The finished tripod can easily be dismantled and folds up nice and neat allowing it to be transported without any hassle.

I finished the job by painting it black, I then fitted the Yaesu GS5500 rotator to the top of it. (as seen below in the two images).

Next, I was ready to install the two Satellite Yagi antennas.

I fitted the 435 X beam and the 145 Yagi with a short ally pole keeping the weight down to a minimum.

The video below shows the Satellite array up and running working well at ground level.

I have already made a couple of successful QSO via VO-52 as well as hearing AO-51 nice and loud last night. The new setup will be even better once I complete the full installation on the house.

Hope to hear you via the SATs soon!

More Antenna Instalations

2011-02-21T08:48:00.010Z

I awoke nice and early on Sunday morning, walked the dog and then listened to the local RSGB news broadcast as usual.

Straight after the weekly news broadcast, I headed outside and began installing a CAROLINA WINDOM 80 (133FT offset dipole).

The CW-80 tunes nicely from 80M to 10M and after listening around the bands for a short while yesterday, it seems to be performing well on 40M, 17M & 15M. I will be testing it further on the rest of the bands and recording the results.

The CW-80 is suspended between the House and a reasonably tall tree at the far end of the garden, as seen in the picture.
I shall be fixing the CW-80 higher up once I install a mast on the rear of the house which will help elevate the wire high above the roof.

The next job was to begin work on the Satellite antenna array that I am planing to use. I began by asembling the two antenna systems that I will be using, a 5 element 145MHz Yagi and a 30 element 435MHz X beam. I built both antennas up to a stage that can be completed when I am ready to finish the installation.

The next stage was to get the Yaesu GS5500 Azimuth/Elevation rotator set up. I wanted to check it and get it ready to be at hand for when I am at the construction/assembly stage.

Now, the not so fun part! Yes this was the part when the hard work started.

I began runing 2 control cables and 2 coaxial feeders from out in the garden to back inside the shack. (located at the opposite side of the house = Sods Law!).
I ended up spending a few hours doing the job of running the cables making sure that all cables were as neatly installed as possible. Finally I reached the back of my Yaesu FT-847 and GS5500 Azi/Ele Control unit, there I tinned/soldered the wires and connected them up ready for the outdoor work.

I finished yesterdays antenna antics off by identifing which coaxial feeder was which, I did this simply by using a electronic test multi meter held across the SO plug connector at the shack end of the coax . At the other end I attached an old antenna socket shorted out with a croc link lead to the end of one feeder that I had suspected to be for 145MHz.

All I need now is some more spare time and a pair of good ladders so I can fit the Satellite antennas up on the house with some nice heavy brackets that I made a while ago.

Home Made Radials & Connecting Bracket

2011-02-19T19:03:00.004Z

Despite another weekend of poor WX, I was determined to get started with the radial installation that I have been working on for use with my Hustler 6BTV antenna.

I decided to start with radials cut for 20M and wanted each radial to be 1/2 wave lengths.

I set about the second stage of the task by measuring four lengths of 2mm diameter wire and cutting them all the same. The four wire radial lengths were all cut at 34ft. I soldered small lugs on each end of the four wire radials, which I screwed to the brass stakes and brass mounting bracket (as seen in the previous post). To do this I used stainless steel self tapping screws.

The image below shows the mounting bracket installed. It is located directly beneath the Hustler 6BTV feed point.

The radial bracket is clamped around the ground stake as well as having a seperate short connecting wire fed directly from the antenna to the brass radial bracket.

I will be adding more radials for 40m and other bands next time I get a couple of hours spare. Until then, I am happy with the first four radials cut for 20m.
They seem to be doing a good job so far during a quick test just now, I am getting through to plenty of stations all over EU and USA without to much trouble on 50W.

I'm looking forward to more messing about with my antennas and plenty more posting on here. Thanks for the visit. 73

Home Brew Radial Grounding stakes

2011-02-11T20:12:00.003Z

Since I installed the Hustler 6BTV at my new QTH I have been planning on making some radials similar to the ones I have attached to my other 6BTV which is up at the Moor top QTH. The original hustler has done me proud for over six years with its ground mount and simple wire radials.

I really like the performance of these antennas as well as there durability, that's why I had to go for a second one!

I got hold of some brass sheet which I cut into strips about 40mm wide. I then cut one end of each strip into a sharp V shape. The next job was to fold the opposite end over and tap it flush to provide extra strength when hammering the stake into the ground. I then folded the complete strip into the final V shaped angle approximately 45º creating a nice brass ground stake. The finishing touch was to drill a small hole to attach a soldered lug/wire radial which can be hammered beneath the ground surface in the garden.

The second part of the job involved cutting some more brass sheet which I formed into a circular shape to be fixed at the base beneath the hustler. I drilled lots of holes in the brass grounding plate allowing me to screw many radials into it. I also formed some 8mm round bar into a U clamp which I fit to the Brass grounding plate ready to attach to the 6BTV antenna.

WX permitting I plan to have a play with my new radial kit sometime over the weekend, I have a roll of 2.5mm wire, a hammer and tape measure ready on stand by. I will try get some pictures for you to see the result. Till next time 73 have a good weekend.

SOTA S5/KA-018 QSO with S56CW/P

2011-02-10T22:50:00.010Z

Earlier this week whilst out and about in my mobile I was lucky enough to hear one of my radio pals coming through 5/9 + on 14.216MHz.

I gave a call back to Marko - S56CW, who was working portable from SOTA S5/KA-018 (a summit located on top of a Slovenian Mountain).

Marko was running bare foot 5W QRP, using his Yaesu FT-817 which can be seen working superbly in the video below that Marko made from the Mountain top.

I have had the pleasure of working Marko from many locations whilst he has been out and about /P, from my mobile Yaesu FT-100 & Maldol HFC20 antenna. This particular summit was putting out a very nice signal from His SOTA station.

Until the next time, thanks goes to S56CW - Marko for the video and pictures. Hope that you guys enjoyed the video.

New Shack is on the AIR

2011-01-22T19:04:00.004Z

We have been in our new house for a month now and at last I am starting to get through some of the decorating and DIY that is required when moving in. With less than 5 weeks to go before "baby HTS" will be with us you can imagine the QTH is undergoing a serious facelift with the smell of paint becoming the normal everyday occurrence.

Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to temporally install 3 antennas allowing me to operate on HF and also hear local activity on VHF. The 3 antennas that I have erected for now, are a 135ft dipole with ladder feeder for 80m, a Hustler 6BTV (6 band trapped vertical) 80-10m and a tri-band vertical covering 50MHz, 145MHz and 433MHz.

As of yet the satellite antennas and new GS5500 azimuth/ele rotator set-up, is still collecting dust as a nice long ladder or scaffold tower will be required to go ahead with the satellite install. For now working the Sats will have to be when I am at my Portable shack on the Moor.
As you can see in the background of the image below which shows the 6BTV, the Moor is less than a mile away as the new QTH is situated on the edge of the lovely moorland.

The Hustler 6BTV HF Vertical antenna is ground mounted in the same way as my other 6BTV at the now portable shack. Here at the new garden The SWR is 1.1 without the ATU from 40m right through to 10M. The vertical tunes 80m up well with the ATU in line and has a very low noise level on receive. So far I have worked across the pond to the US on it with ease, I also heard some nice VK and ZL signals coming very well, as well as hearing signals out of HS land.
The tri-band antenna works reasonable in its very temporary position but I am sure it will be greatly improved once it is up high on the top of the house.
Louise will also be a bit happier hi hi. I dont know what she means when she says "it looks stupid there" Lou knows it wont be there for long!

The main problem I can foresee is how to evict her from my favorite seat in the house? As you can see she is not in a hurry to give up the shack seat just yet. If I do some more decorating maybe than she will move over and let me get to my lovely radios h.i
For those of you that were wondering about Dudley the DX Hound, here Dudley can be seen getting himself acquainted with the living room carpet which lets face it looks like a great spot to catch some Zs if your a four legged type. The HTS family is settling in very well indeed, however if the decorating gets a bit much a quick drive up the road takes us back to the Moor Top Holiday Shack where my other Hustler Vertical, CW160, Delta loop, IO-10 Sat beam and Rigs are awaiting me.

73 hope to catch you from the new QTH or portable Shack on the hill.

2E0HTS Appears in RadCom

2011-01-22T18:22:00.005Z

Next months (February) RadCom magazine arrived earlier this week courtesy of the RSGB.

Inside the radio magazine I found myself appearing in the IOTA 2010 article which was a very nice surprise indeed.
The picture inside RadCom shows myself in action during the IOTA 2010 contest which I enjoyed very much.

The picture was taken at my Moor Top shack which is now my portable location as I have recently set up a second shack at our new family home.

You can see my new table which is housing the FT1000mp and FT847 on the image above. The image below shows the page in Radcom where you can find 2E0HTS - IOTA Contest Station on page 26.

The editor of the RadCom magazine has commented on my home made microphone mini tower which reads "Even the microphone is on a tower, but does it rotate?"
The answer of course is yes! As long as you don't mind turning the mic by hand only, as of yet I haven't fit a motor h.i
But you never know what I might get up to in my workshop next time I'm tinkering around!

Happy Birthday CQD

2011-01-07T13:26:00.000Z

CQD was the international distress code that predated SOS. It celebrates its 107th birthday today as on January the 7th 1904 it was established by the Marconi Company as the first international radio distress signal.
CQD is transmitted in Morse Code as — · — · — — · — — · · and although it is widely believed to be an acronym for ‘Come Quick Danger’ that is not the case. It is a general CQ call followed by D meaning distress.
Before CQD was established ships would just go missing at sea, when radios were introduced onto ships they initially used CQ as a general call, however the introduction of a distress signal was widely accepted to be a good idea.
Sadly CQD was short-lived as it was replaced by “SOS” at the Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference of 1906 as three dots, three dashes and three dots could not be misinterpreted by anyone hearing it unlike CQD .
Still, happy birthday to CQD a ground-breaking use of Morse Code and radio, the introduction of which no doubt saved lives.

New Year Brings New QTH

2011-01-04T12:51:00.004Z

Hi All, I trust you are all having a great start to the New Year so far!

For myself this has been a very busy time. We have moved into our new QTH that I mentioned a few posts back.

So far the progress with the decorating is going well and I have temporarily installed a Hustler 6BTV and 135 foot Dipole allowing me to monitor HF in between the brush strokes and paper hanging. Louise (M3TLL) has also been busy propagating the baby which will be arriving in around 8 weeks time.

I will be shortly posting pictures of my new QTH/Shack, but for now this is a quick update and opportunity to say Happy New Year to you all and I shall be back online at the new QTH as soon as the new internet connection is switched back on.

73 watch this space for more info on the latest escapades.

Merry Christmas from Ham Radio Blogspot

2010-12-17T11:28:00.000Z

A YLs Guide to Christmas Gifts by M3TLL - Louise

2010-12-08T08:29:00.003Z

Living with a radio ham means you instantly have ideas for Christmas gift buying. If you want to buy your radio amateur a hobby themed gift here are a few ideas you might want to consider.

Ideas for Stocking Fillers

* Anything with his callsign on it
I can't begin to describe the joy on 2E0HTS's face when he received through the post from an Slovenian ham friend (S57CW/S57ORG) a miniature Slovenian registration plate with his callsign on it. I can only assume the same would apply for any merchandise with his callsign written on it. A mug, a tshirt, a woolly hat for his DXpeditions. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

* Earphones
If, like me, occasionally you want some peace and quiet from the endless CQ calls and other amateurs tuning up then why not invest in a good pair of earphones. He'll think you care, you'll be able to watch telly in peace! Happy Christmas!

* Stationery
A radio ham always needs something to scrawl on and with. I learnt early on not to leave any important documents within a 10 metre radius of the ham shack as they're likely to come back with random callsigns, names and signal reports written on. Why not buy him some nice writing equipment of his very own to show him you care this festive season?

Big presents

If you're wanting to spend a bit more on the ham in your life then the list is simple: radio, antenna, atu, power supply, microphone. Last year 2E0HTS was lucky enough to get an FT-817 from Santa. If you are going to buy something like this make sure you either buy new from a supplier like Waters and Stanton. Or, if you are wanting to go second hand ask another (trustworthy) radio ham to help you choose something. Some second hand equipment can be used and abused and the last thing you want on Christmas day is a radio ham with a present that doesn't work.

These are just a few ideas you might want to consider. Maybe some readers have other ideas? If so pop them in the comments below (I still don't know what to get 2E0HTS this year!!)

Louise M3TLL

Base, Mobile & Portable Station eQSL Confirmed QSOs

2010-11-30T21:21:00.018Z

Whilst sending out some recent eQSL cards I got curious and decided to check how many Countries I had actually worked/logged with eQSL. I was interested to see just how well I was doing from my mobile whilst out and about away from the shack. The eQSL /M cards can be few and far between as I have to depend on the other stations that I work whilst mobile to send their eQSL as I stick to driving rather than logging. So with this in mind you can imagine that plenty of nice QSOs/DX doesn’t always get confirmed by eQSL.

Thanks to all you guys that are keen eQSLers, I still managed to compile a good start to a hopeful longer list to come of Countries worked and confirmed. I also added Countries I have worked whilst mobile in Scotland and Wales.

I use a different eQSL card when operating from the mobile, the shack or any portable stations which can be seen heading each section.

Please don't worry radio amateurs from Wales, I will try much harder to make more QSO next time I visit ;-)

Mobile in England Operating as 2E0HTS/M

BALEARIC ISL.

BELGIUM

BRAZIL

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CYPRUS UK SOV. AREA

CZECH REP.

ENGLAND

FAROE ISL.

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

HUNGARY

ISRAEL

ITALY

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MADEIRA ISL.

MALTA

NETHERLANDS

POLAND

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (ASIATIC)

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

TURKEY

UKRAINE

USA

Mobile In Scotland Operating as 2M0HTS/M

ENGLAND

GERMANY

ITALY

NETHERLANDS

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

UKRAINE

Mobile In Wales Operating as 2W0HTS/M

UKRAINE

Portable In The UK Operating as 2E0HTS/P

BELGIUM

ENGLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

KAZAKHSTAN

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SPAIN

SWEDEN

WALES

QTH/Base Station Operating as 2E0HTS

ALGERIA

ARGENTINA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

AZORES

BALEARIC ISL.

BELARUS

BELGIUM

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

BRAZIL

CANADA

CANARY ISL.

CAPE VERDE

CEUTA AND MELILLA

COLOMBIA

CRETE

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CZECH REP.

DENMARK

DOMINICA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ECUADOR

ENGLAND

ESTONIA

FALKLAND ISL.

FINLAND

FRANCE

GABON

GERMANY

GREECE

GUADELOUPE

GUERNSEY (BAILIWICK OF)

HONDURAS

HUNGARY

INDONESIA

IRELAND

ISLE OF MAN

ISRAEL

ITALY

JERSEY (CHANNEL ISL.)

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LIBYA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MACEDONIA FORMER YUGOSLAV REP

MADEIRA ISL.

MARTINIQUE

MOLDOVA

MONTENEGRO

MOROCCO

NETHERLANDS

NORTHERN IRELAND

NORWAY

OMAN

PARAGUAY

POLAND

PORTUGAL

PUERTO RICO

QATAR

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SAN MARINO

SARDINIA

SAUDI ARABIA

SCOTLAND

SENEGAL

SERBIA

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SOUTH AFRICA

SPAIN

ST. LUCIA

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

THAILAND

THE GAMBIA

UKRAINE

USA

VENEZUELA

WALES

I have worked a lot more countries and many great DX from the Mobile that unfortunately haven't yet been eQSL confirmed, but I am always hopeful h.i. In the meantime, I shall keep shouting from the mobile and the shack enjoying all QSOs on the way. 73

Latest Upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery

2010-11-21T20:18:00.009Z

I spent most of this afternoon on my computer logged on to the eQSL website confirming and downloading the latest batch of eQSL cards, which I then upload to my other blog - 2E0HTS QSL Gallery .
I have been uploading eQSL cards that I receive from both Hams and SWLs to the site for a couple of years now. There you can find eQSL cards displayed that I have received dating from early 2004 to present day. If you have worked or heard my station active and have sent me a eQSL, it will be there somewhere.

Follow the older posts link found at the bottom of the page to find earlier eQSL cards I uploaded.

For the latest upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery, I decided to put the received eQSL cards into categorised headings which slightly helps to organise things when dealing with a lot of uploading. In this case I had a back log of 131 eQSL cards to get through.

The new simplified Headings that I will be using from now are as follows:

2E0HTS HF Bands eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts

2E0HTS (2W0 & 2M0) Mobile & Portable eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts

2E0HTS VHF UHF & Satellite eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts

2E0HTS Digital Modes eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts

I recieved some great EQSL cards in the latest batch, here are a couple of my favourite ones amongst the many. Thanks goes to all of the senders.

I hope to catch some of you somewhere on the Bands soon and get all of your eQSL cards up on my site. Happy DX, 73 and Thanks for passing by.

20M Sked With S57ORG - Marko

2010-11-08T17:35:00.002Z

Video of QSO between S57ORG and myself at Marko - S57ORG portable location in Slovenia on Sunday 7th November

Thank You Very Much for this Video Marko, its great to hear myself sounding nice and loud in Slovenia. 73 Hope to catch you again on HF and the Satellite Bands.

NOAA 19 Over The UK Sunday 7th November 12.45 utc

2010-11-07T12:56:00.000Z

HO-68 Mode V/U (J) FM Voice Repeater

2010-11-07T08:14:00.001Z

I continued chasing the Satellites yesterday and managed to get into HO-68 before I called it a day. I caught the HO-68 pass on video which can be seen below. Enjoy!

During this pass HO-68 is operating in FM mode. Contact is made with SW6KRV, UT3NW & ES5QA whilst the Satellite is at a distance of around 750 miles from the Station of 2E0HTS.

AO-7, VO-52 & AO-51

2010-11-06T16:30:00.006Z

In between cleaning my motor cycles, I have spent today in and out of the shack as I have been closely monitoring the various Satellite passes over my QTH.

I started the day early making QSO via the AO-7 Satellite at 08.44 utc with three stations from Europe - 9A2EY, EA1BYC and ON5NY.

The next "Bird" I worked via was VO-52, where I made QSO with OZ2SAT & DL7UHF at around 10.32 utc.

I then tried my luck again at 16.11 utc where I got into AO-51 which is an FM Satellite which always proves a bit more difficult than the SSB Sats that I worked through earlier. Despite the European pile up and only one station working at a time via the FM transponder, I still managed to work S57ORG who was quickly followed by ES5QA. I heard many other European Ops calling through the bird during the pass, as usual it was chaotic but still lots of fun.

To work the Satellites, I am still using my reliable home brewed IO-10 dual band Sat yagi with its 30º fixed elevation (seen on my QRZ page & this blog).

I have big plans for next spring when I shall hopefully set up my recently acquired Oscar 435 30 Element X beam and 145 Yagi which will be controlled by a GS5500 Azi/Ele rotator (seen in the picture below). I will still be keeping my IO-10 El set up at this QTH as we are in the process of obtaining a second QTH. There I shall be installing some nice/big antennas for both Satellite and HF work. The Sat antenna pictured above is a sneak preview of some of the new equipment & antennas that I have been putting together recently for my new/second shack. Fortunately for me I have more HF antennas on standby waiting to be erected at the other QTH next spring. I am looking forward to posting more detail regarding this in the near future but for now you will have to imagine what I will be up to hi hi.(Besides changing nappies and being a Dad!)

NOAA-19 Weather Watching

2010-11-06T13:09:00.003Z

Today's weather Satellite Image courtesy of NOAA-19, decoded by 2E0HTS using Radiocom 5.2 software.

The UK can be just about seen in the centre of the decoded image. Yorkshire (my QTH) can be seen quite clearly with little cloud cover especially at the coast. Spurn point in Humber Estuary can easily be seen when you zoom in on the image.

Fellow Yorkshire folks - Enjoy the Sunshine!

The 2010 CQ World Wide Contest

2010-10-31T23:04:00.004Z

Once again the Bands have become a mass of squawks and rumbles as Radio amateurs around the World battle it out across the HF bands trying to work as many SSB phone contacts amongst the racket of zones and signal reports. This is of course the very popular annual CQ WW Contest.

The main objective of the CQ WW Contest is for radio amateurs around the world to contact other amateurs in as many zones and countries as possible within 48 hrs. The World is divided into a total of 40 Zones. The Bands used during the contest are all bands, from 1.8MHz through to 28MHz, except for WARC bands.

I enjoy this Contest very much as it coincides with the anniversary of when Louise (M3TLL) and I first dated, Louise lets me play radio every year during our special weekend, as long as I pamper to her every need in between which is easily achievable hi hi.

During this year’s CQ WW Contest, I don’t believe that radio conditions were as good as previous years. I did not hear the volume of regular DX stations that I am used to hearing. I also noticed the higher end of the HF bands closing down completely in the early evening.

Despite poor conditions I was able to work some nice DX such as, Canada, USA , Kazakstan, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Senegal, U.S. Virgin Is and lots of Europe.
Despite my hard efforts which comprised of an FT1000mp MK-V and a CW160 & Hustler vertical antenna, I only managed 13 out of the 40 Zones before The Dog nearly left home. At this point, Louise was also considering chatting to the milk man. So with that in mind hi, I decided to call it a day a couple of hours shy of the finishing line which was 12 midnight local time.

Before I did, I managed to catch some Stations up and down the Bands on video (seen below) during the CQ WW Contest. Hope you enjoy watching the CQ WW video from my shack. 73

Todays NOAA 19 WX Satellite Image of N.Africa - Europe - Arctic Circle

2010-10-20T13:46:00.005+01:00

Image received at 12.30 utc
Below is a screen shot of my computer screen as signals are received from the NOAA -19 Satellite on 137.100 MHz(fm)
To do this I use my IO-10 Satellite beam coupled to the Yaesu FT-847. The signal is fed to my P.C via a soundblaster sound card to be decoded into the image seen above.

Shack to Shack

2010-10-12T23:15:00.006+01:00

I recently received the provisional Results from the IOTA 2010 Contest which took place back in July. I took part in this years IOTA Contest for the very first time really enjoying the whole experience and to my recent surprise doing quite well considering my low output power. I entered the Fixed, Single Operator, Unassisted, Single Sideband, 24hr, Low Power Section of the contest (a bit of a tongue twister to say the least). The shortened abbreviated version can be seen below with my score and position.

11 - 2E0HTS - EU005 - Great Britain - IOTA FIX SOU SSB 24H LP - 143 - 57 - 68913

Follow this link to see the full IOTA 2010 Provisional Results .

Other recent activity has been mainly on the HF bands especially 40M, 20M, 17M and 15M. Over the past week I have worked some nice DX using the FT1000mp MKV and recent CW160 antenna, the good propagation has provided some excellent openings on the higher end of the HF bands. On 15M, I have worked into Brazil - PY2DN & New Zealand - ZL4LP, On 20M I worked several stations from the USA, including - WX3B. On 40M Saudi Arabia - HZ1BL and the USA - N9NC as well as other USA stations were worked throughout the week. I picked a few of the stations out of the log, many thanks to all other Stations from near and far also worked throughout the week.

I have also been active via the HO-68 and VO-52 Satellites, where I managed a couple of nice little pile ups as I worked a few Stations out of Europe during one of the many passes. I also got into AO-7 for the first time which is another Satellite I am going to have to find more time to play around with.

The past three evenings has rekindled the fire for the 2M band as I have heard spectacular openings all over the band both on SSB and FM. I was able to work into Germany on 2M FM making QSO with DL1EBQ due to the Tropospheric Ducting that has been taking place. I have also made plenty of QSOs down into the South of the UK on both FM as well as SSB. The band has remained open this evening and looks like it will stay open until tomorrow. Check out theforecast and see for yourself.

And Finally The Big Story
2E0HTS is proud to announce that he is a Father to be, as Baby "hts" will be arriving early next year around the 25th of Feb. My lovely YL - M3TLL is doing a brilliant job so far and I will be starting He or She off with Ham radio as soon as there is a voice hi hi, watch out for an up and coming new baby ham. 73 from a happy 2E0HTS.

Nice openings into VP8 - Falkland Islands

2010-09-25T22:14:00.006+01:00

I recently added some more radio gear to my ever growing collection which comprises of a few more antenna's and a Ft-1000MP Mark-V to help bow the shack table some more.

I strung up a Carolina Windom 160 by Radio Works last weekend which joins my collection of home made delta loops, wires, beams and verticals. You can never have too many radios or antenna's hi hi.

Since the the CW160 was up I have made lots of great QSO,s on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m & 12m. I have yet to try it out on 160m, 30m & 10m but the results so far on the other bands have been very surprising.

The antenna is 265ft long and is suspending by trees in a more or less straight line and it is nice and stealth like not causing any complaints so far which always helps to keep things peaceful.

The new addition - Yaesu Ft1000MP MK-V fine tunes the antenna well using the onboard atu, the antenna is less than 2:1 at worst across all of the HF bands and is at 1:1 on 160m without the atu in its present configuration.

I've put good signals into K, VE, CO, 7V & CU on 18m using the CW160 and WX, K, TR, VO, VA, CO, & VP on 20m. VP also on 12m. On 40m & 80m the CW160 is working as expected putting out a big signal whilst receiving a very low noise level, I have heard plenty of JA coming in on both 40m & 80m at around 5/7 signals.

The highlight of this weeks radio activity from the shack has got to be working TR8CA - Gabon on 14MHz and best of all was VP8LP - Falkland Islands on 12M where I got to work bob for a second time at a distance of 8000 miles.

I got lucky again Saturday evening on 14MHz and managed to work VP8DLB also on the Falkland Islands. The picture below shows the MK-V receiving VP8DLB - Gary at 5/7 through the CW160 which at the time was the strongest performer out of my Hustler 6BTV and Delta loop which I kept switching between.

I am really enjoying some of the nice openings that have been happening of late with QSO's over very long distances becoming a daily occurrence, I have also worked a few nice openings into VK from the mobile again, whilst driving to work in the mornings.

Hope to catch some of you somewhere on the bands, thanks for passing by & best 73. Good DXing!

HI FI

2010-09-15T18:23:00.003+01:00

As well as Ham Radio I have had a history of playing music - DJing on local community broadcast stations. I was involved with a local station for over 15 years before I got my amateur radio licence, broadcasting live to about 250,000 listeners three times a week never missing a show.
So as you can imagine I have an extensive collection of Vinyl recordings. To sum it up, if I ever melted them down I would have enough plastic to manufacture 10,000 hand held microphones.

On a more serious note I try to spend the odd weekend playing some of my records and at the same time I have the PC interfaced to my sound system allowing me to convert the tracks to mp3.
I have had my "HI FI" equipment for over 20 years and it still sounds as solid as ever. It is connected to some PIONEER CS-777 speakers powered by a DENON PMA350 amplifier. I still have some 22" base boxes fitted with horns that I can "string up" if needed for venues etc.

I obviously don't listen to music when I am active on the bands but in the future I might consider using some of my HI FI equipment such as a mixing desk and a graphic equaliser in the shack. I think it could be interesting to see how I can experiment around with my audio settings. A mixer will allow various microphones and the rig-blaster to be easily faded in or out when required using one output/mic lead. I will also have the capability of recording stations directly to my PC with instant replay possibilities.

So a next project in amateur radio brought to me whilst listening to some good old Reggae!

As far as making QSOs I have had quite a few good long path QSOs into VK recently from both the shack and the mobile on my regular favourite band - 20M.

Up here in the North of England I've found the best time to work long path stations seems to be from 7.00 utc up until 9.30 utc.
I have also been regularly hearing good openings into JA and State-side on 17m quite a lot lately during the day time.

Hope to catch some of you on the bands during the evenings and weekends. I will try to post a bit more regularly again now that the Summer is almost at an end (my motorcycles will be getting less of my attention).

73

OSCAR Satellites AO-51, VO-52 & HO-68

2010-08-10T20:51:00.002+01:00

Since I settled for the 10 element 435MHz and IO 145MHz loop antenna (IO-10EL) I have been getting into the OSCAR Satellites with ease. I have been making lots of QSO's with the home built beam fixed at 30º elevation for the past year or so on FM and SSB.

Earlier this evening I made QSO's on AO-51, HO-68 and VO-52. On AO-51(FM) I worked ON5NY, on HO-68(SSB) I worked IZ7JXJ, DJ8DT and for the second time this evening ON5NY. On VO-52(SSB) I worked IZ5AVK and DK1IE, all were good signals and all Stations could hear me at 5/9. I was running approximately 35Watts from my Yaesu FT-847 and managed to still get in to HO-68 at a total distance of 2500 miles as the the Satellite headed over North America.

I am always amazed how well my homemade antenna performs and I still get the biggest buzz when the "birds" pass over, in fact my hard done by YL - Louise M3TLL thinks I have a problem and calls me a "Satellite Junkie".

Unfortunately for Louise, there doesn't seem to be a cure available on prescription yet!

Holiday In 2M Land

2010-07-26T22:24:00.020+01:00

We spent last week relaxing at the Galloway Coastline in the south west of Scotland. We had a very enjoyable stay at The Isle of Whithorn just 7yds from the sea.
Our accommodation was excellent on the Harbor row, which was only a stone’s throw away from the historic landing place of St Ninian
We visited this area for the first time three years ago when we stayed at the Galloway Astronomy Centre and have been revisiting as regular as we can, ever since. The area has lots of historic sites not to mention the stunning views, large empty beaches and plenty of wild life which for us makes up a great holiday.
One of our favorite beaches is at Monreith where there is one of Scotlands best kept secerets The Church of Kirkmaiden hidden away but easily found along with St Medana’s Well.

The Church of KirkmaidenSt Medana's beach at Kirkmaiden
During our many visits to the beach I was able to get some HF Mobiling done with the trusty Yaesu FT-100 on 20m, 40m and 80m with some great contacts worked with my recently acquired Hustler mono band antenna.I enjoyed the many QSO's and managed to get a few of the stations I worked in my log thanks to my YL Louise (M3TLL). Thanks! to all of you guys that came back to my call.

I also took my telescope and I spent some time watching the Buzzards look for their lunch. I tried to catch some pictures so you can see what I was looking at.
The little Ft-817 also got some use when I was walking around the Isle of Whithorn with Louise and our Dog Dudley. I could hear many Stations on the HF bands using the Miracle Whip however I think I would need some kind of miracle to actually get some kind of a signal out.
I did manage to make a local QSO on 2M FM with the FT-817 and Miracle ha ha Whip, which was fellow holiday maker 2M0IOB, who was about 10 miles away. Once again a good time was had by all and I got a few heads turning in dismay I as bellowed into the little rig whilst sat on the top of a large rock.

I returned home just in time for the IOTA Contest and managed to log 146 Stations during the 24hr contest from back home in the shack in Yorkshire. It was the first time I have taken part in the IOTA Contest and I really enjoyed the experience, the Set up at home worked well over the weekend as I managed over 70 Islands On The Air running low power 50 watts.

I am hoping to be fairly active on the HF bands over the next week as I continue to enjoy my Summer holidays. 73 have fun!

Working The Satellite's From The Shack

2010-07-11T22:36:00.003+01:00

Over the weekend I worked a few amateur satellites using my Yaesu FT-847 radio and home made IO-10EL Satellite antenna.

Satellite & Station worked

SO-50 - EA1JM .

VO-52 - G0FGX, HB9OAB, G6NQO & SP3GAD .

HO-68 - N1AIA & KB1RVT (FM Mode) .

AO-51 - LY1R .

HO-68 - M0ITF (SSB) .

I still prefer working via the SSB transponders rather than the FM birds, however its all extremely good fun with plenty of fellow Satellite ops that are always very friendly and happy to work you.
As usual AO-51 was the busiest of the birds with plenty of activity on each pass. I was especially pleased with my QSOs across the pond using FM via HO-68 which is proving to be a fantastic Satellite both on FM and SSB. I cant wait until HO-68 has been fully commissioned and is switched on all of the time.

Check out the Oscar Satellite Status to see which Satellites are operational and have been heard recently by fellow Hams and SWLs all over the globe.

TREE Band Antenna

2010-07-09T15:58:00.001+01:00

I just got out of my mobile ham shack and noticed that something was different about my dual band antenna? I soon realised it had been modified into a Tree-bander or perhaps a "Twig" (for all of you that can remember the old CB slang for antenna).

So here is what happens when you drive down small country lanes with plenty of green scenery everywhere.

Luckily no birds nests were harmed in any way and the antenna is still good.

ICOM Competition Win

2010-07-09T13:26:00.007+01:00

I am very pleased to have recently found out that I had been chosen as a winner of a competition I had entered after visiting the Icom Web Site. I signed up to Icom's news letter a few months ago and have been enjoying reading the latest news from Icom and entering some of the competitions found on their web site.

I didn't expect to be the lucky winner of the last competition prize, which is a well presented logbook & diary packed with lots of useful pages and an Icom pen to fill the pages with Call signs and DXCC.

Thanks to Icom for this great prize that I won, I now can begin ticking the boxes of all the many different Pre-fixes I work whilst on the air.

I hope to get some of you in my new Log soon!

/ Motor Cycle?

2010-06-27T21:26:00.004+01:00

In 1984 I obtained my full motor cycle licence as soon as I turned 17, I had been riding dirt bikes and mopeds since the age of 11 and had developed a mechanical mind early. I have been interested in motor bikes for about the same time as I have radio and I can remember fitting my Honda C-50 out with a Binatone Speedway 40 channel CB and DV-27 antenna back in 1983.

These Days I still have four motor cycles that I ride and maintain regularly but since I have been a licensed ham(2004), I have not yet operated amateur radio from any of the four machines.

I might try something with the FT-817 on one of my bikes soon, but at present I'm enjoying the ride whilst the warm dry conditions last!

For now the Toyota Rav-4 "Mobile DX Machine" & Yeasu FT-100 are both on standby.

Right, where's my helmet and gloves........

YAESU FT-470 Battery Modification

2010-06-26T23:36:00.005+01:00

I have owned my trusty FT-470 for over 6 years and have worked many DX with it whilst working through the FM Satellites.
I’ve used it whilst out and about Mobile as well as lots simplex and repeater use for years with excellent receiving capabilities compared to the more modern Hand held’s. I have been running with AA, NiMH 2.300mAh 1.2V Rechargeable battery’s housed in a Yaesu FBA-10 Battery case, which still works very well with hours of quality operating time.

About a year ago I managed to acquire a second FT-470 from a local rally for a bargained down price. The latest FT-470 came with an original FNB-10 - 7.2v 600mAh Ni-Cd Battery pack that held its charge for about 15 minutes whilst receiving and a lot shorter when transmitting.
To get around the faded FNB-10, I have been using the latest FT-470 with the PA-6, Dc Car Adapter/Charger, fed with a 12v Motor Cycle Battery and the original FT-470 on the FNB-10 Ni-Cd pack whilst hooked up to the Arrow Sat antenna.

I like the performance and look of the paired FT-470’s strapped to the boom but found the trailing power lead into the second FT-470 unit awkward and cumbersome. I had a quick reminder of the specs in the FT-470 Operating Manual where I read the unit would work from as low as 5.5VDC up to a maximum of 15VDC.

I had recently been given a box of 12, 9V PP3 Type Battery’s and I had a couple of old dead FNB-10 battery cases I wanted to open up and fiddle around with.

I cut out the original rechargeable cells and soldered in a couple of quick release battery leads which would fit the PP3 9V Battery’s. The new leads can also be used later for a future plan which will be to find and fit a cradle to house some more AA, NiMH 2.300mAh 1.2V Rechargeable cells into the old FNB-10 case.

I decided to connect two 9V batteries in parallel circuit to the old battery case connection point. I can now power up the second FT-470 to receive the Satellite down link frequency for a lot longer without fading allowing the use of the original FT-470 for the Transmit uplink Frequency running my Rechargeable Ni-Cd Battery pack. I can now get a few days of use out of the two PP3’s as opposed to 15 minutes if I’m lucky or a power lead and adapter wrapped around my legs. Hurray! I now have two FT-470’s working well!

As usual I enjoyed getting the soldering iron out and having a play, I am pretty pleased with the result and I will be looking out for some kind of cradle to house 6, AA Battery’s to be used for my next FT-470 job.

In the meantime I can use my long battery life Kenwood TH-F7 for dog walking and when I fancy a few more bands the FT-817 is always fully charged and ready to roll.

The QRP side of Amateur Radio for me is what its all about, I have had some superb Satellite and SOTA contacts operating with the minimum amount of power that I need which is often less than 5 Watts. Long live my exceptionally good pair of old, but still up to date performance wise - Yaesu FT-470 UHF/VHF FM Handie Transceiver’s.

Chinese Porn!!!!!

2010-06-25T08:44:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post to inform any readers regarding the abundance of Chinese comments that have been appearing here at my Ham Radio blog. They seem to be just another source of spamming in the form of porn enthusiasts rather than radio ops/ engineering fans.

Although I am quite open minded and allow all comments good or bad to be seen on my site I've decided to enable the feature that asks to Show word verification when commenting. This should filter out the Chinese Pornsters unless of course they are truly passionate about Ham Radio.

For all those interested in Chinese porn, see the previous comments. For those who like myself will get battered by there YL's for going anywhere remotely near those dubious dodgy sites, I apologise for any unsuitable links they may have attached with the seemingly harmless if not slightly puzzling comments left by my new Chinese followers?

Have a great weekend, hope to catch some of you on the bands!

10 and 12 Meter Verticals

2010-06-20T20:49:00.004+01:00

Whilst having a sort out I came across some old mobile whips that I had stashed away. I found my old 9 foot stainless 1/4 wave 10M whip, a base loaded 10M whip as well as a 6M whip and a 2M whip. After playing around with the various 5/8 threaded antennas I decided to erect one antenna with radials for 10M and a second for 12M by joining two antennas (6M & 2M) together.
Here is the 10M whip with radials.

Here is the 6M joined with the 2M whip which is perfectly resonant on 12M

I have been hearing some nice signals on both bands earlier today whilst using the FT-857 to listen on 12M as the FT-847 was listening on 10M. I will be TXing on both bands soon with more to come on the results of each antenna.

The new mono band verticals join the rest of my HF antennas which still comprise of a home made delta loop for 80M, another home made delta loop for 20M, and one I bought which is the Hustler 6BTV.

On The Bright Side

2010-06-06T20:51:00.003+01:00

After a week of holidaying at home in the glorious sunshine, our last day was spent watching the much needed rain falling hard up here on the moor top. During our travels I had managed to pick up some replacement 12V Lilliput LES lamps for my "in darkness" favourite old HF radio, the Yaesu FT-767GX.

Once I removed the screws I managed to get the iron in and replace a couple of rather short wires that were soldered to the lamp housing close to the meter. The job was tight for space (for a welder) but easy enough once I got stuck in and as you can see from the above picture the meter has two new bright lamps shining once again.

I have enjoyed using my regular Satellite radio The FT-847 on the HF bands but I have been missing my old mate the FT-767. Now that I have re-illuminated the good old fashioned mechanical meter, I am looking forward to many more hours of HF fun with the old beast.

Is This Frequency In Use?

2010-05-28T09:11:00.002+01:00

The past few days has brought interesting conditions to most of the HF bands. I spent some time checking up and down the bands to find:
50Mhz - SSB Open
29Mhz - FM Open
28Mhz - SSB Open
24MHz - SSB Open
21MHz - SSB Open
18MHz - SSB Open
14MHz - SSB Open
Its great to hear plenty of radio activity coming in on the higher portion of the HF bands, its been a while since I struggled to find a clear and empty frequency.

Happy DXing have a great weekend!

Live feed from the shack

2010-05-11T15:17:00.004+01:00

Over the weekend I was tuning around the HF bands from my shack when I came across quite a few special event stations. I decided to have a go at streaming the received signals live from my shack via the internet using Ustream.

I started off with the odd viewer and once I announced my live stream feed on Twitter it wasn’t long before I had a reasonable audience (47 in total). I began streaming the live signals I was receiving on the HF bands which turned out well and allowed other operators to compare my received signals to the signals that they were receiving at their locations.

I was pleased to hear that many signals were coming in on my amateur radio equipment very well compared to the sigs received at the viewers end as I was quickly informed by one of Ustream live feed viewers.

I was then asked by Twitter pal and software designer Scott “Satscape” Hather to stream some live Satellite operations via Ustream demonstrating how to make qso with amateur satellites. This worked out very well as I made qso via AO-51, SO-50, VO-52 and HO-68 whilst streaming live over Ustream.

I had another go last night and caught HO-68 via my web cam whilst streaming live.
Here is the video of myself making qso with many stations from Europe through to Greenland via last nights HO-68 pass.

Watch out for more Youtube videos and live video stream via Ustream.

Mobile DX

2010-04-29T08:32:00.002+01:00

This morning was excellent propagation whilst driving to work in my Toyota 4X4. There were many VK's coming through very strong with 5/9+ signals all over the 20m band.
At around 7.15utc I heard Ian VK3MO calling CQ around 14.178MHz, Ian was 5/9+30db in signal strength. I managed to get back to Melbourne and work Ian for 10 minutes as I drove to work giving him a 5/9 signal back from my FT-100 and Maldol HFC-20 mono band antenna.

I love the early morning openings and I am always amazed how well the mobile set up always seems to perform.

NOAA-19 Over N.W Europe

2010-04-18T13:50:00.008+01:00

With Iceland's Volcano Eyjafjallajökull causing so much controversy, I decided to track NOOA -19's latest pass with the help from Satscape.

I wanted to see if I could spot the Volcanic ash that everyone is hearing about for myself.

The equipment I used today was my good old Yaesu FT-2600M and a 137MHz vertical whip. NOAA-19 transmits APT on FM at 137.100 MHz.

There are more NOOA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite(POES) which transmit images of the Earth and are simple enough to receive and decode. I am still using Radiocom 5.2 to decode the WX images as seen below.

Image of UK captured by NOAA-19, Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite(POES) received at my Amateur Station at 12.38 utc today.

Back From A Long Walk

2010-04-17T10:15:00.002+01:00

Dudley says "Sorry I have been absent, I've been playing"
The past couple of weeks I have been enjoying Easter break from the College where I work, it has been a fantastic holiday but unfortunately all good things must come to an end, as I will be working again next week.

Despite my lack of posts here, I have been fairly active on the bands making lots of impressive DX both from the mobile and QTH.

Conditions at times have been very interesting as well as totally flat because of the solar activity. One of the days when the propagation peaked, I was fortunate to be driving back from the East Coast when I made QSO with 9M6TMT - Tom, and HS0ZIN - Paul, both booming in 5/9+ signals.

I shall be back to my usual blogging over the next few days as I adjust back to normality but in the meantime have a great weekend and hope to hear you on the bands.

HF Backpacking

2010-03-14T19:17:00.009Z

Since I tested my latest project the miracle antenna mount, I decided to make another type of portable mount only this time I wanted something to house a mobile whip. I came up with a four legged stand which I made from 6mm thick aluminium as seen in the picture.

Once I cut the aluminium, I was able to bend the four legs into the required shape fairly easily using a fly press. I then began to assemble the mobile antenna mount that would allow my vast collection of mobile HF antenna’s to be mounted securely as well as gaining a good RF ground through the mount.

The next stage was to add wire radials directly to the aluminum which can be spread out into an X configuration.

Once I completed the build I packed the gear into my rucksack and headed outside to climb the Moor top. After around 20 minutes of doggy walking, I found a bell pit where I quickly set up and I tried 20m and 15m out with some interesting results.

Louise – M3TLL and or furry companion Dudley were kind enough to once again catch my crazy antics on film during our walkabout.

Here is the latest video from the windy Moor tops

Special Thanks goes to all Stations in the video.

My DX View

2010-03-08T19:44:00.003Z

I could not resist sharing tonight’s fantastic Sunset view looking out from our Hill Top Shack which was taken earlier this evening by my YL, Louise – M3TLL.

The winter WX is finally coming to an end up here on the Moor and band conditions on HF have been very interesting lately with a lot more reliable & good dx openings into VK & ZL occurring most mornings.

I worked VK6ANC on 20M from my mobile last week 5/9 in the clear at around 8.15utc, using the FT-100 and Maldol HF-20 Mono band antenna.

Evening DXing has been spent down on 40M most nights with plenty of QSOs into North America and the odd Caribbean station.

20M has also been good in the evening especially over the weekend during the US contest, It was nice to see the higher end of the HF bands also up on signal with lots of contester's booming in on 15M.

I had a bit of fun working lots of big signals from across the pond down on my favorite band for DX, 20M.

Antenna Comparisons.

Both the 80M & 20M Delta Loop antennas have been working great for me, I have had much more time to compare the antennas against my vertical the Hustler 6BTV.

The results show the Loop antennas clearly perform the best 80M -17M and the Hustler Vertical performs best from 15M to 10M. It sure is handy having antenna switches in line!

Hustler Mono Band HF Mobile Antenna System

2010-03-01T19:26:00.008Z

I recently acquired a set of mono band Hustler mobile antennas covering 80M, 40M, 20M, 17M and 15M.Over the weekend I got the opportunity to try the 40M Hustler antenna whilst parked up at 1175 feet on top of neighboring ILKLEY Moor. The antenna was pulling in some big signals and putting out a rather nice footprint as I worked a handful of Irish Stations as well as a couple of Europeans.I made a quick video of the new Hustler mobile antenna in action on 40M with the help of camera Woman Louise – M3TLL (My lovely YL).
The latest Video can be seen below.

I am looking forward to testing the rest of the Hustler Mono Banders as soon as possible! Thanks for the visit, 73.

Home Made Tripod Test With Miracle Antenna & FT-817 - Video

2010-02-27T21:29:00.002Z

Despite freezing those parts that don't like freezing off, I managed to try out the latest metal work project. Due to the cold I was in Test mode which was short and sweet as seen in the video.

Miracle/Wonder Ally Tripod

2010-02-24T19:23:00.007Z

Since I got the FT-817 and Miracle antenna I have been pondering over a few ideas that I would like to try whilst out and about in the great outdoors.
One of the ideas was to make a light weight tripod type of mount, that would allow the Miracle antenna to be used with feeder rather than a direct chassis mount. I wanted something that I could mount inside my rucksack that would stick out of the top just enough to mount the antenna clear of my head and body. I also wanted something that could be placed on a wall, rock or flat spot quick and easy.

With this in mind I set about the task and came up with this.

I made the tripod with the intention of standing it on Trig Points that are located nearby on the Moor top at high spots and summits. The tripod also sits well on my shack desk where earlier I heard the ARRL DX News coming in 5/7 on 14.275MHz with the little Miracle antenna, set up as seen here.

Close Up of the aluminium cradle and tripod which has been riveted together using 4.8mm long reach rivets.

The new tripod mount is very light and easy to use, I made it from 2mm aluminium which I folded into shape. The three legs and cradle are joined together using rivets.
Total build time was less than 30 minutes.

I hope to get out over the coming weekend and work some QRP contacts using the new kit, with a bit of luck there may be a video showing the results.

NOAA 17 Weather Watching

2010-02-21T10:57:00.006Z

Once again we awake to a fresh covering of Snow up here on the Yorkshire Moor top.
I thought It would be a good idea to take at look at the Weather(WX) for myself with the help of Earth Orbiting NOAA-17.

The NOAA-17 Satellite is in continuous orbit with an altitude at around 500 miles and produces excellent real time images of the Earth that can be received around 137.620 MHz APT (Automatic Picture Transmission) or 1707.00MHz HRPT (High Resolution Picture Transmission).

Earlier This Morning
Once the Satellite came into range (from the North) I was able to receive the signal using the FT-847 and IO-10EL Sat Antenna. The received signal was decoded with the computer using Radiocom 5.2(RC50) which can be seen in the image below.

Close Up Of The UK Covered With Snow Clouds
I've been decoding the NOAA Weather Satellites for over 5 years using the RC50 software with excellent results which can be found in my archive posts. The images allow you to make up your own mind up regarding what the WX will be doing, as data can be collected during each of the many NOAA Satellite passes.
Looking at his one, I think I will be wrapping up warm and reaching for my boots before stepping out. Stay warm!

New DXCC Tajikistan in the log

2010-02-18T23:09:00.004Z

Whilst listening around 40M tonight, I managed to stumble across a nice pile up down on 7.157.6MHz. I was pleasantly surprised to hear EY8MM coming in 5/9 loud and clear. As expected EY8MM had lots of stations calling him in the pile up and with his excellent operating skills listening for specific regions one at a time, lots of Stations were worked.

I called into the pile up when appropriate, giving only the last three letters(Suffix) of my call sign - HTS. After about 10 minutes EY8MM pulled out "Tango Sierra" from the crowd and I was in like a flash working him with a 5/9 exchange both ways.

Tajikistan is an all time new one for me which inspired me to share the news. At present I'm up to 149 DXCC so far, out of a possible 338 DXCC. Its always nice to catch a rare opportunity and add a new one like EY8MM - Tajikistan.

The equipment that I was running was: Heil Gold Line GM-5, Yaesu FT-767GX (50W), into a Vertical (Hustler 6BTV).

Top Performance from the Home Brew 80M Delta Loop

2010-02-13T23:03:00.002Z

Since I erected my latest home made wire antenna which was the full wave 80m Delta Loop, I have spent quite a lot of time down on 40M & 80M experimenting with the new loops performance. The loop tunes up well from 160M through to 15M with the MFJ-969 ATU and is resonant for 80M at around 3.5 MHz. It is slightly on the long side for the band as I will be operating mainly on the phone portion higher up the band with some occasional psk31 down on 3.583 MHz.

The immediately obvious improvement that I noticed first, was the clean receive and clear sounding signals that I am now receiving across all of the HF bands. The Loop also provides minimal noise levels compared with the previous Dipole and G5RV antennas. Since the installation I have had a good couple weeks to give it some stick and the tests have been interesting as well as rewarding as I worked some DX Call signs whilst using the new Delta Loop.

The Loop antenna seems to put out a good signal which has been noted to have improved significantly on the previous dipole according to G3OFA, whom I have worked a few times recently on the #TWNET (Twitter Radio Net). So far on 40M, I have worked DX such as, N2QQF, W4NP as well as 6W/GM4FDM and on 80M, I also got across the pond with the loop working W3JK and K1NIU both on 3.795 MHz.

I have been working plenty of G-Stations as well as into Europe with good reports from 80M to 17M and also managed a local net on 160M, which was a first for me as I have never managed to tune up any antennas for top band before. I shall be continuing to experiment with the 80M Delta Loop and comparing it with the smaller 20M Delta loop and Hustler 6BTV. In the meantime have a great Weekend and many DX!

Home Brew 80m Delta Loop

2010-01-28T21:11:00.005Z

click to enlarge image of Delta Loop

I have been so pleased with the 20M Delta loop I decided to scrap the dipole and have a go at home brewing an 80m Delta loop instead.

The result was well worth it as I found that the new loop antenna receives and transmits very well on 80M (resonant band), it also tunes up very easily on 160M & 40M, giving impressive results with very low noise levels.

The Delta loop is installed as seen in the above image with all of the dimensions included. I shall be posting more once I have had chance to test it further, I am really pleased so far and excited as usual, I'm looking forward to telling you more!

Trans Match System For Loop Antenna's

2010-01-24T16:13:00.002Z

I have been using my home made Delta Loop vertically polarized for the past couple of years with very good results. The Delta loop was made by myself with the intention of using it on 20M, I originally blogged about it here and since then, It has moved from the horizontal to like I said already a vertical configuration.

The horizontal testing of the loop brought slight noise levels where as the vertical triangle or pyramid configuration, is very quiet for noise and excellent on performance both RX and TX. The only issue I have had with the Delta loop was with my original calculations which proved to be slightly long, making it resonant on 13MHz instead of the desired 14.200 frequency. I cut the loop around two years ago and unfortunately made it too short as it was now resonant at 14.800 which was slightly higher than the intended frequency.

Subsequently I have been managing fine with the help of the ATU, but the burning feeling inside has been growing and niggling away as I have wanted the antenna to be perfectly resonant across 20M without any tuning. I had been chewing over various ideas that I have had and rather than replace the complete length I decided I had had enough guessing and needed to come up with some way of an easy adjustable matching system.

I thought about complicated tuning systems but in the end settled for some 3.2mm TIG welding wire, which I formed into a neat loop type hook on one end which connects to the dipole centre replacing the wire.I then slid the original wire up and down the 3.2mm TIG wire and secured the end with a terminal block as seen in the image.
Once I adjusted the overall length I got the SWR down to 1:1 /1:5 across the 20M band. I then fired up my plumbing blow torch and soldered the original delta loop wire to the added 3.2mm tig wire ensuring a excellent connection which would be permanent and WX proof.

The next image shows the feed point of the loop (dipole centre) with 3mm electrical wire (70ft long on Right hand side) and 3.2mm TIG wire (2ft long coming out of the Left hand side).
This image shows the movable trans matching system which once adjusted was soldered up outside to finish off the modification.
Hope this idea will be of use to some of you that are struggling tuning up any loop antennas. Now its time to try it out ATU free and see who is on the band.

Tweaks and Tweets

2010-01-23T23:39:00.007Z

The first Twitter Net was a lot of fun despite the 80M band being a little difficult for into G at the times that we have been running the net. However the Thursday Net still had plenty of us trying to get our signals back to each other with some nice QSOing had by all that made it in.
Unfortunately my first NET QSO was shorter than I anticipated as at the time there was around 3FT of snow covering my dipole ladder line, which after around 5Mins of TXing shorted out the feeder and caused a very high SWR reading back in the shack. I was forced to continue monitoring the Twitter Net in SWL mode but could still pass reports as “Tweets” to the #TWNET that were monitoring Twitter at the same time. Before the Snow shorted the feeder, Tomas OK4BX Tweeted that he could hear me in Czech Republic along side the other Stations that were also operating on the Twitter Net.
Tomas OK4BX kindly interfaced his Icom powered Shack with his web cam and streamed his side of the Net live over the internet which he shared with us all by linking the live video stream to the #TWNET Twitter page. This allowed all to see and hear how we were coming through on 80M in Czech Republic. Nice idea Tomas – Thanks!

Once the Net ended on 80M we decided to QSY to echolink where we all connected to a Repeater and managed to work a few more Stations that didn’t quite make it on 80M, it was fantastic to see so many Stations were keen to make it into the Twitter Net by any means necessary. Thanks goes to all who joined in!

We enjoyed the previous challenge so much that we decided to try it all again but at a different time which was early on Sunday morning at 10.00 utc. This proved to be a lot more successful for into G-Land.
I had been busy outside they day before installing a new feeding system to my 80M Dipole. I had decided I would try something slightly different from the open ladder line feeder and ended up fitting a balan at the dipole centre, fed with RG58 heavy coax which should keep out any water as well as other possible shorting problems with any luck. The performance has remained good and the Dipole seems to tune up well on 80M right through to 10M, I can also get it to tune down on 160M which was previously not possible with the ladder line fed Dipole.

The Dipole worked well for me during the Net and has continued to perform well on 80M and 40M throughout the week, with some good reports from N.America being obtained. I also got into Cuba with the Dipole down on 40M which was another good report for the humble antenna. I may consider changing the flat top configuration for an inverted Vee set up just to see how the performance differs in the coming week if I get some spare time.

At present my HF antennas consist of an 80M Dipole, 20M Delta Loop and the Hustler 6BTV which I’m pleased to report are all still doing a good job for me as well as giving me a varied pattern of reflected and radiated signal patterns across the bands. This choice of switching between the antennas is proving to be a very advantageous luxury, as the difference in noise, signal quality and strength varies between them all dependent on the time of day and band/conditions. The change in the height of the Ionospheric layer are responsible for this and are noticeable with each of the antennas when the switching of horizontally and vertically polarized signals is carried out, often with massive differences taking place of up to 20db.Dependent on the time of day I have found that all three antenna’s out perform each other with no one antenna being the overall best.

I should be back on 80M with the Twitter Net Sunday mornings at 10.00 utc and again on Thursdays at 20.00 utc.
So far, we still haven’t managed to arrange anything for the other bands such as 20m and 40m.
I am interested to see if we can work some of our State-side and European friends that have been in touch already on Twitter confirming their interest in trying to make the QSO. I hope to it make soon Guys!

As well as all this twittering on, you can see I have been playing quite a bit of radio across the bands already this year and I aim to continue my radio antics more than ever.
Check out the graph by clicking on it to enlarge. The graph shows where on the bands I have been active this month so far.

Thanks for visiting 73.

80m Twitter Ham Net LESS Than 24HRs

2010-01-12T20:23:00.003Z

Lots of interest has been shown so far on Twitter regarding the 1st ever 80m Twitter Ham Net, which will be held tomorrow (Wednesday 13th January) at 20.00 UTC.
Since the idea was suggested there has been a lot of Hams tweeting messages and leaving comments confirming that they will be by their Ham Radio Stations and at the same time be on Twitter tomorrow night. I can’t believe how well you have all responded from as far as The USA, to Czech Republic and the UK alike, there is a lot of enthusiastic Tweeting Hams out there!

The easiest way to join in is by getting on Twitter, create an account and either follow somebody or just search for other Hams to follow such as myself, example @2E0HTS. Once you find us all, you will easily see what were up to and which Hams are operating as well as any SWLs. All are welcome. :-)

Useful info for Twitter Ham Net Ops

- All updates can easily be searched for by using the trending topic #TWNET

- Tomorrow Nights NET - 80M. Actual Frequency will be posted at 19.55 UTC. This can be found by searching for #TWNET

Hopefully we shall have lots of fun and create some activity on 80M. If successful we could try different Bands at different Times, allowing Hams from all over the world a chance to mix Ham Radio and a bit of Internet Tweeting together to make some great QSOs.
It should be a good Net, I and many others are getting excited with less than 24 hours before the Twitter Ham Net takes to the Air for the very first time. We all Hope to hear you and be heard on the Twitter Ham 80m Net tomorrow at 20.00 UTC. It should be a great turnout, see you there!
Thank You to Everyone who is involved so far, keep up the great enthusiasm Tweeple! ;-)

Twitter Ham Radio NET On 80M

2010-01-10T22:44:00.003Z

Over the last few months I have been slowly building up my list of interesting Twitter users to follow and be followed by. This has helped to take the mind off the WX (which of course is still snowing) by enjoying some Tweeting over the internet. Most of the Twitter Folks I follow are Either HAMs, SWLs or people involved in radio and they are all full of interesting Tweets which I have enjoyed a lot.

Since new friendships are beginning to form via Twitter, We have all decided to try out, a planned radio sched on 80M this coming Wednesday evening at 20.00 UTC. We will use twitter to relay the frequency on the night at 20.00 UTC as well as any reports from SWLs and anyone struggling to get back to NET.

So far there has been 7 Stations that have confirmed that they will be on the Air at 20.00 UTC (Wednesday 13th) and as we only decided two hours ago we are off to a fine start. There will be regular updates on Twitter regarding which Stations will be active and on the night as well as displaying the frequency used. If you want to know more about the kind of stuff we Hams get up to in an informal way, check us out on Twitter. Hope to hear you on the 80M Net Wednesday Night.

The New Year Continues To Test Us All

2010-01-06T16:58:00.003Z

The New Year is proving to be a challenging one so far for many of us across the Globe. Here at Baildon Moor, Yorkshire we have been suffering now for almost 3 weeks with no sign of improvement. At present the temperature has dropped down to -2.5°C which isn't helping much regarding the frozen pipework that is preventing the use of the kitchen sink and shower.
We have been visiting the Family on a regular basis where hot food and the use of the shower is available, but to be honest it has been really hard going.

The upside was a chance to play on my new Yaesu FT-817 at a different location using the Miracle Whip and 5 Humble Watts. It wasn't long before I got my first long distant QRP contact on 20m, which was Andy - EW6GF from Belarus.
The QRP rig worked very well for me and back at the QTH, I decided to try the little FT-817 with the Hustler 6BTV.
The mighty Hustler Vertical and 5Watts began to impress me as I continued having QRP fun working as far as The US thanks to K3C, K3LP and W1AW, all worked and logged.

I also got lucky on the Amateur Satellites as I made it into Canada - VO1ONE, via AO-51 using the Yaesu FT-847 and the home made IO-TEN EL Sat antenna.
The Satellite DX didn't stop there, as I managed to get into the new Chinese SAT XW-1 which is now known as HO-68.
The new SAT has a fantastic footprint which allowed me to make it across the Atlantic into FN34JK, where Daniel - KB1RVT came back to my Call via the new SAT.
I have had plenty of other excellent QSO's via SO-50, AO-51, VO-52 and the new HO68 into Europe over the past couple of weeks, thoroughly enjoying the whole affair.
I'm looking forward to meeting some more of you soon via the Sats in 2010.

Back to the WX. With the snow coming down thick and fast I battled into work yesterday in the excellent snow munching Toyota RAV-4, (full time 4 X 4) only to find that the College where I work was closed due to the bad WX.
This was a another great opportunity to forget about the WX for a while and get on the bands during my usual working time.

I made some nice QSO up and down G-Land on 40M working some interesting Stations such as M0CNU - Tom, from Falmouth and Ivan - G4WIA, who was near by to Helston. Both Stations were very strong on my FT-767GX which is fed into a 130ft Dipole pointing North/South.
I enjoyed some lengthy conversation from the County of Cornwall from both Stations which was very nice, as we had visited their region only last Summer when we went to the Marconi Centre.
So you could say every cloud has in this case a Snowy lining, but at least I got the day off work and played some radio.
I was back in work today with a slightly earlier finish and as you can see from the pictures of my 20M Delta Loop and Hustler 6BTV any more Snow could cause a bit more fuss and trouble!

If we all think warm thoughts hopefully the pipework will thaw and we can get back to normality, but in the meantime its slow safe driving and plenty of thermals. Not forgetting as much RF as I can possibly generate, Micro waves preferably! 73 Stay warm and safe.

The Perfect Present

2009-12-30T21:29:00.008Z

I was very lucky this year as far as receiving presents. Louise (M3TLL) my lovely YL got me something that she new would be well received and appreciated more than most things, which was of course some Ham Radio equipment. Thanks Lou!

Louise managed to get a good deal from our local Ham Buddy – Adam 2E0LXA, who had a great little Yaesu FT-817, QRP multi banded/mode portable transceiver that he was selling. The little rig came with a “Miracle Antenna” and a “Wonder Wand” tunable counterpoise which I have already tried successfully on 5Watts making QSO into Estonia as well as across the Atlantic into the US. I must admit I was surprised with the performance of the Miracle Antenna and I am looking forward to getting out with the portable QRP station and finding out what the possibilities are with a simple QRP set up, as well as using the rig outside on the Satellite’s.
I have already been trying the standard rubber Whip (YHA-63) connected to the BNC located on the front panel, I worked my local buddies M0DIT, M1PAC and M3RIZ who are all around 6 miles away over in Keighley. This was done whilst walking the Dog Dudley, the FT-817 was working well whilst running off the battery pack with 5/9 reports exchanged on 2M FM. I am very pleased with this years Christmas present and should get many years of use out of it, money well spent!

I was also lucky enough to receive some cash from the family which I put too and invested in a backup 30Amp Power Supply Unit (PSU), which I had been considering for some time. So we headed into the City (Bradford) for a visit to Maplin Electronics where I picked up an Identical model to the original PSU in the shack. The new PSU can be seen in the background of the picture as well as via the link. Hope you all had a good Christmas and are ready for the New Year.

Santa's Helper

2009-12-24T13:19:00.003Z

Christmas is upon us once again and it the time of year when Santa has a lot of presents to deliver, so as usual Dudley our four legged friend will be busy lending Santa a Paw.

The picture was taken earlier today when Dudley suddenly flew off in the direction of Lap Land where Santa is awaiting the annual return of all his helpers.

So if you leave out any mince pies for Santa tonight don't forget to leave a couple of gravy bones for Dudley, Rudolph and the rest of Santa's helpers.

I hope you all get some nice presents and have a Merry Christmas!

XW-1 / Hope OSCAR 68

2009-12-22T20:27:00.007Z

Click on Image to enlarge

Despite the snow continuously falling up here on the Moor top and both Louise and I feeling full of cold, the water supply being frozen solid - BAH Humbug! I have still kept up with my usual radio antics whilst trying my best to keep us both warm and comfortable.

I have been playing around with the Radio Com software that I have had installed on my machine for the last 4 years which is proving to be unbeatable for decoding the NOOA WX SATs. This time I have been using the software to monitor the new Chinese Satellite - XW-1(HO-68). The Sat is still mainly beacon only, which transmits around 435.790MHz in CW mode. I use the Ft-847 and IO-10El antenna to receive the "bird" feeding the incoming AF from the rig to the computers sound card where the Radio Com software picks up the audio to be decoded. The software works similar to any other radio decoding software having lots of nice and useful features. The Spectrum Analyser is one of the many useful tools, in this case used to visually observe the new "birds" signal whilst decoding the received beacon's CW transmission.

The HO-68 Satellites beacon is reported to be strong world wide from the various reports from other Hams and relevant sources that I've come across on the net. As you can see from the above image I am also receiving the Hope Oscar 68(HO-68) beacon very well and I am looking forward to hearing some real activity via the new "bird" soon.
The CW TX from the HO-68 Satellites beacon was decoded by the Radio Com CW decoder which reads.

T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T X W X W

If you haven't yet heard the XW-1(HO-68) Satellite yet, or are new to Satellites and don't know how to track them. Have a look at downloading Satscape to help you locate them. The rest off you G L, & have a Merry Christmas.

XW-1 In Orbit

2009-12-15T19:28:00.004Z

As an avid Satellite Operator Santa has come early for me, I am referring to the exciting news from AMSAT China regarding the recent successful launch of their very first Amateur Satellite XW-1.

XW-1 payload was deployed by the CZ-4C rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center earlier this month and is currently commissioning in a sun-synchronous orbit at about 1200KM, ASL.

The XW-1 communications payload includes a beacon and three cross
band transponders operating in FM, linear, and digital modes.

Mode V/U (J) FM Voice Repeater (30 dbm (1 w)):
Uplink: 145.8250 MHz FM, PL 67.0 Hz.
Downlink: 435.6750 MHz FM

Mode V/U (J) Linear Transponder (Inverting) (30 dbm (1 w)):
Uplink:145.9250 - 145.9750 MHz SSB/CW
Downlink:435.7650 - 435.7150 MHz SSB/CW

Mode V/U (J) PacSat BBS (30 dbm (1 w)):
Uplink:145.8250 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS
Downlink: 435.6750 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS

Mode Beacon (23 dbm (200mw)):
Downlink:435.7900 MHz CW

I am looking forward to hearing XW-1 on my FT-847 and IO-Ten El Sat antenna and with 1Watt of output PWR it should be nice and loud once the AMSAT Teams finish their preliminary settings and testing.

In the meantime I will be keeping an eye on twitter for further updates and developments that are regularly tweeted from AMSAT.

Another excellent source of all the latest AMSAT and General Satellite Information is observations which constantly gets updated by AL – GM1SXX and many of the other experienced Satellite Ham Operators.

VO-52 SAT QSO

2009-12-14T08:42:00.002Z

With the IO-Ten Element Satellite antenna working so well since I put it up, I decided to have a another shot at making a video demonstrating just how easy and uncomplicated it is to be able to work the Low Earth Orbiting SSB Sat like VO-52. Hope you enjoy the video and look out for the Festive hat.

Cyber Shack

2009-12-08T18:41:00.003Z

Whilst SWLing the HF bands each evening, I had a play around with Adobe PhotoShop CS2 and came up with this funky cyber shack.

I enjoy the SWL side of Ham radio just as much as actually transmitting my own signals, I like tinkering around with the PC at the same time as keeping a close watch out for interesting signals. As you can see with the above image, I had a mess with some of the filters, which is pretty straight forward enough. Basically I was just messing about and having fun whilst listening to fellow Hams.
Oh yes, I could not resist working a couple of interesting Stations at the same time.

2E0HTS CYBER CHALLANGE
I wonder how many Rigs you can spot and for those who enjoy the challenge leave the Make & model info as a comment (just for fun)

HF Mobile 60 Amp Power Source

2009-12-05T21:04:00.005Z

The Toyota mobile Ham station has been working amazingly well since I knocked up the roof-bar mounted stainless steel antenna brackets. The reports and results that I've received have made me realize the benefits of running 50W /mobile into 3 meters of 50 ohm low loss coax. A nice and simple set up with low losses with a well grounded rig/antenna to the vehicle chassis combined with a modest antenna is a very effective way to put out a good signal, as I have been finding out over the past 6 years.

With the Yaesu FT100 set at 50W I can operate continuously when the vehicle engine is running, but the Toyota 2.0 Litre Petrol 4X4 needs a 45AH battery to power its creature comforts, which get a bit of a hammering during these wintry months.
So, I decided to replace the battery with something that would give me a bit more Umph, for both the Toyota and the amateur radio equipment carried on board.
I picked up a heavy duty replacement 65AH battery, which will give me a few extra amps for a lot longer. The mobile station is now at 100%, firing on all four cylinders! Listen out for 2E0HTS/M somewhere on 20M. Have a nice weekend.