Sing along

I made 2 qso's today, one on 15 meter: EK6LP from Armenia and K2TQC USA on 12 meter, both with CW.

Fiberglass pole solution

No space for a long wire or dipole? A telescoping fiberglass pole could be your solution. Your PAR or end fed along the pole as a vertical... done!

This morning I worked RU9UC on 12 m with CW.
WSPR on 10 meter today:

Timestamp	Call	MHz	SNR	Drift	Grid	Pwr	Reporter
2012-10-30 14:56	PC4T	28.126147	-23	0	JO22io	5	FR1GZ
2012-10-30 15:16	PC4T	28.126143	-28	0	JO22io	5	W5OLF
2012-10-30 14:38	PC4T	28.126147	-22	0	JO22io	5	KB9AMG
2012-10-30 15:32	PC4T	28.126132	-19	0	JO22io	5	W9HLY
2012-10-30 16:06	PC4T	28.126016	-18	0	JO22io	5	VE4KE
2012-10-30 16:06	PC4T	28.126140	-18	0	JO22io	5	KB3VR
2012-10-30 16:06	PC4T	28.126140	-12	0	JO22io	5	VE3BGV
2012-10-30 10:52	PC4T	28.126139	-24	0	JO22io	5	4X1RF

USA on 12 meter

I heard K4DY Les working on 12 meter CW. He heard my call too, so we made a qso on 12 meter. Today is a quiet day. We have rain all day. Did some WSPR on 40, 30 and 10 meter. Made it into VK with 5 watt but conditions seems to be moderate. Keep an eye on the news bulletins about Hurricane Sandy. I hope there will be not to much damage and that people stay safe.

Update: I think I dropped to soon wspr on 10 m when I see the results of Julian G4ILO.

No voice

No voice here because of severe cold. Coughing and sneezing. The only thing to do is the good old CW. No WW DX Contest for me. I do have no problem with that. I am still testing the dipole. I was working with G3ZJJ Mike on 30 meter. First with the dipole, he was 599, Mike was working qrp 5 watt and an end fed antenna. So I switched to my end fed but I couldn't hear him any more. So back to the dipole. I was running 25 watts (get 589) and now I switched to 5 watts too, and Mike could still copy me (rst 569)

On the picture you see DH3JZ Gero from Germany. We had a nice rag chew CW qso on 80 meter. I remembered him, his call was sounds familiar. I searched in my logbook and yes, he was my first ssb contact on 80 meter January 1, 2009. (my call sign was PA9B then) Now he was almost the first CW contact on 80 m ever. Hi.

I plug my end fed wire into the FT817, so I don't need a tuner for 40-20 and 10 meter. The dipole is now plugged in the FT450. Below my latest contacts:

USA with qrp 5 W JT65A on 80 m

I was testing my new dipole and this morning I worked K2RH on 80 meter with 5 watt JT65A. I think a good result. Below a view of my latest contacts.

10 m WSPR 5 watts

2012-10-26 10:18	PC4T	28.126155	-19	0	JO22io	5	VK6XT	OF86td	14424	96
2012-10-26 10:30	PC4T	28.126153	-24	0	JO22io	5	PY2SDR	GG56tv	9856	227
2012-10-26 12:20	PC4T	28.126140	-17	0	JO22io	5	FR1GZ	LG79rc	9525	133
2012-10-26 13:18	PC4T	28.126137	-22	0	JO22io	5	W4AC	EL86	7555	285
2012-10-26 13:18	PC4T	28.126137	-24	0	JO22io	5	W4MO	EL87tc	7459	285
2012-10-26 13:38	PC4T	28.126140	-23	1	JO22io	5	KU4PY	EM62wj	7259	292
2012-10-26 13:18	PC4T	28.126138	-16	0	JO22io	5	N4AU	EM62vp	7243	292
2012-10-26 13:38	PC4T	28.126138	-17	0	JO22io	5	K9AN	EN50wc	6754	299
2012-10-26 13:30	PC4T	28.126148	-22	0	JO22io	5	KB9AMG	EN52tx	6541	301
2012-10-26 13:10	PC4T	28.126181	-26	1	JO22io	5	K8TK	EN72tc	6374	298
2012-10-26 12:10	PC4T	28.126151	-6	0	JO22io	5	KC2GMM	FN21uc	5831	291
2012-10-26 12:10	PC4T	28.126106	-11	0	JO22io	5	K1OF	FN31	5725	291
2012-10-26 12:00	PC4T	28.126185	-25	0	JO22io	5	N1NCO	FN42gl	5553	291
2012-10-26 11:50	PC4T	28.126149	-22	0	JO22io	5	4Z4TJ	KM71jf	3396	122
2012-10-26 12:10	PC4T	28.126162	-12	1	JO22io	5	4X1DA	KM71mv	3351	121
2012-10-26 12:00	PC4T	28.126137	-20	0	JO22io	5	4X1RF	KM72ls	3270	120
2012-10-26 10:18	PC4T	28.126154	+2	0	JO22io	5	UR/SWL56	KN56jk	1991	100
2012-10-26 10:30	PC4T	28.126151	-7	0	JO22io	5	LA9JO	JP99gb	1967	16
2012-10-26 13:10	PC4T	28.126153	-27	0	JO22io	5	OH6LSL	KP13ot	1639	33
2012-10-26 10:54	PC4T	28.126185	-27	1	JO22io	5	GW3LEW	IO71ps	648	266
2012-10-26 12:10	PC4T	28.126140	-25	0	JO22io	5	F59706	JN07th	628	202
2012-10-26 12:00	PC4T	28.126138	-26	0	JO22io	5	OZ7IT	JO65df	576	57
2012-10-26 12:20	PC4T	28.126165	-24	1	JO22io	5	DJ5SQ	JN37tx	554	157
2012-10-26 10:18	PC4T	28.126153	-25	0	JO22io	5	DK6UG	JN49cm	421	143
2012-10-26 13:30	PC4T	28.126159	-24	0	JO22io	5	DB0ZDF	JN49cx	380	139
2012-10-26 10:30	PC4T	28.126176	-27	1	JO22io	5	G3YSX	IO91wg	363	248
2012-10-26 10:18	PC4T	28.126127	-21	0	JO22io	5	PA0O	JO33hg	148	59

Dipole

I put up the dipole, feed point on top of the roof, both sides down as sloper 2 x 18 meter (2 x 59 feet), one into the backyard and one into the front yard. First test looks good. Now I can work on 80 meter. Signals are 20 dB stronger than my end fed for 40-20-10 on 80 meter. I can tune the dipole easily on 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meter. Even in the FM portion of the 6 meter band I get a flat SWR. SWR on all bands is better than 1,5:1 Now I will test the antenna for a longer period. Last night I could easily work several stations with PSK31 on 80 meter. This weekend is Multi Mode Weekend on 30 meter and of course the CQ WW DX Contest for SSB. I hope that radio black doesn't spoil the party. I keep my fingers crossed.

Cuba on 40 meter

40 meter can be surprising. So it was this early morning. I was PSK-ing on 40 meter. I saw on my screen CM2BK working a Frenchman. So I waited till the qso was finished and called him. Yes, he heard me... I seldom work outside Europe with PSK on 40 meter. We had a nice qso.

Nice eQSL cards received:

1 watt WSPR on 10m

10 meter is still going strong. I let WSPR run for a few hours with 1 watt. This afternoon I removed my 6 meter vertical. The Es season is over. I made preparations for a dipole for 40 and 30 meter. My backyard is too small, and so is my front yard. Now I will place the antenna over the roof and use the length of both gardens. 2 x 15 meter.

I had to cut some branches of a nearby tree in the backyard. I have to do the same in front of the house tomorrow. The weather seems to be right Thursday. I have to climb on top of the roof. I don't like heights. Wish me luck.

New Record: 190.380 km per watt

It was another busy day. The kids are having autumn holidays, not much time for ham radio making qso’s. That means auto controlled radio such as WSPR. Technical improvements in ham software are challenging. We can feel nostalgic about old glowing and humming radio tubes. That’s okay, but the new thing is okay for me too. I was done with 5 watt QRO on WSPR. So today it was time for 50 mW into my end fed wire. My router has the same power. Hi. The moment I wrote this I was spotted by FR1GZ that’s 190.380 km per watt or 118.301 Miles per watt on the 10 meter band. That’s a new record for me with QRPp. QRPp is exciting, even with WSPR.

On 10 meter in the early hours I worked UK/UA1ZEY with CW. I think from Ukraine, but the qso was only a 599 TU.

Yesterday I was visiting a good friend of mine. An old radio from the fifties was playing outstanding jazz. The tubes were glowing yellow/red in the corner of the room. But... on the outside it was a real old radio, but inside it there was an iPod playing the music into hidden speakers. It was all make belief. In the footer of my blog you can read: “Life is too short not to enjoy it.” It was a saying of a 95 years old man. So enjoy whatever you want to do. Today it is WSPR, tomorrow CW, next week phone, who will say? Or a week without radio and spend time with the wife and kids, or playing with the grandchildren, or visiting and rag chew with real old friends and make an eyeball qso. Whatever, enjoy life.

The shack of IV3RJH

In the late afternoon I worked IV3RJH (599) and SM5CNQ (589) both 5 w QRP on 14060, I was running only 1 watt CW. Maybe I am QRV tonight on 40 meter with 1 watt.

Finally I worked GW0KIG Kevin tonight on 40 meter SSB. One of my blog friends. I never heard him before, now I heard him working, so I gave him a call and we had a nice short qso.

It sounds monotonous

but today 10 meter was in a good shape again, though geomagnetic storms are expected. WSPR with 5 watts and an end fed wire. I was also spotted by Julian G4ILO twice, for the first time this year.

Chile on 10 meter

On this picture XQ6FOD from Chile, he reported me on 10 meter this evening with WSPR.

A Pipe line to Kazakhstan

Again propagation on 10 and 12 meters were great. Today I tried my luck with PSK31. I worked a few stations from Kazakhstan.

St Kitts and Nevis

Antenna tower of V44KAI

"Have you tried to make any CW contacts on 10 once you see the great conditions on WSPR??" Wrote Mike VE3WDM yesterday. Well today I did. Just gave CW a try. The MUF was high again about 34,9 MHz. I search for CW stations between 28.000 and 28.035 Mhz, just wait till someone appears on the frequency. When I am lucky I’ll be the first one. I seldom join a big pile up. Too many stations at the same frequency. I worked a new DXCC too: V44KAI Joel from St Kitts and Nevis. I never heard about it before. Other stations I worked see below:

10 meter in a good shape again

I let WSPR run all day. I saw the MUF was above 35 MHz, so very promising. My power: 5 watts, antenna: my end fed wire. Best DX was KO6SY from California (8908 km) Very nice F2 propagation.

Strange behaviour or bad luck

Today the MUF was 31,75 MHz so time to switch to 10 meter. First I let run WSPR. A lot of stations from over the North Atlantic came in, visa versa. After a few hours I moved to the phone part of the band. But they are all shouting there, what a mess. So I switched to JT65. Now something strange happened.

I was calling CQ and LU1XU came back for me. Unfortunately, he could not hear my signal again for the second time, he answered in an email, so he replied on F4DJG. I think that F4DJG noticed that LU1XU was calling me...  or not? Anyway, next time more luck. 

Dutch Skies

A short video I made today, in the near of our village. The sky was very beautiful with those clouds. We call it Dutch Skies. On 14060 KHz I made a QRP qso with EU6KA Alex. With WSPR I was spotted in New Zealand and Australia with 5 watts on 20 meter.

QSO's with qsb and poor conditions

It was nice to work PB1PCH/m from the Amsterdam harbour with psk31 on 10 meter. On 12 meter I heard Brazil with psk31. Then I switched to 20 meter CW QRP. It was hard to make a complete qso because of QSB and poor conditions. But I did work F6CZC Leone and S51NP Alex. I had a nice qso with IK3SVT/QRP Antonio, also here the signals were going up and down. While I was listening to Antonio's last over I heard Dick F8WBD calling CQ. (14.05 Z) After finishing the qso with Antonio I called Dick, but he was already gone. Maybe next time. I had a half qso with SM0GCE but not completed because of heavy QSB. On the other hand it is nice to see what is possible under bad band conditions.
I made a complete back up of my hard drive, because I think the hard drive will crash sooner or later. I get pop ups from Windows that there is a problem with my hard drive.
My 5 watts WSPR signal was heard by WA3DNM, N6RFM and VO1LQ on 20 meter.

Communication

This is the way how youngsters communicate, not directly but via their cell phone. The obsession with electronics. Just like ham operators? ;-)

The XXL mobile station. It was a quiet week with the radio. Troubles also with my PC, too much CPU usage. Cause? I don't know. I just google the problem, it seems to be the problem of others too. Today the central power is off. So no electricity this morning here. Time for reading the newspaper and books.
Update: the power is on again. Below my WSPR reports in the late afternoon on 10 meter.

One year ago

Today my XYL undergoes surgery, hopefully the last one. It’s now almost a year ago that the doctors discovered breast cancer. We had a heavy year, especially my wife of course. The chemotherapy earlier this year was the heaviest part of it all. The last half year things were going back to ‘normal’ and life goes on. All support we got from emails, prayers and comments were very heart-warming, also on my blog. Thank you again. The coming two weeks she needs time to recover, and then we hope to leave all this behind. We go on with a positive attitude, and we are glad that we still have each other, and we are thankful for every day we spend with the family in relative good health.

Geomagnetic Storm

DOUBLE IMPACT: Earth's magnetic field is reverberating in response to a pair of impacts on Sept. 30th. A weak interplanetary shock wave hit Earth at 10:25 UT followed by a stronger CME strike at approximately 22:30 UT. Observers in Norway are reporting significant ground currents, while the Arctic Circle is glowing with Northern Lights. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, especially during the hours around local midnight. http://www.spaceweather.com/

Almost all HF bands were dead for SSB, PSK and CW signals this morning. I saw Aurora QSO's on 6 meter at DXMAPS.com. I tried JT65 on 40 meter, bingo! It's a really good mode when propagation is poor. I could work IZ0MIT and YL3DR. See below where I was reported:

Wow, not bad at all. Even in New Zealand. I also transmitted with PSK31, but I was not reported anywhere. So JT65 will be my standard mode when the sunspots are very low in a few years.