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Showing posts from June, 2008

Solar Activity Creates DX Opportunities

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click on log to enlarge ......... (blue spots highlight propagation peaks on 20m) The last week has kept me active a lot on some of the HF bands due to some great openings into South America as well as VK. I have noticed some interesting findings regarding the use of my Vertical Antennas and the home made full wave 20m Delta Loop, at different times during the day due to the ionospheres variable F layer. Up until this weekend the WX has been good with sunshine and pleasant conditions. The bands have definitely begun to improve especially at my QTH on most Evenings. During daytime conditions I have experimented around on 20m with a Mono Band ½ wave vertical and the Infamous Loop. With the second F layer seemingly being present at this time I have found the Vertical to perform noticeably better than the loop on 20m into Europe and the Middle East. But from 1800 UTC there is a sudden change of received angle of radiated signal and the Delta Loop is phenomenal and provides outstanding

Four stacked five element 20 meter yagi antennas

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Ian VK3MOs Tower and four stacked five element 20 meter yagi antennas worked by 2E0HTS using a Home brew 20M Delta Loop Last Night I battled with the sleep that was forming in my Eyes and stayed up late working a few Distant DX Stations that were coming through on 20m SSB. I worked Argentina first, LU2QC Osvaldo, with a 5/9 signal, followed by W1/GI0MPT Eamon, 5/9+ from south of Boston. Just after that my luck continued and got even better with VK3MO Ian, at 11.11pm UTC (12.11 Local time BST) who gave me a 5/9 report on 14.177.30. USB using his awesome antenna array, 100 watts and I think Ian was running an Icom rig and was also 5/9. I used the good old ft767, 50w, with my full wave vertical home made delta loop to make both contacts.Whilst in RX, I compared the Loop to the Mono band vertical 20m ant, G5RV, and the Hustler. Sorry Guys the home made Delta loop(vertically configured) put them all to Shame with no comparison, in fact none of the other antennas came close to the Loop'

HamInfoBar Web Tool Bar Browser, Proves To Be A Valuable Tool For Radio Enthusiasts

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Greetings and 73 Just a quickie to share this great little tool for our Computers with those of you that like experimenting a little. click on image to enlarge I came across this useful addition to the Shack Computer and have found it to be a very useful and interesting tool for all Radio enthusiasts. It is called "HamInfoBar" and can be downloaded here HamInfoBar The Tool bar doesn't seem to cause any conflicts and offers a wide range of Ham radio and radio related content. It is neat to look at and simple to explore, there are many useful and innovative features, too many too mention. So far I have come across cool things such as links whilst browsing, these have taken me to some interesting up to date Ham Radio Information. Feeds, Propagation Forecasts, DX Clusters, DXpeditions for LF, HF, VHF, UHF and everything else that Ham Radio is involved with, including techy stuff. Have a look yourself and I can honestly say I was nicely surprised with the Tool bars gadgets an

eQSLing

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eQsL Log on Screen eQSL Home Page My eQSL Design. Here Is Where You Create Your Card Design eQSL Log eQSL Archives eQSL The Effective and Quickest Way To Confirm your DX and Local Ham Radio Contacts There are lots more functions and pages as well as programs to check out on eQSLs web site once you become a registered member. It is best to send information about your Licence to become AG (Authenticity Guaranteed). It makes claiming eQSL Awards much easier. SWL (Short Wave Listeners Can Also Use eQSL and Obtain a Unique SWL Call Sign) Countries Confirmed by eQSL by My Base Station 1 ALGERIA 2 ARGENTINA 3 AUSTRALIA 4 AUSTRIA 5 AZORES 6 BELARUS 7 BELGIUM 8 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 9 CANADA 10 CEUTA AND MELILLA 11 COLOMBIA 12 CRETE 13 CROATIA 14 CZECH REP. 15 DENMARK 16 DOMINICA 17 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 18 ECUADOR 19 ENGLAND 20 FINLAND 21 FRANCE 22 GERMANY 23 GREECE 24 GUADELOUPE 25 GUERNSEY (BAILIWICK OF) 26 HONDURAS 27 HUNGARY 28 IRELAND 29 ISLE OF MAN 30 ISRAEL 31 ITALY 32 JERSEY (CHANNEL ISL.) 3

The Sunday Afternoon 2 Meter Loop Project

Watch to see how I spent my Sunday afternoon making a simple full wave 2 meter Delta Loop and then make a 200 mile QSO with MM0GPZ/P in Scotland on 144.285 usb.

OX4BX friend of Hamradio.blogspot.com worked on 40M

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Tonight I had the pleasure of working Tomas OK4BX who regularly shares information here on Hamradio.blogspot. Tomas came through 5/8 on 40m (7.093 LSB)at around 19.50 UTC, we tried 20 meters and was unsuccessful but managed it on 40 meters. I was using 50 watts, a 102 ft G5RV, and the FT-767 with the Heil Goldline Mic. Hopefully Tomas will leave a comment containing his Station equipment used to make this QSO. Thanks Tomas and hope to hear you again on the bands soon. 73 de Simon

HF pile up from 2M0HTS mobile in the North West of Scotland

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A chance to view the beatiful scenery whilst seeing 2M0HTS/mobile in action We have just returned from a weeks Camping in the Scottish Highlands and had a fantastic time. The WX (weather) was good and we both managed to obtain a sun tan as well as a paddle in the lovely Arisaig Sea. We stayed at a lovely campsite over looking the Isle of Skye, Isle of Eigg, and the Isle of Muck, which is situated 6 miles south of Malaig and is called Portnadoran and is locally known as Portnalucaig. This fabulous location was very beautiful, we managed lots of touring, walking and quite a bit of ham radio. I got the opportunity to use the Call 2M for Scotland which caused quite a bit of pile up on a few occasions from some remote places in the North West Highlands operating 2M0HTS/M. Here is what happened during our stay, Thank you to all who managed to make the QSO it sure was fun! We can’t wait until we go back up there and do it all again! It was very beautiful and also an excellent radio opera