Web-based SDR now covers 20m

Thanks to David Barber, via the UK-Contest reflector for news that the already superb Web-based SDR receiver from the University of Twente has been updated to cover 20m.

The 20m receiver is centred around 14.111. Ideal for the digital modes, of course - don't forget that you can run your favourite digimodes program to decode what you hear. And, it's also ideal for listening to the NCDXF beacons on 14.100

Listen to the receivers here

More sage words from Bob, WB4APR

Thanks to Stan, WA1LOU I happened across the following sage words from Bob Bruninga, WB4APR. Like other things that I've noted from Bob in the past, you can read this about amateur radio directly or life more generally. Up to you.

"At the ARRL Technical Challenge Forum at Dayton, the ARRL
technology leaders were lamenting that HAM radio needs something
for youth to get excited about. Something like: "Look at how
kids have taken text-messaging as the be-all-end-all excitement
of communications! We need something like that in ham radio!
Why aren't we developing things like this?"

To which I jumped up from the audience and could not contain
myself and exclaimed! "We have! We have had local/global text
messaging and text email from a handheld since 1998 in APRS! It
is exactly what kids are doing today, but we have been doing it
for 10 years! But you know what? All the old fuds in ham radio
say 'How crude. We need a keyboard. No one is ever going to
communicate by punching buttons on the front of an HT'!"

SO still, only 1% of ham radio is even aware of this routine global
connectivity from a handheld that we have had for 10 years.
As pogo said, "we have met the enemy and the enemy is us."
Everyone keeps waiting for the "perfect dream" solution and then
they dream of all the things they could do. But you know what?
The perfect dream solution is always in the future. The few
instances in ham radio that really excell in actual needed
practical communications are those that ALWAYS take what they
have and just do the MOST with it, NOW!"

New version of DX Summit

Just picked up some details to say that a new version of DX Summit has been launched.

DX Summit is the web interface to the DX Cluster system.

See the new website here

It's an easier URL to remember!

Morse in the Guardian?

David, G3XLW alerted me, via Twitter, to discussion that somewhere, there's a French station which transmits French poetry in Morse. I didn't know that! If you know which station it is and where it is, please get in touch. Enquiring minds need to know!

But in the process of trying to find the information, I happened on an article published in 'The Guardian' newspaper yesterday on the use of Morse Code worldwide. RSGB's Carlos Eavis is quoted.

See the Guardian article here

2m SSB Net in the North of England

Last evening, I was doing some work on the computer when I heard Ian, 2E0BOE/P calling CQ on 144.300.

I replied to him and was pleased to find that he was portable on Winter Hill, near Bolton in IO83. Considering I was beaming east when I first heard him, he was a great signal. Also operating with him was Tony, M3VOG/P.

Ian and Tony told me that there's a 2m SSB net in the North West of England every Thursday evening between 2030 and 2300 local time on 144.325 and they welcome any callers.

If you're around on a Thursday evening - point the beam up to the North West and see if you can hear them.

Live VHF Propagation updates

With the Es season (hopefully) approaching fast, I was interested to see that G7IZU had set up a fascinating propagation monitoring page. This looks useful.

See the page here

D-STAR update from Dayton

An interesting update on D-STAR following Dayton here

Jeff, KE9V commented that it felt that this year was the year that D-STAR came of age. It will be interesting to see if that is reflected in activity here in the UK. Certainly it does seem very interesting and no doubt the amateur radio dealers will be holding their breath to see if the interest turns into sales.

I was interested to read that an interface had been developed, which could be plugged into any rig with an 9600 baud packet port that would convert it into a D-STAR radio. Now this seems like the way to go! Not sure if these are commercially available - or whether anyone has plans to make them so, but it feels like this would inject a huge boost to D-STAR activity - as presumably the investment to become active would be significantly reduced.

My first twitter instigated QSO

I sent a 'tweet' (using Twitter) to KE9V this afternoon saying that I would be on GB3WO this evening around 1730z and if he could connect to it via Echolink, then perhaps we could have a chat. Well, he couldn't make it, but Ian, G4PDS saw the message and I was delighted to work Ian, from Seaton in Devon via the Witney 70cms repeater. Thank you, Ian - for a really enjoyable QSO.

So, if anyone else reading this has Echolink (and it's not difficult to setup), do try connecting to GB3WO around 1730z - it would be really great to have a QSO with you!

Shock/horror! Human ears beats CW Skimmer in pileup competition

Who'd have thought it? An experienced CW operator can beat the CW Skimmer hands-down

During the KCDXC Pileup competition at Dayton, the CW Skimmer program entered for the first time. Although it obtained a very creditable 31 calls copied correctly, the leading operator, W9WI scored 52! So, the top operators don't really need to feel too threatened just yet.

Perhaps that's the point. Maybe having a CW Skimmer around will improve the 'average' entrant's score, just as a memory keyer would. But it's not going to be the difference between winning or not. That's still going to come down to the operator who's making the strategic decisions for the station - as well as having an ear that, for now, is more adaptive to CW decoding than the best decoding algorithms that we have come up with so far.

Doubtless, the Skimmer technology will evolve and improve. But it should push and encourage all the operators to become better.

That's a good thing, isn't it?

And you can see the KCDXC Pileup results here.

144MHz Contest this weekend

If you're in the UK, or within 2m range of us this weekend, there's the RSGB 144MHz contest going on. It started at 1400z and runs until 1400z on Sunday, though you may hear some of the Backpackers (low power stations) for an hour after the main contest closes.

I had a quick listen around this evening and though conditions weren't great, there were some interesting contacts to be had. I was particularly pleased to work GM0AYR/P (IO75) - I don't work Scotland on 2m that often. For some reason it seemed hard work with a couple of stations, just conditions, I'm sure.

Do get on and work who you can - the entrants will appreciate it.

Wish you were at Dayton?

Well, we can't teleport you there, but courtesy of ARRL and Katie, W1KRB here's a video shot Friday morning walking around the convention. Can you see anyone you know?



Here's a picture of the eQSL stand; Rich, W3ZJ on the left and Dave, N5UP on the right.

M6 calls now available to Foundation Licencees

Pete, M3PHP alerted me a couple of days to this story and a press release has just appeared on the OFCOM website:

"Ofcom is pleased to announce that the M6 + 3 Letters series of call signs has now been made available for issue to applicants for the Amateur Foundation licence. The M3 + 3 Letter series of call signs will still be available to applicants for the Amateur Foundation licence until the M3 + 3 Letter series is exhausted."

So, dear Foundation licencee, you can choose whether you become an M3 or an M6.

Perhaps there will be more choice available to Full licence holders before long? Would I change my call? Maybe...

50MHz noise

Though I haven't actually managed to catch a 6m opening yet this season, I'm feeling a little more confident now. Over the last few weeks, I've noticed that the noise level on 50Mhz has been S9 plus. Hard to work anything through that!

I spent a little time turning off devices in the shack this evening and discovered that if I turn off the PC speakers AND the monitor, then I can reduce the noise level to around S5. Not ideal, but I reckon I can work some CW through that.

Fingers crossed

4U1UN activity 17/18 May 2008

Via the Daily DX comes news that Roger, G3SXW will be active from 4U1UN in New York this weekend, 17/18th May. Operating with Roger will be Johnny, LA5IIA. They will concentrate on the low bands.

QSL via HB9BOU

Crete, SV9 now active on 70MHz

Leo, SV2DCD reports that George, SV9GPV is active from Crete on 70MHz - see Leo's post here.

Exciting news and an interesting new country for 70MHz enthusiasts. I wonder if SV5 is active as well. And I wonder if we will ever see SV2/A (Mount Athos) on 70MHz. There's a challenge!

It's Dayton time

The Dayton Hamvention is probably the best-known amateur show/meeting/convention in the world. It first ran in 1952 and has gained in prominence ever since. This year it's running from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th May.

Someone once said that every ham who can, should probably go to Dayton once in their life and I think that's true. I went many years ago - sadly I was struck by food poisoning - not acquired at the convention, I hasten to add! But aside from that it was a really great experience and I met a lot of people that I'd worked on the bands for years.

You do see every aspect of ham life there and there are some you wish that maybe you hadn't seen! I remember being in the restroom (as we'd call it there) doing what was necessary and a guy came and stood beside me and did the same. His handie-talkie went off and his friend called him. Without a moment's hesitation, he replied! Do you know, I think I'd have left that QSO until I was out of there!

More positively, this year the ARRL are going to be blogging from the event and I'm hoping that we'll get various news reports over the duration of the Hamvention and find out what's been going on. eQSL are going to have a booth/stand there and I know that Dave Morris, N5UP and several of the support team are looking forward to meeting eQSL members at the booth.

Check out the official Dayton website here

Band I Es yesterday

From the FM mailing list again, come reports that yesterday there was some Band I TV from Eastern Europe, so in all probability 50MHz was open. It wasn't when I listened quickly, but I might well have missed the opening.

Looking forward to catching an opening soon.

Anyone want a nearly new wind generator?

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that they had a nearly-new Rutland-913 (24v) wind generator for sale (here in the UK).

I don't know much about its provenance, but if you're interested, I can put you in touch. Price would be around half the list price, I believe, so well worth a look if you're interested in investigating wind power a little.

Ham Radio users of Twitter

More coverage regarding the use of Twitter by amateurs over the weekend.

Bob, K0NR covers it here

Jeff, KE9V covers it here

First Band 2 (88-108MHz) Es opening of the year

Via the FM mailing list, comes news from listener Mike Fallon, based in Sussex, England that he recorded his first Band 2 opening of the season on 11th May between 15.20 and 15.30 UTC. Mike received several stations from Spain between 88 and 93MHz.

This bodes well for amateur activity - hopefully we'll see plenty of openings on 50 and 70MHz soon - maybe 144MHz as well.

See Mike's log here

View the Ionosphere in Google Earth

Peter, G0UAP alerted me yesterday to this new facility to view the ionosphere in Google Earth. Peter mentioned that he'd had some problems with it.

The trick seems to be to make sure that you've got Google Earth safely installed on your machine (version 4.3 has been recently released and has some neat features). Use this page to download the KML files to your desktop and then do File/Open from Google Earth.

Peter wondered why the files wouldn't open directly from the webpage. I think it's because the server they're hosted on isn't set to render KML files directly, Peter (though I could be mistaken!)

Nice find, Peter - thanks for the tip!

SV2DCD reports first 4m Es QSOs of the season

Leo, SV2DCD reports the first 70MHz Es QSOs of the season on 5th May around 1200. He worked LX and G in-band and two PAs crossband.

See Leo's post here

Music to our ears (Katie Paterson and EME)

I've sometimes heard Morse enthusiasts say that 'Morse is music to their ears'. I suspect if you played them any other sort of music with a rapid rhythmic beat, they'd be the first to complain about it, but that's another story.

This week's BBC Digital Planet programme contained a fascinating story about an artist, Katie Paterson, who'd taken Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and arranged for the notes to be transmitted by radio back to earth, using Morse code sent by amateur moonbounce (EME) operators.

On reception, the piece is different to what was sent, because of path losses, libration fading and all the reasons familiar to EME operators. Katie transcribed the received signals and turned it back into music.

The amateur behind this was Peter Blair, G3LTF. who Katie described in glowing terms.

Wonderful publicity for amateur radio in a totally different sphere to normal.

See Katie's website for her description of the project. She also has a very moving project where you can actually hear the sound of a glacier melting.

The Oxford Mail ran a nice story about how school children have been fascinated by the concept of bouncing their messages off the moon.

Looking for DB0FAI and HB9HB using Easygram

Since GB3VHF was a couple of S-points above average this morning, I thought it would be just the sort of morning to have a look for some distant beacons using the DSP Software I mentioned a few weeks ago (Easygram).

First of all, I looked for HB9HB which you may remember I was able to detect quite easily. For some reason, it was less obvious this morning. There were some traces, which I am pretty sure were the beacon, but it wasn't as clear as the other day.

I remembered that there's a high power beacon DB0FAI in JN58 and I wondered if I'd be able to detect that. The answer seems to be yes - a very promising trace across the screen, so definitely one to keep an eye on. DB0FAI is on 144.490 if you want to try something similar.

28MHz alert

For the guys around here who're looking forward to the 10m openings this summer, a quick alert. I noticed a posting on the FOC reflector (which I didn't read fully..) that there was 10m propagation yesterday. Not sure if it was in these parts, but sounds like it will pay to be checking the band on a regular basis.

432MHz and up Contest: This weekend

The first weekend in May and October contain the two UHF/SHF contests, featuring bands from 432MHz up to, well, pretty much light (248GHz). Though I've only got the lowest band, 432MHz here, I wanted to take a look.

One of the guys I've been 'Twittering' with, Peter, G4MJS was off to the Isle of Man (GD) for the contest and I realised that I'd not worked GD on 432MHz since moving here around 5 years ago. So I wanted to do that and also see who else was around.

Normally, I have to confess I keep the beam towards Continental Europe, but with GD in mind, I kept the beam on the UK a little more. It was nice to work some people on the band that I'd not caught in ages M0BRA/P was a big signal from IO8o and G1KHX from IO81 was new on the band from here. From further north, G3CKR/P (IO93) and G4DEZ (JO03) were loud. Took me a while to find GD0EMG, but I was pleased to complete the contact last night - thanks guys! Around the same time I worked PA6NL (JO21) who'd been up and down in fading for most of the day.

Listening this morning, I haven't heard anyone new yet.

Gear: FT847/50w- all solar powered and 10ele yagi @ 10m

Some 70MHz activity updates

Leo, SV2DCD's blog alerted me to the renewal of the Italian 70MHz permits for the summer. I checked for some more details at the 70MHz website and found several items of interest (note to self, must check that site more often!). Lots of good reason to get going on 70Mhz for the summer.

All info following, courtesy of www.70mhz.org

Italy from I0JX

The authorization for a second 70 MHz ham-radio experimental campaign in Italy has been granted on April 30th 2008. Its validity lasts until December 31st 2008. The technical parameters and the operational conditions are the same as for the year-2007 experimental cycle. The I0JX/B beacon operating from Rome on 70,088 MHz has been re-activated.

Germany from G6GVI and OZ2M

DL3YEE and DI2PM will be active from 1st May to 30th August, 2008.

69,950 MHz, max bandwidth 2,7 kHz and max 10 W EIRP.

Czech Republic by OZ2M

Radio amateurs in the Czech Republic are now permitted to transmit on 70 MHz. The licensing conditions are: 70,2-70,3 MHz, 10 W ERP and up to 20 temporary licenses are valid until 2008-12-31.
Stations are already active.

Do you want to ban CW Skimmer from contests?

Well, it seems that some people do. They've put together a petition at iPetitions to call for a ban of the technology from contests.

It seems to me that it's misguided to suggest a complete ban. You can't sweep it under the carpet, otherwise you will drive the use of the technology completely underground.

Surely, the answer is to ensure that anyone who uses CW Skimmer is in an 'Assisted' or suitable category. It is clear that it would be inappropriate to mix 'unassisted' entries with CW Skimmer entries, but it's not the end of the world and it's not the end of CW Contesting. A good CW operator will always be better than a machine!

If you disagree, you know where the petition is!

Any radio twits on here?

No, no - not you!

Seriously, I don't mean 'twits' - I mean Twitter users! I've been aware of Twitter for a while but haven't really tried it out, but finally got around to playing with it today and I have to say I quite like it.

Twitter is probably easier to try than to explain, but the long and short is that it allows you to share what you're doing with friends. You can see some more at Twitter's website

If you're already a Twitter user - search for me (timkirby_g4vxe) I'll be pleased to swap some 'tweets' with you.

Ten more amateur satellites on the way

Jeff, K3OQ notes that the ARRL's website is reporting on an Indian rocket launch which has taken 10 new amateur satellites into orbit.

See the details here

Anything interesting? If you're into packet telemetry, lots, I'm sure. For the rest of us, with a more 'casual' approach or an interest in just hearing signals from space, then two of the satellites look interesting (descriptions from the ARRL website):

Compass-One was designed and built by students at Aachen University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The satellite features a Morse code telemetry beacon at 437.275 MHz. Compass-1 will also provide a packet radio data downlink, which will include image data, at 437.405 MHz.

Delfi-C3 was designed and built by students at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. It includes an SSB/CW linear transponder. The satellite will be in telemetry-only mode for the first three months of the mission, after which it will be switched to transponder mode. Delfi-C3 downlinks 1200-baud packet telemetry at 145.870 MHz. The linear transponder, when activated, will have an uplink passband from 435.530 to 435.570 MHz and a corresponding downlink passband from 145.880 to 145.920 MHz.

Could be worth saving some of these frequencies to memory and scanning them. Don't forget, even if you only have handheld VHF/UHF equipment, you'll still hear signals from space, particularly on an overhead pass. There isn't a lot between you and the satellite, so signals should be good.

Steve G3ZVW operating as ZD8N from Ascension

Over at Colin, MM0NDX's site, there's news of Steve, G3ZVW's forthcoming operation from Ascension Island as ZD8N. Steve's going to be there from May 2-13.

Steve will be known to many of you as an ex Radcom editor and is a current contributor to Radcom, writing the 'Whatever Next' feature.

He's a good operator, so look forward to some nice QSOs.

New allocation for Japan on 80m

ARRL report that Japanese amateurs now have extended access to the 80m band. This is great news for more opportunties to work JA on 3.5MHz.

See the story at the ARRL site here

Web based SDR and the data modes

David Barber, on the UK Contest reflector, brought my attention to the fact that using the Web-based SDR that I mentioned a couple of days ago you can use your data-modes program to decode the PSK/RTTY etc etc that it hears. It hadn't occurred to me that you could do that, but I tried it this morning and sure enough you can!

If you've not tried out PSK or RTTY or any of the other modes, then this might be an encouragement to do so.

Why not try WinWarbler from AA6YQ which will decode PSK31, PSK63 and RTTY ?

It occurs to me that lots of people listening and not transmitting isn't good for the hobby, so don't forget, once you've played around with the receiver a little, have a look at hooking up the program to your transceiver and make some activity yourself!

A little tropo on VHF: 26th April

The Saturday morning tune around has just revealed GB3VHF on 144MHz about 3 S-points louder than normal. No great DX around at the moment, though G3JHM was calling CQ in French (no replies that he or I could hear...). I tried a CW CQ on 144.050 with no replies. Worth checking through the day, I expect.

Web-based SDR receiver from the Netherlands

This is very cool! Thanks to Stewart, GW0ETF and Justin, G4TSH for passing this along.

Here's a Web-based Software Defined Radio based in the Netherlands, with a superb web interface. You can choose either 3.5MHz or 7MHz to listen to, over a bandwidth of around 40khz. I'm writing this and listening to YO2MHD calling CQ on 7054.

But, of course, another test that has to be tried is to see if you can hear yourself. G to PA at this time of night is best on 80m, so I had a quick test and sure enough I could hear my CW coming back! There's an 80m Club Championship Data Contest going on this evening which gives plenty of signals on the receiver.

Have a listen here!

More on WSPR: Truly a whisper

Something that I didn't cover in the posting about WSPR the other day was the power of the stations transmitting. Because they were being quoted in dBm, I had to do a reality check to see.

The dBm (ie power output) is shown in the text of each station that you receive. Several stations from North America were received the other evening on 10MHz, using output powers of 27 dBm or less. That equates to 500 mW or half a watt.

In other words, a standard 11 watt low-energy light-bulb is using 22 times more power than that transmission!

That's impressive! I think I'll be listening with heightened interest now I've worked out what low power these signals are using.

9K2/G4WUH worked this evening

It's no good, I'm going to say it, I like Echolink!

I know it's not Amateur Radio as we know it, but perhaps linking repeaters via telephone lines wasn't amateur radio either. I was always intrigued when I lived in Canada about how a repeater in Toronto could be linked to a repeater in Vancouver and QSOs made across a continent using hand-held VHF/UHF equipment.

Had a nice surprise this evening, as I was driving up the A34. I heard Ian, G4WUH operating as 9K2/G4WUG from Kuwait. Ian had connected to GB3TD the Swindon 433MHz repeater through Echolink. It was fun to have a quick chat with Ian and hear about his day. Tomorrow he's off to Cairo, so perhaps we'll hear SU/G4WUH on GB3TD tomorrow evening.

As I've said before, if Echolink QSOs intrigue people with working DX in other ways, then as far as I'm concerned, it's a great thing.

Picture courtesy of http://www.pictureninja.com/pages/kuwait/kuwait-city-skyline.jpg

CW Skimmer in contests - is it that complicated?

Over at the excellent radio-sport.net site, Jamie, NS3T reports that there's been no official comment on the use of CW Skimmer in contests and whether use of the tool would automatically bump the user into the 'Assisted' category.

Gut reaction: It's hard to imagine that contest organisers would not view it this way. Essentially it acts like a DX Cluster, showing all the stations that are active.

Logic: But wait! The CW Skimmer is just reporting what your rig's hearing - no-one else is entering the data and assisting you. No-one else's station is involved.

Gut reaction: But it's the computer doing all the work? OK - if it's the computer doing the decoding and not you, it must be 'Assisted'.

Logic: Hold on there! Can't fault the thinking, but what else are we having the computer doing in our station? Logging, sending morse - it's doing all those things - assisting the operator. Is CW Skimmer really that different?

Gut feel tells me it is - and that use of CW Skimmers in contests should result in instant 'Assisted' classification. Logic is not so clear cut and you can see why the contest committees are not exactly rushing to make their position clear!

CW Skimmer in contests - yup, it IS that complicated!

WSPRing on 10MHz

I'd seen various posts on a few blogs over the last few days (the first in Italian) about K1JT's new program, WSPR

It looked interesting, so this evening, I downloaded the program, loaded it on my laptop and hooked up the FT1000 listening on 10MHz. After a bit of fiddling around (remember to ensure your computer clock is telling the right time!) and setting levels, the program sprang into life!

Joe, K1JT describes the WSPR mode as follows "WSPR (pronounced "whisper") stands for "Weak Signal Propagation Reporter." This program implements transmitting and receiving for a digital soundcard mode called "MEPT_JT", an acronym for "Manned Experimental Propagation Tests, by K1JT".

Sure enough, listening for an hour or so through sunset on 10MHz has revealed a number of stations operating on WSPR. The first stations heard were European; PA3ABK, I2KBD, OZ1PIF and F6IRF. The man himself, K1JT, quickly appeared too!

Oh! North America's starting to come through now. VE1VDM has just appeared.

This is interesting. Of course, there's a grid locator shown against each station, so you get a sense of what propagation's doing. So far, it's as you'd expect, EU dropping off a little after sunset and the North Americans coming up. It's never quite that straightforward.

Do give it a go! And of course, I'm just in RX mode. To contribute most fully, do enable the TX to give others a chance to hear you! You'll find the program to download on the link in the first paragraph.

Thanks Joe!

29MHz FM: Funny what happens when you hit the wrong button!

This afternoon I drove up to the allotment to do a quick bit of planting. As is normal, I switched the FT8900 to have a listen around. Rather than hit the memory scan, I accidentally hit band scan on 29MHz. To my surprise, the receiver stopped on 29.640 and I heard the tail end of an ID, sending IO92NF.

Had a quick fiddle around, setting the repeater shift up and found that I could just about open the repeater. It's GB3CJ, located up at Northampton. Not bad coverage to make it down here onto the ridge at Longworth. I've set it in one of the memories now, so it will be interesting to see how often I hear it, and from where.

The GB3CJ website is here

I had a feeling I could hear a weak signal on 29.600 FM this afternoon, so perhaps things are starting to happen!

VHF Expedition to JO00 this week

I just worked Kevin, G1KAW/P from JO00. He told me that he's making an DXpedition there for the best part of a week. He's using Meteor Scatter on 2m and has already worked into HA and DL, so the gear's working well.

Look for Kevin around the WSJT frequency; 144.370.

He'll also be on 50MHz tropo as conditions allow - and if the weather gets a bit nicer to enable some more antennas to be erected!

Welcome to Amateur Radio: Stuart, M3XHV

Had a nice QSO on the way home last night on the Didcot 70cms repeater, GB3DI (probably the first time in 5 years that I've had a QSO on that box!). I worked Stuart, M3XHV who'd had his licence for just a few days. Didn't sound like it though and I got the impression that Stuart had been listening to the bands for a while.

Welcome to Amateur Radio, Stuart!

Yaesu FT-897/FT-857: Saving power for portable operation

From Richard, G4ERP comes a tip if you've got an FT-897 or FT-857 and use it portable from a battery. Richard says that some of the display schemes are far more thirsty on the battery than others, so if you regularly use one of these rigs from a battery, it may be worth an experiment.

I don't have one of these radios to experiment with, so if you do and find out which display scheme is kindest to the battery, please post a reply here.

Some nice pictures of the YK9G operation

I just found some nice pictures of the recent YK9G operation over at Chris, G3SJJ's site.

Have a look here

YK9G are QRT

The YK9G team went QRT on 16th April at 0350z. Their website reports that they were continously active for 6 days 19 hours making a total of 29,473 QSOs or 28,100 excluding duplicates.

That makes around 4,340 QSOs per day.

Well done chaps! Thanks for some great entertainment.

DXpeditioning in the 21st century

It's fascinating to see new technologies being applied in DXpeditions. I mentioned a few days ago that YK9G had been uploading their logs into Logbook of the World (LOTW). Another innovative approach came out last night when I was chatting with Justin, G4TSH.

Justin mentioned that he'd been chatting to one of the YK9G operators about the 160m openings via Skype. How cool is that! Justin was able to get instant feedback from the guys about what they'd been hearing and so on.

It's easy to take this level of technology and integration for granted though. Some years ago, when we were operating from the Comoros, people got all upset when we didn't manage to upload our logs for a day or two, owing to local internet conditions!

Operating from a desert island is quite different to somewhere where internet bandwidth is readily available. So don't get too used to realtime LOTW uploads and Skype just yet!

Ever wondered what a Coronal Mass Ejection looks like?

As an HF interested amateur, you're probably familiar with what happens when there's a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). What does one look like? Check out this post on the BBC News site

Let's over look the 'Sun belches' headline! Who says news is dumbed down :-)

JT65A on the HF Bands

I knew the VHF community was putting the WSJT modes, including JT65 to great use for weak signal working. It wasn't until I read this paper on the DX Zone from my old friend Phil, GU0SUP that I realised it was being used on HF.

Have a read here.

The arbitrary nature of amateur radio entities - or What's wrong with Rockall?

Looking over at Colin, MM0NDX's Hamspirit blog, I noticed some interesting comments from 'Island Man' regarding getting amateurs interested in his trip to Rockall.

"I think that the Ham Radio people need to consider carefully why Rockall is such a sought after location to activate, even though it is on Europe’s doorstep. If there are radio hams out there looking for a guaranteed tick they should forget about Rockall, but if they are looking for what could be their ultimate activation challenge anywhere in the world this trip is for them.

A challenge is never a guaranteed tick, this is what makes it a challenge. I would be amazed and disap