Helping a Fellow Ham

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!
Sometimes even when its raining you end up helping out....
AS you can see here i am helping Ron 2E0DOG get that antenna to stand out a bit more

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

My New Toy A Nomic Rig-Blaster and SSTV

Greetings once again to all Radio people and Bloggers,this post is about operating Radio and Computer with a device connected to my Com-port on my P.C which connects to my Yaesu FT847.
Last weekend i bought a Rig-blaster off a fellow Ham operator G1YPQ-Karl a good friend of mine. Ive had the Nomic Rig-blaster for a while on loan but had not got round to using it,Karl G1YPQ asked me if i wanted to buy it so i dropped off the cash and decided to give it a go.

The Rig-blaster was fairly straight forward to connect,it fitted directly to my Com port1 and came with a couple of of output leads with mic plugs fitted. The mic lead went into the 847,the Rig-blaster has different jumper connections inside which are quite simple to set for most Rigs microphone wiring. The audio out of the 847 went to the line in on my p.c sound card. You then connect your p.c speakers to the audio out on the Rig-blaster.

Hey presto! that's the connecting done, the next stage was to transmit some data and get the output level set correctly. I decided to try out SSTV as i have the software and i have been receiving SSTV pics for the last 3 years or so with good results, finally i get to send some. I used my Kenwood TH 7e handheld to monitor my first transmissions as this 145/433 TX handheld also has 0-1300mhz receive capabilities with AM,FM,CW and SSB so it is ideal.

Once i was happy i decided to get in touch with another fellow Ham M1PAC Phil, Phil was the guy who came to my QTH in the days of M3HTS(my old call sign) and introduced me to MMSTV, WINPSKse, SATSCAPE and anything impressive in the World of Ham software, so it was only right that my first TX would be to his good self on 2M SSTV frequency.


This Image is Transmitting my SSTV image, as you can see i have a few templates to choose from. I have no shortage of pictures which i can take directly from my Computer.

This image is in receive mode on the 2M band on FM and yes of course its Phil M1PAC, the small image in the bottom left hand corner is my Transmission sent back from Phil's QTH. Not bad for my first SSTV Transmission ever!

M1PAC This SSTV image and the ones that follow are on 14.230 mhz the 20M band operating onSSB
I0ZSG

HA6FQ S57LP So if you are an SSTV operator i will hopefully work your station in the very near future even though the bands have still been in an extremely bad way.

I have also tryed out PSK which again is quite good fun using Computer and radio together, again my friend Phil M1PAC was worked during PSK operation and i have herd some interesting QSOs taking place. I will have a post on PSK operation in the future but for now its 73 to all readers and thanks for visiting my Blog.

When the bands are poor never give up hope.

Sunday evening is radio night for me I usually chat to my friends who are local however this week none of my locals were on air so I spent some time trying to works a few stations up and down the HF bands. I listened on 20m and found there was no-one on until I came across PT7CB Barreto from Brazil. We had a quick 5 and 9 on 20m I have worked him many times in the past and we have exchanged QSL cards.

I went on to the other HF bands it was very strange as again there were only a handful of stations from Europe so I headed down to 80m and worked a British and German station and heard a VK at the top end of 80m. Back up to 40m where it was still fairly quiet and to my astonishment I cam across Barreto PT7CB for the second time this evening. And amazingly managed another 5 and 9 on 40m using the good old G5RV.

Who says G5RVs don't do DX?! Especially amazing as propogation is very poor. It just goes to show you should never give up hope when the bands are poor.

QSO with F4AWH and my YL M3TLL

Tonight I have been operating on 80M in QSO with John F4AWH whilst waiting for a Contact with my YL M3TLL Louise who was operating from the STAR CENTRE with some SCOUTS on 2M.

The SCOUTS were working with Louise in the Radio Shack Logging Stations, learning Q codes and radio Knowledge to obtain the Scouts Communication Badge.

Bad Propagation?

Hello Radio People and Bloggers, I wonder what the HF Bands have been like in your neighbourhood?

Here in wet and windy West Yorkshire it has been extremely poor propagation for the last two weeks, infact ive not heard any Stations on 20M after mid afternoon and by the time i get in from work its been totally flat.

Early morning has not been much better on 20M, however i did here a ZL Station this morning whilst operating on my mobile-Toyota Rav4,Ft100 DX machine.

I have worked a few Stations in Europe whilst been /M, last weeks best contact from the home QTH was 5A7A from Libya operating on my FT847 with 50watts through the Hustler 6btv i managed a 5/9 report both ways.

The Hustler Vertical still seems to be an excellent performer for working DX stations, My antenna is ground mounted to a solid steel bar 1 &1/2 inch diameter by 5 feet long this is hammered into the ground. I do have a great take off of 1000ft above sea level and no QRN from mains powered households as i am out in the sticks on the top of the Moors.The only things to worry about is 100mph winds,wet and cold winters and wildlife.






























The Hustler did me justice on 15m with a new Country/DXCC to add to my list and a well recieved eQSL from Darren G0TSM who was operating with the callsign C52T from The Gambia with another 5/9 QSO.













I have been active on 40m on monday evenings with the Air Cadets operating the Star Centre Station using the Ft1000mp and carolina windom 160.We worked a few European stations and the Cadets passed some greetings messages to some friendly Hams.

I have also been in QSO with some of my Ham friends operating on the 2M band from the home QTH and also working /Mobile, M5ZZZ Steve, G0GNU Jeff, M1PAC Phil and also 2E0DOG Ron are some of the Stations ive worked. At least when HF is quiet it is always nice to catch up with my regular QSOs and Radio pals.

I hope things improve on HF in the very near future, it would be nice to make some good DX on monday evenings so that the young up and coming Hams to be,The Air Traing Corps cadets get to see the real magic of propagation.

All the best 73 to each and all until the next post, have a good week Simon

Radio Licence Course

Portable at The STAR CENTRE















The Last couple of weeks The YL M3TLL Louise and Myself have been running a training course at the works QTH The STAR CENTRE,this is where the Ham Station is based down at Keighley College.
The picture above shows the Communcation Centre where the rigs are in company with computer technology.To the right is a 6/2/70 tri-band Beam parrallel to an Oscar 437 30 element XSat-Beam.Below a view across the mars landscape to a Science Pod and Rocket, and bottom right shows an image recieved from NOAA 12.






The Cushcraft MA5B mini beam for HF operation
We also use a Hustler 6BTV and a Carolina Windom160







We have been Teaching some Air Training Corps Cadets.The Air Cadets are from Bradford and are 44F squadron A.T.C. We have worked with other squadrons and some have become Licenced Amatuers. This Course covers theory and practical tasks followed by an Examination so hopefully these cadets will achieve the Foundation licence


We will be both on Air with the Cadets on Monday evenings 7-9PM

here is a picture of me and my lovely YL Louise M3TLL.

This weeks session Louise is operating CW so the Cadets will have to decode and then resend.

I am taking my FT890 a PSU and a Hombrew Dipole for 20m so they can adjust the length for the best SWR,and also use an ATU.








This Weeks Radio Report

Ive had some good Contacts from the mobile operating on 20m and 15m through to USA and lots of Europe.Also herd big signals from VK and ZL early mornings whilst driving to work.

I havent worked so many Stations from the home QTH, but when on i have had the best results on 40m in the evenings.

I am pleased to report lots of QSL cards via the buro have been coming in, one was from Energia Russion space Station, another from BOGATA in Columbia, and many from across Europe also cards from SWLs. So many thanks to all QSLers and eQSLrs.

73 and happy blogging

New Antenna Courtesy of the 2006 BARNSLEY HAMRADIO RALLY

On Sunday Morning myself and the YL headed down the M1 to Barnsley South Yorkshire.It was the 2006 Barnsley Ham Radio Rally and i was on the lookout for another mobile Antenna.I already own quite a few tryed and tested beautys which include Maldol 80m,40m,20m,mono-banders a Maldol multibander 40m,15m,10m,6m,2m & 70cms.A mono-band 6M,10m,2m,and a Tri-band 6m,2m,70cms from Watson.
This mission was to obtain a 15m-21mhz mobile Antenna,after a tour round the stalls i ended up at the Lam Communications stall where Lee the owner offered me a Comet 15m mobile Antenna.
I was really after Maldol but i decided to try the comet and after the friendly discount i was quite happy with the purchase.
I installed the Antenna to my second HF mount which is fed through a 2Way Antenna Switch in my DX machine (RAV4 TOYOTA powered FT100).
On the return journey back up North to my QTH i was recieving good signals from the Blueridge Mountain in the USA,also South America, and I had a QSO with a 5/9+ signal both ways with SV9GPV (Greece)despite the Band conditions been poor.
Im looking forward to working on 15m more regulary from the mobile so HAMS AND SWLs listen up!

2006 WWW CQ Contest

A few Stations from this years World Wide CQ Contest. I was operating on the FT847 Earth Station From Yaesu.The Antenna's i used were Hustler 6btv on 21mhz,and on 14mhz i was expermenting between the Hustler and a Hombrew 20m Dipole, which was horizontal in an L configaration.It is 33ft in total length and is made from good quality 3mm multi strand copper wire which is sleeved.The Antenna is resonant across the 20m band so i run direct from the 2 way switch i use to change between the Hustler and the Homebrew 20m Dipole,i was extremley surprised with the Dipole's excellent performance i managed 14 Zones and 8 new countries.

Here are some DXCC Worked on 21mhz using the Hustler 6BTV and 50W.

6W1RY Senagal,PR2A Brazil,3V6T Tunisia,CX5BW Uruguay,FY5KE French Guiana,K9BGL USA,V26B Antigua and Barbuda,VC3R Canada,ZS9X South Africa,8R1EA Guyana all worked and many others.

DXCC Worked on 14mhz using a combination of Hustler and Hombrew 20m Dipole

KC1XX USA,7S2E Sweden,UU7J Ukraine,VE2IM Canada,SX5P Dodecanese Is, all worked along with many others on the Hombrew Dipole and 50W on 14mhz.

FM/K9NW Martinique,P49Y Aruba,WP2Z U.S.Virgin Is,8P2K Barbados,YV4A Venezuela,9Y4NZ Trinidad & Tobago,CU2/OH1VR Azores, just a few of the many Stations i worked on 20M using the Hustler 6BTV and 50W on 14mhz.

On 80M i worked a couple of stations.

OT6A Belgium,CN2R Morocco and CT3YA Madeira on 3.5mhz using the G5RV which is about 25ft up.The Shack is situated on top of the edge of a very steep drop off on a nice hill known as Baildon Moor, my QTH is just about 1000ft above sea level.

I have had a fairley unactive week on the bands on an evening this week but have been operating mobile on the morning drive to work,i worked a few stations around Europe and i have herd activity on 20m from ZL and VK so who knows who's next H.I.
IF your a HAM maybe you will be on my next video! if your a blogger thanks for logging on to this blog. 73 to all

DX in the Dark!

It was dark as I was waiting for Blackpool Illuminations (historical light show) to start when I heard an old friend, Steve WZ1Y from Conneticut USA. We made contact on 20m he was impressed with my mobile I normally work him from the home QTH, this was a first from my mobile station. Also you get to see the lights come on and a quick view of Blackpool by night.

More DX Action

More DX action on my day trip to Blackpool. I worked 3 Stations on 20M using 50 watts through a mono band maldol HF20 mobile antenna,the radio is Yaesu FT100.QSO's are with 3A/IZ2EID/P (Monaco),HA501CW (Hungary) and AB8AL (USA).

Mobile Contact 27/10/2006

Here is one of many contacts I had on the way to Blackpool operating mobile.As you will see i live on the top of the Moors which is good for radio,however you need a 4x4 because its a bumpy ride down the the old dirt track.You can also hear my Dog trying to get in on the action!

Jamboree on the Air

Cq Cq Cq JOTA !!!! That was what you could hear today down at the works QTH the Starcentre at Keighley College.This is where i work im a full time teaching technician in fabrication and welding,also a part time position in the Star Centre which is the college's Science Technology Aeronaughtical Regional Centre (STAR).

This Years JOTA/JOTI event went down great with a fun day for the 50 Scouts that attended the event which was being held world wide over this weekend.

AT the Star centre i was operating from the shack, helping the scouts obtain there Communications Badge.I was part of a team that did a total of 5 activities. The Scouts had to,build a crystal radio,down load a pod cast, jamboree on the internet ,Cool codes and playing radio. My YL Louise M3TLL was delivering cool codes which was Q codes,Phonetics,Call Signs and Pre-fixes etc.She made what a scout leader said was usually boring, fun and interesting.So with the use of PMR radio's and a head full of radio stuff, by the time they came to the H.F Station they had a good understanding of radio and operation.

We were operating on the H.F bands mainly 20m and 40m and worked many other Scout Jamboree Stations from
Cheq Republik,Switzerland,Hungary,Norway,Germany and Italy as well as England.The Scouts also used a YasueVR-5000 Yaesu Scanning Receiver * Frequency Coverage: 100kHz-2599.99MHz * Modes: CW.LSB,USB,AM,AM-N,WAM,FM-N,WFM * Real-Time Spectrum Scope * DSP Bandpass, Notch & Noise Reduction Filters.

This worked well for the Scouts with the winlog Dx cluster running they managed over 150 stations logged in SWL mode.They needed 25 to go towards the Communication Scout badge, so they were hot on the VFO and keen to hunt on the H.F bands and did quite well as we were operating 9am -3pm it worked out that each group got 1 hour in each area so time was short.

I was loose on the ft1000mp working through a carolina windom 160, 0-30m and a cushcraft ma5bmini beam 20-10m.Propagation was good for Europe but i did'nt hear any DX,last year we worked Canada,Brazil and USA.The Scouts were all happy and thrilled with all the activities they'd undertaken and all gaining the radio comminication badge went safely back to there home towns and i pulled the plug and that was another JOTA . Im looking forward to next years JOTA. The next time ill be in the Star Centre should be the middle of November when im training 12 Air Cadets to gain a Foundation licence,the Huddersfield 59th ATC have recently been on a Foundation course and some have obtained a licence. 73s Good DX see you next Weekend on the bands during the World WIDE CQ Contest.

Radio Com 5, Computers and Radios

BONITO RADCOM 5.2

This is the software that I have been running for a while from my PC to my Yaesu FT-857. It is connected from a COM Port via a dongle to the back of the rig with a CAT Interface lead. The software includes DSP filter and decoder for RTTY, CW, PSK, Fax and SSTV, full radio control, real time 3D scanner, equaliser, sat-tracking frequency management and a frequency analyzer.

WEATHER FAX FROM CANADA
click on image to enlarge
This is a weather fax received on HF from a Canadian weather station. There are many stations worldwide continuously transmitting weather information. You can receive many stations but obviously it all depends on the propogation.
This image is showing isobars.


SSTV PICTURES ON 20M BAND
click on image to enlarge
Here is an image of some SSTV - another feature of the software. There are many different filters and settings which are quite simple to use and allow good quality images. You can also transmit quite simply and drag your own images into the windows and then edit with your callsign etc.









SAT FAX USING SCOPE
click on image to enlarge
This image shows the settings for receiving satellite faxes, you can see there are various scopes. On the top left is a spectrum analyzer, the top centre shows a tuning scope and the right is the signal scope. The large middle scope shows the Level Controller. There are also fine adjustments such as bandwidth and different filter/equalizer settings all of which are fairly simple and straightforward. I have received some excellent signals and images of the Earth from space through the NOAA satellites with this software.







SATELLITE TRACKING AND SATSCAPE
click on image to enlarge
This image shows satellites being tracked and decoded at the same time. I think that anyone interested in satellite tracking may consider downloading Satscape as this is a really good program and is obtainable free via the Internet. I use both when I am in satellite mode and as you can see the screen looks good and it isn't often a satellite passes me by without being decoded. You can also set up a scan facility and program the satellites you wish to receive in advance and let the software decode the images whilst you're doing something else, maybe walking the dog H.I.





WORKING CW AND RTTY
click on image to enlarge
This image shows another function, this is working RTTY and here two stations are in QSO using their keyboards to do the talking. It decodes both RTTY, PSK and CW all in the same format, just simply click your mouse on the top left scope where the signal is present and the text will appear. again you can transmit on all the modes mentioned with this software but you will need a Rigblaster.







DSP AND RECORDING
click on image to enlarge
You can use RADCOM 5.2 solely as a radio control program and one of it's other benefits is a recording facility but more importantly a digital sound processor or the DSP filter. This is very useful whilst working on SSB especially working weak signals or working QRM/QRN conditions. The program works with your PC soundcard and you simply connect a jack-lead to the ext speaker socket in the back of the rig to the line-in on your PC, you then use your PC speakers to listen.

Another great feature of this software is the simple reprogramming/entering your favourite frequencies. I have entered quite a few such as some local repeaters, some calling frequencies on 2M and 6M and general interesting stations I've been listening to on short-wave. One click and I'm back on that frequency.

It is a bit pricey (about £180) but anyone who likes computers and radios will be quite impressed with this program, it puts Ham Radio Deluxe back in the drawer! I've yet to master it all but I've had it for about 12 months and so far I am well satisfied.

73 for now, that was a serious one, next time will be more fun!

Ham Radio - Just one of my hobbies

This video shows something else I enjoy doing to give you an idea of what I do as well as Ham Radio.