SSTV on 80M

SSTV on 80M - 3.730 myself 2E0HTS in QSO with OH2BT from Finland.........

Girl GuideThinking Day On the Air at the Starcentre

A view of the Mars Landscape at the STARCENTRE


Today was Thinking Day on the Air,which is an annual event for Girl guides around the world.This year Keighley and Bradford Guides took part at the Starcentre and i had the pleasure of operating the Station and assisting them with Ham Radio qso's around Europe on HF,we worked many stations mainly on 20M and a few on 40M and 2M. Contacts were made with Germany,Hungary,Ukraine,Italy,Russia,Romania,Spain,Yugoslavia and England.

This is where the shack is located at the college's Starcentre,its the Communication Centre.A large plasma screen is connected to the P.C and allows others to see whats going on in the shack,in this picture it shows Satellite tracking and decoding.

Here you can see Girl Guides operating the FT1000mp and also logging worked Stations.

YL's seem to attract plenty of calls a total of 30 Guides took part in the Event and they all had a HF QSO some had many.They will all receive a communicator badge for their participation and efforts.

Yes its ME having a play on HF, luckily i work at College full time and get to operate the Station regular which is only fair as i set the Station up in the first place H.I!

The FT1000mp in SSTV mode this was a hit with the Guides as i took their photo's and sent them out across the airwaves via SSTV on 20M

The other end of the shack is mainly used for VHF operation,as you can see more P.C's this time used for weather Satellite tracking and receiving,also the Internet such as QRZ.COM,Eqsl etc. To the right is the PSU,FT2600m 2M rig,Azimuth/Elevation controller,VR5000 receiver,ATU and FT890 which was used to receive more stations which were logged towards the Communicator badge.

This is a close up of the VR5000 receiver which i got the College to buy so that when I was not around other members of staff who are not licenced radio Hams can use this receiver to aid their teaching sessions.Well that was the idea, however i feel that the other members of staff seem to be scared of the radio equipment in general and avoid using it! This is a shame as we Hams are only too happy to help people get their licence. The use of radio has been a great tool for me using Science, maths,electronics,geography and propagation to help young people learn something and have fun and a good time.

I'm pleased to report that the Girl Guides really took to radio and had a great time at the Starcentre,hopefully we may hear some of the Girl Guides in the up and coming future of Amateur Radio.

that's all for now 73 and thanks for visiting this web blog.

Cq Cq Looking For DX

This week has proved to be quite interesting and i am pleased to report good DX has been worked on my Humble Ham Station.
After adding some 1/4 wave radials for 20M to the Hustler 6btv i seem to be working Stateside even easier than before! with good QSO's with AB1AI, W5OU,N3PF,N3UEV,K4VV and the well known W2ONV.These contacts all took place early evening just as the Sun was setting,all on the 20M Band.

I went on to Work Cuba for the first time but more surprisingly was that it was on the 40M Band using a simple G5RV and 50 watts.The cuban station was CO8LY and 5/9 reports were exchanged. VO1CRM from Canada and FM5DN from Martinique were both worked on 40m late evening time. Two more new DXCC were added to my collection taking it to 111 Countries in total,the new DXCC worked were D44BS from Cape Verde Island, and YW0DX operating as a DXpedition group from Aves Island both rare DX Stations especially using the G5RV and also on 40M.

YW0DX is part of the 4M5DXgroup who are currently active throughout February on Aves Island which incidentally is only 2m above sea level. When any storms hit the Island it becomes fully submerged, you can get an idea of what its like on the picture that is posted on the Stations QRZ.COM look up page which you can see here.

I hope you enjoyed this post ill be listen/operating on 20M and 40M in the Evenings so if you hear me please say Hello. 73 and good DX to all, thanks for visiting this site.

Pictures/ images of rigs i own and use

Kenwood TH7E handheld TX145/430 rx 0-1300mhz

Yaesu Ft470 (my first 2m/70cm radio still going strong) Yaesu Ft767GX HF,6,2 and 70cm

Yaesu FT890 HF (my first HF rig)

Yaesu FT100 HF,6,2 & 70 (i use this every day operating mobile & have had Excellent results)

Yaesu FT857 HF,6,2 & 70 (i use this rig mainly on 2m,70cm and 6m.i also have it connected to my p.c and down load satellite images e.t.c)

Yaesu FT 847 Earth station HF,6,2 & 70cm

A view of the Mars Landscape at the Starcentre

44f Bradford Air Cadets pass Licence exam

Hello once again,i am pleased to report that 6 Air Cadets sat the foundation licence exam this monday evening and all six passed.

The Cadets have attended a 9 week course at the Starcentre which is part of Keighley College.
During the weekly sessions, louise M3TLL,and my self 2E0HTS have been training the Cadets both practical and theory regarding Radio and ham operation.

We were both delighted with their results and we are looking forward to working them on Air soon.

The Cadets are from the 44F squadron based at Bradford, now they are licenced they can operate the squadrons Ham radio station and hopefully some of the newly licenced Hams will aquire their own Station at their home QTH.

This is the second group of Air Training Corps Cadets we have had the pleasure of training for the foundation licence,and as an ex Air Cadet its great to be able to give something back to the Corps.I hope that we get the chance to teach many more in the future.

Well Done 44F Squadron!!!!!!

This is the press release from the College/Starcentre

Air Cadets from 44F Squadron Bradford are celebrating today following examination success.

The six air cadets aged between 13 and 19 completed a 9 week course at Keighley College through the Constructive Partnerships project to gain their Foundation Licence for amateur radio.

The course which took place using the College’s STAR Centre facility involves both practical and theory and students need to have a keen grasp of the fundamental physics involved.

The Foundation Licence enables the cadets to operate amateur radio equipment with a power limit of 10 watts, with this they will be able to communicate worldwide. They will also be able to use radio equipment they have at their Cadet base.

RSGB registered instructor Simon Davison 2E0HTS was extremely pleased with the results “The students have worked hard and deserved to pass. It will be good to hear some new voices entering the hobby.”

unfortunatly i am not permitted to show the group photo due to the child protection act as some of the cadets are under 18 years of age.


The Starcentre Radio Shack

Operating PSK on 40m band

This is a short film of my station as i operate on psk which involves the use of radio and computer interfaced and making a contact with other ham stations using digital modes. T94KC is the other station in the film which i manage a QSO,i hope you enjoy the film!!!!




Ive been on 40m using PSK mode this week with some good results.I worked LU5ENM from Argentina using 40 watts through a G5RV earlier in the week and managed 15 different DXCC in total.

The Rigblaster that i recently aquirred has been a good investment as i have had many hours of fun experimenting with SSTV and now PSK modes. I seem to have become quite addicted to these great DX Tools especialy when the bands drop off on phone, as these two modes continue to be working even with very weak signals.

Hope to catch you on Air 73 and thanks for visting this site.

Mobile qso with Mohammed 7X4AN

.
I regulary Work 7X4AN Mohammed on 20m from my Mobile Station which comprises of Yaesu's Field Commando the mighty FT100,50watts and the amazing Maldol 20m hfc whip.

I have worked 7X4AN at least 20 times from my mobile usually travelling back and forth on my work journey..Many thanks Mohammed I look forward to our next QSO
ma salam a 73

HF/VHF Propagation Brings New Year Lift on Bands

I hope the New year is going good for you all.The Bands have been much improved over the past several days or so,with good DX been worked on HF and VHF by my Humble self 2E0HTS.

It Started During the Christmas Break when the UK was suffering some terrible weather such as Fog,Gale Force Winds and Heavy Rain.

This was when the 2M Band was wide open.I worked many stations with 5/9 reports all over the UK on FM and SSB was active with some strong German stations blasting through.

I was using the FT857 and 50w into a X200 colineer on 2M FM when i was Rag chewing with 2 locals Barry G7OFR and Ron 2E0DOG/M.This was when I was Called by a Station from Newcastle Derrick G1XXF,then Dave G3VUS QTH Cumbria,M3VGK Brian QTH Derbyshire,M0FEW Bill QTH Somerset,G0VJI Robin QTH London and also 5/9, i also worked Tom M3AGS QTH Seaview ISLE OF WIGHT.

All worked on 2M FM with an excellent VHF lift which lasted a week or so with still some intermittent good conditions.

On HF the conditions proved to remain poor with no sign of improvement on any HF Bands.

so i continued to get used to operating on SSTV mode around about 14.230 mHZ with some good contacts into Europe until New Years Day when operating on FT857,HUSTLER 6BTV i nearly fell of my chair when i herd HI8HH Mike QTH Dominican Republic, i had success and we Exchanged 5/5 reports both ways.Good News at last a bit of propagation on HF.

I also worked some European stations and a few US Stations K3N,WX3B and Vince NT4I.It sure makes a change for a little noise and some familiar, and new voices to RX.


Radio propagation is what Radio Hams Love Best!!!

Radio propagation is a term used to explain how radio waves travel when they are transmitted, or ‘propagated’ from one point on the Earth to another. Some radio waves can be reflected by objects in their path, even by gases in a certain state.

Shortwave frequencies (high frequency signals) are capable of reaching the other side of the planet because they can be refracted by the ionosphere. Amateur radio operators use the ionosphere to reflect their shortwave radio signals around the globe.

Low frequency signals have the property of following the curvature of the earth, making them ideal for continuous, continental communications. Unlike shortwave radio, longwave signals do not reflect or refract using the ionosphere, so there are fewer interference-caused fadeouts.

Higher frequency waves are used for satellite communications as they pass through the Ionosphere

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