Vissable ISS Pass and HF Bands Open Up for DX

The past couple of days have been a bit on the damp side here on Baildon Moor so I have been keeping my self amused with radio and the latest NASA activities regarding the docking of Endeavor to the ISS which Ive been keeping a close eye on since lift off last Wednesday the 8th. I have done this via the NASA web site Live TV Feed From ISS, you can get to via the link on the right of this page. I recommend view in media player.

ISS SIGHTINGS

As well as watching the live feed Ive been in and out looking into the Sky's at night, this was to be successful with three consecutive evenings of clear sky I was able to see the ISS and Endeavor Space Shuttle as an extremely bright Star travelling across the Horizon and night Sky.

I am not so clever with the camera so practice makes perfect but I did get some shots of one of the pass byes, taken on long exposure.

The top image is the best, if you click on it to enlarge and look closely you can see some resemblance of the ISS and Shuttle.

This Image gives you an idea as to how bright it looks in our Sky's, when looking for the ISS I use the Heavens above web site on the right of this page to give me an accurate schedule of when a visible pass with the naked eye is possible.It is surprising how bright the ISS is and how easy it is to see with a bit of planning and dark Sky as possible away from street lamps for the easiest results.


GOOD OPENINGS ON HF

Ive been making some good QSOs on the bands with openings on 6M, 10M, and 20M allowing some nice QSOs and rag chews with a few interesting stations such as Rit N4BNM, who came through with a 5/9 +20 signal on 20m late Tuesday evening. Rit N4BNM can be seen in his shack here in the picture, I am looking forward to making more QSOs with Rit in the not so distant future.

Here is another Station from the U.S.A that I managed a lengthy conversation rather than a 5/9 and 73. It is AD4EB Jim, who shared similar interests with Satellites and space. Jim AD4EB pictured below was also coming through very well on 20m.

This was the furthest DX contact I made during the evening, it was to be the second time I have had the pleasure of working Amado ZP8VAO from Paraguay. Amado was 5/5 and he said I was 5/7 in Paraguay which was a good report for the 50 watts I was running from the FT 847 through the Hustler 6BTV Vertical antenna, once again I was on 20m.

I managed some good QSO on 10m and 6m earlier in the day working Spain, Italy and other English Stations. It is nice to get some good openings on the HF bands.

73 good DX and hope you get the chance to see the ISS pass by.

Radio & Astronomy in Galloway Scotland

Hi Folks, We have been playing Radio and looking at the Stars, Planets and Galaxies up in the very beautiful and historic Galloway area of Scotland. I would recommend this part of the World to you all if you get chance to visit! It offers beautiful scenery, lots of history, friendly people and for those of us who like operating HF, zero noise interference allowing many good QSOs. As far as Astronomy goes, Galloway boasts some of the darkest skies in the U.K making observations extremely interesting and easy to see other Galaxy's, Globular clusters, Meteors, orbiting Satellites and the International Space Station which I had the pleasure of viewing with the naked eye.

Whilst operating I was 2M0HTS/m which is my call sign for Scotland. I find this a bit confusing?As intermediate licence holders we have to drop our County locator's prefix which in my case is 2E0 (England) replacing the E with M for Scotland becoming 2M0. This is kind of ridiculous as MM/2E0HTS would be less confusing, but I don't make up the rules I just try to bend them a bit.
hi hi.

We arrived on Tuesday at the Galloway Astronomy Centre where we were greeted by Mike & Helen Alexander who where great hosts and very nice people. The Cottage was lovely and Mikes knowledge of Astronomy was fantastic. Helen made some terrific home cooked meals and they both looked after us very well. Thank you guys!
During the Two Night stay we were able to observe many Stars and different Galaxies, Mikes Telescopes and observatory was amazing again his Knowledge of the Skies was second to non!

This picture was taken looking up the telescope into the extremely dark sky

Here is Mikes Telescope in observing mode
This is what it looks like in the Day light, with Mike the proud owner and Astronomer
Whilst staying at The Galloway Astronomy Centre Mike introduced Louise MM/M3TLL, Dudley our dog and myself to Ian and Nadine who are also Radio Amateurs. Their Call signs are GM3SEC Ian, and MM3YNW Nadine, They invited us over to their lovely home and We got the chance to tour their Ham Radio Station which was an impressive set up!. Ian GM3SEC is a technical writer for the RSGB Members magazine Radcom which I am a regular reader and member so it was a real pleasure to meet them both.
Ian GM3SEC in his Shack
One of the Antenna arrays at Ian & Nadines QTH. Ian was half way through constructing a vertical square four for use on 40M it looked quite impressive.

As well as Operating our Radio, looking at the Stars, walking and touring, We were able to take in some of the many Historic views. Here is My YL Louise MM/M3TLL standing next to an Ancient Antenna system which would probably transmit energy from lay lines. The Ancient Standing Stones are called The Drumtrodden Stones, there are many stone circles, Castles, Forts and other Ancient and old interesting places to visit in the near by area well worth a visit. We managed a five Day stay which included two nights camping in Port William and have still not managed to see everything.
In this view you can see the empty beach of Monreith and in the background is the Isle of Mann.

Of course it is a Dogs Life, Here he is (Dudley) sunning his self at the beach near Glen Luce.
I had many excellent QSOs from my mobile on 40M, 20M, and 2M. I worked Germany, France, South England, Norway, Italy, Bulgaria, Morocco, Tenerife, Belgium, The Azores and Tanzania on HF 40m & 20m. On 2M I spoke with local stations from the Stranraer radio club some of which originated from my home area of Yorkshire, this was quite amusing as I did not expect to hear other Yorkshire accents on the Air. hi hi

The local Hams where extremely willing to make QSO on 2m not like back home where there is a distinct silence when I call CQ 2 Meters! I guess that the lack of mobile phone coverage in the area makes Ham Radio more appealing and there was no shortage of Hams and Antennas on My mobile journeys. I am looking forward to my return to Galloway.

73 thanks for visiting.... Simon

Quad Band Mobile

Ive been quite busy this week with a lot of driving it worked out well as I got the opportunity of playing radio /mobile, I have the choice of 4 bands with the antenna systems i have installed to my Toyota rav 4.

The picture above shows a Diamond 2m/70cm ANT, a 40m Maldol HFC40, and a 20M Maldol HFC20.

This weeks QSO from the mobile have been made on 20m and 40m, the most of the time I was operating on 40m with some excellent results on my ft100 running 50 watts.
I made contacts with Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Poland all on 40M and from the Mobile. I am once again impressed with the performance of the little Maldol HFC40 like its partner gripped to the back of my tail gate the HFC20, both of these antennas have been in use daily for over 2 years and are still in top shape providing an experience of pure joy and surprise with some of the distant Counties worked.

I have one of the 80m Maldol HFC80 but I haven't managed to make QSO with anyone so I wouldn't recommend that one. The 15 meter comet can be installed quickly replacing one of the others, again this antenna has proved to be a good radiator. The Toyota roof has two large removable roof panels made from aluminium so I wouldn't be surprised if the Aluminium assists with my transmitted Waves helping them to radiate successfully from my Vehicle.

Ive got some Good Mobile touring coming up so I am looking forward to meeting you all on 40M, 20M, 2M & 70CMs whilst I tune around the bands on my journeys :-)

73 thanks for visiting

U.K Weather Continues To Improve

Click on image to ENLARGE
Once again NOOA 15 gives a good look at what is happening around 17.50 utc

I have not been so active on the HF bands as I have been busy fabricating a tow hitch/bar for my Vehicle.This is not a problem as I am a fully qualified Welding and Fabrication Engineer, so I was what we say? Playing! I made two attachments one is a straight forward tow ball bracket and the other will allow the mounting of a 6BTV from Hustler.The new home brew Tow bracket will shortly be put to the test as I am picking up a new toy which is a Kawasaki 750 spectre US import this thursday on the motorcycle trailor I am borrowing.

The Antenna mount will get tested when I set up Portable Station in about a month at the annual Keighley Show. There I will errect the Six Band Trapped Vertical( Hustler 6BTV) and fix it to my Vehicle using the homebrew Bracket/Mast so expect to here more about the Keighley Show nearer the time.
As far as the new edition to my Motor Cycle Collection I am looking forward to playing around with a Custom bike this weekend I am a 750 Kawasaki fan as you may have noticed back in my archives where you can see my Kawasaki GPZ 750 as well as my Suzuki Bandit. ;-)

I enjoy Motor Cycles on an even parr with Ham Radio so dont be to hard on me when I occasionaly blog about Bikes.

73 see you soon

NOOA 15 Sunday Night Pass Over My Part Of The Planet

Click on Image to ENLARGE


Hi Folks :-) I am happy to be able to say that we have been able to enjoy a rain free weekend with nice sunny intervals here at the QTH. Thankfully this has changed our moods too Happy, after a Terribly wet couple of months and I am pleased to say that after the bad weather all is well up on the Moor Tops of West Yorkshire.

Over the weekend Ive been listening on the bands, it hasn't been great but has had occasional DX openings especially on 20M with the odd strong Signals been heard from Indonesia and other DX countries.

I have been quite busy listening out for Weather satellites around 137.300mhz, 137.400mhz, 137.500mhz, 137.620mhz, 137.850mhz, & 137.912.5mhz. I have had some good results as we had some clear Sky's allowing better images of the different Countries of Europe possible. As you can see from the above image of tonights pass over my QTH I managed to receive signals on 137.500 mhz that were coming from NOAA 15.
NOAA 15 is just One of the many other weather monitoring and communication satellites available to experiment with the use of Radio equipment that Hams and SWLs can have fun with. I used my trusty surprisingly good listening big eared Yaesu Ft857 into the home brew vhf antenna, The rig is hooked up to the line in on the P.C sound card which is picked up by radio com 5.2 SAT-FAX decoder software, this set up keeps doing a fine job producing many excellent views from outta space.

The FT857 has really surprised me on how good of job it does whilst receiving these kind of Satellite signals. I operate the radio at very low output volume and set to FM not FMN.Further adjustments can be made using the audio in mixer on your P.C. It is important that to produce a clear image not to over do the vol level out of the rig into the sound card.

Quite a few people have commented on my Youtube videos about satellite receiving that the image quality is very good for the type of radio i am using it could be luck or maybe its not as difficult as you believe? ;-) I use just straight forward kit nothing to special. lol

That's all for now, have fun and if you want to Know more check out my Archives.

For those who Know already thanks for visiting 73!

Dont Believe What The Weather Man Says!

This is an Image I received tonight on my Yaesu FT857 from NOAA 15

You cant always trust what the TV weather presenters say! So my advice is to do your own Weather monitoring with a little help from the NOAA weather satellites. It has been Sunny and warm today for the first time since I returned from my holiday in Ibiza, but looking at the above image I best keep my water proofs at close hand.
The Video below shows how I received this Image and also includes a special appearance from Dudley the wanna be Radio Ham Greyhound.

73, thanks for visiting, take care and please come back soon! Simon

Views from My QTH (when its not raining)

Click on Images to Enlarge

My home QTH is out on the Moor Tops in the County of Yorkshire, You may have seen on the World News channels that we have been getting a months rainfall every day for the last few weeks. I am fortunate to be high enough at 1000ft ASL to avoid any flooding! however the lightning has been striking very close to my antennas and I have to wear waterproof s and wellington boots an awful lot hi hi.

Looking North Looking South East toward Europe
Looking South West Towards South America & The Carribean

Looking West Toward North America

Map Of My Stations Radiated Signals Around The Globe

I have plenty of places left to get my signals to go too! The Map is just a guide of where I have made it to so far. A more detailed Map breaking down the individual Countries hopefully in a future post.

The Worlds No 1 Mobile Ham Station

I was watching some youtube videos when I came across some fellow Hams with the coolist mobile station I have ever seen.

Good film fellows! I liked it so much I decided to share. Enjoy!

73 Simon...

Back to blogging after a wonderful week away in Ibiza

Well as you can see it was lovely! I would like to praise all the people of Ibiza as we were very well looked after and had a great time. : ) I hope to return someday soon thankyou gracious!

Anyway I feel fully recharged and after having a week off Air I shall be listening around the bands to see whats happening out there? 73

Radiocom 6.0 out now

Its The New version of what I have been using to decode Weather Satellites and all the other Digi Modes.

There is a Demo version available if you paste this link into google. :)

www bonito net

It looks good, I havent downloaded it yet as i am still playing around with Bonito Radcom 5.2.

73 have fun!

Japanese to English Radio Talk courtesy of JN4VWH

Anyone Lucky enough to make QSO with Japan may find this useful

English --- [ Japanese ]
-------------------------------------------
Hello [Kon ni chi wa]
Good Morning [O ha yo u go za i ma su]
Good afternoon [Kon ni chi wa]
Good evening [Kon ban wa]
-------------------------------------------
Thank you for your Call
(Thank you [a ri ga to u] )
Your signal is 59
[ si gu na lu wa] five nine [de su]
(signal report) this word is frequently used in japanese
[ si gu na lu re po to wa] five nine [ de su]
-------------------------------------------
2E0HTS this is JN4VWH over.
2E0HTS [ko chi ra wa] JN4VWH [do zo].
-------------------------------------------
Back to you [O ka e si --- si ma su]
Over [do zo]
(Back to you over / [O ka e si --- si ma su] [do zo])
-------------------------------------------
2E0HTS from JN4VWH 73 good-bye over.
2E0HTS [ko chi ra wa] JN4VWH
[Seventy three] [sa yo u na ra do zo].
-------------------------------------------
Roger = receive = understand
[ryo u ka i]
Roger? = OK ?
[ ryo u ka i si ma si ta ka?] or [ ryo u ka i de su ka?]
(yes) Roger (=OK)
[ ryo u ka i si ma si ta] or [ ryo u ka i de su]
-------------------------------------------
How did you copy, (hear me…etc)
[ ryo u ka i de su ka?]
japanese [ ryo u ka i] means, all copy, understanding 100%.
-------------------------------------------
Repeat agin your QTH (your Call sign, your NAME,) please.

Your [ a na ta no] <---it is not necessary always in japanese
QTH[QTH],
Call sign[koh. lu. sa. i. n]
NAME[ na ma e]
Again [ mo u i chi do]
Please [ o ne ga i ---- si ma su]

Repeat again your QTH please.
[ QTH wo, mo u i chi do, o ne ga i si ma su]

Thanks to Nash JN4VWHfor providing this information....

eQSL Show with audio from MM0LSB/p

Here are some of my more colourful and interesting eQSL cards that I have received. Maybe there is one from You! Thanks to all Stations and SWLs that have sent eQSL cards to Me..........

You can watch the show whilst listening to MM0LSB/portable have a chat with Myself, I hope you enjoy and thanks for visiting this blog 73.....Simon

My Recent QSOs Made On PSK 14.070.00 MHZ

please click on log to enlarge


As you can see I have been playing PSK with 3 new countries worked and added to my ever growing DX countries list which is currently at 124 different Countries Worked in the last three years of the programme winlog 32 log that I am currently running.

New DX added are FG5LA from Guadeloupe, TG9AHM from Guatemala and J69DS from St. Lucia.

I have dis-connected my Rigblaster Nomic Interface from the FT-847, and I swapped the jumper setting around to work in the good old FT-767 gx. The FT-767 gx is My original Rig and I have decided that it would make more sense to have it permanently wired up for digi and data mode use, as the good old switches and buttons can be adjusted much more easily than the more modern menu driven rigs.

This is much easier for audio input adjustment/fine tune.

I have been running 30Watts into the home brew 20M dipole with terrific results, I can also operate through my already connected Maldol multi band vertical which covers 40M 15M 10M 6M 2M and 70CMs.

In the meantime the other rigs are available for voice operations with my other antennas and equipment..

See you on my P.C screen via PSK Mode 73...............