Early Morning Expedition To Muddy SOTA NP028

Early this morning I ended up working 145 FM portable from North Pennine summit on the air 028 whilst walking the dog.
I used:
My hand held radio Kenwood TH-7F and 5 watts into a Diamond SRH771 antenna. Despite been up and about early in the morning I still managed to work Kevin - M0XLT & Adrian M3IAO. Watch the video to see how I avoided the MUD bath up on The Rombalds Moor SOTA.

20 Meters Is Open!

Some Nice DX In the Log!

YouTubers Make QSO

EA1GHW Double Moxon Style Homebrew Satellite Antenna

Thanks to fellow ham and friend Edmundo - EA1GHW, I am able to show you another great home brew satellite antenna system. ED, EA1GHW from Spain has been working satellites a lot longer than myself and has had some great results with his home brew antenna systems and a couple of hand held rigs. I first saw ED in action via his YouTube video's working through AO-51 and since then we have become friends via the Internet. I keep hearing ED and ED hears me via the "birds" but unfortunately we have always had too many other stations causing lots of QRM and have yet to get each other in the log! I am sure we will get over that soon with the better weather coming and the dark nights ending.
Hear you can see ED's design on paper.

This image shows the EA1GHW satellite antenna ready to assemble.

This image shows the completed satellite dual band antenna system ready to go!

Edmundo EA1GHW mentioned that he intends to add more elements to the antenna in the near future increasing the antenna gain. He also has told me that the EA1GHW antenna is working well so far! Well done ED! thanks for sharing the images of your great antenna. Keep up the good work!
I will be listening out for ED on the future satellite passes.

A Fun Day Had By All

Sunday was a fun day for Yorkshire Radio Ham's M1PAC - Phil, M6AXL -Adam, M3TLL - Louise and myself 2E0HTS - Simon.

Adam and Phil set up their station early Sunday morning up on Rombalds moor which is high up out in the sticks near to our QTH. They were running QRP and worked through plenty of pile ups on the 144 SSB portion of the VHF bands.

Louise and I joined them in the afternoon and worked one or two nice contacts on HF which included the previously mentioned CRAG CASHOTA activation at Elslack operated by MX0BCQ/p with Kevin - M0XLT at the controls.

Our Portable/Mobile QTH

Adams New Beast of a Beam with Human Rotator Phil

Phil, Adam & Louise

The Yorkshire Moor Top Ham Brigade!

Check out the action and signals/stations worked on the video, including M0YCM-Les, G4JNN-Paul, 5D0IPY-Rachid & MX0BCQ/P-Kevin.

Craven Radio Amateur Group CRAG R.S.G.B Presentation

This week Louise - M3TLL and myself were invited to attend the Craven Radio Amateur Group Club meeting at their Club headquarters. The CRAG group are a very active group of radio amateurs that operate from North Yorkshires Craven District. On arrival we were well received by all of the Craggie's and it was great to be able to put faces to the voices I have been speaking with for so long.

The evening was very interesting as the Club had an video evening  arranged which featured the latest digital mode - D-STAR. The video was very informative and was quite exclusive as the R.S.G.B region 4 Deputy region manager Nigel - G1JKE who presented the film had not had the opportunity to show at his local club yet. 

The evening also included a special presentation to Chris - 2E0XLG who has recently upgraded his licence from his foundation call M3XLG.  Chris had made tremendous progress whilst operating under M3XLG with a maximum output power of 10 watts. Chris's achievements were outstanding during 2008 and his awards were for: Leading Foundation Licensee RSGB 144 MHZ Low power Contest 2008 & The RSGB 144 MHZ UK Activity 2008 Contest.

 Chris has also won the RSGB 6Meter UK Activity 2008 Contest as well as the RSGB 70CMS UK Activity 2008 Contest, and Chris will shortly be receiving a RSGB Shield for his amazing efforts. Well done Chris! Way to Go!

Chris 2E0XLG receiving his R.S.G.B Awards presented by Nigel G1JKE - R.S.G.B Region 4 Deputy region Manager.

We really enjoyed meeting our old friend Kevin - M0XLT and Richard- 2E0NTT as well as new Faces but known voices M1DHA - Alan, G4CPA - Geoff, G7WAW - David, G7COD - Andrew, M0DRF - Derry, 2E0ZCL - Barry, G4BLH - Mike, G1JKE - Nigel, M0GGR - Andy, M6AXL - Adam and Chris - 2E0XLG.

We will be looking forward to meeting up and also working them all again soon. The Craven Radio Amateur Group will be active this Sunday operating CASHOTA (Castles And Stately Homes On The Air) from a roman Fort nearby to Elsack in North Yorkshire.

Home brew IOIo (MK 6) Step by Step Assembly

Since last summer many off you have contacted me regarding the Satellite antenna designed by EA4CYQ which is known as the IOIo beam. I already have built a total of 5 IOIo antenna's so far, all slightly different made up of anything available at hand. As many of you already know I have been working the ISS and many Satellites from my shack using IOIo beams with good results running QRP.

So with the feedback and fantastic comments I have been receiving I thought I would try a next version using some materials I had knocking around.

 But this time I thought I would share the build and decided to post the step by step instructions here at ham radio operator blogspot and planet ham.The EA4CYQ original design was followed and this is how it goes!

Materials used:

12mm aluminium box section tube. (boom)

3mm plastic sheet. (insulators and clamps)

2.4mm Welding wire. (elements)

Various self tapping screws.

Cable ties.

50 ohm feeder/coaxial cable. (2 lengths for dual bands)

Sponge foam and insulation/sticky tape. (handle)

Step 1) The IOIo paperwork.  I made the elements from 2.4mm diameter T.I.G welding wire which worked out at:

 145 mhz reflecting element( I )= 1004mm.

 145 mhz loop element ( O) total length = 2058mm. 

435 mhz reflecting element ( I )= 337mm. 

435 mhz loop element (0) total length = 642mm.

 The spacing of each element from back to front = 

152mm, - 324mm, - 100mm, -  51mm & - 108mm. 

(visible on the drawing , click to enlarge).

Step 2) I don't like wasting materials so I joined two short scrap pieces of tube together by filing some 12mm round bar into a square interference type fitting.
Once filed up I was able to tap the squared round bar into the ally tube to join the boom. 
Once mated up it gave a total length of 1000mm (1M) 
Step 3) Using some 3mm plastic sheet I drew a desired shape and cut the plastic using a hand shear otherwise known as a bench knife. The sheet at this stage is used to insulate and  mount the elements to the boom. Also mark the element spacings using a marker pen on the boom.
Step 4) drill 6 holes that will allow the cable ties to hold the elements as well as clamp the insulated mounts to the boom. I drilled the centre of the plastic so I could see the previously pen marked position of each mount easily on the ally boom. Just one more to go giving a grand total of 6 plastic insulated mounts.
Step 5) Here you can see the central holes showing the spacing pen marks of the boom. Once lined up, pilot drill the boom and attach the plastic mounts/insulators using self tapping screws.
Step 6) Time to solder the 50 ohms coaxial feeders to both loops, then cable tie (tie rap) the elements to the fitted insulator mounts. 
A close up of the 435mhz Loop and reflecting element cable tied and soldered up.
Repeat the technique for the 145mhz side of the antenna and use a separate 50 ohms feeder. Once this stage is complete the IOIo starts to take shape and just needs the elements fixing firmly. 
Stage 7) I cut a 50mm x 1000mm strip of plastic, aligned the elements and using more self tapping screws I was able to clamp down the elements. This stiffened up the antenna and prevented the elements from moving out of line. The antenna is now ready to solder the plugs on to connect to your desired radio. I used 2 PL259 plugs.

Here is a closer look at the bottom side of the finished mk 6 IOIo antenna.  (the front end 435 mhz )
The full picture showing the bottom  side of the finished antenna.
The view here shows the complete antenna from the top side.Here is a close up of the finished project.
I tried it using my old Yaesu FT-470 and was very pleased when I opened up a repeater 25 miles away +60 db on 145mhz. It worked well also on 433mhz providing me with  instant and easy access into the local 70cms repeater. (not bad to say its resonant on 435mhz and I was inside my qth using less than 5 watts.) I will try it on a satellite over the next few days.

So once again I was pleased with my antenna tinkering and this model was much lighter so I shouldn't get too much arm ache when I am out playing. 

 I hope some more of you have a go at making one. Thanks to all of you again for telling me about your personal experiences in building Satellite antenna's for Amateur Radio. I look forward to hearing more about your projects and I hope to hear you coming through loud and clear via the "birds". Good luck and best 73

Visit To The Northern Cross Radio Rally

The Northern Cross Radio Rally took place earlier today and saw myself and Louise M3TLL  check out it's new venue at Ossett School near Wakefield. The new venue took a bit of finding and gave both Louise and myself a good chuckle when the guys operating the talk in frequency had difficulties in directing us in. Once we found our own way we were able to advise them and other rally travelling hams how to get there h.i

The Venue Ossett School

Once we ventured inside there were one or two interesting seller's with the usual plugs and fittings

This vendor got it right, very well organised in bags of 10, I bought £10 worth of PL259 plugs. It should keep me quiet for a week or two.
Tempting but I must have enough antenna's (according to the YL).
Some good reading courtesy of the RSGB book stand.

A nice selection of mobile antenna.
Junk Sale? Is there such a thing when it comes to radio equipment?
Myself 2E0HTS in shopping mode.
Other Yorkshire Hams on the hunt for a bargain.

The W.A.B (Worked All Britain) Stand run by Darren G0BWB & Brian G0BFJ. Great to meet you guys after hearing you on the W.A.B Net.

The W.A.B Stand
In fact I was so impressed I decided to buy a new book number from the new series that has recently started. The new book number I now have is 18433. My old series book number is 16382 so hope to work on a W.A.B frequency in the near future. More amazing the picture shows me signing and parting with Cash, not very Yorkshire like h.i.

Brian - G0BFJ and myself 2E0HTS - Simon.

Yes it is a really silly grin! But £12.00 for a discone antenna would probably do the same grin on any Hams face. Also a bag of W.A.B goodies and other bits. 

So a fun day had by all and 3 W.A.B square entries already in the new W.A.B book.  73 good DX and thanks to Louise M3TLL for the photo taking and all of the support as usual.

The Launch of 2E0HTS eQSL Gallery

The last week has made me go bog eyed as I have been busy creating a new blog where I can display all of my received eQSL cards from Hams/SWLs from all over the globe. After uploading almost 500 eQSL card images you could imagine the relief of finally being able to switch on the radio's and take a well deserved break from my recently purchased 22" HD flat screen monitor. Yes the old eyes are definitely in need of a night off so hope you can spare me a couple of minutes to take a browse over some of the eQSL images I spent all week uploading. At least now that the new blog is up and running it will be quick, easy and painless to add any future received eQSL cards!

Thanks for looking and what do you think so far? 2E0HTS eQSL Gallery

Simon - 2E0HTS (the one with the red eyes!)

Latest Weather FAX Images Received from Northwood Region VI

Today the U.K is battling with the inclement weather and as many of the nation face heavy down pours of snow, I decided to take a look myself to try determine what we could be expecting our glorious British weather to bring us.

As usual I fired up the radio equipment and computer which I regularly use to receive images from Earth orbiting weather monitoring NOAA satellites.
I also like to receive weather faxes from Northwood, which show detailed pictures of changeable weather fronts intended for Ships/sea bearing vessels within our ocean - region 6 (Europe). click on any image to enlarge
Northwood's facsimile transmissions are scheduled throughout the day every day and include:

Fronts Centres Winds.
Surface Analysis.
Gale Summary.
Milli Bar (MB) Height/Thickness.
Surface Prognosis.
Signal Wind Areas.

Frequencies used to receive the Fax transmissions are: 11.084.600 USB, 8.038.100 USB, 4.608.100 USB, & 2.616.600. USB. (HF - LF).

Software: Radio Com 5.2 or any Fax decoding software.

Radio and antenna used: Yaesu FT-847 and random length of wire.

Here is the Decoder (Radio Com 5.2) used on my computer.

Here you can see the program's vast choice of pre-programmed receiving/decoding options.

This is the first image received showing Surface Prog.

Image no 2 Surface Prog

Image 3 Surface Prog ( You can compare the extent of movement of the weather front from Image 1 to 3 ).

This Image Shows Thickness and Potential Height. (Tomorrow Feb 3rd, Prediction)
650 Milli Bar Wind prediction (Feb 3rd, Tomorrow)
I will let you decide for yourself tomorrow's WX, Good Luck
and look out for more Weather (WX) images/Fax in the up and coming future.
Till then keep warm and tnx for passing by!

Real Time Satellite Tracking

Searching round the internet I found this useful site for those of you that don’t have satellite tracking software. The site shows real time satellite tracking for a range of satellites. The ISS is the default satellite tracked on the homepage and it gives you useful information such as speed, altitude, elevation and azimuth position as well as the current longitudes and latitude. The site automatically works out your location from your computer’s IP address, you can also choose to add the satellites footprint and direction line

At the top of the page you can find menus for most popular, most tracked and latest launches. If you click on All Categories you’ll find a list of satellites listed which includes Amateur Radio and Weather satellites. Click on the type of satellite you are looking for and you’ll find a list of information including launch dates and the options to either ‘Track it’ or ‘Passes.’ If you choose ‘track it’ it will show you the satellites current position on Google Maps. If you choose ‘passes’ you will get a list of all predicted satellite passes over your home location for the next 5 days.

If you use iGoogle you can even get it as a gadget on your Google homepage, however the range of satellites you can track on the gadget are limited.

The site is well worth checking out. I will be giving it a more thorough test drive over the next few days to see how accurate it is, however it looks promising so far.

73 Happy Tracking!

ISS Cross Band Repeater Latest Video

ISS Cross Band Repeater Worked - RX-Down Link 145.800 FM -TX-UP Link 437.800 FM

Earlier this evening (Saturday) I managed to get in to the ISS (International Space Station) cross band repeater during its oncoming orbital approach and worked M0IKB Angus from Scarbourgh, E.Yorkshire.

The ISS’s onboard Transponder was very active with many Hams being heard during the ISS pass over my location, IO93CU Baildon Moor.
I used my Yaesu FT-847 & IOIo beam to work through the ISS and Satscape on my computer to track and get the correct position to turn the beam.
Thanks for watching, best 73.

Ham Shack on The Hill

The Holiday seems a distant memory as the last couple of weeks have been flying by speedily here and I have felt the strains of work and the cold dark wintery days that we have been seeing. Despite the usual moans, the New Year has started off ok so far.
As far as playing radio I have already had some fun filled hours of radio from the shack as well as some nice contacts being made from the mobile.

The beginning of the month started quiet on the HF bands here in Yorkshire. The entire HF spectrum has not been very active with not much propagation during my usual radio time which is usually most evenings and weekends. The 2 meter band has however been quite interesting especially around the first weekend of the month (3rd) when contacts of over 200 miles were being made throughout numerous QSO’s up and down the country. I made the most of the sporadic E conditions operating the Yaesu FT-847 and 50W using FM and a 7/8 wave vertical antenna. I gave a couple of CQ Calls on the calling frequency 145.500 and a quick QSY to 145.350 FM, proved well worth the effort. I worked around 18 Stations over a period of a couple of hours, with some excellent long distance QSO’s and a nice little pile up (Rare on 2M FM)..

Here are some of the Stations worked and their locations including Locator and WAB Square (Where Known) During 2009 First Sporadic E.

1) M0STN, Steve in WAB Square SP75NHM. Northampton.
2) M3RVZ, Phil in Locator IO93GA. Belper, Derbyshire.
3) G1KDU, Andre in Locator IO92GM . Staffordshire.
4) G0HWK, Mike in Dunstable, Bedfordshire nr Luton airport.
5) M0IGG, Steve on Walney Island, Cumbria.
6) G4WPE, Malcolm, in Locator IO92FS, WAB, SK22, Newhall.
7) M3VXT Craig in Chesterfield.
8) M1AVV Simon in Locator IO84JC WAB SD27, Barrow in Furness.
9) M1DDD/P, Nick in Locator IO93AE, WAB SK06 Buxton.
10) M0BXR Ian near Warrington.
11) G1PPH Mathew in Locator IO92ER, WAB SK21 Lynton nr Burton.
12) M6SLE Stuart from Bolton, Lancashire.
13) GW6STK Robert in Locator IO83dg, WAB SH87 Cowling Bay, Wales.
14) M3SXV/M Shaun in Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire.
15) M0GGR/P Andy/Tyke in LocatorIO93GP Woolley Edge Wakefield.
16) M6JCS/M Jason, in Huddersfield.
17) M3MOV Mark, in Locator IO83PI, Runcorn Cheshire.
18) G0VXN Peter nr Blackpool, Lancashire.
I went on to work my friend's/ local Hams M0XLT, Kevin, G0GNU, Jeff, G1YPQ, Karl, 2E0DOG, Ron and Phil M1PAC and heard that they had also experienced Sporadic E conditions and some were also jumping on the DX whilst the going was good! I wonder if you had similar conditions? As far as the 2M band at present it is still occasionally providing the odd opening and is well worth a listen. Thanks to all worked and hope to do it again soon.

HF & LF
Not quite convinced that the new solar cycle has got out of bed yet, as nothing to spectacular to report from the Shack or Mobile. So far I have heard only a few odd early morning DX openings taking place on 20 meters during my work bound journey and more often than not, nothing at all. I have heard the odd VK and also Al, ZL1BD but have not been successful on the call in. The best time to work the VKs & ZLs seems to be from 8.00 utc onwards, using the 20 meter band. By the time my working day is over the band has closed with no chance of making any QSO’s apart from surprisingly enough tonight (20M). I managed a Stateside QSO from my Mobile Yaesu FT-857 whilst returning from work around 17.00 utc. Tonight signals from the US were still coming in on 20M up until 19.00 utc, I hope things are on the up!

Despite poor HF-LF propagation I have still made some good QSO’s . I have had the best results operating PSK31 on 80M (3.582 MHZ) and 40M (7.038), always managing to find some activity somewhere using PSK31 on one of the LF bands.

Latest Satellite Operation using IOIo Beam, FT-847 via VO-52
I have still been following various satellite passes whilst spending time playing radio and have worked some good Locators and Countries this month so far via VO-52.

EA1QS, Pablo, in Locator IN52QK. Spain
OE3DSB, Gerald, in Locator JN78FA. Austria.
IK5QLO, Andy, in Locator JN53TU. Italy.
DL1SWB, Peter, in Locator JO53QH. Germany.
MW0BBU, Steve, in Locator IO71LR Wales.
IW6OVD, Fernando, in Locator JN62EA. Italy.
OK1UFC, Mira, in Locator JN78GV. Czech Republic.
Hope to hear you all via the “Birds” in the future passes!

That’s about it for Ham Shack on the Hill, from 2e0HTS. Until next time Thanks for passing by!! Best 73.

W.A.B (Worked All Britain) HF Mobile Station

As the holiday draws to an end Louise (M3TLL), Dudley (Dx Hound) and I continue to make the most of our new walking boots and weather proof clothing and once again take to the Moorland high ground. We head up to Rombalds Moor totting up a few more miles whilst taking in the winter sights.

After the walk I decided to change the 20m Maldol for the HFC 80 and see if I could get into the W.A.B Net that was active on 3.760.0 LSB.

The Net Controller - GM3VTY Keith was receiving me well from SE14BRA and gave me the opportunity to work all of the other W.A.B Stations that were on the band.

I have been a member of W.A.B since 2004 and don't activate squares as regularly as I could whilst out in the mobile. After having so much fun today you can expect to hear 2E0HTS/M calling CQ W.A.B!

Hear is the video showing my W.A.B activity. Thanks to, GM3VTY, G8CBU, G0RQL, ON3WAB, G4JZF, G7WAB, EI9HQ, & G0TRB all worked from SE14BRA.