Early Morning Long Path To VK

Another advantage of having a 7 month old baby Daughter is that I am up and awake very early. Lucky for me I can also catch up with some long path DXing on my Ham Radio Station.

This morning at 06.25 utc I was tuning around the 20m band when I heard Neil - VK2IZI coming through with a 5/9 signal out of Australia. The exact frequency where I caught up with Neil was 14.178MHz, I gave just one call using the Hustler 6BTV which was received long path by Neil 5/7. I was surprised the vertical was working so well for me, I did my usual comparison test whilst receiving Neil on my wire Carolina Windom, which was almost the same as the vertical. The wire RX the signal from VK at the same 5/7 to 5/9 strength, so I decided to stick with the vertical during our QSO.

Neil - VK2IZI is located in the Blue Mountains near by to Sydney and was running an Optibeam antenna system. The Optibeam was working very well for him. Yesterday morning I heard lots of Japanese Stations coming through up and down the HF bands, its great catching the bands so lively during the early morning openings.

Well that's it for now, guess its time to change a nappy and get get some more coffee, happy DXing catch you on the long path!

Surface pressure forecast

Strong winds have continued throughout the day so I decided to receive some forecast information from Northwood RN (London). I tuned my receiver to 4.608.09 MHz USB where I decoded a +20db signal using Radiocom 5.2 on my P.C as seen in the screenshot.


The surface pressure analysis received at my location shows tightly packed isobars across the UK indicating strong winds.
RX 2

RX 1

Happy Birthday Sputnik

It's 54 years since the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik. Launched on Oct 4, 1957 Sputnik paved the way for satellite communications which has been enjoyed by many radio amateurs around the world.

Named after the Russian word for satellite Sputnik was 22 inches in diameter and thanks to heavy batteries weighed 184 pounds. According to Wikipedia:

"The satellite had a one-watt, 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) radio transmitting unit inside, developed by V. I. Lappo from NII-885, that worked on two frequencies, 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. Signals on the first frequency were transmitted in 0.3 sec pulses (under normal temperature and pressure conditions on-board), with pauses of the same duration filled by pulses on the second frequency. Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere."

The satellite travelled at a whopping 18,000 miles an hour. Its elliptical orbit varied from between 584 miles and 143 miles from the Earth which it circled once every hour and 36 minutes.

As well as technologically paving the way for satellite communications Sputnik heralded an important era of the Cold War, heightening tensions between the US and Russia which would take many years to thaw. Now on the ham bands Russians and Americans share many happy QSOs and rather than being a signal of suspicion and discontent Sputnik is seen as a key point in Ham Radio history.

So, Happy Birthday Sputnik! I hope to be making some satellite QSOs in your honour to celebrate!

Martinique - FM5BH on 17 Meters

I am pleased to report that conditions are again quite favourable for some evening DX as I just worked into Martinique on the 17 meter band.I was scanning the 17m band on my MARK-V Field and CW-80 antenna when I stumbled across FM5BH booming in with a 5/9 signal on 18.154MHz.
His signal sounded great as he worked through a nice pile up of callers, I got through after a couple of calls receiving a 5/9 report back.

I am spending more and more of my radio time on 17m these days and enjoying the band very much. I am pleasantly surprised how well the Carolina Windom works on that particular band especially into South America and the Caribbean. I hope to work some more DX stations soon and maybe catch a few on video. 73.

Operating The HF Night Shift

Over the last month I have been mainly active in the late evening time where I have spent my radio time mainly on the HF bands. I have managed some nice QSOs with reasonable conditions using the Ft1000MP MK-V, Carolina Windom and a mug of hot coffee.

As usual a big thanks goes out to all stations worked. I decided to list a few of my favorites including the bands that I operated on.

17m - HZ1BL Saudi Arabia & FG5DH Guadeloupe.
20m - WA1P U.S.A. & CO6LC Cuba.
40m - OJ0OUR Market Reef, LU1IV Argentina & CM8AKD Cuba,

I wonder where and who I will be getting in the September log? 73 happy DX!

First SSTV Image Received From ARISSat-1

I have been waiting for the new bird ARISSat-1 to pass by and tonight at 21.03 UTC I was in luck. Above is my first ARISSat-1 SSTV image received at my home QTH using a Yaesu FT-847 and Dual Yagi Satellite antenna array. I am looking forward to some closer passes and better reception over the next few days.

Early Start For Short Wave Listening

During the weekends and holidays the family and I have been spending plenty of time up at the old QTH (the shack on the hill) taking in the fresh Moorland air. When we bought our new family home we decided to keep our old Moorland QTH which comprises of a luxury 40ft Static Caravan up at 1000ft asl on the edge of the Pennines here in Yorkshire. Its a great place to hangout with a wonderful view!

The old shack is still working as well as ever with my trusty FT-767, FT-890, FT-2600m and VR5000. The rigs are all connected to my original antennas. The antennas are also holding up exceptionally well. I have still got my home made IO-10EL Sat beam up as well as the 20m Delta loop, Hustler 6BTV, X200 Co-linear and 10m vertical.

Our lovely baby daughter is starting to take an interest in the hobby of amateur radio, She has the makings of becoming a keen SWL.

Hope to work some of you from both of my shacks/QTH during the next couple of weeks as I enjoy my summer holidays. 73 have fun!

NOAA 18 - Image of todays weather (UK & Europe)

Whilst surfing the HF bands on a lazy Sunday afternoon I had my satellite tracking equipment on standby ready to receive and decode NOAA - 18.
Here is the received transmission from NOAA-18 received at 3.15 pm (local) at the QTH of 2E0HTS - Yorkshire, U.K.
If your intrested in recieving signals from NOAA Satellites check out NOAA SAT Status for frequencies and up to date information.

Latest YouTube Video: Operating From The Ham Radio Shack of 2E0HTS

The video above was filmed in my recently finished radio shack, I hope you enjoy it 73!

Video Information
Stations worked in the video are: LU1IV - Argentina & GI1CET/p - Northern Ireland.

Bands worked in video: 40m, 2m, & 70Cms

Equipment used; Yaesu FT1000MP MARK-V & Yaesu FT-847. Antennas used in these contacts were 5 element Yagi (2m) 15 Element X Yagi (70cms) and a Carolina Windom wire antenna (80m - 10m) 131 feet in length.


Thanks for watching and if you would like to see more amateur radio videos from my self, check out the 2E0HTS YouTube Channel

Bedtime Stories

I arrived home from work earlier to find my Daughter investigating this months edition of my favourite amateur radio magazine - RadCom.

It looks like she is following the "HTS" path hi hi, perhaps I could read some of the articles like SOTA, IOTA and tell tales of DXpeditions far far away during bedtime stories.

Strong Winds Take Out Carolina Windom

The wind has been battering the trees at the bottom of the garden for the last two days which is a pain in the rear as I use the nice tall trees to support the far end of my wire antenna, you can imagine the rest.
I had been watching my Carolina Windom wire slap about until eventually it fell to the ground. In between a rain shower I decided to brave the gusts and managed to get a next piece of rope up into the tree and wound the wire back up in the air.
It looked good, nice and straight with an extra 10 feet of height after a lucky throw that I pulled off earlier.
I ended the evening the way radio amateurs like best as I made a very nice QSO on 17 Meters into Tokyo Japan with Yoshi - JA1OJJ. JA1OJJ signal was a 5/8 solid copy on my Ft1000mp MKV, Yoshi give me a 5/6 report on the tree swaying Carolina Windom (CW-80).

When I awoke this morning the CW-80 was still in the air but not for long! The dreaded wind took it out again sometime today, as you can see in the picture above I wont be active on 17 Meters tonight.

Ham Radio Station Reaches Completion

Since moving in to the new QTH I have been regularly tweaking my amateur radio set up and testing out various equipment configurations. I have now finally got my station working effectively and have settled for a lay out that I can comfortably work with, which can be seen pictured below.

Equipment Used
YAESU FT - 857
YAESU FT - 847
YAESU FT – 1000MP MARK – V
YAESU SP – 102 Ext Speaker
YAESU FP – 1030A Power Supply Unit
YAESU G – 5500 ELEVATION – AZIMUTH DUAL CONTROLLER
YAESU MD – 1 Mic
YAESU MH – 36 DTMF Mic
HEIL GOLDLINE GM5 Mic
Labtec Head set & Mic
RIGblaster plus Interface
MFJ – 962D VERSA TUNER III
1942 CW Key

22” Monitor and Dual Core 3800, 2Gig Ram - P.C, Running XP Pro.
Software Used
Winlog32
RadioCom 5.2
Satscape
MMSSTV
PSK31 Deluxe
DX Atlas
Ham Radio Deluxe

Decorative Equipment
I also enjoy making models in my spare time usually out of metal. In my shack you can see a couple of models I made for my collection.
Supporting my HEIL Microphone, I made a mast like structure with a PTT switch fitted neatly to the side.
I also have made a few mini towers that have manually rotating miniature scale Yagi beams on top.
My favorite model radio mast and antenna can be seen on top of my SP – 102 Loud Speaker. My other model tower is up at the holiday Shack along with the rest of my equipment.

Well that’s all for now, I look forward to working some of you somewhere on the bands from my fully tried and tested ham radio shack!

Good DX & 73 thanks for the visit.

Great Path to Japan

Earlier this afternoon whilst receiving NOAA weather images on my FT-847, I was listening to 17m on my FT-1000MKV mp hooked up to the Carolina windom, when I heard Mega - JA3EGZ. I listened for a while as he worked a nice steady flow of Stations located across the globe.

After about 30 minutes once the initial pile up had diminished I heard him with a signal strength of 5/7 calling "QRZ." It was then when I gave just one Call and to my great satisfaction was heard by Mega - JA3EGZ.

JA3EGZ gave me a 5/5 signal report during our qso, I am very pleased with the CW-80 antennas performance on 17m as well as from 80m right through to 10m.The Carolina Windom is a great wire antenna when installed well, with the 6 band Vertical as a second choice, this new QTH is working well on the HF bands and seems to have a great path to JA.

Happy DXing, 73!

2R0HTS - Special Prefix Celebrating The Royal Wedding

I applied for a Royal wedding special Prefix which is "R" and have been celebrating the Royal Wedding on the airwaves working lots of stations and getting spotted on the DX cluster a couple of times in the process. The best DX I have worked with the 2R Royal call so far is VO1JNS on 80M. Thanks to all other stations I worked and catch me throughout the week airing the Royal Call sign 2R0HTS..73!

Flight Engineers Cady Coleman, Paolo Nespoli and Ron Garan send a congratulatory message to the royal couple on behalf of the Expedition 27 crew.