VO-52 - Favourite Satellite Is Silent Key

My Google+ account keeps me up to date with all of the things and people that are important to me and it was there where I first received the sad news that my favourite earth orbiting amateur radio satellite VO-52 had become silent key. I had a look on the AMSAT-UK site to see in more detail what had happened to the long serving satellite. It appears to have been down to a problem with the battery unit as I read that during VO-52's 49,675th orbit, the on-board lithium ion batteries finally gave in and are not likely to be recovered.

I first got interested in working the VO-52 satellite when I made my first home brew yagi which I called the" broomstick yagi". Since then I have had hours and hours of fun working hundreds of radio amateurs and making antennas whilst trying my best to improve my satellite station. For many years I have caught lots of daily passes from the superb LEO satellite -VO-52 allowing me the opportunities to practice making qso's and perfecting my amateur satellite operating skills and techniques. It was working through VO-52 that first inspired me to modify my IOIo antenna and make it a IO-10 element as seen in the pictures above. I have had some of the best ham radio fun working through this quality bird and will really miss it as well as some of the guys that I worked solely through this satellite. I am glad that I made plenty of videos of VO-52 for anyone wanting a chance to re-live the magic of the legendary VO-52. Just follow the links below.

VO 52 Amateur Satellite Communication 

CQ VO-52 Satellite 

How To Make A VO-52 SAT QSO 

VO-52 Satellite QSO With ON7EQ & 2E0HTS 

Well I guess that VO-52 will take some beating, lets hope that there will be more like VO-52 for us all to enjoy in the up and coming amateur satellite future. All that is left to say is a big thank you to everyone involved in the VO-52 satellite project. It was a great asset to amateur radio World wide and will be always remembered as the satellite with a solid signal whenever it passed by my horizon. Farewell old buddy, your transponders have served you well!

Wide Open on 20m Mobile.

Its been a couple of months since I drove to work in the car, I have been enjoying the good WX and making the most of being a motorcyclist riding my suzuki bandit to and from work. However this morning I was feeling a bit tired so taking the car seemed a good idea despite the lovely sunshine.

I fired up my FT-857 and was impressed with how well stations were coming in on the 20m band. I heard some big signals coming out of the USA and Europe was also loud. As I dropped down from the moor tops I came across a very strong signal belonging to XE1RK - Rafael from Mexico. I heard Rafael tell another station he was up late and had not felt like sleeping, it was 2.00 am local time in Mexico which was 8.00 am local here in Yorkshire. XE1RK - Rafael was working stations from all over the globe as I continued towards my work place which is in Keighley West Yorkshire, I continued to call back to his QRZ call. Just as I hit the main carriageway on my last leg of the journey Rafael heard my mobile call and came straight back to me, my report was an impressive 5/7 into Mexico! XE1RK congratulated me on a superb signal from my mobile as we made the QSO with my FT-857 and Maldol HFC 20 antenna.

XE1RK - Rafael had a beautiful 5/9 solid signal and after looking him up I can see why. Here is his shack seen below.



XE1RK has some very nice antennas as well.

Well thats it for now, I will more than likely be back on my motorcycle tomorrow but with such superb conditions on the bands I am looking forward to the drive back home later today. Hopefully I will get an hour later on in the twilight hours back home in the shack. 73

Hamtastic Spring Bank Break

One of the many advantages of being a college lecturer is getting plenty of time off to recharge the brain cells. For me, the best way to do this is spending quality time with my beautiful family. In between the fun (usually when they are asleep) I manage some hobby time to check out my Ham radio station. So far during the Spring bank break I have worked a few guys via Satellite whilst operating through AO-73 using my FT-847 Satellite setup. The HF bands have still been reasonably open into the late evening and using my FT-1000 mkv I  have had another nice qso with Ian -VK3MO, who gave me a 5/7 report on 20m. Over the next few days I plan to visit our holiday shack up on the Yorkshire Moors where I shall be active /Portable. I shall operate my old FT-767 on the HF bands from 40 - 10M, there will also be some 2E0HTS Satellite activity with the cobwebs dusted off of my old IO-10 and Arrow Sat antenna. Operating times will be very flexible h.i and may vary as we enjoy the view, entertain our kids and take in the fresh air. 73 Happy Ham ing, Have Fun!

Amateur Satellite QSO With CT2GOY Via SO-50.

From my last post you will be aware that I recently repaired my G-5500 elevation rotor. It had a seized gearbox and a faulty elevation position sensor. I have now had a chance to give it some stick on a couple of different satellites and are very pleased with both the antennas and the rotator performance. During one of tonights passes I  caught  a qso via SO-50 on video showing my satellite station back to its operational status. In the video I operate my FT- 847 Transceiver which is still doing a good job for me as I work my friend Luis - CT2GOY. I also am in regular contact with Luis over the net, we are both on Google+  and tonight was great to be able hear him loud and clear in the flesh over the SO-50 satellite.



73 thanks for passing by and watching another 2e0hts ham radio video extravaganza!

YAESU G - 5500 Elevation Rotator Repair

After 10 years of careful use my G-5500 eventually developed a couple of faults on the elevation rotator side. 

Fault 1. For the past year I have had to guess the elevation as the readout was no longer working on the controller unit. I suspected the position switch which was located inside the rotator up above the house roof which was a pain in the butt to say the least.
Fault 2. Over the winter the gearbox on the elevation rotor seized up solid.

I plucked up some courage and erected my ladder and which with the aid of a rope to lower the mast it all worked out quite straight forward. Once down out with the impact driver and away I went.

Once I split the case with the impact driver which was easy, I found lots of sandy grit and dried out remains of what should have or once was gearbox/bearing grease.

The next step was to inspect the seized gearbox and then remove the main shaft which can only be carried out by first removing the entire gear housing unit.

I started by removing the motor which was two cross head m4 screws, I continued by undoing 3 m6 bolts, which released the gear housing plate to reveal the problem. The gears are supposed to spin on shafts but were all seized solid. I disassembled all of the gear components including the shafts, cleaned them up and then reassembled in the reverse order with fresh grease and copper slip.

Then I undid 4 small allen screws I think they were m4 but can't remember, either way they came out easily with some quality long reach allen keys which enabled me to  released the gearbox housing and main boom shaft.

Unfortunately I broke a micro switch in the process which is used to stop the rotor turning Doh? Not to worry I put on my thinking cap and surfed the net.

I found some suitable replacements for £2.50 at Maplin Electronics and decided to replace both micro switches to eliminate any near future corrosion issues.

New switches soldered in by yours truly, now to obtain some 5/16 ball bearings.

New ball bearings greased up and back in. I  managed to get them locally for £5.00 by going directly down to the engineering supplier in Bradford this was achieved with the assistance of my daughter pulling a really cute face at my side. 

The next job was the position sensor which is a 500 ohm potentiometer that I opened up to find that the slide was completed corroded. I purchased a suitable replacement from Farnell Electronics in Leeds which again I collected at a bargain cost of £9.00. I fitted it and carefully set up the new 500 ohm pots position before I reassembled everything back into its correct place, taking care to line the boom shaft correctly to the elevation sensor which I had marked with masking tape. Again care was taken to avoid anymore broken micro switches.

Once everything was back together I tried things out on the ground first to allow me to fine tune any necessary parameters. My bike shed was handy for this.

 All ok, out with the rope and ladder. The 2E0HTS Satellite station is back on the air for a total repair cost of less than £15. Result!

73 happy HAMing.

A Busy First Week Of Paternity Leave and Lots HAM Radio In Between The Nappies!

I had to carry out a soldering task earlier in the week when I developed a fault with my HEiL GM-5 GOLDLINE studio mic. On inspection I found a wire had parted company with the board located in the head unit. As I disassembled the mic I found that practically all of the soldered wired terminals were not too good and could easily separate as well. 

 After removing the narrow/wide filter switch I re attached the wires using my soldering iron.

 That wasn't so bad! Back together and ready to test back on the FT-1000. Fingers crossed and back in business once again on its lattice tower mount. Yep, all working!

The next day after spending time with my family I was back in the shack with my fully functioning microphone operating the late night DX shift when I got the opportunity to try my antenna's out on Ian VK3MO, located in Melbourne down under!

it was around 11.30 pm local time when I came across Ian - VK3MO who was  in qso with another UK Ham, who I could not copy. Ian was around 5/8 - 5/9 on my S meter and sounded crystal clear as usual. Whilst monitoring Ians qso I was able to carry out a couple of antenna comparison tests between my Carolina Windom, Hustler 6BTV and Cobwebb, all used for the HF bands. It was interesting seeing which antenna was performing best on the short path.  Ians signal strength was well copyable on all 3 but the Cobwebb had the edge which I captured on video.  Check out the video below to see for yourself as I make another quick qso with Ian before he heads off to work. This time conditions were perfect for an armchair copy.

Today we had a visit from Elsie and Martha's Grandparents which was great as it  gave me the opportunity to alter my Hustler 6BTV. This involved a re-site, some nice new shiny stainless steel box section and a couple of extra radials cut for 20m, these were made from copper microbore pipe. Finally, some hammering of a solid steel bar into the ground and the 6BTV never looked so good.  Again I was doing my thing with the camera and caught some shots of my entire  humble ham station antenna array, which was once again exclusively captured and uploaded on video for your pleasure h.i . Check out the video below for a tour around my garden and antennas.

I have still got 6 more working days off with my paternity leave and I am loving every minute, its great been at home with my beautiful family 24/7 and not forgetting my ham station as well! 73 enjoy the bank holiday!

HAM RADIO DX Into South Korea - HL5KY

I am pleased to be able to report that our new baby daughter is doing fantastic on her 5th day with us, the sleepless nights are not as bad as expected and she is already settling in well to the "HTS" family life. Earlier today just after lunch baby Martha was resting and Elsie her big sister decided to rearrange her farm. I could not  miss out on the opportunity and once again back in the DX seat I was with my trusty FT-1000 MKV and Cobweb antenna HF setup. Time was short so I quickly checked the bands and heard HL5KY coming in very well up on the 15 metre band. I gave a few calls over the pile up and ended up hitting the jackpot getting Joe - HL5KY operating out of South Korea which is a brand new country for me and my winlog32 ham radio log. Cool! Another great result including some interesting and very local qrm in the shack created by Elsie. My YL Louise caught the QSO on video, I apologise for the noise from the toy farm during the video and for any difficulties encountered whilst listening to the video but thats the way it goes when you have a very happy family!  It just goes to show that even the busiest Mums and Dads can still find the time to play Ham radio in and amongst the rest of the chaos and fun. 73 Catch you on the next video soon, in the meantime thanks and 73. Have a Happy Easter!

2E0HTS QTH to HL5KY QTH

HL5KY Shack (Remote antenna arrays) 

Video of The HAM Radio QSO Between 2E0HTS - HL5KY 

More ham radio with 2e0hts at 2e0hts-hamradio.weebly.com/

New Baby!

In the early hours of Wednesday morning we were blessed by the arrival of our new baby daughter - Martha Rose, who weighed in at 8lb, 10oz. Martha Rose is doing just great as is Mum Louise (M3TLL) and Elsie who is now graduated to big sister! 73 and listen out for some new qrm when I am active h.i

New HAM Radio Video

Over the weekend I managed to get some radio play time in on the HF Bands which were quite lively to say the least. I decided to catch some of my radio fun on video, I caught some DX up on 12m with the homebrew Delta Loop antenna and Yaesu FT-890 xmtr. The video also shows my Delta Loop and also includes further shack activity with my Yaesu FT-1000 MKV and Cobweb antenna system. I hope you enjoy it, I certainly had fun making it, its a bit raw and amateur as my video editing software has gone silent key. 73 happy Dx! Simon..

Mobile On The Long Path Into VK6 Perth

VK6WC SHACK 

Once again on my work bound journey I was trawling the 20m band when I heard John - VK6WC  from Perth in Western Australia. I gave just one call to John and was heard by VK6WC in Perth loud and clear  with a 5/6 signal from my mobile. VK6WC - John was a solid 5/9 to my FT-857 as I drove my Toyota over the moors at around 7.20 utc. John was running 400w from a FT-2000 into a Stepper IR antenna which was beaming long path. 

Another great qso from the mobile, with a DX distance of 15773 miles! Yep for me, Ham radio is definitely still very cool when you can do things like this. 73.

Update: I was back in the mobile an hour later when I worked VK6ANC operated by fellow Yorkshireman Barry, from nearby Huddersfield. VK6ANC was a big signal to my mobile peaking at 5/9+ at times and sounding nice. I was once again putting a 5/6 signal into VK6 and had a good long rag chew with Barry who was enjoying operating from the Northern Corridor Radio Group shack pictured below.

VK6ANC Shack

Early Morning Mobiling Into EU7

Monday mornings come around a bit too fast! This morning I was mobiling on my way to work when I heard quite a few strong signals coming in on 20m. One of those signals was Larisa - EU7LA coming in 5/9 solid to my little Yaesu FT-857 and Maldol mono band antenna. I made a quick qso with Larisa before arriving at work which was a great way to start the working week! When I looked Larisa up on QRZ I found some excellent paintings by EU7LA that are well worth checking out, I added one below.

73 happy "Ham"ing.

Latest Site Updates - ISS & Satellite

I just finished updating information regarding operating frequencies for amateur satellite and ISS operation. I also added some useful links and videos as well as live video feed from the ISS. Check out the satellite tracking section of my Ham Radio Site To view the latest updates. 73

Late Nights In The Shack

Right now, I am listening to some DX on 17m and thought I would share the view from my armchair! 73 Happy DX. BTW I just worked W1AW/P1 on 18.143Mz with a 5/9 report both ways.

50W Into India With A Homebrew Delta Loop

Earlier today I checked over my home brew Delta Loop and ended up re tightening the guy ropes. After that I was playing around with the recently self repaired Yaesu FT-890 which is hooked up to the loop and came across VU2SWS - Sarla who was working a "pile up" on the 17m band. After a few attempts I made it into India and received a 5/3 report from Sarla - VU2SWS pictured below.

A great contact as well as a good result for the FT-890 and Delta Loop setup! 73 & thanks goes to Sarla for pulling my signal in through the pile up!

Yaesu FT-890 Frequency Drift

FT-890 & Recent Delta Loop Experiment:

I have owned my Yaesu FT-890 since 2002 and have enjoyed years of reliable service. A couple of months ago you may recall that I recently reinstated the FT-890 as a second set up allowing operation from our dining room as well as my regular shack. I have since worked a good page and a half of paper logged QSO's into places like the Middle East, The US and EU as well as across Russia. I have been using the homemade 20m Delta Loop that I recently made and installed which is performing very well on 20m. The delta loop works well on 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m with the help of an old Nevada TM1000 manual antenna tuning unit.This week I managed to get into a couple of US repeaters up on 29Mhz using the FT-890 and Delta Loop which is pretty cool.

Frequency Drift: 

Whilst enjoying my old rig I discovered that it had developed an error and occasionally would drift up and down frequency both RXing and TXing. The drifting in frequency seemed to come and go and seem less frequent once it had warmed up after the radio had been left on a while. I did a quick google search and discovered the problem was fairly common with the FT-890 and FT-840. More important it could be rectified by cleaning or replacing a trimmer cap (TC 1002) which is located in series to the reference-frequency-oscillator. The terminology sounded tricky and off putting but fortunately I continued to surf the net and came across a really well explained write up regarding the step by step approach to carrying out the task. The details included pictures and simple instructions which I easily followed. Last night I completed the repair successfully and the FT-890 is once again back to its excellent self, ready for another 12 years of action h.i.

 A HUGE Thanks goes to Fabian Kurz, DJ1YFK who posted the the superb guide put together here:
  FT - 890 Frequency Drift 

 My FT-890 is back and tonight (22.00 utc) I worked Mexico up on 20m (5/8) on the freshly repaired YAESU rig and Delta Loop, I am feeling pretty pleased with myself for doing the repair. Below is a snap of the LOCAL UNIT which contains the reference oscillator,  the XTAL, a few resistors and capacitors as well as the trimmer in question - TC1002. I sorted it out by giving a couple of closely monitored turns to the trimmer before putting it back to the correct alignment. 

Lots of Happy DX  & 73