Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve and all is well. Hope you have a lovely Christmas Everyone !

Catching Some New Satellite Signals

Its been quite a while since I operated my satellite set up which comprises of a 15 element 435 Mhz X beam and 5 Element 145 Mhz Yagi mounted on a GS-5500 elevation rotation controller into a YAESU FT-847. Tonight I managed to get into a new one for me EO-88 as well as a couple of other SSB satellites. I enjoyed the tests as I familiarized myself with the operating technique and equipment and I will be trying my luck over the next few evenings on the amateur satellite bands as HF on an evening after work is not very reliable at the moment due to poor conditions. Listen out for M0YKS via the ''birds'' as well as from the mobile on 20m most mornings. Best 73.

Seasons Greetings from M0YKS and Family

CQ WW DX SSB CONTEST VIDEO 2017

Some of the 2017 CQ World Wide SSB Contest caught on video at my radio shack.

CQ WW DX CONTEST 2017 - M0YKS

After a great weekend of CQ World Wide contesting I ended up with 103 countries and 21 zones with almost 400 qso's in my log. Conditions were reasonable and I had lots of fun whilst operating on and off throughout the 48hrs. A video will follow shortly. Best 73.

Final Tweaks For This Years CQ World Wide Contest 2017

I just spent a couple of hours checking out my radio equipment making sure everything is nipped up tight, I also gave the radios and accessories a wipe down and dust off. I re-positioned the layout which ended up with a more user friendly line up which lines up better with my comfy chair!
The CQ WW Contest is on for 48 hours this weekend and starts this evening at midnight local time, I wont be operating for 48 hours but I do plan on getting a good lengthy duration of contest fun. I wouldn't say I was much of a contest operator as compared to others but I do enjoy the CQ WW contest as it is the best one in my opinion to catch some new distant countries in the log, and for that reason I will be once again participating over the weekend aiming to smash my record of 22 out of 40 zones. Last year was lots of fun but poor band propagation with only a few long distant stations and the 10 meter band never opened up at all at my end. Hopefully this years conditions will be slightly improved, I worked a few stations earlier on 15 and 17 meters so with a bit of luck all of the WARC bands will be usable this contest.
As usual I plan to make a video of some of my radio contest activity which will be on my blog and YouTube channel shortly after the contest finishes. In the meantime I will be counting down the last hour for the 2017 CQ World Wide CQ Contest to begin. 73 G L

The Shack of M0YKS ready for action

West Mountain Radio Quarterly News Letter - The Beacon

I recently wrote an article that was published in one of West Mountain Radio quarterly ham radio news letters - The Beacon. I have been enjoying testing out the PWR Check device over the past couple of months and was very pleased to see my story appear in their news letter - The Beacon  Five Reasons Why I Love Ham Radio So Much

Many Thanks to everyone at West Mountain Radio. Best 73.

Antenna inspections

CQWW 2017 - Last Minute Windom Antenna Adjustments

My windom antenna has been in an inverted vee configuration for the last twelve months, I have carried out a few experiments with the antenna supported by the off center fed balun but have found the vee configuration far too noisy on reception.So today I managed to get the windom back to horizontal and in a straight line. I also increased the antenna height above the ground from 20 feet to around about 30 feet sloping slightly at both ends to around about 20 feet at each end.

To make life easy I got out my 30 ft telescopic pole and attached a homemade hook into the top of the pole for easy hanging.

The fiberglass pole is the quickest way for me to get a hook up high without too much trouble and with a steady hand its simple enough to extend with the antenna attached.

The neighbors probably think I am going fishing, maybe flying fish? Anyhow up she goes, where it stops no one knows!

The face of concentration as I 'hook a duck' at 30 feet, I am aiming the pole at the top of my 2 meter  antenna mast.

Achieved! On target and successfully hooked to the antenna bracket with the homemade hook and nylon rope.

 I added a telescopic mast that I sometimes use /P, this will keep the antenna up higher and in a horizontal or flat configuration. The opposite far end is supported by a tree using another homemade hook, some nylon rope and again hung with my telescopic pole to mount it up high hooked to a thick branch.

The end result looks a lot better and seems to be much better on receive, I was getting a lot of noise before but now its much more reasonable. I am referring to the 80 meter band and noise levels are fairly high no matter what .Previously with the inverted vee config, I was up at S9 + but now its horizontal I am back down to S7 and voices are much more readable again.

I tried it out on 40 meters earlier and it was equal to the vertical, I will be testing on 80 meters next as I prepare and check over the station and get excited to be almost ready for the World Wide CQ Contest this coming weekend.

Ophelia has arrived. Hold on to your antennas!

As I hit the sack I had a last look out at my antennas as they dance about in ex hurricane Ophelia's footprint.

So far so good, I'll try to sleep but it's a bit on the noisy side so tomorrow morning could be slightly more grumpy than usual. On that note I'll say 73 and fingers crossed that the antennas don't suffer to badly.

Weekend DX & Local Comicon

It's been a good weekend regarding band conditions as I have been busy working world wide on the 17 and 15 metre band.
There has been some nice signals coming through which have provided lots of quality qso's as I played ham radio.

My two daughters are growing up quickly and are always eager to get involved in anything that dad does, so I decided to treat them to a day out with some super heroes and other cool characters.
We payed a visit to our local football club Bradford city where the Comicon was on.

A fun time had by all. Best 73 happy DX

6Y5IC  Jamaica Wenty Bethune Kingston 10 Jamaica It was well worth checking the 20m band before bed as I worked into sunny Kingston Jamaica. A place that I have visited and hope to return soon, I have lots of friends up and down the island so it is a special treat to get 6Y5IC in the log.

PWRcheck - Performance Review

I have been using the PWRcheck analyser for a couple of months now and decided to share my views regarding the findings. The device is manufactured by West Mountain Radio and is constructed well in a cool case that's nice and neat with simple enough connections and controls.

The device is definitely a handy tool that can be used in the shack, portable or mobile with any radio as well as other uses. For example, I measured how much power my motorcycle batteries held and how long my van battery would power my FT-857 whilst camping.

The feature I like the best is the wattage reading which has been very useful. I have a cheaper type of HF amplifier made by RM. The PWRcheck allows me to monitor the power output of the amp and hopefully avoid blowing outputs. The digital display can be navigated through easily enough using the front panel mounted switches. It also has backlit on or off option to keep any portable battery drain to a minimum.

I tend to use the PWRcheck in the shack the most as pictured in this post and have found it to be a useful add-on to my everyday radio operations, unlike some of the other superb kit that we hams sometimes buy and never really use it very often. This device is permanently in line and powered up, in use every time I am on the air and I seriously like it a lot!

The PWRcheck comes with the software for the pc and usb connectivity which basically mirrors the data that is displayed on the built in screen of the unit. I have used the software but don't need it for general operating. The software would be beneficial to a rig doctor to monitor any fluctuation in any readings during testing/tech work. For myself and most amateurs the unit does everything I could hope to do and more.

If you like the sound of it and are considering getting one I would say that you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for taking time to read the review and catch mine working as I make some qso in a not to distant video that I shall be on with shortly. 73 have a good weekend.

Back to it

Well that was all over a bit too quickly was what I thought as I returned to the workplace after my summer break.
We enjoyed our time on the isle of Anglesey and had lots of good wx. I also made a few nice qso using my DX machine on 2 meters and 40 meters which was something a little bit different as I nearly always operate 20 meters from the mobile.

The island is a great location for radio and holidays as it is very quiet and peaceful with excellent radio reception due to zero noise and qrn.

M3TLL - Louise also enjoyed the location as she gazes across at Pen mon Lighthouse and Puffin Island with the assistance of my grandfather's binoculars.

At the present moment I am at work staying back a couple of hours as it is a brand new college year next week and I have to be here incase we receive more enquiries regarding enrolling onto one of my engineering courses. I will be out in the car park into the DX machine straight after I'm done and will be tuning my radio into the 40 meter band somewhere around 7.125 MHz as I make my way home back to Baildon. The DX machine seems to be working well on 40 m using the FT-857 and Maldol HFC40 antenna. 73 for now thanks for the visit.

IO - 10 EL SATELLITE ANTENNAS

It's 8 years since I constructed the IO - 10 El Sat antenna that is still holding up well in the moor top winds and winters. It just goes to show how well homebrew projects can work as well as the comercial ones that cost an arm and a leg.
I have been working a few lighthouse stations that are currently on the air and managed to catch a couple of nice DX station last night from the cabin.
I also had some good contacts on VHF using my old YAESU FT-2600m where I made contact with a special event station, a new operator practising from a radio club as well as some local stations that I haven't made a qso with for a couple of years. The WX up here on Baildon Moor is sunny with showers and plenty of wind as our summer holidays continue for another week or so.

I will be active as MW0YKS mobile from the beach next week. 73