CQ WW DX SSB 2017 Results/scores Are Out

I'm pleased enough with 3rd place low PWR England. I'll try harder this year!

So called new replacement from Moonraker?

Last March I was 50 so my YL bought me a RM KL405 from Moonraker (UK). The amp lasted about two weeks despite running low power, I was offered a replacement from Moonraker and was told that I would not be able to return the so called new replacement should it go faulty. With this in mind I made sure I took the greatest of care to minimise any possible risk of over powering the amplifier and have only run 5 to 10 w on SSB with a maximum output of 180w out. After using the amp for a couple of weeks the pre amp became stuck on which was annoying but it seemed to be working ok. Last week I was in my shack and heard an interesting station so I gave a shout out. I noticed straight away that the output was down thanks to my West Mountain Radio PWR Check. So I decided that I will have a look to see if anything was obvious in the way of a fault.

The first thing I saw was the sticker and hand written note which seemed a bit strange for a so called new replacement. Then I noticed a resistor was completely blown off of the board and solder was splattered everywhere. On closer examination and a bit of solder spatter removed I repaired the preamp switch which had been in short circuit due to the spatter. Unfortunately the damage to the output is beyond my electronic ability so I decided to pack the amp away until I decide to either throw it away or donate to Someone who can use any components.

The solder can be seen below stuck to the front panel and spread around over various components.

As for the lesson learned. I won't be buying any more RM equipment from Moonraker and I won't be believing that their customer service is as good as they make it out to be. And finally if you work in the repair service at Moonraker do you recognise the handwriting on the repairs sticker of the so called new replacement.
I am also unsure as to how the date on the sticker is one year before I purchased the amp if it was a new replacement which arrived in April 2017.

80m dipole

It's been a while since I posted which has been mainly because of the poor propagation on the HF bands. I have made a few decent DX contacts on 15m and 17m which have been good on occasion. Otherwise nothing to spectacular has been happening here at the home of M0YKS.

As usual during the winter months I enjoy listening lower down the HF bands especially on 80m and 40m. To do this I use a HUSTLER 6BTV vertical and also CAROLINA WINDOM antennas. I have had both in use for 8 years and the outcome is that the vertical is excellent and the WINDOM is good on transmit but far too noisy on receive to continue using it. With this in mind I altered the off centre antenna of 131 feet to a balanced equal legged 80m dipole by shortening one leg to 65 feet and adding 15 feet to the other leg to make a doublet of 130 feet which I soldered and clamped together. I didn't require another Multi banded wire as I have my Cushcraft MA5B, HUSTLER 6BTV and 20m Delta LOOP, I had decided to try a more resonant mono band 80m dipole in the hope that I might pick out the DX on 80m a bit better. I will let you know my findings over the next few weeks. So far the dipole is showing 2.5 swr and seems to receive less noise and has cleaner sounding signals. Catch you in my next post or on the bands soon. Best 73 de M0YKS Simon



Update first couple of hours
After a couple of adjustments I managed to get the swr down to 1:2 - 1:3 across the 80m band. The reception is very nice with a significantly reduced noise level on the new dipole compared to the WINDOM. I am very optimistic about the dipole so far. Best 73

Happy New Year To All !

I would like to wish everyone a very happy & healthy new year for 2018. 

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