WW1USA

I was lucky to catch WW1USA earlier this month at the top end of the 20 meter band. Today I received the certificate which is very nice and also a great way to remember the fallen heroes of present and past. Best 73

My Raw Score - CQ WW 2018

The Raw Scores are available in case you were wondering. I didn't do as well as I have done on low power but still came a respectful 8th place (Country) 126 place (Continent) and 351 place (World) in the Single Op High power All Band CQ WW SSB Contest. I will find out more once the scores have been finalised and checked over and also I will be downloading my participation certificate/award for my collection. In the meantime I will be playing ham radio in between the chaos of life. Best 73 all!

CQ WW DX CONTEST 2018 Round-up

This year was just as awesome as ever even though band conditions were limited I still worked lots of World Wide DX during the 2018 CQ WW SSB Contest.

I managed to get in quite a few hours here and there throughout the entire contest and spent a lot of time on 15m and 20m during the daylight hours where I worked some big signals from Asia, North and South America as well as a few slightly weaker signals such as China and Japan. I was pleased to catch three stations in a row from India with armchair copies up on 15m and all in all I did quite well with the help of my latest addition the G17B amplifier. The Cushcraft MA5B Beam worked well on 15 and 20 meters and my Hustler 6BTV vertical with radials did it for me on 40 meters but the biggest surprise was the dipole which I cut for 80 meters which was previously the windom. As a designated 80m dipole I was able to get some good signals out with the extra power (400 Watts) I worked some good DX multipliers on 80 meters into North Africa, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Russia and Kazakhstan.

I also got to work fellow Ham, Blogger and YouTuber PE4BAS as PA6AA on 80 meters towards the end of the contest which was another good copy and great QSO. ''Thanks Bas'' As usual I took a few moments to catch some of the weekend on video for those who enjoy seeing the action at my end. You can see for yourself here.

In the end I worked 247 Stations, 65 countries and 19 out of 40 world zones,which was lots and lots of fun throughout the entire weekend. My log has been uploaded to the contest site and I cant wait to do it all again next time.

The last bit made me smile a lot. My oldest daughter Elsie helped me log the CQ WW DX Zones last year and sure enough both Elsie and her younger Sister Martha were excited to help their Dad during this years CQ WW contest. This time around they made up their own version of a Zone check sheet and added a few comments which made me smile tonight when I read through it properly. I especially love the bit that says'' its really exciting ''and ''there's a lot of numbers''. Hams of the future! lol Watch Out!

Well I will say thank You to all who worked me during this years CQ WW DX Contest and finally see you in the contest next year! To my ham radio blog followers and friends, Best 73 and thanks again for dropping by ham radio Operator Blogspot. See You again soon for more madness.

Half term break - CQWW SSB Contest 2018 Preparation

It's half term at College so I get to catch my self up a little and spend time away from the busyness of teaching, relaxing and spending quality time with my lovely family. So far I have been doing some D.I.Y jobs around the house and in between the fun I have been on my ham radio station making the final checks before the up coming weekend.

This weekend if you did not know or perhaps had forge,t is the one weekend where I give my full attention to the HF bands. It's when I try my luck at making contact with as many stations as possible from as many zones as possible out of a total of 40 worldwide. It's that time again for CQ World Wide DX Contest fun!! More info at CQ WW DX SSB site. Last year was amazingly good despite average to poor band conditions I ended up in 3rd place as Low Power, England which was probably a one off lol. Last year my oldest daughter was keeping track of the zones that I worked which ended up at 21 zones out of 40. I can imagine I will need two zone sheets this weekend as my younger daughter is definitely going to want to get involved as she is showing the signs of ham radio fever already at 4 years old. I will be knocking up a simple method of recording the zones or should I say the girls will, similar to last years.

That's all for now its time for some sleep.... Catch up soon, if not see you next time and if your on at the weekend Good luck and have fun fun fun!!!! CQ WW SSB Contest October 27 -28 - 2018.  73

W1AW - ARRL HQ

I was checking propagation when I heard The ARRL Head Quarters coming in on 20m. The best bit was when he herd me calling on 20 watts. Check out the video and see for yourself. 73!

Latest DX - Testing The GI7B Amplifier Across The bands

The last two weeks have been interesting on the bands especially with the new Russian GI7B x2 amplifier in line and working well. I have made the most of the propagation which has been up and down but worth the effort, as I put out some nice signals into North and South America as well as the Caribbean. I am really pleased with the GI7B amp and have mastered the tuning and loading with no issues or difficulties. I feel much more comfortable with the reliability and duty cycle of the Russian made Ceramic tubes compared to a transistor amp which seem less forgiving of any minor operator errors. 

I have backed the mic settings off slightly for my Heil GM5 studio microphone and have been putting out 20 -30 watts from the FT-1000MP Mark-V Field transceiver into the amplifier and getting 350 - 400 watts out. The reports have been very encouraging, all that is left to say is CQ World Wide SSB Contest 2018, here I come!!!

In the meantime have a look at the guys and girls I have had the pleasure to make QSO with over the past two weeks. Best 73 hope to work you soon! M0YKS - Simon

Home brew PTT x 2

The new amplifier is set up to operate via a separate PTT  which was a foot pedal. I found this easy enough but had a better idea to try out with a couple of TIG welding torch rubber insulated switches that I had lying around. I began by making a stainless steel cradle to house two switches which would be one for the radio and one for the amp. I then tacked the whole assembly to my previously home made microphone tower.

 I used a piece of stainless steel as a gate type switch system which makes contact with both switches to activate transmit on my transceiver and amplifier simultaneously.

whilst testing out the new double PTT set up I worked Bruce WD4NGB just as the 20m band was grey lining and fading.  Feeling very pleased with myself after a bit of ham radio making! Best 73!

DX Hound

It looks like Finn the lurcher is loving my ham radio activity. Earlier I had my new amp ticking over as I worked Bob VP8LP down on the Falklands.

Catch you soon with a closer look at the Russian made power amplifier that seems to be working superb.  73

RUSSIAN GI 7B Valve AMPLIFIER

I finally decided to try my luck with a proper amplifier and managed to get hold of a second hand Russian GI7B amplifier which covers 80m through to 10m. I picked the amplifier up earlier this evening off of a radio amateur that was in the same county - Yorkshire, to the south about 35 miles away. On returning home, I installed the new Russian kit and with 20 watts in I had 400 watts out. I am feeling very pleased with my new investment and this year's CQWW DX Contest should be even better than last year with a bit more coal on the fire. 73  I'll be back soon with more on the new amp.

New Ham Radio Videos

If you missed my recent YouTube Ham Radio videos you can catch up right here on my Blog. 73 Catch you on the bands or right here. 😎

Big Signals Beaming towards South Africa

New Homebrew Shack Equipment Rack

Tour of M0YKS Mobile "DX Machine"

Rack The Shack

I completed the welding and fabrication work on my new rack for my radio shack and spent the afternoon re wiring and installing my radio equipment into the purpose built steel rack.The new rack is now in use in my main shack and is built to my own personal requirements.

The equipment is set up well and the rack is nice and strong made with 30 mm steel tube uprights, 15 mm braced cross members and covered with 2 mm sheet steel. The new rack has been designed to create some space for more equipment as well as providing better air circulation which will help keep the station cooler once I get around to treating myself to a bit more power and add a linear amp to my set up. That will be my next addition in the hopefully not to distant future once I have saved up some hard earned cash. I have been looking at amplifiers that use valves rather than solid state as I think the reliability and operating lifespan is more likely to be higher with a plate and load set up for the amount of money I will have to spend. The last time I tried to up my power it did not go so well as I ended up with some secondhand repaired junk from Moonraker UK, which if you remember was exchanged as a new item when after a month the first one went faulty, the replacement also lasted as long as an Ice cream takes to melt. On inspection I found a repair sticker inside with a date that preceded the date that I had purchased it supposedly new? This left me cautious and of course has put me off solid state amplifiers (especially ones from Moonraker and RM) even though I obviously got a cheaper range than some of the higher priced solid state amps that hopefully are a bit better made. Over the next few weeks I will be looking out for a second hand HF valve amplifier, probably something that will produce 600 to 800 watts which will tick over nicely at my legal limit of 400 watts and should be more reliable with plenty of future service. For now I am going to enjoy my nicely dusted off ham shack. 73!

40 meters Mobile

After fitting the new board in my YAESU FT-857 mobile I got the urge to change over antennas from 20 meters to the 40 meter band. I have plenty of good mobile antennas from MALDOL and HUSTLER to play around with so I swapped the
MALDOL HFC 20 for the HFC 40 which is resonant from 7.100 - 7.190 MHz.

Listen out from 7.30 utc on 40 meters week days as I try my luck from my Mobile ham radio station. 73