eQSL Award

Ive been using eQSL for about three years and i am currently a Silver Member.During this time i have had the pleasure of receiving many eQSLs and also sent them off to DXCC all over the Globe.

I recently received an eQSL eDX Award for confirming 33 DXCC,and i am well on my way to obtaining the eDX100 Award,there are other eQSL Awards available to Hams and SWLs. To find out more visit the eQSL site via the link at the right column.



You can become a member of eQSL for free and for a small donation you can be a Bronze,Silver or a bit more cash gets you Gold status.Membership allows you to upload your own designs and other privileges.

Its still nice to receive paper QSL Cards and Ive had quite few of them lately via the Burro and a few direct.Many Thanks to all Stations exchanging both QSLs and eQSLS all are returned.

And finally some development on my search for a QSL Card Printing Company has finally come to an end with success with a Company here in U.K QSL FACTORY

The service so far has been excellent the Cards are on the print list and hopefully will be here in the next several days.

I have a small pile gathering of cards which i have to return so i guess i will be busy with the pen and my log for a while.That's another part of the hobbie which makes it fun,its surprising how many QSL Cards you end up with.

I am Looking forward to many more eQSLs,QSLs and QSOs to come,

73 to all thanks for visiting:)

Well Received Comments From Ken N2OBY Fellow HAM & Motor Cyclist

Simon,

Just wanted to say hi from the other side of the pond. Name here is Ken N2OBY, QTH is Fishkill, NY. I've been following your blog for a few months now and look forward to working you on the air. I ride also - 1986 Honda VF1000R & '84 VF1100S (V65 Sabre). In the process of re-working my web site, but you can see the 1000R at www.qsl.net/n2oby.

My XYL Lisa and especially loved seeing the video where you and Louise took Dudley to the beach! Cats & dogs rock - along with radio and motorbikes!

I was stationed in England at RAF Welford from 1982 - 85. That tour began my lifelong love affair with the UK. Been back a few times since. Favorite areas are North Yorkshire and the Lake District. Would love to win the lottery so that I could move back there. ;-)

Again, I look forward to meeting you on the bands.

Cheers,

Ken N2OBY

Hi Ken Sorry it has taken so long to read your comment on my post "The Things We Hams Talk About"
I was Pleased to Hear You are a regular reader of this blog and i hope you continue to enjoy it.Many Thanks for visiting.

I remember the VFs they are nice bikes,as you have been over hear you will remember our country roads good biking roads.I am Glad you like it up here in the North and i hope you get to visit again soon.

It is very interesting about yourself been in the Air Force i used to be in The Air Training Corps when i was younger where i first met Ham Radio.I still get to work with the Air cadets from time to time.

Ken say Hello to your XYL Lisa from Louise and myself and a Ruff from Dudley, Ill be listening for you on 20M and at the moment its wide open hear stations from all over.

Its Great to meet a fellow Ham/Biker all the best and once again thanks for your comment (i hope you don't mind me re-posting it) 73 good DX and Ride Safe

BEGINNERS GUIDE HOW TO WORK PSK AND DIGI MODES

click on image to Enlarge

Ive been playing around with Computers for many years and i have many programs that are interesting and fairly easy to use which are for Ham Radio use,most of which are free downloads of Ham websites e.t.c
The program that i am using here is WINPSKse. Download it here. Once installed you will have to connect your Radio to your Computer.You need a double ended 3.5mm mono jack plug cable which connects to the ext speaker socket in the back of your Radio,which then feeds the audio/received data out into the Line in or Mic in, on your Computer.You can adjust the level using the P.C sound control there is usually a setting on most programs which allows audio in adjustment.
You are now ready to receive PSK,select the waterfall window and click on the signal.


The next stage there is a bit more expense you will need to acquire more kit,a radio computer interface better known as a Rigblaster.There are various models on the market as you can see in the picture the one i use is the cheapest, its the Nomic and its been working well.The Rigblaster connects to the computers serial port or if you don't have a serial port there is a usb to serial patch lead that's available in most P.C Stores.The Line out from your P.C provides output during transmission so this is connected to the line in on the Rigblaster. The picture shows my Rigblaster in line with cables.

The last cable to connect is the Rigblaster mic lead which simply replaces your mic,the Rigblaster has a jumper lead system which allows quick and easy mic wiring for all manufacturers of radio.On the software settings you will find the option to configure the port that controls the Rigblaster this is usually comport 1.There are other settings to play around with once your up and running you can set up templates and other features which are fairly easy to do.Good Luck!

Here are Simple diagrams showing the wiring of Radio and Computer using a Rigblaster Interface click on image to Enlarge

Here are the other models of Rigblasters which are available from most radio shops,I got mine Second Hand off another Ham

Good Opening Across The Pond

Last Night was quite busy for me on 20M with lots of Stations to work.Thanks to all Hams that gave me a call! Here's my log containing the callsigns of the stations I worked.


Click on Image to Enlarge

Here is a video with a few of the Stations that i worked.73 I hope you like it!

Nice to Meet you again on 40M

Last Night was awsome on the HF bands, Stations were coming in thick and fast from all over the Globe all the way across the HF spectrum.It was nice to work YV1RDX again this time from his home Station in Venezuela.The last time we made a QSO was when Julio YV1RDX was operating on a DXpedition from Aves Island.

New QSL Cards

Here is the design that My YL Louise M3TLL has done for Me,So its off to the printers and hopefully should have some new QSL cards to send out soon!

CQ DX With A Fantastic View

Operating from Hardnotts pass in the Lake District

Many of us like to get out in the Countryside with Mother Nature.This Weekend i had a special treat courtesy of my loving YL Louise (M3TLL),Louise had booked us in to The Boot inn at Boot in the Lake District as part of my Birthday present and of course she insisted on me bringing a few Antenna's to try out my /mobile operations.
I had some great contacts on the HF bands and as you can see the scenery is spectacular!
Thanks Louise it was Brilliant

The Things We Hams Talk About

Last night i had a good solid 5/9 copy into U.S.A with Milt W3AEG on 20M from my home Station.I then decided to try some CQ calls on 80M for a change.My first contact was Steve M0EBJ who was located in Norfolk.We had a good rag chew and got on to the great subject of Motorcycles! I was glad to have met up with another Ham Radio Biker.I have been riding Motor Bikes since i was 13 and i am 40 on Monday so you could say I've been a biker for a while.This is the Motorcycle Steve M0EBJ is currently riding.






This is my Long time friend i had it for many years its a 1985 Kawasaki GPZ750(now 810)cc.Its a bit of a handful but roars and rides like thunder in a straight line h.i.

This is may Sports Tourer its a 98 Suzuki Bandit600cc,itsfast,reliable,good all rounder and very comfortable,



Maybe ill work /M from my Motorcycle some time? I try ed it with my old CB when i was a teenager it was ok.73 have a good weekend

DXing on 20M SSTV

After a days work i like to get in, turn the computer and radio's on and see whats happening on the bands
Tonight i herd W3GG calling cq on the SSTV 20M band.


I returned and sent my SSTV picture with his signal report and small image of his transmission.
This was his next transmission Which Acknowledged QSL of my transmission

And the final after a nice QSO 73

This image was a welcomed sight to my P.C monitor all the way from Venezuela

HF Band wide open

What a great weekend!many US Stations were worked during the ARRL Contest.The 20m and 15m band were in great shape this weekend from my home Station with excellent contacts up and down U.S.A.
One Station from Florida was impressed with my genuine 5/8 report on 15M using 50w from the FT847 into the Hustler 6BTV.I recently added 4 half wave lengths of 6mm copper wire to the Hustler vertical radials which seems to be helping out with its repeated good performance.

Last night was still active after the weekend contest i was pulling SSTV pictures from U.S.A and South America.

A friend who is local to me,Karl G1YPQ made a good contact on 17M into the U.S.A on his G5RV as i was listening on the side.Its good to hear everyone having fun and taking advantage of the Bands been open.
73 until the next post.

Working EA5CFM from the /Mobile

This picture is Paco EA5CFM in his shack

Whilst i was mobile this morning i heard 4Z5PG Station in Isreal calling CQ 20M,I responded from my mobile station and had a good QSO exchanging 5/8-5/9 reports with 4Z5PG.As i was in QSO a massive signal from Paco EC5CFM called in to me, so i QSY to another frequency and had another nice QSO.This was all on the way to work operating on the 20M band which was fairly quiet in comparison to last weeks DX that i worked.Its always a real pleasure making QSO with Stations all around the World from the mobile, and i thank all Stations that keep me company back and forth from my work QTH.
73 to all, have a good weekend

Fantastic results from my Mobile Station

Wow! who says the bands are dead! this morning i was on the same journey to work when i stumbled across ZL1BD-AL.He was signing off with a G station when i called in on my humble ft100 with 50watts through my mono band Maldol antenna and to his amazement and mine we managed a 10 min QSO whilst i was driving to work.He was 5/7 to 5/9 all the way and i returned with a 5/7,i was more than pleased with that and had a good rag chew with AL rather than a usual 5/9 73 which what usually happens H.I.
So anyone thinking about going mobile i can strongly recommend the Maldol HFC20 mobile antenna's.As far as the rig my FT100 is certainly proving to be a little gem,giving repeated regular fantastic results...


On Wednesday 21st i was tuning around the 20m band whilst driving to work and come across a strong VK station on my mobile ft100.To my delight i managed to sneak into the pile up with a 5/7 with VK9DNX which was quite a surprise with my 50watts and 1.2m long Maldol hfc20 mobile antenna.I herd other VK stations and also ZL stations were herd on my mobile station.this was between 8.00 and 8.30 am

See you on 20M between 8.00 and 8.30 from the mobile.73 good DX!!

SSTV on 80M

SSTV on 80M - 3.730 myself 2E0HTS in QSO with OH2BT from Finland.........

Girl GuideThinking Day On the Air at the Starcentre

A view of the Mars Landscape at the STARCENTRE


Today was Thinking Day on the Air,which is an annual event for Girl guides around the world.This year Keighley and Bradford Guides took part at the Starcentre and i had the pleasure of operating the Station and assisting them with Ham Radio qso's around Europe on HF,we worked many stations mainly on 20M and a few on 40M and 2M. Contacts were made with Germany,Hungary,Ukraine,Italy,Russia,Romania,Spain,Yugoslavia and England.

This is where the shack is located at the college's Starcentre,its the Communication Centre.A large plasma screen is connected to the P.C and allows others to see whats going on in the shack,in this picture it shows Satellite tracking and decoding.

Here you can see Girl Guides operating the FT1000mp and also logging worked Stations.

YL's seem to attract plenty of calls a total of 30 Guides took part in the Event and they all had a HF QSO some had many.They will all receive a communicator badge for their participation and efforts.

Yes its ME having a play on HF, luckily i work at College full time and get to operate the Station regular which is only fair as i set the Station up in the first place H.I!

The FT1000mp in SSTV mode this was a hit with the Guides as i took their photo's and sent them out across the airwaves via SSTV on 20M

The other end of the shack is mainly used for VHF operation,as you can see more P.C's this time used for weather Satellite tracking and receiving,also the Internet such as QRZ.COM,Eqsl etc. To the right is the PSU,FT2600m 2M rig,Azimuth/Elevation controller,VR5000 receiver,ATU and FT890 which was used to receive more stations which were logged towards the Communicator badge.

This is a close up of the VR5000 receiver which i got the College to buy so that when I was not around other members of staff who are not licenced radio Hams can use this receiver to aid their teaching sessions.Well that was the idea, however i feel that the other members of staff seem to be scared of the radio equipment in general and avoid using it! This is a shame as we Hams are only too happy to help people get their licence. The use of radio has been a great tool for me using Science, maths,electronics,geography and propagation to help young people learn something and have fun and a good time.

I'm pleased to report that the Girl Guides really took to radio and had a great time at the Starcentre,hopefully we may hear some of the Girl Guides in the up and coming future of Amateur Radio.

that's all for now 73 and thanks for visiting this web blog.

Cq Cq Looking For DX

This week has proved to be quite interesting and i am pleased to report good DX has been worked on my Humble Ham Station.
After adding some 1/4 wave radials for 20M to the Hustler 6btv i seem to be working Stateside even easier than before! with good QSO's with AB1AI, W5OU,N3PF,N3UEV,K4VV and the well known W2ONV.These contacts all took place early evening just as the Sun was setting,all on the 20M Band.

I went on to Work Cuba for the first time but more surprisingly was that it was on the 40M Band using a simple G5RV and 50 watts.The cuban station was CO8LY and 5/9 reports were exchanged. VO1CRM from Canada and FM5DN from Martinique were both worked on 40m late evening time. Two more new DXCC were added to my collection taking it to 111 Countries in total,the new DXCC worked were D44BS from Cape Verde Island, and YW0DX operating as a DXpedition group from Aves Island both rare DX Stations especially using the G5RV and also on 40M.

YW0DX is part of the 4M5DXgroup who are currently active throughout February on Aves Island which incidentally is only 2m above sea level. When any storms hit the Island it becomes fully submerged, you can get an idea of what its like on the picture that is posted on the Stations QRZ.COM look up page which you can see here.

I hope you enjoyed this post ill be listen/operating on 20M and 40M in the Evenings so if you hear me please say Hello. 73 and good DX to all, thanks for visiting this site.