Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

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...

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 difficulti...

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

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..

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 C...

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.

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