Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

  A little after midnight just before I headed off to bed, I thought to myself "just one more go". Wow what perfect timing as I had a lengthy chat with NA1SS International Space Station Commander Kjell.   I was using my Yaesu FT-847 Earth station with the 30 element 435-437 Oscar Sat antenna and 10 Element LFA Cross Yagi for 145 MHz, driven by my Yaesu G-5500 Control/rotator. The amazing part for me is that I called out CQ once and was answered by ISS Commander Kjell using the call NA1SS. Nobody else in Europe was about so after an initial QSO and signal exchange of a real 5/9+ we had a decent rag chew lasting 5-8 mins as the ISS soared by overhead. Commander Kjell told me he has never been as active and is really enjoying working stations back on Earth from the ISS Columbus Module. I went to bed like an excited child awaiting Christmas and I am still buzzing about it now the next morning. Keep a listen out during the late passes as you may get a pleasant surprise!

After serous consideration and a few sleepless nights I decided to part with some hard earned cash and upgrade my HF Transceiver. I am totally satisfied with the new purchase and have been playing all week on an evening after work. The YAESU FTDX101MP is a fabulous bit of kit words can not describe the buzz I have felt and experienced so far. I already worked plenty of DX - Brazil, Falkland Islands, and Indonesia as well plenty of short skip contacts. All made barefoot without the amplifier, the radio puts out 200w so I will be getting rid of both GI7BT amplifiers. The reception is absolutely incredible, I reallly can see the technology improvements which have superseeded my trusty FT-1000mp field. Its like chalk and cheese or day and night.  Hope to catch you on the air soon using my new setup.  As you can see I have a much tidier setup with a few old school components now taking a well deserved rest. My FT-1000 is now on standby. 

As we all now are getting used to being spoiled with regular band openings I have been making the most of my daily commute to work. Most mornings I make at least one QSO whilst mobile on the 20m band. Today was very good as I managed three QSO along the way. The band was very busy with DX and short skip signals coming up and down to the trusty YAESU FT-857. The past months morning mobiling has brought me some good surprises as I keep hearing the west coast of The USA. I managed to bust a pileup into Oregon which I was very pleased with as I ran about 80 watts into the mono band MALDOL HFC 20 antenna which is still effective after over 15 years of daily mobile use.  Solar cycle 25 is definitely interesting so far, especially early morning mobile, by lunch I have noticed a lull with just a couple of signals and then its back wide open again at my finish time.  My home-based shack is slightly down on action as the pleasant WX on an evening has caught my attention just...

  Now receiving with a new INNOVANTENNA 12 Element LFA YAGI (X Pole)  innovantennas x-pol-yagis software used .. WXtoIMG

Today started well with the awesome news that M7ELC managed a truly great first Contest result. Elsie M7ELC created a new England Record operating on all bands running low power in the Youth category and hit the podium position as Number 1 in England! Go Girl! We are all proud of her great start to her amateur radio participation and lets hope her future experiences on Ham radio continue to develop. Well done Elsie M7ELC England's No 1 Youth on Low Power! As for myself (Elsie's Dad) I did quite well as usual and came 5th in England as a High Power All Band Classic operator. I did better than usual with the Zones but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Have a fun on the bands! Thanks for passing by. 73.  

  What a difference a few weeks have made, cycle 25 has definitely woken up! A slightly delayed start due to an overlap of cycle 24 causing disturbance to the new born cycle 25 and keeping the flames quenched. But now the its out with the old in with the new as we experience some fantastic DX openings on all of the HF bands. Enjoy! My Fellow DX Friends! I have been racking up lots of DX as I operate some late night DX, my station has been hitting all over the globe and the bands have stayed wide open until late and often all night long. It has been really addictive and I have found myself active every day from my radio shack in the search of DX stations that are currently booming through. Morning activity /Mobile from the van has also popped up some nice surprises with  JA, VK and ZL signals and a QSO into Brazil whilst on the move with 80 watts. On my return journey I have heard YB and HS 5/9+ whilst driving and listening on the 20m HF band. A lot of you will be also experien...

Well I don't know about you but here in Bradford the band conditions on an evening have been absolutely terrible with high QRN levels and little activity.    I have made the odd DX contact on 40m but overall the shack has had a lot of noisy AF and very little RF generated  I'm looking forward to getting on during the daytime over the weekend, so let's hope that the solar cycle starts peddling again and gets a bit of speed up offering some decent band conditions. My Ameritron amplifier with its GI7BT valves has helped me have some fun thankfully. The current band conditions certainly favour QRO operation but even with 400w it's been quite tough to fill my log the way I like to  Not to worry I am sure it will not be long before I am back up on 20m Late night DXing. In the meantime I'm battling it out QRV on 80m and 40m with a terrible high noise level. Boo 👎  Catch you again soon. Keep a watch for Aurora and vhf band openings as this week's forecast l...