Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

It's been a interesting year so far With the ever changing band conditions. The solar cycle 25 continues and certainly is far from over. I would expect a couple of years at least yet before I need to get out the amplifier again. I have a bit of a fault to fix so maybe it's about time I get on with it, I might have it done for cycle 26. 😜 The last week has been quite a mixed bag on the radio as I have heard DX and into G, both short and long skip signals on quite a few of the HF bands including 10m. As for the 6 meter band the recent opening I caught on video was a one off and I have not seen any more activity around the SSB phone band since. I have been off work on half term spending time out with the family getting out and about so not quite as active as usual but still catching some decent QSO where I can from some nice locations here in Yorkshire.  The Satellite chasing has taken a back seat recently as my neighbors are carrying out roof work and cur

After owning the YAESU FTDX101MP for just over18 months it was a real treat to finally get a chance to try it out on the magic band SIX Meters. Pretty cool results to say I used my Hustler Vertical which is not ideal.   

M0YKS Satellite Earth Station 📡 The amateur Radio hobby has so much to offer and can take you to places you cannot ever go to in person. Yes I am referring to space and in particular the International Space Station. The past couple of weeks have provided some great late evening passes from ISS and I have been making the most of the opportunities. My log is full of ISS, Teval SATs, RS-44 SAT, JO-97 SAT and SO-50 SAT contacts. It's been good and my Earth Station is still working well for me.  A quick run down of the equipment that I am using: TX RX - YAESU FT-847 Rotator - YAESU G-5500 Interface - RS-232 COM-232B  USB CAT cable x2 Antenna V: 144-146Mhz Innovantenna 5 element X LFA YAGI  Antenna U: 435-437Mhz  15 elememt  Oscar 437 SAT X YAGI  Software - SATpc32 PC Windows 10 I also use Look4Sat on my Tablet  the satellite band is great fun and the Radio amateurs that you make contact with are really nice people. You get to know a very friendly com

 This morning before work I was listening out for DX on 3.795Mhz at around 7:30 utc and heard two nice signals from North America. I managed to work both stations - W2VP and W9LF. The signal exchange from W2VP was (My sig) 55 out and John was coming in to my station with 56 signal.  W9LF was slightly further away and I was 5/6 at his end and Carl W9LF was 5/7. A great start to the day as headed off to work. This evening was even better as I made more 80m DX with Russ VE9FI with a signal exchange of 5/5 both ways. After that I was on a roll and worked a Net with K2RR Rich who gave me a 5/7 report, Rich was loud and coming in very well with a 5/8 signal. Next up was VE1CHW Rob, Rob was also strong with a 5/8 signal I received a 5/7 signal report back. I also worked Vlad UG5A 5/9 both ways and finished off with W2FFE Dave, again another good copy and a 5/7 exchange both ways.  The new EFHW Inverted V is certainly surprising me and seems better than the centre fed dipole which

I hope you're new year has begun well. I have been feeling much more like myself after being ill before and over the Christmas break.  My FTDX101mp has been getting plenty of use and I have been enjoying operating on 29Mhz AM. I have been doing quite well with my MA5B and 50 watts out working across the Atlantic into North America. I must say it is a very nice sounding signal on AM and it has great DX potential for an original old school mode that most have forgotten or never tried. How about giving 29.00 to 29.100 AM a listen and give it a go yourself. The best time to try is Saturday and Sunday from 13:00 - 16:00 UTC.  Other fun stuff that has been keeping me busy is the new 1/2 wave 80m inverted V with a 49:1 Transformer. I have been enjoying exploring it's potential and I am very surprised just how good it works at my QTH. I'm working North and South America easily on 40m as well as far East so far. On 80 it's strong across Europe and I have had a couple