Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

Portable at The STAR CENTRE The Last couple of weeks The YL M3TLL Louise and Myself have been running a training course at the works QTH The STAR CENTRE,this is where the Ham Station is based down at Keighley College. The picture above shows the Communcation Centre where the rigs are in company with computer technology.To the right is a 6/2/70 tri-band Beam parrallel to an Oscar 437 30 element XSat-Beam.Below a view across the mars landscape to a Science Pod and Rocket, and bottom right shows an image recieved from NOAA 12. The Cushcraft MA5B mini beam for HF operation We also use a Hustler 6BTV and a Carolina Windom160 We have been Teaching some Air Training Corps Cadets.The Air Cadets are from Bradford and are 44F squadron A.T.C. We have worked with other squadrons and some have become Licenced Amatuers. This Course covers theory and practical tasks followed by an Examination so hopefully these cadets will achieve the Foundation licence We will be both on Air with the Cadets on Monda

On Sunday Morning myself and the YL headed down the M1 to Barnsley South Yorkshire.It was the 2006 Barnsley Ham Radio Rally and i was on the lookout for another mobile Antenna.I already own quite a few tryed and tested beautys which include Maldol 80m,40m,20m,mono-banders a Maldol multibander 40m,15m,10m,6m,2m & 70cms.A mono-band 6M,10m,2m,and a Tri-band 6m,2m,70cms from Watson. This mission was to obtain a 15m-21mhz mobile Antenna,after a tour round the stalls i ended up at the Lam Communications stall where Lee the owner offered me a Comet 15m mobile Antenna. I was really after Maldol but i decided to try the comet and after the friendly discount i was quite happy with the purchase. I installed the Antenna to my second HF mount which is fed through a 2Way Antenna Switch in my DX machine (RAV4 TOYOTA powered FT100). On the return journey back up North to my QTH i was recieving good signals from the Blueridge Mountain in the USA,also South America, and I had a QSO with a 5/9+ signa

A few Stations from this years World Wide CQ Contest . I was operating on the FT847 Earth Station From Yaesu .The Antenna's i used were Hustler 6btv on 21mhz,and on 14mhz i was expermenting between the Hustler and a Hombrew 20m Dipole, which was horizontal in an L configaration.It is 33ft in total length and is made from good quality 3mm multi strand copper wire which is sleeved.The Antenna is resonant across the 20m band so i run direct from the 2 way switch i use to change between the Hustler and the Homebrew 20m Dipole ,i was extremley surprised with the Dipole's excellent performance i managed 14 Zones and 8 new countries. Here are some DXCC Worked on 21mhz using the Hustler 6BTV and 50W. 6W1RY Senagal,PR2A Brazil,3V6T Tunisia,CX5BW Uruguay,FY5KE French Guiana,K9BGL USA,V26B Antigua and Barbuda,VC3R Canada,ZS9X South Africa,8R1EA Guyana all worked and many others. DXCC Worked on 14mhz using a combination of Hustler and Hombrew 20m Dipole KC1XX USA,7S2E Sweden,UU7J Ukraine

It was dark as I was waiting for Blackpool Illuminations (historical light show) to start when I heard an old friend, Steve WZ1Y from Conneticut USA. We made contact on 20m he was impressed with my mobile I normally work him from the home QTH, this was a first from my mobile station. Also you get to see the lights come on and a quick view of Blackpool by night.

More DX action on my day trip to Blackpool. I worked 3 Stations on 20M using 50 watts through a mono band maldol HF20 mobile antenna,the radio is Yaesu FT100.QSO's are with 3A/IZ2EID/P (Monaco),HA501CW (Hungary) and AB8AL (USA).

Here is one of many contacts I had on the way to Blackpool operating mobile.As you will see i live on the top of the Moors which is good for radio,however you need a 4x4 because its a bumpy ride down the the old dirt track.You can also hear my Dog trying to get in on the action!

Cq Cq Cq JOTA !!!! That was what you could hear today down at the works QTH the Starcentre at Keighley College .This is where i work im a full time teaching technician in fabrication and welding,also a part time position in the Star Centre which is the college's Science Technology Aeronaughtical Regional Centre (STAR). This Years JOTA/JOTI event went down great with a fun day for the 50 Scouts that attended the event which was being held world wide over this weekend. AT the Star centre i was operating from the shack, helping the scouts obtain there Communications Badge .I was part of a team that did a total of 5 activities. The Scouts had to,build a crystal radio,down load a pod cast, jamboree on the internet ,Cool codes and playing radio. My YL Louise M3TLL was delivering cool codes which was Q codes,Phonetics,Call Signs and Pre-fixes etc.She made what a scout leader said was usually boring, fun and interesting.So with the use of PMR radio's and a head full of radio s

BONITO RADCOM 5.2 This is the software that I have been running for a while from my PC to my Yaesu FT-857. It is connected from a COM Port via a dongle to the back of the rig with a CAT Interface lead. The software includes DSP filter and decoder for RTTY, CW, PSK, Fax and SSTV, full radio control, real time 3D scanner, equaliser, sat-tracking frequency management and a frequency analyzer. WEATHER FAX FROM CANADA click on image to enlarge This is a weather fax received on HF from a Canadian weather station. There are many stations worldwide continuously transmitting weather information. You can receive many stations but obviously it all depends on the propogation. This image is showing isobars. SSTV PICTURES ON 20M BAND click on image to enlarge Here is an image of some SSTV - another feature of the software. There are many different filters and settings which are quite simple to use and allow good quality images. You can also transmit quite simply and drag your own images into the wi

This video shows something else I enjoy doing to give you an idea of what I do as well as Ham Radio.

This is an EQSL card I received this week from the station I worked in the Special Events video . It is from Nigel who was working the call sign MX0SSW which is Silcoates school. They were raising money for the blind. I worked this station on 2m FM. This card from HR1AAB is from Alberto who is located in Honduras, South America, he was a 5 and 9 signal on 20m. I used my FT-847 and the antenna was the vertical multi-band Hustler 6BTV. This is a card which was a nice surprise from Maurizio who is not a Licensed Ham but what we call a shortwave listener. He heard me speaking to a station in Spain on 40m, again on the FT-847 but this time I used a dipole antenna which is a G5RV. The same evening I managed to work over 25 stations on 40m, countries included Greece, Italy, Spain, Russia, Tenerife, France, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. There are many shortwave listeners and as you can see they do have fun sending cards also. Some shortwave listeners win awards for collec

The Shack is looking cool with my latest addition.I am now the proud owner of a MFJ-969 Deluxe Versa Tuner II,this unit arrived from the USA courtesy of Hamcity.com and after paying the import tax it worked out that i saved £32. The MFJ-969 Antenna Tuner gives you MFJ's superb AirCore Roller Inductor and full 6 meteres through 160 Meter coverage!You get everything you've ever wanted including...300 Watts PEP SSB full featured antenna tuner, widest matching range, full size lighted Cross-Needle SWR/Wattmeter reads true peak forward power, QRM-Free PreTune, 8 Position antenna switch, built in 50 Ohm dummy load, heavy duty 4:1 balun -- all in a tough, attractive cabinet. MFJ's famous 1 year No Matter What warranty. The MFJ-969 Antenna Tuner's AirCore Roller Inductor, gear driven turns counter and spinner knob gives you exact inductance control for absolute minimum SWR. MFJ's exclusive AirCore Roller Inductor has an air core that can't burn up! You get ultra-high-Q

This week the HF bands haven't been in good shape at all, the other evening was spent trying to work DX stations on 40m and 20m. I was most surprised when I ran into my old friend VE3OWV Nick on 40m, this was amazing as I was using my G5RV. I also worked a handful of German stations, some Italians and a Spaniard all on 40m. The spanish station was only operating on 5 watts (QRP). After a couple of hours of 40m I decided to flick back up to 20m (my favourite band) and worked 2 stations from Puerto Rico. Above is a card from one of them Jose WP4AOO. I did this contact on my Cobwebb but then switched to the Hustler 6 BTV and added a couple of S points to the signal with a 5 and 9. This morning on my way to work I had a quick contact with a VK station (Australia) on 20m - not bad for a mobile on 50 watts eh?! 73s for now

This is a short film demonstrating a contact into Russia with RA1ZN (Vic) on HF using my Mobile station which is a Yaesu FT100 and Maldol 20m Monostick and some good propagation. Enjoy it! 73s DE 2E0HTS Simon.

This week I haven't been on air much during the evenings, I had a quick listen around but the bands have been a bit quieter on an evening. My activity this week has been mainly from my mobile station which comprises of a Yaesu FT-100, 2 Maldol HF antennas mounted on the rear (one for 14MHz and one for 7MHz) through a 2-way switch. Also, on the rear wheel there is a 7/8 wave 145/433MHz this is fixed to a home-brew stainless bracket. My activity was mainly on listening mode travelling to workbut I did manage to contact Russia, Estonia and the Ukraine with solid 5 and 9 signals both ways. Receiving wise I have heard ZL (New Zealand) and VKs (Australian stations) quite loud all on 14MHz. This has been happening at 7.15 UTC. On my return journey USA, Saudi Arabia and most of Europe have been giving excellent signals to the mobile which is disguised as a porcupine but is actually a humble Toyota Rav4.