Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

This week has been very unusual for myself as i have had some good QSO's on the HF bands that I don't regularly get to operate on. I have had QSO's on 10M SSB and also 10M FM where I spoke with a local station 2E0KEI Keith who is only across the valley local to Me, via a repeater HB9HR in the Swiss Alps. I have also made QSO with HB9ICG Peka on the same repeater which is on 29.660 MHZ FM, this was a real pleasure for me and I experimented between My Maldol multi band vertical, Hustler 6btv and G5RV. To My surprise the G5RV out performed the other antenna's which is kind of annoying when you consider the cost of these fancy Verticals that usually are superior. I decided to try 10M SSB on my old FT767 which is coupled up to a home brew 20M dipole and the Maldol multi bander covering 40,15,10,6,2 & 70cms. I had good results into The Netherlands with QSO's made with PD2BA Ben, PA7JWC Janwllem, PA1K Bert and also DR80AMA Mark, DL2MRK Manni who were strong signals fro

This Evening I spent a couple of hours working Ham Station and friend Phil M1PAC on 144.500mhz SSTV mode and at the same time we had a good old rag chew on 433.725mhz. Phil sent me some great images and I returned with some of my new pictures, at the same time Louise captured it all on her phone cam so thats the video above. Thanks louise : } I enjoy the SSTV mode and I intend to continue experimenting around with Computers and digi modes for Radio use, and fortunately I seem to be getting the hang of most of the modes /operations so far. The bands in general have not been so great in my QTH over the last 10 days so thankfully SSTV and PSK have kept me occupied. I am looking forward to better propagation and a few new countries to add to the list which is slowly getting bigger. I sent some of my new QSL cards off direct to: VP8LP Bob, ZP8VAO Amado, GD0BCJ Paul, LU3MCJ Emilio and HR2DMR Don all worked in the last fortnight on 20M. So I guess the conditions have not been quite so bad aft

I like to receive images from some of the many Satellites that are constantly orbiting our planet. In this case the images are courtesy of a weather monitoring Satellite known as NOOA 17 which is a low level orbiting Satellite. Some of the images are very clear showing the ground and clouds from Space, the clarity depends on the quality of the received signal to my FT857 radio which is interfaced to my home computer. Once a signal is received i use the software that i mentioned previously on this blog which is radcom 5.2 by Bonito to decode the signal to produce images. I watch where the Satellite are positioned on my computer with the Satscape Satellite tracking program which not only gives real time positioning it also tells you what frequency and direction the various satellites are at. Here are some images i have received click on them to enlarge. This is the image that i receive in the Video below Her is my station in action receiving a signal from NOOA 17 and producing the above

Hi folks,Ive just returned from touring around the Highlands of Scotland and managed to clock up a total of 850 miles whilst taking in some impressive and spectacular scenery. Before you ask yes i was active as 2M0HTS/M which is the Scotish prefix.I had many QSO on 40m mobile and 20m mobile,thanks to all stations worked. It was nice to operate from these fantastic locations whilst travelling around here is a picture of my mobile station along side Loch Ness If you are planning to visit Scotland and its Highlands or are interested in seeing Scotland, here is a collection of images you may enjoy not really radio but still very nice pictures! Ive had some good feedback about my new QSL cards so listen out for me and you can get one.Drop me a line/comment to arrange a sked on the bands. 73 thanks for reading.

This Weekend was Mill and Windmill on the Air event which is quite interesting to me as I started off in a Textile Mill as a Maintenance Engineer when I was just 17 Years old. The Mill was very old and i had spooky experiences during the 8 years i worked there encountering a Ghostly presence on one of the many evenings i was working alone. THIS IS THE MILL I USED TO WORK AT IN BAILDON This weekends Event was very good and i would like to thank all who took part and put in the effort of setting up the special event stations up at the Mills and Windmills. I made contact with 16 Mills and Windmills all on 80m , here are the call signs of the Stations worked.... GB2PWW,GB2GW,GB2TMI,GB0ETM,GB5HW,GB2NW,GB0HPM,GB2GG,GB0MW,GB2ARW,GB2UW,GB2BWT,GB2FWM,GB0EM, GB0SNM AND GB0WSM.... Once again many thanks to all involved and a special thankyou to Cliff (GB0WSM) who put a fellow Mill Engineer Derrick on the radio for a good rag chew about Mills and Mill life. I am looking forward to the next time!!

As you can see i am very pleased with my recent delivery of 500 QSL cards from QSL Factory.The Cards have been custom made with a design created by my ever talented YL Louise M3TLL,if you would like one listen out for Me on the Bands and I will send one to You. 73 and hope to work you on Air soon. If you are a SWL and here me on You can get one too! send me an email you can get the address from looking Me up on QRZ.com

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 h

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 r

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

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!

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.

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!

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

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

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 W3 GG 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