Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

The best way to work Amateur Satellites is to program your radios memory with the up links, down links and any necessary PL tones required to activate the Transponders. Here is the result, which if you are new or are just getting in to Satellite Communications, you may find the frequencies shown helpful. The rig seen in the pictures is an FT-847. SO-50 AMATEUR SATELLITE TX Up Link 145.850 FM 67HZ Tone. RX Down Link 436.795 FM +/- AO-51 AMATEUR SATELLITE TX Up Link 145.920 FM 67HZ Tone. RX Down Link 435.300 FM +/- VO-52 AMATEUR SATELLITE TX Up Link 435.250 LSB RX Down Link 145.900 USB+/- Hello to All at Planet Ham and Tnx for linking to Ham Radio Blogspot 73

For those of you that like working satellite or possibly the ISS, have you come across the latest version of SATSCAPE? SATSCAPE has been around for years and is now written in Java which allows a better graphic display to be used whilst tracking your favourite NOAA Satellites and the ISS as well as other Space Comms such as AO-51 and VO-52. I use SATSCAPE to assist me when trying to call CQ on the Earth Orbiting Voice repeaters which are FM and SSB, so far success on SSB but still trying to make it on FM. The new version can be downloaded via the link with support and updates also found at the SATSCAPE Website AS you can see it looks very nice Satscape screen shot click to enlarge Here you can see the ISS's Orbit and course click to enlarge ISS Zoomed closer and over Europe in Range of 2E0HTS Earth station click to enlarge FT-847 Yaesu Radio is listening on 145.800 the ISS downlink but no signals are being transmitted by the crew during the overhead pass which is plotted and tra

This afternoons walk was another chance to make a video and play radio using my little hand held transceiver. We headed up to Bardon Moor from our QTH of Baildon Moor. Yes we are Moorland addicts due to the peace and quiet, tranquility and the spectacular views you get in the unspoilt Moorland Country side. Bardon Moor is even higher than our QTH(1000 ft) with heights of 1600 ft in places which work well for VHF hand held equipment. I did'nt quite get to the maximum altitude as we only had a couple of hours and one bottle of drink each, which was needed at 23.5 degrees in the shade! We got to 1165 feet and with a scenic view in all directions I decided to get the little 5watt Kenwood out of the bag and I commenced calling CQ CQ. As usual on 2m FM there was an abundance of listeners but no takers, until after three or four shout outs were I received a reply. The Station that had returned to my call was Chris M3XLG who put a 5/9+ signal to the TH-F7 with its Diamond SRH771 Aftermar

Since my return from EA6 the propagation seems to have improved substantially with terrific openings on 20m, and 40m late at night here at Baildon Moor U.K. click on log to enlarge I have had some amazing DX contacts each evening as I have operated into the early hours of the morning with contacts into Martinique and Netherlands Antilles on 40M using the G5RV. The biggest surprise happened whilst in SWL mode as I came across a nice informal Net on 7.185 lsb consisting of a nice group of US Hams. I have worked the US on 40m before during WWCQ Contest but this opportunity was not to be missed. I managed three different stations WA3QPX, K4KOM and W3ZKY with successful reports exchanged, the other guys were just in the noise as I was to them. The US guys were very pleased to be picking up little station 2E0HTS on 50watts and I went on to work more DX as you can see in the above log. I also got the opportunity to work Ian VK3MO from Oz again as well as the other DX stations confirmed by the

click any image to Enlarge We had a nice week in EA6-Mallorca and are now re-vitalised and ready to make some noise up on the Amateur Radio Bands from my Licenced Station here in the U.K During the last week we covered over 350 KM on two motorcycles, Kawasaki KLE 5oo and a Suzuki Marauder whilst touring the Island of Mallorca. We both got a great Sun tan and met some very nice Mallorcan people. So hopefully I should have some energy and new experiences to try out regarding Radio and get some inspiration to blog here on ham Radio Blogspot. ;-) There were opportunities to look out for Antennas, I saw quite a few on our travels. One antenna sighting you can see here at the old town of Alcudia. I spotted some interesting Arrays up and down the Island. There were some very nice locations to operate radio but my Licence allows all bands and modes but only in the U.K so it was just pure holidaying for me!! Other News Thanks to Eric PA1TNO for commenting regarding our recent QSO via VO-52, Hop

Today I successfully managed a contact using my FT-847 and vertical antenna by connecting with Earth orbiting satellite VO-52. I monitored VO-52s location using satscape and once the satellite was in range I called cq on VFO B which was set at 435.250mhz lsb (uplink frequency)and at the same time I was tuning around VFO A set at 145.900mhz usb +or- 10kilo cycles. You have to search up and down the receive frequency + or - 10ish quickly whilst transmitting audio, I did this until I heard my self on the downlink signal. Once my voice was clear on the downlink I was called by PA1TNO-Eric who was located in Amsterdam in the NETHERLANDS. Eric's signal and my own were constantly shifting frequency in an upward motion due to the speed of the travelling VO-52 satellite creating the Doppler effect. I maintained continuous adjustment to the downlink RX signal but kept the uplink signal fixed on 435.250mhz lsb. We both exchanged reports and locator's without any problems, I was excited an

Great video created by Kevin(stormspotterkwp) which promotes Amateur Radio. You can also catch me in there somewhere if your quick ;-) 73 have a good weekend.

click on log to enlarge ......... (blue spots highlight propagation peaks on 20m) The last week has kept me active a lot on some of the HF bands due to some great openings into South America as well as VK. I have noticed some interesting findings regarding the use of my Vertical Antennas and the home made full wave 20m Delta Loop, at different times during the day due to the ionospheres variable F layer. Up until this weekend the WX has been good with sunshine and pleasant conditions. The bands have definitely begun to improve especially at my QTH on most Evenings. During daytime conditions I have experimented around on 20m with a Mono Band ½ wave vertical and the Infamous Loop. With the second F layer seemingly being present at this time I have found the Vertical to perform noticeably better than the loop on 20m into Europe and the Middle East. But from 1800 UTC there is a sudden change of received angle of radiated signal and the Delta Loop is phenomenal and provides outstanding

Ian VK3MOs Tower and four stacked five element 20 meter yagi antennas worked by 2E0HTS using a Home brew 20M Delta Loop Last Night I battled with the sleep that was forming in my Eyes and stayed up late working a few Distant DX Stations that were coming through on 20m SSB. I worked Argentina first, LU2QC Osvaldo, with a 5/9 signal, followed by W1/GI0MPT Eamon, 5/9+ from south of Boston. Just after that my luck continued and got even better with VK3MO Ian, at 11.11pm UTC (12.11 Local time BST) who gave me a 5/9 report on 14.177.30. USB using his awesome antenna array, 100 watts and I think Ian was running an Icom rig and was also 5/9. I used the good old ft767, 50w, with my full wave vertical home made delta loop to make both contacts.Whilst in RX, I compared the Loop to the Mono band vertical 20m ant, G5RV, and the Hustler. Sorry Guys the home made Delta loop(vertically configured) put them all to Shame with no comparison, in fact none of the other antennas came close to the Loop'

Greetings and 73 Just a quickie to share this great little tool for our Computers with those of you that like experimenting a little. click on image to enlarge I came across this useful addition to the Shack Computer and have found it to be a very useful and interesting tool for all Radio enthusiasts. It is called "HamInfoBar" and can be downloaded here HamInfoBar The Tool bar doesn't seem to cause any conflicts and offers a wide range of Ham radio and radio related content. It is neat to look at and simple to explore, there are many useful and innovative features, too many too mention. So far I have come across cool things such as links whilst browsing, these have taken me to some interesting up to date Ham Radio Information. Feeds, Propagation Forecasts, DX Clusters, DXpeditions for LF, HF, VHF, UHF and everything else that Ham Radio is involved with, including techy stuff. Have a look yourself and I can honestly say I was nicely surprised with the Tool bars gadgets an

eQsL Log on Screen eQSL Home Page My eQSL Design. Here Is Where You Create Your Card Design eQSL Log eQSL Archives eQSL The Effective and Quickest Way To Confirm your DX and Local Ham Radio Contacts There are lots more functions and pages as well as programs to check out on eQSLs web site once you become a registered member. It is best to send information about your Licence to become AG (Authenticity Guaranteed). It makes claiming eQSL Awards much easier. SWL (Short Wave Listeners Can Also Use eQSL and Obtain a Unique SWL Call Sign) Countries Confirmed by eQSL by My Base Station 1 ALGERIA 2 ARGENTINA 3 AUSTRALIA 4 AUSTRIA 5 AZORES 6 BELARUS 7 BELGIUM 8 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 9 CANADA 10 CEUTA AND MELILLA 11 COLOMBIA 12 CRETE 13 CROATIA 14 CZECH REP. 15 DENMARK 16 DOMINICA 17 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 18 ECUADOR 19 ENGLAND 20 FINLAND 21 FRANCE 22 GERMANY 23 GREECE 24 GUADELOUPE 25 GUERNSEY (BAILIWICK OF) 26 HONDURAS 27 HUNGARY 28 IRELAND 29 ISLE OF MAN 30 ISRAEL 31 ITALY 32 JERSEY (CHANNEL ISL.) 3

Watch to see how I spent my Sunday afternoon making a simple full wave 2 meter Delta Loop and then make a 200 mile QSO with MM0GPZ/P in Scotland on 144.285 usb.

Tonight I had the pleasure of working Tomas OK4BX who regularly shares information here on Hamradio.blogspot. Tomas came through 5/8 on 40m (7.093 LSB)at around 19.50 UTC, we tried 20 meters and was unsuccessful but managed it on 40 meters. I was using 50 watts, a 102 ft G5RV, and the FT-767 with the Heil Goldline Mic. Hopefully Tomas will leave a comment containing his Station equipment used to make this QSO. Thanks Tomas and hope to hear you again on the bands soon. 73 de Simon

A chance to view the beatiful scenery whilst seeing 2M0HTS/mobile in action We have just returned from a weeks Camping in the Scottish Highlands and had a fantastic time. The WX (weather) was good and we both managed to obtain a sun tan as well as a paddle in the lovely Arisaig Sea. We stayed at a lovely campsite over looking the Isle of Skye, Isle of Eigg, and the Isle of Muck, which is situated 6 miles south of Malaig and is called Portnadoran and is locally known as Portnalucaig. This fabulous location was very beautiful, we managed lots of touring, walking and quite a bit of ham radio. I got the opportunity to use the Call 2M for Scotland which caused quite a bit of pile up on a few occasions from some remote places in the North West Highlands operating 2M0HTS/M. Here is what happened during our stay, Thank you to all who managed to make the QSO it sure was fun! We can’t wait until we go back up there and do it all again! It was very beautiful and also an excellent radio opera

Today brought some long awaited activity to the usually quiet portion of the HF spectrum. From early morning the bands were at times busy with the sound of lots of stations from Europe working other stations and big signals were flying around, at last 6 meters SSB, 10 meters 12 meters and even 15 meters were alive. I worked Spain, Italy, Belgium, France and Portugal on the lively opened up bands with good signals both ways. I did not hear any real DX but still I was more than happy to make plenty of European QSOs and I also got the chance to try out my other radio equipment at the same time. I made the QSOs using the Yaesu FT847, Yaesu MD1 desk mic and around 50 watts into the Maldol 6 Band vertical antenna which is mounted outside with an excellent ground plane system. The antenna has been in my collection for almost three years and covers 40m, 15m, 10m, 6m, 2m and 70cms. The contacts that I made on 12 Meters were worked on the home brew 20m delta loop which was tuned with my MFJ 969