Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

Tomorrow is the last working day of the year and I am looking forward to enjoying the Christmas and New Year holiday celebrations with the family. Wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy new year!

Earlier this morning just as daylight broke I managed a nice QSO down on 3.793 MHz with Pedro - NP4A. Pedro was booming in at 5/9+20dB at my end as I used my Carolina Windom off set wire dipole (131 feet long) to work him. I received a 5/9 report back from Puerto Rico to my trusty transceiver - YAESU Mark V field.

 Today Sunday the 9th of December at around 13.00 utc I managed to receive a good live image from Earth orbiting weather satellite NOAA-19.  In the received transmission, the UK can be found close to the centre of the image which shows the forecast for the next 48 hrs. It doesn't look so good, cloud can be seen rolling in off of the Atlantic. I received the weather satellite signal 5/9+60 from NOAA-19 using my satellite antenna array and YAESU FT-847 transceiver which are hooked up to my PC. The software I used to track NOAA-19 is Satscape and the decoding software is RadioCom 5.2.

The past few evenings have been quiet up on the usual HF bands so I decided to have have a play around with EasyPal down on 80M. Here are a couple of nice quality images that I received with my FT-1000 transceiver hooked up to my PC.                                        Received by 2E0HTS, transmitted from the amateur station G0MJD                       G0MJD Received by 2E0HTS, transmitted from the amateur station DB2HS I did manage a nice QSO into Jan Mayen earlier tonight when I worked JX9JKA on 40m. Signal reports were up at 5/9 both ways with some strong QSB thrown in! I have worked JX9JKA Svein before up on 20m, I was pleased to catch him this time in a pile up on 40m with my Windom antenna.  73 Happy DX

I awoke nice and early as usual and came across a big signal on 17m this morning where I managed to work into Iwakuni City, Japan. The 17m band was in good shape as I received a 5/7 report back from Aki - JA4FHE who was 5/9+10 at my end. Once again I made the QSO via the long path using my CobWeb antenna and Ft1000 MKV. It was a pleasure to meet Aki for the first time and I hope to work him again soon hopefully on a different band. 73 happy DX!

Earlier today on my journey to work I found time to scan through the 20M band on my mobile Ham Station where I heard signals coming in well from both Japan and Australia. As usual my trusty FT-100 rig which is still going strong in its 7th year of mobile operation was doing a great job for me. I put just one call back to VK6ANC where I was heard and managed to get a 5/7 signal report via the long path. I was hearing VK6ANC from Perth loud with his excellent station (seen in previous post). His signal was up at a 5/9+10dB in strength at a total distance of  around 15512 miles away from my mobile Toyota FT-100/MALDOL HFC-20 combo. I plan to strip the mono band Maldol antenna and mount over the weekend so I can clean everything up. I am thinking of renewing the grounding strap. The road dirt and grime combined with Yorkshire WX can clog things up and corrode connections. I like to carry out regular maintenance to ensure the continued excellent performance of the little YAESU FT-100 an

As usual I was active throughout the weekend on the HF bands during this years CQ World Wide Contest. I spent some cash on a new alloy pole which I used to raise the height of my Cobb-Webb multi band antenna just in the knick of time. Despite my enthusiasm I did not beat last years result as I ended up working fewer zones than previously, but I still had some great DX even though conditions were not quite as good as last year.  I worked lots of stations from all over using my FT1000MP Mark -V  and Cobwebb antenna. I  kept myself mainly focused on 10 meters, 15 meters and 20 meters with a few qso also made down on 40 & 80 meters. Overall I had a blast! I must have worked the whole of the Caribbean as well as South and North America. My signals were radiating well into Africa, The Middle East and all the way up to Iceland and Greenland. I heard Taiwan very faintly up on 10 meters but did not really experience any reliable openings to Australasia or Asia during this

The Chinese Amateur Satellite Group CAMSAT are busy constructing two new birds that will have the potential to establish a radio link during certain orbital positions between the two. This will allow amateur radio communications to be made over a much greater distance. Its exciting news for the many hams that enjoy the challenge of space radio communications which includes myself. I am already getting excited about the possible Space to Earth QSOs that  I maybe able to make! Yep, I am looking forward to the future launch of CAMSAT's CAS-2A1 and CAS-2A2, Good luck to all involved! Both birds will be equipped with linear transponders. For all the latest in much more detail including operating frequencies, check out the AMSAT UK write up here CAS-2A1 and CAS-2A2 linear transponder Amateur Radio Satellites  courtesy of M5AKA.

Earlier this morning I caught a nice opening into Lebanon and managed to work OD5ZZ. I used to work into Lebanon regularly back in the 1980s (CB days). This quick QSO reminded me of my early radio days especially as today I was using my vertical hustler antenna, which is not quite a Sigma IV as used back then. I was pleased with the QSO as you probably can tell in the video clip below. Louise my shack manager caught me working OD5ZZ and did a good job videoing it for anyone wanting to catch the QSO.

I thought I would share this mornings breakfast view of my garden and my 3 HF antennas. From the left is my Carolina Windom for 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m & 10m. Next is my Hustler 6BTV, used for 80m 40m, 30m, 20m, 15m & 10m. Finishing off, is my CobWebb for 20m, 17m, 15m,12m & 10m.  That's about it for now, I'm off to enjoy the good WX! Have a good day 73

Well I suppose it had to finally end! I have enjoyed a long Summer holiday with my family despite having unreliable British weather we still made the most of our time and got about all over having lots of fun.... But, its back to work in the morning and the start of a brand new College year so I will certainly be busy. I logged another nice juicy DX station earlier this morning whilst on 20m once again running with my CobWebb antenna. At around 7.21 utc, I made QSO into Australia with Neil - VK2IZI who is located near Sydney. VK2IZI has a very nice antenna system as seen pictured above and his signal was up at 5/9 +10dB to my Ft-1000MKV, I was 5/7 at his end. 73 time for some Z time!

I managed to finally update 2E0HTS QSL Gallery  by adding over 200 new eQSL cards. Each QSL confirms QSOs made on HF and the VHF/Satellite bands. I shall be adding my Mobile and Portable eQSL cards shortly! Here is a preview of one of my Favorited DX eQSL cards that I received recently from VK7ZX. Check out the rest of the cards to see who and where 2E0HTS has been making radio contacts with. 73