Posts

Living It Up With The Cushcraft MA5B

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Its been just over a month since I installed my new antenna and what a difference it has made. I have the Cushcraft MA5B mounted on a home brew tripod with a short mast and HYGAIN CD45II rotator. The antenna set up is not as high in the sky as I would have hoped for, but nether the less it is working really well. I have made lots of good QSOs across the Atlantic when the band has not been very good, I have noticed that the vertical and Carolina Windom are miles apart from the reception quality of the MA5B. I keep hearing big signals on the beam and when I switch to the other antennas I can barely copy the same signal. I suppose I should have expected this from my many previous experiments with beams and verticals on vhf where I have worked satellites on 5 watts with my arrow or IOIo antenna and struggled to achieve any contact with a vertical. With the new antenna working so well on bands that are not as good as they could be, I can't wait until the conditions are cooking! The

Fully Recharged

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This years summer holiday has been excellent as I enjoyed lots of family time at our holiday shack and also plenty of Van Camping in the DX Machine. I also managed some great ham radio contacts and got my Cushcraft Beam up at my QTH  which has made a big difference for me, its working well! Its come around quick as I am back to work next Tuesday but I have certainly made the most of my time off. The family have had a great time and we still have the bank holiday weekend to enjoy. Best 73 and here are my latest contacts followed by some pictures I caught out and about on the Welsh Island of Anglesey and also the East Yorkshire coast during my summer tour.

Cobweb Comes Down Cushcraft Goes Up!

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After a great holiday on the Island of Anglesey with the family away from it all, I got back home and took my Cobweb antenna down. The time had come to get my Cushcraft MA5B out of the shed and up in the air. I have had it for a number of years but had not had the opportunity to use it. I must say I am quite impressed so far with the performance of the "mini beam"and I can see quite a difference in signal reception. I have already started working some good DX with the MA5B 3 element Yagi, lots of North and South America and also Bob VP8LP from the Falkland islands. I am very happy that I put it up even though it is not as high as i would of liked. Hope to hear you on the bands soon! 73 de Simon M0YKS

Holiday Shack

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           M0YKS Holiday Shack The bands are fairly quiet, the British summer weather is as mixed up as ever but the holiday shack is as excellent as ever... As you can see I'm getting some rest bite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life as we all enjoy plenty of fresh air walks and radio. As you can imagine there is lots to do exploring the outdoors and the family have a good time doing so.  I brought my telescope and let my oldest have look at last night's moon which was very exciting for her. She keeps wanting to make some qsos as well so maybe you will hear her soon. I also have my handheld transceivers charged and ARROW satellite antenna set up ready to go if the chance arises. In the shack I am running my FT-767, 817 and 2600m and active mainly on 40m and 20m so far. I hope band conditions start to improve throughout the week, I heard but didn't manage to get back to YB71RI Indonesia and VU2RCT India yesterday eary evening on 20m. Their signals we

Hustler 6btv

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After 6 months of testing I decided to take my 40m delta loop down. The verdict was it tuned up amazing from 80m through to 10m but was no better than the Carolina Windom on performance. The biggest positive to come out was the visual impact of the fibre glass pole and delta shaped wire which has been engraved on the YL and neighbours minds so my Hustler 6btv could sneak in to the open without being noticed. With this in mind I carried out some servicing of the Hustler, soldered up some new coaxial feed and hammered a new mounting stake. I used a sold steel 40mm diameter bar as my ground spike and some stainless box section which slides over snug. The job went well and the result is good with the Hustler 6btv up away from the trees. Last night the bands were quiet but I made a couple of nice qso using it. The next job will be refitting some radials.  Catch up with you all soon. Thanks for the visit, best 73 De M0YKS Simon 

Clear Sky For ISS Pass Over IO93CU

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The ISS caught my eye just now as I let the dog out. I caught ISS on my Samsung Galaxy S5 as it hurtled past high in the sky at a speed of 7 miles a second. 73.

M0YKS/A

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Operating from the holiday shack is still as good fun as ever! The bands are not particularly good at the moment but I still managed a few  qso' s and some good radio time on my old setup that I use at my holiday shack. Listen out for me playing radio throughout August as I continue to enjoy family time and holiday's. 73

Happy Yorkshire Day!

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Today is YORKSHIRE Day and as I am born and bred in Yorkshire I always enjoy myself and feel proud to be part of this special day. Whilst we were out and about in the Yorkshire Dales earlier today I worked special event station GB0YD from my DX mobile up on the 2 meter band. GB0 Yorkshire Day was operating from a high point on the North Yorkshire Moor Tops known as Garrowby Hill which was about 50 miles east of my mobile location. It made the day complete getting a qso with the Yorkshire Day call sign, my own call M0YKS also has a Yorkshire ring to it. That's all for now apart from.."Si Thi later..73..Av a Appy YORKSHIRE DAY"!

Holidays!

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Just two days to go before I take my summer leave from the College and I cant wait to play some Ham Radio during my month off! Who knows where I will be operating from? The shack? The Caravan Shack On The Moor? The DX Mobile? You can bet I will be active from them all as well as by the seaside and other places of interest. Listen out for M0YKS across the bands. 73 enjoy the summer!

New fun Contest - South America Sprint - July the 23rd - 21.00 utc

Attention all radio hams and short wave listener's. Watch out for a brand new 2hr contest coming your way this month courtesy of the South America Sprint group. Please read the message below if you haven't already been invited. It sounds like it could be lots of fun and I will be active during it. Best 73. We would like to invite you to the SA Sprint Contest. This is a new contest organized by several South American amateur radio clubs and groups. The contest is only two hours long, the rules are really straightforward and we have included the QSO/QSY rule to make it really fun. You can see the full rules at: www.sa-sprint.com/rules Several logging programs have included support for our contest: www.sa-sprint.com/software The contest will take place on July 23rd, 2016. From 2100 to 23 UTC, on SSB and CW (40 and 20 meters). Everyone can contact everyone for QSO points credit. Mults are SA prefixes. Please feel free to tell your friends about the SA Sprint. Th

My Current Antenna Setup

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Just incase you you don't subscribe to my Ham Radio YouTube Channel here is my latest video showing my antenna setup at my home QTH. 73, tnx and see you again soon.

Always use the ham code lol

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Operating The DX Late Shift

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The bands are opening up after dark and M0YKS is operating the DX late shift! Listen out for me on 20m and 40m and maybe 80m after 20.00 utc (once the kids are sleeping).

Beware of the YLs

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It was fun for all the family as we spent the weekend at our holiday shack up on the Yorkshire moor tops. As you can see my daughters are growing up fast and it won't be long before my shack has  YL voices booming out across the airwaves. I made some good Qso on 20m using my old FT-767GX and hustler 6btv and suprisingly I caught some troposphere lift as 2m simplex was alive and kicking on my old FT-2600M. Back at work now but the spring bank holidays are only 8 more work days away! 73 happy DX

Playing around with my homebrew 40m Delta Loop

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I moved the 40m delta loop over the weekend and managed to get it higher up in the air by an extra 5 meters. I have been checking it out across the bands and so far it seems hopeful with QSOs into the Azores on 40m as well as Iceland and I just worked Puerto Rico up on 20m. CU2CO - Paulo, Signal Report 5/9. Band 40 meters. TF8KY - Keli, Signal Report 5/9. Band 40 meters. KP4DKE - Peter, Signal Report 5/7. Band 20 meters. I will be experimenting throughout the week with the delta loop where I will check it out against the other antennas which are Hustler 6BTV, Cobwebb and Carolina Windom 80. I hope to be about in the shack this week after 20.00 utc on the HF bands so keep your ears on standby. 73,   Happy DXing!