Ham Radio Operator - M0YKS

Beaming 135 degrees across Africa I worked into Comoros Island - D68CCC up on 15m mid morning from my shack. It is a new country for me and also a rare one taking it to up to 139 DXCC. The location looks wonderful, I am sure the MDXC Dxpedition have enjoyed there time operating from such a beautiful place. Its half term at college and I am on holiday all week, so you can expect to hear more from me throughout the week as I catch the tail end of the world wide DXpeditioners that are still operating here and there. Best 73 happy Ham ing!

After browsing through my contest log I realised that some pretty cool DXCC popped up during the contest. My station was pretty awsome and I worked the same number of Zones as last year but gained on the Countries by three this time around.

Despite conditions not being amazing I had a great weekend with lots of fun throughout the contest. My equipment worked well for me and I managed to work many DX during the CQWW contest. In total I made 319 QSO with 68 DXCC and 18 world zones entered in my log. I operated on 80 through to 10 meters using all three antenna setups. I was lucky enough to get plenty of time in and some great DX was caught over the weekend pushing my total DXCC count up to 138. I also caught lots of video footage of my participation,  I hope you enjoy it. Best 73

I was able to catch two passes earlier of the ISS making contact with a school in Italy. The signal was 5/9+60db to my Yaesu FT-847 Earth Station and satellite antenna array. I caught the first pass on video which is in Italian, I understood some of it but dont speak much Italian lol chow! 73.

I recently injured my back which is slowly getting less painful and to avoid aggravating it I have been resting up and monitoring the HF bands. I have heard plenty of DX stations from 80m through to 15m throughout the day and late into the evening. Propagation is definitely up and good reliable openings have made it possible to fully test out my equipment in preparation for the up and coming CQWW contest next weekend. My DXCC count has risen to 135 as I have worked lots of stations over the past 10 days. I listed a few of my recent favourite DX using my Yaesu FT-1000 and amp Running 400w into the 3 element Cushcraft MA5B were: XE1CQ - MEXICO on 15M V55JOTA - NAMIBIA on 15M V31JW - BELIZE on 20M ZD7FT - ST HELENA ISLAND on 17M JH1MDJ - JAPAN on 17M A41NN - OMAN on 15M OD5VB - LEBANON on 20M The beam is excellent on the higher portion of HF and the recently constructed homebrew 80m dipole is everything I hoped it would be, im hearing N.America most evenings. The performance

I awoke this morning to a great start as I got straight into Japan working 5x5 signals both ways with japanese station JH1MDJ up on 17 m just now.  The exact frequency was 18.156 and my Cushcraft beam heading was at 30 degrees. I was running 400 watts from my Russian amplifier. Let's hope this is a sign of improving conditions. It's been a long time since I heard Japan at least 2 years. This week radio conditions have been interesting, I worked Liberia and Belize taking my DXCC total up to 133 DXCC as M0YKS (last 5 years).

I took a picture this morning before leaving for work of my latest homebrew 80 meter dipole. It's working out very well so far, I worked GB4BIT last night who was portable on Bardsley Island, Wales. I will be operating from my shack again this evening. Hopefully conditions will be good. Best 73 have a good day.

My Carolina Windom snapped yesterday as the wind came in and the wire took a hit from a branch close by to a insulated support. This will have rubbed over time and inevitably ended up weakening and shearing the wire flex. My Windom antenna has been in use since 2004 and has served me well, I will repair it sometime. Today I fancied a change so I gathered some wire, insulators, a ferrite ring and a dipole centre which I used to construct a single band 80m dipole. I started with two equal lengths of wire about 66 foot long which I soldered a couple of lugs to each end. I then found a short length of 50 ohm lightweight coax cable and wrapped it around the ferrite ring with 4 turns, following with a coaxial wound in a choke just below the ferrite. Once complete I placed one leg of the dipole approximately 25 feet up and hooked it to the top of my F23 H antenna mast. I attached one insulated end to a telegraph pole and the other insulated end attached to a lower pole at the b

Conditions are reasonable again this evening upon 20 meters, I'm hearing plenty of Europe as well as some North and Central America. I just worked Carlos TI8II nice and loud and now I am hearing some some big stateside signals 5/9 ++. Time to hit the ptt and make some qso......well that was good, straight through to David KA2HTV in Maine who nearly blew my S meter away. Check his antenna system and 1500 watts. Awsome! Well I better get back to my FT-1000 mp and 400 watts legal limit and see if I can get somewhere distant before I hit the sack. Fingers crossed the 20m band will be open again tomorrow. 73 GN.

It's over a week since I installed the Diamond F23 mono band vertical antenna and so far I am very impressed. The 15 foot 3 section antennas awesome gain has made a huge difference in both TX & RX. I have been working with the Yaesu FT-100 field commander and 50 watts which has been really successful as I have worked across some long distances down South and also to the East of around 100 miles. My YL M3TLL Louise has noticed the FT-100 has been squawking away as she said she keeps hearing plenty of hams interrupting her TV watching h.i The 2 meter band is much more interesting than before with the new 5/8 over 5/8 over 5/8 of vertically polarised signals bouncing into the F 23 mono bander. I will be playing around with the FT-100 and F 23 over the coming weeks, business as usual on HF from the shack, cabin and mobile. 73  for now.

We are all still enjoying the holidays and today timing worked out well and I borrowed a 3 section ladder and managed to swap over my old tri band vertical for a big high gain mono band for 145 Mhz. I was very lucky back in March on my birthday to receive the new mono band vertical from a very good friend. This of course was my old buddy Phil M1PAC whom I have known since the beginning of my ham radio activity when I was M3HTS. THANKS Phil!  The new Diamond F23 H looks good at it's new QTH. The specs. I worked my first station using the new antenna and YAESU FT-100 just now. Yes of course it had to be my good friend M1PAC Phil who was 5/7. I will be playing around with the new F23 H to see how well it performs and also some HF. See you soon.  73

I usually check the VHF side of the bands most Sunday mornings as it is usually quite active up on 2 meters. This morning I had a couple of local qso on 2m using my Yaesu FT-100 and triband vertical antenna. Afterwards I checked the SATELLITE tracking software and decided I would try my luck at working a couple. So with my Satellite array pointed towards the sky I tuned my Yaesu FT-847 to the correct up link and down link frequencies and waited for AO-91 to come into range. Once AO-91 was receivable I could hear lots of Stations on top of each other so I waited until the frequency cleared and worked a handful of radio amateurs from across EU. I caught the full pass on video. 73

Back in Yorkshire England after a week of van camping up at Port William on the Galloway coast. The WX was awesome and our holiday was excellent throughout the full tour. I got to make some good qso on my FT-857 /mobile from some superb locations next to the beaches. We visited lots of interesting historical sites from Kirk's to lighthouse as well as beach cliffs caves at low tide. Yep we had so much fun up in Scotland, the people are so friendly and welcoming, we will be heading back up at the next opportunity. A great place to enjoy peace and quiet, spectacular views and nature not forgetting excellent radio conditions with no noise. I still have a couple more weeks to play radio and enjoy myself with the family, I will be posting something radio related. In the meantime enjoy the weather and thanks to Jannis, Gordan and Martin for working MM0YKS/M in the video. 73

A nice surprise just now as I worked across the Atlantic into Eastport in Maine USA on 28.400 Mhz better known as the magic 10 Meter band. I worked Ray-W2RE with his massive antenna array with a 5/9 signal exchange both ways during a nice pile up at around 22:12 utc, which is most unusual on that band at most times of day h.i. I also heard K6JO and gave him a shout but struggled to make a proper exchange as I lost his signal which was only 5/1 at best. Nether the less a nice late night DX catch on a most unpredictable band.

The DX machine will be getting packed and ready for another adventure up north. The holiday times are here again and we will be planning on hitting the road and operating the Ham mobile station from Scotland on 40m, 20m & 17 m as well as the 2 meter band. Keep an ear out for MM0YKS/M or P.