Amateur radio is supposed to be a hobby that brings people from all around the world together in harmony, it's a hobby that should allow people who don't speak the same language to unite and become friends with out the need to speak the same language. I got into radio to make friends around the world, I certainly didn't join this hobby to get into arguments with my fellow amateur radio operators.
I need only mention the frequency 14.195 MHz how many of you well know exactly what goes on there on a daily basis. If you haven't had the pleasure (said with tongue in cheek) of tuning into this frequency then have a listen to the couple of videos that I have included with this post. I'm not entirely sure what the ins and outs are of how this ongoing argument started, however I believe it was because a well-known Italian amateur radio operator IT9RYH who everybody knows as Nino sits on 14.195 MHz and has basically claimed it as his own frequency. 14.195 MHz is unofficially a designated DX calling frequency so radio amateurs around the world recognise this and don't sit on the frequency rag chewing. Since this is just one frequency and there is plenty of other space on the spectrum I can't see why anyone would want to deliberately go out of their way to annoy other amateur radio operators, which is obviously what has been going on for the last few years. I'm quite sure that IT9RYH is a nice chap at the end of the day, but for crying out loud why continue this ridiculous and childish behaviour? Nobody has the power to force him off the frequency, but why on earth he would want to single-handedly turn the whole amateur radio fraternity against himself is anyone's guess.
Now we've mentioned Nino and his antics, we must also address the behaviour of the so-called amateur radio police who think it is perfectly okay to shout abuse, attempt to jam the frequency, play music and recordings of other amateur radio operators. They are not helping in any way whatsoever, in fact they are worse than Nino, playing music, shouting abuse is a lot worse than one person using a frequency that is at the end of the day is there for anyone to use, whether it is an unofficial DX freq or not.
I must have been living under a rock for the last few years because I only just found out about the goings-on on 14.195. I tuned into the frequency this afternoon and quite frankly was gobsmacked by the immaturity of some amateur radio operators out there. I don't know why so-called amateur radio operators have to behave the way they do. I have no idea who this Nino (IT9RYH) character is, I have never spoken to him before. However, he may well upset people by monopolising one particular frequency and insisting that it belongs to him and nobody else, but that doesn't excuse the antics and behaviour of all the other amateurs who seem to have taken a dislike to this character. I couldn't care less whether he monopolises 14.195, there are plenty of other frequencies to use, I would suggest that people grow up and get a life and stop goading him because this is a really nasty side to amateur radio that is just giving it a bad name. From what I heard today, IT9RYH was not doing or saying anything that I would class as offensive or illegal. As far as I'm concerned anyone who plays music, tries to jam the frequency, shouts obscenities should have their licence revoked.
I have posted a video to YouTube the can see what was going on today, and actually got worse after I stopped recording. But I guess many of you already know about what goes on on that frequency
I am pretty chuffed today, I managed to work HK0NA on three more bands today, 12 m, 10 m, and 20 m. I work them on 17 m a few days ago, so I've only got 15 m and 40 m to find them on. I'm pretty confident I will vote on 15 m because obviously my beam works Ray well and that band, however I've only got a wire dipole and I've never even heard Colombia on 40 m so I'm certainly not going to hold my breath. Anyway, here are the four video showing my contacts with HK0NA
I don't like criticising amateur radio, or amateur radio operators in anyway, but sometimes you come across a situation where you wonder what the hell you are doing participating in this hobby. Ask yourself a question, would you sit in a room with a load of people you've never met whilst everyone is screaming and shouting over each other and basically totally disrespecting everyone in the same room ? I wouldn't, that is for sure, it's no wonder that SO1MZ vacated the frequency this afternoon. I don't understand the mentality of some of the operators on amateur radio at the moment, some of them are showing little if no respect for any of their fellow operators when a DX station appears on the frequency. I know that people get excited and want to contact his stations. I'm also aware that it's not easy for some of the guys who haven't got very efficient antennas. But not having a big antenna is not an excuse for selfish and irritating behaviour on the airwaves. Remember that just because the dx station can't hear you, it doesn't mean other people can't hear you shouting, in fact your fellow Europeans will probably be receiving a huge signal from you and won't hear a damn thing when you transmit. The worst thing you can do is to continually blurt out your call sign over and over again, this will only make it difficult for everyone else to hear the station and will just slow things down.
The station from the Western Sahara was on 20 m today and the video I made only goes to show how bad things get when everybody shouts at the same time and nobody listens to what is going on. Now I'm not suggesting that I'm the best operator in the world, but please take note of how I listen to what is going on, I will wait for the DX station to finish his QSO before I announce my callsign. I will announce my callsign once to begin with, if I don't hear him coming back to somebody else I will go again, but I do not under any circumstances continue to announce my callsign over and over again.
Anyway, enjoy the video
For those of you who like tweeting, in other words have got a twitter account then you can follow me on twitter if you wish. I basically use it to announce what frequencies I'm using one may be anybody interesting I may be talking to. Am also going to announce any YouTube videos that I've made that I think you may find interesting. So come on, follow me on twitter
For those of you who don't receive the RADCOM magazine sent to members of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) I have reproduced an article which appeared in the February 2012 issue. This article addresses special call signs that will be offered to UK radio amateurs to use on various occasions during 2012. This includes the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games
The article reads:
The Radio Society of Great Britain and Ofcom have reached agreement on the optional use of special call signs for two significant events during 2012.
For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, all UK amateur radio stations will have the option of applying for a variation of their licence., If they wish, to use a special prefix for a five-week period. This will add or substitute the letter "Q" in place of the regional identifier in the callsign.
For the period of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, a similar facility will exist for a seven-week period, using the letter "O".
Both the above facilities will also be available to amateur club licences.
Furthermore, calls in the series GB2012aaa will be available for special event stations relating to the Olympics and licences will be issued for four "flagship" stations using the prefix 2012a where'O' is the letter O and a is a single letter relating to the location of the station.
Further details of these arrangements are on the summary, and administrator details will be issued by Ofcom and the RSGB shortly.
The following facilities will be available to holders of the following licences: amateur Foundation, Intermediate and Full; amateur Full (club), amateur full (reciprocal) and amateur Full (temporary reciprocal).
Queen's Diamond Jubilee:
Period: 0000 BST May 5, 2012 to 2359 BST June 10, 2012
Authorisation: To Conform to the Requirements of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, each licensee must obtain a Notice of Variation. This is an online process and will be available from March 1, 2012.
Callsign: the letter Q will be added to calls, or replace the regional identifier. For example (where 'aaa' represents the final alpha block of the callsign):
M3aaa becomes MQ3aaa
G3aaa becomes GQ3aaa
GM3aaa becomes GQ3aaa
2E0aaa becomes 2Q0aaa
2M0aaa becomes 2Q0aaa
GX3aaa becomes GQ3aaa
London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games:
Period: 000 BST July 21, 2012, to 2359 BST September 9, 2012.
Authorisation: To conform to the requirements of the Wireless telegraphy act 2006, each licensee must obtain a Notice of Variation. This is an online process and will be available from March 1, 2012
Callsign: the letter O will be added to the calls, or replace the regional identifier. For example (where 'aaa' represents the final alpha block of the callsign);
M3aaa becomes MO3aaa
G3aaa becomes GO3aaa
GM3aaa becomes GO3aaa
2E0aaa becomes 2O0aaa
2M0aaa becomes 2O0aaa
GX3aaa becomes GO3aaa
I think that the Olympic special event callsign may cause a little confusion for some foreigners as when those of us who have a zero in our call will be calling Golf Oscar Zero Victor Quebec Yankee. I've lost count of the times that foreigners confuse a zero with an Oscar (O), I really hope that it doesn't cause too much confusion.
I was browsing the QRZ forum today and just happened to come across a thread which stated that Ham Radio Deluxe has been bought out by three US radio amateurs. By all accounts they are now going to start working on fixing lots of the bugs that are present and also upgrading the software. This is great news as Ham radio Deluxe is an absolutely fantastic piece of software that deserves the attention that it seems to be getting now.
From what I can gather the forum is staying as it is with all existing posts being left untouched, however it has moved to a new URL which can be found below. I believe that the new developers are now working on HRD V5.1 which is due for release very soon, so it says on the forum
I happened to notice that http://www.websdr.org/ is back online after being off air for a few months. They also seem to be including a few more remote stations on the website as well. In case you don't know what this website does, basically they left various bromate stations around the world which broadcast on various frequencies on the amateur radio bands. I actually like using it model myself on 40 m, if you tune into the same frequency on the computer and your radio, you can often hear yourself if the propagation is running into that particular parts of the world that the remote station is set up.
Check it out, you can probably waste a couple of hours tuning around. Remember that you will need JavaScript installed and up-to-date. A few of them don't work for me, I have no idea why sto
Now that winter has arrived and the days are getting shorter most of the HF bands are closing down reasonably early, probably closed by about seven o'clock in the evening. However, I was tuning around 20 m this evening, about 7:45 PM and I came across an extremely strong station obviously working into Europe. The station was W1AW, the callsign for the headquarters of the American Radio Relay League. Ironically it was Ron who was on the microphone, the last time I spoke to W1AW, Ron was also on the microphone then. I thought I would check out their headquarters on Google Street view, I took the screenshot to you could also see it. I'm sure you would agree that they have a very impressive station with obviously very understanding neighbours.
I was extremely pleased to receive an e-mail from my good friend Ian this evening informing me that he has passed his advanced amateur radio test and is now a fully licensed radio amateur. He's obviously been lucky to be able to obtain the same suffix as his intermediate call, Ian is now M0IAT and operates from Paignton in Devon.
Congratulations mate, I knew you could do it
I've been neglecting my amateur radio blog lately, hopefully as the winter comes I'll be spending a lot more time on the radio during the day from now on as as you know conditions normally close down fairly early come wintertime. The 10 m band has slowed down somewhat, I thought it was too good to be true, the last month has been absolutely fantastic, but I suppose all the things have to come to an end eventually. Having said that, I'm really hoping that things will start picking up again very soon. Been working loads of stations in the USA on 10 m, there didn't really seem much point on reporting every time I spoke to somebody in the USA, that would get a little bit boring wouldn't it?
Haven't really done much today, I did put the radio one for a little while and worked TI2CF over there in Costa Rica, must say I was rather pleased with that contact on 10 m as it is a new one for me. The conditions were absolutely perfect, as you can see by the you Tube video, it only took one shout for me to bust the pileup. But that's what it's like sometimes, occasionally the condition that absolutely perfect and I can imagine that the skip was strongest down where I am, I don't think we can say it's all down to the antenna, I'm sure there were lots of other people calling who were using even bigger antennas and more power than I am, it was just down to the conditions being absolutely perfect at that particular time.
I haven't really been on any other band in the last few days apart from 10 m. The 10 m band has really opened up to the USA and most days from about 12 noon you will start hearing signals coming in from the USA. In fact, the propagation is so good that you will do quite well even with a small dipole or vertical and just 100 W, the conditions really are that good. I've worked quite a few stations on the West Coast, California, Utah, Montana and Washington. If you haven't checked out 10 m then you are really missing out. Here's a little taster, I recorded this YouTube video a couple of days ago, and this is not at its best.
Oh boy,how good is 10 m at the moment? it's getting better each day, some of the signals coming in are absolutely stonking, Guys using small CB verticals putting in 59+10 signals. Even when I flipped over to my sirio gave no master today, I was still receiving a 58 signal from a chap using a vertical over in the USA, he could hear me quite well on my vertical using only 10 W, this is how we love to see the 10 m band. The last time I saw signals like this on 10 m was back in the CB days before I got my amateur radio licence. I used to have an FRG 7 shortwave receiver with a small wire strung up outside, the signals from the USA and 10 m worth unbelievable, the receiver used to vibrate when these massive signals came in. We're not quite there at the moment, but if it carries on, we won't be too long before all you need is a small basic aerial and a few watts and everyone will be a will to work around the world on 10 m without any problems.
I just want to mention Basil, VA3MZB who lives a five-minute walk from Niagara Falls itself, thanks Basil for a really nice chat today on 10 m, your signal was awesome, I wish I had my video recorder on at the time, maybe next time I will record you when you will see how good you sound here.
I did however put my video on a little later on and recorded a few contacts I had, as you can see, they were pretty good.
In case it's gone unnoticed, the 10 m amateur radio band has really been kicking ass in the last few days, some truly heed signals coming in from over the pond. I myself have not experienced such big signals since I was a shortwave listeners back in the early 90s. Today, I was even working a station in the USA using my sirio gain master vertical, he was using an antron 99 and signals were pretty good.
The USA start coming in late morning to the early afternoon and normally fade out around eight or nine o'clock, I expect the bands to pick up if everything goes to plan with the sunspot cycle. At the moment, no special antennas are needed and a simple CB vertical antenna will enable you to make contact to the USA quite easily.
I made a quick YouTube video today so hopefully this will wet your whistle. Unfortunately the band was dying down somewhat as I was talking, although it did pick up a little but later on, but this will give you an idea of how strong someone signals are at the moment.
In case you are unaware, 4W6A is now active from East Timor, a small country not far from the northern coast of Australia. I heard them today on 15 m and they had a huge pileup. They were not particularly strong, about 55, I did call a few times but since they are going to be there for a few days I thought I would leave it until they are bit stronger, sure I will get to work them at some stage in the next week.
For all information on this the dx-expedition, visit their website at http://www.4w6a.com/
It's been awhile since I last posted anything in the blog on here, been a little bit busy doing other things such as fishing, anyway haven't really been the wilful lots of amateur radio apart from a couple of hours in the evening, nothing to write home about, no extraordinary contacts, just the normal stuff into North America. Anyway, a few months ago I purchased a hex beam, it was really as a standby antenna just in case I had to spend prolonged periods of time in bed. Thankfully and touch wood that hasn't happened so the antenna has been sitting down in the cellar still in its packing. My good friend Steve, M0BKL who is primarily a VHF man installed a vertical antenna a few months ago which is really for the CB frequencies that works really well and 10 m, and also on 12 and 17 m as well. 17 m is one of my favourite bands so Steve and myself had been able to get on the band together. Unfortunately when it comes to 20 m he hasn't got an antenna, until now. I persuaded him to try out my hex beam since he had taken down his six and 2 m antennas leaving his 10 m mast with nothing on for the moment. So yesterday Steve finally managed to get the hex beam up on his mast, apparently a little bit of a struggle but it's up. So last night we got on the band together and as usual I took the lead and put a CQ call out. N4FTV return my CQ call with a 58 signal. Now was the time to see how well the hex beam performed, to my delight Steve had absolutely no problem working the station in the states, couple of S points down but nevertheless the antenna will doing a really good job.
So we spent the rest of the evening working stations in North America, the USA and a couple in Canada. We even managed to work two stations on the West Coast, a station in San Francisco and another in Oregon, and also a VE6 which Steve worked with no problems whatsoever. The hex beam performed extremely well, in fact its performance far exceeded my expectations, Steve could hear everything I could hear on the three element SteppIR, albeit only residing at 30 feet because of the winds we've had. Els also using my amplifier running at 400 W so it's not surprising my signal was a little stronger. We are going to try again this evening but this time I will be running at 100 W, the same as Steve.
I've heard many good things about the hex beam, I've also spoken to countless people who have been using them and nobody has got a bad word to say about this antenna. After witnessing firsthand how well the hex beam performs, I can categorically recommend this antenna for anyone who may have slightly restricted space or can't put antennas up because they may look unsightly. These antennas are made of wire and really do blend in extremely well, unlike a large three element steppIR that you can see from miles away.
During our club meeting which we hold at my house on Thursday evenings, my neighbour from across the road knocked on the door complaining that his caravan intruder alarm had gone off and he suspected that my transmission was the cause as him and his wife were sitting outside at the time and saw my antenna move. After a couple of quick tests we ascertained that is indeed it was my transmission on 20 m that was setting his caravan alarm off. I can't honestly say I've got a lot of time for this neighbour as he hasn't exactly done me any favours whilst I've been living here, quite the opposite actually. Anyway, I've been a radio ham for quite a long time now so I know that keeping your neighbours onside is always the best way to go.
The first thing I did was to get straight on the QRZ forum and get some advice from people who know what they're talking about. Everyone said the same thing, "not your problem mate" which was quite a relief I must say. What it boils down to is I am using some very sophisticated radio equipment and I'm operating it under the terms of my amateur radio licence. It just so happens that my neighbour has got an alarm fitted to his caravan that is malfunctioning, in other words it should not be falsely activating when I transmit. Now I don't know whether there is something wrong with it, it's been fitted incorrectly, or it's just plain rubbish, all I know is that I am not responsible for this continuous problem with his intruder alarm going off when I use my radio. The same goes for televisions, radios, any other equipment that may suffer from RF, if you're conforming to your licensing conditions and using equipment that is allocated for amateur radio use, then if one of your neighbours starts complaining that they are experiencing interference then you can inform them that this is not your fault and really, there's nothing more to be said. Having said this, none of us want to fall out with our neighbours so it's always advisable to cooperate with your neighbour and try and resolve the problem.
A friend of mine who has helped me before with interference problems passed on to me a very useful leaflet which is intended to give the proper advice to owners of security alarms. This is a very valuable piece of documentation that all radio amateurs should have in their possession, just in case you experience the same problems I have been having with my neighbour.
This document from the Radio Society of Great Britain is extremely helpful if you have been having trouble with radio frequency interference
http://www.g0vqy.co.uk/my-shack/radio-frequency-interference
6 m is just starting opening up to the Caribbean in the last couple of days here in the UK. I've got to admit that I haven't been quite as observant as my good friend Steve, M0BKL who yesterday was kind enough to give me a shout on the blower to let me know that a station from Martinique was on the band. Indeed I could hear FM5WD, albeit not particularly strong here in Devon. After a few shouts I gave up and went back about half an hour later. Modestly conditions have improved and he was coming up to just over 59 and I had absolutely no problems working him. I then worked FG5GP in Guadeloupe, but this time with a much weaker signal.
Once again Steve kindly let me know that 9Y4D was on the band. This time I decided that I was going to try the three element SteppIR which has the 6 m add-on kit. I have got a five element just for 6 m but I'm finding that to be quite honest, it's not that much better than the three element steppIR which is rather annoying, I'm wondering if I wasted my money and effort in installing the five element. Oh well, you live and learn. So I called the station in Trinidad and Tobago and got through first time using the SteppIR, to say I was chuffed was an understatement.
It was great to finally work the stations, I've only been using 6 m for a few weeks. 6 m is fast becoming one of my favourite bands. You've certainly got to be there at the right time because it is easy to miss openings that may only last a few minutes. If you've never used 6 m before, you'll find that unlike any other band, I suppose that's why it's so appealing to many people.
Keith, MM0KTC, dropped me an e-mail today showing a video of the final stage of installation of his new Obti beams on top of his 80 foot Radio Structures extra heavy duty tower. I'm sure you will agree that Keith has got a very impressive station and is sure to make his presence felt on the bands.
Good luck mate I hope to work you very soon, maybe on 10 m during the sporadic E spell
Enjoy his two videos
We've been waiting and monitoring and finally it's happened in the last few days, the 6 m band has started to open up. As you know you've got to keep a very close eye on 6 m as sometimes signals can disappear as quickly as they appear. Some of the calls started coming in from Spain and Portugal at the weekend and then on Monday we had a very good sporadic E opening into Germany, Portugal, Spain and Poland, very strong stations, 59 both ways. The propagation didn't last for a long on Monday, however it was sure fun working 6 m for the first time using my ICOM 7800 and SteppIR with 6 m add-on. There were a few stations knocking around on Tuesday but it wasn't quite as good as Monday. The guy is using the bigger antennas, i.e. five and six element beams were able to hear a couple of stations outside of Europe, unfortunately the Steppir just wasn't able to hear the stations.
Some exciting news for me, I have just purchased a five element beam for the 6 m band. The guys are coming around on Wednesday evening to put it up, it will certainly be interesting to see the difference between this five element and the Steppir which only has three elements. Watch this space as I will be reporting on its progress.
