It has been announced that there will be another DXpedition to Heard Island sometime in 2014. Heard Island is a territory of Australia and is halfway between Africa and the Antarctic, in fact it's probably closer to Antarctic. I remember the was an expedition to Heard Island back in 1997, unfortunately I didn't even hear them back then, I don't think the provocation was particularly good in 1997. Even though we will have probably pass the sunspot peak, 2014 should still be quite good so hopefully I will be up to work them on several bands, they will certainly be welcome in my log but anyway.
You can find more information on their website
http://www.cordell.org/HD/
I was probably one of the first people who signed up for the special Diamond Jubilee amateur radio call sign when OFCOM publish the application forms, however I'm probably the last person to start using it. I have got a good reason though, last week my birth mother and family came down for a weeks holiday to stay here with me so obviously I didn't do any radio operating at all. Secondly my beam antenna has been totally out of action due to the gales we had three weeks ago. Anyway, the three stooges, Steve, Ian and Nicholas came around last night and fixed my antennas for me.
I had a few minutes yesterday evening on 40 m using my special callsign which was fun, I only works if you local stations with at least it was nice to get on the air with the call. This evening was a different ballgame altogether, I started calling on 20 m and within only a few minutes managed to develop a pretty hefty pile up, God I love pileups, they are so much fun. You've basically got dozens of guys calling you all at the same time, obviously the strongest stations get through first, of course I worked a lot of Italians, they have always got strong signals. Anyway, most of the stations I worked were in Europe, that the couple of guys over in the Middle East, one guy down in Saudi Arabia and another couple over in the Persian Gulf, blimey they were bloody big signals as well. I think I worked about 30 or 40 stations in just an hour, I could have gone quicker if I wanted to but I wasn't really in the mood for just 59 and then move onto the next person, that isn't really my favourite way of operating.
Tomorrow is another day, I'm sure I will manage to generate another lovely big pileup that I can get my teeth into
I thought I better put something in this here blog, been neglecting it over the last few weeks. Mind you, I haven't done as much radio in the last couple of weeks as I normally do, I've been spending a lot of time working on some of my websites, it's amazing how time flies when you are sitting in front of the computer.
Anyway, my good friend Ian, M0IAT has gone down to Cornwall for a few days for a well-deserved holiday, after all lying around on his couch is really tiring work, sorry Ian, I couldn't resist that. You might have guessed that Ian and myself are pretty good mates. Anyway, he took with him his radio and a home-made vertical antenna which he made out of a fishing pole. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting to hear him, but yesterday I went on for 40 m and started putting some calls out, about 25 min later I heard the dulcet tones of young Ian down there in Cornwall. Not a particularly strong signal, about 56, but perfectly readable, it was absolutely fantastic to hear him. I put the video on and recorded our QSO so he could hear how he sounded. Funnily enough, I kept it running for about 35 min so some of the guys who I spoke after can also hear how they sound down here in Brixham.
I spoke to Ian a couple of times today on 40 m again, once in the late afternoon, and then again this evening when we had our club meeting, he was actually really strong today, a little over the 9, 40 m absolutely kicking this evening, some really strong stations from G land.
So, you can check the YouTube video out for yourself, here it is
Saturday, March 3, 2012 and the bands are alive with contest stations taking part in the ARRL SSB DX contest. Contests are really not everyone's cup of tea and many people dread the weekends when they are taking place. It's basically because all but the WARC bands are taken up by guys taking part in the contest and believe me when the conditions are good there is very little space anywhere on the bands. There's nothing stopping you from going on the band when the contest is taking place, but you've got to put up with people constantly asking you for a number, or whatever details they need for the contest, so really it's just not worth bothering, if you got antennas for the 17 and 12 m band then most people just stay on there over the weekend.
I've never really been one for contests, I have nothing against them personally but like other people, I'm really not interested in just exchanging a signal and number. However, I thought I would give this weekend contest a bash and see what it's all about. I'm certainly not taking it seriously and I won't submit my logbook because it's just not worth it, not when you've got guys out there who are sitting behind the radio for nearly 48 hours without any sleep. No, I'll do an hour here and there, give a few points away and maybe do some calling myself, but I'm really not overexcited about the whole thing.
So in the last few days I decided that I should set myself up with a proper contest logging program. Unfortunately Ham Radio Deluxe hasn't got a dedicated contest log included. So after some advice I decided to download N1MM's free software which includes a very good contest log. It took me a couple of days to set it up as it is quite complicated, believe me you will need to read the instructions properly as there are various files that need to be downloaded. You also need to create both a database for your log, and also make sure that you install the correct contest log. Thankfully, nearly everything has been done for you, it's just basically a case of downloading files and making sure that you put them in the right place. However, once you've done it the first time, you should be able to set everything up perfectly okay without any problems the next time. After I set the N1MM program up, I must say I was rather impressed, I can't say I've delved into all that it does, but the basic stuff which I have been using works extremely well. If you have got an interface or means of connecting the computer to your PC then the logging program will track your radio, which is quite important if you are taking part in the contest. There probably is a way of adding things manually, but if you are constantly changing frequency you don't really want to be doing that, you want the computer and software to do it for you automatically. Ironically, N1MM was one of the contesters who I managed to work.
Anyway, I haven't done any calling myself today, I just floating around the bands listening and giving a few points to various guys calling. I made a quick video of me operating on the 15 m band this afternoon, the signals were extremely strong although there was quite a lot of QRM. Believe me, contesting isn't exactly exciting, is nothing like putting a callout on hearing that exotic station coming back to you, contesting is hard work if you take it seriously, if you want to win any trophies then you've got to put a lot of work into it and you'll probably suffer from sleep deprivation at the end of the contest, especially if it's a long one. But hey, some guys like having that trophy or plaque on the wall. Most people who aren't serious contesters take part because quite often a lot of rare stations can be heard calling, it's a good time to get these calls in your logbook.
So, check my little video out, try not to fall asleep whilst you're watching it, I promise you it's far from exciting.
It stated on the Ofcom website that UK radio hams could apply for special licences celebrating both the London Olympic games and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we were told we could apply for these licenses commencing March 1, 2012. If you've already been on the website you will have seen that there isn't any information available yet on how we apply for these special call. I contacted Ofcom this morning and they have told me that there was a mistake on the website and in fact we cannot apply for the licences just at the moment. Ofcom could not give me any more information regarding the special calls, and they couldn't give me a date for when we can start applying for them.
Well, it seems that somebody somewhere has got something wrong. Even though OFCOM told me that I couldn't apply for these special calls to day, it now appears that the RSGB have already put up a page on the website where you can fill in the appropriate information to obtain the special calls. Please check out the link below
http://www.rsgb.org/news/articlelinks.php?id=0316
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/
