More OIRT QRM expected during next Es season on 4m band

PA5DD Uffe reports :



"Apparently OIRT broadcast has started in the Netherlands


Overzicht 4,5Meter stations. (10)
Date:25/01/2008




Freq. Station Lokatie Provincie


64.50 Twinscroll WesterkwartierGroningen




64.50 Kompas Slochteren Groningen




65.00 Noname Utrecht Utrecht




65.00 Atletico Roosendaal Noord-Brabant




65.40 Felix Leiden Zuid-Holland




65.50 Gtek Leiden Zuid-Holland




66.20 Sigma FM Dordrecht Zuid-Holland




66.30 DX-500 Oosterhout Noord-Brabant




66.30 Cosmos Den Bosch Noord-Brabant




66.60Power FM Waalwijk Noord-Brabant

EXPERT 1K-FA 1 KW Solid State Fully Automatic Linear Amplifier

I own this amplifier since October 2007 and i wanted to write down a small review about it.

After 6 months of use and a couple of contests i must say that i am very satisfied.

With the CAT cable connected to the transceiver you don't need to do nothing in the linear.Everything goes automatic!This is a great deal especcialy during the contests.There is also a PC software to remote the linear from the PC.The amplifier has 4 inputs for antennas and 2 inputs for radios.The output power is as expected with low input power about 20-30 Watts.

No RFI problems in the shack at all.You can go down to HALF output power by pressing one key.The amplifier is really easy to programm.The display is big and readable.

As for the protection circuits also work excellent.The weight is only 20kg and the company gives you also a carrying bag for dxpeditions and contests !

My final conclusion is that this amplifier is worth every spent Euro!

73 de SV2DCD Leo

SV2DCD @ RUSSIAN DX CONTEST 2008

These are the results from my participation at RUSSIAN DX CONTEST the past weekend:

Russian DX Contest
Call: SV2DCD
Operator(s): SV2DCD
Station: SV2DCD
Class: SO SSB HP
QTH: Kastoria
Operating Time (hrs): 18
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Countries Oblasts
----------------------------------------
160: 0 0 0
80: 214 38 35
40: 444 53 56
20: 646 53 68
15: 28 14 9
10: 0 0 0
----------------------------------------
Total: 0 1332 158 168 Total Score = 2,741,334

SX5C Stroggylh Island DXpedition IOTA: EU-001 - GIOTA DKS 001

SV1HER reports :



The following Greek Ham radio operators SV1JG Cliff, SV1RC Spiros, SV1RP George, SV1EEX Nikiforos, SV1GRM Theodoro, SV1HER Sotiris & SV1JCZ Daniel will be active the small island Stroggylh(IOTA: EU-001, GREEK IOTA: DKS 001) an also the lighthouse of the island named "Ypshlh": WLOTA: L-0237, ARLHS: GRE-053.


Grid square: KM46tc


Date:25 July - 04 Augoust 2008.


Bands:160m-2m.


QSL manager: SV1HER

SX5AI AGATHONISI ISLAND GIOTA DKS 063

SV8CYV reports

"SV8CYR Alexandros, SV8CYV Vassilis, SV5CJQ Vagelis all members of Aegean DX group will operate 21 to 26 March, as SX5AI from AGATHONISI island (SV5 land DODEKANISHOS IOTA EU 001)GIOTA DKS 063 for the Greek Islands On The Air award programme. ( further information at www.5-9report. gr ).Activity is planned on 20,40,80m SSB & DIGI modes mainly on IOTA frequencies.If the propagation help us will be QRV on 10&6m SSB.It is not necessary for QSL cards to be sent. All contacts will be QSL'd via the bureau or direct in response to direct request.QSL manager SV8CYV.See you in the pile up !!! "

73s de SV8CYV

J5FOUR New 4m band beacon from Guinea-Bissau

Great news for the 4m band operators.

Tony CT1FFU reports :

"After some delay the J5FOUR beacon is finaly runnig from today 10-3-2008.It is a Storno rig with 20W carrier on a 4 element yagi especialy designed by YU7EF for this project.

The yagi is beaming 20º, QTF to cover all Europe.

On the next Es season we will tnx reports from all. There is no station QRV in guiné-bissau, but this beacon will be a good tool for propagation estudies. Tnx to CT1BTP for the beacon TXr, CT1FJO for the Keyr, YU7EF for Antenna and J5JUA for beacon assembly and keapings. as soon as J5JUA return to CT, J5FOUR pictures will pe publish on this site"

Info about J5FOUR beacon :

CALL:J5FOUR/B

QRG:70.010 CW

LOCATOR:IK21EV

CONTACT:J5JUA

POWER:20W

ANTENNA:DIPOLE

5J0E New one San Andres Island DXpedition IOTA NA-033

Last day today for the 5J0E San Andres Island DXPedition.The 6 member team (WF5W, W5PF, K5WAF, NM5G, W5PR and N4AL ) where on the island from 28 of February to participate in the ARRL International DX SSB Contest.The team was using two separate stations with beam and vertical antennas.After the contest they spotted on 10m,17m,20m,40m.I worked them on 20m cw and 40m cw.This dxcc was a new one for me.QSL is via W5PF.Logs will be uploaded to the ARRL LoTW and there will be an online Log Search page at http://www.tdxs.net/hk0.html

As for TX5C team is about 50 n.miles away from the island and their plan is to be active in 2 days.Good luck to all de SV2DCD Leo

OK1DO new one on 4m band and 1st ever qso SV-OK on this band

This morning i completed ms qso on 4m band (70.230 Mhz) mode JT6M with Jiri OK1DO.It was a new one for me on this band and 1st ever qso between SV and OK on 4m.OK stations are permitted to transmit on 70 MHz. The licensing conditions are: 70,2-70,3 MHz, 10 W ERP and the temporary licenses are valid until 2008-12-31.Tnx Jiri for this qso.Good luck to any 4m operator who will try.73

VP6DX QRT since 27 February 13:59 UTC

VP6DX went QRT on February 27th 2008 on 13:59z.The team is on the way back home.Total qso's made 183.686 is the biggest number of qso's from any other dx pedition in the past !!

CONGRATULATIONS to the team and especcially to our Greek operator SV1JG Cliff.Cliff it must been a great experience right? As for my score in this dx pedition,total qso's are 14.

Many thanks to all of them.Ready now for the next dx pedition TX5C which will take place for March 7 to March 17.Are you?

73 Leo

HA-DX claimed scores list available

The claimed scores list of HA-DX 2008 contest is available on the contest home page at http://www.ha-dx.com.To see the list choose the 'Results' section in the navigation bar on the left hand side.
In my category the claimed scores for the 10 first stations are
SINGLE-OP, 20M, HIGH, SSB
-------------------------
1. EC2DX 10908 Electronic Log
2. UA1AQA 7344 Electronic Log
3. EA5EH 5584 Electronic Log
4. SV2DCD 5229 Electronic Log
5. RZ3DH 4710 Electronic Log
6. TA0U 4596 Electronic Log
7. RA3DGH 2985 Electronic Log
8. PD1DX 2964 Electronic Log
9. RX9CCJ 2700 Electronic Log
10. SE5S 2184 Electronic Log

VP6DX 2008 Ducie Island Expedition is on the air

The team is on the air.They started this morning from 40m band cw mode on 7.002.Really big signal 59+ here in North West Greece.The work split +25khz and up.I worked them on 7.029.In the team there is also a Greek operator Cliff SV1JG.I wish to him and all the others to have a nice time over there with big pileups and a safe trip back home after the end of the dx pedition.Good luck everyone with this nice DX !!! 73 de Leo SV2DCD

TI9KK DXpedition Cocos Island IOTA NA-012 on the air

TI9KK Dxpedition started yesterday around 03:00 z.The problem with the license solved and the guys are active some days later than expected.Good luck with this dx

XR7A Ascension Is. SA-043 Dxpedition

A team of CE6TBN, HA1AG, RA0FU & RV1CC are active from Ascension Island SA-043 in Chile as XR7A.Wkd this morning on 40m cw 7.012,7 qsx 1up.Signal was weak and coming better from 300 deg.Good luck with this dx

Great signals on 40m band this morning

This morning had very nice qso's on 40m band with great signals from pacific ocean.
On 7.008 E51WWA wkd up1 599
On 7.003 VP6PR was 59+5db
On 7.002 KH7XS was 529
On 7.080 nice surprise from the VP6DX crew.WA6CDR/MM wkd 59 signal very good copy from the M/V Braveheart.
Latest news from VP6DX :
"News #9 - 2008, January 31st2008 Ducie Island Expedition: VP6DX (for immediate release)Highlights: ... The M/V Braveheart continues across the Pacific, on schedule ... ... Good European signals heard on 160m during the crossing ... ... Operators preparing to leave home ... ... Today's background information: geographical balance.News: Robin WA6CDR reports from the M/V Braveheart that, as a result of the typhoon that passed through the area, seas were somewhat rough immediately after departure from New Zealand. The ship slowed down to 5-7 knots, but in the last few days sea conditions have improved dramatically. The weather has become mild, traveling over calm seas with a small long swell. Robin has been working on cables and other pre-assembly tasks that can be completed on board ship before the expedition reaches Ducie Island. For relaxing, an Elecraft K3 radio, amplifier and tuner hasbeen attached to a wire antenna strung over the ship from bow to stern. With 500 W power output, Robin has been enjoying good low band propagation. During the WW 160 CW contest last weekend many top band signal from Europe went into the log. Robin also reports the Braveheart crew is "superb", and the operators will have to be very disciplined to avoid putting on weight from all the good food! As of early Jan 30 Wed (GMT) the M/V Braveheart was at 28° S 145° E, about 1000 km SSE of Tahiti. This ship is on schedule, planning to arrive at Mangareva Atoll this coming Saturday/Sunday. The remaining 12 operators will be leaving their home countries during the next three days, converging on the Sofitel Hotel in Papeete, Tahiti, capital city of French Polynesia on Feb 3 Sun-Feb 4 Mon. On Feb5 Tue 1500z the operators depart Tahiti for Mangareva. Once at Mangareva, the operators will immediately board the ship, clear immigration/customs, and depart. During the passage to Ducie Island, the M/V Braveheart will make a midnight call at Pitcairn Island to drop off medical supplies. Longboats from Pitcairn will come along side in the dark to take thedelivery to shore, and the ship will depart immediately thereafter. This stop will not delay the schedule for Ducie Island: we will still arrive at Ducie in the pre-dawn darkness of Feb 9 Sat (weather permitting)."

Hungarian DX Contest 2008

The past weekend i had participate in the Haungarian DX Contest category S0SB/20MSSB.
The results are 540 Q's and 7 Mults.Total score : 5,229
I operated 12 hours.Saturday from 12:00z to 18:00z and Sunday from 06:00z to 12:00z
It was nice contest having fun trying to work as many HA station i could.Very hard though due to short distance between my qth and HA land.It is easier on 2m hihi.
Nice opening saturday afternoon to stateside.Many DL,PA and G on Sunday morning
Tnx all for the qso's
73 de Leo SV2DCD

VP6PR, Pitcairn Island (OC-044), January 18th to February 9th

Yoshitake, JJ8DEN will be active from Adamstown, Pitcairn Island (OC-044) as VP6PR from January 18th to February 9th.
QRV on all HF bands, using CW, RTTY and PSK (sorry, no SSB).
Frequencies mentioned are:
CW - 1.821 3.503 7.003 10.103 14.003 18.071 21.003 24.893 28.003 MHz
RTTY - 14.083 18.103, 21.083, 24.923, 28.083 MHz.
PSK - 14.071, 18.101, 21.071, 24.921, 28.071 MHz.
Yoshitake will be using a IC-7000 (100W), 1.8/3.5MHz Inverted-L or full size DP, 7MHz GP, 10MHz DP and a beam for 14/18/21/24/28 MHz.
QSL via JJ8DEN (Yoshitake Izumi, 7Minami-24 Nishi-1 Obihiro-city, Hokkaido 080-0011 JAPAN) with SASE 2US$ or 1IRC, Envelope 115*140 or more.
See the information for VP6PR on QRZ.com.
Till now i worked Yoshitake on 40m cw.His signal was very strong in North West Greece
Gd look all with this nice dx

3Y0E in the log

Qso made 15 January 2008 18:23 Z.Tnx Petrus ZS6GCM for this nice qso.Lucky that Petrus was working on 14.200 split 5up.Helped to avoid the qrm on 14.195 from the usual guys.

Good luck all with this dx

VP6DX 2008 Ducie Island Expedition

QSP from www.qrz.com

Posted Jan. 15 2008,03:06

Recent events:All equipment that was shipped from Germany and the USA has now arrived in New Zealand, and everything except the last air freight shipment (laptops, microKeyers) has cleared customs in Auckland. This equipment is now traveling by truck to Tauranga, the home port of the "Braveheart".On Thursday night this week Robin WA6CDR flies from Los Angeles to Auckland with the radios and a few other last-minute items. Robin will sail with the "Braveheart" when it leaves New Zealand January 21st. During the 2 weeks of the voyage from Tauranga to Magareva, Robin will work onconsolidating all the different shipments into the needed order for orderly transport to shore. Lets hope the sea weather is kind!The expedition team also wired funds due under its contract with the "Braveheart" management company for fuel, use of the ship and crew. During 2007 oil prices have increased substantially on world markets, and the US dollar has declined in strength on world currency markets. These two changes have increased the cost of the DXpedition, in US dollar terms, by US$20,000.QSL Information:On-line QSL information has been added to the website, www.vp6dx.com.No need to fill out a card or write a letter... and no need forself-addressed envelopes! Just fill out an on-line form to request QSLs.Donors will receive accelerated, automated processing of their request. Verified contacts will be confirmed romptly as soon as printed cards are available after the expedition. LOTW confirmations will also be accelerated.Non-donors will have their requested and verified contacts confirmed with a printed QSL card, sent via the bureau, and a LOTW entry at a later date.For people who prefer not to use on-line forms or make on-line donations, the website explains how to submit a paper request.Thanks to DL1MGB, DF3CB and OM1AVK for the implementation of on-line QSL processing.Site Planning:The "Braveheart" is permitted to carry 13 passengers. With careful scheduling, 13 operators can staff 7 operating positions 24 hours per day.Each operator will be on-air 12-13 hours per day, typically in three-hour shifts with breaks of one hour for meals and other camp jobs. By avoiding long operating shifts, operators will be more alert and logging accuracy should improve.Given likely propagation, how can 7 operating positions be best used? Late at night 160 through 30, and perhaps 20m, may be the only open bands. Our solution: two operating locations, separated by about 1.5 km.The west site will host three operating positions, plus these antennas:-- 75m SSB and 40m: 4-squares.-- 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10m: 2-element vertical dipole arrays.The east site, near the only safe landing point, will host four operating positions plus these antennas:-- 160m: one or two element verticals.-- 80m CW, 40m, and 30m: 4-squares.-- 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10m: 2-element vertical dipole arrays.-- 6m: 5-el Yagi (we will try vertical polarization).The east site also contains our sleeping tents and eating / relaxing area.With the exception of the narrow 160m and 30m bands, the large separation between sites should permit us to put two stations on any LF/HF band. The actual hour-by-hour allocation of stations to bands/modes depends on:-- propagation: priority given to "edge" bands with the most difficult propagation.-- geographical balance: priority given parts of the world under-represented in QSOs made to date on a particular band-mode.-- mode balance: priority given to modes under-represented in QSOs made to date during band's opening with a particular region.Low band receiving antennas will be midway between the east and west sites. These will be reversible beverage arrays, with each antenna split out into a separate 160m, 80m CW and 75m output (W3LPL bandpass filters). The low band operators can choose their listening antenna independently via a remote controlled switching up. DX Engineering pre-amps boost the signal from the selected antenna before it travels down the long coax run (750m) to the operator's K3 radio.The pre-amps are protected from the low band transmit signals through a combination of bandpass filters, custom notch filters (for example, to reject the 80m CW transmitter on the 75m SSB operator's antenna), physical separation from the transmit antennas, and other measures.A sketch of the site layout will be posted to the website shortly.

73Carsten, DL6LAU and Eric, K3NA

http://www.vp6dx.com/

J5C Guinea-Bissau DXpedition

A French team is active from Guinea-Bissau with the call J5C.Worked this morning on 40m cw.
Will qrv until 21 January.More info at http://www.j5c.eu/
Good luck all

FO/M Marquesas DXpedition 2008

The Finnish team is active and just worked on 40m cw lp.Marti OH2BH reports

"Fellows:

0820UTC, Thursday!
Just got a message from FO that one station is now QRV on 40M CW with R8 hoisted in dark.
More power at their day break!
Martti, OH2BH, Pilot "

Web site of the dxpedition is http://sm0w.com/marquesas/

Tnx guys for the qso.Wish for more till the end of the dxpedition

3Y/B - Bouvet Island. #5 Most Wanted DXCC

Petrus ZS6GCM is active time to time from Bouvet Island .Yesterday evening was active on 14.195 but again qrm from Italy.An online logbook is working at http://sq8aqd.net/3y0e/index.php
And if you want to listen to him from some recording check http://3y0e.com/2008/01/06/3y0e-live-audio-recordings/
Good luck with this dx all

SOLAR CYCLE 24 BEGINS

Solar physicists have been waiting for the appearance of a reversed-polarity sunspot to signal the start of the next solar cycle. The wait is over. Yesterday a magnetically reversed sunspot emerged at solar latitude 30 N, shown in this photo taken by Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland

For reasons explained in a recent Science@NASA story, this marks the beginning of Solar Cycle 24 and the first step toward a new solar maximum. Intense solar activity won't begin right away. Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max (expected in 2011 or 2012). It's a slow journey, but we're on our way!

(Article from www.spaceweather.com)

KL1V Alaska on 40m cw

Yesterday evening 20:32 Z worked KL1V Alaska on 40m CW 7.001,9.His rst was 559 qrm from many Europeans calling.Tnx Kent for the nice qso on 40m band.

PZ5YV PARAMARIBO,SURINAME DX PEDITION 2008

PZ5YV crew is on the air.Untill now worked on 2om SSB nd 40m SSB.The website of this dx pedition is http://pz5yv.4m5dx.info/index.html .In the news section reported this
"December 30, 2007
Spiros SV8CS is sick this holidays, for that he can't come to Paramaribo with us"

Good luck with this dx
73 all

FJ/OH2AM Log online

Happy new year 2008 to everyone.The logbook of the FJ/OH2AM dx pedition is online at http://www.n4gn.com/fj/

Guest operation from SV2CXI

Yesterday evening from 19:00z until 00:20z SV2CXI Kostas from Thessaloniki visited my shack and worked on 40m ssb beaming to Asia and Japan.The ja pileup was nice.Worked stations from JA with dipole and 100w.Then we looked for any dx on 40m.We worked ZD7X 1st call,C6AGN,OJ1ABOA.

73 all

de SV2DCD

Surprise with 6m and 4m sporadic e during Christmas Day !

Yesterday at 17:08utc i worked on 4m band 70.202 cw Bo OZ1DJJ.Big surprise duringChristmas day!
The sporadic e started from 10m band to SP,DL then on 6m where OZ7IGY/B on 50.021 was 599 for long time.Then the same beacon came up on 70.021with signal peaking 559.At the next moment i started calling in cw on 70.202 and Bo answered.
The funniest is that the qso made with my hf beam due to a repair on my 4m band antenna !!!
Now we know that an OB12-4 working also on 4m :-)
Tnx Bo
Happy new year 2008 to all
de SV2DCD

Merry Christmas and Happy new year 2008 de SV2DCD

Christmas with snow and very low temperature here in Kastoria.
Martti OH2BH and Olli OH0XX still working from FJ St Barthelemy and the pileups are big.
These days we have nice tropo conditions on VHF,UHF ans SHF.Very nice site why plenty of info about these frequencies is www.ok2kkw.com .You will find many interesting info.
Good news also for the 4m operators.
ES2NJ Mart reports the follows :


"To VHF-community of Europe
We are very happy to announce that from December 23, 2007 the 70 MHz (4 m) band is officially allocated for regular amateur radio use in Estonia on secondary status. The band may be operated by all national licence classes (A, B and D).
A foreign radio amateur, who is the holder of a valid CEPT licence, can also use his amateur radio station on 70 MHz during a temporary stay (up to 3 months) in Estonia without any extra registration, application or charge – like it is the case with other amateur bands in the country.
The secondary status of the band however means that it can be operated on non-interference basis to other communication services in Estonia. The transmitter’s RF power output limit is set to 20 dBW (100 W) for the national classes A & B and to 10 dBW (10 W) for the class D (entry level). All modes (CW, SSB, AM, FM, MGM) are permitted. In general, using a horizontally polarized antenna is recommended.
The band plan of the new allocation shows, that the lower limit for operation is at 70.140 MHz – perhaps there is a hope that it can be shifted down in the future, but currently we have to be pleased also with this permission.
There may have been some preliminary notices of the new band allocation from Estonia also before, but at that stage they were more rumours and did not carry actual official data. Herewith we are glad to say that all official paperwork has now been finished, corresponding permission has been issued by the Ministry of Economy and Communication and after almost 5 years of hard work ES should be soon heard on the 4 m band!
With Season’s Greetings
Mart, ES2NJ
ERAU VHF Manager"


And about the Estonian readynes on 4m band ??
ES1CW reports :
"At this time we have a "wild white field" around 70 MHz, only some 10-12 (mods needed) pieces of FT-847 in use in whole country. But at the same time our activity on the Six are OK - in example, I had wkd over 100 different ES-stations (with IC-706xx, IC-7400, IC-746, IC-756, FT-100, FT-817, FT-857, FT-847,FT-897, FT-920, TS-2000 etc now) on the Six during this year. And perhaps, many 6m 10...15 W transverters are still OK for a 4 m conversion items... And a vy new "everybody one" must be constructed in the "Estonian fashion", lot of work on the horizon...
Merry Xmas and HNY 2008
73! de Arvo, ES1CW
ERAU Technical coordinator"


I wish to all of you many DX and Happy new year 2008.
de SV2DCD Leo

2007 Expedition to Rotuma Island, 3D2AG/p worked

Today morning i worked Antoine 3D2AG/P on 20M CW via long path.
Antoine is using ICOM IC 706 MKII and 100w no linear.His signal was 599.
More info about this dx pedition here http://www.3d2ag.fr.tc/
Tnx Tony for the fb qso.

FJ – SAINT BARTHELEMY New One

Worked today morning FJ/OH2AM on 40M CW !! His qrg was 7.005 and worked 7.011.New one for me.The pileup was big.Many stations calling for the states and also from Europe.
For information about this new dxcc entity you can check here http://www.dailydx.com/barthelemy.htm

Here is the info you will want to input into your logging software.
Prefix – FJ
Country Name – Saint Barthelemy
CQ Zone – 8
Start date – Probably February 22, 2007
QSL Bureau – Yes (REF France)
UTC Offset – 4 hours behind UTC
IOTA – NA-146
ITU Zone – 11
Continent – North America
Longitude – 62.83 West
Latitude – 17.92 North
Other islands that will count for Saint Barthelemy – Chevreau, Coco, Fourchue, Fregate, La Tortue, Le Boulanger, Pain de Sucre, Pele and Toc Vers.