The one day I fire up the HF Rig

Go figure the one day I have a wee bit of time this happens....

I found it quite interesting on 10m .... noise was through the roof and I wasn't hearing much. Shot this video around 2pm!



1 hour and 20 minutes after Sunset the noise was gone....

WB2REM QSO Video

Almost 2 years!

Finally burned the dust off the old FT101 last week making my first HF contacts
in nearly 2 years...

Circled the last HF contact ....YIKES.

Highlight of the day was the QSO with WB2REM.   Moments in to the QSO the OP reported another 2 contacts with me back in 1990 ...23 Years ago ,  can you believe it!   I QSOed him on the RS10   2m CW up 10m CW down.   I took a video of the QSO and will post it later.

New Radio

 Its been a long long time but I actually purchased a new radio the 2m Yaesu FT1900.     Add a 5/8 NMO trunk mounted antenna and presto I am on active.    Figured why not ,   the car is the one place I spend a tone of time so it only made sense to add some Ham Fun to the journey.   The Ham hobby has always been on the back burner but its a deep rooted joy that will always be there.

 Went to Maplecom.com and picked up a 5/8 Antenna with a NMO Mount.     Drilled the hole in the trunk but I have some doubts as to wether the oh so thin sheet metal can support this monster.   I may go to a 1/4 Antenna but I really like the 3db gain with the 5/8's.

 There isn't a ton of activity on 2m  but there is a small group of really active amateurs that keep things interesting.   Gary VA3FV monitor the Paisly repeater closely and  often comes back to my calls.    Met Bill from Mildmay ,  Bills electronics ,  Adam the GBARC Pres and a few others.    

 Its really interesting always monitoring the propagation and the different signals I pick up as I roll over the hills of Grey County.   I often hear Michigan Hams coming in across Lake Huron.   This eve on my way to work I heard VE3RPT the Toronto repeater on the CN Tower. Every now an again when there is an inversion VE3III from Windsor comes booming in.  

 I want to get another run of LDF4 to the top of my Hill.   I would like to rig up a 2m setup to monitor the local repeater.  

Back at it ...

New years day at home, no plans to run or ski so I fired up the radio...


2012-01-01 22:17:00
CO3ET
40m
7.044
CW
Emiliano Torres

2012-01-01 22:00:00
9A7R
40m
7.050
CW
IVICA (BRACO) SORIC

2012-01-01 21:53:00
UW2ZM
40m
7.050
CW
Sergey V. Yarovenko

2012-01-01 21:16:00
OA1F
10m
28.028
CW
Carlos A. Lorenzo

2012-01-01 21:00:00
CO8WZ
10m
28.032
CW
Ruben Figueroa Merayo

2012-01-01 20:51:00
VA7QB
10m
28.045
CW
Stuart Allan Lyster

2012-01-01 19:32:00
LU7HZ
10m
28.042
CW
Pedro Colla (PEC)

2012-01-01 18:53:00
ZS6JBJ
10m
28.077
CW
JOHN JACK

2012-01-01 18:32:00
HC6EP
10m
28.073
CW
Ernesto

2012-01-01 18:17:00
LU7EO
10m
28.043
CW
AVELLANEDA RADIO CLUB


Worked Africa, Europe, South America , Caribbean and West Coast of North America . 10m was reported as " fair" but how one can call working 13,000+ km fair is a little strange. 10m is a funny band , not allot of activity but its neat to hang out and see what opens. The band pretty much dies around sunset , checked out 15m and 20m but the action was on 40m. Before shutting down I checked 10m an hour or so after sunset and heard a New Zealand SSB station working NA...pretty good copy but it wasn't moving the s meter . Tried to work the guy but there were many calling.

10m,15m and 40m

Fired up the 101 today , worked Europe , South America and even Japan.


2011-11-28 22:06:00
LU8YE
10m
28.511
SSB
RADIO CLUB DE LOS ANDES


2011-11-28 21:17:00
HA6QR
40m
7.031
CW
Gyula Kovacs

Called CQ on 15m and got an answer from JE1???? . Real low signal with QSB and never fully got the call sign but heck I was heard in Japan . Very cool!

I was surprised by the 40m contact in Europe an hour before sunset. Heard Australia on 10m SSB ... tried to work them but there was so many Americans calling.

After dinner I loaded up the newly repaired 80m dipole ... seemed to load good at the low end of the band. One thing that did surprise me was just how many US and Canadian SSB Rag Chews were going on. For almost 400kHz it was one SSB QSO after another.

Been Hamming....

Fired up th erig last night afeter workign eves. 40m was active btu not as good as earlier int he week. Worked...


2011-11-25 07:27:00
F8KA
40m
7.031
CW
Robert BAILLY

2011-11-25 07:02:00
G0NXA
40m
7.049
CW
GILES HERBERT

2011-11-25 06:45:00
HB9BQR
40m
7.035
CW
Roland BURKHARD

2011-11-25 06:28:00
EA8AU
40m
7.045
CW
MIGUEL PEREZ LEAL

2011-11-25 06:05:00
I1MMR
40m
7.051
CW
MAURO MORANDO

2011-11-25 05:52:00
9A3JH
40m
7.027
CW
ANDREA VIDAS

I was playing with the CW decoder software and watching the "DX Cluster" page while working the above.

Today I fixed up my 80m Dipole. It had broke in where is had soldered the wire together on both legs. I repaired the wires and rehung the antenna. Its on the side of a steep hill so its somewhere between a Vertical or an Inverted V. Anyhow when I connected the repaired antenna to the old FT7B I heard lots of US QSOs. I compared the Dipole to the 40/20/15/10 14avq Vertical and there was a big difference in signal.

Walked up to the top of the Hill and inspected the 14AVQ and IFL. The Antenna has a pretty good lean towards the SE. Years of being battered by high winds. Its not going to affect the way it works but I will do a 180 with it so it bends itself back to straight.

I also want to run more IFL to the top of the Hill for VHF stuff.... another day perhaps.