Merry Christmas from Ham Radio Blogspot

A YLs Guide to Christmas Gifts by M3TLL - Louise

Living with a radio ham means you instantly have ideas for Christmas gift buying. If you want to buy your radio amateur a hobby themed gift here are a few ideas you might want to consider.

Ideas for Stocking Fillers

* Anything with his callsign on it
I can't begin to describe the joy on 2E0HTS's face when he received through the post from an Slovenian ham friend (S57CW/S57ORG) a miniature Slovenian registration plate with his callsign on it. I can only assume the same would apply for any merchandise with his callsign written on it. A mug, a tshirt, a woolly hat for his DXpeditions. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

* Earphones
If, like me, occasionally you want some peace and quiet from the endless CQ calls and other amateurs tuning up then why not invest in a good pair of earphones. He'll think you care, you'll be able to watch telly in peace! Happy Christmas!

* Stationery
A radio ham always needs something to scrawl on and with. I learnt early on not to leave any important documents within a 10 metre radius of the ham shack as they're likely to come back with random callsigns, names and signal reports written on. Why not buy him some nice writing equipment of his very own to show him you care this festive season?

Big presents

If you're wanting to spend a bit more on the ham in your life then the list is simple: radio, antenna, atu, power supply, microphone. Last year 2E0HTS was lucky enough to get an FT-817 from Santa. If you are going to buy something like this make sure you either buy new from a supplier like Waters and Stanton. Or, if you are wanting to go second hand ask another (trustworthy) radio ham to help you choose something. Some second hand equipment can be used and abused and the last thing you want on Christmas day is a radio ham with a present that doesn't work.

These are just a few ideas you might want to consider. Maybe some readers have other ideas? If so pop them in the comments below (I still don't know what to get 2E0HTS this year!!)

Louise M3TLL

Base, Mobile & Portable Station eQSL Confirmed QSOs

Whilst sending out some recent eQSL cards I got curious and decided to check how many Countries I had actually worked/logged with eQSL. I was interested to see just how well I was doing from my mobile whilst out and about away from the shack. The eQSL /M cards can be few and far between as I have to depend on the other stations that I work whilst mobile to send their eQSL as I stick to driving rather than logging. So with this in mind you can imagine that plenty of nice QSOs/DX doesn’t always get confirmed by eQSL.

Thanks to all you guys that are keen eQSLers, I still managed to compile a good start to a hopeful longer list to come of Countries worked and confirmed. I also added Countries I have worked whilst mobile in Scotland and Wales.

I use a different eQSL card when operating from the mobile, the shack or any portable stations which can be seen heading each section.

Please don't worry radio amateurs from Wales, I will try much harder to make more QSO next time I visit ;-)

Mobile in England Operating as 2E0HTS/M

BALEARIC ISL.

BELGIUM

BRAZIL

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CYPRUS UK SOV. AREA

CZECH REP.

ENGLAND

FAROE ISL.

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

HUNGARY

ISRAEL

ITALY

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MADEIRA ISL.

MALTA

NETHERLANDS

POLAND

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (ASIATIC)

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

TURKEY

UKRAINE

USA

Mobile In Scotland Operating as 2M0HTS/M

ENGLAND

GERMANY

ITALY

NETHERLANDS

SCOTLAND

SLOVAK REP.

UKRAINE

Mobile In Wales Operating as 2W0HTS/M

UKRAINE

Portable In The UK Operating as 2E0HTS/P

BELGIUM

ENGLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

KAZAKHSTAN

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SCOTLAND

SPAIN

SWEDEN

WALES

QTH/Base Station Operating as 2E0HTS

ALGERIA

ARGENTINA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

AZORES

BALEARIC ISL.

BELARUS

BELGIUM

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

BRAZIL

CANADA

CANARY ISL.

CAPE VERDE

CEUTA AND MELILLA

COLOMBIA

CRETE

CROATIA

CYPRUS

CZECH REP.

DENMARK

DOMINICA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ECUADOR

ENGLAND

ESTONIA

FALKLAND ISL.

FINLAND

FRANCE

GABON

GERMANY

GREECE

GUADELOUPE

GUERNSEY (BAILIWICK OF)

HONDURAS

HUNGARY

INDONESIA

IRELAND

ISLE OF MAN

ISRAEL

ITALY

JERSEY (CHANNEL ISL.)

KAZAKHSTAN

KUWAIT

LATVIA

LIBYA

LITHUANIA

LUXEMBOURG

MACEDONIA FORMER YUGOSLAV REP

MADEIRA ISL.

MARTINIQUE

MOLDOVA

MONTENEGRO

MOROCCO

NETHERLANDS

NORTHERN IRELAND

NORWAY

OMAN

PARAGUAY

POLAND

PORTUGAL

PUERTO RICO

QATAR

ROMANIA

RUSSIA (EUROPEAN)

SAN MARINO

SARDINIA

SAUDI ARABIA

SCOTLAND

SENEGAL

SERBIA

SLOVAK REP.

SLOVENIA

SOUTH AFRICA

SPAIN

ST. LUCIA

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

THAILAND

THE GAMBIA

UKRAINE

USA

VENEZUELA

WALES

I have worked a lot more countries and many great DX from the Mobile that unfortunately haven't yet been eQSL confirmed, but I am always hopeful h.i. In the meantime, I shall keep shouting from the mobile and the shack enjoying all QSOs on the way. 73

Latest Upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery

I spent most of this afternoon on my computer logged on to the eQSL website confirming and downloading the latest batch of eQSL cards, which I then upload to my other blog - 2E0HTS QSL Gallery .
I have been uploading eQSL cards that I receive from both Hams and SWLs to the site for a couple of years now. There you can find eQSL cards displayed that I have received dating from early 2004 to present day. If you have worked or heard my station active and have sent me a eQSL, it will be there somewhere.

Follow the older posts link found at the bottom of the page to find earlier eQSL cards I uploaded.

For the latest upload to the 2E0HTS QSL Gallery, I decided to put the received eQSL cards into categorised headings which slightly helps to organise things when dealing with a lot of uploading. In this case I had a back log of 131 eQSL cards to get through.

The new simplified Headings that I will be using from now are as follows:

2E0HTS HF Bands eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS (2W0 & 2M0) Mobile & Portable eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS VHF UHF & Satellite eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


2E0HTS Digital Modes eQSL Confirmed Amateur Radio Contacts


I recieved some great EQSL cards in the latest batch, here are a couple of my favourite ones amongst the many. Thanks goes to all of the senders.

I hope to catch some of you somewhere on the Bands soon and get all of your eQSL cards up on my site. Happy DX, 73 and Thanks for passing by.

20M Sked With S57ORG - Marko

Video of QSO between S57ORG and myself at Marko - S57ORG portable location in Slovenia on Sunday 7th November

Thank You Very Much for this Video Marko, its great to hear myself sounding nice and loud in Slovenia. 73 Hope to catch you again on HF and the Satellite Bands.

NOAA 19 Over The UK Sunday 7th November 12.45 utc

HO-68 Mode V/U (J) FM Voice Repeater

I continued chasing the Satellites yesterday and managed to get into HO-68 before I called it a day. I caught the HO-68 pass on video which can be seen below. Enjoy!

During this pass HO-68 is operating in FM mode. Contact is made with SW6KRV, UT3NW & ES5QA whilst the Satellite is at a distance of around 750 miles from the Station of 2E0HTS.