Saturday, January 22, 2011

New Shack is on the AIR

We have been in our new house for a month now and at last I am starting to get through some of the decorating and DIY that is required when moving in. With less than 5 weeks to go before "baby HTS" will be with us you can imagine the QTH is undergoing a serious facelift with the smell of paint becoming the normal everyday occurrence.

Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to temporally install 3 antennas allowing me to operate on HF and also hear local activity on VHF. The 3 antennas that I have erected for now, are a 135ft dipole with ladder feeder for 80m, a Hustler 6BTV (6 band trapped vertical) 80-10m and a tri-band vertical covering 50MHz, 145MHz and 433MHz.

As of yet the satellite antennas and new GS5500 azimuth/ele rotator set-up, is still collecting dust as a nice long ladder or scaffold tower will be required to go ahead with the satellite install. For now working the Sats will have to be when I am at my Portable shack on the Moor.
As you can see in the background of the image below which shows the 6BTV, the Moor is less than a mile away as the new QTH is situated on the edge of the lovely moorland.

The Hustler 6BTV HF Vertical antenna is ground mounted in the same way as my other 6BTV at the now portable shack. Here at the new garden The SWR is 1.1 without the ATU from 40m right through to 10M. The vertical tunes 80m up well with the ATU in line and has a very low noise level on receive. So far I have worked across the pond to the US on it with ease, I also heard some nice VK and ZL signals coming very well, as well as hearing signals out of HS land.
The tri-band antenna works reasonable in its very temporary position but I am sure it will be greatly improved once it is up high on the top of the house.
Louise will also be a bit happier hi hi. I dont know what she means when she says "it looks stupid there" Lou knows it wont be there for long!

The main problem I can foresee is how to evict her from my favorite seat in the house? As you can see she is not in a hurry to give up the shack seat just yet. If I do some more decorating maybe than she will move over and let me get to my lovely radios h.i
For those of you that were wondering about Dudley the DX Hound, here Dudley can be seen getting himself acquainted with the living room carpet which lets face it looks like a great spot to catch some Zs if your a four legged type. The HTS family is settling in very well indeed, however if the decorating gets a bit much a quick drive up the road takes us back to the Moor Top Holiday Shack where my other Hustler Vertical, CW160, Delta loop, IO-10 Sat beam and Rigs are awaiting me.

73 hope to catch you from the new QTH or portable Shack on the hill.

2E0HTS Appears in RadCom

Next months (February) RadCom magazine arrived earlier this week courtesy of the RSGB.

Inside the radio magazine I found myself appearing in the IOTA 2010 article which was a very nice surprise indeed.
The picture inside RadCom shows myself in action during the IOTA 2010 contest which I enjoyed very much.

The picture was taken at my Moor Top shack which is now my portable location as I have recently set up a second shack at our new family home.

You can see my new table which is housing the FT1000mp and FT847 on the image above. The image below shows the page in Radcom where you can find 2E0HTS - IOTA Contest Station on page 26.

The editor of the RadCom magazine has commented on my home made microphone mini tower which reads "Even the microphone is on a tower, but does it rotate?"
The answer of course is yes! As long as you don't mind turning the mic by hand only, as of yet I haven't fit a motor h.i
But you never know what I might get up to in my workshop next time I'm tinkering around!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Happy Birthday CQD

CQD was the international distress code that predated SOS. It celebrates its 107th birthday today as on January the 7th 1904 it was established by the Marconi Company as the first international radio distress signal.
CQD is transmitted in Morse Code as — · — · — — · — — · · and although it is widely believed to be an acronym for ‘Come Quick Danger’ that is not the case. It is a general CQ call followed by D meaning distress.
Before CQD was established ships would just go missing at sea, when radios were introduced onto ships they initially used CQ as a general call, however the introduction of a distress signal was widely accepted to be a good idea.
Sadly CQD was short-lived as it was replaced by “SOS” at the Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference of 1906 as three dots, three dashes and three dots could not be misinterpreted by anyone hearing it unlike CQD .
Still, happy birthday to CQD a ground-breaking use of Morse Code and radio, the introduction of which no doubt saved lives.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year Brings New QTH

Hi All, I trust you are all having a great start to the New Year so far!

For myself this has been a very busy time. We have moved into our new QTH that I mentioned a few posts back.

So far the progress with the decorating is going well and I have temporarily installed a Hustler 6BTV and 135 foot Dipole allowing me to monitor HF in between the brush strokes and paper hanging. Louise (M3TLL) has also been busy propagating the baby which will be arriving in around 8 weeks time.

I will be shortly posting pictures of my new QTH/Shack, but for now this is a quick update and opportunity to say Happy New Year to you all and I shall be back online at the new QTH as soon as the new internet connection is switched back on.

73 watch this space for more info on the latest escapades.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

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

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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