tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68118820318545187322024-02-21T17:48:12.610+01:00 PA7MDJ Amateur Radio BlogMichael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-20850048915485023912020-10-19T19:00:00.006+02:002020-10-19T19:31:01.438+02:00The Little Miracle that Happened<p><span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span></p><p><span style="color: #999999;"> </span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2EsluhXeWk3C3357XLxhUMBSTf_mR7iUBJ0W-hSdnPzJl4D4nXMAlNbeJNbABr8CcqwlDx1Toag6AnweMVOnsG0SP6EGG5AYdiOQoBlMjbByYiskhR6nPzW4dUybPbtNbaPHI9233Aqj/s1000/Image1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2EsluhXeWk3C3357XLxhUMBSTf_mR7iUBJ0W-hSdnPzJl4D4nXMAlNbeJNbABr8CcqwlDx1Toag6AnweMVOnsG0SP6EGG5AYdiOQoBlMjbByYiskhR6nPzW4dUybPbtNbaPHI9233Aqj/w640-h426/Image1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The VP6R Expedition Team on Pitcairn Island (<a href="https://www.ey8mm.com/pictures/item/201-2019-expedition-to-pitcairn-island" target="_blank">source</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br />Last year around this time the worldwide DX ham radio community had its full attention set to the <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/vp6r" target="_blank"><i>VP6R</i> <i>DXpedition</i></a> to <i>Pitcairn Island</i>, which took place between October 18th - November 1st, 2019. Now everybody who knows me even the slightest, knows how immensely fascinated I am by Pitcairn. I've been for a long time, and making a contact with Pitcairn Island would be a dream come true! I've written a blog entry about Pitcairn before, about its most famous ham radio operator, <i>Tom Christian</i>, <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/vp6tc" target="_blank"><i>VP6TC</i></a> (SK), and how my fascination for Pitcairn came about. You can find that blog entry <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2017/01/meet-tom-christian.html" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /><br />For VP6R my best chance would be working them in <i>FT8 Fox/Hound</i> mode, and with my little pistol station and modest wire antennas, and taking into consideration that we were at the bottom of the solar activity cycle, the most likely and maybe only window of opportunity would be around 07:00 UTC on 40 or 30m. Due to being at work around this time, my chances were narrowed down to just the weekends. And there were only two of them in the period that VP6R was active! The first weekend in the morning I indeed managed to receive the FT8 F/H signals of the DXpedition both on 40m and 30m. Decodes were sporadic, and conditions just weren't good enough for me to make a contact. <br /><br />So, that left only one weekend remaining, one weekend to make that dream contact with Pitcairn! It was the weekend of October 26/27, the last weekend of October, which traditionally also means it's the weekend of the <i>CQ WW SSB contest</i>. This didn't promise much good, and I was afraid that the 40m FT8 F/H frequency would be congested with SSB splatter from big gun contesters. And much to my horror, when checking on Saturday morning it was indeed! I can't remember if I saw any cluster spots for VP6R FT8 F/H on 40 or 30m that day, but at least I did not catch anything from them that day. <br />So now there was only one day left, Sunday October 27th, 2019, one day to make my dream come true! The contest would still be in full swing on Sunday, so the only chance left was 30m. Since VP6R was also participating in the contest, I was afraid they would be preoccupied in that and maybe wouldn't do 30m FT8. I needed a little miracle!<br /><br />I remember waking up that Sunday and immediately checking <i>DX Summit</i> and the excitement seeing spots being made for VP6R on 30m FT8! I hurried to the radio, and my body got filled with adrenaline when the laptop produced numerous VP6R decodes. I started calling them, and then suddenly not much later and without much effort VP6R was in the log! I'd made the contact! I couldn't believe it, the little miracle had happened! It's quite amazing since I was using my <i>HyEndFed</i> 10/20/40m antenna (which isn't resonant at 30m) tuned with the built-in ATU of my <i>Yaesu FT-991</i>. On 30m it definitely isn't the most efficient antenna set up there is! But still it managed to get my signals all the way to that intriguing island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the most remote inhabited island on the planet, inhabited by the descendants of the <i>Bounty Mutineers</i>. Wow!</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtL9zCAsO8vfk14ayIuWWNlFw1jP972R1d1QYpFCqA2V9IWU0SeU6BNhfdRa3ywc9jBw58nSPhko6gmT9yX04pY4H8vgZ4wqOxwKn_VijWQrRTvQoPvSTgltqmszk-Fn3TXn2Ng46DCTc/s595/Image4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="179" data-original-width="595" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXtL9zCAsO8vfk14ayIuWWNlFw1jP972R1d1QYpFCqA2V9IWU0SeU6BNhfdRa3ywc9jBw58nSPhko6gmT9yX04pY4H8vgZ4wqOxwKn_VijWQrRTvQoPvSTgltqmszk-Fn3TXn2Ng46DCTc/w400-h120/Image4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Little Miracle that Happened! Screenshot from WSJT-X.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />To my relief, the contact soon was found in the VP6R online log (ruling out having dealt with a pirate). <i>LotW</i> and the much coveted paper QSL followed some time later. I remember meeting one of my ham friends of our local <i>VERON</i> club at the yearly <i>VERON hamfest</i> in Zwolle later in November, and proudly telling him that I'd made the contact. Like many others, he'd worked VP6R on many bands in various modes. But to me that one FT8 contact on 30m was <i>The Little Miracle that Happened</i>!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyAaESzajZBnY8-XQn7sOVaHF2_OSsd8QOhb7gEBx6s9GIdTFVF4z0S2lR6hcYRidnCZLsxEgGEjifo2AUCOPjt9qo69ydZrucQDYTXErZvnSmqmJD2jzcwmrvXkPj4QVc2eOwIdoXxn2/s541/Image2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="541" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyAaESzajZBnY8-XQn7sOVaHF2_OSsd8QOhb7gEBx6s9GIdTFVF4z0S2lR6hcYRidnCZLsxEgGEjifo2AUCOPjt9qo69ydZrucQDYTXErZvnSmqmJD2jzcwmrvXkPj4QVc2eOwIdoXxn2/w400-h261/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxw5Nl8zWY4PW0PFNkcszmBoqqUGXrnexwHjpYt2qTnQ5x4Bym-p9lgWEy70BjID8_k331JmlkNu4v_j4KKjVnRlw1KRUVO7cxhfnmR2lfDDlj_zE82lDwF3Kzb60A1_n04e6NNI_Cs8e/s541/Image3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="541" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxw5Nl8zWY4PW0PFNkcszmBoqqUGXrnexwHjpYt2qTnQ5x4Bym-p9lgWEy70BjID8_k331JmlkNu4v_j4KKjVnRlw1KRUVO7cxhfnmR2lfDDlj_zE82lDwF3Kzb60A1_n04e6NNI_Cs8e/w400-h261/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">QSL card received for my contact with VP6R<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><i>Nodir</i>, <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/ey8mm" target="_blank"><i>EY8MM</i></a>, one of the expedition members, has put together a wonderful photo book of the VP6R expedition. It's for sale <a href="https://www.blurb.com/b/9820054-vp6r-expedition-to-pitcairn-island" target="_blank">here</a> or can be downloaded for free <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1b_FPJCLLuAbYkrVIHKwBxO8X6r066jKN" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also take a look at Nodir's website at <a href="http://www.ey8mm.com" target="_blank">www.ey8mm.com</a>.</p><p>The official VP6R website can be found at <a href="http://pitcairnDX.com" target="_blank">pitcairnDX.com</a>.<br /></p>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-52066268660920638612019-11-24T01:27:00.001+01:002019-11-25T20:58:25.407+01:00Surf's Up!<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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Excited to have my 200 mW WSPR signals picked up last weekend all the way on Hawaii! I was one of three Dutch stations to be heard by <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/ai6vn" target="_blank"><i>AI6VN/KH6</i></a> on 30m on the island of Maui that day. The other two Dutch stations were using 5 Watts. Hawaii is my 71st WSPR DXCC at 200 mW (see the complete list <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_7.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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I used my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i> transmitter and a homebrew indoor magnetic loop antenna (see also the blog entry <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-current-wspr-qrss-mept-beacon-station.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maui, Hawaii (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maui-is-best-island-in-the-world-by-tripadvisor-2016-4?international=true&r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-71775812189517580822018-12-31T00:52:00.001+01:002019-01-09T20:32:59.374+01:00A magical morning with SAQ Grimeton Radio<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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I've been a radio enthusiast since the early 1980s, but it wasn't until recently that I finally got myself a receiver and antenna suitable for listening to <i>VLF</i> (3-30 kHz) (see my earlier blog posting <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/11/how-low-can-you-go-explorations-of-mf.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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One of my goals with the new VLF setup was to receive one of the special CW transmissions on 17.2 kHz from historical radio station <i>SAQ Grimeton</i> in Sweden.<br />
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Grimeton Radio was built during the years 1922-1924 to provide a "longwave" wireless telegraphy transmitting and receiving station for transatlantic telegram traffic with the United States. The first transmitter used was a VLF machine transmitter invented and designed by Swedish engineer <i>Ernst Alexanderson</i>. Grimeton Radio went on the air in December 1924 with the callsign <i>SAQ</i>. Initially transmissions were done on the frequency of 16.1 kHz but this was soon changed to 17.2 kHz.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzRPRR6lXazg1Czt3lrGEiBK9QHihriFiFGbPN4vGQa0f8ynjK4uZXzD96sZSVu40_mEwuvjzGfluU4JbmmqrnwkXp5vYXT6I84PStpH7k-OmafzeCu5a2eTh96dUprJOdRc2HaaPsTLJ/s1600/image002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="450" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzRPRR6lXazg1Czt3lrGEiBK9QHihriFiFGbPN4vGQa0f8ynjK4uZXzD96sZSVu40_mEwuvjzGfluU4JbmmqrnwkXp5vYXT6I84PStpH7k-OmafzeCu5a2eTh96dUprJOdRc2HaaPsTLJ/s400/image002.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Alexanderson alternator transmitter at Grimeton Radio (<a href="https://grimeton.org/" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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After some years, new technology had made the Alexanderson machine transmitter obsolete for its original purpose; by the 1930s transatlantic communication had gradually started to switch to shortwave, and vacuum tube shortwave transmitters were used instead. The Alexanderson transmitter was still used however to communicate on VLF with submerged submarines, and wasn't decommissioned until the 1990s. Luckily the complete site of Grimeton Radio, including the original VLF machine transmitter, has been preserved as a historical monument. In 2004 the radio station was added to <i>UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites</i>.<br />
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Like mentioned earlier, the original VLF machine transmitter at Grimeton Radio was designed by Swedish engineer <i>Ernst Alexanderson. </i>It consisted of an alternating-current generator (the so called <i>Alexanderson alternator</i>) driven by an electrical motor through a speed-increasing gearbox. When driven at high speed at the correct RPM, the alternator generates a signal on 17.2 kHz. Yes, this means that RF is generated without any electronic parts (like tubes or transistors) involved at all!<br />
Although not in regular use anymore, two or three times a year on special days a CW message is transmitted by Grimeton Radio using this very same historical Alexanderson alternator transmitter!<br />
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Traditionally, one of the special transmissions is done in the morning of Christmas Eve, and so was the case this year. And I was extremely happy to manage to catch it! For the first time I was listening to this special station, to a Morse Code transmission generated by a historical, pre-electronic transmitter, the only one of its kind remaining! And on one of the most beautiful and magical days of the year! Goose bumps!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grimeton Radion at - 6ºC on the morning of Christmas Eve 2018 (<a href="https://alexander.n.se/successful-christmas-eve-transmission-2018/?lang=en" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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The signals were picked up at <i>PA7MDJ</i> with an <i>SDRPlay RSP1A</i> receiver and a <i>MegActiv MA305FT</i> E-field probe antenna. Below on my <i>SoundCloud</i> account you can listen to the recording I made this beautiful Christmas Eve morning, December 24th, 2018.<br />
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The transcript of the received Morse Code message reads as follows:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">CQ CQ CQ DE SAQ SAQ SAQ =</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">THIS IS GRIMETON RADIO / SAQ</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">IN A TRANSMISSION USING THE ALEXANDERSON 200 KW ALTERNATOR</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">ON 17.2 KHZ =</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR =</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">SIGNED: THE WORLD HERITAGE AT GRIMETON</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">AND THE ALEXANDER-GRIMETON VETERANRADIOS VAENNER ASSOCIATION AR =</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">FOR QSL INFO PLEASE READ OUR WEBSITE:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE II WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE = </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">DE SAQ SAQ SAQ SK</span></blockquote>
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The message was preceded by a "VVV VVV VVV DE SAQ SAQ SAQ" loop.<br />
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In 2003 I visited the Grimeton Radio site to look for a<i> geocache</i> (one of my other hobbies), unfortunately without the possibility to take a look inside the transmitter building, but that's another story.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/551960568%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-4K0aA&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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See also:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2719&v=shqi43EV07c" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2719&v=shqi43EV07c</a> - Video made at Grimeton Radio during the special Christmas Eve 2018 transmission</span><br />
<a href="https://alexander.n.se/?lang=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://alexander.n.se/?lang=en</span></a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_Radio_Station" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_Radio_Station</span></a><br />
<a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1134" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1134</span></a>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-9441987110572539032018-11-30T00:30:00.000+01:002018-11-30T01:55:16.906+01:00Season's Greetings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year de PA7MDJ</b></span> </span></div>
Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-83460056427368344042018-11-29T02:38:00.002+01:002018-11-29T17:16:01.591+01:00CQ World Wide DX Contest QRP Style!<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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In the first years of my ham career, I used to be quite an avid "search and pounce" contester, not really for the competitive element, but for the opportunity the various contests offered me to add new <i>DXCC</i>s, US States, islands and other interesting locales to the logbook. The solar activity was still at its peak, and oh the feast it was, putting in the log one new DXCC after the other! I remember 10m bustling with activity and me feeling like a kid in a candy store!<br />
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Nowadays, I'm not the avid contester I once was. Most contests nowadays bring nothing new to me. Still there are some contests that I stay at home for though, they are the <i>IOTA Contest</i> and the CW editions of <i>CQ World Wide DX </i>and <i>CQ WPX </i>contests.<br />
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Last weekend was the weekend of the CQ WW DX CW contest. I was participating with my usual setup with 100 Watts and a <i>HyEndFed</i> <i>10/20/40</i> wire antenna, and worked some nice new stations on 40m and 20m including <i>PY0F</i> on Fernando de Noronha and <i>PZ5T</i> in Suriname. But after a while the search and pounce just got boring. I've worked the US and Caribbean stations on 40m before, and it just doesn't have the magic it once had. At one point, to bring back some excitement, I decided to continue <i>QRP</i>.<br />
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More and more these days the callsign <i>PA7MDJ/QRP</i> can be heard in the "ether". Some time ago I became a member of <a href="http://www.qrparci.org/" target="_blank"><i>QRP ARCI</i></a>, and recently I also bought an <i>LNR Precision Mountain Topper MTR-3B</i> transceiver. The MTR-3B is a small, lightweight, 40/30/20m CW-only QRP-transceiver, originally designed by famous QRPer <i>Steve Weber <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/KD1JV" target="_blank">KD1JV</a></i>. It's really a wonderful little high-performance QRP rig, and it will replace my much heavier <i>Yaesu FT-817ND</i> on future <i>SOTA</i> activations.<br />
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So, I left the shack and instead comfortably settled on the couch with my Mountain Topper, and continued my participation in the CQ WW contest. The couch set-up was complemented with a <i>Palm Pico Paddle</i>, and a small 9.9V 2100mAh <i>LiFePo4</i> battery to power the MTR-3B. The rig was connected to the same HyEndFed antenna mentioned above. With the MTR-3B connected to 9.9 V it delivers a power to the antenna of approximately 2.5 to 3 Watts. I wondered what I would be able to do in the contest with this little power.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFg-ibkWrCLWKpLrhlxSN_5jw2_08-sPFVX2lrQf6VichpV9IGSLFauz0K3Ba-b67Xef80OgBrCRj-SvrP-eEbChVc5V8gYtZlkqJf537Jcn33sdEGPidPIYSQQtiAzULc_Kvwak92gg4U/s1600/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFg-ibkWrCLWKpLrhlxSN_5jw2_08-sPFVX2lrQf6VichpV9IGSLFauz0K3Ba-b67Xef80OgBrCRj-SvrP-eEbChVc5V8gYtZlkqJf537Jcn33sdEGPidPIYSQQtiAzULc_Kvwak92gg4U/s400/image001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The QRP "Couch set-up"</td></tr>
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As expected I was easily working some European and Russian stations on 40m, then much to my surprise succesfull 40m contacts followed with entities like Asiatic Russia, the Canary Islands, Algeria, and Morocco. Then at one point on 40m I managed to work the first US East Coast station! And more followed, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida! Unbelievable, I'm sitting on my couch with a transceiver about the size of a deck of playing cards working the US on 40m with less than 3 Watts on a wire antenna! Suddenly the magic was back!<br />
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On 20m the next day with the same QRP "couch set up" I also managed to work Senegal on 20m and Kazakhstan on 40m!<br />
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This was an unbelievable succes, and QRP has brought back the excitement in contesting! This time I just sent in a checklog, but next time I might consider entering the contest in the QRP category.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-69727100724312400362018-11-28T23:57:00.000+01:002018-12-01T00:22:55.875+01:00How low can you go? Explorations of the MF, LF, and VLF bands.<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 01.12.2018</span><br />
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I've always been fascinated by ELF, VLF and the lower part of LF, and both the man-made signals and <i>Natural Radio</i> emissions occurring on these bands have always intrigued me. I never had a suitable receiver and antenna for this part of the RF spectrum though.<br />
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This changed when some time ago I bought an <i>RSP1A</i> SDR-receiver, and more recently a <i>MegActiv MA305FT</i> E-field probe. This receiver / antenna combination for the first time enabled me to seriously explore the mysterious realm below 100 kHz, all the way down to about 9 kHz (the lower limit of the frequency range of the MA305FT)!<br />
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It's really fascinating listening for the first time to the various <i>Time Signal Stations</i> and to the transmissions of the numerous naval stations using these low frequencies to communicate with submerged submarines. On VLF, radio signals are able to penetrate seawater to a depth of up to about 40 metres, depending on the salinity of the water (contrary to higher frequencies which do not penetrate seawater to any significant depth). On ELF the signals can penetrate even deeper, and the Russians are operating a transmitter known as <i>Zevs</i> near Murmansk to communicate with their submarines on a frequency of 82 Hz (yes, Hz, not kHz!). A similar system is (or was?) also in use by the United States on 76 Hz.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB318tPQdPglgV5G3hOWua1TBMnSCayXqbSdwZRyN949uMus8JuhPo2PKywnFkcfOLy9pklYXdyTXgk1MGcsDnIsgwdTLQwRCQdvdIDDP8hNRL3qfmPskUwUJ0FgaXrMK9erkwi1RbfLmc/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="605" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB318tPQdPglgV5G3hOWua1TBMnSCayXqbSdwZRyN949uMus8JuhPo2PKywnFkcfOLy9pklYXdyTXgk1MGcsDnIsgwdTLQwRCQdvdIDDP8hNRL3qfmPskUwUJ0FgaXrMK9erkwi1RbfLmc/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Norviken VLF transmitter (callsign JXN) in Norway can be heard on 16.4 kHz. The station is used to transmit messages to submerged submarines. VLF antennas are huge; the antenna of JXN is made up of three wires spun between two mountains and spanning a distance of over 2 km! (<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/noviken-vlf-transmitter" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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The MegActiv MA305FT E-field probe is manufactured by <i>NTi</i> in southern Germany close to the Swiss border. It's an active antenna of the popular so-called <i>Mini Whip</i> type. Probably the most well known mini whip is the original Mini Whip designed by <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/PA0RDT" target="_blank"><i>PA0RDT</i></a>, and most other mini whip designs are more or less based on the same principal.<br />
Some time ago I already bought a mini whip kit from <i>Van Dijken Electronica</i>, but I never got round to building it. Then, while visiting the yearly <i>VERON Ham Radio Convention</i> in Zwolle early November, I noticed the stand of <i>Bonito</i> with various active <i>E-field</i> (mini whip) and <i>H-field</i> (loop) type antennas for sale. Bonito is closely involved in the designing and testing of the various antennas made by NTi. The MegActiv MA305FT caught my eye, was looking very well built, and was offered for 20 euros below the normal price. I checked the internet and found that the antenna in various reviews was scoring very well. I decided to buy one.<br />
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I bought the MA305FT mainly for exploring the VLF, LF, and MF bands, and this is where the antenna really shines, as you'll see later on.<br />
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At the <i>University of Twente</i> they have a mini whip antenna in use for their <i>WebSDR</i>. Their mini whip is performing extremely well, and their <i>WSPR</i> reception has become the high standard reference for me for doing rx antenna evaluation. WSPR reception results can easily be compared by checking the spots of the University of Twente (callsign <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/PI4THT" target="_blank"><i>PI4THT</i></a>) on <i>WSPRnet.org</i>. When doing WSPR reception comparisons, on all bands from LF through to HF 20m (I never checked the higher bands) the mini whip of PI4THT always outperforms my <i>HyEndFed</i> 10/20/40 sloper wire antenna.<br />
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When I got home from Zwolle I immediately set up the MegActiv in the back of my small yard at a height of about 3 metres on a PVC pipe placed on a large tripod. The active antenna is powered over the coax feeding cable with the special coaxial power inserter that comes with the antenna. The inserter can be powered in several ways, including from for instance a laptop USB port. The antenna / inserter can be fed with a power source ranging from 5 to 15 Volts DC. I tried powering it with several of the 5 V power banks that I have, but all shut down after a while due to the power inserter drawing very little current and the powerbank thinking nothing is plugged in ( I recently saw a little device for sale at <i>SOTABEAMS</i> which in such a situation will prevent a powerbank from shutting down, and of course such a "keep alive load" could also be homebrewed very easily).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWXz2zBawJcuvfh7UhaGm_nKoSnYWhcjWn4UZRxw8SGUGpkE8lkg36E5_bh9PyStsKUfuir5BahrGBdTu9AAPed_7P9dNhI1_-h2RGPYzK4oOwQbmD_PBNYLfKLTodP_ua_-i4AnOOfCP/s1600/Image4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1600" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifWXz2zBawJcuvfh7UhaGm_nKoSnYWhcjWn4UZRxw8SGUGpkE8lkg36E5_bh9PyStsKUfuir5BahrGBdTu9AAPed_7P9dNhI1_-h2RGPYzK4oOwQbmD_PBNYLfKLTodP_ua_-i4AnOOfCP/s400/Image4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MegActiv MA305FT active E-field probe. Frequency range 9 kHz - 300 MHz.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Once everything was set up, one of the first things I did was monitoring the 630m MF WSPR frequency (474.2 kHz dial). This looked very promising; the SNRs of the signals received often were not far below of the spots made by PI4THT, sometimes even better! The next day on November 5th I managed to receive the 5 Watt WSPR signal of <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/AA1A" target="_blank"><i>AA1A</i></a> in Massachusetts, USA! With this I really outperformed PI4THT, as no MF WSPR spots for US stations were made at all that day at the University of Twente!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0suP8YHeKrSbNvjYCNxPVDSaT76HGQV1TAAx0tWCxUCXT6jSyvOWLQyezE_qKnov5S7-BDk_JmE1fZ7_L1uGI5fyoaNYNzTQ5Fd8BJ8l-LmIzD1KdrieDcpsmPlI8PKCOFpZUkrdEq69-/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1172" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0suP8YHeKrSbNvjYCNxPVDSaT76HGQV1TAAx0tWCxUCXT6jSyvOWLQyezE_qKnov5S7-BDk_JmE1fZ7_L1uGI5fyoaNYNzTQ5Fd8BJ8l-LmIzD1KdrieDcpsmPlI8PKCOFpZUkrdEq69-/s400/Image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoanM2Cj370vp7sipzqqkGirPlnI9uAEnk5alAbnobkyInMfTGFLGmKVFmZjdIKFsvipy0mZixXABK3Ri_AdcTe_xo7oGzlKBymTfc4svMR_w3FLHlevga-YBthwDmQ34brau6VMCaD0WS/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1136" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoanM2Cj370vp7sipzqqkGirPlnI9uAEnk5alAbnobkyInMfTGFLGmKVFmZjdIKFsvipy0mZixXABK3Ri_AdcTe_xo7oGzlKBymTfc4svMR_w3FLHlevga-YBthwDmQ34brau6VMCaD0WS/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reception of the 630m WSPR signal of AA1A with the RSP1A and the MegActiv antenna</td></tr>
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On VLF and the lower part of LF a lot of signals were received with excellent strength, mostly time signal stations and the naval stations mentioned earlier, but also various <i>telecontrol</i> signals and for example the RTTY weather reports from the <i>Deutsche Wetterdienst DDH47</i> on 147.30 kHz.<br />
In the 1990s I used to be an avid LF <i>NDB</i> DXer, and I really enjoyed rediscovering this part of the radio hobby wth the RSP1A and the MegActiv. New to me in the field of NDB DXing are the <i>DGPS</i> stations, many of them actually being the old closed down maritime NDBs. I also had excellent reception of various coastal stations with <i>NAVTEX</i> weather and navigational warnings on 518 kHz, and I see some real DX potential here for the dark winter months. With <i>MultiPSK</i> I was able to decode the DDH47, EFR telecontrol, DGPS, and NAVTEX signals.<br />
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I'm looking forward to the next Morse transmission of the historical station <i>SAQ Grimeton</i> in Sweden on 17.2 kHz which I hopefully will be able to pick up with the setup described in this blog. The last time I tried it with a wire antenna and I failed. SAQ Grimeton was one of the reasons why I really wanted to improve VLF reception.<br />
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Reception with the MegActiv MA305FT on HF so far has been a little disappointing. I expected the reception on HF with the MA305FT at least to be on par with my HyEndFed, but on 40 and 20m WSPR and FT8 the HyEndFed was the clear winner. Compared to 40 and 20m WSPR reception of PI4THT the MegActiv just could not compete at all. <br />
This doesn't mean the MA305FT can't do better on HF though. It could all be a matter of finding the best location and setup for the antenna. To work properly a mini whip type antenna should have the coax shield close to the antenna connected to an earth electrode. I don't have such an earth electrode available yet. At PI4THT they don't have an earth electrode, but the roof on which their mini whip is located contains a lot of metal which serves as the antenna's earth. I might install an earth electrode later on, and more experiments are needed to say something meaningful about the performance of the MegActiv on HF.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrNY1cE_ZX5qdMzLNja_wrArokEPEyA4Djp-H0xfJh9VGQH9t9XyozC0bBZJtHmfOTOfptR6mj6FRT0DgR0FWcZmKFZLBeoGHUYjCt29ra10NDburx9akRwrDEeEqEQTAwNsD3vpJlbuN/s1600/Image5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1600" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrNY1cE_ZX5qdMzLNja_wrArokEPEyA4Djp-H0xfJh9VGQH9t9XyozC0bBZJtHmfOTOfptR6mj6FRT0DgR0FWcZmKFZLBeoGHUYjCt29ra10NDburx9akRwrDEeEqEQTAwNsD3vpJlbuN/s400/Image5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MA305FT opened up. With a jumper an FM broadcast band notch filter can be switched in.</td></tr>
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I've heard some people say that an SDR and an active antenna don't match very well, due to the antenna causing overloading very easily. Also I've heard people say that an active antenne like the mini whip is very prone to picking up the omnipresent electrical noise of an urban surrounding. I didn't notice any of this being much worse than with the other antennas I have in use though.<br />
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With the recent exploration of the RF spectrum basement, a new radio hobby door has opened up, and I got inspired to continue with more VLF, LF, and MF experiments. I would like to experiment with using special software and a PC soundcard as VLF receiver (a soundcard with a sample rate of 48 kHz can receive radio signals up to 24 kHz*). One day I'll also built the mini whip kit and see how it compares to the MegActiv.<br />
And who knows, maybe the future sees me transmitting WSPR on 630m MF myself, using the <i>MF Solutions</i> transmit converter described <a href="http://wg2xka.wordpress.com/for-sale-wanted/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://wg2xka.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/flyer-9.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> (in combination with my <i>QRP Labs U3S)</i>, and an earth-electrode antenna as in use by <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/G3XBM" target="_blank"><i>G3XBM</i></a> and as described <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/earth-electrode-antennas" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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And still the RF spectrum below 9 kHz and Natural Radio remains unexplored. Someday I will also buy or built myself a natural radio receiver.<br />
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* I was mistaken earlier and wrote 96 kHz, it should be of course 24 kHz.<br />
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See also:<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_low_frequency" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_low_frequency</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_low_frequency" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_low_frequency</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.vlf.it/zevs/zevs.htm" target="_blank">http://www.vlf.it/zevs/zevs.htm</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noviken_VLF_Transmitter" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noviken_VLF_Transmitter</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.fenu-radio.ch/en-index1.htm#MegActiv" target="_blank">https://www.fenu-radio.ch/en-index1.htm#MegActiv</a><br />
<a href="https://www.vandijkenelektronica.eu/nl/57-antenne-s-en-antennebenodigdheden" target="_blank">https://www.vandijkenelektronica.eu/nl/57-antenne-s-en-antennebenodigdheden</a><br />
<a href="http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/" target="_blank">http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/</a><br />
<a href="https://www.mwlist.org/vlf.php" target="_blank">https://www.mwlist.org/vlf.php</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.efr.de/" target="_blank">https://www.efr.de/</a><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-directional_beacon" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-directional_beacon</a> <br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_GPS" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_GPS</a> <br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navtex" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navtex</a> <br />
<a href="https://alexander.n.se/the-radio-station-saq-grimeton/saq-transmissions/?lang=en" target="_blank">https://alexander.n.se/the-radio-station-saq-grimeton/saq-transmissions/?lang=en</a><br />
<a href="http://www.472khz.org/" target="_blank">http://www.472khz.org/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pa3fwm.nl/technotes/tn09d.html" target="_blank">http://www.pa3fwm.nl/technotes/tn09d.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pa3fwm.nl/technotes/tn07.html" target="_blank">http://www.pa3fwm.nl/technotes/tn07.html</a><br />
<a href="http://dl1dbc.net/SAQ/Mwhip/pa0rdt-Mini-Whip.pdf" target="_blank">http://dl1dbc.net/SAQ/Mwhip/pa0rdt-Mini-Whip.pdf</a><br />
<a href="http://dl1dbc.net/SAQ/Mwhip/Article_pa0rdt-Mini-Whip_English.pdf" target="_blank">http://dl1dbc.net/SAQ/Mwhip/Article_pa0rdt-Mini-Whip_English.pdf</a>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-4990735928936067582018-11-16T16:04:00.002+01:002018-11-16T20:56:41.972+01:00Going Transatlantic on the Magic Band!<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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On the 6m band at my QTH, an urban location, since a few years I have a lot of noise, making contacts on this band difficult to impossible, depending on the strength of the signals. Disappointed I already took down my 6m <i>HB9CV</i> <i>antenna</i> a long time ago.<br />
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Last summer however I decided to do some <i>WSPR</i> experiments on 6m with my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i> standalone WSPR transmitter. I wanted to see what <i>Sporadic E</i> (Es) could do for me, and where I would be heard with the less than 100 mW the U3S puts out on the <i>Magic Band</i>. On TX only, the noise I experienced on 6m would be no problem.<br />
So, I built a simple 6m dipole wire antenna and put it up indoors in the attic. Amazingly, I was quite successful with it and managed to have my WSPR signals spotted all the way in Morocco (read more about it in my blog posts <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/07/last-edited-mission-accomplished-my-100.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/05/6m-sporadic-e-and-maldives-on-20m-wspr.html" target="_blank">here</a>)!<br />
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While the 6m dipole was there, why not use it to see if I can make some 6m <i>FT8</i> contacts with it? With the noiseblanker of my transceiver, the pulsating noise could be reduced a bit, and with favourable Sporadic E conditions with the indoor dipole I was making 6m FT8 contacts all over Europe easily!<br />
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Over the summer I had seen the reports of European hams making long haul 6m FT8 contacts with Canada and the USA on days with good multi-hop Es conditions! Amazing, I thought!<br />
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July 22nd was such a day with good transatlantic multi-hop Es conditions, and with the indoor 6m dipole on 6m FT8 I saw many Europeans working Canadian and Stateside stations. Amazing! At one point I even started receiving US and Canadian stations myself! Amazing!<br />
Ok, why not try calling one? I called <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/VE1PZ" target="_blank"><i>VE1PZ</i></a> over in <i>Nova Scotia</i>, <i>Canada</i>, and not much later I saw a red line appear with VE1PZ coming back to my call.Wow, I nearly fell off my chair; I was using only 25 Watts and a simple indoor dipole antenna! AMAZING! The conditions must have been outstanding! It was my first transatlantic 6m contact. Later that day I also managed to make a 6m FT8 contact with <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/9K2BM" target="_blank"><i>9K2BM</i></a> in Kuwait.<br />
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The contact with VE1PZ resulted in the wonderful QSL-card shown above and below. It will always be one of the most special contacts I ever made. Well, after all it's the <i>Magic Band</i>, and I must admit, although it still is not my favorite weak signal mode, also a little bit the <i>Magic Mode</i>, FT8 :-)<br />
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<br />Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-76837218745810896612018-11-08T17:32:00.001+01:002019-01-02T03:55:52.210+01:00The National NC-183D receiver - You can't log 'em if you can't hear 'em!<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 02.01.2019</span><br />
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On October 27th I set out on a long car trip to the southern part of the Netherlands, to Roermond, to pick up this old beauty that I had bought at an online marketplace site. It's a <i>National NC-183D</i> general
coverage / amateur band receiver from the 1950s. It's in perfect
condition, both cosmetically and technically. Listening to the NC-183D is
such a treat; CW, SSB, but especially the full and warm sound of
AM broadcast stations! The AM sound is exceptionally good, and I believe no modern amateur receiver will ever be able to match it. The whole experience of using this old radio,
visually, auditory, olfactory, to me it brings back the magic I felt
when I started out as a radio hobbyist as a young teenager in the early 1980s.<span class="text_exposed_show"> Finding a NC-183D outside of the United States is not a very common occasion.<br /> </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">I'm a sucker for old amateur rigs and communication receivers, but mostly I can resist the urge
to buy them (so far I had been able to keep the collection constrained to a <i>Yaesu FTdx-100</i> transceiver and a <i>Signal Corps BC-312-M</i> receiver). But this one I really had to have. The predecessor of this
particular model, the <i>National NC-173</i>, which in appearance is almost identical to
the NC-183D, was used in 1947 by the two radiomen aboard the balsa raft
of <i>Thor Heyerdahl</i>'s legendary <i>Kon-Tiki expedition</i> across the Pacific.
The photos and film footage I've seen of this radio in use aboard the
raft had left an unerasable impression! See also my blog entry about amateur radio aboard the Kon-Tiki raft <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-kon-tiki-expedition-and-heroes-of.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /> </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">With its 30 Kg the NC-183D
definitely fits in the category "<i>boat anchors</i>" which vintage radio
enthusiasts often affectionately like to call their old radios.The
NC-183ND was manufactured by the <i>National Company Inc. </i>of Malden, Massachusetts, USA between 1952 and 1959. The radio's new price
was about US$ 380, which at the time was about one
fifth the price of a new car! </span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">I have some old <i>QST magazines</i> from the
1950s in my collection, and one of them (the October 1953 issue) contained this wonderful National
advertisement for the NC-183D shown in the pictures below. Coincidentally this issue on page 31 also contains an article on "How To Tune S.S.B. on <u>Any</u> Receiver". SSB was a novelty in those days, and even though a receiver was equipped with a BFO for CW reception, getting a clear, intelligible SSB signal from the radios of this era wasn't as straightforward. As I found out with the NC-183D, and as suggested by the QST article, turning down the RF Gain does the trick!</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> Imagine
the signals this radio might have picked up during its lifespan! Did it
pick up the signals of the <i>Sputnik-1</i> in 1957*? Did its owner listen to broadcast
stations playing the first Rock and Roll songs? Did it hear amateur
signals from countries that no longer exist? From countries across the
<i>Iron Curtain</i>? The NC-183D grew up during an exciting time in world
history, just imagine the endless possibilities of exciting signals this
radio might have picked up....</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">Below you'll find a list of selected links to webpages containing more information about the National NC-183D. More will be added over time.</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">"You can't <u>log</u> 'em if you can't <u>hear</u> 'em! No matter what else a receiver does, it must pull ém in! And that's just what the NC-183D does!"</span></i> is how National in 1953 advertised the radio, and amazingly this one after more than 60 years still does!</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">*<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Sputnik-1 was the world's first artificial satellite. It was put in space by the Soviet Union and signalled the start of the "space race" between the US and the USSR. The Sputnik-1 transmitted a 1 Watt signal on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. It could be easily picked up by amateur radio operators around the world. Even the US time signal station WWV halted its 20 MHz nighttime broadcasts to avoid interference to the Sputnik signal! Some more interesting links can be found below.</span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show">See also:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://people.ohio.edu/postr/bapix/NC-183D.htm" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">https://people.ohio.edu/postr/bapix/NC-183D.htm</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4423" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4423</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/national_nc_183dnc183.html" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/national_nc_183dnc183.html</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/national/nc183d/" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/national/nc183d/</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://jvgavila.com/nc183d.htm" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">http://jvgavila.com/nc183d.htm</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.prismnet.com/~nielw/nat_list/nc183d.htm" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">https://www.prismnet.com/~nielw/nat_list/nc183d.htm</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://www.radioing.com/museum/rx5.html" target="_blank">http://www.radioing.com/museum/rx5.html</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/satellite/russian-satellites/" target="_blank">http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/satellite/russian-satellites/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.arrl.org/news/remembering-the-launch-of-sputnik-1-earth-s-first-artificial-satellite" target="_blank"><span class="text_exposed_show">http://www.arrl.org/news/remembering-the-launch-of-sputnik-1-earth-s-first-artificial-satellite</span></a></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://mentallandscape.com/S_Sputnik1.htm" target="_blank">http://mentallandscape.com/S_Sputnik1.htm</a></span></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-50864232798207991372018-09-14T22:55:00.000+02:002018-09-19T20:17:25.455+02:00QSL card in the Spotlight: SV2ASP/A - Mount Athos<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yXO3zEV7a68ywdme_rWyf6hebeWi44pq914DEL_mOmbh1LNHSaaPkb7zyZrq__ZrO4XH2UvMCKeY32Cp0mGa3_Z4008LaR3QM-I65FBbzZ28W1OLO5Zk_EHgzG8THBKHbnkA2Ol7ec5J/s1600/20180914_190804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1600" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yXO3zEV7a68ywdme_rWyf6hebeWi44pq914DEL_mOmbh1LNHSaaPkb7zyZrq__ZrO4XH2UvMCKeY32Cp0mGa3_Z4008LaR3QM-I65FBbzZ28W1OLO5Zk_EHgzG8THBKHbnkA2Ol7ec5J/s640/20180914_190804.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I can't express just how incredibly happy I am with this wonderful QSL card from the legendary <i>Monk Apollo</i> of <i>Mount Athos</i>! I've written about the autonomous monastic state of Mount Athos before. Mount Athos forms a separate DXCC entity, and about the only chance of adding it to your list of DXCCs worked is Mount Athos resident and ham radio operator Monk Apollo. You can read more about it in my blog post <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2017/06/amateur-radio-in-autonomous-monastic.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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At least since I've been an amateur radio operator, Monk Apollo hasn't been very active on the ham bands, and when he is he's usually gone before you know it! And during those rare moments that Monk Apollo is QRV, the massive pile-ups that the elusive DXCC generates, make the chance of getting that QSO even slimmer.<br />
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But this summer, during the last weekend of my summer vacation, Monk Apollo suddenly and surprisingly spent a very large part of both the Saturday and Sunday making CW QSOs on the 20m band! If you still needed Mount Athos, this was your chance! It definitely was mine, and I took it! I was ecstatic when I finally succeeded in making that long dreamt of QSO with that wonderful, magical, mysterious, and elusive place! It was not only the thrill of working a new DXCC, but even more so of having my signals being picked up in magical Mount Athos, and of making a contact with the honourable and legendary Monk Apollo himself!Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-59858952736051503432018-08-31T00:00:00.000+02:002018-08-31T03:02:53.066+02:00Recommended Website<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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Wow, I really love this site by <i>Julian W. <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/OH8STN" target="_blank">OH8STN</a></i>, and I wonder why I haven't heard about this site before. It's packed with information, innovative ideas, and inspirational videos for the off-grid, outdoor, and QRP radio operator. Go check it out: <a href="http://oh8stn.org/" target="_blank"><i>HAM RADIO & OFF-GRID POWER - OH8STN.org</i></a><br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JV7eTmGCu_Q?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></center>
Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-89953401162770030752018-08-30T22:31:00.000+02:002020-05-23T15:06:21.416+02:00QRP Shopping<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 23.5.2020</span><br />
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I'm a QRP enthusiast and every now and then I like to browse the various sites of vendors selling QRP stuff, to get some inspiration for a new QRP homebrew project, or to find that special QRP gadget to complement or perfect my QRP and outdoor radio setup. I'm always looking for smaller and lighter! Problem is that I always forget those URLs and vendor names (there are many).<br />
So I've decided to compile this list of links, for myself, and for other QRP enthusiasts that happen to stumble across my blog site. Happy shopping!<br />
<br />
<i>Four State QRP Group</i> (of HI-PER-MITE CW AF filter fame)<br />
<a href="http://www.4sqrp.com/" target="_blank">www.4sqrp.com/</a><br />
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<i>QRPme</i> (of RockMite QRP CW transceiver fame)<br />
<a href="http://qrpme.com/" target="_blank">qrpme.com</a><br />
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<i>QRPGuys</i><br />
<a href="http://qrpguys.com/" target="_blank">qrpguys.com</a><br />
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<i>SOTABEAMS</i><br />
<a href="http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.sotabeams.co.uk</a><br />
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<i>QRP Labs</i> (of Ultimate3S WSPR transmitter and QCX QRP CW transceiver fame)<br />
<a href="http://www.qrp-labs.com/" target="_blank">www.qrp-labs.com</a><br />
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<i>Kanga Products</i><br />
<a href="http://www.kanga-products.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.kanga-products.co.uk</a><br />
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<i>EMTECH</i> (of ZM-2 antenna tuner fame)<br />
<a href="http://steadynet.com/emtech" target="_blank">steadynet.com/emtech</a><br />
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<i>QRPproject</i><br />
<a href="http://www.qrpproject.de/" target="_blank">www.qrpproject.de</a><br />
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<i>QRP Club of New England</i> (of NEScaf AF filter fame)<br />
<a href="http://www.newenglandqrp.org/" target="_blank">www.newenglandqrp.org</a> <br />
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<i>NorCal QRP Club</i><br />
<a href="http://www.norcalqrp.org/" target="_blank">www.norcalqrp.org</a><br />
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<i>LNR Precision Inc. </i> (of Mountain Topper QRP CW transceiver fame)<br />
<a href="http://www.lnrprecision.com/" target="_blank">www.lnrprecision.com</a> <br />
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<i>KD1JV Designs</i> (the famous Steve Weber of Appalachian Trail Sprint and Mountain Topper QRP CW transceivers fame)<br />
<a href="http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/" target="_blank">kd1jv.qrpradio.com</a><br />
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<i>Pacific Antenna QRP Kits</i><br />
<a href="http://www.qrpkits.com/" target="_blank">www.qrpkits.com</a><br />
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<i>Funkbox</i><br />
<a href="http://funkbox-shop.de/" target="_blank">funkbox-shop.de</a><br />
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<i>Palm Radio</i> (of Palm Mini / Pico Paddle fame)<br />
<a href="http://www.palm-radio.de/" target="_blank">www.palm-radio.de</a><br />
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<i>Hamshop.cz </i><br />
<a href="http://www.hamshop.cz/" target="_blank">www.hamshop.cz</a><br />
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<i>Lambdahalbe / Informationstechnik </i><br />
<a href="http://www.lambdahalbe.de/" target="_blank">www.lambdahalbe.de</a><br />
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<i>Pixie Kits</i> <i><span style="color: red;">new!</span></i><br />
<a href="http://pixiekits.com/" target="_blank">Pixiekits.com</a><br />
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<i>RV3YF.store <span style="color: red;"> new!</span></i><br />
<a href="https://rv3yf.us/" target="_blank">rv3ys.us</a><br />
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More links will be added to this list over time. If you have suggestions for sites to be added, just let me know, or post your links in a comment.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-3732491978605990412018-08-16T21:02:00.003+02:002018-08-16T21:48:00.278+02:00EME Conference 2018<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtRKY67CaYdm2oapxAjTtomEZNOZrj0Ryg6hkSAfJxYfrPw5oDq8pq8wuz3yTc7QOPnk8xqYt7ME50oVjaLMiYrifHtIMcH8zZh7QLC7cAAYcS39XHcYEGF-wZ1kGrBe8L9XHFW22uxpb/s1600/Image11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="369" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtRKY67CaYdm2oapxAjTtomEZNOZrj0Ryg6hkSAfJxYfrPw5oDq8pq8wuz3yTc7QOPnk8xqYt7ME50oVjaLMiYrifHtIMcH8zZh7QLC7cAAYcS39XHcYEGF-wZ1kGrBe8L9XHFW22uxpb/s320/Image11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.eme2018.nl/" target="_blank">www.eme2018.nl</a></td></tr>
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The 18th edition of the <i>International EME Conference</i> will be hosted by the Netherlands. It will take place on August 15-19 in Egmond aan Zee. Every two years the International EME Conference is the place to be to meet fellow "moonbounce" enthusiasts from all over the world.<br />
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It has always been my dream to one day make an EME contact, and a couple of years back my dream came true; with a low-budget moonbounce set-up (a single 10 el. yagi and 100 Watts) from my small backyard I managed to make two 2m EME contacts, one with <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/I2FAK" target="_blank"><i>I2FAK</i></a> and one with <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/KB8RQ" target="_blank"><i>KB8RQ</i></a>. To me, EME is the ultimate DX, the ultimate in a ham's carreer.<br />
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So, I believe I'm entitled to say that I belong to the EME "incrowd". I will be attending the EME Conference on Saturday. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the EME experts and to learning more and being inspired during the various and numerous lectures.<br />
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The first International EME conference was held in New York City in 1966. Below a history of past editions in chronological order:<br />
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<ul>
<li>1. 1966 New York City, USA</li>
<li>2. 1968 Paramus, NJ, USA</li>
<li>3. 1988 Thorn, Netherlands</li>
<li>4. 1990 Trenton, NJ, USA</li>
<li>5. 1992 Thorn, Netherlands</li>
<li>6. 1994 Göteborg, Sweden</li>
<li>7. 1996 Bowie, MD, USA</li>
<li>8. 1998 Parigi, France</li>
<li>9. 2000 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil</li>
<li>10. 2002 Prague, Czech Republic</li>
<li>11. 2004 Trenton, NJ, USA</li>
<li>12. 2006 Würzburg, Germany</li>
<li>13. 2008 Firenze, Italy</li>
<li>14. 2010 Dallas, TX, USA</li>
<li>15. 2012 Cambridge, UK</li>
<li>16. 2014 Lannion, France</li>
<li>17. 2016 Venice, Italy</li>
</ul>
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For the local ham club I wrote a short article (sorry, only in Dutch) describing all the steps that led to the final result of my low-budget EME setup, and to the succesfull EME contacts I managed to make with it, hoping to inspire others to also try setting up a similar EME station. The article can be found <a href="http://www.pi4vad.nl/?p=897" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Below the QSL cards received for my EME contact with I2FAK and KB8RQ. Looking at them still fills me with pride!<br />
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See also:<br />
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<a href="http://www.ok2kkw.com/eme1960/eme1960eng.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ok2kkw.com/eme1960/eme1960eng.htm - The first Amateur Lunar tests and contacts</a> (I love this site, check it out!) <br />
<br />Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-20647848308690922018-08-07T21:43:00.000+02:002018-08-08T23:32:59.383+02:00Swedish icebreaker Oden and the mystery of SA2LLL/63<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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This is the Swedish icebreaker <i>Oden</i>. Built in 1988 and originally used in winter time to keep open the shipping lanes of the Gulf of Bothnia, she was later modified to be used as a polar research vessel. The Oden has been on many expeditions both to the Arctic and the Antarctic, and she was the first non-nuclear surface vessel to reach the geographic North Pole! Seven more visits to the North Pole have followed since.<br />
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Currently the Oden is on a research expedition called <i>Arctic Ocean 2018</i>, a joint effort of the <i>Swedish Polar Research Secretariat</i> and the USA's <i>National Science Foundation</i>. At the beginning of August, the Oden left Longyearbyen, Svalbard and started the first part of the expedition to the north polar pack ice. At some point during the expedition, for the duration of about one month, the Oden will be moored at a large Arctic Ocean ice floe and will slowly drift with it towards the North Pole.<br />
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The good news for the ham community is that onboard the Oden is amateur radio operator<i> Lars Lehnert <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/SA2LLL" target="_blank">SA2LLL</a></i> (<i>ex DL1LLL</i>). According to <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/SA2LLL" target="_blank">his <i>qrz.com</i> page</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/8s8oden-254266508479421/" target="_blank">his special <i>Facebook</i> page</a>, Lars will be active from the Oden with the special callsign <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/8S8ODEN" target="_blank"><i>8S8ODEN</i></a>, in PSK, SSB, and WSPR!<br />
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I noticed that at the end of July and on August 1st, Lars was already making WSPR spots from the Oden as <i>SA2LLL/MM</i> on the 20m band from grid JQ78tf (Longyearbyen, Svalbard) (<b>Fig. 1</b>). I was not aware of this, and unfortunately was not doing any 20m WSPRing during that time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi-YBbt_nQXMQ7CYqksPlQryDE5Q4FZAbGlTmB0vHEkDlOB6j16_RdlZBeaa9Fox3m4lYihKwbb7XlEF5N7zhRm2-kF-ianQAnbJGnQHmD1ldzKnxfZej5KmOvod1MKxrBf-VqNav0HMp/s1600/Image7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="953" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi-YBbt_nQXMQ7CYqksPlQryDE5Q4FZAbGlTmB0vHEkDlOB6j16_RdlZBeaa9Fox3m4lYihKwbb7XlEF5N7zhRm2-kF-ianQAnbJGnQHmD1ldzKnxfZej5KmOvod1MKxrBf-VqNav0HMp/s400/Image7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fig. 1</b> Lars Lehnert SA2LLL/MM making spots on 20m WSPR from the Swedish icebreaker Oden in grid JQ78tf.</td></tr>
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When I was doing a 20m WSPR monitoring-only session though on August 3rd, I did receive some WSPR transmissions from <i>SA2LLL/63</i>, three in total, all consistently on 14.097042 MHz and with a DT of around 4 seconds (which is unusually large) (<b>Fig. 2</b>). I have no doubt this was Lars WSPRing from the Oden in the Arctic Ocean, but I have no clue what the /63 stands for. My WSJT-X did not upload the spots to <a href="http://wsprnet.org/" target="_blank"><i>WSPRnet.org</i></a>, or at the database were simply ignored, most likely due to the received messages not containing a grid locator.<br />
I checked the WSPRnet.org database, but no SA2LLL/63 spots could be found at all made by any other listeners.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mvhIr3EdF1TOSOQF2k-2cO_9UKUwxwkdSzExxZgyMYK3UqL0dr_jiDSt-T1TDonZtyHV8CbLtxQ9d3pkdxFdxjzZO-0gJucPrfpLPiNRpi6i_rKPcFlTapbZcG3fVJFwNDOagKxiRHrq/s1600/Image2small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1022" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mvhIr3EdF1TOSOQF2k-2cO_9UKUwxwkdSzExxZgyMYK3UqL0dr_jiDSt-T1TDonZtyHV8CbLtxQ9d3pkdxFdxjzZO-0gJucPrfpLPiNRpi6i_rKPcFlTapbZcG3fVJFwNDOagKxiRHrq/s400/Image2small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fig. 2</b> PA7MDJ receiving SA2LLL/63 on 20m WSPR. Receiver and antenna used were an SDRPlay RSP1A and an EFHW wire antenna. Note the frequency and the unusual large DT!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then some time later that same day I received what probably was the matching second part of the SA2LLL/63 compound WSPR message (<b>Fig. 3</b>). When transmitting a compound callsign in WSPR it will be done in a two-transmission sequence; one carries the callsign and dBm power level, and the other carries the grid locator. When both are received, the WSJT-X or WSPR software will match the two transmissions in the decode screen.<br />
<br />
The grid received was JQ78tf, which, looking at the frequency and the fact that SA2LLL/MM already used this grid at the end of July / 1st of August I have no doubt this was also originating from the Oden (<b>Fig. 3</b>). Unfortunately my WSJT-X did not make the match with the SA2LLL/63 message part (probably a too long time between the last reception of the part containing the callsign and the second part containing the grid locator).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh870CkjLfQS23PvRxu73wjYJ9emC83I5pUcnVrDKQL9kPDXQ6AU17p097ojNJr7rt5V8z0aaIUeYzsKYszSFpgbMHBUnYl9MRsfy8UP41xq2jfQEejPfUPPCD_vbzESqFb-mjI1B_Y1fbH/s1600/Image4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="745" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh870CkjLfQS23PvRxu73wjYJ9emC83I5pUcnVrDKQL9kPDXQ6AU17p097ojNJr7rt5V8z0aaIUeYzsKYszSFpgbMHBUnYl9MRsfy8UP41xq2jfQEejPfUPPCD_vbzESqFb-mjI1B_Y1fbH/s400/Image4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fig. 3</b> PA7MDJ receiving the second part of the SA2LLL/63 compound message containing the grid locator. Note the frequency and the DT!</td></tr>
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Strange thing is that on August 3rd the Oden according to the special <a href="https://polarforskningsportalen.se/en/arctic/expeditions/arctic-ocean-2018" target="_blank">Arctic Ocean 2018 web page</a> was not in grid JQ78tf (Longyearbyen, Svalbard) anymore, but already was in another grid north of the Svalbard Archipelago (<b>Fig. 4</b>). It might be that Lars overlooked to update the grid locator (which is quite a hassle on a moving ship when not done automatically). What also puzzles me is why other monitoring stations (many of them equipped much better than I am) also failed to receive the complete matched compound transmissions (as shown by the lack of spots in the WSPRnet database).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdM93q2k67tRc6S-BgqWYJRwOzxJKL7P0rUqmxD_wV8ZBUlUTJ3g5dSUg4vGhaRLOi0PI9qFHei8CHuBap1SmGyXvfeJ_o66DRcauUbJ5AdkhSDEOpg7VsMSRHlldeZy1-9VG2VK-Ij8j/s1600/Image6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1589" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdM93q2k67tRc6S-BgqWYJRwOzxJKL7P0rUqmxD_wV8ZBUlUTJ3g5dSUg4vGhaRLOi0PI9qFHei8CHuBap1SmGyXvfeJ_o66DRcauUbJ5AdkhSDEOpg7VsMSRHlldeZy1-9VG2VK-Ij8j/s400/Image6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fig. 4</b> The position of the Oden on August 3rd, north of the Svalbard Archipelago.</td></tr>
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Then I remembered that the official WSPR manual notes that when sending compound callsigns, an add-on suffix can be either a single letter or one or two digits. A single letter! So in WSPR TX the /MM add-on will not be possible! I started wondering if maybe the /MM add-on when transmitted would decode into /63.<br />
I decided to do an experiment, and in the settings of my WSPR 2.0 program added /MM to my callsign. I let WSPR 2.0 do some TXing and with a virtual audio cable fed the audio to WSJT-X (please note, no actual RF transmitting was done!) And lo and behold, WSJT-X decoded the messages into PA7MDJ/63 (<b>Fig. 5</b>)! And also, WSJT-X failed to make a match between the two compound messages! I say no more, I guess the mystery is solved.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZLxiGWheE7AdWrhr2HF-AwVEaxTb7s3gynpqlf143blMdERhHrDHyb_hGCDRR15xo5jO3EM1LO-41yOYDQTQZm7vlX92-Uv00ZqTPQNADMqirOexajHuDWPyb3BEQFIFZUZwqbSPgWIo/s1600/Image8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1357" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ZLxiGWheE7AdWrhr2HF-AwVEaxTb7s3gynpqlf143blMdERhHrDHyb_hGCDRR15xo5jO3EM1LO-41yOYDQTQZm7vlX92-Uv00ZqTPQNADMqirOexajHuDWPyb3BEQFIFZUZwqbSPgWIo/s400/Image8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fig. 5</b> The experiment with PA7MDJ/MM sent by WSPR 2.0 and decoded as PA7MDJ/63 in WSJT-X. No match between the two compound messages is made (normally with a match the dots in the < ... > part would be replaced by the callsign).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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At PA7MDJ nothing has been heard from the Oden since August 3rd, but Lars mentions on the special 8S8ODEN Facebook page, that he can use the 8S8ODEN callsign as soon as they're in international waters. I'm now regularly monitoring 20m WSPR and anxiously await the special callsign to pop up in my WSJT-X decodes.<br />
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"Normal " satellite coverage (like INMARSAT) in the High Arctic is minimal to non-existent, and I guess any Facebook or other internet media updates from Lars during the expedition will be sporadic to none.<br />
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See also:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden_(1988_icebreaker)" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden_(1988_icebreaker)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.sjofartsverket.se/pages/41381/Oden%20f%c3%b6r%20webben.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sjofartsverket.se/pages/41381/Oden%20f%c3%b6r%20webben.pdf</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://polar.se/en/about-polar-research/icebreaker-oden/" target="_blank">https://polar.se/en/about-polar-research/icebreaker-oden/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.qrz.com/db/8s8oden" target="_blank">https://www.qrz.com/db/8s8oden</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/8s8oden-254266508479421/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/8s8oden-254266508479421/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://polarforskningsportalen.se/en/arctic/expeditions/arctic-ocean-2018" target="_blank">https://polarforskningsportalen.se/en/arctic/expeditions/arctic-ocean-2018</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.helenczerski.net/at-sea/" target="_blank">https://www.helenczerski.net/at-sea/</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.marinfloc.com/case-studies/15-breaking-ice-and-new-environmental-ground" target="_blank">http://www.marinfloc.com/case-studies/15-breaking-ice-and-new-environmental-ground</a></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-48486847884238880522018-07-24T19:16:00.000+02:002018-07-24T20:52:06.818+02:00Stay tuned for HAARP WSPR transmissions! <span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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Ok, what are they up to at <i>HAARP (</i>the <i>High Frequency Auroral Research Program</i> in Gakona, Alaska)? Are they really going to do it? Some recent posts by HAARP Chief Scientist <i>Chris Fallen</i> <i>KL3WX</i> on <i>Twitter</i> (see below) suggest that they're really going to do some tests in <i>WSPR</i> mode during the summer research campaign coming up soon!<br />
I like the thought of maybe being one of the initiators of these HAARP WSPR tests; I suggested using WSPR mode to Chris Fallen in a Twitter post long time ago, and I also suggested it in my blog post / open letter to Chris Fallen <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-quest-for-haarp-open-letter-to.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
I'm really excited about this news, and I'm really looking forward to catching some WSPR signals from HAARP soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_B4dYGb-JlbM-2OJGMfe6LPA0r_SVUbLPnty8XjWAlJE3JEP2nBuXto3Ogedcws4YGpDdDWvLZRwhIaD5n1F1US4jscTat4uooE8SATrHBrtAF1vZb9PaxM4PH8oPhbuzRvRFDMP94Ve/s1600/ChrisFallenTwitter002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="590" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_B4dYGb-JlbM-2OJGMfe6LPA0r_SVUbLPnty8XjWAlJE3JEP2nBuXto3Ogedcws4YGpDdDWvLZRwhIaD5n1F1US4jscTat4uooE8SATrHBrtAF1vZb9PaxM4PH8oPhbuzRvRFDMP94Ve/s400/ChrisFallenTwitter002.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DLrpirOUAV4Xm1hdoUq8hdY_hZYzI8qAKA83heGgpQ2YTEZU3CmGUXNWgoKvgT-VgmU2jK01imIMnvd2hein44Yanlgtfpj5TFiigRAnH9a63DtNrIwyQ4kdQPT1jIa9Dpmq1d8cBhTi/s1600/ChrisFallenTwitter003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="590" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DLrpirOUAV4Xm1hdoUq8hdY_hZYzI8qAKA83heGgpQ2YTEZU3CmGUXNWgoKvgT-VgmU2jK01imIMnvd2hein44Yanlgtfpj5TFiigRAnH9a63DtNrIwyQ4kdQPT1jIa9Dpmq1d8cBhTi/s400/ChrisFallenTwitter003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8rH4GACS-uo3WsjKJoKGDBMK3MQ5D3uPfMourFyvqohY28m5kEIFaDSfNN8X4x7ebo8-bvLBAfJYwvZzqhAU8KEPHBzNo_IGXcrapNKrbZB_hLBkiLl16IXKejG7_YWHN52Y2PtvFOwP/s1600/ChrisFallenTwitter004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="139" data-original-width="590" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8rH4GACS-uo3WsjKJoKGDBMK3MQ5D3uPfMourFyvqohY28m5kEIFaDSfNN8X4x7ebo8-bvLBAfJYwvZzqhAU8KEPHBzNo_IGXcrapNKrbZB_hLBkiLl16IXKejG7_YWHN52Y2PtvFOwP/s400/ChrisFallenTwitter004.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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During the last research campaign, in the spring of 2018, I was quite successful at receiving and identifying one of the HAARP transmissions. The observed odd off time of one of their transmissions on 9.500 MHz helped me identify with 100 percent certainty the received signal as coming from HAARP.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyH4cDiIOOiXjd430XiZp9eHonFS_TlznM0Uuzn7aFgd6i2weD3iLZbYb1SI30CHW9bbt9cChExWA8N0eOZUfRRZUGTHAr2HXDitPUUE6-k79ivpUBWpuTQCVBCOHcvLBQmM9wc4i2rAs/s1600/Image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1593" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZyH4cDiIOOiXjd430XiZp9eHonFS_TlznM0Uuzn7aFgd6i2weD3iLZbYb1SI30CHW9bbt9cChExWA8N0eOZUfRRZUGTHAr2HXDitPUUE6-k79ivpUBWpuTQCVBCOHcvLBQmM9wc4i2rAs/s400/Image001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HAARP signal as received by PA7MDJ on 9.500 MHz on April 8th, 2018 made visible in <i>Spectran</i> and <i>Argo</i> which clearly shows the off time of 01:29:30 UTC, exactly as announced by Chris Fallen on Twitter (see below). This positively identifies the signal as coming from HAARP. Click to enlarge.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5BwQaWcuQk1SbDUn4HeZMA8n35hG9fnUbqjcHd-lE9d02auTsNrUYcIwNxLN3TYkqRhnEmzUD5D8jN2X3sevZNdNS6vS7J0XFJqFlIOfHru8LM3Xj3U5vYyBw-Evk5d7lYSpbc2bKOb2/s1600/ChrisFallenTwitter005.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="590" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5BwQaWcuQk1SbDUn4HeZMA8n35hG9fnUbqjcHd-lE9d02auTsNrUYcIwNxLN3TYkqRhnEmzUD5D8jN2X3sevZNdNS6vS7J0XFJqFlIOfHru8LM3Xj3U5vYyBw-Evk5d7lYSpbc2bKOb2/s400/ChrisFallenTwitter005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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During one of their earlier campaigns I was already successful at receiving
HAARP on 9.500 MHz, but then the observed off time of exactly at the hour
left some room for doubt (although not much, see my blog post <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-quest-for-haarp-open-letter-to.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
The received HAARP signals consisted of a carrier only, and there was
no other way to identify the signals than by observing the start / off
times of the received signal and to see if they correspond to the announced start / off times. The HAARP
WSPR signals without doubt will be a lot easier to identify.<br />
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If you're interested in my other blog entries about HAARP, take a look <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/search/label/HAARP" target="_blank">here</a>.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-15264199903405751712018-07-16T20:28:00.000+02:002018-07-16T20:45:19.527+02:00Recommended reading<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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Just some interesting articles I've recently discovered and that I'd like to share. One about the mystery of <i>Long Delayed Echoes</i> that every now and then are observed on the MF and HF bands, and one about <i>Portable Amateur Radio</i> in the 1960s and up until now.<br />
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<a href="http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~sverre/LDE" target="_blank">The Five Most Likely Explanations for Long Delayed Echoes</a> by Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, University of Oslo<br />
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<a href="http://w7zoi.net/stroke7_2010/port67.html" target="_blank">Portable Amateur Radio, W7ZOI/7</a> by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI <br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcoHum57nnyzh95Vls5WmaKdFyPyXhr2jdxzcFFX61SILcqK_5Gn9WjqfcIk_FgU8NQ8TxDm85tuQuFgqE1eyWiHppjI0x9MoYCiK00-oLv91rl8AJZl3rdXXthmHzQS_sSlOczAxCaxoE/s1600/adams_summit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="589" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcoHum57nnyzh95Vls5WmaKdFyPyXhr2jdxzcFFX61SILcqK_5Gn9WjqfcIk_FgU8NQ8TxDm85tuQuFgqE1eyWiHppjI0x9MoYCiK00-oLv91rl8AJZl3rdXXthmHzQS_sSlOczAxCaxoE/s640/adams_summit.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wes Hayward in 1967 operating W7ZOI/7 on the summit of Mt. Adams, Washington State (<a href="http://w7zoi.net/stroke7_2010/port67.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Addendum:</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">Also make sure to check out <a href="http://la3za.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sverre Holm's excellent blog</a> with lots of entries on QRP operation, Pixies, Altoid projects, Unusual HF propagation, and much more!</span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-64702435212139912742018-07-05T20:57:00.000+02:002018-07-10T21:05:19.502+02:00Magic Band Whispers - Morocco with 100 mW and an indoor dipole!<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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Mission accomplished: my 100 mW <i>WSPR</i> signal was received via <i>Sporadic E (Es)</i> on 6m in Morocco! This was one of the goals I had set for this Es season for 6m WSPR (see also my <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/05/6m-sporadic-e-and-maldives-on-20m-wspr.html" target="_blank">blog entry of May 17th</a>). The transmitter and antenna used were a <i>QRP Labs U3S</i> and a simple homebrew indoor dipole in the attic for the 6m band!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV45hUezIieveVFA3VLvi5nSdjYdJts88n6ASzPP5vzwVlCFhF0310LOHFCPwR7exH-ukHzRC3qx_fSwzJ5BY9NzOy70Jl9p1rrNXL7P-Kz1kq5KVMVS6aYhcih6uSx1SpmKXFdwYdpFXo/s1600/CN8LI_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1052" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV45hUezIieveVFA3VLvi5nSdjYdJts88n6ASzPP5vzwVlCFhF0310LOHFCPwR7exH-ukHzRC3qx_fSwzJ5BY9NzOy70Jl9p1rrNXL7P-Kz1kq5KVMVS6aYhcih6uSx1SpmKXFdwYdpFXo/s400/CN8LI_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CN8LI in Morocco hearing PA7MDJ</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpWOQ_DXRVd1v6fZkHnUPFX8rkCsmmh6yE-kTBj4D9ZC9IDC1T7v8gszo29IhXqBLfFPBy_A3iFqGzV8gxaLV6k0tir4fU8JaoZcOGfXDlSL1wM4ir3pclISCm7XuOySn_ZKcv1CcX5Ex/s1600/CN8LI_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="795" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpWOQ_DXRVd1v6fZkHnUPFX8rkCsmmh6yE-kTBj4D9ZC9IDC1T7v8gszo29IhXqBLfFPBy_A3iFqGzV8gxaLV6k0tir4fU8JaoZcOGfXDlSL1wM4ir3pclISCm7XuOySn_ZKcv1CcX5Ex/s400/CN8LI_003.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12 hours period of 6m WSPR reception at CN8LI</td></tr>
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Morocco is my 70th DXCC reached with WSPR with <span class="ILfuVd yZ8quc">≤ </span>200 mW of power.<br />
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<a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/CN8LI" target="_blank"><i>CN8LI</i></a> keeps an interesting blog on <a href="http://cn8li73.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">cn8li73.blogspot.com</a>.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-41303405431191714372018-05-18T00:54:00.000+02:002018-05-20T01:57:43.462+02:00Yaesu YF-122C CW filter / QRP CW contact with the Faroe Islands<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 20.05.2018</span><br />
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I'd been looking into buying a narrow CW filter for my <i>Yaesu FT-817nd</i> rig for some time, but the high price (about € 130) for both the <i>YF-122C</i> (500 Hz) and <i>YF-122CN</i> (300 Hz) had been holding me back. But this week I got the opportunity to buy a used YF-122C filter for less than half the price of a new one. I couldn't let this offer go.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Yaesu FT-817nd last summer on the summit of Pilatus mountain in Switzerland</td></tr>
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Today the filter was delivered by the mailman. I spent about half an hour on installing the filter, and after some initial tests I must say it's working great! Installation of one of the optional filters into the FT-817nd is easy; just take out some screws, remove the rig's top case, and push the filter board onto the designated pins on the main board of the transceiver!<br />
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The 500 Hz filter will definitely make CW QSOs with the FT-817 a lot easier, and I'm all ready to do some more<i> SOTA</i> activations with it coming summer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before installation. The filter goes onto the main board in the designated free space opposite of the tuning knob.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After installation</td></tr>
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After installation of the filter I made a nice CW contact with the FT-817 with <i>OY1CT</i> on the Faroe Islands. The contact was made as <i>PA7MDJ/QRP</i> on 20m using just 5 Watts and my <i>HyEndFed 10/20/30</i> wire antenna. You can listen to the contact below (sorry for the background noises, please don't pay attention to them, hi). This contact was made with the 500 Hz filter activated.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/446038782%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-JMXnI&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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And while talking about the FT-817, one site I always like to return to for more information about this popular QRP and backpack rig is "<a href="http://www.ka7oei.com/ft817pg.shtml" target="_blank">The KA7OEI FT-817 pages</a>". Another interesting site is "<a href="http://www.k6xx.com/ft817/ft817.html" target="_blank">K6XX's FT-817 page</a>". If you're a FT-817(nd) owner these sites might be of interest to you as well.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-44712604150617444992018-05-17T23:30:00.000+02:002018-07-05T21:08:49.514+02:006m Sporadic E and the Maldives on 20m (WSPR chatter 5)<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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It's May and that means that the <i>Sporadic E</i> (<i>Es</i>) season is upon us. I've always been fascinated by this unusual radio propagation phenomenon, and I have fond memories for instance of the 1990s when I did a lot of <i>VHF band I</i> TV DXing, with Es during spring and summer enabling me to catch TV stations from all over Europe and sometimes even beyond.<br />
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For this Es season I had planned to do some 6m <i>WSPR</i>ing with my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i>. So recently I quickly built the U3S 6m LPF kit that had been lying around for some time, and I also made a simple 6m dipole. And with simple I mean really simple; just some wire cut to resonance, some pvc pipe insulators, and lots of hot glue. The antenna is placed indoors in the attic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5MWe4EQQpiYwDmwIsbbmFC-tDQQY0pOJsAU2rNgyQuveEf76cpQqEp4v24jo1z9DHxNjTCg7AWO3dEA1Fi90Q0egTcNSupdHg-oS9CfQ3Jetx2lAyOK8QsxY2lMIB70_RkKFRMmQNES6/s1600/image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5MWe4EQQpiYwDmwIsbbmFC-tDQQY0pOJsAU2rNgyQuveEf76cpQqEp4v24jo1z9DHxNjTCg7AWO3dEA1Fi90Q0egTcNSupdHg-oS9CfQ3Jetx2lAyOK8QsxY2lMIB70_RkKFRMmQNES6/s400/image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The centre insulator of the simple indoor dipole made for 6m WSPR</td></tr>
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With my U3S on the HF bands frequency drift never had been a real issue (mostly 0 on the lower bands, and mostly 0 to 1 or an occasional 2 Hz on the 20m band), but now on 6m the drift was considerable, mostly 4 Hz, probably making decodes impossible or difficult. But setting the "<a href="https://www.qrp-labs.com/synth/freqstab.html" target="_blank">park mode frequency</a>" to mode 2 and 150 MHz (to keep the U3S' DDS warm in between transmissions) cured the problem and reduced the drift down to 0 to 1 Hz.<br />
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The power of the U3S on 6m is less than on HF; on the "Magic band" I measured it puts out less than a 100 mW.<br />
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Es conditions so far haven't been great, and I've also noticed that there isn't really much of a "WSPR scene" on 6m (which I find very strange, as 6m is really interesting to do WSPRing on to study the unusual and fascinating propagation phenomena of this band). Nevertheless, a couple of days ago my tiny 6m Es WSPR signals were spotted for the first time thanks to <i>SV2HNH</i> in Greece. On HF it wouldn't be that special, but now I was really excited about it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWb-alkmtpMh0su_v2I59hy7TeShpAJ0RbdcragMmtVUzLfcD51QeIJE5EbWWaw8Mdr1uauq4uxNgF6a9z3Ua_2ZC0pM1j9h4tG_ozvXmrhvYIEz3jTlJAhXJLGvruO5ujz7A36rRVXyo/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1321" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWb-alkmtpMh0su_v2I59hy7TeShpAJ0RbdcragMmtVUzLfcD51QeIJE5EbWWaw8Mdr1uauq4uxNgF6a9z3Ua_2ZC0pM1j9h4tG_ozvXmrhvYIEz3jTlJAhXJLGvruO5ujz7A36rRVXyo/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SV2HNH hearing PA7MDJ on 6m</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBF-hg5JVLY0jf7TB5VBMi3IaYSt6ymjm81c_TBed1ONrN26r8XYJlriBrNfkOxatxCL2xxKCXmUPBbqAH04J_3s0lV1uDRnu4Vf1JIBGgMvjemQsZ8e82yICknJcrN5jAhP70ZDeVlgON/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="884" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBF-hg5JVLY0jf7TB5VBMi3IaYSt6ymjm81c_TBed1ONrN26r8XYJlriBrNfkOxatxCL2xxKCXmUPBbqAH04J_3s0lV1uDRnu4Vf1JIBGgMvjemQsZ8e82yICknJcrN5jAhP70ZDeVlgON/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I will be WSPRing on 6m this Es season on and off. There's a very active monitoring station in Morocco (<i>CN8LI</i>), and for the remainder of the season I've set my goal to having my WSPR signals picked up by this station at least once.<br />
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Further exciting news is that my 200 mW WSPR signals were picked up on 20m by <i>8Q7HI </i>on the <i>Maldives</i>, my 69th DXCC reached with 200 mW WSPR (see my WSPR DXCC list <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/p/blog-page_7.html" target="_blank">here</a>). TX was my U3S, and the antenna used was a <i>HyEndFed 10/20/40</i>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8Q7HI hearing PA7MDJ on 20m</td></tr>
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See also:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporadic_E_propagation" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporadic_E_propagation</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_I" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_I</a></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-70335919815104020272018-05-05T19:13:00.000+02:002018-05-18T01:24:46.073+02:00Life's too short for QRP! (WSPR chatter 4)<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 06.05.2018</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><i>Latest news 06.05.2018 - DJ0HO/MM has been confirmed as being located on the German icebreaker and research vessel RV Polarstern! See the addendum below! </i></span><br />
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I like the challenge of WSPRíng with 200 mW with my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i>. But sometimes you really want to be spotted by that special station, and after trying for a while you start to realize that 200 mW just ain't going to cut it, at least not without some extraordinary propagation conditions helping out.<br />
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Such was the case for me with <i>DJ0HO/MM</i>. This station the past two months or so had been making WSPR spots from the area around the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands (see also my <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/2018/04/wspr-chatter.html" target="_blank">blog entry of April 7</a>). I really wanted to be spotted by this station, but my 200 mW WSPR sgnals just everytime failed to excite some electrons in the station's antenna.<br />
So, giving the popular ham radio phrase "Life's too short for QRP" new meaning, I gave the U3S some rest and decided to do some WSPRing on the 20m band with my <i>Yaesu FT991 </i>instead, using no less than a massive 5 Watts of power, yes, 5000 mW! :-) In WSPR, and compared to the 200 mW I normally use, this was like going from QRP to high power QRO operations! :-) And it really showed; I got way more spots, much better SNR reports, and while I was at it I was spotted by stations in Japan, India and New Zealand to boot, countries I haven't been able to reach yet with my 200 mW signals (see also my <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/p/blog-page_7.html" target="_blank">WSPR DXCC list</a>). But most importantly, I was finally also spotted by DJ0HO/MM!<br />
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The first spot for PA7MDJ from DJ0HO/MM appeared on April 29th from grid GC29ma, just north of the mysterious, remote, and desolate <i>Elephant Island</i>. Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island, it's part of the South Shetland Islands, but lies in its extreme outer reaches. The island was named for the many elephant seals spotted on its shores by the early explorers. Elephant Island is most famous for having been the refuge of <i>Sir Ernest Shackleton</i> and his men marooned there after the loss of their ship in the Weddel Sea during the <i>Endurance Expedition</i> in 1915.<br />
A second spot appeared two days later from grid GC39al. The antenna I used during both spots was a sloping dipole for the 20m band.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRKv5MDZ0Yg-hU4MTRg6JtsjJeJ50fJfXbjuggZBOOIIOFUTlc2v2f4Cq6QrWDXHSe6lnXzqYfTYz8M669gSMZU3LSHnJEVswR1QZ-VAbas1XdTQpYuBDL4Y2MLxziY__FAYqGkxQ3bUe/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1122" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWRKv5MDZ0Yg-hU4MTRg6JtsjJeJ50fJfXbjuggZBOOIIOFUTlc2v2f4Cq6QrWDXHSe6lnXzqYfTYz8M669gSMZU3LSHnJEVswR1QZ-VAbas1XdTQpYuBDL4Y2MLxziY__FAYqGkxQ3bUe/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant Island. Photo by Terry Allan (<a href="https://www.allenfotowild.com/Sub-Antarctic-Tierra-del-Fuego/South-Orkney-Elephant-Island/Elephant-Island-and-Point-Wild/i-NvH7bgj/" target="_blank">source</a>).</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-zNgs6Fz9_aKf98ld1nU-FOt2xD42y_vV-euzS4spa8iDegW83m1MfXLq1lbBYHxWJjqkj6K-3DjnYViiVBBpBJLejnl37sp-Fq6CcPTdShUnmVbGUwB-wt8an9reSlXfrzH4nv5g68v/s1600/Image4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1321" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-zNgs6Fz9_aKf98ld1nU-FOt2xD42y_vV-euzS4spa8iDegW83m1MfXLq1lbBYHxWJjqkj6K-3DjnYViiVBBpBJLejnl37sp-Fq6CcPTdShUnmVbGUwB-wt8an9reSlXfrzH4nv5g68v/s400/Image4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnSReaKBIpijY25MwrEB2Wj8UixPfYDQn3CsrZk7cauX4_Zo4k16ItCFi5UsUYjeE1TRcwTjfnhTD6zfocrpwx8ydnyQvERgfHSYkCx-IMaWnLIXJuP7k-vxhm4hg645F8XJy-4oOPu3l/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1321" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnSReaKBIpijY25MwrEB2Wj8UixPfYDQn3CsrZk7cauX4_Zo4k16ItCFi5UsUYjeE1TRcwTjfnhTD6zfocrpwx8ydnyQvERgfHSYkCx-IMaWnLIXJuP7k-vxhm4hg645F8XJy-4oOPu3l/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DJ0HO/MM near Elephant Island hearing PA7MDJ on April 29th, 2018</td></tr>
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Raising the power from 200 mW to 5 W is not automatically a guarantee that your signals will be picked up, and the fact that I was spotted by DJ0HO/MM only twice shows that it was still no easy feat.<br />
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DJ0HO does not have a <i>qrz.com</i> account, and it surprises me that almost no information can be found on either DJ0HO or the WSPR operations of DJ0HO/MM. The only thing I've been able to find is that the callsign belongs to a <i>Dr. Walter Jörg Hofmann</i>, the owner / skipper of a sailing yacht. I initially thought the WSPR monitoring was done from this sailing yacht. But the past few days on the map of <i>wsprnet.org</i> I noticed that, after having spent many weeks in the Antarctic, DJ0HO/MM was moving up north, and at some point had reached the southern tip of South America and was sailing just east of Tierra del Fuego. I'm no expert at maritime navigation, but the speed at which DJ0HO/MM had managed to sail from Elephant Island to Tierra del Fuego made me suspect that this could not be a sailing yacht. At the time of writing the last spot in the wsprnet.org database from DJ0HO/MM was made on May 4th from grid FD66it.<br />
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I started to suspect that DJ0HO/MM was operated from a bigger ship, maybe a research vessel. In that case the most likely candidate would be the German research and supply vessel <i>RV Polarstern</i>. I checked the ship's 2018 schedule and learned that from March 17th to May 6th the ship was on a biological oceanographic research cruise (PS112) in the area "WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA SCOTIA SEA". The cruise would end on May 6th in Punta Arenas, Chile, which would have the ship sailing along the coast of Tierra del Fuego just prior to it! This schedule corresponds VERY closely to the movements I've seen for DJ0HO/MM!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEUN8ILCy4DCHTKyJkB0txorNhcRq9YdKmirnk5yrdlFSh_dcF59OT8oNpigzjLaJD5xszrhD8i-VCZbk1vKrDAJl-nktpsXwmot-0c4_rjBUYfFaXN1hMFdu4mjepYQ2xMY7lce4gHv8/s1600/Image5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1600" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivEUN8ILCy4DCHTKyJkB0txorNhcRq9YdKmirnk5yrdlFSh_dcF59OT8oNpigzjLaJD5xszrhD8i-VCZbk1vKrDAJl-nktpsXwmot-0c4_rjBUYfFaXN1hMFdu4mjepYQ2xMY7lce4gHv8/s400/Image5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The RV Polarstern (<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarstern_(Schiff)" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QwzYC2QWZ-k_vj_bv5mAx1HFRadKu_QPzH6vhOALeaCWaxAeugz7mq7i9YHRz2W5wQc_TV3i6_auLwcyfairSoYM4t-qxGnHr8PvPXr4GuTDRV6J0Frr2xc4rJKLXNMTyJbxNpIY9_kL/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="1187" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QwzYC2QWZ-k_vj_bv5mAx1HFRadKu_QPzH6vhOALeaCWaxAeugz7mq7i9YHRz2W5wQc_TV3i6_auLwcyfairSoYM4t-qxGnHr8PvPXr4GuTDRV6J0Frr2xc4rJKLXNMTyJbxNpIY9_kL/s400/Image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Polarstern 2018 schedule (<a href="https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/logistics/schedules.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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I thus can do none else than strongly suspect that DJ0HO/MM was located on board of the RV Polarstern! If somebody can confirm this, please contact me.<br />
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In other WSPR news; I've also been receiving some <i>High Altitude Balloon</i> WSPR flights including <i>SA6BSS</i> (BSS #?) over Greenland and <i>VE3KCL</i> (U3B-15) near Northern Africa. Also the hospital ship <i>USNS Mercy</i> (see also my <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/2018/04/us-naval-hospital-ship-usns-mercy-wspr.html" target="_blank">blog entry of April 27</a>) is still active, and I've been receiving its WSPR signals again, this time from Sri Lanka.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtoNMCqctklTnXLYMW1RbQCivpItwN2ADQOXEUGEfNTtYiNLPtmy2zJIArbRSrcQ6ZvbRSaT8km7TS48YZT0pG2EnPuAqPFYyJ_g4oNOE7Q7tGH-RbKWknxJzoJksbdBPMOYch43XacZh/s1600/Image6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1321" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtoNMCqctklTnXLYMW1RbQCivpItwN2ADQOXEUGEfNTtYiNLPtmy2zJIArbRSrcQ6ZvbRSaT8km7TS48YZT0pG2EnPuAqPFYyJ_g4oNOE7Q7tGH-RbKWknxJzoJksbdBPMOYch43XacZh/s400/Image6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WSPR balloon SA6BSS over Greenland heard by PA7MDJ</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Addendum 06.05.2018</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: red;"><b>DJ0HO/MM indeed is the RV Polarstern!</b></span> For some reason I'd missed it, but earlier <i>Felix Riess DL5XL</i> had already replied to my <a href="https://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/2018/04/wspr-chatter.html" target="_blank">blog entry of April 7th</a> with the following information:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #999999;">---</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">Jörg, DJ0HO, is an electronics engineer on board the German icebreaker
"Polarstern" (not exactly a "sailing yacht"). More information about the
ship can be found here:
https://www.awi.de/en/expedition/ships/polarstern.html - He uses a Red
Pitaya STEMLab 125-14 with an active receiving antenna to monitor up to
eight WSPR frequencies simultaneously and regularly uploads reception
results to wsprnet.org through the vessel's satellite link. DJ0HO will
be on board until the ship returns to its home port of Bremerhaven,
Germany, in June 2018.</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">---</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #999999;">Thanks for the input, Felix! I appreciate it very much!</span><br />
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See also:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.awi.de/en/expedition/ships/polarstern.html" target="_blank">https://www.awi.de/en/expedition/ships/polarstern.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Island" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Island</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition</a></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-37727954009447483772018-04-29T00:30:00.000+02:002018-05-06T03:01:55.774+02:00North to Alaska! (WSPR chatter 3)<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 30.04.2018</span><br />
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What a pleasant surprise this morning to see that my 200 mW WSPR signals on 20m had been spotted by <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/KL7L" target="_blank"><i>KL7L</i></a> in Alaska!<br />
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I used my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i> transmitter and a sloping dipole cut for resonance on 20m.<br />
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This is WSPR DXCC entity 68 for me. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIY1BIBbYeqjZ5zqnqoOLTVSLcsS5WHTUXBriRTrY098zd9bEcTmE847NCeI5CETNCVOrtfOCm5quiuuTn9ubu0F8qMPX9EicqwSAbH8ZhKZE3XhvGAnrBrUdF8FiYlEaDknPm5v4djG9/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1335" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIY1BIBbYeqjZ5zqnqoOLTVSLcsS5WHTUXBriRTrY098zd9bEcTmE847NCeI5CETNCVOrtfOCm5quiuuTn9ubu0F8qMPX9EicqwSAbH8ZhKZE3XhvGAnrBrUdF8FiYlEaDknPm5v4djG9/s400/Image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KL7L hearing PA7MDJ</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbf8s6CaXgPP9A8UZkURdwRqvBI94eKIIPq1iuq-MO2S_gn_Tc5O55mfveRfVc5KDyUIBJ7VLJNw-a1uQwoEr9gCkl1rfU3TUf-kIUW7NkrN2tnA8v0Oa4Q9jpbjwZyt_vmsWu8Dbt9e1/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="1112" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbf8s6CaXgPP9A8UZkURdwRqvBI94eKIIPq1iuq-MO2S_gn_Tc5O55mfveRfVc5KDyUIBJ7VLJNw-a1uQwoEr9gCkl1rfU3TUf-kIUW7NkrN2tnA8v0Oa4Q9jpbjwZyt_vmsWu8Dbt9e1/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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KL7L is operated by <i>Laurence Howell</i> from his receive facility at Hart Lake Fishook (grid BP51ip) near Wasilla. about 50 miles north of Anchorage. Laurence seems to be very active with VLF, LF and MF receiving experiments, for which the Hart Lake QTH seems to be the ideal location.<br />
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In <a href="http://alexander.n.se/receiving-saq-in-alaska/" target="_blank">this article</a> Laurence reports on his reception in Alaska of the VLF signals from the <a href="http://alexander.n.se/?lang=en" target="_blank"><i>SAQ Grimeton</i></a> transmitter in Sweden. You'll also find some photos there of the KL7L shack, the VLF antennas used, and the view from Hart Lake looking North over the Pole towards Europe (imagine, that's where my tiny WSPR signal came from!)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc1Wa8_QctB3KADkgzQ70n2_hOLv6B6w2jUzoAqWOrLDzR8eHBIYLNQ3ol86Tnsr8UAMCsywno2QzaLl2yljPbrJka_q-ra5fs97k5en8UvRlchHUFcn4vV9eMZ3ka8vwjNelOAkhHf8f/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc1Wa8_QctB3KADkgzQ70n2_hOLv6B6w2jUzoAqWOrLDzR8eHBIYLNQ3ol86Tnsr8UAMCsywno2QzaLl2yljPbrJka_q-ra5fs97k5en8UvRlchHUFcn4vV9eMZ3ka8vwjNelOAkhHf8f/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the KL7L Hart Lake receive facility looking North over the Pole towards Europe (imagine, that's where my tiny WSPR signal came from before being picked up by the antenna of KL7L!) (<a href="http://alexander.n.se/receiving-saq-in-alaska/" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD68DpmT7ZY" target="_blank">Here</a> you'll find a <i>YouTube</i> movie where Laurence shows a huge homebrew VLF receiving loop. More interesting YouTube videos from KL7L (user "hellozerohellozero") can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hellozerohellozero" target="_blank">here</a>.Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-54191438734527018992018-04-28T00:30:00.000+02:002018-04-28T03:07:32.394+02:00Homebrew SDR Tuning Knob Unit<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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This is my latest little homebrew project; a tuning knob unit for my <i>SDRPlay RSP1A</i> software defined radio receiver. The project was inspired by the article "Wireless Tuning Knob" in the April 2018 issue of the excellent <i>Practical Wireless</i> magazine.<br />
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To make an easy to use tuning knob for your SDR receiver, the PW article suggests using the inners of a cheap wireless computer mouse, removing the mouse wheel, and connecting a rotary encoder instead. Then a tuning knob can be attached to the rotary encoder's shaft, and voila!<br />
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And that's exactly what I did, except I did use a wired USB mouse, not a wireless one, as I didn't want the hassle of having to change batteries all the time. The result is shown in the photos below. It works like a charm!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwGD66g76vcwaG2vSDiOzUWn4NhxM-60KZk9jHPXCJ76SJzgf6ztVDIlYAjNe6L_DxfBFdQE7bwOS-kHCEI8OA9H4CSvpLcWhpr5J2dLJjuVf2-rX_kJ1Os32YnMR7cshdaMTtG5ypjN3/s1600/image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwGD66g76vcwaG2vSDiOzUWn4NhxM-60KZk9jHPXCJ76SJzgf6ztVDIlYAjNe6L_DxfBFdQE7bwOS-kHCEI8OA9H4CSvpLcWhpr5J2dLJjuVf2-rX_kJ1Os32YnMR7cshdaMTtG5ypjN3/s400/image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-32205293880886902042018-04-27T11:29:00.000+02:002018-04-29T00:26:27.979+02:00US Naval Hospital Ship USNS "Mercy" (WSPR chatter 2)<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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The USNS <i>Mercy</i> (T-AH-19) is a US Naval Hospital Ship, and is currently in the Indian Ocean participating in <i>Pacific Partnership 2018</i>, a Disaster Preparedness mission.<br />
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Pacific Partnership is an annual deployment of forces of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy in cooperation with local governments, military forces, and various humanitarian and non-governmental organizations. Pacific Partnership was conceived "To Prepare in Calm to Respond in Crisis" following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster.<br />
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The USNS Mercy is homeported in San Diego, California. She was originally built in 1976 as an oil tanker. In 1984 she was converted to a hospital ship and in 1985 was launched as the USNS Mercy. The Mercy class hospital ships are the third largest ships in the US Navy Fleet by length. During the Pacific Partnership missions the ship offers humanitarian assistance to the countries she visits.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbElu2c1OlxGgfg-6Y7EaBs7KkVIwcRFgLY3b0W3xJj-gmVRKClA47_cL4hdC_UEeOUcO5WyfPojpRT1oi7Dlsxmfs6xdVZo4kD5MtaiZsR9pmogBti6NpLLS9ed1DOAwzCHOnviD2CFd/s1600/USNS_Mercy_off_Dili.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbElu2c1OlxGgfg-6Y7EaBs7KkVIwcRFgLY3b0W3xJj-gmVRKClA47_cL4hdC_UEeOUcO5WyfPojpRT1oi7Dlsxmfs6xdVZo4kD5MtaiZsR9pmogBti6NpLLS9ed1DOAwzCHOnviD2CFd/s640/USNS_Mercy_off_Dili.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The USNS Mercy off the coast of Dili, Timor-Leste (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy_(T-AH-19)" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Good news to the radio amateur is that the Mercy onboard has a ham radio station, callsign <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/K6MRC" target="_blank"><i>K6MRC</i></a>. During the Pacific Partnership 2018 mission K6MRC has been sending <i>WSPR</i> signals which have been received around the world, including at PA7MDJ in the Netherlands. As soon as I found out about the WSPR station aboard the Mercy as soon as I could I started a monitoring session on 20m with my <i>SDRPlay RSP1A</i> receiver and a 20m sloping dipole antenna. The first two spots that were made included K6MRC! According to the information contained by the WSPR signal, the power used was 10 Watts and the location of the ship was in grid NJ46 in the Indian Ocean halfway between West Sumatra and Sri Lanka.<br />
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On the <i>wsprnet.org</i> blog on April 22nd, 2018, K6MRC wrote the following:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">---</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">WSPR Around the World - By Ship!<br /><br />Using WSPR to make contacts as we sail on our humanitarian mission - Pacific Partnership 2018 - has been both fun and challenging! Finding the right bands at the right power at the right times of day and night produces way different results. I have been able to tune our system to almost NO power and we are still reaching every continent on the planet. I hope everyone continues to upload their spots and make contacts as it is exciting to see how we can make this radio technology work! 73's!!!</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">---</span></i></blockquote>
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Unfortunately the past two days, the WSPR database has shown no more WSPR activity coming from the ship. The last spot was made on April 25th 08:08 UTC. Let's hope the Mercy WSPR beacon will return on the air soon.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCPOcu68O7OLcaKlNY3UNn9sZ2yqY3BaYz-sKY5tXyOho-8m0sOKZmAfNZhk3N4uISxUvXNGEaDdXUeRMklaM3pmiH7lt3NQkB_XdFkgpi0yrqjWZZbR1tqVDA1AkT8Ep_Yy-mnIOqBeN/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1207" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCPOcu68O7OLcaKlNY3UNn9sZ2yqY3BaYz-sKY5tXyOho-8m0sOKZmAfNZhk3N4uISxUvXNGEaDdXUeRMklaM3pmiH7lt3NQkB_XdFkgpi0yrqjWZZbR1tqVDA1AkT8Ep_Yy-mnIOqBeN/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PA7MDJ receiving K6MRC</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapq5fEoKutOjoqan8fqMNkv05TrAg4D5wYAQeHIbq6YMq12Kq_yffZmv0Hgw5A1LbknRpooJjGiPh4WqzWgCGY-fhEjzxh50luPiWIPDiRb0dQCLpEXIk3MnwGERAr2aA-BiEhQD4DQGI/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1265" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapq5fEoKutOjoqan8fqMNkv05TrAg4D5wYAQeHIbq6YMq12Kq_yffZmv0Hgw5A1LbknRpooJjGiPh4WqzWgCGY-fhEjzxh50luPiWIPDiRb0dQCLpEXIk3MnwGERAr2aA-BiEhQD4DQGI/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reception of K6MRC at PA7MDJ with SDRPlay RSP1A receiver and WSPR 2.0 software</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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See also:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy_(T-AH-19)" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Mercy_(T-AH-19)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Partnership" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Partnership</a></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-5147980297734254772018-04-20T14:19:00.000+02:002018-04-22T19:14:58.836+02:00St. Brandon - How beautiful can a check mark be?<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
<br />
<i>St. Brandon</i> is an archipelago located about 430 km northeast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. St. Brandon (also known as the <i>Cargados Carajos Shoals</i>) actually is a coral reef consisiting of about 20 to 50 (depending on who you ask and on seasonal storms and related sand movement) sandbanks, shoals and islets. It's measuring 50 km from north to south and about 5 km in width. There are 5 island groups and 22 islands and shoals are named. The archipelago is low lying and prone to substantial submersion during severe weather. The archipelago has a small transient population, mainly fishermen, of about 63 (a census of 2001, according to <i>Wikipedia</i>). The archipelago is quite elusive, and even on the internet, the information found isn't in abundance. In my <i>The Times Atlas of the World</i> compact edition, the archipelago isn't shown.<br />
<br />
St. Brandon (3B7) forms a separate <i>DXCC</i> entity. It shares the same entity with <i>Agalega Island</i> (3B6) and together are known as the DXCC entity <i>Agalega & St. Brandon Island</i>. <br />
<br />
Between April 5th and April 17th, 2018 a group of 8 French hams went on DXpedition to the South Island of St. Brandon. The callsign of the DXpedition was <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/3b7a" target="_blank"><i>3B7A</i></a>.<br />
Before the 3B7A operation, St. Brandon was #27 on the <a href="https://clublog.org/mostwanted.php" target="_blank">DXCC most wanted list of <i>Club Log</i></a> and the attention for the DXpedition and the pile ups were huge. The last DXpeditions to St. Brandon were in 2007 and 1998.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqgMHnGa6l2VLCzdiBGx6eGaH7qk1FugtwoFeeGfbLQrMiuLkIsWOQL00izyqmkMsfD6-Vf3y1k9W-ZkGnP9tkj_-znrqLb7Dq5wwaTNXZ8FG3Pow_ucPuuLO9uuhCOb3Eo0Txmo8f8vb/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="1023" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqgMHnGa6l2VLCzdiBGx6eGaH7qk1FugtwoFeeGfbLQrMiuLkIsWOQL00izyqmkMsfD6-Vf3y1k9W-ZkGnP9tkj_-znrqLb7Dq5wwaTNXZ8FG3Pow_ucPuuLO9uuhCOb3Eo0Txmo8f8vb/s640/Image2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The QTH of the 3B7A DXpedition on St. Brandon. Photo courtesy of the <a href="http://www.saintbrandondx.com/en" target="_blank">3B7A website</a>. Check the site for more stunning photographs!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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During the DXpedition I had little time to spend on the amateur radio hobby, and soon the end date of the DXpedition came in sight. I had managed to hear them on 40m CW one night with very good signals, but the pile up was huge (probably extending over a range of more than 10 kHz), so I decided to call it a day, as I was also supposed to make an early start the next morning at my QRL. Then on the 14th I heard them on 17m CW with fair signals, but unfortunately I again didn't manage to get through the pile up.<br />
<br />
I thought my chances of working them on 17m CW would be fairly high, but although I do get my <i>HyEndFed 40/20/10</i> tuned for this band, ofcourse it isn't optimal, the antenna being designed for 40, 20, and 10 only. So in the morning of April 15th I quickly made a dipole wire antenna and cut it for resonance at the CW portion of the 17m band. I lowered the HyEndFed and raised the dipole, and I anxiously awaited for 3B7A to get on the air again on 17m CW. But instead they were active on 17m in SSB only. But lo and behold, with the dipole I could also here them in SSB (I checked, I couldn't with the HyEndFed)! I tried to get through the pile up, but to no avail.<br />
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I wanted to work St. Brandon so much, and I was so disappointed I didn't manage to put them in the log. I had read on their website that the team would leave by boat for Mauritius in the morning of April 16th, so I knew no other chances would be there anymore. It surprised me, because the DXpedition was announced to last until April the 17th.<br />
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But then on April 17th, I had just arrived home from work, I checked the DX cluster and saw that 3B7A was still active on 17m SSB! It turned out that not the whole team had left St. Brandon; two of them, F4FET and F4HAU, had stayed behind and would follow later. They would leave the island by boat on Wednesday morning, April 18th, and until that time would remain sporadically active from the island.<br />
<br />
Ok, this definitely was my last chance! But it has been a while since I worked real DX in SSB (most of the DX I work is in CW these days). The solar minimum had sort of slowly made me believe that in times like these it's impossible to work (or even hear) real DX in SSB with just a wire antenna. I quickly connected the 17m dipole though and heard the weak SSB signals of 3B7A. I turned on the pre-amplifier of my rig to it's highest stage. The noise level went up accordingly but with some tweaking of my FT-991's noise reduction, a workable signal came out of the speaker.<br />
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3B7A was listening 5 up, which was a sign that apparently the pile up wasn't as big as during previous times, during which the DXpedition was listening 5 to 10 up. I could also tell by the way the operator was calling that the pile up was not big. So I started "shouting out" my callsign, and at one point I heard the operator coming back with a nice French accent "Mike Delta Juliett". Yesss! Please don't loose me now! It took some calls, but then finally the operator had my callsign complete. I did it! Thank you 17m dipole!<br />
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Less than a half hour later the 3B7A DXpedition made their last QSO and went QRT! I'd made the contact in the nick of time! The last part of the log wouldn't be uploaded to Club Log until F4FET and F4HAU would be safely back in Mauritius, so my patience was again put to the test, but today I checked and seeing the result I thought to myself: "how beautiful can a check mark be?"<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNK7SDETWbKKAOr3l3JNfCefBpdn7fzFiJDC464IejLVfbNcywmlFt1yz9sgyDdM8fO2ALAFAnBIqG-2j8ErdTf8cU9IXb_boNKPm7QXFRYQ7UBbzxDiRYpUrkWZeRvdnhI-cZckdgwLhn/s1600/3B7A+club+log.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="1023" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNK7SDETWbKKAOr3l3JNfCefBpdn7fzFiJDC464IejLVfbNcywmlFt1yz9sgyDdM8fO2ALAFAnBIqG-2j8ErdTf8cU9IXb_boNKPm7QXFRYQ7UBbzxDiRYpUrkWZeRvdnhI-cZckdgwLhn/s400/3B7A+club+log.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Results for PA7MDJ in the 3B7A log in Club Log. The notice about the last two days missing in the log had not been removed yet.</td></tr>
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St. Brandon is DXCC entity 220 for me.<br />
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See also:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.saintbrandondx.com/en/" target="_blank">http://www.saintbrandondx.com/en/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://dx-world.net/3b7a-st-brandon-dxpedition/" target="_blank">https://dx-world.net/3b7a-st-brandon-dxpedition/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Brandon" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Brandon</a></span>Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-39025691504648512272018-04-07T17:58:00.000+02:002018-07-10T22:57:22.201+02:00WSPR chatter<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited: 10.7.2018</span><br />
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Inspired by fellow ham, WSPR enthusiast and blogger <i>PE4BAS,</i> I've decided to compile my own personal WSPR DXCC list also, i.e. a list of DXCC countries where my 200 mW WSPR signals were spotted. I started WSPRing (on and off, not continuously) with my <i>QRP Labs U3S</i> in the late winter of 2017, and so far have reached a total of 63 countries with it. My WSPR DXCC list can be found <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/p/blog-page_7.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and can be accessed at all times from the "Pages" section in the bar to the right.<br />
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For each month I download the complete WSPR database CSV file from <i>wsprnet.org</i> and import it in <i>Excel</i> to analyze my WSPR spots. The CSV files are too large to be used directly in Excel though, so I first break them up with the use of a little program called <i>CSV Splitter</i> from <i>Polderij IT</i> which can be downloaded for free. If you need some help with this I'll be glad to help out.<br />
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So what else is out there on the WSPR front and HOT to report on?<br />
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Well, the <i>Canada C3</i> icebreaker expedition ship <i>Polar Prince</i> after a succesful circumnavigation of North America has returned in its home port of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast. During the voyage from Canada's east to west coast via the Arctic, the ship could be tracked by its onboard HF WSPR beacon with the callsign <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/CG3EXP" target="_blank"><i>CG3EXP</i></a>. Later on, after the C3 expedition had successfully ended, the ship's WSPR beacon continued transmitting with the callsign <i><a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/VE0EXP" target="_blank">VE0EXP</a>,</i> and the ship could be followed on its voyage back home, down the Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal, and up the Atlantic Ocean.<br />
I've done several blog entries about the C3 expedition, the Polar Prince, and its WSPR beacon, and you might be interested in reading them; just follow the "Canada C3 Expedition" link under "Tags" in the bar to the right.<br />
I've been able to catch the WSPR beacon of the Polar Prince on the 40m band on many occasions, from its voyage up Canada's east coast as well as for a large part of its leg through the Arctic. During the leg through the western part of the Arctic and down Canada's west coast I was unable to receive the 200 mW beacon, as were most of the other European WSPR monitoring stations.<br />
But I had set my goal to catching the Polar Prince at least one more time, on its way back while doing the <i>Panama Canal transit</i> from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean! And I succeeded!<br />
With my homebrew magnetic loop on 40m I catched the Polar Prince while it was west of Middle America, while it was waiting to enter the Panama Canal, and inside the canal itself! I caught the Polar Prince in grid locator FJ09dc in the early UTC morning of December 28th, 2017. This grid put the Polar Prince inside the Panama Canal close to the city of Gamboa. Below you'll find a photo of the canal at Gamboa. Gamboa originally was built to house the <i>Canal Zone</i> personnel and their families during Canal construction.<br />
The Polar Prince WSPR beacon since the start of the C3 Expedition in June of 2017 has been on the air uninterrupted! Well almost, as during a port visit of the ship in Halifax early on in the C3 expedition, a visitor had been fiddling with the buttons of the<i> QRP Labs U3S</i> WSPR beacon and failed to return the U3S to its correct settings. This was soon resolved though. Another interruption occurred on the ship's return home. On January 4th, 2018 the Polar Prince suddenly dissapeared from the WSPR radar. The ship was crossing a severe storm in the <i>Bermuda Triangle</i> (!) when the signal got lost. Antenna damage was the suspected culprit. Later it seemed the U3S had fallen of its shelf, resulting in the power chord being unplugged and the VE0EXP beacon going off the air! But, as mentioned before, the VE0EXP beacon transmissions resumed, and can still be heard from the ship's homeport in Lunenburg, and hopefully we might be able to track again on the WSPR HF subbands the icebreaker on one of its next voyages.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6LwLSBxOs-fo1VeVql56dfHB7j7pl87V2NUOHBVSOkwcJSnYO8hHtC9sQXhNHT4LqjeN9fWdAwKALMC3Tmcfw-GmEHC3-nH-_KrwLjVhGYdElUt5xKcitJAcV0JxGfiPsiIHg2xpD_8V/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1522" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6LwLSBxOs-fo1VeVql56dfHB7j7pl87V2NUOHBVSOkwcJSnYO8hHtC9sQXhNHT4LqjeN9fWdAwKALMC3Tmcfw-GmEHC3-nH-_KrwLjVhGYdElUt5xKcitJAcV0JxGfiPsiIHg2xpD_8V/s400/Image1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grid locator FJ09dc</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWfYRxzyEQi934T2B-XZWFxsYexcuujogcUnND47zLRJXpLpuZPEI_6WV8LUDO9rrKNIe0hVR-twqcogoyxlyW295Aljy30paw6kg9GUNdke2A_aRImdBCUyu4topAHsdI3843w0WKzDW/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="830" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWfYRxzyEQi934T2B-XZWFxsYexcuujogcUnND47zLRJXpLpuZPEI_6WV8LUDO9rrKNIe0hVR-twqcogoyxlyW295Aljy30paw6kg9GUNdke2A_aRImdBCUyu4topAHsdI3843w0WKzDW/s400/Image2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The town of Gamboa and the Panama Canal (<a href="https://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/in-focus-panama/gamboa-ecotourism-paradise-panama-canal/" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1f-lnk7ub6J-VXv1Qa7n6bzkoV_1qj2DCOEEwUpcjpJCXHf4HPmvg_0B3vLokdxWF2H8Go26VIoKou_ZEJ4VytGzVnF0zHatlUcJ_FNe1g1eJ8ARk6y1Bo3bhlGfcpgzVHqYF32qq6wP/s1600/Image5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="785" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1f-lnk7ub6J-VXv1Qa7n6bzkoV_1qj2DCOEEwUpcjpJCXHf4HPmvg_0B3vLokdxWF2H8Go26VIoKou_ZEJ4VytGzVnF0zHatlUcJ_FNe1g1eJ8ARk6y1Bo3bhlGfcpgzVHqYF32qq6wP/s400/Image5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PA7MDJ hearing VE0EXP Polar Prince during its Panama Canal transit</td></tr>
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In the early morning of April 6th,2018 on the 30m band I finally also managed for the first time to be spotted by <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/gm0hcq" target="_blank"><i>GM0HCQ/MM</i></a> aboard the <i>Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross</i> in the South Atlantic. Last summer I was already spotted by the James Clark Ross on its Arctic voyage (read about it in the blog entry <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/search/label/British%20Antarctic%20Survey" target="_blank">here</a>). This time the James Clark Ross was located in the South Atlantic very close to the island of St. Helena. It's currently returning home to England from its tour of duty in the Antarctic. I had hoped to be spotted by GM0HCQ/MM earlier in the Antarctic season from Antarctic waters, or more recently from the highly fascinating and utterly remote Tristan da Cunha Island, but that unfortunately seemed to be out of reach for my 200 mW WSPR beacon and mag loop setup.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARrQZJl2uWtSS22ZqYf2_dvXyoMgtt4-cNBLEXPIPHm4BgM2MGy9w8OZUPBPMCg-8iX9mJplNteIorA0HqLLxMTIA7RdKS_FobBWBi50-PtKu7LG7WL0oiA0hIbsHnpsLkOTtrgmTS5r1/s1600/Image3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1426" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARrQZJl2uWtSS22ZqYf2_dvXyoMgtt4-cNBLEXPIPHm4BgM2MGy9w8OZUPBPMCg-8iX9mJplNteIorA0HqLLxMTIA7RdKS_FobBWBi50-PtKu7LG7WL0oiA0hIbsHnpsLkOTtrgmTS5r1/s400/Image3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GM0HCQ/MM hearing PA7MDJ</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSYwljHl0Z1Bfxwoct6Y-Js58mKGVO60IhZh3NXhR7QLKWvdu7ohgzpgq1zpvoKRM-a7M58GuLcOEIPNh68p6Xu08cJ7ST3nPoZdZfwF7Oq-tJ9KrOHgb6fWmGT_vKlRxjHLovSE00yyh/s1600/Image4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="681" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMSYwljHl0Z1Bfxwoct6Y-Js58mKGVO60IhZh3NXhR7QLKWvdu7ohgzpgq1zpvoKRM-a7M58GuLcOEIPNh68p6Xu08cJ7ST3nPoZdZfwF7Oq-tJ9KrOHgb6fWmGT_vKlRxjHLovSE00yyh/s400/Image4.jpg" width="391" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GM0HCQ/MM hearing PA7MDJ at 0130 UTC. I was right on the edge there with -30 dB. This is a period of 24 hours; in that period I was the only PA-land station heard; not bad for a homebrew indoor magnetic loop!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxI4m2F_LIfSFqe6yHYju8fyFaymxuBGyQlfN9KcNnKAI-WzkXtRfDuJIMe7gOcbiV1HGddAwmkvuUu3wu2lBYMgdgxxoBhPVpF8BPiRkO96YhhwCjdrcjTVANs3ehIffN0-pF-1i4EBLP/s1600/Image6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxI4m2F_LIfSFqe6yHYju8fyFaymxuBGyQlfN9KcNnKAI-WzkXtRfDuJIMe7gOcbiV1HGddAwmkvuUu3wu2lBYMgdgxxoBhPVpF8BPiRkO96YhhwCjdrcjTVANs3ehIffN0-pF-1i4EBLP/s400/Image6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The James Clark Ross in Antarctic waters (<a href="https://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2014/12/01/mixing-waters-southern-ocean/" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
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James Clark Ross Radio Officer <i>Mike Gloistein <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/gm0hcq" target="_blank">GM0HCQ</a></i> keeps an online daily log on his website on <a href="http://www.gm0hcq.com/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.gm0hcq.com/index.htm</a>. The April 6 St. Helena update can be found there also (including photos).<br />
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The photo below is taken from the GM0HCQ daily update of April 6th and shows St. Helena appearing ahead of the JCR.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKJxCeodfNUUz6C7fRfJ_hrnSyVrLxekv5w5AC3C78FRES9-QBd-M3_KmSylSeYe9v15VrwcaWoMuDCJOSmGMlwRF7mPZ-xmDM983H_qPGLwW5DojXG7V3BD_GXtzMQFmF2gZvz0-emfQ/s1600/Image7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKJxCeodfNUUz6C7fRfJ_hrnSyVrLxekv5w5AC3C78FRES9-QBd-M3_KmSylSeYe9v15VrwcaWoMuDCJOSmGMlwRF7mPZ-xmDM983H_qPGLwW5DojXG7V3BD_GXtzMQFmF2gZvz0-emfQ/s400/Image7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In other news, a new kid on the block is <i>DJ0HO/MM</i> (no qrz.com registration) which the last couple of weeks has been making spots on the HF WSPR bands from the area near the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. I haven't been able to find any information for this WSPR monitoring station other than that the callsign belongs to a <i>Dr. Walter Jörg Hofmann</i> which seems to be the owner / skipper of a sailing yacht. So most likely DJ0HO/MM is located on this yacht. It's quite late in the season for a sailing yacht to be in Antarctic waters (remember, it's autumn there right now, and the Austral winter starts on June 21st), and I wonder if Dr. Walter Jörg Hoffman is planning on doing an Antarctic winter over. I haven't been spotted yet aboard the yacht, and although it's going to be difficult or maybe even impossible, in the true ham spirit I won't give up and will keep on trying<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Addendum</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">DJ0HO/MM is the German icebreaker and polar research vesssel <i>Polarstern</i>. For more information see my blog entry <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.com/2018/05/lifes-too-short-for-qrp-wspr-chatter-4.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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See also:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamboa,_Panama" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamboa,_Panama</a></span> Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811882031854518732.post-37620007839440125212018-04-03T22:35:00.000+02:002018-04-10T21:41:28.406+02:00Next research campaign at HAARP due this April<span style="color: #999999;">Last edited:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxf8QWfqqIaER5Mt-pmQlg40P4BddrU5U9D7EM15Q-tAIxtrfm-0kfLI2t5C_mN554aUbCigiSKdNb-vtdimuB_fGSEYKtkZtm9gCDNRg6fKEhs2WJ4O9XLXZ1Bs55Sv2F695WC9drgAA/s1600/Image1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="1023" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxf8QWfqqIaER5Mt-pmQlg40P4BddrU5U9D7EM15Q-tAIxtrfm-0kfLI2t5C_mN554aUbCigiSKdNb-vtdimuB_fGSEYKtkZtm9gCDNRg6fKEhs2WJ4O9XLXZ1Bs55Sv2F695WC9drgAA/s640/Image1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The next research campaign at <i>HAARP</i> is due this April. Between April 6th and April 14th, hams and shortwave listeners might get another chance to pick up the signals of the HAARP research facility located in Gakona, Alaska. See also my blog entries of <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/2018/01/the-quest-for-haarp-open-letter-to.html" target="_blank">January 29th, 2018</a> and <a href="http://pa7mdj.blogspot.nl/2017/08/haarp-and-arecibo-ionospheric-hf.html" target="_blank">August 18th, 2017</a>.<br />
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Assistant research professor <i>Chris Fallen</i>, <i>KL3WX</i>, of the <i>University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute</i> on March 29th twittered the following:<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">I must stay at @UAFairbanks for much of the @UAFHAARP campaign April 6-14, but will continue to tweet selected experiment freqs and modes when available. Have not forgotten about earlier QSLs (mea culpa!) and am working on a better system moving forward.</span></i><br />
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Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/ctfallen?lang=en" target="_blank">Chris Fallen on Twitter</a> for the latest updates.<br />
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The following news about the upcoming research campaign recently appeared on the <i>ARRL</i> website:<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">---<br /><a href="http://www.arrl.org/news/haarp-facility-to-resume-ionospheric-research-this-week" target="_blank">HAARP Facility to Resume Ionospheric Research this Week</a><br />04/02/2018<br /><br />Alaska’s super-power High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) transmitters in Gakona, Alaska, will fire up again for the spring research campaign April 6 – 14. University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Space Physics Group researcher and HAARP Chief Scientist Chris Fallen, KL3WX, told ARRL that more than 40 hours of “externally funded” experiments are in the queue.<br /><br />“Scientists from US universities and government labs will explore the physics of scintillations, magnetic field-aligned plasma irregularities, artificial and natural atmospheric airglow, stimulated electromagnetic emissions, plasma waves, and radio-enhanced ionization,” Fallen said. “The HAARP transmitter is still at 80% net power, but by summer we expect to have the final ‘column’ of transmitters restored, bringing the array back to 100%.”<br /><br />For his part, Fallen said he still has some time remaining on his National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study artificial airglow, but added that this is “a tough time of year in a tough year of the solar cycle” for such experiments. “It will not be dark enough in Gakona to observe artificial airglow emissions until 10 PM at the beginning of the campaign and 10:30 PM at the end of the campaign, due to the rapidly lengthening days in the Land of Midnight Sun.”<br /><br />Fallen said that due to weakening solar activity, the critical frequency of the ionosphere’s F2 layer (foF2) is relatively low during the day, peaking at a little more than 4 MHz above Gakona in the late afternoon, and falling rapidly in the evening. “This limits the time available for experiments, since airglow is usually only created when the HAARP transmission frequency is near or below foF2,” Fallen explained. “The lower limit of the HAARP transmitter is approximately 2.7 MHz, and so we can only expect perhaps 30 minutes or less of usable airglow experiment time each day.”<br /><br />Fallen said he is considering his options and plans to continue “bundling” amplitude modulations in the airglow experiments of interest to hams. His previous airglow experiments were accompanied by tones and music to illustrate the Luxembourg effect and slow-scan television (SSTV) images in Scottie 1 format.<br /><br />“In future experiments, I want to try sending text and images using one of the MFSK modes,” Fallen told ARRL. “Several hams have requested I try the smoking hot FT8 mode with HAARP. Since that is a mode primarily designed for two-way contacts and makes use of time synchronization to help achieve amazing efficiency, it is not yet clear to me how to best do this with HAARP which currently has no receive capability.”<br /><br />Fallen said he has to be at UAF for much of the April campaign but will be at HAARP toward the end. He plans to tweet selected transmitter frequencies and other information throughout the campaign from his personal Twitter page. HAARP’s official Twitter page will share photos and other information of general interest, “such as what the HAARP dog is up to,” Fallen said.<br /><br />Operation of the HAARP research facility was transferred from the US Air Force to UAF in 2015.</span></i><br />
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Michael PA7MDJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05435220355588298370noreply@blogger.com0