PA7MDJ Amateur Radio Blog: Antennas

Showing posts with label Antennas. Show all posts

April 20, 2018

St. Brandon - How beautiful can a check mark be?

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St. Brandon is an archipelago located about 430 km northeast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. St. Brandon (also known as the Cargados Carajos Shoals) 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 Wikipedia). The archipelago is quite elusive, and even on the internet, the information found isn't in abundance. In my The Times Atlas of the World compact edition, the archipelago isn't shown.

St. Brandon (3B7) forms a separate DXCC entity. It shares the same entity with Agalega Island (3B6) and together are known as the DXCC entity Agalega & St. Brandon Island.

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 3B7A.
Before the 3B7A operation, St. Brandon was #27 on the DXCC most wanted list of Club Log and the attention for the DXpedition and the pile ups were huge. The last DXpeditions to St. Brandon were in 2007 and 1998.

The QTH of the 3B7A DXpedition on St. Brandon. Photo courtesy of the 3B7A website. Check the site for more stunning photographs!

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.

I thought my chances of working them on 17m CW would be fairly high, but although I do get my HyEndFed 40/20/10 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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?"

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.

St. Brandon is DXCC entity 220 for me.

See also:

http://www.saintbrandondx.com/en/
https://dx-world.net/3b7a-st-brandon-dxpedition/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Brandon

January 27, 2018

ADS-B

Last edited: 27.01.2018

This is my latest high tech creation, hi. It's a little 4-leg "spider" antenna for 1090 MHz (1.090 GHz) constructed around a nice old Amphenol SO-239 chassis connector that I had lying around. Its 4 legs and top element are made from copper wire and are about 68 mm in length.

Beside being a ham radio operator, I've always been a radio hobbyist in general, and every once in a while I like to explore radio related stuff outside of the ham bands. The little spider antenna is used to receive the ADS-B signals broadcasted from aircraft on 1090 MHz. ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast. ADS-B signals are periodically (twice every second according to the YouTube movie below) broadcasted by aircraft and contain among other things the aircraft's unique ICAO identifier, the aircraft's callsign, and data provided by the GPS navigation system of the aircraft, like GPS location, altitude, heading, speed, etc. ADS-B signals enable an aircraft to be tracked in real-time by for instance air traffic control stations. Since other aircraft can also receive the ADS-B signals from ADS-B equipped aircraft surrounding them, it also provides pilots with improved situational awareness.

I use my RSP1A SDR receiver (see my last blog entry) connected to the spider antenna to receive the ADS-B signals. Special software extracts the data from the signals. This data is sent to another computer program called Virtual Radar Server (VRS) which then plots the received aircraft on a map. With the aircraft identifiers received on 1090 MHz, VRS is able to retrieve additional information for the aircraft from various online databases, including the aircraft registration or "tail number" and the current route (destination and departure airport). When you select an aircraft, VRS also shows the aircraft type and model, operator, country of registration, and when available (most of the time) even photos of the aircraft (not just a random photo of the type and model, but the actual aircraft with the registration of the selected aircraft).

It's really fun to see in real-time what's up in the airspace above you. Of course you can also use some online service like www.flightradar24.com for this, but for the radio hobbyist it's a thrill to know that the aircraft that are plotted on the map are plotted there because their ADS-B signals have been received with his own radio equipment directly over the air.
With the antenna inside the house, depending on the height I place the antenna at (ground level or attic), I've been receiving aircraft up to distances of 100 to 200 km. You can even do some DXing, trying to catch aircraft from as far away as possible and trying to beat your personal record.

The ADS-B data extracted from the signals received on 1090 MHz

The aircraft plotted in Virtual Radar Server. For the selected aircraft (the one in yellow) additional information is displayed, including route, operator, country of registration, tail number, aircraft type and model, and any available photos of the aircraft.

Below some YouTube movies explaining how to set up ADS-B with your SDRPlay RSPA1/1A/2 receiver and explaining how ADS-B works.

December 12, 2017

My current WSPR / QRSS MEPT beacon station

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Here's a photo of my current WSPR / QRSS MEPT* setup in the attic.

From left to right:

Magnetic loop tuner (QRP only, max approximately 10 watts) and magnetic loop antenna

5V 8000mAh powerbank

Voltmeter

200 mW U3S QRSS / WSPR transmitter with QLG1 GPS receiver in the same housing (both homebuilt from a QRP Labs kit)

On the back of the table is a wooden box to store the various Low Pass Filters for the U3S. I've built my U3S without the relay-switched LPF board, so when changing band I have to swap the LPF manually.

The loop tuner holds a magnetic loop antenna made of a wooden support and RG-213 coax cable. The loop has a 5 metre circumference (radius = 5/2π = 0.8 m). Both the loop and loop tuner are homebrew. The mag loop can be tuned for the 80, 60, 40 or 30m band. The big size of the loop guarantees a relatively good efficiency on the lower bands (which I was aiming for while designing it), but means that I can not get it tuned on the higher bands. In the future I might make a second smaller loop that can also be used on at least the 20m band. The mag loop and tuner are not weatherproof and will be placed inside in the attic only, or maybe every now and then outside on a beautiful summer night.

I've only just recently built the magnetic loop antenna, and I've been experimenting with it mainly on 40m WSPR. It really works great, especially considering that it's placed inside in an antenna-unfriendly environment (concrete walls on two sides, several other antennas and metal structures nearby).
The past couple of days on 40m WSPR with the loop and the 200mW U3S I've been spotted all over Europe, by several stations in the United States (including N5CEY on the Mexican border in Texas), VP9NI on Bermuda, and 9L/KW4XJ in Sierra Leone. Looking at the results I would say the loop is at least performing equally well to the outdoor loaded EFHW sloper wire antenna that I was previously using for my MEPT setup, maybe even better.

Some of the 40m WSPR spots of the past few days sorted by distance

I haven't been testing the loop on 80m yet as I don't have an 80m LPF. I have one on order at QRP Labs and as soon as received and built I will start experimenting on 80m WSPR. I can't wait to see the results for that band.

Over time I will be optimizing the mag loop. I'm looking for a way to make tuning easier. Now I use my Yaesu FT-817 to tune for maximum noise on receive nearby the WSPR/QRSS frequency I want to use, and then fine tune until the rig's built-in SWR meter shows no bars anymore on transmit. I then connect the U3S.
I'm looking into a way to tune the mag loop without the help of the FT-817. In the future I would like to experiment with tuning methods used by other mag loop users. This includes a small NE-2 type neon lamp that at maximum brightness indicates maximum antenna current, or measuring for maximum RF voltage across the capacitor plates. I'll have to do some more online research into both.

I will be participating with the MEPT setup as it is now and as described above in the "Night of QRSS" New Year's Operation Celebration of the Las Cruces QRSS Mafia. More information can be found here and here. The event has generated quite some interest on the QRP Labs group recently.

Below I will post some links to interesting QRSS websites that I've recently found.

* MEPT = Manned Experimental Propagation Transmitter

November 22, 2017

So many projects, so little time...

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So many projects, so little time... Most of you hams out there reading this probably know exactly what I mean. I currently have so many amateur radio related plans, ideas, and projects in mind, that I just don't know where to begin. Trying to give it all some structure, and to have an easy way to link to related webpages, I've made a list here of all the projects that are in the PA7MDJ "pipeline". I know myself, and probably not all projects will be finished or realized, but some of them definitely will! Suggestions, hints, and tips are very welcome of course. The information on this blog will be constantly edited, links and other information is continuously being added.

Launching a High Altitude Balloon with a HF WSPR tracker payload
This is my main project at the moment. I'm awaiting the special QRP Labs U3B balloon WSPR tracker to become available. QRP Labs currently still has the U3B in its test and development stage. At present the exact date of the U3B becoming available is unknown. Another blog post that I wrote earlier about the U3B, can be found here.
I've already acquired the needed 36" foil balloons (I'm planning on flying the lightweight payload on a single balloon), 0.1 and 0.2 mm enameled copper wire for the dipole antenna, and 52x19 mm and 39x19 mm solar cells, 100 of each. The solar cells are rated average 0.5 V / 300 mA / 160 mW and 0.5 V / 240 mA / 120 mW respectively. It will take about 6 cells to power the U3B.

Some things still to do: buy a bottle of helium, buy 0.8 mm enameled copper wire, buy a precision electronic weighing scale accurate to 0.01 gramms

An interesting forum with lots of info on WSPR balloons is http://radio-signals.com.

Powering up my U3S transmitter with solar cells
While awaiting the U3B, and since I got plenty of them, to get more experience and more knowledge of the little solar cells described above, I've taken up the plan to try powering up my U3S transmitter here down on earth using these same little solar cells. The U3S has to be powered with 5 V and draws about 110 mA at idle and 220 mA when transmitting, so it will require some more cells than the U3B. Soldering to the cells, I've been told, is not easy. I'm awaiting the arrival of a package with special tinned wire strip and a flux pen. Once arrived I can start soldering to the solar cells. The soldering experience I will gain during this project will be invaluable for the U3B balloon project.
I have several circuit designs in mind including the following components, either individually or a combination of them: 5.5 V 1 F supercapacitor, a 5 V LDO regulator, a DC-DC boost regulator, a 3.7 V 100 mAh LIPO battery.
I'm still learning about solar cell specific things like Isc,Voc, Imp, Vmp, and the solar cell I-V curve (see links below).

Some things still to do: buy schottky diodes

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/18083/voc-vmp-imp-isc-explained/
http://www.kg4cyx.net/solar-panel-specifications-explained/

Building a Pixie CW QRP transmitter and an electronic keyer based on Arduino
I already bought the Pixie kit back in the summer at HAM RADIO 2017 in Friedrichshafen. An earlier blog post I wrote about it can be found here. There you can also read about the Arduino based electronic keyer I want to build so that I can use the Pixie with a dual paddle.

I recently made a 40m CW contact with my SOTA friend Roger F5LKW on SOTA F/AM-680. During this SOTA activation Roger used a Pixie transmitter. The CW signal sounded very clear, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought it was coming from one of the more expensive rigs usually used on SOTA activations. This definitely sparked the urge for me to finally start assembling the Pixie kit.

PA7MDJ in the log of F5LKW/P SOTA F/AM-680.

Building a simple QRP magnetic loop antenna and participating in the QRSS beacon annual New Year's Eve Operation Celebration
I would like to build a big (5 to 6 m circumference) QRP magnetic loop antenna of RG213 coaxial cable to use with my QRP Labs U3S transmitter. I hope the mag loop will have enough efficiency to put out decent enough signals on 40m. I secretly hope it still has enough efficiency on 80m as well, and I will experiment on that band as well.

I will use a variable tuning capacitor taken from a never finished antenna tuner project that I bought from a fellow ham at the local club some time ago. The air gaps between the capacitor's vanes is probably big enough for the antenna to handle up to 5 - 10 Watts. So maybe beside using it with my U3S, I can also use it in the field with my FT-817.

If finished in time, I would like to try sending QRSS beacons with my U3S on 30 or 40m with it during the recently announced annual New Year's Eve Operation Celebration.

Some things still to do: buying two 2 metre long planks to build a cross support frame

http://www.g4ilo.com/wonder-loop.html
https://rsars.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/simple-rg213-hf-loop-30m-15m-g8ode-iss-1-31.pdf
https://sites.google.com/site/g7aqkhamradio/home/my-qrss-beacon
https://americanhoplite.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/my-experience-so-far-with-the-mfj-9232-loop-tuner/
https://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_antenna_magloop-small.htm

Building a magnetometer
I've always wanted to build a magnetometer to experiment with taking my own measurements of the activity of the geomagnetic field at my own QTH.
You can build one easily with a jam jar and a light or laser pointed at a mirror on a suspended bar magnet, but I prefer another similar design by GJ4ICD which uses a Hall effect sensor instead of the mirror/light like presented at the UKSMG site here and linked to below. Unfortunately the Hall effect sensor 634SS2 is not available anymore, and I have no clue about what replacement part I can use.

DIY Magnetometer design by GJ4ICD (source)

http://www.uksmg.org/content/magnet.htm
http://www.britastro.org/aurora/jamjar.htm
http://blog.stevemarple.co.uk/search/label/Magnetometer
https://fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com/how-to/measure-geomagnetic-storms-with-diy-magnetometer-0132960/
http://www.eaas.co.uk/cms/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D74:how-to-make-a-very-sensitive-jam-jar-magnetometer-by-robert-cobain%26catid%3D10:equipment-reviews%26Itemid%3D16
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u33/Activity_7.pdf
http://gw7eri.com/homebrew/magnetometer/magtalk.pdf

Building an 80m loaded dipole
In my small garden I can only fit a wire antenna of about 10 to 12 metres in length max. A full size dipole for 80m will be about 40 m in length. With a loading coil in each element the length can be reduced. I'm not expecting much of a 12 metre long loaded 80m dipole, but I still want to see what it can do with my 200 mW U3S WSPR transmitter, and maybe even try to make my first ever 80m 2-way contact, in CW, SSB, or some digi mode. Again, I'm not expecting super DX from it though. If working ok, I'll also want to try making one for 160m. Making coils with the right inductance value is the challenge in this project. I don't have an LC meter. I've been looking at those cheap ones available at the various Chinese selling sites, but the reviews for these are varying from the device being inaccurate garbage to ok for the price.

https://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_antenna_80m-dipole.htm

August 09, 2017

RRS James Clark Ross / British Antarctic Survey

Last edited: 15.08.2017

The Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross at Vernadsky Base, Antarctica. (source)

This is the RRS James Clark Ross, a research and supply vessel operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The Radio Officer of the JCR is amateur radio operator Mike Gloistein GM0HCQ. The ship mostly can be found in Antarctic waters, doing research cruises and supplying the bases of the British Antarctic Survey. But during the Austral winter (i.e. summer in the northern hemisphere), the ship turns its bow to the North, and also does research cruises in the Arctic.

Mike regularly is active from the ship as GM0HCQ/MM, mainly in CW but sometimes also in digital modes. In the autumn of 2014, then still with my novice callsign, I managed to work Mike aboard the JCR on 20m in PSK31 when it was close to the Azores and heading south for the Antarctic. It resulted in the wonderful QSL card shown below.

QSL card for PD7MDJ from the RRS James Clark Ross.

During the Arctic cruise this year, Mike also had a WSPR receiver running, 24/7 and with spots being uploaded real-time to wsprnet.org with the reporter callsign GM0HCQ/MM. But only on 30m, which made reception of my WSPR beacons sent with the QRP Labs Ultimate3S (see also my blog about the U3S kit here) impossible. With the U3S I'm only active on 20 and 40m with a HyEndFed 10/20/40 wire antenna. I am active on 30m with the HyEndFed in other modes and with other transceivers, but then I'll let the transceiver's internal antenna tuner make a match (with my transceiver's internal tuner I actually get the HyEndFed 10/20/40 tuned on all HF bands except 80 and 160m). But for the U3S I don't have any kind of tuner. And besides, I also didn't have a 30m Low Pass Filter for the U3S.

Then a couple of weeks ago at the QRP Labs booth at HAM RADIO 2017 in Friedrichshafen I bought the U3S 30m LPF kit. I also recently got my hands on a HF-P1 portable vertical antenna (which I'm planning on using during SOTA or WWFF activations). The HF-P1 can be used on all HF bands from 80 to 10m by adjusting the antenna's sliding loading coil. So I recently started experimenting with the U3S sending WSPR beacons on 30m through the HF-P1. It worked nicely, I was being heard all over Europe and crossed the Atlantic to North America a couple of times, but there were still no spots from GM0HCQ/MM. The HF-P1 being light-weight, self-supporting, and quickly assembled, and therefore very suitable for a portable setup, with its short length, loading coil, and minimalistic radials however never will be more than a very compromised antenna.
I therefore took up the plan to make a 30m Inverted-V dipole. I took apart my homebrew 15m dipole, to use its centre and end isolators, and cut new lengths of wire for the 30m band. Minus 5%, as that's what they say the length should be for an Inverted-V with a 90º apex angle. I thought the antenna would fit in my garden, but I was wrong. The restricted space forced the Inverted-V to take a funny, and not so perfect V shape (see the illustration below).

Crude sketch of the "Funny V" antenna as I like to call the newly installed Inverted-V for 30m. Would love to see its radiation pattern in for instance the EZNEC antenna software. If somebody could help me with that, please contact me.

After a few minor trimming cuts on both legs of the Inverted-V, I managed to get a perfect VSWR for it! I quickly connected the U3S and started beaconing on 30m. And lo and behold, the antenna works like a charm! Spots from all over Europe, many more and with much better SNR reports than with the HF-P1. At night I crossed the Atlantic many times to North America and also into Puerto Rico. And most importantly, this time my 200 mW beacons were finally also spotted aboard the James Clark Ross! The JCR had just finished this year's Arctic research cruise and was lying "all fast alongside Pier 22" in Tromsø in Arctic Norway before commencing its voyage back to England. I wanted to be spotted by the JCR before it would depart from the Arctic, and I'm glad I succeeded. I wish though that I had the U3S running on 30m sooner, to see if it would have reached the ship when it was still much further north at Svalbard. I could have used one of my other transceivers and a PC with WSPR software (the U3S is a stand-alone WSPR transmitter), but there's no fun in WSPRing at 5 watts, and I like the challenge of the U3S putting out only about 200 mW.

GM0HCQ/MM hearing PA7MDJ

Me and my radio history with Mike Gloistein and the RRS James Clark Ross actually goes back a long time. Before I obtained my radio amateur licence in 2012, in the 1980s and 1990s I was already a passionate shortwave listener, specializing in monitoring utility radio stations, and in those years one of my favorite frequencies to tune in to was 9.106 MHz. On this frequency around 2330 UTC I could regularly receive the SSB signals of the bases and ships of the British Antarctic Survey. The ships were the RRS John Biscoe and the RRS Bransfield, and later also the James Clark Ross which in 1991 replaced the John Biscoe. The ships every night would send SYNOP coded weather observations to one of the bases. I also managed to receive the JCR, and the reception report letter I sent to the Radio Officer of the JCR in 1995 resulted in a nice big and thick envelope arriving in my mailbox from the Falkland Islands! It contained amongst other things various brochures and information leaflets about the British Antarctic Survey and the JCR, my returned and filled-out PFC (prepared form card) QSL, and a personal letter from the JCR Radio Officer, being Mike Gloistein GM0HCQ!

PFC QSL from the RRS James Clark Ross for SWL reception of the ship with official radio traffic on 9.106 MHz in 1995.

PFC QSL from the British Antarctic Survey base Faraday for SWL reception of the base with official radio traffic on 9.106 MHz in 1992. The QSL was mailed to me directly from Faraday (see postmark). In 1996 Faraday Base was sold for a symbolic one pound to Ukraine and was renamed Vernadsky Base. This is one of my most prized SWL QSLs.

The following BAS bases and ships were active on 9.106 MHz:

Bird Island (callsign ZBH22)
Signy Island (callsign ZHF33)
Faraday (callsign ZHF44)
Rothera (callsign ZHF45)
Halley (callsign VSD)
RRS Johny Biscoe (callsign ZDLB)
RRS Bransfield (callsign ZDLG)
RRS James Clark Ross (callsign ZDLP)

For more information and photos of the JCR, check out Mike Gloistein's excellent website at www.gm0hcq.com!

Addendum 11.08.2017
Mike Gloistein informed me in an e-mail exchange that during this year's Arctic cruise whilst the RRS James Clark Ross was north of about 77º latitude, the WSPR spots weren't uploaded to the WSPR database real-time due to lack of communications satellite. All reception details of this period were stored and were uploaded manually once communication was restored.
Mike tells me that the WSPR setup aboard the JCR is using one of the commercial receivers which isn't really designed for such weak signals, but nevertheless seems to work fairly well.
The WSPR receiver will be switched off soon when the JCR is back in England and Mike leaves the ship around August 15th.
Mike also informs me that all being well the WSPR receiver will be up and running again from late October for six weeks whilst Mike is back on board the JCR for the first section of the Antarctic season.

I'm looking forward to see if I can get my WSPR signals aboard the JCR coming autumn while it's cruising the seas of the southern hemisphere. In the mean time, whilst the JCR is getting more south on the way back from its Arctic voyage, the reception of my WSPR beacons aboard the ship is getting more common (see screenshot below).

Addendum 15.08.2017
Gavin Taylor GM0GAV informed me that it was him who replied with the QSL from Faraday. Gavin was at Faraday as a comms man from 1990 to 1993. Gavin nowadays is also very active in SOTA, and upon checking my log, I found out that not too long ago I've worked him on 40m CW on the summit of SOTA GM/ES-044.

See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRS_James_Clark_Ross
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Antarctic_Survey
https://www.bas.ac.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernadsky_Research_Base
https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/about-bas/our-history/british-research-stations-and-refuges/faraday-f/

February 26, 2017

Antarctica (IOTA AN-016)

Last edited: 04.03.2017

Map of Antarctica (source)

As most of you probably know, or otherwise will have noticed while tuning around on the HF bands, we're currently getting close to the minimum of Solar Cycle 24. This means HF propagation isn't optimal, and especially the higher bands are in bad shape and will remain so for the coming years until solar activity picks up again to start the climb towards the peak of the new solar cycle. You may have noticed that the 10m band is dead most of the time, and that even the 20m band does not deliver DX anymore as easily as it did a couple of years ago. For the ham operator with just a wire antenna and low power, the challenge has been raised to an even higher level. It's in times like these that one starts to appreciate CW even more; I'm rarely able to work DX in phone these days.

But life's too short to mourn the lack of sunspots! Forget the higher bands! Just tune into the 40m band, do your thing, and you might be in for a pleasant surprise! Even with a simple wire antenna and low power. I know many hams underestimate the possibilities of 40. Don't!

I've always been surprised by the DX I'm able to work on the 40m band (in CW, digimodes, and even SSB) with my HyEndFed multiband (10/20/40m) wire antenna and 100 Watts or less. This antenna basically works as a so called Zepp antenna or end fed dipole. Electrically on 40 metres the HyEndFed 10/20/40 is a half wave length. Physically it's much shorter though (about 12 metres). The trick is in a trap / loading coil at a distance of 10 metres in the antenna wire which on the 40m band lengthens the antenna electrically. Since 12 metres of wire is pretty much the maximum I can fit in my small garden, for me the HyEndFed 10/20/40 is the ideal 40m antenna. An inverted V dipole would be great, but the limited space available would mean the apex angle will be too small.
I used to have the HyEndFed in vertical position, dangling from a 12 metre telescopic fibreglass pole. But this was only a semi-permanent setup, as, even though the pole was guyed, as soon as the winds picked up, the pole had to be taken down. I now have the HyEndFed in a permanent sloper position from about 9 metres height at one end to about 1.5 metres height at the other, partly close to my house, and partly close to the ground. Not an ideal situation, but at least now I can get on HF anytime and independent of weather conditions. And, as far as I can tell, and much to my surprise, it's working just as well as the vertical configuration. At least it seems to be; I'm not able to do side by side comparison, so there might be difference in performance after all. Whatever may be the case, with the sloper configuration I still work plenty of DX.

From my QTH in the Netherlands with the HyEndFed on 40m especially the Caribbean region is a relatively easy target. But also eastern North America and parts of South America are worked quite regularly, and recently I've also been quite succesful in getting my signals on the African continent, making CW QSOs with DXpeditions in countries like Ivory Coast and the Central African Republic. With JT65 I once managed to make a 40m QSO with VK-land. Despite all these succeses, I never could have dreamed of one day working Antarctica on 40 though. But recently I did!

On January 27th, 2017 around 21:47 UTC on 7.018 MHz I heard the CW signal of RI1ANR. He was working simplex. As soon as possible I started keying the familiar Morse rhythm of my callsign, and much to my surprise quite quickly I heard my call coming back; signal reports were exchanged, a TU and a 73 and the QSO was in the log! And I'm still in shock! I worked Antarctica on 40m!

Contact with RI1ANR confirmed in LotW

RI1ANR is located at Novo Airbase, or Novo Runway, close to the Russian Novolazarevskaya Research Station in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. Novo Runway is a so called Blue Ice Runway where aircraft can land using wheels, i.e. their normal landing gear, instead of skis. During the austral summer there are regular flights from Cape Town to Novo Runway with the Ilyushin IL76 TD heavy-cargo aircraft. Novo Runway acts as a major Antarctic transport and logistics hub, and from there cargo and passengers are flown in to other parts of Antarctica and further inland.

Novo Blue Ice Runway (source)

Ilyushin 76 at Novo Runway (source)

Then on February 10th on 7.004 MHz around 01:15 UTC I again managed to work Antarctica. This time I worked RI1AND (op. Mikhail Fokin, RW1AI) at Novolazarevskaya Research Station itself. Again a simplex CW contact.

eQSL from RI1AND

Mikhail Fokin in the radio shack at Novolazarevskaya Station, Season 2016-2017 (source)

Mikhail Fokin at Novolazarevskaya Station, Season 2016-2017 (source)

Novolazarevskaya is a Russian base located at the Schirmacher Oasis in Queen Maud Land. It was opened in 1961 as part of the 6th Russian Antarctic Expedition. The population during summer is about 70. About 30 people winter over at the station. The inland ice sheet south of the station at a distance of 50 km already reaches a height of 1500 m.

Novolazarevskaya Station (source)

In the mean time recently on many nights I've also been hearing the 40m CW signals of LU4CJM/Z and LU1ZI from the Argentine Carlini Base on the South Shetland Islands, but unfortunately I have not been able to QSO them yet.

Then on February 17th I again put Antarctica in the log, again on 40m CW. I made a contact with KC4/N2TA which after some research I learned also is Mikhail Fokin at Novolazarevskaya using the callsign of the Brooklyn based Russian Speaking Radio Club International N2TA, with KC4 added for Antarctica. Fokin has been using this callsign before from Antarctica, for instance from Vostok Station in 2002, as shown by the QSL card below.

2002 QSL card from KC4/N2TA (source)

To me, Antarctica is the ultimate in DX. Historically, the isolated explorers, researchers, and base personell of The Great White Continent relied solely on radio communications and ham radio to stay in touch with eachother and with the outside world. I recommend reading this article in the Antarctic Sun about the "Madey Boys", two teenage brothers who with ham radio in the 1950s helped the US Navy men of "Operation Deep Freeze" in Antarctica stay in touch with their loved ones at home.
To me, working Antarctica is pure emotion! Already as an SWL in the 1980s and 1990s I especially enjoyed tuning in to signals coming from the Antarctic. I have particularly fond memories of listening to the ships and bases of the British Antarctic Survey on 9.106 MHz. I might get into that further in another blog entry.

The contacts on 40m weren't my first Antarctic QSOs. My first one was back in 2014 in JT65 on 10m with DP0GVN (op. Holger Bauer, DH1HB) at the German Neumayer Station III.
I had noticed this odd looking German callsign in my JT65 decodes, but hadn't payed much attention to it. At the time I was quite addicted to JT65, and while making contacts I kept track in near real time via Hamspots.net of where my signals were heard. At one point I noticed my signals had been picked up in Antarctica. And the station there that had spotted me was the one with the odd looking German callsign! A quick look on qrz.com taught me that the callsign belonged to the German Neumayer III Station. I quickly started attempts to make a QSO with DP0GVN, and I succeeded!

Screenshot of my JT65 contact with Neumayer Station

Neumayer Station III is located on the 200 m thick Ekström Ice Shelf, Queen Maud Land. The building is resting on hydraulic feet which during an annual lifting procedure lifts the building by about 80 to 100 cm to prevent it from sinking and eventually being buried in new snow.

QSL card from DP0GVN, Neumayer III Station

My second Antarctic contact was back in 2015 on 20m CW, also with Mikhail Fokin, the same operator whom I recently made a contact with on 40m. At the time Fokin was working out of the Russian Mirny Base with the callsign RI1ANT.

QSL card from RI1ANT, Mirny Base

Mirny Base is located in Queen Mary Land, East Antarctica. It was opened in 1956 by the 1st Russian Antarctic Expedition. The station hosts about 170 people in summer and 60 in winter. The average temperature is -11º C and on more than 200 days per year the wind is stronger than 15 m/sec.


Mirny Base (source)

Mikhail Fokin in the radio shack at Mirny Base, Season 2014-2015 (source)

Check out Mikhail Fokin's website at http://www.qsl.net/ua1ake/logs/.

Last but not least I'd like to mention the site of the Worldwide Antarctic Program at www.waponline.it. It's packed with information on 60 years of ham radio in Antarctica.

I will end this blog entry with the subject I started with: solar cycles. I can happily report that on December 20th, 2016 the first sunspot of Solar Cycle 25 was observed. This doesn't mean that cycle 24 and the minimum is over though. Usually solar cycles overlap up to 4 years. Read all about it here on the site of the Solar-Terrestrial Center of Excellence.


First sign of solar cycle 25 (source)

January 07, 2017

A package from Japan - Ultimate3S WSPR transmitter kit, a little project for the new year

Last edited: 08.01.2017

Just before the year's end I was surprised by the delivery of a small package from Japan. It turned out to be the Ultimate3S WSPR transmitter kit that I had ordered from QRP Labs. I was surprised that the package came from Japan, as I thought QRP Labs is a UK based company, and this is also where I expected the package to come from.

This will be a little project for the new year. The Ultimate3S is a standalone 250 mW WSPR transmitter not needing any PC to generate the WSPR signals. I've also ordered the GPS receiver kit with it, which will be used in conjunction with the U3S. I've purchased both a 20m and 40m plug-in Low Pass Filter, but my main focus will be on the 40m band. I'm planning on building a 40m band C-Pole wire antenna and put it up in sloping configuration to use together with the U3S. It's all highly experimental, and I'd also like to see if this antenna can improve the reception on 40m of SOTA CW stations within Europe. With the often extremely weak QRP signals of SOTA activators, even the slightest improvement is very welcome.

See also my blog entry about the use of the U3S in High Altitude Balloon payloads.

Stay tuned!