Tag Archives: DX

Presentation “Let´s Bounce” III

My presentation “Let´s Bounce” will be given on two more dates:

October 25th, 2014 on the 4th Hessian GHz Meeting in Fernwald

Short version of the lecture with focus on aircraft scatter and ISS bounce.
We meet at 15:00 MEST on the car park at the town hall. There will be a flee market for GHz stuff and the opportunity to test own equipment or to have QSOs with other participants.

Gaststätte “Ratsschänke”
Oppenröder Strasse 1, 35463 Fernwald-Steinbach
Locator: JO40JN33VG

November 7th, 2014, 20:00 MET on the monthly meeting of DARC OV Miltenberg, B24

Full Version with overview of propagation modes, aircraft scatter, ISS bounce and visual moonbounce.

Deutscher Amateur Radio Club e.V.
Ortsverband Miltenberg, B24
Gasthaus “Goldenes Faß”
Kirchstraße 13, 63920 Großheubach
Locator: JN49OR64JJ

If you like to attend or need further information, just send an email to dj5ar (at) darc.de

Meteor Scatter: Back in Business!

May 8th, 2014

Since I will be back in Ireland in August, I plan to be QRV for the perseids on meteor scatter, activating my irish callsign EI8HH. The location is in Clonbur, Co.Galway, IO53HN. My equipment will be a FT-897 with 50 W into a 17 element yagi (F9FT) on 144 MHz.

My last MS QSOs dated back to 1989, when high speed CW was state of the art. To gather some experience with WSJT and FSK441, I watched the 144.370 MHz and worked YO9MN and GM6VXB randomly.
Another test with GM4ZJI couldn´t be completed, because we had to leave for QRL. But I got a nice burst from him at the end of our try:

065730 12.5  260 13 27 -158   FO5AR GM4ZJI 26 26 DJ5AR GM4ZJI 26 .9C$H
065730 12.8  840 10 26 -151   DJ5AR GM4ZJI  7    DJ5AR GM4ZJI 26 26 D
065730 13.8  120  2 26 -158   J AR GM4ZJI #6 / ,C

Later I worked Dermot, EI7IX, from Westport, very close to my irish QTH (a compilation of his bursts):

094000 17.7  340 13 27  -43   73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73
094100 11.9  520  6 26  -58   NX/73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX
094100 25.3  440 11 27  -41   YX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 73 EI7IX 7

Opening September 21st 2013

September 21st, 2013

While performing a last beacon check before going to bed and all local beacons were quite normal, I took notice of a weak carrier 1 kHz up of F1ZBK on 1296.855 MHz. After optimizing the antenna and using a narrow filter I heard EA2TZ in IN93BF over 1073 km for the first time ever.

2013-09-21 20-50 EA2TZ

Left signal: F1ZBK/B, right signal: EA2TZ/B

 EA2TZ/B as received by DJ5AR over 1073 km on 23 cm

After posting this information in the ON4KST chat, Matej, OK1TEH sent the phone number of EA2TO and told me that Javier is currently QRV on 23 cm from IN83. After exchange of a few SMS he came back on my CQs and we could complete a QSO: A new DXCC, a new square and a new tropo ODX of 1173 km on 23 cm!
When closing down the station I had a quick look on 70 cm. There he was again: EA2TO in SSB. We had a nice chat and for me: A new DXCC, a new square and a new ODX of 1173 km on 70 cm!

Only 2 QSOs tonight, but I am very happy with it.

Opening October 19th – 23rd

October 24th, 2012

The beacon check in the morning of October 19th gave me the impression of a strong inversion over southeast Germany. When looking for Stations on 23 cm on the SDR I noticed a big signal in CW: OE5VRL/5 calling to Hungary. I gave him a meep in the chat to tell him how strong his signal was here in Mainz, despite the fact that I was in the back of his 3 m dish. After turning the antenna to me he was stronger than many locals.

In the following days a lot of DX stations from OK, SP, HA, S5, OE, HB9, F, LX, G, PA, I and OZ filled the log while the inversion moved from east to west. All of the four OK beacons could be heard on 23 cm. Sometimes it was a little bit confusing when I was looking for new DX beacons and DB0AAT, DB0AJA, DB0GP, DB0LB, DB0FGB, DF0ANN, HB9EME and others could be heard in nearly any direction the dish was pointing to.

QSOs on 23 cm > 400 km

QSOs on 13 cm > 400 km

QSOs on 13 cm > 400 kmI am happy with a couple of new squares on 23 and 13 cm. Two new countries on 13 cm made it perfect: S51ZO in Slovenia and I1KFH in Italy. But I fear that it was more aircraft scatter than tropo.

Beacons heard on 23 cm

DB0AAT JN67HU
DB0AJA JN59AS
DB0FGB JO50WB
DB0GP JN48WQ
DB0LB JN48OV
DB0LTG JO31TB
DB0VC JO54IF
DB0WTT JO40LG
DB0YI JO42XC
DF0ANN JN59PL
DF5AY JN49DX
F1XBC JN06JG
F1ZBK JN38BP
F5XBK JN18JS
HB9BBD JN47GA
HB9EME JN37KB
OK0EA JO70UP
OK0EJ JN99FN
OK0EL JO70SQ
OK0EQ JN89BE
PI6ASD JO22KJ
PI7ALK JO22IP
SR6LHZ JO70SS

NAC(?) 23 cm – October 2012

October 16th, 2012

The Nordic Activity Contest is always a very good opportunity to work . . . Italians!

Tonight everything was upside down. After loosing John, G3XDY in QSB – a fact that is very, very strange – I wanted to turn the dish via south to north, when Sergio, I1KFH was meeping me. We tried and had our QSO in SSB. What else to say? Giorgio, IK3GHY followed as well as Robert, IZ4BEH and Frank, IK3HHG and Walter, IW2BNA and finally Roberto, IK2OFO.

Mille grazie. Buona notte!

NAC to Italy

NAC to Italy

IARU-Region-1 UHF/Microwaves October Contest

October 8th, 2012

“Bad weather and bad conditions” that is, what most comments say about this contest. The weather here in Mainz was bad too, but I cannot compare the conditions with the contests in the last years, because my last participation in this contest was in 1990. This year it ended up in 50 QSOs on 23 cm and 19 on 13 cm. I am quite satisfied with these results.

QSOs on 23 cm

 

QSOs on 13 cm

My new ODX on 13 cm is OL9W in JN99CL over 720 km. A lot of new squares could be worked too. Many DX stations were nearly as strong as they were on 23 cm.

NAC 13 cm – September 25th 2012

September 26th, 2012

Because the NAC on the fourth Tuesday each month promises good activity on 13 cm, I installed the new 75 W solid state linear and turned the dish to Scandinavia. Despite the QRM on 13 cm around here (may be from WLANs) and the Taunus mountains about 25 to 30 km north of Mainz, I was very pleased to work DL1SUZ in JO53 (471 km), G3XDY in JO02 (547 km), OZ3ZW in JO54 (583 km), DL0VV in JO64 (538 km) and OZ1FF in JO45 (633 km) on 2320 MHz.

QSOs on 13 cm – QRB > 400 km

Short opening on September 6th 2012

September 7th, 2012

After spending a day in Leipzig, I came home quite late. In the train already I had a look to the KST chat and on the Hepburn index. Both promised an interesting evening. After turning the dish to the west, I heard GB3USK in IO81 (783 km) very loud via tropo. In the following hours I could work G4EAT in JO01, G4ALY in IO70 (888 km), GU6EFB  in IN89 (778 km), G6HIE in IO90 and F9OE in IN78 (954 km) on 1296 MHz. The most impressive signal was the one of Keith, GU6EFB from Guernsey, who was 59 here in Mainz, by running only 10 W in SSB.

Opening on September 6th – QSOs on 23 cm – QRB > 500 km