Jim Heath, W6LG, has launched a new video series about the art of DXing. He should know about the subject — he’s been working DX on 20-meters with great success for over 50 years.

“It doesn’t take a huge station to work DX, and it doesn’t take a lot of money,” Heath says. “You can have a lot of fun with a very modest station.”

He says that one key to success is not getting caught up following the crowd. “The skill is not getting onto a DX net and putting your call sign in and waiting for your turn to work a guy in Japan. That’s not working DX — that’s being spoon-fed DX,” he says. “If you’re new to DXing, go for the easy countries: the guys who are calling CQ.”

Most people who have real success working DX do a lot more listening than talking. “A DXer listens, listens, and listens some more and learns about propagation and knows when the band is going to open to certain parts of the world,” he says.

Hans, SM5BUS

“A good example of a guy who has a tremendous signal out of Scandinavia day after day is SM5BUS,” Heath says. “If you’ve tuned 20-meters, you’ve more than likely heard him. He knows propagation really well. He’s learned over the years when the band is open and he listens a lot.”
“While you might think because this guy is the only thing you can hear out of Scandinavia, that he has an antenna at 100 feet and 1,500 watts behind it. It’s not true,” Heath says. “He’s got a two-element Yagi attached to his chimney 10 meters above ground, but he knows when propagation is good. He’s there to work the propagation, to work the band opening. He does it over and over again and that’s been true for decades.”

If you want to learn more secrets of DXing, watch Jim’s first video below and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

It’s a call-in talk show about ham radio!
Ham Talk LIVE! Episode 4
w/ Tom Vinson, NY0V
Myanmar trip – Boy Scout Merit Badge

Thursday, 10 March 2016
9:00 PM Eastern Time (02:00 UTC)

Listen to this episode LIVE (and to all previous episodes) in the player below:
[spreaker type=standard width=620px autoplay=false show_id=1607081]

From this week’s Amateur Radio Newsline Headlines:

• Hams in Ohio have been preparing for an April 23 event called Near Vertical Incidence Skywave Antenna Day.
• In the Charleston, West Virginia area, hams are preparing for that area’s big Hamfest. In its 32nd year, it has a whole lot of new offerings.
• FCC records show that growth in amateur licenses continued through 2015, with a 735,405 licensees.

The Tytera TYT MD-390, the successor of the popular Tytera TYT MD-380 DMR HT, has arrived. Jason Johnston, KC5HWB, unboxes the upgraded DMR HT in the latest episode of his show, Ham Radio 2.0: LIVE! From The Hamshack.

“I think I’m the first one to have them listed online, but that won’t last long,” says Johnston.

Like the MD380, the TYT MD390 is 400-470MHz, features 1000 channels, and is DMR Tier 1 and 2 compatible. New to the MD390 is an IP67 dust/water ingress protection rating (immersion up to 1m).

The radio is currently available in the Grapevine Amateur Radio online store for $179.99. Johnston says MD390 is priced similarly to the MD380 when it first came out. “I expect it will probably drop in three to six months,” he says.

In the video, Johnston does a thorough job reviewing the features of the radio. He compares the MD-380 vs. the MD-390 and talks about how he’s been using the radio around the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the past few days since the first units arrived.

Johnston says the radio feels heavier and much more sturdy than the MD-380 it replaces. He also praises its strong audio. “It sounds just as good as the MD-380, maybe even a little bit better,” he says.

If you’ve followed his show, you’ve noticed that he has really stepped up his game in terms of video production. Great job, Jason!

While the astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station conduct experiments nearly 250 miles above earth, John Brier, KG4AKV, is on a mission of his own closer to home. The Raleigh, North Carolina ham hopes to fulfill a personal goal: have a voice QSO with a member of the ISS crew.

Brier hasn’t always been active since becoming licensed at age 15, but his interest was renewed two years ago after listening to a school radio contact through the ARISS program. Later, he successfully received a satellite image from the space station and began making contacts through SO-50, an easy-to-work voice satellite. He developed a keen interest in satellite communications, especially with the ISS.

“I listen to them talking to schools almost every month and I really like receiving the slow-scan TV images they send out a few times a year,” he says.

Brier has an active YouTube channel where he features videos of his satellite work. He also started a blog about communicating with the ISS, including hints for receiving slow-scan TV signals from space.

Even if he isn’t ultimately successful in making a two-way contact, he won’t be too disappointed. “I enjoy just receiving them, too,” Brier says.