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Series Six Episode Eleven of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• Fox-1 has a launch date!
• Israel on 5 MHz with 8 channels
• Ham Radio your free social network tool
• South African 5 MHz operation - interesting propagation paths
• ZS2X VHF beacon now covering most of South Africa
• Oklahoma storm - Radio Hams respond
• Radio News in Irish
• Combining Software Defined Radios and Smart Phones

Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) reviews Slow Scan TV (SSTV) and a report from our north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH).

Series Six Episode Eleven of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• Fox-1 has a launch date!
• Israel on 5 MHz with 8 channels
• Ham Radio your free social network tool
• South African 5 MHz operation - interesting propagation paths
• ZS2X VHF beacon now covering most of South Africa
• Oklahoma storm - Radio Hams respond
• Radio News in Irish
• Combining Software Defined Radios and Smart Phones

Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) reviews Slow Scan TV (SSTV) and a report from our north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH).

Series Six Episode Eleven of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) reviews Slow Scan TV (SSTV) and a report from our north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH).

• Fox-1 has a launch date!
• Israel on 5 MHz with 8 channels
• Ham Radio your free social network tool
• South African 5 MHz operation - interesting propagation paths
• ZS2X VHF beacon now covering most of South Africa
• Oklahoma storm - Radio Hams respond
• Radio News in Irish
• Combining Software Defined Radios and Smart Phones

For some time, I have been keen to try some portable operation through some of the amateur radio satellites. I had been particularly inspired by Pete 2E0SQL’s portable operations through the satellites with his FT817 and hoped I could do the same.

Pete uses the Arrow 145/440MHz antenna and as far as I could see, it was not readily available in the UK. I contemplated ordering one from the USA but the thought of the import duty put me off a bit. AMSAT UK carry stocks of the ELK 145/440MHz log periodic which also have a good reputation albeit at a price. I’d recently disposed of a couple of bits of kit on eBay, so I felt I was in credit and ordered an ELK!

I was delighted when it arrived this morning. I wasted no time in making up a cable between the N connector on the ELK and the FT817. Assembling the antenna proved quite straightforward.

My first check with the antenna at ground level in the back garden was to see if I could hear GB3VHF, which I could, so given that’s not a huge signal, I was confident the antenna was working.

I looked at GoSatWatch on my iPhone to get some satellite predictions and as luck would have it, SO-50 was passing over at precisely that instant. I heard signals, so that was promising.

The next pass of SO-50 was a nice high one, so I was all prepared and sat out on the lawn with the FT817 and the antenna. R1AO was the first station heard, and although he had a little difficulty getting my callsign, we just about made it. IZ1DBY heard me and called as well, so that was very promising indeed.

I’m hoping to try some SSB operation through FO-29 as well.

The ELK antenna comes with a neat carrying case that will easily fit in a rucksack. It will form a very useful part of my backpack portable station I think. I’m also looking forward to doing some satellite work when we’re on holiday in Devon from a slightly rarer square than IO91!

It was good to see, during the week that Joe Taylor, K1JT took WSJT-X from its Beta state to a ‘release’ version. If you’ve been reading this blog you’ll have seen that JT9, the mode produced by WSJT-X has been very usable for some months, so the last few weeks have seen a few tweaks to the software.

It works well and it has gained in popularity recently over recent weeks – with a very considerable amount of activity now available on the mode. Interestingly, Joe says that future plans for the program call for the integration of some of the more popular modes from the WSJT software. This sounds good – particularly incorporated in the very easy to use interface provided in WSJT-X.

Don’t delay, grab your copy of WSJT-X today!

I am a big fan of the men and women who make up our Armed Forces.  They’ve gone above and beyond for our country so many times – from 1776 right up to the present day.  This weekend a really cool super special event is taking place to honor the men and women who have served in the respective navies of all of our countries and the ships that they have served on.

Thanks to the Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station, this weekend has been organized and dedicated as Museum Ships Weekend.  106 restored military ships from around the world, which now serve as museums will be on the air this weekend.

I worked a station last night which was especially rewarding to me. Everyone on the bands this month is aware of the FOC – 75th Anniversary . I have eleven of them in my log book now. I’ve causally worked them “just because they’re on the air” and I love working “Special Event Stations”. Last night (the end of the GMT month) there were so many FOC stations on the air, they were impossible to ignore.

This month, not including the US stations, I’ve worked FOC stations in England, Bermuda, and France; and unexpectedly, I heard this Russian station (R75FOC) in the midst of a big pile up. This particular station was just above the Black Sea of the opposite side of Turkey. I’ve previously worked stations in this area, but never a “Special Event Station” at 5,573 miles.

In a swarm of bees, it’s not  an easy task.

Needless to say, I especially enjoyed “spotting” this station and adding my QRP-3W designation. Personally, I like reading the “remarks” on DX clusters. I know they’re not necessary, but in my case, I just can’t waste the opportunity to let the world know that “QRP” is a viable option for  DX work.

My DX contact into Russia last night, marks my 103rd for the single month of MAY.

I’ve worked the Cuban station (CO8LY) so many times, I actually dropped my power down to one watt. The last few days, I’ve been listening to the 20 meter QRP frequency around “lunch time” and have been working stations regularly.