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The decision was made and the piggy bank shaken empty right down to the last penny. I came to the conclusion the best HF radio within my budget was the Yaesu FTDX1200. Negotiation was done on the phone with the friendly team down at ML&S, happy with the deal I sent the cheque.





Obviously I have been a long time fan of Yaesu, I think they have made some very good radio gear over the years, still forefront leaders of the game with an excellent updated range to suit all pockets. How I came to choose this radio I will leave to another blog, but there was a budget which had to be strictly adhered too. 

Of course there is a little free offer thrown in with the radio at the moment, that made it a bit more attractive with a choice of one of three options. This has to be redeemed direct from Yaesu UK. I will opt to go for the FFT-1 unit, allowing additional AF-FFT scope along with CW, PSK31, encode/decode live on the radio's screen.


This morning I received an email the radio was on it's way from the warehouse and into packing:



High on the rack along with the other stock my rig was about to leave the stores, destined for despatch and then on to it's new home.


















Phew! Made it, ready for packing and then forwarding on to the courier, should be with you shortly.









Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

The decision was made and the piggy bank shaken empty right down to the last penny. I came to the conclusion the best HF radio within my budget was the Yaesu FTDX1200. Negotiation was done on the phone with the friendly team down at ML&S, happy with the deal I sent the cheque.





Obviously I have been a long time fan of Yaesu, I think they have made some very good radio gear over the years, still forefront leaders of the game with an excellent updated range to suit all pockets. How I came to choose this radio I will leave to another blog, but there was a budget which had to be strictly adhered too. 

Of course there is a little free offer thrown in with the radio at the moment, that made it a bit more attractive with a choice of one of three options. This has to be redeemed direct from Yaesu UK. I will opt to go for the FFT-1 unit, allowing additional AF-FFT scope along with CW, PSK31, encode/decode live on the radio's screen.


This morning I received an email the radio was on it's way from the warehouse and into packing:



High on the rack along with the other stock my rig was about to leave the stores, destined for despatch and then on to it's new home.


















Phew! Made it, ready for packing and then forwarding on to the courier, should be with you shortly.









Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

You may be like me. I've been at this hobby for a while now. I've built a ton of kits, made a bunch of antennas, passed all my exams with no problem. I was in the electronics repair biz for over 20 years, trouble shooting and repairing circuit boards down to the component level. But yet, to this day, I can open up a "QRP Quarterly" or a "QST" and look at the technical articles and feel like they are "WHOOSH" - about a mile over my head.

For those of you in the same boat, I would highly recommend the contents of the You Tube channel provided and maintained by Alan Wolke W2AEW. Alan is a fellow member of the Raritan Valley Radio Club. As a VE, I've attended a couple of Ham Crams where Alan was the lead instructor - I can readily testify that Alan knows his stuff, inside and out, upside down and backwards.

Alan has "The Knack" in more ways than one. Not only is he technically gifted, but the also has the ability to take the Greek out of electronics (no offense to my friends from Greece or of Greek decent), and make difficult concepts understandable, in plain English.  And that's a pretty good talent to have when you're a Technical Specialist for Tektronics.

In addition to Alan's You Tube channel, to which I think just about every Amateur Radio op should be subscribed to, Alan gave an excellent interview to Eric on "QSO Today".  You can listen to it here - http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/w2aew

Now, I'm not saying that if you watch all of Alan's videos that you'll be able to instantly comprehend every technical article you read in any Amateur Radio publication. But I can tell you that more and more of the content will be understandable and that you won't be totally clueless - like I used to feel. I'm getting better, but still have a long way to go.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

You may be like me. I've been at this hobby for a while now. I've built a ton of kits, made a bunch of antennas, passed all my exams with no problem. I was in the electronics repair biz for over 20 years, trouble shooting and repairing circuit boards down to the component level. But yet, to this day, I can open up a "QRP Quarterly" or a "QST" and look at the technical articles and feel like they are "WHOOSH" - about a mile over my head.

For those of you in the same boat, I would highly recommend the contents of the You Tube channel provided and maintained by Alan Wolke W2AEW. Alan is a fellow member of the Raritan Valley Radio Club. As a VE, I've attended a couple of Ham Crams where Alan was the lead instructor - I can readily testify that Alan knows his stuff, inside and out, upside down and backwards.

Alan has "The Knack" in more ways than one. Not only is he technically gifted, but the also has the ability to take the Greek out of electronics (no offense to my friends from Greece or of Greek decent), and make difficult concepts understandable, in plain English.  And that's a pretty good talent to have when you're a Technical Specialist for Tektronics.

In addition to Alan's You Tube channel, to which I think just about every Amateur Radio op should be subscribed to, Alan gave an excellent interview to Eric on "QSO Today".  You can listen to it here - http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/w2aew

Now, I'm not saying that if you watch all of Alan's videos that you'll be able to instantly comprehend every technical article you read in any Amateur Radio publication. But I can tell you that more and more of the content will be understandable and that you won't be totally clueless - like I used to feel. I'm getting better, but still have a long way to go.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2016 Feb 29 0233 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 22 – 28 February 2016

Solar activity reached low levels with only C-class flare activity observed this period. Region 2506 (S05, L=224, class/area=110/Dai o 28 Feb) was responsible for nearly all flare activity this period including three low-level C-class flares, the largest of which was a C3/Sf flare at 0500 UTC on 27 Feb. A filament eruption centered near S16E19 (vicinity of Region 2506) was observed in SDO/AIA imagery between 0030-0130 UTC on 18 Feb but no associated coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed in LASCO coronagraph imagery suggesting the bulk of the plasma was reabsorbed. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed this period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 22-24 and 28 Feb with moderate levels observed throughout the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity briefly reached unsettled levels on 23-24 and 26 Feb with quiet conditions observed throughout the remainder of the period under a nominal solar wind regime.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 29 February – 26 March 2016

Solar activity is expected to be very low with a chance for C-class flares on 29 Feb and 15-26 Mar. Solar activity is expected to increase to low levels with a chance for M-class flares (R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) Radio Blackouts) on 01-14 Mar due to the return of old Region 2497 (N12, L=240) which produced four M-class flares last rotation.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit barring any significant flare activity.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 15-22 Mar, moderate levels on 04-05, 07-08, 13-14, and 23-26 Mar, and at normal levels for the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 14-16 Mar and active levels on 01, 06, and 17 Mar due to the effects of multiple recurrent coronal hole high speed streams (CH HSSs). Quiet or quiet to unsettled geomagnetic field conditions under a nominal solar wind regime are expected for the remainder of the period.

Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/

Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/

If you are on Twitter, please follow these two users: + https://Twitter.com/NW7US + https://Twitter.com/hfradiospacewx

Get the space weather and radio propagation self-study course, today. Visit http://nw7us.us/swc for the latest sale and for more information!

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Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

Radio wave propagation.

01:12:42

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George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

Tower climber Kevin Schmidt is captured by Prairie Aerial’s multi-rotor drone ascending the 1,500-foot KDLT TV tower in Salem, South Dakota.

Although the tower wasn’t in active use at the time the video was made, the lightbulb atop it still needed to be changed. It gives you new appreciation for the work these men and women do maintaining these amazing structures.

The video below, which recently surpassed six million views on YouTube, was recently chosen to be featured in the New York City Drone Film Festival being held next month.

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].