AmateurRadio.com

Back garden

For the last few days I have had my brother and his wife staying here from Devon, so last night I missed out on the 70cm UKAC contest. Today I am back on 6m. Sunspot count is 149 with “good” 20-30MHz propagation with a danger of blackouts. My brother and his wife have gone home today.

Brother trimming our front hedge

G4IKZ (18km) is back on 6m so I can tell that my 6m WSPR is getting out even without Es yet. Note the false (?) decodes +/-50Hz when I am very strong. Not sure whose end this is, but it is not operationally an issue.

Nick’s 6m spots of my 1W ERP WSPR signal so far today.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

I have a Hotmail email account and have had it for some time now but over the past 6 months or so I am continually asked about security codes and it makes logging into my account a real problem. I really don' t want to delete this account as there are so many who email me to this account as well most if not all of my ham radio messages are handled via this Hotmail account. This evening I was once again logging into my email account and now Microsoft is demanding I have them send a "code" to me and it has to be done through a different email account. I do have another account that I use now and then (Gmail) but what about those who do not! What…….you have to open another email account just so Microsoft can email a "code" that you cut and past into you hotmail account so you can prove you are who you say you are!!!
I had the Hotmail cop's send me a "code" to my Gmail account and was told it was sent, well when I opened up my Gmail there was no "code" just a link so I clicked on the link. I was taken to a page that asked me to enter my Hotmail account that I was trying to verify. I thought I am in the home stretch so I entered my long time Hotmail account and was told "We're not ready for you yet, your account is still in the waiting period."  WAITING PERIOD FOR WHAT!!!
When you move to a new address you can get the post office to forward your mail is there anything out there that allows my Hotmail emails to be forwarded to my Gmail account.?I have had it with Microsoft and the "code" they want to send me so I can let them know I am who I say I am!!


Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

The last time I saw the USS New Jersey was in 1968. This battleship was in the Tonkin Gulf, along with us, during the Tet Offensive. We used “red lights” to preserve our “night vision” on the signal bridge, and on a clear moonless night, after an hour or so in the dark, I could see like a hungry cat searching for an elusive mouse. If you’re looking closely, you can see a slight curvature of the earth on the horizon at around 10 miles and the protruding masthead light from another ship. The white “bow” and “stern” lights of this large ship were easily visible as soon as they appeared just above the horizon.

It was important to know “who” was in the area at that time, and we had a method of identifying every new “light” on the dark sea. I focused my search light and sent the Morse Code pro-sign equivalent to “halt, identify yourself, or be fired upon” and after a brief pause, they replied “This is the USS New Jersey — fire at will”. I turned to my shipmate and said “wow….I just told the New Jersey to identify herself or I was going to blow her out of the water”. I never forgot that “challenge” even tho it was 46 years ago.

I have many memories from that period of time, some of them not so good, but when I heard the New Jersey (NJ2BB) last weekend, and was finally able to work her again, (in civilian life) it was like speaking to a ghost for me.

This weekend, I was also able to work several more ships. The most memorial to me was LST-325. I have a personal history with this ship; it was in our home town of Charleston WV last year. The previous year, I found this ship in Marietta Ohio and was able to use their ships radio to work a Coast Guard Museum radio station near Los Angeles California. A few weeks ago I worked one of the LST 325’s crew members (W8AU/M) who was driving along the interstate near Columbus Ohio. It was a long and enjoyable QSO.

The Nuclear Ship Savanna is the first ship of it’s type I’ve worked. I had no idea some cargo ships were nuclear powered? This was a big surprise to me.

This was the warship Haida located near Ontario Canada. (a fantastic signal by the way).

I’ve changed my “radio” focus since getting both my DXCC and WAS awards. (QRP at five watts or less of power and indoor stealth wire antennas). I work an occasional DX station with my “new straight key” but get my most joy from  long conversations at a slow 15 wpm speed.

There are several hams that I enjoy talking with very much. I like the “Special Event Stations”, and will continue to work them, but I will be writing about friends and interesting places in the United States for awhile.

My “free time” has become very limited with my father approaching his 93rd birthday, and my five grand kids growing like billy goats. There’s just not enough hours in the day……

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Being able to work from home clearly has its advantages. Today for example I find myself walking along the ridgeway just down the road from me. The dog loves this place but it doesn’t really offer up as a great location to play a bit of radio. Or does it ?

For me the idea of a perfect location is somewhere remote. Easily accessible and yet offers up enough real-estate to erect an antenna. Of course what antenna you erect is entirely limited to the location. In recent weeks I have been using a home brew vertical antenna to great effect, although one of the SOTA beams Linked dipoles also provide a great lightweight antenna package.

Back to the ridgeway. Is this a perfect location? Well it might just turn out to be a good area after all. There are some areas that offer some small amount of space – The Vertical antenna would be the perfect choice here and its very easily accessible too.

On todays walked I hunted out a couple of small areas where I can settle down in a quiet corner and set myself up for the day.  I do have a couple of days off coming up soon – So I think I will try one of these locations out and film the results too. There is an added benefit as there is a woodland nearby, so fuel for my Firebox is sorted out for the day – so a nice lunch and warm drink is certainly on the cards.

I will of course update you and if I remember my camera – upload a video of my time on the ridgeway.

Dan Trudgian, MØTGN, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Wiltshire, England. He's a radio nut, IT guru, general good guy and an all round good egg. Contact him him here.

Actually, I’ve never liked people referring to 50MHz as the ‘magic band’. Sure, signals can come out of nowhere, but that’s hardly peculiar to six metres! Either way, I’ve been having fun on 50MHz as is usual in the Es season.

Over the last few days, when there’s been not much happening on the band, I have been leaving the receiver running on 50.276 with WSJT-X running JT65A. I don’t think there is a huge amount of activity, but there have been some interesting loggings; Iceland, Greece amongst others. Typically the most interesting ones have been when I’ve been elsewhere, but I have called CQ a couple of times and was delighted to be called by 3 or 4 stations in succession. Signals were pretty small and there was no sign of any CW lower down the band.

For me, that’s magic – working stations that you can barely hear! Of course, when the band is well open, JT65A, taking at least 5 minutes to make a QSO, is not the way to go – but when you fancy a bit of magic, it can be fun!

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

6m so far on WSPR

Just semi-locals on 6m today so far.  Maybe there will be Es about later? My locals G4IKZ and G4KPX don’t appear to be on 6m today.

UPDATE  1746z:  Just the semi-locals still all afternoon, with no sign of 6m Es here today, well not yet! Will 61km be my best DX today?

UPDATE  1754z:   Just a few minutes later on 6m WSPR and OZ7IT (853km) in JO65df square was booming in at -8dB S/N by Es.

UPDATE 2105z:   No further Es seen here this evening on 6m.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

10m unique WSPR spots yesterday

Quite a productive day on 10m yesterday with both Es and F-layer DX about. Best DX spot of my 2W was from FR1GZ on Reunion Is. and my best spot was of CX2ABP (11127km) in Montevideo, S.America who uses 5W.

This morning I have returned to 6m but G4IKZ, my faithful local reporter is not on!

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.