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Well, the Wouxun KG-UV8D giveaway is over and we’ve drawn a winner! On behalf of AmateurRadio.com and BuyTwoWayRadios.com, it is my pleasure to congratulate…

Clive GM4FZH
Scotland

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

Today, whilst checking my eQSLs I noticed one from an HA station for a 2m SSB QSO. This QSO never took place!  This would have to be Es and I have never worked Es on 2m.   It may be a band error or someone just hoping I would not check the log so he would get a credit for G on 2m SSB.   Please note DO NOT try to claim for QSOs that did not take place. I check and this is FRAUD.  I’ll have no part in this.

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

You may remember from the April update regarding my QSO a day goal, that I had broke my monthly QSO record (which was 393 in November 2013) with a whopping 599 QSO’s in April.  Well that record didn’t stand long.  My total QSO numbers for May topped out with 826 QSO’s.  However, I also made 504 QSO’s while operating as W1AW/Ø on two different shifts the week Colorado hosted the portable operation.  While the 504 Q’s will be kept separate and not included in my main log, I’m honestly pleased to have made a total of 1,330 QSO’s in the month of May 2014.   Again, this monthly report will only address the 826 QSO’s from my own callsign (KD0BIK).

In addition to a QSO each and every day in April, I also managed to add a few new DX entities to my growing list and quest for DXCC status.  I worked stations for the first time in Antigua & Barbuda, Lithuania and Lebanon.  May marks the 5th consecutive month of adding at least one new DX entity to my list. 

Starting with this months update, I will also list my ongoing progress in the ARRL Centennial QSO Party.  I’m not a big contester, but I am really having fun getting on the air as much as possible and making contacts.  As a VE I’m worth 5 points and sure….it’s also fun to accumulate the points.  I’ve been successful at working a few “big point stations”, but I’ve found most of my contacts are with ARRL Members (1 pts.), ARRL Life Members (2 pts.) and Fellow ARRL VE’s (5 pts).  As of the end of May, my results are as follows:

Centennial Points Score:  6,664

Total QSO’s:  1,201

Rank (All): 1,495

Rank (Colorado): 18th

Finally, since really getting a lot more “radio active” in the past few months I’ve heard from many who listen to my podcast (Practical Amateur Radio Podcast) and readers of my blogs.  I’ve also worked many of you on the air in the past 2-3 months.  Most all tell me the same thing and that is I’ve inspired them to do their own QSO a day challenge and you are all on track to making it happen.   Keep it up!  But make sure you are having fun while doing it. 

The QSO breakdown for May is as follows:

Mode  Number QSO’s

JT65 62

JT9 0

SSB 463

PSK31 0

MFSK16 1

RTTY 0

2m FM 0

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in May – 75

New DX Entities in May – 3

Total QSO’s for May – 826

Total QSO’s for 2014 – 1,644

Total consecutive QSO days – 151

Days left in 2014 – 214

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].

Have taken one further step up the amateur radio licensing ladder, passing the Intermediate exam and assessments. A big thank you to Grantham ARC and Alan and Keith for invigilating and congratulations to my fellow candidate Mark Orbell who also passed.

My new callsign is 2E0NRD

Current QTH

I am currently writing this blog entry while on holiday sitting in the caravan watching the sun rise over the Lake District. I have brought the rig along with a M0CVO magitenna for HF and not wanting to miss out on the 144MHz UKAC tonight have a Sandpiper 3-Element Delta Quad.

It has already caused some strange looks on the campsite while I built it up and tested it last night and I hope I won't have any RFI issues as caravans are often fitted with wideband TV amplifiers! Thankfully the site is currently very quiet as the school holidays have finished.

Testing the Delta Quad last night

Initially was going to make a Moxon for 2m but I messed up my first attempt and ran out of time to make another so at the last minute ordered the Delta Quad from Sandpiper. It is a well built antenna I just had to cut the three loops and solder them up, the instructions were very clear. It is easily dismantled and seems ideal for portable work so is an investment for the future.  I hope to use it during July's VHF NFD.

The antenna has an excellent VSWR match and when testing I clearly heard a cw/jt65 beacon around 144.480MHz which must have been GB3NGI on the Slieve Anorra Mountain in County Antrim, Northern Ireland (IO65VB)

I will be operating as M6GTG/P tonight as don't want to upset my UKAC scores and I am not really sure what to expect as surrounded by mountains in most directions here but should be fun. I might even rope in Boris to give me a hand

Boris not looking too impressed

Last Tuesday (27 May) was the 50MHz UKAC. I had intended to do some operating over previous Bank Holiday weekend and with reports of Sporadic E propagation picking up on 6m I had put my homebrew Moxon back up on the pole with the new rotator. Unfortunately the operating was curtailed due to the discomfort I am currently suffering due to a trapped nerve in my back.

That weekend saw some horrendous weather and it rained heavily for several days, indeed it had rained most of Tuesday, checking the VSWR in the evening before the start of the contest I was shocked to see it had risen from 1:1.5 to nearly 1:3!

I knew the bad weather was forecast before putting the antenna up so had made sure all the coax connectors and the feedpoint were properly sealed with self amalgamating tape so was somewhat perplexed. In the end I decided what I thought the issue was, the moxon frame was untreated softwood and in the bad weather had become very wet and damp and suspect it was affecting the resonance.

Despite this I decided to carry on as I was only running 10W and had a productive few hours despite some local noise.

I

27 May 2014 - M6GTG 50MHz UKAC QSO Map

Anyway time to put the kettle on and I will post an update about how I get on tonight.
Andrew Garratt, MØNRD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from East Midlands, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Way back in my Novice days during the late 1980’s I used to have a ton of fun working 10 meters SSB during the summer evenings with sporadic E band openings.

With a new TECH in the family, I thought this would be a good way to get him excited about HF and upgrading to General.

I have not even listened to 10 meters in the evenings.

Have there been any of these openings this summer?  I will start looking and let you know when I find them!

Burke Jones, NØHYD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Kansas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

even when it seems like there’s nothing out there.  You never know what might come up!

It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Central NJ, so as per my custom, I headed out to the Jeep, the KX3 and the Buddistick at lunchtime.  From the get go, it seemed very disappointing.  There wasn’t a whole heckuva a lot of DX activity. What I was hearing were stations I have worked before and you don’t want to keep pestering guys on the same bands, just to get a contact in the log.

I started calling CQ at the 20, 17 and 15 Meter QRP watering holes with no takers.  I was slightly discouraged (Momma said there’d be days like this), and was ready to pack it in and head on back to my desk, slightly early.  That’s when I decided to give 17 Meters just one extra twiddle before coming in.

Bam!  There was TM70UTAH loud as all get out!  This is a Special Event station, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing at Utah Beach on D-Day in 1944.  First call and they were in the books!  I have to admit, I was so excited when I heard them that I had to send my call a few extra times as I fumbled it in my eagerness to work them.  I did hear a confirmation of W2LJ come back to me and I was smiling ear to ear. Next,  just a few KHz down, I heard SP3DOF calling “CQ DX”.  One call and I was in Jerzy’s logbook.

Wow! A WWII Special Event station and a Polish DX station worked within a few minutes of each other – a red letter day as far as I’m concerned.  And all this was after I was tempted to throw in the towel for the day. So it’s a good reminder (to myself included) to keep throwing that fishing line back into the water.  You never know what’s going to land on the hook.

The funny thing is, that TM70UTAH wasn’t even mentioned in that ARRL article on D-Day Special Event stations that I posted from the ARRL just a few days ago.  So in addition to TM70JUN, keep an ear open for TM70UTAH. I would like to work both of them!

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].

Do I need to say more?

Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].