Category - Blog

Great to see the lads from Team Thunderbox at the RSGB Convention last week. I have receieved an email from Jon 2E0DBD informing us of the next /Portable activities of Team Thunderbox.

Team Thunderbox will be setting up a portable station again between 23rd October 2009, and 31st October 2009. 

We will be using the following equipment for our “Gathering” 

As always, we will be operating from Wind and Solar power. 

80m Station~Yaesu FT1000MP MKV, 200 foot Doublet, 400 Watts.

40m Station~Yaesu FT1000MP MKV, 2 Element Monoband Cubical Quad, 400 Watts.

20m Station~Yaesu FT1000MP MKV Field, 3 Element Monoband Cubical Quad, 400 Watts.

 2m Station~Kenwood TR711E, Diamond X700H, 100 Watts.

We would love to speak with as many of you as possible, if the conditions allow.

Kind Regards. Jon 2E0DBD 

Team Thunderbox

(Editors note Please note that QSL is Via the operators!!!!!!!! Not me!)

You can find more information at Team Thunderbox 

Team Thunderbox is a group of people who enjoy the lighter side of Amateur Radio. This is a video showing our most recent gathering to celebrate our 4th birthday as a group. We participate in other hobbies as well as Amateur Radio, and more information Team Thunderbox on You Tube

I would like to welcome Andy Chadwick ZC4VJ to United Radio QSL Bureeau. The new QSL route for Andy is Via M0URX.
In a couple of weeks Andy will return to Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus where he will forward me the full log and some new photograhs for a new high quality QSL card to be designed and printed in a few weeks time all being well.

The ZC4VJ log has now been uploaded to the online logsearch on 09/11/09.

Col, MM0NDX  a keen IOTA enthusiast, has revealed his plans to be QRV from The Flannan Isles EU-118, along with his team members Oscar Luis EA1DR, George EC2ADN, Christian EA3NT and Bjorn SM0MDG.

Only ever activated in 1989, 1995 and 2002, The Flannan Isles EU-118 are certainly a much needed IOTA. Extremely difficult to access due to North Atlantic weather systems constantly eroding the available landing site, a determined international group of IOTA & DX enthusiasts intend to activate Flannans in early / mid-June, 2010. 

The biggest threat / danger to any DX’pedition to the Flannan Isles is the Atlantic weather that can produce violent winds that can sweep through this North West Outer Hebrides area located approximately 32km west of the Island of Lewis. The sea swells that can surge across the 3,000 miles of North Atlantic Ocean hitting land at the Flanan Isles can make this a hazardous exercise.  A study of Ocean charts and weather maps determine if and when this difficult IOTA can take place. 

More information coming soon.

There is a great story about The Flannan Isles “Click Here” called The Mystery of Flannan Isles, from an incident where 3 men dissapered in December 1900.

The United Radio QSL Bureau are proud to announce that we are sponsoring this event for QSL Management. A high quality full colour QSL card will be available Via M0URX.

Busy few days here at the office, the 7P8OK Direct QSL cards are arriving at the destinations around the world, while Bureau cards have been sent direct to 14 European Bureaus and to JARL for a speedy journey through the Bureau. The remaining 100 cards will be sent Via RSGB Bureau next week.

I received a box of 4,000 QSL cards from the Bureau which all had to be sorted for the G4Dxx and G4Rxx call series they were all dispatched on Friday. Which left me with 1,100 QSL cards for the callsigns that I manage, many hours of work processing the cards and I am well on my way to completing the job and I will have them sent back through the Bureau next week.

Then of course it has been a great time on HF with some excellent DX’peditions hitting the air. FT5GA Glorioso Island was a all time new one with 4 band slots at Château Beaumont on 12m, 15m, 17m, and 20m. I have listened to these guys for hours while I have been working in the shack, and all 5 of them have done such a great job from Glorioso. They have military work to do as well as the radio expedition so brilliant job lads!

Then my attention was turned to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, Conway Reef near Fiji to be precise, the team of 3D20CR were doing an incredible job, I first heard them on Friday afternoon when I got home from work for several hours their signal was 5/2 at a time when I had not expected to hear them on 20m. Saturday was a busy work day for me so it had to be Sunday when my chance was to come, I decided to get up early and watch the Formula 1 race from Japan, as the race progressed 3D20CR were getting stronger to 5/5 when I heard M0BZH work them, at this point they called for United Kingdom only on 14.220 MHz, but the pile up still kept calling again they asked only for UK I was beginning to shake and sweat, this was my best chance, with one clear call I shouted again “Mike Zero Uniform Romeo X-Ray” I un-keyed waiting to see if they had heard me, it seemed like eternity but It was no more than a fraction of a second, “M0URX 5/9” wow the feeling of a new one! It’s awesome.

This afternoon conditions to West Coast of North America were very good and Africa too on 20m with a new IOTA group on air for me AF-061 C91VM/5 on 20m. 

In the UK it is very difficult to find a way to put up a full size HF antenna that is going to get you heard in the pile ups, the “G3TXQ Broadband Hexbeam” is where UK operators are finding an antenna that really works and I would like to wish my DX buddy MW0JZE Ant the best of luck as he goes into production soon with this antenna. I bought his prototype off him and I can’t sing his praises enough for a thoroughly professionally build quality, good luck Ant!  To find out more about MW0JZE and the Hexbeam project Click Here

Next weekend is the RSGB Convention, I will be there! So will many of my friends, its time to enjoy the presentations, and relax over many beers, yes probably too many beers and talk RADIO! If you see me, mines a Lager ok?

Thanks to Colin in Sweden for sending me the photo on the right, yes that is me on the left looking towards the camera 20 years ago in about 1989 I think. With the blue T shirt is Steve G0UIH, Ian M0KCM with the hat and Dave. We have all put on several kilos since then!

Steve 9M6DXX has updated me on forthcoming activity from East Malaysia over the next two months.

1) Steve, 9M6DXX, will operate (SSB only) as 9M8Z from Sarawak, East Malaysia (IOTA OC-088), from 22 to 26 October, including a single-operator all-band high-power unassisted entry in the CQWW DX phone contest. QSL via M0URX direct, via the bureau, LoTW, or request direct or bureau cards on-line.

2) Steve, 9M6DXX, and John, 9M6XRO, will operate from Pulau Labuan (IOTA OC-133) from 6 to 8 November (and possibly for one or two hours from 0000UTC on 9 November) as follows: 9M6DXX/P 10m – 80m on SSB only; 9M6XRO/P 10m – 160m on CW and RTTY. Stations will be using linear amplifiers to a multi-band vertical and a 160m inverted-L, both mounted very close to the ocean. We hope it will be possible to operate on 160m CW at the same time as SSB on the other bands. QSL both 9M6DXX/P and 9M6XRO/P via M0URX, either direct, via the bureau or LoTW.

For full QSL information click here

The QSL from Nicolas arrived in the post today from TN5SN DXCC Number 274 confirmed for M0URX.

More information on the activity from Nicolas in the Republic of the Congo can be found at: TN5SN 

Smiling faces in Lesotho is the theme for the QSL card of 7P8OK the QSL will now be printed. Here is the design. QSL Via M0URX. For more detailed QSL information CLICK HERE!

The 7P8OK QSL card is sponsored by United Radio QSL Bureau.
QSL Printed by ON5UR Print Service
All QSL’s arrived up to 20/09/09 have now been mailed out. Bureau cards to 14 European Bureaus and JARL sent direct others will be sent to RSGB soon.

Glad to say I got back to KK on time and no hassle with my luggage either way despite the fact that my transit times between flights in Doha were 30 mins and 45 mins! Well done to Qatar Airways for that as they met me off my flights and made sure me and my baggage got on to the next one OK.

Including my short ZS6 operation I made just over the 8K QSO mark from Africa. I did all the RTTY from 7P8 as well as 90% of the Top Band operating. I was pleased to manage the first 7P8/JA QSO on 160m with JA7NI and I worked 44 countries on 160m and 107 countries on all bands.

In total the 5 ops made in excess of 27,000 contacts and scanning the DX Cluster, the comments seem generally favourable to us.

I have my photos to sort out then I will send you off some possible ones for my QSL. I had a couple of cable problems in 7P8 – my camera to USB cable and my computer to rig interface cable both failed. Both cables became really brittle in the dry cold WX which they obviously did not appreciate after being used in the Borneo climate!

We had limited dial-up internet access at the Trading Post Lodge office The  photo above shows (l to r) Daniel/ZS6JR, Ben/7P8YI, Pista/7P8AO, Frosty/7P8CF, Laurent/7P8MM and John/7P8OK.

Right – 7P8OK John on RTTY duty.

Glad to get you in my log and also hear you working the others too. BTW I did complete the 20m SSB sked with Steve 9M6DXX and got him on 17m SSB as well. The WX has been pretty awful around KK this weekend so the BARC Lighthouse operation on the uninhabited Pulau Layangan must have been an ordeal for them. There was a thunderstorm and very heavy rain when they were due off this afternoon so I don’t know how that went yet.
73 for now – John – 9M6XRO

Editor – The online logsearch for 7P8OK is now LIVE
LoTW has now been uploaded for 7P8OK and ZS6/GM3OOK.
I will now work on the QSL Requests both Direct and Bureau. Please be patient.

I really enjoyed the 10m openning today with Sporadic E with most of Europe in 3 hours contacts were logged with 140 stations from France, Germany to Russia where I worked a Cosmonaut (Astronaut) Alexander Volkov U4MIR I am sure that is my first QSO with an Astronaut so I feel very pleased to meet you Alex’. I was also called by JQ9DHC in Japan, but I was not able to complete the QSO as QSB was very fast. So Japan on 10m great! Thank you to all of you that I worked today.
The Sporadic E was also strong enough to work GM7TUD Jim on back scatter signals while testing the direct path turning the beam to Scotland signal was 0. Jim great to catch up after such a long time!

Terry G4MKP is in Cyprus over 14/25 August. He is squeezing 2 days of business into 10. That means lots of time for cold beer, lazy days by the pool and a fair bit of time on his Elecraft K3 signing 5B/G4MKP. Terry will be QRV mornings and evenings on CW/RTTY and, if he can figure out how to do it, SSB also. CW around 7.010, 14.010, 21.010, 28.020. RTTY anywhere in the band segment.  Please listen for him and give a call.

Picture: Elecraft K3, PSU, Key, cabling, Buddipole.

QSL Via M0URX
QSL Direct or Via email request for a bureau QSL.
LoTW will be uploaded after the operation.