Quick contact with Mic (FK8IK) in New Caledonia

First contact on my new to me $40 Hamfest special is FK8IK (Mic) in New Caledonia. Using my max licence limit of 10W which is still QRP for phone and it made the trip of 1463 kms no problem. Audio is much nicer than the Anytone 6666 and the notch and shift make a big difference there.

Mic's QRZ profile: https://www.qrz.com/db/FK8IK

...and where have I been again?

...life just gets in the way. I've been slimming down the radio herd so most of the Motorolas, the Alinco HH, and the scanners are gone. I still have not managed to sort out the issue with the manpack although I am getting closer with slipping a choke over the mic cable but will pull it apart again to try and add some onto the feed line - thanks VK2ZRH. Who knows I may even start talking on the radio soon ;-)

Back with a QSO into England

It's been a long time with work and other priorities taking up any spare time. I managed to get a QSO back into Stoke-on-Trent with Ian - G0UWK. Great to get back into Europe while still running 10 watts on 10m. Ian was pushing 400 watts into a 4 element Yagi and coming through to Brisbane very well with some QSB. Summer is coming around in Brisbane so time to get out and about. I also know that VK4 is on the map with respect to SOTA so I'm looking forward to some activations as the summer months drag on. I also need to get my butt in gear and sit the open call exam. Difficult to study at the moment but I'll get there in the end.

10 watts into Munich with DK8MZ

It took me quite a while to get round to editing and uploading this video but got there in the end.

Been a while.....but got my first DXpedition in the log

Nearly a whole month since my last update and unfortunately work has kept me off the radio for a while. I have however managed to add in some additional countries with India, Indonesia, South Korea, Finland and now the DXpedition to Norfolk Island in the log.

VK9NT are running a DXpedition to Norfolk Island at the moment and I managed to get a solid contact on 40 metres. The VK9NT expedition page is http://vk9nt.odxg.org/index.html

EU QSO on the Kenwood TS-120V

Stephan had the Kenwood TS-120V rig fixed in super quick time and after I found out he had to rebuild the VFO I was even more impressed with both his work and turnaround. Good Work Stephan!

After a quick chat with Pete - VK4BT and Barry - VK3NBW (Geelong) they both gave some positive feedback on the audio. Tuning around 10 metres there was a JA pileup but no chance of getting through that one and as the evening changed to night I tried again and came across Dobrisan Bogdan - YO4RIU calling CQ DX from Romania. He was working a few VK stations and after a couple of tries the contact was made just as his signal was beginning to fade in and out.

I'm pretty happy with the Kenwood as the receive is better than my Dragon 485 and the 10 watts made the grade in getting out some 13,111 kilometres to Romania.

Now to get an antenna setup for some of the other bands and see how that goes.

Special event station - Kesennuma earth quake

Just twiddling the dials and came across 8J7FUKKO special event station remembering the Kesennuma earth quake in Japan. A mouthful for us both to pass our call signs back and forth but a good contact.....and my first QSO video below:

I've got GAS....

Gear Acquisition Syndrome continues unabated.... I have removed the 40 channel UHF CB in the car and replaced it with a new Uniden UH7740NB 80 channel narrow band one.





Works well, very happy with it...although I don't care much for UHF CB. The Uniden UH012SX is now in the radio shack.....which led me to a need for a UHF CB antenna for that one....time for some DIY. Following the instructions on http://www.aurfscan.com.au/ I tailored it for 477Mhz. Had problems, split the T-junction, bracket was wrong, drilled mounting holes 10 degrees off vertical.





But it's all done, up in the air pointing North West and hitting Ch2 and Ch7 repeaters. At the same time I took down the Station Master antenna and put up the new version from Shockwave Antennas. A bit of messing about tuning it to 10m and I've now got a SWR of 1.2:1 on 28.480Mhz and now getting all of my meager 10 watts up the stick.



Next items on the list are to chase another HF radio, keen to get onto the 40 metre band. Also starting to plan for the next antenna mast (possible another vertical and a G5RV Jr. dipole). Have to balance this with getting the RGV250 on the road....and upgrading to the Standard licence.

Nearly...kindof....yes....absolutely!!!!

Oleg - RK9UN came through with his eQSL below so the QSO is confirmed. Excellent!!!!!!!!