M0JCQ's Ham Blog ← Adventures in Ham Radio ← Page 2

VHF SOTA Expedition in the Snowdonia National Park 6

Apr

28

2017

In April I finally finished a big project at work and had some time off to relax – the perfect break would be some walking in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Of course the first thing that usually happens when I start to relax is that I get a cold, annoyingly this happened ...

Download The VHF/UHF DX Book for free 6

Mar

10

2017

It’s not often an Amateur Radio book from the mid-90’s is still so highly respected and sought after. The VHF/UHF DX Book is one of these books if you’re into VHF/UHF DXing. Ever since getting licensed I have heard this book mentioned in hushed reverence as the definitive guide to DXing on the VHF/UHF bands. ...

CW Contesting… with no CW Skills 9

Jan

11

2017

Each year my local club (Chesham & District Amateur Radio Society) takes part in the RSGB AFS contest series. We like this series because it’s great for getting members involved in a wide range of bands and is quite a technical test to take part in each one. There’s contests for 160m, 80m, 40m, 6m, ...

Top 10 Amateur Radio Uses for the Raspberry Pi 10

Oct

12

2016

The Raspberry Pi has proved to be a phenomenal hit with hobbyists around the world. Originally conceived to get children into computer programming, it was quickly adopted by hobbyists due to its cheap price and GPIO output pins. Indeed, initial demand was unprecedented and supplies were limited for some time after launch and this still ...

Rebooting Amateur Radio 3

Oct

7

2016

Amateur Radio? A hobby for old men? Maybe, but it can be inclusive! Ryan M0RYS/N0RYS gave a very interesting talk at the Electromagnetic Field festival entitled “Rebooting a Hobby – How Modern Digital Comms are Reviving Amateur Radio”. The festival is interesting and pretty unique: Electromagnetic Field is a non-profit UK camping festival for those ...

How to Undertake a SOTA Activation – Step by Step Guide 1

Sep

17

2016

Recently I’ve been shooting a number of videos for YouTube outlining the kit I use for SOTA and now I’ve done one showing how I go about activating a SOTA summit. It’s a step by step guide to carrying out a SOTA activation in the great outdoors. It covers the set-up, spotting, operating procedure ...

QRPp Experiments on the 60m Band Using the Elecraft KX3

Sep

15

2016

On Sunday I went out portable with my Elecraft KX3 to see if I could make some inter-G contacts on the 60m band. 40m wasn’t supporting NVIS and the Worked All Europe (WAE) contest was dominating 20m, so my QRP station was struggling to be heard with only Cyprus and Asiatic Russia worked on 10w, ...

My Kit for SOTA & Portable Amateur Radio 4

Sep

14

2016

I’ve thought about doing a YouTube film (you can Subscribe to my channel here) of the kit I use for my SOTA and Portable amateur radio operations for some time now. Yesterday I finally got around to it and made the most of calm and sunny conditions (quite rare here in England!). The selected equipment ...

Receiving Long Path Asian DX on the Elecraft KX3 1

Sep

12

2016

While out portable yesterday I tuned around 20m, keen to see if I could hear any DX during the Worked All Europe (WAE) SSB contest. What I experienced, is I can only assume, Long Path (LP) Asian DX. Essentially the Short Path (SP) would have been within a path of darkness from East to West. ...

Amateur Radio Contests – Why the Love/Hate Relationship? 4

Sep

1

2016

Regardless of opinion Contesting seems to be one of the real growth areas in Amateur Radio. Contests across the HF and (at least here in the UK) VHF spectrum are more popular than ever. What is interesting for me is the polarising nature of contesting, it seems you either love it or you hate it. ...