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Two new ones on LoTW - 6W and OH0

la8aja — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:02:44 +0000

I got a few pleasant surprises on LoTW during the week. I got two new countries confirmed and I’m closing in on 200 now with 193 confirmed. The new countries are OH0TA and 6W1/F5PHW. I also got JA6WFM/HR3 on 6M. And I got a few more bandpoints with ZC4ZM on 12M and 40M. Thanks to all uploading the logs. I also uploaded my LoTW log with what I worked during the week.

XV4BM and A5100A in the log on 40M

la8aja — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:51:44 +0000

You know, it’s kinda strange with countries you need. Like V8 that I worked years ago on 15M SSB. A few weeks ago I finally logged my second V8 with V85SS. He gave me a new one on CW and 40M. On Monday, V85TT was cq’ing with a nice signal on 40M. He had almost no pile-up, and for a long time he CQ’ed a lot with no replies. I gave him a call and quickly got him in the log. Suddenly I now have 3 V8 stations in the log. I also worked HS0ZBS on 40M, not a new one, but a second band. I worked Kurt on 30M not long ago.

On Tuesday XV4BM showed up again on 40M with a nice signal. The frequency was pretty chaotic with the pile from A5100A partially covering XV4BM. I finally got through to XV4BM and he got my call correct. I checked the soundclip afterwards, and it’s good. That was #213 on 40M. I had a go on A5100A and got through, I think, but never got the confirmation. Too many stations on top. I tried again and got through, this time it was confirmed and another new on 40M (#214).

Soundclips:

XV4BM 40M CW Second try, impossible with people transmitting on top
XV4BM 40M CW Third times a charm, finally ok
A5100A 40M CW First try, I couldn’t hear a confirmation
A5100A 40M CW Second try, this time it sounded better
V85TT 40M CW CQ’ing with a nice signal

Last weeks activity

la8aja — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:30:04 +0000

The title says it. Since I haven’t been on the radio since last weekend, it’s not much to tell about. The week just flies too fast. However I got the opportunity on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday I did some qso’es on 30M. I heard K7XB calling E7 on 30M, but no luck. I decided to go ahead and make some CQ for DX. Guess who gave me a call? You guessed it, K7XB Sam in Utah. He had the typical flutter on his signal, but the singal was good. It was only my second contact with Utah on 30M. After working Sam, I worked a few other contacts with F5TO, UK9AV, YO7DO, IK5ORR and YO3AAJ. Seemed like many people on at that time, I had many callers after finishing a qso, mostly EU. I wanted to get some dx, but couldn’t attract anything, so I went qrt. On Sunday I worked DF6QC Peter in iota EU-127 on 30M. An hour later J3/DL7CM was in on 40M with a good signal and was quickly worked. In the evening, XV4BM was on 40M with a great signal, but wasn’t running split at the time, making it totally chaos on the frequency. Luckily he went split, and he answered me, but wrong call. He logged me as LA8AWA. I tried to call again afterwards, but the pile.up was too big. Hopefully I can catch him later. DU1BP showed up on ssb with a nice and strong signal. As usual, chaos with people not listening and calling all the time. I got him after a few calls (#212 40M).

Soundclips recorded on Sunday:

DU1BP 40M SSB Joey with a nice signal
J3/DL7CM 40M CW Nice signal on Sunday morning
XV4BM 40M CW He sent LA8AWA and didn’t correct it, I haven’t claimed this one

On Sunday I uploaded my log from last week to LoTW. K7XB was allready in there waiting. That was a quick confirmation! Thanks Sam.

Online logsearch was also updated today.

DX World of Ham Radio - by MM0NDX

la8aja — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:05:25 +0000

One of the interesting sites I have in my RSS-reader, is the DX-page by MM0NDX. It’s called DX World of Ham Radio. MM0NDX reports about happenings in the DX world. It’s mostly DXPedition related and is often updated. I find the page well worth a look. Visit here: http://dx-hamspirit.com

LoTW updates - lots of DX with recordings

la8aja — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:52:01 +0000

I uploaded an update to LoTW last week. With this upload, I got several new confirmations this time. YB4IR 40M SSB, 5Z4/RW1AU on 40M and 30M CW, HQ9R on 40M RTTY and ZD9ZM 30M CW, 15M RTTY and 12M CW. With ZD9ZM, I now have 191 LoTW confirmations.

On the DX front is was pretty quiet last weekend and the beginning of the week. I didn’t listen anything in on CQWW SSB, but did have a quick try on VU7SJ on 30M. He was strong, but then he went qrt for dinner. I made a short recording which you can listen to below. XU7MDY was worked on 30M on Friday, and I heard him on 40M a bit later, but couldn’t break the pile-up. I also had a go at VU4RG and TT8JT on 30M, but couldn’t get through. On Saturday I worked P29NI on 30M CW for a new on CW (#298) and 30M (#223). KH2/AK0J had a nice signal and gave me a new one on 40M (#208). JI3CEY/6 (AS017) was cq’ing on 30M, so I gave him a quick call. HS0ZBS suddenly popped up on 30M for a new one (#224). Later in the evening, XU7MDY was worked on 40M for second band and a new one (#209). Sunday gave me three new ones on 30M. Franck FK8HC had a really nice signal on 30M, and was easily worked (#225). Check out the soundclip below. A43DLH was worked for country number #226 on 30M. And finally P29NI came on 40M (#210) with a really nice signal. But that wasn’t the end of it. 9V1VV John was worked on 30M for number #227. 5N/LZ1QK was CQ’ing with not too many takers, and was worked easily for number #211 on 40M.

I thought the week started bad, but after this weekend, I can’t really complain. Conditions seems to have been pretty nice on 30 M and 40M with some very strong signals. Now if only I could get some of those VU4’s and VU7’s in the log. I have tried a few times, but I can’t seem to break the pile-up.

Here are the recordings I made last week:

VU7SJ 30M CW - qrt for dinner, didn’t manage to work him
TT8JT 30M CW - couldn’t break the pile-up
VU4RG 30M CW - couldn’t break the pile-up
P29NI 30M CW - and P29NI 40M CW OC-041 nice signal, new on CW, 30M and 40M
KH2/AK0J 40M CW - nice signal, new on 40M
JI3CEY/6 30M CW - Iota AS-017
XU7MDY 40M CW - to me it sounds like LA8APA, but I tried to work him 15min later and got qso before!
FK8HC 30M CW - Franck with a great signal on Sunday morning
9V1VV 30M CW - John with a big pile up and nice signal

Google earth and hamradio

la8aja — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:17:48 +0000

Google Earth is a great program in many ways, and it can also have many uses in hamradio. I have among other things, used it to find big hamstations, locate IOTA’s and also DXCC’s. I will present a few useful links here. To get Google Earth, download it here.

A few interesting and useful links:

http://www.nearby.org.uk/flyto.php The first link is very useful to go directly to a maidenhead locator. Just type it in and Google Earth will display the location.
http://www.rsgbiota.org/xml/iota.kmz Get this to get all the IOTA’s on Google Earth
http://www.df5ai.net/ArticlesDL/SatImages/ArrayImages.html Satellite and aerial images of large antennas
http://www.hamatlas.eu/Gg/KML_en.htm And the last one is from SP6NVK. This is a nice one with all the DXCC’s and maidenhead locators.

Got any more useful links? Please add them in a comment.

Google Earth for iPhone and iPod Touch

la8aja — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:12:19 +0000

An exciting new application was released for the iPhone and the iPod Touch Sunday October 26. It’s Google Earth. If you haven’t given Google Earth a try, you’re missing out on a great program. In few words, Google Earth is a virtual globe program with very detailed views of the earth. The images are obtained from from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe. Now Google Earth got even more accessible. I am looking forward to give this a try. Get it via the appstore now, it’s free!

Quote from http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/:

The world just got a little bit smaller. Google Earth is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch, allowing you to fly to the far reaches of the world from the palm of your hand. Since we launched Google Earth for the desktop in 2005, we’ve had over 400 million unique downloads, and people from around the world have used it to view their house, research travel destinations, learn how to make the world a better place, find local businesses, and view geo-located photos. Now, with a free download from the iTunes App Store, you can fly through the same 3D immersive world of Google Earth you’ve come to love, without having to fire up your desktop computer.

Here is a demonstration of the application:

3Y0X - Dxpedition video

la8aja — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:00:44 +0000

To follow up on my earlier post about dxpedition videos, here is another one. This time it’s the video from Peter 1 Island. The expedition was back in 2006, so not really hot news, but I’m trying to list all expedition videos I know about.

The DVD tells the whole 3YØX story, from beginning to end. Some are calling this the "DXpedition of the Decade"; don’t miss it in exciting, living color! Order now for US $25.00. Note: The DVD is multi-region encoded. This means 100% compatibility worldwide; any DVD player, anywhere, can play the 3YØX DVD. The order can be made with PayPal, cash, check or moneyorder. Get it here: 3Y0X Dxpedition Video.

My earlier post about dxpedition vidoes.

TO5DX - St. Barthelemy worked for a new one

la8aja — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:19:33 +0000

Finally. St. Barthelemy is in the log. That makes 320 total. I have followed the activity during the week, but never had a chance to work them. The band and time just hasn’t been correct for me. However, on Thursday, I had time before work, and they finally popped up on 40M. They had a strong signal, and it took only a few minutes before he was in the log. I also made a soundclip.

Not much other DX to report. VA5DX was worked on 30M on Monday. VK9DWX was worked on 30M CW on Tuesday. 6Y1V was worked on 20M CW, 5Z4/RW1AU was worked on 40M CW (#205) and CK7IG/1 (NA-010) was worked on 30M CW on Wednesday. PZ5Z was worked on 30M CW early Thursday with TO5DX an hour later on 40M CW (#206). Friday morning got me PZ5Z and YN2I (#207 40M) on 40M CW.

VA5DX 30M CW, typical flutter on his signal
TO5DX 40M CW, St. Barthelemy, nice and strong this morning
PZ5Z 40M CW, nice and strong
YN2I 40M CW, another new one on 40M

WordPress 2.6.3 released - vulnerability fix

la8aja — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:44:52 +0000

A new version was just released. It’s a minor update with a vulnerability fix in the Snoopy library. WordPress uses Snoopy to fetch the feeds shown in the Dashboard. It’s low risk, but I updated anyhow. In the link below, you can download 2 files and upload, so the update is a quick one.

http://wordpress.org/development/2008/10/wordpress-263/