A great thrill to work Ian VK3MO in Melbourne again after almost 13 years

A recent spell of poor conditions on the higher HF bands (20m and above) seemed to come to an end yesterday. Last night, after a busy day at work, I was tuning around on the phone portion of the 20 metre (14Mhz) band. I saw some strong signals, which was interesting as it was after 11pm. 

CE3QY in Chile was booming in on 14.190Mhz, and his signal was 59+ even though I only have an inverted V dipole on that band. I gave him a couple of calls and was soon in his log. I also worked CE4UFC Jorge on 14.210Mhz, but his signal was a 5 by 5.

From there, I tuned downwards, and could see a big signal on the waterfall below. As I tuned in that signal – on 14.165Mhz – a familiar voice could be heard! It was the unmistakeable voice of Ian, VK3MO, near Melbourne, Australia. Ian needs no introduction to radio amateurs. He is quite famous in the ham world. Over the years, many European hams have worked Ian on 20 metres SSB and had the joy of a conversation with him. Ian does not do "59 thanks" reports, but rather engages in dialogue and sometimes spends 10 minutes or even more ragchewing.

As far as I know, Ian only operates in and around 14.160Mhz, and that's because he runs a stack of monoband beams which are obviously resonant on that frequency. The stack consists of four five-element 20m beams on a rotating tower. It's a hugely impressive setup, which yields hugely impressive results.

I listened for about 10 minutes while Ian chatted with M0JWK in England. He mentioned that he would soon have to go to work. As he signed with the mike zero, I decided to give him a quick call. I said something like "Ian, you are 59 plus on my dipole in Ireland, from echo india two kilo charlie".

To my delight, he came back to me. I made a video of our short QSO.

Ian and I made our first QSO in May of 2010, and had further QSOs in August 2011 and September 2012, but we had not spoken since then – a period of almost 13 years!

I was thrilled that he took the time for a very quick chat before heading to work, for which he said he was running late.

I'm not sure how up-to-date his QRZ.com page is, but you can see a photo of his tower/stack on there. It's a world-beating setup, and explains why his signal has often been heard at 59 and 59+ in Europe at nighttime (his morning).

Working Australia is always a pleasure for me, but VK3MO stands out because of his fantastic signal, and his very friendly and chatty nature. Thanks Ian for the quick QSO. You put a smile on this ham's face!

Some nice SSB contacts - Svalbard and Australia

Contrary to popular belief, I do sometimes enjoy some phone activity on amateur radio. I do, in fact, own a microphone, HI HI! Today I gave the voice a bit of exercise and enjoyed about an hour of phone activity on 17 metres. I worked mostly European and Russian stations, with a new North American stations in the log too.

Separately to that run, I enjoyed a couple of nice contacts. One was with JW7VRA in Svalbard on 20 metres using just 100 watts. Here's a video of that contact:

I also had a nice QSO with Tim VK3TJK in Victoria, Australia, also on 20 metres. He was booming in on the short path. It sounded at times as if all of Europe and half of Russia was calling him. Here's a video of the moment my call was pulled out of the pile and the ensuing QSO:

A wonderful week of DX in fantastic conditions

It's been a really great week for DX. There aren't many dxpeditions on, but the conditions are such that the world is at your fingertips every time you touch the CW paddle or the microphone button, or indeed the keyboard for the RTTY macros. Here is a summary of the DX worked in the past seven days:

The 9J2T dxpedition to Zambia - worked 6 times so far.

JG8NQJ/JD1 Minami Torishima 17m CW; VP8CMH/MM Falklands 17m CW and 20m CW; KH6/VE7AHA Hawaii 12m CW at 9.10pm local time!; WL7E Alaska 12m CW - new on 12m, at 21:23; VK3TZ Australia 12m CW at 21:32 at night!; FK8DD/M New Caledonia 12m CW; FK8IK New Caledonia 12m SSB - my first ever phone contact with this DXCC; 9J2T Zambia dxpedition - total of six band slots; WL7E 12m SSB at 21:19 at night, a new slot; D44CF Cape Verde 10m CW - new slot; CX3TQ Uruguay 10m SSB - worked on the Antron 99 with 100 watts; 4S7DFG Sri Lanka 20m CW; HK0/UA4WHX Providencia Island - a total of six slots so far!!; ZL4IR New Zealand 20m SSB; CB3N Chile 20m SSB; FK8IK 40m CW - new country on 40 metres!!; ZM90DX New Zealand 20m CW; 4S7LXG Sri Lanka 15m CW - new one on 15; 4S7DFG Sri Lanka 10m CW - new country on 10m!!; ZL1/G0EHQ New Zealand 20 SSB - nice chat on SSB (YouTube video); RI1ANR Antarctica 17m CW; D44CF Cape Verde 12m CW - new slot;  A92AA 20m RTTY - new DXCC on digital modes; 9J2T Zambia 17m RTTY - new DXCC on digi modes; V21ZG 17m RTTY - new one on digital modes; ZL7/OE2SNL 40m CW - brand new country (number #304 worked!); RI1ANC Antarctica 17m SSB; OX3KQ Greenland 12m SSB - new slot, worked with Antron-99 and 100w; 5H2DK Tanzania 17m SSB; JT5DX Mongolia 80m CW - new country on 80m!; 4S7FRG Sri Lanka 12m CW - new on 12; YB4IR/P Indonesia IOTA OC-204 20m SSB; KH6CW Hawaii 12m SSB - new slot; ZD8RY Ascension Island 40m SSB; KH2L Guam 17m CW at 21:45 local time; JW7QIA Svalbard 80m CW.

Sometimes the clock is against you in ham radio

There are times when the clock is against you in ham radio. Imagine the following scenario. There is a dxpedition on a Pacific Island that you need as a new DXCC. They are there for just over a week in total. Propagation is poor and they might be using small antennas and low power. Despite seeing other Europeans spotting them on the cluster, you are unable to hear them on any band or mode. You are fast approaching the weekend, when they will be winding the station down, and all of Europe will be on, calling them, and you won't be in the shack. And, with just minutes to go before you leave the shack to go to work on Friday morning, you finally hear them for the first time . . .

That, my dear friends, is the scenario that faced me this morning. I could finally hear VK9NT on Norfolk Island, on 12 metres CW  - the first time I had heard a decent signal from them all week. Many mornings they were either QRX or unhearable. Conditions were not great all week.

Norfolk Island, from which I could finally hear VK9NT this morning.

I saw them spotted on several slots, including 20m CW, 17m SSB and 12m CW. As it happened, I could only hear them on 12m CW. They were too weak on 20m CW to make out. It was 9.05am. I would have to leave the shack for work at 9.15am. I had TEN MINUTES in which to try to work them!!

The op was relatively slow, and was working a mixture of JA stations and EU. I knew I had a challenge on my hands! I had the beam pointing the right direction, the linear was on, and the split was set at up 2. However, on listening to the op's pattern, it became clear that he or she was moving up about 500 hz at a time and then, upon getting to about 4kc up, coming back down again. I heard "5NN TU" on the split, and moved down about 500 hz. I also slowed my keying speed to match the DX speed. Within a minute or so I could hear "2KC ?" I gave the call twice. Again I could hear "2KC?" - obviously I was being QRMed. Another couple of calls with "EI2KC" and I could heard "EI2KC 5NN" and I gave something like "QSL EI2KC 5NN 5NN TU" and I was in the log . . .

I didn't have time to celebrate. I had to switch off all the equipment, get my coat, and run to the car. It was 9.15am and I needed to be at the desk in Dublin at 10am!! However, I felt I could relax a bit. DXCC #290 was in the log, and I had all but despaired of working them. VK9NT on Norfolk Island - thank you. I am off to another island tomorrow, Inis Mór (EU-006) with the EJ7NET dxpedition. I hope conditions are good for that . . . both weather conditions, and band conditions!

VK9CZ Cocos Keeling Islands on 17m SSB

This is a short video showing VK9CZ, currently operating from Cocos Keeling Islands, on 17m SSB. As you can see, this was shot at 7.44pm local time. This small dxpedition has been workable both in the mornings and the evenings from Ireland. I have already nabbed them on four slots, which I am delighted with.  I have yet to work VK9-C on 10 metres, so here's hoping!

A great weekend for DX despite conditions

Despite the bands not being in great shape it was a good weekend on the bands. With varying power and different antennas I managed to nab a number of DXCC on new bands and new band slots. Here is a brief summary:

C91JD in Mozambique was a highlight of the weekend

TJ3AY (Cameroon) on 17m SSB, nabbed with 100 watts after just a few calls. New band slot.

JW7XM (Svalbard) on 17m SSB, with 100 watts. New band slot.

6O0CW (Somalia) on 30m CW, 100 watts and my home brew inverted V. Rare one and new band!

HD2A (Eduador) on 20m SSB with my Butternut vertical and 300w.

VK3TC (Australia) on 40m CW. Fought through serious QRM to get him but he was nice and clear.

6O0CW (Somalia) worked again on 17m CW with just 100 watts.

AP2IA (Pakistan) on 17m SSB with 400 watts, new band slot.

3B8FA (Mauritius) on 17m SSB, with 400 watts. Weak enough but worked as a new slot!

5N7M (Nigeria) - Ivan worked me on 80m CW the other night to give me a new one on 80, and today he gave me a new band slot with 17m SSB, worked first call with just 100 watts.

C91JD (Mozambique) - I had only ever worked this country on 12m CW, so to add 12m SSB was a great pleasure. It took a while and he was weak with QSB but got me in the log after about 20 minutes' calling.
E40VB (Palestine) - sat listening for ages on 12m SSB and he finally came out of the noise. I worked him 1st call with 400 watts. New band slot!
6O0CW (Somalia) was worked again, this time on 17m SSB, giving a new band slot!

UPDATE!!! RI1ANF (VP8-H South Shetland Islands) Heard quite well on 17m so I gave it a try. The pile-up got big very quick so he went split, and I was the second person to work him on the split. VP8-H is a brand new DXCC for me, country number 261!

RI1ANF (VP8-H South Shetland Islands) Soon after working him on 17m CW he was QRV on 20m CW. I worked him after a while with my Butternut vertical. New country on 20m!!!!!

Another highlight of the weekend was working CT3NA in Madeira on 6 metres. That was DXCC number 57 for me on that band !