Sunday 15 August 2010

QRV from the Field

Last Wednesday, the predictions for the weather where not so good and we decided to do this activity yesterday. We were lucky: sunshine and good temperatures.

The purpose of this event was to build up the portable mast and see if the additional support is good enough. At about 6 meters height, we made an extra point with 3 ropes. It looked good and solid but from this upper point of the mast was pretty crooked.





The idea is to make the support more higher to obtain a better stability.The upper part have Eric, (PE1FES) and I let down, there was now about 6 meters mast on. The mast was now stable, without curves. The suspension point for the variation of the G5RV/ZS6BKW (2 times 7.77 meters) is here by also lower.


In both situations, I made some qso's. On 20M a cw qso with I6WJB in Pescara. This was my first cw qso while I was standing, we forgot the seats.
On 40M, I made qso's with: F/PH2CV/P (cw), SP9KAT (ssb) and SP9WZS (cw).
TRX: FT817nd with internal battery + later a external battery. The output power was only 2.5 watts.

We have had a lot of fun!

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 9 August 2010

QRP on 20M

This morning I setup my portable situation on the dining table. This means the FT817nd with internal battery and on the back of the transceiver the ATX-1080 antenna.

First it seemed very quiet on 20M but during the morning I heard a few signals. While I had other activities in the house, I leave the transceiver on 14.060. Suddenly I heard HB9DAX CQ'íng. After one reply Man(fred) came back for me. We made a nice qso, the transmit speed of Man(fred) was a little bit to high for me. So, I have to concentrate me more than normal.

When I removed my setup from the table I wanted to move in the telescope. This is always stiff and one of the thinner parts nodded. It can still be moved in and out but it is not pretty.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Sunday 8 August 2010

6 meters & J-pole for 2 meters

Yesterday morning around 8:00 local time, I heard during my breakfast signals from the beacon I0JX/B on 6 meters. Unfortunately, no further action was heard and gone outdoors for other activities that day.

Today I borrowed a swr meter to see what the swr is of my homemade 2 meters J-pole antenna made of 300 Ohm ribbon cable. The swr was reasonable, 1:1.4.





The J-pole antenna hung in the doorway to the balcony.

I made a qso via the repeater of Amersfoort (PI3AMF) without problems, 5 watts output. The other station told me that the swr is improving by an RF choke. I got a phonecall and the qso was abruptly ended. Google gave me no answer for an RF choke for this situation. Any ideas?


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 5 August 2010

6 meter antenna

It's almost a week ago since I put my last post on this blog. This means that there was't to much time for the radio hobby.

Last week there was a chance of Aurora Borealis by an eruption on the sun. Unfortunately, the Aurora was to weak for me in JO21RV to hear signals on 6 meters via this propagation.








The antenna for 6 meters has not stood on the balcony for a few weeks. This antenna is a 5/8 wave for 2 meters. With a piece of extended it's now a fourth wave for 6 meters. The extension has now made a final.
This year I made a lot of qso's via Es with this antenna.




Thanks to Eric, PE1FES, for the mechanical work.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 30 July 2010

My homebrew corner.

This week I walked around in my house with my camera and came up with the idea of yet another new picture of my homebrew corner. This is the result. On the desk are the components of the Limerick Sudden receiver project I'm doing.

Limerick Sudden receiverAs the manual shows I started assembling the IC holders for the LM386 and NE612.



I haven't found more time in the past week for this project.

Wednesday afternoon I had a qso with SM3YQX/4. Lars Erik, 30 km west of the town Mora. He worked with 100W in a dipole, I with 2.5 W in the ATX-1080.

Good weekend all.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 26 July 2010

QSO on 20M & Limerick Sudden receiver

Today I have made a cw qso on 20M with HA8LTQ. It was a "normal" qso where we both could share our details, like: name, name of the town and the equipment we used. This was on my side the FT817nd with 2.5 watts and the ATX-1080 antenna on the back of the set mounted.

Today I prepare the sides of the print and enclosure for the Limerick Sudden receiver with a neat file. Next week I can start soldering, as there is time.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Sunday 25 July 2010

My activity of this day.

Today during the IOTA contest, I had the opportunity to try my ATX-1080 antenna on 15M. I'm getting a good swr with the following settings:
15M
10 segments of the telescope extended, counterpoise for 17M in use.

Then I made connections with: Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, unfortunately, no stations on an island. My conclusion is that this antenna on 15M will work. On 20M I worked 2 stations in Romania and Sweden, all with SSB and 2,5 Watts.

Today I did nothing with the Limerick Sudden receiver project. Yesterday I only snapped the front and back panels from the mainboard. Tomorrow I smooth the snapped edges with emery paper.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 22 July 2010

Limerick Sudden receiver

Limerick Sudden receiver PA3GNZYesterday I opened the envelope of this kit to verify that all components are in the packaging.





In the manual there is a list of components and I soon found out that all these components are present.Limerick Sudden receiver PA3GNZThis weekend I read the manual and make a plan how I going to start the building.
My idea is to make the wiring to the antenna connector with RG174 coax and not with the twisted wire which is written in the manual. For the antenna connector, I like to use a BNC chassis instead of a RCA chassis.

I'll keep you posted about this project.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 19 July 2010

Experiments with the ATX-1080 antenna

Last weekend I took the time to experiment with the ATX-1080 antenna. My expectations of this type of antennas have never been high. Now I have a somewhat different view.

In the limited manual of this antenna is discussed by making a counterpoise for them as possible to function. This manual is a guideline given for each band. After some soldering,cut and try, I came to the following lengths:
A counterpoise for 20M, length approximately 3.9M
A counterpoise for 17M, length approximately 3M
A counterpoise for 10M, length approximately 2M

30M
Almost 3 segments of the telescope extended, counterpoise for 20M in use.
20M
10 segments of the telescope extended, counterpoise for 20M in use.
17M
5 segments of the telescope extended, counterpoise for 17M in use.
12M
8 extended segments of the telescope, counterpoise for 10M in use.
10M
10 segments of the telescope extended, counterpoise for 10M in use.

During these experiments, I made a few QSO's:
9A2YM (20M cw)
OK1AUZ (20M cw)
UA1CE (20M cw)
SV2HJQ (20M ssb)
On the Friday before I made 2 QSO's with Lithuania on 30M.

At all QSO's I had an output of 2.5 Watts. My FT817nd was on the dining table (see) with rear mounted antenna. The counterpoise lying on the ground.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 14 July 2010

First qso with ATX-1080 antenna and 2,5 watts

Last week I bought a second hand ATX-1080 antenna for my FT817nd. Yesterday I received it by the mail and today I had the time to try this antenna.









With a cup of coffee I sat quietly at my diningroom table and listened to 20 meters, swr reasonable. I heard the special call SI9AM, this time with ON5RZ as a guest operator. A lot of stations called him and it seemed that he not heard my QRP signal. Nevertheless, my patience was rewarded. Raf said my call with an error and I answered to it. He corrected my call and we could made a nice QSO. Details of my setup passed and I told my name.

Who knows what for fun this antenna gives me even more.













73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 2 July 2010

Limerick Sudden receiver, by GQRP club

This week, no radio activities. The weather is too hot for hanging over the soldering iron and I am home with a painful ear infection.

By post was the latest Journal of the club GQRP 'Sprat'. A Magazine with always interesting articles. By this time the announcement of a kit what the GQRP club is sold. The Limerick Sudden Receiver.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 21 June 2010

Contest on 6 meter

Saturday afternoon, I was listening on 6M because there were conditions. I heard that there was a contest and on the internet I found out what kind of contest this was. I came to the following information. In this contest you change a report, serial number and locator.
Among the other activities, see previous posting, I have made a total of 20 QSO's.In this picture are the lines through the various contacts visible. Clearly the most possibilities were to eastern Europe. The farthest distance was with UU9A in KN64SM, over 2000km.
I made the qso's with cw/ssb and the most with 20 watts, 2 with 10 watts. From the 20 qso's there were also a few new squares: JM68, JN94, KN44, KN64, JO91 and KO14.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 19 June 2010

Genesis Q5 (30M) transmitter repaired and modified

Today I repaired my Genesis Q5 transmitter.
First I had to remove transistor T2 and then I could remove the IC. Then I placed the new IC and I measured that the oscillator was working, yes!
Now I could replace transistor T2 and the transmitter was working again, the frequency 10.11574, it's too low. (When you've read my previous article about the Q5, you could see that with the value of 33pF (C7) the frequency was nearly 10.117 Mhz. The 33pF which I installed today was another.
I received the advice to change capacitor C7. First I replaced this by one with a value of 22pf. I measured that the frequency was 10.12012, much too high. The next step was placing a capacitor with a value of 27pF.
The transmit frequency is 10.11595. This deviation from 10.116 Mhz is acceptable for me.



I finally placed the 27pF capacitor.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 18 June 2010

J-pole antenna for 2M

Last week I made a J-pole antenna for 2M. This antenna is made of 300 Ohm ladder-line I found in my junkbox. Yesterday evening I used the antenna indoors, hanging from the curtain rail, and could reach PI3AMF, a repeater in Amersfoort. A distance of 28 km. I used my FT817nd with 2,5 watts output.
This weekend I want to measure the swr with an external SWR meter.

The rest of this week I had no time for the hobby.

18:30 UTC. I saw that my swr meter is not suitable for 2m, stupid of me. Now I should just borrow one from a colleague in the neighborhood.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 14 June 2010

How long does a computer live?

Yesterday I came home after a weekend in Utrecht. When all things were cleaned up I started my computer. There appeared some reports that I made me not optimistic. After a restart everything seemed to function normally.
This morning started the computer again but this time the monitor was just on and off again, the situation remained so. Checked all cables but this did not solved the problem. Luckily I have a spare monitor and it works simply. Unfortunately, this screen is smaller and the resolution has to get used to.

My computer is almost worn out after 5,5 years loyal service.

After my weekly sports I came home and heard on 6 meters different beacons, there was again sporadic E. Among other activities, I worked through some stations.
OY1CT in IP62LC, In the past I worked this station also on 30M.
IK5GQK in JN53OS (Florence)
And finally for this day in UX2SB in KN28IX, a new square.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 10 June 2010

Paper cards (QSL)

Yesterday evening I visited the monthly meeting in this area where the QSL manager of R30 is always present.
The last time I made a lot of qso's on 6 meters and gave this cards to the manager. What I got back was not much, only 2 cards.
A card of IK5ACO. Last year I worked this station on 6 meters.




With this card the square JN52 is now confirmed.

The other is a qsl of OH5B.







This is a confirmation of the first qso I made with the new digital mode ROS. I wrote about this for the first time on February 22 this year. After a few contacts, this mode is no longer used by me.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 7 June 2010

a great day with Es on 6 meters.

Today was a day with almost the entire day Es on 6 meters. I made my first qso at 7:20 UTC with Poland. The last QSO for this day was at 10:24 UTC with 2M0DDS in Scotland. In the meantime I have made a total of 8 QSO's and did some other things in the house. I made the qso's with ssb/cw. My conclusion is that I make the most qso's with cw.
This afternoon I had my weekly sport.

At present there is still Es on 6 meters but there are also other things in life than just this hobby.



73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Sunday 6 June 2010

Do I'm a square hunter?

This day began sunny, although the sky was overcast.
Readers of my blog will sometimes wonder if I'm square hunter on 6 meters. No, not really. This is something left over from the days when I was a DX'er on 2 meters. I am not specifically looking for new squares but it's always nice when a new square can be worked.

Today I worked around 10:30 UTC with IK5ZWU in JN53VB, a new square. Then it was quiet again for a while and on 12:00 UTC I was able to work with EI2JD in IO63VS. Not only a new square, Ireland is also a new country for me on 6 meters.

The rest of the afternoon I visited family and did some homebrew. The 2 meters fox transmitter has another crystal obtained. The transmit frequency is now 144.930 (AM) Mhz. From my 30 meters transmitter kit, I wanted to try move the frequency closer to 10.116 Mhz. The transmitter was first OK and suddenly nothing. Perhaps somewhere in the circuit a short circuit. I have yet to find out where. The stabilizer for 5V works well in any case, I have this measure.

At 17:41 UTC suddenly I heard the signal from OH4KA in KP31WN. It was easy to work him. Furthermore, I heard some beacons but no other stations.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 5 June 2010

6M and my own fieldday.

This morning I was out of bed early and first listened to 6M. The band was quiet but around 7:30 UTC I could work with IK4AUY in JN54QM (SSB), a new square.
The rest of the morning remained rather quiet here on 6M and have other things in the house. On the balcony with a cup of coffee and magazine I enjoyed the sunshine.

By 15:00 UTC I went into the field, the same location as on May 23 Today the conditions were not so good as that day and it was this time not so successful. I worked with II0CC who was working in a contest and later with IQ8MO/3 who was active from Punta Tagliamento lighthouse with reference ITA-148. A nice qso because lighthouses are another hobby of mine.
The rest of the time I had the idea that I was returned to my SWL period. While listening I heard Mongolia, Japan and Taiwan on 20M.
I started this hobby as a listening amateur with number NL-9514.
6 meters was completely silent, I almost had the idea that the antenna was not working. I've heard no beeps and whistles on 6 meters in that area.

By 2:30 p.m. UTC I went home. At 5:00 p.m. UTC there was a revival of 6M and worked with 2 station from Sweden. JO88 is another new square for me.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 4 June 2010

Small signals on 6M & Q5 transmitter

All day there were Es clouds over Europe but not so good for the Netherlands.
In the evening I often listened and heard weak signals. Around 7:15 p.m. UTC the signals were louder and I could work via cw with YO7LCB in KN15OA and YU7AU in KN04HU. The qso with YO7LCB gave me a new square.

With good Es propegatie the last days it seemed a good idea to try WSPR on this band.
Through the WSPR site I saw a few station was QRV but despite this I wanted to try. Result: I have no station heard at times that I transmit no one heard my my signal.
I was active with WSPR from Thursday evening till Friday afternoon.

Kees PA3DEB, wrote me this afternoon in response to my earlier post about the Genesis Q5 transmitter.

The oscillator is not on 10.116 MHz, which wele desirable. Kees advised me to change the value of C7 in order to be more close to this frequency.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Active on 6M with QRP.

Today there are again conditions on 6 meters. My goal for today is to make qso's with QRP (5 watts maximum).


I made 3 qso's with a power of 5 watts.
2 stations from Latvia and one from Estonia. 2 of the 3 qso's made with cw the other with ssb. It was more difficult then yesterday and on the moments that I listen there where not so many signals like yesterday.
I listen also in the beacon part of the band and heard a few signals. I put the different frequenties into the memories.

I previously wrote about this project. During the construction there were two parts in the package down. I've emailed the supplier from the USA but has so far not responded.
Fortunately, there is a Dutch amateur that I could offer a helping hand. Today I received by mail the two missing parts. Thanks Frans.
I can go on with this project.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Tuesday 1 June 2010

A day with strong signals on 6 meter.

It seems that the signals are getting stronger each day on 6 meter this Es season. Today there were a lot of strong signals heard on SSB / CW.
In about one hour time I worked the following stations.
SM7FJE - JO65ML, ssb (new square).
LY2X/P - KO15ID, cw
SF4J - JO79NC, with 10 watts cw.

I wonder what tomorrow brings us on 6 meters, I have a day off.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Monday 31 May 2010

A new day with Es on 6 meter!

On Monday I have my part-time day and a little bit more leisure time. In the afternoon I have only one hour sports to do.
When I turn on my set this morning I heard already signals on 6 meters. Between 10:30 to 11:30 local time there was considerable activity and I worked the following stations: YO5PLD in KN34CK. YL2CZ in KO06XW, new square. And YU2MMA in KN04HG, also a new square.I heard the signals of E4X but his cw speed was very quickly. In combination with split working it was hard to follow his transmission.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 27 May 2010

Es opening on 6M, again!

Es season has really started. Today, after 16:00 UTC, I worked 4 stations (cw) from Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.
Distances between 1500 and 1800 km.








Via the mailman I received a QSL from MM0CAE today. I'm a member of the GQRP club and this club has a own QSL service between members.
This was from a 2 way QRP QSO in 2006.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Big Es opening on 6M

Today there was a big Es opening for hours, not only on 6M but also on 10 and 4 meters. I was only active on 6 meter, I have no equipment for 4M.

From 4:15 p.m. UTC I worked with:
SP8DWI - KO10ND
SP8LXE - KO10WT
IK6FXP - JN62PI
SP7HKK - JO91QIAll QSO's where made with SSB, the last one with just 5 watts, the others with 20 watts.
The Es was still going on but I had to take care for my diner and other priorities.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Sunday 23 May 2010

Portable experiment for today.

During this Sunday, I had the goal to go into the field with my FT817nd and mobile whip for 20M. I had the mobile whip for 6M also taken with me. With the internal battery the output is 2.5 watts.

When arrived on location in JO21QW I parked the car on the side of the road and put the ground wire of about 5 meters rolled out across the grass. With the rig in the hand this way I got a good SWR. In terms of reception I was very pleased. In about 2 hours I worked to my great surprise, 3 stations.
RW1CW, who was working in a contest.
IV3NVD, they always called with a reference of UD128 (What is this mean?).
Finally I worked with Rick, TK5/F2PI/M. This station was mobile in Corsica with 100 watts from the car and mobile antenna.

I have also called to several other stations, including OH0/PA3BAG. Jack heard me but it was not a complete QSO.
On 6 meters I heard some weak signals, calls had no effect. In the beaconband I heard SV3BSF.

The experiment was successfull for this day. It is possible to use a very small antenna, even if it takes more effort.
Last week I found this site about this way of operating made by Roger G3XBM.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 22 May 2010

Worked new DXCC country on 6M

When I getting out of bed this morning, around 08:30 local time, I turned my rig on to hear if there was something to do on 6M.
According to the DX cluster much activity but I heard not too much. Around 7:15 UTC, I worked with ER1SS in Moldova (KN46JX).
This is a new DXCC country for me on 6M and also a new square.

The rest of the day remained silent on 6M, and I've done other things.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 21 May 2010

Again Es on 6 meter

When I came home of my work I switched on my Yaesu FT950 and heard several signals on 6M. This signals were stronger then earlier this week.

Worked with: UR5URW in KO50FF (ssb) and UX1BZ in KN29VA (cw). KN29 is a new square for me.

Heard also other stations but it was crowded and there was a lot of fading on the signals.

Enjoy your Whitsun weekend.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 20 May 2010

Es on 6M

When I came home from my work I switched on my radio. Worked 1 station on 6M, EA1EDU in JN01WK (ssb). JN01 is a new square for me, the third for this season.
Heard a few other signals from Spain but they were to weak for me to work.

After this I take time for household and a visitor.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 15 May 2010

WSPR 17M

When I was on the local meeting last Wednesday someone told me that 17M is in a good shape the last days. Special at the end of the day till late in the evening.
Yesterday I tuned my magnetic-loop for 17M to find out what was possible on this band. On that moment (21:00 UTC) I heard one weak ssb signal but didn't copy the callsign.
When I woke up this morning I saw on my laptop the results.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 14 May 2010

First Es on 6M for 2010

Today I made the first qso's on 6M via Es for this season. I saw on the internet that there were weak signals for the last few days but I didn't hear nothing until today.

The picture shows the 2 qso's I made. Around 15:00 utc I heard IK7FPU with cw and I answer him with 20 watts. This station is in JN71SU, a new squaere for me.
Around 15:30 I heard IK8OFO calling in SSB. After a few calls I worked him from JN70HR, also a new square.
2 qso's and both a new square. I'm waithing for the next Es opening on 6M, I hope signals will be stronger then today.



A beacon list for 6M.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

WSPR & DXCC (qrp)

On Wednesday I had the whole day WSPR on 10M running. During this time I heard no signals from other WSPR stations. My signal was heard by 2 stations for a period.
PAøO heard my signal over a distance of 172km. What kind of propegation was this?

Every second Wednesday of the month we have a meeting with local radio amateurs in this area. During this evening the QSL manager of R30 is also present.
This time there where some QSL for me to. The card of UA9CSA jumped out for me.
This is a qso I made with my homemade Rockmite with a power of approximately 300mW. The confirmation of this QSO made the confirmed DXCC countries with QRP on 52.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Buddy Keyer/Speaker Console building & Lighthouses

Yesterday I started this project, unfortunately I can not finish today.This morning I saw that J3 + J4 is not in the box I received. I wrote a email with the request to send the missing parts.

Last week I toke some new pictures of lighthouses in the Netherlands and today I updated the page about this subject.
The captions on this page is in Dutch








73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 8 May 2010

With 1 watts via WSPR to VK!

Yesterday my WSPR station listen and transmit on 40M. A lot of stations received my signals from 1 watts down to 50mW. VK6BN received my 1 watts more then one period.In the begin of the evening (May 7) I made my first qso on 10M for this season. S58P gave me a 55 with my 5 watts in SSB.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 7 May 2010

With 1 watts to VK via WSPR!

Yesterday in the evening I setup my station for WSPR on 30M. Around 19:00 UTC 2 VK stations heard my 1 watts signal, VK2/VK6DI and VK2DAP. Distances around 16500 km.Later in the evening I made 2 CW qso's on 30M. Worked with OM30CAQ and a longer qso with SP7HOV, Zbig in Skierniewice. Both qso's with only 1 watts.

On my laptop I don't have the possibility to make graphics for my Blog. When I'm back home I update the Blog with pictures.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 6 May 2010

QRV again!

After a holiday of a few days in the province of Friesland I'm in Zuidlaren (JO33IC).

Yesterday in the afternoon I start up the station for WSPR. The best DX was K1JT, he heard my 500mW signal.Today my WSPR station is running on 10M and OY1OF heard my 1 Watts signal for one period. PE4BAS and PC1CP heard my signal serveral times. from 5 watts to 50mW.

On 40M I made 1 CW qso with DF3MI in QTH Oberammergau. A 2way QRP QSO.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Friday 30 April 2010

QRV with WSPR & antenna for 6M

Today I have modified a 2M 5/8 mobile antenna for use on 6M. The antenna is extended and there is a reasonable SWR on 6M.
Later this week, I make the final modification.

Next week I will do some WSPR experiments (from JO33IC). This means that I'm active with a power of 100mW or 50mW. This is mainly on 30M but maybe also 6M, when there is propegation.

Keep an eye on this site.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Thursday 22 April 2010

WSPR on 30M, heard in Australia

Today I was around 16:00 UTC at home and switch on the WSPR program. This means that with an interval of about 12 minutes there is a broadcast of almost 2 minutes.
Almost every broadcast of my signal is heard in Australia. It seems that the propegation is going up.I'm using my FT950 with 5 watts and the magnetic-loop inside my house.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 21 April 2010

EZ Tele XL mast

Last year I bought in Germany a AZ Tele XL mast with a length of 12 meters. This mast landed in my shed until today.











Along with Eric, PE1FES, I gone a few km outside of Tiel and went on a quiet road, where we have the mast setup in the grass.
Despite the weather, with occasional clouds and some rain also it blew hard. This was immediately noticed when we had the mast extended. The top curve somewhat by the wind.
Our conclusion was that one set of 3 guy wires, such as the mast is supplied isn’t enough.
The idea is now to make a point about halfway to where another 3 guy wires coming.

Who has already experience with this mast? What should I do to make it stronger?

Sunday 18 April 2010

Meeting, KP4AO and WSPR

Yesterday I was at the annual meeting of the SRS/BQC. The program included 2 lectures:


Henk Vrolijk, PA0HPV, told about his visit to Bletchley Park.
Christian Roselaar, PA3FUN, talked about his experiences with various QRP kits. It is fun because I've built myself a Rockmite for 40M.
With all due respect to the real "Old men", I had the idea that I (age 41) was one of the youngest ham's during this meeting.
Photo's made by PA1AT

In the evening via the website Camras I listened to the signals of KP4AO. Too bad that I had no 70cm Yagi.

I connected the equipment for WSPR, after a break of almost 2 weeks. First on 30M and 40M now. Propegation is poor.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Saturday 10 April 2010

Bezoek vuurtoren Noordwijk aan Zee

De Nederlandse Vuurtoren Vereniging heeft eens per jaar haar ALV, steeds op een andere locatie in Nederland. Vandaag was dit in Noordwijk aan Zee waarbij de vuurtoren in deze plaats beklommen kon worden.
Een unieke kans omdat deze normaal niet voor publiek geopend is.



Toen ik vanmorgen opstond was de wereld aardig in mist gehuld en ging me al zorgen maken of er vandaag mooie foto's gemaakt konden worden. Hoe dichter ik bij de kust kwam hoe helderder het werd. Eenmaal in Noordwijk aan Zee werd ik verrast door een blauwe lucht met stralende zon. Ondanks dit was de temperatuur kil, er stond een frisse wind.

Na een klim van 108 treden (verdeeld over 6 verdiepingen) kwam ik bij het optiek op ongeveer 30 meter hoogte en kon dit plaatje schieten.Boven het optiek zit een glazen koepel/kap. Deze wilde ik ook fotograferen en moest hiervoor op de trap gaan staan en vervolgens zo recht mogelijk naar boven fotograferen.

Op mijn site zijn nog meerdere foto's van deze vuurtoren te zien.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

WSPR from JO33ic (the village of Zuidlaren)

During the Easter weekend (Saturday April 3 to Monday April 5) I did some WSPR experiments from JO33IC (Zuidlaren) and made a 2 way QRP QSO on 40M.

My station is a Yaesu FT817 with a 10dB attenuator. The antenna I used is a ZEPP for 30M.



On this band I had all the WSPR experiments. This antenna is on the attic and a part outside.
The CW QSO, I made was with Will, GM0HKS. The nice thing about this QSO was that Will worked with a homemade transceiver of Howes. I builded this transceiver about 10 years ago but my transceiver is for 20m. At that time I had several qso's with it. Will has a sidetone in use, he goes for me to find the schematic.

The experiments with WSPR had only played on 30M. I felt that the propagation was not good and was afraid that they didn’t heard my 50mW signal. First I switched to 100mW and it went. Later in the day my 50mW signal was heard. Distances were between 600 and 1200 km.
Saturdayevenening was the longest distance when I saw on the WSPR site that 4X1RF in KM72LS heard my signal for 2 periods. A distance of 3186 km, and this with only 50mW!


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Monday 29 March 2010

WSPR (QRPP) heard on several bands

With the attenuator of 10dB my signal is still heard, even though the distances are less.





This weekend I was active on 40/30/20 meters with the output of 500mW. At this moment I am tuned to 40M, see listPicture of activity on 40M.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 24 March 2010

WSPR with 500mW

A good friend of my builded a 10dB attenuator. This means that the 5 watts signal from my Yaesu FT950 decrease to approximately 500mW. Today I started on 20M and a few stations heard my qrpp signal.Drawing made by PA1B

The ideas for creating an attenuator did I found on the webpage of Bert, PA1B.


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Tuesday 23 March 2010

WSPR 20M

The last 24 hours my system is listening on 20M to WSPR signals. When I'm home the system is also transmitting.
At the end of the afternoon and begin of the evening signals from the States en Japan are coming in. In the morning there only a few signals from Europe.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Saturday 13 March 2010

Bezoek vlooienmarkt Rosmalen

Vandaag met een clubje afgereisd naar Rosmalen. Doorstroom bij de kassa ging vrij snel, ondanks dat de route niet helemaal logisch was.

Enige uurtjes langs de kramen gelopen, eerst kon ik mijn boodschappenlijstje niet vinden, uiteindelijk toch onder in mijn jaszak.
Bijna alles kunnen kopen: Helaas zijn de weerstanden die als "2 watts weerstanden" aan mij werden verkocht niet geschikt voor dit vermogen, toch een beetje bekocht. Verder wat BC557/BC547 transistoren, een kastje voor de verzwakker, wat draad en 2 boeken.
Het linker boek kocht ik nieuw en het rechter boek voor slechts
€ 2,-- , ziet er ongelezen uit.



73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Monday 8 March 2010

WSPR 30M, first time Japan

This afternoon I have build up my station for WSPR to receive and transmit. It's on 30M and after some minutes the data rolled over my the screen.
Pretty soon I noticed that my signal was heard in Australia. One station from Japan reported also my signal. This is the first time that my WSPR signal is heard in Japan.
In the evening I receive not to much cause interference in the reception by TV. Unfortunately my antenna can not be build up outside my apartment.


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Friday 5 March 2010

WSPR on 30M, heard by VK's

In the last few days my WSPR signal on 30M was received in VK and ZL.
Today I came earlier at home and set the WSPR software to transmit. After the first period of almost 2 minutes the first results rolled over my screen. As you can see in the overview my signal is heard by 2 stations in Australia for more periods.
Today I set the filter in my FT950 at 850 Hz, this was on 1500Hz before.



73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Thursday 4 March 2010

ZL station heard my WSPR signal on 30M

Yesterday a station from Australia heard my signal, today the distance record is broken.

If I'm not at home my laptop/transceiver is only listen to WSPR signals. Via the internet I saw that I've heard the signal of ZL2FT this afternoon for a few times with nice signals.
When I came home I put the software in the transmit mode to see what happened.
ZL2FT heard my signal 1 period. A new distance record, 18464 km.


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 3 March 2010

VK heard my WSPR signal on 30M

After the absence of some days I build up my transceiver and antenna for WSPR receive. After a few minutes, my signal is heard by several stations.
Great was my surprise when I saw that VK2GR in QF56LG reported my signal, a distance of 16602 km. This my longest distance with WSPR until now.

Not bad for 5 watts in a magnetic loop in my apartment.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Saturday 27 February 2010

PA beker 2009

Vandaag viel de Eelectron van maart bij mij in de brievenbus. In deze Electron, zoals aangekondigd, staat de definitieve uitslag van de PA beker 2009 vermeld.
In de voorlopige uitslag, die al eerder op internet was gepubliceerd, stond ik als 2de in de sectie "CW QRP". Dit is zo gebleven.

Volgend jaar ga ik voor de 1ste plaats.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Thursday 18 February 2010

Genesis Q5 kit building.

On Youtube I found this short movie about building the Q5 kit.


My kit for 30M is almost ready for use. I'm busy to build it in a case.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Sunday 14 February 2010

De rest van de dag, WSPR en PSK31

Vandaag met WSPR op 30M geluisterd en uitzendingen gemaakt. Groot was mijn verbazing toen ik eind van de middag via www.wsprnet.org zag dat KL1X in Alaska mijn signaal op zijn scherm zag. Een afstand van ruim 7000km.
Ik hoorde sterke PSK31 signalen en heb vervolgens Digipan gestart. 2 qso's kunnen maken, IK1GVQ in Italië en UA4WJ in Europees Rusland.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

APRS

Dit weekend was gereserveerd voor deelname aan de PACC. Helaas kon dit door ziek zijn niet doorgaan en moest ik me thuis op een rustige manier vermaken.

Nu ik een SignaLink modem heb wilde ik eens proberen of APRS via dit modem mogelijk is. Hierin is Google mijn grote vriend en na wat zoeken kwam ik erachter dat hier voor AGWPE nodig is. Deze software simuleert de TNC functie tussen de de geluidskaart en de laptop. Dit eerst geïnstalleerd en vervolgens UIVIEW32. Dit werkte vrijwel gelijk, het juist instellen van UIVIEW32 nam wel wat tijd in beslag.
Het kabeltje tussen het modem en mijn FT7800e is dezelfde die ik gebruik met mijn FT950.

Nu het functioneert is voor mij het experiment over. APRS is in mijn visie een passief iets. Je kijkt naar het scherm wat er allemaal voorbij komt en kan er vervolgens niets meer mee.
Mogelijk zie ik het verkeerd, andere zienswijze zijn dan ook van harte welkom.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 10 February 2010

WSPR 30M, gehoord in de USA

Eerder deze week rapporteerde ik al dat mijn WSPR op 40M door verschillende stations in de USA is gezien. Vandaag werd ik ook gezien op 30M door W3HH.
W3HH had ik al meerdere malen gezien op 30M maar hij had mij nog nooit gezien, überhaupt enig station in de USA.

De antenne ben ik wat aan het verplaatsen geweest om te kijken of dit enig invloed heeft.
Een voorzichtige conclusie is dat de plaats/stand van de antenne niet zo'n grote invloed heeft. Mijn idee is meer dat het komt door de verbeterde propegatie van afgelopen week.


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Wednesday 30 December 2009

Kristallen testen

In mijn junkbox liggen een flink aantal kristallen met als opschrift
"6 Mhz".
Hiermee wil ik als experiment proberen om een kristalfilter te maken. En wie weet in en later stadium een ontvanger.

De kristallen moeten qua frequentie, voor deze toepassing, zo dicht mogelijk bij elkaar liggen. Om aan deze kristallen te meten ben ik op internet naar een geschikte schakeling gaan zoeken. Bij deze zoektocht kwam ik uit op de website van VA3NDO.
De schakeling heb ik al op gaatjes print gemaakt. De voedingsspanning is er inmiddels opgezet en geeft geen rook of andere narigheid.

Op een later moment sluit ik de kristallen aan en bekijk wat er verder gebeurd.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Tuesday 16 June 2009

6M (Es), 2 nieuwe vakken.

Via internet had ik eerder op de dag al gezien dat er wat gaande was op 6 meter.

Bij thuiskomst de FT950 aangezet en de outback2000 antenne op het metalen tafeltje op het balkon. Tussen 16:30 en 17:00 UTC werkte ik 2 stations: SM200PAX in KP03BU en ES4EQ in KO39CE, dit zijn 2 nieuwe vakken voor mij.

Later op de avond hoorde ik nog signalen maar deze waren bij mij inmiddels een stuk zachter.

73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ

Saturday 22 November 2008

QSO's met de Rockmite

Vandaag had ik de mogelijk om mijn Rockmite op een grote antenne te proberen. Deze antenne is een Pyramide voor 40m.
In de LZ DX contest maakte ik 3 qso's: SP3AEN, OK1FRO en UA9CSA.

Ondanks de vele signalen en grote antenne viel het mij op dat deze kleine zelfgebouwde transceiver zo rustig bleef.

3-12: Via mijn logboekprogramma kwam ik er achter dat UA9 op 40M een nieuw land voor mij is.


73, Tjeerd - PA3GNZ