Gary DeBock shares most distant catch from Cook Island DXpedition

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares the following note about his recent Cook Island DXpedition:

The farthest DX received during the Cook Island DXpedition (on Aitutaki island) was 657-All India Radio in Kolkata, India, at 8,072 miles (12,991 km). Recorded by accident during a sunrise check of the Korean big guns at 1641 on April 12, reception of this longest-distance station went unnoticed until file review after return to the States.

The female speaker (in the Bengali language) is the third station in the recording, after the female vocal music from Pyongyang BS and the Irish-accented male preacher from NZ’s Star network. Her speech peaks around 40 to 50 seconds into the recording.

The isolation of the Star network at the 55 second point was done by the Ultralight’s loopstick, not by the propagation. Thanks to Alokesh Gupta for the language and station identification!

https://archive.org/download/657PyongyangStarUnID1641z041218CCSWANR/657-Pyongyang-Star-UnID-%201641z041218CCSWANR.MP3

Click here to download MP3.

Wow! A mediumwave DX catch of 8,072 miles using a compact (heavily souped-up!) CC Skywave SSB? Simply amazing, Gary!

Your enthusiasm and passion for Ultralight DX is simply infectious!

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SV9/SP7VC – Crete

Mek SP7VC and Kate SQ7OYL are going to Creta Island EU-015 (KM25MI locator) from April 29 to May 6. In addition to exploring the island there will be some time for radio work with the callsign SV9/SP7VC. Mek says he’s taking an IC-7300, PA-500W, Ant.vert 40-15m, Inv-L 80 & 160m + yagi 4el. 4m. Activity […]

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Hand Made Vacuum Tubes by Claude Paillard

This is an amazing video – hand-made vacuum tubes! About 17 minutes long – well worth the watching if you have any interest at all in old equipment!

You can find the video here

Enjoy!

Robert Gulley, AK3Q, is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Robert also blogs at All Things Radio.

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DARC’s initiative to track the state of radio interference

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alexender (DL4NO), who shares the following comment in response to our recent post about LED bulb QRM:

The DARC does even more: It is planning a long-term project with some 50 automatic monitoring stations with standardized, calibrated antennas and according to standardized methods to document the changes.

Every monitoring station will scan the bands for free frequencies and measure the background noise there. Every 15 min it will send its findings to a central database where the data will be collected and evaluated.

This way the DARC wants to document the ever increasing interferences in a way that is valid according to the relevant standards. Most monitoring stations are planned to be placed at fixed locations all over Germany. But a few are planned to be placed for a limited time in especially interesting locations.

Presently relevant findings are collected. If you live in Germany see https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/emv/emv-abhilfemassnahmen/. Also see the DARC magazine cqDL 12-2017, p. 15.

To emphasize it again: Informal reports to your radio club are good. But if you wish to communicate with the legislative bodies you must do your measurements according to the standardized rules using calibrated equipment. Otherwise the authorities will not accept your findings.

See:
https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/p/R-REC-P.372-13-201609-I!!PDF-E.pdf
https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bs/R-REC-BS.560-4-199710-I!!PDF-E.pdf

Most impressive, Alexander! I love the fact that DARC is using objective observations to support their initiative. The concept is a fascinating one that I should hope other national radio clubs could copy. I will certainly send this to the ARRL.

Thanks again, Alexander!

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QSL preview – 9M0W

9M0W DXpedition to Layang Layang, Spratly took place during early March 2018. 

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QSL preview – 3C0W / 3C3W

3C0W and 3C0W activity took place during March 2018. QSLs now ready for dispatch.

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TF/G0POT – Iceland

Michael, G0POT will be active from Vik, Iceland as TF/G0POT during July 2-9, 2018. QRV on HF, low power. QSL via H/c, LoTW.

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Propagation de K7RA

Southgate ARC – Solar activity increased over the past week, with average daily sunspot numbers up from 5.4 to 20 and average daily solar flux rallying from 69.9 to 73.4. The previous week saw four days with no sunspots, and the recent week had sunspots on every day. New sunspot groups emerged on April 19 and 21

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YLs in Bhutan

Southgate ARC – YL operators Kay/WA0WOF/A52YLE and Mio/JR3MVF/A52YLM will be active as A52YL from Dochula Eco Retreat in Bhutan between April 29th and May 5th

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Orford Ness site on TV

Southgate ARC – Channel 5 TV show Portillo’s Hidden History of Britain featured Orford Ness where development work on the Cobra Mist HF over the horizon radar was carried out in 1960s and 70s

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How does GDPR affect amateur radio clubs?

Southgate ARC – Essex Ham have published information on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679 which takes effect May 25. There is a misconception among some radio amateurs that “not-for-profit groups” are exempt from GDPR, that is not the case

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Ham Radio 2.0 – Innovation and Discovery at Hamvention

Southgate ARC – Sponsored by the Yasme Foundation, Ham Radio 2.0 is intended to be a gathering spot for innovative groups and organizations at Hamvention

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Foundations of Amateur Radio #151

Southgate ARC – In the past I’ve talked about the Standing Wave Ratio, the SWR, and how it describes some of the characteristics of your antenna system. I say system because it’s not just the antenna, it’s the connection between your radio and the antenna as well. The coax or feed line, their length and how you’ve connected your antenna, all feature in the performance of the entire kit and caboodle

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DF6NM wins inventor award

Southgate ARC – Markus Vester, DF6NM has been honoured as one of the ‘Inventors of the Year’ for 2017

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A special conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter

Southgate ARC – This weekend, the Moon and Jupiter are converging in the constellation Libra for a special conjunction

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Westlakes ARC Holds Open Day to ‘Demonstrate the Joys of Amateur Radio’:

eHam.net News – Lake Macquarie boasts one of the largest amateur radio clubs in the country, and in April the York Street club threw open their doors for a ‘come-and-look’ open day. The Westlakes Amateur Radio Club (WARC), based in Teralba, uses its open days to show what the club does on a regular basis, and to “introduce visitors to the joy of amateur radio”. As well as undertaking radio electronic fox-hunts and demonstrations of radio communications in the club’s ‘radio shack’, participants were able to test out satellite communication, amateur television transmissions and play with microcomputer construction.

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NOAA: Solar Cycle 24 Status and Solar Cycle 25 Upcoming Forecast:

eHam.net News – Current solar cycle 24 is declining more quickly than forecast. The smoothed, predicted sunspot number for April to May, 2018 is about 15; however, the actual monthly values have been lower. Will solar minimum be longer than usual or might solar cycle 25 begin earlier? Leading solar and space science experts will convene a meeting in the coming years and attempt to predict solar cycle 25. The “official” solar cycle forecast includes the month, year, and intensity of that maximum (peak, average sunspot number). The consensus forecast is the result of collaboration by a solar cycle prediction panel of solar and space scientists from around the world. Typically, the panel considers all new, relevant research results, observation trends, and model predictions available when the panel is convened.

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VK6WIA NewsWest for Sunday 29/04/2018:

eHam.net News – In this week’s special edition of NewsWest,
we invited Amateur Radio clubs across
Australia to tell us who they are and what
they get up to. We are hoping that it will
result in a better understanding of what
makes other clubs tick, and to share ideas
about what they get up to.

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Foundations of Amateur Radio #151:

eHam.net News – In the past I’ve talked about the Standing
Wave Ratio, the SWR, and how it describes
some of the characteristics of your antenna
system. I say system because it’s not just
the antenna, it’s the connection between your
radio and the antenna as well. The coax or
feed line, their length and how you’ve
connected your antenna, all feature in the
performance of the entire kit and caboodle.

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Ham Radio at 2018 Big Sur Marathon:

eHam.net News – Ham Radio at 2018 Big Sur Marathon:

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