Jan
23
2012
Last weekend we spend quite some time to prepare our contest station ED1R for the upcoming CQWW 160m contests. The biggest task was the installation of a 2el parasitic Array of two verticals. During the installation I took the time to document the measurement results. Find them with my (preliminary) conculsion in this blog post.
Jan
18
2012
In preparation of the upcoming CQWW 160m Contests my friend Hannes, DK1NO was so kind to give me one of his W7IUV broadband, high IP3 preamplifier. Thanks, Hannes! Without knowing the exact performance data, I ran a few measurements with my Network Analyzer on the amplifier to determine the Gain and it’s operational fitness. Read on for measurement results and additional notes on how to measure active components.
Jan
10
2012
In CQWW 160m we are planning again a serious participation. This time we want to errect a 2el vertical Array for 160m towards the US. In this post you will find some detailes regarding our unique situation and some design thoughts.
Continue Reading »
Jan
6
2012
During my stay in Ecuador I was able to operate two days under my US Callsign as HC2/AL1O. Special thanks to my host Alberto, HC2AQ who offered me his shack. Within two days, 1700 QSOs found their way into the log.
Read on for pictures, online log & QSL information.
Dec
15
2011
it finally happend…. After a decade of reliable service, my Alpha91b amplifier broke. Most likely on it’s way to Spain one of the tubes broke. During the comissioning at ED1R contest station, fire & smoke shot out of a chimney. The first shock was big, but a few measurements confirmed that just the tubes were broken. In this blog post I will share the knowledge I gained during during debugging, comissioning and breathing new life into the amplifier.
Dec
8
2011
During the last few years the internet enriched greatly our lives. In this blog post I will share the five best tools how to increase your personal productivity. Regardless if you are just a passive ham browsing the web, actively building Ham Radio equipment or organizing the next Fieldday, these tools will help you to organize your hobby, save time and hazle. I’m using all of them on a daily basis!
Dec
3
2011
During CQWW CW we had a shootout from ED1R with our friends from the Bavarian Contest Club. The group around DQ4W organized a Contest-Expedition to Corsica (TK) to get on the air as TK4W. Considering the available antennas, (two A3S, and three verticals) they generated a great score. For details comparisons between ED1R and TK4W click here.
Ulf, DK5TX created a serious of cool stop motion videos of the antenna work. Unfortunately, including the moment when one of the 17m tall masts came down and damaged the mounted A3S severely.
Fortunately nobody was injured and the A3S still worked, even being a bit deformed.
Dec
3
2011
This year we wanted to seriously compete in CQWW CW from ED1R contest station. While the station is equipped reasonably on all bands with Yagis and verticals, there were no dedicated receiving antennas available – yet. Out of my former contest participations from other stations I know that when it come down to winning a CQWW, dedicated receiving antennas are a must have. Beverages provide great directivity and reduce the EU clutter significantly.
Nov
30
2011
This year I had to honor to be invited by the Qatar Amateur Radio Society (QARS) to operate the CQ WW SSB contest with them. The station set up in a fieldday style on the northern tip of Qatar, about 100km way from the capital Doha. We are directly located at the beach and used almost exclusively vertical antennas. A73A entered in the category Multi Operator / Multi Transmittors, running 6 Stations in parallel. Keep on reading for some pictures and lessons learned.
Oct
15
2011
Are you familiar with the following situation: You are watching the latest Hollywood movie with your girlfriend. You could convince here to watch a thriller instead of a romance, which she would have prefered. Over the time, the story evolves good, there is even a notion of romance (to the satisfaction of your girl) but – the movie really sucks when it comes to technical details. Pseudo amateurs hack themselfs within 5 minutes into a SECRET Pentagon’s network and a 5 page emergency report is transmitted with just 20 morse code characters, beaten with a wrench against an old pipe. The longer you watch the movie, the more upset you get about the ignorance and incapacity of Hollywood (film) and book writers…
But – let me tell you – there is one book which really makes the difference!
Jul
28
2011
Thanks to Al, 4L5A @contesting_atru for sharing this link with us in his twitter stream. It’s a WRTC 2014 promotion video created my nobody less than James, 9V1YC. Enjoy & don’t forget to donate!
Jun
29
2011
Have you ever wondered why W3LPL is so loud? This video will tours you through the Super-Station and give you an impression about the effort behind the callsign W3LPL. Frank invites all friends and contesters on an anual basis to the W3LPL Open House. Unfortunately it’s not me who shot the video, I hope I can attend on day a W3LPL Open House party.
Don’t forget to turn on 720px HD, if have sufficent bandwidth.
Jun
27
2011
The Ham Radio Convention in Friedrichshafen is the largest Amateur Radio convention in Europe. It’s the place and time to meet all our friends to whom we only talk on the air during the year. Beside strolling threw the big flee-market and the commercial exhibition, I had the chance to speak about my latest project PowerSDR-UI, the DJ Console improvement for PowerSDR. While the convention starts on friday and ends of sunday, I could only attend one day, which is definitely not enough. Next year I’ll be back again for at least two entire days! Since the memories are still fresh and the pictures already uploaded, let’s recap briefly the convention!
Jun
18
2011
I’ve been waiting for this a very long time – finally it came true! Last Month a Ham Radio Podcast started on the TWIT Network. Nobody less then Mr. Bob Heil, K9EID is hosting the show. This is definitely a must see for all hams or persons who would like to dive into the beautiful world of amateur radio. Bob committed to produce a new episode every week.
The first episode of HamNation was joined by Joe Walsh, WB6ACU. Even if you haven’t heard Joe on the bands I bet you’ve already heard his music a lot of times. Do you know the song “Hotel California” ? Exactly, Joe is member of the famous band the Eagles.
If you want to listen to HamNation there are a couple of ways:
- Go over to iTunes and search in the iTunes Store for HamNation
- Check out the TWIT Network. They provide HamNation in a couple of Audio and Video formats
- TWIT uploads all the shows to Youtube. So checkout the Hamnation Playlist
If you have broadband internet access the video version is a must!
Check out here Episode #2: Emergency Communications
May
28
2011
PowerSDR-UI lifts the FlexRadio experience to a totally new level. Since the first release of PowerSDR-UI an avid community is forming it selve around the project. Literally, I receive now everyday feedback from new users expressing their appreciation. In this post you will find pictures which have been provided from satisfied PowerSDR-UI users. These pictures shall inspire and help you to set up your DJ Console.