cheech and chong up in smoke

I had a lightning strike the day before yesterday. I was sitting in the shack working on my computer and looking out for new band / slots on the DX cluster. All of a sudden the heavens opened up with a heavy downpour of rain. The next moment there was an almighty thunder clap. Normally there is a delay between seeing the flash and hearing the clap, but not this time it happened at the same instant of time. 

The earth leakage relay tripped and All the power was off. I expected the worse, thinking the computer would be fried. 

After reseting the power supply I was much relieved to see that the PC appeared to be working. The IC-756 P3 seemed OK, but the ADSL line was down. 

I have subsequently discovered that the IC-756 has no RF output, all other functions seem to be working as per normal. Strangely the Expert 1K-FA was also in the line ahead of the transceiver is unscathed. That is a huge relief......

The YAESU G-1000 DXA rotator is acting strange. The panel illumination is rather dim.  It appears as if the rotator is turning freely in both directions, albeit much slower than normal. The calibration is way off. I am hoping it might be something simple like a voltage regulator that has gone faulty. 

The image below is of the thick-wall aluminum mast. It looks as if the lightning either entered or exited the mast at this point. This spot was some 2 meters from where I was sitting. 

This is much like the movie  "Cheech and Chong up in smoke", but not nearly as funny. 

Add caption

WSPR’ing on 10m

My interest in WSPR has been rekindled. WSPR is a fantastic tool; it is most useful in understanding the behaviour of propagation.

I believe WSPR can be also be used obtain other meaningful data for example: making antenna comparisons, dispelling many of the wild claims made by the antenna designers and manufacturers. At some stage I would like to pursue this aspect of WSPR.

Today I was playing a bit with WSPR on 10m. Initially I was using 5 watts (37 dBW) and that worked very well. I then reduced the transmit power to 1 watt (30 dBW)

The image below clearly shows what can be achieved with 1 watt and a simple dipole at 8m (25 Ft) agl.

Tomorrow I hope to reduce the power to 100 mW (20 dBW)

WSPR combined with the Reverse Beacon Network is simply amazing. The persons behind WSPR program and the Reverse Beacon Network deserve our heartfelt gratitude.

Click on image below for a more detailed view.

WSPR 10m 1 watt (30 dBW)

CQ WW CW 2014 - My first 100+

I most certainly enjoyed the weekend doing what I like most, that is chasing DX on CW.

I am fairly pleased with my results, considering I don’t have any decent antennas to speak of. My best antenna is a rigid rotating dipole for the ten metre band, some 8m agl. The rest of the antennas are simple low wire dipoles.

As a rule I don’t monitor my progress during a contest nor do set specific goals. However, late on Sunday I realized that I had already worked some 90 countries on 10m. As I had never worked 100+ DXCC entities during a single contest, I then I set myself that goal since it seemed within reach.

For the most part I operated in “search and pounce” mode, which is fairly slow but at least could chase the country and zone multipliers I needed.

I tried “running” a few times and the QSO rate was much higher, but found it rather stressful, mostly because I am not as proficient on CW as I would like to be. I find it rather daunting to be at the sharp end of a pileup, I need to practice my pileup skills. Maybe if I used Morse Runner more often I would become more skilled in being able to extract calls from the quagmire.

I was very happy that I was able to reach my goal: 106 DXCC entities worked (on a single band) with a few extras for insurance.

My total score for SOSB(A) 10m = 152,066

ZS6A CQ WW CW 2014 score

ZS6A CQ WW CW 2014 stats

Africa DX'ing - Reality check

Chasing DX from Africa

Have a careful look at the great circle map below, centered on Lord Howe Island - VK9DLX note the beam heading towards Africa, compare that to the beam headings to the beam headings to NA, EU and AS

The directional antennas used by many expeditions will work against African DX'ers most of the time.The signal off the side of a typical directional antenna can be >20 dB down compared to the forward lobe.

The same logic applies to many rare countries.......

The statistics below from the recent Western Kiribati DX expedition - T30D after some 69,000 QSOs

The activity from Africa is miniscule, it is therefore understandable that the expedition will be beaming to where the greatest demand is: North America, Europe and Asia.

Why would any DX expedition beam towards Africa, let alone make directional calls to Africa only?

Chasing DX from Africa is not easy. The odds are stacked against us most of the time. 

Please consider this issue when you next hear an African DX'er calling out of turn :-)

Great Circle map based on Lord Howe Island - VK9DLX

Unexpected surprises – Cambodia on JT65

I saw John AE5X blogging about working Cambodia and his concern about whether the person was legit.

As luck would have it yesterday I was playing with JT65 on 20m and I saw XU7AEU calling CQ. I was quite surprised to see such a rare entity using such a slow mode. However believing in the motto “work first worry later” I called in reply, the first 2 calls where in vain, I was swamped by the stronger European stations. I reverted to “Plan-B” I called slightly higher up in the band and that worked, the rest is history.

I looked up Alex XU7AEU on QRZ.com

I think I am extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Quote from QRZ.com:  XU7AEU

I will be in the Kingdom of Cambodia once again between the 19th and 28th of August 2014 operating from my usual QTH (our office roof in downtown Phnom Penh). After the lightning strike in July i'm still using the Yaesu FT-817 into a 20m dipole. I have brought more dipole wire so i'll be stringing up some other bands as soon as I can.

By shear chance I caught him on day 1 of his stay. It also shows the value of using JT65 with QRP and less than optimum antennas.

And if that is not enough, he used LoTW