2024 highlights, 2025 goals

   My usual post at the end of the year, a overview of 2024 and looking ahead to 2025.

DX

For me hamradio is all about DX. Working remote countries or islands. The further away the better. I like listening the noises and crackles on the band as soon as conditions are there. I especially like the far away DX signals that come from over the northpole, they are most times echoing and a bit shaky. This year we were at top of the solar cycle and working DX was very common. Even the 6m band opened with F2 propagation at the end of this year. Again, like last year, I counted 17 ATNO's. Most of them from the Pacific area. On 60m I counted 16 new ones and on 6m an incredible 12 new ones. Actually this was a very good DX year and I doubt I will equal this in the years ahead.

6m/4m

Highlight of the 6m band DX this year was my CW contact with XU7GNY from Cambodia. After a very bad ES season we finally had some F2 propagation. A lot of DX could be worked including east coast Australia, which I only heard. I missed some DX as wel, like the 4S7 stations that were strong at times but unfortunatly I had no luck reaching them. It took me a few days and carefully timing to work the VU4A DXpedition on the Nicobar & Andaman Isl. It is unfortunate most 6m DX these days is on FT8. But on the other hand it has advantages such as easily working remote and let the computer call. For me that is the key to work the DX since I still have to work for a living and cannot do fulltime radio like some others seem to do...

Antennas

The halo waiting in the
corner of our garden

Everything hamradio is about antennas. We all hope to have the best antenna possible which is most times some compromise after all. I didn't have the time to finish some antenna projects this year. I have so many. At least the multiband halo needs to be finished. I wish I could finish the quad project at some point. I'm still tempted to put the 3 band 3Bmox in the tower if I get it right on 10m. And besides that I have a lot of other projects in mind.

CW

Steady I go on my quest to learn morsecode. But it takes time. It goes very very slowly. I really see improvement compared to this time last year though. I even made some short CW QSOs without the computer. Although, if I hear CW on the band I can only decode a few letters and not what is been said/signed. In contests you know what you can expect, but not in a "chat" QSO, which is to me very difficult.

Personal 

My dad in front of a large
inmarsat antenna.

Last year I wrote that my dad would not be around for very long. The doctors gave him about half a year. He died at the end of July, which was about a year after he was diagnosed with cancer. He always was a big support and always very interested in my hobby. I'm glad I could let him hear my efforts learning CW at the end of his life. He was always very interested when I worked a new DXCC. It was always like that, no problem to drill holes in the house to mount brackets for a mast. Or get on the roof to mount antennas. Even when I caused RFI at the neighbours and  made the TV unhappy he was not angry and never forbid me my hobby. He only told me to take other people in account when using the radio at certain times, and I did. He had a very positive mind and actually I saw him seldom negative in my life. I can tell a lot about him but I think that this is not belonging to my blog. He will be missed very much though.

2024 goals

My goal for 2024 was to make a CW contact without the use of a computer. And I did... It is always good to have a goal in this hobby. My goals for next year? Make more CW contacts and do some more CW contests. I will continue with CW learning and keep you informed on this blog. I always thought by myself that it would take about 3 years to learn at my age. So far I've done the first year, 2 to go. Other goals are finishing the build of an attic in my house and starting to build a new bedroom, not hobby related but very neccessary. Lot's of family belongings are now packed in my radioshack and that's not what I want. It will take time though....like everything takes time.

Well, my dear blogreaders, have fun with the hobby and stay positive. I wish you all a very good, prosperous and healthy 2025.

My quest to learn CW (13)

On my way with a speed of 28/13wpm. In the mean time I watched some YT videos about learning morse and about ICR. I think I will get it but it will at least take another year.

I'm now pushing myself decoding plain text training with a speed of 28/15wpm. And I train hamradio abbreviations in the "word training" module. I even decoded till 50wpm, do you believe it!

Teri KO4WFP wrote me a very friendly and helpful e-mail in which she pointed me to some video lessons setting up the site https://morsecode.world/ to train ICR. I will dive into that in the next year. From what I saw in the first lesson it is something I was looking for.

Holy DX cluster from the holy land

 The Holy Cluster is built and design by the israeli group of developers and supported by the Israeli Association of Radio Communication, the IARC.

Don't know how I found this but it seems to be quite new. Looks very clear to me. It has some useful filters on board.

There is a holycluster bugs report and wishlist. So there is room for improvement. The name chosen for this DX cluster is a bit strange. It probably refers to the "holy" land name for Israel.

Difference between Inv-L and Inv-V on DX this morning

 Decided to monitor my own signal on 60m DX via a webSDR in ZL. The inv-L was clearly the winner this time. I've experience it before, especially on DX. This morning the diffence was from totally no signal on the other side of the world with the inv-V to -11dB signal with the inv-L. I could follow my own signal till 08:30 UTC way after sunrise. You can see part of the inv-L on the picture above. The wire goes up from down the right corner and up into the tower. Part of the horizontal wire can bee seen from the tower up. I wonder how much the tower disturbes the radiation pattern since the wire is close to the metal structure. 

Another advantage is that I have less interference from my neighbours solarpanels on the inv-L.

#60m Dominica worked

 

#60m Bangladesh worked

 

 

Have been trying for hours yesterday. I had him almost but he didn't see the report. Today I managed to make a valid contact with signals just on the edge.

CW 28/12wpm finally

 

It might not be a big deal for others but for me is. I started at this speed 2 months ago and finally got 100% for the first time. Up goes the speed to 28/13wpm. How long will it take? 

#10m ARRL contest review

 

While writing this the contest is still going on. But for us here in Europe the 10m is closed right now.

It was a great experience this weekend with interesting contacts. There was very good propagation which was noticeable from the atmosphere on the noise especially in the morning. The strange thing is that the propagation was between us and uninhabited parts of the world. Those moments I heard stations from Brazil over the longpath but unfortunatly they didn't hear me.

Last year I did more CW compared to SSB, it was all about propagation. This year I did more SSB because it was fun and there were a lot of SSB stations active. However I did chase some DX on CW as well. At first I chased fellow blogger VE9KK, I could just hear him between a lot of CW signals and to me it was difficult to make the QSO. But it seems Mike had a better receive as me. We did make the contact though. I also worked fellow blogger N4KGL on CW which was the first time I think. Previous blogger OQ5Q Franki was worked on SSB backscatter and my neighbour PA0O who also has a blog has been worked as well of course. 

red=CW green=SSB

I have to confess that I didn't have enough self-confidence at the start of the contest to not use the computer decoding CW. The speed of most CW transmissions was overwhelming and so I used CW skimmer at the start. At Sunday I finally had the confidence that I could do without the computer decoder since most of a QSO I did without it. I even did run a couple of times on 20wpm. And most stations came back at the same speed which is controllable for me. It is still difficult to decode a call the first time but most of the time the second or third time did the trick. I had the idea most stations understood and had the patience to complete the QSO. It was a lot of fun.

I probably made some mistakes because of course I didn't work Spratly Island. Will have to check the log before uploading.  However I did work some nice DX. I missed a lot of DX as well. Most of the contacts, like always, are with the USA. 

I had one very strange encounter with a station from India with the SES call AT2025. I had to listen for it a few times and decided to make the contact. I was asked if I could tell something about the difference between summer and winter conditions. From QRZ I read that this station is studying winter propagation and monitor solar cycle activity. So if you ever hear him give him a shout and tell him what you think about it.

I would have liked to spend more time on this great contest. But time is always limited because I have other things to do as well. As a HAM you always have to balance your time between the hobby and other things. That's life. Overall it seems I was contesting for about 15 hours this weekend. Best DX was with VK4DX not surprisingly it was on CW.

I certainly look out for the next 10m contest in 2025. It is one of my favorits. I hope to do even more CW next year. 

Reminder, 10m ARRL contest this weekend!

Just curious what place I ended last year. According to my own blog archive: https://pe4bas.blogspot.com/2023/12/arrl-10m-contest.html I only made 150 QSOs last year. Not that much but I ended 2nd in my own country. I hope for some more contacts this year. Although I already foresee that time will be limited at least on Saturday. I have some more important things to do. And there will always be another ARRL 10m contest next year. Well, I hope to work some of you readers and fellow bloggers. If you hear me, give me a shout. You will be always 59 or 599 ;-)

#6m propagation 10 december

 

XV9T and DU0A had strong signals this morning around "peak" time. Jaap PA0O who is about 20km south of me also received DU6/PE1NSQ with strong signal while I did not see him at all. That's how spotty 6m propagation can be. I took a view on 6m several times this morning but only about 10 minutes around 9:45 UTC there was some F2 propagation. I also tried for America in the afternoon but nothing seen from the west.

With the upcoming 10m ARRL contest should I move to 10m now? I did in the past but right now 6m has my interest. I really think it is magic to see stations from 8000-9000km away on VHF, because that is what 50MHz is...

#6m propagation 9 december/FT8 hate campaign

 

And again PSKreporter does not diplay what else I've seen. DU0A from the Phillipines this morning but not on the map. XV9T was not visible but was spotted south of my QTH. Several HC (Ecuador) stations were visible in the early afternoon. Only one is diplayed. I would love to work them but todays propagation was really too short. From what I've seen on the DX cluster is that later this afternoon there was pretty good propagation between Germany and the USA/Canada.

FT8 hate campaign

Long time blogger EI2KC Anthony finally updated his blog. I hope he will continue to do that but I'm afraid he is too busy with his other hobby/work and being a well known writer of books about Irelands history. Certainly his post is worth reading I think.

The picture on the left covers his blogpost. There are a lot of people that are angry about how HAMradio changed in the last 10 years. They think that the FT8 operators are lazy people that automate DX chasing. Those that use FT8 know that even with this mode it is not always easy, at least we are always depending of propagation. And propagation is not always there, especially not on the 6m band. Besides that you have to know how the software works and how to connect everything to your radio. It is not as easy as connecting a mike or a key to your radio. Operating FT8 also needs a few tricks to reach the DX, some of them can be found on the world wide web. But there are also tricks that are kept secret because if too many knew it would not be working anymore. The big question is: what kind of people are moaning all the time about FT8ers and build a hatred campaign against it? What is the use of it? Digimodes will never go away and will increase in popularity. No one can stop it.

Yes, I'm also a big user of FT8. 90% of the DX plays at FT8 on 6m, so that's the mode to use for that band. Not that you really have to be on FT8 to work DX on that band. I know some stations that still use exclusive CW/SSB on 6m DX and luckily if propagation is good enough the DX stations still call CW and SSB on 6. Even when some people think I'm a lazy DXer I also still learn CW and enjoy it a lot. I even made a CW DX contact to Cambodia this year, a DXCC that was not on FT8 at that moment. So whatever mode it takes, use what you need to contact the DX. And don't judge the FT8 digimode for nothing.

Remember that this is just a hobby... most people take it far too serious. There are more important things in life. Have fun is my advice!

#6m propagation 8 december/IBP/CW contact

 6m propagation today

Sorry for the wrong date yesterday. I made the post after midnight and so I made a mistake. Todays propagation was a lot worse. Only XV9T Eddy from Vietnam was heard.

It seems that whenever there is F2 propagation Eddy can be heard in Europe. Strange no other station has been heard DX wise. Eddy must have a very good location, antenna and enough power.

International Beacon Project

OZ9QV Jan wrote about an encounter he had with a beacon that not belonged on 28.200MHz. It seems that this is the frequency the NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Project uses since the seventies of last century. Have I ever heard of it. Oh yes probably, but forgot about it as well. I did a search on the internet to see what it is all about. Pretty interesting, you can do al kind of experiments with it as well if you like. Find a lot of info on the IPB website. I decided to take a look on 28.200 CW today to see what I could receive and compare it to the propagation forecast found on the site.

Between 12:45-12:48 UTC I received 4U1UN with all 4 tones, 4X6TU with 3 tones, CS3B with 2 tones, LU4AA with 1 tone and OA4B with one tone. Propagation forecast was S2 for all except OA4B the forecast was S1. 4S7B forecast was also S2 but not heard. My receive antenna was the gainmaster halfwave on top of my tower. I did another receive at 16:08 UTC, now ZS6DN was heard with 1 tone, CS3B with 3 tones and LU4AA with 3 tones. Not a bad result.

CW contact

Photo found on Pinterest

Once and a while when I feel to do so I turn my dail and wander over the 10m band. Now I learn CW I really want to be able to make QSOs. But most CW I hear is way too fast for me and still is unreadable without the help of a computer, something I don't want. I want to do it like in the old days when CW was the way to communicate for HAMs. When listening today I finally found a station that did send slow enough CW for me. But it was hard to copy, he was probabely using a straight key. Even after 5 times CQ I came not further as CQ POTA DE KB2. So I remembered POTA stations most time spot themselves on a POTA site. I quickly found the site to cheat a little and found the correct call. It was KB2GKC from US-10044 Hyde Hall Historic Site. Now it was time to try calling him. But first of all I wrote down what I would send to him because I was afraid I would be forgetting what to do and panic. So I wrote down GA TU 599 BK and hoped he would only send his report as well. To finish I would send BK PE4BAS TU 73. Hope that it was correct? This is what I came up with after looking at some POTA videos in the past. So, there it goes I did send my call with 18wpm, but KB2GKC struggled with my call and I had to repeat it several times before he got it. Not easy because even sending my call is not even easy for myself :-). But I kept to the script and finished the contact. Hopefully I can do more such contacts, I really like it. A lot more fun as working a new DXCC on FT8.

#6m propagation 7 december

 

And once again PSKreporter does not show everything. I also decoded TL8ES briefly but it is not shown on the map. XV9T Eddy from Vietnam seems to be having propagation to europe daily.

Henk PA2S recently wrote some interesting thoughts about cycle 25 and 6m propagation. You can find it here.

#60m Andaman & Nicobar Isl. worked

 It's my lucky day...

Took me a few hours. But he finally saw my signal. Some say/write that FT modes ar "lazy" operators modes. Automatic TXTing. I disagree. If only we only had CW I would have done it with CW. It is what suits me best to work the DX.

#6m Andaman & Nicobar Isl. worked

 

What can I say. The picture speaks for itself. I finally worked VU4A. He appeared, we made contact, he disappeared. That's how the magic goes...

#6m propagation 4 December

 How special is it, we got F2 propagation on 6m every day since how many weeks? It keeps going... although some days are better as others.

A lot of stations heard but nil contacts made. I operate remote at my job breaks. This time best DX was just after the break so I was listening but not calling. As you can see on the map there was again propagation to VK3. Will we see/hear ZL soon?

Heard: VK3FZ, VK3KJ, BA4SI, XV9T, DU3LA, DV1IIW, DU0A, DU6MOT, 9V1XX, 9M2DA, YE6YE, UK8AEA, UN4PG, UN2E, UN7LZ and VU4A. Why VU4A is not displayed again is not known to me. But this time I made a screenshot:

Will have another try tomorrow...

#6m propagation 3 December

 

Again an interesting day on 6m. Although I didn't work new ones I was just unlucky. I did see them for shure. And again PSKreporter does not report everything I see. Like VU4A from Andaman and Nicobar Isl. which I did see, multiple streams, for quite a time. TL8ES was seen briefly, too short to make a contact. Although I was spotted by Elvira. There was a very short opening to the USA, at least from here. But it was very strong for a moment. I worked fellow blogger WW1L. 

Other stations I worked today: UN7LZ and UN7PNF from Kazakhstan. I was also spotted in Australia again.

Regular 6m DXers know that propagation can be very spotty on this band. You can work some station and someone 20km away cannot. Unfortunatly for me F2 propagation is a bit less spotty and since many stations are calling I have less chance to make the contact. I noticed that with VU4A, they seemed to be heard across Europe. You also need a bit of luck, the luck that you are some of the first calling towards the DX. It's fine with me, what would be the fun if every contact was easy. 

#6m propagation 2 December

   This post is also voor archive purposes. 

Despite the relative low sfi and sunspotnumber F2 propagation on 6m continues to be good.

But unfortunatly PSKreporter is again not reporting everything I've seen. Here a screenshot from my phone.

Lots of VK3, VK5 and VK8 also. Unfortunatly it was very busy on the frequency and I was not able to make any contact. When propagation is good I'm only a very little pistol so to say.

The only contacts I made at a earlier time were: DU0A Philippines and UN9LEI Kazakhstan.

#6m Sierra Leone worked

 

Lucky me. I was waiting and able to make the contact before the pile-up appearred.