UKEICC contest 6 April, one more time QRP

Event: UKEICC 80m SSB contest
Section: QRP
Logger: N1MM+ 
Station: Yaesu FT-817ND (5W)
Antenna: 84m horizontal loop at 7m AGL.

Since I got a reminder e-mail from the contest organisation I took part in the UKEICC unexpected. Still have the 80m loop up, so I had a chance. But unfortenately propagation was not too good. Low signals on the band. Calling CQ had no use for me, tried it several times without luck. All QSOs were made S&P. Had lots of troubles to get the exchange through. Most of the QSOs were a struggle and sometimes had to repeat my exchange (JO33) 10 times. QRP is not easy at all.

The results in the end:

QRP Entries

Call          Pwr Grid  Raw   Dupe  Bust NIL  Good  Total   --- Best DX  ---  
                        QSOs                  QSOs  Pts     Call        Km    

G3ZVW         Q   IO80  46    0     0    0    46    93      SE5L        1583  
PE4BAS        Q   JO33  23    0     0    0    23    68      EI8IQ       945  
F4VQT         Q   IN98  19    0     0    0    19    42      GM3WOJ      1037  
M6VPW         Q   IO91  16    0     0    0    16    26      GM3WOJ      716  
M6LFL *       Q   IO92  16    0     1    0    15    16      GI0AZB      456  
EI7GEB        Q   IO63  10    0     0    0    10    13      G0MCV       418

Longest scoring QSO: 945.37 km with EI8IQ
Highest points QSO: 8.00 points with G3ZVW

G3ZVW was the only other QRP participant I'd QSO with. I did hear F4FQT in QSO with another station as well but did not work him. If only propagation had been better....

Had a lot of fun though. I like the format of this contest. It's only a hour, you submit the log within 1 hour after the contest. You have the results in the morning. Simple and fast....

100 DXCC in 100 DAYS QRP Challenge finished

I finished the 100 DXCC in 100 days QRP. Almost can't believe I finished this as it is not a easy challenge at all. When I first read about this concept on NY4G Ariel's blog I thought this would only be possible to accomplish for those that are retired and have almost unlimited time for the hobby. Luckely Ariel published the rules and I decided to participate because there was no actual time limit. Anyway I accomplished this in only 79 days and that was totally unexpected. Ariel sent me a nice certificate via e-mail, thanks for that.

Analyzing the whole log is interesting. 79 days is a long time and sometimes I had excelllent propagation, sometimes not at all. I didn't have time every day, only on the dates that are in the log. I managed to work at least one or sometimes more new DXCC every day I spend time on the radio.So actually, if you only count the days that I was active, I did 100 DXCC in 33 days! Sometimes I really doubt I would work a new one and then in the end I suddenly managed to work it. There were surprises and there were days that I struggled to make a QSO anywhere. I even modified my FT-817 at day 67 to work A45XR from Oman which I had seen spotted the days before on 60m. And incredible, after modifying the rig first QSO was with him on 60m JT65. After day 76 I thought I would not going to make it within 100 days, just 24 days left, you know how fast time goes! I decided to take part in the CQWW WPX SSB 2016 with QRP to hunt primarely for DXCC to ad to the challenge log. And successfully I did! Well, at the end of the contest I counted 100 DXCC...however Z6 Kosovo (worked 2 different stations in the contest) is officially not a valid DXCC and so I stranded at 99. Can you imagine how this was on my mind! I had to make that last one. Had some radio time again tuesday evening after the contestweekend. Hunted for several DXCC I heard and saw spotted on the cluster but it's hard with only 5W. At the end saw T77C spotted on 40m CW and 2 calls later I was in his log, mission accomplished! After the challenge finished Ariel wrote me he had been analyzing the log:

I also analyzed your log with some interesting findings.  Your first half came rather easy as many of the DXCC entities are close by.  You were averaging about 1300 miles per QSO.   Then you had to go out much further in distance.  At the end you were averaging close to 2500 plus miles per QSO.
Antennas make all the difference for QRP.  K4SV averaged about 4200 miles per QSO with his big SteppIR with 4 elements on 20m at 90 feet.  I only have a 2 element wire beam on the high bands which allowed me to average 3800 miles per QSO.

Most memorable and amazing QSOs:

OD5ZZ Lebanon (worked 15m SSB from my mobile with the modified DV27 antenna his signal 9+30dB), JY6ZZ Jordan (SSB 17m), AP2IA Pakistan (15m JT9 ATNO for me), PZ5RA Surinam (on 10m PSK63), FR4QT Reunion Isl. (10m SSB), 7P8C Lesotho (10m CW), ZL3NB New Zealand (30m JT65 ODX 17939km), VP8LP Falkland Isl. (20m PSK125), A45XR Oman (60m JT65), NL7V Alaska (20m SSB) and actually the last 20 DXCC in the challenge log are all special!

A few QSLs received from the QRP QSOs in the challenge log

It has been a incredible experience and I'm glad I took the opportunity to take part in this event. If you're looking for a goal within the hobby I can certainly recommend this challenge.

PE4BAS lightwave converter

I have been experimenting lately and by coincidence I made a homemade lightwave converter out of my Yaesu FT-817. I'm not a maths expert but I learned some things at school long time ago. One thing I learned was how to calculate lightwave indexes. Reading some of my old calculations, I found somewhere at the attic in a box, I had a fabulous idea. Why not build a simple lightwave converter to transmit on the lightwave bands.

So I thought this can be simple with components I already have. To start I use the FT-817 as modulator/receiver. A simple RF to light conversion module was made out of some optocouplers and small mirrors. To have control over the whole thing I use a Light Wave Ratio meter which is nothing more then some tiny parallel mirrors. One of the mirrors inside is mechanically controlled. I use a l.t.v.c. to get a reading on the meter.

 Before I test this I made a calculation of the lightwave form with a computer program. The picture on the left is how things are looking. I know it sounds very complicated for most of you, but it isn't. It's simple as what. Finally I could test the whole thing and check out propagation. Unfortenately at the moment I'm the only station on the world which is transmitting lightwave signals as far as I know. So, my call was lonely and probabely heard by no one or by some very distant aliens.

I realize not everyone has the ability to build this, but if you do please let me know if you're interested in a sked. I will only be on only today. Hopefully I'll be able to make some contacts...