#CQWW DX CW 2015 experiments

Event: CQWW DX CW ham radio contest
Logger: N1MM+ most updated version
Station: Yaesu FT-817ND - 2,5W
Antenna: 84m horizontal square loop on 7m AGL.
CW decoder: FLdigi & CWskimmer

Did you know there are HAMradio operators that are using contests for experiments? Oh yes there are, I know that for instance PA1B Bert is using the contest to experiment with QRPp (extreme low power) just to see what is possible. Others do study propagation with the help from RBN. And I did experiment with some decoding software. Last year I used Fldigi and MRP40. This year after much trouble I managed to install CWskimmer to test.

QRP assisted all time records

I decided to go for another Dutch record and entered the 40m QRP Assisted section. Only a few hours participation resulted in 54 QSOs, one less as last year on 80m. CWskimmer is superior compared to FLdigi and MRP40. It is clear to me that this is the decoding software if you like to read CW instead of hearing. Although I experienced that I made more QSOs when I was listening. Actually I am able to decode "PE4BAS 5NN" and "TU". So I only need software to decode the call of the station calling and transmitting CW  (FLdigi). I was trying to work on remote saturday evening but that went very difficult. Only 1 or 2 QSO in 30 minutes just because I could not listen but tried to read everything on the screen. I didn't make shocking DX. Only been able to work 2 transatlantic stations. NP4A from Puerto Rico and AA2A from the USA. I did hear more big  guns from the US/Canada but was unable to push my tiny signal through. Tiny indeed because today I discovered I did forget to set the power to 5W before the contest so it was still 2,5W output (I used that the last time before the contest). I don't know why I didn't see that but think I was too busy with the computerscreen all the time.

 Another thing I used this time was a NIR-10 DSP audio filter between the radio and computer because I don't have any small filter in the FT-817. Together with the bandpass filter from CWskimmer I think it did well supressing nearby signals from other stations on a incredible busy 40m band. All this was a great experiment and I learned the only thing left is to purchase CWskimmer and get a decent digikeyer to work on CW. I learned CW just generated with a soundcard is not good enough. Though still it is a miracle that I was able to make such a amount of contacts with only 2,5W and inperfect gear.

Complicated....yes!

PCH - famous Dutch operators

I was at a impressive clubmeeting yesterday evening and met famous dutch HAMradio operator PA1HR Hans. Although I don't think he see himself as famous, most of the dutch HAM's however know him as he wrote several articles in the past and is quite active on the radio. Hans gave a presentation about famous Dutch coastal radio station Scheveningen Radio callsign PCH. Which was at the time a big and very famous station providing radio traffic between ships and land. Radiocommunications at PCH was Hans his job for 25 years, a dream job if you're a radioamateur and crazy about radio. I write this blogpost as I know there are readers that are interested in this kind of subjects. I dicovered most of the presentation can be found on PA1HR's website. The only thing that is not on his website are the small personal stories he told us at the meeting, so if you ever have the chance to attend his presentation I can recommend it.

Visit Hans his page...

Friese 11 steden contest - Frysian 11 cities contest review

Event: Frysian 11 cities contest 2015 80m (SSB) section outside region 14 
Logger: HRD logger V4 export to a excel sheet later 
TRX: Icom IC-706 MKIIG - 100W 
Antenna: 84m horizontal loop on 7m agl 

 Ik begon precies op tijd. Hoorde niet veel CQ roepen of ik kon het gewoon niet horen. Het ruisniveau was erg hoog ondanks het gebruik van de horizontale loop. Dit keer moest ik echt goed luisteren om sommige stations uit de ruis te halen vooral de stations uit het zuiden van het land waren erg zwak. De meeste Friese stations kwamen hier keihard binnen. Weer weinig activiteit vanuit het buitenland en vanuit Nederland heb ik diverse stations gemist. Gelukkig wel wat aktiviteit van PE2KM Kees die anders nooit meer zo aktief is op de radio. Uiteraard heb ik mijn signaal en modulatie weer even beluisterd op de webSDR van Weert. Deze webSDR heeft ook een mogelijkheid tot opname. Te beluisteren is mijn CQ en QSO met PA3JD Joop uit Dedemsvaart. Dat ging ook vrij moeilijk al ontving ik hem beter dan hij mij had ik het idee. Uiteindelijk maakte ik 3 QSO's minder dit jaar. Ik was even bang dat ik alle 12 multipliers dit jaar niet halen, maar gelukkig lukte mij het toch de laatste (PA3DTY Bolsward) te werken 3 kwartier voor het einde. Uiteindelijke score 301x12=3612 punten.





 I did make a start just on time. Not many running CQ or I didn't hear them. Noise level was very high despite using the horizontal loop. This time it was really hard to pick up some of the stations out of the noise, especially when from the south part of the country. Most of the Frysian stations however were very strong. Unfortunately again there was almost no activity from outside Netherlands and even inside the Netherlands the activity was low. I missed a lot of stations that normally show up in this contest but not this year. Luckely there was some activity from PE2KM Kees who has not been active to much lately. Of course I monitored my signal and modulation again via the Weert webSDR, this one has a recording function implemented. I made a recording from the QSO wit PA3JD Joop from Dedemsvaart. This QSO went very difficult although I had the feeling I received him a lot better then he did me. In the end I made 3 QSO's less as last year. I was afraid I would not get all 12 multipliers but managed the last one (PA3DTY Bolsward) 45 minutes before the end. Score 301x12=3612 points.