Author Archives: dh8bqa

Two new squares on 6 m …

Not much VHF propagation today in JO73. Although there were a few openings and even 2 m Sporadic-E again it was all too far away from here. Only made a handful of 4 m QSOs in the late morning. But … Continue reading

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Another great evening on the VHF bands …

Who would have believed that? 6, 4 & 2 m were completely closed all day. It was just late afternoon that the bands opened in western Europe (G to EA) and early evening finally overhere, too. This time into the south-west, … Continue reading

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More 4 & 2 m Sporadic-E :-)

Another great day on the VHF bands! 😎 MUF was high all morning already. Lots of 6 m activity and cluster spots from Russia hearing Europe. Won’t imagine what happens if Russia is ever allowed to transmit on 6 m … Continue reading

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First 2 m Sporadic-E this year and 4 m thoughts

After the bad condx last weekend things got much much better this morning. 😎 Had a nice start on 4 m into Greece after arriving at the QTH and it did not take long until also the 2 m band … Continue reading

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CQ WPX CW 2017 with some interesting propagation

My decision to start SOSB10(A) was made a few days ago already. Last year I did indeed set a new DL record although I would not have expected my result to stay above the record after the log check. Obviously my … Continue reading

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Caught the first 4 m ES today

Have caught the first 4m Sporadic E today since our special permit. Big signals but very spotty … Also made a few tropo contacts … feels good to be back on the band. 😎 —————————————————————— TIME CALLSIGN LOCATOR TX RX … Continue reading

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4 m allowed again in DL :-)

As of today we do have a special permit again to use 4 m in Germany! 😎 Same conditions as in 2015 apply, i.e. only 70.150 to 70.180 MHz, limited until 31.08. this year, a.s.o. Looking forward to a lot … Continue reading

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More antenna work – 12/17 m dualband beam repaired

Picture showing Heiko, DG1BHA, remounting our 12/17 m dualband beam above the 4 ele 20 m Yagi. We took it down during the VHF contest, too, to remount the 12 m reflector which had fallen down. Also recalibrated it as … Continue reading

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May VHF Contest – no surprises

Met with the guys in JO73. As we were only a few people and not much time upfront we decided to stay “home”, i.e. at the club station, instead of setting up on the local hilltop. So a quite relaxed … Continue reading

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Surprising Aurora opening

Being back from the WPX-SSB tour to JO73 I checked QRL emails Monday afternoon to make sure it would not be too much when returning into the office on Tuesday. Being done I just had a quick look at the … Continue reading

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Some antenna work this weekend, too

While doing the WPX-SSB Heiko, DG1BHA, was also there to do some antenna work. Weather was fine and he had already done a bit of work the days before, i.e. mounting a cable tray along the big chimney so we … Continue reading

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CQ WPX SSB 2017

Yet another contest done. Wanted to go for a serious 15 m single band entry as 20 m is just too crowded during low sunspot times (no chance to hold a frequency with legal limit and a 4 ele Yagi!) … Continue reading

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ARRLDX-CW 2017

Another contest in the books. Condx were quite okay but I had the feeling activity was way down compared to previous years. Might as well have been the condx, had the impression they didn’t allow for more than tier 1 and … Continue reading

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CQ WPX RTTY 2017

Spent a little time in WPX-RTTY last weekend. Uwe, DL3BQA, was going for a serious effort on 20 m thus I could only do 15 m during the day as the 40 m antenna is too close and giving interference … Continue reading

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CQ WW 160 CW 2017

Second contest of the year. I really start liking the 160 m CW contests, lots of activity. 😎 It’s probably about time to plan some serious entries and especially good low band antennas! While our full-size Lazy Loop works great … Continue reading

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SARTG-HNY-RTTY 2017

First of all Happy New Year to all of my blog readers! Hope you had an enjoyable holiday, we certainly did. 😎 Wishing all of you all the best for 2017, lots of QSOs and DX and might the propagation … Continue reading

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Year-end tropo

Coming back from a Christmas trip to JO73 yesterday, December 29, driving westwards to Cologne (JO30) we enjoyed a very nice sunset. Sky was crystal blue, sun was shining and turning everything into dark when setting with a slight flicker … Continue reading

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ARRL 10 Meter Contest 2016

ARRL10M – one of my favourite contests! Nothing big to be expected during sunspot minimum, of course, nevertheless always fun and a nice opportunity for some propagation studies. 😎 Time I could spend last weekend was limited to a few … Continue reading

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Small tropo opening …

Speaking of last weekend being in the middle of a rather boring CQWW CW contest I couldn’t resist switching to 2 m Saturday morning after seeing some DX spots on the cluster showing tropo between the UK and Northern Franconia as … Continue reading

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CQ WWDX CW ’16

I had planned to drive the 700 km to the station for CQWW CW last weekend but QRL thwarted my plans and I had to sacrifice Friday/Monday which were planned for travelling. Therefor only played SOSB15 remotely … CONDX sucked! … Continue reading

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