Author Archives: dh8bqa

Superb Aurora opening

Thanks to the phone alert by Heiko, DG1BHA, I managed to get out of QRL not too late yesterday evening. There was a very strong Aurora going on and Heiko being at our station had already worked over 20 stations … Continue reading

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Again two ATNOs wkd :-)

Haven’t been very active lately. Handed out just a few points during ARRL-DX-SSB last weekend and didn’t switch on the radio at all during the week … QRL taking it’s toll. This morning was a little different. Decided to chase … Continue reading

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ARRL-DX 2014 certificates received

      Two times post from the ARRL contest committee during the last few days. Received the ARRL-DX-CW participation certificate for doing more than 500 QSOs as a DX participant as well as the winner certificate for winning SOAB … Continue reading

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CQ-WW-160-SSB

Well, I did not plan to take part in that one. As reported earlier I have an RFI problem using the remote on 160 m. Practically this means I’m limited to about 15-20 watts output if I want to reliably … Continue reading

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ARRL-DX-CW 2015

It does not feel that long ago since I wrote about 2014’s ARRL-DX-CW contest in this blog. Another year is gone … wow, time’s really flying by! So I practised my poor CW again last weekend. 😉 Had a good … Continue reading

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TI9 – Cocos Island #302

Just saw that working TI9/3Z9DX was another ATNO so up to 302 now. Seems a great start into the new DX year with 4 new ones within 6 weeks but I suppose it will not continue at that speed being … Continue reading

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Weak and short Aurora opening this evening

Had a very small and weak Aurora opening on 2 m this evening. Did not last longer than 20 minutes. The SK4MPI Aurora warning beacon was barely audible via Aurora which is quite unusual even in weak openings. Elsewise only … Continue reading

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CQ-WPX-RTTY 2015

Another RTTY contest is history. After I was rather disappointed after last year’s CQ-WWDX-RTTY this one was real fun! Uwe, DL3BQA, was going to use our station as the 1st OP again and had the choice of band. He decided … Continue reading

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Tropo – the final

Taking the F5LEN tropo forecast into account I anticipated the tropo would move further east this morning and then start to vanish. Today is Fat Thursday in the Cologne carnival which means we only have to work half-day. What a … Continue reading

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More tropo and square #507 on 2 m

      Seems I was correct with my yesterday’s assumption concerning tropo moving. 😉 Sorrily I was rather under the duct tonight thus the really big distance contacts where done i.e. from LAØBY down into 9A & S5 over 1.600 km, … Continue reading

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Nice 2 m tropo opening tonight

Coming home after work today I saw a few spots on the cluster that looked like a bit of tropo enhancement between the UK and Western Europe. So I switched on the radio to check condx and boy, was lucky … Continue reading

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ZL7 – Chatham Islands #301

Worked another ATNO today! 🙂 ZL7/F8FUA is currently on holiday there and took a K3 and a Buddipole with him. Already heard him yesterday on 20 m SSB but lots of QRM and weak signals. He was still weak today, … Continue reading

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KP1 – Navassa Island #300

Now that the Navassa expedition has been on for a few days I found a little time to chase them. Pileups are immense and it took a while to put them in the log for an ATNO. But what really … Continue reading

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Nice trans-polar 10 m opening this morning

Had a great trans-polar 10 m opening this morning. Worked KL7XU who was peaking 59 and said he was waiting for that opening for 12 years. 😉 WL7E had a nice signal on CW, too, but was only working (or not) … Continue reading

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RUSDX 2014 contest certificate

Well, it’s been a busy time receiving awards recently. 😉 After it took well over 2 years to receive my RUSDX 2012 certificates the guys from Russia where much faster this time! RUSDX 2014 sure was fun but I did not expect … Continue reading

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Triple Play WAS received

Another award received a few days ago was my Triple Play WAS (Worked All States) Award requiring LotW (Logbook of the World) confirmations of all 50 USA states in CW, phone & digital modes. Having just recently started using RTTY more intensively … Continue reading

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EURD-TROPHY

It’s a been a few weeks already since I received my EURD trophy but no time for a photo yet. 😉 It’s the highest class of the EURD – the “Europa-RTTY-Diplom” issued by DARC requiring confirmations of RTTY QSOs with 250 … Continue reading

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CQ-WW-160-CW & BARTG-Sprint contests

Managed to squeeze in a few Top Band QSOs every now and then besides other obligations. Could only do S&P using the TRX internal memories (called up by CAT commands from N1MMLogger+) on 160 m as I was producing RFI … Continue reading

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EP – Iran #299

Just saw that working EP3HF after the 10 m contest on 15 m SSB yesterday provided another new DXCC for me … #299 in the log. 🙂 I’m certainly not going to send $10 + 1 IRC to get a … Continue reading

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First contest of the year: DARC-10M

Many thanks to Heiko, DG1BHA, for leaving this “contest slot” to me. Normally he’s using our station for this one as it does not make much sense to drive 2 x 700 km for a 2 hour contest. Sure, I’m … Continue reading

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