Category Archives: DX

CQ WPX CW and some Magic Band frustration

Posted on May 29, 2016 by dh8bqa

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the QTH this weekend so only spent some limited time in the CQ WPX CW remotely. Great Sporadic-E conditions all weekend long so kept going on 10 m single band and managed a whopping … Continue reading →

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What a great day on VHF today …

Posted on May 26, 2016 by dh8bqa

Luckily Corpus Christi is a local holiday overhere so I had the day off. 😎 Waking up at 5:30z I was not sure if I should get up or turn around for some more sleep. Seems it was a good decision … Continue reading →

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WIA Awards

Posted on May 15, 2016 by dh8bqa

Applied for and got a few nice awards issued by WIA (Wireless Institue of Australia). They have a great online system to apply for the awards using ADIF uploads and getting the contacts confirmed through LotW and/or eQSLs. The awards are issued … Continue reading →

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TY – Benin #138 on 6 m

Posted on April 24, 2016 by dh8bqa

Had the first 6 m ES opening of the season today. The band opened nicely from here into Southern Europe, i.e. 9H & IT9 around 15:30z with S9+ signals. Saw TY2AC spotting southern Europe stations himself on the cluster. He finally … Continue reading →

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VK0h/Heard Island #309 & FR.j/Juan de Nova #310

Posted on April 9, 2016 by dh8bqa

Besides WPX-SSB almost no radio activity overhere since returning from Aruba. Lots of QRL and not really up for the hobby. So had to force myself to switch on the radio a few times at least not to miss the … Continue reading →

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QRV from P4 – Aruba soon!

Posted on February 9, 2016 by dh8bqa

Finally some holidays! 😎 Will be travelling to P4, Aruba, later this week to participate in WPX-RTTY and ARRL-DX-CW from the Caribbean. Will be joined by good friends DL5CW, DL5LYM & DL9USA. Rented the P49V rental shack. Should be great fun! … Continue reading →

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VP8/South Sandwich #307 & VP8/South Georgia #308

Posted on January 30, 2016 by dh8bqa

Not much radio activity recently. Just switched on the radio a few times during the last few days to chase & catch Intrepid DX’s VP8STI and VP8SGI activities for two ATNOs. 😎 The guys are doing a really great job handing out QSO … Continue reading →

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QSL of the month? QSL of the year! ;-)

Posted on August 12, 2015 by dh8bqa

Nice surprise opening the post box this morning: EA8 on 2m terrestrial confirmed. 😎   

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HBØ – Liechtenstein #137 on 6 m … and 2 m ES again

Posted on July 8, 2015 by dh8bqa

Got a phone call by Sandro’s (DD3SP) wife Yvonne around 15z passing his best regards and telling me to “move my butt out of the office, hurry home and join the Sporadic E fun on 4 & 2 m”. 😉 Luckily I … Continue reading →

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Great fun on four, frustration on 6 m today

Posted on June 21, 2015 by dh8bqa

Six had been wide open all over Europe the whole morning. Except a weak D4C via double-hop ES who provided a new square (had wkd D4 in HK86 before but HK76 was new) there was nothing interesting at all. So … Continue reading →

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EA8 – Canary Islands #65 on 2 m – 3.700 km terrestrial!

Posted on June 16, 2015 by dh8bqa

During the great 4 m opening tonight I saw the MUF rising slowly. Later first QSOs were reported on 2 m between G/GW/EI and the Mediterranean and when I saw ES geometry should be right I switched over to 2 m. … Continue reading →

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Fantastic 4 m opening tonight!

Posted on June 16, 2015 by dh8bqa

Was a bit late out of QRL again today (19 o’clock) but the first thing to do when arriving home during the summer is to switch on the rig and check for ES conditions. 😉 Seems the 4 m band … Continue reading →

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FW – Wallis & Futuna Islands #305

Posted on June 13, 2015 by dh8bqa

Well, I finally defeated my “nemesis”! 😀 I have been chasing Jean-Jaques, FW5JJ, for a few month’ now. Whenever he was QRV we either had no propagation (it’s a difficult path almost directly over the Northpole) or if he was … Continue reading →

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OJ0 – Market Reef #64 on 2 m

Posted on June 10, 2015 by dh8bqa

Not very active after returning from holidays, QRL taking its toll. Besides this 6 and 4 m haven’t been very active, too. There were a few openings but if I was there in the evenings I was either too close … Continue reading →

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Double hop Sporadic-E into EA8 on 4 m

Posted on June 3, 2015 by dh8bqa

Wow, what a great day! It didn’t look too promising during the morning. There was a nice ES cloud with MUFs up into the 80-90 MHz but too close, i.e. just 250 km east above SP2. Nevertheless I went to … Continue reading →

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SØ – Western Sahara #136 on 6 m

Posted on May 28, 2015 by dh8bqa

Well, not much worked during the week. Bands were rather flat. 6 m just only opened quite nicely this evening but I spent most of my time on 4 m again as there was a big ES opening in Western … Continue reading →

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ZP – Paraguay #135 on 6 m

Posted on May 17, 2015 by dh8bqa

Another day without any ES overhere. Was not very sad this time as I could spent all afternoon in bed trying to recover from a flu I caught on Friday and not fearing to miss anything on the bands. 😉 … Continue reading →

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TJ – Cameroon #134 on 6 m

Posted on May 16, 2015 by dh8bqa

Propagation sucked today. Six and above stayed closed all day long. Thus I had to rely on Meteor Scatter to work something new. The Camb-Hams are currently active as GS3PYE/P from the Isle of Mull, IOTA EU-008, in the relatively rare … Continue reading →

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First 4 m ES opening + 6 m ES/TEP link

Posted on May 14, 2015 by dh8bqa

Father’s Day is a public holiday overhere so I had the chance to be at the station early morning already. Sporadic E season has started and the whole day saw massive ES propagation over all of Europe. MUF went up … Continue reading →

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Centennial Points Challenge Award

Posted on April 16, 2015 by dh8bqa

Unexpectedly something in the mailbox again today! 🙂 That’s for sure one I’m really proud of and one of the few that will find it’s place on the shack wall! I really like all the new designs of ARRL, be … Continue reading →

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