There were times when there was only one type of amateur radio licence. One had to pass a technical exam and a Morse code test, because telegraphy was the standard operation mode. Later on, a separate licence became available without the Morse test and only gave access to VHF and up. My first exam was… Continue reading »
In September, I paid a visit to Bernard, F6GYH. Bernard lives in Fayl-Billot, which is about 15 minutes of driving from my French QTH. His location is excellent for VHF and up, because he has nearly 360 degrees unobstructed sight. Even with a tower of modest height, his antennas have a clear view to the… Continue reading »
This weekend, the VLF station in Grimeton was having an Alexanderson day. On Sunday June 30th, two transmissions were announced. Although I read about the station several times and watched various YouTube videos, I never tried reception myself. On Saturday, I tested a number of wire antennas that were connected to a USB sound interface,… Continue reading »
During last winter, I have been very busy with the process of buying a second home in France. For several years, this was in the making and last November, the decision was made to acquire an old farm in the department Haute-Marne, about midway between Nancy and Dijon (grid square JN27). From my home in… Continue reading »
Regular readers of this blog know that noise (interference, to be correct) from various sources is my most prominent nuisance. A few weeks ago, I stayed for a weekend on a rural location in France and took my IC706 and antenna with me. A wire antenna was put up, using a tall tree and two… Continue reading »
The last few days, conditions on 6 and 4 metres were quite good. Even with my modest station, some nice DX was worked on 6. Back in 1989, I became rather frustrated because I had ‘half a QSO’ in CW with CO2KK. He unfortunately took my call as PA2HJH instead of PA2HJS and I was… Continue reading »
This article drew my attention. Another story about “Megahertz” wireless power transfer. If something is going to kill radio communications, this is spot on: Wireless power transfer Old school efficiency There were times we had trains. Electric trains. In The Netherlands, most railway lines use electricity to convey power to the locomotives (like this one… Continue reading »
An excellent opening to New Zealand was observed on 11 February 2018. The station was switched on around 0700 UTC and several ZL stations came in with good signals. At some point, I decoded 4 ZL stations at the same moment and the 4 calls shown on JT Alert was an unique and impressive experience…. Continue reading »
Today, I stumbled upon a write-up of Joe Taylor, K1JT about developing a version of FT8, intended to be used by DXpeditions. In spite of the fact, that I do not favour FT8, especially because it takes out the lower tier of the signal to noise range, I consider this an interesting and valuable development…. Continue reading »
Last weekend, New Zealand issued permissions on a trial basis to operate on 60 metres. That was very good news, first of all for the ZL ops who had been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time after the WRC-15 results came into force January 2017. It is hoped that this will lead… Continue reading »