Time to spill some of the beans regarding the upcoming DXpedition to Market Reef. We're all very excited and looking forward to this operation. All operators have now confirmed that they are committed to the plan, with the blessings of their XYLs. We've received a few requests regarding bands and modes, and we will certainly …
The plans for Market Reef, OJØ, for Q2 2023 are all starting to come together. We have made our reservations at the lighthouse, transport by boat is booked, and the equipment list is being checked frequently. There are a couple of minor uncertainties we want to make sure of before going public with the details …
Yesterday I did some improvements to the "fixed" 20m FT8 "Hulaloop" magnetic loop antenna. I've insulated the end of the capacitor coax thoroughly, by folding the braid back a bit while sealing it with shrink tubing. I also reshaped the pickup coil from oval to more circular shape. The oval shape appears to give a …
This Sunday I attended the DARC 10m contest on SSB as LC1R. This is a two-hour annual contest, and since the openings on 10m have been great lately, I decided to give it a go. The first hour was great, I was able to call CQ and working a pile that seemed to keep giving …
My weekend project this time was to build a cheap magnetic loop antenna. I'm talking really, really, cheap. No variable capacitor, no fancy or expensive parts. The goal was to build a monoband magnetic loop antenna. I'm tempted to call it "mono frequency" also, since there are no adjustments to it, but given the bandwidth …
I'm working on a low-budget 100W transistor power amplifier for HF, based on the FQP13N10. By pairing these $2 transistors in a push-pull configuration, the estimated build cost of a functional amplifier will be in the ballpark of around $20-$30 each. This is only an extremely simple prototype which requires active PTT, has no filters, …
Did you miss OJ0 the last time I was at Market Reef? Santa didn't leave you anything under the tree this year? I'm planning a new DXpedition to OJ0 Market Reef in Q2 2023, together with three other operators. We're planning to keep two stations active around the clock, for about seven days. We will …
I decided to give CQWW CW a go, despite being a complete noob when it comes to CW. At the current speed of 10-15 wpm I'm completely useless in a contest like this, but with a little help from skimmer software I managed to secure a few. Or, at least, that was the plan. Prior …
CQWW SSB 2023 is over, and I assisted my club the best I could. We struggled with terrible conditions on Saturday, but did our best and worked 160-10m with four operators. I logged about 500 of the 2000+ QSOs we got. Fingers crossed for better conditions next year! Unfortunately our Expert 1.5k-FA PA decided its …
It's that time of year again. Prepare your ears and forget about getting any sleep, it's CQWW SSB time! I will be joining my club and be active as LN2T from CQ zone 14. We will start planning operator shifts soon, but I will probably opt for the evening/night shifts like I've done earlier. My …
LB5SH.no 