LA DXPedition 2006

VHF + HF DX expedition Norway july 2006

Welcome to the LA-DX2006 information pages

DXpedition Plans

Ruud PE1BTV and Henk PA3FMC will be active on HF and VHF from Norway in the period 1-9 july. We will run a portable station with ORO on 2 meter for MS and EME and about 100 watts on HF and 6m.

The first weekend of july we will be active in VHF contest from JO29 with the call LA/PE1BTV/P also on HF with the call LA/PA3FMC/P (IOTA EU-056) from Karmoy Island.

After this we will be active from JP31 and JP21 for MS and EME on 2 meter and HF (IOTA EU-055) with the calls LA/PA3FMC/P and LA/PE1BTV/P.

Picture norway

E-QSL's sent

The E-QSL's from henk PA3FMC are sent. When i receive the printed cards i will send them via the buro to all. I have already received a few requests for direct qsl cards and they will receive the printed card by mail. 

73 Henk PA3FMC

Pa3fmc | 23-07-2006 | 13:34 | Link | Reacties (0)

restore of old data

Sorry but "reacties" could not be restored by me.

Travel logs updated with pictures

Today I have updated the travel logs with pictures we have taken on our trip. Happy viewing...

QSL card design sent to printer

The qsl card design is ready and sent to Max ONUR who will print our special qsl card.

front side

Front side

back side

Back side

 

Karmoy Island and IOTA

iota logo

I am sorry that i have to mention that Karmoy Island dos not qualify for IOTA. We had wrong information prior to departure. Sorry for all the stations that counted for EU-056.

Our qsl card will not confirm IOTA EU-056.

Contacts from Ytre Sula Island will count for EU-055.

ref: http://www.rsgbiota.org/

Comments by Henk PA3FMC

I enjoyed this expedition very much. I have travelled a lot, but this was my first visit to Norway. A beautifull country.

Also this was our first dxpedition experience and we have learned many things from this. We already have plans for the next year.

Working on the HF bands from the islands was a great experience. The noise levels where much lower than on the crowded home qth. For many stations this was a new IOTA.

Many thanks to all the people who helped us making our expedition a succes, we couldnt do without you.

Because of the very primitive station accomodation, and the bad weather on the last day, we had to stop one day before plan. Sorry for the stations who listened for us.

We are now preparing the qsl card's to send to all the stations who worked us.

Thanks for all the contacts.

Best 73 Henk PA3FMC

Comments by Ruud, PE1BTV

 

Personaly I have enjoyed the "expedition" verry much. The travelling to Ytre Sula was a expedition by itself. You wouldn't believe the roads we were on. Not any wider than the car itself.

The weather was good. Only the friday was bad. For this reason we had to break up early. Sorry for those who planned to work us on this last day. 

The MS periods were great. Several times we could see more than one station in one period. Once we did see 8!! stations in one period. Maybe we should find a way to work multiple stations simultaniously, hi.

To all we have worked.

Thanks for the contacts. If the square is new to you, congratiolations.

To all we have heard but not worked.

Sorry we didn't work you.

And to all we didn't hear but did call us. Sorry, next time better luck.

 

All stations we worked will be send a QSL card.

Hope to meet you all again on the band.

73's de Ruud LA/PE1BTV

HF qso's on 06/07 by LA/PA3FMC

Time Freq Mode RST Call RST
715 14220 USB 59 9G5UR 59
726 14195 USB 59 DR2006B 59
737 14200 USB 58 PE2KP 58
741 14180 USB 59 LX2MG 59
744 14180 USB 57 M3NKC 57
745 14180 USB 58 PE1WH 59
747 14180 USB 59 ON5GA 59
749 14180 USB 59 DM5CM 59
753 14180 USB 59 DC9SU 59
757 14180 USB 59 M0MJH/M 59
759 14180 USB 58 DK7NG 55
802 14180 USB 59 PE1AIU 59
824 14070 BPSK 559 DG4MFA 559
903 14200 USB 59 DL2006F 59
907 14180 USB 59 LY/4X4FC/P 59
909 14180 USB 56 PE1JMN 59
912 14180 USB 55 PA1PT/P 55
930 21070 BPSK 569 F5SVU 569
936 21070 BPSK 579 DC1NSK 579
945 21070 BPSK 559 EA5UC 559
950 21070 BPSK 559 EA5UC 559
955 21070 BPSK 599 DM7ZZ 599
959 21070 BPSK 599 HB9EBV/P 599
1018 7080 LSB 59 DQ2006X 59
1023 7074 LSB 57 EI3CAB 57
1032 14206 USB 59 DR2006B 59
1037 14220 USB 59 DQ2006V 59
1043 14210 USB 54 2E0KHS 54
1054 14210 USB 57 M5ROB 57
1055 14210 USB 58 G1AEU 58
1057 14210 USB 59 PA3DHR/P 59
1058 14210 USB 58 ON5WL 57  
1105 14210 USB 59 IK8LIU 59  
1107 14210 USB 56 G4BZP 59  
1109 14210 USB 59 G0EJQ 59  
1112 14210 USB 54 PA3ABR 54  
1119 14210 USB 59 SM2YOR 59 
1124 14210 USB 57 PA0JWV 56  
1125 14210 USB 55 2E0PRB 54  
1127 14210 USB 58 G0CER 58  
1131 14210 USB 59 GM0TBH 59  
1133 14210 USB 55 GM6LJE 57  
1136 14210 USB 42 SM0DXG 54  
1139 14210 USB 59 PA5NL 59  
1547 21070 BPSK 599 OH8GUK 599  
1555 21070 BPSK 599 DL2FC 599  
1603 21070 BPSK 599 DL1YJF 599  
1610 21070 BPSK 559 RA3YBU 579
1618 21070 BPSK 599 M0PSK/QRP 599
1627 21070 BPSK 577 GM0NAZ 577
1633 21070 BPSK 599 I3VDN 599
1642 21070 BPSK 599 IK0CNA 599
1651 21070 BPSK 579 DB6FO/QRP 599
1658 21070 BPSK 599 EA7CHS 599
1728 14210 USB 59 EA3URR 59
1749 14222 USB 59 DR2006N 59

MS Log LA/PE1BTV 06/07

PA4EME 0850
OK1UAK 0903
SM7FMX 0927
OH1ND 0952
OZ2TF 1008 also 5/5 tropo
HB9DFG 1017
OZ8FR 1039
HA6NQ 1122
SM5CUI 1140
OE3FVU 1709
F6HVK 1735
DF8IK 1752

AFTER THIS CONTACT WE STOPPED DUE TO STORM.

Heard or not complete:
DK5WL D55NK
PA3BIY IK1PAG

HF QSO's By LA/PA3FMC on 05/07:

Time Freq Mode RST Call RST Name
1118 14223 USB 59 DQ2006R 59 heinz
1122 14210 USB 59 PA3GVI 59 rob
1131 14210 USB 58 DJ1TO 58 bernd
1133 14210 USB 55 M3LKO 56 Kev
1136 14210 USB 57 MW0ZZD 57 Peter
1137 14210 USB 57 DK6KL 57 Joe
1141 14210 USB 57 G1NCZ 57 john
1142 14210 USB 58 GW0JMJ 59 gerald
1145 14210 USB 58 DG7JG 58 stefan
1147 14210 USB 57 G0WEO 56 douglas
1149 14210 USB 58 IW2BDH 58 luigi
1151 14210 USB 57 DG3DAT 57 Roland
1153 14210 USB 55 M0YCQ/P 54 Steve
1156 14210 USB 57 G4JLJ 59 Lew
1157 14210 USB 55 DL8USA 57 Wolf
1158 14210 USB 59 GW0IWD 59 allen
1159 14210 USB 55 DL2JT 55 rolf
1200 14210 USB 59 G0KNN 59 malcolm
1201 14210 USB 57 GW0WTT 58 Paul
1202 14210 USB 59 DL3FM 59 Matias
1203 14210 USB 59 DG5OBB 59 Klaus
1204 14210 USB 58 DL8UO 58 
1205 14210 USB 59 G3VUY 59 dave
1206 14210 USB 57 M3BLO 55 Marschall
1207 14210 USB 59 M0RBG 59 richard
1208 14210 USB 55 UN7ECA 55 Oleg
1209 14210 USB 59 I2CBM 59 bert
1210 14210 USB 57 IZ2GTO 59 
1211 14210 USB 59 GI4OCK 59 Steward
1212 14210 USB 59 DL1EBR 59 Axel
1214 14210 USB 59 DF2QZ 59 Hardy
1215 14210 USB 59 F4FBZ 59 Peter
1216 14210 USB 55 OO2A 59 Geert
1218 14210 USB 58 M0BPL 58 Tony
1220 14210 USB 55 DL1ST 56 sigi
1224 14210 USB 55 GM4FAM 41 
1225 14210 USB 59 IK0VBT 55 Pino
1226 14210 USB 56 EC8ADW 55 pedro
1227 14210 USB 54 M3UOU 57 Mark
1229 14210 USB 59 ON7CD 59 Christian
1232 14210 USB 59 PH1B 57 John
1233 14210 USB 54 RU4SU 59 
1233 14210 USB 59 ON4AXU 59 Gerard
1234 14210 USB 59 PA0CLN 59 Kees
1235 14210 USB 59 IK3OGN 59 franco
1236 14210 USB 59 ON7WW 57 Willy
1237 14210 USB 59 I2VGW 59 Gabriel
1238 14210 USB 59 G3IQF 57 
1239 14210 USB 54 IZ4CZE 57 
1240 14210 USB 59 G8BMP 59 
1241 14210 USB 59 M3HDL 55 Richard
1242 14210 USB 59 M0CQE 59 Paul
1243 14210 USB 58 OM3JW 59 pete
1243 14210 USB 59 F5INJ 59 bernard
1244 14210 USB 59 M0ZVB 58 patrick
1246 14210 USB 58 ON5SM 55 
1247 14210 USB 57 ON6TF 58 Martin
1248 14210 USB 55 IK4IRZ 57 
1249 14210 USB 59 DB8KJ 59 Nico
1249 14210 USB 59 DL2DXA 59 dresden
1251 14210 USB 55 Z35G 55 
1252 14210 USB 59 IK1YFI 59 Guiseppe
1254 14210 USB 59 IZ7DOO 59 
1254 14210 USB 57 M0MLR 57 
1255 14210 USB 57 DM3ML 57 ike
1256 14210 USB 59 ON5EO 59 Marc
1257 14210 USB 58 EA1EWY/P 59 
1258 14210 USB 58 ON4DHG 59 Willy
1258 14210 USB 59 RV6LO 59 Yuri
1300 14210 USB 57 GW3ORL 57 doug
1300 14210 USB 59 EA1AIW 59 Jorge
1301 14210 USB 59 YO4RST 57 Romeo
1302 14210 USB 59 IK2SAV 59 
1303 14210 USB 55 IW1RLS 59 
1303 14210 USB 59 EA7HW 59 
1304 14210 USB 58 DL7JAN 58 
1305 14210 USB 58 I2JHF 59 
1306 14210 USB 55 I6DAT 55 Joseph
1308 14210 USB 56 I4MED/M 57 pompilio
1308 14210 USB 57 I0MWI 57 steve
1310 14210 USB 59 ON4NA 59 Frank
1311 14210 USB 59 IK2AHU 59 
1312 14210 USB 57 F6HDH 59 George
1313 14210 USB 57 EA1WXD 57 
1313 14210 USB 57 S52KM 59 hinco
1314 14210 USB 58 EA1BPA 59 
1315 14210 USB 59 YO2IC 59 
1316 14210 USB 58 YO2BBX 59 
1316 14210 USB 59 IK2VUC 59 
1316 14210 USB 59 IQ2VA 59 
1317 14210 USB 58 UT4UO 59 
1318 14210 USB 59 ON4AEO 59 
1319 14210 USB 55 LX/PE1FRD 59 jan
1320 14210 USB 57 ON3LLC 59 
1320 14210 USB 59 ON8WW 59 dave
1322 14210 USB 57 G3ZKW 57 tony
1323 14210 USB 58 M0DOL/M 59 chris
1324 14210 USB 57 RA3DBU 59 nick
1324 14210 USB 58 S54G 59 
1324 14210 USB 54 ON3OVW 57 
1326 14210 USB 58 I/PA5GR/P 56 
1459 7066 LSB 59 DL3BRA 59 horst
1504 7066 LSB 58 DJ3DH 58 michelle
1506 7066 LSB 58 DL5ON 57 rolf
1507 7066 LSB 58 DJ8VI 59 uwe
1509 7066 LSB 58 OZ/DM4KL 56 knut
1513 7066 LSB 56 PA3CWG 55 ronald
1516 7066 LSB 57 DG7DBN 58 veik
1539 14222 USB 55 DG4CHS 55 daniel
1546 14070 BPSK 599 DJ7GP 599 Peter
1554 14070 BPSK 599 DQ2006Z 599 anton
1600 14070 BPSK 579 OM3CHA 589 ado
1605 14070 BPSK 599 DL1DWL 599 manfred
1614 14070 BPSK 599 DQ2006W 599 Joachim
1912 7060 LSB 59 PA5TS 59 gert
1917 7060 LSB 59 PA3GGB 59 bert
1924 7060 LSB 59 M0KVA 57 alex
1927 7060 LSB 59 LA/DG7NP 59 Hans
1930 7060 LSB 55 M0NSI/M 55 

QSO's by LA/PE1BTV on 05/07

MS QSO's by LA/PE1BTV 05/07
EI5FK 0857
DK4TG 0933
PA3COB 0951
OZ1LPR 1022
DL6ZAU  1032
DH2UAK 1112
OM3BC 1128
SP2MKO 1150
DJ5BV 1213
SP5GZZ 1224
DK5EW 1243
PE1GNP 1258
DJ9MG 1329
F6APE 1336
F5JNX 1348
DG5AAg 1446'
PA2DW 1519
ES6RQ 1545
SM3JLA 1552
RX1AS 1600

Worked on SSB
G4DEZ 0900 55

Heard or not complete:
Because there are so many stations calling, qso's will be aborted after a period of 20 min of no pings.
HA5CW IW4ARD
F6HVK OZ8FR
PD0ORT OZ2TF
G4AEP PA4PS
F5VHX  RU1AA

Travel journal of 05/07:

Rise and shine at 8:00 hrs.
Ruud started up the MS station and Henk started to build up the spiderbeam.

antennas


Both VHF and HF stations are running fine and better than the last location.

sula_station
We went to do some shopping in the small store in the harbour.
The man who owns the small shop, runs a petrol station, acts as the postmaster and runs a ferry to the nearby islands invited us for a boat trip in the evening to the lighthouse island. This island is the most western part of Norway.

boot

It is a quiet and very very peacefull island over here. In the winter time however everything is very rough.

camp

sula

MS QSO's by LA/PE1BTV 04/07:

SP2JYR 1443
PA1GYS 1455
PE1AHX 1518
PA0JMV 1539
DK3WG 1555
PA0V 1604
F1DUZ 1614
G8VYK 1621
DL4DWA 1628
G4IGO 1658
PA3FPQ 1713
PA3CEE 1722
DF4YL 1744
SP6GWB 1750
HA5UK 1802
DL5ROB 1825
SM4MPB 1850
DL2ARD 1915

Heard or not complete:
Because there are so many stations calling, qso's will be aborted after a period of 20 min of no pings.
OK2AG HA5CW
OK1TEH DD3SP
DH1AC DK4PG
DH6ICE PA4PS
DD3SPY F5JNX
DF2ZD DL6ZAU
DF8IK DJ9CZ
PA4EME  OZ1LPR
SP6GZZ 

travel journal 04/07

Today we went to the outer island of the solund islands Ytre Sula. We drove up to Dalöy to take the ferry but the ferry did not depart until afternoon. So we decided to do some shopping back in Hardbakke. After taking the ferry we drove to Kolgrov, we spoke to a very nice Norwegian man who owned the land we are on now. It is a beautifull spot here. We are at about 30m above sea level with a clear view 360 degrees round. Best of all, no gsm coverage.
The locator here is JP21IA:

GPS

We started setting up the MS Station. Henk started building the HF mast with a dipole for 80/40m.

From 2200 hrs we got Thousands of "knuttjes" small flies that almost ate us alive.
So we decided to hit the sack early. In bed we could not sleep because of the humming of the thousands of flies and the high temperature.

station 

 

 

Log of 02/07 By LA/PE1BTV

Log of 02/07 By LA/PE1BTV
MS Qso's on 144.370
G4IGO 15:34
DF2ZC 15:58

VHF contest log by LA/PE1BTV

VHF contest log by LA/PE1BTV in SSB (not fanatic):
Date   Time RST Snt Call RST Rcvd Grid Distance km
0701  1416 59 1 G4DEZ 59 3 JO03AE 740
0701  1420 59 2 G0ESO 59 3 JO03AE 740
0701  1422 59 3 G4ZDA 59 3 JO03AE 740
0701  1423 59 4 GM4ZUK/P 59 16 IO86RW 520
0701  1448 59 5 G5LK/P 59 9 JO02RF 809
0701  1453 59 6 G1JKX 59 8 IO95CF 609
0701  1503 59 7 LA1ZE 59 2 JO28TP 65
0701  1508 59 8 G8DOT/P 59 1 JO03AE 740
0701  1511 59 9 G5RP/P 59 1 JO03AE 740
0701  1515 59 10 G0OLE/P 59 13 IO93PW 687
0701  1517 59 11 MM0DQQ/P 59 22 IO85RU 593
0701  1518 59 12 G0GLH 59 4 IO95FD 606
0701  1530 59 13 M0ERG/P 59 9 JO03BF 733
0701  1534 59 14 G3LRS/P 59 37 IO92MO 827
0701  1544 59 15 MM3ERP 59 1 IO87RJ 495
0701  1751 59 16 GM6VXB/P 59 4 IO99IW 376
0701  2100 59 17 GM3YOG/P 59 6 IO85XT 573
0702  559 59 18 G3VER/P 59 183 IO91RU 892
0702  612 59 19 G3FJE/P 59 98 IO92XA 862
0702  716 59 20 G6FRS/P 59 72 IO91PF 961
0702  751 59 21 G5XV/P 59 212 IO91GI 967
0702  844 59 22 G3GWB/P 59 82 IO92LJ 850
0702  848 59 23 G5RR/P 59 67 IO93GC 792
0702  940 59 24 G1INK/P 59 4 IO84XE 710
0702  942 59 25 G8ZK/P 59 45 IO93NF 762
0702  944 59 26 G4VDH 59 3 IO95TG 550
0702  953 55 27 GX7OOO/P 55 48 IO94AD 711
0702  1008 59 28 M1ETX 59 16 IO94HM 655
0702  1043 59 29 G0ROC/P 59 219 IO83VQ 762
0702  1048 59 30 G1NFT 55 12 IO94FX 621
0702  1359 51 31 LA9RY 59 1 JO29PT 70

 

Qso's on 2nd of July by LA/PA3FMC on HF

QSO's by LA/PA3FMC on HF
Time Freq Mode RST Call RST Name
703 14198 USB 59 YW9AJ 59 
733 14070 BPSK 599 G1TDO 599 felipe
734 14070 BPSK 599 DL9CNO 599 vlad
844 14070 BPSK 599 DF2RJ 599 rainer
906 14070 BPSK 599 DQ2006K 599 juergen
929 14070 BPSK 599 DL9SCL 599 Gerhard
932 14070 BPSK 599 UR5ZRS 599 Alex
938 14070 BPSK 599 OK1AEG 599 Jarda
956 14070 BPSK 599 EA2AHM 599 Santos
1031 14070 BPSK 599 G0VTI 599 Terry
1037 14070 BPSK 599 DL4ARJ 599 Hartmut
1043 14070 BPSK 599 2E0GCH 599 shaun
1049 14070 BPSK 599 PE1PGA 599 menne
1100 14070 BPSK 599 PA0WRS 599 wim
1107 14070 BPSK 599 SP7LHX 599 Jurek
1113 14070 BPSK 599 RW3SA 599 Igor
1125 14070 BPSK 599 K6PSP 559 Alan
1137 14070 BPSK 599 MM0CIN 599 Rick
1149 14070 BPSK 599 SP8RS 599 Ted
1256 14070 BPSK 599 DQ2006C 599 Georg
1302 14070 BPSK 599 I2UZV 599 Andrew
1309 14070 BPSK 599 DL/PA0MJK 599 Martin
1321 14070 BPSK 559 F5LPL 559 Mike
1531 14070 BPSK 545 UN7QN 545 Uzun

july 3rd

Today we packed the tent and travelled via Haugesund, Odda, Utna (the boat just left when we arrived) So we decided to have lunch here.

mountains

waterfall

We travelled further via Voss, Dale, Mo to Rutledal where we took the boat to Sula. Due to the small roads and mountain passes the trip took much longer than we had planned 9hrs.

 One of the many very small tunnels with two way traffic

One of the many very small tunnels with two way traffic but road only wide enough for one vehicle.

After arriving at Sula we decided to stay overnight in a Hotel. When using the wireless internet for calling home we were raided by many small flies.

02 juli

Today Ruud worked again in the vhf contest and Henk found a way to make bpsk qso's on HF. We had lovely weather 25 degrees. After the contest we packed all the radio stuff again.

Ruud has blown up his preamp so we are listening on VHF MS only with the bare TS2000. Sorry for all those we could'nt hear.

Tomorrow we will travel to JP21 square and will not be qrv.

The APRS will be working again so you can check our current position. We will update the logged contacts later on.

Log of 01-07-2006

Today we had some small technical problems. At first the
ts-440 has problems with the vox circuit making it very difficult to make PSK qso's.
The weather was lovely today,very sunny and about 24 degrees. On two metres we had good ms contacts. In the 
vhf contest we worked mainly UK stations. G4DEZ was very loud and we could work him with only 0,5 watt
from a portable with rubber duck antenna at a distance of about 740 km.
Tomorrow we will continue in the vhf contest. On monday we will move further north.

Station at Karmoy Island

Date         Time      Freq  Mode   MyCall        RST   Call      RST
20060630 2152   14170  USB   LA/PA3FMC   57  IW2OGJ  56
20060630 2121     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  ON4CII   59
20060630 2122     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  PA/ZB2IV 59
20060630 2135     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  PE1PUK  59
20060630 2136     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  PE8JPL   59
20060630 2152     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  PA1JOS  59
20060630 2156     3655  LSB   LA/PA3FMC   59  PA1SL    59
20060701   721   14188  USB  LA/PA3FMC   59  UE1NLO 59
20060701   820     7080  LSB  LA/PA3FMC  59   GB90SOM 59
20060701   917     7082  LSB  LA/PA3FMC  57   G6RTD/P 59
20060701    27      7098  LSB  LA/Pa3FMC  59   MX5CDS 59
20060701 1400     7080  LSB  LA/PA3FMC  59   PA0FLE   59
20060701 1402     7080  LSB  LA/PA3FMC  59   GB4JLC 59
20060701 1736   14162  USB  LA/PA3FMC 52    JA3JOT 53
20060701 1745   14203  USB  LA/PA3FMC 59    EC7DX 59
20060701 18??   14208  USB  LA/PA3FMC 59    G6PZ   59
20060701 1836  14283   USB  LA/PA3FMC 59    VA3YDX 59
20060701 1845  14196   USB  LA/PA3FMC 59    VX9WGS 59
20060201 1917  14169   USB  LA/PA3FMC 59   4Z5RR 59
20060701 1933    7060   LSB  LA/PA3FMC 59    LY80A 59
20060701 2012    7097   LSB  LA/PA3FMC 59    MM3DDS/P 59

MS by LA/PE1BTV
call date  time
DL4WDA   01/07    8:1?
PE1BTX     01/07    8:46
HB9DFG    01/07    9:01
DJ9CZ      01/07    9:46
G4FUF      01/07    9:54

MS Heard not wkd:
IW4ARD 
RX1AS
PD0ORT
DK2WL

 

2 meter contest contacts will follow tomorrow

Travelling to Norway

We departed on wednesday at about 11 o clock.

departure 

The APRS broke down just after departure due to a short circuit in the power cable to the radio. We drove via hamburg, kopenhagen, oslo and haugesund to Karmoy island.

ferry

Locator JO29OE. On thursday we put up the tent and the 6 meter antenna. On friday we put up the 9 element 2 meter antenna and HF spiderbeam after that we put up the 80/40m dipole.

ruud making ms qso 

Ruud made a couple of Meteorscatter qso's.
Tomorrow we will participate in the VHF contest.

Log june 30

MS QSO's By LA/PE1BTV From JO39OE
Date  Time Freq Call
20060630 1525 144370 PA5KM
20060630 1552 144370 F6HVK
20060630 1645 144370 PE1AHX
20060630 1708 144370 G4DEZ
20060630 1823 144370 DL6ZAU

20060630 1847 144370 DF6YL (sri forgot you in the weblog)
20060630 1911 144370 SP2JYR

Pa3fmc | 21-07-2006 | 11:34 | Link | Reacties (0)

Weblog data lost

Sorry to inform you all that due to a mistake of the provider all the log data of last month has disapeared.

I will try to put the lost data at another provider and will keep you informed about the progress. Your reactions however cannot be restored.

brgds and 73 Henk PA3FMC 

 

Pa3fmc | 20-07-2006 | 10:27 | Link | Reacties (0)

Test of 2 meter PA

Because last time when we tested the 2 meter PA we did not have a watt meter available, Ruud decided to test the PA again on a dummy load with watt meter. The results where rather disapointing. The PA generated only a 3dB gain and was drawing a lot of current. Ruud got another PA amplifier from Theo PA1TK. We will use this one on our dxpedition.

Categorie: Preparation

Pa3fmc | 25-06-2006 | 12:00 | Link | Reacties (0)

Repair of TS440S

Yesterday I repaired my TS-440S who had a small problem in the filter switching circuit. Cause was a bad solder joint on the relay in the TX path for 20m and 30m. After soldering the relay joint the problems where gone.

I also got a disc lock for the trailer and some spare bulbs for the rear lights.

I soldered two connectors on the coax for the 160m dipole. All coax cables are hanging at the inside of the trailer for easy access and to prevent damage.

 

Categorie: Preparation

Pa3fmc | 21-06-2006 | 13:45 | Link | Reacties (0)

Equipment we will use

3,5 KW Generator for MS and EME operation
700 W Generator

TS2000  HF,6m, 2m
TS440S HF
FT736R 6m,2m (we will not use 70cm and 23cm)
TH-7D 2m APRS with garmin GPS-38

QRO Homemade 2m PA
180 watt 2m transistor PA (backup)
AEA-300 HF Antenna tuner

Antenna's:
160m dipole
80m dipole with open feedline
40m dipole with open feedline  
30m dipole with open feedline
20m Spiderbeam
15m Spiderbeam
10m Spiderbeam
6m 1/2 wave homemade vertical
2m 9 elem GB antenna modified with folded dipole radiator

 

Categorie: Equipment

Pa3fmc | 21-06-2006 | 13:33 | Link | Reacties (0)

10 days before departure

Yesterday I found out that the 5/8 antenna for 6m did not work very well. I couldn't get it to work. I decided to modify a 11m half wave vertical. At first I had to change the loading coil by reducing the number of turns. Now i got 5,5 turns coil with a tap on 2 for the feed point. It seems to work the best with a half wave radiator. The vswr is 1.5 but probably better when mounted higher above ground. I worked spain and Italy from the back garden.

Today I got a trailer to carry all the extra stuff we need for the dxpedition. The size is L=2,10m B=0,90m H=1,35m and can carry up to 750kg (including own weight)

aanhanger 

 

Categorie: Preparation

Pa3fmc | 18-06-2006 | 23:15 | Link | Reacties (0)

12 days before departure

Last wednesday I got the 2 meter "veron verkoopbureau" folded dipole from kees PA5WT on the local radio club meeting. I also discussed with Ruud PE1BTV which locations to use in Norway. I spoke to Werner PA0FLE who will update our internet weblog. We will try to inform him using sms from mobile phone and psk31 on HF to transfer the qso log and weblog information. Werner will also update the dxcluster while we are there.

This evening i sorted out some coaxial cable and created a coaxial balun for the 2 meter folded dipole radiator. I tested the VSWR which looks very good. We will use the folded dipole in the GB 9 element yagi and use the original dipole as a spare. Further i am searching on the internet for a secondhand small trailer to carry the baggage, not much luck for now. Probably tomorrow a better chance because a local rental place sells most of their trailers.

 

Categorie: Preparation

Pa3fmc | 16-06-2006 | 22:30 | Link | Reacties (0)

Testing the PA amplifier and Generator

We had to check out the 2 meter PA and generator + antenna so we decided to set this up. At first we did not get any power out of the PA but after consulting the owner, he drove about 80 km to come over and help us out. We forgot to use an aditional switch contact for the PA. After placing a jumper we could test the power output and the generator. After that a connector came off the coaxial cable.

TS2000 with PA

The PA and TS2000 

 Testing the PA

Testing The PA.

HT Power supply and switchbox

HT Power supply and switchbox