M0XII/P - UKAC 50Mhz Contest - April

April's UKAC 50Mhz Contest from locator square IO91MP had great activity on the band with most of the conditions going to the North and the West but unfortunately was poor towards the South and East from my location. Weather conditions were Dry with temperatures at 8-9 degrees Celsius and was really nice to see a taste of Spring in the air.

Activity this month especially up towards the North and West of the country was again fantastic especially from locator's IO80, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO92, IO93 squares, band conditions this month were again only average and was difficult at times pulling out some of the weak ones in the noise but a big thank you to all who persisted with great patience. I'm sorry that I missed a few stations on the air but hopefully I will get them in Months to come.

This month I finished the contest with a claimed score of 93 QSO's and 13 Multiplier squares and a total of 149,773 points with a total of 5 DXCC entities worked, it was really nice to catch Gerry EI9JU over in Lisfannan, Burt, Lifford, County Donegal in Ireland in IO65GA Square as my furthest DX of 572Km it was a fantastic surprise. Once again Thanks to all stations for the points and multipliers this month it was very much appreciated.

My working conditions again was the same as last month an FT847 Transceiver with 100 watts into a 5 Element Home brew Yagi up only about 18 foot from ground.

Here's a map of the QSO's in the Contest:

Looking forward to working you all again in the next UKAC contest.

73's
Pat
EI5IX - M0XII

UK Amateurs Losing Access to Part of 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz Bands

Spotted this earlier on the ARRL News Website, Sad to hear that we are losing privileges and not having a licence fee as a Radio Amateur leaves us without a leg to sand on in my opinion, anyway here's what has been mentioned:

UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom has announced that it’s ending Amateur Radio access to significant portions of the 2.3 and 3.4 GHz bands. The action, announced on April 7, came in the wake of a year-long “consultation” — a rule making proceeding — that involved the release by the Ministry of Defence of 40 MHz of spectrum at 2.3 GHz and 150 MHz of spectrum at 3.4 GHz. Amateur Radio is secondary on the bands.

Amateur Radio will lose privileges on frequencies in the two bands that overlap with spectrum that Ofcom plans to award for “new civil uses” — 2350 to 2390 MHz and 3410 to 3475 MHz. The announcement gives radio amateurs at least 12 months’ notice, but radio amateurs must comply immediately with procedures to avoid interfering with other users; ham radio occupants of 2310 to 2350 MHz will have to register their use and provide details to Ofcom.

Amateur Radio will retain access to the adjacent bands, but Ofcom has put procedures in place to remove even those frequencies from Amateur Radio access, if necessary in the future. Ofcom said earlier this year that with military and other government use of the 2.3 and 3.4 GHz spectrum ending, “we believe an award of the spectrum for high power use is likely to deliver greater benefit to UK consumers and citizens than continued amateur use.” Ofcom was required by the Ministry of Defence to adequately protect its systems from Amateur Radio interference in both the released spectrum and in adjacent bands.

“The MoD’s plans are part of a government commitment to release 500 MHz of spectrum by 2020,” Ofcom explained in its order. “This commitment to opening up spectrum for new civil uses is based on growing demand from UK consumers for spectrum-hungry devices such as smartphones and tablets.” Ofcom said that use of mobile data devices more than doubled in the 18 months leading up to January 2012. “Indeed, the 2.3 and 3.4 GHz bands are identified in Ofcom’s ‘mobile data strategy’ as having the potential to support even better mobile data services for citizens and consumers in the coming years,” the regulator said.

Ofcom said it was making 2300 to 2302 MHz available for amateur use, but licensees first must obtain a Notice of Variation to their licenses. Hams in the US have secondary access to 2300 to 2310 MHz, 2390 to 2450 MHz, and 3300 to 3500 MHz. — Thanks to RSGB, Ofcom

50MHz UKAC March 2014 Results

The following is from Roger - G4BVY

This was another record month with 192 entries and a total of 5359 QSOs. There were 303 active stations in 23 UK squares and 5 non-UK squares. Again many entrants commented that conditions were poor and many were plagued with high noise levels. Interestingly, given the increased level of activity, multiplier totals are well down on previous events. This month G3PYE/P (JO02) and G3WIR/A (IO91) worked 15 squares, M1MHZ (IO92) worked 14 squares and G4NOK (IO93) and M0GVG/P (IO83) worked 13 squares. The best tropo contact was between M0MDY (IO93) and OT6V at 449kms. In total there were only 7 tropo QSOs greater than 400kms. The adjudication saw 5.9% of QSOs disallowed with callsign errors and RS(T) errors by far the highest this month.

So looking at the table for the last three month I've managed to maintain 4th position in the restricted section out of so far 163 entries, hopefully band conditions will improve for the next contest the April 50MHz UKAC which is at 2000 local time on Tuesday 22nd April 2014.

Look forward to working you on the air in the next contest ;)

73,
Pat
EI5IX - M0XII

March 144/432 MHz 2014 Results

The following is from 

Roger Dixon, G4BVY

After the superb conditions in 2013, this year saw a return to "normal" conditions. In fact conditions were generally referred to as poor to dismal on both bands. Activity levels were low and in particular the poor activity level within the UK was commented on by many. While the weather was generally benign for this time of year, the wind caused problems for some and an extreme weather front arriving from the south west at the end of the event caused an extremely unpleasant take down for some portable entrants. Overall entry levels were around 10% down on 2013.

On 144MHz 72 squares were worked. There were 5 QSOs greater than 800kms and a further 33 QSOs between 700 and 800kms. The best contact was between G4G and DL0BA at 865kms.

On 432MHz 43 squares were active. There were 6 contacts over 700kms and a further 33 between 600 and 700kms. The best contact was between G4TSW and DF2VJ at 768kms.

Congratulations go to:

• The Five Bells Group, G5B, who won the open section;
• Roger, G3MEH, who won the single operator fixed section for the second year running;
• Kevin, G7KXZ/P, for winning the single operator others section;
• The Northern Fells CG, G4G, who won the six-hour open section;
• Richard, GD8EXI, who won the six-hour single operator fixed section;

The Middlesex DX group finished up in 2nd place over all which was a fantastic achievement and 2nd place in the Open section on 144Mhz and also 2nd place in the Open section on the 432Mhz band.

It was a great pleasure to do this contest with the Middlesex DX group and a big thanks to John G0KLX, Jason M1PRO, Simon MW0TBI, Carl 2E1IDC, Steve G1OFW and Kevin G1KAW for putting in a huge effort this year in getting two powerful stations up and running for the 24 hours of the contest.

Thanks to all for the QSO's and the Points I'm looking forward to the next event where hopefully propagation and activity improves in future contests.

73's

Pat
EI5IX - M0XII

UK & Ireland Contest Club

The formation of the United Kingdom and Ireland Contest Club (UKEICC) has just been announced.
Visit www.ukeicc.com to see the clubs Aims and Intentions. Membership is open to anyone worldwide who is interested in HF contesting. Online Membership registration, which is free, will start in late April 2014.



73's DE EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

Canadian 2m Brendan Quest

A record-setting transatlantic 2m QSO will be attempted continuously for one week from Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Canada this summer.

Marconi successfully transmitted across the Atlantic in 1901. No one has ever done this on the 2 meter band (144Mhz). For more information and photos on the Canadian Brendan Quest team see:
http://www.brendanquest.org/




73's DE EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

Geo Stationary Satellite Transponders expected to Launch.

Spotted this on news feeds yesterday and I think it will be pretty cool when this project is up and running, I really think it will help more radio amateurs explore the Microwave bands a bit more so I'm looking forward to the launch date at the end of 2016:

Two Geostationary Ham Radio Transponders

AMSAT-DL President, Peter Guelzow DB2OS, has confirmed there will be two amateur radio transponders on the Geostationary Es’hail 2satellite planned to launch at the end of 2016 

Peter Guelzow DB2OS has provided the following information:

Es'HailSat-2 will carry two geostationary “Phase 4” amateur radio transponders. Es'HailSat-2 will provide a 250kHz linear transponder intended for conventional analogue operations in addition to another transponder which will have an 8MHz bandwidth. The latter transponder is intended for experimental digital modulation schemes and DVB amateur television. The launch date is expected by the end of 2016.

Precise uplink and downlink frequencies remain to be finalized but the uplinks will be in the 2.40-2.45GHz and the downlinks in the 10.450-10.500GHz amateur satellite service allocations. 

Both transponders will have broad beam antennas to provide full coverage over about 1/3rd of the earth’s surface. Precise operational plans will be finalised over the coming months but it is anticipated that only quite simple ground equipment will be required to use this satellite.

A team of amateurs, led by Peter Guelzow DB2OS (President of AMSAT-DL) are providing technical support to this ground breaking project which is expected to provide an exciting new phase of activity for radio amateurs for the 21st century.

The project is a result of a concept proposed by the Qatar Amateur Radio Society.

Es’hailSat announces tender process for Es’hail 2

http://www.qatarchronicle.com/science-and-technolgy/49977/

eshailsat-announces-tender-process-for-eshail-2/

Es’hailSat – the Qatar Satellite Company 

https://www.facebook.com/EshailSat

Presentation by Peter Guelzow DB2OS, President of AMSAT-DL, at the 2013 AMSAT-UK Colloquium

http://www.batc.tv/streams/amsat1306

AMSAT Deutschland 

https://www.facebook.com/amsat.deutschland

M0XII/P - UKAC 50Mhz Contest - March

March's UKAC 50Mhz Contest from locator square IO91MP was busy at times but many multiplier squares missing. Weather conditions up at IO91MP were very cold with temperatures dropping to 2-3 degrees Celsius but it was dry all the same, activity this month especially up to the North of the country was again fantastic from locator's IO82, IO92, IO83 & IO93 squares, conditions seemed to be a lot more favorable around these squares within the middle of the UK and it really has made me reconsider my portable location to be in with some chance of competing with stations in the above squares mentioned. Unfortunately band conditions this month were only average as I also suffered with heavy QRM and at times including some strange QRN building up towards the North throughout the contest which made life very difficult pulling out the weak ones in the noise but a big thank you to all who persisted with great patience. 

At the best of times during this contest it felt like you had to fight with some stations to hold down onto run QRG, yet there was plenty of band space??! I really don't understand some stations why they don't / can't listen on a QRG in all directions especially when using arrays, then if nothing is heard in all directions then ASK "is this frequency in use", when nothing is heard back then proceed and call your CQ its not that hard. It's such a shame that the DX code of conduct is a thing of the past these days and not taken into consideration in our hobby any more, why people don't listen and running out of patience is beyond me!!! I'm not the band police but it really pisses me off the way some stations carry on. 

Anyway my observations of the 6 meter (50Mhz) band conditions over the last 3 months have noticed that the band has been down below average especially from IO91 Square, I really hope this long wait to the start of the Sporadic E season ends soon as it would be really nice to hear some European DX stations into the evenings.

This month I finished the contest with a claimed score of 81 QSO's and 9 Multiplier squares and a total of 77,427 points with a total of 4 DXCC entities worked, it was really nice to catch Ian GM3SEK up in Whithorn in Scotland in IO74 Square as my furthest DX of 415Km on one of my favourite modes CW just towards the end of the contest, it was a really nice surprise. Thanks again to all stations for the points and multipliers this month it was much appreciated.

My working conditions again was the same as last month an FT847 Transceiver with 100 watts into a 5 Element Home brew Yagi up only about 10 foot from ground.

Here is a shot of my Portable setup:

 Below is a Map of the QSO's made during the contest from Locator Square IO91MP:

Again thanks to all who gave away points during this contest and I do look forward to working you again in the next UKAC contest.

73's
Pat
EI5IX - M0XII

50MHz UKAC February 2014 Results

The following is from Roger - G4BVY

The activity level in the 50MHz UKAC is increasing month by month. February saw another all time record entry of 180 stations. Again conditions were poor and portable stations were confronted by freezing temperatures and high winds. There were 295 active stations in 23 UK squares and 4 non-UK squares. Conditions again caused difficulties in making high multiplier numbers. M1MHZ (IO92) worked 18 squares, M0VXX/P (IO82) 16 squares and G3WIR/A (IO91), G4NOK (IO93), GI4SNA (IO64) and M1DDD/P (IO93) 15 squares. The best tropo contact was between GI4SNA (IO64) and G3YOA (JO02) at 523kms. In total there were 18 tropo QSOs greater than 400kms. GM4VXX/P reverted to meteor scatter and had 6 contacts, including 3 UK stations, between 700 and 1074kms. The conditions caused an increase in logging errors and 6.1% of contacts were disallowed.

A disturbing trend this month saw a number of stations operating in the DX window for G to G contacts. Entrants are reminded that operation is not allowed between 50.100 and 50.130MHz except for inter continental QSOs.

So looking at the table for the last two month I've managed to maintain 4th position in the restricted section out of so far 142 entries, hopefully band conditions will improve for the next contest the March 50MHz UKAC which is at 2000 local time on Tuesday 25th March 2013.

Look forward to working you in the contest ;)

73,
Pat
EI5IX - M0XII



73's DE EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

The Aftermath of the 2014 March 144/432 Contest

So now that everyone has recovered after the weekend's March 144/432 Contest, I would like to express my deepest concern for the lack of UK and EU activity during this major Contest, especially compared to this time last year in the same Contest. 

Poor band conditions with the lack of Tropo & Sporadic E propagation resulted in many stations coming on-air, working what they could hear and then closing down. 

The 144Mhz & 432Mhz Bands overnight were as quiet as a mouse and this is ridiculous in my opinion for a 24 hour national contest. I have noticed that the UKAC activity nights on both bands 144Mhz & 432Mhz has more activity on a Tuesday Night than a full weekend of contesting. This is fantastic for a Tuesday night activity but it seems the same stations have lost interest in Major contests at weekends and it is all about the UKAC these days? 

I for one have lost interest in the UKAC on both 144Mhz / 432Mhz bands as it seems a complete waste of time from IO91 Square, every month you look at the activity on both these bands and you see that this contest favours stations within squares in the middle of the UK and it is great to see that there is nice activity up there on the bands but as for the multiplier situation in this contest the South of the country is forgotten about especially when working stations in EU these multiplier's are not counted in the UKAC contest. A bit of a joke really and off putting to any new station on the bands. The RSGB should really consider stations throughout the UK as a lot of us could not be bothered until there is a level playing field in place.  

However, I enjoyed the March weekend and I must say a big thank you to the Middlesex DX group for inviting me along to participate in this years contest. Thanks to John G0KLX, Jason M1PRO, Simon MW0TBI, Carl 2E1IDC, Steve G1OFW and Kevin G1KAW for putting in a huge effort this year in getting two powerful stations up and running for the 24 hours of the contest.

144Mhz Station

432Mhz Station

Antenna Array's

We finished the contest under the callsign M0MDG/P from Square JO00EW on Sunday 3rd of March at 14:00z on 144Mhz & 432Mhz with a claimed score on 144Mhz of 236 QSO's at 358 points per QSO totalling 84,451 points. 

We worked 12 DXCC entities within 55 different locator squares and our furthest DX contact on this band was DR1H at 782km in square locator JN59OP. 

Our claimed score on 432Mhz was 106 QSO's at 299 points per QSO totalling 31,718 Points. We worked 8 DXCC entities within 28 different locator squares and our furthest DX contact on this band was DL8QS at 637km in square locator JO43KH.

I'm looking forward to the results of this contest as it was like pulling teeth, slow, long and certainly tested the patience of all involved at the best of times.

Thanks to all for the QSO's and the Points I look forward to the next contest. 73's

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

2014 RSGB - March 144Mhz / 432Mhz Contest

M0MDG/P - The Middlesex DX Group 

John G0KLX, Jason M1PRO, Carl 2E1IDC, Simon MW0TBI and Steve G1OFW including myself Pat M0XII will be out Portable in the 24 hour RSGB - March 144Mhz / 432Mhz Contest this weekend on March 1st & 2nd, we will be active on 144Mhz and 432Mhz SSB & CW from Locator: JO00EW so feel free to give us a shout if you hear us on.

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

M0XII/P - UKAC 50Mhz Contest - February

February's UKAC 50Mhz Contest in locator square IO91MP was not great to be honest out portable, band conditions were below average and were a lot worse than last month in IO91 square, heavy QSB and lot's of weird noises were coming and going on the band which made life difficult pulling out the weak ones in the noise but a big thank you to all who persisted with great patience. Activity from a few regular squares seemed down compared to last month but I did notice that this month there was some fantastic activity from locator's IO81, IO82, IO83 & IO93 squares, conditions seemed to be a lot more favourable around these squares in the middle of the UK with regards to activity on 50Mhz band.

It was nice to speak again with Richard GD8EXI in IO74PC square who was my furthest DX with a distance of 371KM via ground wave propagation, same as last month although his signal was a small bit down compared to January's results. I finished the contest with a claimed score of 69,498 points with a total of 77 QSO's and only 9 Multipliers this month. My working conditions was the same as last month an FT847 Transceiver with 100 watts into a 5 Element Home brew Yagi up only 10 foot. 

Here is a map of the contacts made in the contest from 20:00 UTC till 22:30 UTC 

Again thank you to all who gave away points during the contest and I do look forward to working you again in the next UKAC contest. 

Pat
EI5IX - M0XII 

50MHz UKAC January 2014 Results

The 2014 series of 50MHz UKAC kicked off with an all time record entry of 155. 

The previous highest was 152 in April 2013 and in January 2013 there were 128 entrants. Unfortunately the conditions didn't match the entry level and were variously described as "poor", "desperate" and "the worst ever". Wet and windy weather meant a number of entrants had their masts lowered for safety and portable activity was somewhat reduced. Despite this there were 278 active stations in 21 UK squares and 2 non-UK squares. The conditions caused the multiplier totals to be very low with G3PYE/P (JO02) and M1MHZ (IO92) only working 15 squares. The best tropo contact was between GM4JR (IO85) and G3PYE/P (JO02) at 405kms. I managed to finish up in 3rd place from IO91 Square within the Restricted section out of a 100 entrants in this section all of us on 100 watts output, here is a list of the top 10 who finished in the restricted section.

Here is a List of the Locators that were active within the contest.

The February 50MHz UKAC is at 20:00UTC on Tuesday 25th February 2014, 

look forward to working you in the contest.

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

M0XII/P first UKAC 6 Meters (50MHz) contest of 2014

Really enjoyed entering the UKAC 6 Meters contest out portable tonight under M0XII/P. 

Weather conditions were very cold and wet up at IO91MP but I setup camp inside the car so I could stay somewhat dry. I finished up the contest with a claimed score of 89 QSO's and 13 Square multipliers giving me a total of 122,070 at about 106 points per QSO.

It was difficult going especially towards the North, when trying to work stations up in Scotland (GM/MM) from IO91MP Square, I could barely work/hear them, very deep QSB and generally flat conditions on the band I was quiet surprised to hear the results through the Yaesu FT847 with a 100 watts into a 5 Element could actually achieve with regards to ground wave propagation on 6 Meters. My best DX during the contest was Richard GD8EXI in the Isle of Man at a distance of 371km. Again thank you to all who gave away points during the contest and I do look forward to working you again in the next UKAC contest.

Here's a Map off the contacts made during the UKAC 6 Meter January Contest.

The rig I used was a Yaesu FT847 using a 100 watts on peak.

The antenna was a 5 Element homebrew antenna.

Look forward to catching you on the air next time and best 73's.

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

EI13CLAN report

With the year of The Gathering now over, the final totals for the call are as follows;

30,340 QSO in the log. 173 Countries worked.
Breakdown of QSO: CW 53%, SSB 35%, Digital 12%

Over 74,000 visits were made to the EI13CLAN page on QRZ.com, many of whom will have followed the link to the IRTS website. To date 281 Direct QSL requests have been processed and many Clan Certificates issued. Over 1,500 qsl cards already arrived through the buro and return cards processed.

Seven Clubs took part in the EI13CLAN Challenge.
Congratulations must go to the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society who emerged as the winner. They will be picking up an Icom 756PRO at the IRTS AGM in Galway later this year. They were the first to enter the challenge and their score was chased hard but never beaten. A big thanks to all those who took part, it gave the call great exposure.

Thanks also, to the many individual operators who worked the call during the year across all bands and modes.

IRTS




73's DE EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

First Amateur Radio App for Google Glass!

Is this the first Amateur Radio Application for Google Glass!!??

January 432MHz UKAC Contest M0XII/P

Arrived at Locator IO91MP slightly later than usual which meant I missed the beginning of the Contest at 20:00 UTC. Weather conditions out portable was absolutely dreadful, rain pouring down and wind blowing us all over the place, we finally managed to get the 19 Element Tonna up in the air and the Yaesu FT847 setup and running at 20:20 UTC where we used my call-sign portable "M0XII/P". I was going to use the 100W amplifier but during the setup of the station I realised that I forgot to bring the patch lead from the Amplifier to the Radio so that idea was out the window and had to revert to plan B of running 50W from the rig, better than no watts at all in my opinion.  

Activity was down on the 70cm band compared to recent months and conditions were very very poor with deep QSB in our location, I managed to obtain in the Log 51 contacts and 12 multipliers from 20:20 UTC > 22:30 UTC. It was really nice to see a few new stations pop up on the 70cm band, I look forward to working them again in the future hopefully when band conditions are a lot better.

Thanks to all for the points and I hope to see you in the next UKAC Contest.

73's

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

A map view of my Contest QSO's

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

Happy New Year to one and all, hope it's a great one for you.
Enjoy the Party :)




Best 73's DE EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

Merry Christmas 2013!!

Health and Happiness to all Friends and Family.

Please do spare a thought, or do something for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas! :-)


73's

Pat

EI5IX - M0XII

ANOTHER X-FLARE!

Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1-class solar flare from sunspot AR1875 on Oct. 28th at 0203 UT. This is the 3rd X-flare since Oct. 25th, which means solar activity is still high.

X-ray Event exceeded X1

Begin 0141 UTC

Max 0203 UTC

End 0212 UTC

X-ray Class: X1.0

Optical Class: 2n

Location: N04W66

NOAA Scale: R3 -Strong

Not great news for HF but might be good for VHF / UHF bands! Time will tell....

I'll be looking for you on the Bands! :)

CQ WW SSB Contest

This weekend is the SSB part of the CQ Worldwide Contest, it is a great contest with many stations all over the planet participating. I find this contest a great way to increase your Country DXCC on certain bands if your into chasing any awards etc. I hope to be on air over the weekend to give away a few points for CQ Zone 14 but I won't be active for the entire contest. All the information you need for this contest is here on the CQ WW DX website.

http://www.cqww.com/index.htm

Here is also a list of stations to look out for that will be active over this weekend; http://www.ng3k.com/misc/adxo.html

So time to get the shack together and some antennas up and tested looking at the SFI / SSN numbers today they are looking reasonably okay nothing amazing but better than previous weeks let's hope it gets better by the weekend. I will look forward to working you on the air, enjoy the contest.

Good luck to all,

73's

Pat 

- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

UKAC 432Mhz 8th October Contest

Entered the UKAC 432Mhz Contest last night (Tuesday 8th of October) under my UK Callsign M0XII/P.

I was portable from locator IO91MP with Jason M1PRO and John G0KLX. We ended the contest with a total of 89 QSO's and 14 Square Multipliers and a total score of 189,574. The furthest contact was GM4CXM - 527Km on Flat conditions, QSB on the 70Cm band was deep at times but we really enjoyed the activity on 432Mhz.

Setup was an FT847 & 100 Watt Linear Amplifier.

The Antenna was a Tonna 21 Element Yagi and of course the good old Arm Strong Rotator.

I must say these Tonna Yagi's have a very narrow beam width but work quiet well.

Map of Qso's made during the contest from 19:00UTC - 21:30UTC

Thanks to all the stations that called through it was much appreciated and made time fly by especially when your out portable on top of a cold hill. I look forward to the next UKAC Contest hope to hear you on the bands.

Best 73's 

Pat 

September UKAC 432 Mhz Contest.

Entered the UKAC 432Mhz Contest tonight and really enjoyed it, I was active from 2E0JJM John's QTH in Locator IO91TM. I was using an Icom 9100 with 60 watts output into an 19 Element Cushcraft. The QSB was very deep at times but great activity on the 70Cm band. I ended the contest with 51 QSO's and 11 Multipliers with a total of 77,165 points. Below is a map of the QSO's made.

Thanks to all who gave me the points tonight look forward to the next contest.

73's to all.

And were Back!!!

Well the nightmare has finally ended, for the last 2 months I have been trying to renew my EI5IX domain. The website has been down this last while and I was having major difficulty getting this Blog to publish under another .NET domain name also it was costing too much money to maintain.

So here is the new site publishing under http://ei5ix.blogspot.co.uk/ themselves.

Its free and no hassles with renewals or server space etc. Happy blogging :-)

Anyway rant over...

I hope to be active from EI over the next coming weeks, planing to be active on 6M, 4M & 2M - SSB/CW
Ill also try and get an antenna up for HF might hear some of you on the bands.

Best 73's
Pat

RSGB Centenary VHF National Field Day 2013

1400 UTC Saturday 6^th July 2013 until 1400 UTC Sunday 7^th July 2013.

This weekend you can catch me on air with the Middlesex DX Group under the callsign 

M0MDG/P from Locator JO00EW.

We will be active on 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 Cms, looking at various DX and propagation charts this weekend looks great for the contest including the Weather.

If you hear us on the bands do give us a shout, I look forward to working you on-air.

73's

Duhallow Repeater Group..

The Duhallow Repeater Group in County Cork in the South of Ireland have set up a FM Simplexer for the Four Meter band. The callsign of this simplexer is EI4SMR and operates on 70.375MHz FM.

It's located on Musheramore Mountain, in north County Cork. The device was installed on Wednesday 11th June to enhance FM activity on the 4M band. Also back on air over the recent months is the Duhallow UHF repeater operating from the same site with a new antenna installed. 
EI7SMR operates on RU74, 430.925mhz, input is 438.525mhz (7.6mhz split) and requires a ctcss tone of 103.5Hz.

New GB3WGI 144MHz Transatlantic beacon

A New GB3WGI 144MHz transatlantic beacon goes live with G2FKZ legacy funding.
The GB3WGI Transatlantic 144MHz amateur radio beacon went live at 1600 GMT on the 4th of June in time for the peak of the 2013 Sporadic E season.
The beacon runs 100 Watts EIRP in CW and JT65b modes on 144.487MHz and is located in the West of Northern Ireland (IO64bl). The plan is to apply for an increase in EIRP in due course.
The beacon's function is to provide an early warning of 144MHz Transatlantic propagation on the Europe to USA path as a complement to the existing 144MHz Transatlantic beacon network in the USA which provides alerts on the USA to Europe path.
It also aims to encourage participation in the IRTS Brendan Trophy and to further study the propagation path using weak signal digital modes (WSJT) developed by Nobel Laureate Professor Joe Taylor K1JT.
It is hoped that the project will benefit radio amateurs interested in 144MHz long distance weak signal working as well as those generally interested in digital modes, and could provide the first real evidence of transatlantic propagation from the US to North West Europe.
Current 144MHz European transatlantic beacons are much further to the South and/or East in Cornwall, France and the Azores. GB3WGI has a clear sea takeoff to the eastern seaboard of the USA.
The beacon was supported by a number of amateur donations including The City of Belfast Radio Amateur Society, but the major donation of £500 was made by the RSBG Propagation Studies Committee from the legacy left by the late Charlie Newton G2FKZ. The bulk of this went on the beacon, the remainder to fund beacon driver development for future beacons. Charlie Newton, wrote the definitive book on radio auroras, and was acknowledged as one of the leading experts on the topic of VHF propagation. He was for many years a leading light in the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) Propagation Studies Committee.
Acknowledgements also go to Brian WA1ZMS who inspired the concept of GB3WGI, Andy G4JNT who designed and built the driver, Powabeam Antennas and The DX Shop who supplied parts for the antenna system, to James G3RUH who provided a GPSDO reference, to Murray G6JYB for Ofcom liaison, to John GI4BWM and Dave GI4SNA and of course to beacon keeper and site manager Gordon Curry GI6ATZ who really drove the project through to completion.
From John Worsnop G4BAO
Source:Southgate Amateur Radio News
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

CQ WPX last minute Preparations!

All the very best result to all participants this year in the CQ WPX contest! Let's have fun.

Contest on.

Here's some last minute resources to help you judge the bands for the weekend,

WM7D's Solar Resource Page click here.
SunSpotWatch click here.
NOAA / Space Weather Prediction Center click here.
Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) Radio User's Page click here.
NOAA Ovation Aurora (Test Product) click here.
HAARP Spectrum Monitor 1-30 MHz click here.

Enjoy the Contest.
M0XII - Pat

- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

M5-CLASS EXPLOSION:

The ongoing radiation storm got started on May 22nd when the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR1745 exploded. The blast produced an M5-class solar flare and hurled a magnificent CME over the sun's western limb:

Credit: the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)

The movie of the CME is very "snowy." That is caused by high-energy solar protons striking the CCD camera in SOHO's coronagraph. Each strike produces a brief snow-like speckle in the image. This hailstorm of solar protons is what forecasters mean by "radiation storm."

Although the explosion was not squarely Earth-directed, the CME will likely be geoeffective. The expanding cloud appears set to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on May 24th around 1200 UT. According to NOAA forecast models, the impact will more than double the solar wind plasma density around Earth and boost the solar wind speed to ~600 km/s. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on May 23-24. 

Credit: SDO/AIA.

QRP from the Garden

Today I decided to setup my Chameleon V1 antenna in the garden in London City and work some CW QRP 10w.












Conditions are reasonably okay on the Bands but the noise in the city here is a tough battle to fight at the best of times on the bands.
I had my first CW contact on 5MHz (60m) QRP today with GW3UEP - Ron on 5.260MHz at 16:22UTC the QSB was deep at that time, both reports of 559 raised an eyebrow for me with regards to the 60m propagation. Thanks to Ron for my first QSO on a new band for me and also for his patience with the QSB during our QSO.
I'm looking forward to exploring more conditions on the 60 meters band as it has very interesting propagation characteristics, just lying approximately halfway between 80 meter (3.5 MHz) and 40 meter (7 MHz), the 60 meter (5 MHz) band forms a communication bridge when propagation effects make use of the 80m or 40m impossible for local-to-medium distance communications. The 5Mhz band is apparently less affected by D-Layer absorption than on the 80 meter band, the 60 meter (5 MHz) band is an ideal candidate for the Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS), the most commonly used technique capable of providing seamless local-to-medium distance HF communications.
Here is a simple QRP setup that I'm running at the moment in West London.




I'm going to test a Loop antenna and a Dipole if I get the time over the next few days so I hope to work some of you on the key on 60 Meters 5MHz band.
Best 73's
Pat
M0XII/QRP
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

March 144/432 MHz 2013 - Results

Results from the RSGB Contest results website;

M0MDG/P - The Middlesex DX Group done well this year, the group managed to strike up a 3rd Place position overall within the Section Open of this radio contest with a total of 1419 points.
The group came in 2nd place on the 144Mhz Open Section and 3rd on 432Mhz Open Section of the contest.

This year the MDG group were rewarded with excellent conditions on both bands VHF and UHF from Locator: JO00EW, Possibly the best conditions at that location were on the Saturday and not as great on the Sunday but I'm really pleased and had a fantastic weekend of radio. Looking forward to more great conditions and fantastic contests like this on VHF and UHF bands over this summer, might even get to hear some of you on the air.

I'd like to take this opportunity to Thank John G0KLX, Jason M1PRO, Carl 2E1IDC, Simon 2W0VAG and Steve G1OFW for a really enjoyable weekend I'm already looking forward to the next one.


73's 

Pat EI5IX / M0XII

RSGB March -144 432MHz Contest Weekend

Hi all,
Just to give you a quick heads up, there's a VHF / UHF contest throughout the UK this weekend (2nd & 3rd March) that I will be taking part in with the Middlesex DX Group under the callsign - M0MDG/P
This is a 24 hour contest where we will be active from Locator: JO00EW 
If you hear us feel free to give us a call. 

I'll also be bringing a HF rig with me when things get quiet ill be jumping over and hopefully working some of the conditions for the ARRL DX Phone contest also this weekend, I hope to catch some of you throughout the weekend either in the contest or on the HF Bands under my UK Callsign M0XII/P.

Look forward to hearing you on the air.... Best 73's

EI5IX / M0XII - Pat

Solar Cycle 24 is peaking!!!

Came across this very interesting article there yesterday all about Solar Cycle 24 peaking.
As KD8SAV mentioned;
"It sure looks like we might be heading for an improvement.
We're suddenly at almost 200 sunspots, and if this holds up for several months, we'll have some pretty good propagation."
The Sun seems to be waking up as it approaches the peak of its roughly 11 year cycle.
Here is the Link if anyone is interested in reading it;
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/MAweatherboy1/comment.html?entrynum=58
I hope you enjoy the conditions this peak brings... I know I certainly will enjoy the DX! :)
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

Worldwide 5 MHz Amateur Allocations Chart update & announced changes on 472KHz.

The 'Worldwide 5 MHz Amateur Allocations' chart has been updated to optimally include the new UK Frequency Blocks. This has necessitated a major re-work and some changes will be noticed, although the essential information still remains in place.

It can be viewed at;

http://tinyurl.com/82rwq2b

472 kHz Amateur Band and 5MHz (Experimental) Band announcements

Ofcom have announced changes that will allow holders of the UK Full Amateur Licence to take advantage of the new amateur band at 472 kHz and enhanced access on channels near to 5 MHz. 

The Society has been working on both matters for some years. Gaining 472 kHz needed first international agreement within IARU and support from DARC to encourage the German regulator to propose it for the WRC-12 agenda, and then countless hours of committee time by IARU representatives and many national societies, including the RSGB, to reach a successful WRC-12 outcome. We acknowledge and thank Ofcom for their support within CEPT and ITU during this preparatory work. Discussions with Ofcom in 2010, on improved access around 5 MHz, resulted earlier this year with proposals from the Primary User that were discussed with UK amateurs through an RSGB consultative process.

May I take this opportunity of wishing everybody all the best DX for 2013 and Good Luck on the new 472 kHz and 5MHz (Experimental) UK  frequencies.

Irish Radio amateurs get a new MF allocation!

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society have been informed by ComReg that the band segment 472 to 479 kHz becomes available to all licensed radio
amateurs in Ireland, on a secondary basis, and has been in effect since Today the 1st of January.

The maximum power is 5 watts (7 dBW) and the modes available are CW, QRSS, and narrow band digital modes.

Stations in the Amateur service operating in this band shall not cause harmful interference to, or claim protection from, stations of the aeronautical radionavigation service or stations of the maritime service. The amateur service shall ensure that no harmful interference is caused to the frequency 490 kHz which is used exclusively for the transmission
by coast stations of navigational and meteorological and urgent information to ships.

This announcement arises from a decision taken at WRC-12 and was the
result of a number of years of lobbying by the IARU and its Member Societies worldwide. The Test Licence held from ComReg by IRTS under which a number of licensed amateurs were given permission to operate in the band segment 501 to 504 kHz expires on the 2nd January 2013.

Licensed amateurs who had received such permission must cease operation on 501 to 504 kHz as and from Wednesday, tomorrow the 2nd of January at the latest.

The Society appreciates that ComReg has made this new allocation available to licensed radio amateurs from the earliest date possible under the WRC-12 decision.

May I take this opportunity of wishing everybody all the best DX for 2013 and Good Luck on the new 472 kHz Amateur Band.

Happy New Year 2013

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight to know where you're going and the insight to know when you're going too far.....
Happy New Year! :)
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX / M0XII

Season Greetings

Thank you for the pleasure of your friendship and goodwill during this past year. I would like to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a New Year full of happiness and prosperity.

Best 73's

Pat

EI5IX / M0XII

The Gathering - Irish amateur radio special event

"The Gathering... an Irish party, on and off the airwaves."

Throughout 2013, Irish families and clans will be coming together in thousands of events, both on the island and around the globe, to celebrate their history and heritage in a unique event called "TheGathering".

Irish amateur radio stations, North and South, will be participating and all operators throughout the world, whether they have some green Irish blood or not, are invited to join-in the celebrations.

The special event callsign EI13CLAN will be active throughout the year and there will be a variety of awards and other activities, details of which will be posted on the IRTS Web site at:http://www.irts.ie/thegathering

QSL via Bureau or direct to the QSL Manager EI6AL at the following address:

Silver Howe Sydenham Mews, Corrig Avenue Dunlaoghaire, Co Dublin IRELAND.

Rock Comet Meteor Shower

 Every year in mid-December, astronomers look up in the sky and witness a mystery. It announces itself with a flurry of shooting stars. For several nights in a row, dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour cut across the glistening constellations of winter, each one a little puzzle waiting to be solved.

"It's the Geminid meteor shower--set to peak on Dec. 13th and 14th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Although the Geminids come every year, we still don't fully understand them."

Forecasters expect Geminid meteor rates to top 100 per hour when the shower peaks on the moonless nights of Dec. 13th and 14th, 2012. Cooke encourages sky watchers to go out, look up, and savor the mystery.

Ofcom announces additional 5 MHz channels

From January 1, holders of a UK Full licence will be able to apply for an NoV to use 472-479 KHz as well as additional 5 MHz channels that will permit up to 6 kHz bandwidth emissions

The Ofcom announcement says:

From the 1st January 2013 we shall be making 3 changes to Notices of Variation (NoV) to the Amateur Radio Full Licence that come into effect.

The temporary extension to the Amateur Radio Special Research Permit to operate in the band 501 kHz to 504 kHz expires. This temporary extension applied from 1st March 2012 to 31st December 2012 inclusive.

These NoVs will not be renewed and will no longer be available.

However, as a result of the World Radio Conference, under Agenda Item 1.23 amateur radio has been given an alternative allocation, on a secondary basis, of 472 479 kHz. We propose that Full Licensees should be able to apply for a NoV to operate in this band from 1st January 2013 and details on the application process will be published soon.

Following a request from the Radio Society of Great Britain for increased access to the 5 MHz (Experimental) Band, we have secured the agreement of the primary user to increase spectrum access from the current 7 spot frequencies of 3 kHz each. The primary user was unable to agree to contiguous spectrum, however it has been agreed that the frequencies in the table (see Ofcom statement link below) will be available from 1st January 2013, subject to the following conditions. Details on the application process will be published soon.

a) Antenna height must not be over 20m agl.

b) Maximum power: 100W (PEP) input into the antenna with the expectation that this would not result in more than 200W eirp.

c) Restrictions on message content have been relaxed and must now be consistent with normal Terms and Conditions of the Full Amateur Licence.

d) Maximum Bandwidth: 6 kHz (double side band)

Read the full statement at
http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ amateur-radio/full-licence-jan-2013/


- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

12.12.12.12.12.12

At 12 seconds past 12 minutes past 12 hours past 12 days past 12 months past 12 years in the 21st century is the last repetitive date any of us will ever see. 12.12.12.12.12.12





- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

DX Conditions on a HEX Beam (10th & 11th of December 2012)

DX Conditions have been really good these past two days from my friend's QTH (2E0JJM - John) here in London. The most activity has been during Daylight hours, The Solar Flux has been between 103 & 104 with an SSN between 40 and 55. The best thing has been the A Index (Between 2 & 3) and K Index (0) has been low, this has resulted in many new countries been worked and logged on 20m, 17m, 15m and 12m even managed to get NH7O - Alastair in Hawaii on 20m Long Path whilst beaming South from John's new HEX Beam (MW0JZE - G3TXQ 6 Band Hex Beam) at 16:49UTC nearly 1 hour after Sunset so I'm not sure was this Grey Line Propagation or not.

Here are the paths of some of the DX worked via Google Earth;

EVERYONE SHOULD BUY OR BUILD A HEX BEAM!!

They are a fantastic antenna especially for locations that you don't have a lot of space to put up other types of beam antennas. The results over Verticals, Loops and Dipoles are simply phenomenal you certainly wont regret buying one of these Beams.    

IRTS 80m Counties Contest 2013

The date for the 2013 IRTS Winter 80m Counties Contest is Tuesday 1st January.

Check the rules at: www.irts.ie/cgi/showrules.cgi

Please take note of Rule 4.4 and 4.5 and keep the portion of the band
between 3.650MHz and 3.700MHz clear.

Also note the change in Rule 10.1 which states that entries must be received by the Contest Manager not more than 14 days after the contest.



- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

QTH Update

Hi All,

It's been some time since I've been active on Radio, have been busy moving QTH. I now live in Shepherds Bush West of London City an RF black hole. I have no antennas set up at the moment but hope to get something set up soon for HF, VHF, UHF. Looking forward to getting the antennas setup soon as I will be active QRP on PSK and CW maybe the odd bit of Phone but sure we will see how we get along.

I'm currently active on EchoLink under my EI callsign and you can reach me on EI7GRC-L or the Ireland Conference into the small hours of the morning. I do call through some of the UK repeaters GB3BN or GB3NS to speak to some local stations here around London so you may find me here under my UK callsign M0XII. Give me a shout if you here me on.

Till next time, speak soon.

73's
Pat

Achill Henge CASHOTA Activation

The Galway VHF Group will be activating Achill Henge on Sunday the 16th of September from 11 am - 3 pm and active on 80, 40 and 20 metres.
Achill Henge is a "stone henge" like structure that was built on a hilltop on Achill Island near the village of Keel Co. Mayo on the north west coast of Ireland.
The Henge was built in record time over the weekend of 26th and 27th of November 2011 by a local propery developer. 30 articulated trucks arrived from Galway with pre-cast concrete blocks and the basic structure was ready and stqanding a few hours later. It is composed of a circle, 30metres in diameter and 30 related columns, each measuring nearly 4.5metres high.
Sadly it is due for demolition as it contravened local planning laws so this will probably be a one off operation.
Achill Henge is located in WAI Square F60 Co. Mayo ànd has the CASHOTA Designator EI-02-M. The Callsign for this operation will be EI4ALE/P.
Check out EI4ALE on QRZ.COM for more details.


- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

Youngsters On The Air (YOTA)

Youngsters On The Air   |  Belgium-The Netherlands 2012   |   19 – 26 August 2012 Eeklo, Belgium

Shauna Baynes EI1588

During the summer of 2012 (19 – 26 August) a youth radio camp will be held in Belgium, it is organised by UBA youth commission and the Dutch radio amateurs. The location for the event is close to the Dutch border. Many young radio amateurs from 10 different European countries will be participating in different activities e.g, contesting, ARDF, presentations, field-days, visiting radio stations and many more interesting events. There are 10 teams from different European member associations of IARU R1. A team consists of – a team leader (this could be an older person), and 4 team members between the age of 18-25 years. There is a special callsign achieved for the event – ON4YOTA. This will be a great experience for young HAM’s participating; it will be an occasion they will never forget.

A member of The Mayo Radio Experimenters Club Shauna Baynes EI1588 is a member of the team representing EI (Ireland). They will be travelling to Brussels on Saturday morning from Dublin, with their leader Ger McNamara EI4GXB from Limerick. The Mayo Radio Experimenters Club and my family including myself wishes Shauna and all the team the very best of luck during the event.

15th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND

0001 UTC 18th AUGUST TO 2400 UTC 19th AUGUST 2012 (48 hours or part thereof)

The Mayo Radio Experimenters will be taking part in the ILLW weekend activities under the callsign 

EI0M/P.

We will activate Blacksod Lighthouse, Belmullet, Co. Mayo.

Activities will commence at Blacksod from 1600 UTC Saturday 18th to 1600 UTC Sunday 19th.

Further information is available from www.illw.net

We look forward to seeing as many club members as possible there, and any member of the public is most welcome to come along and see what it’s all about.

ILLW continues to get bigger

With 350 registrations from many countries for the 15th annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, there will be plenty of on air activity for this 48 hour fun event.
The event was started in Scotland by John Forsyth GM4OOU and the late Mike Dalrymple GM4SUC, both members of Ayr Amateur Radio Group which operates station GB2LT at Turnberry Scotland.

A number of nations have one registration. They are most welcome to be part of the weekend and are greatly sought after.
With a single entry are Chile, China, Curacao, Gibraltar, Honduras, Isle of Man, Latvia, Namibia, Panama, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and Uruguay.
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is on August the 18th and 19th.
Now is the time to visit the website ILLW.NET for an online registration, read the guidelines and to see what it has to offer.
Jim Linton VK3PC