Micro80 4-transistor transceiver QSO

After some time without use, I resurrected the little Micro80 4 transistor transceiver for 80m last weekend. To increase the power a bit I've now got provision to run it from an external gell cell battery at 12v, so giving me about 2dB more RF out compared with the 9V internal pack. Using it with the bench PSU was impossible because of 50Hz hum pick-up. I also managed to improve the AM breakthrough by around 10dB at least by putting a 4n7 cap across the base-emitter junction of the first stage of the darlington in the RX AF. This makes it a usable radio on 80m at night now as it is not obliterated by the BC stations around 4MHz. Success soon followed with a solid QSO with G3XIZ in Biggleswade around 30 miles away late Sunday afternoon.

Wet square on 6m

Just beat the pile-up to work UT1FG/MM on 6m SSB in IN38 square out in the Atlantic. Obviously I have not worked this square ever before!

501kHz listening

Having re-erected my end-fed wire antenna I am able to listen to 501kHz again. First station heard recently was G3XIZ on CW at 579. I have an NoV to transmit on the band so really must make an effort to get some sort of TX together.

6m DX QSL card from K1TOL

This is the QSL card confirming the June 25th 2007 6m QSO with Lefty, K1TOL. I was using 2.5w ERP at the time to a small vertical! Magic band? You bet!

Lefty has a big 6m antenna farm and runs 1kW, but I much appreciated him hearing my tiny signal and giving me the RST519 report that night. It was one of the best contacts I have ever had in 40 years on the bands.

Real 6m DX at last

Earlier this week 6m bucked up a bit allowing W5OZI in EM00 square to be heard hear at around 8000kms! Also heard were N3DB, 4X4DK and 4Z5LA. This was a few days ago now and I've not heard any further "super" DX since when I have listened. It is amazing what can be heard on just a small vertical antenna fed to the FT817 via about 40 feet of RG58 coax!

Also this week I received the QSL card from K1TOL for our 6m transatlantic QSO last summer - my best ever 6m QSO with just 2.5w ERP.

Canary Is and Cape Verde Is on 6m

6m opened up nicely this evening allowing two QRP SSB contacts into EA8 (EA8YT and EA8CQW) both in IL18 square. Also heard the D4C/B beacon in Cape Verde Is for the first time just hovering at the noise level for me at best.

Still below average on 6m

Just one EA worked on 6m QRP yesterday and still no further transatlantic stations heard. Conditions definitely not up to last season.

6m not as good as 2007?

Do others agree that 6m conditions have not been as good as in the 2007 season so far? This year I've only heard one transatlantic station (HI3TEJ) so far, and he was only just audible. At this point last year I'd heard several Caribbeans and USA/Canada.

Photo of Homebase10 10m antenna

This is a picture of the "Homebase10", a horizontal 10m antenna mounted on its pole above my roof. It is a wire halo which very effectively covers around 600kHz of 10m with a low SWR. It has allowed me to work plenty of stations running QRP with some contacts with just 50mW (see earlier blog post).

Homebase 10 (10m halo antenna)

This antenna is appearing in PW shortly. There is a page about it on my website. http://www.g3xbm.co.uk