Ted Williams G4NUA

In years gone by, I used to speak with Ted on 2m every Monday. Last week, I sent him an email, but he has not replied. Has anyone any news please?

DP1POL in Antarctica

Since changing to a 20m dipole my old work colleague G4NUA has been spotted across the world with a few watts on 20m JT65. Yesterday he was copied in Antarctica by DP1POL. In 2017 I am pretty sure he will get every continent on QRP.

This is from QRZ.com:

"DP1POL is located at the German research station "Neumayer III" in Antarctica, about 1,300 miles North of the South Pole. My home call sign is DL5XL, and I was a member of the 29th Neumayer wintering team as an electronics engineer. The station was officially inaugurated on February 20, 2009. My first assignment at "Neumayer III" lasted from December 2008 to February 2010, and I was back on the air from the same location from December 2011 to February 2012, from December 2013 to February 2014, from December 2014 to February 2015, and from November 2015 to February 2016. Another activity is planned from November 2016 to February 2017 - and I hope it will not be the last one!"

UPDATE 29.12.16 1446z: Ted G4NUA called me, but I was beaconing at the time.

G4NUA visit

Ted G4NUA

Since my stroke last September, it has been harder to get out, so I always appreciate visits especially from fellow radio amateurs. G3TFX pops in regularly. Today Ted G4NUA called. Ted is usually a regular on our Monday 8pm 2m FM net.

It is always best to make sure it is convenient to visit in case we are out - I have twice weekly gym sessions and we try to get out for walks quite often.

Ted and I chatted for about an hour about amateur radio and his XYL who has been unwell recently. Ted is very fit and looks about 10 years below his age. Years ago we worked together.

6m - no good today

After a full day on 6m WSPR not a single entry in the log.Even the spots by G4IKZ,were last evening!  Even othersmdid not seem to be doing very well either.

Meanwhile, 10m was in good shape yet again with lots of transatlantic stations copied and worked by G4NUA, a friend in Cambridge.

I'll keep 6m WSPRing for another day, and hope for better solar conditions tomorrow.

Fivehead 20m QRP SSB transceiver kit

A friend of mine, Ted G4NUA, is busy building one of the Walford kits called the Fivehead. He is doing the 20m SSB version which puts out around 1.5W pep when completed. So far he has got the RX part working (see picture of the build so far), which shares a lot of the IF with the TX part. The PCB is not silk screened making construction a bit more tricky than for an Elecraft kit. This is presumably to reduce the kit cost. When finished it should make a credible QRP rig for 20m, although 1.5W on SSB is a bit lower than I'd like. There is an option for a 10W PA add-on if Ted struggles to get contacts.