DX day 3rd May

Again I headed for the hills with my trusted Ranger 2950DX and the Sirio 4000 antenna. I was up and running for 1100 and conditions on the 11 meter band seemed more favorable than the Easter DX day. Could hear many stations from Europe. Germany was coming in very strong on the EU FM band and although I made a few calls on 27.315 I did not recieve a response. France and the Netherlands were coming through on triple five most of the day but prop was up and down.

I did manage 3 QSO's which I was happy with considering I was only using 25 Watts output.

108 TM 150 Tom
19 FB Frans
14 DX 076 David

Some other Callsigns noted were:

108 TM 007
108 TP 06
108 AW 062
108 DX 018
1 SA 003
1 SA 28
13 TM 001
13 OD 002
13 EL
14 PG 001
16 AC 005
16 OP 418
26 SD 021

Over the last week or so propagation has improved greatly here in Scotland, things are certainly looking up for the summer season.

73s and good DX

More Dxing

Another DX event has been arranged, this time by forum members on the Transmission 1 website. The more people taking part in these DX days the better as far as I can see. Some people (like me) head for the hills and hope to make as many contacts as possible however if you are unable to go mobile stick the radio on anyway, you never know who you may hear calling.

The last DX event which took place over Easter was very hard going, no skip around at all. Today (April 21st) I have had the radio on most of the day and again no skip. Things can surely only improve on the 11 meter band, lets face it, they cant get much worse.

Here's hoping for a good day on the 3rd of May, hope to hear you on the band.

108TM096

April 2009 Update

On the 12th of April I decided to head for the hill's for some DXing however the band remained closed and the only QSO made was with Alan (108 FB 027) located in West Lothian, cheers Alan. UK Channel 19 was active for most of the day however even the low voices on there died away at around 1700. One or two other Scottish operators were noted on 27.555 but were barely audible, conditions really were poor.

My DX location for the day was Lochan Na Lairige, a small Loch to the North of Loch Tay.

Until next time....

Alan
108TM096

Easter 2009 DXing

2009 update

Over the past few months I have had the radio on most days but conditions really have been dire on the 11 meter band here in Scotland. I dont have a single QSO to report.

I very much hope things improve on the band soon, well let's face it, conditions can't get any worse.

I will be updating my website shortly so I hope you will come back and check it out. I will also be updating the blog much more often.

Until next time

108TM096

March 2008 update

Things have been very quiet with me over the last few months, it seems like a long time since I last had the radio on. This week I have finally found the time to set up both the home/base and mobile rigs ready for the coming season.

For home/base operations I am still using the same equipment as last year, the Ranger 2950DX and Superstar 3900. I got my hands on a Magnum 257 at the end of last year so I intend using this as my main mobile rig, it's size and power output make it ideal for mobile work.

Anyway with propagation now improving I hope to get out on the hill in the coming weeks, I will let you know how things go.

Lets hope for some nice conditions over the next year.

108TM096

Happy New Year

I have not been on the radio at all over the last few months, mainly due to the fact there has been very little skip. With 2008 rapidly approaching I am hoping for another good year on the band, with any luck we should get some good periods of skip in the coming months.

Hope averyone had a nice Christmas and may I wish you a very happy new year.

108TM096

Things have been very slow

Been very busy this last while so have not had the radio on much. From what I have read on the forums I've not been missing much. Conditions on the band have again been poor with only the occasional day providing a little skip. Once the winter has passed I would expect things to improve dramaticly, well here's hoping.


108TM096

Superstar 3900

I recently got my hands on a Superstar 3900, a well known 11 meter radio. Condition on the 11 meter band have been very poor lately so I have not yet had the chance to really test the SS3900, in fact I have yet to make a QSO with it. The SS3900 has been around for many years and has stood the test of time very well.

Seems like a very solid and well built radio and from what I have read on the net this is a popular radio, mainly due to the price but also because it is very simple to use. There is not a single button on the SS3900, just knobs and switches.

The SS3900 has no frequency display which nearly all modern radio's have however you can get a frequency counter for the radio. I have the Superstar KF VI frequency counter, this is designed to use with the SS3900 only, it will not work with any other radio which is a shame considering it's price.

My SS3900 was bought in the UK but came with only a French manual, very handy if you can read French, net very handy if you can't, like me! I was having trouble with the band selector knob, when I changed bands nothing was happening, the radio was stuck on the EU band. Turns out you need to pull out the "SWR CAL" knob to access all the bands.

I do not like the supplied microphone, it feels lightweight and cheap. The microphone lead is also too short. Don't get me wrong it probably works fine but I will be using an Astatic power mike with the radio.

All in all the SS3900 is a nice bit of kit and I would recommend it to anyone.

108TM096

Another DX Super Sunday

Another DX Super Sunday has been planned, this time it will take place on September 30th. Conditions on the 11 meter band have been poor for the last few weeks and I fear these very flat conditions will continue over the coming months, lets hope not.

There has been some talk giving the AM mode a try for a change. If prop is poor on the day then I will certainly be giving a few calls out on AM, will make a nice change if nothing else.

I have not been updating the blog as often as I should, mainly because there has been little too report. I will report on how the DX Sunday, lets hope we all make some good contacts.

Until next time

108TM096