X-Team members SM0MDG, SM0MLZ and SM0NOR have been invited to the ÍRA, Icelandic Radio Amateur Club in Reykjavik, and will team up with TF3ZA to be active in the CQWW SSB 2012 Contest using the TF3W call. The team plan to enter in the Multi Operator Single Transmitter category and preparations have already started. In addition to the
SAC SSB is over for this time and it was a fun and memorable experience. Not because of record scores or mega-runs, but because a thick (and hopefully colorful) Aurora Borealis effectively killed most propagation paths over the pole. After accepting this fact, I decided to drop all ambitions to hit records and readjust to
The top loaded 160 meter Top Band vertical TX antenna has been deployed for the winter DX and contest season. This year the antenna is based on an 18 meter aluminum vertical with three top loading wires. The ground system consists of two elevated radials bent to follow the shore line. Both radials are raised
SE0X will kick off the fall contest season by going all out in the upcoming SAC CW contest this weekend September 15-16. SM0MDG is operating in the Single Operator, All Band Category, High Power. SE0X will of course also be active in the SAC SSB Contest October 13-14. More information and full rules for the
A new 15 meter mono band yagi has been installed at SE0X, it replaces the 10 meter 4 element yagi on top of the tower. The new antenna is an InnovAntennas 5 element OP-DES yagi on a 6.2 meter boom. The reason for sacrificing the 10 meter mono band yagi is mainly the slow progress
SE0X ranks #1 SM Single Band 15 meter when ARRL publishes the results of the 2012 ARRL CW contest. The full contest was operated via remote using the 3-element SteppIR and a Kenwood TS-480SAT controlled via the Remoterig interface, described here. The final score was 88,275 points.
A 10 man international team is about to embark to St Paul Island, a top 40 most wanted DXCC, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Nova Scotia, Canada. The activity commence this week July 26 and ends August 1. St Paul Island is commonly referred to as the “Graveyard of the Gulf” which has also
I had not really prepared for the 2012 edition of the IARU HF Challenge because of intensified preparations of the upcoming CY9M expedition, but I spent an hour reading up on past years achievements deciding it was time for a CW only effort with a goal to reach 1700 contacts. Not checking the propagation in advance I did not bother to calculate a goal for the final score, I was more focused on the number of contacts.
CQ WPX CW is a favorite contest of mine and this year propagation made 15 meter the highlight. The contest started with a small disaster, but then it turned around to be a great weekend. The tactic chosen was to do operate 24 hours non-stop in the first part of the contest, then do the
For WPX CW I had planned to install a 15 meter mono beam or use the 3 band Spiderbeam as my SO2R antenna for high bands, but a tight schedule before and after the contest made me trash those plans. Instead I tried Vertical Dipole Arrray (VDA) of the type we plan to use for