Category: HF

Update on my 17m FT8 DXCC challenge

My last update on this challenge was back in October and I did very little towards it until the New Year.  Since the last time I posted about this, I’ve worked an extra 27 DXCC entities on 17m using just FT8 taking me up to my current total of 77 entities worked. This brings my […]

OK DX RTTY contest 2017

Map of stations worked by G6NHU on 15m in the OK DX RTTY contest 2017

What a difference five years and nearly half of a solar cycle makes.  Last weekend I entered the OK DX RTTY contest and upon checking my log, I realised it’s been five years since I last operated in this contest. In December 2012 we were approaching solar maximum and conditions were excellent.  Five years later, […]

My first new DXCC entity for over eighteen months

I’ve not been specifically chasing new DXCC entities for a while and because of this, I’ve only picked up four since 2015. I know there’s been some interest surrounding the 3C0L and 3C1L DXpedition to Annobon and Equatorial Guinea respectively over the last few weeks and although I missed out on working 3C0L, I was […]

CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest 2017

SkookumLogger at the end of the CQ WW SSB DX Contest 2017

Strange as it might seem, I’ve never put in a good solid single band entry into the CQ WW SSB contest.  If you look at the recent addition to this site, my contest results page then you can see that I came third (out of three) in 2013 for my 15m entry, first (out of […]

DXCC on 17m using FT8 – Fifty entities worked so far

My challenge to work DXCC on 17m using FT8 is coming along nicely – I’ve now worked fifty separate entities as follows. Although I’m not going to go out of my way to get them confirmed because Logbook of The World and the DXCC award system doesn’t differentiate between different data modes, it’s good to […]

SCC RTTY Championship 2017 – The results

Back in September I put an entry in to the SCC RTTY Championship and I’m happy to report that the results are out and can be seen in full here. I entered the single operator 15m section and I’m pleased to report that out of the fifteen entries, I was first. I logged 190 QSOs but […]

CQ WW RTTY 2017

Looking back at my old contest entries, I noticed that I’d never made a serious entry into CQ WW RTTY on 15m in the past and have always concentrated my efforts on CQ WPX RTTY instead. I’ve won the Single Operator, High Power 15m section four times in the past for stations in England and […]

Time for a new aerial, I’ve replaced my doublet with an OCFD

Far support pole holding my OCFD

Earlier this year I decided it was time to replace my doublet with a new wire aerial.  There was nothing actually wrong with the doublet, I’ve worked plenty on it but it always galled me that I had a smarttuner connected to it which limited my transmit power.  I could only run 100W SSB or […]

SCC RTTY Championship 2017

It’s been some considerable time since I put in any serious contest entry and I’ve been looking for the chance to do it for a few weeks.  I sorted out my data problems a while ago and have been happily able to operate RTTY, PSK, etc ever since.  I’ve been looking for a data contest […]

A detailed look at three different methods of operating the low power WSPR mode

Hans Summers Ultimate 3S transmitter

There seems to have been an upsurge in people operating WSPR recently.  Barely a day goes by (sometimes barely an hour) without someone posting a map of where their signals have been received on Twitter.  When I first started experimenting with WSPR and QRSS some years ago, I did exactly the same. I’m quite sure […]