Bearing 92 degrees

Update 23-03-20009: The European gang landed safely to SYD. Tomorrow they will fly to Lord Howe. Let show begin! (Photo taken from their blog)

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This is the sort path to VK9LA from my QTH. I am speaking about the Lord Howe expedition that will take off next week.This island looks like a dreamy paradise on earth.

Although I have this entity already confirmed, I will try to work them in any possible band. The expedition seems to be very well organized and it has a great interest for Greek hams because of the participation of Vicky (SV2KBS). We wish good luck to all. They will make happy lots of amateurs they will work them as a new one. Propagation is very low of course but I hope that the good equipment they have got with them, it will resolve this issue. For more info and news take a look to their blog from time to time (http://vk9la.info). There are not pictures published yet but I found those to Google earth.The Ball’s pyramid, a nearby islet, is a really nature monument, 562m steep high above the ocean. So meet you all in the pileups!!!

ITX: the new standard for tiny PCs

Strong enough but tiny and flexible. This the description of the new trend in desktop PC. I was very tempted to see the result. I was always attracted to small configurations. That is why I got The EeePC of ASUS. But this is an other thing: to build a small PC all yourself choosing parts and put it together. Dennis (SV8RV) showed me the way. We discussed a lot and I made up my mind. I chose the well known tiny ITX mobo of INTEL D945GCLF2. This little thing has the ATOM 330 CPU (dual core) already installed and audio and graphics subsystems as well. Important: serial port, parallel port, 6 USB ports and 1GBit Ethernet are included.

For the case I found attractive the proposition of MOREX 3310. Take a look how nice it looks. And also quite practical. It needs only 13.8V to work. This a voltage that is very popular to hams. All power supplies have it and our cars also.

All the voltages are produced from the internal power supply. No fun need. The total power does not exceed the 50W.

You have to attach a HDD drive of 2.5 inches and a RAM of one GB you and the PC is ready to service. As operating system is better to prefer windows XP or LINUX because are light and reliable. You can even boot from a sick USB whatever operating system you want. The result is really a beauty. Especially if you need a dedicated PC for digital operation that will perform perfectly without claiming a lot of space on your desk. Have in mind that it also perfect for portable operations and its cost just 200$.

Here is the toy finished, which I can not hide, I am proud of. You look its back next to my microphone for realizing size. Admire the connectivity plurality.

Illuminating meters

It is very common and it happens in every shack sooner or later: a meter gets dark unexpectedly. It is very annoying when it strikes. The good old ones lamps have a period of life. Unfortunately they can not work for ever. Usually their life is quite sorter than the equipment that the meter is embedded. No big deal you can say. Just change the bulb. It is obvious. We all do this from time to time. My friend Tasos (SV8YM) had an other idea instead: To use a bright LED in the place of a bulb. LEDs can give a cold light for many years without any sign of fatigue. But there is a small problem. Their light is focused because of the lens they have. You have to sand the led to eliminate this effect. You must destroy completely the lens and leave the LED with a rough surface in order to defuse more light. You must also add a resistor of 470 Ohm in order to reduce the voltage from 13.8V to what the LED usually  needs that is quite lower. The result is perfect and you have not to worry any more about it. Take a look. The upper meter is illuminated by a bulb and the lower by the LED!

Hams never bore

I made 870 qso last weekend.This is a small score for such a big test as CQ WPX RTTY. Thousands of participants for all around the world. I met guys that gave me numbers more than 2000. Such big event is not just fun. It is an experience. Even with low propagation conditions I worked a long list of dx stations. Take a look: YN2S, P49X, ET3AA, NP3U, 6K5AQY, XW1B, D4C, 9M2MT, DV1JM, PZ5RA, HI3TEJ, FM5CD and FG1PP. In the end, just an hour before closing, I had a nice surprise. A long skip appeared in 80m that let work a few multies from NA and Caribbean.

In the meantime K5D is alive. A task finished, an other starts. ..and I said to myself what a wonderful world! We never bore.

What a monster

The first month of 2009 had passed without significant deference in propagation. The sun remains still and sleepy. Recently I had the opportunity to check it during the EPC WW DX PSK125 party. Although there was a lot of traffic no dx stations appeared. I only worked ZL3RG, PZ5RA and WP3UX. Under these circumstances you can not compete Russians in this contest. and I do not have the antennas of CCF (Contest Club Finland)… Take a look and admire. Three elements in 160m and on the top five elements on 80m!

And here OH2BH (Martti) next to the rotator of the monster.

Anyway even with low propagation conditions dx is present. We worked VP8YL’s successfully and we hopefully wait for K5D  tomorrow. And we have the CQ WPX RTTY CONTEST  this weekend. So fun is all around…

Chasing E44M and other dx

Just with the breaking of new year we found ourselves chasing DX. Year 2009 came without too many fireworks. There was no mood for celebration during the global economical crisis. Focusing in the ham community we had an other reason not being happy: A snoring sun in its third sleeping year. Nevertheless, even with low propagation, E44M opened the new year dxpedition series. Fortunately this activity takes place in our neighborhood and so even under big pileups, the job was not so difficult for us. Any way the operations are going to end soon, so I wish all the team good luck and safe return home. (pictures taken from E44m dxpedition forum).

But we have more: on January 17 VP8YL, a team of YL will be active from Falkland islands. This is a great event and as we have a Greek lady in the group, SV2KBS Victoria, it makes things even more interesting. I wish them a big success. Finally we have to mention the big event of activation of KP5 (Desecheo) on 12 of February. This is a major dxpedition with well known operators. No doubt it will attract a lot of attention as Desecheo entity is number 5 in the most wanted counties list of 2008. We are anxious to hear them on the air.

So sun willing the new year will make a very good start!

A farewell to 2008

2008 is going to an end with a spotless sun. This prolonged minimum is very annoying indeed. I hope that sooner or later sun will wake up and do its duty. By the way we have results for EPC PSK63 party 2008. Very big scores! Too many participants as the active members are more than 5000. No chance to get a descent place. I just got the first place in Greece. Not a big deal. But let forget all as the post is to wish you a Happy New year 2009 with a lot of radio activity, many dx and happy contesting time!