Being limited to the 10-Meter band for HF in germany, and the 10-Meter band being susceptible to rapid band condition changes, the ability to make contacts greatly depends on the propagation for your current location. To get an idea of where in the world I can be heard under the current conditions, I do a… Continue reading Test propagation with the Reverse-Beacon-Network (without knowing CW)
Use a standard CW-paddle on a Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K6
I am currently learning CW, and already have a compact paddle for my YAESU FT-818nd. I saw that the Quansheng UV-K5 / K6 can also transmit CW after the installation of a specific firmware, and will type the letters that you transmit. I wanted to use this to transmit into a dummy load, and practise… Continue reading Use a standard CW-paddle on a Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K6
SOTA activation DM/NS-111 (Aschentalshalbe)
On 23/04/2025 I activated Aschentalshalbe. This is a lovely summit in the Harz, with the hike there and back offering fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. The Harz is a region in the middle of Germany, and used to be synonymous with tree covered peaks, but unfortunately due to drought and fires, 20,000 hectares of forest… Continue reading SOTA activation DM/NS-111 (Aschentalshalbe)
The perils of a bad connector
We decided that we would take advantage of the sunny weather, and set up for some radio fun on the office roof after work. We setup the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna, and double checked the SWR with a nanoVNA. It showed an unexpectedly high value of 1:4. That can’t be right – when we… Continue reading The perils of a bad connector
Debugging with a dummy load
One of my friends recently got a new radio (an Icom-706MK2G), and wanted to try the 15m band. We did not yet have an antenna for 15m, so it was a perfect excuse build another ground plane antenna (more details about the construction can be found here: https://m7isy.rootfs.net/2025/02/28/building-a-1-4-wave-ground-plane-for-20m/). It was the third time building this… Continue reading Debugging with a dummy load
Getting my UK foundation license accepted as a German Class N equivalent
I bounce between the UK and Germany a fair bit, and despite spending the majority of my time in Germany, I decided that I should get my radio license in the UK. The main reason for that was because I don’t think that my German is good enough to attempt to do an exam in… Continue reading Getting my UK foundation license accepted as a German Class N equivalent
Building, and then adjusting, the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna for 10m
Buoyed by the success of the 20m 1/4 wave ground plane antenna (the blog post can be found here: https://m7isy.rootfs.net/2025/02/28/building-a-1-4-wave-ground-plane-for-20m/), I thought that it would be trivial to build one for 10m. Simply use the exact same design, but half the length of the wire used, as that would mean it would be the right… Continue reading Building, and then adjusting, the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna for 10m
First POTA activation of Tice’s Meadow GB-4296
After managing a couple of QSO’s on HF, and feeling confident with our set-up, we decided to give a POTA activation a go. Before you start, make sure that you have a POTA account created (it can take a few hours to get it confirmed, so make sure you do this in advance). We did… Continue reading First POTA activation of Tice’s Meadow GB-4296
Building a 1/4 wave ground plane for 20m
I’ve been struggling to get HF working for me. I replaced the Yaesu FT-818nd’s internal battery, and figured out that there is a 11.5V threshold to get the full 6Watts out (more info can be found in my previous blog post: https://m7isy.rootfs.net/2024/12/06/yaesu-ft-818nd-the-11-5-volts-that-nobody-told-you-about/). I attempted to check my propagation by using the reverse beacon network and… Continue reading Building a 1/4 wave ground plane for 20m
SOTA Activation report G/SE-002 (Leith Hill)
We decided to try to activate Leith Hill, as after checking the SOTLAS map https://sotl.as/map this was the easiest for us to get to. The tallest hill in Surrey, the summit is 295m high, with car parks taking you quite close to the top, meaning that is a fairly accessible peak. This was ideal for… Continue reading SOTA Activation report G/SE-002 (Leith Hill)