Grid :- IO93ga

Worked-All-Britain (WAB) :- SK34

My blog, Ramblings Of A Frustrated Dxer is in its infancy, but can be found by clicking the link.

Licensed in 1989 as G7ENF and then G0ORC in 1990 after passing the morse exam - initially working 2m and 70cm SSB & CW moved to HF in 1992. I am on the air daily on HF using mainly CW and RTTY with the odd SSB and PSK31 contact on all bands using a Yaesu FT-2000D or a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V into wire antennas. A Linear Amp UK Challenger 2 HF amplifier is available when required.

I still use the excellent full-size Carolina Windom as my main antenna for the low bands. For those that think these antennas don't work - well this one has worked 290 DXCC over the 10 years or so that it has been up.

As the old full size Carolina Windom multi-stranded copper was beginning to show signs of wear having been at the mercy of the elements for 10 years, I re-strung it with some military specification multi-stranded, plastic coated steel wire (which is astonishingly strong but very light and doesn't tangle - on eBay UK it is advertised slightly oddly as "high power antenna wire" !!). The antenna wire has survived very strong winds and, due to the way in which it was put up, it actually helped to stop the supporting pole moving excessively in the 50 mph winds.

I have then progressively replaced the 4:1 balun, the vertical radiator and the RF choke on the Carolina Windom - it is a bit like Trigger's Broom (or Theseus' Paradox!!) the brush that has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles - it is the same one that I started with but, well perhaps not!

For 28mHz and 24mHz I am now using a simple dipoles attached end to end with one another to save space and on 6m I have a simple 3-element yagi only about 30 feet off the ground.

With considerable help from my good friend G0MGX I have recently (January 2013) installed a cobweb type antenna about 30 feet or so above the ground - because of the inclement weather and the restricted nature of the place we have had to put it we didn't spend any time fine-tuning it - as delivered, it presented a reasonable SWR across its intended range (14 -28 mHz) and nothing that any self respecting radio ATU couldn't handle.

Having used this in an A/B comparison with the windom I must say it compares quite favourably - the signal strengths on most bands don't seem much different but its noticeably quieter and thus easier to pick out the weak ones. On 24 Mhz the cobwebb works very well (but no better than my basic wire dipole at 35 feet) and certainly better than the windom but for some reason where it falls down is 28mHz - for my money neither the windom nor the cobwebb perform too well here and the good old dipole works far better.

As of August 2012 and after all this time I have a signal on top band - its not going to work the world and is very much a compromise because of the small size it is crammed into - but it gets out around Europe. Its based on the work of Mike M0MTJ and his design for a short sloper. Thanks go to my good friend Mark G0MGX who managed to secure the roach pole in a tree, braised several copper pipes together to improve the grounding and also built a number of inductors until we found one that was exactly what we wanted - an SWR of 1.1 at 1825kHz.

For similar antennas I acknowledge the excellent website of K7MEM- a fantastic resource for those interested in building short antennas into small spaces.

I am very proud to own a N3ZN key - see the picture below. In my opinion they one of the very best on the market.

My main interests are in HF and VHF propagation in relation to weather, solar activity and seasonal effects. I spend a good deal of time listening to the NCDXF beacon network, and, in conjunction with data taken from the UK Solar System Data Centre, VE3EN's excellent Solarham site and the Space Weather siteI try to work out what is happening in the ionosphere.

QSL POLICY

I will respond to all bureau cards except for those for which a LOTW confirmation has already been recieved but remember it will take a very long time for cards via the bureau. A round-trip time of three years is not exceptional and I urge everyone to use Logbook of the World or even eQSL for a much more speedy response. I upload daily to both systems although LOTW is preferred

I will respond very quickly to QSL and SWL cards sent directly to my home address - you DO NOT need to include dollars or IRCs as I will pay the the return postage costs but a self-addressed envelope is appreciated. This way is much cheaper for me and you will get you card much more quickly than via the bureau.

I also upload daily to ClubLog, and also irregularly to HAMQTH and to QRZCQ