The 6M and 4M bands are my main interest, which is probably crazy because my QTH is in the worst VHF location, being in a valley bottom just 15M above sea level. For this reason, I concentrate mainly on Meteor Scatter, using the software written by K1JT and his team. My QTH is a few hundred yards from the edge of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and a quarter of a mile from the sea. The main advantage of living out in the ‘sticks’ is the low level of locally generated noise. This means that I often hear a station better than he hears me, even if I run higher power, which can be frustrating – but I love a challenge. My antenna is a home-brew five element dual band Quad at about twenty feet.

My Homebrew 6M/4M Linear Amp

 

Another interest which I enjoy is astrophotography - very therapeutic. The lack of big city light pollution makes this is a good dark-sky site. When it's not raining, the clear skies are excellent. I've attached a few of my recent pics, which I will update from time to time.

Jupiter 22 April 2017

M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy   30 million light years    22 March 2017

M63 The Sunflower Galaxy  27 million light years     26 March 2017

M81 Bodes Nebula & M82 Cigar Galaxy  12 March 2017

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy   21 million light years  25 March 2017

  

M81 Bodes Nebula in Ursa Major. 12 million light years distant.   5 Feb 2017

 

Edge-on spiral galaxy NGC891. 30 million light years distant.   20 Jan 2017

 Andromeda Galaxy M31 with satellite galaxies M32 and M110.   2 Jan 2017

At 2.5 million light years distant, it is just visible as a fuzzy patch on a good clear night, making it the most distant object visible to the naked eye. 

Orion Nebula M42. 1,350 light years distant.     28 Dec 2016

 

Check out my new book, and here, and here!  (antidote to Amateur Radio)

Thanks for looking 

73 John

https://www.facebook.com/john.tonks.520