Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Author: M7OJA

  • Grids on the Air (GOTA) – a New Awards Scheme

    A new ongoing challenge and awards scheme has launched. Grids on the Air (GOTA) provides the opportunity to claim awards for working as many grid squares as possible on Phone and CW modes only (a similar award scheme operates for digital modes).

    The awards scheme, which is accessible via their website HERE (link opens in new tab) is now accepting log submissions. Endorsed by the RSGB, GMdx, AGCW and others, the program provides an addictive and fun way to chase grid squares and receive awards in the process.

    You can also join the Facebook group to connect with other chasers HERE (link opens in new tab).

    Each unique grid square will count towards your total, and a leader board is available on the website to compare yourself with other chasers. Only QSOs from after January 1st 2025 are valid for the awards.

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  • E7POTA – Special Callsign for Parks on the Air (POTA)

    The special callsign E7POTA from Bosnia-Herzegovina is now active on the HF bands for the Parks on the Air (POTA) program.

    E7POTA and OE/E7POTA will be active across the HF bands on SSB and FT8/FT4. Keep an eye on the POTA cluster HERE (link opens in new tab) for information. The callsign is also active on Facebook and you can follow them HERE (link opens in new tab).

    An award scheme for the special callsign is also available, awarding diplomas for making QSOs with the station. Details of the award scheme is available on their website HERE.

    I am pleased to have received the Bronze Award so far, and I will continue to work the callsign in their POTA activations.

    E7POTA Bronze Award – M7OJA. Thanks to E7POTA

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  • Sunday 9th March 2025

    Despite a minor solar storm causing disruption and poor propagation on HF, I enjoyed operating today. I achieved 200 QSOs on Sunday, including 60 Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) contacts, 11 Parks on the Air (POTA) contacts and a new DXCC (Cocos Keeling Island) on 20m SSB.

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  • Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Contest 2025

    On Sunday 10th March 2025, the first round of the Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) contest took place. The aim of the contest is to provide an opportunity for young people (under age 25) to be the focus of a contest. For 12 hours, amateurs all over the world made contact with each other, with bonus points available for QSOs with under 25s.

    I chose to take part in the “6 hour” category of the contest, and as I am 21, I am classed as a “YOTA” station. In between other things, I put a few CQs out on 20m and 40m and finished the contest with 60 in the log. The oldest operator I spoke to was 82, and the youngest was only 7 years old operating with a youth club in Hungary!

    Log submissions are to be in Cabrillo format and can be submitted HERE (link opens in new tab).

    A few statistics from my log is below:

    Map of my YOTA contacts (M7OJA) – Courtesy of Adventureradio.
    YOTA Contest Submission – M7OJA
    DXCC list for my YOTA QSOs – Courtesy of QScope

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  • Coming Soon to M7OJA.com – A guide to improving your QRZ page.

    I am currently in the process of writing an article on how to improve your QRZ.com page. I will cover the basic format and imaging of your page, ensuring all of your details are correct in the “detail” section, uploading an image and setting a main image (which is displayed automatically when DX stations search for you in their logging software), signing up to external services which can provide information and logging, updating your QSL information on QRZ.com and embedding external services into your QRZ.com page (such as HamAlert Cluster Spots for your station, POTA statistics, etc.).

    Keep an eye on the website for more information. When the article is published, it will appear under the “Getting Started” tab on the navigation menu. I will also notify via Instagram and my free newsletter.

    – Oscar M7OJA

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  • First RSGB FT4 Contest – A disaster story (or not?!)

    Last night, the 24th Feb 2025, I took part in the RSGB FT4 contest for the first time. I was using a 20.5m 49:1 end-fed. As the contest began, my strategy was to start on 20m for any DX contacts before moving on to 40m for as many European DXCCs as possible.

    Within about 5 minutes of the contest starting, I realised I wasn’t going to get far on the 10w I was using to enter into the “10w Restricted” category, so I increased my power to the maximum 25w as permitted by my licence. This meant I was able to achieve more points and countries, but this was a disadvantage as I had to enter in the 100w category.

    My first contacts as the contest began were to the USA, Morocco and the Canary Islands before moving on to 40m. Unfortunately, I do not have access to 80m at my home QTH, meaning I was unable to collect DXCCs from this band.

    On 40m, I was slowly but surely beginning to collect DXCCs, until my computer crashed and I had to restart before JTDX would work again. This set me back around 10 minutes.

    Owing to a couple of last minute DXCCs, I finished with 40 QSOs and 25 DXCCs in the log, which was nowhere near the highest score, but still fun to participate and nice to gain a couple of new countries on FT4.

    Overall Log Statistics – Courtesy of Qscope.
    DXCCs Worked – Courtesy of Qscope.
    QSO Map – Courtesy of Qscope.

    You can read more about the RSGB FT4 contest HERE (link opens in new tab).

    73 de M7OJA

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  • Very Good Weekend on HF

    Due to the activity of Solar Cycle 25 and a high SFI and Sunspot count, the HF bands have been particularly good this weekend.

    I took full advantage of the good conditions this weekend and operated over a variety of modes and bands on HF from Friday to Sunday.

    To summarise my activity:

    Total In The Log (ITL)575 QSOs
    New Countries (DXCCs)9 New (Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahrain, Armenia, French Guiana, Thailand, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize)
    Total Countries (DXCCs)70 ITL This Weekend
    Parks on the Air (POTA) References10 References
    Bunkers on the Air (WWBOTA) References2 References

    A statistical view of my weekend activity is below, showing my overall statistics, a list of worked countries, a map of Europe and a worldwide map.

    General Statistics 21/02/25 – 23/02/25
    Countries (DXCCs) Worked this Weekend
    European Map
    Worldwide Map

    I have been lucky enough to work the DXPedition to Nigeria this weekend and a bonus contact as I am writing this to 4S7SPG, DXPedition to Sri Lanka.

    Always take advantage when the bands are strong, as you never know what DX is possible with a limited setup.

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  • Newsletter now LIVE!

    My newsletter is now launched and ready to subscribe to. Join me for weekly blog updates and notification when a new article goes live on the site, as well as any other relevant amateur radio news.

    You can join below:

    Subscribe to our newsletter!

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  • Daily Snapshot – 21/02/2025 on HF

    The bands have been remarkably open over the past week or two. In the past few days, there have been many DX opportunities on 10m, 20m and 40m particularly. Please see the snapshot of today’s activities.

    Working Conditions

    Between 5W-25W into an end-fed antenna (49:1, 20.5m wire) positioned over the roof. Transceiver is a Yaesu FT-991a.

    Statistics

    Thank you to qscope.org for the statistics.
    Thank you to qscope.org for the statistics.
    Thank you to qscope.org for the statistics.
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  • Good Working Conditions on HF

    This week especially, working conditions on HF have been a lot better than usual. Even with a very modest antenna and low power, DX contacts have been achievable. This has also been helped by a range of DXpeditions at the moment, increased portable activity through schemes such as Flora Fauna (WWFF), Parks on the Air (POTA) and Summits on the Air (SOTA). There have also been several special event stations running recently.

    The most important factor, however, is the fast approaching peak of Solar Cycle 25, giving us improved propagation and many DX opportunities.

    You can see my daily snapshot HERE to see for yourself!

    DXpeditions

    At the moment, there are two major DXpeditions running. The first is V73WW, Marshall Islands. The second is VK9XU, Christmas Island. The links to both of their websites are below:

    V73WW

    VK9XU

    Special Event Stations

    There are a number of special event awards, provided by the Hamaward system. With this system, QSOs are automatically uploaded by the DX station (you do not need to submit your logs or QSL cards). Over the course of the award, you can work each participating callsign once per band, mode and day. This means you can accumulate a number of points per day. At the end of the award, your points are added up, and there is a feature to download digital QSL cards as well as a diploma if you have successfully scored enough points. Participating stations will provide an embedded log search in their QRZ page, and you can check how many points you have accumulated. The awards currently running are as follows:

    PZK-IARU

    This award is celebrating the 95th birthday of the PZK organisation and the 100th of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The 1st round of the contest runs from the 17th Feb 2025 – 3rd Mar 2025.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

    VOLTA

    The VOLTA contest is running from Feb 15th 2025 – Feb 23rd 2025. The award is to mark the 27th Volta International Memorial Day.

    Please see the link HEREfor more info.

    Marconi (IR0RRAI)

    The IR0RRAI award is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Marconi. The contest runs from Feb 15th 2025 to Mar 16th 2025.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

    Terni, City of Love (II0LOVE)

    The Terni, City of Love award is running from Feb 01st 2025 – Feb 28th 2025 to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

    Please see the link HERE for more info.

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  • Receive Images from Space – Fram2HAM

    During February, the International Space Station (ISS) has been performing a test called Fram2Ham in preparation for the first human space flight in polar orbit. The test reduced the power of the space station’s transmitter from 25w to 5w, and transmitted a series of images via Slow Scan Television (SSTV).

    I have enjoyed the test, and received these images from space.

    Equipment – Yaesu FT-991a, Diamond X-30 co-linear vertical for VHF/UHF, MMSSTV.

    The images are shown in the gallery below:

    You can find out more about the mission on the website HERE (link opens in new tab).

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  • Good DX on 10m

    Today, 18/02/2025, conditions have been far better than average on 10m. Over the course of about 5 hours, I have worked into the US, several Caribbean stations and South America on FT8/FT4

    Stations worked today

    Pleased to have worked Martinique, Chile and Curacao for the first time, and QSL cards have been/will be requested.

    Map of today’s QSOs on 10m.

    Equipment and working conditions can be found HERE.

    Below is a graph of all contacts on 17/02/2025 by country count:

    73 de M7OJA!

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  • What would you like to see next?

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  • POTA Gold Hunter

    Very pleased to receive my POTA Gold Hunter award this morning. Thank you to all activators for the points…

    2025 02 16 01 54 06 m7oja pota gold hunter
    POTA Certificate
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  • New QSL cards!

    This morning, the postman brought my new batch of QSL cards with a fresh design thanks to Tony LZ1JZ. I will be sending an initial batch of cards over the coming days. If you would like to request a card, please use the Clublog OQRS service. You can request a free bureau card, or make a contribution to the postage for a direct card.

    To use Tony LZ1JZ’s QSL design and print service, visit his website HERE (link opens in new tab).

    QSLing is one of my favourite parts of the hobby. It brings me pleasure to receive, send and collect cards. If you would like to get started with QSLing but don’t know how, you can visit my guide HERE (link opens in new tab).

    462565608 2073259563179367 8276768831072686730 n
    My new and improved QSL card design. – M7OJA
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  • 9X2AW Dxpedition

    Today, 13th February 2025, I worked Harald 9X2AW during his Dxpedition to Rwanda. On 17m FT8, his signal in the North East of England was -19. His aim is to provide an opportunity for stations to get a new country in the log. He was very patient on the air as QSB meant we had to repeat our signal reports several times. However, after around three minutes, I got the final “73” and could breathe a sigh of relief. He is active until 15/Feb/2025 in Rwanda and QSL is via LoTW or direct paper QSL via M0OXO. You can view the OQRS service HERE to request a card (link opens in new tab).

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