Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Category: Digital Modes

All about digital modes such as FT8, FT4, etc…

  • Great HF Conditions – 26.04.2025

    This evening, the 26th April 2025, band conditions were fantastic. Across 15m, 17m and 20m, there was a wide opening from the United Kingdom to North and South America and Australia in particular. I managed to work all 6 continents this evening, and the distribution of FT8 contacts were scattered across the globe.

    Map of Contacts, 26.04.2025, courtesy of Qscope.org
    List of DXCCs, 26-04-2025 (evening) and 27-04-2025 (early hours of morning)

    Thanks to the high sunspot number and SFI, the bands have been in great shape recently. In addition to widespread FT8 openings, many SSB contacts to North America were also possible. Did you manage to get any in the log?

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  • SSTV Images Received 20/03/2025

    As I was away from the shack today, I decided to leave my radio (Yaesu FT-991A) connected to my PC (running MMSSTV) to see if any SSTV images could be decoded.

    I was very surprised when I returned to the shack to find over 100 images saved. Although some were blurry and distorted, the majority were clear and readable.

    The following images were received 20/03/2025 between 11:00-17:00 on 20m SSTV (14.230MHz) with a cobweb antenna:

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  • Radio News – Expedition to Bouvet

    3Y0K - Expedition to Bouvet

    A never-before-seen scale expedition is planned to Bouvet, the most remote island in the world. Planned for February 2026, the 3Y0K team of 18-24 operators are planning to operate on the island for around 3 weeks. The group has a budget of approximately $1.6 million dollars funded by various DXpedition groups and corporate sponsors.

    The group plans to arrive on the island by helicopter (by the Norwegian Polar Institute) before sailing on an icebreaker for around a week. Two camps are planned to be setup, one focusing on North American contacts and the other on the rest of the world. SSB and CW will be prioritised, with some operation on digital modes such as FT8 and RTTY and via the QO-100 satellite.

    The DXpedition will participate in various awards schemes, with the following references:

    Parks on the Air (POTA) –BV-0001

    Islands on the Air (IOTA) – AN-002

    World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) – LAFF-0044

    Summits on the Air (SOTA) – BV-001

    QSL cards will be offered for any contacts during the expedition. Currently, a PayPal Online QSL Request (OQRS) and Logbook of the World (LOTW) confirmation will be $15, with bureau requests priced at $3. Direct cards will also be answered, with a suggested minimum contribution of $5 or more. For those unable to make a financial contribution, a free bureau QSL card option will become available after the expedition and when other requests are processed.

    QSL requests will be available via Charles M0OXO at his website HERE (link opens in new tab).

    Further information about the expedition is available at the 3Y0K dedicated website, accessible HERE.

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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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  • 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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  • 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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  • Quick Guide to SSTV

    (Blog posted retrospectively from my old website, NE Ham Radio).

    PC/Laptop
    You can download the free MMSSTV software in order to decode and transmit SSTV images. The software is pretty self explanatory, but you can upload an image and transmit a CQ image, a response to a CQ call, a 73 image, or your own custom text. You can select any mode. The Robot modes tend to be quicker but lower quality. We found Martin 1 to be the best mode (despite taking a long time, the image quality was fantastic).

    Mobile
    You can search on the play/app store for the SSTV software. There are free and paid versions of various tools. I used Robot36 Decoder to decode, and SSTV Encoder to encode. Just a note if you use Robot36 to decode – you will need to change the mode EVERY TIME you receive an image (it defaults back to Robot36). After an image has been received, it is automatically saved to your phone’s memory.

    To transmit using your mobile device, you can load your QSL card or image into the app. You can add some text to the image, and click “transmit”. Remember to select your mode (and announce on the air, in voice, which mode you are using as to avoid confusion). For example “I will now transmit SSTV using Martin 1, please standby, from M7OJA”.

    Identifying On-Air
    Amateur radio operators in the UK must identify themselves “from time to time”. You can usually do this in voice on the air. It is also recommended to print your callsign in all transmitted images (you can add text before you transmit using the mobile app).
    If you are using MMSSTV, you can add an optional morse code identifier on the end of your transmission.

    Other ways to transmit/receive SSTV
    You can connect your radio to a data interface, and then to your computer. Some radios such as the FT-991A has a built in sound card allowing you to connect the radio to a computer using a USB cable. The audio quality will be a lot better, and the images sent and received will be clearer. However, data interface cables and suitable radios are not cheap – you may be better starting off using the mobile app.

    Good luck, and I hope to receive your SSTV image soon! Remember that SSTV is rarely used on the 2m bands, so it is great to drive activity on to this mode. Although 144.500 is primarily for SSB use – you are entitled to transmit FM on this frequency (and it is easier for SSTV operation as more people have access to FM, and you can speak and transmit images seamlessly).

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