Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Category: Digital Modes

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

  • 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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