Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Tag: HF

  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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