Oscar M7OJA

Amateur Radio Station

Tag: on-air-activity

  • 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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  • 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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  • 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 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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