Several of my readers have been patiently waiting to know how the AlexLoop and KX3 have been performing together. I am interested too, but I'm not yet well enough to attempt any outings with a rucksack full of radio gear. Today it was raining and I wouldn't have wanted to go out anyway. So I decided to operate portable from inside the warm, dry shack instead.
The AlexLoop was assembled, mounted on its tripod and stood in a corner of the shack. The position is far from ideal: my shack is really small and the antenna was too close to the shelves containing books, magazines and equipment. I could only get an SWR of around 5 to 1 on the higher bands. I used the KX3's built-in AMU to take care of it. That's not how a magnetic loop is supposed to be used, but in this situation there's no alternative.
The KX3 was run off the shack power supply so the power out was the full 10 watts. I hope to find a battery that will provide enough volts that I can run 10 watts in the field, but as I don't yet have one this was a little bit of cheating!
The first band I tried was 12 metres. Here, Valery, ER3ZZ in Moldova came back to my first call and gave me a 5 and 5 report. Easy peasy.
Next stop was 10 metres, where Yakov RA9XAU quickly replied to my call. Another 5 and 5 was logged. Can, TA3GO was next in the log. This time a 5 and 9 was received.
One EA9 didn't want to talk to me as I wasn't DX. That would actually have been an all-time new country for me, as I think Ceuta-Melilla is a separate entity from Spain. Victor, RV3RM was working other G stations and gave me a 5 and 8 report.
After lunch I spent some time listening to, and attempting to call, Stateside stations. Some were very strong but I couldn't be heard over the pile of stations calling them. That would have been quite a scoop - to cross the Atlantic with QRP and a portable antenna. I heard Yuri UT9MZ working Europe so I called him and 5 and 9 reports were exchanged.
I spent some time listening on other bands. Peter I5CTE was a massive signal - genuinely peaking more than S9+20dB on the KX3's S meter. on 15m. Italy is a good direction for me, for some reason. We had a proper chat lasting several minutes and Peter told me that my QRP signal peaked over 5 and 9 at times.
My very subjective conclusion is that the AlexLoop feels no different in operation than my attic multiband dipole and MFJ magnetic loop. I didn't even feel at a particular disadvantage from the low power, except perhaps when I was attempting to work USA stations. The AlexLoop is a very good antenna and together with the Elecraft KX3 make for a potent combination, especially if you can take advantage of the KX3's full 10 watts output.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Ten watts on ten metres
The trouble with having 100 watts at your disposal is that the temptation is there to use it if the going gets tough. So I thought I would avoid temptation and give the KX3 an airing using my attic antennas.
My first contact was on 20m SSB with CT1DQV near the Spanish border. I then popped up to 10 metres. The first contact on Ten was with a mobile station, Steve K0STP/M. Next was Todd KC4TVZ in the prettily named Flowery Branch in the state of Georgia.
After that I called another Steve, K3PIN in Philadelphia. Steve was using a K3 with an amp. On hearing I was using a KX3 he reduced power and was still 5 and 9. Steve complimented me on the audio of the KX3 and played some back. I thought it sounded great, with the KX3's compressor doing a great job of turning my rather soft voice into a punchy signal.
The final contact of the session was with Joe N2CEP in New Jersey. QSB caused part of my over to fade out but it was still a solid contact. It's good now and again to remind yourself what can be achieved with low power!
The final contact of the session was with Joe N2CEP in New Jersey. QSB caused part of my over to fade out but it was still a solid contact. It's good now and again to remind yourself what can be achieved with low power!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Double-hop Es?
Thursday brought more great 10m propagation. Take a look at the screen-grab below.
The bright trace at the top right is the 10 watt signal of W3CSW at 11dB over noise. That is one of the strongest WSPR traces I've ever seen, and definitely the strongest signal from a station outside Europe. I think it has to be double-hop Sporadic-E propagation. It is interesting that my previous spot of the same station was 11dB below the noise. My 2 watts produced a positive result from his side as well.
Tuning around the 10m band and there was not the wall of loud signals that such good propagation would suggest. A couple of good old boys from Mississippi and Tennessee were chewing the rag, oblivious to the fact that their signals were bending S meter needles thousands of miles away. But apart from those few stations there was an absence of signals. A station I worked called CQ with no takers for some time afterwards. I tried CQing myself, with no result. To me this also shows that the enhanced propagation was very selective, supporting the theory that it was Sporadic-E propagation.
I did make a couple more SSB contacts but once again the digital sector provided the best returns for my efforts.
There is yet more interesting 10m propagation today. I have already spotted stations from VK2 and from Thailand. It's a shame you can't WSPR and operate on the same band at the same time. Or rather, it's a shame that I can't. So I'll switch between modes, running WSPR when I'm not actually in the shack and able to use the keyboard or mic.
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| 10m WSPR signals received on G4ILO's attic dipole |
Tuning around the 10m band and there was not the wall of loud signals that such good propagation would suggest. A couple of good old boys from Mississippi and Tennessee were chewing the rag, oblivious to the fact that their signals were bending S meter needles thousands of miles away. But apart from those few stations there was an absence of signals. A station I worked called CQ with no takers for some time afterwards. I tried CQing myself, with no result. To me this also shows that the enhanced propagation was very selective, supporting the theory that it was Sporadic-E propagation.
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| 10m signals spotted by G4ILO, 27/9/2012 |
There is yet more interesting 10m propagation today. I have already spotted stations from VK2 and from Thailand. It's a shame you can't WSPR and operate on the same band at the same time. Or rather, it's a shame that I can't. So I'll switch between modes, running WSPR when I'm not actually in the shack and able to use the keyboard or mic.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
10m wide open!
Ten metres has been wide open today. Stations have been heard or worked in just about all directions. I ran 2 watts of WSPR during the periods that I wasn't in the shack and the program screen resembled 30m!
After a short period of WSPR I switched to voice mode and made a nice SSB contact with Ken, JA2FJP near Nagoya (nothing to do with cheap Chinese antennas!) After a rubber-stamp contact with R100BG I found phone a bit hard going with all the QRM and pileups so I retreated to the more restful pastime of working digimodes.
I made one more Japanese contact - with JI4POR - and made my first-ever China contact - with BG8GAM - all on PSK31. I heard several more stations from those countries and also one from Korea (South, presumably) and one from Indonesia but didn't manage to work them. Better luck next time!
A session of calling CQ produced an endless succession of Russian stations. Where do they all come from? There is no chance of working interesting DX unless you search and pounce on the DX stations. Even when calling a specific DX station I was being called by Russian stations! Why do they do it? I lost the chance of a couple of first contacts because of it.
As the afternoon wore on many stations from North America and Canada started to be in evidence. My final PSK31 contact for the day was with Bob KZ0G in Missouri which is probably a first for that state for me.
Not a bad haul for a few hours listening / operating using a maximum of 40 watts PSK31 to an attic dipole. I wish there were more days like that!
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| WSPR spots on 10m at G4ILO, 26/9/2012 |
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| Digital stations hrd/wkd at G4ILO, 26/9/2012 |
A session of calling CQ produced an endless succession of Russian stations. Where do they all come from? There is no chance of working interesting DX unless you search and pounce on the DX stations. Even when calling a specific DX station I was being called by Russian stations! Why do they do it? I lost the chance of a couple of first contacts because of it.
As the afternoon wore on many stations from North America and Canada started to be in evidence. My final PSK31 contact for the day was with Bob KZ0G in Missouri which is probably a first for that state for me.
Not a bad haul for a few hours listening / operating using a maximum of 40 watts PSK31 to an attic dipole. I wish there were more days like that!
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