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Seven element M2 6M7JHV on 30ft boom, installed at 80ft.
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One of the many fine sunsets in Woolacombe in June-July 2018. The South Wales coast can be seen in the far distance to the north.
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7el M2 six-metre antenna.
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6m antenna seen from the distance.
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7-el on 80ft Versatower.
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| During the period 4 June to 5 August 2018 111 DXCC were worked on 6m from a North Devon QTH (IO71ve) near Woolacombe. 19 of these DXCC were All-Time 'New Ones' on 6m for G3TXF, increasing G3TXF's All-Time worked total on 6m from 121 to 140. The 19 new DXCC worked were : A7, CM, EK, FP, HH, HK, J3, OD5, PJ4, PZ, TG, TI, VP2E, VP5, VU, XE, YV, Z6 and 4U1ITU . Only one of these New Ones was NOT on FT8 : 4U1ITU on CW. |
Chasing Grid Squares has always been popular on VHF, but it has become more popular on HF since the recent advent of FT8, where the Grid Square usually forms part of the basic exchange. G3TXF worked 547 Grid Squares on 6m from 4 June to 5 August 2018 (the end date of the UKSMG 2018 Summer Marathon.) |
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G3TXF Summer 2018 DXCC QSO Summary
Top Five QSOs : G=388, W=339, DL=148, EA=132 and I=128 |
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| The moon with the 6-el LFA before it was replaced by the 7el. |
The 7el M2 at ground level with the sea-horizon to the west.
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| Towards the end of the nine week 6m operation from North Devon the 6m antenna was changed from a 6el LFA (on a 20ft boom) to an M2 6M7JHV yagi (on a 30ft boom). Although the M2 antenna was assembled carefully to the dimensions supplied, the resonant frequency of the 6M7JHV was way below the bottom end of 6m at about 49.9MHz. No attempt was made to "tweak" this. The amplifier therefore had to be run through an ATU in order for it to avoid seeing a nasty SWR of about 1:1.8 on the all important frequency of 50313 kHz! |
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| The elements of the M2 6M7JHV yagi (less the driven element) are laid out prior to assembly and installation. As shown by the SWR graph (on the left), the M2 antenna was a major disappointment in that the resonant frequency appeared to be too low (49.9MHz). No indication is given in the M2 6M7JHV yagi instructions on how the resonant frequency might be adjusted. |
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Mounting the 7-el 6M7JHV on the 80ft Versatower.
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The 6el LFA had to be dismounted before the 7el was installed.
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EME : 1 QSO - my first ever.
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First 6m EME QSO:
On 11 August 2018 G3TXF made his first ever EME QSO. It was with Lance W7GJ on 6m. At the time of the QSO (1710z) the Moon was at 22 degrees altitude and at 267 degrees. However the previous day Lance W7GJ had reported hearing my signal much later when the my moon was already one degree below the horizon. The Woolacombe QTH, with the sea horizon for over 180 degrees, could possibly be a good location for EME to the West. |
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Meteor Scatter MS : 100 QSOs - my first ever.
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| During the two days running up to the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on Sunday 12 August 2018, G3TXF made QSOs with 100 different stations on 6m using MSK144. This was the first time that G3TXF (had used MSK144 and) had made a QSO on MS. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Two-Way SWL" with VK8 and solid copy OA4TT !
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| PSK Reporter shows that G3TXF was "heard" by VK8MS at 0752z on 24 July 2018. | G3TXF decodes VK8MS CQing three times at around 0710z on 6 July 2018. | G3TXF decodes a long sequence of unanswered CQs by OA4TT. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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