Hit a milestone today and just had to tell somebody. You guys are my somebody. Made an FT8 QSO with a fellow in Pretoria Souith Africa today! 8385 miles. And he received me at a S/N of -15 dB. Not bad.

A testimony to my doublet and tuner, had 90w indicated output with SWR at 1.3:1. Thanks again John for the doublet suggestion. I was happy with Japan 3 weeks back and Greece last week, but this is a good one, 1/3 of the way around the earth! This is a great hobby

Net Control
VA3TS Tom

VHF
KO4DXQ Bob
VE3OZW Richard
VE3VCG Marvin
VA3EAC Janet
VE3GIO Larry
VE3DGY Douglas
VE3RQY Greg
VA3KOT John
VE3BQM Bernie
VE3RWY Robert
VE3WI David
VE3FP Adam
VA3YWA Edward

HF
VE3GIO Larry
VE3BQM Bernie
VA3KOT John
VE3OZW Richard
VE3RQY Greg

Sunspot number this morning was 31 but band conditions were extremely poor, worse than with no sunspots.
Hope this is not the sign of things to come in this cycle 25. 

Recently, YouTube has clumsily inserted commercials into almost every video on its site. Video presenters are often interrupted mid-sentence. The intention is clearly to make the free version an uncomfortable experience and drive users to the paid version.

But, there is at least one way to watch YouTube without the intrusive commercials and without being forced to pay a fee. I access YouTube through the website youtube.com using the Brave Browser. Brave blocks ads and commercial interruptions. I haven't had any problems with this method yet although I am sure if it becomes widespread Google will find a way to block it.

A serious gear collector!

https://www.qrz.com/db/?query=W9EVT

73
Dave, VE3WI

From ARRL:

As reported on Spaceweather.com, Canadian radio amateur Scott Tilley, VE7TIL, has snagged another signal from deep space. His latest conquest has been to copy the signal from China’s Tianwen-1 (pronounced “tee-EN-ven”) probe, which went into orbit around Mars on February 10. Tilley told Spaceweather.com that the probe’s X-band signal was “loud and audible.”

“It was a treasure hunt,” Tilley told Spaceweather.com. He explained that while the spacecraft did post its frequency with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), it was too vague for precise tuning (X band is between 8 GHz and 12 GHz).

Launched last July, Tianwen-1 represents China’s first Mars mission. It consists of an orbiter and a rover, which will land on the Martian surface in May or June 2021. It is able to photograph the planet’s surface while in orbit.

Finding signals from deep space is a sub-hobby for Tilley, who seeks what he calls “zombie satellites” among other signal sources. In 2020, he tracked and identified signals from the experimental UHF military communication satellite LES-5. Tilley said he found the satellite in what he called a geostationary “graveyard” orbit after noting a modulated carrier on 236.7487 MHz. Launched in 1967, LES-5 was supposed to shut down in 1972, but it continues to operate as long as its solar panels are facing the sun, Tilley explained.

In 2018, while hunting for an undisclosed US government spacecraft lost in a launch mishap, he spotted the signature of IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration), a NASA spacecraft believed to have died in December 2005. The discovery delighted space scientists.

Tilley has also picked up signals from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the United Arab Emirates Hope probe, both orbiting Mars some 124 million miles away. He uses a homemade 60-centimeter dish and relies on software-defined radios (SDRs) to accomplish the task.

Radio amateurs have been listening for signals from space since the 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, which transmitted at around 20 MHz.

We had a request for help with an Icom 7100 from our website.  Does anyone want to take the lead on this and also interest the person in our club?  Here is the message we received:

E-mail: rijkvh49@hotmail.ca
Forum profile: Guest
IP Address: 104.153.214.131
Message:  Could someone who has some knowledge of a icon 7100 maybe try to help me to use it thanks va3ryk rink & onyx

Thanks

Rob VE3RWY
Secretary

Some info from ARRL website about Field Day 2021
73, Dave, VE3WI

ARRL to Extend Field Day Rule Waivers from 2020, Add Class D and E Power Limit
02/10/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL Field Day rules from 2020 will continue this June with the addition of a power limit imposed on Class D (Home Stations) and Class E (Home Stations-Emergency Power) participants. The news from the ARRL Board’s Programs and Services Committee comes as many clubs and groups are starting preparations for Field Day in earnest. Field Day 2021 will take place June 26 – 27.

“This early decision should alleviate any hesitancy that radio clubs and individual Field Day participants may have with their planning for the event,” said ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE.

For Field Day 2021:

• Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points. This year, however, Class D and Class E stations will be limited to 150 W PEP output.
  

• An aggregate club score will be published — just as it was done last year. The aggregate score will be a sum of all individual entries that attributed their score to that of a specific club.
  

The attachment file is the Feb 09/2021 GBARC technical presentation.  The antenna I took apart was a 4 bay 70cm was the main soucre of photos and reference for the presentation.  The 4 bay unit did not have any 1/4 wave matching coax in the grounded feed arm of the folded dipole.  The 1/4 matching coax of a different impedance is used to make the antenna once completed a 50 ohm device.  Would probably be needed for the 2 bay or 1 bay antenna.  As part of phasing a multiple bay antenna, matching coax of different impedance may be needed but was not used on the reference 4 bay 70cm unit I used.

From the questions and follow-up emails, the info presented about the 4 bay diople appeared to be of great interest to those present.  I know for me it changed the way I thought how they were made.  If you were not there, you may find this interesting as well.

Cheers

Frank

VA3-GUF / VE0-GUF / VE0-VET

Attached Files

  The workings of a 4-Bay Dipole antenna.pdf (Size: 1.76 MB / Downloads: 17)