70th Anniversary of the clandestine crossings from Bretagne to England (TM70TC)

This is a QSO with French special event station TM70TC using my FT-857D with a 4m whip and an FC-40 antenna tuner.

The callsign commemorates the 70th anniversary of the clandestine crossings from the French Bretagne into England.
After the call of 18 June, 1940, many men from the island of Sein departed, from June 26, on boats to the English coast of Cornwall to continue the fight against totalitarianism. One of those boats took the same route 70 years later.
Ham radio from Finistère (ED REF-29) wanted to join in this tribute and remember the work in the dark and danger of all radio operators in the Resistance to ensure contact between London and the internal forces. Many of them were arrested and lost their lives.
For this reason, on land, the special callsign TM70TC was active from 26 June to 10 July. At sea, MM station on board the Coronasia will be active during the journey into Cornwall with callsign TM70SN.

YO4RYU/MM

Yesterday I made a couple of QSOs on the 15m band while I was waiting for a sked with Alex (ON4FB) on our usual 20m frequency.
One of those was with a maritime mobile station run by Ginel (YO4RYU), who was near the port of Huelve, in Spanish waters. Ginel has got very interesting fotor on his QRZ.com profile, including pictures of his antenna and his cabin.
The other QSO on the 15m band was with Ukranian station UR7EP (operator: Yuri). You can see his picture on the right.
Then I had a great QSO with Alex (ON4FB) who was using an FT897 and told me about his project to make a kite antenna. Here you can see a video:


Propagation was good and if I didn't make more contacts it was only because I had a very busy afternoon working on my FT-897. I will put some pictures as they become available.

Maritime mobile with Italy (IK8MDK)

This is the video of a QSO on the 20m band with Vito (IK8MDK) from Potenza, Italy.

Vito speaks perfect Spanish and the QSO was a pleasure.
Potenza , city (1990 pop. 65,714), is the capital of Basilicata and of Potenza province in Southern Italy, in the Apennines. It is an agricultural, commercial, and light industrial center. Founded in the 2nd century BC by the Romans, Potenza was later incorporated (847) into the principality of Salerno. Of note in the city is the Church of San Francesco (begun 1274).

Portable and maritime mobile with DK2NE

This is a video of a QSO with German station DK2NE (operator: Detlef) on the 20m band using my Clansman PRC-320.

And in this other video I am operating maritime mobile with the same German station:

When maritime mobile I use an 8m-long whip with an FC-40 autotuner. In this case, I was inside the port so there was a lot of noise form the city. Someday I will post some video operating the station away from the coast for you to see the difference.

Maritime Mobile with the Orkney Islands (MM0EAX)

I made this video yesterday on my father's sailing boat. It is a QSO on the 20m band with Scottish station MM0EAX (operator Dave) from the Orkney Islands. The transceiver is a Yaesu FT-897D and the antenna is an 8m marine whip with a Yaesu FC-40 autotuner.

Today I have also received the eQSL from Dave. It is one of the most beautiful eQSL cards I have received to date.
Thanks to Dave for the QSO and the eQSL, to EA1AQ for letting me use his station, and to YO8SOY for the recording.

ZS1AFS will be sailing from England to South Africa

Yesterday I made a QSO on the 15m band with Tom (ZS1AFS) from Milnerton. Milnerton is a suburb of Cape Town in South Africa situated on the Atlantic Ocean 11 kilometres to the north of Cape Town city's centre.
Looking at Tom's QRZ.com entry I found out that he will be sailing from England to South Africa in 2010-11. He will be saling as G0CAJ/MM and will welcome contacts.
Tom Morgan is the author of a number of books on sailing and related topics, which include South African Nautical Almanac 2010/2011, Boat Trekkers Guide (co-author), How to Pass the Marine Radio Exam, 2nd Ed., Cruising Guides & Pilot Books (South Atlantic Circuit, Havens and Anchorages). More information can be found at http://www.onboardpublications.co.za/.
Milnerton's beach is well known for its views of Table Mountain and is a popular spot for walkers and surfers. The wave size varies from small to large and tends to barrel, with the best waves occurring when there is a south-easter blowing. The water is generally cold, the result of the Benguela current that flows along Africa's western shore.

The country no. 63: United Arab Emirates (A61BK)

I have just received the eQSL for a QSO on the 15m band that I made when operating maritime mobile. It was with A61BK in Dubai. I was amazed how well the FC-40 antenna tuner worked that I decided to install one in mt car as well.
Dubái o el Emirato de Dubái (en árabe: إمارة دبيّ; el nombre "Dubái" no tiene ningún significado en árabe, pero en hindi significa "Dos Hermanos"[cita requerida]) es uno de los siete emiratos que integran desde 1971 los Emiratos Árabes Unidos. Posee 4.114 km² y su población asciende a 2.262.000 habitantes (2008).[2]
La ciudad de Dubái es famosa por sus cientos de atracciones turísticas y su gran zona de rascacielos, entre ellos el Burj Dubai, y bloques de edificios en Sheikh Zayed Road, situada en el distrito financiero de Dubái.

Solar powered PRC-320

On Tuesday I made the first tests with my recently arrived PRC-320. As the battery was empty, I had a hard time with the hand crank generator, and was hardly able to transmit.

But today was sunny so I decided to try my briefcase solar generator, which was initially designed for charging 12V batteries, but I adapted for 24V by connecting the two panels in series. The result couldn't have been better.

A few hours charging in the morning gave me enough energy to operate in the afternoon and test the rig properly. I made local CW and SSB QSOs on 7, 14, 21 and 28Mhz with EA1AQ/MM.

Navegando de Holanda a Sudáfrica

Hoy hice un contacto en la banda de 20m con la estación PD1CQ/MM (operador Menna) del buque Tertnes, que se encontaba en las coordenadas 32N 14W, a unas 300 millas de la costa de Marruecos, cerca de Canarias. Buscando en internet averigüé que el buque se dirige a Sudáfrica.
Y con este país realicé otro contacto en la misma banda, con ZS6BAF - Andreas, de Johannesburgo, que me contó que por la mañana hizo buen día pero por la tarde se cubrió y estaban a unos 25-26 grados. La verdad es que se le oía maravillosamente con sus 300W y su antena de 3 elementos.
Otros contactos del día fueron dos griegos, que espero me confirmen el qso para mi diploma eDX100, y un rumano.
Yo esta vez utilicé un cable de 5 metros conectado al coche y elevado por medio de una polea enganchada a un loureiro de la aldea. También probé con un cable de 10 metros para la banda de 40, pero tan sólo hice un contacto con Murcia en esa banda tan concurrida por estaciones de cada vez más potencia.