How working the DX qrper should NOT be done :-)

You have set your DX cluster alarm and the station you want is on the air.... (C5/M1KTA is expected on AF-060 this w/e at some point).

(seriously tongue in cheek)...

You come upon the pileup the alarm tells you I am on air, you must find the exact frequency I am using and slowly tune up your amplifier, best take a few minutes to do this, use the mike a few 'dah dah dah's' and maybe a few ditdahditdah of the key for best effect to really squeeze that last watt out.... Take your time doing this as it has maximum effect this way. The longer you take, the better. It lets others know that YOU are going to call me.

You THINK it is Dom C5/M1KTA but being the sort of fellow you are you just cannot wait to find out who he is as his signal is pretty weak and you didn't get it all so you just have to drop in and ask, "What is the DX call sign is that C5/M1KTA?" On CW best send ?DX?? Call? at 30wpm as I really love that and find it so useful" Don't forget to confirm I am on AF-060 too (or not) that is so important, I will not have done it when you 'found me' so of course you would not know. Whatever you do do NOT listen, this takes time. If I have not responded and you are not sure if everyone else has heard you yet you need to repeat, I am sure that someone else will let you know. BTW this will display to all others on frequency that you are a serious and important operator and really want to work this DX. This is called sharing.

Now you have it confirmed that it is me, it is time to send your call sign, please do not be worried about the fact that someone else has just been trying to finish a contact with me , it is important that you must get through to me immediately so, repeat your call over and over again on the DX frequency using non standard phonetics. Don't worry that I had been speaking to someone else, he will not mind.  This works really well if you cannot hear any other stations on that frequency, I'll be working split which means I'll be listening either up or down from the transmit frequency. That way I'll never hear you and you will make sure that everyone knows and eventually someone will relay that you are transmitting over me.

Then you must make sure that you protect YOUR qso and the DX is a qrp station so you need to remain on frequency and shout UP at regular intervals or let others know I am on that frequency and how I am operating it is so helpful.

As I know C5 can be a rare one from some places about the globe the bands open only for a short while for a qrp signal so just when I say Pacific or JA only please, all you stations from EU with 24x7 propagation please try extra hard to contact me. Of course I'll forget you are there and never come back again (SP8 station you know who you are!).

When I have a few stations calling and it sounds like I got part of one call sign and say 'G3XX only' or the 'G3xx portable station only' then please make sure I don't forget you are there too and keep calling. You're right I am a qrp station and probably couldn't hear him anyway.

You manage a contact and I am running split and there is a mini pile up and I have a small run of stations (SSB) so by all means move just a khz up above my calling frequency, switch in that speech processor and pa and start calling CQ I just love the effect it makes. And then ignore all attempts to ask you to qsy as that VFO dial seems locked.

If you have worked me before either this trip or a previous one then please make sure you call and let me know I am stronger/weaker than the last 6 times you worked me before. I will be really grateful you let me know this. Others on frequency will respect you more, you will be recognized as a Big Gun DXer. (One EA station called me every day last time just to tell me this!)

I have just spent 2 hours working station after station on say 15m SSB and propagation has improved to the extent that I am now working West Coast NA stations and you manage to work me, being so excited don't forget to ask me when I am going to operate another mode just for you. I am sure all the other callers will love to know this too. And even though I cannot say make sure you discuss on air when YOU need to schedule a contact as you need that mode too, I am sure everyone else will love that.

I finally manage to find time to operate some RTTY from C5 and ask for short contacts only, but please don't listen as I am sure I need to see every macro you have spent hours coding into your software that tells me all about your pet cat and their kittens too. This is really helpful to everyone and I am sure it will not hold up anyone else, this is extremely effective operating practice if you time it so that it happens just as 15m propagation fads out for everyone.

You KNOW I am in West Africa and on an island in the Atlantic so why should you have to wait for a QSL card or a LoTW confirmation? Make sure you ask what the QSL route information is on air too as this is most effective use of everyone's time and my precious batteries. Of course the QRZ and blog pages will not have any useful information and of course LoTW certificates were not already applied for and loaded.

Lastly my favourite as we all love these guys.... you have that regular contact you make with your mate 'Sid' down the road on 14.260 or 14.285 (you see each other in the pub later anyway) and you know that often the frequency isn't being used or it is but you only hear these really faint signals that only seem to be calling CQ UP or they are using some wierdo language that isn't English of course the hearing aid batteries are not what they were as you bought them from Woolworth but it is a shame to have to buy new ones and the audio isn't working too well from the radio so you need to make sure you let Sid know he needs to turn his pa on and then arrange to chat for hours talking complete drivel about whatever the grand kids did at the lunch, or was is dinner you forget. Make sure you do this every day that I am in C5 I really appreciate this and so will everyone else.

Life's too short for QRO.

e30fb 28.005 QSX up abt 5

VERY loud into eu this morning. Was reading S7 on the meter and able to hear him no problem.

My setup Kx3, simple GP vertical.

This is the audio of him working the pile up... calling JA only... few didn't get the message earlier as had been working EU for a while.

http://m1kta.ham-radio-op.net/m1kta/e30fb_1.wav

AFS CW UBN

Looks like serials are my issue....

AFS Contest CW Adjudication report for M1KTA : 3500 11/01/15
Date	Time	Call	Correct Call	RST Tx	SN Tx	SN Rx	Correct SN Rx	Reason	Notes
11/01/15	14:08	G4ASR		599	4	11	10	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	15:01	M0DXR		599	16	110	107	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	15:52	G4ARI		599	29	46	146	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	16:04	G4ERW		599	31	60	160	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	17:00	M0TDW		599	43	1	165	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	17:12	G4ZFE		599	47	209	208	Broken:Serial RX
11/01/15	17:33	G0ORY	G3ORY	599	52	230		Broken:Callsign
11/01/15	18:00	M5O		599	57	200		Time outside contest

Where have you been operating?

Was asked where have I been QRV so... all these were qrp too!

From http://www.dxfc.org/index.php?categoryid=6&callsign=M1KTA

Long way down but I've only be active for a few years.....

DXFC Scoreboard

DXFC Listing for M1KTA

Country	Prefix	Updated	QRV?
Monaco	3A	2012-10-16
Mauritius	3B8	2012-10-16	Y
Tunisia	3V	2012-10-16
ITU HQ Geneva	4U1I	2012-10-16
United Nations HQ NY	4U1U	2012-10-16
Cyprus	5B	2012-10-16
Senegal	6W	2012-10-16	Y
Malta	9H	2012-10-16
East Malaysia	9M6	2012-10-16
Singapore	9V	2012-10-16
China	BY	2012-10-16
The Gambia	C5	2012-10-16	Y
Fed. Rep. of Germany	DL	2012-10-16	Y
Canary Is.	EA8	2012-10-16
Ireland	EI	2012-10-16	Y
France	F	2012-10-16	Y
England	G	2012-10-16	Y
Northern Ireland	GI	2012-10-16	Y
Scotland	GM	2012-10-16
Wales	GW	2012-10-16	Y
Switzerland	HB	2012-10-16	Y
Liechtenstein	HB0	2012-10-16	Y
Vatican	HV	2012-10-16
European Italy	I	2012-10-16
United States	K	2012-10-16	Y
Hawaii	KH6	2012-10-16	Y
American Samoa	KH8	2012-10-16	Y
Norway	LA	2012-10-16
Luxembourg	LX	2012-10-16
Austria	OE	2012-10-16	Y
Belgium	ON	2012-10-16	Y
Denmark	OZ	2013-07-14	Y
Netherlands	PA	2012-10-16	Y
Slovenia	S5	2012-10-16
Sweden	SM	2013-07-14	Y
Egypt	SU	2013-07-14
Greece	SV	2012-10-16
Crete	SV9	2012-10-16
Mount Athos	SY	2013-07-14
Canada	VE	2012-10-16	Y
Australia	VK	2012-10-16
Hong Kong	VR	2012-10-16
Indonesia	YB	2012-10-16
Serbia	YU	2012-10-16

DXFC Total = 44

QRV Total = 20

From C5 in 2014 were you really qrp from the beach...

I just had an email exchange with someone I contacted last March from there as asked if I could try a few skeds with some of his locals (He is in ZL near Christchurch, where that Earthquake destroyed the city, not a million miles from a mates place but definitely not local to me!) to allow them to confirm C5. This kinda answers this question and a few other about the station...

This photo was taken by the wife Christine as I sat on the beach that last morning session as I finished operating, she had just finished packing and was 'collecting me' for breakfast! I already had packed the previous night and I had everything I needed with me.... note I am paper logging !

Photo taken Sun, 09 March 2014  08:00:30 AM the qso I had with Paul ZL4PW  5W SSB was just minutes before so there's some proof for you ( I never checked the times until just yesterday). I do not have the biggest rig or antenna set-up ever, of course the sun lounger made all the difference (damned comfortable way to operate!). Bit of a shame but just out of shot to the left were the security guards that had been watching over me the whole time, never did get a photo of them all, I owe them a lot really. A West African beach at night time not safest place to be. 

I often use a buddipole, some call them dummy loads well I'd say those that do are probably being dummy as they probably had not thought about HOW or WHERE to use them. Yes they are a compromise antenna but they work very well if you use the little grey cells and think about what you are doing. Very quick to put up too. Yes I like fishing poles too but sometime the buddipole wins for me.

I was on 15m at the time so a buddipole is pretty efficient.

The antenna base was usually about 4 feet from the waters edge at high tide, near where the photo was taken from. I had just moved it as they were about to sweep the beach!

8am and no guests were even thinking about being up whereas I'd been there most of the night.

Zoom in on me and you can see KX3, paper log and a motor bike battery and the feeder to the antenna so no snake oil pa's used. I was running VOX (down and up 4 as you know to shake up/off the pile up) so hands on the log and pen. Simple qrp radio fun from DX just as it should be. I was still going and asked Christine to just take photos as I put another 10 qso in the log :-)

The sun had come up and the sky had been very pink, and I had just watched the local pelican flock fly up the beach to Tanji bird reserve ready for the tide to turn as the fishermen were setting off from Tanji fishing village (off to my left) The Gambia was unseasonably cold in March 2014... night dropped to 18'C which for the locals might as well have been -18'C for me very comfortable operating in shorts.

This photo was the operating position few days earlier Wed, 05 March 2014  04:31:38 PM clearer picture of rig etc.

Note the essential Cricket Hat and the green thing on the lap is actually the portable seat I use. Everything fits in the rucksack next to me.

K2 microphone adapter

Just put this together so that all the 'functions' are external, (mostly for testing)

I wired it up...

Foster 8 pin plug.

Pin 1 AF

Pin 2 PTT

Pin 3 Down

Pin 4 Up

Pin 5 FUNC

Pin 6 5V DC 

Pin 7 GND

Pin 8 GND

You cannot see it but I put a 3.5mm socket for a PC mike on the right hand side of the poting box. I MIGHT label the buttons as likely to forget but big one is PTT, red are down and up, black is func (not implemented in K2 anyway). The 5V is visible on a small pcb board in the box.

RFI from old PC fan - using copper mesh to fix.

Whilst waiting for the solder iron to heat up I thought I'd have a quick look at a a couple of cooling fans and the RFI they were creating.

Two 80mm (c 3") PC fans bolted to a heatsink, 30 amp 13.8V supply I need for the K2 I am building. They have a simple set of DC leads to powerpoles.

When in use the RFI they create is a tad obvious, does not effect operation of the supply at all. Without them the supply gets warm :-) I cannot change the fans (although I might look at doing that another time maybe).

Why I do not know but was thinking about PhD Chemistry days (93-96) I used to use a reflux still to purify some solvent (I am sure you homebrew moonshine guys know the stuff I mean) I was using at the time, even AR grade 99% wasn't good enough and was effecting the laser dye output ... the what/why doesn't matter but the how is I remember using some pure copper woven cloth, looks a bit like one of those holey jumpers, in the distillation setup. We fed in the solvent, distilled it and hey presto laser dye worked.

So quick visit to my ex-labs and chat with a technician and I now hold a new 2 foot length of it. It is considered a consumable so they have it on a big drum and just hacked off a piece. They use it for one experiment and ditch it! and use a new length.

It is a woven 'tube' so it will expand a bit, but this is made from 99.99% pure copper wire. So the idea is to wrap the fans with it.... reattach to the heatsink, add a couple common mode chokes to the DC feed line. The holes will allow the fans to keep doing their job and hopefully the copper screen will help a bit.

Took all of 5 mins to put into place and tried both without and with -61 ferrite common mode choke on the DC line (12 turns in opposite direction of the feed line about a torroid)  and seems to have reduced the noise to the point where it is usable again.