Last day of 2017

Last day of 2017 and a whole new year in front of us. And I hope I will get the 160 m DXCC this year. This morning I worked a new one. It was JW2US from Bear Island Svalbard. Hope he will upload to LoTW.

I will show you a Picture taken in the fly (!!??) so to speak. It was very dark and I had to use high ISO setting. Think I used 3200 and this caused the Picture to get a bit noisy. Here we go!

He is on the run towards 2018, or.........?? He/She is on the way to safety as I probably scared him away with the camera.

HNY to you all and I hope to see you in 2018.

New IOTA!

Yes! Today I received QSL from LU3XX SA-008 Tierra del Fuego. And it was on 160 m!!
So this is a new IOTA and a new DXCC entry for moi!!!!! Super thanks to EA5KB manager for LU3XX. This puts a new standard for "direct". QSO was 20 Dec 2017. QSL in my hand 29 Dec 2017. Wow! This is fast!!! And here are the proof.

Super fine. But than the fun start. I was going into RSGB IOTA home page to register SA-008. But that was not possible!!!??? Reason is that the QSO must be older than 30 Days to be Abel to get it registered!!!! What the f..k!!. Here you have a QSL manager that really understand the meaning of "direct". But some administer f..k up at RSGB stop me to enter it.

Well, I will wait until 20 Jan 2018 and I will try again! BS!

Well, HNY to you all and hope there will be a lot of DX in 2018.

CUL

Cold and clear!

Marry X-Mas to you all. Here it is a Cold morning. It is -10 C ( 14 F ) and almost a clear sky. And I've got CT3 confirmed on 160 m via LoTW. And as I told you Before I have got 4 new on 160 m this weekend. Super! I have 5 to go!

The birds outside is having a feast on peanuts. And they like it as you can see on the Picture.

I'm still chasing new ones on 160 m. And it is fun to observe propagation on TB. Some times I can call my head of and no QSO. This morning I have been Calling a lot of stations in US. But they don't hear moi!!?? I Think they should get a receiving antenna!!!! I have a K9AY and it works just fine.

HNY to you all and back to radio!

YES! Two new confirmed on 160!

Yes! Today I've got two new confirmed on 160 m. It was LU3XX (also a new IOTA) and YV4DYJ. I'm getting Close to my DXCC Award for 160.
Big THANKS to both for response and upload to LoTW. Super!!!!
IOTA was SA-008 Tierra Del Fuego.

Have to have a Picture. What about this one of my QTH in full Winter dress! Nice eh..........??!!

Well, have to wish you all a Happy X-MAS and HNY 2018.

CUL

New one on 160 and still no phone!

I made a new DXCC entry on 160 m yesterday. And I also got it confirmed on LoTW! It was Zone 6 and call was XE1H, Tony in GUADALAJARA, MEXICO!!! On 160!! Wow!!!! And I got it confirmed!! As you can see I'm quite excited about this. It is not that easy to  get Zone 6 here. But conditions was super for Mexico yesterday morning. QSO was around 06:00 Z and he was strong. I'm closing in to get my DXCC Award for 160 m. Then I have 6 m to chase. A lot to do there.

Will show you all a Picture of the other side of the phone Cable that I have coiled up at my mailbox. The ground has frozen and they will have a problem to get a new pole in place.

There are a few ( ? ) meters of Cable coiled up here. Well there are still a few working Days to the promised dead line for the repair (2018-01-05). Exciting!!

WX at the moment is Cold and a clear sky. Temp at the moment is -2 C (28 F) and it is getting colder by the minute. Prediction say about -10 C (14 F) tonight. And it might get colder.

Take care all of you and CUL

Still no Phone and a new IOTA QSL!

Now I have two dates when the phone should be fixed. 2 of Jan 2018 from my phone provider and 5 Jan 2018 from EL-Tel who is the repair Agency???!!! I'm getting very tired due to this lack of efficiency. And I still have to pay the bills. And I can request some refund after it is fixed??!!

Just received the QSL from AS-127 St Martin Island, Bangladesh. Call used was S21ZAS and QSL from SM6CVX. Thanks Hans.

So now my IOTA score has taken a big steep. And this is because the IOTA Contest confirmation was also added. My IOTA score is at the fantastic sum of 528 islands!!! Super cool!

Tomorrow we will be hit by a snow blizzard. Prediction say about one feet of the hated White fluff will fall down on us!!! We will see what will happened.

CUL

New IOTA and no phone!

Well, nothing happened yesterday on the repair of my phone line. And no new information either. Wonder what is going on??? I have been without phone and ADSL since 25 Oct 2017!!!!!!!

Some good news. I've got QSL from Craig. It was from his operation from North Island OC-198. And as usual a nice QSL card as you all can see here!

Now I have 516 IOTA's confirmed. Wow! Wonder when this will stop??!! Any way thanks Craig for Quick response and a new IOTA.
Worked him also when he and some friends used VK9AR from Ashmore OC-216. Hope QSL is on the way. And Yes, I've got GW0KRL confirmed on 160 via LoTW. Super thanks Ian.

Cold outside this morning. -6 C ( 21 F ) and some white fluff predicted this afternoon.

Well I will keep you posted on the on-going phone incident! CUL

Today is the day I will get my phone back??!!

Well, today is the dead line from my phone provider to get it fixed! But I have some thoughts. No one have been here to check the extent of the fault so they knew what Tools to bring!!?? I have some Pictures to show you the present status.

This is one side of the wire. The other side looks the same.

This Picture will test your Eye sharpness. You might click on it to get it bigger. But the Picture show the support wire has unhooked it self from the hook on the pole and all load and strain is on the Cables. And that is not good.
It will be an interesting day to see what will happen with my ADSL and phone.

On the radio! I have put in an order for the OC-175 operation. Call was DU9/RZ3FW. Worked Wales on FT8 160 m this morning. Call was GW0KRL. And this is a new one for moi on 160. Have worked a few before but no QSL. So I hope Ian will upload to LoTW ASAP!!

CUL

A new one on 160 m

Yes! Finally I've got a QSL from Moldova. I have worked a few on 160 but no QSL until today. I worked Serge on FT8 on 160 and sent a request via normal mail and look what fell down in my mail box today!

Now I have only a few more to work to get a DXCC Award for 160. Thanks Serge!

No fix on my Telephone line yet. They have promised it to be fixed Before 4 of Dec. Well, that's only 3 more working Days left and nothing has happened yet!!!!!

Worked a few QSO's in CQWW CW. Worked only 160. But no new ones was worked. Heard a few but they did not hear me! But I will get there soon I hope??!!

CUL

New DXCC!

Yes! Today I've got QSL from a quite rare DXCC entry from EU. It is Mount Athos. Call was SV2ASP/A. Worked him 15 of October. And now I have his QSL in my hand!
Thanks Monk Apollo! And here are the proof.

This pushed my DXCC score up to 330 confirmed. 9 to go!!

Have been chasing J5T for 17 and 15 m. I was able to work them today including 80 m. Only band where I miss J5 is 160. They will stay a few more Days so there are still a chance for me to Catch them on 160.

We have got about 1" of snow. and it is around 0 C ( 32 F ) outside and prediction for the rest of this week is more white fluff and temp around -6 C ( 21 F ).

That's all for now. CUL

Bragg time!!??

Before I start bragging I have to show you all what has come down since yesterday. It is some White fluff. I Think it is called snow!? But I have not ordered it so PLS take it away ASAP!!!

In the Picture is the 40 m Vertical with elevated radials. But it is barely visible. But the Picture is for the White fluff not antenna. That is just a bonus for you to (not) see.

Now to bragging part!

Yesterday it was announced from VK9MA that it was the last night of 160 m operation. And this time the sun behave just fine and at 15:24 I was able to get a QSO on 80 with the guys. Than I spend remaining time up to their SR to call them on 160. They where in and out of deep QSB. And I was not able to get a QSO. Signals was between nothing and S4 on my K9AY! But the barn I have in the direction of 54 deg and 100 m away from my antenna is still there. And it must have had some impact of the reason for not getting a QSO. Anyway that is my belief. Bad operator and worthless antenna and to little power?? No No No No!! I'm the best????!!!!!
But here is a Picture of the black box that was responsible for the QSO on 80!!!

So, Before the start of this dxpedition I missed VK9M on 30, 80 and 160. After, I had nailed two out of three (30 and 80 m) and that is OK, or.....................???

Have a safe trip home guys!

CUL

Yes! Finaly some QSL's

Today I got 3 new IOTA's confirmed. It was AS-71 Arakamchechen, AS-044 Bol'shoy and AS-114 Baidukova Islands. And here are the proof! Enjoy!

Nice cards and it pushed my IOTA score up to 514. But still a lot to do!

Have been trying to work VK9MA on 80 and 160 m as I told you all Before. And still no QSO! But I can blame the barn roof (???). But I will try until they go QRT. And there are two more Days to go.

Weather here in this part of Sweden is quite Cold. This morning it was -5 C (23 F) but no snow yet.

Well, have to start up the PA so it is warm  and up and running for the next try for VK9MA.

CUL

Sun is on the toe again!

The Sun has delivered some high energy electrons from a big Corona hole. As you can see on the prediction on the right side of this blog. All red!!
But I Think I have some problem to get a QSO on 160 m with VK9MA any way. Reason for this is a big barn covered with sheet metal for roof tiles. It is high. It is in the direction to VK9MA. It is about 75 m away from the antenna. So you can see in the Picture my vertical antenna with some linear loading and the barn in the rear. I Think I'm a big looser!!!???

And yes, it is frost on the ground. Temp is -4!!! The radials in that direction is only about 10 m long as my property ends at the fence. But I will keep on calling them anyway. You never knew. Even a blind chicken sometimes find some food on the ground!!???

About food. This next Picture show an angry bird. The food house is empty and he looks at me and say "Where the h..l is the food". I have filled it up!

This Picture was shoot around 7:30 this morning. And it is quite dusk outside.

Well, CUL

Telephone pole down!

Well, here are a Picture of the fallen Telephone pole. Nothing happening for the repair. Estimated time when it will be fixed is 4 Dec!!??

But my Telephone provider has given me 100 GB surf to my iphone. So I have connected my iphone as an "Hot-Spot". And when I have located a Place with some signal in 4G, I have super Internet Connection!

On the radio front the following has happened. I have worked VK9MA on a few slots. But no 80 and 160 so far. Yesterday they where very strong on 160 m. Several SM stations had QSO. But I was not one of them. I will keep on trying.

I'm at the moment I'm lsn for VK9AR from OC-216. But nothing so far.

CUL

Disaster has happened!

A very big Birch tree has fallen over my phone line. So both phone and ADSL is gone. One of the phone poles also got cracked due to the force of the big Birch tree. Have no repair time due to the extent of the damage. That's Life in the Deep forest outside Uppsala city!!?? At the moment I'm using a Huawei E3531 3G modem to this computer. But due to bad signal strength on mobile net I get very slow speed. But hopefully I will be able to pay my bills!!??
Got two nice QSL's from VE7ACN, Mikhail. It was from the operation from NA-042 and NA-157. Enjoy!!

Nice cards!
That's all for now. CUL

Worked two (2) new IOTA's!

First one was F6KOP/P from EU-148 Fort Brescou. Second one was S21ZAS from AS-127 St Martin's Island. QSL will be ordered ASAP!

Autumn is taking a hard grip of us. We have had several nights with temp's below 0. At the moment it is just that ( 32 F ) and only a few Clouds. Just North of my QTH there are prediction of about 1" of snow! It is time soon to put on the Winter tires with studs.

Took these Pictures on the 19th Oct. As you can see the nice colour of the Birch tree and the almost finished sun flower. And today all of the leafs is gone from the Birch tree.

Winter is just around the corner!!!!

CUL

North Island VK8 confirmed

Yes! Craig uploaded the log from OC-198 and I'm in it! In Club Log you have to use a quite long search string to be able to see your QSO's. Use "VK5CE/8_OC198" and if you are in the log you will see it.

Borrowed this Picture from QRZ.com. Hope he don't mind!!??
But it is Always fun to work Craig from his IOTA expeditions. He hear well and understand the problem we encounter up here around and above 60 deg North. You can hear him call "Scandinavia and UK only". I like that!!!! And QSL is ordered.

I have worked S21ZDC on  RTTY and CW. This is a new IOTA for me. They are on AS-140. QSL will be ordered when they open OQRS.

Regarding weather. I have Heavy TS at the moment. Sounds like 15 cm Howitzer outside!!!??? Have to be careful with all my Electronics. Have had problems Before with Internet Router going where routers go when they die! It is mid October and powerful thunder storms around my QTH. Strange!!

Well, that's all for now. CUL

QSL in the mail box!

Yes! One new QSL found it's way into my mail box. It was IOTA AS-022. Leont'yeva Isl. Call used was RI0LI and operation from the Russian Robinson Club. And this add one more to my IOTA score.

In 5 day's team made more than 6000 QSO's. Well done!

I have worked a few stations on FT8 on 160 m. No new ones so far but I hope the propagation will improve. Specially in the coming weekend when we have the SAC SSB Contest. I will, if all go as I predicted, work the Contest using my 7S5C call.

A lot of rain still poring down. But forecast for the weekend is warm weather and no rain!? We will See!!

CUL

New IOTA worked

Worked RI1F from EU-190 Viktoria Isl. Managed to Catch them on 20 m SSB and 30 CW. But not yet confirmed as they have not uploaded to Club Log. But as soon as they have uploaded I will order QSL via OQRS.

Made my first QSO on FT8 on 160 m with G4ATX. Was calling a lot of US stations but no QSO. Probably no prop from 60 deg North. But most of the US stations was in the clear. Around -15 to -22 db. I will keep on trying!!

The very last Picture of the maple tree. Almost all leafs is gone.

Next will be Winter time with snow and a lot of strong winds ahead.
During the weekend we got 58 mm ( 2,3" ) of rainfall. That's a lot of rain for this part of Sweden.

Well, that's all for now. Still misses a lot of QSL on order. I keep a Close Watch over my mail box.

CUL

Still miserable conds

It is still very miserable conditions on higher HF bands. So I have been occupied with fire wood. I have loaded into my wood shed about 5 cubic meters of birch Wood ( about 170 square feet ). Additional to that I have the fur and pine trees I had to cut down due to lighting stroke.

So I hope it will last during the coming Winter that's are ahead of us. But I will not freeze!!

The progress of autumn is continuing. The maple tree is now almost full of yellow leafs. And today the first autumn storm is approaching. They say it is the remains of Hurricane Maria. But it will hit us as a normal low pressure system. But my photo object will probably lose all leafs today so this next Picture will be the last for this year.

Wind are predicted to reach around 20 kt in sustained wind and 30 - 35 in gusts. And a lot of rain. It will be an interesting afternoon.

Back to radio. Just had a QSO with A5A in Butan.

CUL

Some one heard me!

Some one Heard me. Today I've got the QSL's from UA4WHX's adventure in Africa. I worked him from 7V7V on 80 m CW and 30 m RTTY. Rtty and 30 m was new for me.

And I also worked him from 9H3WHX on 80 m SSB and 160 m CW. Both new to me.

Here are the proof!!

And as usual the QSL cards from Vlad are of super quality. And also artistic!! It is Always a pleasure to work Vlad from all corners of the World.

Enjoy and have a nice weekend!!

A few QSL's via Buro

The arrival of QSL is very slow. Hopefully there will be a few in the mail box this autumn. But the progress of autumn is there for sure.
I've got a QSL from Longyearbyen. For you out there it is from Svalbard (JW). This is a Place I really would like to visit. But I guess it will be in my Dreams only.

Back to the progress of autumn. I use to take a Picture of one of the maple trees over time. And the colours are just beautiful.

The difference between last Picture and this one is not so big. But it is getting more colourful than ever over time.

Temp outside is 10 C ( 50 F ) and the air pressure is staggering 1040 mb. And that is high for this time of year. And as a consequence we have overcast of low Clouds and the sun has not the Power to clear the sky. But there are some chance to get some sun in the afternoon.

CUL

Dark times ahead!

Today we have autumn equinox. And from now on and for 3 months ahead Days will get shorter. And you can see on the first Picture that autumn is here.

There are some haze in the air as well. But the leaf's are getting autumn colours.

And my sunflower's are doing their best.

And this one is big. The height of the plant is about 7' ( approx 2,1 m ). Nice flower and I will save them for the birds to eat the seeds during Winter.

Some good news on the IOTA front. I've got the VE7ACN adventures confirmed via the new RSGB IOTA home page. And I Think the new IOTA page is a real improvement. I like it a lot! I have now 510 IOTA's if I will get the pending ones approved by RSGB.

Well, take care and don't do anything I wouldn't do!!!!????

CUL

New toy and low activity

The sun has been very Active during last week. K-index have been high most of the time and HF propagation have been, least to say, bad! I have struggling to work RDA's, and one call in particular have had my attention. And that is UA0WW working from a lot of ( for moi) rare RDA's.
But the propagation have made it hard to get some QSO's. But I have managed to get a few new ones from RDA TU.

On the toy side I have got my hands on a Semiconductor Component Analyzer from Peak Electronic Design. And it work just fine. I have tested a lot of semiconductors and found a few broken.

This is a Picture of the analyzer.

Easy to use and can test most of the common semiconductors.

Regarding my sun flower there have been some progress. I have now about 6 in full bloom. But this coming night there is a warning about frost. Temp at the moment is 7 C ( 44 F ). The sky is slightly cloudy. But later to night it will clear up and temp will drop below zero. Brrrrrrrr!!

well that's all for now. CUL

Now there are two!

Yes, now I have two sunflowers in more or less full bloom.

Nice eh!

On the radio front not much to speak about. Worked R7AB from several new RDA's. Missed quite a few as I didn't have time to sit at the radio and work him as he passed all these RDA's.

I have also worked UA4WHX as OJ0/UA4WHX from Market Reef.  No new ones but it is Always fun to work Vlad from all of his trips around the World. And he has one of the best QSL's ever!!!

Now I have to go down to the steam Engine stable and take out 2 of the pretty ones and start to preheat them so they are ready for traffic late to night and tomorrow.

CUL

YES! Pukapuka OC-098 here!

I've got it! E51LYC, OC-098 Pukapuka arrived today. Nice card as you can see. And my IOTA score is up one more Point.

Thanks Cezar for a nice QSO and QSL.

Here are the back side for you all to look at.

Click on the Pictures and enjoy and don't dribble into the keyboard. You might get a short circuit.

CUL

One in full blooming!

YES!
Finally one of my sunflowers is in full bloom. But I have about 15 plants but only 5 more flower bud. Hope they all will go into blooming soon. But I have already had one frost night with temp about -1,5 C ( 29 F ).

But here it is! Pretty!! But it is small. Only about 2,5 inch in dia.

On the radio front no news. Heard that a lot of my ham colleague's has received E51LYC! I have not. Hopefully it will arive soon as this IOTA ( OC-098 ) is a new one for moi!!

Back to Watch the mail box!! Lock and load!

CUL

New IOTA confirmed.

Yes! Today the QSL from V6J, OC-226 arrived in my mail box. Tanks to JA3AYQ for the QSL.
And here it is!!

So my score at the moment is the fantastic sum of 503 confirmed IOTA's. Wonder where this will end!!!???

But there are still a few out there that I'm waiting for.

Back to chasing IOTA and other stations.

CUL

YES! NA-157 in the log!

Yesterday I was able to get a QSO with NL6/AA7CH from NA-157. Super! And a few hours later Mike had uploaded the log to Club Log and I was in it. QSL on order!!
I also ordered the QSL from RI0LI operating from AS-022. Now I will keep a Close Watch over my mail box.

I have no QSL to show you at the moment. But I have to show you the progress of my sunflower. I don't Think there will be any flower as it is so Cold here. Spring was Cold so the growth was to slow and now time is running out for them.

This is the one that might be able to come into flower. Hope for some warm and sunny Days to come.

I have a family of Crane's on the near by fields. I have tried to get a Picture of them both. But it is hard to get Close to them. This is the best shoot so far.

I will keep on trying. But soon they will leave due to the Winter is just around the corner.

That all for now.

CUL

Wkd a few new IOTA

This morning I managed to work AL3/AA7CH (same guy as VE7ACN) from NA-042 Hinchinbrook Isl. New for moi! Earlier this week I was able to Catch RI0LI from AS-022 Leont'yeva Isl. Also a new one.
R24RRC has loaded up the log from AS-044 operation. Search with R24RRC_AS044. So it is slowly closing up to some of the magic number of achieving Honor Roll!!??

I have no QSL to show you but I have a Picture of a piece of the dirt road from my QTH. Nice road and I like to take my dirt bike for a spin on it.

Nice!?

I also have a Picture of a flower in my garden. Very nice colour.

Hope I don't bore you all to death with this. But I promise that when I get some of the QSL's I have on order ( and there are a few) I will put them on the blog asap!

Go outside and enjoy the rest of the summer.

CUL

Worked a new IOTA

This morning I was able to Catch a new IOTA. It was EU-087 Hogbonden. Operator was SM4DDS/3 and I got a confirmation on SMS! This is quite Close to my QTH and band was 40 m CW. I have seen him spotted on 20 but can't hear him here. 40 and 80 m is best for QSO due to Close proximity.

I have to show you some nice QSL that I have received via buro. Got them into my hand yesterday as I had a visit from SM5DJZ Janne.

Here we go!

Nice spider. Wonder how poisonous this one is?

This bird from Bill qualify as a very nice QSL.

It is fun to collect QSL and I have a quite large Collection. And hopefully it will grow!!!

That's all for now. CUL

Wow! IOTA QSL in the mail box!

Today I received two QSL from quite rare IOTA's (for me any way as most of the IOTA's are rare for me!!).
It was the HD2RRC Russian Robinson Club adventures in Ecuador.

The first HD2RRC from SA-034, Puna Isl I have confirmed via Club Log into RSGB IOTA pages. And also confirmed in LoTW. Here are the proof!!

HD2RRC/4 from SA-033, Salango Isl is a different story. Here I have it confirmed in LoTW but not on Club Log into RSGB IOTA pages. Wonder why. But here is the proof.

I entered the QSL manually into IOTA page and all OK with the usual warnings such as "Only a few has claimed this...bla bla bla.....and so on".
But they are both in the list and I have 502 confirmed at the moment.

A big "THANKS" to the Robinson Team for Quick answer and a nice QSL's.

PLS MORE!!!!!

CUL

IOTA in general!

RI0C was not a success for me. I could not hear a single "pip" here outside Uppsala. But I have worked the team as R24RRC, AS-114 and R24RRC, AS-044. And this was before and after RI0C.

But I found 11 new IOTA's during the IOTA Contest. Worked 16 QSO's (???) in the Contest. Had some issues with N1MM+ and my old computer. But I managed to get it working. Hope all 11 will upload to RSGB IOTA Contest so I can get some new IOTA's confirmed.

I have not received any QSL. But I have about 13 on order via Pay-Pal and a few direct. But nothing so far.

Well, I have to show you a Picture.  So here is a Picture of some flowers that has popped out in my parking lot.

Well, that's all for now. CUL

Waiting for a rare IOTA

I'm waiting for RI0C from AS-069, Iony Isl. According to DX-World the team is at the Island but they have not been able to land. Worked the team from R24RRC AS-114 and QSL is on order.

I have been busy at my second hobby at the museum train working as a brakeman.
Have to show you all a Picture of the largest steam Engine in Sweden for 891 mm track. It is under restoration and was called is Swedish "Stortysken" ( "Big German"). it is a massive piece of Engine.

Pictures taken with my Ipone. The Engine was built 1920. The plan is to have it fully restored and in traffic Before it's 100 year's birthday (2020) !!! I will keep my fingers X-ssed!!

Well back to lsn for RI0C.

CUL