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The beacon station still going strong but no propagation to speak of. I keep checking the site during the day to see how the 4UN1UN beacon is and I can safely say that it’s getting weaker and weaker. With few or no spots at all in many of the days. It makes you think that there is something wrong with your equipment.

Hopefully this long trough will start to pick up so I have a chance to pull together a secret mast for my 6m beam before the XYL finds out  what I’ve done just in time for the Es season! I know she doesn’t read this blog too often so I’m sure she’ll not find out what I’m planning.

I still need to do some fault finding with my Softrock and / or build the second kit. I really enjoyed the first one I bought the second one to try and practice a bit more with the SMD soldering, but unfortunately things conspired against me.

Having run the active antenna for a month or so it seems fairly obvious that it’s just not pulling in the signals. I’ve swapped it for a wire antenna with a 1:1 balun. The wire is approximately 25m long with a 10m coax feeder. It’ll be positioned in a suitable spot in the garden. From early results it’s head and shoulders above the active and electrically small loft one.

After having a week off work to do some heavy work in the garden I punctuated the soaking I got by playing about with some antennas.

As the radio hase been relocted away from the other PC the connection to the loft has been lost which is both good and bad. I get to regain my 2m antenna without having to change things around but teh diamond compact Vee (HFV-5) thats I’ve been using has had to be retired. Partly due to excessive corrosion and partly duy to not being able to find a new space for it. So I’m trying out some new antennas whilst the set up os being fiddled with.

1. Sony AN-1 – Active antenna

My first active antenna, bought in 1989 and not used much except with my Sony ICF-2001D when that was my only radio. Its powered by batteries and is essentially a long whip antenna with a pre-amp attached.

2. Home made loop

Just something that interested me so?I decided on making a relatively large loop (1.5m diameter) out of co-ax and other bits lying aorund the garage.

3. Long wire

I ‘own’ approximately 35m of fence which could be used for a long wire antenna. A small connection through the garage wall would give acces to the fence and although at least 4m is close to the house the remainder is moving away and the last 15 m at a?right angle couldn’t be further from the house. At 1.8m high it should give some interesting alternative results from the other options.

I’ll be sapping round these atennas over the next few weeks to compare the results and to?see?if there really is an opportunity to increase the results I get from the beacon monitoring programmme.

I’m away again for a few days so the beacon station has come with me in case the opportunity to have some QSO’s comes my way……here’s hoping

If I can get at least one 6m QSO I’ll over the moon

Another brief few days away with my trusty IC-703 meant that there were no results for last week. things are now back and running again so the resutls should be coming through nicely