5Z4/M0LEP(Kenya) on 40m LSB!!!

5Z4/M0LEP(Kenya) on 40m LSB!!!

M0LEP  England  Rick Hewett 118 Lovibonds Avenue Orpington BR6 8EN England [+] Mailing label

Lookups:   1630 Ham Member

QSL: QSL VIA LOTW, EQSL, BUREAU OR DIRECT

20130108 1851UTC 7099kHz 5Z4/M0LEP
Date : 08/Jan/2013 1851UTC 
Freq : 7099kHz LSB
Rig  : SDR(PI4THT)
ANT  : Mini-Whip(PAØRDT)
PC recording

His signal is very weak and some noise???

Many station tried to him..but not easy.. : (

QSL Matters

I am registered (and try to keep all my callsign variants up-to-date) on ARRL's LotW and on eQSL. I try to up-load all my direct contact QSO logs (but not, usually, ones for contacts through repeaters or where I'm just a participant in a Net) to both places. I may also send out QSL cards after checking relevant callsign entries on QRZ.com. I'll try to avoid sending more than one QSL card to any one callsign, but this check isn't foolproof so duplicates may escape from time to time. I am happy to receive cards too, but I'm not a chaser after awards, so if you get a card from me and don't wish to send one back, that's OK. Generally I'll send cards out via the bureau unless your QRZ.com entry indicates this route won't work.

On Air

I'm more interested in HF than VHF and UHF, and I've spent some time experimenting with various HF antennae, both commercial and home-built. I spend quite a lot of my on-air time chasing activations organised through programmes and events like SOTA, WOTA, ILLW and ROTA, as much because they give activity a theme as anything. I tend to avoid the more competitive award schemes (like World Flora & Fauna) though; some pile-ups are just no fun at all. So far most of my activity has been using phone modes, but I have spent a little time using digital modes (mainly PSK31 and RTTY), and I am trying to learn morse code.

My Home Shack

At present my "shack" is just a corner of my living room with a few convenient antenna feed sockets and my rigs. I have a Yaesu FT-450AT, an Icom 706 MkIIG, and a Yaesu FT-817ND. The 450 stays at home. The 706 comes with me when I'm likely to operate from a remote base station, and the 817 gets taken into the field. Antennae vary from month to month, depending on current experiments.

Away From Home

Now that I have a full licence I will take advantage of opportunities to operate outside the UK when I can. My first opportunity was in June 2011, whilst visiting Kenya, when I spent two weeks oparating as 5Z4/M0LEP from QTH Loc KI88jp using my Yaesu FT-817ND and a fan dipole for 40/20/17/12/10 metres (which also worked, with a little help from an ATU, on 30 and 15). There's a list of past overseas stations at the end of this page.

Other interests

I've long been interested in astronomy and geology. I spent twenty eight years working as a computer programmer for geophysical survey companies. I've dabbled with computer-generated imagery. I read a fair bit of SF and fantasy literature, and I usually get to a few SF conventions each year. I sing in a small a'capella choir which usually performs at one of those conventions. I also like folk, choral, and early music.

Back Story

I've had an interest in amateur radio for many years. I attempted (and failed) the old City and Guilds examination way back in the mid-seventies before it became a multiple-choice type of paper, and before I'd even taken my A level school exams. I looked into the possibilty of re-attempting the exam occasionally in the following decades. In 2009 I became involved, via friends at my my local amateur astronomical society, in the tracking of amateur high altitude balloon experiments. That required equipment capable of SSB reception and RTTY decoding, and that finally pushed me past just thinking about amateur radio. On 27th February 2010 I joined a Foundation course at the nearby Bromley and District Amateur Radio Society and received my first callsign on 16th March 2010. I missed the Bromley society's Intermediate course later in the year because its final day clashed with a long-booked holiday I wasn't prepared to miss. However, an opportunity to take the Intermediate exam at Cambridge was offered to me, and on a snowy day at the beginning of December 2010 I took a train to Cambridge to sit the exam. I got home, walking the last few miles through gently falling snow, in the early hours of the following day with the appropriate pass certificate. I was encouraged to take the same path for the Advanced exam, and spent a good part of the next two months studying the relevant books. On 1st February 2011 I again took a train to Cambridge. There was no snow this time, but my return journey was almost as delayed after a truck damaged a bridge. The rest of the month I waited anxiously. Eventually, on the 26th, my pass certificate arrived, and I received my full licence callsign almost exactly a year after starting the Foundation course.

Overseas station details

31/5/2011 - 22/6/2011: 5Z4/M0LEP from KI88jp using Yaesu FT817ND, 5W into a 40-10m fan dipole.

29/9/2011 - 3/10/2011: PA/M0LEP and DL/M0LEP, both /P using Yaesu FT817ND, 5W into a 40-17m link dipole, and /M using Yaesu FT9200E.

14/12/2011 - 4/1/2012: 5Z4/M0LEP from KI88jp using Icom 706MkIIG, 100W into a 40-10m fan dipole.

19/12/2012 - : 5Z4/M0LEP from KI88jp using Icom 706MkIIG, 100W into a 40-10m fan dipole.