Sunday, October 20, 2013

This weekend it was DX with the Alexloop!

SWR 1.1:1, power 5 watts and memory CQ message
With getting most if not all of my "to do list" done it was time once again to swing the Alexloop into action and have a nice late afternoon of ham radio and relaxation. Setting up the loop has become faster for me I'm getting the hang of the in's and outs of the loop. I also am able to tune the loop in less than 20 seconds and be up and running on different band segments. The SWR is anywhere from flat to 1.7:1 and the band width is very good and retuning is not needed unless 20 khz changes are needed. This weekend the Worked all Germany CW contest was going on so I wanted to be a point giver for the contest. With 5 watts, my KX3 and the Alexloop in the living room I was able to contact the following  all on 20m:

DK1NO
DK9PY
DR4A
LX/DF1LON

  I did try dropping the power lower than 5 watts but is was just not doing the trick. I then was on 30m and WA3SCM Dave was calling CQ. I came back to him using 5
Time to recharge the battery
watts. I was at times in and out with Dave but he was in P.A and that's off the backside of my loop antenna. Dave was running a long wire with 100 watts and all was going well until my KX3's batteries decided to die! The KX3 just shut down and my lesson was learned in that I should be monitoring the voltage on the KX3 (via it's display) and I would had known it was due time to change over to my external battery supply. I did go upstairs and get the extra battery but it was too late as Dave was gone. I did email him and explained what happened and on Sunday he emailed me back. He was wondering where I had gotten to and did tell me that he was very interested in the Alexloop as he has worked with lots of different types of loop antennas.
I was able to spend some time on the radio today (Sunday) and I again tried 10m to see what was happening.....it turned out that 10m was good to me today. I was only able to make 2 contacts but they were sweet ones!

IS0GQX from Sardinia
MD0CCE from Isle of Man

I was shocked at both these contacts two very nice and sometimes rare areas and I did both in one day! If I get the time this evening I will try some more radio time but if I don't get around to it I am very happy with the two contacts I did make today.   

8 comments:

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Congrats with the DX Mike. Remarkable with the Alexloop and QRP. I hate working with a battery without a charger like a solarpanel or so. Only use a battery when I don't have anything else like in my car. Even then I monitor the voltage and sometimes let the car run the get the right voltage. I don't want loosing a contact just because I ran out of power. Well at least you learned from it again. Have a second charged battery near you when transmitting. Good DX, 73, Bas

VE9KK said...

Good evening Bas, oh how did I learn my lesson there is no slow dropping in the radio it just.....you are on the air and then you are off! I do have the extra battery close at hand and I can once the move is done have a reliable source of power on the KX3 so this is never a worry. Yes I was very pleased with the DX this weekend.
Mike
Have a good week Bas.

Bert, PA1B said...

Hello Mike, when I was operation as CS8/PA1B, I also found out that it is the best, to charge the battey during operation. Although my charger give less current than the FT-817 uses, all goes well. Congrats on the rare places in DX. 73, Bert

VE9KK said...

Good morning Bert and nice to hear from you, I have a spare external battery for the KX3 and if I monitor the voltage drain during transmit I can just plug it in and the KX3 will switch over the that supply.
Mike

IZ3NVR said...

Hi Mike, nice you managed to get on the air for some QSOs. Conditions lately have been pretty good and especially 10m were wide open till -today-. Sounds like a CME Earth directed will create some issues in the upcoming days.
Hope you'll be able to have fun anyway. Ciao

Paul Stam PAØK said...

Hi Mike, very good results with the Alexloop. Congrats! 73 Paul

VE9KK said...

Good morning Stefano, yes it seems the atmospheric things are heating up again. I got the notice on my Iphone that a CME is on it's way. I hope it does not put a damper on the weekend SSB contest.
Good luck in the contest.
Mike

VE9KK said...

Hello Paul, thanks very much and I was very happy with the results and it tells me that the antenna really can do the job with QRP power.
Mike