What plans have you made for Cycle 24?

[VK4TU]

According to VK3UM's EMR calculator (it's free online) the safe limit for 1KW and array of 18dBd is a tower height of 12m and an exclusion zone of 108m if you are up at that height. At 100w that drops to 5m high and 34m exclusion zone.

[VK3PA]

Yep, serviced ur old amp,yep servicing ur old M2 11el ant,rrr.got more power to drive amp, gee ur old FT920,,es will do better than last peak ,es wont forget to include #3 in callsign,es pay more attention to ja type lingo (my mistake for missing 4S), hi hi.. or maybe just shift into ur QTH.. also work more on 30m for cw practice..

[VK4ABW]

Four 13 element yagi's @ 14m agl

I am impressed. What 12db no maybe 15dbd gain?
Stacking apertures is pretty tricky, but I guess you have had all the advice from W6JKV K6QXY OH2AQ and K6MYC re stacking large yagis.
Funny all the ones I have seen are at least 75 maybe 100 feet in the air.
Why so low 14M thats 50 feet or soto the bottom arrays.
They will still be in ground capture effect won't they?

How will you test it, a reference dipole and NON AGC receiver?

50 feet is a bit low IMO, hope you dont have any neighbours nearby, dont forget the EMR rules.
By my claculations you need at least 75 feet to be in a safe exposure zone when you are using 100 watts.
If you go 1KW, well just do the sums.

Does that mean we can expect to see every VK4 and the National 6M Record in the hands of ABW by seasons end?
How about giving the world EME record a shot right now?
All you need is a KW permit and a low noise floor rig, the antenna should do the rest if they are well designed and have measured gain above 15 db.
(With Straight CW too, not all this EME via PC and WJST crap).
All you need to do is work W6JKV/5 and its yours.
We wait with bated breath


P.S. And when you are done with that call up KC4AAA who has a kW and M2 on 6M
and set up for the 1st VK4 to VK0 Antarctic QSO
and join the very few 7 continent 6M holders in the world today.

QED.

gain ? unknown at this stage but i will be happy if more than my previous array
stacking apatures ? spent the last 15 months talking to usa/euro eme stations. made my own mind up about this.
height ? not as critical as you think. 28 eme qso's with my previous array @ 8mtr agl.
testing it ? i'm going to plug it in and use it
EMR regulations ? i've completed 2 ACBA requests on my EMR requirements. The cows here haven't said boo......
VK4 records ? time will tell. how about HA3UU off the moon? is that a first for VK... pretty sure it is.
WSJT ? love it
distance ? 19/01/06 1338Z 6 MTRS JT65 W1JJ MIKE USA 5/9 22DB EME #18 FN41 15654K 47° so far................

[VK4WDM]

We are very lucky here in NQ that we get some very strong European openings and SSB is very effective. I have 58 countries confirmed, most on SSB, using my FT847, 100w and a 7 el yagi but I would have worked a heck of a lot more if my CW skills been up to scratch. So my main preparation is going to be de-rusting the CW.

My other tips for newcomers to 6m are: Install Digipan, know what indicators to look for. Use it to find suspicious sigs up and down from the calling frequency and always investigate them. Not all Dx turns up on the calling frequency. Remember that long-path contacts occur that is how I worked LU and PY. Make sure you get the callsign is written down correctly in the heat of battle, that is how I missed confirming my CX QSO. Very importantly - call frequently, and not always on 50.110. There is an amazing amount of DX that springs out of a "dead" band. Fortunately we always get practice leading up to the peak - working JA pileups hones the skills, but listen carefully for the rare one buried under the pile.

[VK2KRR]

Usual scene is CQDX callsign callsign BK

We call on 110.7 so to put a nice tone in the rx of the far end.
A35RK was on 110.2
01:44
I sent him my call twice he came back 539 539 BK
I went back A35RK DE VK3OT 559 559 BK
he sent QSL 73.
I sent 73 PAUL.
QSO was over.
01:45

Sorry to be a pain in the bum. But I dont think the above exchange could be classed as a contact.
A35RK never at any stage acknowledged that he was in fact in contact with VK3OT.
The first line should have read VK3OT 539 539 A35RK.
No where was the 539 acknowledged by 3OT as being copied? The 559 was not acknowledged by A35RK. In this case 3OT and A35RK can not confirm that each other have copied correctly the reports as they have not acknowledged them.
A real contact should confirm each callsign. Confirm the reports. You cant just say "copied that" or QSL... copied what ???
THis would not be valid for an EME QSO so it surely cant be acceptable for a terrestrial contact.

[VK3SIX]

KRR's comments, you must be joking.

I am not claiming the QSO as I don't need the country however...

You only need to exchange one piece of previously unknown information,
Reports are superfluous and as for the callsign exchange if you think when you call a rare dx station you are going to get back text book exchange and full callsign sequences you better start listening to CW contests and dxpeditions.

But then these days most of you carry out pre-arranged contacts on posted frequencies over over the logger.
Something which is going to bite you big time if you ever work a new one and are seen to compromise the qso via any bulletin board.


But thanks for reminding me that not only do we have to satisfy the ARRL when we work new countries in VK but also all the pundits.

ABW you better hand back the VK9XI QSL card because in all truth we never did the full exchange as discussed by KRR,
sorry mate rules are rules..
And I didnt have a logger so I guess I reconstructed your call over several overs.

As for EME is it not the agreed idea that any pre arranged contact where the call signs are previously known are not worth the paper they are written on?
WSJT is not operating its two computers talking, try a real two way cw eme qso with the array and most of us will be convinced.

[VK3HZ]

Totally agree with you Leigh - if that's the full text of the exchange, then it's not a valid QSO. A35RK never sent the callsign of the station he was in communication with, so it could have been anybody.

A fundamental requirement of a valid QSO is to exchange both callsigns. So, if there are rare DX stations, contest stations or DXpeditions that don't do that, they may as well chuck their logs in the bin.

[VK4GHZ]

I would have preferred to have obtained the following from an IARU Region 3 source, but the IARU web resources are, well, lousy.

RADIO RULES: IARU REGION 1 DEFINES A VHF QSO

International Amateur Radio Union leaders meeting recently in Vienna, Austria, have come up with a definition of what constitutes a valid Amateur Radio contact. At least on the VHF and UHF bands in ITU Region 1.

According to the newly crafted regulation, the minimum requirement for a valid QSO on VHF and higher bands is a contact is one where both operators during the contact have mutually identified each other, received a report, and received a confirmation of the successful identification and the reception of the report.

The report emphasizes that the responsibility always lies with the operator for the integrity of the contact. It also says that this ruling is 'technology neutral' and applies to all analogue and digital modes. (GB2RS)

Region 1, 2 or 3, it makes no real difference.
Same same, but different.

Receiving a confirmation (highlighted above) does NOT mean having to receive your callsign back in full.

If you copy "di-dah-dit, di-dah-dit, UR..." and the DX is actually working YOU, then that is reception of a confirmation.
Depending on how much of a prima donna the DX is, there is no guarantee he will do a full exchange, when he knows a "Roger Roger" will suffice.
That is out of your control, and there is no point losing sleep over something you can't control.
Often with long haul 6M DX, time is not a luxury.

If RR is deemed to ok by the IARU, then accept this and move on. If your own operating style means you send a complete exchange, then great, and is probably the failsafe best practice.

$0.03

[VK3HZ]

Hi Adam,

My question is really about "mutual identification". Nowhere does A35RK say who he thinks he is working. He could easily be replying to another station who goes through the same exchange sequence and also thinks he's had a contact ... NOT.

As you say, Adam, this is really a hijack of this thread. However, it is an important issue (the minimum requirements for a valid QSO) particularly as it seems that many stations do not comply with this. There's been a major bunfight over this issue with digital QSO's and EME which resulted in the IARU R1 definition. Why shouldn't others also comply?

Regards,
Dave.

[VK2KRR]

for a valid QSO on VHF and higher bands is a contact is one where both operators during the contact have mutually identified each other, received a report, and received a confirmation of the successful identification and the reception of the report.

How can you know if you have successfully made reception of the report unless you confirm it with the station who sent the report in the first place??
The way I read it "received a confirmation of the successful identification and the reception of the report", to get a confirmation of the 'successful' identification of the report the station who sent the report has to confirm that the receiving station has copied the report correctly.
If you dont have to correctly confirm the report then whats the point of sending a report in the first place ?

[VK4APG]

Don't believe successful "identification" of the report gets a mention.
R or RR or roger in response to report is surely enough.

[VK4GHZ]

I guess before people can comment with any authority on this contentious issue, they need to actually operate CW and work in amongst DX pileups (even on HF!) and see how the rest of the world do it.
VK/ZL can be a very insulated box, especially 2m and above.

IMO, there is nothing stopping VK/ZL from doing it's own thing on 2m and above, but on 6m and below, you must conform to what the rest of the big wide world is doing.

[VK4TU]

I have to say I was surprised at the way that stations in the contest needed me to repeat the report to them. There definitely seems to be a casual attitude to propagation that just won't hold up under long haul openings. I think that those who can need to get on in the big HF contests and practice, practice, practice especially the CW contests. Download a copy of morse runner and get used to dealing with QSB/QRM/QRN and getting the contact complete. The discussion on UKSMG a few years back held that grid squares are for QSL cards, just exchange calls and reports ie
CQ DX de GJ0NYG
VK4TU
VK4TU 599
R 599 TU
TU de GJ0NYG

I agree that this could still lead to the confusion that VK4TU hasn't said who he is calling but at least the called station has confirmed who he's heard and certainly that is what you'll hear on HF.

[VK3PA]

Quite often i never send DX station call sign he know's who he is, but most DX stations send call of the station they (DX station) is working.. other worry is with PC RX station's will not copy hand sent CW 100 percent es time will be wasted if they keep calling QRZ!! DXCC #CW196 215/216

[VK4DX]

So, the way I see it:

CQ CQ DX VK4DX VK4DX PSE K
VK4DX de OK1DX
OK1DX UR 329 329 329 PSE K
VK4DX DE OK1DX QSL 329 UR 339 339 339 K
OK1DX R R CFM 339 TNX QSO CU
OK1DX NO NO 339 339 UR 329 329 329 BK
VK4DX DE OK1DX PSE RPRT AGN 339/329 ?
OK1DX DE VK4DX CFM 339 UR 329 329 329 OK???
VK4DX SRI OM UR RST 339 MY RST 329 QSL ?
VK4DX VK4DX DE IK1ABC ... IK2XYZ ... YU1ZZ ... hell breaks lose ...

But the way I do it:

QRZ de VK4DX
de OK1DX
OK1DX 5nn
R 5nn
TU
de VK4DX

[VK3SIX]

According to VK3UM's EMR calculator (it's free online) the safe limit for 1KW and array of 18dBd is a tower height of 12m and an exclusion zone of 108m if you are up at that height. At 100w that drops to 5m high and 34m exclusion zone.

You are kidding right, you are quoting a table from some ham radio operator?

What are you gonna do when you get brain cancer ask for your money back?

Well my experience has been to watch my friend and mentor Joel N6AMG a radio towe engineer slowly die of leukemia, then it was Peter Stacpole VK1RX with a chest melanoma directly attributed to exposure to FM 70 MHz energy that cut his life short in three years, then Barrie Lakie from Mt Alex National TV sites Bendigo RF Induced Cancer, then a local Police radio tech from testicular cancer from sitting over a 70 meg repeater during police stakeouts and Eric Murphy rigger who did AM radio towers and lights and a tower rigger who openly boasted about rapelling down over FM arrays and drawing off sparks. And so on.

I am glad that there are exposure limits to afforded unprotected people against the type of thinking you have expressed.

I hope you live a long life.

And I wont be drinking the milk from Farmer Browns cows.

S Gregory
BSTO
National Tv Sites
Kordia

[VK3SIX]

So, the way I see it:



But the way I do it:

QRZ de VK4DX
de OK1DX
OK1DX 5nn
R 5nn
TU
de VK4DX

Well said.

9Q5EE and the east coast hoardes 1991.

9Q5>>??? WASSAT???


This theme has been totally hijacked and I can see many of the would bes coming out of the wood work...

Time to quit and go concentrate on working the second 100 countries while they wonder how to get even the first 100 contained.

Have a nice cycle guys and read about the events in the news...

And hey the greatest antenna in the world does not automaticall guaranatee dx worked.

You gotta have something behind the mike/key as the case may be.

Do you really all think that the dx records I hold came off the page of a logger reflector??
Or that half the world is going to find the time to log in here and report to YOU?
Half the world does not have braodband some do not even have dial up to report here (3D2AG).


And ABW sorry old chap but you were the one who used to whinge about CW poo pood CW only to find that without it the dx was getting away.

As I said set one record with that harware and we maybe convinced.
many have stacked arrays only to find iot is not an automatic key to sucess.
The fact that you are 2000 km closer to the actio than the rest has a major part in your esults and youc annot come the holier than thou attitude due to your location.
Many of your countrymen have come south saying stand by this is a job for an expert, only never to be heard of again.

And may I remind you I found YOU, initiatd the QSO from VK9XI and not the reverse, you guys in Townsville were OBLIVIOUS.

Dont pick a fight you cant possibly win.


The saddest thing I ever heard last cycle was a tape recorded where the guys milled around working the occasional strong SSB European
under the ssb you can hear EU DX stations calling CQ on CW without a single response from the guys over the border.


73

[VK2KRR]

Now I know why the 'usual' report given on HF is 5/9 makes it easier to have a known piece of info for the QSL I guess.
All makes it much easier to get DXCC, wish I had known it was that easy.
Now I will be able to make HEAPS more contacts Ive missed out on so much by trying to make the contacts real.
Thanks for the clarification.

[VK3SIX]

BOOHOO just got the qsl card back from W7TSQ for A35RK but acording to the Rock Rules no deal so better send it back. Boo Hoo

[VK4TS]

Steady Steve,

We must be wary of various interpretations of rules. Sadly as you have tried to gently point out the rules in the big bad world may be a bit different to the slant in our own little patch of VK DX.

A QSO must contain a valid exchange there is no requirement for the stations callsign to be repeated back to them. During contests I will confirm a n4? complete the exchange, confirm the suffix and continue, on SSB contests I am able to exceed 250 QSOs per hour for long stretches peaking at 330 per hour in the CQWWSSB 2007 and in a 30 years plus of contesting have never had logs challenged as to the reports validity.

Be calm take a chill pill and enjoy working the DX before the others

Good Luck throughout the cycle you have certainly introduced some interest. Speaking with a fellow in Brisbane yesterday and another 7 element 6 metre yagi is finding its way up a tower.

Regards

Trent VK4TI