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| G2DXU/M, Daddyhole Plain, Torquay, Devon, England |
Wednesday 2 March 2011
G2DXU/M
73 de G2DXU!
Hello, I'm Alan and I have been a licenced radio amateur since March 2010. Since then I have held 4 callsigns, having gone through the 3 levels of UK licence from Foundation (10 Watts) as M6DXU, Intermediate (50 Watts) as 2E0DXU and Full (400 Watts) as M0WYA. As of January 2011 I have held the callsign G2DXU.
Since taking up the hobby I have found other amateurs very helpful and formative, especially the guys at Watcombe Amateur Radio Club. So, it has been a very interesting and exciting first year on the air.
At the start of the year (early 2010) I began attending WARC and bought a Kenwood THF-7E so I could at least listen in. At that time I was still a SWL, though some time had passed since I actively listened to the air and marine bands and so on. Each week I'd listen to the club's 2m net and was looking forward to taking the exam for the Foundation licence.
The exam was straight forward and I soon had the M6 licence. I bought an Icom IC-7000 to celebrate and thought it would give me the flexibility of a home based 2m/HF setup while also being so small it could easily be taken mobile or portable. I began with a 6 metre length of wire as my first antenna, ably tied to a tree by Adam (M6RDP). It worked ok as a temporary setup and I managed to make a contact to Barbados on 10 Watts.
Around the time I passed the Intermediate, I upgraded to a 20 metre end-fed long wire, which again used a magnetic balun, and I enjoyed some good contacts. I quickly became an M0 and was able to use the 100 Watts output of my Icom IC-7000. Again my contacts became a bit more interesting but still lacked any decent DX.
At the start of this year I had reached my target and registered the G2 callsign and was eager to make some good contacts. At the end of February I bought a ZS6BKW antenna from USA on ebay, on the advice of Paul (M0PCZ) who was having great results with his. After the antenna had been installed, I managed a contact to Kuwait, not a distance record for me, but a first into the region and an encouraging sign of what may lie ahead with the ZS6BKW.
This coming week marks the first anniversary of the exam and becoming licensed so I hope to toast it with some good DX QSO's. Perhaps even have a 1YOTA - 1 Year On The Air - event. Hi hi.
Since taking up the hobby I have found other amateurs very helpful and formative, especially the guys at Watcombe Amateur Radio Club. So, it has been a very interesting and exciting first year on the air.
At the start of the year (early 2010) I began attending WARC and bought a Kenwood THF-7E so I could at least listen in. At that time I was still a SWL, though some time had passed since I actively listened to the air and marine bands and so on. Each week I'd listen to the club's 2m net and was looking forward to taking the exam for the Foundation licence.
The exam was straight forward and I soon had the M6 licence. I bought an Icom IC-7000 to celebrate and thought it would give me the flexibility of a home based 2m/HF setup while also being so small it could easily be taken mobile or portable. I began with a 6 metre length of wire as my first antenna, ably tied to a tree by Adam (M6RDP). It worked ok as a temporary setup and I managed to make a contact to Barbados on 10 Watts.
Around the time I passed the Intermediate, I upgraded to a 20 metre end-fed long wire, which again used a magnetic balun, and I enjoyed some good contacts. I quickly became an M0 and was able to use the 100 Watts output of my Icom IC-7000. Again my contacts became a bit more interesting but still lacked any decent DX.
At the start of this year I had reached my target and registered the G2 callsign and was eager to make some good contacts. At the end of February I bought a ZS6BKW antenna from USA on ebay, on the advice of Paul (M0PCZ) who was having great results with his. After the antenna had been installed, I managed a contact to Kuwait, not a distance record for me, but a first into the region and an encouraging sign of what may lie ahead with the ZS6BKW.
This coming week marks the first anniversary of the exam and becoming licensed so I hope to toast it with some good DX QSO's. Perhaps even have a 1YOTA - 1 Year On The Air - event. Hi hi.
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