Quick summary of the Perseids 2019 on 144 MHz. Between August 8th and 18th, 2019, I made 43 QSO’s with the following stations : UT2UB, EW7AW, SP8OOU, EA4SG, OK2WO, EU4AX, C37MS, 9A3MR, SM3LBN, SP2MHR, UA3LID, UT9UR, LA/SM5EPO (JP72, 75, 76), SQ5GVY, SP7QJF, OH1ND, OH1MN, EM44T, UT7KF, OG2Z, YO2LSP, YU7ON, RA1TL, R5WM, SM4GGC, LZ0C, US8AR, UT8AL, EA3MS, OH1XT, SM3XGV, EB5EEO, CT7ABA, SF6F (2 QSO’s), S50TA, S51ZO, LZ2FO, SV2JAO, YO2BBT and HA6VV.

I omit the reports on purpose (MS Sprint Contest). The furthest station worked was R5WM over 2166 km. Amongst other 2000 km+ QSO’s, US8AR was using 100W/9el and UT8AL used only 25W/21el ! On August 18th in the morning, during the YO Marathon, 9A, Italian FD contests, there was an outburst. I worked YO2BBT in SSB but failed to complete with YO7FWS during a 1 min MS burst. Both called me at the end of a Tropo QSO with OK1RDO, also in OK Contest.

Most of the above mentioned QSO’s were random, few ones by taking a sked on ON4KST. 32 out of the 43 were made using MSK144, 10 were in FSK441 and 1 in SSB.

Squares worked (click on the maps below to enlarge) :

I didn’t notice a real peak of the Perseids, or perhaps on the 13th in the early morning. Also visually, it wasn’t that much a fireworks, at least when I watched outside ! This year during the Perseids, we “suffered” from the same newbies we face in FT8 : people ignoring what MS is all about, calling you via Tropo and using uncoordinated 15 sec periods, just because it is embedded as is in WSJT-X…

By making some data processing (excluding the stations < 800 km) with exports from PSK reporter in Excel and kml mapping tools outputing into Google Earth (drop me a mail at on4khg@voo.be to know how to), one comes up with the map of all the stations I heard (mostly MSK144) during the Perseids (the furthest heard was UR3EE at 2314 km) :

By making a likewise data processing for the stations that heard ON4KHG, we have (furthest was RA3EL at 2206 km) :

Space

Below the map of the QSO’s I have been lucky to work on 144 MHz during the period December 25th, 2018 to January 6th, 2019. The conditions lasted for days, thanks to a steady high pressure system over Western Europe. Stations on the North coast of Spain were hearing the OY beacon but unfortunately there was no activity from the Faroes Islands. In JO10XO, I was out of the North-South duct but I could benefit however from excellent conditions from South-West to North-West. UT1FG/MM was worked while in IN66, JO12, JO25 and JO36 (3 new #). I missed IN67 as I was out for the New Years eve. The map depicts SSB, CW and FT8 QSO’s.

SAPCE

En février/mars 2018, Chris PA2CHR et Jos PA3FYC ont activé le Guatemala au travers d’une DX-pédition tribande (144-432-1296), depuis le carré locator EK44SB. J’ai eu la chance de contacter assez facilement TD9FYC (toujours en total “random”, c’est-à-dire sans notification de mon appel sur un logger/chat). Merci Chris et Jos pour ce nouveau DXCC (143 ème) sur 144 MHz !

In February/March 2018, Chris PA2CHR and Jos PA3FYC have been activating Guatemala in a triband (144-432-1296) DX-pedition, as from the grid square EK44SB. I have had the chance to work TD9FYC somehow easily (always in total “random”, i.e. without notification of my call on a logger/chat). Thanks Chris and Jos for this new DXCC (143th) on 144 MHz !

SPACE

Début novembre 2017 (le mois “anniversaire” de mes 30 ans de radioamateurisme…), j’ai eu l’immense plaisir de recevoir le diplôme Worked All States (WAS) numéro 208 sur 144 MHz. Il récompense le fait d’avoir contacté au moins une fois chaque état américain, en l’occurrence par réflexion sur la lune en ce qui me concerne. Avant de l’obtenir, il a fallu également collecter et faire vérifier toutes les cartes QSL. La station, ou plutôt les différentes stations utilisées au fil des ans sont restées relativement modestes, le tableau ci-dessous renseigne antennes et puissances utilisées. 35 états ont pu être contactés avec une seule antenne et sans élévation, mais certainement en profitant de “gain de sol“, difficile à quantifier précisément, mais de l’ordre de 4-5 dB. Merci à tous, et en particulier à Gene, KB7Q (qui a activé plusieurs états rares) et à Jim, N1NK (qui m’a permis de contacter le dernier état tant attendu, Rhode Island).

Beginning of November 2017 (the “anniversary” month of my 30 years as ham radio…), I have had the great pleasure to receive the Worked All States (WAS) award number 208 on 144 MHz. It rewards the fact of having worked at least one time every US state, thanks to moon bouncing in my case. Prior to get it, it has been needed to collect and make check all the QSL cards. The station, or rather the stations used over the years have remained relatively modest, the table below indicates which antennas and powers have been used. 35 states have been worked with a single antenna without elevation, but certainly benefiting from “ground gain” (in French), difficult to quantify precisely but somewhere around 4-5 dB. Thanks to all and in particular to Gene, KB7Q (who activated several rare states) and to Jim, N1NK (who allowed me to work the last long awaited state, Rhode Island).

Date	State	Callsign	Mode	Working conditions	ERP (kW)
1/10/1994	TX TEXAS	W5UN	CW	(1)	1,54
15/11/2003	OH OHIO	KB8RQ	CW	(2)	3,48
14/10/2006	CA CALIFORNIA	K6MYC	JT65b	(3)	6,22
12/11/2006	MN MINNESOTA	K0KP	JT65b	(3)	6,22
12/11/2006	WI WISCONSIN	N0AKC	JT65b	(3)	6,22
18/6/2007	IL ILLINOIS	K9DX	JT65b	(3)	6,22
20/7/2007	NJ NEW JERSEY	K1JT	JT65b	(3)	6,22
4/8/2007	KY KENTUCKY	W8WN	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/10/2007	AZ ARIZONA	AA7A	JT65b	(3)	6,22
24/11/2007	NC NORTH CAROLINA	K4SV	JT65b	(3)	6,22
25/11/2007	NH NEW HAMPSHIRE	K1CA	JT65b	(3)	6,22
21/9/2008	IN INDIANA	K9MRI	JT65b	(3)	6,22
27/9/2008	FL FLORIDA	W4RBO	JT65b	(3)	6,22
26/10/2008	ME MAINE	W1IPL	JT65b	(3)	6,22
8/11/2008	VA VIRGINIA	AD4TJ	JT65b	(3)	6,22
13/1/2009	OR OREGON	K7MI	JT65b	(3)	6,22
14/1/2009	GA GEORGIA	WA4NJP	JT65b	(3)	6,22
31/1/2009	DE DELAWARE	WA3QPX	JT65b	(3)	6,22
31/1/2009	ID IDAHO	W7MEM	JT65b	(3)	6,22
31/1/2009	MD MARYLAND	KD3UY	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/3/2009	NY NEW YORK	W2TSL	JT65b	(3)	6,22
29/3/2009	AK ALASKA	KL7UW	JT65b	(3)	6,22
25/4/2009	CT CONNECTICUT	K5GMX	JT65b	(3)	6,22
2/5/2009	SC SOUTH CAROLINA	AA4SC	JT65b	(3)	6,22
29/5/2009	KS KANSAS	W0PT	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/6/2009	PA PENNSYLVANIA	WA2FGK	JT65b	(3)	6,22
22/1/2010	TN TENNESSEE	WD4JHD	JT65b	(3)	6,22
24/1/2010	MT MONTANA	W7GJ	JT65b	(3)	6,22
21/2/2010	MA MASSACHUSETTS	N1DPM	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/2/2010	NM NEW MEXICO	K5DOG	JT65b	(3)	6,22
10/8/2010	WA WASHINGTON	W7IUV	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/8/2010	LA LOUISIANA	WZ5Q	JT65b	(3)	6,22
19/2/2011	OK OKLAHOMA	K0CIY	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/8/2011	UT UTAH	K7ULS	JT65b	(3)	6,22
28/4/2012	ND NORTH DAKOTA	NT0V	JT65b	(4)	7,91
24/6/2012	HI HAWAII	KH7Y	JT65b	(4)	7,91
13/10/2012	VT VERMONT	W1ICW	JT65b	(4)	7,91
21/11/2012	AL ALABAMA	W4ENN	JT65b	(4)	7,91
6/1/2013	WV WEST VIRGINIA	WB8TFV	JT65b	(3)	6,22
13/1/2013	CO COLORADO	N0KE	JT65b	(4)	7,91
18/1/2013	NV NEVADA	W7OJT	JT65b	(4)	7,91
6/1/2014	MI MICHIGAN	KF8MY	JT65b	(4)	7,91
2/3/2014	MS MISSISSIPPI	K5WBM	JT65b	(4)	7,91
7/5/2014	SD SOUTH DAKOTA	W7XU	JT65b	(5)	13,18
24/5/2014	AR ARKANSAS	W5ZN	JT65b	(5)	13,18
22/1/2015	NE NEBRASKA	K1MEA	JT65b	(5)	13,18
8/6/2015	WY WYOMING	KB7Q	JT65b	(5)	13,18
29/9/2015	IA IOWA	KB7Q/0	JT65b	(5)	13,18
3/10/2015	MO MISSOURI	N0IRS	JT65b	(5)	13,18
24/5/2017	RI RHODE ISLAND	N1NK	JT65b	(6)	26,36

(1) : 100W + 17el F9FT (3,1wl) fixed 10° Elevation
(2) : 300W + 9el Wimo (2,4wl) No Elevation
(3) : 300W + 12el DK7ZB (3,8wl) No Elevation
(4) : 300W + 2x9el DK7ZB (2,4wl) with Elevation
(5) : 500W + 2x9el DK7ZB (2,4wl) with Elevation
(6) : 1kW + 2x9el DK7ZB (2,4wl) with Elevation

Sapace

Semaine fructueuse en EME sur 144 MHz, 3 nouvelles contrées DXCC ont pu être contactées. D’abord le 8 octobre, l’expédition RI1F active depuis la Terre François Joseph (Franz Josef Land), un territoire russe situé en arctique. Vladimir R9LR, un opérateur EME, s’était joint à l’expédition. Malgré le pile-up, j’ai eu la chance de réaliser le QSO assez facilement. Il s’agit aussi d’une première (first) Belgique – Terre François Joseph sur 144 MHz.

Fruitful week in EME on 144 MHz, 3 new DXCC countries could be worked. First on October 8th, the expedition RI1F active from Franz Josef Land, a russian territory in the Arctic. Vladimir R9LR, an EME operator, joined the expedition. Despite the pile-up, I have been lucky to make the QSO somehow easily. It is also a first Belgium – Franz Josef Land on 144 MHz.

Ensuite le 12 octobre, T8EM, l’archipel de Palau (Pacifique ouest) était dans le log comme DXCC numéro 138 sur 144 MHz. Cette expédition était conduite par Taka JP3EXR et Kay JH3AZC, qui ont contacté plus de 200 stations en EME. Une vidéo Youtube de leur expédition est visible ici.

Then, on October 12th, T8EM, the Palau archipelago (Western Pacific) was in the log as DXCC number 138 on 144 MHz. This expedition was conducted by Taka JP3EXR and Kay JH3AZC, who worked more than 200 stations in EME. A Youtube video of their expedition can be seen here.

Et finalement, le 15 octobre, c’était au tour de 3DA0MB (Swaziland) de trouver sa place dans mon log. Il s’agissait d’une expédition EME multibandes (de 6m à 3cm !) dont les membres étaient Vincent 3DA0VV, Lins PA3CMC, John ZS6JON, Chris PA2CHR, Alex ZS6EME, Andrew ZS6AVH, Bernie ZS4TX, Sam HB9COG, Dan HB9CRQ. Le 14 octobre, j’ai appelé 3DA0MB durant 4 heures, avec comme résultat 2 QSO’s incomplets. Le lendemain, un seul appel et bingo, QSO réalisé juste à temps, avant de prendre la direction de Bruges pour y participer au semi-marathon…

And finally, on October 15th, it was the turn of 3DA0MB to find its way into my log. This was a multiband EME expedition (from 6m to 3cm !) whose members were Vincent 3DA0VV, Lins PA3CMC, John ZS6JON, Chris PA2CHR, Alex ZS6EME, Andrew ZS6AVH, Bernie ZS4TX, Sam HB9COG and Dan HB9CRQ. On October 14th, I have been calling for 4 hours, with as result 2 uncomplete QSO’s. The day after, a single call and bingo, QSO done just right before leaving to Brugge, to compete in the half-marathon…

Merci pour tous vos efforts !!!

Thanks for all your efforts !!!

SPACE