DX

First 160 meter CW DXCC in Iceland

On November 12, 2009, in Amateur Radio, by TF4M

Today I sent my application for 160M DXCC to the ARRL.

This will be the first 160M DXCC in Iceland.

Band conditions are still poor and the band is quite noisy, but even so I made a few QSOs to JA this afternoon.

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Tagged with: 160M • audio • CW • DX • DXCC160 • FIRST! • The King

500 QSOs with JA in the log on Top Band !

On November 11, 2009, in Amateur Radio, by TF4M

A milestone was reached this afternoon.

I worked JH7PFD for QSO number 500 with Japan on Top Band.

I can hear and work JA stations on Top Band the entire day, from 1200Z to Sun Rise in Japan at approximately 2110Z – this corresponds to their hours of darkness.

This is even more interesting, since this seems to be the case even under disturbed conditions, previously considered utterly impossible.

This is, of course, entirely thanks to the Arctic King.

Tagged with: 160M • CW • DX • The King

High Tide

On November 9, 2009, in Amateur Radio, by TF4M

The great Arctic King is built right on the edge of the sea.

This accounts for his extremely strong signal and low angle of radiation towards more than half of the horizon.

In addition, the salt water impregnates the ground around the King and ensures excellent ground conductivity and very low ground losses.

I would like to clarify that the Arctic King is only used for transmitting – I receive with an array of Beverage antennas ranging from 170 meters to 400 meters long in various directions.

I would also like to clarify that the downward angles of the top radial wires and the in-land angle as well, were dictated by the shape of the small peninsula that the Arctic King is built on and on the availability of large wooden poles.

Slightly better performance would have resulted if it had been possible to have the top radials horizontal and in-line.

Such poles are not easy to come by in Iceland, in fact the King – the 27m pole – is the largest pole in Iceland.

The Beverage antenna pointing towards Japan is the shortest Beverage in my arsenal – 170 meters long.

I intend to build a larger Beverage towards Japan to decrease the beam width and reduce the noise level even further.

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