Lars Midtbø, LA2RRA is the cook on the “M / S Nordstjernen,” a ship for transport, built in 1956 and modernized in 1980, adapted to accommodate seafaring passengers traveling the old route to the Archipelago of Spitsbergen (JW).

Lars, when off duty works with antenna system and IC-7000 HF rig, while matching the low bands and working digital modes. You can also meet him on 20 meter SSB.

QSLs must be submitted via the bureau.

M / S Nordstjernen, built in the Hamburg, Germany shipyards in 1956, 80 meters long, 13 meters high, keel depth 5 meters .

Listen out for Cesare I0WDX in the next few days.

He will be active from Furanafushi Island, North Male Atoll, Maldives as 8Q7CC between November 2 – 11, 2011.

QSL is via his home call I0WDX.

Qsl cards processed:

10KG (5 x 2Kg) to the
RSGB Bureau, 2 Kg to JARL;

GB1HI – 284
GB1TAN – 255
GR2HQ – 230
M0BZH – 20
PX2C – 62
PYMTV – 75
PW2D – 82
G3SZU – 37,
M0OXO – 349,
MW0X – 179,
MR0OXO – 234,
M0IAA – 10, MR0IAA – 8,GW8ASA – 3, RA3CQ – 77, M0AID – 20, G4RCG –10, GR4RCG –70, G1WRS – 122……and a further 120 letters Direct from OQRS and Post Mail.

CQWW SSB is upon us this weekend and with the increased band activity now the higher bands are open, it promises to be an amazing weekend with lots of new DX.

One of the new Teams out this year are V55A in Namibia. It is their first outing this weekend and we all hope that all goes well for them. They will also have a logbook on-line courtesy of our favourite Clublog.

Also active with be Thomas and Fabio as PW2D and also Andre PY2MTV may make an appreance from home. Listen out for the guys and if you hear them please give them your support. GL guys!

(click the logo to the left for the V55A Log Search)

(Qsl for all above via M0OXO)

We got on air at 17:23 UTC, first call in the log this time was Christian, 2W0LLL on 40M, it was soon apparent we were a big signal as the radio front end seemed to explode with stations calling us. We had G stations at 10 over, being knocked back by VK and JA coming in at 20 over. The wall of sound was amazing.
Two things had contributed to this, the tide was coming in and we had 1.2 Km of radials under the antenna. We were really moving nicely, 160 was good, with lots of US and EU stations worked on CW, but 40 and 20 were our main stays. We opted to try for 10M on the first morning, bad move. The elderly tuner I have did not like something and blew several caps, it also popped a doorknob Cap off the Linear, this in turn affected our whole higher bands jaunt.. Bah! Two hours later after much head scratching we were up and running, 15, 17 and 20 metres being the mainstay, and the pile ups were fantastic. Some of the comments on the signals blew us away, we knew that we put a decent signal out previously, but it seemed the extra radials had made a huge difference. we had gone up from 40 radials to over 120, some being 40M long for 160.

We worked around the world, VK1-7, ZL, JA, BY, BA, W/K1-0, ZD8, TI are all stations that came in loud. Even QRP stations were strong with us, I worked a VK4F station with 10 watts, he was 57 at times! 40M has been our main band, we had huge pile ups, but 20 and 15 threw some huge surprises in for us, hearing a BX station stomp in at 10-15 over 9 against an s9 Plus EU pile on 15 was amazing. working Frank, VK7BC on “his ” Island at 10-15 over 9 astounded me, we activate Hilbre for two reasons, 1, to give you EU120 Hilbre, and 2, so Frank can hear the Island he grew up on and courted his Lady Wife there!

We ended up on 1197 contacts in the time on the Island, 350 down on last time, but…. This time we have operated for less time through break down, if we had got 10 M running without problems, if we hadn’t struggled with the mast, if, if, if… One thing is certain, no if’s or buts we have had another amazing time on Hilbre, we have learned a huge amount about amateur spirit, good and bad. We have also found that Mart and I are a great team, we work well together, even under pressure. We hope to visit Hilbre again next year, this time to work 10 and 12, maybe even 6m, who knows! One of my favourite films is “Forest Gump”, and to quote a famous line, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Isn’t that what makes it so much fun?”

Thanks to everyone that assisted or orked us, it means a lot, thankyou!

During the Late Heavy Bombardment, comets and other frosty objects from the outer solar system pummeled the inner planets. The barrage scarred our Moon and produced large amounts of dust.

Scientists have spotted a band of dust around Eta Corvi that strongly matches the contents of an obliterated giant comet, probably destroyed by a collision with a planet or some other large body. The dust is located close enough to Eta Corvi that Earth-like worlds could exist in the collision zone, suggesting that planets like our own might be involved. The Eta Corvi system is approximately one billion years old, which researchers think is about the right age for such a hailstorm.

A second, more massive ring of colder dust located at the far edge of the Eta Corvi system seems like the proper environment for a reservoir of cometary bodies. This bright ring, discovered in 2005, matches the size of a similar region in our own solar system, known as the Kuiper Belt, where icy and rocky leftovers from planet formation linger. The comets of Eta Corvi and the Almahata Sitta meteorite may have each originated in the Kuiper Belts of their respective star systems.

About 4 billion years ago, not long after our solar system formed, scientists think the Kuiper Belt was disturbed by a migration of Jupiter and Saturn. This jarring shift in the solar system’s gravitational balance scattered the icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt, flinging the vast majority into interstellar space and producing cold dust in the belt. Some Kuiper Belt objects, however, were set on inward paths that crossed the orbits of Earth and other rocky planets.

QST, to all Radio Amateurs
15 October 2011

World-wide HF operators are kindly requested to QSY away from 7.060-7.063 at all times due to use by Thailand hams during the massive flood emergency affecting millions of people in North and Central Thailand.

Today, the emergency is on-going with huge areas flooded of from a half to two meters of water, some areas are deeper and a few spotty areas are mostly dry in the region.

News estimates say that the flooding will continue for four to six more days, at its height, and subsidence will be over a month. Clean-up and rebuilding may extend more than a year. The majority of flood radio traffic is being carried on the two meter band by scores of ham volunteers, some of which have had their own homes inundated. It is impossible to estimate how many ham radio operators’
shacks are now affected, but the significant flooding covers huge swaths of the region as seen on http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/Rural_Training_Center-Thailand/pages.

The Thai National Club Station, HS0AC, home of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand, is threatened tomorrow and is under watch. Timely updates can be seen at http://www.qsl.net/rast in English.

Reported by HS0ZCW, Charly

Qsl cards processed and ready for Bureau:

GB1HI – 321
GB1TAN – 290
GR2HQ – 330
M0BZH – 8
PX2C – 32
PYMTV – 35
PW2D – 52
G3SZU – 27
M0OXO – 249
GB0WFF – 177

From Col MM0NDX;

Much has happened since the first press release was issued on August 27th. A few days later, we got word that the 2009 MM0RAI/p Rockall team were again going to attempt an activation of EU-189 at the end of September. To cut a long story short, IOTA chasers will be aware that the Belgian team did eventually activate the island, with the aide of a converted navy rescue vessel and large inflatables – we congratulate MM0RAI/p on their achievenment as we all know how heavy the seas can be out there in Autumn.

With careful consideration and much deliberation, we have decided to postpone our intended activation of the islet for at least one year. This decision was not taken easily considering our planning and organisational aspects were going extremely well. Suffice to say, we believe an activation so soon after the Belgian effort now makes Rockall a less attractive target – that is the crux of our decision.

It is not lost on us that the majority of the world, outwith a proportion of Europe, still require EU-189 for their IOTA scores. With that in mind, this planned activity will not be cancelled, only postponed.

All donations will be refunded. We thank sincerely those kind operators and groups who pledged financial support.

What we can say is that another excellent location/target is now being organised. This involves a rare DXCC and IOTA. However, unlike MS0INT 2012 plans, we prefer to keep silent on this, and only release news and website one week before departure, sometime in mid-2012.

A great way of listening to current Ham Radio news. It includes local and national topics in a formal ‘chat’ atmosphere and also provides a propagation report.

Its great to improve your knowledge of Ham Radio and gives you the info in basic terms and well explained topics. Give it a try whether in your Shack or on your Ipod/Mobile Fone.

Click the image for a link to the icqpodcast website and then select the ‘Latest Podcast’ on the left side.