Strong magic on the "magic band"

Only one signal on the band but what a strong one.

This is HC2FG booming into central Florida from Guayaquil Ecuador. 

Gustavo is using a kilowatt into a 5-el monoband Yagi on 6 meters and I'm at 100 watts (Anan-10E, Neptune amp) into a 17-ft whip that was previously on 20m CW in the ARRL DX Contest - I switched to 6m just have a quick look and saw the +27dB signal.

I don't think I've ever seen a stronger signal on any band. A few minutes after I worked him, he's up to +33dB.

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FX-4CR evolves into a smaller, more QRO radio

From Yu BG2FX:

"A new design (of the FX-4CR) is underway. Thinner volume. Dual-fan cooling. The maximum SSB transmission power is designed to be 50W. The new MCU microcontroller provides more functionality."

 

Yu will also be providing a matching external ATU for the upcoming radio.

 

VFO tuning will be via Up/Down buttons rather than with a traditional rotary encoder in order to reduce the height. 

 

No info yet on a projected release date or price. 

 

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Height comparison: FX4CR vs New Radio

 

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If you're in a hurry...there's FT2

Volunteer testers sought - read the full poop here.

Personally, I can't get past all the pop-up ads and want nothing to do with providing my Whatsapp contact info in order to be in the loop.

UPDATE: New official FT2 page here 

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3Y0K: D(rama)Xpedition to Bouvet

Recent events regarding this year's attempt to activate Bouvet Island have made for very interesting reading and I hope that once the dust settles, we DXers will be treated to "the rest of the story".

Official word from the team's leadership has been sparse but two team members - each of whom paid huge sums of money to participate - have dropped out...with no refunds being forthcoming.

The two DXpeditioners are Krassy Petkov K1LZ and Greg Hernández KP4PK.

22 Oct: Krassy's open letter to the DX community is here

13 Feb: And, today - Greg's is here

Both ops cite similar reasons for leaving but only Greg did so voluntarily.

As of now (14 Feb, 0030Z) the ship (Argus) that will transport the remaining team to Bouvet is en route to Cape Town where the team will board the ship. It is due to arrive 17 Feb at 0600 local time.

The Argus can be tracked here. 

QRP Labs...will the wonders never cease?!

Hans G0UPL announced today that he is using new (not yet released to the masses) firmware that allows the QMX+ to emulate one of his first kits - the Ultimate 3S.

The U3S is a many-mode beacon transmitter that offers some amazing functionality, especially given its low price.

It is primarily used as a WSPR transmitter but is also capable of Hellschreiber, Opera, QRSS, all of the JT modes and more; plus automatic band-switching and GPS control of frequency.

I built one about 14 years ago and I still have it today; in fact, it's operating on 20m WSPR as I type.

The QMX+ has become the QSX and now the U3S. 

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