Hi All,
I just had my very first two-way LF QSO. What a thrill! (my
hands are still shaking...)
I was experimenting with a rotatable shorted turn in my loading
coil. I increased the supply voltage to my small PIC controlled
beacon TX until I got 300 mA antenna current. Output power was
about 4 watts. The PIC was sending "hello de sm6lkm" repeatedly
in swedish (hello = hej). I remember thinking "no one can ever hear
this tiny signal" when SM6PXJ phoned me from about 120 km away,
telling me "hello, your have a good signal here!"... What a surprise!
We decided to try a QSO and I did some soldering to get the
straight key connected to the TX. When I called "SM6PXJ de
SM6LKM K" Christer answered immediately.
This QSO was made with normal speed CW and my PA is made
of two small TO-92 transistors (BC337 / BC 327) running on 27V.
I think this we made the first two-way LF QSO within SM?
I also heard G3KEV calling CQ at 19:00 UTC. He had a VERY good
signal, "armchair copy" with SSB filter! Strongest G signal I've heard
so far...
73 from a very happy Johan Bodin, SM6LKM
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