G4KQH, UK Amateur Radio Station
HF, VHF & UHF Station - Activity
G4KQH was not at all active during 2008! Work and family commitments made it impossible to fit in any amateur radio activity after February last year. So for the first time in a number of years, G4KQH has been QRT for an extended period. Hopefully, the station may get reactivated at some point during 2009.
SSB has been the normal operating mode at G4KQH, with very occasional contacts using FM. The station was mostly operated on the VHF and UHF bands, especially during Tuesday evening 'activity contests'. You can see the station activity by viewing the Contacts per Band.
Is Your Station in the Log?
You can see how many contacts you have made with G4KQH by entering your callsign in the box below and then clicking the 'Show Contacts Stats' button.
Operator and Previous Callsign
G4KQH is operated by Dave Howes, perhaps best known in amateur radio circles as the designer of the Howes Kits range of low power (QRP) radio kits. This business was sold to G3TUX in April 2000. Prior to obtaining the full licence and G4KQH callsign in 1980, Dave held the callsign G8BKK, a 'class B' licence which had the advantage of not requiring a Morse test, but didn't permit operation on bands below 30MHz. This callsign was issued in 1968 when Dave was 15 years old.
Station Equipment
G4KQH is currently using a Kenwood TS-2000E as the main station rig. Prior to the purchase of the TS-2000, a Yaesu FT-857 mobile transceiver was used as the main home station radio for a couple of years. Since its arrival, the TS-2000E has proved much more enjoyable to operate, along with providing better audio quality.
VHF and UHF Contacts/Squares Maps
The red spots on the map graphic above show the locations of stations contacted on the 70cm band this year, provided that the full six character grid locator for the station was recorded in the log database. The map is generated by the web server using the station log database when the graphic is served. If you don't see today's date in the graphic, please reload (refresh) the webpage to get today's version.
You can use the links below to see a dynamically generated map of locator squares for stations contacted ('worked') on the 6m, 2m and 70cm VHF and UHF bands.
View map for bands: 6m - 50MHz | 2m - 144MHz | 70cm - 432MHz
G4KQH is not a collector of awards or a serious 'squares chaser', but noting the squares worked and keeping a watch for new ones does add a bit of extra interest.
Antennas Used
Antennas used over the last few years have been a half-wave dipole for 20m fed with twin feed and an ATU for HF (and sometimes for 6m). A 5 ele MET yagi was occasionally used for the 6m band, but this has now been cut down and modified to make a 3 element yagi. On 2m, an ancient 4 ele homebrew yagi or an 11 ele Tonna is used, with either a very old 19 ele Tonna or a newer 21 ele Tonna on 70cm. Out of sympathy for the mechanicals of the lightweight antenna rotator's gearbox, only one beam antenna is currently on the mast at any one time! The smaller antennas get used when high winds are forecast.
Quarter-wave antennas for 40m, 80m and Top Band (160m) were used over the winter months of 2005/6. These shared a ground system of five short ground radials and earth rods. The 40m antenna was vertical, the other two in an 'inverted L' format. The coax feeder was switched between the antennas depending on the band in use. In such close proximity, the longer antennas had a notiacble loading effect on shorter ones, lowering their resonant frequency. The 160m antenna is back up at the moment.
QSL Cards
In reply to valid cards received, QSL cards to confirm a contact are normally sent via the RSGB QSL Bureau. After a very long gap without any cards being received, three full envelopes have arrived from the bureau in quick succession - some cards for contacts made in 2005. Replies have been sent.
More stuff will be added to this website when I can find a few spare hours. One day I may even get around to designing the site properly, rather than just adding in bits of extra functionality from time to time!
Dave Howes G4KQH,
Eydon,
Daventry,
Northamptonshire NN11 3PR,
England, UK
Email:
G4KQH Station Locator Square: IO92jd
Site hosting by HowesComms, Eydon, Daventry, Northants.