Icom IC-7300 main shack rig

Let’s do a Radio Weekend!

A while ago I planned Radio Weekend with a few HAM-friends; Karel PE2KDK, Marco PH4M and Henk PE1PEX.

Arriving

On Friday Marco and Karel picked me up and we put all my gear into a Fiat 500 (new model). After a 1,5 hour drive we arrived at the Hunehuis in Darp (JO32CT). That is in the east part of the Netherlands. While it is quite a remote location (especially relevant for low QRM on the radio bands) there are enough possibilities to build antenna’s.
After picking out our operating area we left for some groceries and later that afternoon we explored the lot to find good antenna positions. We had all kind of wire antennas like a G5RV (short and long version), a ZS6BKW and a MFJ1777. Also we took 2 verticals. A 40 meter mono-band and a 10 meter long multi-band vertical. First we shoot some ropes in the trees with a crossbow and pulled up the long G5RV. In the front yard we put up the multi-band vertical.

On air

Then we went on air on Friday night and were astonished because of the lack of QRM. Consequently the IC-7300 became an even more excited radio to work with in this environment. While tune in on really low signals, I was able to copy (not just my ears, also FLdigi) even the smallest signals. Rather a great experience! Therefore I immediately start searching for some rare DX-stations. Due to the involvement in searching for DX, it became 01:30 AM in no time.

Saturday

After a few hours of sleep I was back at the radio at 06:30 AM. Rather working DX then sleeping! After working a few DX-stations we headed outside again for some more antenna experiments. On the backside a 40 meter vertical was set up and in the front we hung up a MFJ-1777 wire antenna.
Because we played radio for a whole day, we went out for a bite that night in a local restaurant. When we came back I searched some more for DX-stations. I couldn’t keep my eyes open at 1 o’clock so I went for bed.

Sunday

Due to a little more sleep this time I was QRV again on Sunday morning around 07:30 AM. Still a few hours left for searching DX. Around lunchtime we broke everything up and headed for home.
First of all it was an absolutely great Radio Weekend. The location was about to be perfect, antennas where almost perfect and the company was, without a doubt, perfect!
As a result of this we will be returning on this location again somewhere next year. I think about putting up a vertical array then for transmitting and a beverage for receiving.

2 thoughts on “Radio Weekend 2016

    • Hai Mark, eigenlijk heb ik maar 15 stations gewerkt, op van alles van 40 tot 15 meter. Laat je het nog precies weten wat. De TL-922 hebben we ook volop gebruikt en dat ging prachtig. Mooie eindtrap om te gebruiken.

Leave a Reply