License plate YO3HJV and RVSU

While in Costinesti, I saw a little stall with custom made number plates.
I made two of them. One with my callsign and one with RVSU (Ham radio Emcomm network).
Do you like it?

YOFF and E-QSL

Astazi am "tras" tare in HF din portabil. Mda, Sunt la Costinesti si am rucsacelul meu cu IC-703 si cu antena Racal.
Am reusit sa fac o legatura de exceptie cu YO2MTG aflat pe undeva pe langa Timisoara, in portabil YOFF si el. Ei bine, BANDA in care am facut legatura este cheia! Legatura a fost in 14 MHz pe la ora 10 AM! Cu 5 W, e fain!
Revenind la oile noastre... Dupa ce am lucrat o serie de statii exotice, am zis sa vad ce se mai intampla pe E-QSL. Cam ce confirmari au mai sosit.
Si am constatat ca am o multime de QSL-uri in asteptare pentru ca sunt corespondenti care nu au cont deschis pe e-qsl.
Intentia era sa aplic la DXCC-ul EQSL. Confirmate cu AG (Authenticity Guaranteed) am vreo 85 insa pentru restul pana la 100, desi am facut QSO-urile, corespondentii nu sunt membri AG ori nici macar nu au cont deschis pe E-QSL.
Asa ca, in speranta ca vor da pe blogul meu, pun o casuta de verificare in coloana din dreapta... Cine stie, poate vor face "pasul".
Intre timp, o sa ma preocup sa ma inscriu la LOTW...
Un fenomen interesant: in 21 MHz, o deschidere de aproximativ 30 de minute mi-a oferit placerea unor QSO-uri in plin pile-up cu statii din Uruguay, Argentina, Brazilia.

Some asked me "What is YOFF"?
Well, tarted in Romania in June 2009 by YO3JW Flora Fauna program has taken off in a big way and is about conservation and is aimed at National Parks, Nature Reserves and Coastlines. Like other countries, Romania has now (June 2009) a YOFF program supported by Romanian Society of Radioamateurs.

I ended my portable op so I can post here the log:
QSO: 14000 PSK31 2012-08-19 1002  YO3HJV/P      599 001    HA1BF         599 000    0
QSO: 14000 PSK31 2012-08-19 0953  YO3HJV/P      599 002    JY5HX         599 000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0946  YO3HJV/P      59  003    UR5MDY        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0945  YO3HJV/P      59  004    DL1NKS        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0944  YO3HJV/P      59  005    DL1NAX        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0942  YO3HJV/P      56  006    9H4GRS/       57  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0939  YO3HJV/P      59  007    I0SSW         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0939  YO3HJV/P      59  008    IZ2FOS        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0938  YO3HJV/P      59  009    UA3XAC        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0938  YO3HJV/P      59  010    IZ3WXR        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0936  YO3HJV/P      59  011    SP6OJG        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0934  YO3HJV/P      59  012    RU3FN         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0932  YO3HJV/P      59  013    EA7ITL        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0931  YO3HJV/P      59  014    IW2NUI        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0930  YO3HJV/P      59  015    EA7PY         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0930  YO3HJV/P      59  016    UR7ET         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0921  YO3HJV/P      59  017    UA6FH         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0921  YO3HJV/P      59  018    RZ6YZ         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-19 0917  YO3HJV/P      59  019    SQ6ILB        59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-18 1920  YO3HJV/P      59  020    CW1R          59  000    0
QSO: 21000 PH 2012-08-18 1859  YO3HJV/P      59  021    PY1PL         59  000    0
QSO: 21000 PH 2012-08-18 1851  YO3HJV/P      59  022    LT5X          59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1844  YO3HJV/P      599 023    R1000M        599 000    0
QSO:  1800 CONTESTI 2012-08-18 1758  YO3HJV/P      599 024    G3ZXX         579 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1752  YO3HJV/P      599 025    SV8IJZ        599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1741  YO3HJV/P      599 026    UA1CAS        599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1738  YO3HJV/P      599 027    RK9AK         599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1734  YO3HJV/P      599 028    DL3KOG        599 000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1655  YO3HJV/P      59  029    5B4AIF        59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1634  YO3HJV/P      599 030    RU9SG         599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1630  YO3HJV/P      599 031    OK1AW         599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1626  YO3HJV/P      599 032    4X1AJ         599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PSK31 2012-08-18 1622  YO3HJV/P      599 033    YL3ID         599 000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1038  YO3HJV/P      55  034    SP2ORL        55  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1032  YO3HJV/P      57  035    SP7WLU        57  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1031  YO3HJV/P      59  036    YO2LGX        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1030  YO3HJV/P      59  037    HA6OB         55  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1029  YO3HJV/P      59  038    I0SSW         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1029  YO3HJV/P      59  039    9A1MB         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1024  YO3HJV/P      59  040    LZ3SM         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1021  YO3HJV/P      59  041    YO3BAP        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1021  YO3HJV/P      59  042    YO2LGH        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1018  YO3HJV/P      59  043    YT1SJ         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1014  YO3HJV/P      59  044    YO5LD         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1009  YO3HJV/P      59  045    UY0UY/P       59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-18 1001  YO3HJV/P      59  046    ER1RPF        59  000    0
QSO:  1800 RY 2012-08-18 0930  YO3HJV/P      599 047    UK7AZ         599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0909  YO3HJV/P      599 048    1B1AB         599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0902  YO3HJV/P      599 049    CS5DFG        599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0854  YO3HJV/P      599 050    OK1DKA        599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0848  YO3HJV/P      599 051    DL3HXX        599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0815  YO3HJV/P      599 052    RA4FW         599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0814  YO3HJV/P      599 053    RA4FQ         599 000    0
QSO: 21070 PSK31 2012-08-18 0811  YO3HJV/P      599 054    DK1MBY        599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0810  YO3HJV/P      599 055    DK1MBY        599 000    0
QSO: 21000 PSK31 2012-08-18 0806  YO3HJV/P      599 056    4X1AJ         599 000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-18 0729  YO3HJV/P      59  057    YL2CZ         59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-18 0724  YO3HJV/P      59  058    SP6FHU        59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-18 0723  YO3HJV/P      59  059    LY2MM         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-18 0714  YO3HJV/P      59  060    5B4AIF        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-18 0712  YO3HJV/P      59  061    LY5O/P        59  000    0
QSO: 21000 PH 2012-08-18 0708  YO3HJV/P      59  062    RO5D/P        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-17 1710  YO3HJV/P      57  063    VU2OB         56  000    0
QSO:  3500 PH 2012-08-17 1631  YO3HJV/P      59  064    YO4BKM        59  000    0
QSO:  3500 PH 2012-08-17 1630  YO3HJV/P      59  065    YO3FFF        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1620  YO3HJV/P      59  066    US5UZ         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1619  YO3HJV/P      59  067    YO5OAC        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1618  YO3HJV/P      59  068    DL3SB         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1616  YO3HJV/P      59  069    DL1ASF        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1615  YO3HJV/P      59  070    DL1AVK        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1614  YO3HJV/P      59  071    YO3DLW/P      59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1613  YO3HJV/P      59  072    OE6WIG        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1612  YO3HJV/P      59  073    OM3CHR        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1611  YO3HJV/P      59  074    IZ5HRO        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1610  YO3HJV/P      59  075    YO2MLS        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1610  YO3HJV/P      59  076    SQ9CNN/9      59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1609  YO3HJV/P      59  077    SQ6PLD        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1607  YO3HJV/P      59  078    I0SSW         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1607  YO3HJV/P      59  079    IT9DTU        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1606  YO3HJV/P      59  080    I2CZQ         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1606  YO3HJV/P      59  081    R3GMT         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1606  YO3HJV/P      59  082    I3MBG         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1602  YO3HJV/P      59  083    OE6KAE        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1601  YO3HJV/P      59  084    HA0HW         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1559  YO3HJV/P      59  085    UX2MF         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1559  YO3HJV/P      59  086    ES1IP         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1558  YO3HJV/P      59  087    YO2LXB        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1557  YO3HJV/P      59  088    SQ9IWR        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1557  YO3HJV/P      59  089    UY0IW         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1556  YO3HJV/P      59  090    US5WCP        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1556  YO3HJV/P      59  091    HA4XG         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1556  YO3HJV/P      59  092    IZ2UUG        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1555  YO3HJV/P      59  093    DF4TL         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1554  YO3HJV/P      59  094    OM3FR         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1554  YO3HJV/P      59  095    UR7QC         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1554  YO3HJV/P      59  096    SP8BBK        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1553  YO3HJV/P      59  097    SP6KEP        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1553  YO3HJV/P      59  098    YU5BRS        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1552  YO3HJV/P      59  099    HB9TUL        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1552  YO3HJV/P      59  100    LY1SR         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1552  YO3HJV/P      59  101    IZ8FQG        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1551  YO3HJV/P      59  102    IZ3LES        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1550  YO3HJV/P      59  103    UR4IQU        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1549  YO3HJV/P      59  104    SP6OJG        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1549  YO3HJV/P      59  105    UX7N          59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1548  YO3HJV/P      59  106    SP8LEP        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1548  YO3HJV/P      59  107    US5MLC        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1548  YO3HJV/P      59  108    UW1GR         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1547  YO3HJV/P      59  109    SP8AJK        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1546  YO3HJV/P      59  110    SQ3JPV        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1541  YO3HJV/P      59  111    YO2MTG        59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-17 1541  YO3HJV/P      59  112    YP0WFF        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 2145  YO3HJV/P      59  113    OD5ARMY       59  000    0
QSO: 21000 PH 2012-08-16 1617  YO3HJV/P      59  114    A60HD         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1233  YO3HJV/P      59  115    IZ1FGZ        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1232  YO3HJV/P      59  116    IZ0LNP        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1231  YO3HJV/P      59  117    RA3OU         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1230  YO3HJV/P      59  118    UR5LJD        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1230  YO3HJV/P      59  119    OK1DSX        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1229  YO3HJV/P      59  120    ON5JE         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1229  YO3HJV/P      59  121    IW2ETR        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1228  YO3HJV/P      59  122    OH3FQJ        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1226  YO3HJV/P      59  123    HB9PNR/P      59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1225  YO3HJV/P      59  124    IZ8OFO        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1225  YO3HJV/P      59  125    EA7NL         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1225  YO3HJV/P      59  126    IT9MRM        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1224  YO3HJV/P      59  127    UX2IQ         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1223  YO3HJV/P      59  128    IK5FKF        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1222  YO3HJV/P      59  129    UA6HGY        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1222  YO3HJV/P      59  130    HA5BSW        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1221  YO3HJV/P      59  131    DL3BUA        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1221  YO3HJV/P      59  132    RA3QSY        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1217  YO3HJV/P      59  133    SP1QXK        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1217  YO3HJV/P      59  134    IW2NXI        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-16 1216  YO3HJV/P      59  135    IZ1UIA        59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-15 2201  YO3HJV/P      59  136    EK6TA         59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-15 2116  YO3HJV/P      59  137    CN2YZ         59  000    0
QSO:  7000 PH 2012-08-15 2055  YO3HJV/P      59  138    G4BVB         59  000    0
QSO:  1800 PH 2012-08-15 2041  YO3HJV/P      59  139    2O12L         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 2032  YO3HJV/P      59  140    IT9CCB        59  000    0
QSO: 21000 PH 2012-08-15 1936  YO3HJV/P      59  141    7W50I         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0559  YO3HJV/P      59  142    DL5EBG        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0558  YO3HJV/P      59  143    UT2GW         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0556  YO3HJV/P      59  144    UY9IF         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0555  YO3HJV/P      59  145    S51RU         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0554  YO3HJV/P      59  146    RA3PCI        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0553  YO3HJV/P      59  147    RZ9OC         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0552  YO3HJV/P      59  148    UA3CS         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0551  YO3HJV/P      59  149    YO2MLM        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0548  YO3HJV/P      59  150    UA4PKN        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0548  YO3HJV/P      59  151    RA3OU         59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0526  YO3HJV/P      59  152    YO2MTG        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0525  YO3HJV/P      59  153    YP0WFF        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0514  YO3HJV/P      59  154    HA0NAR        59  000    0
QSO: 14000 PH 2012-08-15 0505  YO3HJV/P      59  155    UR5MAF        59  000    0

Stratospherium II - 2012 High Altitude Balloon launch on August!

 Saturday, August the 4th, at around 8:00 LT (05:00 UTC) the YO3KSR team will try to launch a High Altitude Balloon (HALO), Stratospherium II.
This time, the balloon will have some scientific experiments on board and the APRS position and telemetry will be sent on 144.850 MHz in order to give a chance for foreign radioamateurs to directly receive the beacon.
We will digipeat the beacons onto 144.800 MHz in order to put Stratospherium II onto the APRS.FI via local I-Gates.
The photos and the movie from the onboard cameras will be available soon after the flight.
By looking around the flight area on www.aprs.fi, you will see the tracking team following the balloon.

Receiving reports are welcome to yo3hjv@gmail.com
The beacon will be transmitted into a dedicated antenna (kind of turnstile) with 5 W output power at every 12 seconds.
The telemetry (via APRS) will include: Main battery voltage, the payload internal temeperature and the external temperature.

For last minute informations, check: www.yo3ksr.ro
73 de Adrian Florescu, yo3hjv

Some images from Stratospherium I - 2011.
Video from onboard camera from Stratospherium I - 2011.

KENWOOD TS-990 - A Kenwood suicide

Looks to me like Kenwood decided to comite suicide! In a market divided between Yaesu and Icom as ham equipment producers, each one with a very defined design, feel and look, KENWOOD was a silent competitor. They had a very traditional way to made radios: simple, functional, intuitive and ergonomic. But with the new TS-990
as I can see it in the leaflet, looks to me that KENWOOD tried to "steal" the market from both ICOM and YAESU! Some of the features seems to be very futuristic and interesting and I believe that either we'll se a "new star" on Broadway, either we will assist to a big laugh from ham radio market... We'll see... Here is the release photo and some informations from Kenwood about ts-990.

 73 de yo3hjv, Adrian.


UPDATE:

Seems that the new Kenwood TS-990 will have a great audio, as we expect from a specialist in sound.
There are some rumors that Bob Heil,  K9EID from HeilSound is under a new NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement)  with KENWOOD for the TS-990!
Looks like Kenoowd tend to choose the right man in the right place for the latest developments. For TM-D710 and TH-D72 they worked with Bob Bruninga, the father of APRS system.


Click on picture to open a larger version (the front panel of the KENWOOD TS-990)

Original press release:

April 18, 2012 New Amateur Radio Product to be Exhibited Prior to Worldwide Launch JVC KENWOOD Corporation is proud to announce that the prototype of a state-of-the-art Amateur transceiver scheduled for worldwide launch under the KENWOOD brand in the winter of 2012 will be unveiled as a reference exhibit at Dayton Hamvention 2012 to be held in Dayton, Ohio, USA (May 18-20). It will also appear at events in Germany and Japan. Reference exhibit model: TS-990 HF/50 MHz Transceiver Featuring a dual TFT display and dual receiver, the TS-990 is a top-of-the-range flagship model in the KENWOOD Amateur radio line-up. Prior to the launch of the TS-990, a prototype will be displayed as a reference exhibit at Dayton Hamvention 2012 in Dayton, Ohio, USA (May 18-20), at HAM RADIO 2012 in Friedrichshafen, Germany (June 22-24), and at Ham Fair 2012 in Tokyo, Japan (August 25-26). Please note that as this product is under development, published information is subject to change without notice.

1 Leu Iambic CW keyer - touch version

In the quest for the comfortable iambic keyer I made a touch keyer.

The paddles are made from two "50 bani" coins (around 14 Eurocents) each.

Works nice in connection with my home made PIC memory keyer.
The keyer is based on AT42QT1012 capacitive touch sensor.