• [INFO] – by Charles, NK8O

Band conditions are definitely in the summer doldrums here.  I’ve worked a couple of South African stations, and I had a nice CW rag chew with one of them, using my QMX+ and only 4 watts of power, on 10 meters.  When I return in August, we will have our visitor’s quarters completed and I will have the possibility of some more elaborate antennas and a better location on the site.  The visitors quarters will be located on the highest ground on the property.  In addition, I have been doing quite a bit of work on operating remotely and I fully intend to have a remote station at our new QTH as soon as I can make the arrangements.  There are some obstacles to overcome but I am confident this can be achieved.  The only thing I really wish I had available is a 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery.  I would place solar panels out to keep it topped up and I’d never have to be concerned about the irregularity of the commercial mains, nor regarding the frequent electrical surges that like to destroy electronics.  I did find that the QMX+ is highly affected by USB port noise and that made it impossible to operate any FT4/FT8.   I will be better prepared when I return later in the year and I will have a better environment for getting on the air in my otherwise downtime. I will be in Tanzania another week but with little possibility of getting on the air during the balance of the visit.

  • [JANUARY 27] – 

Next planned 5H3DX activity (spare time) is during February 20 to March 6, 2025. This time, operator Charles will have a better QTH for an antenna farm etc. Previous info below:

  • [JULY 8, 2024] –

Charles, NK8O has recently updated his 5H3DX QRZ page with the following:

We had a very successful trip to Tanzania from a business standpoint.  Amateur radio was not at the forefront, but in just a few hours on the air I managed to make 323 QSOs.  I would have loved to get on CW but I was working under very compromised conditions. All QSOs were FT8.  The good news?  My gear still works well after four years in storage.  The only thing that wouldn’t fire up was my Kenwood PS-20 power supply.  Fortunately I have a spare PS that worked well.  The bad news?   I had to work from INSIDE a hotel room on the first floor.   The number of QSOs might not sound impressive, but see below for my setup.  Considering that I was only on air a couple of evenings, I was both pleased and impressed.  I also reworked my hotspot, and I managed to talk to a few friends on DMR.

QSL via LoTW, eQSL.