A new country

Monitoring 40metres PSK last night I saw 1B1AB, Soyer, calling CQ. I mentioned this station in My blog back in December, I had heard/seen him on PSK before but not managed to make a contact. Well I made the contact last night so that is North Cyprus in the log! 40 metres last night seemed particularly busy with several stations transmitting on top of one another. As I write this entry today I am on a day's leave from work (Car in garage being repaired) and I have the opportunity to monitor the bands in daytime. So Far 15 metres seems quiet but there is some activity on 17 metres and I have made a few European contacts.

Remote Receivers

Many of you will probably know about this, but I thought  I would share it with you anyway.
On our local 2 metre net this evening one of our local amateurs commented on web SDR receivers. There are a number of websites which allow you to tune a remote controlled receiver in another part of the world. Its a great way of checking what propogation is like, in fact you could even try to listen for your own signal. Rather than me try to explain more about how this all works try this link and have a tune around. Be careful, it is quite addictive!

On another note, and perhaps slightly controversial (in fact I did wonder whether to post this in my blog) I heard or saw an unusual callsign on PSK on 40 metres yesterday. The Call was 1B1AB, a station located in Northern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus or the TRNC as it is called is only recognised by a small number of states, the main one I believe being Turkey. As a result, it does not count for DXCC awards. In effect stations operating from there are in a sort of administrative limbo as it could be said they are illegal, even though they have licences issued by the governing authority. Would you work 1B1AB? For me the decision was made by the propagation gods as the signal faded out as quick as it faded in!