Well it’s been a while since I posted anything. I just got fed up of how people are operating in pile ups for DXpeditions, how people treat others with regards their confirmations through QSL managers and how they EXPECT things immediately before these expeditions are over. The internet is good, but social media is a hive of keyboard warriors and entitled idiots who think rules don’t apply to them. Rant over, on to the positive stuff.

After my last post it has been a busy time at work and going to the RSARS station – G2EC – at Blandford for CQ WPX SSB Contest, I decided to hang back from the hobby. Concentrating on the East Kent Radio Society (EKRS), especially in my roll as secretary, and sorting out some events for the club. But I’m now back with my head back in the right place, and enjoying radio again.

So what can you look forward to from me. It’s going to be some fun in June with my annual trip to Ham Radio Friedrichshafen on the horizon, the WRTC 2026 event is also happening in the UK at the start of July, sadly RIAT 2026 has been cancelled due to the situation in the Middle East, and RAF Fairford being fully operational. BUT RIAT 2027 is already promising to look like one of the best, especially as it has been announced as a NATO Tiger meeting – for those that are not airplane geeks like me it is where NATO allies all attend with aircraft painted in special liveries with a Tiger theme – so that will give some excellent photo opportunities. On the photography front I have bought myself a nice new Nikon Z6 III, and accompanying lenses, which is proving to be a lot more of a camera that is going to need time to learn to drive. I am happy with the images I have already taken,  but will be taking it to Friedrichshafen for a proper try out and learn how it all works.

As I mentioned late last year I gained my  US General amateur licence, call KM7DGK, well I am now booked on to take my Extra licence. I have been studying using the Ham Radio Prep course which I have found to be superb, so go and have a look and get your 3 licence levels taken.

With me working at Icom UK I have also been out visiting clubs and some rallies, the NARSA Blackpool was fun and my first time ever visiting that particular rally. I drove up from here in Herne Bay and picked up Ady – G6AD – who kept me sane and awake on half the drive. We also met up with some of the guys from Northern Ireland and had a fun evening on the Saturday night enjoying a meal and a few beers with them. Always good company and looking forward to something similar in FHN.

Earlier I mentioned attending the RSARS station, G2EC, at Blandford. This is turning into a twice yearly trip with CQ WW SSB and CQ WPX SSB contests. This last time we had a few new operators who it was good to meet and get to know. We ended up posting a club record score and coming #1 England in our category. Following the event we had a meeting on line and have set ourselves a new target to achieve in 2026 CQWW SSB. But I think in this one we may have a couple of the big guns competing in the same category, and I guess these guys will be watching us come up the ranks. Talking of ranks it was good to have a bed this time round, Richard the station manager at Blandford managed to book us in to the Officers mess as guests for the weekend. A good breakfast and sleep was the top of the order and definitely helped with keeping the guys on the ball for the contest. Final results are out on the CQ WPX website if you wish to see where you finished. 

EKRS have had some fun. We meet every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at Herne Windmill where we held a special event station, GB6HWM, for the Mills On The Air weekend (MOTA). It was a fun event with many members attending and getting on the air. Some went into the mill itself to see how it worked, there is a motor in there that when switched on it was S9 +30db of noise across the band – luckily it was only on for no more than 90 seconds at various times through the day so didn’t completely kill the band for us. Some members also attended an event held by the Dover Amateur Radio Club  for the Marconi day event. This was good fun over 2 sites, I was at the Maison Dieu station in the town centre, and others were at South Foreland Lighthouse. This is a gorgeous old building used as the town hall and for events. If you are ever in the area do visit this building, or come and say hello to us at EKRS – you will be made to feel welcome and get a free cup of tea or coffee.

So that’s about it. I will try and do a weekly blog going forward, and maybe a daily one at the events in June and July with a live post from them at some point.

Remember if it highlighted in red it has a link to follow with more information.

This weekend my boss has kindly loaned me the new Icom IC-7300 MkII to have a play with and get used to. This is to help our customers with their radios and any issues they might encounter when trying to set up their radios. I have also bought a Mydel VH-6 portable antenna to use along side it to try and get on the air. Happy days, it worked and a quick contact with RW1F on 15M SSB and I was happy.

Carried on setting the radio up to the computer with the same barriers my customers had called me about and we had managed to cure, so I set about a complete install for myself. While doing this I was listening to the current major DXpedition on 15M SSB to Desecheo Island, near Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. What a s**t show. Stations calling over them, stations swearing and arguing. Stations just generally making a noise and for what. Just because they are animals and have no consideration for other operators. I also have to say every voice came from a Southern European country in the shape of a boot, or one of the old Eastern Bloc countries. Just disgusting animals, in fact no animals know how to behave! I am just glad I wasn’t trying to demonstrate amateur radio to school kids or any newcomer to the hobby. 

And these people class themselves as me in the elite DXers of the hobby. How wrong can they be. But the other side is they will not give out their callsigns as they know they are doing wrong, but still do it. No wonder there are times I think about walking away, but then I remember the many who are not like these amoebas and make the hobby fun.

WOW, what a busy few weeks since Christmas. Firstly I travelled up to Yorkshire on Christmas Day via a quick stop off in Nuneaton to see my 3 favourite people outside my family, then while in Doncaster spent Christmas Day with my mum and uncle Ken (mums brother), before checking in to my usual hotel for 4 nights. Boxing day again went to see mum and took her to my cousins for a party before heading back to the hotel. And rather than sit in and be bored I went to the Marketplace Deli bar for a couple of beers, another friend was in there so we went for a small pub crawl before getting in taxis’ and heading home. 

Saturday I went for a walk around the lakeside shopping centre to try and find a white t-shirt but it was that busy I just went back to the room in the hotel and decided to get ready to go and meet my old school mate Andy Constantine and his wife Valerie. I have known Andy since we were 11 years old at school and remained friends all this time. A few beers washed down with a good Indian curry ended the weekend. Sunday again I visited my mum and had lunch with her before back to the hotel for an early night – yes I did my usual 4am set off time to get back to Kent before the traffic got heavy on the roads.

New Year was a quiet one with me having come back with a cold/flu type virus which knocked me off my feet so ended up staying home for New Years Eve, listening to the party across the road from me. But being home did give me time to try out my Christmas present from mum, a pair of 12X60 Binoculars to stargaze and watch the boats and aircraft that pass here every day. Before we knew it it was Monday 5th January and a return to work. 

Being home gave me chance to try the new Icom IC-7300 MkII I borrowed from work. Setting the radio up to a 10 Meter mobile whip on a magnetic mount attached to a steel barstool gave me a good receive on 15 through to 10M, but unfortunately the SWR was a little high on the 10 and 12M bands but seemed to be OK on 15M. This gave me chance to check out the CW decoder during the contests that were on during the first weekend of January, and make contact with a couple of the WWA stations that are on this month. This radio is now with the RSGB being reviewed ready for an article in RadCom, but we will have it on show throughout the year at the various rallies and shows we are attending.

Now I have the Icom ID-52E Plus here connected to a dual band whip that is on the same base as the 10M antenna was on. I have been looking at the D-Star operation and listening to the reflectors and my local repeater GB7IC. A first for me as I have never used any form of digital voice transmissions before, whether it be D-Star, Fusion, or DMR. But it is interesting to see how many users world wide connect to the reflectors and you are able to speak to them. Not my usual fun in the hobby but it does have it’s place. 

So as I say a busy period, and plenty of fun. I promise I will be updating more this year as we go along, and now I am settled I can start and do a lot more blogs. 

73 and Happy New Year to you all.

On Friday evening I sat my US Amateur General class licence. And once again I passed. So I now have HF privileges in the USA – only certain sections of the bands to use SSB. This was once again administered by Bob, N1UVO, and his team out in Florida. Very friendly and make you feel relaxed and welcome in to the group – thank you all for your time as VE’s (Volunteer Examiners). 

So now we go for the Extra licence, going to be a lot more studying and getting the grey matter working on this one. 40 Years since I passed my UK licence and much of the technical stuff has slipped out through my ears I think. But I will have my wanted call of KF5DX ready for Christmas.

Have a look at Hamstudy if you think you would like to attempt to get your USA call. 

(As with all my posts if the wording is in bold RED italics there is most likely a link to a page behind 

Just a little point of news on my part. 

When I found out I had the job at Icom, I thought it was a good time to start studying again and go for my US Amatur Licence. So I asked a good friend over in Tucson, Arizona – thank you Gene K5GS – if I could use his address for my licence and base address in the USA. With his answer yes I set about starting the process, then the US Government shut down so I had to wait until they opened up, where I registered and then set up an online exam for the Technician licence. That was passed and in the last week I received my first licence and call, KM7CZT. This will change when I get my general and extra class, but I will let you know when that happens, especially as I take the General exam next Friday evening.

73, de G1VDP/KM7CZT

Well it’s getting close to that time of year again. Santa is preparing all the toys for the kids, the adults are all stressing about what to get them, and the supermarkets are packed with people buying enough supplies to feed an army for a month – just for a family of four for one day. Sorry I am not a Christmas person, it’s for the kids so I will be making a huge effort to be on form this year with the new job and visiting an old friend and her daughter and her daughter. So let’s get on with my annual message…

Following on from our success, and fun we had, in the CQWPX SSB contest in March 2025 The Royal Signals Amateur Radio Society (RSARS) contest team decided to take part in the CQWW DX SSB contest This contest is held annually on the last full weekend of October each year, this is a  48 hour contest starting at 00:00 UTC on the Friday and running through to 00:00UTC on the Sunday evening. The aim is to make contact with as many different stations on the HF amateur bands – 160, 80, 40, 20 15 and 10M – in as many different countries and CQ Zones around the world. There are also CW and RTTY events held on the last full weekends of November and September respectively.

RSARS have been kindly donated a building, The Cole Block, on the army garrison at Blandford Camp, in the town of Blandford Forum, Dorset. We have a permanent station there that is used regularly by members stationed on the camp, club members visiting, and guests who are invited to attend at special events. I have been a member of RSARS for the past 18 months and first attended for the CQWPX contest in March 2025.  

RSARS was established in 1960 and has been dedicated to the development and growth of communication skills among Royal Signals personnel, veterans, and those with a connection to the military community ever since. The group was originally founded with the authority of the War Office by General Whistler and Brigadier Eric Cole. The idea was to provide serving members of the Royal Signals a route to deepen their knowledge of radio communications and associated technologies through self-training. As amateur radio was already recognised as a military pastime, they offered a perfect blend of practical skill development and technical challenges. Originally based at Catterick Garrison, there was a move to Blandford Camp in Cole Block – a location steeped in heritage and significance.

So after some discussion we decided to get together for CQWW SSB contest this year, again to have fun on the radio with friends, make as many contacts to score as many points possible, and finish as high up in the results in our category. We finished 2nd in the UK in our section of the CQWPX contest in March 2025, only being beaten by an established team of experienced operators, and we only operated for a total of 34.2 hours of the contest. This time deficit was due to the team getting to know each other especially as it was the first time some of us had met, maintenance on the antennas, and some interruptions from the many visitors who stopped by to see what was happening. We also stopped to have tea and drinks during the Saturday and Sunday to chat and plan tactics. But this time around we were hoping to operate for the full 48 hours on all bands and get further up the table, and there will be more stations in our category to try and beat.

At this point I must say thanks to the garrison commander that we are able to take part in this activity with her being so supportive of the club. The Cole Block is a single story building with 2 offices and a large sitting area. We decided that one office would be used for sleeping and storage of boxes and our kit, one is the permanent shack with an Icom IC-7610 and Acom 1000 amplifier, a Yaesu FT-990 connected to a Yaesu FL-7000 amplifier and an Icom IC-756 connected to Ameritron AL-80B amplifier. Tom also brought his IC-756 Pro3 along and hooked it up to a Kenwood TL-922 amplifier, Ady had his Elekraft K4 and Acom 1000 and his IC-7300 as a spare, Tom also brought along his spare TL-922 just in case we needed it. And with me now working at Icom UK I was kindly loaned an Icom IC-7760 flagship radio for the weekend and this was used in the main shack area, thank you Bob (my boss).

So we could be on all bands we used all available desks to set up the equipment. This gave 4 operating positions, and with only 5 operators on site for the full contest and visitors calling in through Saturday and Sunday we felt this would give us maximum time to each be on air and on the main bands to get the scores we would need to finish as high up the table as possible.

Antennas to be used were the clubs 3 element tri-band Yagi with a 10M parasitic element added to give us 4 element on 10M, along with a 3 element tri-band Yagi used for 15M and 20M. Both are mounted on the 60 foot towers with a doublet suspended between them fed into a balun and then into an automatic antenna tuner to get the impedances right. Ady brought along his home made full size 1/4 wave vertical for 80M, and we have a 4 square antenna for 40M – which also works on 15M – that had been built and was very successful in the CQWPX event earlier in the year.

The IC-7760 was to be used on 10M, 80M and 160M using the clubs Acom 1000 to the 4 element Yagi and 80M Vertical – and tried the doublet for 160 with limited success – and the 100W output from the radio to the doublet mounted between the 2 towers  the Yagis. The Clubs 7610 was also 80M through the Ameritron, sadly the Ameritron failed so we only had 100W from the radio. Tom set his 756 on the 40M 4 square we had built for CQWPX and was able to use it on 15m, and the K4 went on 20M through the 3 element Yagi and Acom 1000, and doubled up on 15M when the 40M band was rocking.

Almost all the members present own at least 1 Icom radio, which with their simplicity of operating made it easy to move from one to the other as the controls are so instinctive to use. Ady set his K4 up and as on the Icoms we found it easy to use, not really having to change any settings, just tune the amp which again we were all familiar with from using the equipment in March.

From the off we were making good runs on the chosen bands, the 80M vertical was on with the 7610 and Ameritron but we were struggling to get any output from the amp and tried to cure the issue, meanwhile Ady was on 20, Chris using the 7760 on 160 trying to get some “bonus points” with us not having a tuned antenna for the band. As it was a struggle after about an hour it was decided to switch the 80M vertical on to the 7760 and Acom to maximise that band and points. Tom was trying to find a clear spot on 40M, but as he said it was that busy “you can’t get a fag paper between the stations”. This was much the story all weekend with us rotating and taking breaks for sleep, though mostly it was for a couple of hours here and there.

Tea and coffee was flowing and made by any operator who was not at the desk. We grabbed food when we were not on shift and this again was erratic like the sleep. We also had times where we would all sit round and chat trying to work out a strategy for getting maximum points possible. We even had times where no matter how much we tuned up and down the bands we were only hearing the stations we had already worked, even when having a run (calling CQ) we were getting called by duplicates, especially on the Sunday when it got really hard. Another thank you here, Martin (2E0HVE) brought pizzas in on the Sunday afternoon so we all stopped and had a chat, Inghi (M0MHJ) also called in at this time so they both got on the air and put some points on the board while the others had lunch.

Score wise we ended on 3000 contacts and 2,944,800 points before we get our final score from the checks for any errors. At the end we were talking and planning for the CQWPX 2026 event in March to get together again for some fun on air. We had a fun weekend with all members who attended having a go. We had a couple of new to contesting guys attend and made contacts – all saying how they enjoyed it and asking when we were next going to have a go.

Every radio performed flawlessly, with the same thing being said by every team member who used the IC-7760 on how much a pleasure it was to use. They commented on how they found moving from the 7610 to the 7760 was so easy and it was as if they were using the same radio – as I explained they were in effect as the human interface side is just about exactly the same (as said earlier just a few features more on the 7760 over the 7610). The 756 Pro3 also never missed a beat, and was excellent on the crowded 40M band, working everything we could hear. At one time there was “not a cigarette paper” between the stations transmitting on there.

Currently we are looking at entering the CQWPX contest in 2026 and try to improve our position from this year. Then the society will be active from the club using a different call to the contest call we used at regular periods. They are looking at putting a D-Star repeater in place of the current one there for FM and Fusion, this is due to many locals using Icom equipment on the VHF/UHF bands and have asked if this can be done.

My thanks go out to the guys who were there for all the fun, laughter, and hard work that was put in to get this up and running. The full team was Ady G6AD, Tom G2NV, Tim G5TM, Tony G7FSD, Inghie M0MHJ, Martin 2E0HVE, and myself G1VDP. Again we welcome any members of RSARS to come and join us, just to have a go and see what contesting is all about, you don’t have to be a seasoned operator either, just come and have a go, it may be fun – which is what we all enjoy.

RSARS are open to membership from any radio amateur or Short Wave Listener. They have a website at https://rsars.org.uk/ where full details of the membership can be found. There is a quarterly newsletter called Mercury published electronically and emailed to members quarterly’ covering articles of interest to members on varying subjects. Membership is currently £12.00 per year, all members are welcome to join the RSARS nets held daily on 40 or 80M and to operate from the club station. And we invite you to join us for the contests to assist with operating and set up before and strip down after. Contact Tom, G2NV, for more details memsecrsars@gmail.com.

As mentioned in an earlier post I am now working at Icom UK, and one of my first duties 3 days after joining was to attend the annual Hamfest at Newark Showground. This is where dealers, parts suppliers, special interest groups (SIG) and manufacturers get together to display their wares and sell them. I have been to a few before but only as a visitor and someone looking to buy new or used equipment. It is also a place where you can meet old friends and make new ones who have the same interest as you. The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) are also there with their bookstall, and booths for the specialist departments. You can also meet the general manager, the president and most of the board members to ask them what ever you want about the hobby and what the RSGB do – they don’t only sell books and publish RadCom, in fact without them we would lose bands and privileges to others who are willing to pay for Spectrum space (but most don’t think to join as they think OFCOM will not take the frequencies away – get your head out of the sand as they will if you don’t support the RSGB going forward).

Myself and colleagues were on the Icom stand introducing the new Icom IC-7300 Mk II transceiver, along with all the Icom amateur equipment. We had a steady stream of visitors on both days with a heck of a lot of interest in the new radio. This will be another great seller for Icom with it’s new features. It was good to see lots of old friends who came up and congratulated me on the new job, and it was good to see my old mate Andrew, M0ALA, that I haven’t seen for best part of 30 years. An excellent and fun weekend with new work colleagues allowing me to get to know them, and to have chance to officially meet the dealers.

Following the Hamfest and only about 3 weeks later was the RSGB convention at Kents Hill, Milton Keynes. This is where the RSGB organise talks on varying aspects of the hobby, special interests, and a couple of groups hold their meetings. This year I have to say was one of the better ones I have attended for a number of years.

Again I was there in an official capacity to show the Icom range of transceivers with the New IC-7300 Mk II the centre of attention once more. It is also another place where I see old and new friends for a chat and a beer in the evenings – in fact I think I shook more hands than Donald Trump this weekend with the amount of people across the hobby congratulating me on the job. We have a sit down meal on the Friday evening, and an official dinner on the Saturday. I must also thank my colleague Chris Ridley for his company all weekend and allowing me the chance to catch a couple of the talks.

The weekends talks opened on the Saturday morning just after the official opening by the president and general manager of the RSGB – Bob Bebe GU4YOX and  Steve Thomas M1ACB respectively. This was by Dr Lucie Green who had given the presentation to Hinckley ARES a few months before, an excellent presentation and I am looking forward to hearing more on this with possibly assisting with the amateur radio side of things. She is hoping to get a spaceship into orbit around the earth and moon to get images of the sun with a total eclipse to study the corona – see the video on the RSGBs YouTube channel. As I say another excellent weekend and a chance to catch up with old friends and new. 

Icom also had donated a prize of an Icom IC-705 portable transceiver for the raffle that raises money for the RSGBs DX fund. This helps fund DXpeditions and supports young people in their endeavours to join the expeditions to remote places on earth. We also donated a couple of items to a radio club that supports Icom and use Icom equipment in their training and club station, an LC-192 rucksack and SM-50 microphone. Photos below of both items being handed to Bob Bebe (RSGB President) and The members of Norfolk ARC for the mic and rucksack.

So what’s been the reason for the lack of posts? Why has it taken this long to update on FHN and RIAT? Well a huge change in my life.

Back in June I applied for a job working as the Amateur Radio Specialist at Icom UK, the importer of the radio products made by Icom in Japan. When I was in FHN I spoke with Ray Novak about it and he said I would be the ideal guy for the roll as I was so passionate about the hobby, not just my interest but the whole hobby of amateur radio. I received an email saying that they would like to meet me so I suggested a teams meeting with it being 3 hours minimum each way to drive for the interview – and if they didn’t like what they saw it was very minimal time we both lost. I heard nothing until the week before RIAT where I was invited to the meeting on the Monday before I left to the show.

This meeting took place and then I was at the air show. I then received an email inviting me to come down to Herne Bay and meet the team and a second interview for the job. This I did on my holiday the week after RIAT. I was offered the job and then had to make arrangements to move from Nuneaton to Herne Bay. 

I started at Icom UK on the 1st September 2025, found a flat and moved down over the past few months. I have one last trip to Nuneaton to close the house and hand keys back to my landlord this coming weekend. I am then down here full time. I could not say anything until 2 weeks before the start date due to having a job and working my notice, thank you Kelly Communications for the opportunity and time with you – a great team I worked with there. 

Also a huge thank you to Icom UK for giving me the chance to not only work for a great company, use some of the best radio’s on the market, but also in trusting in me to deliver for you. 

Here’s to a bright future within amateur radio and see you all at one of the shows/conventions over the next years of my life.