{"id":6330,"date":"2017-10-24T09:41:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T22:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2017\/10\/24\/630-meter-dx-from-wasilla-alaska\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T20:44:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T10:44:47","slug":"630-meter-dx-from-wasilla-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2017\/10\/24\/630-meter-dx-from-wasilla-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"630 Meter DX from Wasilla, Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kl7L’s 600m Part 5 station<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Hi Bill – It’s been a few years and I’m sort of glad my global wanderings have been curtailed to a point and I’m now based out of Alaska and via a couple of call signs (KL1X KL7UK etc) have ended up with KL7L. I still travel with the Oil Company but no China on the horizon.<\/b>

<\/b> I had a chuckle when you and Pete mentioned the new 630 and 2200m bands – and the real estate requirements – Well, I’ve been active with the experimental callsigns since 2003 and very glad we have finally got the bands – so a small form to fill out on the UTC web site and a 30 days wait to check you are not within 1Km radii of the co channel PLC on Trunk power lines, if no “disapprove” away we go – and I and many have! <\/b>

<\/b> Just turn off all those nasty dimmers, LED lights and SMPSU wallwarts – plonk your radio on 474.2kHz USB and decode using WSPR or JT9 and I think youll be surprised on what you can hear even on a short typical 80m or topband wire or so. There a lot of activity all around you<\/b>

<\/b> The station for both band is homebrew soldersmoke heaven – transverter\/PA and filters\/Couplers\/Phase meters etc with only my ol’ TS850 doing the prime driving, or a Hans Summers U3S.<\/b>

<\/b> Size does matter – but my best RX for both bands is a 2ft long active probe up a pine tree, that’s all – and some 300ft of RG6, and the Tx antenna is a 60ft high Marconi or more over an inverted L with a 3 wire top cap all nested in the Birch forest – loads or radials but still very lossy in the Summer – nothing special here – Of course with the QRP per se we have to use CW or digital modes mostly but DX can be done – after all my closest active neighbor on 2200\/630m is over 2000Kms away!<\/b>

<\/b> So, for the first time I sparked up on JT9 on 630m this early morning and first blood to QSO with VK4YB @ 5W EIRP!<\/b>

<\/b> Not bad for a first qso on what is a fairly typical back yard antenna – so, there is hope and many people appear to be putting transcontinental signals out this power, so everyone is on the same playing field – just the ground and location and latitude will change things! It tends to be more flaky, lossy and geo\/solar events tend to hit us hard up here compared with say Seattle.<\/b>

<\/b> On 2200m TX its a loop of thick wire hanging in the trees – literally 500ft circumference and a beefy coupler to deal with the 50A or so of antenna current to make the 1W ERP or so – still its getting out OK and again should be putting signals over the Pole to EU and across the Pacific as it becomes more and more dark up here.<\/b>

<\/b> I’m now caught up with past Soldersmoke pod casts and thanks to you and Pete for making me smile<\/b>

<\/b> Take care<\/b>

<\/b> Laurence KL7L aka G4DMA et al<\/b>
Wasilla Alaska 23rd Oct 2017<\/b> <\/p>\n


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