Biography

Born in 1967, SWL since age 7. First Licensed in 1982 at age 14 (as G6IUT), then progressed to full licence (and my present callsign) by passing the 12wpm Morse code test at age 15. I became a fan of CW, going on to teach Morse to several pupils at the Bletchley Park Morse centre. I was appointed an RSGB County Morse examiner in the late 1990s, recognising my dedication to helping others in following what has become a passion for me.

I am extremely active as an SWL - I have over 352,000 QSOs logged; in 337 DXCC.

My main areas of interest are DXing; CW; data modes (mainly RTTY/FT8/FT4/MSK144); antennas; NDB & other beacons; and VHF DX. I have logged at least 100 DXCC entities on every band from 160m right through to 6m. My main ambition is to get WAC and WAS on 6m. My 6m WAS tally is, so far: 38 States. WAC: Still need Oceania.


* Married (my XYL also holds a full amateur licence, although she is not active at the moment). We have 3 daughters, plus cats (currently 4), rabbits (currently 4) and a guinea pig.

* I was the International Editor for WRTH (World Radio TV Handbook), from 2001 until the company ceased in 2022.

* Freelance Technical Writer/Author and a co-author of the RSGB book 'Computers in Amateur Radio', writing both the introduction and the chapter concerning data-mode software.

* Have also produced logos and advertising materials for several clients.

Please visit my radio website: http://www.hfradio.org.uk

73, and hope to hear or work you on the bands!

Sean, G4UCJ

Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Main HF Transceiver: Yaesu FTdx10 Hybrid-SDR covering HF, 6m and 4m.

6m/2m & Backup HF: Icom IC-756proII (on permanent loan from G4IRQ, as my own IC-756pro has died and the required parts are made from unobtainium!) with 2m TXCO controlled transverter + 90w (run at max 50W) linear amplifier.

HF & VHF Receivers: Racal RA1792; RFspace SDR-IQ SDR; Airspy HF+ Dual Port SDR; Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR; Airspy R2 SDR; Funcube Dongle Pro Plus (FCDpro+) SDR; Yupiteru MVT7100; Baofeng GT3TP MKIII, 8W dual band handheld TRX; BF888+ 70cm handheld TRX, x2; Quansheng UV5K (8) handie; CommRadio CR1; Sangean ATS-909 (Roberts R861); Roberts R5504 x 2; Degen DE1103; XHData D808.

ADSB Rx: Prostick+ RTL-R820T2 based dongle with ADSB Filter and 2 element colinear (in the attic), into RPi then feeding 360 Radar and FlightAware.

Antennas: The current antennas in use are, for HF, EFHW for 40-10m with 56:1 un-un, sloping from 7m down to 3m; Other antennas up at the moment are, for 2m: 5-element short-boom 'PowaBeam' yagi for 2m @ 6.5m, hand rotatable only; a 6m half wave dipole at about 7m all mounted on a fibreglass telescopic mast (extendable to 15m). In the garden is a 1m diameter aluminium loop fed with a Cross Country Wireless (CCW) loop amplifier, which makes for a very low noise antenna with extremely sharp nulls and is mounted at 0.5m above ground. A CCW active receive-only dipole. The elements are around 1.5m each at 3m above ground and mounted vertically. This dipole used as a phasing antenna together with the other active loop, via a modified MFJ 1026 phaser. For 4m, I use a 2-element 4m 'VK2ABQ style' mini-beam (in the attic) beaming roughly SE, for summer Es.

To help combat some of the man-made interference, I use an MFJ 1026, which has been a real lifesaver on many occasions! Providing you can supply a good noise signal on one antenna and a stronger signal than noise on the other antenna, you stand a fair chance of improving the overall clarity of the wanted signal. Doesn't work 100% every time, but it works to some degree on most problems.
A second MFJ1026, modified for 160 and MW DX, is in the shack. Also available is a kit-built 'X-phaser' (from 'Raduso', in Poland - which is of a different design to the usual, eBay available, x-phase units from the Far East).

For calibration purposes, I have a GPS/satellite locked frequency standard (Trimble Thunderbolt) that is accurate to around 2ppb, or better.

The antennas here tend to change every so often as I decide to try something different. Antennas I have used in the not-too-distant past are a discone (general vhf/uhf receive); a turnstile (for weather satellites); a tri-band (6/2/70) vertical; I've even had the CCW active delta on top of the mast).
For HF, I've tried various dipoles; an 'Off Centre Fed Dipole/Windom' and of course, an End Fed Half Wave (EFHW). I recently removed a 20m loop from service - it was a good antenna but I could only use it on 20-10m. I couldn't give the EFHW a fair trial as the 49:1 balun was only rated at 20W PEP, so if more than about 10W of FM/Data were put through it there was a real chance it could over-heat. Put 20W of FM/Data on a band that it is not a good match for and I'm pretty sure it would start smoking/cook the ferrite in the balun so that was no longer usable! As I was intending to try an EFHW again, I decided to go for one that could take the power levels that I was going to put through it. The one I chose has a big, heavy un-un that I have bolted to the top of the mast with a bracket and U-bolt. Even the wire is heavy duty. The wire is so heavy that it makes the top of the mast bend. With the previous EFHW, I didn't require a counterpoise, so I thought this one would be the same. I was wrong! I installed it with a common mode choke at the feedpoint, and a second at the radio. This worked too well! It isolated the feeder completely and threw the resonance right off and no matter what I did, I could not get it to resonate. I ended up cutting over 2m off the length, but I was still out. After seeking advice, I moved the feeder choke to about 2m down from the feed-point. That changed things a fair bit, but having looked at the VNA results, it looks like the wire is now too short! So my task is either to replace the wire and begin again, or to add a length to the existing wire and begin again. Frustrating, but entirely my own doing. Anyway, I answered my own question as to whether the EFHW would work here, the answer is 'YES', it does work here. I proved this to myself by calling a JD1 (Ogasawara/Chichijima) and was answered on my first call whilst using just 30W on 17m. Similar thing this morning, on 20m I saw a J8 (St Vincent & Grenadines) on 20m FT4, called and worked just like that. Also worked a ZA (Albania) just after. Hoping I can find the resonant spot for it so all the harmonically related bands fall into place.

This year (2024) I have decided to increase the number of QSOs I have. By February, I had already eclipsed the number of QSO's from the past 5, maybe 7 years. I had spent those years SWLing and just making the odd contact here and there when I found an interesting station. It is the end of May now and I am over 700 QSOs - not that many really, but it's far more than I usually make in a whole year. My other intention this year was to work at least 100 DXCC entities. So far, I am around 90 DXCC and there are still a lot of 'easy' ones to make. I'm keeping a separate log of my QSO's so they don't get lost in my main station log. In addition, I am keeping a visual record of these by using a map with virtual 'pins' indicating the grid locator of each station, with a different colour for each mode. Being somewhat nerdy, since 1996 I have been keeping statistics of Stations/DXCC/Prefixes/Grid Squares/WAS/US Counties/WAC heard. When you have almost 30 years of data, certain trends can be seen (such as the 11-year sunspot cycle progresses with a shift towards the higher bands or lower bands, as the minima is approached). Each year I set a target for myself which helps with motivation. The most common target I set is to beat the previous year's scores! I also target DXpeditions, to hear them at the least, and on as many bands/modes as possible. If the DXpedition is audible at a decent enough strength I may try to work it. With the advent of FT8, this has become a more common prospect than it used to be.

Well, that is it, for now. 73 and thanks for taking the time to wade through my ramblings. I hope to work as many of you as possible, and I never refuse a QSO. If you have called me and haven't heard a reply, it may be that I haven't heard/seen you
or I have heard/seen you but I was already calling/trying to work someone. Hang around because I will call you as soon as I am free to do so.

Best wishes to all, good DX! Please be courteous to others, even if they are using a mode you do not wish to use or do not like for whatever reason, there is no need to be nasty to them. There is far too much of this going on throughout the various social media platforms FT-haters; Those who are phobic/nasty/deriding towards new licence holders; Those who bemoan the cheap twin band V/UHF handhelds available from a handful of FE manufacturers, usually without even trying one. The list goes on and on).

Enjoy this wonderful hobby, and let others do the same! G4UCJ, making QRM since 1982 ...-.- . .