I will be doing a new portable operation from 7th August until 11th August.
As usual I will be located at OK30to.
Working conditions will be the Buddihex from Buddipole as well as the FTDX 10 and the SPE Expert 1.3K-FA.
I hope to be able to work N5J but also work a lot of DX from this location which is much quieter than from home downtown HCMC.
See you then
This week end I turned on the radio a little bit for the IOTA Contest 2024.
This was the first contest with my new radio Flex 6600 and I can say that a contest with this radio is a whole lot different than using my Yaesu FTDX 10 but I will do a separate blog post about the Flex 6600.
Propagation was not really good especially on Sunday. As usual, doing a contest with an Inverted V dipole and from South East Asia is very challenging. I entered the contest in the High power mixed (CW & SSB) category.
Only 70 contacts were made and very few European stations came through to Vietnam.
10M was really dead on my side.
Updated on 11th September 2024
In order to get a Ham Radio license in Vietnam, XV2A Bac Ai is the entry point for foreigners giving a very precious help to all of us to get our licenses. Lately it has been more difficult to reach him due to his advanced age.
You can apply the license from your side but you will still require a stamp and signature provided by Bac Ai for the time being.
This makes the process of applying from abroad almost impossible and you will need to have local help to get the license.
Documents required:
The classes:
Class 1: All HF bands / 1KW
Class 2: All HF bands / 200w
License specificities:
It is very important to note that a license in Vietnam is tied up with an address and a transceiver.
One license per transceiver. It is however possible to add one or two addresses on top of the main one.
No portable activity is possible in Vietnam. You should also note that 6M is not allowed in Vietnam.
The Forms:
The first form is related to personal information and is quite easy to fill.
The second one is about all the information about the radio and the operation.
You can download them from here: form 1, form 2.
I have made a translation to explain as much as I could here.
Very important note:
On the form 1 if you want to apply in the Frequency department located in Ho Chi Minh (Thu Duc) you need to put the “permanent address” in the district 2 of Thao Dien. I have applied for license for European Ham radio operator using my address. Putting your address from your home country complicates the process.
The payment can be done by bank transfer and the fees are usually given once the license is issued.
The forms with the certified passport copy and the license can be sent to the below address:
TRUNG TÂM TẦN SỐ VÔ TUYẾN ĐIỆN KHU VỰC II
45 Trần Lựu – P. An Phú – tp.Thủ Đức – Tp.Hồ Chí Minh
The E-Mail address I received the license from was: [email protected]
As far as I know they only speak Vietnamese.
I strongly recommend you to send the documents through DHL, Fedex, UPS or equivalent as post is not really working well for documents in my own experience.
The License:
From the moment you send the documents are received it should take around 3 weeks to get the license issued. It is now an e-license since end of 2023, which means you will not get any document but just an e-mail with the license as attachment.
The cost for the license is VND 20,000 (less than $US1) / Band / Month. To be noted that certain bands count for 2 bands for the administration.
Who can help ?
You can try to contact Bac Ai (XV2A) but lately he has not been responding to e-mails nor text messages nor phone calls.
Currently in Ho Chi Minh as far as I know we are two active hams:
If need be and if available I can go drop the documents at the frequency department and/or pay the license for you and you can make a payment back to one of my bank account.
Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail (on QRZ.com)
My three last “portable at the beach” operation were made from a new house with a bigger garden next door to the previous house.
From 18th April until 21st April I went there for a new portable operation. I knew I would have the opportunity to contact new ones with better antenna condition / less noise especially 3G0YA which was starting its activity.
We arrived with my wife and kids at around 2pm on Thursday and I started to erect the antenna immediately. The 40°C makes it very hard to work on antennas but as usual I do not want to lose time.
I started with the 7 meters Mastwerks and then the Buddihex, it took around 1h15 minutes due to the need to take a few breaks and drink. I mounted 5 bands from 20m to 10m as 6m is not allowed here.
Then followed by the DX Commander classic only with 30m and 40m element.
I started to operate at 8.59 UTC (15.59 local time) with JH0QEV on 10m SSB and second contact with 5Z4APA Martin which was a nice surprise.
A bit later and as usual a nice contact with my friend Amir 4X6TT so we tried and made contact on 10m/12m/15m/17m while 20m did not work and we were not able to listen to each other.
Propagation was not really good and as usual during the day time it was very quiet. I was switching between SSB and CW.
As always while portable I go on 14.207 at 11.30 UTC for KE5EE net. No matter what I always hear Stan.
That Thursday night I had a good run on 15m with Europe and ended up the day with 238 contacts. I worked a few US / Canadian stations in the middle of the European such as K1XT, K5UR, VE3DOU, KR4I, KI2Y, K9PPY, K0JU, WA2BCK, K9SO, K9TRX, KC1AB and a few more. USA is always difficult from Vietnam.
The following day on Friday I managed to work A52CI on FT8 17m for a new one for me from Vietnam.
Then on 15m a bit later on SSB, 3G0YA, for a ATNO and immediately after TX7W for a new one from Vietnam as well on 12m FT8. Finally for a third contact in a row and a third new one I worked RI1ANE Antarctica on 17m CW.
On Friday night, again I worked KE5EE with AJ4EN and NK4R.
I ended the Friday with 240 contacts.
On Saturday I saw that my friend Fabien A92HK was spotted on 10m so went and said hi as I did not speak with him for quite some time. Fabien with his delta loop 3 elements was very strong (59+20db).
Nice contact with XX9CM which is not too common and who was strong here as well on 15m SSB with a good pile up.
Third evening with KE5EE and I managed to work a new one YN9H immediately followed by YN2N, Central America is VERY hard for me from Ho Chi Minh, almost impossible with the QRM.
Sunday morning, last day and very short time as I need to start putting down the antennas and the station at 10am local time (03.00 UTC).
First QSO of the day with 3G0YA on 10m SSB followed by TT8XX (Tchad) on 17m FT8 for a new one from Vietnam.
Then 3G0YA for a third slot on 12m FT8 and finally E6SP (Niue Island) on 10m FT8 for another new one from Vietnam.
Total of 689 contacts with 6 new ones during this activity, I was very happy with the result.
The Buddihex is still amazing me with such a portable antenna to be able to work some new ones with heavy pile up. It is always very hard to get through the Japanese wall or sometimes the EU wall when we are located in South East Asia.
Working conditions:
As you may know I face a lot of QRM from home with usually around S8 of noise on all bands. This is why I try to do portable at the beach as often as I can.
The location is around 2h30 drive from my home QTH. The benefits of this location is that there is absolutely no noise when beamed towards the sea from around 80 degres to 200 degres.
The noise goes up to S5/7 while beaming towards Europe.
My working conditions when I am portable are:
From this location I am able to discover real radio again, it is crazy to see how bands seems to be opened while at home it feels like they are always closed just because of noise. Without all this noise I can see that there is a lot of DX to work and it feels really like being in a different area. Pile ups seems bigger also due to the fact that I hear more stations with the low noise.
I will be portable again on 17th until 19th November.
I recently purchased a Nano Keyer from Alibaba. It cost me around US$50 and was delivered after around 25 days from purchase in Vietnam.
It is cheaper than a Winkeyer or Microham devices which also include a Winkeyer.
After unpacking it I installed it, it is pretty straight forward. One USB-C connected to the computer and the jack 3.5 from the Nano Keyer to the Key plug of the radio and finally my Begali Sculpture plugged into the Nano Keyer.
To change the settings of the Nano Keyer it is a bit painful as we need to pass commands with the cw keyer but once understood it works well.
The only thing which bothers me a little is that the side tone is not really strong thus if a bit of noise around it is hard to hear the side tone. Anyway for the price it works quite well and is also having a very small foot print.
Happy with the purchase and using it quite often, for portable operation it will also be very easily transportable thus I recommend for the ones who want to operate portable with such a device.
I had no issues at all to connect to it with Log4OM, N1MM as well as Cloudlog but Cloudlog is still having bugs with the Winkeyer so it is not really usable.
The change of speed directly from Log4OM or N1MM works also very well.
First of all let me say that I have two Hermes Lite 2, one which is used in reception only as a skimmer for F8 / FT4 / WSPR / CW.
Hermes Lite 2 is a QRP SDR which output 5 watts. It is very affordable with the main board adding also the filter board and the aluminum case you may be looking at around USD 400.
I usually use it with Thetis and the NR as well as NR2 are very very good.
One of the Hermes Lite 2 is having the normal firmware which gives you 4 slices and the TX while my second Hermes Lite 2 uses the firmware for having 10 RX slices and no TX, this one is used with CWSL Digi as well as the RBN aggregator and CW skimmer server. All of this is running on one virtual Windows 11 machine and spotting around 20,000 spots a day.
Here are some pics of the two Hermes Lite 2.
Let’s talk about Cloudlog. I have been using for a few years now Log4OM which is definitely doing everything I need. UDP in/out good management, labels printing, normal logging with good support for everything such as lookups on QRZ.com, HamQTH and so on…also all I need in terms of DX Cluster as well. Automated upload of QSOs in QRZ.com, Clublog, LoTW and eQSL.cc. It is also supporting TCI and Winkeyer which makes it perfect for all my needs.
One of the only issue I face with Log4OM is it is very slow especially while running a pile up. It cannot catch up when logging contacts very fast despite trying everything to optimize it. The computer I use is definitely not the problem as it is a very good configuration.
While looking for other logbook I came across Cloudlog. The good thing of Cloudlog is that it is web based. Developped in php/MySQL with CodeIgniter framework. But I also think it is one of the weakness as I think it becomes more complicated to interface with a lot of things.
For now I like very much the interface which is very nice and intuitive. I have installed the bridge for TCI which interface very well with SunSDR 2 DX but also Hermes Lite 2. I do not really like the management of cluster which uses a third party cluster cache and also one of my major issue is that when you click on a spot on the cluster it will not change the frequency on the radio which means the CAT on Cloudlog is basically one way only from the radio to Cloudlog not the other way around.
In the things I like though there is the management of different logbook as well as locations.
In Vietnam I use two calls: XV9BPO and XV9Q, I use XV9BPO from two different locations, from home (OK30IT) and from Tri Ann lake (OK31NC). While for XV9Q I can use from three different locations, from home (OK30IT), at the beach around 2h drive from home (OK30TO) and from Tri Ann Lake (OK31NC).
With Cloudlog it makes it very easy to switch from one call to the other or from one location to another.
All of the QSOs because they are made from same country are in the same logbook which makes it easy to check your DXCC with the two calls no matter which location. This part is very well managed in Cloudlog. You can do the same in Log4OM but I face a few bugs from time to time.
I am still testing Cloudlog and it misses a few things before I completely switch to it but it is promising.
If some ham actually check this post feel free to let me know which logbook you use.
Following the post on my Battery Box than you can check here I am doing a new Battery Box Updated post with some new features.
I have changed the battery meter in order to be clearly see whether I am drawing current or charging the battery.
It is a Renogy and I used a wooden piece to fix the shunt, the charge controller as well as the fuse box.
It is working quite well and I am happy with the result.
I have two Anderson power poles, one is for the solar panel Sunslice Fusion 150 and the other one to plug the radio.
You can find photos here below:
I am a big fan of K8MRD videos as well as Josh Ham Radio 2.0. This is where came the idea of building a Battery Box. I have already build one but I will start building a new one, I have made some mistakes that I would like to correct and obviously as soon as you have made some holes in a box it is hard to re-use it.
It all started with the choice of the battery, I read and watch a lot of videos but in the ham world one brand is very well known and this is the one I chose also: Bioenno.
Considering I wanted to run at 100w for as long as possible but still keeping a reasonable weight as well as size I chose the 50AH model. It should give me a very long operating time at 100w SSB.
I used some of the below components for building my battery box:
In order to charge the battery I can either use a normal charger (the one from Bioenno is a 10AH) or my 150w solar panel from Sunslice (Fusion 150).
It was a fun project and I will start a new build with some changes. Indeed I will use different Anderson powerpoles I got from Powerwerx and a new Renogy battery controller which will allow me to differentiate the current drawn from the battery and the current charging the battery.
Let’s talk about Tri Ann Lake and Family House Garden…
I am finally back from our vacation in France on 2nd August while my wife and the kids are still in France until 22nd August.
I was able as every year to buy some new ham radio stuff and thus brought back in the luggage:
The fact is that from home I have a QRM at s9 +10db all day long on 20m/17m/15m/12m/10m. I also do not have the space to put up a decent antenna and only use an inverted V dipole at 14m above the ground on a spiderbeam fiberglass pole.
So I have been thinking a lot how to have more enjoyable time on the radio and I started to think about portable operation with the Buddihex.
Obviously the main criteria while looking for a location are:
During my research I found out about Family Garden House, it is around 80km North East of Ho Chi Minh (1h30 minutes drive). It is next to Tri Ann Lake so kids can fish / swim or even do some camping and have a big garden to play in.
I went to this location on 3rd to 5th August and again from 10th August to 12th August.
After setting up the antenna the bad surprise was that there is also a high noise at this location as well. Around S7 which is a bit better than at home but still quite high.
But the antenna is a game changer compared to the dipole. Even if the Buddihex is only 7m high I have seen very good performance. I will probably do a post on the antenna.
We are planning to go again at this location from 31st August till 4th September and I will maybe try around the lake while camping with antenna next to the water and maybe with a bit less noise than at the house.
You can see some pictures below.
I also had a huge storm which obliged me to take the antenna down very quickly.
Hopefully I will be able to give Vietnam to more stations while at this location.
Finally you can hear one of the pile up from my side on 4th August at around midnight local time on 20M.
This is a new DXCC update on the blog.
I am currently having 133DXCC entities contacted in mixed mode.
CW: 68 Contacted / 53 Confirmed
Digital: 120 Contacted / 102 Confirmed
SSB: 81 Contacted / 66 Confirmed
I have added quite a few countries in CW which I am still learning so please be patient while I am active on CW.
You can check my QRZ page to check if I am on the air.
These are the last FT8 Awards I received on 25th January 2023.
This is my first DXCC update on the blog.
I am currently having 122 DXCC entities contacted in mixed mode.
CW: 48 Contacted / 33 Confirmed
Digital: 114 Contacted / 90 Confirmed
SSB: 75 Contacted / 60 Confirmed
I am still having issues to work in SSB due to heavy QRM and poor propagation but it seems like the SFI is increasing on weekly basis now.
Hopefully I will be able to hear and be heard in a better way in the coming weeks / months.
You can check my QRZ page to check if I am on the air.
I have asked ON5UR to design and print my QSL cards.
I have been very happy with his services and professionalism so far. He did my qsl cards for XV2A activity as well as HS0ZLE, F4BPO and now XV9BPO.
You can find below all the QSLs.
Max has a huge gallery of QSL cards he has designed and printed for Ham Radio operators.
You can check out his website at ON5UR.
I remind you that my QSL manager for XV9BPO is EA5GL Pedro.
It is very difficult to work European stations in SSB due to my poor working conditions.
I am currently mainly using the inverted V dipole as it is the one giving the best results both in rx and tx.
I had a good opening on 7th September and I could log 94 stations on 20M.
Hope to work more SSB in the coming weeks.
Following our vacation in France in July 2022 I was able to buy some Ham Radio stuff and bring it back with me. I bought two dipoles and a SunSDR2 DX as well as a DX Commander Classic.
I did put up the dipole on a Spiderbeam Fiberglass pole of 12m and mounted the DX Commander Classic in the garden.
The station is now looking as per the below picture
I purchased a Baby Loop Antenna from Ciro Mazzoni in Italy a few years ago.
The antenna was sent to France as it could not be delivered in Vietnam due to prohibitive shipping cost during Covid period.
It took me 1.5 year to get it back to Ho Chi Minh City as I needed to wait for shipping prices to be more reasonable.
I have installed the Baby Loop Antenna in the garden here downtown Ho Chi Minh City.
Here are a few photos.
For the time being I am still trying to find the right place for the antenna, unfortunately I do not have many options.
Sometimes I get very high SWR depending on the heading of the antenna or where it is in the garden. For example, I tend to have higher SWR when it is on a sloping ground.
Finally after such a long time I am able to go back on the air.
Indeed, I ordered a Baby Loop from Ciro Mazzoni more than a year ago but it could be sent only to France.
It took a very long time for me to find a way to ship it from France to Vietnam.
Due to covid situation the shipping costs were also very high.
Since 1st June I am active on the air.
My working conditions are quite modest as the Baby Loop, despite the fact it is a good antenna, will not allow me to be heard the same way I was with my Optibeam OB9-5 from Thailand.
Mainly active on FT8 for the time being and starting all DXCC from scratch.
I will confirm QSL only through Lotw and probably EQSL.cc
I do not think I will print a QSL card this time unless some people request it.
Hope to catch you on the air in FT8, CW or SSB.