Tag Archives: XV9BPO

Tri Ann Lake

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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:

  • Yaesu FTDX 10
  • Tuner Genius (FlexRadio / 4O3A)
  • Buddihex from buddipole
  • 150w foldable solar panel from Sunslice
  • Solar charge controller from Powerwerx, this one.
  • Battery controller from Renogy.

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:

  • Not too far from home (2h to 2h30 drive maximum)
  • Low noise location (very hard to find in Vietnam / South East Asia in general)
  • Have enough space to setup the Buddihex.
  • Have enough activities for the kids while going to the location with the family.

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.

DXCC Update

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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.

QSL Cards

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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.

Poor Propagation

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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.

Station

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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

Finally back on air

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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.