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home QRZCQ - The database for radio hams 
 
2024-03-29 00:15:56 UTC
 

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ON7AH

Active QRZCQ.com user

activity index: 0 of 5

Dirk DEBACKER


Belgium

EU
belgium
image of on7ah

Call data

Last update:2023-07-14 08:56:20
Continent:EU
Views:390
Main prefix:ON
Latitude:51.0278463
Longitude:3.0368614
Locator:JO11MA
DXCC Zone:209
ITU Zone:27
CQ Zone:14

Most used bands

20m
(26%)
40m
(21%)
10m
(14%)
80m
(13%)
15m
(13%)

Most used modes

SSB
(87%)
FT8
(14%)
FT4
(1%)
CW
(1%)

QSL data

Last update:2023-02-09 14:32:40
eQSL QSL:YES
Bureau QSL:YES
Direct QSL:YES
LoTW QSL:YES

Biography

Since my childhood I have been interested in electronics and mechanics.

At the end of the seventies, while at high school, I discovered HAM radio. In 1988 I obtained the class A operator certificate.

After a hiatus of 17 years, I have been active again since September 2016, with a modest HF amateur radio station by today's standards.

I am a "search and pounce" type of operator. A habit from my SWL days.

My main interest is going towards DX hunting on the HF bands with SSB as preferred mode.
While digital modes don't appeal to me really, I use FT8/FT4 modes anyway, as it has unfortunately become the core activity of many DX-stations and DXpeditions.

At least once a week I upload my log to LoTW, Clublog, QRZ and eQSL.

Below you can read more history and info regarding my station.



I respect meticulously the principles set out in the booklet "Ethics and Opereating Procedures for the Radio Amateur" by John Devoldere, ON4UN (SK) and Marc Demeuleneere, ON4WW.
http://www.on4ww.be/OperatingPracticeEnglish.html
A must read.
The hobby would be much more enjoyable if every HAM radio operator applied these recommendations!



I was born in 1959. Married to Gerda in 1982. We have a daughter (°1986) and 3 grandchildren (°2012, °2015 and °2018). We all live in Kortemark. Our town has 13000 inhabitants, spread over 5 parishes on an area of 56,43km², of which 8,5% is inhabited. Kortemark is situated in the middle of the province of West-Vlaanderen, 25kms South East from the coastal city of Ostend and 25kms South West from the historical city of Bruges.

Altough I have a college education in electronics, almost throughout my entire professional career I did work for various law enforcement agencies. I am retired since 1 november 2022.

I have been interested in both electronics and mechanics since childhood. In the early seventies I became fascinated by the way the MW offshore pirate radio stations managed to transmit from written off small cargo ships or fishing vessels. A self-repaired Grundig 2053W from the fifties, with built-in rotatable ferrite-antenna, was my companion. This set is still in the shack. Being an avid music lover I particulary enjoyed the nocturnal "album format" emissions by Radio Caroline.

I soon discovered broadcast-transmissions on the 49m band. In 1979, after purchasing a Sommerkamp FRG-7000 general coverage receiver, I came across communications on the to amateur radio allocated HF-bands, and slowly got in to this great hobby as a SWL (ONL5810). It has stuck with me ever since!

In 1988, encouraged by Roger ON1TQ (SK), Claude ON7TK and Carine ON7LX, I succesfully went for the class A-operator certificate and was assigned the ON7AH callsign.

From that moment, despite antenna restrictions, I was able to enjoy HF DXing very much.

Unfortunately, in 1999 other pursuits had to be given priority and almost all my amateur radio equipment was sold, was donated to friends or went to the scrap metal dealer.

After a house move in July 2016, I was able to return to the hobby. Starting with a Kenwood TS-180S from 1980, a 12V 100Ah car battery, a random wire length end-fed antenna and a homemade tuner, my station was gradually upgraded to a (according to today's standards) modest HF station.

A mains filter at the 240V entrance of the shack, an adequate RF ground system individually connected to every piece of equipment and to the mast, plus common mode chokes on all coaxial feedlines, are all helping to reduce the manmade noise level.

In my shack, located in the garden, I use N1MM+ for logging. On a regular base I upload all data into DXLab's DXKeeper. Every QSO made since 1988 (outside contests) is uploaded to LoTW, QRZ, Club Log and eQSL. Unfortunately, all the pre-2017 contest logs are lost.

I send and collect paper QSL-cards for old school contacts.


Altough digital modes don't appeal to me, I still use FT8 in order to build up my DXCC score. Dissapointed to notice that more and more DX-stations and DXpeditions choosing FT8-mode as their core ($$$?) activity. FT8 is a great invention, but impersonal, and besides a few mouse clicks, it doesn't demand a lot of operating skills really. It is more like watching a sick goldfish in a bowl of water.
Basically, compared to the old school modes, FT8 is playing on another playground. Those digital operators collect DXCC in a fortnight! I therefore do not consider automatic communication between two computers as a 2 way QSO among two HAM radio operators.




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Worked DXCCs:

Equipment

Transceivers (They don't make them like this anymore!):

2 x Yaesu FT-1000MP (1995 and 1996)

Kenwood TS-180S (1980)

2 x Icom IC-7200 (2011) one travel rig and one for FT8.



Antennas:

Dipoles for 80, 40 and 30m band

6 band G3TXQ Hexbeam by MW0JZE with Create rotor on a 9 m military telescopic crank-up mast - https://www.g3txq-hexbeam.com/
38m inverted L end fed - 9/1 UNUN

All my baluns and UNUNs are either home assembled or built by ON7FU - http://www.on7fuferriteapplications.com/



Antenna tuners:

DU-3000T by HA8DU

Daiwa CNW 419

Yaesu FC-700

LDG IT-100 autotuner

Other images

second pic
ON7AH / Pic 2
  

Rev. 76d955ecd7