What a difference a year can make. The 2017 contest was in many ways a contrast to 2016. Absolutely perfect weather and almost no technical glitches. Propagation –not so good The main part of the crew OZ1GER Birger, PA5DD Uffe, OZ1FDH Claus, OU1E Rene, OZ7UV Svend, OZ5BD Bjørn and OZ5MD Mia meet at the restaurant in Klintholm Harbour on Friday afternoon for fried fish with potatoes, parsley and a nice cold beer -definitely one of the contest´s highlights. AG6QV Frank and OZ1IKY Kenneth couldn’t join the event this year, but OZ5BD was back  after 4 years in Greenland as OX5T. OZ1FTU and OZ7UV joined the team for the first time . Entering the Kongsbjerg site at the edge of Møns clif 134 m ASL is always a challenge. The summer of 2017 has been monsoon-like in OZ-land, and the forest track had a thick coat of very green and slippery grass. The first attempt for the old Landrover to climb the track with the loaded trailer stalled with the wheels spinning in a green paste, and we ...

Almost all equipment loaded in the trailer. New feature: all antennas now inside the trailer (also under the roof), no more broken elements from driving through the forest. The floor is swept, all equipment should be OK. 5P5T looking forward

...

After 10 years of 144 MHz contesting with 5P5T and continuously developing and changing the station, we figured that maybe it was time to do a thorough evaluation and measurement of the whole TX-line. In the TX-line design, we have taken care to keep the signal clean. This includes; choice of equipment with low phase noise, the transverter and driver PA are never used at more than 50% of their nominated output power and the final PA is never run at levels exceeding the nominated output. But we have to admit, that apart from on-air testing, we never measured if the TX performance actually was as good, we believed it to be. With the exception of a few flaws, where we knew some of the levels were wrong, we generally got nice reports on our TX signal. However, occasionally we also had reports that something was not quite in order, but we couldn’t really find anything wrong in the settings or design. Thus, it was time to seriously look into whether or not there was a problem, and we decided ...

Review of the Kuhne Electronics TR 144 PRO transverter for 144 MHz: Part 1 OZ1FDH/5P5T Claus Felby   Kuhne transverters are not cheap.  With prices around 1300 euros, for most amateurs who owns one, they are probably the most expensive pieces of auxillary equipment in the schack. Thus they are not something you purchase every now and then, but are they worth the money, and can they stand the technological evolution of 10+ years? This article is the first part of a review of the new TR 144 PRO transverter. Focus for this article is on the specifications, practical setup and use as well as on air performance. In the second part, to follow in a month or two, more extensive measurements of the RX and TX parameters will be made. For 10 years, I have been using a Kuhne Electronics transverter for my 144 MHz station. For a while I had TR 144h, but I upgraded to the TR144h +40 in 2008. I have really been happy with this transverter. It has worked flawlessly throughout the years and ...

2007-2016, with this years contest the 5P5T team have been active in the region 1 VHF test for 10 times in a row. Thus the 2016 test was something special. The team this year was OZ1GER, OZ1IKY, OZ1FDH, AG6QV and PA5DD or in other words Birger, Kenneth, Claus, Frank and Uffe. As usual AG6QV Frank had flown in from Los Angeles for the occasion.  5P5T in a break between the rain showers. From left OZ1IKY, PA5DD, OZ1GER, AG6QV and OZ1FDH Prior to the contest we had modified the station setup, reducing the number of boxes and computers to a minimum. Simplicity and overview are the keywords. All the necessary functions for the 1st and 2nd operator can now be controlled from their keyboards. Another important contribution was 5P5T t-shirts! The big challenge every year is transporting the equipment the last 300 m to the top of Kongsbjerg. On a rainy day it is a muddy limestone cliff, turning all the trails into liquid soap.  To haul the 1,5 tons trailer to the top of Kongsbjerg, ...