HB9CQK amateur radio biography 1981 - today

The early days

Since I can think I have been fascinated by wireless technology. I purchased a shortwave receiver from my very first hard earned money in the 60’s. Those were the days of the cold war and the shortwave bands were full of jamming stations. It was sometimes challenging to pull out that weak signal among all the noise. I soon realized that there were a fortunate few called amateur radio operators or HAMs that could build and operate their own station. It was a world-wide community – I was hooked for life! Later on I experimented with CB radio, but it did not give me the international contacts that HAM radio provided, so when my friend Andy, G4OJH visited us in Switzerland and got a phone call from his father with the message that he had just passed the amateur radio exam my decision was made: I had to get the amateur radio ticket. Within a year I passed the technical test and the CW test that was still required in the 80’s. My initial call sign was HB9RLP (VHF & UHF privileges only). After having passed the CW exam I was assigned the call sign HB9CQK. In Switzerland this gives me access to all bands allocated to the amateur radio service in Region 1. Power is up to 1 kW in this class.

My first VHF rig

I started with a Kenwood TR-9130 on 2m. It was operating FM, SSB and CW with up to 25 watts. I connected it to a 10 elements crossed Yagi antenna, bouncing signals off mountains. It was possible to make contacts with HAMs in northern Europe (UK, Sweden, Norway etc.) by pointing the directional antenna south at Mount Pilatus. Pointing the antenna north resulted in no signal at all. There is a hill and a forest to the north of my QTH.

My first HF rig

My first HF rig was a Yaesu FT-101E that I soon replaced with a much more modern Yaesu FT-980. I made countless DX contacts with it on all bands. My favorite band was 10 meters. I was even operating 10m FM from my car using a modified CB radio from the UK (a birthday present from Andy, G4OJH).

Satellites

Satellite operation is another passion. I operated Oscar-7, Oscar-10 and Oscar-13, because these birds provided the best long distance coverage with their analog transponders. For many years I was also operating the digital satellites. My first satellite rig was the Yaesu FT-726R that I later replaced with an FT-736R. This rig is for sale now if you are interested. It is in perfect condition, very clean, no scratches, works with 9600 baud packet and just needs a Li battery replacement. The price is VERY good. Send me a message if you are interested. I am a founding member of AMSAT HB and re-startet my satellite activities with a brand new icom IC-9700 in 2024 after a long break on the satellites.

Lightning strikes

On July 31st 1994 my station was hit by lightning. It was a direct hit into the antenna. I should have taken a picture of that top section – it was impressive. Although I had lightning arrestors in all lines NOTHING with electronics inside survived that hit. My entire station was down. Since many parts of the station were homemade (antennas, computers, rotator control) it was very difficult to replace, although the insurance company paid for most of it. I almost gave up. However, seeing that Yaesu FT-1000D in the HAM shop and hearing its receiver brought me back on track. I operated the FT-1000D for 10 years. In addition I was using a Drake TR-7, because I very much liked the receiver quality, especially on 10 meters. Then I replaced both transceivers with an icom IC-7800 – what a radio! Since the lightning strike I always disconnect ALL lines (antenna, power, rotator control cable) when not operating during the lightning season. We had another hit a couple of years later when the lines were disconnected. At that time only the telephone line was damaged.

From the IC-7800 to the IC-7610

My IC-7800 lasted for 18 years. In 2022 the screen had faded so much that it was no longer readable. The external monitor helped, but then it started to no longer respond to CI-V commands. Spare parts were no longer available. Long story short: It was the end of my IC-7800 and the beginning of my IC-7610. The IC-7610 is a great rig and the receiver is on par if not better than the IC-7800 Rx. It also has fantastic software on macOS (highly recommended) so you never need an external pan-adapter like on the IC-7800. However, there are times when I miss the IC-7800. As a standalone rig it just had the best operating I have ever encountered.

Digital modes

Digital modes on HF always interested me. I started using RTTY, went to AMTOR, packet radio, PACTOR, PSK-31, WSPR, JT-65, JT-9, FT8 and FT4. It is amazing what you can do in WSPR-2 and FT8. On a seemingly dead band you can make solid DX contacts using 5 to 30 Watts – stunning! I also operated analog and digital SSTV.

My icom IC-7800 was a great rig for operating digital modes, because it had optical input and output. This is a good way to feed and receive a clean signal with a standalone transceiver. The IC-7160 has a USB connection for this purpose that makes digital operation even easier.

Software Defined Radio (SDR) with the FlexRadio 6700

As a happy user of an icom IC-7800 I had already had a lot of processing power in my radio with spectrum scope, etc for many years. Icom even upgraded the IC-7800 firmware after 10 years to give us additional visual capabilities on the screen and more. However, my FlexRadio 6700 which I acquired in 2015 can operate up to 8 slice receivers in parallel, so you can monitor almost all the bands that your antenna(s) cover concurrently – visually. This is REALLY great stuff! The SDR performs very well in digital modes like FT4 and FT8. The flexibility in changing the filter width for the digital modes is unique.

This is a picture of early WSJT-X days before FT8. You can see JT65 and JT9 on 8 bands in parallel

If you have read my biography to this point (thanks for that) you must be a very interested HAM. So, consequently you will ask yourself: “How does the SDR receiver perform compared to the IC-7800 and IC-7610 receiver?” Well, that is a tricky question. In SSB the 6700 has the edge. For weak DX stations I always switch to the 6700, because it allows me to pull out that small signal more efficiently than on the 7800 and 7610. For digital modes all Rx give me very similar results, but the 6700 can do it on 8 bands concurrently! On CW the 6700 beats them all. I just love the way you can work a CW Pile-up with this radio. Nothing comes close! See the picture on the right of the 3Y0J Bouvet Island Pile-up on 30m. It took me some time, but I finally got the “HB9CQK 599” and “TU” on 17m as well as the QSL and LotW confirmation for a new DXCC operating the 6700 at our Remote DX-Station on Mount Rigi. This all sounds great, but you need to be aware that this radio depends on the SmartSDR software running in Windows. There is a great SmartSDR version available for Apple macOS, developed by Marcus, DL8MRE and officially supported by FlexRadio This is what I use mostly. With Windows you are at the mercy of Microsoft with their countless OS updates. It drove me mad several times. The macOS version is a lot more stable, but there is some functionality missing (like multiple audio in/out). You have been warned now! What I really dislike about the FLEX-6700 is the lack of real hardware ALC to control an external amplifier. I did all the settings explained by FlexRadio for my spe Expert 1.3K- FA Amplifier and it is fine if everything operates as planned (you know that this is not always the case), but I very much prefer the ALC implementation of the IC-7800 and IC-7610! I do not understand that FlexRadio does not allow the operator to choose how he wants to drive an external (3rd party) amplifier.

Far away from home

For decades I have carried amateur radio equipment almost wherever I went. Before the age of cellphones it was the only way to get in touch when traveling. In the mid 80’s I started to carry HF radios (in sequence: Yaesu FT-757, Yaesu FT-747, Yaesu FT-840, icom 706, icom 706MKIIG) with switching power supplies and all kinds of commercial or home brew antennas to many different places. These activities were never planned as the main purpose of the holiday; it always had to be compatible with all other activities like scuba diving, hiking, etc. The entire equipment had to fit into one small bag, plus a hand carried fiberglass mast. In some cases I knew I was a rare one and everybody wanted to get into my log, but there were real surprises too (like the confirmed first activation of Lizard Island, operating VK4CSP/P). Here are the call signs that I had the pleasure to operate:

HB9RLP (Switzerland VHF, UHF)
HB9CQK (Switzerland all bands)
9H3EC (Malta, Comino Island)
FM/HB9CQK (Martinique)
FG/HB9CQK (Guadeloupe)
FS/HB9CQK (Saint Martin)
HB9CQK/MM (Caribbean)
8Q7AL (Maldives, Makunudu Island)
VK4CQK (Queensland Australia, Heron Island)
KP2/HB9CQK (U.S. Virgin Islands)
S79QK (Seychelles, Desroches Island, Denis Island, Alphonse Island)
FR/HB9CQK (Réunion Island)
3B8/HB9CQK (Mauritius Island)
VK4CSP (Queensland Australia, Heron Island, Orpheus Island, Lizard Island), also used in many other places in Australia mobile and portable
ZL/HB9CQK (New Zealand)
HB9HSLU Technical University of Lucerne, Helvetia Contest in 2019 and other occasions

I currently have active licenses for HB9CQK and VK4CSP.

Amateur radio today

People often ask me: “Do you still operate that radio when you can communicate much easier over the Internet?” They miss the point. This is like asking a passionate fisherman why he does not buy his fish in a store. The Internet is a really nice addition to our hobby. For example the PSKREPORTER page gives me almost real-time feedback on my transmit range when I transmit a signal using one of the digital modes. The thrill of long distance wireless is unchanged. Just like when I was 12 years old I am still amazed by the fact that a signal with the power of a battery powered torch can make it to the other side of the planet and can be received using a piece of wire or aluminium in the air at a distance of 20’000 km.

Noise

There is one unfortunate issue at my location, which is bothering many other HAMs too: The noise level on 30, 40, 60 and 80m makes these bands almost useless for me. Even 20m and sometimes 10m have reached noise levels that make DX contacts very difficult. The noise does not come from a single source. It comes from a multitude of badly designed electronic equipment, PowerLine, VDSL2, etc. I am using a magnetic loop antenna from Wellbrook in the UK. This rx antenna picks up a lot less noise than the Double Zepp. It is OK, but not really a DX top performer. However, without the Wellbrook loop I would be off 40 and 80m entirely at my home QTH! The tx antenna for 30, 40, 60 and 80m is a two times 18.2m Double Zepp in inverted vee configuration with an angle of about 100 degrees. The Double Zepp is connected to a Stockcorner JC-4s autotuner (highly recommended) via a 1:1 ATU current balun and about 6m of 450 Ohm Window Line. The other option to fight local noise is to use a remote station. HB9RYZ, Wolfgang and myself are heavily involved in designing, setting up and using remote stations. Check out the "News" and “HAM Projects” sections on this website for more details on our remote operation!

Beam Antenna

Loop antenna