Brendan Quest 2 metre Trans-Atlantic Attempt

In an update issued on July 14th, Frank Davis announced that the VO1FN Transatlantic VHF project has received important support from SHF Elektronik Siggi DJ2MM who have sponsored an MVV 144-VOX Mast Mounted preamp. The unit has been received and will be installed in the coming days.

The unit has been modified by Siggi with more sensitive circuitry to deal with the very weak VHF signals to be expected on the Transatlantic path. This preamp will also enable the station to utilize its new FT991A transceiver to transmit in return to any signals heard. He also thanked Mr. Martin Jue of MFJ for sponsoring two 12VDC BiasT units for the irish station EI2DHK and Newfoundland Labrador station VO1FN. Both units have been received.

The VO1FN location will use the Bias T to power the SHF Mast Mounted Preamp. The EI2DKH beacon is now running 24/7 beaming across the Atlantic hoping to make contact with North America. The radio is an Elad Duo SDR with GPS DO operating on 28 MHz into a transverter. The Duo output is 1 milliwatt and the transverter delivers 10 Watts into a 100 Watt linear amplifier, so all systems are cool running except the amplifier which is fan cooled.

The station run by Tony EI8JK transmitting Q65 (60 sec, sub mode C) with CW ID every even minute on 144.488 MHz with audio frequency of 1500 Hz and it receives Q65 every odd minute on 144.178 MHz with audio frequency of 1500 Hz