Good to be back on air today after just short of 12 weeks semi-qrt.

I took a few months off to catch up with some important jobs at home and concentrated on Qsl Managing with no radio at all. I had the break at Holy Island of course and that was all, last qso before today being 21st May 2011.

I also managed to get the new antenna sorted last weekend. I erected the G3TXQ Hexbeam built and supplied by Anthony MW0JZE ( at http://www.g3txq-hexbeam.com/ ). I have no doubt the antenna will perform very well as I have used it many times before and this of course prompted my purchase.

The standard and quality of the antenna and parts was second to none and I have no doubt it will prove a wise decision to change to it.

For further info on the antenna see the link above or contact me if you need any further information or have further questions.

GB2WHL will be qrv this weekend (19-21 August 2011) as part of the ”International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend” (ILLW).

The location is ‘Whitby High Lighthouse’ on the East Coast of the UK. Operators this year are Ian M0IAA and Andy M0GGR.

They will be qrv all weekend on the usual HF Bands so please give them a call and make their effort for putting on the station worthwhile!

Qsl via M0OXO

Parts of London became ‘no-go’ areas last night as gangs of youths went on the rampage for the third night running, starting fires, looting and attacking police.

The violence that started in Tottenham at the weekend after a man was shot dead by officers spread throughout the capital. “Inexcusable” marauding saw major fires started in Hackney, Peckham, Lewisham, Clapham, Ealing and Croydon, where a man was injured in a shooting.

A furniture shop in Croydon which had been in the same family for five generations was completely destroyed after being torched.

A huge blaze at a Sony distribution centre near Enfield, north London sent plumes of thick smoke billowing into the sky.

Scotland Yard said 334 people had been arrested, 69 charged and two cautioned across the capital, as over 1,700 extra police were deployed across London, some from neighbouring forces.

When a NASA spacecraft goes into orbit around a new world for the first time, the control room is usually packed to capacity with scientists, engineers, and dignitaries ready to leap and shout when the retro-rockets fire. It’s a big, noisy event.

The 15th July 2011, was one of those days. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft approached Vesta and became the first probe from Earth to orbit a main belt asteroid.

Dawn’s cameras revealed a desolate world of transcendent beauty, thrilling everyone who worked on the project.Needless to say, the control room was …. silent?

Using its framing camera, Dawn obtained this image of Vesta on 24th July, 2011, from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). The three vertically-aligned craters on the left have been nicknamed “the snowman” by camera team members.

There are many basic things researchers would like to know—like how far down does the Great Red Spot go? How much water does Jupiter hold? And what is the exotic material near the planet’s core?

Andrew and his colleagues will be qrv from Fraser Island IOTA OC-142 this coming weekend.

The Island is also valid for WFF with the reference ‘VKFF-216 Great Sandy”. Fraser Island is also named the ”Great Sandy National Park”.

They will be using the Callsign ‘VK4NM’ and will be operating as part of the RSGB IOTA Contest.

Please give Andrew and his team your support and maybe also try to bag yourself a new IOTA at the same time!

Qsl is Via MØOXO