Did we have a QSO before? Check my log:

And here goes the latest feature of LOG4OM, my favorite logbook software - the last 10 QSO's from the data base (updated every 30 minutes):

QsoDate	Callsign	Band	Mode	RstSent	RstRcvd	TxPwr
11.04.2021 13:18:09	EI3GC	20m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 13:17:21	TF3AO	20m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 13:13:27	OG66X	20m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 13:10:37	CT4NH	20m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 13:03:09	I2BZN	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 13:02:28	ON6NL	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 12:59:42	IV3UJT	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 12:58:36	G4IDF	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 12:55:10	IZ2ZQP	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
11.04.2021 12:49:35	DL5KUD	40m	RTTY	599	599	100
Generated by Log4OM2 2.12.0.0 [11.04.2021 13:36:33 UTC]

The history of DM3XRF

I started to enjoy amateur radio in 1973 as a 15 year old teenager, when I watched the first AM(!) ham-signals in my just finished one-diode detector receiver for local broadcast. It was Walter, DM3RF on 80 m, a pioneer of the East German ham society. A few month later I joined the club and immediatly started to practice Morse Code. After 6 month I held my SWL-license on hands: DM 7102/F. In 1974 I was licensed as DM3XRF, one of the youngest hams in the GDR at that time.

Since commercial equipement was not available, we had to use the radio of our club. We started with an "10RT" as RX (part of a reconstructed russian tank radio) and a home-brew 3-valve TX with 20 W input at an W3DZZ antenna. In 1976 we "purchased" our first 5-band SSB tranceiver, the famos "Teltow 215" (the most left in the picture). It opened the world of high bands to us. After changing our QTH, we could eject 4 towers for dipoles and a 2-el. triband Quad at 30 m/100ft!! From this point of time I really ENJOYED the hobby!

The final breakthrouh was brought by an (once again) home-made linear amplifier, pushing 1 kW of RF to the antennas.
Early I started to participate in amateur radio contests. WAE fascinated with QTC's, WPX and WADM/WAG with real pile-ups. CW was (and is) the only choice for a real contest feeling ...

My logbook filled well in 1980, when the Y2-prefix was issued for GDR and my call-sign changed to Y39XF. At this time I graduated in the former USSR, activating from time to time the call UK1AAE, the club station of the Leningrad's Pioneers Palace.

After returning to Germany I changed to Berlin and joint the Radio Club of Humbold University, using Y54SO. My activity was rather low at that time :-((

Things changed again in 1990, Y2-land became a deleted country (in the real sense of the word!), I moved 750 km apart from Berlin and got DL4VAD.

I started to use this call with an old FT 101 ZD and a FD4 wire antenna from the 4-th floor of a city location. DX-ing became real hard, but I never gave up ... A short but nice episode was my activity in the "Saar-Loraine DX-Club", where I was a founding member. I used to be TM3M at this time and we had a lot of fun from different locations.

For three years my radio activity was close to nil - the own QTH had to be constructed!! In 1994 we finally moved, and one year later the antenna tower was under construction. A dream became true, my own DX and contest station. Improving hard- and software step by step, today I'm using the equipement, listed below. To make it perfect, the German Telecom Regulators allowed in 1997 to apply for the old East German call signs, what I did immediatly :-)) This was the final proof, that I'm getting older.

Contesting received a new kick in September 2005, when one of the new "short suffix" call signs was assigned. So listen for DM3M in contests now!

 

WSPR with RaspberryPi

I used to "whisper" from time to time with my normal station equipment, reducing power to 10 W PEP or so. But a Christmas gift from my daughter turned it into a new dimension end of 2013. RaspberryPi was the name of the game. Holding it in hand I remembered immediatly of differnt papers and reports about this SoC-Computer and amateur radio. After studying different applications I dicided to give a try to the WSPR-project. Beeing a newbe to Linux & Co. it took a while to get it running, but after 3 hours I had a signal on my transceiver. Following hints from different articles on the web I connected pin 4 via a coupling C and the antenna tuner to my 80-m-dipol, which feeding-point is close to the shack. Immediatly I got spots on 40 m with 10 mW PEP! Amazing. But changing bands was annoying. Taking into consideration that the risc of serious RF-interference is rather low with 10 mW, I left it with the coupling capacitor without tuner, band- or low-pass etc. and programmed the Pi as a Round Robin beacon. After one month of operation I'v got plenty of spots:

band	N° of different spotters	ODX, km	call
160 m	35	2.220	RX3DHR
80 m	89	2.141	OH6GKW
40 m	65	2.225	R2DDX
30 m	97	7.093	K9AN
20 m	39	3.052	4Z4TJ
17 m	2	6.161	N2NOM
15 m	18	6.862	WD4ELG
12 m	9	14.193	VK6XT
10 m	12	6.889	KB9AMG

New experience: 6 m and 60 m

End of 2016 German authorities finally released 60 m for amateur radio operation. Since new band allways are a challenge, I had to modify my TS 870 for operation on this frequency immediatly. Than it was to extend the 40-m-dipol a little, and the race bagan ;-) Up to to now I worked 49 DXCC entities on this band.

Encouraged by this success I decided to double the fun. After some experiments with a 10-W-transverter I replaced my TS 870 by a TS 590, including the 50 MHz band and added a 3-el. Yagi. I had a great Es-season 2017. At the beginning of 2018 I did my first contacts on 6 m via meteor-scatter, a really big thing.

On xmas 2020 St. Clause pushed a new station transceiver throuh the tube: TS890 - A great piece of electronics! Look for me on 70 MHz (if authorities allow ..)

My actual station set-up

• Kennwood TS 890 SG
• Heil Proset Elite (HC6)
• Ameritron AL 80 B
• antennas: Hex-Beam (EAntennas via WIMO) for 10 up to 20 m; dipoles for 30, 40 and 80 m; 5-el. LFA-Yagi for 6 m

DXCC-standing

(count 19.02.2021, now including LOTW and eQSL confirmations)

	CW	SSB	RTTY/ digi	SSTV	total
160 m	72	25	46	-	76
80 m	102	72	72	5	142
60 m	22	4	100	-	101
40 m	159	87	96	-	199
30 m	112	-	129	-	175
20 m	214	164	82	28	275
17 m	99	49	123	-	189
15 m	208	170	77	7	269
12 m	82	28	70	-	145
10 m	141	128	53	1	204
6 m	34	20	71	-	75
total	289	266	195	29	314

QSL-policy

Even though Germany doesn't belong to the most wanted DXCC countries, someone may need to have DOK Q01 confirmed. In this case I still prefer paper QSL. But I can't close my mind to progress, that's why I joined LOTW and eQSL as well.

Awards & Certificates

Allthough I'm not an active hunter of certificates, over the years I obtained one or another award. E-QSL-ing makes it much easier today ;-) The most interesting you find here. And you can have a look on some historical and some actual contest certificates just here.