[VHFcontesting] The World Above 1 THz

[Steve Kavanagh]

Les

I am hoping to make one optical QSO with a rover this weekend, either with laser-pointer/laser level based gear or my newer red LED equipment (see the optical links at http://www.qsl.net/ve3sma/downloads2.html for more details).  Nobody else is visible from my home QTH.  VE3OIL and I have done 3.5 km or so with the LED gear with no pointing challenges - just a couple of minutes to make a morse code QSO, with no special operator training.  But others around the world with fancier LED gear are making 100 km voice QSOs fairly regularly now.

This is very much homebrew-from-scratch equipment.  The only fairly dx-capable gear on the market I know of was the "Finningley" transceiver kit offered recently in the UK ( http://www.earf.co.uk/nanotrx.htm ).

73,
Steve VE3SMA