OBSERVATIONS FROM THE UKRAINE.          By UR3CTB
17-10-2010.

First some background ... I'm am 24 years old (2010) :) I was born on the 8th of June 1986 in the town of Kaniv where I still live. I had asked myself a lot of times what I wanted to be when I left school. A few years ago it was difficult to give a definite answer. As the years passed I changed my mind several times. But it was only in my last year at school that I finally made up my mind as to which profession I would most like to have in future.

I realized that my strongest desire was to continue specializing in humanities and learn foreign languages. Now my dreams are coming true. I'm a university student.  Many people have hobbies, they make life more interesting.
A hobby is what people like to do when they have free time. Everyone chooses a hobby according to his character and taste. Some people are fond of music, others like to read books. Some people like to collect stamps, coins or badges, others prefer gardening or hiking or taking photographs. Some people like to cook, others like to knit or sew.

Generally speaking, a hobby is a matter of taste. My hobby is amateur radio. Both grown-ups and children are fond of it now. It has become one of the most popular hobbies nowadays, 'King of the hobbies'. I think that amateur radio is very interesting. It is not only 'talking on the AIR' as some people say. I like HF but VHF-UHF work is prefered. I use an
IC-706 on HF and an IC-820H on the VHF-UHF bands. I like to op0erate via satellite (Aerials: 144-2x8el. dk7zb and 433-2x17el.dk7zb -vertical polarization). Very similar to my MS aerial (144-12 el. long YAGI DK7zb). In the summer I listen to EME (4w-144 & 23el RCHP 70cm.

Sometimes I play different sport games for health and pleasure. I usually play such games as volley-ball, basketball, tennis, and sometimes football.

I've been  am QRV via satellites since 2006, and have now made many QSOs via SAT, as I said beforeI really enjoy working satellites.

2 years ago I tried my luck at METEOR SCATTER on 144MHZ using WSJT FSK4411 software. I maded 108 QSO's with 40W of power and 4WL DK7ZB, but for me it was not very interesting, because this type of propagation has many idiosyncracies so I stopped the MS operating.

I also tried some MOONBOUNCE with single antenna, but unless your're working one of the well known EME
BIG GUNS you need 4 x long yagis on 144 or 8 x long yagi on 70cm +elevation + about 1kw out, so it's very
expensive so I no longer do the EME thing either.

SO FOR THE MOMENT ... ONLY SATELLITES !!!.

73 Sergey. UR3CTB.