Thanks you, I certainly will!

Gil.

Hello.

I am leaving for Spain on July 7th in an attempt to bring my sailboat Ragnar back to France. Hopefully the boat will be put back in the water on the 9th and I should set sail on the 10th. The problem is getting to Spain with ever changing restrictions on travel due to Covid-19. If all goes well and I can get there and leave port, the trip should last about ten days. The boat is a Havsfidra 20 built in Sweden, a good ocean-going full-keel double-ender sailboat.

As far as radios I think I will bring my Minion SDR and MTR3b; subject to change... The antenna will be the Chameleon MPAS with the whip. I am also carrying an inReach satellite beacon. You will be able to follow me at: https://share.garmin.com/svragnar

I am not sure if I will be able to be on the air during the day but I plan on following the coast and stop at night, so most likely will be on the air in the evening, starting at around 19:00Z. Frequencies will probably be 14300, and I might browse around 20m, 14285 and around. I should be also on 10123 CW. I'll have probably only one antenna so it will be 20 or 30m. I might bring a random wire with a 9:1 UNUN hung from the mast spreader, but not sure about that.

For those who might be living in the south of France, I will also listen to HAM VHF on coastal repeaters, as well as 145.5MHz. So far I have programmed only Toulon, but I will add more to my VX6. For those who might also be maritime mobile in the area, I will of course monitor marine VHF channel 16 as required by law. My MMSI is 227245060. I have an AIS receiver but no transponder, so the Garmin map will be the only way to follow my progress, or lack thereof.

I was planning on using JS8Call but could not get the hardware on time and my laptop crapped out, so no computer aboard.

What I would like is that you guys report any contact with me here. I won't be able to update this thread starting on the 7th.

I will be using a very short antenna but the Mediterranean ground plane should help ;-) My starting point is smack between Barcelona and Valencia, destination is Antibes.

This is a very exciting but also stressful endeavour for me after losing my previous boat Dagny in the Bahamas at the end of 2015. I am also not in optimal physical shape after this long confinent and I know it will be a very physically demanding trip on an unknown boat. Wish me luck... I will update this thread until the 6th, then it will be radio only. Also watch Twitter as I should be within phone network at times and might be able to update Facebook as well. You are welcome to repost here for those who do not use these applications.

Gil.

Very interesting, I might as well test this...
I don't have any radio with VOX though...
My Minion SDR has line in/out but no VOX.
Thanks.
Gil.

I can't find it in Google Play. What does the logo look like? Do you have a link?

Thanks,
Gil.

Yes he is ;-)

Definitely, that is an interesting subject. I have only looked at the TYT MD-680, great handheld for prepping groups. The one-time-pad is a great, albeit slow option with Morse code; I have made a video on that..

Gil.

Let me know how it works!

Gil.

Hello,

Mine is starting to act up a bit, with a few-second delay befopre starting... Probably a capacitor going bad...

Gil.

Thanks, interesting if just for the added privacy. I will have a look!

Gil.

Hello Dieter.

I think so too. Even the mere fact that it is digital prevents lots of people from listening. I did make a video on the TYT MD-680, which does have encryption... That would be my choice...
Do you have the links handy to those bits of info about DMR use in conflicts by any chance?
Thanks!

Gil.

Hi, not lately... Yurii doesn't always answer email. I think he doesn't really speak English, not sure. You are right to check before ordering though. Maybe he is super busy after getting a bunch of orders...

Gil.

Hello,

Given the variations of impedance of random wires, I don't think it would make much of a difference...

Gil.

Hello,

40m is a great choice, and as your only band, go for it!
I do like 30m but because there are no contests there and no voice ops, and also because I already have a bunch of 40m radios...

Gil.

Eric will you be the moderator?
Gil.

Good news, I was able to make digital modes work by bypassing HamLib and using FLRig for JS8Call!

Gil.

Great thanks, that's a lot of capacity..

Gil.