courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

This weekend's ARRL 160m CW was a ton of fun.

Conditions were unusually good, which always makes things more interesting.




I ended up with 412 contacts in 78 out of 83 ARRL sections. If I was attempting a WAS on Topband, I would have made it to 48, missing just Nebraska and Rhode Island. Oddly enough, RI was my 50th state when I completed my original 160m WAS, back in 1984, which was certificate #225.

That was done from my tiny 33' wide suburban lot, using the same antenna that I have now, a half-sloper. My radials were strung around all four edges of the property line and just lay on the ground or were stapled to the fenceposts. The power came from a pair of 6146's and was just a little less than I used in the contest this weekend as I entered in the Low Power (150W) category ... however, back then it took me several winters to finish my Topband WAS as there was a lot less activity than there is nowadays it seems. The only other sections missed during the contest were Puerto Rico, Newfoundland and North New York.

With a fairly dormant Sun and the 'almost-quiet' geomagnetic conditions of late, good propagation continued into the week ... in fact, Sunday night was the best I have ever observed on 630m!

Such stable conditions here on the west coast always favor the east-west and polar paths and Sunday proved that in spades. Overall, 53 different stations reported reception of my 630m signal, more than any previous overnight period.

The highlight however, was the reception of my signal in Europe, with five decodes from LA2XPA on Kalvoya  Island off the southwest coast of Norway. Rolf has an exceptional location and nice beverage antennas so most of the heavy-lifting was being done on his end. However, without the co-operation of the propagation gods, none of this would be possible. To make things even better, John, VE7BDQ, also made it across to Norway as his small station continues to perform amazingly well. As I mentioned in an e-mail earlier today, his is the textbook example of what can be done on 630m with a small suburban backyard, some homebrewing skills and a small antenna system.

courtesy: http://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/map

The WSPRnet map shown here illustrates just how many folks are tuning in every night to this part of the spectrum ... with many getting instantly hooked. Hopefully this great propagation is just a small taste of what lies ahead for us over the next several years of low solar activity.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I was operating in the CQ WW CW contest the other weekend and all was going well. I left my operating  post for a short time and came back to see my P3 screen shown in the above shot. I was not sure what was going on but I did know it was wiping out the entire band. In an instant the CW WW CW contest I was in was on hold. After a very short time I found out it was the mixer my wife was using to make some holiday short bread cookies. I showed my wife and once the short bread mixing was done I was back in the contest again.  I thought I would never say it but "I think it wise to buy my wife an appliance for Christmas. Truth be told I think I am buying it for myself.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I was operating in the CQ WW CW contest the other weekend and all was going well. I left my operating  post for a short time and came back to see my P3 screen shown in the above shot. I was not sure what was going on but I did know it was wiping out the entire band. In an instant the CW WW CW contest I was in was on hold. After a very short time I found out it was the mixer my wife was using to make some holiday short bread cookies. I showed my wife and once the short bread mixing was done I was back in the contest again.  I thought I would never say it but "I think it wise to buy my wife an appliance for Christmas. Truth be told I think I am buying it for myself.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Linux in the Ham Shack discusses diverse topics including 915MHz operation, a new cube satellite, "smart" ham radio, a new Ubuntu distro with Budgie as the default desktop, games, ssh honeypots, a PHP-based logger and much more. Thanks for listening and all the best. Happy holiday season to all.

73 de The LHS Crew

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

Recent mail has brought two nice surprises. As I am preparing for this weekend's ARRL 160m CW affair, a certificate from the ARRL arrived ... from last year's 160m CW Contest!






It seemed that I had somehow stumbled into top score from VE7 land for the single-op, low power division and since I haven't seen a QST in decades, this came as a complete surprise.


Over the years I've always tried to test the 160m waters at contest time just in case conditions are amazingly good ... which they haven't particularly been for the past few years of solar angst. Even piddly Cycle 24, for most of its lifespan, has proven powerful enough to mess up the Topband.

The 160 contest I enjoy the most is the December Stew Perry. It's the only one that's scored fairly and QSO points are determined by distance. Compared to working something close, any of the east coast grids from out west will get you a sack-load of points ... anything off continent earns you a boat-load. My strategy in the Stew has always been to 'search & pounce' the FN and FM grids for their high value point reward. If I had more late-night staying power in any of these affairs I could probably do a better job but I've found my fondness for the warm fleece-sheeted bed beckoning earlier each year. I'm sure it has nothing to do with getting older ... right?

I honestly don't know how some guys, much older than myself, can hang in there 'til dawn. Maybe it's coffee, which would certainly do it for me. If I even look at a coffee after the noon hour, I'm still counting sheep past midnight. A late night contest-coffee for me would guarantee no sleep until the following night unfortunately.

The second surprise was a nice QSL from Mark, WA9ETW in Wisconsin, confirming our recent crossband QSO ... 630m to 80m CW. Notice Mark's receiving antenna used on 630m, just a 100' wire about 15' off the ground! It doesn't take much to hear domestic signals on 630m so if you already have the WSPR software installed and are familiar with its operation, why not set your receiver to 474.200 in USB mode and see what you can hear. There are stations from coast to coast beaconing every night on this band. Be sure to set your software to upload your decodes to the WSPRnet site so that everyone, especially the beacon operators, can see who you are hearing.

If we worked in the recent 630m crossband event and you'd like a card, please let me know ... I'll be happy to put one in the mail for you.



How I do wish that the FCC would get on with it and legalize the 630m band in the U.S.A. Hopefully the turnovers in Washington will not translate into further delays as is often the case when big governmental changes are in the works. In the meantime, hopefully we can at least work each other in the ARRL CW 160 this weekend!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Recent mail has brought two nice surprises. As I am preparing for this weekend's ARRL 160m CW affair, a certificate from the ARRL arrived ... from last year's 160m CW Contest!






It seemed that I had somehow stumbled into top score from VE7 land for the single-op, low power division and since I haven't seen a QST in decades, this came as a complete surprise.


Over the years I've always tried to test the 160m waters at contest time just in case conditions are amazingly good ... which they haven't particularly been for the past few years of solar angst. Even piddly Cycle 24, for most of its lifespan, has proven powerful enough to mess up the Topband.

The 160 contest I enjoy the most is the December Stew Perry. It's the only one that's scored fairly and QSO points are determined by distance. Compared to working something close, any of the east coast grids from out west will get you a sack-load of points ... anything off continent earns you a boat-load. My strategy in the Stew has always been to 'search & pounce' the FN and FM grids for their high value point reward. If I had more late-night staying power in any of these affairs I could probably do a better job but I've found my fondness for the warm fleece-sheeted bed beckoning earlier each year. I'm sure it has nothing to do with getting older ... right?

I honestly don't know how some guys, much older than myself, can hang in there 'til dawn. Maybe it's coffee, which would certainly do it for me. If I even look at a coffee after the noon hour, I'm still counting sheep past midnight. A late night contest-coffee for me would guarantee no sleep until the following night unfortunately.

The second surprise was a nice QSL from Mark, WA9ETW in Wisconsin, confirming our recent crossband QSO ... 630m to 80m CW. Notice Mark's receiving antenna used on 630m, just a 100' wire about 15' off the ground! It doesn't take much to hear domestic signals on 630m so if you already have the WSPR software installed and are familiar with its operation, why not set your receiver to 474.200 in USB mode and see what you can hear. There are stations from coast to coast beaconing every night on this band. Be sure to set your software to upload your decodes to the WSPRnet site so that everyone, especially the beacon operators, can see who you are hearing.

If we worked in the recent 630m crossband event and you'd like a card, please let me know ... I'll be happy to put one in the mail for you.



How I do wish that the FCC would get on with it and legalize the 630m band in the U.S.A. Hopefully the turnovers in Washington will not translate into further delays as is often the case when big governmental changes are in the works. In the meantime, hopefully we can at least work each other in the ARRL CW 160 this weekend!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].