AmateurRadio.com

I should have posted this earlier, as now it’s Thursday …….

This weekend is the CQ WWDX Contest, one of the “Big’uns”.  This is one where a lot of folks travel to distant destinations, just for participation in the contest. So all during the week, visitors as well as indigenous Hams have been tweaking their equipment, and have been getting on the air to try things out.  As a QRPer, this is a good thing to take advantage of. The bands are full of DX and now is your chance to work it. Pickings are good and I have worked Cape Verde Island, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominica, Morocco, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Bermuda – all with 5 Watts in just within the last few days.

The bands are expected to be in good shape for this weekend.  So if you have the time, you can get on and you can net a lot of DX.  If you’ve never started your QRP DXCC, now is the time to begin!  If you go all out, I am willing to bet that you could conceivably earn it this weekend.

For the new QRPer, there are some things to keep in mind. At the beginning of the contest, code speeds are going to be fast. Some of these guys will sound like a buzz saw!  Don’t get discouraged.  The DX will keep on sending their calls a lot, so if it takes multiple attempts for you to copy, you’ll get plenty of them.  Towards Saturday night into Sunday, when some of these guys get tired, they tend to slow up a bit, too.  A tip to keep in mind is that the slower speed DX stations tend to congregate UP, towards the top edges of the CW bands, so that’s a good place to start.  However, if you make a good effort to copy code that is faster than what you are used to, I can pretty much guarantee a 10% or better improvement on your copy speed by the time the contest is over.

The loudest stations are probably running the most power, but they probably also have the best antennas.  Cherry pick those, and they’ll probably have an easier time hearing you, rather than the guy half way around the world who is running 100 Watts to a dipole only 25 feet up.  You may work him too, but it will probably be a bit harder.  Another thing to keep in mind, is that as the contest winds down on Sunday afternoon into Sunday night, the hard core contesters will be desperate for points.  It’s more likely they will take their time with you, if you happen to have a weak signal on their end . REMEMBER – QRP does NOT necessarily mean weak signal! If propagation is favorable, and your antenna is decent, there’s no reason that your signal can’t be 579 or better on their end.

The exchange is super easy – RST and your CQ Zone.  For those of us on the East Coast, I believe that is 5.  Most Amateur Radio maps and/or logging programs will provide that for you.  I’ll provide one here:

Don’t get hung up on not being able to work someone.  If you’re trying to work a loud station, and he can’t hear you, don’t be afraid to turn the dial and move on. Maybe props aren’t the best between you and him at that moment.  Go work someone else and come back to him in a bit if you can.  With enough experience, in no time you’ll be able to tell who you have a reasonable shot at working and who you don’t.

The most important thing is to have fun!  Don’t get discouraged or frustrated.  If you end up working 100 DX entities, that’s great!  If you only end up working 5 – so what? The bottom line is to enjoy yourself.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Hanz W1JSB and I hiked to Knox Mountain this afternoon. There was ice on the pond, but we worked St. Martin, Cape Verde Island and Curacao.

We were lucky to cross the first bridge. After crossing it, we noticed that one of three main supporting logs had collapsed. This was no surprise because we’ve seen holes developing in several places, and we were always careful where we stepped.

The owners tore down the second bridge a couple of years ago. Hanz and I placed a board across some rocks last spring. It’s served us well for a crossing, but today we notice ice hanging down from the board.

We knew this was treacherous… and we were right. The top of the board was slick with smooth ice. We quickly thought to spread some dirt across the surface and that worked like a charm. We crossed with no trouble.

At the pond, we were a bit surprised to find it completely covered with ice.

Today it was in the mid-thirties but the sun kept us from feeling the chill. I set up under some tall pines behind the cabin. I chose the spot because even though the sun was low in the sky the shadows hadn’t reached there yet.

I threw the line nearly 40 feet over a branch and pulled up a wire. I operated exclusively on 15 meters and the band was full of DX. I had to work split on two of the stations, but the KX3 was up to the challenge.

I worked three quick stations in barely five minutes. First I heard FS/K9EL in St. Martin calling CQ and I answered. I received a quick response and we exchanged 599 signal reports. The second was D44AC in Cape Verde Island off the coast of Senegal in East Africa. Again the exchange was 599. Finally, I worked PJ2/N7WA in Curacao just north of Venezuela. Again we exchanged 599s. Hanz didn’t feel like operating, so we packed up and headed back down the trail.

The forecast is calling for rain or snow tomorrow. The warm days are probably past.

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Just like a excited child at the moment! Why you ask? 

Well this morning saw the launch of the numerous satellites from the Dnepr rocket including Funcube-1, and this morning saw the first passes over the UK. Like many others I eagerly sat in front of my computer awaiting the chance to decode the telemetry. However I was doing it remotely using a VNC connection as I was in work...

Sure enough at 10:21 the pass started and a nice strong signal appeared on the waterfall and the FUNCube dashboard sprang to life. I managed 29 packets on the first pass!

The upload ranking at the FUNcube data warehouse

However I noticed another CW signal further up the spectrum which seemed to be on the edge of the FUNCube transponder allocation (145.950MHz) I went to twitter and asked if FUNCube-1 was transmitting a CW beacon? Peter 2E0SQL thought it might be another satellite.

At start of earlier FUNCube-1 pass, what looks like CW on transponder downlink frequency? #funcube pic.twitter.com/yLvgzYzZRJ
— Andrew Garratt (@nerdsville) November 21, 2013

I had captured the pass as an IQ file, and set about trying to decode the CW. I had several attempt using fl-digi remotely but chasing a fast moving doppler on a laggy remote connection wasn't good but I seemed to repeatedly get ***ISTAN.

On the next pass the same thing happened, this time I got the word CUBESAT several times..

The signal had the same doppler shift as FUNCube-1 so was from the same launch constellation and a quick check and I spotted ICube-1 the first cubesat launched by Institute of Space Technology in Pakistan.. which was listed as broadcasting on 145.947MHz using AFSK.

It must be.. ***ISTAN... CUBESAT.... So I sent them a message on their Facebook page and they confirmed that at this stage of the mission they were indeed supposedly broadcasting a CW beacon and what I decoded was part of the message!

Khurram project manager of ICube-1 said "Thanx Andrew ... your message was a great relief for us"

and on their facebook page 

First Signal has been received from ICUBE-1 in UK ... Alhamdulillah the ICUBE-1 mission is successful ... Congrats everyone. Satellite will pass over IST around 9:30 pm today

So it seems lowly M6GTG may have made the first signal report confirming Pakistan's first successful cubesat deployment!

I am grinning madly at the moment!





Andrew Garratt, MØNRD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from East Midlands, England. Contact him at [email protected].

I had a great time working the “Special Event Station”  for the NAQCC WV Chapter of our national club on Wednesday afternoon. The event from the Fort Hill area of Charleston brought me 17 stations from the artillery position where both the 19th and 25th Presidents of the United States were stationed at one time during the Civil War.

It’s been called both Fort Scammon, Fort Scommer, and Fort White at different times, according to whomever was in control of the valley at the time. The Kanawha Valley was under the control of both Union and Confederate forces several times when salt production was the main business activity here. Salt was an important commodity for the preservation of meat during the war.  

This high point overlooking the junction of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers was a good position for about a dozen cannons where it assured the control of both rivers.

I used the “paint” program to change the size of the picture and add my text to make this E-QSL card which I sent to the 17 stations I worked from noon till three in the afternoon from this site. It’s not well know in our town but the earthen structure is one of the highest points here and a decent radio spot for me to operate my QRP station for the event.

It wasn’t easy for me to set up here but it was a place close to home and the day was, I’m sure, one of the few before the snow flurries start to fly this weekend.

I worked stations in North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachusetts, Kansas, New York, Illinois, Maine, and Canada.

There were times when the weaker stations realized I was intentionally listening  on both sides of the designated frequencies of both 40 and 20 meters. I feel like a “rock star” when doing these events and am forced to draw out the weaker signals with this procedure. I can only imagine what a “big” pile up must be like with rare DX stations. I enjoyed being on the “other side of the coin” as I worked these stations with 4 watts of power and an “end” fed Zepp antenna.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

The past few weeks have been one of the best "rare DX" runs I can remember in a long time. Rare DXCC entities, good operators and excellent propagation have all come together for a lot of radio fun. I've had my share of the fun, picking up a couple of new 160m countries and numerous band counters. However, I suppose you never can get enough of good DX.

Last weekend I missed the opportunity to work XZ1J during a 10m LP opening into Texas, not only on 10m, but also on 12m. I was just not paying attention and by the time I realized I needed XZ on those bands, the opening was closed. So all week I've watched the DX cluster from my office as these LP openings have become daily happenings. Very frustrating, as there have been no evening SP openings. To make matters worse, I will be out of town this weekend and will not have a chance to work them then.

So, this morning, my oldest son Michael, AB5EB, who lives about 30 miles from me, sent me a text tell me he worked S21ZBC on 10m SSB and 17m RTTY. I checked the spots quickly to see that XZ1J was coming in as well. Well that put me over the top. If you remember the Popeye character from cartoons who used to say, "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more". I had a couple of hours clear on my work calendar, so back to the house I went.

The drive home is about 30 minutes and I got behind every slow car in the area. Finally I get to the house sprint to the shack to go the  XZ 10m frequency. He's there and loud. Quick, find the station he's working in the pile-up, right there, make the call, de AD5A AD5A...... AD5A 5NN.....sweet. First call. Now the S21, which I also need is a few KC's up the band. He isn't as strong, working up two. I put in my call....... AD5A 5NN, sweet again. Two new ones on 10m in a matter of a minute, each on the first call. Now what about 12m? No spots, I tune the band, no XZ or S21. I text my son to post my response to his DXploits and comment that now they need to move to 12m. I tune the CW portion and hear CQ CQ CQ de S21ZBC up 2, what???? I put in my call 4 or 5 times and then, AD5A 5NN...ecstasy. I text my son who needs S21 on 12m. He had to turn around and go back home to make the QSO.

So, I drove back to work feeling satisfied and accomplished. Even though no XZ on 12m, one can't get greedy, save a little fun for later.

I do like this radio stuff.
Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

A surprise package dropped through the door yesterday afternoon. (I do like surprises!)  It was a SOTA Beams desk stand for the Elecraft KX3, customised with my callsign.

SOTA Beams desk stand for Elecraft KX3

In the absence of instructions and with the aid of a couple of the photos on the SOTA Beams website it took my poor brain a couple of minutes to work out how it went together. Actually there are a couple of self adhesive rubber feet and a length of edge trim the purpose of which are still not entirely clear to me.

The stand is robustly made from a laser cut  perspex type material and holds the KX3 at the perfect angle for desktop use.  (I’m not sure how that would be with the KXPD3 paddle. I didn’t try it as with my shaky hands I can only send dits at the moment. 🙂

This stand is exactly what I have been looking for to hold the KX3 when operating sitting on the ground with the rig beside you. The viewing angle is just right for that too – much better than standing your nice radio on the damp and dirty ground. The bright orange of the one SOTA Beams sent me  (they are also available in black or red apparently) makes the stand highly visible and so less likely to be accidentally left behind on the summit or other operating spot.

The perfect angle for desktop or portable operation

Thanks, Richard! This is definitely going in the case with the Alex Loop ready forwhen  my health improves enough for me to take a radio into the Great Outdoors again.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

My antennas as it is now. On top of the roof the small vertical for 2m / 70 cm, at the right my 6 meter vertical and left my end fed wire as sloper. For the time being it stays that way.



Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].