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Another month in the logbook and a QSO each day in 2012 has been successfully worked and logged.   This goal has truly been a lot of fun and while I still have a ways to go, I can honestly say that I’m focused to make sure I successfully complete it. 

July started out a bit slow.  The first week of July my wife and I were on a staycation (stay at home vacation) and I spent much of that week working on the new basement ham shack.  I did take one day and completed a SOTA activation of Mt. Evans.  During my staycation, I managed to install the tile flooring and complete the baseboard trim work in the shack. 

Around the middle point of the month I had not worked any new DX and I was concerned that July would come and go and be the first month in 2012 where I didn’t work at least one new DX entity.  But, I shouldn’t have worried…on 15 July I was active in the shack and I heard and worked Poland and before I knew it I had also worked and logged Ecuador, Costa Rica and Chile all within about an hour.  Then later in July, 20 July…I worked Honduras for the first time.  So July earned me five new DX and a grand total of 19 new DX entities logged for 2012.  My total DXCC count is 66.  With about 60 confirmed.

My QSO breakdown for July produced a higher ratio of  SSB QSO’s compared to JT65.  I’ve actively worked more contest QSO’s and more special event stations in July.  While I didn’t work any PSK or RTTY in July, I did manage one 2m FM QSO.  I don’t usually log 2m QSO’s, but the one 2m FM QSO I logged was a station I chased on a local Colorado SOTA summit.  Since I logged that QSO for SOTA Chaser points, I also logged it in my main logbook.

The QSO breakdown for July is as follows:

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
35

SSB    
62

PSK31 
0

2m FM
1

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in July – 16

New DX Entities in July – 5

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 856

Total consecutive QSO days – 213

Days left in 2012 – 153

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

The KD0BIK 2012 Challenge which is at least one QSO per day is still going strong at the half way point.  I guess technically I’m really not to the 50% mark for another day or two, but I’ve completed two full quarters or six consecutive months of a QSO each and every day and I’m dang proud of the accomplishment. 

The month of June started off with a bang with three new DXCC’s logged on 2 June 2012.  These new DXCC’s were Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.  20 meters had been incredible that evening and those three new DXCC entities just seemed to fly into the logbook.  This makes 61 DXCC for me.  I have about 56 or 57 confirmed. 

Of course, the month of June also included ARRL Field Day.  I logged 117 QSO’s just on Field Day weekend as a 1 delta station.  I hope to finish my 2012 Field Day blog update in the next few days.

Once again I’ve  mapped my QSO’s for June.  I’m using a web tool created by K2DSL called ADIF to Map to create the image below.  The first image is the QSO map for June 2012.

The second QSO map includes all QSO’s for 2012 to date (January – June 2012)

I must also add that the month of June was a very successful and productive month in working on the new basement ham shack.  I’m late on a blog update and will try to get one completed in the next week.  But essentially, the painting of the walls and ceiling is completed.  I also started on the laminate floor on 30 May.   I’m actually on vacation (or as my wife and I are calling it a staycation) the week of Independence Day (4th of July) and I plan to complete the floor and begin the trim work. 

I also expect delivery of the cabinets.  I ordered desk height cabinets to go underneath my desk and then will have wall cabinets above the operating position.  The idea is for neat and organized storage which I hope will help keep a tidy and more functional desk.

The QSO breakdown for June is as follows: 

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
56

SSB    
79

PSK31 
46

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in June – 19

New DX Entities in June – 3

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 758

Total consecutive QSO days – 182

Days left in 2012 – 184

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

As the title reads, my 2012 Challenge of having a QSO a Day is on the way to the half way mark.  One more month and we’ll close out the second consecutive quarter, six months and 50% of the year having completed a QSO each day. 

I have admit, the fun really does continue.  I worried that either I might get bored or find it “a chore” to get down to the shack each and every day.  However, I’ve settled into a routine and it works nicely. 

I use UTC as my time and date.  During this time of year, 0000z occurs at my local 6 PM.  I usually get home from work by 5:30, we eat and then I head down to the shack usually around 6:30 PM (0030z).  I log my contact(s) then spend the rest of the evening with my wife.  We did have some nice band conditions during parts of May and I would head back down to the shack for 30 minutes or so around 0400 UTC. 

During much of the work week, I’m mainly concentrating on getting my one QSO worked and logged.  However, on the weekend (when I’m not working on the new shack) I’ve been working special event stations and having fun in the various US State QSO parties taking place on the bands.  By the way, have you listened to my new weekly PARP Plus edition podcast?  PARP Plus is released on Monday evenings (0000z).  Each episode is around 15 minutes in length and I provide a rundown of all the activities taking place in the week and weekend ahead.  The PARP Plus edition covering this week and this coming weekend is available now.

Also, the path to DXCC continues to add up.  This month I worked a total of nine DX stations with three being new DX entities.  The new DX added in May was Bulgaria, New Zealand and Turkey. 

I also decided to map my May QSO’s.  I’m using a web tool created by K2DSL called ADIF to Map to create the image below. 

Finally, May was a productive month for work in the new basement ham shack.  As I updated you all earlier in the week, the drywall work is done and the texture process is also complete.  We picked up paint and paint supplies last weekend and hope to get started next weekend.   It’s all finally starting to come together and I’m very pleased with how it looks.  It’s going to be a fantastic ham shack, home office and man-cave.

The QSO breakdown for May is as follows: 

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
61

SSB   
37

PSK31
1

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in May – 9

New DX Entities in May – 3

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 577

Total consecutive QSO days – 152

Days left in 2012 – 214

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Q1 plus one (April) equals four months of at least one QSO per day in 2012.  While April won’t break any QSO records, it was still a very busy and productive month. 

While my QSO a day project is just that, having an on-air QSO each and every day in 2012,  I had a few other notables I wanted to mention.  In addition to my blogging and podcasting efforts, I’m also active in Summits On The Air (SOTA) and serve as regional manager for the central portion of Colorado (W0 region).  Part of my responsibility is to promote Summits On The Air and by doing so I conducted three presentations in April.  Two of the three presentations were to local amateur radio clubs in the greater Denver area and the third was via Skype to an ARC in Washington state.  One of the local SOTA presentations included a demonstration activation which I conducted.  I also completed a second SOTA activation on my own.  Between the two SOTA activations, this netted 26 QSO’s.

I also spent a few hours working QSO party stations in both the Missouri and Florida QSO parties.  QSO party QSO’s totaled 35.

Finally, in addition to the presentations and conducting at least one QSO per day in April.  I also worked several weekends on the basement ham shack project.  The basement ham shack is coming together nicely.  We have all the drywall boards on the walls and ceiling and starting on the taping, mudding and sanding of joints and screw holes.  This is what I’ve often referred to as the “messy phase”.  But this work must be done before we can get to the painting phase.  I’m hopeful by the end of May we will be ready to paint.

Stay tuned as I hope to complete at least one SOTA activation in May.  Also, I’m working on some really cool content for episode 55 of PARP.  I plan to get this episode out prior to Dayton.  

The breakdown for April is as follows: 

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
31

SSB  
64

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked – 3

New DX Entities – 1

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 478

Total consecutive QSO days – 121

Days left in 2012 – 245

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

The first quarter of 2012 is in the books and so is a QSO for each and every day.   While the actual Q count is dropping from the total number of QSO’s I had in February and from January, I did manage to make a much bigger impact to my DXCC list.   The Q count is lower since I’ve been devoting most every weekend to working on the new basement ham shack.   This is important to me and will be especially rewarding when I move into the new space.   However, I’m not motivated by the total number of QSO’s I make, it is more about quality versus quantity. 

Another interesting point is the total number of DX stations I worked in March is also higher.  Of course, I did spend a few hours spinning the dial and working who could hear me during the March DX contest.  But perhaps this also means band conditions are gradually improving.  Just last night I worked E51M on 12m.  I saw a tweet from my good friend Martin, and spun the dial over to 12 to see if I could hear them.  E51M is working a DXpedition from Manihiki Atoll, North Cook Island.  It’s always a good feeling for me when I can log a DX contact, especially so when it is a new DX entity.  Of course, this goes in the books for April. 

I view putting Q1 behind me as a successful milestone.  However, before I schedule the parade, I know I’m just 25% into this challenge.  I need to begin thinking about how I’m going to handle vacation and other travel scenarios which will eventually come into play.  While my rules are somewhat relaxed, I did initially state that all QSO’s would be on HF.  I’m not sure if I’ve backed myself into a corner with this or not.   Time will tell…

The breakdown is as follows: 

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
48

SSB 
19

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked – 19

New DX Entities – 4

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 383

Total consecutive QSO days – 91

Days left in 2012 – 272

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Just as I did last month, I want to briefly provide an update on my 2012 Challenge.  My 2012 challenge is a QSO a day for each day in the calendar year.  I’m officially two months in and still successful. 

I wouldn’t say this is proving to be a difficult project.  But I do have a lot going on both in the hobby of amateur radio and outside.  As I’ve recently discussed in my blog, I’m kicking the new basement ham shack, podcast studio, home office and just general man-cave project into high gear.  After working for 8 hours hanging sheetrock, I really just want to crash…but I also want to get that contact in.  In one example, the contact was a new DX entity of Canary Island.  So I suppose it was very much worth it and I’ve gotta admit the excitement caused the aching bones to feel better.   

My QSO count for the month of February was significantly lower than in January by almost half.  While I chased a few special event stations, I didn’t do any contesting during the month and that shows in my totals.  But of course the 2012 challenge is a QSO a Day.

The breakdown is as follows: 

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked – 3

New DX Entities – 1

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 316

Total consecutive QSO days – 60

Days left in 2012 – 306

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

I’m a few days late in getting this posted.  I wanted to provide a quick update on the progress of my 2012 challenge.  As I blogged about recently, I set my 2012 challenge to be a QSO a day throughout the year.  I’m happy to report I successfully closed out the month of January with a QSO logged each day for a total of 205 logged QSO’s total for the month. 

The breakdown is as follows: 

I’m hoping as the year progresses to operate more SSB and also PSK.  But with over 540 JT65 Q’s logged since I learned of this mode, I’m still having a lot of fun with JT65.

I’ve also recently given my main KDØBIK.com website a new look by using a  WordPress theme install.  While I’m keeping this blog site, as well as my SOTA blog and the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast websites all separate, the clean look of the WordPress theme just better ties everything together. Also, it allows me to essentially update the site from just about anywhere and even when on my iPad. 

Finally, another plug for my podcast.  I did release episode 51 back in late January.  As I’ve done the past several years, the January episode is devoted to amateur radio related New Year’s resolutions.  I provided several ideas in an attempt to help motivate and inspire.  While we are almost to the half-way point in February, in my opinion it is never too late to set a goal.  Especially if that goal allows you to have fun in the hobby of amateur radio.  

Until next time,

73 de KDØBIK