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This weekend was the monthly SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (WES), and I was really looking forward to working this.  I had hear there was lots of activity, and a great way to pick up additional SKCC member QSO’s as I work towards my Centurion (100 contacts).

Map of contacts – most were on 40 meters (PR was on 15 meters, only 15 meter contact) – map by http://www.qsomap.org/

So I was up and at it at 7:00 AM local Saturday morning (12:00 UTC).  Long story short, the bands really stunk here in Kansas the entire weekend.  All total I probably was able to work about 8 hours of the contest.

I ended up making 24 contacts, 16 states/provinces (including Puerto Rico and France) for a total score of 774 points – all QRP at 5 watts with the KX3 and my 20/40 dipole that lays on my shingles on the roof.

I used the SKCC Logger program, and it made life really easy!

I dug out an old J-37 key that my father had, and it was a real pleasure to use!

J-37 Key – KX3 on 3D printed stand my son made for me!

I added 16 new SKCC numbers, so right now I am sitting at 59 – just 41 more to go for my Centurion.

I will definitely be back next month!  This was really fun, and if you’re worried about your CW skills, this is the perfect event for you.  Nice and slow – not the break-neck speed of most CW contests!

I have had a pretty active month on the radio, so I wanted to record a little recap of the month.

Total QSO’s all modes: 82

Total CW QSO’s: 41
Total PSK31 QSO’s: 41

Total SKCC QSO’s: 34
Total SKCC Members: 32
Total SKCC States Worked: 18

I worked a lot of PSK31 early in the month – and you can really get a lot of contacts quickly in that mode.  Plus I can work this mode from my sofa using the iPad and Team Viewer!

If you are just getting started with CW, my only advice is to get an SKCC number and start working this great group of guys.  The sending tends to be slow and enjoyable – and I can see a huge difference in my ability just after a focused month of operating chasing these numbers.

Between the SKCC WES, the Sprint in late April, and portable operations, I hope to have my Centurion by the end of April!

I have had a pretty active month on the radio, so I wanted to record a little recap of the month.

Total QSO’s all modes: 82

Total CW QSO’s: 41
Total PSK31 QSO’s: 41

Total SKCC QSO’s: 34
Total SKCC Members: 32
Total SKCC States Worked: 18

I worked a lot of PSK31 early in the month – and you can really get a lot of contacts quickly in that mode.  Plus I can work this mode from my sofa using the iPad and Team Viewer!

If you are just getting started with CW, my only advice is to get an SKCC number and start working this great group of guys.  The sending tends to be slow and enjoyable – and I can see a huge difference in my ability just after a focused month of operating chasing these numbers.

Between the SKCC WES, the Sprint in late April, and portable operations, I hope to have my Centurion by the end of April!

This post is a two-fer, I didn’t get a chance to write up #11 portable operations, so I just decided to combine them.

Do you ever have one of those QSO’s where everything seems to go wrong??  I did when I worked WB3GCK.  Right now I don’t have a true straight key, so I use one lever of the paddles on my KX3 set to HAND mode.  Sometimes the contacts don’t make great connection and they dits and dahs sound funny.  Well during this QSO this was happening a bunch!  On top of that my KX3 started complaining about the voltage level of the battery.  So mid QSO I had to attached my external battery which required me to change where the KX3 was sitting – it was just a mess!

But Craig WB3GCK seemed very gracious and we just carried on.

So who did I work??

3/29/13 – I just had about 30 minutes to play between meetings….so just two contacts…

KG7VTO (14714) – Bob had a great signal from Oregon on 20 meters, plus a great sounding fist.

KK6GLP – I have worked Mike before and his signal sounded great as usual from California.

3/30/13 – Had a ton of fun this day!  These were all from me calling CQ on 18.080…

N1WPU (1312) – Ted answered my CQ from Maine!  He was running 75 watts into a G5RV and had a really nice signal and fist.

WB3GCK (15052T) – Craig came back to my CQ and he was also QRP at 5 watts.  Craig is also a fellow blogger, and a blog I frequent!  He has just recently obtained Tribune status in the SKCC.  From reading his blog it looks like he was bitten by the same SKCC bug I have been bitten by!  You can read his blog here http://wb3gck.craiglabarge.com/.  This is actually the second time I have worked Craig.  The last time was back in 2013 when he was vacationing in North Carolina!

WB1AJX (12872T) – The last contact for the day was with Howard running his KX3 at 5 watts.  We had a nice exchange from Rhode Island to Kansas for another nice 2xQRP contact.

So for this day it looks like there was a pipeline from Kansas to the far Northeast of the USA.  I had never worked Maine or Rhode Island before – so that is awesome.  Plus to have two 2xQRP contacts was a real kick as well!

The main reason I moved to 17 meters was because there was at least one VERY LARGE pileup going on 20 meters – it ran from about 14.035 to 14.057 – completely spread out!  I never did figure out the DX everyone was trying to work – but the pileup was destroying the band.

This post is a two-fer, I didn’t get a chance to write up #11 portable operations, so I just decided to combine them.

Do you ever have one of those QSO’s where everything seems to go wrong??  I did when I worked WB3GCK.  Right now I don’t have a true straight key, so I use one lever of the paddles on my KX3 set to HAND mode.  Sometimes the contacts don’t make great connection and they dits and dahs sound funny.  Well during this QSO this was happening a bunch!  On top of that my KX3 started complaining about the voltage level of the battery.  So mid QSO I had to attached my external battery which required me to change where the KX was sitting – it was just a mess!

But Craig WB3GCK seemed very gracious and we just carried on.

So who did I work??

3/29/13 – I just had about 30 minutes to play between meetings….so just two contacts…

KG7VTO (14714) – Bob had a great signal from Oregon on 20 meters, plus a great sounding fist.

KK6GLP – I have worked Mike before and his signal sounded great as usual from California.

3/30/13 – Had a ton of fun this day!  These were all from me calling CQ on 18.080…

N1WPU (1312) – Ted answered my CQ from Maine!  He was running 75 watts into a G5RV and had a really nice signal and fist.

WB3GCK (15052T) – Craig came back to my CQ and he was also QRP at 5 watts.  Craig is also a fellow blogger, and a blog I frequent!  He has just recently obtained Tribune status in the SKCC.  From reading his blog it looks like he was bitten by the same SKCC bug I have been bitten by!  You can read his blog here http://wb3gck.craiglabarge.com/.  This is actually the second time I have worked Craig.  The last time was back in 2013 when he was vacationing in North Carolina!

WB1AJX (12872T) – The last contact for the day was with Howard running his KX3 at 5 watts.  We had a nice exchange from Rhode Island to Kansas for another nice 2xQRP contact.

So for this day it looks like there was a pipeline from Kansas to the far Northeast of the USA.  I had never worked Maine or Rhode Island before – so that is awesome.  Plus to have two 2xQRP contacts was a real kick as well!

The main reason I moved to 17 meters was because there was at least one VERY LARGE pileup going on 20 meters – it ran from about 14.035 to 14.057 – completely spread out!  I never did figure out the DX everyone was trying to work – but the pileup was destroying the band.

Wow, today was the most fun I have had in a while on the radio – the bands seemed decent today.  So with my freshly charged KX3, and beautiful spring weather I set about to make some contacts from the local park.

N8XI (15024T) – Rick was calling CQ on 20 meters looking for SKCC members.  I gave him a call and we had a quick exchange from KS to MI.

Then I started calling CQ….

KF8DA – Roger gave me a call from Ohio and QSB was really bad on his end, but we got the contact done.

NX3Z/QRP – Jim answered my CQ and was right down there in the noise most of the time.  He was QRP from Arizona using a KX1 – it took many repeats but we finally were able to finish the QSO.  Jim emailed me and said that even though he is an SKCC member he was using the keyer on the KX1 so this won’t count for an SKCC contact – but I always love 2xQRP contacts!  Thanks Jim!

K7EP (1683T) – Art answered my call from Washington state with a nice signal and a nice fist.

WH6LE (13533S) – Last up for the day was Pete from North Carolina for a nice quick contact.

It was a fun day today – much better band conditions than last week.  Thanks to everyone the found me!  I did go up to 15 meters right at the end and called CQ a couple times with no takers.

I also made some SKCC contacts over the weekend, so right now I am sitting at 27 SKCC contacts as I work towards 100 for the Centurion award.

Wow, today was the most fun I have had in a while on the radio – the bands seemed decent today.  So with my freshly charged KX3, and beautiful spring weather I set about to make some contacts from the local park.

N8XI (15024T) – Rick was calling CQ on 20 meters looking for SKCC members.  I gave him a call and we had a quick exchange from KS to MI.

Then I started calling CQ….

KF8DA – Roger gave me a call from Ohio and QSB was really bad on his end, but we got the contact done.

NX3Z/QRP – Jim answered my CQ and was right down there in the noise most of the time.  He was QRP from Arizona using a KX1 – it took many repeats but we finally were able to finish the QSO.  Jim emailed me and said that even though he is an SKCC member he was using the keyer on the KX1 so this won’t count for an SKCC contact – but I always love 2xQRP contacts!  Thanks Jim!

K7EP (1683T) – Art answered my call from Washington state with a nice signal and a nice fist.

WH6LE (13533S) – Last up for the day was Pete from North Carolina for a nice quick contact.

It was a fun day today – much better band conditions than last week.  Thanks to everyone the found me!  I did go up to 15 meters right at the end and called CQ a couple times with no takers.

I also made some SKCC contacts over the weekend, so right now I am sitting at 27 SKCC contacts as I work towards 100 for the Centurion award.