Fifth WAS completed on June 24 using JT65

Well, this Friday at about 2PM, the big event happened.  One of the FIVE different MD stations that I’ve made a JT65 contact with confirmed the QSO on LotW.  This completed my quest for WAS which was officially completed after 279 JT65 QSOs over a period of 4 months and 2 days.  Unofficially, it was finished in May, but finding a MD station that would confirm took another month.

In my ham career, I actually completed WAS as a Novice Class, WN4SON, 40 years ago, then as an Advanced Class using mixed voice and CW modes a year later.  When the 30 meter band was made available to US hams I completed WAS in a period of a couple of months, but found out that the ARRL wouldn’t recognize any 30 meter contacts (they still don’t — not until after you have completed 5BWAS).

In 1982 I completed it a 4th time, using 45 baud RTTY.  (All of those contacts were made using a Model 15 teletype that was made in the late 1930’s with a homemade FSK decoder and current loop interface.  It was a wonderful mechanical beast that worked as long as you cleaned it and oiled it every once and awhile.  It had that old-time newsroom sound to it as it clunked away.  While I put it in the scrap yard some years ago, I saved all the keycaps.)

Model 15 Teletype

Why bother with WAS a 5th time?  Well, it is the first time that I’ve done it using low power (all QSOs were 5 watts or less), and the first time for JT65, which has been a wonderful mode for me (perfect for bad antennas and low power — thanks again Joe Large and Joe Taylor).  Plus those other four times required that the QSL cards be sent to the ARRL for checking — something that was time consuming and too risky for my taste.  Now, using the all electronic LotW, it is possible to get secure confirmations quickly.  Of my 279 QSOs on JT65, 185 of them were confirmed (so far) on LotW.  Clearly not everyone participates.  But many thanks to those that do, especially W3BUI — MD QSO #5, and MD LotW #1.