Sort of boring to talk about this, but I’m frankly shocked at how quickly things have been moving. Lots of decent DX to fill out band-points – probably Europeans escaping the cold!
Online OQRS requests from S01WS and T77C should complete 30-Meter DXCC, plus boost my Challenge score to 983.
This rate can’t continue, but maybe by spring I’ll only be lacking 80-Meter DXCC.
Since early-December, I’ve had pretty good luck adding Challenge Points, especially on 12-Meters. The 100th LotW confirmation for 12 came into LotW tonight, from VP2VGG in the British Virgin Islands (thanks Kevin and Bob for your DXpedition). This finishes DXCC on six bands (Progress continues at a snail’s pace on 80-Meters, but is much better on 30-Meters).
I can’t help but smile a bit as I get closer to my 2015 goal even 6 days into the new year.
Despite a dozen QSOs with Falkland Island on several bands, I finally received confirmation in LotW about 15 minutes after finishing a RTTY QSO with VP8NO on 12 Meters this afternoon.
Both 1A0C and S01WS have OQRS systems in place and an online log. Eventually those will add two more countries for 12m, one more for 80m, and 10 more challenge points. With some QSLs in hand that will boost my counts to:
220 Countries
89 on 80 Meters
93 on 30 Meters
99 on 12 Meters
973 Challenge Points
I’m especially happy about getting so close on 12 Meters, as the solar cycle is drawing to a close.
A friend of mine, John, WA1ABI, is a real fan of Straight Key Night (SKN). For the past couple of years, I’ve thought I should dig up my 40 year old Brown Brothers Key, a Christmas present from 1974, the last hand-key that I ever used to send CW. It took me several hours of tearing into boxes on New Year’s Day to find it, then make up a cable to hook it into my rig. But a few hours before SKN was over, I was ready to go on the air, and started to reflect back on my early days in the hobby.
My first key was something my Dad let me borrow when I first got on the air using my single tube 15 watt Ameco transmitter back in 1970. It was a British Military Number 2 Mark III key from WW2. I can only hope that I still have it in a box somewhere.
British Military Number 2 Mark III Key
Fortunately my hand-key torture was short-lived as my parents gave me a Heathkit HD-10 in June of 1971, similar to the one shown in the photo below. It ran off of 115 volts and used a wooden lever arm to cause “snap switches” to close as you manipulated the single-arm paddle. I don’t believe it had any form of dot/dash memory. But it served me well for several years. The hand key would still come out as the CW net control operator would declare, from time-to-time, that all power was lost for keyers and only hand-keys could be used (funny that power-loss idea didn’t extend to the radio gear itself , which was tube stuff — but there were few rigs capable of running off of emergency power at that time).
Heathkit HD-10 Keyer
My Christmas present for December of 1974 (not a surprise gift) was a Brown Brother’s Manufacturing Company CTL-A paddle/key combo. I had built a copy of the WB4VVF “Accu-Keyer” on perf-board to go along with it. The straight key was rarely used. I used the iambic Accu-Keyer until about 1983, when I replaced it with a Curtis K5 Lil’ Bugger Keyer, which is still working just fine 30+ years later, requiring a 9-volt battery replacement every decade or so.
Brown Brother’s Manufacturing Combo Key/Paddle with Curtis K5 Lil’ Bugger Keyer
John was nice enough to indulge me on New Year’s Day, and put up with about a half-hour of ham-fisted 14-15 WPM code. I believe this was my first hand key QSO in at least 40 years. I mentioned to John that I was frustrated sending so slow by hand, but that was the best I could do with my now shaky fingers. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, it brought back many memories, and I’m grateful to John for the contact.
We shall see!
WB4SON 20142014 was a happy and successful Ham Radio year for me. I participated (or helped organize) many different club events, including Field Day, our Narragansett Bay Islands On The Air, and Jamboree On The Air Event. I gave a presentation on CubSats, and held two Technician Classes; one for folks on the West Bay, and one for the East Bay, generating over 20 new hams for the state.
After some changes at my workplace, I decided to retire early, effective early October. Despite the presumption of having more time for the hobby, I spent several months planning and arranging the finances for retirement, so it wasn’t until mid-December that I actually started checking the radio each day.
How did things work out goal-wise? Four out of seven were completed. Here are the goals for 2014:
BONUS: I did complete my fifth band for DXCC (but still lack the required 80m DXCC to officially call it 5BDXCC). I need 12 more countries on 80 meters, 9 more on 30 meters, and 5 more on 12 meters. As for WAS, I finished my 6th band (17 meters) making me officially 6BWAS. I need 2 more on 30 meters and 2 more on 12 meters. I will have finished the year with all 50 W1AW/Portable states confirmed, along with a few territories, the W1HQ, and W100AW stations too. I’m smack dab in the middle of the second tier in terms of the ARRL Centennial QSO Party.
The final totals were 5,862 QSOs in my log on 12/31/2014, 240 countries worked and 218 confirmed, with 1220 theoretical DXCC Challenge points. One country and 6 band points can be added to the totals shown below from QSLs I have on hand.
I met with John, WA1ABI, tonight on 3515 KHz for a Christmas Tree Light to Christmas Tree Light QSO. Both of us were feeding our radio into our lights for a CW QSO. As I had mine configured as a loop, I benefited from low noise levels and heard John S3 above the noise floor, sending John a 539. I received a “solid” RST 229 for my 60 watts of power.
I did note that the lights were glowing with my CW, not all of them, but especially those closest to the AC feed. So I was broadcasting on 80 meters and 450 nanometers (at least the blue bulbs)!
The next test, later tonight, will drive the lights as an end-fed wire as opposed to a loop.
My Backyard Tree with 600 mini lights.
Magical Coupling Device!
A very short video snip — you can see John’s signals on the P3 display hitting S4 at the end: WA1ABI
RBN Spots While on Lights
And John later the same night — much stronger with antenna change: WA1ABI
With his work complete, Santa can finally take a breather and catch up on his favorite hobby. I bet he’s at the top of the Honor Roll.
(Cartoon Credit: w9yb.org)
Several LotW confirmations appeared tonight. One was for a 17 Meter CW QSO with J79FC in Dominica. That was #100, completing DXCC for that band. This happens to be my fifth DXCC band, but I still need to finish 80 Meter DXCC for my official 5-band DXCC plaque. But the march forward continues with 217 countries and 918 Challenge points.
I suppose a hobby is not unlike a business — if you put measurements in place, they will often drive behavior. The hard part is picking the appropriate measurements.
With a little more spare time on my hands, I’ve been actively chasing DX again, even doing what a friend of mine recommends — participating in DX contests. The effort has paid off.
I’ve managed to add a couple more new countries, several more to the Challenge list (surpassing my year end goal of 900), and I’m creeping closer to my 5th DXCC band on 17 meters (won’t count toward 5BDXCC as I still need 13 more on 80 meters). With recent solar activity, 12 meters has really been paying off.
