5K QSOs since Feb 2011

Posted on November 12, 2013 by robert

I noted that after I uploaded a couple of JT9 QSOs, that my LotW count reached exactly 5000 today:

LotW5KThat’s a lot of yabbering for 2.5 years!

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WAS-CW Completed

Posted on November 5, 2013 by robert

Following a CW Contact during Sweepstakes, W7ZRC confirmed in LotW, which completes WAS-CW.  With WAS-Digital already completed ages ago, that leaves me with 10 states (CO, GA, LA, MS, MO, MT, ND, OR, WV, and WY) to complete my WAS-PHONE, which would qualify me for the WAS Triple Play award.  Toss in any QSO with Alaska on 80 meters and I will have my 5BWAS.

With Sweepstakes Phone just around the corner, that’s my goal.

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10m WAS Completed

Posted on November 4, 2013 by robert

By focusing on my missing 10 meter states during the CW Sweepstakes, I was able to complete 10 meter WAS today.  That means I lack only Alaska on 80 meters for completing 5-band WAS.

My thanks to N8NA, N0AT, W8DM, and KB9S for being my final four on 10 meters.

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Astron RS-35M “Phantom Power”

Posted on November 3, 2013 by robert

I had just uncovered (literally) my current adapter for my Fluke meter (a female to male cord with banana plugs in the hot lead), and decided to check to see how much power my Astron RS-35M linear power supply was drawing with no load.

I was somewhat surprised to find that it was consuming 38 watts just idling (no 12VDC load).  Doesn’t sound like much until you do the math and discover that it amounts to $59.91 worth of electricity over the course of a year (333 KWH at $0.18/KWH in RI).

I have no idea if this is representative of other Astron linear supplies, but that’s not a trivial amount of power for “nothing”, and makes me realize that I really need to make sure it is off when not in use.

Edited:  With the K3 powered on and in receive mode, the power consumption increases to 80 watts.  I may want to rethink my strategy of leaving the radio on monitoring JT65/JT9 on HF, as that is 700 KWH per year at a cost of $126 annually.

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Happy Standard Time Day

Posted on November 3, 2013 by robert

Perhaps as a consolation prize on the day that we fall back to Standard Time and lose an hour of light at night, a LotW confirmation arrived for a Samoa QSO.  This makes for the following:

DXCC:  40/20/15/10, with 25 more needed for 80m DXCC (DXCC on PHONE/CW/DATA)
CHALLENGE: 767
WORKED: 225
CONFIRMED: 192
LOTW CONFIRMED: 190

WAS: 40/20/15, with 1 more needed on 80m and 4 more needed on 10m (DE/MN/MS/WI)
TRIPLE PLAY: 1 more on CW (ID), and 10 more on PHONE

Edited:  Will CW Sweepstakes pay off on 10m?  I’ve worked DE/MN/MS/WI on 10m multiple times (my missing WAS States on 10m).

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Solar Excellence

Posted on October 27, 2013 by robert

The Sun has been seething this past week, with SFI and SN > 170.  10m has been open quite a bit.  The K and A factors have been low, so conditions have been great except for times immediately after some large solar flares.  Will it hold on until Sweepstakes weekend?

Standings:
80m DXCC 25 needed
80m WAS 1 needed
10m WAS 5 needed
190 Countries confirmed
223 Countries worked
759 Challenge Points

I had an evil thought — what if I used my AR.Drone Quad-Copter to drag a fishing line after it and drop it over a tree?  The challenge will be getting the AR down the other side of the tree without hanging it in the trees itself, but it might be possible.  With that in mind, I’ve been practicing my drone flight skills (haven’t flown it in 3 years).

I had a ball last weekend (Oct 18/19/20) setting up a HF station for the Boy Scout Jamboree on the Air event.  Contacts were plentiful.  At one point, while waiting for my own scouts to finish a class session and get back on the air, I was working a station in Tenn.  I keep it going for 90+ minutes, talking to dozens of scouts.  I finally was growing tired and asked the control op how many scouts was he working with:  “Well, we have about 2,900 scouts here.”  No wonder I was pooped!

My most recent Technician Class is finished, with the exam tomorrow night.  I have 8 students and I expect at least 7 will pass.  Hopefully 6 will join my club.

With a bit of luck I will start teaching another Technician Class for the American Red Cross starting Tuesday Nov. 5.

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10 Meter DXCC – Woot!!

Posted on October 13, 2013 by robert

With today’s arrival of a LotW confirmation for a Aland Island QSO with OH0Z, my quest for 10 Meter DXCC was completed.  While my “official” LotW count stands at 98, it is actually 99, due to LotW not counting confirmations from FG4NO and FG/F6ITD (they show up as confirmed under Guadeloupe, but they haven’t been added to the 10 meter count — Similar things have happened before, and I’m working with the ARRL to correct the problem).  In addition, I have a QSL from J52HF in Guinea Bissau for a 10 Meter contact.  So that brings the confirmed count to 100.

This weekend was phenomenal for 10 meters.  It seemed to be open to at least half the world and was quite populated.  I managed to drag my country count up to 223 with TN2MS and TX5D contacts, and knocked off ten of my needed states for 10 Meter WAS (I need five more states for 10 Meter WAS).  In fact, I worked 16 additional countries on 10 Meters this weekend in addition to Aland Island.

I stand at 187 confirmed in LotW, plus 2 QSLs for a total of 189 confirmed.  My Challenge count is 753 (actually 757 including the 2 QSLs).  I need 25 more for 80 Meter DXCC, which would give me 5BDXCC.  I also need one more for 80 Meter WAS and five more for 10 Meter WAS which would give me 5BWAS.

It sure seems like my focus might be shifting to the 80 Meter band this fall/winter.

 

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What a Difference a 10m Opening Makes

Posted on October 3, 2013 by robert

Last weekend was the CQWW RTTY Contest.  Perhaps due to the RTTY activity, or maybe it was just Mother Nature at work, but I found 10 meters alive and well on Saturday.  I wasn’t participating in the contest, but it acted like a beacon, drawing other operators to 10 meters, and I was able to work a few new countries.

As of now I stand at 188 countries confirmed, with 98 confirmed on 10 meters — just two more to go for my 4th DXCC band.  80 meters stands at 75 confirmed, so lots of work there, which I hope will still be possible in the declining years of the solar cycle.  Finally the Challenge count stands at 751.  Getting 1000 Challenge points sounds hard, but 25 more DXpedtions like Clipperton and I’d be over that number.  Plus in just two weeks time that has increased from 735 to 751.

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A fortunate misfortune

Posted on September 25, 2013 by robert

Back in December 2012 I described a project that implemented a NTP clock based on a Raspberry Pi board and a Adafruit LCD Plate.  The project answered a need that I had — a two line LCD clock that didn’t gain or lose time because it was synched to the NTP clock system.  It worked great for about nine months then refused to start up again after a power failure.  The cause of the problem was that the SD card had become unreadable (I suspect that a set of severe storms that caused multiple power failures caused the issue).

I had never fully documented the setup process, and the code left a bit to be desired, so this misfortune became an opportunity to improve on things.  I’m happy to report that revised code and documentation are now available.  Please see the NTP Clock page for details.

WB4SON NTP Clock showing Local & UTC time

WB4SON NTP Clock showing Local & UTC time

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SideKX Panels for my KX3

Posted on September 22, 2013 by robert

During our RFI finding party at Glen Park, John King, WA1ABI, brought his KX3, and I noticed that he had installed Scott’s (AK6Q) side panels and Lexan cover.  This was the first time that I saw these in person, and I was very impressed.  Especially when John proceeded to roll his KX3 on the ground to demonstrate that the front cover remained untouched (I nearly wept — but the front was just fine).

After seeing how nice they looked, I decided to buy a set myself.  Scott offers the cover and side panels as a set or individually, but I opted for the set to save shipping charges.  Two days after ordering them, I had them in hand.  Installation was almost too easy, and took about 2 minutes.

My KX3 before installing the SideKX Panels

My KX3 before installing the SideKX Panels

SideKX Panels (and Cover) Installed

SideKX Panels (and Cover) Installed

SideKX panels and Lexan cover can be found here:  http://gemsproducts.com/covers.html

 

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