QRP DXCC #79, #80, #81, #82

On 10/16 Rodriguez Island 3B9SP on 17m CW was #79. It was a good path that night on 17m.

That same evening, also worked Azerbaijan 4J5A on 30m CW for #80

The next evening, I worked Dominica J79WE for #81 on 20m. I worked him again two days later on 30m CW.

That same evening on 10/17, I also worked South land RI1ANF also on 20m for #82.

DXCC QRP #78

Swiss Station calling CQ on 17 meters HB9TNW turned into a short ragchew. He had a Hexbeam and an ICOM 7700. I had my KX3 and the ZS6BKW wire dipole. He gave me a 439 signal report while I gave him a 579. He was running 250 watts to the beam.

QRP DXCC #76 and #77

#76 Israel 4X170RISHON on 40m.   Early in the morning around 700 AM local, 40m was quiet and long, a good combination, New Zealand station running a contest and asking for numbers ZL3IO.was bagged as #77.

DXCC QRP #72 TO #75

Well on 10/12/2012 D3AA was calling loudly on 20m - so I worked him first at 100W.  He was so loud that I thought I could work him again at 5W.  Sure enough, he answered the call while working Simplex.  He did not have such a big pileup this time.

On the same night and on 40m, Costa Rican station TI2KWN working a straight key was calling loudly on 40m.  He was a bit deaf and so it took a few tries to get him at low power.

I had a good path to Eastern Europe on 30m.  E71A Bosnia-Herzegovina was also loud and I was able to work him on low power.

The next station was just a few clicks away and was calling loudly on 30m PZ1DV.

DXCC QRP #71 5N7M

This came as a courtesy of N0TR who spotted them calling loudly despite poor propagation conditions. N0TR called me on the 2m while I was mobile on the way home. Upon arriving home I thought they had already QRT. W4KA called and said they were back on frequency. They copied my call sign on the second call.

The Quest for DXCC QRP

The quest for DXCC and QRP began after I built the KX3.  Before August 11, I had 47 QRP DX contacts.  I had already achieved DXCC but not at QRP power.  The ARRL has confirmed me on 113 DX entities

48:  ES55 Estonia on August 11, 2012
49: YT3M Serbia (same date)
50:: S53M Slovenia (same date)
51: UW5Q Ukraine (same date)
52: SO2R Western Sahara (same date)

Number 48 through 52 sort of came through easy - all on the same date and with rather light pile-ups if any.

53: LA1J Norway on August 16, 2012

It took 2 more weeks before I could get the next two.

54: EA6NB Balearic Islands September 11, 2012
55: ZS1JX South Africa (same date)

It took another 2 weeks before I could get the next bunch.  I had to start watching the DX Clusters.

56: KP2/K5WE US Virgin Islands - September 24, 2012
57: AD4Z USA (I had plenty of these - so I picked one from the September QRP Sprint
58: EW7LO Belarus - September 27, 2012
59: FY8PE French Guiana - September 28, 2012
60: OP4F Belgium - September 28, 2012
61: CU4ARG Azores - September 29, 2012
62: 8P6DR Barbados - September 29, 2012

The pile-ups are starting to get larger on the next few

63: ZA/OK1DX - Albania on October 1, 2012
64: HC2SL - Ecuador on October 2, 2012
65: ER1DA - Moldova on October 2, 2012
66: 5N7M - Nigeria on October 2, 2012

I had worked the next stations before but at higher power.
67: TG9ADM - Guatemala on October 4, 20t12
68: EI3KG - Ireland on October 5, 2012
69: HP1/IZ6BRN - Panamat on October 6, 2012
70: IS0IGV - Sardinia on October 7, 2012

I tried to work the Italian DXpedition to Chad TT8TT but the pileups were too big and the stations too strong.  The other expedition is the one to Angola D3AA and the same problem there.

G0GSF versus G5RV - Part 1

Well, I am trying out the ZS6BKW.  I analyzed the G5RV prior to installing the new antenna so I can do a head to head comparison. The setup uses 92 feet of 16 gauge insulated copper wire as the main radiator and 39.5 feet of Wireman 551 window line and a W2DU ferrite bead choke between the window line and coax.   The antenna is suspended 45 feet above ground level in an inverted V configuration.  Here are some figures (on SWR) for comparison - the first column is the start of CW, the second frequency is the start of the phone portion of the band and the last is the end of the phone portion of the band:

3500 3600 4000 80m 3.7 6 >10 G0GSF 2.4 2.79 >10 G5RV 40m 7000 7125 7300 1.1 1.6 3 G0GSF .  3.5 3 2.5 G5RV 30m 10100 10150 >10 >10 G0GSF 5 5 G5RV 20m 14000 14150 14350 1.5 2 2.73 G0GSF 1.89 1.84 2 G5RV 17m 18068 18100 18168 2.5 2.74 3 G0GSF 4.8 4.4 4.3 G5RV 15m 21000 21200 21450 3.1 3.5 5 G0GSF 4.5 4.75 5 G5RV 12m 24890 24930 24990 2.6 2.9 3.1 G0GSF 2.2 2.3 2.5 G5RV 10m 28000 28300 29700 2.75 1.5 5.3 G0GSF 3.3 3.75 4.2 G5RV
Here are the consequences with the new set-up: (Note I use G0GSF and ZS6BKW interchangeably)
(1) Using a tuner, 80m in the CW portion of the band is easily done.   The phone portion needs a wide range tuner.  The Palstar roller inductors do quite well and so do the Elecraft tuners KAT100 and the internal tuner in the KX3.   .
(2) 40m is now more efficient.  Considering that this is my bread and butter band, this is a good thing.
(3) 30m is not usable at all.  Considering how important 30m is for DX work, this means I need a dedicated dipole
(4) 20m  -  In either the G5RV or the ZS6BKW - this band does not need a tuner.  Although the ZS6 is a little bit more efficient on the lower part of the CW band.
(5)  17m is now much more efficient
(6)  15m is usable with a tap at 31 ft - best SWR about 3:1.  Careful though need to connect a  balun there and disconnect the coax from lower balun.
(7)  12m - Both antennas are good on 12m
(8)  10m - The ZS6BKW is more efficient than the G5RV in this band

IARU HF Championship

Soapbox: The contest is history. Made 252 QSOs and 97 multipliers. I submitted my Cabrillo file log to the ARRL. It was a good contest overall. I expected the geomagnetic storms to have a substantial negative effect and partway in the morning I decided to put up the hex beam. I took advantage of the high sunspot number and get as many multipliers on the high bands as early as possible. Zone 28 was a hotbed of contacts. South America was also open on the high bands. I saved 40 meters for night time operating when it goes long. 20 meters had the majority of the high bands. 40 meters came alive after sunset and my majority of QSOs actually came from 40m. I went back to 20m before finishing up for the morning and happened upon New Zealand ZM4G and he was working a pile up. It took over a half hour before I was recognized. Claimed score is over 75000.

Field Day 2012

KQ4VY and his station

Field Day 2012

Well Field Day is history. 260 CW contacts and 13 phone contacts and my partner was KQ4VY Matt. Antennas were a hex beam and an end fed dipole. Entry category was 2B and QRP. Mailed the entry to the ARRL 2665 points and 350 bonus points.

QRP Setup in Cape May NJ

Arm chair at my brother's Camp site in Cape May. Battery is a 12v from 8AA ganged together and a simple head phone. Antenna is a multiband end fed half wave strung in the trees surrounding the camp for 10-20-40m. Made two contacts in WV and NC in the middle of a geomagnetic storm with the noise floor at S6.

101 Enties for DXCC Credit

Just checked my LOTW DXCC Status and the ARRL has given me 101 entities for mixed mode and 96 entities on CW.

Hex beam Project - Lessons Learned

The hexbeam performed better than expected with SWR flat and below 1.5 on all bands. The push up mast is hitch mounted. There will be detailed instructions which I will post later. The design is based on the G3TQX design per Leo Shoemakers instructions. I came up with a unique base plate design which speeds up installation and takedown. The lessons learned are as follows:

1) the hitch mount should be mounted as close to the tailgate to allow assembly while mounted on the mast.

2) The stub connected to the rotator must be as short as possible.

3) The electrical connections must be checked before raising the push up mast and antenna assembly.

4) North position must be set on the rotator before raising the mast.

5) The connection to the flanges must be snug.

Shack in a Box Project

I just finished my shack in a box project and here are a couple of photos. The neat thing about this box is that everything is self contained. All external connections are to the box. There are three bulkhead connectors two of which are for HF and one for VHF. There are no visible wires outside of the box except for the plug wire for power supply. The power distribution within the box is through a 5 connector Rigrunner. The battery is is topped off with a West Mountain Radio Powergate which distributes the power to the rig runner and the battery and indicates the charging rate on the battery from float to bulk charge. Their is a small circuit board that monitors battery voltage. A button push (shown by my finger in the photo) indicates battery charge through a 3 color LED - red means below 11.5 volts and green is above 12 volts and yellow in between. Another feature of the box is a drawer for accessories which keeps everything neat. There is a switch in the back which switches between the primary radio and the back up radio. One radio is always connected to an antenna while the other is connected to a dummy load. This feature protects against connecting to an open feed line. The antenna tuner has provisions for two antennas and can match a wide range of impedances. There is a sound card interface for digital modes and metering is provided for two radios - one of them having 10/1/0.1 watt scales for QRP and QRPp. The entire box can be carried to another room or a remote site. It is a great box for an EOC Emergency Operations Center or for ARES command post.

Chat with N8ZYA

Had a short chat with John just before dinner. He later sent me a short note and described his Isotron antenna at only 18 inches and indoors. He has a great radio blog and a great read.

DXCC Confirmations

The 86th LOTW confirmation a came in. So along with my 14 card confirmations I should have enough for a DXCC application.

DXCC Confirmations Almost All In

The card from Sardinia has arrived. HKONA Malpelo Island DXPedition confirmed the contact on their website but receipt of the card is still pending. Total without HK0NA is 98 DX entities. Hope for 2 more in the next week to officially get to 100.

Auroras

Great movie showing auroras

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

ARRL Worked All States CW & QRP

Just checked into my LOTW and I found that the ARRL has finally approved my WAS application. I should have the certificate in the mail.

50 States CW on LOTW

WY - AA5XJ finally uploaded his log for the 50th state in LOTW.

SKCC Worked All States

I got the email from Urb Lajeune, the awards administrator for SKCC Worked All States and notified me that I was awarded the Worked All States Certificate #192

Evening with Stan and His Friends on the Air

I was over Stan's house working on mu KX1. Stan is an experienced builder and I did not want to mess up on removing some components on the KX1 to install the 8030 module. So there I was looking over Stan's shoulders as he removed the specified components one by one. Nancy fixed up some delicious Goulash and cornbread. The rest of the evening was spent talking to and listening to Stan's friends on 3718 KHz on the 75m band.

NAQCC Member Spotlight

I was randomly selected by the NAQCC for a member spotlight piece and it finally came out. The URL for the newsletter is as follows:

http://naqcc.info/newsletter_current.html

Got several complimentary e-mails - NU7T Steve and K4BAI John. John is one of the best QRP contesters I know so his compliments are a good boost for enthusiasm.

Last State for SKCC WAS

Finally made the last state for the SKCC WAS Award - AC0BQ-was working QRP from Lebo KS on a K2. I gave him a 449 report and he gave me a 559. We were both working K2's QRP. Sent application to Urb Lejeune - WAS Awards Manager via e-mail. Will send QSL card to Johnny for this milestone. Thanks Johnny if you read this

New DX - Cyprus on 15m

Saw 5B5AHL on the K3UK Page and requested a contact on 15m. W#e found 21065 to be clear. I cranked up the K2 to 100 watts. He was coming in just above the noise floor. We were able to exchange info before QSB kicked in. Thanks to Dave for Cyprus. That makes for 110 in the DXCC list and he does LOTW so that is great as well.

How do Solar Flares Affect Propagation

This is from Paul NA5N explaining how all this works in the Elecraft reflector - and so I am re-posting here for posterity

And I realize we have many new hams who are learning how propagation works on the HF bands, now that the solar flux is above like 65 :-( and of course what all this solar flare, CME,

geomagnetic storm stuff is all about.

So here goes.

Friday, there was a fairly large X2 (X1.7 to be exact) solar flare on 27 January at 1837Z. An X-class flare is the highest category and can cause radiation storms on earth and effect HF propagation - some of it good. Go here to see the x-ray emissions from this flare:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html. The first chart is the x-ray emissions as detected by two different sensors on the GOES-15 satellite. The X-class flare is easily seen towards the end of the UTC day on 27 Jan. X-rays are ionizing radiation, that is, they can knock electrons away from their host atoms and molecules. In our upper ionosphere, this ionizing radiation knocks electrons away from oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. These electrons just roam around in our ionosphere, being knocked around by the ionizing radiation from the sun. For this reason, they are called "free electrons," not currently being associated with a host atom. The more free electrons in the ionosphere, the more reflective are the E and F layers, and the higher the maximum usable frequency (MUF). During a solar flare, ionizing radiation increases almost immediately, producing more free electrons in our ionosphere, making the E and F layers even

more reflective, and often raising the MUF. This condition quickly improves HF propagation.

Therefore, for QRPers, solar flares are often a good thing. From the time of the flare until local sundown, enhanced HF propagation will be present. With higher reflectivity, this means QRP signals get reflected more efficiently for an environment of working longer skip distances (and new DX) than normal. Once the sun goes down ... that is, when the ionosphere above our heads is no longer illuminated by the sun and receiving the solar x-rays, the free electrons recombine with their host atoms, reflectivity and the MUF drops, and we fall back into normal night time propagation. The lack of ionizing radiation and free electrons is why the MUF drops at night, and the higher day time bands shut down. During the day, this ionizing radiation penetrates deep into our ionosphere, causing a layer of free electrons we know as the D-layer. Seldom do our signal bounce off this layer, but penetrates it. Unfortunately, the electron density of the D-layer does eat up (attenuates) some of our signal. At night, solar radiation and ionizing radiation is gone. The E and F layers combine, and with no deep penetrating radiation, the D-layer disappears. Without the attenuation of the D-layer, this is why signals appear stronger and less noisy at night - because they are!

As stated above, a solar flare is often a good thing from the time ofthe flare until local sundown ... except in those cases of a very strong solar flare. Its radiation can be so strong that the D-layer becomes nearly saturated with free electrons, such that signals can not pass through at all. Higher above our heads, the E and F layers are also saturated with free electrons and the MUF drops quickly, sometimes to a few MHz or less, or below the lowest usable frequency or LUF. This is a radio blackout. The D-layer consumes virtually all of your signal power, and the MUF can fall to below 3 MHz. This extreme case of a total radio blackout is fairly rare.

Friday's X-class flare was associated with a CME - a coronal mass ejection. As the name implies, a CME is where the flare belched out copious amounts of solar mass - mostly electrons and protons. This is usually an explosive event, forming a shock wave as the CME travels outward from the sun. While the x-rays from the sun travel at the speed of light, reaching the Earth in about 8 minutes, a CME travels much slower than light speed, reaching the Earth in about 3 days ... if the flare and the CME is located near the center of the sun. If the flare is located near the edges, or limbs, of the sun, the CME will travel outward into space, but away from the earth.

Today's X-class flare was a doozie. The shock wave was measured at 1,532 km/sec., about 950 miles per second, and about 3.5 million miles per hour. Anything over about 1,000 km/sec. is considered a strong shock wave and almost guaranteed to trigger a major geomagnetic storm about three days later - if it hits the earth.

Friday's X-class flare occurred in region 1402, located on the limb of the sun. In fact, that region will rotate out of view by tomorrow. Therefore, this strong shock wave is traveling away from the sun and away from the earth. It will not hit us, so it will not trigger a geomagnetic storm. If it were to hit the Earth, it would have produced a severe geomagnetic storm, the type that can even shut down portions of our power grid and knock satellites out of orbit. We escaped this one.

Go to: http://www.spaceweather.com/

The map of the sun on the left shows where the current active regions are located on the sun. As you can see, region 1402 is on the extreme edge of the sun and rotating out of view. Region 1408 is smack in the middle of the sun. Should a flare occur from 1408 in the next couple of days, that shock wave will hit the earth. (1408 is a weak, unorganized region and not likely to produce a major flare at present). Region 1410 is just now rotating into view and will be towards the center of the sun in a few more days. That is the area to watch for it to grow into an active region capable of producing flares by early next week.

FORECASTS:

NOAA issues a daily summary of solar and geomagnetic activity, and a forecast for the next three days, located at: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/forecast.html

In Section IV "Penticton 10.7 cm Flux" you will see today's solar flux was 142 and the forecast for the next three days (i.e., the weekend) is 120, 120 and 120. Why would the solar flux drop from 142 to 120 so quickly? Like overnight? The reason is because Friday's X-class flare was also characterized as a "Ten Flare." This means the flare was so strong, it affected the solar flux as measured at 2880 MHz, or 10.7 cm (the Ten Flare thing), where the solar flux is measured. Thus, today's daily solar flux was elevated (contaminated) due to the enhanced ionizing radiation from the flare. Tomorrow, back to normal solar radiation and back to the normal solar flux of about 120. Though, that is still fairly high for the higher bands to be open during daylight hours.

So if you want to work into areas where your QRP signals don't normally reach, start keeping an eye on the solar x-ray emissions (at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html) for an M- or X-class solar flare. For the rest of the day, you will most likely experience good signal propagation with perhaps an opening of the next highest band. For those of us who still work, I've noticed the good flares always happen like2-3 in the afternoon with only moments left in the day by the time I get home :-(

At the VLA radio telescope, we were observing today at L-band (1-2 GHz) and S-band (2-3 GHz). The solar flare did affect observing for about 20 minutes in that the "sky temperature" suddenly increased due to the flare. Our switched noise source calibration, which constantly measures system temperature, detected the sudden rise in sky temperature and flagged the data so it was not used for science for the duration of the flare. The biggest problem at the time is nobody knew what caused a 200 degree K shift in system temperature. Basically, the electronics system is always blamed until they realize it was a flare!

Keep an eye on the sun. Solar activity can be advantageous to QRPers if you learn a little bit of the physics and learn to read the "tea leaves." Don't let the news reports of solar flares scare you off the bands.

If you have any questions, ask them on the group and I'll answer, or one of the other seasoned QRPers.

72, Paul NA5N

Sunset at Caesars Head

This was taken from the State Park visitors center parking lot while field testing the KX1

HK0NA Dxpedition

Saw that HK0NA was calling on 30m. The pileups on HK0NA on 20m and 40m were just too big.
DX Station was working split up about 3 Kc. It took 25 minutes of calling when he finally called me. That is DXCC entity #109 in the books.

Field test of the KX1

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I decided to take the afternoon off and headed up to Caesar's Head Mtn to try out the KX1. I set up at the visitor center parking lot at the State Park and proceeded to hang my EFHW dipole off a low branch. Elevation was 3000 ft above sea level. Contact was made to KB3AAY in MD. He was also running 4 watts and gave me a 579 signal report. This is one fun rig.

January NAQCC Sprint

First Sprint of the new year. I started on 80m. I thought I would hold my ground and call CQ for a while as a strategy. Like last time K3WWP was the first contact and then I decided to cozy up to him and call CQ. After things dried up, I did S & P for a while and then decided to go to 40m. QRN and QRM were there in spades and I only found a couple of stations calling CQ. The CA station could not hear me. I managed one contact on 40m. I was on 20m briefly and finding no one - went back to 80m. Managed 20 QSO's for 1040 pts for 2nd place so far but all the logs are not in . I don't know how he does it but K4ORD managed 45 QSO's. SInce I am not here to win but to improve my skills - still had fun. K2 is still holding its own.

Is there a Best Radio and Antenna Combination?

The following are my musings as I consider radios for different purposes:

Most Bang for the Buck, Stealth, Energy Efficiency and Portability:

If TEOTWAWKI happened tomorrow this is the rig/antenna I would like to own. A KX1 80/40/30/20 and a Par End Fed Z half wave dipole. The antenna is purchased as a 40-20-10 multibander - about 40 feet long but can be reconfigured as a monobander dipole for any band for the cost of wire. The radio does cross mode comms, ability to listen to short wave, USB and LSB and transmit CW only. Current draw is 37 mA on receive and less than 700mA on transmit. Will essentially run forever on a 7 Ah SLA battery and a solar charger. Antenna does not require a tuner. The antenna is tuned for minimal SWR by trimming wire lengths. The radio weighs all of 13 ounces - talk about packability. Power output is limited to QRP (4 watts 12V supply) or 2 Watts on internal AA alkaline batteries. You can build a LiPo battery pack to put out 12V for not much more money but one has to be careful as these batteries can explode if charging precautions are not taken.

Cost Breakdown:

KX1 - $384 Elecraft

EFHW Dipole - $75 Par Electronics

KX1 Paddle $65

Most Bang for the Buck, CW Contesting Radio, Portability

Without a doubt a K2. This is ounce for ounce the best ever designed radio to be used for CW contesting while being capable for general HF (SSB, CW) work that one actually solders together from scratch. The base K2 weighs 3.3 lbs without a battery. This also means the 100W amplifier makes it a K2/100 and may be the last radio you ever buy. Since this is a kit radio, it also means that you can fix it since you built it. This is my go to radio for everyday work. Antenna paired up with this radio is a G5RV capable of 80m to 10m operation to 1500 watts. Radio has a signal to noise ratio of 131dB and great dynamic range. This is among the finest in receivers out there and will compete with receivers costing thousands more. Current draw can be as little as 160mA. It draws about 260mA as a K2/100.

Cost Breakdown:

K2/100 approximately $1400 with SSB, Audio Filter, 20W autotuner, battery, and 100w amplifier

G5RV: $99 (base Antenna)

EFHW Dipole Wire: $75 (portable)

Total: $1575

Most Bang for the Buck All Around Radio and Portability

If you do emergency communications work, this is the radio to have. It does everything from 160m HF to 430 MHz UHF, all modes CW, SSB, AM, FM for all bands. It has general receive coverage to listen to shortwave. It has two battery bays that can supply 9 Ah of battery life (batteries not included). The receiver is not that sensitive in terms of S/N ratio as I tested it is at 118 dB but again this is NOT a contesting rig. If I only had to have one radio and the grid stays up, this is the radio. It is small enough to go into a go pack but I would not go backpacking with it, if I had a KX1. It probably weighs 15 pounds with 2 internal batteries. Antennas for this rig depends on how it is applied - whether mobile, base or portable. This radio is so versatile, that I cannot imagine ever selling mine. I actually worked 70 countries with it during a DX contest in 2011 before I had my K2. The SSB digital peaking filter does a great job isolating stations you want to work. Current draw is 450 mA on receive so it is a bit of a power hog compared to a K2. But for all it does and its portability - it is a great radio.

Cost Breakdown:

Yaesu FT897 $800

Internal Batteries: $200 from W4RT

Base Antenna (Home Station) G5RV $99

Mobile Antenna: 2m/440 dual bander $75

Field Antenna: EFHW dipole 40-20-10-2 $50

Total: $1224

2m Mobile Radio

Yaesu FT-2900 - no nonsense 2m radio, puts out 75Watts, very sensitive receiver. If you only have Technician privileges - this is the mobile radio. The heat sink is heavy but the current draw is very decent and will run a long time on a 30Ah SLA or in the car.

Cost Breakdown:

Radio $169

Antenna: 5/8 Wave Magnet Mount for the car $25

Antenna for Emergency Field Use is Twin-lead J-pole (homebrew) - about $5

Ultimate Radio for Contesting Paired With the Best Antennas Money Can Buy

This is the ultimate dream radio if I was independently wealthy. An Elecraft K3 with all the bells and whistles. Base K3/100 with standard filters, P3 Panadapter, KPA500 500 watt integrated amplifier with a beam antenna on a tower for 40m -10m DX work and an antenna farm of dedicated dipoles for 160m and 80m. I have never priced out such a system in detail since I can't afford it it but I can dream.

Cost Breakdown:

Radio/Amp/Tuner: $10K

Rohn Tower and STEPPIR Beam $10K

Dedicated Dipoles and Verticals: $500

Total: $20500

Getting on the ARRL Honor Roll With It: PRICELESS

Fun Week as K3Y/4

It has been a great week serving as K3Y/4 for the SKCC. Thanks to KL7GLL for uploading my logs. It has been a great experience helping people fill out their logs on the K3UK SKED page. It also helped me a lot filling out the bands with contacts. Propagation has not been as good as November and so I doubt I will fill the slot for K3Y/6 on 80m. Same goes for K3Y/KL7 and K3Y/KH6. All in all 100 QSO's as K3Y/4 and a clean sweep for all US K3Y stations.

One can check the leaderboards at http://www.skccgroup.com/k3y/K3Y-logsearch.php?callsign=NY4G and I am glad I made it. Best wishes to all who participated in the K3Y Anniversary event.

Clean Sweep of K3Y Stations

Got the final station for the US Clean Sweep last night K3Y/3 K3NA.

W4CUX K3Y/4 1/13/12
W6KGP K3Y/7 1/12/12
KD5JHE K3Y/5 1/11/12
K1PUB K3Y/1 1/9/11
W9DLN K3Y/9 1/9/11
WI0S K3Y/0 1/8/11
W8TQE K3Y/8 1/7/11
W1DV K3Y/2 1/7/11
KO6R K3Y/6 1/7/11
V31JP K3Y/NA 1/7/11 Belize

Also worked 86 stations operating as K3Y/4. So if you need W4, look me up on the K3UK SKED page and I will be working 2 more nights as K3Y/4

2011 Amateur Radio Year in Review

Let's see - just what did I do in 2011

Building Projects:

Completed Elecraft K2 S/N 7105 with KAF2, SSB2, KAT2, KBT2, KPA100 (KF4BY)

Completed CMOS4 Logikey - Electronic Keyer by Idiom Press

WM2 Watt Meter by Oak Hills Research

100W Dummy Load by Oak Hills Research

Homebrew White Noise Signal Generator

Operating Accomplishments:

ARRL Worked All States Mixed Mode

NAQCC Worked All States QRP

NAQCC Worked All Continents QRP

NAQCC Friendship Club Award

NAQCC 1000 MPW Award

NAQCC 2-Way QRP Award - 250 Points

SKCC Centurion Award

QRP ARCI Worked All States QRP

Total QSOs 1532

2011 QSOs 1100

DX QSOs - 430

Unique DX Entities Worked - 108

Unique DX Enties Confirmed - 73 LOTW

LOTW WAS CW - 45 States

SKCC WAS - 46 States

Contests Worked

CQ Worldwide DX CW - 130 DX Entities

ARRL 10m Contest - 53 DX Entities

ARRL Rookie Roundup - Placed Second in W4 - See Below

NAQCC Sprints - 4

SKCC Sprints -1

Spartan Sprints - 4

QRP ARCI Sprints - 1

Flying Pigs Sprints - 2

Field Day - BRARS