N3ZN Key Arrived Today

The N3ZN SL-jr made by Tony Baleno arrived today.  The package would have survived a 2000 foot drop (exaggerated for effect) - it was so well done.  Tony does not take any short cuts.  A picture of the key is behind this blogs title.  The key spacing has been preset for a very light touch.  I have not tried any adjustments yet.

Details on My Quest for DXCC QRP

Radios used to make the contacts:
Yaesu FT897: 4
Elecraft K2: 47
Elecraft KX1: 8
Elecraft KX3: 42

Some Statistics on antennas used:
Longest Contact: Rodriguez Island 10090 miles with the K2 with ZS6BKW
Shortest Contact" Canada at 692 miles with the K2

Almost 90% of the contacts were made on 3 amateur bands: 40m, 30m and 20m

Three antennas were used at various times - The Par End Fed Z - multiband end fed dipole, the full size G5RV, and the ZS6BKW.  The latter 2 are multi-band dipoles fed with 450 ohm window lines.  The average distance for a contact on the Par antenna was 4433 miles.  The ZS6BKW outdistanced the G5RV by about 310 miles on average with the G5RV averaging 3544 miles/contact while the ZS6BKW average 3854 per contact.  The contact with Rodriguez Island skewed the average to the ZS6BKW.  Here is the complete list.

Callsign	QSO Date	Entity Name	RIG	Distance	Bearing	Mode	Antenna	Band
LX7I	19-Feb-11	Luxembourg	FT897	4381	46	CW	G5RV	40
OE5FBL	3-Jun-11	Austria	FT897	4761	46	CW	G5RV	20
FR5HA	4-Jun-11	Reunion I.	FT897	9700	82	CW	G5RV	20
CO4RM	8-Jun-11	Cuba	FT897	872	171	CW	G5RV	40
LS1D	11-Jun-11	Argentina	K2	4863	166	CW	G5RV	20
HK3O	11-Jun-11	Colombia	K2	2067	164	CW	G5RV	40
YN2MJ	11-Jun-11	Nicaragua	K2	1470	188	CW	G5RV	40
VE3RTU	3-Jul-11	Canada	K2	693	12	CW	G5RV	40
PV8ADI	8-Jul-11	Brazil	K2	3584	143	CW	G5RV	40
IR2C	8-Jul-11	Italy	K2	4879	51	CW	G5RV	20
LZ9W	9-Jul-11	Bulgaria	K2	5413	46	CW	G5RV	20
GR2HQ	10-Jul-11	England	K2	4013	45	CW	G5RV	40
KH6ZM	15-Jul-11	Hawaii	K2	4547	278	CW	G5RV	40
R5ZZ	24-Jul-11	European Russia	KX1	5260	30	CW	G5RV	20
UA9FGJ	29-Jul-11	Asiatic Russia	K2	5433	358	CW	G5RV	20
LY53SOP	29-Jul-11	Lithuania	K2	4864	35	CW	G5RV	40
GM0ADX	30-Jul-11	Scotland	K2	3844	40	CW	G5RV	20
DL5ZBA	13-Aug-11	Federal Rep of Germany	KX1	4515	44	CW	G5RV	40
MD0CCE	13-Aug-11	Isle of Man	K2	3870	44	CW	G5RV	20
SP3GXH	3-Nov-11	Poland	K2	4806	40	CW	G5RV	40
OV1CDX	4-Nov-11	Denmark	KX1	4379	39	CW	G5RV	40
K7RL	7-Nov-11	USA	K2	2296	206	CW	G5RV	20
H18A	13-Nov-11	Dominican Republic	K2	1241	143	CW	G5RV	40
OK1DMZ	22-Nov-11	Czech Republic	K2	4781	43	CW	G5RV	12
P40L	27-Nov-11	Aruba	K2	1665	150	CW	G5RV	20
C5A	27-Nov-11	The Gambia	K2	4311	92	CW	G5RV	20
EA8BVP	4-Dec-11	Canary Is.	K2	3892	76	CW	G5RV	15
VP9/K2XX	6-Dec-11	Bermuda	K2	1006	92	CW	G5RV	30
V25RV	5-Jan-12	Antigua & Barbuda	K2	1709	128	CW	G5RV	30
V31JP	7-Jan-12	Belize	K2	1245	201	CW	G5RV	30
OA1F	7-Jan-12	Peru	K2	3063	172	CW	G5RV	20
5B4AHL	28-Jan-12	Cyprus	K2	6080	48	CW	G5RV	15
PJ4LS	4-Feb-12	Bonaire	K2	1737	147	SSB	G5RV	20
YY5RTX	11-Feb-12	Venezuela	K2	2064	147	CW	G5RV	40
PA6Z	12-Feb-12	Netherlands	K2	4303	44	CW	G5RV	30
F5IN	23-Feb-12	France	KX1	4312	51	CW	G5RV	40
HA9RT	25-Feb-12	Hungary	K2	5012	44	CW	G5RV	40
9A7R	26-Feb-12	Croatia	KX1	4914	48	CW	G5RV	40
J38A	5-Mar-12	Grenada	KX1	1979	135	CW	G5RV	30
ZF2AH	14-Mar-12	Cayman Is.	KX1	1016	177	CW	G5RV	40
6Y0A	18-Mar-12	Jamaica	K2	1126	165	CW	G5RV	30
XF1AA	18-Mar-12	Mexico	KX1	1387	245	CW	G5RV	30
VP5/W5CW	21-Mar-12	Turks & Caicos Is.	K2	1046	141	CW	G5RV	20
FG8NY	24-Mar-12	Guadeloupe	K2	1765	129	CW	G5RV	30
YO6LV	27-Mar-12	Romania	K2	5276	43	CW	G5RV	40
V44KAI	28-Mar-12	St. Kitts & Nevis	K2	1649	129	CW	G5RV	40
SM51O	9-Jun-12	Sweden	K2	4393	32	CW	G5RV	40
KL7AA	24-Jun-12	Alaska	K2	3588	328	CW	G5RV	20
KP4ES	24-Jun-12	Puerto Rico	K2	1446	135	CW	G5RV	40
ES5RR	11-Aug-12	Estonia	KX3	4780	32	CW	G5RV	20
YT3M	11-Aug-12	Serbia	KX3	5197	46	CW	G5RV	20
S53M	11-Aug-12	Slovenia	K2	4833	47	CW	G5RV	20
UW5Q	11-Aug-12	Ukraine	KX3	5301	38	CW	G5RV	20
S02R	11-Aug-12	Western Sahara	KX3	4072	79	CW	G5RV	20
LA1J	16-Aug-12	Norway	KX3	4224	34	CW	G5RV	40
EA6NB	11-Sep-12	Balearic Is.	KX3	4553	57	CW	ZS6BKW	40
ZS1JX	11-Sep-12	South Africa	KX3	8080	108	CW	ZS6BKW	80
KP2/K5WE	24-Sep-12	US Virgin Is.	KX3	1547	132	CW	ZS6BKW	40
EW7LO	27-Sep-12	Belarus	KX3	5067	35	CW	ZS6BKW	40
FY8PE	27-Sep-12	French Guiana	KX3	1784	132	CW	ZS6BKW	20
OP4F	28-Sep-12	Belgium	KX3	4314	45	CW	ZS6BKW	15
CU4ARG	29-Sep-12	Azores	KX3	3019	67	CW	ZS6BKW	40
8P6DR	29-Sep-12	Barbados	KX3	2012	130	CW	ZS6BKW	40
ZA/OK1DX	1-Oct-12	Albania	KX3	5268	49	CW	PAR-3015	30
HC2SL	2-Oct-12	Ecuador	KX3	2455	174	CW	ZS6BKW	40
ER1DA	2-Oct-12	Moldova	KX3	5392	41	CW	PAR-3015	30
5N7M	2-Oct-12	Nigeria	KX3	5810	82	CW	ZS6BKW	80
TG9ADM	4-Oct-12	Guatemala	KX3	1378	204	CW	PAR-3015	30
EI3KG	5-Oct-12	Ireland	K2	3745	45	CW	PAR-3015	30
HP1/IZ6BRN	5-Oct-12	Panama	KX3	1731	175	CW	PAR-3015	30
IS0IGV	6-Oct-12	Sardinia	KX3	4814	54	CW	ZS6BKW	40
D3AA	11-Oct-12	Angola	K2	7289	95	CW	PAR-3015	30
TI2KWN	11-Oct-12	Costa Rica	K2	1662	185	CW	ZS6BKW	40
E71A	12-Oct-12	Bosnia Herzegovina	K2	5043	48	CW	PAR-3015	30
PZ1DV	12-Oct-12	Suriname	K2	2660	135	CW	PAR-3015	30
4X130RISHON	13-Oct-12	Israel	KX3	6328	50	CW	ZS6BKW	40
ZL3IO	13-Oct-12	New Zealand	K2	8421	238	CW	ZS6BKW	40
HB9TNW	14-Oct-12	Switzerland	KX3	4554	38	CW	ZS6BKW	17
4J5A	15-Oct-12	Azerbaijan	K2	6360		CW	PAR-3015	30
3B9SP	15-Oct-12	Rodriguez Island	K2	10094	74	CW	ZS6BKW	17
J79WE	17-Oct-12	Dominica	KX3	1819	130	CW	PAR-3015	30
RI1ANF	17-Oct-12	Franz Josef Land	KX3	6761	169	CW	ZS6BKW	20
ZP5NT	24-Oct-12	Paraguay	KX3	4393	155	CW	PAR-3015	20
6V7S	24-Oct-12	Senegal	KX3	4349	89	CW	ZS6BKW	20
OH0V	27-Oct-12	Aland Islands	KX3	4603	32	SSB	ZS6BKW	20
OG3077F	27-Oct-12	Finland	KX3	4663	27	SSB	ZS6BKW	20
TF3CW	27-Oct-12	Iceland	KX3	3338	31	SSB	ZS6BKW	20
C6AZZ	31-Oct-12	Bahamas	KX3	767	150	CW	ZS6BKW	40
OM/HA6NL	5-Nov-12	Slovak Republic	KX3	4971	72	CW	ZS6BKW	40
D44TWO	8-Nov-12	Cape Verde	KX3	3783	94	CW	ZS6BKW	40
CN8KD	13-Nov-12	Morocco	KX3	4347	68	CW	ZS6BKW	40
LY2KO	17-Nov-12	Latvia	KX3	4864	35	CW	ZS6BKW	10
9Y4/DL7VOG	18-Nov-12	Trinidad & Tobago	KX3	2089	136	CW	ZS6BKW	40
HR9/WQ7R	19-Nov-12	Honduras	KX3	1348	105	CW	ZS6BKW	40
EL2LF	20-Nov-12	Liberia	KX3	4963	94	CW	ZS6BKW	40
PJ2/DL9FJ	22-Nov-12	Curacao	KX3	1713	148	CW	ZS6BKW	40
FM/KL7WA	22-Nov-12	Martinique	KX3	1868	130	CW	ZS6BKW	40
PJ7I	22-Nov-12	St Maarten	KX3	1601	129	CW	ZS6BKW	40
FS/K9NB	22-Nov-12	St Martin	KX3	1605	128	CW	ZS6BKW	40
CT7/OJ0M	23-Nov-12	Portugal	KX3	3995	61	CW	ZS6BKW	20
J6/N7QT	2-Dec-12	St. Lucia	K2	1910	131	CW	ZS6BKW	40

Update from ARS NY4G

Well it has been a while since I posted on my radio blog. Things have been busy on other fronts. I have a regular QSO with N0TR on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 0730 EST on 7090 KHz on 40m. He lives about 6 miles from me - so this must be ground wave. This way I can keep up and not lose the "fist".

DXCC

DXCC certificates now on the wall

Visit to Belgium

I took my KX3 to Belgium and operated as ON/NY4G and made a few contacts mostly into eastern Europe. I did get a Canadian VE station on CW and and talked with a Ukrainian op on SSB. The visit was filled with mostly work and so there was not much chance to operate. I did get a chance to visit the site of ON4UN, world renowned DX and author of low band DXing. I snapped a few photos and one is included below.

Finally Got QRP DXCC

Well here it is sitting on my shack box. The shack box has a new addition. The KX3 is connected to the Hardrock 50 amplifier which puts out 50 watts or more with about 3 watts drive. I actually had not published any photos of the KX3 till now. It was built as a kit by me in August of 2012.

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