#174 Tonga A35JP

40m is a great band for gray line propagation.  For a half an hour between 7 and 730 EDT he was so weak for good copy.  At 0735 he became much clearer - of course this is with the attenuators on to bring down the static and improve the signal to noise ratio, He finally answered and copied my call and returned a thank you 599.  I was running the linear at about 1200 watts of TX power.

#173 Svalbard JW/DL55E

Well this was one of those DX I should not have seen.  It was not supposed to be receivable based on the spots.  Hence, it pays to listen.  He was working a small pileup on 20m, frequency 14006 and was easily copiable if one were to turn off the preamp and dig him out of the noise.  The call sign was JW/DL55E.  This needed the linear as well just to make sure I can be heard.  The DX was working split - listening 1 kHz up.

# 172 YB0AI INDONESIA and #171 V6G Micronesia

Saw the spot first thing in the morning and not to many callers on 40m SSB on 7130. I promptly turned on the linear. Called him first at 1030UTC. Wow - the power meter was peaking at 1500 watts. That L4B is a quite the horse. I thought he heard me and gave him a 5-5 report but I did not hear my report. He was getting louder 6 minutes later and I decided to call him again at 1036 UTC. This time he gave me a 5-5 also and confirmed my call sign. Texted WM4AA and N0TR and posted a spot into the spotting cluster.

#171 was another early morning QSO when 40m is really long into the South Pacific.  I had to go to work and I had merely minutes before my deadline to leave for work at 1047 UTC.  He finally heard me in the pileup on 9/10/2013

Camping in the North Carolina Mountains

View from the Fire Tower - clear shot into the 146.610 repeater and made contact with Stacy N4OVQ using a handheld transceiver

Great Day on the Blue Ridge Parkway with Folding Hexbeam

WM4AA and I set up for HF DX contacts on the portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Pisgah Inn by about 3 miles. As can be seen in the photos, we set up the folding Hexbeam right next to the ridge drop off.

It was a great public awareness tool for amateur radio. One out of every 5 cars stopped by to inquire what we were doing. They were so surprised to find out that people still use Morse Code. Even the state park ranger stopped by. He was a ham himself. We got asked some really strange questions like "Are you guys with the NSA?

We made some good contacts to fill out our DXCC slots in the high bands. The 15m and 17m bands were good at making contacts. We even called CQ DX and were answered by many stations.

Our station consists of a K2/100 with LDG ZLPro ATU running 100 watts and a single lever N3ZN paddle and worked exclusively CW.

Interesting DX the Last 2 Weeks

Ever since acquiring the Drake L4B Linear - I have added 24 new DX entities.  All these new ones were worked using the K2/100 transceiver.

I got the Drake on August 7, 2013.  I could not really employ it effectively on multiple bands until I got the high power tuner.  But no problem - my antenna is resonant on 40m CW and close to being resonant on 20m.

#145 - On August 9 I added Saudi Arabia HZ1TT on 20m phone - I just ran this barefoot on the K2
#146 - same day - added Faroe Island OY/DL3UB on 40m CW - again still barefoot on the K2
#147 - August 10 - early in the morning before work - found El Salvador YS1/N3PJ on 30m - barefoot on the K2
#148 - August 13 - in the evening East Coast time - bagged Jordan JY5HX on 20m CW -100W on K2

After this point I have the Palstar AT2K 1.5kW tuner
#149 - August 15 - found 9K2GS on 20m phone - first time to use the amp and ran it at the legal limit 1500W
#150 - August 17 - late evening on 30m - found Bahrain A92IO.  Running barefoot K2 on the 45ft EFHW.  He also confirmed me on LOTW
#151 - Same evening - heard Anguilla VP2ETE on 20m CW - ran the linear at 1000w to get him fighting against QRM.  I contacted him again 2 weeks later on 10m phone.
#152 - same evening - 8/17 was a great day - heard French Polynesia (Tahiti) and ran 500w to get him
#153 - Were not done on 8/17 just yet - found New Caledonia FK8CE on 20m CW (He later confirmed me on LOTW)
#154 - Still not done with 8/17 - found New Zealand on 20m CW - ZL6LH - I have worked New Zealnd 3 times before but this is the first time I got confirmed in LOTW - so this was as good as the first contact
#155 - August 17 - final one for a very productive day  - found Armenia EK6TA on 20m phone running 600W

It was not until a couple of days later for the first time new contact.
#156 - On August 19 - heard Kryzgystan in a pileup - on 20m CW - worked him with 500 watts
#157 - Minutes later it was Qatar A71CM on 20m CW just a couple of clicks away on the band scope

It was a few days later till another new one turned up.  This time it was a one man DXpedition into Palestine E44PM.  The pileups were huge.  He was working this DXpedition with a K2/100 and a KAT100 which is a basic rig.  A fine CW rig but it does not have the DSP technology of today's modern rigs.  Regardless, he worked 19700+ QSO's by himslef over the period of about a week.  I managed to work him on 40, 30 and 20 and confirmed me in Clublog and LOTW.  I consider myself lucky.  My first contact was on 8/21.  That was #158.

August 22 - finally got Guam on 20m CW KH2L.  He also confirmed me on LOTW (a double bonus) That was #159

August 23 was another good day as I managed to bag 3 new contacts on the same day.
#160 - Chad TT8/US3EZ on 20m CW again running about 500 watts
#161 - Ceuta and Mellilla EA9UG on 20m CW running 500 watts
#162 - Ivory Coast TU5DF on 30m CW running about 75 watts

The next day I heard Guernsey MU0FAL on 30m CW and worked him with about 100w.  That was #163

The following day I worked Lebanon on 20m phone OD5ZZ running about 1000w to make the contact.  That was #164

On August 27, I saw Falkland Islands on the cluster spot and worked hin on 20m phone - running about 1000watts.  #165

On August 29, I worked the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador VP8LP on 20m phone - which was #166

On August 30 worked Samoa 5W1SA - very early in the morning on 20m CW - about 9 AM UTC (that was 5 am EDT) and very faint and in the noise floor - we managed to make contact - I was running 1000 watts and he gave me a 339 report.  That was #167

On Labor day playing with the KX3 on the Hexbeam - with the beam pointed Northeast towards Europe.  I was in the truck with the KX3 and the litlle Hardrock50 was pushing about 25 watts from the 3 watts drive I gave it and the station in San Marino was loud calling CQ with just a few takers - and was working simplex.  I gave a him a couple of calls with the KX3 and with my 6 dB of gain - I probably sounded like a barefoot rig - 100watts in power.  I gave my call NY4G.  He returned with NY? a couple of times.  He decided to pass me over and proceeded to call CQ.  Well I said to myself, if I am gonna get a new one - I will need to run some power.  I ran inside to the basement shack and fired up the K2 and the linear.  With the right hand dialing in the frequency 14023 dot 3 and the left hand turning on the wall switch to the linear.  I found him in about 30 seconds flat - still calling CQ.    I switched the tuner to the dummy load and proceeded to peak the load at about 800 watts.  FI flipped the tuner switch back to the band and gave him a couple of calls. He replied back NY4? agn? I gave my call a couple more times and he gave me 539 report and I gave him a 559 report thank you and 73.  Well that was #168.

#169 was Market Reef near the Philippines OJ0W on 9/8/2013. Another early morning QSO on 40m at near 1100 UTC

#170 was Bolivia CP4BT.  I was trying to make a phone contact in pileup on another station when I saw the spot on Bolivia pop up.  I quickly switched to the CW portion of the band on VFO B and I was able to work him simplex.on 9/9/13

Please stay tuned as the count to 200 continues.

Looking Back on History and My DXCC Count

Updated Shack Photo

THe Drake L4B succesflly modified for keying by either the KX3 or the K2

KX3 on PSK-D

The KX3 was a champ at copying PSK without a computer. I was transmitting at 4 watts and Matt WM4AA was transmitting at 15 watts on his TS590. The picture is what my KX3 signal looks like on his waterfall. He could copy it perfectly. The internal set up of the KX3 in PSK-D mode was not overdriven at all. Sending PSK through the paddle or through the KX3 utility was also a breeze. It is truly amazing what this little rig can do.

Selecting a Contest Grade Radio

This is the latest 2013 presentation of the merits and demerits of the newly released rigs by Bob Sherwood of Sherwood Engineering

What You Should Know When Selecting Radios

Contest Antennas

Must view for anyone interested in maximizing the effectiveness of antenna systems

Contest Antennas

QRP Setup for Contesting

From the looks of your call - you are a new ham. QRP contesting is always going to be challenging because of the at least 13.5 dB disadvantage in signal strength (everything else being equal). I assume you want to stay with QRP power at 5 watts. Here are the approaches I recommend.

(1) make sure you are getting al the signal out from your antenna system - replace lossy feedlines with low loss feedlines. One can easily find better feedlines on the internet - compare loss values per 100 ft in dB. I have a blog post (http://ny4g.blogspot.com/2013/05/where-does-all-that-rf-go-anyway-by-w7ci.html) where I regurgitated what W7CI said about RF highlighting the need for low loss feedlines.

(2) If you are using wire antenna - select a design which minimizes the work the internal tuner has to work.

(3) Pick your battles. QRP contesting is different from busting a DX pileup. QRP contesting is the domain of CW. You will do best as a contester in this mode. During contests there are going to be signals all over the band and Ops are not going to discriminate against you too much if you are in S&P mode in CW. Do not be too close to a louder station calling the same station as the stronger station will drown you out. Separate yourself enough - yet still in his passband so he can hear you. There can be a small pileup if a station calling CQ is a rare one is in international DX contests. It once took me an hour to call New Zealand (ZL) during the IARU HF Championship - but I needed ZL for DXCC QRP - so I hung in there. Good luck in SSB - this is the domain of amps and gain antenna systems. You can improve your chances with mic compression plus gain antennas.

(4) Get a gain antenna. Just because you are limited to 5 watts at the transmitter does not mean you cannot get gain at your antenna - some examples - a vertical near salt water along the coast, a hex beam gets you 6 dB (that is 4X power multiplier), a tribander or other higher gain antenna system may give you 9dB (8X power) although beams are limited to 20MHz or higher for something affordable. I built a hex beam from scratch for about $300.

(4) Don't use /QRP - it takes more time to send, identifies you as QRP, it takes more time to copy on the other end. Remember, the other station is also trying to maximize his QSO count.

(4) Practice, practice, practice, NAQCC and QRP-ARCI have monthly contests. QRP usually has power multipliers which is a recognition of the power disadvantage. ARRL Field Day gives you a 2 points per QSO for CW, and Digital and a power multiplier of 5.

(5) QRO stations are going to get more points than you. Your objective is to do as well as you can in the QRP category.

Patience, patience, patience. Nothing makes you a better radio op than learning to make the best use of the meager 5-10 watts of power. I have a friend who has a sign "Life is too short for QRP" but by the same token I can brag to him that I have DXCC-QRP and WAS-QRP which is a feat much more rewarding than getting DXCC and WAS the easy way.

Enjoy the hobby

Ariel NY4G

New Cover and Sideplates for the KX3

Here are the new side plates and cover. I used it in Rose's case and fits perfectly. My FD partner used a Pico paddle attached to the KX3. I used my favorite N3ZN single lever.

A Very Nice Field Day Video - from WQ4RP in Raleigh NC

I wish I had a video like this - maybe for 2014.  Very nice operation and lots of camaraderie.  Way to go guys.

Field Day 2013

Field Day 2013 is now history.  We did something new this year in that we (WM4AA and NY4G) set-up the Class 2B station at a campground at the base of Mt Pisgah in North carolina along the Blue Ridge Parkway at 5000 feet of elevation.  It was a great campground - clean, bathroom / shower facilities, a nearby general store and trees tall enough to hang wire antennas from.  Plan A had been to use the Hexbeam along with wire antennas.  Unfortunately, the mast on the antenna did not end up in the checklist.  It never got loaded.  We had to resort to plan B.  I had made up a G0GSF (aka ZS6BKW) dipole a while back as a back up antenna.  It used 16 gauge THHN as radiators with a twin lead as a radiator/feedline.  We still had to terminate the balanced feedline from the twin lead to an unbalanced coaxial feedline - and ahad to improvise that by borrowing the termination from the hexbeam.  The pneumatic launcher worked like a charm as it launched a tennis ball clear over a 70 foot tree with plenty of height to spare.  We hung the Par end Fed Z from Matt's site along with an end fed half wave monopole.  We hung the G0GSF from the back of my site.  Here is Matt's set-up for night time ops:

Here is the setup at my camp site.  Our solar panel

Both our rigs are KX3s.  Mine is running NaP3 as a panadapter.

Here is a photo of what night time operation is like:

The views were spectacular:

All in all - 282 contacts (280 were CW) at 5 watts output.

The launcher to put up those pesky antennas