CQ WPX CW 2008 Summary

As good as Saturday afternoon and evening were, Sunday proved to be a huge disappointment. Conditions here had deteriorated remarkably and the openings that I'd enjoyed earlier just didn't develop today. The QRN was much higher today and signals seemed to be several S-units below Saturday's levels. In fact, I just took a quick listen to the bands (it's around 11 pm Eastern) and it seems totally deserted.

Things were so rotten that I probably only operated an hour, maybe an hour and a half throughout the entire day. I checked conditions several times, but considering I had the headache from you-know-where, I opted to find other distractions. This has me hankering for better days when the conditions are optimal.

Nevertheless, here's my totals:













This was certainly a contest of highs and lows. I went from having to call stations four and five times to consistently getting through on the first call.

A few interesting things that I noted:

1. I heard one, count'em ONE, station from Japan the entire contest. Apparently that path wasn't open for me.
2. A couple of weeks ago I purchased and built K1EL's fabulous WinKeyer USB keyer. I spent quite a bit of time getting it just right and making sure that all my serial connections for radio control to the FT-1000MP were correct. The next time, however, I'll spend more time familiarizing myself with all the function key commands. To all the folks who were expecting to hear my report and serial number, I'm very sorry that you often heard "CQ" or "TU" or "AGN" when I meant to hit F2. Heh-heh.
3. For the next CW contest I'm planning to use the K2. As wonderful as the 500 Hz filter is in the FT-1000MP (no ringing at all) and having the second receiver available, the filters in the K2 beat the snot out of the 1000. And that's without the DSP option. I could eliminate adjacent stations with ease, it was truly a pleasure. Now I know what all those people are talking about when they say this is a great CW rig. Not to mention the QSK is unbelievably smooth. I switched from the Yaesu to the Elecraft Saturday evening and never looked back.
4. Always check closely in between the spots on the bandspread display. I often ran down the band hitting all the spots as quickly as I could and then went back and dug in between those listed to unearth more stations.
5. Investing in dual monitors was not such a bad idea. It may seem superfluous and unnecessary but it's nice to have enough room to effectively spread out all the N1MM logging windows.

Despite the lousy conditions today, it sure is nice to hear the bands full. Lastly, thanks to all the great operators that took the time to dig my signal out of the mud and didn't loose their patience when I asked for repeats.

Would you please pass the ketchup...

My wife is visiting her family this weekend while I'm playing radio. She called not long after I posted the previous entry. She could tell by the way I answered the phone that the contest must not have been going well. She tried to comfort me by saying that it'll get better. I said, "If it does, I'll eat my hat."

My, how things can change. I guess I know what I'll be having for dinner.

About 4 pm 20 meters sprang to life. The QRN went south and the band opened nicely to Europe. Seemed like everyone I called was able to hear me. Now that's what I'm talking about!

It's just before 8:30 pm and 20 seems to be dying down, but 40 seems to be in great shape. I sure hope it holds out and doesn't close up like last evening.

CQ WPX CW

Well, it's about 2 pm Eastern time on Saturday and I've been giving a half-hearted effort to the CQ WPX CW contest this weekend. At this point I have 131 QSO's, for a total of 49,320 points.

It's odd. I was really pumped up and looking forward to this contest and it seemed to start with a bang. I began on 20 meters and then switched to 40 yesterday evening. But somewhere about 10 pm last night the bottom fell out. I don't know if propagation went in the toilet or what, but I had quite a bit of difficulty getting out - being heard, in other words. And it didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. I seemed to have a pretty good opening to Europe, but the west coast of the US and Canada were tough. And when I did get through, I had to repeat my number over and over.

Likewise, getting into South America, something that is usually not very difficult for me, proved to be almost impossible. It was so bad that I found myself checking connections and making sure that my antenna was still standing in the backyard.

This morning and early afternoon hasn't been much better. I've done some work on 15 meters, and mostly hung out on 20. I think I'll go mow the yard and see if things improve later this afternoon. I sure hope so.

Diamond in the rough or just a piece of coal?

This past weekend I went to my sixth hamfest in the past 4 months. It was a small one in Reidsville, NC, about an hour and a half north of where I live. Aside from the price of admission ($5), I spent less than $20, and that included a nice piece of carpeting that will keep my feet warm and isolated from the shack's concrete floor.

But that started me thinking, how would I rank some of my best and worst ham radio purchases through the years? I gave it some thought and here's what I came up with.

Worst purchases
1. Kenwood TS-140S. Not that it is a bad radio, but I traded a mint Kenwood TS-900 and matching power supply for it years ago. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
2. Hustler 4BTV vertical. Again, not a horrible piece of equipment. But I should have saved my money and bought the antenna that I really wanted (and ended up purchasing 2 months later - see below).
3. Radio Shack SWR/Power meter. Do I really need to qualify this? I might as well use a light bulb.
4. Kenwood TS-520. I drooled over this rig growing up. As a broke teenager I couldn't afford one. Probably not a bad deal for the $175 bucks that I paid. But I need it like I need an audit from the IRS. Gathering dust. I should probably donate it.
5. MFJ antenna feed-thru panel. I paid $80 for this?! The connectors fell off and the wood looks like it was painted by my daughter...when she was 3.

Best purchases
1. ZeroFive vertical. Fantastic antenna, incomparable support. If you have to use a vertical, take a serious look at this antenna.
2. Elecraft K2. Paid a very fair price for a well-kept model that has the 100-watt amp, 160 meters, SSB, noise blankers, and the battery and antenna tuner for whenever I want to be strictly QRP. Terrific radio.
3. (tie) 2 iambic keyers from K8RA/K1EL USB Winkeyer. The paddles are extremely well-crafted and I couldn't be more pleased. A joy to use and a bargain for the price. The Winkeyer will be a welcome addition to contesting.
4. Yaesu FT-1000MP. Paid a good, fair price. The fellow I bought it from had taken excellent care of it. Great rig with all the bells and whistles. Serves as my main rig.
5. Heathkit SB-400 transmitter. May seem odd to have this ranked as a 'best purchase'. But when you were 13 and your former transmitter used crystal-control instead of a VFO, it seemed like the greatest radio in the world!

Impulse purchases
1. (good) Yaesu FT-857D. Intended to buy a demo FT-450 for $500, but changed plans when the fellow in front of me snapped it up. The 857 isn't bad at all.
2. (bad) HyGain 14AVQ. I should have noticed that they're made in the same place as #5 in my worst purchases list. Horrible quality control, missing parts, broken trap. Never again.

So what about you? What's some of your best and worst finds?

Can't see the forest for the trees

This post will be a bit of a departure from the norm. Not that I have followed any discernible pattern of posting, mind you, but I had to think about this one a bit before I put it in writing.

One of the greatest things about the hobby of ham radio, in my opinion, is the diversity. I don't think it's possible to find another hobby or pursuit where borders, cultures, backgrounds, nationalities, and beliefs mean as little as they do in ham radio. Where else can you find Americans so eager to talk to other folks from communist countries? Where else can you find a place where one's descent is so meaningless?

Or one's abilities?

Sometimes it takes a special event to drive that point home, or to remind one not to take for granted the great hobby that we have. I had one of those moments at the Catawba Valley Hamfest a couple of weekends ago. As I was meandering through the aisles, thinking only about my shopping list, an older gentleman in a wheelchair was making his way amongst the throng of people. I noticed that he was having a time because, and this pissed me off, very few people were bothering to move out of his way and some even traded aggravated looks because he took up a little more space than others. One fellow in particular became particularly agitated when the man in the wheelchair accidentally bumped into him. The man he bumped into told him to "watch it".

I wanted to wring the guy's neck, but what would that solve? So, I went on, mumbling to myself about how inconsiderate we've all become.

By the time I made it through the tailgaters, I'd forgotten about that scene, but as I decided to walk back through and take another look at a couple of booths, I saw the man in the wheelchair parked off to the side. I made up my mind to say something to him, but then I thought, am I only doing it to make myself feel better? I came to the conclusion that, yes, that probably was the case, so I decided not to. As luck would have it, he spoke to me as I passed.

What did he say? He said, "Great turnout, huh?".

I didn't know what to say at first. Here was a fellow that had obviously been treated poorly because of his handicap, and yet he was upbeat and willing to strike up a conversation. I made a point of speaking to him at length, before I ran out of things to say, but I couldn't resist telling him that I'd witnessed the rude man and made some comment to the effect that people can be idiots. He laughed and just brushed it off.

On the way home, I began thinking about a coworker of mine that lost two of his three children in separate car accidents. They weren't small children either, they were both in their late teens. I've often thought, "How does he face each day and not be just bitter as hell?". I don't know how he does it, but he does.

So how does all of this relate to ham radio, aside from the fact that I saw the man in the wheelchair at a hamfest? It makes me stop and wonder about the person on the other end of the QSO. What have they faced in life? When I'm all worried about whether or not I can swing buying a new radio, they may be trying to forget something tragic.

Take a moment to have a ragchew, offer to help someone that's asking for help - even if the question has been posted on a bulletin board two dozen times. You never know who might be on the other end.

73's.