Antenna Season Delayed, Again

22F and a cold north wind sure doesn't seem promising for antenna work. 

This Thing Called a QSO Party

Bless Ron KL7YK for having the cojones to step up and make an Alaska QSO Party happen this weekend. Good for him. The whiners about this never lifted a finger to help but instead tried to discourage him from pulling it off. It happened anyway with mixed results. Nevertheless, first time out of the gate is always a bit rough.  Congratulations, Ron!

Where We Are Today

KL2R is well into our seventh year of operations.  A look back at a few numbers shows how much we have grown.  The QSO breakdown is rather telling if you know a bit about our history:

Year DXCC QSOs % CW % Phone % Data
2006 54 1324 62.24 37.76   0.00
2007 88 4314 59.41 30.81 9.78
2008 97 4360 40.83 25.14   34.04
2009 90 5472 50.16 32.42   17.42
2010 146 9654 61.34 19.83 18.83
2011 152 8616 43.80 34.81   21.39
2012 154 12739 49.50 21.40   29.10
2013 62 2263 72.91 0.09   27.00
Total 210 48742 52.45 25.32 22.24  

The station wasn't even on the air until fall of 2006, and of course 2013 is just getting started.  So we can ignore those outliers and see steady growth in terms of QSO counts and DXCC countries worked over 2007-2012.  We didn't even have an amp in full-time service until late 2011!  The numbers correlate strongly with propagation, technical improvements in the shack, and increasing operator skill/experience.

As we go over the hump toward the next solar minimum, I believe the numbers will still be quite respectable.  

One Becomes Two

Last November, I wrote about the initial thoughts we had to bring more capability to KL2R as a multi-two station.  After considerable research and planning, the efforts are coming to fruition in time for the spring contest season. 

Station Master

The Microham Station Master serves multiple functions. It ties together the Microkeyer II, bandpass filters, and SixPak antenna switch into a powerful, centrally-controlled system at each position.  The SM is far more than your standard band decoder.  You can build extremely sophisticated logic for switching, timing (to avoid hot switching), and miscellaneous device control.  To get started, you have to define bands and then associate these bands with specific antennas or antenna groups.  You can even build virtual rotators with fixed antennas on a tower, multiple Beverages, or a four-square, for example. 

A nice feature of the band definitions is the ability to limit transmissions to specific frequency ranges.  For instance, in a phone contest you might want to specify only the legal phone sub-bands.  In that way you avoid inadvertently chasing multipliers into the non-US segments.  The Station Master will simply not allow you to transmit there, thereby avoiding a possible OO card or FCC notice.

The two Station Masters control their respective sides of the SixPak 6x2 antenna switch at the tower along with bandpass filter arrays.  Two ports, A and B, with DB-25 connectors provide plenty of outputs for switch control.  Eventually we will add a second SixPak to the entrance to the shack to select antennas not going through the tower switch and thus consolidate all inputs to the radios to two coaxial lines.

The Bandpasser

At one position, the W3NQN bandpass filters are combined with an FM-6 switch from Array Solutions.  The SM selects the appropriate filter by applying +12 VDC to a specific pin on the switch's DB-9 connector.  The assembly is effective, of course, but bulky.  For the second position,  Hamation's AS-419 Bandpasser proved to be just the ticket.  It is a compact, book-sized unit with filters for all the non-WARC HF bands rated for 100 watts at 100% duty cycle.  Control can be asserted manually through front panel buttons, or remotely with a band decoder, in this case a Station Master.

Green Stamps

This is what passes for "green stamps" in Belarus these days.  This Belarus 100 ruble note is worth about one cent in US currency.  The beautifully printed cards are worth far more.  We normally expect $2 to cover postage and printing costs for QSL cards destined for overseas.  Let me see...that would be around BYR17,391!  I wonder how much it would cost to mail that many rubles.

Worked All Europe

This DARC award is not all that easy from Alaska. WAE Diplom, as it is called, is the oldest and most renowned of all DARC certificates is awarded for contacts with amateur stations in many European countries and on the European islands on different bands. Each confirmed country of WAE-Country list counts one point per band, with a maximum of five claimed bands per country. DX stations may count two points for any contact on 160 or 80 meters. Working Europe on those latter two bands is really tough from Fairbanks. 

The different classes require the number of WAE countries and bandpoints. For the Class II, you need 50 and 150 respectively. Each WAE country counts for one point, but a maximum of 5 bandpoints may be used for one country. Class I requires 60/200. I've got the countries right here, but I'd better get busy on those extra bandpoints!

On Logging and QSLs

A Loss

Old School hams like me were taught a long time ago, “A QSL is the final courtesy of a QSO.”  It seems that courtesy has been lost on many newer operators, much like other Old School niceties like taking your hat off at the dinner table, saying please and thank you, or holding the door open for someone are far less common among some generations.  I see it as a problem, and I would like to bring to everyone’s attention. 

Who Cares?

Why is it a problem?  You may not care about “wallpaper”, but many operators work hard to collect awards like DXCC, Worked All States, Worked All Zones, etc.  All of these awards require confirmations of some sort, and contacts with Alaska play a central role in the most common awards programs, since it is both a state and DXCC country. Some people don’t collect awards, but a QSL can still be a source of deep pride, the culmination of planning, investment, skill, and perseverance.  Alaska can be difficult to work, and when you make a contact with someone seeking a card or electronic equivalent and fail to QSL, you have wasted their time and hard-won efforts.  Those sparks of excitement and the feeling of joy at the other end of the radio after finally making contact with Alaska are all for naught.  I say shame on you.

The practice of QSLing is integrally tied to keeping an accurate record of your contacts.  I believe since the FCC no longer requires keeping logbooks, a lot of people have just forgotten about the practice.  I’ve noticed with some guest ops at KL2R and participating in group operations with hams normally self-confined to repeaters and whatnot, many simply do not appreciate the need for accuracy.  So what if the callsign is “busted” (incorrect), time is off by hours, and neither frequency nor mode are recorded? Well, these are all details required on a QSL, and if any are wrong or missing, the confirmation is invalid!

Logging Options

Recordkeeping doesn’t have to be hard.  I believe there are few excuses for sticking to paper logs anymore.  If you are mobile or backpacking, of course hard copy would be most convenient.  However, most hams have a computer available in their shack.  Many free and inexpensive logging programs are available.  Ham Radio Deluxe and DXLab Suite include many useful tools for any operator using Windows, and RUMLog is popular on Macs.  Win-Test, Writelog, and N1MM are excellent contesting programs, and the latter two also good for general-purpose logging.  This software can readily interface to your radio to record time, date, frequency, and mode, but you don’t necessarily have to operate them that way.  You can enter the data manually, too.

There are just a few simple rules.  You need to record date and time in UTC, note at least the band (but preferably the frequency), mode, signal reports sent and received.  A full exchange of signal reports and acknowledgements are required for a complete two-way contact.   Although there is some debate in the community regarding default “59” or “599” signal reports, I am not here to sway you one way or another.  In a contest, almost all signal reports are just that.  The essential exchange of information (serial number, zone, state, name, etc.)  is the hard part.  Signal reports are irrelevant.  However, some people advocate for more accurate reporting.  I can see their point, too.  RST aside, when you’re handling 100, 200, or even 300 QSOs an hour in a pileup – yes, it is entirely possible – you will thank the computer gods for making your life downright fun! 

Nothing Like Paper

You don't have to have a bunch of fancy cards printed up.  A postcard or even an index card with the contact details on it confirmed will serve nicely.  For actual QSL card printing, I use Gennady UX5UO (http://www.ux5uoqsl.com/).  For less than 50 bucks you can have 1000 very fine quality cards on your doorstep.  If you submit your own design, Gennady will work with you to optimize it.  Whichever printer you use – or even design your own for home printing in small quantities – a good card design says something personal about you.  It can educate the recipient about the card’s origins and/or something special about the confirming ham.  It’s reasonable to expect QSL requests to be accompanied by a couple of bucks (or at least SASE), or International Reply Coupons, if they prefer a direct response. 

Once you have your electronic recordkeeping set up, you might need to train yourself on the use of some on-line systems like eQSL and ARRL’s Logbook of the World (LoTW).  Note that only LoTW and physical QSL cards count for ARRL awards such as Worked All States and DX Century Club.  Both eQSL and LoTW electronic confirmations can count toward CQ WPX (prefixes) and WAZ (Worked All Zones).  The software mentioned previously certainly permits pain-free upload to eQSL and LoTW. 

If you prefer to QSL via the bureau and do not want to keep a lot of cards on hand, GlobalQSL may be the solution for you.  They have special a Windows software QSL design package to help you design a card, including some stock images.  You can then purchase 100 printing "credits" for $13.50.  After designing your card, your ADIF logfile upload gets QSLs going to the printer and forwarded to the bureau.  It’s very affordable and a tremendous convenience.  You simply order what you need to be submitted through the receiving ham’s QSL bureau, and delivery to the far end is usually much faster than going through the ARRL outgoing QSL bureau.

Some packages like DXLab Suite will automatically upload your contacts to ClubLog, a free service run by Micharl G7VJR and some very talented assistants.  It's a great way to keep your electronic log online, track certain awards progress, and even makes QSL requests easy to handle.  ClubLog accepts an ADIF-formatted file to keep track of your contacts and basic DXCC statistics.  They even check your log for errors and provide detailed reports for your correction.  Again, ClubLog is a free service, and you can arrange for online QSL requests (OQRS).  This is perfect if you like the ease of QSLing to others but don’t demand a card in return, like we do at KL2R.  If you have a Paypal account, OQRS lets people submit payment for cards to be sent directly, typically $2.00. You can visit the KL2R OQRS page at http://www.akradio.net/search.htm .

Operators can also request QSLs via the bureau through OQRS, usually free.  That’s where GlobalQSL can really come in handy.  You need simply to upload an ADIF file and agree to print the QSLs on the design of your choice.  It’s a bargain and saves many hassles , especially with electronic logbooks.  A few clicks of the mouse, and you have a complete record of your QSO and QSL status.

To come full circle then, QSLing can be as simple or as complex as you like to have it, but there are darned few (good) excuses for not doing it.  Besides, you never know when the award bug will hit you.  Having at least electronic verifications will make it easy to go back and resurrect your history by using eQSL and LoTW when the urge strikes for more wallpaper in the shack.

Not For Everyone

I’m not saying I think everyone should QSL.  It’s entirely your choice.  After all, I understand budget or time constraints might be factors.  But if you’re one of those who won’t, then you should let people know about it.  Update your profile on qrz.com and say so.  If you do QSL but require an SASE or “green stamps” (dollars) to offset costs, then say so!  If you only QSL electronically, like through eQSL or Logbook of the World, then say so!  Other operators shouldn’t have to waste their IRCs, dollars bills, and stamps on someone who won’t reply by mail.