Time Flies Like a Banana Peel

Seriously, the time has slipped past way too easily since the last blog post in March. Here we are in early October, and one might think there has been almost no radio action since then.  Well,, nearly, but not quite.  Here's part one of the re-cap:

Visalia DX Convention

This was a riot, although a smaller gathering than in 2016, which was some kind of record. Without checking official numbers, I heard roughly 750 people attended this year. Last year it was closer to 900-1000. In spite of having a bout of flu, I attended more technical and contesting-oriented sessions. IMHO the DXpedition sessions become incredibly redundant: "It was hard. We made lots of contacts. Send money."  But I digress. See what you missed: IDXC 2017 Program. The dinner was well-attended, and many laughs were had, both intentional and unintentional. Our table mates were from Canada (VE3CFK and XYL), Colorado (N7VZ and W7UM), and Colombia (HK3W). Fun!

The Bucket List

In mid-April I ticked off two items on my bucket list.  First, I had business meetings at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, the stuff of dreams for me as a lifelong radio geek.   The cavernous Building 1 at the Boulder, Colorado, complex has that true science lab feel with long hallways of cinder block and grey metal desks from a bygone era tucked in the countless offices.  Book shelves lined with Old School references and unique textbooks wound around the virtual boundaries of personal spaces.  That unique, musty aroma of old government buildings permeates the atmosphere. The place just smells like genius.  The fundamentals of radio science have been discovered and explored here for decades.  (Its organizational predecessor, the Radio Section of the National Bureau of Standards, was founded before World War I.) The trip was capped with a trip to Table Mountain, one of two radio-quiet areas in the US. Ancient antenna dishes stand out like monuments on the prairie.  It is a special place for an RF guy like myself.

For many years I had pondered going to the Visalia DX Convention.  Last summer I determined to finally make an appearance.  I flew from Denver to Fresno (via Seattle and San Diego!), where Ken W6HF and Luci KL1WE met me.  We settled in a Tulare hotel a mere 20 minutes from the Visalia Convention Center.  One of the most remarkable things about ham radio is that faceless connections you make with people are almost indelible through the years.  Finally connecting with the people behind the signals was hugely satisfying, and of course seeing again a number of industry folks for the first time in the 25+ years since I worked at 73 Amateur Radio magazine was a real hoot.

At least among the contesters, the KL2R badge caught immediate attention.  They knew the call well. I was struck, however, by the number of people who came up to me and started the conversation with something like, "So do you really live in Alaska, or do you just have a KL call?"  To begin talking with a stranger like that implies a lot of cynicism.  I guess they've been duped in the past, excited to work a KL only to find soon after the operator lives in the Lower 48, but still...

In the end, I was sorry I had not attended before.  The friendships made, renewed, and cinched up enriched me more than I could have imagined.  If any of you are reading this blog, THANK YOU!  I hope to see you again next year.

Hmmm...

There for a while it seemed we were going gangbusters in the contests.  Last year was horribly slow for no good reason, winter storms excepted.  I think I (N1TX) was highly motivated in 2012 with scoring high in the regional WRTC selection.  I can say 2014 numbers do not include the 4000 or so contacts we made as W1AW/KL7 in late June.  If we are able to complete Sweepstakes in both modes as well as CQWW, it will have been a great year in sheer volume.  LoTW confirmations allow us to claim DXCC 150 on 20m alone since the club's inception, but this year DXCC counts seem low to date.

Year	Number of DXCCs	Number of QSOs	QSOs as Percent
2014	77	6020	CW: 31.88% Phone: 51.76% Data: 16.36%
2013	122	6042	CW: 58.74% Phone: 1.26% Data: 40.00%
2012	153	12738	CW: 49.50% Phone: 21.40% Data: 29.10%

Sked? Look at a Map

I continue to be amused by how clueless some "DXers" are when it comes to trying to work Alaska. Whether for DXCC, WAZ, or just WAS, operators in KL get a lot of requests for scheduled contacts. That's especially true for Alaskan contesters, who are typically the most active. We usually share those requests among ourselves to maximize the chances of a successful QSO.  No matter, though, because some operators just want us to alter the laws of physics as well.

One recent example, which pretty well reflects what I am talking about: "I need Alaska on 160 meters. I am usually active on the band at 8 PM Eastern Time..."  Oh, dude!  There are a couple of things you forgot to consider.  First, 8 PM Eastern time is 4 PM Alaska time.  Second, in mid-March, it is still daylight in Alaska at 4 PM.  In fact, the sun doesn't go down here until nearly 8 o'clock, and it's changing 6-7 minutes each day!

Here are some simple rules of thumb to factor into your propagation "analysis."  In northern hemisphere summer, if it's daylight where you are, it's daylight here.  If it's nighttime where you are, it's daylight here.  In winter, if it's daylight where you are, it's dark here.  If it's nighttime where you are, it's dark here.

We get requests for contacts on 10m:  "Hello, OM.  I badly need Alaska on 10m for 5BDXCC.  I have been hearing many W6 and W7 stations at 1800Z.  I think this should be possible.  73 from Italy!" Maybe, maybe not.  Alaska is BIG.  Really, really BIG.  It covers from about 57 degrees north to 71 degrees north and from about 131 degrees west to 173 degrees west.  Alaska is also far away from everywhere else.  Fairbanks and Anchorage, where most Alaska hams live, are over 1500 miles from Seattle.  That's about the same distance as Boston to Havana!  Hearing stations in W7 or even VE7 has no bearing on whether or not you can work us.

If nothing else, go to the DX Cluster databases and see when and where KL stations are being spotted.  It changes day by day and season to season.  Be flexible.  And above all, be sensible!

That's Just Ridiculous

The Amsterdam Island DXpedition is out of the gate, and the results on the bandscope last night made me sick to my stomach.  Almost 20 kHz choked with callers.  Disgusting.

Whispering on WARC

Of late I have been focusing a bit on working Europe on the WARC bands to close the gap on Worked All Europe first class award (WAE I).  I have also boosted the numbers slightly on 40m. JT65 has made it possible to work pretty reliably into EU most days and evenings on 30 or 17. While experimenting with WSJT-X 1.1 this weekend, I finally saw Cliff VK2CCJ working KH6OO on JT9 in the 12m band.  We eventually connected with this exciting new mode.

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.

Some New Ways to Use the FT-950

An ah-HAH moment occurred recently with respect to the FT-950 operation with a DMU-2000.  In searching for ways to better use the two, I believe I've improved the effectiveness of operation using VFO-A and -B as well a different band scope settings on the DMU.

http://www.akradio.net/DMU2000.htm

The Fall Guy Discovers 12 Meters

This being fall, we Interior Alaskans find a chill in the air, leaves long gone from the trees, and a few inches of snow on the ground.  October and November bring the fall CQWW and ARRL Sweepstakes contests wafting through the air with a tiny hint of better propagation, and the combination is potent.  Adrenaline starts to pump most weekends.

This is a slow weekend, contest-wise.  I got up early and knocked off a few OK and OM stations in their DX contest using a rough path over the pole on 20 meters.  I called CQ high in the band and had a lot of fun working QRP station N7LWF, who blew me a way with 1.5 watts thanks to grayline enhancement as the sun rose here.  When the European nighttime fell and signals faded, I tuned around after a hearty breakfast and found some DX activity (including the YJ0HA Vanuatu DXpedition) on 15 meters.

Except for a lot of past CW action on 30 meters, I'm a relative newcomer to the WARC bands, so I decided to move on up to 12m to see what the propagation may be like.  The station is limited on 17 and 12, because I have to use a tuner with the C3 tri-banders to punch out a signal.  Just before lunch, I dropped a CQ, and pretty soon I had a decent pileup.  Ten has been largely dead from KL for a long time, so this was downright exciting.  I seemed to work stations in regular increments of distance; i.e., W6/W7, Texas, and Florida, all at the same time with nothing in between.  Allen N5XZ/KL5DX came on frequency from his Texas QTH and convinced me to try 10m CW.  It was tough going, but the path was there enough to complete the exchange.  Afterward, I went back to 12m and tried SSB for a bit more fun.  Let me say that I'm impressed.  Another band has life in it when the usual haunts fail to get the heart pumping.

Experimenting with Weak Signal Propagation Reporter

Last week, Phil KL8DX mentioned the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) network and the initial success he was having using 8 watts on the low bands from his high-noise location in Healy, near Denali National Park.  G4ILO has a really nice writeup on WSPR.  I couldn't resist the temptation to play myself, so on Friday I configured KL2R to transceive using the K1JT software and report results up to the network.  I changed bands aperiodically from 160/80/40/20 as well as changed antennas.  Here's a map showing spots to/from KL2R during a 16-hour period on 40m using 10 watts and a dipole at 100 feet.

I can see immediately the potential application for contesting to notify the user of possible band openings, particularly on 10 and 160m.  Information on all bands is useful, because propagation from our location to a particular area can be very, very short-lived.  I can also imagine a long-term study using the spot data to better understand conditions required for those openings.  We need more WSPR stations in KL7, since conditions can be highly variable with latitude. 

For the first time in a long time, I am really excited about some new radio technology.