Comments (1) 
A few months ago I wrote about a new transmitter kit for WSPR. A receiver kit for this mode is now available from a different source (also available fully built).
Of more significance than the fact that we hams have a new kit available is the idea that WSPR is a great science project for non-hams…and therefore a great way to introduce ham radio to those outside the hobby. Continue reading 'A stand-alone receiver kit for WSPR'»
The rumor was that Fred KT5X has worked all continents on 160 meters with 5 watts. Not from a coastal QTH, but from New Mexico. A hilltop, yeah – but from landlocked New Mexico?!
I’ve worked a handful of QRP DX on 80 meters and a bit of QRO DX on 160 meters so I know how difficult they each can be. But both handicaps, simultaneously?
You know me…I had to know more (stuff like this grabs me by the collar…)!
We exchanged a few emails Continue reading 'Lowband DXing *and* QRP?!'»
Radio
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160m, DX, personalities, QRP
“Humans are the only animals who create and solve puzzles—for the sheer pleasure of it.” Will Shortz, Crossword Editor, The New York Times
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I enjoy crossword puzzles, sudoku and those metal entanglement puzzles…you know, the kind where you try to get a ring separated from a pair of horseshoes, etc. Some psychologists believe that a puzzle’s primary function is to provide comic relief from unanswerable larger questions.
Yeah, okay…
Whichever misfiring nuerons are responsible for such a fruitless task are, I believe, also responsible for my addiction enjoyment of CW pile-ups.
Imagine being an outside observer of someone working on a puzzle – any type of puzzle. To someone unfamiliar with it, the person immersed in solving the puzzle may appear to be working at random without a strategy. In fact, if he’s a beginner at that type of puzzle, he probably is working without a strategy - just bulldozing his way through as best he can. Continue reading 'The puzzling attributes of the CW pile-up'»
Here’s my routine when I get an envelope from the W5 bureau:
Check for new band-country confirmations, read the details of the other guy’s gear, check the “Y” box in my logging program, mark the sending station as needing a reply card.
And then they go into a box. Forever.
Earlier this evening I read ON5ZO’s recent posting about QSLing. Then I read Dave AA7EE’s post about about the ARRL not requiring QSL cards for proof of QRP DXCC.
Both posts echo my own sentiments and make me re-ask a question that’s repeatedly entered my mind lately, “Why QSL?” Continue reading 'Farewell to the QSL card'»
Up Two - Adventures of a DXpeditioner is a collection of stories based on 30 years of DXpeditions conducted by Roger Western G3SXW. It is not a manual on DXpeditioning - there’s nothing on logistics or reciprocal licensing. No detailed equipment narratives.
Fortunately, the book contains more depth and human interest than such topics would allow.
Far from being a ”how-to” on DXpeditioning, Up Two is a collection of anecdotes and serendipitous occurances that every global traveler is fortunate enough (or not!) to either endure or enjoy, depending on the nature of the event. It is also a peripheral look at geo-political changes over the years with ham radio being the vehicle by which the changes manifest themselves in Roger’s travels. Continue reading '“Up Two – Adventures of a DXpeditioner” by G3SXW'»
2011 DXCC Year End Review is a *very* interesting assessment of DXing, DXpeditions, equipment, band conditions and much more during 2011 by Joe Reisert W1JR.
Also discussed: Pirates, new publications, techniques, gotchas, QSLing, silent keys, new books, new entities, etc.
Broken down into month by month descriptions, this is a must-read if you have any interest at all in DXing.
Written for Bernie McClenny W3UR’s ”The Daily DX” and posted here with permission – thanks, Joe & Bernie.
Here it is as a 320k PDF file.
Enjoy, and good DXing in 2012.
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Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Every now & then I have a QSO with a country that, although not necessarily rare, reminds me of what an amazing hobby ham radio is.
And I like to think that after 30+ years as a DXer, I have a better than fair knowledge of geography.
Then I answer a CQ and my lack of knowledge makes me feel like a complete newbie.
Lately, I’ve been going a step beyond what I used to do after working a distant station. In the old days, it was sufficient to look up the rough QTH on my ARRL polar projection map. Most cities wern’t shown – just the country’s outline and, of course, its geographical relationship to surrounding countries.
But the internet’s here and, as in so many other ways, it only enhances the hobby.
I just worked a station in a city called Bishkek. Silly me, I’d never heard of it. Continue reading 'Made for each other: DXing, Google Maps & Wikipedia'»
I almost never receive an envelope from the W5 QSL bureau without at having at least one card from a shortwave listener in the mix, like those pictured here.
Back in the ’80′s, many such cards came from the Soviet Union since their path to getting a ham license included a mandatory stint as a SWL. I believe this was true of other countries as well.
Richard Fischer KPC6PC/KI6SN of Pop’Comm Magazine recently announced the implementation Continue reading 'Kudos to Pop’Comm'»
There are three Big Things I’d like to do in ham radio and one of them got scrubbed this year due to work commitments – going on a DXpedition to VP5M with Guy N7UN and the gang. Instead, I’ll do what I always do – work Guy from each and every island he goes to and fool myself into thinking that by doing so, I was there in spirit.
Lame, right? Cheap thrills for my stay-at-home-self…
All impediments have been removed or solved for the other two ideas – research, finances, permissions/permits and other pre-reqs.
I now have to decide on what would be for me the ultimate QRP adventure - or a 60-foot (18m) tower with triband Yagi. The past two months have been an exercise in researching each in fine (and often frustrating) detail.
Here are the two options: Continue reading 'Decisions: A tower/Yagi or a QRP adventure?'»
I’ve accumulated a lot of QRP rigs over the years with most of them having been built from kits. But after 33 years in the hobby, 2011 was the year I became QRO-capable.
I suppose it’s human nature that we categorize ourselves and each other.
For years, I thought of myself as a QRPer. I took pride in that label but now I can no longer use it. Or can I? After all, I like both tea and coffee. My garage contains a Ford and a Chevy. My laptop contains MP3′s by George Strait and Coldplay.
I don’t like labels because I don’t fit into either of them. Few, if any, do. Whenever I hear a QRO op saying the tired old ”Life’s too short for QRP” refrain, Continue reading 'Thoughts on QRP, QRO'»
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