Thanks to democratic reforms, a new entity in the far-flung steppes of Central Asia is expected to soon be added to the list of available countries for DXCC credit.
Kyrzakhstan is believed to be the world’s first triangularly-shaped country and is bordered by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Translated into English, the word kyrzakhstan means “vowels ain’t all that”.
Little-known outside the region, Kyrzakhstani’s have a strong work ethic and an aggressively maniacal love of trigonometry due, it is thought, to the country’s geometric shape. Most Kyrzakhstani children can recite and explain Pythagorean’s Theorem by the time they are first able to speak.
Unfortunately, these trigonometric abilities also manifest themselves in other aspects of life - during conversation, Kyrzakhstani’s tend to “go off on tangents” (as I would soon find out). Continue reading 'A new DXCC country!'»
No longer the exclusive domain of the military, radio-controlled drones are everywhere today.
Local municipalities are buying them for various purposes and even the real estate world has an interest in their potential to increase sales by offering buyers a bird’s-eye view of a property.
With electronics and cameras getting cheaper and smaller by the minute, drones are now within the reach of anyone who can afford to outfit a ham radio station. Continue reading 'A drone for everyman'»
Back when digital cameras first began to overtake 35mm film in terms of resolution and fidelity, I did a weird thing – I bought a large-format film camera kit which I built from wood, glue and a bit of ground glass.
The camera used 4X5 inch sheet film and required a lengthy amount of time under the dark cloth in order to compose and focus an image.
Its design and movements allowed things not possible with any other camera type in terms of focus thanks to the Scheimpflug principle.
At the time, it did for me what QRP would later do – it got me out and about on various trails. I discovered the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey – places I would later go on QRP excursions with Sam Morse’s code. Continue reading 'The appeal of retro'»
As DXers start looking ahead to the next DXpedition to Heard Island (Jan 2014), it’s interesting to read about the VK0IR operation back in 1997.
Dr. Bob Schmieder KK6EK has written a 222-page ebook on that trip and made it available online for free. BTW, he’s the team leader of the group who will be activating Heard in 10 months.
Containing many photos, drawing and charts, different sections of this 100MB pdf document will appeal to a variety of readers – future or wannabe DXpeditioners and those who simply like to read a good story about travel to an exotic locale. Continue reading 'Activating Heard Island, past and future'»
Limited openings in theatres one month from today, general opening on April 26th - The Numbers Station starring John Cusack.
I hadn’t personally heard a numbers station in years, then heard one about three weeks ago (in CW) on 30 meters. By the time I could get set up to record it, it went QRT. Others have heard it and periodically spot it on the DX Cluster.
We’re less than two weeks away from 1 April when (hopefully) my fellow bloggers will be posting the traditional BS stories, tall tales and outright lies.
Comments (6) 
Thanks to democratic reforms, a new entity in the far-flung steppes of Central Asia is expected to soon be added to the list of available countries for DXCC credit.
No longer the exclusive domain of the military, radio-controlled drones are everywhere today.
I loves me a good, funny story!
Themocracy