Grids and States (August, 2013)
6 and 2 Meter WAS plus 50Mhz, 144Mhz, 432 Mhz VUCC. My confirmed grid count as of 8/26/2013 on 6 meters is 328 grids confirmed. I have worked over 570 grids. On 222 Mhz 25 states and 71 grids are confirmed. The confirmed state and grid count on 432Mhz is 15 states and 74 grids. On 902Mhz, 5 states and 16 grids are confirmed and on 1296Mhz, 6 states and 27 grids are confirmed. On 10Ghz, 6 states, 2 provinces and 22 grids are confirmed.
Feb 3, 2024 -- MN QSO Party --
Having been a ham since 1955, I had never before participated in a HF contest. Jon W0ZQ always posts emails on the NLRS reflector about the fun he has with the MN QSO Party and I decided I would give it a whirl. A radio diversion during the winter. I ran the Elecraft K3s at 100w and the inverted vee antennas. It was a 10hr contest 8am local to 6pm local. Nice in the it does not take the entire weekend. I was happy with the first attempt. I pretty much ran all SSB (only 3 CW QSOs).
RESULTS::
80 meters 95 Qs
40 meters 154 Qs
20 meters 70 Qs
15 meters 3 Qs
10 meters 7 Qs
Total Qs 329
Multi 95
MN Counties 56
Claimed Score 62,510
Aug 19-23, 2023 -- 144 and 432 enhancement --
This was the longest conte. The best of the enhancement was to my south a couple hundred miles, but I did some enhancement. This is born out after seeing many WSJT signal reports being in excess of a positive 20db. The best I saw was several positive 7db. Overall I worked 44 stations on FT8, on mostly 2 meters, four 432 QSOs were worked with the longest out about 400miles with Bob W9EWZ. The best 2m QSO was with Allan KV4T EM63 at 1,019miles followed closely by Torsten N4OGW EM53 at 978miles. These two were within the first 30min of my activity starting shortly after 1:00z on the 20th. No other stations were anywhere near this distance. States worked included :: AL, MS, WI, IA, MO, IL, TN, OH, IN. The tropo map supplied by vhf.dxview was insane! Huge purple blob hanging over the central and eastern states for much of 2 days. The reports on this event will be astounding. I suspect a considerable number of new VHF UHF and Microwave records.
Sept 01, 2022 -- 432, 1296, 10GHz Tropo --
I have been on 1296 for 22Yrs and 10GHz for 18yrs and this morning was the best Tropo that I have experienced to the NNW into EN19 (248 miles) and EO10 (281 miles) near/in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I have forest and greatly rising elevations in that direction starting with large trees and a hill in my yard. This is NOT a friendly path. Barry VE4MA and I have a schedule 7am local each morning and Jim VE4CY often joins us. We start on 432 and then quickly move to 1296 before starting "our day". We operate WSJT Q65B 15sec intervals. This allows good measurement of the signals, documentation and a better chance for a Q under difficult conditions.
First Barry was 15db on 432, followed with 17db on 1296 and the BIGGIE 4db on 10GHz. (We had 4 contacts on 10GHz over a period of 19min with Barry running Between +4db and -22db at this end. Jim VE4CY was worked on both 432 and 1296. Jim's 1296 10watts was as strong as-5db. Dan VE4DDZ joined in for a QSO on 1296 and 432 as well. Dan was as strong as +10 on 1296 (40watts), Fantastic. This morning was the first time Barry VE4MA and I have worked from my home location on 10GHz tropo before only on rain scatter over 60times before. What FUN!
Pete and I heard each other on 1296 (CW) but the signals were too weak to allow a QSO and faded away before we could try harder. That would have been my best 1296 DX. Perhaps another time.
Aug 05, 2022 -- 2 Tropo --
Mostly FT8 QSOs but a few SSB contacts. One SSB contact was with Pete NØOY for a new 2meter grid (EM18). Also one of the FT8 contasts was another new grid that being KBØZOM EM00. I don't get new grids very often any more on 2m. Most signals over 300miles were not all that strong with many stations under 300miles very loud. I had several signal reports of +33 which is the strongest reports that I recall.
Pete and I heard each other on 1296 (CW) but the signals were too weak to allow a QSO and faded away before we could try harder. That would have been my best 1296 DX. Perhaps another time.
Sept 12, 2021 -- ARRL VHF Contest! --
I have not had a good Sept ARRL VHF contest in MANY years.This contest was still not in the league of the contests back in 2004 and 2005,but was a GOOD contest here at last. I must admit to far more seat time than for a long time, but there was more to it than that. First thanks to the Canadian crew, VE4MA, VE4DDZ, VE4CY,VA3ECO, VE3KRP. Some great QSOs. Very glad you guys could join in. Also Bob K2YAZ was back in the log on 6-432 again, Thanks Bob. After that it was therovers to the rescue. KC0P and N0HZO with Qs 2-902 from 3 grids ( 30Qs)and W9FZ and KA9VVQ with Qs 6-902 from 7 grids (72Qs)! WOW!! No Sporadic Es, all tropo. Rough count, about 39 digital QSOs the rest CW or SSB. A BUNCH of 902 SSB QSOs. What fun!! 902 is such a great band!!
RESULTS::
6 meters 35 Qs 16grids
2 meters 54 Qs 18grids
222 29 Qs 11 grids
432 34 Qs 13 grids
902 23 Qs 8 grids
1296 4 Qs 4 grids
10GHz 5 Qs 3grids
Total Qs 184
Multi 73
Score 23,068 (My best since 2009)
July 14, 2021 -- 2 meter Es! --
What fun today! I think this may be the first "real" 2m Es opening that I have worked since FT8 came on the scene. No question it is different than the "good old days". I always enjoyed the excitement in everyone voices when we worked SSB Es, that is missing with digital for sure. In the end I had 36 contacts, 9 on SSB and 27 on FT8. 16 grids were worked on Es all to the NE except for Mike K7ULS in DN41 (he was running 50watts and a 7elem yagi PORTABLE). It looks like maybe 4 new grids, wich is very unusual after all these years of operation. Most signals were VERY loud. FT8 reporting signals in the 20 and 30 positive db! I called off and on on 222 SSB thinking "just maybe", but no luck. MUF perhaps didn't quite get there.
Stations worked -- N2YTF FN31, N2GHR FN30, NY2NY FN30, N2AMC FN30, N2SLO FN30, WZ1V FN31, W1VD FN31, N2GHR FN30, WV2C FN30, WZ1V FN31, K3AJ FM19, W3LL FM19, K1TEO FN31, KE1LI FN41, W1FKF FN43, K1NPT FN41, NE1I FN42, WA1T FN43, NJ1H FN42, WA1EAZ FN25, VE2UG FN35, KA1W FN31, VE2PN FN46, VE9WGD FN57, K1TR FN42, K7ULS DN41.
June 2020, ARRL VHF QSO Party (June 13-14) Activity was again dominated by 6m Es and FT8 it seemed. Good Es to the east cost mostly Saturday and then the western states started showing up Sunday. "Hey it is radio", I just enjoy non digital for 6m Es. Not all that much activity on the other bands, sad to say.
Band Qs Grids 50 308 124 144 17 11 222 5 4 432 6 5 902 1 1 1296 2 2 10Ghz 1 1 Total 340 Contacts 148 Grids 53,280 points <<<<<<
6 METER CONTEST QSO MAP
May 28, 2019 -- HF - FT8 Fun
Back at the end of Jan, the Polar Votex over northern Minnesota was enough to force me to return to some HF fun. Playing with WAS on various HF bands with
homebrew dipoles and K3s / 55-80watts. Result as of today ...
160meters -- 50 state WAS
80meters -- 50 state WAS
40meters -- 50 state WAS
30meters -- 50 State WAS
20meters -- 50 State WAS
17meters -- 50 State WAS
Aug 21, 2017 -- Eclipse and Missouri 10GHz DXpedition
For the first weekend of the 10GHz and Above contest I decided to operate from near our family farm in Missouri. The farm is located only 3 miles from the center of totality line of the eclipse, so a great "two-fer" :-) Read all about my"DXpedition"
2017 Eclipse and Missouri 10GHz RoveJan 1, 2017 -- ARRL National Parks On The Air Activity
Another fun ARRL "special" year long activity! I enjoyed chasing the ARRL Centennial Activity so much in 2014 that I decided I needed to have fun with this one too. In the National Parks Service Unit competition my final ranking was tied for 49th place, 19 units fewer than the leader. In the National Parks activity I ended up tied for 47th place, two parks fewer than the leader. The entire activity was ran with the Elecraft K3 or K3s at < 100watts and dipole antennas. The first 3 weeks of August I was inactive while working at my daughter's home getting it to the point where she could move in. That was "high park activity" time and no question several units / parks were lost during my absence. With many thousands participating, I am very pleased with my final standings.
Mar 19, 2016 -- New Station Configuration
Click and select "View Image" for larger size.
I finally gave in added a new Elecraft K3S / 100 to gain more pleasure operating the HF frequencies. Once the weather warms up I am to reexamine the
HF antenna situation and see if there isn't something I can do to improve "the wires". No hope for HF beam with the VHF/UHF/Microwave antennas taking
all the tower space available.
March 31, 2014 -- Extra Upgrade I have been chasing the W1AW/x stations in celebration of the ARRLs 100yrs. Last week one of the stations was running Qs down in the EXTRA section of the band. I complained to Gary W0GHZ and he said, "Bill, why have you not upgraded?" I didn't have an answer so .... I took the exam and now I am an Extra! Only waited 57yrs since I got my General to do it!
NEAT! FCC posted my EXTRA today April 8,2014 -- 59years to the day of me being issued my Novice in 1955. :-))
Nov 11, 2013 -- 10GHz WSJT QSO with W0GHZ Having added a new DEM L144-28INTK transverter to the 144MHz IF (Elecraft K3/10), I wondered if the station stability might have been increased to the point where 10GHz WSJT QSOs would be possible. The 15yr old Khune 10G transverter uses a LO in a seperate case from the transverter and there is no Xtal heater. During or usual evening schedule with Gary we decided to give it a try. Signals on CW were 12 to 15db above the noise with considerable signal spreading caused by precep in the path, either snow or rain showers. The QSO was made with WSJT 65B. Signals were measured at -24 to -31db by the WSJT software, but were very "bright" on the waterfall and loud in the speaker. My assumpsion is that the signal spreading of nearly 50Hz was causing the signal strength to be under reported.
Aug 26, 2013 -- VE4MA - K0AWU Tropo 248miles Right before breakfast (9:30am) I sent Barry an email saying that it looked like tropo was up. As I finished breakfast he said indeed he had very good tropo up and down the Red River Valley. We started with 1296 and I was pleased to hear Barry at 40db above the noise on the SoftRock based panadaptor. Same 40db on 902 too. We tried both 432 and 222 but signals were not near as enhanced, with S2 to S3 signals on SSB. We tried 10GHz, but nothing. Not a suprise even with elevation to get over the trees and hills toward Barry. I worked Wally W0PHD on 432 with 5-2 SSB signals and tried 1296. His 1296 sig was briefly observed VERY weakly and gone. It was too weak to work if it had "hung in there". 432 had some QSB and Barry signals had lost about 15db of strength. The last 2 days have had oppressive heat for us with 88deg and 52% humidity and more for the next several days. I wonder what conditions evening might bring.?
| Aug 21, 2012 -- Trans-Lake Superior 10GHz DXpedition For the first weekend of the 10GHz and Above contest I, K0KFC and N9CHA traveled once again to Wawa Ontario to attempt to work the full length of the "big lake". Read all about our "DXpedition" Trans-Superior 10GHz DXpedition
July 24-25,2012 -- 2 meter Es! --
This has been a very warm humid summer in EN37ed but 6 meter Es have been below "normal" all summer. 6 meters was very good this day into the New England states. However no short skip was being observed and I didn't even have the 2m rig on. After visiting with a hand full of guys on 6 meters, one commented that many up his way were working into the midwest on 2m Es at that time. I fired up the 2m panadapter and started watching 2m as I continued to work a few on 6m. At 22:53z I saw NT4RT in EM94 (North Carolina) pop up S-9 on 144.205 and we had a quick QSO.
Over the next hour and 20 min, 13 stations were worked in NC, SC, GA, AL, FL. Signals tended to be short duration and ranged from 5-2 to 5-9. 2m Es list: NT4RT EM94, W4ACW EM94, KD4ESV EL87, WP4O EL87, KO4MO EL88, K4KV EM81, AC4TO EM70 KX4R EM73, WB8ELK EM64, AF4OD EM72, W4TMW EM84, KX4R EM73 and K4QF EM64.
My best DX was KD4ESV EL87rl in Florida at a distance of 1484.3 miles or 2388.8km. Sam was the third station worked in the opening.
July 5 2012, 10GHz 3Way FM QSO
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Oct 2011, Vintage Station Change I obtained a Viking Ranger II this spring and now at last got things in a position that I could get it integrated into the Vintage station. I never had a Ranger in the 50's, but always wanted one because of the "high level modulation". I made my first 160m AM QSO with NTØV this past Saturday as well as others in the roundtable. Dennis was the previous owner of this Ranger II so only fitting that he be the first station worked from it's new home.
KØAWU's Vintage Station
The conditions above 50Mhz seemed very flat on Saturday, perhaps better on Sunday, but the activity was so focused on 6m that Qs on the other bands were very challenging.
Band Qs Grids Points 50 411 175 90009 144 38 17 8322 222 11 8 4818 432 20 12 8760 902 2 1 1314 1296 4 4 2628 10Ghz 3 2 2628 Total 489 Contacts 219 Grids 118,479 points <<<<<<
Feb 13, 2011, WSJT 2 Meter EME Surprises
The moon was in a very noisy part of the sky today with a Dgrd around -6, so moonbounce conditions were expected to be very challenging. It was Sunday and the moon rose just a bit after noon local, still a reasonable time of the day in Europe. The big story for the past several days has been the DXpedition in Gambia, Africa C56EME. I had been watching for them since they became QRV on the 11th. They run 400w to a pair of 8elem Xpol yagis on the beach. I had seen them sending reports 2 or 3 times prior to today and not much today. With the Dgrd so high I expected little chance until later in the week when the conditions would improve. Around 1:30pm local Pat called lunch as I was monitoring them, I had spotted their frequency with some degree of confidence but not much for decodes. I left the shack monitoring their calling frequency. Upon my return I saw several "sig report" decodes, a good sign! I went out to the "driveway yagi" and reset the elevation to a point just above the moon and returned to the shack. Shortly thereafter I saw two stations work them, W2CNS and if memory serves me right TK5JJ. The EME path is a complex one, with no ground gain, Faraday rotation, libration fading and the high galactic noise for starters, will a two way path even exist? As RRs were passed I hit TX in hope, but with NO confidence. I transmit C56EME K0AWU EN37ed. My heart almost stopped when first I saw a good signal returning after my call and then decoded, I see "K0AWU C56EME and OOs" ! Holy Cow!! They are coping. Now will it last long enough for a complete QSO? I sent ROs and switched to receive after the one minute transmission to witness the telltale two tone track of RRs coming my way! We had a QSO. I was stunned. I quickly went to Ping Jockey to see posted from Gambia ...."a Miracle!! K0AWU we worked! your -22dB great qso(C56EME Atleticoteam IN IK13ql)".
What a "blast", another EME highlight! This is not the first EME DXpedition that I have worked, but it was a very unexpected QSO today. Thanks "Atleticoteam".
In the next hour I worked Pine ZS6OB in South Africa, then three additional initials on my CQs, F1JBB, OH6UW and PA5KM. Wow ....
I had better not be guilty of looking at the Dgrd and saying "Nope too high, I'm not going to bother".
As the old saying goes, you can't get results without making calls! Another fantastic day off the moon.
KØAWU 2 Meter EME Initials
Jan 2011, ARRL VHF Sweepstakes
This was the fourth Sweepstakes contest in a row with very similar results. There was only one 6m Es QSO and that makes the mid cycle numbers hard to generate. A little bit better activity from the WI group, but still slow, perhaps due to the football game on Sunday, but not sure why there wasn't more on Saturday. I do hope that we see a resurgence of activity if and when this solar cycle does anything. I can't comment too much on conditions, due to the limited activity, however some pretty good signals on 432 from time to time. The "Northern crew" were out again. Excellent activity in EN37 and north, 30% of my QSOs. The greater MSP metro stations were very quiet. SouthEast was represented by four stations in EN44, K9MU, W0UC, KB9PJL then W9RPM in EN43. Bob K2DRH was worked on 6m CW then WSJT on 144, 222 and 432. The other "best DX" was Barry VE4MA with good signals on 2, 222 and 432 even without "super power".
Band Qs Grids Points
50 32 16 1536
144 40 12 1920
222 11 8 1056
432 15 8 1440
902 1 1 192
1296 2 2 384
10Ghz 1 1 384
102 Contacts 48 Grids >> 6,912 points
Jan 20, 2011 -- New 144 & 432Mhz rig
I continued to have 2m SSB issues with my Icom 746Pro that could not be resolved by Icom, so I decided that "enough was enough" and made a change. I retired the Icom 746Pro as well as the Icom 820H and went to a Kenwood TS-2000. This is my first Kenwood since my TS-700A in April of 1976! That rig while not in daily use, is still solid as a rock. The TS-2000 will be my main "day in and day out" rig for 2m tropo as well as a workhorse for WSJT EME and Meteor Scatter. It will now be my main rig on 432 as well. I loose the ability in some configurations to monitor 432 while working 2m, but that can be done if I am running the SDR1000 2m station like I often do in contests. This weekends VHF Sweepstakes will be a test of the new rig. I have in shack preamps for both 2 and 432. The preamps are protected by a sequencer that also handles the PA, antenna relay and rig PTT sequencing. At some point I hope I can implement a panadapter with the TS-2000 as well. Perhaps the next project. "Stay tuned!"Sept 2010, ARRL VHF Contest This was the fourth disappointing contest in a row from the lack of activity as observed from my QTH. This was my lowest Sept contest score since the weekend of 9/11/2001 when I had 3 less bands. That was 9 years ago!! This is a very disturbing trend. Activity is the "lure" of contest operations for me and without activity we ALL will be ........ I can't comment much on conditions, due to the very limited "sample size", so I won't. The "Northern crew" were out again. VERY Good activity in EN37 and north. The greater MSP metro stations were almost non-existent. All of WI was represented by three stations in EN44, K9MU, W0UC, N0AKC. Bob K2DRH was back and running after his lighting event. Bob was worked on 6,2,222 on SSB Saturday and on 432 after a QSY from 2m via random aircraft scatter on WSJT JT65 (Sunday).
Band Qs Grids Points
50 23 14 1242
144 35 17 1890
222 11 8 1188
432 17 10 1836
902 1 1 162
1296 3 3 486
10Ghz 1 1 216
91 Contacts 54 Grids >> 7,020 points
August 2010 -- ARRL UHF Contest
Poor activity but decent conditions lead to the poorest contest result for this contest in 4 years, back before I even had 902. Only a handful of rovers were out, and all at great distance. I worked very hard at the contest and the station worked well, but there just didn't seem to be that many QSOs to have. Hope it's better next year!
222 -- 14Qs 9 Grids
432 -- 17Qs 10 Grids
902 -- 4Qs 3 Grids
1296 -- 3Qs 2 Grids
10Ghz-- 5Qs 5 Grids
43 QSOs 29 Grids >> 5,655 total points
August 3-4,2010 -- AU Opening 6meters QSOs are not reported here, but did work a few on 6 prior to going to 2 and 222. Lots of media hype on the possible AU seemed to perhaps boost the activity a bit. No one worked at any great distance, but it was sure nice to get some VHF AU in the log again.
08/03/2010 22:20 KV1E EN41 5-4 5-3 2 m. CW 414miles 08/03/2010 22:23 W8BYA EN7� 5-4 2 m. SSB 603miles 08/03/2010 22:30 K�MHC EN26 5-4 5-5 2 m. SSB 115miles 08/03/2010 22:35 K9MRI EN7� 5-4a 5-3a 2 m. CW 599miles 08/03/2010 22:40 W9JN EN54 5-5a 5-5a 2 m. CW 258miles 08/03/2010 22:45 N8CJK EN84FG 5-6a 5-6a 2 m. CW 529miles 08/03/2010 22:49 W9RM EN52 5-6a 2 m. CW 430miles 08/03/2010 22:55 K�KFC EN35RJ 5-5a 5-8a 220 MHzCW 132miles 08/03/2010 23:02 WB�ULX EN�4 5-5a 5-7a 2 m. SSB 294miles 08/03/2010 23:07 N�SM EN3�TX 5-5a 5-5a 2 m. CW 430miles 08/03/2010 23:14 NT9E EN52 5-5a 5-A 220 MHzCW 423miles 08/03/2010 23:16 W9RM EN52 5-5a 5-1a 220 MHzCW 430miles 08/03/2010 23:19 K9MU EN44 5-2a 5-5a 220 MHzCW 194miles 08/03/2010 23:46 W�VB EN34 5-2a 220 MHzCW 219miles 08/04/2010 00:29 W9FZ EN34PM 4-1a 5a 2 m. CW 156miles 08/04/2010 00:34 W�PHD EN18 5-2a 2 m. CW 164miles 08/04/2010 00:59 NT�V EN�8 5-6a 5-5a 2 m. SSB 254miles 08/04/2010 01:05 NT�V EN�8OC 5-5a 220 MHzCW 254miles
August 2, 2010 -- VHF Tropo Opening Hey, it is August! That is tropo time, if we are going to have any. Tonight a bit after 9pm CDT I checked into the NLRS 2m net with what I would call normal conditions at best. After checking in I slid down to 144.200 and "What to my wondering ears would appear? N4LI EM55 ringing in clear!". One could have knocked me over with a feather. A quick QSO and a look at the APRS live tropo site indicated indeed above tropo to the south. Very interesting in that we had had a frontal passage 4hrs earlier and were having rain with rain to the north and south as well. Even though we had six tenths an inch of rain DURING the tropo, conditions hung in there. The only issue came during heavy rain when precip static exceeded the ability of the noise banker. Several attemps were made for 1296 QSOs, but the enhancement did not allow any QSOs. No 902 attempts were possible sorry to report. The signals were never real strong, but a few peaked up to maybe S5 for brief periods. The band was still open when I went to bed following the last QSO with WB0NQD. I was up early 6hrs later, but the tropo had shifted to the SE and no additional Qs were made.
02:15 N4LI EM55 5-2 5- 2 m. SSB 860miles TN 02:28 K�JXI EM55 5-2 4-1 2 m. SSB 859miles TN 02:32 KD�ETU EM39 5-2 5-1 2 m. SSB 543miles MO 02:46 N�PB EM39 5-1 5-1 2 m. CW 527miles MO 02:50 N�IRS EM29 5-3 5- 220 MHz SSB 553miles MO 02:51 WB�NQD EM29 5-3 5-3 220 MHz SSB 555miles MO 03:03 K5OMC EM44 5-3 Uncomplete 2 m. SSB QSB Never copied his grid 03:51 WD�BGZ EN1� 5-3 5-3 2 m. SSB 464miles NE 03:55 N�WJY EN1� 5-3 5-3 2 m. SSB 464miles NE 04:09 AG4V EM55 5-3 5-5 2 m. SSB 856miles TN 04:10 AG4V EM55 5-3 5-6 220 MHz SSB 856miles TN 04:13 AG4V EM55 5-3 5-5 432 MHz SSB 856miles TN 05:00 WB�NQD EM29 5-3 5- 2 m. SSB 555miles MO 05:05 WB�NQD EM29 5-1 5-1 432 MHz SSB 555miles MO 05:11 WB�NQD EM29 5-1 5-1 220 MHz SSB 555miles MO
July 28, 2010 -- Final 2009-10 Central States Above 50MHZ
6 Meters -- 57 States/Prov
2 Meters -- 40 States/Prov
222 Mhz -- 09 States/Prov
432 Mhz -- 09 States/Prov
902 Mhz -- 04 States/Prov
1296 Mhz -- 05 States/Prov
10 Ghz -- 06 States/Prov
-----------
Total -- 130 States/Prov
SECOND PLACE finish
July 2010, CQ VHF Contest (July 17-18) This was my Third best CQ VHF contest since 2003. 6 meters was VERY interesting the first day with Es into both coasts and to the SW much of the day. The SE was "missing", which is very interesting for here. On Sunday some nice shorter range paths into the SW (NM, CO etc). Almost no activity on 2m during the entire period and my own grid was better represented than any other MN/WI grid. This is a fun contest and I sure wish the partication was better.
Band Qs Grids Points 50 127 79 10922 144 13 7 2236Total 140 Contacts 86 Grids 13,158 points <<<<<<
June 2010, ARRL VHF QSO Party (June 12-14) This was my second best VHF QSO since 2002 and my 3rd best overall contest. Highlights (any Q above 6m :-) ) working Alris W7XU on 6,2,222 in the last 6min of the contest. Talking to Tom K8CLA for the first time in 40yrs after he left the Grand Forks AirBase. Great visit with Wally W0PHD on 2m. One nice 2m Es QSO with K5YG EM50. In the end the rovers and diehards "saved Christmas" and above 6m was enjoyed to some degree on Sunday. 63 or my 390 contacts (16%) were rover QSOs. Of those rover QSOs Jon W0ZQ was worked 35 times, KC0P and N0HZO 12 times, John WA0VPJ 5 times and DX rovers 11 times (all 6m). Percentage of QSOs 67% 6m, 12% 2m, 5% 222, 7% 432, 2 1/2% 902, 2 1/2% 1296 and 1 1/2% 10GHz. If I had "gotten into" working at 6m Saturday instead of just working it, the score could have been better.I always look forward to the 2m and above activity more.
Band Qs Grids Points 50 271 113 46070 144 47 18 7990 222 19 10 6460 432 28 11 9520 902 9 6 4590 1296 10 7 5100 10Ghz 6 5 4080 Total 279 Contacts 170 Grids 83,810 points <<<<<<
May 31, 2009 update
The EME "season" is over here again. The last 2m EME WSJT QSO was on May 3rd. My initial 2m WSJT EME count now stands at 310, 75 new initials this past winter. I hope to return next winter again for more "driveway EME". The spring has been dry, cool and "delayed", hence the tropo has left much to be desired. I sure hope we will see a shift in weather conditions that will be more conducive to good propagation soon. On a trip to the "MO farm" mid May, I did take the 10Ghz portable station down with me and worked KB0PE and WB9PNU from EM39ka. The QSOs occured on different days and both were good SSB copy at distances about 150 miles. The QSO with Dave KB0PE was quite unusual in that the signal peaked some 20+ degrees off heading. The Hepburn Tropo map indicated that an area of enhanced propagation was possible. The SSB signals were less than "waveguide" but well over S9 with direct path signals being just above the noise. Very odd. Side lobes of the dish were observed as well as I peaked the signal. Fun!"Wesslund Award"
On May 30, I was honored by the Northern Lights Radio Society with the Wesslund Award at Aurora 09 . This is an annual award given to a member of the NRLS. I consider this to be a real highlight in my 54 years in amateur radio. The award is named for Bob Wesslund W0AUS (sk) a NLRS VHF/UHF/Microwave pioneer. Thank You NLRS!
March 2009, Winter Report This has been a "slow" radio winter. I did work the Jan UHF/VHF contest, but conditions were quite poor and the results of the contest were poor as well. Other than that, I have been keeping 10Ghz skeds with Gary W0GHZ on a twice a day basis. The cold winter has made for poor propagation on 10Ghz. On the WSJT EME front, I have been on only occasionally, but did add my 49th state when I worked Ed KL7UW March the 7th on 2m JT65b. Nice signals both ways. I now have only Nevada left now to have all 50 states. In addition to this contact I have worked 47 additional initials and as of 9 March, I have 275 different EME initials on 2 meters. Strange as it may seem, I have been enjoying a bit of HF DXing here in the late spring, using the Flex-1000 and the dipoles on 75,40 and 20meters. All SSB operations and I have had some good reports with the barefoot 70watts or so. Eastern Europe on 20 meters seems to be "duck soup" for the last couple of weeks as well as several on 40meters. Odd, I have been hamming for over 50yrs and never tried any 40m SSB DX before. Shortly after sunset, there have sure been some strong signals out of Europe on 40m. Nothing much with the SoftRocks, the version 9 receiver (160-10m) has been a real joy to use. A great receiver matches any radio in the shack. I have been using it with my Dell laptop it on trips as well. Lots of fun to have the SDR portable. The V6.3 10m RxTx has been checked out and works well, but I continue to us the V6.2 transceiver on 2m SSB and the V7 with the 10Ghz, 902 and 1296 operations. Great gear!! I hope spring will provide improved VHF-Microwave activity and propagation. The winter has been way too quiet.
Sept 2008, ARRL VHF Contest (Sept 13-15) This was my poorest September VHF Contest since 2002. The tropo conditions were the poorest I can ever recall. From my observations the activity was also poor again. The low level of activity seems to be trending lower and lower, this is beginning to be a concern to me. Even though the rover activity was pretty limited, rovers accounted for 12% of my QSOs and my own grid accounted for 20%. I think this was an all time high number of QSOs, during a contest, from EN37. Thank you W9FZ/R for EN57. EN57 was a new grid for me on 222,432 and 902. As high pressure moved into the area late Sunday, conditions did improve to at least GOOD conditions to the west. The improved conditions allowed nice QSOs with Dennis NT0V on 6,2,222 and 432 and also Wally on 432 SSB.
In the end .... Band Qs Grids Points 50 30 17 2130 144 47 20 3337 222 12 10 1704 432 25 14 3550 902 2 2 426 1296 3 3 639 10Ghz 5 5 1420 Total 124 Contacts 71 Grids 13,206 points <<<<<<
Aug 31, 2008 -- Story Corps Interview
Story Corps is visiting our community this month. What a great organization! Pat and I did a 40 minute interview today about my 53yrs of Amateur Radio. After reading that Amateur Radio is #16 or 25 things vanishing from America, I couldn't resist the opportunity. Pat did a great job. All interviews that Story Corps does are archived at the Library of Congress and selected interviews are selected for editing and use on the air (NPR stations). Hard to say of any of our interview will "make the grade", but we gave it a shot.
[Update Sept 11,2008] Alex Kelly of Story Corp posted a blog today after a visit to my shack. If interested in her blog ...
August 25,2008 -- Ver6.3RxTx SoftRock Transceiver --
I preparation for a presentation to Microwave Update 08, I built the latest of the SoftRock family. This model offers complete frequency agility from 160m - 10m without xtals. It uses a Si570 programmable oscillator that is frequency controlled by the SDR software. SWEET! I am waiting on the PA/ bandpass filter for 10m, but the receiver sure works great!SoftRock Ver6.3RxTx
August 18,2008 -- 10Ghz Contest Aug & Sept Rove --
Wally WØPHD and I roved the Red River Valley in western Minnesota again this year for the first day of the 10Ghz and Above contest. Lots of sun and a new station to work :>)KØAWU & WØPHD 10Ghz Rove 2008
Aug 2008, ARRL UHF Contest (Aug 02-03) This was my best August UHF Contest ever, I more than tripled my previous contest high. Good tropo conditions Saturday night really helped with 902 and above. Then during the last hour of the contest, a front came through north of Minneapolis that provided 8 quick 10Ghz rainscatter QSOs. Every previous personal high for 902 and above was exceeded and the old 432 high numbers were equaled. Saturday night I had good tropo conditions extending over 600miles to the south, but it resulted in only a half dozen of so stations being worked on 222 and 432, what a shame given the population in those areas. NLRS "Rovermania" rovers accounted for 51 of my 107 QSOs. It seemed that home stations were in short supply for the entire contest, but many of them were known to be out "Roving". Some highlights: Working K2DRH on 902 and 1296 again (411miles), band sweeps with W0ZQ/R 222-1296 plus 10Ghz tropo in EN43,EN33 and EN25, KA9UVY EM58(660miles) on 432. (I copied him for several hours on 902 and 1296, but he could not hear me.), working my own grid on 10Ghz!! and 222-1296 sweeps with W9FZ/R from EN43 and EN32.
In the end .... Band Qs Grids Points 222 23 13 4071 432 44 18 7788 902 9 8 3186 1296 14 10 4956 10Ghz 17 10 12036 Total 107 Contacts 59 Grids 32,037 points <<<<<<
July 11, 2008 10Ghz Rainscatter
Great day for rainscatter. We had a fast moving front that came through and dumped 1/2" of rain in about 20min. Prior to it's arrival I was able to work Eddie VE3KRP in Thunder Bay (221miles) on a system just south of him on the border. After we completed, I turned my attention to the wx to the west. When it was about 40miles distant, Dennis NTØV EN08 (254m) and I worked with S2-S5 CW sigs. This was our first QSO on 10Ghz, so a new state (North Dakota) and grid :-) Then I worked Wally WØGHZ in EN18, WØZQ and KCØIYT in EN34 Wrapped it up with Barry VE4MA (248miles) on CW (and FM!) and Gary WØGHZ down in EN34 again. WØZQ and KCØIYT were both worked using FM with full quieting signals. ZQ switched to his "QRP" rig which consists of a 17db horn and 2watt power level. Even that setup yielded an S9 FM signal! Keep in mind that EN34 is 160miles distant ... What a great band and mode!!!
July 1, 2008 -- Final 2007-08 Central States Above 50MHZ
6 Meters -- 52 States/Prov 2 Meters -- 34 States/Prov 222 Mhz -- 08 States/Prov 432 Mhz -- 07 States/Prov 902 Mhz -- 01 States/Prov 1296 Mhz -- 03 States/Prov 10 Ghz -- 07 States/Prov ----------- Total -- 112 States/Prov THIRD PLACE finish
June 2008, ARRL VHF Contest This contest was a mixture of good 6m Es and poor conditions elsewhere. When are we to ever see good tropo again? Some south experienced 2m Es, but none was observed here. The station ran well for the entire contest with the exception of a software configuration issue that popped up at the last min on WSJT for my late night meteor scatter skeds. The problem was "worked around", but one 6 and 2m sked was lost.
I just seemed to be "out of gas" on this contest. The 6m Es on Saturday was not very productive since I could not seem to find a spot to run a string. In that regard Sunday was much better. Even with all that, not a bad contest all and all.In the end .... Band Qs Grids Points 50 201 96 29145 144 42 25 6090 222 10 8 2900 432 18 9 5220 902 1 1 435 1296 4 4 1740 10Ghz 3 2 1740 Total 279 Contacts 145 Grids 47,270 points <<<<<<
Feb 2008, More SDR activitiesAt long last, the 10m SoftRock SDR transceiver became available. I ordered a beta version about the first of the year. The crystal was delayed for a while but I am now using it for my 902, 1296 and 10Ghz IF. VERY happy with the results.
KØAWU's 10mRxTX SoftRock IF.
Nov 2007, A Return to the 1950'sI have been busy working the HF frequencies again, strange to be doing that for me. But I have my first "Vintage" station now on the air and I'm trying to relive some of my early radio days on 40 and 80m CW! I feel like QRO running 20 watts instead of the QRPp's 500mw.
KØAWU's Vintage Station
Sept 2007, ARRL VHF Contest (Sept 08-10) Another contest with less than good conditions. Just a couple of hours after the start of the contest a front passed through and the conditions were "in the tank" for the rest of the contest. On Wednesday before the contest started, I decided since I was having trouble with the IC746Pro AGAIN ... that I would try to get the SDR1000 on 2m for the contest. My "1000" uses an internal xverter, so I needed about 20db of receive gain (a MAR6a) in addition to the Gasfet 2m preamp. On the xmit side a driver amp took the 10mw up to enough drive for the pair of 8560as giving me about 400w . I operated under the fear of a computer crash from my "flaky" Dell, but none ever occurred. All and all I was pleased with the first attempt with SDR 2 meter Rx/Tx.In the end .... Band Qs Grids Points 50 44 22 3564 144 61 24 4941 222 18 12 2916 432 28 15 4536 902 1 1 243 1296 5 3 1215 10Ghz 4 4 1296 Total 161 Contacts 81 Grids 18,711 points <<<<<<
July 1, 2007 -- Final 2006-07 Central States Above 50MHZ
6 Meters -- 54 States/Prov 2 Meters -- 42 States/Prov 222 Mhz -- 07 States/Prov 432 Mhz -- 09 States/Prov 902 Mhz -- 02 States/Prov 1296 Mhz -- 05 States/Prov 10 Ghz -- 06 States/Prov ----------- Total -- 125 States/Prov THIRD PLACE finish 1296 and 10Ghz numbers were up, 902 was added and all others were down slightly this year. I really need to work at 222 harder.
June 2007, ARRL VHF QSO Party (June 09-11) A very interesting contest with less than expected activity. The conditions were at no time what I would consider "good", in fact quite poor. Oddly 432 and above seemed to be better than the lower frequencies.There were a few 6m Es Sunday afternoon, but it was limited footprint in the southeastern US. 24% of my score was rover related and Es accounted for 20%, the rest for the most part took digging. I had several personal bests out of this contest. 15 grids on 222 ties my highest 222 grid count. 18 grids on 432 is my highest EVER, (thanks to N9TTX/R for 3 or those). After a "trial run" in the Jan contest, I had 6 contacts in 6 grids on 902 and 4 or those grids were new grids for me. On 1296, 8 grids were worked , the SDR IF paid off big time looking for the weak signals, this is a new high grid count for me. Then there were the FOUR grids worked on 10Ghz, COOL!! I continue to be very impressed with the strong signals I am seeing on 902. It sure seems to be a great band. Biggest highlight was two 233mile 10Ghz tropo contacts with WØZQ/R in EN43 and EN33, these were my best 10Ghz tropo by over 75miles. Very Cool.
At 207 contacts, it was a low average June contest, BUT fun none the less.Band Qs Grids Points 50 73 34 7,957 144 62 24 6,758 222 21 15 4,578 432 30 18 6,540 902 6 6 1,962 1296 10 10 3,270 10Ghz 5 4 2,180 Total 207 Contacts 109 Grids 33,245 points <<<<<<
April 5,2007 -- 101st QRPp 40m CW QSO--
I now have my first random CW Softrock to Softrock QSO. I heard Tony KB9YIG in QSO with another station on 7.037 at 23:25z .. waited until they signed and called Tony ... Tony came right back and we had a very nice quick QSO. The contact was cut short because my dinner was on the table, but wonderful to work him. He had a nice 5-5-9 signal on his random wire antenna running 1W. I was running 500mw into a 40m dipole at 20ft and was also 55N. Tony is the "MAN behind" the SoftRock series. He ramrods the designs, packages and distributes all the softrock series. A very special QSO. Thanks Tony for the Softrocks and the QSO!!
March 3,2007 -- W0MHS in the log again!--
I called CQ on 80m CW with my SoftRock QRP rig running all of 800mw tonight and I was answered by KB4ZDU in St Joe, Missouri. After a nice chat he asked me to standby for another station. Odd I thought, but maybe he has a neighbor wanting a QSO. He signed and I was called by W0MHS. Holy Cow!! W0MHS was my second QSO in amateur radio in 1955. He was a High School student about 8miles from my QTH. I had not talked to Dave since that QSO some 52yrs earlier... What a great hobby!. It turns out that the first QSO was with Dave's son and Dave was just visiting and recognized the my call. Thanks for the call and QSO Dave. Hope we work again sooner than another 52yrs!!
Febuary 27,2007 -- 80/40m Software Defined Transceiver --
Winter is a good time to build, and I've been busy at the bench again building this time a SoftRock Ver6.1RxTx 80/40m transverter. Lots of fun operating it on CW as well. The log looks "strange" with all these HF contacts!
KØAWU's 80m/40m Software defined QRP transceiver
January 22,2007 -- ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes --
This is a normally a "slow" contest and it was again with very poor conditions on 2m most of the contest period. Very little 6m Es, (10 QSOs in 7 grids). I had added 902 for this contest and 3 contacts in 3 grids were made there. This effort ended up being pretty much a "normal" score for me in a Jan contest. Only two rover contacts and neither of them for a new grid. Now to improve 902 for June.
Band Qs Grids Points 50 53 22 3498 144 53 18 3498 222 15 08 1980 432 22 09 2904 902 3 3 792 1296 5 4 1320 10Ghz 2 2 1056 Total 153 Contacts 66 Grids 15,048 points <<<<<<
January 19,2007 -- 902Mhz added to the Station --
Today marked the first QSO on 902Mhz. Thanks to Chris N0JCZ, I now have the new band. I built up a KK7B no-tune transverter followed by a Ericsson amplifier. On the receive side a DEM 902 preamp is also used. For the moment I built a 10 elem "WA5VJB Cheap Yagi" and have it at 50ft feed with 100ft of LMR400. Prior to the June contest, I plan on getting a better antenna up. So far the band looks very interesting. For whatever reason the power is limited to 20watts ... I need to work more on the system to determine why.
January 7,2007 -- 144Mhz WSJT-EME Initial #200
Initials off the moon are harder to "come by" now... As the moon approached 15deg this morning I was coping JS3CTQ solid as he called CQ. There was some QSB but we were able to work with some signal margin. Hiro was my 200th EME initial using the single "Driveway Yagi".
Sept 25, 2006 -- 10Ghz Tower System Upgrade
Since the availability of the DEMI 8 watt amplifiers, I had been tempted to upgrade tower system. At the end of the CSVHF conference in July I decided that I had better "do it" if I was going to. This past week I took the "tower box" off the tower and rebuilt the entire thing using the old 2watt amp to drive the new 8watt amp. Early tests look promising. It will be interesting to see if Gary WØGHZ and I will be able to work via tropo during the winter months.
KØAWU's 10Ghz Tower System
July 1, 2005 -- Final 2006 Central States Above 50MHZ
6 Meters -- 55 States/Prov 2 Meters -- 45 States/Prov 222 Mhz -- 12 States/Prov 432 Mhz -- 09 States/Prov 1296 Mhz -- 02 States/Prov 10 Ghz -- 04 States/Prov ----------- Total -- 127 States/Prov
June 12,2006 -- VHF QSO Party of a Lifetime! --
This is a June contest that will go down in history. With the 6m and 2m Es both being so wide spread and lasting so long the scores will be something to see. Looking at the tropo log, the contest would fall short of most of my June contests, I guess everyone was burned out! The number of 6 meter contacts, 6m grids and 2m contacts were the only new high catagories, except for the total points.
Es accounted for 50 contacts in 16 grids on 2meters and 587 contacts in 140 grids on 6meters! 2m Es list: FN11,12,13,20,21,22,23,30,31,32,33,34,41,42,43,51. --- WOW!! ---
Band Qs Grids Points 50 626 156 137,094 144 109 35 23,871 222 20 11 8,760 432 22 12 9,636 1296 5 4 3,285 10Ghz 1 1 876 Total 783 Contacts 219 Grids 183,522 points <<<<<<
May 24,2006 -- 144Mhz Softrock SDReceiver
I have been very interested in the FlexSDR for use as a VHF/UHF/Microwave IF radio. Lots of $$$ and I would need to redo the entire station. What I was most interested in was the ability to have a "panadapter" type display for monitoring or spotting signals. I now have that! Less than $50 with what I had on hand. If you have never heard of the "SoftRocks" ... take a look at my SDReceiver!KØAWU SDReceiver Page
May 4,2006 -- 144Mhz WSJT-EME Done for 05-06
Today I took down the "Driveway EME antenna". Our neighbors are to return soon and the antenna is too much "in the way" for all of us to deal with. It was a very successful winter ending with 164 initials. Sure hope that I can put the antenna up again next winter to continue WSJT-EME operations.
February 2,2006 -- 144Mhz WSJT-EME Initial #100
Today YL2HA answered my CQ on 144.117 and provided my 100th initial QSO via WSJT-EME. It was very nice to work my 100th initial, "random".
January 2006, ARRL VHF Sweepstakes (Jan 21-23)A very interesting contest with more than expected activity. The conditions were at no time what I would consider "good", in fact quite poor. 432 and 6m both seemed to be very poor, even though the numbers on those bands were "ok". My first contact was with WØZQ on 10Ghz snowscatter over 150miles away. In the middle was a JT65B EME contact with Milos S52LM on 2m at moon rise, saw him calling CQ as I was getting ready for a meteor scatter sked, pretty cool. I then worked some late night WSJT 6 and 2m meteor scatter, both requested skeds as well as a few randoms. "All" the WSJT operators were "a buzz" about random success during this contest ... I would guess the WSJT game is about to change! I did work Marshall K5QE and one other station on 6m Es Sunday afternoon, but it was very brief. 10% of my score was rover related. It was nice to hear a few rovers out at work.
As always, lots of fun. All the "new to me" stations made it a very encouraging contest. At 162 contacts, it was my best Jan contest BUT the total score fell a bit over 50pts short of my highest Jan score. Thanks Guys!! Band Qs Grids Points 50 46 21 3,266 144 70 25 4,970 222 20 10 2,840 432 21 10 2,982 1296 4 4 1,136 10Ghz 1 1 568 Total 162 Contacts 71 Grids 15,762 points <<<<<<
KØAWU Page
