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GB7LDI > DATA 20.09.03 12:04l 54 Lines 5416 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : DNL153
Read: DB0FHN GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: N2HOS Newsletter
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Sent: 030920/0908Z @:GB7LDI.#35.GBR.EU #:13042 [Swardeston] FBB7.00g25 $:DNL153
From: GB7LDI@GB7LDI.#35.GBR.EU
To : DATA@WW
Short notes: Before we began, let me pause and thank the dozens and dozens of you who went out of your way to send me a message of condolence. Some were very moving words of hope and encouragement, some based on recent personal experiences. All were deeply appreciated. Thanks for your thoughtfulness.
Time, they say, heals all wounds but let me assure you that the word time means something more than a few short weeks.
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There is another contest logging software package out there and it is free. Jim MM0BQI vows that it is remarkable and also widely supported. The software is at www.n1mm.com and the support can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/n1mmlogger/.
Thom WI8W points out that other ham groups have a clearing house for QSL cards, and that maybe RTTY could benefit from such an operation. The concept, as I understand it, helps avoid the cost of two-way postage and cuts the time required to go through the QSL bureaus of the world. On the surface it sounds rather intriguing . . . and Thom has even suggested that he might run it if there was interest. After all, says he, it would be nice to give something back to the hobby that has been so great for the past 26 years. Nice thought.
But, it comes at a time when the ARRL is launching the Logbook of the World! This perfect solution to our biggest problem is up and running. Don't ask me for details. Go to www.arrl.org/lotw. Download the software and enter the new world of EQSL! Good luck!
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Though I did not participate, I did observe the first-ever PSK63 contest. In between the phone calls, Emails and quick trips to the attorney's office, or the funeral home or church, I watched and was impressed. But is best to see the words of a participant rather than an observer.
Harvey K5PAX commented after the contest and summed it up very effectively. He noted, as did I, that the turnout was excellent, despite the marginal propagation. All the US prefixes showed up, as did half the VE's, many Central and South Americans were there throughout the test, and several Europeans.
He went on to point out that the PSK63 mode showed well throughout the contest. The small space used on 20M was filled with signals but there was little spillover. Most used a short RTTY-type call though Harvey tried a longer call so he could leave a trace on the waterfall for the window-shoppers!
Even with low power, a simple rig and antenna, Harvey piled up 65 Q's in 27 states, 9 countries and 4 provinces. Not bad at all for a first contest.
Skip, one of those responsible for this latest threat to the traditional modes, noted that all this activity took place between 14072.5 and 14075.0, without many serious collisions! Imagine the crowd that could be handled if we went all the way up to 14100.0. He logged but did not work over 140 callsigns.
Surprisingly, as Skip noted, there were no visible over-driven signals during the affair. That speaks well for a new mode, one that many of the contestants had not used more than a time or two.
In total, the contest was a big success. The next one, come December, should draw many, many more entrants and produce some interesting totals (particularly if we get a little break on propagation!). I'll be there and hope you will be, too.
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Dusty K3WC is not your ordinary DX-er. For one thing, he's been at it for 33 years and, for another, he has confirmed contacts with an astonishing 337 countries. (Please remember, the GAZETTE counts all confirmed countries and does not deduct the deleted countries as some organizations do!). In fact, there is only one so-called DX entity that he hasn't worked! If I was a few years younger I might even organize a journey to that spot in the ocean to help him get the last damned notch on the rifle.
I ask about his first QSO and he replied that his very first QSO was with K3SWZ on 12/13/70. The next contact, and the first DX victory, was on 12/14/70 with PY2CBS. Thirty-three years later and he's still at it. In a word, all it takes is persistence, patience, concentration, lost sleep, tons of coffee, good rig, good luck, decent antennas and a thirst to fill in all the blanks. Dusty has it all.
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Steve N1NB, one of that elite group who guarantee me a free waffle if and when I show up at 0800 in Briarcliff, NY on any Thursday morn, tells me a most unusual tale of the horrors of BPL.They want those big cables to act as carriers for broadband digital service. For some obscure reason this smallish village was chosen as a test area to demonstrate the potential of this terrible idea. While I am not quite sure how he found about the test, once in on the secret he drove around town with his portable HF rig. Needless to say, he discovered that the HF bands so dear to our hearts were totally destroyed by the radiation emitted from an unbalanced RF signal on a huge antenna called a power line.
The power companies proposing this change in rules are those friendly folks who brought us the big blackout of 2003 in the NE United States. One would hope that they first figure out how to transmit plain old electricity before they start worrying about delivering broadband to their suffering custormers. Read David K1ZZ's comments in the new QST!
We've all been ask to protest this invasion on the FCC website. Read more about it in QST and then act. Do it NOW!
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