DXCC in less than 60 Days, Blog Style

Recently WordPress added a country tracking feature to the Statistics Page of their system and I had a look.

It is interesting than in less than 60 days the same contacts as QSOs would have been an easy DXCC (if confirmed).

Over 140 Countries in the last 20-30,000 hits (alas,no total on the page) – here is the list alphabetically:

1. Afghanistan
2. Albania
3. Algeria
4. Andorra
5. Angola
6. Argentina
7. Aruba
8. Australia
9. Austria
10. Azerbaijan
11. Bahamas
12. Bahrain
13. Bangladesh
14. Barbados
15. Belarus
16. Belgium
17. Belize
18. Bolivia
19. Bosnia and Herzegovina
20. Botswana
21. Brazil
22. British Virgin Islands
23. Brunei Darussalam
24. Bulgaria
25. Cambodia
26. Canada
27. Chile
28. Colombia
29. Costa Rica
30. Croatia
31. Cuba
32. Cyprus
33. Czech Republic
34. Denmark
35. Dominican Republic
36. Ecuador
37. Egypt
38. El Salvador
39. Estonia
40. Ethiopia
41. Faroe Islands
42. Finland
43. France
44. Georgia
45. Germany
46. Greece
47. Greenland
48. Grenada
49. Guadeloupe
50. Guam
51. Guatemala
52. Guyana
53. Haiti
54. Honduras
55. Hong Kong
56. Hungary
57. Iceland
58. India
59. Indonesia
60. Iraq
61. Ireland
62. Israel
63. Italy
64. Jamaica
65. Japan
66. Jordan
67. Kuwait
68. Latvia
69. Lebanon
70. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
71. Lithuania
72. Luxembourg
73. Macedonia
74. Madagascar
75. Malaysia
76. Maldives
77. Mali
78. Malta
79. Martinique
80. Mauritius
81. Mexico
82. Moldova
83. Mongolia
84. Montenegro
85. Morocco
86. Mozambique
87. Namibia
88. Nepal
89. Netherlands
90. Netherlands Antilles
91. New Caledonia
92. New Zealand
93. Nicaragua
94. Nigeria
95. Norway
96. Oman
97. Pakistan
98. Panama
99. Paraguay
100. Peru
101. Philippines
102. Poland
103. Portugal
104. Puerto Rico
105. Qatar
106. Republic of Korea
107. Romania
108. Russian Federation
109. Saint Lucia
110. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
111. Saudi Arabia
112. Senegal
113. Serbia
114. Sierra Leone
115. Singapore
116. Slovakia
117. Slovenia
118. South Africa
119. Spain
120. Sri Lanka
121. Sudan
122. Suriname
123. Sweden
124. Switzerland
125. Taiwan
126. Thailand
127. Trinidad and Tobago
128. Turkey
129. Turks and Caicos Islands
130. Uganda
131. Ukraine
132. United Arab Emirates
133. United Kingdom
134. United Republic of Tanzania
135. United States
136. Uruguay
137. Uzbekistan
138. Venezuela
139. Viet Nam
140. Virgin Islands
141. Zambia

Of course some are “uniques” with say one Greenland logged a month, and some are massive like the USA and Canada.  Also I am sure many are “bots” and other web artifacts like scripts, rather than radio amateurs looking at the posts.

Some are DXCC Countries, but then others a multiple DXCC entities lumped as one country (like United Kingdom in the list catching all the UK’s DXCC countries).

Interesting – now if on the air radio time was this productive……

73

Steve
K9ZW

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In the Park – A Quiet Field Day 2012

Field Day 2012 was a quick, quiet and quite effective event.

With the W9DK Mancorad Radio Club in a local park.

The spot we had scouted out, AND its backup were both full of people. Unexpected, but hey – isn’t that what Field Day is supposed to be about?

We found a new spot that worked out just fine.

I had brought my Go-Kit primary antenna setup – a Hamstick Dipole which I have very carefully tuned using a Timewave AmtennaSmith TZ-900 to balance between the sides of the dipole.

K9ZW Hamstick Dipole in Action

Getting the antenna in the air is some of my supply of US Army surplus camouflage support poles – usually I use five to seven poles for an effective height of 15 to 21 feet. (Not the lamp post is much further away than it shows in the photograph).

I use a Black & Decker Workmate portable workbench as the antenna mast base, using clamps to lock everything together. When i operate alone I set up directly on the bend, and put my heavy aircraft batteries on the lower shelf to add stability. For Field Day we set up on a park picnic bench 40 feet away.

An extra clamp on one of the mast sections works ok as a rotor of sort. This “Armstrong Rotor” is not precision, but we are swinging a dipole, not a beam.

I did bring a new to me used TenTec Jupiter setup, though never got it out as we used one o fthe club radios – a Kenwood TS-440 that does an excellent job.

Interesting experiment was the huge drop in noise level when we added basic station grounding.

All in all a good time, simple style of operation (we even paper logged our QSOs) and relaxing until I was called away to rescue a family member who was broken down on the Interstate south of town.

A great day in the Park!

73

Steve
K9ZW

Just the Contact, Nothing More – JT65 Mode QSOs

There are a good many people having a stab at running JT65 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JT65#JT65 )

The mode is interesting as it is much about very precise timekeeping as anything. By very carefully syncing the transmitter and receivers software the receiver can complete reception below any normal communication mode.

It sort of reminds me of when I was once asked to be part of a team watching a particular window in a particular apartment building to see if the light was on at a certain time. In the midst of all the noise (all the lights going on & off in the hundreds of windows) that one particular window would be lit up at exactly a certain instance apparently meant something – afraid we were never told exactly what, but it much have been important!

Through timing a sequencing JT65 is hundreds of “little windows” that the software checks in a certain sequence at very specific times. That binary is parsed into a 13 character message from some 47 seconds churning!

I’d originally said I wouldn’t write about JT65 until I had logged 100 JT65 QSOs. Well I am not quite there but I think my thoughts have jelled.

JT65 is a QSO distilled down to nearly the least amount of data to transfer in meeting the most basic requirements for a QSO. Remember a QSO has a certain form – exchange of reports, call signs and such – you can find more on that at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(amateur_radio)

Ragchewing is simply not going to happen in a JT65 QSO – there is so little data being moved that conversation gives way to just the contact requirements of a QSO.

JT65HF Main Screen (from Users Manual)

So what is JT65 good for? Well it does qualify as a QSO you can log and count for awards. It does work when conditions are very sour making even CW a task. It brings a challenge of very accurate clock timekeeping to the ham shack. I’ve found it works a charm as a semi automatic QSO process when doing other shack tasks that would make many modes difficult. It is a pretty fear-free way to try digital communications.

Using JT65HF Software a QSO is pretty well defined. Call CQ, Answer CQ Call, Send Report, Acknowledge and Return Report, RR Confirm and an optional 73. Each 13 character and the wait to decode takes about 48-50 seconds, and the next person doesn’t transmit until on the start of the next minute. A full JT65HF QSO is something like a 6 minute undertaking to exchange only the basics.

Yet what other mode can I work across the USA on 160m at less than 20 watts input (and my 160m antenna is most certainly a negative gain antenna) in awful conditions? Even interesting modes like Throb and Olivia are surpassed for rough condition basic QSO contacts by JT65HF.

Do I “like” JT65HF? When conditions are tough it does meet my needs to just reach out and confirm that I can make a contact. While it doesn’t warm up to my interest to learn about my fellow ham, understand his “operating conditions” and hopefully leave a favorable & friendly impression, it does work when almost nothing else does.

I’m impressed by the technology and cleverness of the mode.

It is also nice to have a communication alternative that is sort of mindlessly “point-and-shoot” and nearing QRP levels.

It is obvious the capabilities of JT65 have kept it alive on terrestrial HF bands for several years now. While it never will displace full conversational digital modes, it is neat and has its place.

I can see having the software on the machine and running some periodically. By the way, you get the JT65HF version of a pile-up as a Wisconsin Station on 160m. Apparently not too many fellow Packer Fans run JT65HF regularly. Here is a manual for JT65HF http://openhpsdr.org/wiki/images/0/0c/Jt65-hf-setup.pdf

Catch you on the air, broadcasting exactly on the top on the minute in JT65HF!!

All best and 73

Steve
K9ZW

Planning a Simple Field Day 2012

Planning for a minimalistic Field Day 2012 with Mancorad W9DK Club.

Sharply focused to what matters, we will operate from Lincoln Park using an HF station, some satellite gear and bringing another QRP rig.

“Bring Your Own Lunch” BYOL makes logistics much easier.

Standard Publicity through mainly electronic means matches the time available.

Operating hours have been set for Noon local to 4 PM, with “run-on” if members want.  The park doesn’t allow overnights without special arrangements and we know the mosquitos will be very bad towards dusk, so common sense prevailed.

Using a mix of member and club gear, much to whittle down the amount of gear moved and to limit set-up/tear-down time.  We’ve giving ourselves 45 minutes each side, but know we’ve done this setup in 15 minutes when pushed.

No rain plans, so if the weather sucks we’ll be doing something else.  Some members talked about operating from the Club Station provided it isn’t lightning in any bad weather.

Catch you on the air Saturday!

73

Steve
K9ZW

Why did Dayton 2012 have so many Vaporware Phantom New Product Offerings?

Why did Dayton 2012 have so many Vaporware Phantom New Product Offerings?

• Kenwood had a stage-prop mock-up of what their new FS-990S should look like, but no actual radio, specifications or even pricing. They do have Photoshop created adds in the radio magazines and have been hinting at new “executive class transceiver” for a couple years.
• Alpha didn’t even had their mock-up of what their new Alpha-4040 Automatic Antenna Tuner would look like when Dayton 2012 opened its doors, though fairly complete hardware models did arrive later during the show. Software apparently isn’t ready, so an operating product wasn’t ready. Alpha had been avoiding pinning down delivery dates for this tuner, but has had a pre-order list taking system up since November 2011.
• The third is more a pre-announcement and advanced showing, as the product was not announced until Dayton. Flex-Radio had hardware prototypes and panadapter software simulations running of the Alpha Stage hardware & software for their new Flex-6500, Flex-6700R and Flex-6700 series. In all fairness there was no expectation of anything more – just a preview from Flex-Radio on where their next product was going.

What is all this about?

In the case of Kenwood one can only guess. They have hinted for at least five years that they had this class of radio coming out. I listened to the salesman at Dayton who said this new model will be “almost as good” as the other top end rigs out there, but “for a better [lower] price!” Whoopee, I can take out a home equity loan to have a runner up in performance but shave a few bucks off the dollars needed. Can’t say this inspires me in any way.

Alpha seems to mean well and may end up with a great product. The early announcement of a not yet ready product seems to be to create a buzz and do some positioning in the marketplace. I know I didn’t buy a new tuner awaiting this new Alpha – though it is again supposed to be pricey it offered the potential of being the last tuner a ham might ever need to buy. Credit has to be given to not pushing product out before it is ready, though Alpha should have had a better handle on its development time.

Flex-Radio intended to “drop the big one” on amateur radio with a “game changer” and never promised more than a chance to preorder a new radio when production starts in six-eight months (or so). They needed to gauge the support for bringing this technology to the amateur market, and I would guess took away a lot of potential buyers for other premium rigs at Dayton with their deposit for a production slot strategy. They never promised anything but announcements and really delivered more with some prototypes and illustrations of what the software might look like.

So the phantom gear at Dayton 2012 would seem to be each a unique case – Kenwood struggling to find its market and simply not having a ready product – Alpha having good intentions buy not having development far enough along to match real product to marketing’s promise – and Flex-Radio who only promised they would have an announcement only to actually have much more to show.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Almost Field Day – Outdoor Radio Thoughts

Not much over a week until ARRL Field Day 2012 and like most interest hams thoughts are on outdoor operations.

For many it is an annual exercise pulling out the same well honed Field Day set-up – some clubs have been practicing in the run up to the event.

For many it is a weekend of “where is that adaptor? Do we have another ground rod? Why is this generator all gummed up? Did you know that xyz is broken this year, again?” and similar frustrations.

For a few brave ones they will get up Field Day Saturday and start pulling gear to take and set up. Minimal plan and much experimenting.

This year I would like to try out several different field deployable antennas I haven’t spent much time with (or in two cases haven’t spent any time with) as my personal theme & goal.

Will have to see if the rest of the local club will put up with my doing this!

73

Steve
K9ZW