I guess that I would consider myself to be both a casual contester (rarely spend more than 30 hrs in a contest and only get into ~ 5 events per year) and a casual DXer (I don’t lose sleep over my DXCC totals)…

Waiting for a flight at the Des Moines International Airport, I’m taking a look at the DXCC impact of my recent CQ WW SSB and CQ WW CW contests.

I have imported my contest logs into DXKeeper, my main PC logbook. I also sync this log with my PocketPC PDA logbook, MobileLog. With DXKeeper, I can filter QSOs by date… so I can restrict my log to show only my 2008 CQ WW contest QSOs. Then I simply run a report to show the DXCC results.

DXCC worked/confirmed in 2008 CQ World-wide

That’s 130 DXCC entities worked in two contests and already 73 confirmations through the ARRL’s Logbook of the World (LoTW). Besides working many “new ones” by mode, I’ve certainly been improving my DXCC mode/band counts.

Of course, as QSLs continue to arrive and folks submit their logs via LoTW, my confirmations from these contests will continue to rise.  You can see that if I was just starting to work towards DXCC in October, I’d already have 73 confirmed without sending a single QSL card! That’s the power of two international contests and LoTW.  I’m certain that if I were more serious about contesting I would easily achieve DXCC 100 entities confirmed in a single contest (perhaps a personal goal for a future contest?).

How has this impacted my overall DXCC count?

DXCC prior to  2008 CQ World-wide contests

Prior to this year’s CQ WW contests (above), I had 201 confirmed and on some bands, I had a lot of work to do. Lowband totals are a weak spot towards 5 band DXCC.

DXCC after 2008 CQ WW contests (as of Dec 8th, 2008)

My current all-time DXCC stats are above. Comparing that to the chart immediately above it, you can see that I’ve really made some headway. Only 2 new DXCC entities confirmed via the contests so far, but the improvements are:

Good progress in only two contests – and, again, without yet sending a single paper QSL card.

Conclusion

Contesting is a blast and if you are a casual DXer, you’ll have a great time picking up some new ones.

In my opinion, these guys deserve a round of thanks from the DX community. They have managed the pileups well, overcome some major hurdles, and put out a very user friendly effort (down to the website with frequent logbook updates via Iridium).  Besides that, they’ve had some "great ears" with the extra effort on receiving antennas for low bands.

As you can see, I’ve worked them now on all modes and all practical bands (no chance for 6m from here). I could still get a few combinations before they shutdown, but I’m pretty happy with what I’ve been able to work.

I took several hours to get RTTY going again in my shack (first time on this PC). 80m and 160m are still a struggle here – so the fact that I’ve worked them on these bands is mostly attributed to their beverage antennas, not my station.

I did waste a few hours last night on 80m CW… waiting for them to switch from working EU to NA. Didn’t happen (at least not before 10:30 pm local).  Oh well, if it was too easy, it wouldn’t be fun.

I hope that future DXpeditions learn from what has worked well on Ducie and what hasn’t.  They still have time left on the island and have already broken many DXpedition records and have over 173,000 QSOs in the log!

Despite the sunspots, 2008 is shaping up to be a great year for DX.

If you are just getting started in DXing and wonder how the top DXers can rack up 300+ DXCC entities without massive antenna arrays (and even amplifiers) – then this is the book for you.

Check out my review of The Complete DXer.

Snagging a new one (DXCC)

I’m sure that an amp would help me get it in the log – but the tower and HF antennas blew the ham radio budget (for now). So here I sit… blogging with one hand and punching the keyer button with the other.

So many variables in snagging a new one… power, mode, timing, experience of the DXer, pileup dynamics, contests…

Here’s the kicker – as I was driving to work this morning I heard the DXpedition on 20 meters and didn’t think too much about… FJ? why the pileup? Then some emails within the local club got me looking into it a bit more and finally the ARRL announcement came out.

Actually,  the pileup is probably larger than what St Barthelemy could justify in my mind. After all, it’s an inhabited island (with ~7000 people) with several native hams. Surely this one will find its way into my logbook in the future.  I think most folks just want it sooner rather than later.  I’d probably rather log the E4/OM2DX Palestine operation that’s underway (or Bouvet!) and worry about St Bart’s later.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, the DXpedition Map has been enhanced (bug fix) to display DXpeditions that start in one year and end in another.

Update: I finally snagged him after about 3 hours. It’s 11:35 pm local – time for bed. Ahhh – sweet dreams with a new one in the log.

This DXpedition has yet to show up on my DXpedition Map which is gets its data from NG3K – but I imagine that it will appear on the map within a day or two.

It’s difficult for many of us to imagine what it must be like to work a massive pileup using top-notch equipment, in ideal conditions, and with highly skilled operators. Imagine life for Petrus… new to ham radio, on Bouvet (an extreme environment and one of the most sought after DXCC entities), poor band conditions, limited power, huge pileups, limited operating time, … 

I hope that he doesn’t give up, that the pileups are manageable for a new op and that he has a few hours of good operating.

Anyway, the Propagation Status utility is (once again) updating with current HF radio propagation data. If you would like to show HF radio propagation data on your website, then check it out.  It’s free.

Likewise, I had to make a few updates to restore the DXpedition Map (interactive map showing upcoming ham radio DXpeditions).

More changes to come. I’ve recently updated my Ham Radio Product Review system. The improvements there are going to make this a much better way to review ham radio equipment. Stay tuned.

I’m hoping that once the tower is up and I’m on the air from the home QTH my logbook will have something worth mentioning. So far this year it looks like this:

4U1WB – World Bank club station in Washington DC
UN7MMM – Kazakhstan
W2RDX/60 – Special event station in NY
DJ1QQ – Germany
CT3MD – Portugal
YN9H – Nicaragua
HB9RDE – Switzerland
JW5QFA – Svalbard Island
J79XBI – Dominica
LU1DK – Argentina

The rest of my contacts were typical state side QSOs – so, not a lot of DX this year. All QSOs above were 20M SSB from my car (most often to or from work). Conditions have been bad and mobile QSOs are not always easy, so I should be happy with what DX I’ve been able to manage this year.

Propagation has been terrible as we’re at the bottom of the 11 year sunspot cycle – but that just means there’s nowhere to go but up I guess.

DXpedition Map
The first in line for an update was the DXpedition map. For some reason, this drew the attention of some lids http://www.eham.net/links/rating/10338 who took the opportunity to bash the page. Either they:

• haven’t figured out what the page was about (don’t know what a DXpedition is)
• don’t have Flash installed
• or genuinely have a problem with the page

If you have a problem getting this page to work, feel free to let me know and I’ll look into it. The place to discuss it is the DXpedition Map forum. Don’t bash it anonymously on the eham site and expect me to help.

Propfire, the Propagation Add-on for Firefox
Next in line came some much needed enhancements to Propfire. While Propfire has been out for awhile, there have been a few requests for changes. Within the past few revs, I’ve added:

• Polling frequency (5 minutes, 20 minutes, 1 hour). Some guys thought that checking every 5 minutes was too frequent (bandwidth?). Anyway, an option for 1 hour should answer that.
• Sunspot number (SSN)
• Mini-mode. To conserve statusbar real estate, you can use mini-mode which only shows the solar flux number. Hover your mouse over the solar flux value to get the popup display with A-Index, K-Index and SSN.
• Menu redesign. Ok – a confession, I wanted to have a slashed zero (Ø) in my callsign on the menu. Once I started redesigning the Propfire menu, I went ahead and made some other changes and added some links that might be useful to those interested in HF propagation.

I’m still needing to get back to the MobileLog 2 to DXKeeper interface.

• zoom in on a DXpedition,
• slide the horizontal scrollbar to move through time and see upcoming DXPeditions appear
• hover your mouse over a DXpedition to see the details (DXCC entity, source, QSL route, bands, IOTA, etc.),
• click on a dxpedition with a link to see the website
• select the highlights (below) to see the modes (SSB, CW, RTTY) or highlight IOTA dxpeditions (these appear in red)

Give it a try!

I’ve found that over the years, analogies and comparisons to fishing work quite well. I have a younger brother who has no interest in ham radio, but loves to fish… big time. He has the bass boat, he enters tournaments, he is a member of several clubs…  Why don’t folks question my brother about his passion for fishing in the same way they question me about ham radio?
Since I’ve been spending some time this summer on the tower project, I’ve had the chance to talk with many non-hams about the project. As you might expect, this generates a few questions to which the fishing comparisons apply…

“What do you do with ham radio?”

I enjoy contesting (the sport of trying to see how many contacts can be made within a defined timeframe – often with a score that is calculated by multiplying by a factor such as the number of countries contacted during that time) and DXing (the hobby of trying to contact as many “countries” as possible) – among many other aspects of the hobby.

“What’s the fun in contesting? Spending a weekend trying to talk to a bunch of places on the radio doesn’t sound very fun.”

Ham radio / fishing comparison #1: Ham radio contesting can be a lot like a bass fishing contest. The contestants in a fishing tournament aren’t out there fishing to put food on the table (what many would say is the primary reason for fishing). They are competing with each other and trying to see how well they can do personally – for the sport of it.

“This DXing thing… If you want to talk to someone on the other side of the world can’t you just call or email them?”

Ham radio / fishing comparison #2: This is a lot like asking a fisherman “why bother fishing when you can simply go to the store to buy fish?” It’s more about the art and science and love of radio… With HF radio propagation (and many other factors), you never really know what you’ll find on the airwaves. That’s what makes it fun.

“Do you really need a tower if you have a radio in your car? Does the tower need to be that tall?”

Ham radio / fishing comparison #3: This question is a lot like asking a guy who competes in bass fishing tournaments if he really needs the boat. Sure, he could simply cast a line from the shoreline – but not if he wants to be competitive. Similarly a tower is more or less a requirement to compete in a ham radio contest.

As for tower height… a tall tower does several things…

• It can lower the take-off angle of a signal (allowing for longer-distance contacts)
• It can help reduce or eliminate the potential for interference with nearby electronics (the antennas are higher and further away from cordless phones, TV sets, etc.)

“Ok, but do we really need to look at that thing? Don’t your neighbors think it’s ugly?”
Thankfully, I haven’t been faced with this one yet. But here is where I might use:

Ham radio / fishing comparison #4: Just like your friendly neighborhood fisherman keeps his bass boat in his backyard, I have to keep my tower and antennas in my backyard. In the event of an emergency (let’s say it’s a flood), your neighbor with the boat might be able to assist by using the boat to transport people or property safely. Likewise, ham radio operators may be called upon to use our equipment in time of an emergency. I am involved in community and national disaster preparedness drills in which ham radio operators use their skills and equipment to handle radio messages for the sake of the public.

How do you explain ham radio to the public at large?