I worked G1A (UK Young Contesters) during the CQ WPX CW contest a couple of weekends ago and wanted to send for a QSL card. The QRZ page said it was coming soon so I emailed the QRZ admin contact and he indicated that for the 2009 CQ WPX CW contest, the QSL Manager for G1A is M0DXR. M0DXR’s QRZ page indicates QSL via the bureau is fine.
73,
K2DSL
As mentioned in my CQ WPX CW Contest Summary, I logged a new DXCC thanks to GJ3WW in the entity of Jersey. Well last night it looks like G3WW uploaded his contacts for his contest call and I have a new one confirmed!
73,
K2DSL
I was just casually listening on the radio and doing other things when I noticed a DX cluster spot for a RTTY station. I tried to find that station, which I didn’t, but I did find a station calling CQ Triple Play NJ and some other states so I came back to him. It was KA7HUO in Montana. You can never find a MT station when you need one and here there was actually looking for NJ. Go figure!
Thanks for the contact Jess and good luck on the Triple Play Award.
73,
K2DSL
Honey, I found an antenna that I’m sure with some shrubs and plants, no one would even notice I put it up!
73,
K2DSL
This past weekend I was able to operate in the 2009 CQ WPX CW Contest. I again used the computer to assist in the decoding and sending of morse code. For the contest I was able to make a total of 409 contacts. Those contacts cover 25 of the 40 CQ zones and 67 unique DXCC entities. I was able to log one new DXCC which is Jersey, an island located just off the north east coast of France.
I was also able to log 2 New Zealand stations which were coming in nice and loud and came back to my the first time I put my call out to each. I also logged 4 Japan stations.
Band QSOs Pts WPX 3.5 3 3 0 7 81 223 39 14 284 569 232 21 41 65 15 Total 409 860 286 Score : 245,960 73, K2DSL
http://www.levinecentral.com/ham/grid_square.php has been updated to add in the ability to specify a 4 or 6 character grid locator and show it on the map (Thanks K2DBK for the suggestion).
I also added in the ability to clear the form and if a call sign is entered it links to the QRZ page for that call.
The specifics of the page are in the last post – New and improved Maidenhead Grid Square Locator
73,
K2DSL
I have mentioned a few times (most recently at Find that maidenhead grid locator for an address) about Maidenhead Grid Square Locators and my desire to have them as part of the log for each contact. It helps show distance as well as for mapping and just overall complete information on a contact.
The QRZ.com page that allows you to enter an address and calculate a grid locator hasn’t worked for half a year despite multiple requests to have someone look into it. Someone recently suggested using APRS.fi to do it and that works fine. But in the end I decided to write my own, which probably took more time to find the right formulas to convert between lat/long and the grid square then to code the actual page.
At http://www.levinecentral.com/ham/grid_square.php is the web page I put together. You can enter in an address or a call sign. If a call sign is entered, I pull address info from QRZ.com and the process continues from there. The address is then processed by Google and it comes back with either a latitude/longitude for that address or that it didn’t find anything. If Google doesn’t find a hit, I start stripping the address down piece by piece and try again.
Once a hit is found I calculate the grid square based on the latitude and longitude returned by Google. I place a map point at that location (usually the location specified or associate to the call sign) with the info as well as the grid location displayed at the top of the page for quick reference. If the address was manipulated, the address which returned results is displayed. I then can calculate one of the corner points for the maidenhead grid square locator border and draw a rectangle that represents the area for the grid square the location is within.
There is nothing very magical about the page but I wanted something to do what I needed and how I wanted it done so what better way to get that then writing it yourself! The current Google mapping framework I use is the same as used by the Repeater Mapping pages which is great for getting something built quickly. Depending on how much more I might want to add to this page, I might need to use a different Google toolset or deal with the Google API directly.
I’ve looked and looked at the terms of use for the QRZ lookup which is using my paid account. I can’t find anything that seems to disallow what I’m doing posted on the web site or distributed to me when I signed up. Hopefully it is ok. Please let me know how you like it. I know for me and finding grid square locators for call signs/addresses that QRZ doesn’t already have, it will save me a lot of time.
73,
K2DSL
Today in the mail I recieved a nice QSL card from ST2EB confirming our 20m RTTY contact in April. This was my first contact and confirmation for that DXCC. I had sent Eihab my QSL card directly shortly after the contact was made. Thank you Eihab for turning around your QSL card so quickly!
73,
K2DSL
The Daily DX at http://www.dailydx.com is a fantastic resource. It’s primary offering is a pay service where for a very reasonable fee (6 months or annually) you get a daily (Mon-Fri) newsletter emailed to you that is filled with information on all things related to DXing. Without paying for the subscription (and I highly recommend the paid subscription), there are multiple free resources available.
First is that you can get a two week trial, without any obligation, by filling out the form at http://www.dailydx.com/trial.htm and enjoy 10 days worth of quality DX info.
Second is some info is available on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dailydx, again at no cost to anyone.
Third is there’s a DX calendar available to anyone at http://dailydx.com/Calendar.htm and it is updated frequently with a list of all the DX stations and when/where they are operating from. This page alone is a great resource for any DXer and available free to all.
And last but not least is the Daily DX site now provides a free search of the back issues of the daily newsletter with the exception of the last 6-8 weeks. You can search the back issues right on the Daily DX home page.
I suggest you sign up for the 2 week trial and I’m sure you’ll agree, if you do any DXing, that the newsletter provides valuable information to make your DXing more enjoyable.
73,
K2DSL
I did almost no operating over the 3 day holiday weekend. On Saturday we had our local club hamfest and the weather and turnout was spectacular. I think it was the largest attendance by both sellers and buyers since I have had my license and attended the club’s hamfests.
I helped out very early in the morning as vendors and buyers arrived. While one fellow was pulling up to pay I noticed he had some beams in the back and asked him about them. One was a nice 2 meter beam and he said $25 so I said to hold it for me and I will be by in a few to pay for it and pick it up. It turned out to be a nice 4 element Cushcraft 2m beam that looks like it goes for $80-$100 new. This one, though used, is in magnificent shape and according to the seller was used inside someone’s attic.
I browsed a bit more before heading in to help with the VE test session that was taking place. There were 6 applicants which is a lot smaller then past hamfests. 5 passed their exams made up of a new Tech, 2 new Generals and 2 new Extras. Congrats to all of them.
I then picked up an 8 pole fiberglass mast kit that goes up 30 or 40 feet and comes with a base, guy rings and a duffle bag to carry it all. I thought this would be good for testing things at home or portable operations. The whole kit was $40.
I also picked up a $10 component which is a SO-239 connector in a plastic housing with a stiff wire coming out of each side to connect to 2 ends of a wire antenna. Might use it for a loop or moxon antenna. I saw them online and was hoping to find one here to try out. I also grabbed some misc connectors and adapters to have handy.
The last item other then a taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwich was 100 feet of low loss coax to have around for use with a 2m or 6m antenna. The cable is supposed to have a <2 db loss over 100 feet.
I was looking for another pair of the metal rope grip devices I use on my G5RV to hold the ropes in place but didn’t see anyone with those. I can get them online if I need them.
The next hamfest I will likely hit is a large one in western NJ in mid July unless I go to one in Central New Jersey in mid June, but that is only if I need something. There is also another local Northern NJ hamfest in mid August which I have been away for the past 2 years that I will try to attend if I am around.
73,
K2DSL