Tonights contacts including a unique special event

Contacts

After eating dinner I popped on the radio and made some good contacts on 20m and 17m.  On 17m I made contact with CU7APP in Portugal. Signal was weak but we were able to make contact and exchange signals and info.  Next on 17m I made contact with Joe in the Cayman Islands. Can’t not think of the commercial/jingle when you think Cayman Islands.

Switching to 20m and just bouncing around the dial, I heard a station calling CQ. It was NU5DE which I mention in my last blog post. They are a special event station for the Naturist Amateur Radio Club. What a coincidence that I had just mentioned them and I randomly found and made contact. Bob was the operator when I made the contact.

Also on 20m I made my first contact with Italy. IZ8JAI, Domenico, was the operator. Took a couple of times but we were able to exchange signals and names. Nice to be able to check off Italy as well as a few countries I had not yet logged. Now time for the

Special Event Stations

Contacts

Something that I find pretty neat right now is trying to contact special event stations. You can find them in QST magazine or on the ARRL Special Events web page.  This past weekend was July 4th so there were a bunch available – probably over a dozen. Most seem to provide some certificate or special QSL if you are able to make contact with them and follow up via postal mail.

So, this past weekend I made contact with as many of them as I could. I found it funny that there was usually no issue contacting those that were farther away from me, yet the closest one to me I just couldn’t make contact with because I couldn’t hear them or they couldn’t hear me.  They are the NJ DX Association and they are operating the special event station W2B for a few more days so maybe I can sneak in a quick contact with them.

Looks like a few more special event stations are scheduled for this upcoming weekend. There’s a large local hamfest on Sunday and the IARU HF World Championship contest too, so plenty to do this weekend.  There’s a special event station for a Nude Awareness Celebration with the call of NU5DE. I wonder what that QSL card looks like?

There’s a bunch of special event stations this upcoming weekend for the Collins 50th Anniversary of their S-line. If you contact 4 stations, you get a special certificate. Something to try for with all the stations except one being US based and one in France.

My Setup

Antennas, Equipment

When I first received my license, i purchased a Kenwood TH-D7AG dual band APRS enabled handheld from KJI Electronics. I also purchased an inexpensive mobile antenna. I used it primarily for VHF repeater activity. Over time, I purchased a Mirage BD-35 dual band amp off eBay along with a MFJ-4225MV power supply to use at home. I subsequently purchased a Diamond X200A antenna I have off my bedroom balcony. I used this setup for repeater communications at home or in the car. I also had the TH-D7AG connected to my notebook and often ran UI-View APRS software. In the car the BD-35 is used with the HT and the mobile antenna for good communications.

In May, from a generous friend I borrowed an older ICOM 706 HF radio, LDG antenna tuner, Astron power supply and G5RV Junior type dipole. This was my first dip into HF and pretty exciting to hear all those far away stations. Based on how I had the G5RV Jr installed, I was never able to make contact. I subsequently purchased a True-Talk G5RV antenna and have it strung across my propery. Once that was up I was able to make contact with DX stations. Field Day was coming and I needed to return the loaner IC-706 so I placed an order (from HRO) for a Kenwood TS-2000.

Besides the TS-2000 I purchased my own an Ashtron power supply for the radio and a Diamond duplexer to split my dual band VHF/UHF vertical into the distinct VHF and UHF connections needed on the TS-2000. The TS-2000 arrived just before Field Day and I’ve been on the air with it ever since. It’s a tremendously powerful and sophisticated radio which I’m learning how to make it do what I want. I look forward to years of enjoyment and learning with the TS-2000. I have the TS-2000 connected to my notebook via a RS-232 cable and run HRD (Ham Radio Deluxe) to control it and for logging. I also use N1MM for some light contesting.

About K2DSL

Misc

My name is David and my call is K2DSL. Here’s a brief intro of who I am.

With the Internet, there isn’t too much privacy so there’s not much and can say about myself you couldn’t find on your own with some poking. I live in Waldwick, NJ and I’m married with 2 teenage daughters. I’m in the IT field and have been been so my whole career.

I have always been interested in radio having a CB when I turned 13 and scanners throughout my life. In the summer of 2007 I decided to go get my ham radio license. I took the tech test in August and passed with 100%. The call sign I was issued was KC2SAU and I immediately applied for K2DSL. In Oct 2007 I took the General test and passed. There’s a big difference in privileges and very worth the studying.

After passing the General, I applied for being a VE. As a General, you can only grade Tech tests in a VE session.

I just started to study the material for the Extra test. There’s a few reasons I’m going for Extra. The first is that as a VE, I would be able to grade all classes and not just Tech. The second reason is once you’re on HF, seeing the stations on the frequencies you don’t yet have privileges for makes you nuts :-)

That’s a quick overview and I’ll add additional posts about my equipment, my club, my experiences and whatever else comes to mind. I have other sites at http://www.levinecentral.com which you can also check out.

73,
K2DSL