VK2/W7BRS QSL
The QSL Cards have arrived from the printer.
The QSL Cards have arrived from the printer.
At first I was depending on anecdotal and past experience of what I could recall working Oceania from the west coast. But that was an incomplete understanding. A friend from the club did me a solid favor and sent me a batch of Propagation Data tables and with that information plus the VOACAP Propagation Wheel feature I had a better idea of what region and what bands to work.The other impact was my local time schedule on the island -- I had to adjust to work more often when the opening was there and less coordinated to my local 'waking time' hours.
A few reasons for me to choose LHI stood out. First, it was relatively desireable. Not super rare, but at least in the mid 60's in terms of most wanted. A few very exciting locations were more desireable in the Most Wanted list, but the history of the island was more interesting to me. Plus, a recent DX'p from members of the Willamette DX Club made it seem approachable. For a first-try DX'p, it had an easier logistics for transport -- almost daily flights - depending on the weather. I would learn later that the weather there is far more chaotic than the reports indicate so I was actually lucky to get into the island. Last, it's an environment that is relatively safe and I wasn't too concerned about personal safety. It's a small island that is sparsely populated with one law enforcement officer for 300-ish people that live on the island. Last, but not least the island is so beautiful and magical for a DX'p.
This is a difficult question to answer. For pure conveneience and ease of installation, the vertical antenna system is ideal. Compact (mostly) and just requires a good set of radials (for typical installations) - if it had been on the beach, the VDA (Vertical Dipole Array) would have been selected -- but the common aspect of the preferred antenna system is a vertical antenna.
But that issue is somewhat academic -- with more weight and shipping allowance, of course a beam antenna would have made a lot of sense. The VDA actually serves both those purposes with the excellent F/B gain ratio, but without the two-element VDA, a vertical wouldn't compete very well on the higher bands as much as a beam. Beams need elevation and that adds a whole long list of infrastructure that would have been ruled out for this particular DX'p to Lord Howe Island.The real heart of the issue is the Location of the Antenna relative to everything else. Permission to place the antenna where I need it to be and with a location that is virtually unaffected by the possibility of coupling with nearby structures is the key. I didn't have that on Lord Howe Island, but I made due with what I had -- and in retrospect it wasn't al that bad -- I worked into EU and SA as predicted. Plus despite a few certain areas in NA, I could reach into NA. Except in all cases, I wasn't very loud. That makes an impact of course -- and I can assign the issue to the antenna location more so than the particular antenna system (assuming vertical or even VDA.I think I also added a note to the answer that spending a lot more time optimizing the antenna for the bands I intended to work would have been time well spent. I used a home-brew clone of the very popular DX Commander antenna. It's a good antenna (the original) and gets good reviews. When deployed in an ideal location, it will perform well. My design was slightly different -- the space between the band-elements was marginally larger and I used aluminum wire rather than copper wire (for weight issues). I remember having a debate with myself if I was going to bring a retail pre-configured vertical like a CrankIR -- I was just really concerned about the weight and the size for this particular DX'p.
This was another interesting question that I wanted to answer more fully in the presentation. I had made copious notes during the Lord Howe DX'p on what I would change about the operation.
Here is the abbreviated list of what would have been different. Not all of these items are purely "things" but aspects or characteristics about the DX'p.
In order to brush up on copying long form QSO, I resumed taking part in the Long Island CW class.
It's a different style of class than those offered by CW-Ops. In LICW, the classes run all week so it's possible to hop-scotch through two or three classes at the same level during the week for more reinforcement. No sign ups, just join the Zoom.
One of the questions that was asked during class got me thinking.
The question was (paraphrased) "Is there any scientific study in literature that this method works?" -- The "this" was referring to the method taught by LICW. For those who haven't done Long Island CW Club classes the method for the most part (at least in the intermediate classes) is based on:
What made me consider this is my own experience. What I've come to realize is that there is almost a 1:1 correspondence between an amateur radio operator learning CW and a method that is ideal for him or her. One size does not fit all.
Seldom do I hear students across the board indicate that the method works uniformly across the class.
My response to the question went along these lines:
For those who like to divide the world in threes, there are three types of copy to deal with.
Whichever style the student gravitates towards, I've noticed that the common element is something that isn't taught but acquired -- confidence. Confidence to just try -- confidence to work simple contests (K1USN SST) or state QSO parties can lead to confidence to calling CQ and that can lead to confidence to doing long-form QSO -- but there is no road map. No one has to do contesting, or CQ'ing or long-form QSO. You end up where you're comfortable. Whichever way you do go, just doing it -- even with the mistakes -- is really valuable because it builds confidence. Being on the air, using the CW mode is the point -- that's the goal. If you'll never be motivated for contesting, then don't contest. Just call CQ and work the stations as you like.
In my experience, nothing beats just doing it. Whatever it is. I do contesting so I can practice Running and copying callsigns for DX. If I wanted to have rag-chew long form QSO in CW, I would. But I don't because it doesn't go to my objectives of running DX pile ups. Contesting is a trial by fire approach -- learning to copy call signs and timing responses to CQ in contests isn't necessarily going to make you better at rag-chew long-form.
Nevertheless, doing anything with CW is going to make it easier to do it the next time and so on. And, if QSO's is your thing, then just call CQ and muddle through. Or if rag-chew long-form QSO is your thing, then drop your call and get into it.
Unless it's a contest situation where people are just trying to keep up rate, no one is really going to care much if you make mistakes. In all the time I worked CW, I found that every QSO over CW was greeted with kindness. "They" want to work you.
I don't know if scholarly papers have been written about methods to teach CW. My guess is whatever those papers say, they'll likely be with a conclusion of "this is the right way to learn CW because we say so." Fair enough. But, no matter what the method is -- gaining confidence is not a lesson plan -- confidence comes from within you. If you want to learn CW, you will.
As Tom Berson, ND2T said "Aspiration without allocation is folly." -- the gist of what is saying is: put the time into leaning and practice those elements that you are weak on. Practice to your weaknesses.
Good luck.
Back home from Visalia 2024. It was a really productive convention.
Here's a brief run-down of some of the talks/sessions that I enjoyed the most
"How NOT to get into the log" put on by Brian Moran, N9ADG. A tongue in cheek way of describing exactly how to get in the log, the right way. Synopsis:
The next day had a full slate of tutorials and sessions on contesting. In that subject there were several very important sessions to hear:
"Train for your weaknesses and Compete your strengths" put on by Tom Berson, ND2T
The take home message for that talk is simply to practice and train on the activities that you are least effective -- "Aspiration without allocation is folly." -- By that Tom meant that in order to train and prepare it will require time (allocation) and dedicated effort. "Put time into the effort that will pay off later" and "A little goes a long way" -- to mean that each iterative session you put into training will accumulate better skill.
He also made some other notes clear "Strength is mental" -- getting stronger at the things about contesting that seem like your weakness is about strengthening your mental acuity to handle the tasks you will have contesting.
And he made a few final comments:
"Study the moves of those you want to emulate" -- a contester you admire and appreciate -- find them on the air and emulate the same methods that you want to aspire to.
As a contest schedule and plan is formed (another thing to do -- plan your attack! Make a schedule for what contest(s) you want to perform and then work backwards from those dates to plan your training and preparation to peak when those events take place. Using any of the numerous contests that occur is the best angle to use. CWT, MST, State QSO Parties, and the CQ WW contests - even the NCCC Sprints -- all good exercises.
Hank W6SX and Rusty W6OAT gave a really lively talk on contesting mechanics and operations. It was a culmination of a lot of the best ideals to strive for when contesting. Slicing up the pile up, handling contacts in the contest -- the bottom line is "Be minimal" DO NOT repeat what is not needed to be repeated.
If the other station comes back to you with their call sign, for instance, there is no need to repeat their call -- they know their own call sign. Just stick to the exchange and the information that is pertinent to finishing the contact. Ending the QSO in a contest comes down to a simple TU (thank you) or 73 -- and as much as there is debate among experienced contesters about using TU vs 73 to end the QSO, you will have to decide for yourself. TU is of course a speedier way to end than 73, but that doesn't mean you are required to use it. Going back to what Tom ND2T said -- emulate the behaviors that you want to strive for in other experienced contesters.
The best part of Hank and Rusty's talk was the simulation of a live SSB pile up.
Hank called CQ to the room (emulating SSB contesting) and in the room dozens of attendees tried to shout out their calls (the pile up) and we saw and heard Hank work the room just as if it was on the HF band. It illustrated a few points that were already discussed:
There were two other talks that the conference had. I missed the H44WA talk from Robin, WA7CPA (I had seen the presentation at the Western Washington DX Club meeting, but I still wanted to hear Robin's re-telling of the story -- I was in the Contest Academy at the time). H40WA was reviewed by Rob, N7QT on the Sunday breakfast session and that was a really engaging story about the difficulties for working that province in the Solomon Islands.
I was really glad to see the Western Washington DX Club so well represented at the convention -- both in terms of members being there and also the number of presentations given by our own WWDXC DX'peditioners.
Nice job to Robin, Rob, and shout out to Brian Moran, N9ADG for very effective work and support patching the WSJT-X to allow for streamlined F/H QSO rate.
The convention itself had slightly less attendees than last year, but it was still a very rousing and successful convention. Another highlight were the dinners that occurred during the weekend -- to the side of the convention were a number of fine restaurants and in the evenings, a few people gathered to share a meal and talk DX, and all sorts of things in a smaller setting. I was glad to be able to attend a couple of these. I had a great time listening and the engagement was really helpful.
We didn't have a huge number of third parties at the vendor area. It was reduced somewhat from the last convention in 2023. However, it was good to see representation from the Flex Radio company as well as Elecraft -- who put out some demos of their products. The new hand-held KH1 CW transceiver was remarkable. Wayne, N6KR very enthusiastically showed all of the features of the KH1 and the physical design that went into the device -- it's a really compact HF radio (80-15m). The picnic-table operators or SOTA folks will appreciate it.
The convention was organized by an integrated cooperation between the Northern California DX Club and the Southern California DX club and they pulled off a great convention -- well organized and really satisfying.
I met a few friends who were first-timers to the convention. I want to mention a couple:
Jim, N7AUE -- I had worked Jim many times on MST and CWT so it was fun to meet him F2F. I think he had a great time at the convention. The only advice I gave him was "For this convention especially, become an extrovert and talk to as many DX'ers as you can -- you'll find they want to help and the connections you make will be really important."
Danny, KX7DX -- His first IDXC. I carpooled with Danny and Rusty from the Fresno airport to the convention and it was great to hear Danny remark about what he enjoyed about the convention.
It was a whirlwind of meeting new people this year. At the after-hours dinners especially.
I got to know better some of the active DX'ers and contesters that I have read about before.
Just the same message -- if you haven't gone to IDXC, go. If you are into chasing DX, or being the DX, go. And if you enjoy the company of friendly amateur radio operators who live and work in that field (DX and Contesting), then go. You will have a great time.
See you next year!
Picture of the author at the special event station K6V handing out signal reports
VK2/W7BRS QSL The QSL Cards have arrived from the printer. You can get a QSL card two ways: By the QSL Manager, M0URX (Highly Recommend...