My Most Recent QSO's

Friday, January 3, 2014

My 2013 Radio Summary





How has the radio year 2013 been to you? Have you made additions to your shack? Did Santa bring you unexpected toys this year? 

The year 2013 has been good to me with the beginning of the new WV Chapter (October) and a lot more activity with my QRP station. I'm totaling up my contacts for the year and am amazed at some of the statistics.

Firstly, I added a new Vibroplex Standard Iambic Paddle to the shack this year which increased my speed a bit. I also have a magnetic action Vibroplex Iambic Paddle which I like very much. I've found them both to be excellent keys, and maybe I'm just getting old and my eyes are seeing things from a different perspective, but I'm proud to say they're made in the USA.  I can now comfortably work many more of those long distance DX stations.

I also added a 50 ft indoor random wire antenna which I can tune on all bands. And speaking of DX stations, I worked a DX station for 146 continuous days before missing a day due to bad propagation conditions. The DX contacts picked up again soon afterwards, and as I look at the current log book, I see 426 DX contacts for this year. 

Considering that I worked a total of 723 stations in 2013, the percentage turns out to be almost 60% in the DX category. Working DX has become an obsession for me although I still enjoy a good chat with my fellow NAQCC members on any band. 

I made some great contacts this year. I've worked both Alaska and Hawaii, two stations in Japan,Nigeria; and my longest distant station yet with a contact in Oman. (7,429 miles) 

Although the month of December has been both too cold, and too busy, to spend much time operating outside on the radio; I've enjoyed meeting new members, as well as seeing old friends, and operating outdoors when the weather is co-operative.

I doubt January and February will be an active "field" time for the West Virginia Chapter of the NAQCC Club but we still continue to meet on the second Wednesday every month for breakfast and will continue our weekly nets on Tuesday nights on 40 or 80 meters. 

Fill me in on your radio activity for the year 2013....

I find it absolutely amazing, to accomplish so much, with so little, in the QRP realm. I can work distant stations regularly with only a few watts and a simple wire antenna. 

I know you can do the same thing with your QRP station. Morse code only requires a few watts to work the entire world. 

How has the year 2013 been to you? 

Happy Trails, 

8 comments:

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Hello John, well you know how 2013 turned out for me from my blog. But I found it still amazing what you work and what DX you made last year. There not many that equal that. It's easy to buy a big beam and a expensive radio and may be a amplifier to make DX. But doing it QRP and with indoor antenna's....it's a miracle. 73, Bas

Paul Stam PAØK said...

Hi John, very good results. Very amazing that 50ft random wire of yours. Congrats! 73 Paul

Jspiker said...

Hello Bas,

I'm quite happy with my contacts considering my simple station and my location in the middle of town.

Just goes to show how much fun a person can have with just a few watts and not much more.

Jspiker said...

Hello Paul,

I wonder what it would be like to use a big beam antenna sometimes but
can't say I'd spend the bucks on one, even if I had the space and the money.

I like the idea of getting outside and being portable.

Bert, PA1B said...

Hello John, it's great to see the fablulous DX results with a few watts and an indoor antenna. Well done.
Wish you good results and a lot of fun in 2014. 73, Bert

Jspiker said...

Hello Bert,

Keeping things simple is a top priority for me. Hihi

Perhaps 2014 will be my DXCC year. I'm really close now.

This Winding Road said...

Looks like a pretty awesome year, John! I'm curious, being in the center of town, do you experience much QRN? I have a transformer here which feeds our house that is the cause of most of mine, but a few other sources I have yet to identify. If I had a good station here I would worry more about it. Still hoping to catch you on the bands sometime for a nice QSO.

I hope 2014 brings many more DX opportunities to you, John! I'm looking forward to another year of reading your QRP DX adventures. Happy New Year from MA! 73, Phil

Jspiker said...

Hello Phil,

Yes...I have a lot of electrical noise here but most seems to be on the lower sections of the bands like 80 meters.

When I get outdoors, I feel like I'm in paradise. Hihi

I'm also looking forward to hearing about your new surroundings and a much more simple station.

There's still room for lot's of good fun on the bands! Looking forward to working you on the bands soon.