Guernsey Island in the English Channel

This morning I found a great opening towards the Northeastern sections of Europe. The 12 meter band seemed to be wide open and I easily worked stations in Denmark, Spain and even Italy. OZ1IKY in Denmark was weak but workable. EA7AJR was pushing a fantastic signal from Spain and IK3VUT sounded like he was right next door.

Luca (IK3VUT) even took a few minutes to say congratulations on my 3 watt QRP signal!

My most prized catch was MU0FAL on the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel. The "MU" caught my ear quickly; since I anticipated a new DX Country. I looked at my DX list but couldn't find it anywhere.

A quick look at Wikipedia made it clear that it's a United Kingdom entity (or at least looks to the Untied Kingdom for military protection). It's a fascinating read and I'll spend more time this afternoon looking at their history.

This is one of the benefits of Ham radio in my opinion; since I love to read about the lives of other people in different countries. Sad to say, I had never heard of this island, and if not for the radio hobby, would not be aware of this VERY interesting place. In some ways, it makes me think of Whales in the UK.

All these contacts this morning were at better than 3,000 miles, and at three watts power, bring my "1000 MPW" contacts to 43. Today made my 234th DX contact.

St Kitts and Nevis Islands

I'm always happy when I work another new DX entity (#60). This evening I worked V44KAO,  in the Leeward Islands. A mere 1, 840 miles from here; but still an island I've not work before, and a  NEW entry in the log book.  The Caribbean Islands and South American areas are still good hunting grounds for me with several other possibilities for new contacts. I hope to work several more this winter. I worked this station on the 30 meter band.

I love the new Vibroplex Iambic Key as it's quite easy to send above 20 wpm. I dream of those warm islands as the winter months move toward us. It would be nice to stroll along the warm sandy beaches in this area?

New Key

The latest addition to the N8ZYA radio shack is this Vibroplex Standard Iambic Key. Early testing and adjusting results are very promising. I'm still "fine tuning" it but it's easily capable of 20 + WPM. It will take a few days to get it "just right" for my own "personal settings". One of the best features that I like about this key is the "Made in America" nameplate. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything in this country that is actually manufactured here. The serial number on this key is # 401727. They're as much a "collectors item" as they are a fine, quality, precision made key. I'm proud to own this one.

October Summary

October was a good month for me with most of my contacts on the 30 meter band. I worked 61 stations, 16 were NAQCC stations (my favorite pastime), 11 more 1,000 MPW stations ( I've lost count now) , 26 DX stations, and another 13 QRP stations.

I thought the above card (EA3NT) was an interesting one which I worked a few days ago. Tonight I worked PR7PO on the very far side of Brazil.

My longest contact this month was 5N7M in Abuja, Nigeria at a distance of 5,784 miles.

I've been working all my stations with 3 watts of power this month.