A QRP DX Card from Africa

I don't get many "QRP" DX Cards in the electronic mail box. This one was a welcome sight in the E-QSL Mail Box this morning. It's for a contact I made with OK1DMP/ EA8 when he was set up on a hotel balcony in the Canary Islands. It's near the coast of Africa. We exchanged several e-mails at the time; but I never got a card for the contact. Back in March of 2011, I was using my Isotron 18" indoor antenna. I was also using 5 watts of power. Here's a clipping from the previous e-mail:

I have used FT-817 (2.5W out), “stealth” antenna was 10m LW from hotel balcony at the 3-rd floor to tree about 8m up and with GP counterpoise (4x5m wire) on the balcony.

At the time, this was an unusual contact for me. I knew the Call sign was normally from the Czech Republic. I was confused about the / EA8 and Milan explained it this way:

The answer is simple. EA8/ means the was portable on Canary Island. My home call OK1DMP is definitely Czech Republic but EA8/OK1DMP was my call I have used during my holiday in Canary Islands EA8. The QTH was Fuerteventura Island, Costa Calma (small town at the south-east coast), hotel Fuerteventura Playa (you can see it on Internet, Google Earth and other mapping applications). So, the QSO you achieved is with EA8 DXCC country, NOT with the Czech Republic. Our QSO was difficult because of QSB but congrats to your indoor antenna. I have experimented with magnetic loops but the strong wind blowing at Canary Islands moved with the antenna and destroyed the critical antenna frequency adjustment, so I have refused it…..

My wife and I are playing "Bridge" this evening with some good friends; so no DX attempts will be made tonight. (at least till after the bewitching hour)

Two other cards arrived with this batch from the E-QSL site. One was from Bert F6HKA in France. I placed it on the previous post. The other was from the K3Y/2 station I worked in New York yesterday.

 I love those "lighthouse" cards. I have plans to send some out this summer from West Virginia. I wrote about it a few entries ago. You can be assured it's the ONLY lighthouse in the mountains. hihi

Italy and Bulgaria this Morning on 17

Yesterday evenings contact into the Dominican Republic was technically a contact for today considering GMT times and dates; but this morning I hit the jackpot with two stations between 4,450 miles and 5,169 miles.

The first was IK2SND in northern Italy near the Swiss border. It was a weak signal but fortunately the operator was patient and repeated his call several times in order for me to verify it correctly. I was only able to work him on the high nulls of the signal. I was amazed he could hear me.

The second station was a "nightmare".... but finally resolved due to "one" posting on the DX cluster by WA3GM in Pennsylvania. I sent Greg (WA3GM) an e-mail expressing my gratitude for his efforts. I saw no other posting and no other stations working this club station in Bulgaria. (he was not visible on the cluster when I worked him)

This club call was unbelievably confusing for me. I knew it was in Bulgaria but, despite my best efforts, I could NOT copy the entire string of characters and numbers. I'm not a high speed CW op but can usually copy around 25 WPM (DX contact). Despite my best efforts, I could NOT get this operator to slow down. He moved on quickly when he repeated my call correctly and I acknowledged with a QSL.

I found this call VERY difficult to copy  ------     LZ1771SDG  -----    

This club station isn't the first I've worked in Bulgaria,  but was undoubtedly the most difficult for me to copy. Without the spot on the cluster, I would have had to write this off at a loss.

This morning was my 6th contact into Bulgaria and my 14th into Italy.

HI3TEJ Dominican Republic

I listened to and attempted to work HI3TEJ in the Dominican Republic for at least half an hour before I heard my call sign repeated back to me with the customary 559 report. He was working a LOT of stations but I heard him clearly on the 30 meter band. My persistence payed off for this NEW DX entity in the log book.

The Caribbean area is an opportunity for new contacts for me. There's still a few islands down there which I've yet to work.

I usually use the RIT control for these "split" contacts but actually set the rig up to "shift" when I transmitted on this contact. There was quite a "beehive" on this one. I like this feature on the IC-703. It's very user friendly and easy to use. Working "split" with this rig is easy as slicing butter.

Beginning the first of this year, I'm trying to work at least one DX station every day. I feel confident with that goal and today is day three.   My 3 watts and 50 ft of speaker wire is doing just fine so far.

I hope propagation continues on its current course.

F6HKA France

This mornings DX contact on 17 meters was F6HKA near Limoges France. Bert and I have worked several times in the last few years. I usually work him on 20 meters (4 times), once on 15 meters, but this morning was the first time on 17 meters. The "window" opened early today about 9:45 am local time.

I attended a wake for a fellow hiker this morning at 10am. Didn't have time to work another DX station before leaving for the drive to the funeral home. Funerals have turned into social events since I've retired. It seems every month someone passed onto the other side.

I heard Hawaii again on 30 meters (WH7W)  last night;  but way too weak to work. I also heard what I thought was KL4E on 40 meters. I embarrassingly tried to work him because his signal was very strong.

High speed CW (near 30 wpm) makes it easy for me to miss a "dot", and this station turned out to be KR4E. What a difference a "dot" can make....

He slowed down and worked me. It was a mistake on my part. I sent him an e-mail apologizing for the interruption.  I could barely hear the other station and thought he was about to sign off the air for the night.

Alaska continues to elude me as well as Hawaii. I'm in a difficult spot to work either of these states.

OE3KAB Vienna Austria

My first contact of the new year was Karl (OE3KAB) near Vienna Austria and it was nice to start the new year this way. He had just finished a QSO and I managed to get his attention for a few moments. We exchanged weather reports, antennas, rigs and power levels. It was more than just a handshake. To make the contact a little sweeter, Karl was 4,630 miles from me and qualifies as a 1000 MPW QSO. He was my fourth contact in this country.

Vienna is a beautiful city which has wonderful music. My favorite is Mozart and I listen to him often. We were there a few years ago while traveling down the Danube and Rhine Rivers towards Amsterdam. Marilyn and I were fortunate to hear a live symphony while we were in this city; actually not far from the snapshot below. (Wikipedia)

There were also two new cards in the mailbox this morning, although I had to reject one of them because it wasn't listed in my log book.

This card from Belgium is a good one :

Karl has an E-QSL account and I sent him my card. I hope to receive his soon as a remembrance of my  first 2013 contact.

EA5DWS Spain

My DX contact this morning was on the very far side of Spain at 4,228 miles. It was another "handshake" but Salva (EA5DWS) was using a paddle and congratulated me on my 3 watt QRP signal. We exchanged names, RST, and QTH's.

I wasn't hearing much on the bands this morning despite good propagation. Salva was "out in the open" on the 17 meter band. I worked him "just because I could". Countries in eastern Europe are fairly easy for me to work. Spain is pretty common "catch" for me. This station is my 20th from Spain in the log book.

The wife and I will be dancing tonight at a New Years party. I'm looking forward to the annual celebration which is just up the street. Our favorites are the Waltz, the Fox Trot, and the Rumba. We do a good Tango also...... It's lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.

Here's a nice Waltz done by a couple at one of our states finest Hotels a few years ago. 

LX1NO Luxembourg

It was difficult to get a good grip on LX1NO in Luxembourg this morning but after a few repetitions (on my part) we completed the "handshake" and moved onward looking for other stations. I worked this station on the 17 meter band.  Luxembourg is one of the most prosperous and developed countries in the world. It has an advanced economy and one of the worlds highest per capita incomes. There's a lot of banks here.....

Unlike most European stations, I've only worked this country one time previously.

Switching over to 30 meters, I worked two nice QRP stations in the US. Bob (KB3ENU) was in Galena Maryland and using a K-1 @ 5W into a dipole. Soon afterwards I worked AK4JA in Newman Georgia. He was using a Yeasu 817 @ 5W into a vertical dipole.

There's light snow on the ground here this morning. I needed to get the dog outside for his morning walk. The temperature was 26 degrees (f), so he wore his winter coat.