Cuban Five Letter Stations

Are there new changes in ham radio from Cuba now? I was under the impression their operators were limited to 10 watts of power and a simple wire antenna. To my surprise when I worked CO8RRM on 40 meters a few evenings ago, he said his power was 50 watts. He sounded great all along the east coast with his vertical dipole antenna.

Perhaps the extra letter in the call-sign is a designation for higher power and extra privileges? This is my first contact with a Cuban station with five letters......

License requirements in Cuba today resemble the challenges of early ham radio in the United States. My congratulations to Rafael from Baracoa, GITMO for his accomplishment and the great signal into West Virginia. Keep up the great work and I'll be listening for more of those five letter call-signs.

Dayton Hamvention 2014

As difficult as it might seem, this year was my "first" trip to the Dayton Hamvention. No excuses....just sayin; but during my working life at the paint store, I seldom had a weekend "off", and it's a six hour (minimum) round tip from Charleston.

Our club member Eric (AC8LJ) needed to make the trip on Friday (up and back) due to work obligations, and asked me to ride along with him. It was a long day, but a very rewarding one.

What caught my eyes while there? ---Being a "Morse Code" buff, the popular attractions for me were, of course, QRP radios and "keys". My mission at the event was to see "first hand" everything to do with this part of the hobby. Needless to say, the vendors I liked were Elecraft, TenTec, and Hendricks. On the "key" side, were Vibroplex, Begali, and Kent.

Before the return trip to Charleston, I had a new "Vibroplex Straight Key" in my knapsack. 

My focus in radio is very narrow, but personally, I found the QRP and CW vendors to be the busiest people at the hamvention and, Morse Code keys are cherished items for us. There's nothing like the opportunity to actually get the "feel" of a great "quality" key "in your hand". 

Although I didn't get the opportunity to chat with a few of the legends in the  Ham Radio hobby, it was wonderful to see them at this event. In this day of the internet, I enjoy watching (and listening) to several ham radio shows on the web. 

Ted Randall (WB8PUM) with "QSO Radio" was broadcasting "live" from the Hamvention, as well as Bob Heil (K9EID) from "Ham Nation". Gordon West (WB6NOA) was also there with all of the great material he's known for all over the world.

The ARRL was out in full force here with an assortment of information, testing, and forums. I particularly enjoyed talking to the "Boy Scout" group. West Virginia is home of the upcoming "World Jamboree". Although I couldn't work them, (after returning home) their "Special Event Station" was a popular attraction.

The Hamvention trip was a success for me. I saw what was interesting to me, although only a small segment of the hobby. A QRP CW operator can never have "too many keys". My new Vibroplex Straight Key is my "fourth" from this company. One can never have too many keys......

Switzerland on 40 Meters

I've worked Switzerland several times previously (10) but usually on the upper bands. I was surprised to hear and work HB9FIR on 40 meters last night. This was my one and only Swiss station on this band. I was happy to work him!

DXCC # 104 Honduras

The New DX Stations just seem to pop up from nowhere. I caught this station (HR5/F2JD) operating from Copan Honduras this afternoon on the 12 meter band. I can't pull myself away from the chasing these guys even though I'm having some very nice local QSO's on the 40 meter.

Still haven't decided on the next goal, but I'm gearing up for my first trip to the Dayton Hamfest this year. I'm really looking forward to looking at new "keys" and QRP gear.

DX # 103 Guam

Much to my surprise, I made my most distant contact ever with the Island of Guam (KH2L) yesterday. I've often compared chasing DX, or even regular contacts, with fishing because you never know what you're going to catch when you throw the line in the water. Obviously, ten meters was very long. I was hearing very few contacts, but after a few brief attempts I was able to predict his listening frequency. This was a fine fish to catch at 7,775 miles.

I was barely 20 years old when I first set foot on this Island in 1968. My "sailing ship" was the USS Corry (DD-817) and we had begun that journey from Norfolk Virginia. We sailed South past Puerto Rico, transited the Panama Canal, stopped at Mazatlan Mexico, and then North to the port of San Diego California where we spent several days.

I was only a "kid" then and very prone to "peer pressure".

No serious sailor, worth his salt, could be "tattoo free" after leaving San Diego. I was no exception and had my right shoulder etched with a colorful "US Navy Anchor" just before we left for Hawaii. We then set sail for Midway Island, where we re-fueled, and then westward again to Guam.

Guam was a very important strategic Island during the second world war. Only hours, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this island was invaded by the Japanese. The islanders were brutally beaten into submission and remained under their control for several years before American forces re-took the island.

Not to "harp" much about war, but in my reading about this island, I found an article about a Japanese soldier who lived in an underground cave there  for 28 years after the war. He was finally discovered by a couple of fishermen, captured, and returned to civilization on January 24th, 1972.

Shoichi Yokoi  is quoted as saying "It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned". After returning to Japan, he was a well know television personality and an advocate of austere living. He died on September 22, 1997 of a heart attack. 

It is also with much embarrassment, the Navy "tattoo" on my right shoulder still glares at me every day. One thing I've learned over the years is "there's NO glory, and NO romance in war". Perhaps one day, we can all learn to just "get along" and accept our differences with each other. Adolescence is a horrible time of life for everyone. I'm extremely grateful for my maturity these days.

Buro Cards

For a brief moment I though my vision was blurring as I pulled these cards out of the envelope. The top two cards are from a Special Event in Austria. The next three are from a Special Event in Bulgaria. The bottom two are from Slovenia and the Caribbean. 

Cards From the 8th Buro 

DXCC QRP

It's taken a while, but when I finished tallying up my countries, there were 102 countries in the DXCC logbook a few nights ago. I had just sent in my WAS (worked all 50 states) data in February, and received my certificate for that award, just a few weeks ago.

It's taken me about three years to achieve both these awards, with never more than 5 watts of power, and indoor "stealth" antennas. My immediate neighbors still don't know I'm a ham radio operator, and since I live in a historic area, where outside antennas are prohibited, I consider that a good thing. lol

I worked nearly all of my WAS contacts (48) with my Isotron antennas on either 40 meters or 20 meters. Alaska and Hawaii were my two most difficult states; I worked those with a 50 ft length of "Radio Shack" speaker wire which I strung around the perimeter of a spare room in the house. The wire runs from my tuner, across the windows, which have wooden curtain rods, across the hallway, over the top of an "open" wooden door, and is tied off the the "downstairs" wooden stair railing. It's a tough way to do it, and it's a true "random wire", but I've enjoyed every minute of the challenge it took to work those 102 countries.

How did I work DXCC (100 different countries) with such simple antennas, and such a simple station? I attribute my DXCC award to two specific things. Number one was the ability to get my code speed into the 20+ wpm range. Number two was being able to string that "random wire antenna" which allowed me to use "all bands" through my small tuner. 

The process accelerated a little before September of 2012 when I started using "dedicated band dipoles" for my DX contacts. My indoor "upstairs" space is very limited but I'm able to stretch out a dipole for 10 meters and 15 meters. Those two dipoles barely hang between the wooden curtain rod, on one side of the house, and the bathroom window sill, on the opposite side of the house. This picture below shows my "end fed" 10 meter antenna. The 15 meter dipole antenna requires an "open door" and an extended length to the bathroom window frame.

Those two antennas work well on those bands (even indoors) but the 50 foot random wire, which allows me easy access to the 17, 12, and especially the 30 meter band, were the true deciding factors in my DXCC award.

What are my immediate goals now?

There's DXCC on a "single" band, working the "capitol cities" of every country and state, or perhaps working DXCC with "outside antennas" while operating in the field. I'm not sure what it will be now that I have the QRP DXCC award but I'm sure something will soon grab my attention.

The North American QRP CW Club has always been my favorite organization. I hope my addition of the NAQCC DXCC QRP Award will be an inspiration to those of our members who think working over a 100 different countries with five watts, or less, of power and "simple wire antennas" is impossible.

Those 17, 12, and 30 meter contacts were actually done with about 3 watts of power. Never say the word "never" when I comes to QRP. I've been an optimist when it comes to my QRP operations. I'm looking forward to the next challenge, whatever it might be.