WVDXA Supports Clublog Again

Upon unanimous consent of the membership, 'da Prez made a donation to Clublog in the name of the WVDXA in the amount of $102.01 U.S. (£71.27 British Pounds).  This will help support the operation of this great resource that many of us use at least weekly (if not daily!)  The extra $2 in this donation was to make up for a $98 donation in the past.  Currently the WVDXA has donated a total of $700 to Club Log over the last 9 years.

Below are comments about the expenses of Clublog from their website:

There are two main areas of cost: equipment costs for the servers, and running costs for the hosting and electricity.

Club Log's equipment costs have been covered with significant donations by DX foundations. The running costs are all paid by Club Log users who choose to donate. Just 1% of Club Log's users make a donation each year — please consider becoming one of them!

vy 73,

Michael, G7VJR 

Equipment costs

Club Log runs on two high-performance Intel servers. A new primary server was purchased in October 2019 at a cost of £8,500 (approximately $11,000). Additional parts costing £2,000 were also purchased.

A more full description of the hardware required by Club Log can be found HERE.  If you have not thought about what is behind these web resources you regularly use, it's worthwhile to check out the above link.

As you can see below, our donation has already been accepted.

February 2021 WVDXA "Virtual" Meeting

The WVDXA has moved forward quite a bit with the recent purchase of an annual Zoom license.  In our prior meetings we were limited to a 40-minute long meeting using the FREE Zoom platform.  Now, with our license, we can have meetings up to 30 HOURS in length, up to 100 participants, and we can record the meeting to the "Cloud."  

Dave, WA8WV, the WVDXA Treasurer thanks the THIRTY (30) WVDXA members who contributed to the purchase of this license!  That was a fantastic outpouring from the group and, after our first use of the licensed product, I feel 100% certain it will provide us with a great benefit.

On February 6, 2021, we had the first meeting using the licensed version of Zoom.  It was a GREAT get-together!  A total of 31 attendees joined us including hams from all over the state of West Virginia as well as, CA, GA, OH, AL, PA, IA, NC, IN, and FL!  This was possibly the best “Virtual” meeting of the WVDXA so far.  You can see on the top right a screenshot of 30 of those who attended.  Click on any image to see a larger version.

The WVDXA's "DX'peditioner Extraordinaire" Hal, W8HC, gave a wonderful presentation entitled 

C6AGU in the 2020 CQWW CW Contest and ARRL 160m CW Contest:  Testing RIB (Radio in a Box) Technology in a DXpedition Environment

Hal detailed his recent trip where he operated from C6AGU while testing out the brand-new ham radio technology called "Radio in a Box" (or RIB for short.)  This new technology is mind-blowing and promises to provide DX'ers with the opportunity to work some of the rarest of the rare entities.

On the right you can see an image of the RIB concept and a Block Diagram of what's "In the Box."  The concept is amazing!  The basic idea is that a complete radio station is contained in a Pelican case including power supplies, a Flex 6700 series SDR, a 1.5 kW amp, Ethernet and Data Control hardware, a water cooling system to keep the box from getting too warm, and a 900 MHz Wi-FI Radio Bridge.  This concept allows the equipment to exist on, say, an island (along with antennas and a generator) while the operators are onboard a ship anchored off-shore and they control the station remotely. 

This means no people are living/camping on the island and that means there is a minimum environmental impact on the island.  The so-called “footprint” of the operation is minimized and no time is wasted setting up and maintaining the support infrastructure for the operators.  Only once a day will 2 people be needed to visit the island, top off the generators, do maintenance and make inspections. 

As mentioned above, the new Zoom license allows us to record meetings.  The following link is to the recording of this WVDXA Meeting's Presentation (minus the first 20 minutes.)  It is 55 minutes long and contains the comments at the end of the meeting as well.  Click on the link below and then enter the Passcode.

W8HC's Presentation of "Radio in a Box"

Passcode: ZycM!+s1

The operators of the C6AGU test were guests of George Wallner, AA7JV, aboard his brand-new ship, the M/Y "Magnet."  George helped design and had this vessel built by Metal Shark for the reasons he states below:

“I wanted a serious, rugged, purpose-built vessel capable of reaching the remote, unspoiled destinations that you can’t get to with an airplane. With Magnet, I can travel quickly to faraway places, and everyone on board can enjoy the adventure. Upon arrival, we can stay for extended periods, independently and comfortably, without reliance on a large crew.”

George continues, "I also wanted to be able to work on board, continue with my product development and testing activities at sea. I worked closely with Metal Shark over an extended period to execute my vision, to create this tool for recreational exploration, and it is very rewarding to finally experience Magnet underway. So far, I have been most impressed by this vessel’s stability, even at speed in heavy seas.”

Above is an image of this unbelievable ship.  If you click HERE, you can see a short video of the M/Y Magnet under-way.  WOW!  It is a tri-deck, twin-hulled 158-foot catamaran which can cross the Atlantic 4 times on a single tank of gas. It has space for 10 guests plus refrigerated storage, wine cellar and workshop on the lower decks within the twin hulls.

With the creation of this "Radio in a Box" technology, the DX'ing community can now hope, in the not too distant future, to reap the benefits of the hard work these "Pioneers" have done and continue to do.  It will be a major step forward in DX'ing once one of these RIB operations happens from a super rare location!

Fourth WVDXA "Virtual" Meeting

August 15, 2020, "Virtual" Meeting

Well this was a fantastic gathering of the WVDXA!  Saturday, August 15, 2020, SIXTEEN members of the WVDXA took the time and made the effort to show up AND to participate in a "virtual" gathering via Zoom.  Attendance was up 60% over the June meeting which was really good to see.

You can see a screenshot of the meeting on the left side of this Post.  Click on the picture to see a larger image.  

New members were welcomed, all members introduced themselves, and announcements were made about the WV State ARRL Convention next Saturday and about the current donations being taken by Hal, W8HC, for the JXØX DX'pedition.  Also, lots of information was exchanged back and forth, and members showed off their newly acquired WVDXA Mugs plus some recent awards and QSL's.  Charlie, N8RR, showed off his 3,000 ARRL Challenge Award and that garnered the greatest response from the group!

It was announced that the WV State ARRL Convention, usually held at Jackson's Mill near Weston, WV, this year will be held on ZOOM next Saturday, August 22, 2020.    Remember that the DX Forum is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 22nd.  The Topic will be "VP6R Pitcairn Island 2019 DX'pedition" presented by WVDXA member, Hal Turley, W8HC.  Details and a schedule of events can be found on the State Amateur Radio Council's website here:  http://qsl.net/wvsarc/

We had a great number of WVDXA members attend this meeting from outside the state of West Virginia.  Those were:

Don, W8UZ, Woodburn, IN
Tom, K8TW, Columbus, OH
Wey, K8EAB, Cumming, GA
John, W4ER, Mobile, AL
Bert, N8NN, Summerfield, FL

Also, a moment of silence was observed to honor the passing of WVDXA member, Karl Thompson, K8KT.  He was an outstanding ham and an even better "gentleman."  He will be missed by many! 

The meeting ended very abruptly when the 40-minute time limit was reached.  In the past, Zoom has given us some grace beyond that 40-minutes but today, the clock ran out suddenly.  Lesson learned for future meetings.

If you have not joined the WVDXA "Virtual" meetings, you might think of doing so for the next one.  Members attend using external Webcams, built-in laptop cameras and a couple even use their cell phones. We hope to see you then!

Lists for the Serious DX’er

In light of the recent discussions on the WVDXA Email Reflector about the necessity of being “in the know” in order to be a serious DX’er, I was struck by the “How’s DX?” column in the August 2020 QST.  This column is written every month by long-time WVDXA member, Bernie, W3UR.  Knowing how seldom the following entities appear on-the-air will alert you to when you need to "pull out all the stops" to work one when it does show up.

The August column gives a HUGE amount of pertinent information needed by the aspiring DX’er.  I have re-printed below (with permission) three “Lists” that can provide the DX’er with a wealth of knowledge about what countries are the rarest.  There is a good deal more valuable information in the printed “How’s DX?” column and I suggest you read it to get the most out of what Bernie, W3UR, has put together.

The following “Lists” are from the How's DX? column on pages 76-77 of the August 2020 issue of QST which is edited by WVDXA member, Bernie, W3UR.

=====  Re-printed from QST with permission. =====

Top Ten Most-Wanted List

Most of the loyal readers of this column are familiar with Club Log's Top Ten Most-Wanted List (https://clublog.org/mostwanted.php). It's a listing of the rarest DXCC entities.  As of the end of May 2020, the top 10 most-wanted DXCC entities were (in order from 1 – 10):

P5  –  North Korea

3Y/B  –  Bouvet lsland

FT5/W  –  Crozet lsland

BS7H  –  Scarborough Reef

CEØX  –  San Felix lsland

BV9P  –  Pratas lsland

KH7K  –  Kure lsland

KH3 –  Johnston lsland

3Y/P  –  Peter I lsland

FT5/X  –  Kerguelen lsland

 

Inactive List

Another list that some like to follow is the top ten most-inactive countries list.  This list includes the DXCC entities that have shown no activity for the longest duration. The top ten for this list (in order by years, not time on the air) are:

CEØX  –  San Felix lsland (18 years)

KH3  –  Johnston lsland (17 years)

BV9P  –  Pratas lsland (16 years)

KH7K  –  Kure lsland (14 years)

3Y/P  –  Peter I lsland (14 years)

YVØ  –  Aves lsland (13 years)

EZ  –  Turkmenistan (13 years)

BS7H  –  Scarborough Reef (13 years)

3Y/B  –  Bouvet lsland (12 years)

KP5  –  Desecheo lsland (11 years)

 

Activity List

This list may be unfamiliar to most readers. It's the top ten most-wanted countries that have had one or more active amateur radio operators within this year. These countries are:

SV/A  –  Mount Athos (SV2RSG/A)

4U_UN  –  United Nations Headquarters (4U1UN)

6O  –  Somalia (6O1OO)

T3Ø –  Western Kiribati (T3ØTM)

KH8  –  American Samoa (AH8M)

ZL7  –  Chatham Islands (ZL7DX)

S2  –  Bangladesh (S21ED).

Z6  –  Republic of Kosovo (Z61DX, Z62FB, etc.)

TT  –  Chad (TT8SN)

5A  –  Libya (5AlAL and 5AØYL)

It should be noted that there are multiple licensed amateur radio operators in Turkmenistan (EZ), however, they have not been authorized to get on the air since August 2006.  Syria (YK) has several licensed operators, but they've said they won't go back on the air until the civil war is over.  South Orkney Islands (VP8/O) has an Argentine Naval Base on Laurie Island, LUlZA, and is occasionally on the air with authorized military operators.  Tristan Da Cunha and Gough Islands (ZD9) have Andy Repetto, ZD9BV, but he has not been active for a while.

 

=== "Reprinted with the permission of W3UR and the ARRL. © Copyright ARRL." ===

Third WVDXA "Virtual" Meeting

On Saturday, June 13, 2020, the WVDXA gathered via Zoom to hold our Third "Virtual" meeting.  Attendance was down substantially over the First and Second meetings.  We had 14 attend the April meeting, in May we had 20 attend, but only 10 were able to attend the June meeting.  Hopefully we can improve that on the next meeting...  Those who do take the time to attend have reported having a GREAT time!

You can see a screenshot of the meeting on the right of this Post.  Click on the picture to see a larger image.  Note: there is plenty of space available for your image to appear in future meetings!

If you have not joined the WVDXA "Virtual" meetings, you might think of doing so for the next one.  Members attend using external Webcams, built-in laptop cameras and a couple even use their cell phones.  Plus, this is good practice for the upcoming WV State ARRL Convention, usually held at Jackson's Mill near Weston, WV.  This year the State Convention will be held on ZOOM.  Details and a schedule of events can be found on the State Amateur Radio Council's website here:  http://qsl.net/wvsarc/

Second WVDXA "Virtual" Meeting

May 9, 2020 - Virtual Meeting

On Saturday, May 9, 2020, the WVDXA gathered via Zoom to hold our Second "Virtual" meeting.  Attendance was up by 43% over the First meeting!  We had 14 attend the April meeting and in May, we had 20 attend.  YIPPEE!  Looks like this method of meetings, at least during the pandemic, has turned out to be rather popular.

You can see a screenshot of the meeting on the left of this Post.  Click on the picture to see a larger image.  However, it was taken before "late-comer" Jim, K4JWA, joined and after Bernie, W3UR, had to leave.  The meeting lasted one hour and from the comments received later, it was a big success.

If you click on the above image, you can see how people have chosen to identify themselves in the bottom left corner of each thumbnail.  The "speaker" is identified by a yellow border around their image.  The "speaker" in this screenshot happens to be the "King of DX" -  WOW!

John, W8WEJ, has attended both meetings and just contacted me with a request.  Because of his location and inability to travel long distances, John asks if when we return to regular "in-person" meetings, we might take advantage of the Zoom platform to include those members who can not attend in person.  That sounds like an OUTSTANDING suggestion and, if we can work it out, I think it would be a great addition to future WVDXA meetings.

If you have not joined the WVDXA "Virtual" meetings, you might think of doing so at the next one.  Members attend using external Webcams, built-in laptop cameras and a couple even use their cell phones.

First WVDXA "Virtual" Meeting

On Saturday, April 11, 2020, the WVDXA held its first "Virtual" club meeting.  With the "Stay at Home" restrictions currently in place plus the "Social Distancing" requirements, it is not possible to get together in person.

So, by using the Zoom Video Conferencing application, the club had a wonderful meeting in cyberspace!  A total of 14 WVDXA members showed up (literally, "showed up") and everyone could see and hear everyone else.  Plus, as a nice benefit, we had members from many states away who normally do not make it to a regular WVDXA meeting.

Out-of-state members who participated were: N8NN who joined the meeting from Florida (you can see the palm trees behind him in the screenshot above), WV4TN from Tennessee, W8UV from Delaware, and W3UR from Maryland (sitting outside in front of his Grand Mansion.)  Also, we got to see John, W8WEJ, from Vienna, WV, who has not made it to a meeting for many years.  And, relatively new members Bryan, NU8J, and Steve, WB8III, were there as well.

In addition to the above named members, we also had W8TN, WW8RT, W8IW, W8OI, N8RR, WT8V and K8OHZ.  Quite a diverse turnout.  Click on the photo on the right for a screenshot taken during the meeting.

Surprise visitors included W8OI's better half, Nancy, and W8UV's "keeper", Karen.  Plus, one of N8RR's furry felines showed up briefly as well.

Two of the attendees connected by cell phone and the rest from laptops or desktop computers.  The meeting went off with nary a hitch, just one or two very minor issues that were quickly resolved.  The only negative was we were not meeting at a place where food was served!  That's normally a mainstay of our meetings so I for one missed that!

Which PacketCluster Should You Use?

Do you use a PacketCluster which is displaying ONLY spots posted by U.S.A. or NA stations?  I don't.  I use VE7CC which displays spots from all over the world.  There are many other Clusters you can use which do this but I just happen to like VE7CC.

Why do I do this you may ask?  Yes, I do receive a LOT of spots which do not benefit me at all.  For example, in the image at the Left is a spot (the Blue one) for 9K2HS in Kuwait (6,700 miles away) on 160-M which came in at 1836 GMT.  That's 1:36 p.m. local time for me or 4 hours BEFORE my Sunset.  Absolutely no chance in Hades that I could make this contact on Top Band or even hear 9K2HS at that time.  (Click on any image to see it larger.)

However, seeing this spot alerts me to the fact that there actually is a 9K station operating on 160-M and that is a Band-Point which I need.  If 9K2HS is still there after my Sunset, maybe I'll get a chance to work him.  At least I know he is operating on that band.  And, most importantly, I can be ready for him before anyone in the U.S.A. or NA spots him.  (In this case I did not see 9K2HS show up that day after my Sunset.  But I did work 9K2HN a week later!)

The next morning I got up at 0945 GMT (4:45 a.m. local time) and got on the radio.  I saw some spots for E44RU on 17-M but at that time of day (3 hours BEFORE my Sunrise) there were absolutely no signals to be heard at my QTH on 17-M from anywhere.  Still, I put the radio on 18.095 MHz and set up for FT8 F/H as indicated by the spots I saw and just kept doing other things.

Then, just as the Sun peeked above my horizon - at 1250 GMT I first copied E44RU.  I started calling him at 1253 GMT.  It took me an hour and 23 minutes to finally make the QSO but I did make it running 1,100-watts to a 17-M Inverted-V (no beam.)  And, if you note on the PacketCluster list on the Right, there were ZERO spots from ANY U.S.A. or NA station during that period!  And, while I was trying to work him, I NEVER saw him call or work a U.S.A. or NA station.  Still, he did work me!  I was there calling him because I saw spots from other parts of the world which alerted me to the fact that E44RU was on 17-M FT8 F/H at that time.

Had I been monitoring a PacketCluster which was displaying only spots from U.S.A. or NA stations, I WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN E44RU WAS ON-THE-AIR!  As the image at the Right shows, there were NO spots from my part of the world for E44RU during this period - yet, as it turned out, E44RU was indeed definitely workable, in fact I DID work him, and it gave me a New Band-Point for the Challenge!

The end result is that I made the log (see the image on the Left) and scored a New One which I may have totally missed by only watching spots from my part of the world.  Restricting your PacketCluster spots to only those from your area can LIMIT the possibilities for you to work many stations!

This is a "DX Tip and/or Trick" sponsored by the West Virginia DX Association and comes to you FREE with your membership.  Those WVDXA Dues are worth every penny - right?

WVDXA Supports Club Log in 2020

Upon unanimous consent of the membership, 'da Prez made a donation to Clublog in the name of the WVDXA in the amount of $100.00 U.S. (£74.78 British Pounds).  This will help support the operation of this great resource that many of us use at least weekly (if not daily!)

This 2020 donation has been credited to the West Virginia DX Association.  This brings our total donations to Club Log to $598 since 2013.

February 2020 WVDXA Meeting

What a MASSIVE turnout at our February 2020 meeting!  The sign-in sheet contains 32 names!  Here are those who attended this meeting: W8TN, Evelyn Stewart, WW8RT, KD8IZK, KD8BZY, N8RR, K8OHZ, NØULL, NU8LL, N8ULL, W8IW, K8RRT, N8DX, WA8ZDL, N4HT, WE5P, W8OP, WA8WV, W8OM, WV8FV, WV8RC, K8BT, K8KT, K8WEE, KB8KIM, W8UQ, W8OI, KD8VNN, AB8RL, W8HC, WB8III, and K8YYY.

That's a BIG meeting for us!  We certainly stretched the new venue (Ryan's) to near its limit.  I suspect the great turnout was due to Hal, W8HC, giving his presentation “VP6R Pitcairn Island 2019 DXpedition” which included many beautiful photos and videos of the trip along with Hal's commentary.

Speaking of the presentation, I have received MULTIPLE comments about how much folks enjoyed it.  Hal, W8HC, gave us a great insight into how a major DX'pedition requires WAY more work than many realize.  A fantastic element of his presentation was the history lesson about how Pitcairn Island came to be settled.  I can tell you the audience was "riveted" to the screen during this presentation as evidenced by the photo on the left.

As a large benefit of our getting together, we almost always have at least one ARRL Card Checker attend since ALL THREE ARRL Card Checkers in WV are members of the WVDXA. And, in fact, this meeting did see all three (W8HC, WA8WV, and W8OP) attend.  I don't know if Alan, W8OP, or Hal, W8HC, checked any cards, but I know that Dave, WA8WV, (seen in the bottom right of the above photo) was kept busy checking cards. A shot of him (and his Green pen) actually checking cards is shown on the left.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.

In fact, Dave made one WVDXA member VERY happy by checking his QSL Submission!  Tim, K8RRT, gave Dave his application and those confirmations put Tim over the 2,000 level on the DXCC Challenge!  You can imagine how happy this made Tim.  And, just to be able to attend this meeting, Tim had to get a workmate to fill in for him so that he could leave work early for the meeting.  Plus, Dave checked a few QSL's for Charlie, N8RR, leaving him needing only THREE MORE confirmations to reach the 3,000 Challenge level!

Those who attended the meeting came from all across the state with several attending from the Far North Enclave of the WVDXA: Wayne, KB8KIM, came from Randolph County, Bill, K8WEE, came from Summers County, Steve, WB8III, and Alan, W8OP, came from Fairmont in Marion county.  In addition, several came from other states: Jack, N8DX, came from just north of Cincinnati, Ohio, Harry, N4HT, again came from Lexington, Kentucky, for his second WVDXA meeting and he brought his friend, Bill, WE5P, also from the Lexington, Kentucky, area for his FIRST WVDXA meeting!  You can see Harry, N4HT, and Bill, WE5P, in the top photo above with N4HT on the left.

Back to the presentation, this was the first time we used the Laptop Projector which was secured for us by Steve, WW8RT.  It has always been a hassle to try and find someone to bring a projector from their work so we can use it.  Now, thanks to Steve, the WVDXA now has its OWN projector!  THANK YOU, Steve!

Who knew that hams used their hands so much when speaking?  As you can see on the left, Alan, W8OP, in the foreground and Dave, W8IW, in the background made extensive use of their hands in their conversations.

And, some were so excited to be here that they had that "deer in the headlights" look.  Steve, WB8III, in the red shirt on the right seemed to always look surprised in any of the photos that Hal, W8HC, and I took.  I just assume that was his excitement at being able to participate in a WVDXA meeting!

Finally, the group voted to make another of our annual contributions to support Club Log.  This is the SIXTH time the WVDXA has made a financial contribution to Club Log.

In the end, everyone left the meeting having satisfied (for a brief time) their desire to talk about DX.  Another extremely successful WVDXA meeting, for sure!

November 2019 WVDXA Meeting

WOW, it was WAY TOO long since our last meeting!  You could certainly tell that by the fact that no one wanted to leave - Hi!  Of course, it might have been the food since we all know DX'ers travel on their stomachs! Note that in the photo of the 14 hams who attended (shown above), I had to add Jimmy, W8JA, as an insert because he was stuck downstairs when the photo was taken.

W8UZ  -  N4HT

Roger, KD8BZY, and Becky, KD8IZK, kindly offered their home for the second time as a location for this meeting.  In addition, they supplied the bulk of the food which included two spiral hams which Roger cooked.  There must have been at least a dozen positive comments about that ham.  WOWZER was it good!!  My biggest regret is that my wife refused to bring any of it home when it was offered - bummer!  (Sure wish I had known that!)  As I recollect, we enjoyed hot baked ham, potato salad, coleslaw, rolls, a shrimp cocktail platter, a veggie platter, deviled eggs, a Kentucky Bourbon cake, craft beer, Mary's Ellis' excellent cake, Evelyn Stewart's brownies, banana nut muffins and cookies, broccoli casserole, and probably some other items I forgot.  What a wonderful spread!

PowerPoint Presentation

We had 17 persons attending: W8JA, W8JA's mom (Oleta Aeiker), Oleta and Jimmy's Caretaker (Brenda Thornton), K4JWA, K8KT, WT8V, N8RR, W8IW, K8RRT, WA8WV, W8TN, W8TN's XYL (Evelyn Stewart), KD8BZY, KD8IZK, W8UZ, N4HT, and W8OI.  Unfortunately, Hal, W8HC, made a critical error with his calendar and just HAD to attend the WVU football game.  Boy, Hal, you would have had more fun here!  Those sharp-eyed among you will notice two calls for hams who have never attended a WVDXA gathering before.  Don, W8UZ, from Woodburn, INDIANA, and Harry, N4HT, from Lexington, KENTUCKY, made quite a long trip to attend!  Both have joined the WVDXA as our newest members and everyone at the meeting was pleased they came.  Their presence enhanced the camaraderie of the meeting immensely. You can see their photo on the right.  [Click on any photo for a larger image.]  And, one WVDXA member who lives in Delaware, telephoned and spoke with some of the group to tell us how he wished he could attend.  Phil, W8UV, your presence was indeed missed but we are SO glad you made a brief appearance anyway!

Discussions Abounded

W8TN, N8RR, and KD8BZY gave a PowerPoint presentation on "Small Station EME."  It is interesting to note that those three are the only known EME operators currently active from West Virginia and all three belong to the WVDXA.  DX is DX!  After the presentation there were many questions from several of those attending.

Karl, K8KT, collected donations for the upcoming W8S, Swains Island DX'pedition.  And, Dave, WA8WV, checked QSL Cards for the ARRL.

On the right is a photo taken by Garry, W8OI, of part of the multiple discussions which lasted all afternoon.  Even the rain did not dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

Now sometime in the near future, possibly January 2020, we will have a really exciting presentation.  Hal, W8UC, will be there to show us and tell us all about his recent DX'pedition to VP6R, Pitcairn Island.  That will be a real "barn burner" for sure!  DO NOT MISS this next meeting.  If you notice in the group photo at the top of this post, you will see Dave, WA8WV, was already sporting his VP6R tee-shirt.  Way to go, DAVE!

April 2019 WVDXA Meeting

This Post is a "tad" late but still I wanted to report a bit on our April 20, 2019, meeting.  The meeting was held at Golden Corral in Cross Lanes, WV.  I made arrangements with Golden Corral a couple of weeks before the meeting to secure their "Meeting Room" and told them we expected about 20 to 25 people to attend.  Well, it seems that a week before our meeting date, another group asked for (and received) permission to use the same room for a birthday party for a 90-year old gentleman!  So, we "shared" the meeting room for both events.  I think the WVDXA behaved admirably under these circumstances although there was some grumbling overheard from the other group who apparently expected to have the venue all to themselves.

We actually had 22 persons attending: W8TN, W8TN's XYL (Evelyn Stewart), K8JQ, WB8CQV, WB8CQV's XYL (Janice Jones), WB8CQV's son (Jonathan Jones), WV8RC, WV8FV, WA8WV, W8JA, W8JA's mom (Oleta Aeiker), Oleta's Caretaker (Brenda Thornton), N8RR, KD8VNN, K4JWA, W8OI, WW8RT, W8HC, K8RRT, KE8LSK, WA8ZDL and W8OP.

W8TN gave a PowerPoint presentation on "QSL'ing Tips & Tricks." And the new WVDXA.com web page was presented "live" on the Internet.  Also, from the Internet, W8TN presented a brief view and description of the ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW) web site and how that system can be used to confirm QSO's without the need for a physical QSL card.  Finally, a brief view of the WVDXA's new Chat Page on Slack.com was presented.  Note: you can click on any photo here to see a larger image.

W8JA's mom, Oleta, and W8JA

Since we were "sharing" the Meeting Room, the Birthday Group asked for us to be quiet for a bit as they recognized their family member on his 90th birthday.  Everyone (including the WVDXA members) sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  The honoree was so thankful to the Lord for letting him live so long that he got up, asked for quiet in the room, made a few remarks and then unhurriedly sang two verses of a hymn of praise.  It was an unexpected special moment that we applauded. Of course, the WVDXA remained silent about the fact that W8JA's mom, Oleta, who was in our group, will celebrate her 95th birthday in just 5 months!

Steve, WW8RT, collected donations for the upcoming T3ØGC - West Kiribati DX'pedition.  Then W8TN noted that the WVDXA has supplied $20,556 to 32 various DX'peditions plus $498 to ClubLog.

Great fellowship and camaraderie were had by all and the joining of our meeting with the Birthday Party made our gathering truly memorable!

Have You Worked UA4WHX?

In the last few days, Vladimir Bykov, UA4WHX, has been operating from Mayotte as FH/UA4WHX.  You can see some photos from his current operation by visiting this DX-World page (https://dx-world.net/fh-ua4whx-mayotte/). FH, Mayotte, is only No. 103 on the Club Log Needed List.  However, I'm sure Vlad is filling in MANY Band/Slots for a lot of folks and even handing out the occasional ATNO!

Do you realize just how prolific this single DX'peditioner has been over the years?  He has operated from dozens and dozens of countries giving New Ones to thousands of DX'ers.  Just during the last month he has operated from the following places.  Click on the callsign to link to the DX-World page describing the operation with photos.  S70VB - Seychelles, 3B8VB - Mauritius, 3B9VB - Rodrigues Island, FR/UA4WHX - Reunion Island, and currently FH/UA4WHX - Mayotte.  Particularly note the write-up on the 3B9VB operation regarding Cyclone Gelena passing right by Rodrigues Island while Vlad was there.

He is a one-man operation running just 100-watts to wire antennas.  Check out his innovative antenna set-up on his QRZ web page.  Note that he also holds a U.S. Amateur Extra Class license - AC4LN.

Unfortunately, Vlad does NOT use LoTW so you will need to QSL him directly.  He has detailed instructions on his QRZ web page about sending for a QSL.  He does accept QSL requests via PayPal so that should speed up the process for sure.

I have scoured the Internet for an exhaustive list of calls for UA4WHX's operations but can not find such a list.  So, I used a few sources to put together the following list.  I plan to check this list against my own log to see if I have some gems just waiting for a QSL from Vlad.  You can see the actual QSL's for many of the calls below at this web site.  Also on that web site is a link to a 2009 audio interview with Vlad by OE1WHC.  You can gain some very interesting insights into Vlad himself and what it is like to operate from these DX locations by listening to this 14 minute interview.

Here is the list of callsigns which I have found were UA4WHX operations:  3B8VB  -  3B9VB  - 3D2VB  -  3DA0VB  -  4K0VB  -  4LOB  -  4O7VB  -  4S7VG  -  4W0VB  -  5H3VMB  -  5H3VNS  -  5R8VB  -  5T5TI  -  5T9VB  -  5W0VB  -  5X1VB  -  5Z4/UA4WHX  -  6W/UA4WHX/P  -  6Y5/AC4LN  -  7P8VB  -  7Q7VB  -  7V7V  -  8P9/AC4LN  -  8Q7VB  -  8R1/AC4LN  -  9A8VB  -  9H3WHX  -  9J2VB  -  9U0VB  -  9X0VB  -  9Y4/AC4LN  -  A25VB  -  A35VB  -  C50VB  -  C91VB  -  CE/UA4WHX  -  CE0/UA4WHX  -  CE0Z/UA4WHX  -  CE7/UA4WHX  -  CE8/UA4WHX  -  CE9/UA4WHX  -  CN2VB  -  CP/UA4WHX  -  CP4WHX  -  AC4LN/CT1  -  CT8/UA4WHX  -  CT9/UA4WHX  -  D20VB  -  D44TVB  -  D60VB  -  E40VB  -  E7/UA4WHX  -  EA8/UA4WHX  -  EA9/UA4WHX  -  ER0VP-UT/UA4WHX  -  ES0VB  -  EX/UA4WHX  -  EY8/UA4WHX  -  F0/AC4LN  -  FH/UA4WHX  -  FK/AC4LN  -  FR/UA4WHX  -  FW/AC4LN  -  H40VB  -  H44VV  -  H7/AC4LN  -  HB0/AC4LN  -  HB9/AC4LN  -  HC2/UA4WHX  -  HC8ART  -  HH2/AC4LN  -  HI8/AC4LN  -  HK0/UA4WHX  -  HK3/UA4WHX  -  HP1/AC4LN  -  HP8/AC4LN  -  HR1/AC4LN  -  HR2/AC4LN  -  IT9/UA4WHX  -  J20VB  -  J3/AC4LN  -  J73/AC4LN  -  J8/AC4LN  -  JT1FDC  -  JY8VB  -  KD4DZH  -  KH0/AC4LN etc.  -  KH6/AC4LN  -  LU/UA4WHX  -  UA4WHX/CX  -  LY/UA4WHX  -  O19VB  -  OA7/UA4WHX  -  OD5/UA4WHX  -  OJ0/UA4WHX  -  ON9VB  -  P29VVB  -  PY/UA4WHX  -  PY0/UA4WHX  -  PY8/UA4WHX  -  PZ5VB  -  R/AC4LN  -  R00BVB  -  R00KVB  -  R00QVB  -  R11PVB  -  RI0BV  -  RI0BV/P  -  RI0KV  -  RI0POL  -  RI0QV  -  RI0QV/P  -  RI44ANT  -  S70VB  -  ST2VB  -  SU9VB  -  T10VB  -  T20VB  -  T30VB  -  T88VV  -  TG4/AC4LN  -  TI1/AC4LN  -  UA4WHX/2  -  UK/UA4WHX  -  UN8/UA4WHX  -  V31BV  -  V51VV  -  V63MB  -  V73VV  -  VK8VB  -  YJ0VB  -  YL/UA4WHX  -  YS1/AC4LN  -  YU9VB  -  YV5/AC4LN  -  Z2/UA4WHX  -  Z38VB  -  ZA/UA4WHX  -  ZK1/AC4LN  -  ZK2VB  -  ZP9/UA4WHX

Exporting WSJT-X logs to LOGic & other logging programs

My logging program, LOGic, has been promising for many months to add a fix that will allow WSJT-X QSOs to automatically become a part of my LOGic log.  I have been logging those QSOs on paper and then later typing them into the LOGic program.  But I finally got tired of waiting for the fix and decided to learn how to export my FT8 and other QSOs out of WSJT-X and into LOGic. 

I thought that would be simple.  I was wrong.  It took many hours for me (not the most computer literate guy in the world) to finally make these transfers work quickly and smoothly.

WVDXA President Clark Stewart W8TN suggested I put a "how-to" into writing in case others have been having similar problems with their logging programs.  I won't go through all the other methods I used, all of them taking several steps and wasting time before QSOs would finally get into my logging program's log, but here is the explanation of what I finally did.

First, in order to import into LOGic I must click on an "import" tab and then an "ADIF" dropdown tab.  That brings up a window that allows me to browse for a file's location.  I can then browse to most places; like desktop, documents, downloads, etc.  However it will not find the directory where wsjtx_log.adi is located.  Specifically it will not browse me to C:\Users\Garry\AppData\Local\WSJT-X\wsjtx_log.adi.  Even when I typed all that into Logic's window, it would not take me there.  It just kept telling me the file was not found and instructing me to check spelling and try again.  I must have done this 50 times over the past few days.

However, I finally discovered a way to get LOGic to the right location.

I remembered that LOGic's export window always opens at the last place that it found and used an export file.  I figured that LOGic's import window would do the same.  If I could only get it to the right location in the first place, it ought to automatically go there the next time.  So, I went into the WSJT-X program and put my cursor on the wsjtx_log.adi file and right clicked.  That took me to a "send to" button where a dropdown allowed me to send a shortcut to the desktop.  LOGic's import window went there without problem and did the import, and now (voila) every time I call up LOGic's import window it takes me to C:\Users\Garry\AppData\Local\WSJT-X\wsjtx_log.adi automatically.  Eureka!

Whew.  What a struggle.  Now the process is simple as long as I remember to erase the log file in WSJT-X after each export.  That way only the new contacts are added to my log each time I import in LOGic.  Otherwise the QSOs that were transferred before will be transferred again putting duplicate QSOs into my log.

WeeeeHooooo - September 2018 Meeting

WVDXA Banner from 3YØZ

Steve Gillispie, K8LZ

YES, SIR.  Today's WVDXA Meeting was a Doozy!  We met at Golden Corral in Cross Lanes and had a bumper turn-out of 29 persons including some who had not been to a WVDXA Meeting before or in a long time.  Those attending were:  W8TN, his wife, Evelyn, KD8VNN, KD8BZY, KD8IZK, WW8RT, W8FG, W8OM, WA8ZDL, W8HC, AB8RL, W8OP, AA8WZ, N8RR, K8KT, WV8RC, W8IW, W8OI, WB8GSD, WB8CQV, Jonathan Jones, Jeffrey Jones, Janice Jones, K8JQ, K8RRT, W8JA, Oleta Aeiker, K8LZ, and W8ZT.

Steve Gillispie, K8LZ, brought a box packed with cables and goodies to distribute to the deserving and he did not take any of it home!  This was Steve's first WVDXA meeting in a LONG time.  Steve belonged to the WVDXA during an earlier manifestation of the group!  He was good to share some of his "Al Hix" stories with the group today.  Steve's photo is on the upper-right.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.

In just 11 days, Jimmy, W8JA's mom, Oleta Aeiker, will be 94 years young!  The group wished her a Very Happy Birthday with a great round of applause!  You can see a candid photo of Oleta on the left.

Oleta Aeiker

K8KT, W8OI, K8JQ, Nancy, etc.

On the right is a shot of some of those attending that includes Garry, W8OI, and his wife, Nancy, in the foreground.  Karl, K8KT, is expounding on something to Charlie, N8RR, who is out of frame.  And in the rear, Rick Robinson, W8ZT, (seen standing) is passing on his knowledge to Steve, K8JQ.

Another WVDXA member who has not been seen at one of our irregular meetings in awhile is Steve Courts, K8JQ.  You can see a candid photo of Steve below on the left.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.  W8TN pointed out that back in college he was "blown-away" by watching Steve (who is naturally left-handed) copy code by writing it with his left hand while he sent with his right!  This has made Steve quite the contester!

After everyone consumed a few thousand calories, W8TN narrated a slide show of some 385 slides.  He described the 1985 DX'pedition to Clipperton Island on which he was a team member.  W8TN wore his yellow T-Shirt for that DX'pedition.  As he stated, this DX'pedition was nearly half-a-lifetime ago!  You can see his photo in that shirt on the right.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.

W8TN - FOØXX '85

Steve Courts, K8JQ

The meeting was nominally scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. but by 12:35 p.m. there were 5 to 7 WVDXA members already in the room beginning to eat!  The meeting finished promptly at 3:00 p.m. and there was a half-hour or more of socializing before the room was vacated. 

A lot more people showed up than had posted to the reflector they were coming.  It seems that some had plans that fell through and allowed them to come.  For others it depended on how they felt today.  All-in-all it was an EXCELLENT turn-out and I think everyone had a WONDERFUL time!  From what I saw of the conversations, I think this was a really great meeting!