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!