August 2011 WVDXA Meeting

WHAT a Meeting! WHAT a Group! WHAT a QTH!!! BOY, did the WVDXA pull off another Fantastic meeting! Bart, WT8V, and his wife, Sue, opened their hilltop home yesterday to the WVDXA for a long afternoon of fun, food and festivities. Some 20 members of the WVDXA descended on an unsuspecting Bart, took over his grill, and swapped stories, tall tales and commiserated over the ones that got away. Click on the above photo for a larger view then use your browser's BACK button to return to this page.

Eric, K8OHZ, gave a professional presentation of PSK31/62/125 to a rapt audience. Eric came prepared with printed handouts and CD's of software. By hooking up to Bart's antenna, he actually made some live PSK31 QSO's. Many nice comments about Eric's presentation have been posted on the WVDXA Reflector and several of the members are now working toward being able to use these modes.

This turned out to probably be one of the longest WVDXA meetings as no one wanted to leave. There was some talk about siting a WVDXA Clubhouse on the property and I think I heard someone wondering if Bart would adopt them!

Jim, K4JWA, and Mary, KD8IPW, displayed some samples of the personalized WVDXA apperal. These are ordered from Lands End and have a 100% return guarantee. If they do not fit or the name or call is wrong or whatever, Lands End will take them back. Jim and Mary are putting together an order for more Jackets and Shirts so contact them if you want to join in this order.

This was the first meeting for Dana, K8WAT, and Bennie, WD8CCC. Also, we inducted Mary, KD8IPW, officially into the WVDXA. Glad to see the new faces and welcome all of them into the group.

One sign that the meeting was well received was that before it was over, there was talk about the next one.

HKØNA, Malpelo, January 2012

The upcoming DX'pedition to Malpelo will use the callsign, HKØNA. They plan to be operational beginning January 22, 2012. The plan is to operate 160-M through 6-M, CW, SSB and Digital. The team consists of 15 operators who will man at least 3 station simultaneously. Equipment will consist of Elecraft K-3's and Elecraft KPA-500 amplifiers and they plan a special emphasis on 6-M including 6-M EME. The main web page is located HERE and you can select the bands and modes where you need Malpelo on THIS web site. Malpelo stands at Number 12 on the 2010 Most Needed Countries List and is about 2,400 miles nearly due South of West Virginia so this should be a chip shot on most bands.

KC8WDT is now W8WDT

Well, Tim, K8RRT, sure started something! Three days after Tim got his new call, Dwight, KC8WDT, received his new call, W8WDT. This means us old dudes are really going to be stressed trying to remember who everyone is now! At least Dwight kept the same suffix so he should be easier to remember than Tim.

On the right you can see a photo of Dwight's recently improved antenna farm (Click on any photo to see a larger image then use your Browser's BACK button to return to this page.) At the very top is a CushCraft UHF/VHF vertical. Under that is a Cushcraft 617-6B at 45-feet for 6-M and below that a Mosely TA-33 w/WARC element at 40-feet. Also shown is an 80-M Inverted-V. All this is on a Glen Martin Heavy Duty Hazer. The above mentioned antenna heights were chosen by Charlie, N8RR, after analyzing Dwight's location and running that information through the HFTA program. You then need to realize that Dwight's antenna base is at about 1,100 feet elevation. Is it any wonder he works all that 6-M DX when the normal 6-M Big Guns of the WVDXA hear nothing?

The Hazer and antenna upgrades were completed in March, 2011. DX'ers who helped on the Project were W8WDT, N8IKT, K8WAT, KC8WDK & K8RRT. Nice job guys!

KC8UHE is now K8RRT

Tim, KC8UHE, recently petitioned the FCC for a change in his callsign. Today the FCC granted that change and awarded Tim the call of K8RRT. Tim had spent a bit of time a couple of weeks ago looking through the list of available calls and when he saw this one, he fell in love with it. After debating about it for awhile he ran it by Charlie, N8RR, who gave him an enthusiastic Thumbs Up! In fact, Charlie told him "I would have dropped that KC8UHE call a long time ago!"

So today, I helped Tim change his log book, canned CW, RTTY and PSK-31 messages, and helped him request a new LoTW Certificate for K8RRT. After we had all that done, Tim proceeded to get on the air just to hear how the called sounded coming back from the DX. First he worked LZ2HQ on 20-M CW in the IARU HF World Championship contest. The Bulgarian station was running 30+ wpm and Tim had to use the amp to crack the EU pileup but he had a solid QSO. The LZ station was booming in so it was a good test of hearing his call come back from the DX. Then Tim moved to 17-M and worked JX5O on CW for an All-Time New One! I guess "K8RRT" does have some magic in it!

Congratulations on the new call Tim. Now us old timers will spend about a year getting used to who K8RRT really is when we hear that call in the pile-ups.

Andaman Islands - March 15th to 31st

For the last half of March, 2011, the Andaman Islands will be activated by a team of 17 operators. You can view the basic information HERE and on other links at the bottom of that page. Equipment will consist of an Elecraft K3, Two Kenwood TS-2000's, Two ICOM 756 Pro II/III, Yaesu FT 847, and a Kenwood TS-950. Antennas consist of Two Spider Beams (20-17-15-12-10m), SteppIR 3-element Yagi (20-6m), SteppIR Big IR vertical (40-10m), Wire and vertical antennas for low band operation (160-80-40-30m), 18m Spider poles for Low band antennas (160-80m), and a Force12 C3S Yagi (20-10m). And the Amplifier list includes a Yaesu Quadra VL1000 Amp, Kenwood TL-922 Amp, Yaesu FL2100 Amp, Ameritron ALS-500 Amp, and an Ameriton AL-811H Amp.

The beam heading for this DX'pedition is 6° and the distance is about 9,000 miles from West Virginia. With that beam heading, signals will need to propagate directly over the North Pole and the Aurora Zone. Therefore, our best chance is probably via Long Path. Andaman ranks as 29th on the 2010 Most Needed Countries List so this will be a big one.

From the list of operatiors I see that Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, will be on this DX'pedition like the 2007 VU7RG operation from Lakshadweep Islands. Maybe Papa November will pick up some more recipes for Curried Opossum from her on this trip.

T31A, Central Kiribati, April 17 - 28, 2011

The Kanton 2011 DXpedition is comprised of an international team of 13 operators from five countries. They will be on the air April 17 thru April 28, 2011, running 6 stations on 160M through 6M (SSB/CW/RTTY). You can view their web site HERE. If they are able to access the Internet from Kanton Island, they will upload logs during the DX'pedition and you will find the log search on this page. T31 ranks 28th on the 2010 Most Needed Countries List so this will be a Biggee! T31 is 6,300 miles from WV on a heading of 267° which makes them just about the same distance to the West that TJ9PF is to the East of us. GL to all WVDXA Members who need this one.

Create an Azimuth Map for Your QTH

Have you ever wanted a map that shows in a single glance the beam heading to any spot on the earth from your QTH? Well, here is a Web Site that will create just such a map for you. You simply need to enter your location (you can use a City name, a Maidenhead Grid, or your Latitude/Longitude) and then answer a few questions about how you want the map to look. If you choose to leave the "Distance" box empty then you will get the entire world shown on the map like the image to the right here. You can choose shorter distances for VHF work and get maps that show cities within whatever distance you choose. This service is provided as a courtesy by Tom, NS6T, and if you find it useful, there is a link on the bottom of the page where you can make a contribution. Once the map is created (it may take up to 30 seconds) you will get a PDF file that you can save and then print.
TNX to Steve, KØCS, for this tip.

UPDATE:
TNX to Dave, K8MN, for this Web Site which offers a similar way to produce a Great Circle beam heading chart. To utilize this method you download the software to your computer and set the parameters you want.

And, a similar beam heading method is the Beam Heading Chart provided by the North Jersey DX Association and available HERE. Enter your data on this page and it will produce a DXCC Country List with beam headings and distances personalized to your location. This tip was originally published on this WVDXA Blog August 1, 2008, as a tip from Bob, W8QHG, now a SK. You can view that original Post HERE and see a photo of what the beam heading chart looks like.

4A4A Revilla Gigedo (XF4) March 3-20, 2011

A group of seven, mostly Spanish hams are heading to Benito Juarez Island (NA-030) - also known as Socorro Island, in the Revilla Gigedo group. They expect to be operational for about 17 days. Plans call for them to take 5 transceivers, 4 amplifiers and one 6-M radio. Antennas are unknown. They hope to have 3 stations operational at the same time and plan operation on all bands and modes from 160-M through 6-M. You can visit their web site HERE and vote for which bands and modes you need XF4. They say they will QSL via LoTW automatically. There is a link at the top of their web site for "LOG" and that is your link for their online log during the operation. Click on the link called "The Island" in the left-hand frame for a lot of good information about Socorro Island. Keep your fingers crossed for some 6-M propagation. TNX to Garie, K8KFJ, for tipping me off to this upcoming DX'pedition.

ZL8X, Kermadec - 19 Nov to 05 Dec

In just 10 days a group of 13 mostly German operators will put ZL8, Kermadec Island, on the air. The 2009 Most needed Country List placed ZL8 at No. 28 so a lot of you guys probably need them on several bands. Since I only have them confirmed on 20-M Phone, you can bet I'll be in the hunt!

They have already shipped 2.5 TONS of equipment to New Zealand and will operate SEVEN stations in two camps about 1 km apart. Antennas will include 4-squares for 30, 40 and 80-M, verticals for 80 and 160-M, and multi-element dipole arrays and yagis for the HF bands. Each station will have a transceiver, amplifier, laptop, interface and Win-Test software. They will be operating in the CQ WW DX CW Contest.

More details are available on their web site HERE. To find what you want, hover your mouse over one of the items in the menu bar on their web site and a "Sub" menu will appear where you can choose a topic. For example, hover over the word "Organization" on the menu and then click on the word "Operating" on the sub-menu. This will take you to the page with the table of their operating frequencies and their Hints for Operating.

They WILL have an online log once the operation starts. GL to all WVDXA Members.

W8JA's Antenna Project

Over the last couple of months many WVDXA Members have been working tirelessly to help Jimmy, W8JA, with a big antenna project. Jimmy lives on a city lot in St. Albans and had a 40-foot American Standard tower supporting his antennas. The goals of the project were to install a sturdier tower, gain 10' in height, and have 2 elements to enhance his 40-M performance. The extra 10' of tower height might also help the performance of Jimmy's 160/80-M trap dipole. A new 6-M antenna was purchased and installed to allow Jimmy to put up a lower yagi for 6-M in addition to the higher, new antenna.

Since I was not in on the project from the beginning, I may not have listed everyone who helped with the project. If so, I sincerely apologize for any omission in advance. However, I do know the following contributed many, many hours of their time, their expertise and their advice to see this project through to completion:

Charlie, N8RR
Mike, NU8LL
Dave, W8IW
Dave, WA8WV
Tim, KC8UHE
Eric, K8OHZ
Seth, W8FG
Rick, W8ZT
Clark, W8TN
Jimmy's brother, Mike

The old HF antenna was a Force 12 "C-3 S" and it was replaced with a Force 12 Delta 4-XL which has an 8-foot longer boom and 2-L on 40-M. His old 5-L CushCraft 6-M beam was replaced by a 6-L CushCraft about 8 feet above the F12 HF antenna. The new tower is Rohn Model 35 which is half way between Rohn 25 and Rohn 45. It is very sturdy and much easier to climb and work on than Rohn 25. The new tower is 50-feet tall. In addition to replacing the antenna feedlines and splicing on additional rotor control cable, the Phillystran guy cables were replaced with larger ones using pre-formed dead ends to attach the ends of the guys.

Jimmy had Custom Welding make a new house bracket to accommodate the larger tower. Tim, KC8UHE, drilled the concrete patio to facilitate the attachment of the new tower base plate. Rick, WZ8T, fabricated a new roof attachment bracket for the guy cables as well as the tower top plate. Jimmy's mom selected Sherwin Williams Beige as the color for the new tower which several of the guys painted. This turned out to be an excellent choice as it blends the tower in nicely so it does not stand out too much.

A lot of man-hours were spent assembling the antennas in Jimmy's back yard and testing them before they were installed. Still, the F12 40-M antenna needed to be "tweaked" after it was hoisted the first time so that meant pulling it back down, making the modifications, and raising it back up. At least three FULL days of tower work were required to remove the old antennas and tower and install the new ones. It seemed like Mike, NU8LL, was in the air for DAYS!

On the first day when the old tower was to be removed and the new tower installed, I was about an hour late to arrive. Therefore, I missed the Bar-B-Que! It seems Eric, K8OHZ, had arrived early and his car decided to self-destruct and go up in flames right in front of Jimmy's QTH. The fire department was called and managed to extinguish the flames but Eric lost his ride! This was bad news for him but good news for Jimmy's project as with that one incident, Murphy was banished and everything else proceeded without major incident. (Sorry this had to happen to you Eric!)

Jimmy's mom, Oleta, supplied enormous amounts of food to everyone who was there - on every day we were there! Jimmy himself supervised every step of the operation even at the expense of a pretty good sunburn! And, during the project when the New PJ Entities came into existence, it was quite evident that Jimmy was torn between supervising the project and getting in front of the radio to work the New Ones even with Mike, NU8LL, still on the tower!

Above you can see a photo of the completed installation. But, click HERE for the complete photo album of Jimmy's project. On that page, click on any photo to enlarge it. You can then use the Left/Right Arrows above the photo to navigate the album. Or, just click on the Slideshow button at the top left of the first page (the one with all the thumbnail images.)

This was a MAJOR effort on the part of many members of the WVDXA. A lot of personal time and effort was expended to help just one DX'er, but, it's what we do. And for that, I'm extremely proud to be a member of this group!

ZS8M - Marion Island - Penguin Photos

Bob, WA8VPN, received an email from Pierre, ZS8M today which contained 10 photos of penguins on Marion Island. Bob asked that I post them to the Blog for WVDXA members to view and get some idea of what life is like at this rare DX Location called Marion Island. Marion Island ranked THIRD on the Most Needed Countries List which makes it VERY rare indeed!

Here is the text of Pierre, ZS8M's, email:

Hi All,

Some pics of penguin activity a few months ago.
These penguins are easy targets from seals, killer
whales and shua.

Regards
Pierre
Marion Island

The ZS8M log is online HERE. (Yes, WA8VPN made the log!) You can also read the ZS8M Newsletter HERE. The Newsletter contains a lot of good information about this operation and many more photos.

I have posted all 10 penguin photos to a Picasa web album. You can view them by clicking HERE. Underneath where it says "Marion Island" you can click on "Slideshow" and view all 10 images one right after the other. Click on any images on this Blog page to see them larger, then click on your BACK button to return to this page.

July 24th Meeting/Picnic

Boy, is my belly full! Even though the temperature was flirting with 100° today, it was hardly noticed by the 16 WVDXA members who convened for a meeting at the QTH of Jim, K4JWA, in Barboursville, WV. This is surely one of those excellent WVDXA meetings that will be talked about for months to come. Jim, K4JWA, and his wife, Mary, KD8IPW, graciously opened their home to the marauding band of hungry DX'ers who descended upon them for several hours. As always with the WVDXA, the food and drink were plentiful and delicious.

To the left you can see K4JWA's new tower and antennas. Above you can see those who attended, with the exception of Phil, W8UV, who managed to escape before I pulled out my camera. Click on any photo to see a larger version and then use your BACK button to return to this page. Left to right we have: W8OI, K4OM, W8IW, N8RR, WA8WV, K8OHZ, W8JA, K4JWA (white shirt), KC8WDT (plaid shirt), KC8UHE, KC8FVE, W8TN, W8QY, WA8ZDL, and W8HC.

W8OI's wife, Nancy, WB8GSD, and W8TN's wife, Evelyn, were also there as well as K4JWA's wife and W8JA's mom. The menu included hot dogs, hamburgers, fresh fruit salad, broccoli salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, two kinds of baked beans, potato salad, pie and more that I can not remember. Plenty of drinks (leaded and unleaded) were also available. Jim, K4JWA, forgot to tell us to bring our trunks for a dip in the pool but with no shade to be found over the pool, I doubt if anyone would have jumped in.

The big news is that we decided on club shirts with WVDXA logos. Jim, K4JWA, had obtained three different color shirts from Land's End and we decided for the club to go with the "Tan" color and Dark Blue print for the Name/Callsign over the pocket. Orders were taken by Mary and if you want one of your own, contact Jim, K4JWA, with your information (size, shirt color, name, and call.) The price is $51 each which covers the shirts, tax and shipping to K4JWA. If there is any excess, it will go back into the treasury. We also voted to reimburse Jim, K4JWA, for the $175 "Logo Setup" fee he paid to get this project going. You can see the shirt (in white) on the right. Jim did not have on the "Tan" color shirt but the group decided that one looked the best with our logo.

Pete, K4OM, graciously passed on his "I Worked a JA on 6-M" badge to Charlie, N8RR. Charlie brought his JA QSL for Show and Tell and now has the honor of being the most recent club member to work Japan on the Magic Band.

So, we all laughed, ate, drank, told stories, and learned a few things as well. Another fabulous get-together of the WVDXA. If you missed this one, be sure you make it to the next.

WVDXA Shirt Logo

It was discussed at the last WVDXA Club Meeting about having shirts made with the WVDXA logo on them. Jim, K4JWA, has had a sample made and all the guys who saw it at the Dayton Hamvention were extremely pleased with how it looks. You can see a photo of it on the right.

We need to decide what color shirt to place the logo on and what to put under (or over) the logo - such a Callsign Only or Callsign/First Name, etc. So, think about what might make a good shirt color and what you would like to see besides the logo and let's discuss it on the Reflector.

Thanks Jim for taking the lead on this.

May 2010 Meeting of the WVDXA

Saturday, May 1st, 9 members of the WVDXA got together at the QTH of Bob, W8QHG, for a most enjoyable afternoon. As Bob is 93-1/2 years young, it is difficult for him to travel so we brought the meeting to him! Alan, W8OP, traveled the furthest in driving 3 hours each way from Fairmont, WV.

As usual, the food was sumptuous! Bob's daughter, Bonnie, fixed Penne pasta with meat sauce and home-made meatballs, Hal, W8HC, brought some home-made pizza (it was made at the home of Papa John's!), Dave, WA8WV, brought his famous lemon pound cake, Alan, W8OP, came with home-made Apple pie and sweet tea, Jim, K4JWA, brought garlic bread and a marvelous tossed salad with strawberries, Garry, W8OI, brought drinks and I brought chocolate chip cookies. We ate well - as always!

Bonnie graciously brought her laptop with an AirCard so we could access the Internet and Hal, W8HC, brought a projector and screen so everyone could see the presentations. First up we had a demonstration of the new WVDXA chat page and the DeskPins utility to keep any window "Always-on-Top" of other windows. Then, I showed the 2007 DX Forum presentation I gave at Jackson's Mill about "How to Work DX on a Dead Band (6-M.) That proved timely as the 6-M band opened up just 2 days later.

Above you can see a photo (taken by Bonnie) of those who attended. Click on the photo to make it larger and then hit your BACK button to return to this page. From left to right are: W8OI, WA8WV, WA8VPN, W8TN, W8HC, W8QHG (seated), N8RR, K4JWA, and W8OP.

Besides the presentations, several who attended were "schooled" by WA8VPN's single QSL DXCC submission. They then went home and began searching their QSL's for Deleted Entities! During "Show and Tell" I gave a brief demonstration of my new climbing belt on Bob's tower. Even with the new belt, climbing a tower with a cane can be difficult!

From all the good comments, we need to get together again before too much time has passed. It was certainly the best Saturday afternoon I've spent in quite some time.

Print Your DXCC Award Credit Matrix from LoTW

Have you noticed that ARRL no longer supplies a printed "Credit Matrix" of your DXCC Entities when you made a recent DXCC Submission? That happens when your submission contains LoTW credits, because they know you can access the Credit Matrix online at any time. However, there are times when you might like to have a "hard copy" on hand (like when checking through a stack of QSL's to see if you need to submit any of them.)

If you would like a printed copy of your DXCC Credit Matrix, you can get one from ARRL for $3.00 or you can print it yourself. Simply follow these steps and you can print your own right at home:

Sign into your LoTW Account and click on the yellow "Awards" tab.
Click "Select DXCC Award Account" and you will see your "Totals" chart.
Underneath that chart, click on "View Award Credit Matrix"
Now pull down "File" from your browser menu bar and choose Print. That's it.

Prior to selecting "Print" you can choose "Page Setup" and select either Landscape or Protrait mode if you want. You can also choose "Print Preview" to see what the report will look like before you print it. I found that Portrait mode took 13 pages to print and Landscape took 14 pages. It's your own personal preference as to which you choose.

Also, a neat thing you can do with this report is once you click on "View Award Credit Matrix", you can click on the blue "Sort By" link at the top of the Entity column and the list will now be arranged alphabetically by "Entity Name" instead of Prefix. I find this to be extremely helpful when I'm looking for an entity but can't remember the Prefix. BIG HELP! (See Graphic Below.)

Having the Credit Matrix in this form can also be very helpful in searching out those entities you have missed on rather easy bands. For example, you may find you have no QSL for the USA on 12-M. That's pretty easy to correct. In the Graphic below you can quickly see I need Crozet on CW and Cuba on RTTY (and pretty much everyone on the WARC bands!) This can help focus your "hunt" for that elusive DX.