Saturday, July 28, 2012

13 Colony Certificate Received


This came in the mail Yesterday. Very fast turnaround and a very nice certificate. Too bad I missed the William Penn station and North Carolina but it was fun chasing them all. Been busy so not much "air" time but hope to chase some DX this weekend!
 73--Tim

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

10-10 # 76495

I was just confirmed thru Email My 10-10 International number is 76495. Certificate to follow. That was fast!! Just sent info recently. Now I have a number for the upcoming 10-10 SSB contest August 4th -5th.Full details on the  Web at http://www.ten-ten.org/. I was also able to participate in the Houston Texas net on 28488 last night. Fun. Had contact with several Hams and gained several more 10-10 numbers.
73---Tim

Monday, July 23, 2012

13 colonies,EQSL and 10-10

I recently participated in the 13 Colonies Special event and Georgia K2G was one of the states I had a QSO with. When I checked to see if I've had any recent activity on EQSL, this QSL was waiting along with several others. I also sent Money and My Contact information to receive the 13 Colonies certificate but don't expect to see it in the mail for a while so this was a nice surprise.   I send all My logs to EQSL and I print out interesting or rare QSL's from other members I've contacted. I flip an 8 x 11 sheet of paper so I can fit two cards on it. I put these into a binder and its growing bigger all the time. A nice cheap way of  collecting cards!
 I also recently finished contacting 10 members of 10-10 international so I sent money and contact info to  receive My own number. Hopefully I'll receive the number before the next 10-10 sponsored contest I want to participate in.
  Speaking of contests- The Recent RTTY and Wordwide VHF contest came and went without me making one contact. A family Reunion on Saturday and Church and other obligations kept Me busy on Sunday. A few times I  checked the bands for VHF signals  I didn't hear any! Maybe at this location I didn't miss much. I know I had a great time all weekend even if it wasn't Radio related!!
73--Tim

 

Monday, July 16, 2012

This and That

I noticed on the email reflectors concerning the recent HF contest some chatter about the new N1MM logging program. The new version appears to work great ,with very few complaints so i decided it was again time to load the latest and greatest. I have 11.12.0 and the newest is 12.07.01 so i went the the
N1MM site and loaded the new--only about 2meg .So far seems OK - although haven't tried it during a contest.Maybe next week for the RTTY contest . I don't have much time available next weekend which lately is the norm!
  Bands have also been very funky lately. Big flare last week and lingering effects over the weekend. We were out of town visiting so I didn't miss the lack of HF but i did miss a very impressive Aurora display-- dang!!
  I've also been patiently waiting to add 3 more 10-10 numbers so I can apply and recieve My own number-- really need 10m back!  Come on HF!!
 73--Tim

Sunday, July 8, 2012

13 Colonies Special Event

This is the certificate sent for participation in the 13 Colonies Special event. A QSO with even one of the colony stations and Your eligible for this certificate. Nice looking-- they add a "sweep" endorsment for contacting all Thirteen and if a contact is made with WM3PEN ( Commemorating William Penn) a Liberty Bell seal is also added. This event has a well designed Website with good information and for the time I operated trying to contact all thirteen,the operators were first rate. Most signed with "GOD bless America" and 73's!!
  This event had originally been scheduled for July 1st-5th but because of storm/lack of electric conditions out East it was extended thru 0400 UTC Sunday ( Midnight EST Saturday. ) This was good for Me since I had no chance of participating till Friday night when I realized it was still operating. I spent about 45 minutes Friday contacting 6 colony stations on 20 and 40m. I saw  WM3PEN spotted but conditions were poor and I didn't manage a contact. I thought I was done because Saturday looked too busy but I managed to be back on the air for the last hour and a half before the Event shut down. I again managed 6 stations but failed to find the final one from North Carolina. I also missed the WM3PEN again as conditions were very tough!
  I have My log and information filled out and will send for the Certificate. Fun event and I think it runs around July fourth every year.
  73---Tim
PS- - The Calgary Stampde is also running a Special Event commemorating 100 Years-- I made contact with CK6S on 20m so I'll send for a card from them!!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy July 4th

Just a funny on a special  Holiday.  Please enjoy the holiday and remember Why We celebrate -- 73---Tim
 Thank-you to -- someecards.com

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Tree Trimming

When I decided to install My 10m yagi I knew it was partially blocked by huge pine trees on the North and west sides but was more concerned with the East and south directions(Europe ,east coast and Caribbean ). Some small trees on the south and east sides needed to be cut since my Yagi is only up about 20' and these are above that.Luckily they are 4" or less diameter and mostly poplar type so no big loss. I'll cut them up for firewood this fall but I really wanted them down before then.  I used a rope to tie each one to help direct the fall and proceeded to cut! Lots of brush and small trees to work around but the resulting open sky area is great. I also need to do the same thing around My ground mounted vertical. Its amazing how fast these trees and brush grow up in the great north! Next time I'll try to time it for a cooler day-- 88 F is a little too hot for this kind of work!!
  73--Tim