LOTW 113 & 114 confirmed

I have two more confirmed DXCC's from the September CQ WW SSb contest. I guess I have had close to 8 new one's from just that one contest- neat!! Top flag is from Costa Rica and I had a QSO with TI2CDA and bottom flag is New South Wales but the DXCC is actually Lord Howe Island which is an unincorporated territory of New South Wales. I had a contact with VK9DLX during the contest which makes Me smile because I tried outside of the Contest time and had zero luck. Contesting is cool !!
I've been chasing some Centennial points and will have a write up at the end of the Year about that endeavour!
73---tim

November Sweepstakes SSB 2014

I looked back and realized I have not participated in a November Sweepstakes contest since 2010. It is not My favorite contest but it is probably the most challenging domestic contest I participate in.The exchange of Serial number, precadance , call sign ,Year first licensed and Section to both send and receive is a challenge.During the contest I was constantly amazed at how easily the big guns could listen and fire back with their exchange. I tried not to hurry and I think it helped to keep the "shotgun" exchange at a more even pace.
 This weekend as usual ended up being a lot more busy than I had anticipated so I was in and out of the shack quite often.This really made it hard to get an exchange rthymn going so at the start I really struggled and at the end of My BIC time it seemed rather easy . The higher bands like 10m were in excellent condition while the lower bands,even 20m seemed noisy and difficult to hear the exchanges. I did not stay on much after 7:00 pm either night but tried to be on the air when 10 and 15m were open.I still find 10m the most fun because of the antenna options of vertical and horizontal (yagi) I can use.I found the Yagi to collect the better signals although occasioningly the vertical won out.
 As usual I only did an S & P contest and didn't waste much time trying to break thru the pile ups. I heard VE8EV on 15m but He was very weak and the pile was immense. Alaska and Hawaii were also working big pile ups so I passed them by but amazingly I had 3 Montana contacts! I was hoping to break 10,000 points which I did and had 49 sections out of 83 which wasn't too bad. Sometime I would like to be able to devote enough time to have a chance at a sweep. A coffee cup would be ordered for sure.
  Glad I participated . Sad to think that each Year the band conditions will diminish till they bottom out at the end of this cycle. Enjoy it while I can!
73--Tim
 

Tokelau Island makes #112

The recent CQ WW SSB contest was not only fun but productive for DXCC chasing. I contacted ZK3Q from the Tokelau Islands and they recently uploaded to LOTW to give Me confirmation number 112. The Tokelau Islands are a territory of New Zealand and are located South of Howland Island and NorthEast of Fiji and almost directly West of the Marquesas Islands.Looking at other islands in the area I notice Swain Island and the Kiribatis plus several others with recent Dxpeditions. Chasing DX really is a cool way to explore Geography and find the location of many unknown entities.
  The ARRL SSB sweepstakes contest starts tomorrow at 2100 UTC. I plan to participate when I am able.Looks like a busy weekend full of many obligations....so We see!!
73---Tim

TX7G for DXCC #111

I had QSO's with TX7G operating from the Marquesa Islands during the recent CQ WW SSB contest on 10m and I chased them before the contest and was able to achieve a contact on 12m. They uploaded Their logs to LOTW for My 111 DXCC confirmation. They were a well run operation and fairly easy to contact unlike the recent expedition from Tromelin Island- FT4TA. They have been very faint and with their location to Me I have the East coast wall to get thru and have had no luck! I believe today is the last day to try!
  73--Tim