K1N and bandscopes

I decided to wait with My comments about the recent K1N Dxpedition to Navassau until I had time to reflect on my feelings. When I heard about this expedition I was excited to be chasing a new one and I surmised it should be easier than some other locations because of the proximity to the United States.I had many contacts to Caribbean stations and figured My biggest challenge would be the huge pile ups.If I waited till they died down a bit I felt assured of some success.
The pile ups did start off huge and only seemed to intensify as time went on.At the end of their allotted time I read they had about 150-160K total contacts. Ducie Island expedition (VP6DX) had totals around 170K and I managed contacts on several bands with them-using less of an antenna assortment than I have now.I think Ducie island is also a greater distance from My shack.
One unpleasant thing I noticed right off the bat was the amount of intentional interference. It was of gigantic proportions.I think maybe the chatter about cutting down on QRM happy Hams before using DQRM only made matters worse--almost a challenge.The Dx crew also because of the huge pile ups and their bandscope capabilities had very wide listening patterns. I think this might have made many unhappy customers who had Hams calling not only at 5 to 10 up but 10-30 up right where non dx chasing Hams wanted to talk. I understand the need for a wider than normal spread but -wow!! Maybe too much!  I also think posting a leaderboard brings out bad behavior in too many overly competitive operators. How many bands and modes is enough??
  I think the wide listening pattern caused Me the most headache. I don't have a band scope and I sometimes felt like I was running blind. I have a middling antenna setup and only run a 100w SSB so I would imagine My signal on a band scope is not as noticeable as some big gun signals. Talk power and clarity won't help Me in a pile up in this situation and I don't have the luxury of seeing where the last answered frequency was at. Is this operator moving up and down the band or snagging the band scopers who actually saw where the last contact was?? See My point? Its like running blind. Don't misunderstand Me-- I wish I had a band scope. Money is the deterrent at this point. Maybe as more are in use price will drop. I can only hope.
  Needless to say even on the last ATNO day on Saturday when they were going to operate on 20m for only new calls, I didn't make a contact.Barely heard them on 20m and on 10m it was a zoo.I doubt I'll be around for the next activation of Navassau- maybe.just maybe!
   One final point-- the K1N team did a great job under difficult conditions. They managed huge pile ups and last thru  very hot weather conditions.I sat comfortable in My basement and had plenty of sleep.I maybe should have tried some late night lower band activity but hindsight is ---well you know :)
73--Tim

Mariana Islands for #118

Another confirmation from the CQ WW SSB Contest of 2014 added to LOTW for number 118 for Me. Contest season has been very productive! This QSO contact with AH0BT, the Saipan BBQ Contest club was the very last one for Me in the contest. I remember this was during a very nice opening on 10m and it included a confirmation to Guam and several JA's and and VK's too. Nice to have a Yagi in the air-made a noticeable difference compared to My vertical.
This contact is listed as the Mariana Islands and this call sign is associated with a group on Saipan Island. The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth of the USA! Cool.The geography lessons I have with Ham radio make Me smile.
I have not been very active since the Centennial QSO party ended.Didn't even participate in the Minnesota QSO party and have had no luck contacting K1N but have only half-heartedly tried.Lots of deliberate interference which is very unbecoming of the Ham community!
73--Tim

ARRL Centennial QSO Party

The ARRL was celebrating its 100 year centennial during 2014 by having a Year long QSO party.They had both W1AW headquarters and mobile/portable operations in all 50 States and Territories plus a Centennial points challenge utilizing every member of the ARRL organization from President right down to Us little guys! I was only worth 1 point as a member whereas the ARRL President was worth 300 points for each band and mode contacted during the Year and other Life members,Voluteer Examiners,Section Managers and so on were worth points between 1-300.W1AW also counted towards points too plus the chance for a WAS certificate contacting each state.
I heard some chatter about this Centennial before it started but didn't pay much attention. The first part of 2014 I only participated in several contests and not much other on air activity. It wasn't until October after several contests I saw some more information on the ARRL website and realized I had already reached the 1000 point level to qualify for a 1st level certificate. If I could obtain 2000 more points I would reach the 2nd level at 3000 and maybe even 7500 points for a 3rd level certificate. I could also chase the W1AW stations of which I had contacted a few but would not have a chance at WAS since some states were already done with their activity for the year.
Reading up on the Centennial rules I noticed several extra activity days ahead where all ARRL staff and members were encouraged to operate and decided to try and reach a goal of 7500 points which at this late stage of the Year I doubted I'd achieve. I started watching the Clusters and listening on the bands for Centennial and W1AW activity. This became a nightly ritual and one I really enjoyed. I didn't spend more than an hour a night but I usually managed 100 points or more. The end of October I was at 2081 points and a month later I had 6810 points after November sweepstakes and Centennial points chasing most nights. The ARRL 10m contest and Canadian RAC contest were still ahead plus a promoted ARRL staff participation day on December 31st.
By December 20th I had 8715 points so I had reached My goal of 7500 points and then some! The 3rd level was assured and I actually gave it a good try of reaching the 4th level at 15000 points but fell short-- oh well! I ended up with 11,141 and 25 states with W1AW contacted-plus several territories and W1AW100HQ !! What a hoot! This was absolutely fun to the max.It felt like a constant contest and I actually felt like a big gun participating in it. My little station performed very well and conditions helped out tremendously. The solar flux and sunspot activity was at elevated levels.During many pile ups ,I was able to break thru with the first call using My ground mounted vertical at 100w output. It seemed like a pipe line to the midwest. Lots of actual "great signal" comments from the other end of pile ups.
It was fun to have QSO's with ARRL staff I normally never hear and It was cool to hear the stateside pile ups.I think most comments from participants indicated it was a positive experience. I added WAS for both SSB and digital and I'm now very close to WAS on several bands. Since the Centennial is over I have noticed My on air time is again back to pre centennial levels-- but I plan to participate in more contests this winter than last year.
The centennial from My perspective was a great success and alot of fun. I miss the anticipation of finding and chasing different calls around the bands. Seeing the points totals add up and feeling a certain comradre with all the participants.I won't be around for the next centennial. Wonder what Ham radio will be like then??
73---Tim

73---Tim

Panama for #117

During the recent ARRL RTTY contest I had a contact with HP2AT on 15m and they are a LOTW user so now I have a confirmed DXCC #117 with a station from Panama. Very typical that it takes several tries before I find a user of LOTW. I've had several other SSB and RTTY with Panama stations but neither ones must have used LOTW.
 All the recent contests and Centennial contacts have increased My WAS confirmations too.I have all 50 for SSB and Digital along with My original Mixed WAS 50. Getting close on a few bands also- 48 on 40m,49 on 20m and 43 on 10m plus 30's on 15,80 and 36 on 160m. Maybe 5 band WAS is in My future!
 73---Tim

ARRL RTTY RU 2014

I spent some time before the contest getting the hardware,software and logging program ready so at 1800 UTC I was ready to go. I started on 10m but the amount of activity was small so moved to 15m. Here the activity was just enough to keep me interested as I tuned up the band.Eventually I moved to 20m where there was a good amount of activity. Lots of 4s and 7s and an occasional DX station too.
Around Supper time I moved to 40m and was pleasantly surprised to have some DX hear Me- I don't often add any DX on 40m so this was a pleasant surprise!Italy,Aruba,Belguim and Spain were added to the log.Eventually i tried 80m but it was very noisy and I only added a couple to the log before calling it a night.
The next morning outside was -20F with a stiff wind so I only did minimal outside activities and spent more time contesting.The bands again seemed to be favoring 15 and 20m so I spent the majority of My time tuning around there with an occasional jump to 40 or 10m.I did call it early- My ears were ringing with "diddles" and I had put in about 8 hours total time in the contest already between Saturday and Sunday. This is actually a big chunk of time and decided to show My face to My family !
Checking statisics from N1MM I had an average of 30.6 QSO's an hour with one 120 QSO hour and a 66 per hour! Not bad considering I was only doing an S&P operation.
My total QSo count was an even 250 with 47 sections and 12 DXCC's for a total of 14,750 points. This contest is always a good time and I really like RTTY contests. Managed to add Panama to confirmed DXCC's for a total now of 117 and 1 contact on 20 and 40m for a total of 49 towards My 5 band WAS.Fun!!
73---Tim