ARRL 10m contest 2016

I was able to participate in this contest but only on Saturday. Friday and Sunday I had Family commitments which was okay because most of the limited action was on Saturday. I really wanted to submit a log so I had the radio on and every time I passed the shack would check conditions. It did seem like most of the action was just out of My reach of My station.Heard whispers and occasional signals but most just barely touched My s-meter.With limited activity and time only managed less than 50 Q's but it was fun to be back behind a microphone. Many logs I have seen posted rival mine in size :)
73--Tim

ARRL 10m Contest 2015 certificate

Imagine My surprise when this showed up in the mail.I won this exact category -low power ,phone only Minnesota section,in this contest in 2010 but wasn't expecting this. Conditions were not spectacular and My time was limited!Always fun to add some wallpaper to the shack so definately not complaining :)Receiving this award several weeks before the contest also helps Me to be motivated to participate!!
73---Tim

Las Vegas Trip and more

Iphone picture of the Paris Las Vegas Eiffel tower taken from across the street at Bellagio's. Our Hotel was at Paris Las Vegas which is a nice hotel and was kind of center on the strip.We were able to walk both North and South on the strip from this location.Vegas is definetely an experience and not a place for a judgemental person. I took it all in stride although was certainly ready to be back to the country!
CQ WW RTTY contest this weekend and I'm hoping to find time to participate although Our Girls will be back from college for a visit.i guess I will see what time I can find.Doing some preliminary checks with the radio and interface so hopefully i'm ready!
73---tim

More Bureau cards and a stray!

Just received more cards from the W0 bureau. Not a huge amount but fun to have a present in the mail.The oldest card is from 2011 and I even have one card not for Me.Card amount was correct but a stray one accidentally was added to My pile. I looked up the call on QRZ and its now on its way to its owner.Maybe He has Japan confirmed or maybe not!! Either way- now He will have Japan!
73---Tim

13 Colony Certificate and scanner antenna install

I received in the mail My 13 colony certificate for this years special event. Managed to achieve a clean sweep and contact the William Penn station but not the United Kingdom. I think that's five years in a row I've participated and I always enjoy chasing the stations around.
Recently I was asked to help setup and program a new scanner for Our system operations center. I didn't have enough time at work so I brought it home and played with it. During the setup of the new scanner I was reminded of a scanner antenna I bought used at a recent swapfest and never put in the air.Its a disconne type ,an Icom AH-7000, and it seemed to be in great shape.
I still have an old pipe on My pole building and a piece of "spare" RG-8u from the pipe to inside My shack so this should be easy to put in service. The coax has not been used for many years so I did a simple test with My MFJ-259b antenna analyzer by putting a dummy load on the pole building end and tested from inside My shack. Coax looks good so I mounted the antenna and again checked with the analyzer although it only goes to about 170Mhz and this wideband antenna should cover from 25Mhz-1300Mhz receive. The setup looks fine for the frequencies I can test and it will only be used as a receive antenna so I'm good to go!
Using an external antenna, especially when My scanner is located in the basement, makes a nice improvement. The little telescoping antenna provided with the scanner if used on the first floor or above does do a good job which surprised Me.
I hope to find time to give a quick explanation of programming the Uniden BCD996P2 scanner soon in a future blog post.
73---Tim