On the bench:

2011-February-11 - Homebrew DXCC

Waiting for parts has got me thinking about working DX and achieving DXCC with a completely homemade station. I'm sure that is possible with 5W QRP and a wire, but the thought here is to build a reasonable QRO DX station essentially from scratch. It got me thinking about the countries that I have worked so far and what it would take to work the other 90 that I would need.

So far I have only worked Canada (VE), Austria (OE), Slovakia (OM), France (F), Mexico (XE), Bahamas (C6), St Lucia (J6), Italy (I), Germany (DL). QSL cards have been sent direct to all of them, with confirmations back from about half so far. Realistically I can hear and probably work most of South America if I can turn my antenna slightly. Right now South America is almost off the bottom of my 40m dipole. Perhaps a vertical would work.

There are perhaps 8 countries in South America that I have heard often, but not worked. There are another 8-10 Islands in the Caribbean that I have head but not worked. I should be able to work many of the European Countries except the rare ones, and there are perhaps 15 that are common. I hear Russian and other Eastern European stations frequently, adding perhaps 3 or 4. That gives me about 45 or 50 countries at most that I could work on 40m today. DXCC on 40m is not possible without being able to work through pile ups for rare ones or by having a much better antenna and power, so that I can reach to other parts of the world.

So I need to be QRV on 20 meters, perhaps on other bands too. I could build a similar 20m radio, or I could build a mulit-band radio. For now I am going to build a "next generation" radio for 20m, mostly based on the R2/T2 Pro in EMRFD and that has better RIT, or the ability to operate split to a degree. That's important for many rare DX stations. If wide range RIT/XIT is not practical then I will make provision for a second VFO, probablly an external unit.

I have also realized that my DX skills are inadequate. When there is a pile-up on 40m CW, I typically can not even find the DX. When I do, I really struggle to copy the callsigns that they are working, because it is usually at 15-20 wpm. Just above my current copy speed. So I need to practice.

So homebrew (without kits) DXCC is the target. I need to complete the amplifier and build a radio for 20m. Then I probably need a 20m antenna that I can rotate. Lots to do. Good DX!

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