On the bench:

2011-May-1 - Logging and QSL Cards

I have been using DL2RUM's RumLog logging program. It runs really well on the old G4 Mac here in the shack. I like how simple it is. I don't have a Mac at my QTH in Montreal, so I run Logger32 on my work laptop, which is fine, but I prefer RumLog.

The Solid State Homebrew Amp has been fantastic. I'm writing up a project page about it. It's a work in progress right now and I will link it from the main page when it's finished.

I really like that the amplifier is instant on. I was tuning the band on Thursday evening and heard a UK station calling CQ. It was about 4 minutes after midnight UTC and he was using a GR special callsign for the Royal Wedding. I flicked the Amplifier power supply switch and it was ready in about half a second. I called him and we had a nice conversation. Everyone had a holiday day on Friday in the UK, so he was up late using the special callsign. As soon as I signed off, there were many stations calling him.

The control circuits have also worked well in the amplifier. I transmitted the other day and the high SWR indicator kicked in and took that amplifier offline. I was surprised because in testing the high current had typically kicked in when I was too far up or down the band from my minimum SWR. It turned out that there was a problem with one of the connections to my external SWR meter. Almost all of the power was being reflected back into the amplifier. If I had not built the protection circuits then I would have probably destroyed another 4 FETs like before.

42 Worked, 15 Confirmed

I have had QSL cards from 4 new entities since I last wrote a blog entry. CS2C - Portugal, OZ1GML - Denmark, ON4UN - Holland and P4/W1HEO - Aruba have all arrived in the last few days. I just love getting QSL cards. It's almost as good as working the station originally. I know that eQSL and Logbook of the World are convenient, but there is no thrill for me in finding a match. At least not the same sort of satisfaction as getting a paper card that someone took the time to mail to you.

The Path to my homebrew DXCC

I have 42 countries so far, almost all of them "easy" countries. I can already see its going to be hard to collect the needed QSL cards. I wonder how many more countries I need to work before I have 100 confirmed? It could be quite a lot. But there are quite alot to work. In South America there are 10 countries I have not worked, but I have only actually heard about 4 of them before. In Central America there are 7 countries, but again I have only actually heard 3 or 4 of them. In the Caribbean I have hardly made a dent. I have VP9 - Bermuda, PJ5 - St. Eustacius, P4 - Aruba, KP4 - Puerto Rico, FG - Guadalupe and C6 - Bahamas confirmed. There are about 23 more entities that I have not even worked.

So I should be able to work and confirm 8 - 10 entities south of the border, and at least another 10-15 in the Caribbean. Even if all of the stations I have worked so far send QSLs, that will only give me 67 at best. So I have 33 to confirm from Europe or Africa. My dipole is well oriented for Africa and I have heard perhaps 5 countries there. In Europe I have worked all the usual suspects, but I don't have GM, GI, GW, GJ or GU. So I could search for UK stations. I also don't have the Nordic entities or the Baltic entities. Northern Europe is off the end of my antenna though and hard to reach. So I might pick up 5-10 more counters in Europe, but probably not more without a directional antenna.

Anything East of the Ukraine is not usually in darkness when I have propagation on 40 meters. But I have not explored the early morning propagation. I should have tried that during winter, when I could get up at 7am rather than 4am, as I will have to do now. I hear that VK and ZL can be worked at that time. I have to believe that there are another 10 countries that I can work to the west of me, but perhaps I will have trouble getting all the way across the county before I hit the pacific.

Some people work 300 countries on 40m, but they seem to have a beam antenna rather than a dipole. My dipole seems to work well because it is high and I am virtually on the Atlantic, so I have a good path to the East, but I hear people working stations that I can not hear at all. I have to be realistic and realize that I will probably work 25 more entities outside of the Americas, giving me a total of about 90. It will be a real grind to work the last 10. I could take that path, or I could build a 20m radio to open up new paths to other countries. It is likely that I will do that, but right now there is DX to work and I must go and tune the radio.

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