First, I placed third in the Delta division and 18th nationally in my class in the ARRL SSB Sweepstakes 2012.  I was 11th place among all classes within the Delta Division. I don’t really mind being beat by multi-op stations – I didn’t work the entire contests straight through – but I don’t like being “bested” by single ops.  A bit disappointing.  I doubled my score from last year…when I took first in the division.   But looks like I’ve got a new goal for 2013.

Second, the CQWW SSB contest results are also out.  They break out the results different than the ARRL contests.  I placed 15th in the “5 call region”.  (I didn’t compete in the 2012 CQWW CW competition.)  I’m not sure I can break out the “Arkansas only” in their database.

I did give a small effort to the recent Florida QSO party. Wife and son were both out of town that day, so I had a couple of hours to sit down and bang out 200 QSOs.  I’ve always got great propagation into Florida from here, so it was a lot of fun to run a frequency for a couple hours.  I submitted a log….and who knows, maybe I’ll get some more wallpaper!

As it turns out, I found a QSO with Johnston Island hand scribbled in an old spiral bound ARRL logbook.  Johnston Island is a one-square mile island in the north Pacific Ocean.  It was home to a small US research/military base at one time, but it was closed in 2004 and there are NO inhabitants on the island. I have not worked Johnston Island again, so I opted to figure out a way to get a QSL from the operator.

The QSO was on October 17, 1989…just 12 days before my daughter was born.  She is now 23 and graduates from college in less than 2 weeks!

I had penciled into my log booksign the callsign KN0E/KH3; operator Pete.  A check of KN0E on QRZ.com told me that it likely wasn’t the same person. However, thanks to the Internet, a quick “GOOGLE” of the call sign brought up more information.

KN0E/KH3 logs are now managed by QSL manager Dave, NN1N of Connecticut.  In short order, I shot Dave an email…gave him the QSO specifics…and within about 30 minutes he had replied.

He found me in the KN0E/KH3 log….uploaded the QSO to Logbook of the World…and within 24 hours I had confirmed a 23 year old QSO via LOTW.

Dave told me he has lost touch with Pete – W0RTT – but became his QSL manager after ALSO reaching out for a QSL from Johnston Island:

“Pete worked for the military on an assignment to Johnston for two years.  He was W0RTT and has since disappeared.  I was trying to track down a card from him myself about 13 years ago, and I got hold of him, and volunteered to help him with his cards.  He then sent me two giant boxes of logs, ha.  120,000 hand written QSOs. He used a log periodic and a small tribander and the normal wires.  73, Dave”

Turns out I uncovered a pretty cool story!

Good DX to you!

I also like to attend hamfests. It’s a great place to pick up a bargain and have some “eyeball QSOs”.

But lately I’ve noticed that hamfests are becoming increasingly boring. It’s not enough to “open the doors” and hope hams show up. 

Here are my thoughts on how hamfests should change for the better.

A SWAPMEET IS NOT A WAY TO GET RID OF YOUR WORTHLESS JUNK.  Unless you have acres and acres of swap meet (like Dayton), you can’t sustain a hamfest this way.  I DO like to look at good, bargained price gear and accessories.  If you’re bringing stuff to a hamfest that you should be throwing in the trash, don’t waste my time.  It’s too easy for me to buy good used gear online from eBay or QRZ…or new gear from an online retailer.  If you don’t want your junk…I don’t want your junk, either!  

A GOOD PROGRAM IS VITAL.  The “hamfest committee” needs to do some work. If you don’t have a team of volunteers to execute this, then consider abandoning the idea of a hamfest. There are plenty of people in your area who can speak with authority on any topic related to the hobby: DXing, storm spotting, contesting, awards, etc.  The ideas are endless.   After I walk the swapmeet for a couple hours…I’d really like to sit in on a couple of good presentations.

DOOR PRIZES ARE FUN.  If you are awarding your “GRAND PRIZE” at the last possible moment to encourage people to buy more tickets to win, you’re not getting the biggest bang for your buck.  I’ve never witnessed all the door prizes being awarded.  There’s a LOT of upside in a large audience watching you award the prize. In fact, why not award the “GRAND PRIZE” first to encourage an early turnout?  Use a white board, digital screen, etc to post the names/call signs of door prize winners. This is a must.

MAKE SURE YOUR ROOM IS READY!  The public address system must be functioning.  The temperature must be set correctly.  Set up your tables so people can move around.  A new vendor with lots of appeal should not be located at the entrance and “clog up” the doorway.

ENTRANCE FEES.  Don’t make money off of my admission fee.  I’ve been to several hamfests that were not worth the $10 admission price.  Plenty of places will give you event space for free! (city park, etc.) I’d even buy more raffle tickets if you didn’t charge admission!  

OTHER IDEAS THAT I THINK ARE GREAT.  I’d love to see a gear auction at the hamfest!  Take a radio given as a door prize and instead of a raffle, auction it off!  Everyone loves an auction and your club is still making money. If the business that donated the radio is there, let a representative take the microphone and describe the radio to the crowd.  WIN WIN!

FOOD.  Ham radio operators love to eat, but I’ve never attended a hamfest where that natural relationship was encouraged.  Why not find a local restaurant to cater high quality food…not concession stand quality?!  Maybe a local barbeque place can bring a smoker and cook on site? There’s plenty of fellowship and food to be had at a hamfest if the menu is right.   Here’s an additional idea:  offer a “hamfest package” admission ticket.  If you MUST charge admission, why not “bundle it” with an included  meal?  You are going to make some money on that one.

PROMOTE YOUR HAMFEST.  Promote your hamfest everywhere – through social media like Facebook and Twitter (yes, hams use it!) through local radio interviews, media releases to local newspapers and radio stations, internet community calendars, ARRL and other local radio clubs in the region. And be timely: not too long ago, I received a flyer from a hamfest encouraging me to sign up early – buy tickets online – and save $2.  Unfortunately, I received the flyer several days past the “early ticket” deadline.     

I welcome your thoughts on these ideas…and I would love to hear some of your suggestions.

I’ve also ordered the 4.5 inch optional analog watt/SWR meter for the LDG tuner.  It’s got a great display with buttons, LEDs and the meter is backlit.  What more could you want!?  Had to have it.

I’m also waiting on the arrival of an Ameritron 811H amplifier.  After 38 years in ham radio, this will be my FIRST amplifier, so I’m looking forward to having a bit more “horsepower” to break through this pileups.  Combined with the Cushcraft X9 beam and tower (which were last year’s shack improvements) I’m hoping to hit 250 countries worked by the end of the year.  Currently, I stand at 186 confirmed and 225 worked.

After I receive the amplifier, I am going to rebuild my “air chain”…so that it’s easier to use, has fewer coax jumpers, etc.  It’s a bit cumbersome right now…if I want to change rigs I have to flip a few antenna switches. Since the LDG tuner has a built in two-antenna system, I should be able to streamline my shack coax quite a bit.

Went to the Claremore, Oklahoma hamfest earlier this month.  Next up is Fort Smith, Arkansas hamfest on April 6.

73!

I use ACLog for logging and I log every HF contact.  One of the features of this great piece of software is the ability to integrate the TELNET feed of DX spots into the lower portion of the logging window.   ACLog automatically logs WB0RUR into the cluster each time I start the software.

I can choose each DX station I work to be automatically “spotted”.  Or I can manually “spot” by opening up a secondary menu selection and making a selection.

Last weekend, I was monitoring the 15 meter SSB signal of VP8LP in the Falkland Islands; a great operator controlling a large pileup of stations. He did a fine business job. I noticed several stations were spotting their QSO on the DX Cluster correcting the callsign to LU/VP8LP with the comment “Correct Call, Sorry”. I thought it strange so many people were misunderstanding… then correcting the call sign since VP8LP was clearly identifying properly and at no time said “portable LU”.

I threw my call sign out and also worked VP8LP.  Within moments I saw my QSO spotted on the DX Cluster with the notation LU/VP8LP “Correct Call, Sorry”!!!!  On the cluster it appeared as if I added this correction/comment but I did NOT!

While technically a violation of policy cluster (I beg forgiveness) I opened the manual spotting window and spotted my QSO a second time, adding “WHO WROTE “CORRECT CALL”?! You can see the response on the screen image I posted here: “ITS YOUR MOTHER”.  And again, it appeared to be posted by me! The bottom line is that on SOME software (maybe all!?) an imposter can log-on to the DX Cluster without a password, impersonate anyone he or she wants, and make comments with YOUR CALLSIGN. (On the image, you can also see an earlier post where someone “hacked TI2CCC” and posted the same comment.)

Even as I type this blog post, an offender could be logged onto the DX Cluster under my callsign posting comments. (P.S. Please don’t!)

Last week, I didn’t further engage the malevolent CLUSTER offender although VP8LP mentioned it, reassuring those hams working him that he was not /LU… but was in fact in the Falkland Islands.

I am not sure what the call to action is here.  I have no idea who to contact to request a “PASSWORD” be required to log onto the TELNET DX Cluster feed. But at the least you are now aware of this potential security issue.