Category: All Things HF

All Things HF: November 2018

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First and foremost…Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all your families. A special Thanksgiving along with our prayers to our veterans serving this country here and on station.

November was/is a very wonderful month for those of us who love the thrill (sometimes the defeat) of working that ATNO or just working that rare DX even though we’ve already have them in our logs. So it was with the Ducie Island DXpedition (VP6D) that went QRV during some of the South Pacific’s worst weather conditions. Those of us that served in the Pacific theater of operations are aware of just how bad and how unpredictable the weather can be in October when Pacific typhoons break loose with their treacherous seas along with destructive landfall conditions. During those stressful conditions, the DXpedition operators on Ducie Island set up operations.

I’ve worked a lot of DXpeditions along with some of the worlds finest operators or so I thought until I worked VP6D, these dedicated radio guys were absolutely the crème de la crème. They made the pileups so enjoyable that nobody that had to wait to work them was disappointed. They diligently worked 121,000 total Q’s with the following breakdown by mode (rounded off) CW 68,000. SSB 29,000. Digital modes 25,000. You’re reading the numbers correctly…over 50% of their contacts were on CW and so I can tell you with pride, that one of them was mine.

Continued enthusiasm for the CW mode is not the technology, it’s the legacy. As for the digital modes…all that can be said is that digital modes are the future of our great hobby. Gerald Youngblood (K5SDR) CEO of Flex Radio wrote regarding digital modes on HF operations “FT8 et al is an example of the technology that will keep Ham Radio alive and relevant for the future” What will kill Amateur Radio, he continued, “is if we cease to innovate, become old and grumpy, and no longer bring new blood into the hobby” There’s no doubt that Digi-modes will be the vehicle that brings the young technically oriented talent into the hobby and so keeping the hobby alive and well. Us old grumpy dudes operating CW and phone will eventually hand over the reins to the newbies but in the meantime…sit down at your station, check out all those lighted up dials, twist some knobs then call CQ because there’s another grumpy old dude listening for your call so don’t disappoint him/her. So long from my station in Huntersville to your station wherever it may be.

Best 73 es gud DX de Bob/WØZPE

All Things HF: October 2018

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All Things HF
Summer clothes are put away as sweats, hoodies and mittens take their place. The leaves have turned with most fallen to the ground. Our deer feeders are in place as we stock pile their winter feed. Yep, winter whether we like it or not is here with below freezing temps (soon to be below zero) as snow covers the landscape.

I celebrated another birthday, wow, living in the fast lane went away many years ago. I spent the day on HF looking for DX but instead made many QSO’s around the country. The best reliable openings have been on 20-meters with very good signals from east to west. Most of you will remember Jim KØTXT along with his XYL Sharon KBØSQX who were long time members of the BAARC now living in Arkansas…Jim answered one of my CQ’s, what a pleasure it was to hear his voice again. Both pass on greetings to the BAARC club membership. There is nothing better than running into old friends on HF. With many more shut-in days ahead, I am looking forward to whatever comes back to my CQ calling.

Halloween, the deer opener, Thanksgiving then Christmas are all in the next 60+ days so you’ll find me wishing my contacts a very Merry Christmas coming up. I can’t wait for the greetings they’ll come back with such as Happy Holiday or just plain thank you…it’s interesting that in different parts of the country they’ll say Merry Christmas then in another (mostly the west coast) its happy holiday…hey, different strokes for different folks. As for this operator, I celebrate everything and anything as I call a spade a spade, if it quacks it’s a duck.

Veterans day is next month so lets thank a vet for his/her service. I’m also reminded that it’s the 100th anniversary of the ending of the war to end all wars…you betcha. Many years ago I had the privilege to work a veteran of WWl on HF as he celebrated his 105th birthday. Wow, you just never know who is going to be at the other end of the microphone. That’s all from my radio station in Huntersville to your station wherever it may be…do yourself a favor, sit down at your station to call CQ because there’s someone somewhere listening for your call, don’t disappoint them.

Best 73 es gud DX from Bob/WØZPE

All Things HF: September 2018

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I cannot say that the month of September was without its incidents. I awoke at 4:00AM one morning on the floor where I had fallen. My next recollection was an ambulance ride to St. Josephs Hospital in Park Rapids then to the emergency room when I blacked out again. The following morning I awoke to find tubes, wires and bags of colored liquid hanging from a stand next to my bed. A Doctor was taking my blood pressure while explaining that I had Pneumonia.

Hot diggity dog and all that good stuff as I asked when I could go home…there was a chuckle then he was gone. Okay, 3 days later I was on my way home to recuperate while playing HF radio.

So, here I am doing just that. There has been spotty DX into Europe along with plenty of operators in the US looking for a good signal to talk to. Since returning from my hospital experience there’s been plenty of rag chew opportunities mostly on 20-meters. Most of my QSO’s were generated by stations answering my CQ as I stood bye for a call. If you’re like me you keep an eye open to one of the many DX spotting sites on the internet so you might jump on a call in Europe to work SSB or perhaps a signal working CW. I might add that there have been some good openings to Central America on both phone along with some on CW.

I’ve made some changes (additions) to my operating table by adding a pull out flat desk top making it easier to write on. My CW paddle is now easier to access plus its no longer crowded with paper and writing materials. Tomorrow is the first day of fall as I prepare to stay busy on HF all the way from fall to the end of winter so I am looking forward to some good HF experiences. A bit of advice::::getting old is not for sissies so hang in there and don’t forget to sit down at your station and call CQ because someone somewhere is listening for your call.

Best 73 es gud DX from Bob/WØZPE

All Things HF: August 2018

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All Things HF

August 2018

Change is good. If it weren’t for change we would be wearing loin cloth whilst sleeping in a cave. I don’t always adapt to change quickly, sometimes only when I’m forced to. Changes in our great hobby of Amateur Radio are occurring at warp speed all the while I’m advancing at a snails pace.

The digital modes…they’re here to stay so adapting to SDR radio along with ‘waterfalls’ is not just going to happen someday. Someday is now!! The art of QSLing has changed. The ARRL’s LOTW has redefined the QSL card by going digital. Not me, not me. I want my QSL card for the proof I worked Mongolia or other rather exotic places.

Club Log along with the OQRS system is changing the way Bill Plum is modeling his foreign stamp business which for 35 years has been the resource for those of us that are DXCC operating Hams that have used for foreign stamps to obtain our QSL cards. As his foreign stamp inventory is depleted, it will not be replaced according to Bill Plum. This is all part of change. Just imagine sitting in your luxury condo in a high-rise building operating your remote system with a huge antenna, big amplifier, fancy radio a thousand miles away from CC&R’s that you’re operating from a laptop computer. Its all part of change. (its mind boggling too).

How about those FLEX SDR’s ? Is there no end to change in our hobby or are you like me going along at a snails pace using a mic to talk into along with knobs to turn, buttons to push with a CW paddle at the ready and…perhaps a boat anchor. Like it or not, change is coming, are you ready for change or are you like me chugging along at a snails pace enjoying a good rag chew or perhaps working an ATNO at some exotic place in this wild world of ours. I

n the meantime, sit down at your station to start calling CQ because someone somewhere is listening for your call…don’t disappoint them. So long for now from my station in Huntersville to your station wherever it my be.

Best 73 es gud DX from Bob/WØZPE