P5 Activation February 2016

This just in:

That Dom 3Z9DX had written permission to operate amateur radio from a VERY wanted DXCC entity. Today, we can reveal that entity is North Korea (P5).



Dom 3Z9DX explains he has received a further letter from authorities in Pyongyang inviting him to a final meeting to discuss [and for he to accept] rules by the North Korean military and the relevant telecommunications department.



This meeting will take place in December with activity planned for January or February 2016.

According to P5 telecoms, Dom will be permitted only three bands (20-15-10) likely using a multiband vertical from a secured place in Pyongyang with two government supervisors over-looking 24/7.

Activity will last for 5 days.



At the moment this is a solo expedition to the #1 Most wanted entity using SSB only. He is working hard behind the scenes to get one more op (CW) to join him.



Please realise this project is a work in progress and to understand that it may only be Dom who operates from North Korea.

More updates / website throughout 2015.

I never expected to see this activation in my lifetime, but I don't think very many of us will get this P5 callsign in our logbooks. As this solo DXpedition is only for 5 days, and it is the number one most sort after country, and has been for many years, I can only imagine the pile-ups, deliberate QRM, LIDS, and band police that will be out and about in full force during those 5 days.  I hope I'm wrong, but history has shown (K1N for example) I'm probably right.

The Ottawa Trip......

Had a great day yesterday, a road trip to Ottawa was on the menu.  It was good to finally get out of Kingston for a day after months of freezing cold weather and numerous feet of fallen snow.  The trip up to Ottawa was great, bare dry roads and a beautiful blue sky.  The temperature actually rose to +8C.......a heatwave !!

2m was pretty active, and I managed contacts in Perth, Westport, Franktown and Ottawa.  Much different results from last summer's cross Canada road trip.

First on the agenda was to drop three sealed gel cells off to Bob, VA3QV, at his QTH.  He's a scruffy looking bugger these days as he hasn't shaved all winter.  I will be taking up a collection later to buy a package of disposable razors to mail to him........  I know Bob appreciated getting the batteries, and I was surprised to hear from Liz, his XYL, later in the day just how happy she was when they were dumped in the middle of her living room......Oh Robert, you may need the mobile love shack a lot sooner than you know !!!!!!!

The gang at the Newport.
Picture (C) Chris VA3CME

After taking care of some business in town it was off to 322 Churchill Ave North, the location of the Newport Restaurant.  Outstanding Pizza, and the beer was good too !!   This spot is the monthly meeting place of the Ottawa Valley QRP Society 

Now normally I only get to see these guys once a year at Chillycon, so it was a real treat for me to be able to arrange my trip and get to see them all last night, all 17 of them which I understand is a bit of a record for attendance.  Nice to see the QRP community growing!

Bob, VA3QV said it best on his blog today....and I quote:   "You can only imagine what the QRM level is like inside the restaurant when you have 17 hams all describing their last DX contact, their latest antenna and how they did in the last contest all at the same time…".  It was a great evening.

Being back in Ottawa was interesting for me, I was stationed at CFB Ottawa South (Uplands) in the 1980's when I was flying on 450 Squadron.  What changes have gone on, how the ethnic makeup of my old stomping grounds have changed, and how the City has contracted urban sprawl!!  Yeah, I know things change, I'm just not convinced it's all for the better.

The 2m rig was pretty quiet on the way home, most hams must have been in bed!  Luckily the VE3FRG machine in Kingston was active and I spoke to Richard, VA3VDP, and Leo, VE3BLR.....and so ended a great day.

2015 ARRL International DC Contest - SSB

What a great weekend on the bands, over 600 contacts in the log and I'm ready for bed.   The main workhorse of the weekend was 10m....as usual.  20m wasn't far behind, and I also managed a pile of contacts on 15m and 80m.

The opening propagation figures for 0000Z 7 March was: SFI=127. SN=31. A=13. K=3.  Not too bad, we've all worked with a lot worse than those numbers.

Best contact of the weekend was with Herik, FR5DX, on Reunion Island, AF-016 in the Indian Ocean.  100 watts both ways using dipoles.....who needs beams???  It was an interesting contest this year as a lot of the usual suspects didn't show up for it.  I heard no JL's and no middle east stations.  One station I have worked every contest I have ever worked, D4C in Cape Verde, was also conspicuous by his absence.

The usual idiots were out in force, those that whistling over QSO's, and tune up right over the on-going QSO.  I'm sure they would just love it if we did it to them!

My other pet peeve was also out in force this weekend, those operators that insist on giving their callsign at triple the speed of light.  You hear them all the time calling and calling and calling....and all the time getting no response while all around them people are working stations hand over fist!  They never get it.

The other telling item was the very large number of stations working a kilowatt.  My experience was that those running a Kilowatt had, for the most part, crap signals and they were transmitting far beyond what they could hear.  I think the power they run is to compensate for poor antenna systems they may have.  They fail to memorize the first rule of ham radio.......put your $$ into the antenna system, not the radio!!   The stations running 100w had cleaner signals and were easier to understand and work.

I had great success with my 15m vertical.  This antenna is a $20 hamstick attached to a painter pole, and it sits up at about 11'.  It also has two 11' 8" radials on it.  With this antenna, if I could hear them I could work them.  It went beyond my expectation, especially as it was only put up as a stop-gap approach over the winter.  It may stay up now!!

Overall it was a great weekend, really enjoyed myself, and we'll do it all over again on the last weekend of this month for the CQ WW WPX Contest SSB.

And the Season Starts.........

The 2015 contest season officially kicks off this coming weekend with the ARRL International DX Contest (SSB).  This contest starts at 0000Z on March 7th, and end at 2359Z on the 8th March.  Always a great contest for getting those DX stations in the log.

Of course the weather is perfect for radio sport activities right now, as it is not exactly conducive for outdoor activities unless you're a very well dressed Inuit.

Rules are HERE.

Having seen the SFI numbers over the past few weeks I think this contest will  be done by VE3FCT as QRO.  So let's hope the propagation Gods smile this weekend.

Good luck to everyone taking part!!

February - A Quiet Month

February is one of those strange months, you know, one without any major ham radio contest in it, and I'm sure we're all getting quite fed-up with the cold winter and piles of snow about the landscape.

I'm hoping that March will be much different with two major contests during the month, the ARRL International SSB DX Contest on March 7th & 8th (Rules HERE), and the CQ World-Wide WPX SSB Contest on March 28th & 29th (Rules HERE).

I've also been looking at the calendar planning my spring, summer, and fall portable activities.  The problem is there is little new around here to do.......all of the islands have been activated, several times over the last few years, as have all the local lighthouses.  So it looks like I will have to travel further afield this year.....well, not as far as last years trip to the west coast.  My bank account is still recovering from the fuel bill!!

There are the regular annual items already on the calendar, Field Day, International Lighthouse Weekend, Chillycon, and the W/VE Island QSO Party.  These are pretty staple now, but they've all been done before.  So there needs to be a weekend mini-DXpedition on the horizon and I'm going to have to start looking for ideas so I can get planning.

Oh well, back to the maps and atlas to see what I can conjure up..........

Is spring coming soon ????????

SPAR Winter Field Day

Many of us over the past nine years have enjoyed participating in the SPAR Winter Field Day.  It was another opportunity for us to gather our gear and head for our favourite spots to play portable radio....as if we really need an excuse to do that.....even when the temperatures where down below zero, and in some cases, way below zero.

This year, 2015, was the ninth year Winter Field Day has taken place, and it was this year that it finally seemed we had reached critical mass, and had enough operators on the bands calling "CQ Winter Field Day" to actually stay busy.  

After Winter Field Day this year reports started to appear that the electronic log submission system was bouncing and nobody could submit their logs.  Many people posted questions on the SPAR Forum about this, but there was no response from any of the SPAR team.  However, today we sadly learn that Walt, W5ALT, who was, and always has been, the driving force at SPAR behind Winter Field Day, has had a stroke and is unable to look after things and probably won't be able to for a long while.

There has been a suggestion on the SPAR website that another organization will take over the running of Winter Field Day.  Let's hope this event does continue and that another organization will take over the management of it.  It's a pretty valuable tool in the Emcomm war chest.  Yes, there are issues we overcome during the annual ARRL June Field Day, mainly bugs and heat.  But nothing proves your Emcomm group is ready for anything that can be thrown at it if you can set up and complete a Winter Field Day in sub-zero temperatures.

I wish Walt a speedy, and a full recovery from this stroke.  Hopefully we'll hear him on the bands soon.

How to Spot Made in China Food Items

ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE BOX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!

With all the food and pet products now coming from China, it is best to make sure you read the label at the grocery store and especially Walmart when buying food products.

Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located.

ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY--NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE BOX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK---CAREFULLY!

It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin.  How to read Bar Codes .... interesting!

This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.

GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA " AND NOT FROM CHINA!!

The whole world is concerned about China-made "black hearted goods".  Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China?

If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA.

471 is Made in Taiwan.  This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made.

However, you may now refer to the barcode - remember if the first 3 digits are:

690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA

00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA

30 - 37 FRANCE

40 - 44 GERMANY

471 ... Taiwan

49 ... JAPAN

50 ... UK

BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching for "0" at the beginning of the number.

Not much radio work going on........

Been a very interesting week.  Spent a few days up at CFB Petawawa visiting my old Air Force squadron.....so no amateur radio.  It's been 27 years since I had last been on the squadron lines so it was quite the trip down memory lane for me.

The squadron has had new facilities built for them and the 15 brand new F Model Chinook helicopters it now operates.  The building is huge, 53,000 square metres, and it's 800m in length.  Just HUGE, and a very far cry from the facilities we had when I was flying the C Model Chinooks back in the mid-1980's at CFB Uplands in Ottawa.

As I was given the tour of the hangers and training facilities the thought came to me that the Chinook world had gone from the era of the Flintstones to that of Star Wars in the time since I had left the squadron.  The changes really were mind blowing for me.

Outwardly the machines are the same, but mechanically they are very different.  For example the engines in my day were rated for 3,700 shaft horsepower each, today the new engines are rated for 4,777 shaft horsepower each.  That's a lot more usable lift capability, especially in an emergency.

I really have to thank LCol Chris McKenna, the Commanding Officer, for allowing the visit, and the the guys and girls on the squadron who made the visit so memorable.

Getting ready to do the hook up

In the Log !!!

Yeah!!!!  K1N is in the logbook!!!!  At 0422 local this morning, and on 20m, in she went.  Done on the very first call...smooth as silk, even talking very quiet as to not wake the rest of the house up.

No LIDS, No Band Police, and No Space Cadets about at all at that time of the morning, they're all snoring away saving their energy to create havoc later in the day.  I was greeted by the operator with "VE3FCT, Good Morning, You're up very early and a solid 59+!!"

So there you have it folks, want to work them in real peace and quiet without the DQRM and the multitude of LIDS on the frequency........get up very early.

No more worries, no more chasing them, and no need for a second contact on a different band.  In the log and done with........and on to the "Honey Do" List.

K1N Navassa Island

Well, as forecast, the Band Police and LIDS are out in full force this morning.  I even learned a new swear word from one of the band police.....who knew you could use language like that on the air?

I just can't imagine how bad the DQRM will get on this DXpedition's frequencies.  Some idiots just seem to love screwing things up for the rest of us.

It's a good job my FT-950 has a large VFO to spin, I've got better things to do than listen to that mess all day!

An Ontario Radio Society?

I have just discovered the following article on the blog site of Rod Hardman, VE3RHF, and it was written last November.......and what a marvellous idea that article is !!  

Now Rod, as you may know, was up to a few months ago, the RAC Director for Ontario South, that is before he resigned after about eight months into his term....you'll have to ask Rod why he resigned.  Before he was elected as the Ontario South Director Rod actually contacted me looking for my thoughts on what I thought was wrong with RAC, and I sent him a long email in return.....which turned into quite the exchange of emails. 

To be honest I had high hopes that finally, somebody with high ethical standards, actual proven leadership skills, and somebody who actually gave a crap about what happened to hams in Canada was going to be on the RAC Executive.  I don't blame Rod for packing it in, I think we can all understand the level of intense frustration he must have been going through.

Anyway, let's have a look at his Blog article:                 

I'm hearing rumbling from Ontario Hams about a desire to form (reform) an Ontario Amateur Radio Society.

Imagine a unified annual membership, initiated at the club level, that would fund the Club, The Ontario Society and RAC.

Each level is funded for services it provides, with clear division of responsibility. Members choose to belong to a Club and elect an executive, Clubs belong to a Provincial Society and elect an executive, and the Provincial Society chooses to belong to RAC and appoint Provincial Directors. It's a bottom up structure and the financial flow ensures a Servant-Leader approach. If RAC fails to serve the provinces they may not get funded!

It is an interesting "inversion" of President Bawden's recent TCA message regarding ARES, pushing responsibility for ARES leadership down to the regions, effectively "outsourcing" the problems associated with lack of national leadership in Field Services.  Instead of outsourcing a problem down, the Clubs and Provinces would hold RAC accountable, or we will find a more responsive National Society to spend out dollars with. 

Imagine that, People that pay the fees being treated as customers instead of a tax base!

I think there may be some sound thinking behind this - at a minimum it is worth looking into. The numbers certainly tell a supporting story. Ontario has a significant percentage of Canada's Amateurs and is underrepresented on the RAC board. 
This might just be the method to shake up the status quo at RAC and force the Executive to be responsive to the needs of Ontario Amateurs. 

I think it's worth a look. 

I agree, it most certainly is worth looking at, especially if it is going to hold RAC totally accountable for it's actions.....................where do I send my membership fee???

Winter Field Day

Well, it's that time of year again.....winter field day, you know, the one were the mosquitoes don't bother you!!  As the SPAR website states: "Since emergencies and natural disasters don't always happen in the summer, during Winter Field Day, frigid winds, icy limbs and bitter cold replace the thunderstorms and blistering heat of summer." 

Winter field day is designed to test our abilities to respond to a disaster or emergency under winter conditions, and living in a part of Canada that has five good months of winter, it's probably a good thing we practice these skills.  It's a hell of a lot different setting up at -20C than it is at +30C.  In fact it takes about four times as long to set up in the cold as it does in the summer.

This years rules can be found HERE.  Read them, they've changed this year.

I will not be able to take part until the late afternoon as I must attend the first planning meeting of the communications coordinators for the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour.  So, listen for VE3 Frozen Canadian Toes transmitting from Fort Henry Hill.

NA QSO Party - SSB

Coming up next weekend is the NA QSO Party - SSB.  The contest runs from 1800 UTC on January 17th to 0600 UTC on January 18th.

Rules can be found HERE.

Looking forward to this one as it's the first one of the year.  Time to shake off the winter blahs and get the radio humming again.    The XYL is away that weekend so I'll have no distractions or Honey Do List to impede the score this year.....I hope she doesn't read this !!

Island Activation

Just worked what I believe to be the very first island activation of 2015 here in Ontario....and probably Canada.

John, VE3ISE, from Grimsby was activating Henley Island, ON-007, near St. Catherines this morning.  He was using an FT-897D and a Hustler Mobile antenna mounted on his car, but he was a lovely S9+20 here in Kingston on 40m, but he was having issues with a S9 background noise at his location.

John was also having some issues with the weather, he had snow with freezing rain on the way.  He sounded happy to be on the air non-the-less.

For those of you interested in activating islands, or just chasing them from home.  Check out this WEBSITE, it has all the information you will need to get started.

SkyWhip Portable Telescopic Antenna

Ground mount for the SkyWhip antenna
(Photo belongs to Durham Radio)

Just picked up a new toy.  I picked up a SkyWhip Portable Telescopic Antenna from Durham Radio.

Interesting piece of kit, it's a 16' 8" whip that can be used as a vertical, or two of them can make a portable dipole.  You can adjust them for 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, and 6 metres, and of course if you adjust it properly you won't need a tuner.

The best thing about it for me is that with the adapter I bought with it, it will fit my Buddipole set as well.  This will give me even better options for island and lighthouse activations now as I will have the ability to put up multiple antennas, both vertical and dipoles.

I'm off to read Ground Systems for HF Verticals by Rudy Severns, N6LF, to get the best idea of what the best radial system will be for it.

Once I've had it on the air I'll post a full report on it.

The DX-marathon

It's January 1st, so I have just submitted my score sheet for the 2014 CQ magazine DXmarathon. 

Starting January 1 of each year, the DX Marathon is the perfect answer for the DXer who needs that extra incentive to get on the air every day. Simply work as many countries and CQ Zones as you can in each calendar year, regardless of the band or mode. 

Each country and zone counts only once, so you can concentrate on working new ones rather than working the same ones on multiple bands and modes. 

Last year I managed to work 104 countries and 26 zones.  Hopefully I can do better than that this year.

Bob VA3QV....is BACK !!!!!

BREAKING NEWS !!!!

Yes, after a whole year of being AWOL, the big Bobster, VA3QV himself, is back in the Land of Bloggers !!  

I just knew he couldn't stay away, that he would eventually show up and let us know what trouble he was causing.

He says on his blog that he's working at getting back to normal.....Hmmmm.......I ain't going to touch that comment until after I hear from Liz, Bob's XYL !!

Good to see you back Bob, I'm looking forward to a daily dose of Ottawa Valley Ham Radio QRP News once again.  And for all of you who have forgotten just where Bob hangs out, he's HERE.

Happy New Year

Just a short note to wish you all a very Happy, and a Healthy, New Year for 2015.

2014 is a year I'm glad in many ways to put behind me, especially after being made redundant from a job that I really loved to do.  It was an extremely stressful time.

Of course throughout this trying time I could not have got through it without the support of my wife.  She was a solid rock of support, and still is, and for that I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Let's hope 2015 is a far better year to us all........Happy New Year everyone.

The Winter Contest - it's over

Not a bad day on the radio.  At time there seemed to be more foreign stations calling "CQ Canada Winter Contest" than Canadian stations....and it was great to see the international participation !!

I managed to work everywhere but Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and the North West Territories.  Not a peep out of those guys at all which really surprised me......well, no Nova Scotia stations surprised me, the other guys I know are laying on a beach in Florida like they were last year when I didn't work them either.  Once again I did not manage to work Bob, VA3QV, but I do know he was on the air as I heard him working a station at 1700 UTC on 10m, we just never managed to meet up.

The new Heil Pro Set Elite headset worked very well, it's a bit tight on the head so I'm hoping it will loosen up with a bit of use and get use to my large head.

Radio of the day was the FT-950 and the antennas were the 80m OCF Dipole and the 15m Hamstick mounted on an 11' high painter pole........worked like a charm.

Band conditions were not too bad.  A bit of QSB here and there.  We started the contest with SFI = 143, SN = 100, "A" Index = 15, and "K" Index = 4.

And so ends the 2014 Contest Year........

Marcel Joseph Benjamin "Benny" Lemarbre

Benny Lemarbre

Benny was my Squadron Warrant Officer when I was posted to 450 Squadron, flying on Chinooks as a Loadmaster.  He was a gentleman I looked up to immensely, and I must confess that Ben hauled my ass out of more crap than I care to remember, but he always laughed about it.  “His Boys” as he called us always came first.

I well remember stealing his pace stick from its place of honour in his office, and replacing it with a hockey stick.  He knew who did it right away, and simply waggled his finger under my nose……I had it back by coffee.

Benny was a man of integrity and showed that to us by his actions, over and over again every day.  He went out of his way to protect us all from a bad Commanding Officer, almost to the detriment of his own career.  But that didn’t matter, we were his boys and we came first, and we can never repay him for what he did for us. 

Anyone who knew Benny knows that they have met loyalty in its true form. He sanctifies the word; he was loyal to his wife Christa, to his family, to his many friends, to 450 Squadron, and his original love, the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps.

Marcel Joseph Benjamin "Benny" Lemarbre... one of a kind. A loyal man with a heart of gold, someone stubborn I am sure, as most of us guys are. But, true to his calling, true to his brothers, and true to his beliefs (which many of us share), and true to his family. It’s a terrible thing to have to say goodbye.

Benny’s funeral is tomorrow, and I will not be able to make it.  But tonight I will raise a glass of good German beer, Warsteiner….his favourite, and say goodbye to one hell of a good man.

 Marcel Joseph Benjamin "Benny" Lemarbre

1940 – 2014

The Winter Contest 2014



The Winter Contest is one of the few things, along with the Canada Day Contest that RAC does correctly......in my opinion.  It's always a very friendly contest, where friends take time to chat for a few minutes and pass along news and season's greetings to each other.

This year the contest runs from 0000 to 2359 UTC on December 27th, and the rules can be found HERE.

A new Heil Pro Set Elite headset found its way under my Christmas Tree this year, so I'm looking forward to trying them out in this contest.  So far I like them, and the few audio reports I've had on them all seem to be on the positive side.

They are extremely comfortable and the ear pieces really do block out 90% of the background noise around the house. 

Maybe VA3QV will magically appear on 40m tonight, or he may be taking Liz out dancing now that the new knee has been successfully installed......you just never know with him.......

Hope to work some of you on the bands during the contest.

Merry Christmas!!

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.

 

I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

There's lots more adventures planned for next year.  Several first time island activations, and others will be on the air that haven't been activated for many years, are all on the cards, as well as a few surprises.

 

Have a safe holiday everyone, and see you on the RAC Winter Contest.

Geoff is worried !!!!!

A letter arrived today from Geoff, the RAC Great Leader !!!!   Apparently he has just found out that my RAC membership expired on November 21st, and he wrote to tell me he's very worried !!!!!

This is actually the fourth letter I've had from Geoff on the same subject, and those four letters have now cost RAC a total of $3.00.  Must be nice Geoff to have money to burn these days!!

Geoff, I'm quite touched that you worry so much about my expired membership, but personally I'd be a lot more happy if you and the rest of the clowns (no insult intended to real circus clowns past, present, or future) who run RAC resign in disgrace, or simply just walk away..... and hand the organization over to more competent individuals who believe in the democratic process.  You see Geoff, you don't really have a mandate to run RAC as its President.  You were appointed to that position by seven individuals, most of whom had been "elected" by acclamation.  Hardly a democratic process is it ??

Obviously you didn't read my other rant on RAC (HERE) written on October 11th before you mailed this letter to me.  Save your money Geoff, don't send me any more letters, I won't be re-joining RAC until it becomes a proper democratic organization, and I can't see that happening on your watch.

ARRL 10m Contest

Took part for a little bit of the weekend in the ARRL 10m Contest.  Friday night was a total bust, the SFI numbers were off the scale......nothing but silence across the band here.  That's silence because of no signals, the background noise was a steady S8.

Saturday morning the band was hopping with lots of European stations all over the place.  Most could be got on the first call.......and then about three hours into it disaster struck.  My Heil headset quit working.  Not sure why but I was sure mad.  There's another set of Heil Pro Set Elite being ordered tomorrow, I can't operate the FT-950 with anything other than a Heil headset....it's a rule in my shack!

Next up on the contest scene will be the RAC Winter Contest.  Being held this year on December 27th.  Hopefully Santa will have brought the new headset with him when he pays his annual visit to the shack a few days before!

The Alligators are out and about

Great morning on the bands today, 10m and 17m are just hopping, and 20m isn't too shabby either but there is some QSB there.

I managed to work with great ease Finland, Latvia, UK, Iceland, Greece, and Germany in about 20 minutes after the ham club coffee today.  In fact I had a long QSO with Manfred, DK2OY, in Gelting, it's always nice to talk to a part of the world you know well.

Of course with all the activity on the band the 'Alligators' and the 'Band police' are all out and about, shouting "up 5" and "up 10" as if anyone listens to them anyway.  The 'Alligators' on the other hand are those amateurs who are transmitting several megawatts into a sub-standard antenna and can't hear a damn thing, and as my good friend Don says, "They're all mouth and no ears"....and how right he is! 

Get Well Soon - - - VA3QV

Most of you who read my blog know of the good natured ribbing that I give Bob, VA3QV, and likewise he gives me.

Bob was admitted to hospital last Tuesday, 25th November, to have his right knee, which was pretty much shot, replaced with a Titanium version.  This is the second knee he has had replaced.....so he's half way to becoming the real $6 Million man!

I have just had an email from him this afternoon to let me know he's back home, the new knee is safely installed, and the bugger is already climbing stairs!!!!  Ain't modern medicine great ??   I've told him to behave and follow his XYL's instructions.

So, from all of us here in Kingston, hurry up and get 100% Bob, there's too many QRP activities coming up that you can't afford to miss!!  Get better soon my friend, we're all pulling for you!

Bob VA3QV

New 15m Antenna

For the past 18 months I've been using a vertical 15m dipole taped to a 31' collapsible mast with great results.  I was using this antenna as my 80m OCF Dipole will not tune 15m at all.....it tunes everything else, just not 15m.

The original 15m vertical dipole came down the other day as it was having some issues.  Perhaps some water in the balun, but I need to investigate some more before I can make a good diagnosis.  Anyway, with the start of the contesting season upon us I needed a 15m option, especially as were getting close to the ARRL Sweepstakes.

With the weather starting to turn bad......yes, I know, it's the perfect antenna maintenance time of year, I put something up quickly.

So, I decided to put up a 15m hamstick antenna using a single truck mirror mount that cost me $5 at the last ham flea market.  The mounting stud was $3.95 at Durham Radio, and I reused the coax from the original vertical dipole.  The antenna mount was bolted onto an old painter pole I use for portable work, and raised up to 11'. 

I also added two 11' elevated radials, these were done along the North-South axis, and I'll probably add another one, perhaps two this week.

It was up and ready to go for the ARRL Sweepstakes but not tested, so I was a bit apprehensive about how it would do.  Not to worry, first contact on it was to John, VE8EV, in Inuvik, NWT, and second up was Gus, VO1MP, in Portugal Cove, NL.  So there you have it, coast to coast, and I have about $30 into it. 

Now we'll have to see how it does on Trans-Atlantic DX.....

The antenna in action

Sweepstakes - the result.

My finished 2014 section map - no clean sweep.

Saturday afternoon at 1600 local arrived and this years ARRL Sweepstakes kicked off, and it was straight to 10m I went.  The band was hopping and kept me going strong for the next two and a half hours.  Most of the signals were coming from out west and the California sections filled up pretty quickly.  No sign of Hawaii though, and no sign of any Quebec station for the whole weekend.

I did go to 40m after supper.....but there was no sign of the ever elusive VA3QV, even though he did email to tell me he would be on.  He was probably outside washing and waxing the RV.......

At about 2030 local the bands took a bit of a nose dive.  The SFI was at 159, the SN at 117, the A Index was 17, and the K Index was at 4.  Not the numbers we really wanted, but it was what we had to work with.

Most of the evening was spent on 10m, with the odd foray to 40m and 80m to check things out there.

By 0900 local on Sunday the bands had settled down and were jumping once again.  10m and 15m were the go to bands, but 20m was excellent as well.  But, by 1300 local the bands were starting to lose their magic as the A and K Index numbers went up again and the bands got very noisy.

I like this contest, the exchange is just difficult enough, and only being able to work a station once, regardless of band, also makes it interesting.

No band police were heard this weekend, but I did hear a US ham have a totally childish meltdown on 20m.  Apparently a fellow amateur had the audacity to trespass on this guys personal frequency.........messing up his AM signal with an interloping SSB signal.  I must confess that I had been sitting on the frequency for good 10 minutes while I fixed my log and had not heard a peep until the SSB station started to call CQ.

I always have a quiet chuckle when I hear a US station lecturing a DX station about the band plan.  Somehow they think that everyone must follow the ARRL or FCC one....well, here's a news flash......we don't, we have our own.

All in all a good weekend on the band. No QRP this year, I went QRO.  I'm nowhere near winning like I did last year, even if I did beat last years score by 5500 points.

2014 Field Day Results

YES!!!......this years Field Day results are in !!!

Frontenac Emcomm Group, operating as VE3FRG, came first in Canada and first in North America in the 5A (Commercial) category.

Well done to VE3MNE, VE3CLQ, VA3VDP, VA3TIC, VE3DZE, and VE3HRW for this great result!!  The team finished the weekend with 3556 points. 

In second place was W9CQ, the Wisconsin Amateur Radio Club of Germantown, Wisconsin.  They finished with 1970 points.  In third place was K5NEA, the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club of Truman, Arkansas, who finished with 1812 points.

Our group overcame some significant antenna issues that slowed things down for the first hour and a half until they were sorted out.  Lots of hard work to get us to this point, and we're really looking forward to Field Day 2015 to see if we can give our competition another good run for their money.

ARRL November Sweepstakes

Coming up this Saturday afternoon.....this years ARRL Sweepstakes starts !!  After my result last year I'll have to try and defend my QRP  title....but the decision to go QRP will not be made until later tomorrow after I analyse the forecasted propagation.

The link to the Rules are HERE.

Propagation wise we could be in for an interesting time.  One of the sites I frequent has this to say about the next few days:

"Solar activity is likely to be moderate with a slight chance for an X-class flare on day one (14 Nov) and likely to be moderate with a chance for X-class flares on days two and three (15 Nov, 16 Nov)." 

Hopefully everything will go smoothly......but ya just never know.....

Good Luck to everyone!