If you read last month’s edition you will not be surprised that the last remaining US states got into my log in the first couple of days of March. Alaska and Vermont made it a full house. Now to try for some elusive DX; Galapagos, Nepal and of course New Zealand.
One day I’ll turn the wire direction from N-S to E-W and work Antarctica and over the pole to the Pacific. Still, just over 140 DXCCs this year on my wire loop with 100W. I don’t think the pigeons and squirrels would appreciate it if I wound the wick up to 1 kW!
This month has been good for me, as I have contacted 4 ATNOs (All Time New Ones). I’m getting close to the big 300. All the outstanding ones are remote islands with the exception of Syria. March was also good for islands, 26 in all; 4 in Europe, 6 in Asia, 8 in North America, and 8 in Oceana.
As promised last month, a few tips based on personal experience, on how to get the DX in the log. First of all, get a logbook (or a computer log) HI. Then turn on the radio, check the antenna, PSU, tuner and anything else you might need.
I find it useful to pick a band that is active, so read up on propagation or watch one of the web-based sources. There is little point in shouting into the mic’ if there is no propagation. All pretty obvious so far.
If you are a bit short of experience, voice might not be your preferred mode. Don’t forget there is CW and numerous data modes to choose from as well.
I find that a quiet band is OK provided you can hear something going on. If you hear any station calling CQ answer him to get warmed up, then be brave and find a quiet spot and call CQ yourself. You might have to wait for a number of calls before you get a reply, however, remember if you don’t put out any calls no one can reply!
I have found that using FT8 with my CQ call loaded into the system can produce surprising replies including some of my rare DX! Quite often you can call a rare station for a long time with no luck, however, I have found that without telling anyone the DX has a 'list' it is easy to give up - but unknown to you, you might be next on his list. This happened to me with Fiji. After 8 minutes of calling, I stopped but I kept listening and two of his contacts later I was sent a signal report!
So go on give it a try, but remember listen, listen, listen then make a noise.
This year I managed to get to the club’s AGM, it was great to catch up with some of the 'old' faces again after such a long break. It is noticeable that the club is growing again with new faces & callsigns. Some of the new tech’ is leaving me behind but it was great to see Bob N4XAT, Phil EA8 portable and others more local joining in from afar. All overseen by our RSGB regional rep’ Keith. I had an interesting chat with him about training and the changes Covid has brought to our hobby.
That’s enough for this month, now let’s see what April can bring.
Chris G4ZCS
