CQ WPX SSB

The CQ WPX SSB contest is in full swing. I operated a little last night after it kicked off, in between basketball games and also when the games went to halftime. But this has been a long week at work for me and I just couldn't stay up any longer when the games ended. I guess I made about 40 QSO's and then called it a night.

This morning I looked around and probably made another 50 or so before going off and doing other things. I'll probably check back later this evening and perhaps make a few more.

Obviously my heart and soul just aren't in this one. Frankly, I prefer CW contests. I have nothing in the world against those that prefer phone/SSB though. I have heard and worked some of the smoothest operators during this contest, I've been really impressed. In fact, it's been a real nice learning experience for me, I've spent most of my time just listening.

I've even run across some of the operators that have posted videos of prior contests on YouTube. It's funny to actually recognize their voices on the air! One great example is K5TR, who I heard last evening (and worked). If you haven't seen this video, listen to the rate he keeps up! It's from a few year's ago, but it is still a great video. I can't even talk this fast.

The fact is, my station is simply not setup for even casual SSB contesting. The only microphones I own are the ones that came with a few of the radios and, quite honestly, they're not much to write home about. By the time I end up pressing the button, giving my call, and then releasing the button, the other op is usually already into giving the serial number to the stations he's talking to (and that's usually not me). I've got a lot to learn - like getting comfortable with phonetics. I've fumbled around pretty good so far.

Here's something else, since recently buying the K2, I had to dig in the documentation to even learn how to set the radio up for SSB transmission. My first couple of attempts didn't seem to work very well, but I think I finally figured it out. No one seems to be saying that I sound like crap. I even used the FT-857 for a little while and it seemed to do quite well.

Eventually I'd like to be more serious about a phone contest but for now I'm content to just listen.

Customer Service Part II

Back in late February, I posted a somewhat angry entry regarding what I felt was poor customer service that I'd received from Industrial Communications Engineers (ICE). This was mostly over the lack of response from them and the slow delivery time that I'd experienced after ordering a TVI filter in early January.

Well, guess what? The TVI filter finally arrived (I'm always reminded of that line from "The Jerk" - the new phonebook's here, the new phonebook's here!). By the way, I never heard anything from them. They never responded to my emails. And whenever I called by phone, I was told that the item was still unavailable. Somebody has their wires crossed because it had already shipped out when I made that call. Funny, I'm not surprised.

So if this upset me so much, why didn't I just cancel the order? Well, I suppose that I had a pretty good notion that the filter would work and solve my problem. Talking to a few fellow hams, they had strongly recommended it - it had worked for all of them.

And it works for me too. No more TVI. So I guess the moral of the story is, great product, lousy service. C'mon, guys, it really wouldn't kill you to crank it up a notch.

Make good on a few picture promises

I'd promised a few pictures of my 'new' Elecraft K2. Of course, it isn't actually new. But I think it is a nice example of a well-kept radio that's probably pushing 6 years old now (SN: 2260). I bought it recently off of ebay. I'm very pleased with it so far.

Unfortunately, you're also seeing parts of the unfinished shack, namely the OSB walls. That looks like a nice summer project.

CW Skimmer

There seems to be a rapidly growing discussion about CW Skimmer. If you're reading this, more than likely you're well aware of its capabilities and probably pretty in-tune with the 'debates' circulating online about its anticipated use, especially in contests. If you're not, here's a link for you to read more about it, CW Skimmer.

Two of my favorite bloggers, Scot - KA3DRR and another Scot (both with only 1 'T'), K9JY, have a couple of well-written entries discussing its use. I think both they do terrific job of presenting the facts.

I would like to say two things about it.

First, I've not tried it. I've not even downloaded it. But I'm going to, just to see what all the hoopla is about. I don't know if the laptop in my shack has enough horsepower or not to run it effectively. That laptop is a 4-yr old IBM Stinkpad and does a wonderful job of doing what I ask of it, which isn't very much. I'm careful to not bloat my Windows machines with a lot of software, so it still seems snappy. But reading the requirements, it seems that in order to get real performance out of CW Skimmer, you'll need to be looking in the 2.5-3 GHz range. I've got a desktop that should run the fool out of it. We'll see. I've seen it in action in a couple of videos posted on YouTube. Looks very interesting.

Second, what do I think about CW Skimmer's presence in ham radio? Well, based upon what I've read and what I've seen in the videos, I can understand how folks are getting a little worked up. I've heard contesters describe it as the final nail in the coffin, a piece of software that will remove the last remaining 'human element' in contests, listening and copying callsigns or serial numbers or CQ zones. I think that's true. All that will be left is whether or not someone can type the correct information in the logger. I'd venture to guess that a future release of CW Skimmer might even alleviate them of that need. Then what's left? Not very much.

Likewise, if the governing or sponsoring body of a contest outlaws the usage of CW Skimmer, how in the world can that be enforced? I can't think of any practical means, can you? And even though I think, by and large, hams are a pretty honest bunch and darn good at self-governing, there'll always be that element that will use any means possible to win - legal or not. It happens now.

But that's true in any contest, not just amateur radio contests. I do think CW Skimmer will change contesting and I'd hate to see less operator skill required. I will add this, I agree with Scott Robbins (what's with all these guys named Scot/Scott?), W4PA, if it's legal to use it in a contest, then I'll be using it. If it's not, then I won't.

But there's where my dislike of CW Skimmer ends. Having gone through a nearly 25 year hiatus from ham radio, several things were 'eye-openers' when my interest was rekindled. No code licenses primarily. Heck, when I lost interest in the late 70's, all hardcore DX'ers swore by separate transmitters and receivers - no transceivers for them. That's clearly changed. One other thing has really changed too - the quality of operators sending CW. Despite the fact that nearly all modern radios come with a built-in keyer, there are sure some poor souls sending CW. Not everyone, of course, but if you'd been away from the hobby as long as I have, that's something you'd definitely notice. If this software helps more people get interested in CW, then I have to weigh in and say that it can't be all bad. And, after all, shouldn't we want more folks to be active on the bands? Have you heard some of the CW portions of bands midweek? There's times that CW signals are few and far between. Back when I was a novice, I can remember hearing oodles of stations between 7.1 and 7.15 every single night.

W4PA also had a great post a few weeks ago about how folks that lament the loss of the code requirement need to get over it and worry more about bolstering our ranks. I agree wholeheartedly. If something like this might help generate interest, great.

Lastly, there's the technology issue. I'm a programmer. I design and program control systems used in the lumber industry. Most of my life revolves around computers and associated technology. If I may mention that 25-yr hiatus one more time, I want to say that I was kind of shocked that computers hadn't made more of an impact in ham radio when I returned. Sure, I realize that we can control almost any rig made in the last 12 years through a computer, and electronic logs are commonplace. I also recognize that a good bit of this software, much of it very high quality, was written by fellow hams, the same hams who have day jobs and hack out code in their leisure time for the benefit of everyone. But it surprises me that something like CW Skimmer hasn't come along before now. I read where there were a couple of other offerings, but it sounds like CW Skimmer takes it to a new level, several new levels.

I've also read several essays where the writers claim that using CW Skimmer violates the rules of fairness and that it will result in a plethora of CW operators that aren't really capable of sending or receiving code. I'm not so sure about that. That's like saying that because my father had to use a slide rule in school and I used a calculator, my answers were less correct than his or that I understood less than he did. Or because I wrote term papers by going to the library and using a typewriter and my daughter uses Google and Wikipedia and Microsoft Word, her papers are of a lower quality than mine were. That's ridiculous. Technology changes things and there will always be that group of people that say, "Back in the old days we didn't have any of this new-fangled...". Hey, I hate that for you.

The fact is, CW Skimmer is here. I don't see how we can turn back the hands of time and I don't see it going away. I only see it getting more powerful.

I'm anxious to see how all of this plays out.

Radio Roulette

My wife mentioned that I've started to amass quite a few radios. That's her way of saying, "you've got too many (darn) radios - get rid of some."

She's right. I've kept every radio, with the exception of one (a beautiful and powerful Kenwood TS-900 - why, oh why did I sell it?) that I've bought. All told, I now have 1 standalone receiver, 2 standalone transmitters, and 5 transceivers.

But I think I've finally found the radio that I've been looking for. A couple of weeks ago I ran across a really nice Elecraft K2 for sale. It already had most of the options that I'd chose, including the 100 watt amplifier. The only extras that I want are the 100 watt antenna tuner, which can come later, and either the audio filter or the DSP module. The condition appeared to be immaculate and after receiving it, I couldn't find a scratch or even a fingerprint on it. After opening it up, I am very pleased with the build quality. I feel really fortunate to have found one in such great shape.

Yes, I would love to have a K3, but considering I bought a Yaesu FT-857D back in February of this year, I've blown my budget. I bought that little radio to take with me whenever I'm out of town since my job requires a fair amount of travel. In fact, as I write this, I have it here with me right now. Unfortunately I left the power connector laying in the floor at home... Oh well, there's always next time. That boneheaded mistake prompted me to buy a second one to always carry with me.

Back to the K2. I've not had an abundance of airtime with it yet, but there's a few things that struck me right off the bat. It's quiet! And I don't mean that the fan doesn't kick on much, unlike the Yaesu, which jumps into motion every time I send a single dit. I'm talking about the receiver. The signals (I'm a CW guy) literally jump out of nowhere. For comparison, my Kenwood TS-940SAT is a decent rig, but after listening for close to an hour I'm nearly worn out from listening to what I'll call background noise or band noise. The Yaesu is much the same way, even with DSP.

With the K2, there's none of this. I can keep the volume much lower than I would with the 940 and still copy signals easily because I'm not hearing the rush of noise or static. It has a very pleasant sound to it. I did discover one drawback, however. For times where you do need to crank the volume up (like when your wife decides to run the vacuum cleaner as TX5C answers) there's not much oomph there. I read some comments addressing this and some fellows were saying that behavior is by intent, in order to keep the power consumption low. I like to plug in an old Heathkit speaker, which seems to help and is an improvement over the built-in speaker. I may see what else I can find about this. Using headphones is another option, of course, and I mainly do wear headphones when I'm concentrating.

Another thing is the built-in keyer. I really like having the keying speed adjustable on the front panel, and I also like how the display shows the speed and then quickly returns to the frequency readout. But I'm not crazy about the keyer's performance itself. I had to make some weighting adjustments to become more comfortable with it. I'm still getting used to it. Maybe soon it'll be second nature?

As far as I'm concerned, all the important features and adjustments that you use while operating are readily available on the front panel. This is in contrast to the little Yaesu, where digging through menu options is commonplace. But the fact is, there's only a few items that I normally adjust while operating, I've become used to the Yaesu and the menus don't seem to bother me like they do other folks. Plus, if you connect it to Ham Radio Deluxe, many of the menu options are available for the Yaesu there, as they are for the K2.

There's probably more information about the K2 available on the web than there is for any other radio. I like that. By contrast, I had a real booger of a time trying to find information for the Yaesu whenever I wanted to interface it to N1MM logger, even after joining the Yahoo group.

I thought that I'd dislike having the LED readout for the S-meter and power instead of an analog meter or even an LCD representation of a meter. I'd prefer an analog meter, but it isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I do miss a nice meter, however. I bought the LDG analog meter for the Yaesu and that is one really nice add-in. I wish there was something similar for the K2.

Thus far I've mainly used the radio at 90-100 watts output. But I did 'restore' the QRP mode one evening and used about 8 or 9 watts to make several contacts. That might open up a whole new interest for me - QRP.

I know there's oodles of sites with pictures of K2's, but I'll see if I can't get some uploaded soon anyway.

A bit of reflection...

As I drove through North Carolina and Tennessee today, I thought about this past weekend and my lack of success in nabbing TX5C until this morning.

I've come to the conclusion that I had totally unrealistic expectations.

Here's why - after the recent ARRL CW DX contest, I felt pretty good about how my station had performed. Pretty much if I heard 'em, I was able to work 'em. It might've taken a few calls to get through to some of them, but eventually I was able to. Afterwards, I read where a lot of folks felt that conditions were crappy during the contest. Having no previous point of reference (it was my first 'real' contest), heck, I thought they weren't so bad. Anytime I'm able to get through to Japan and Australia, I'm pretty happy. I had pretty good success with VP6DX recently, so I had pretty high hopes for working TX5C before the weekend was over.

Boy, did I have a case of overconfidence or what?

Now, I wasn't in front of the radio ALL weekend (my wife and daughter might beg to differ), but I'll admit, I spent a pretty good portion of Saturday evening and Sunday with my rear in the operator's chair. I listened. I waited. I was patient. And I called. And called. And called. Not blindly, mind you (more about that later), always having listened before calling, trying to spot my signal in an open (ok, less-cluttered, let's say), nearby frequency.

Clearly by 11 pm Sunday night I'd decided to throw the towel in.

Or so I thought.

One last stab around 11:30, just before the operator began calling "EU, EU only". OK, towel thrown in.

So, today, while driving, I came to the conclusion that in order to get through to such a heavily targeted DXpedition like this one on the first (or even second) day, running 100 watts (maybe), is either total luck, or requires skills that I've yet to master. I don't think it's the station. I know there were plenty of folks that managed to get through with far less power and antennas that would pale compared to mine. So it's me. And while I'll argue that it's still a fairly decent challenge to get through with a little pistol early on, I still have a long way to go before I can set my expectations so high again.

And about that 'success' in the ARRL contest...maybe I worked what I heard, but I need to make sure that I'm really hearing everything that I need to be. Someone else might have heard a lot more than I did.

One last thing...the blind calling. I heard more people calling continuously than I ever have. It made no difference that the DX was transmitting or in QSO, they kept calling. Like a machine. What really burned me up is that some of them got through. Pretty seedy tactic, but I guess it's hard to argue with its effectiveness when it works. What a shame when that happens.

73's!

TX5C...Finally!

I have to go out of town this week on business. In fact, I'm leaving in just a few moments. But before I headed off, I stopped by the house for one last shot at Clipperton. A quick check on 17 meters indicated that they were only working EU. Likewise on 20, and the wall of stations calling them didn't give me much encouragement.

So, just before abandoning all hope, I checked on 30. Yes, there he (or she) was, nice and strong. But this time, I could actually hear the stations they were working, which had been hit or miss the past two days. A little listening to try and determine a pattern and a couple of calls later - BINGO!

Finally.

I spent a good portion of Saturday and almost all of yesterday trying to nab them but didn't have any luck whatsoever. I had a feeling that I might have a better chance on a weekday and this certainly starts my business trip off on the right foot. More later.