2,700 Challenge Points Reached

With a QSL received from JD1BMH yesterday for 20-M and 17-M contacts, I have now reached the 2,700 point level on the DXCC Challenge.  This is 4-2/3 years after I hit the 2,500 level (https://w8tn.blogspot.com/2020/03/finally-reached-2500-level-on-arrl.html).  The further you go up this "ladder", the harder it is to contact New Ones. (Click on any image to see a larger view.)

 

I wonder if I can order a 2,700 Medallion from ARRL?

Ham Radio STILL Gives Me a Thrill!

Last night provided me with a thrill in Ham Radio that just never seems to get old.   Snagging that elusive DX on a New Band.  Working a New One is only surpassed by working an All-Time New One (ATNO) and it seems several in the West Virginia DX Association (WVDXA) scored one of those "rarest of the rare" contacts with this DX'pedition to A2, Botswana.  CONGRATULATIONS to all those folks!  Hopefully you got your piece of pie as a reward for scoring that QSO!!!

I am reminded of how it was "back in the day" when a New One was worked.  Back then there were no WARC bands (30-M, 17-M and 12-M) so the record keeping was a "little" easier.  Still, it meant having separate PAPER DXCC lists for each band AND for each mode!

Note: at the beginning of my DX'ing career, I had only ONE DXCC List because there were no 5-Band awards.  If I worked A2 on one band, that was all I needed in my mind.  And, if I worked them on SSB, I made no effort to work them on CW let alone RTTY (digital.)

Since there was no PacketCluster spotting system back then, you found the DX by simply tuning your radio and checking out EVERY signal you heard until you could identify that station.  If you happened to run across a pileup on the band, you had to then physically check your list(s) to see if that was a New One.  But I can tell you that if it was an ATNO, that list was kept in your brain and you knew instantly you had never worked that country before!

There were check-boxes in your paper logbook to let you record if a QSL had been sent or received.  But you still needed to keep paper records to record when you sent for a QSL, where you sent for it (bureau, manager, direct, etc.), and what you enclosed ($$$, SAE, etc.)  All this paper-shuffling made you feel more like an accountant than a ham radio operator.  That data can now be easily recorded in your logging program and instantly available to you.  It is simply amazing what an improvement that is.

Plus, today with the PacketCluster, computer logging, Club Log and LoTW - that record-keeping "burden" has been removed.  Today you don't need to tune the bands looking for DX, your logging program will take the incoming PacketCluster spots, check them against your log, then color-code them for you to tell you not only what stations have been spotted but whether or not it is a New One or an ATNO for YOU personally!

On the image at the upper-right, you can see that there are three spots from the PacketCluster that are color-coded Blue.  (Click on any image to see a larger version.) These spots are displayed in my logging program's BandMap.  Those are New Ones for ME.  If they were Red, those would be ATNO's.  If I hover my mouse over any of those (like I did with AP2HA in the above screenshot) I get a pop-up (shown in Yellow) with tons of detail.  BOY, that's so much of an improvement over the "old days" that you just can't believe it unless you were there.

The Green square shown just to the left of most of those calls indicate that station is an LoTW user, as does the "+" sign in the Yellow pop-up.  LoTW has improved the DX'ing hobby beyond measure.  At one time I waited 13 YEARS to get a QSL from an ATNO!  And, when that card came, it was still an ATNO as I had never worked that country again in all those years.  Today, you can sometimes get an LoTW confirmation while the DX'pedition is STILL UNDERWAY!  WOW!

All one needs to do is to click on any spot in the above BandMap and your radio jumps to the exact frequency and mode for the spotted station plus the callsign gets placed in the Call field of the logging program and is ready to be logged once the station is worked.

Your logging program can also tell you where you have and have not worked that particular entity (band/mode/QSL Rcvd or not.)  In the screenshot on the left, I have A2, Botswana, Confirmed (shown in Red text) on 10-M and 20-M SSB plus 30-M and 40-M CW.  The two Yellow "DIG" fields show that I have "Worked" (Blue not Red text) A25RU on 17-M and 30-M Digital Modes.  They are Yellow since I typed A25RU into the Call field to see these Worked/Confirmed records and the Yellow says I have worked "A25RU" (not some other A2 station) on those Bands/Modes.  If I had just typed "A2" in the box, there would have been no Yellow boxes, just the Mode shown in Blue text since it was not confirmed on those QSO's.  Plus the Yellow box for 80-M CW indicates my QSO from last night (as recorded in my log.)  It is SO easy to check what bands/modes you need an entity on now, just enter the prefix for the entity and your Worked/Confirmed window will display all that data!  No need to shuffle through all those PAPER DXCC lists!

From this data I can easily see that from this A25RU DX'pedition I have added two New Bands to my A2 list of stations worked as well as one New Mode.  And, it also shows a gaping hole for 12-M which is one I still need.

If I want to check when I worked those stations, I can just click on any of the above boxes and get a pop-up with my log data.  For instance, if I click on the Red SSB for 20-M, what I see is shown above.

Are you kidding me?  1973 for that A2 QSO?  WOW!  Some of you reading this may still have been in diapers or not even born then!

Still, the way things used to be, you were never 100% sure your QSO made it into the DX Station's log until you got his QSL (or not) which would always take 6-months or more and sometimes YEARS!  Today, you just need to check out an online log to see if the DX has recorded your QSO.  Below on the right is a screenshot of Club Log for the log of the A25RU DX'pedition checked against my own call.

Bingo!  All my A25RU QSO's made the log!  That is SUCH a benefit that you can't imagine.  Years ago I was certain I had worked A5, Bhutan, for my very last country.  That would have put me on the Top of the Honor Roll.  Two of my friends heard the QSO and congratulated me on the contact.  BUT, almost a year later I got back a "Not in Log" to my QSL request.  I was CRUSHED!  If I had been able to check online at that time for my contact and seen it was not there, I would have tried for another.

Finally, my logging program, Logger32, even tracks my progress toward various awards.  Looking at my confirmations for Mixed DXCC I can see my totals in the screenshot at the bottom of this Post.

That 80-M QSO with A25RU last night gave me 240 entities worked on 80-M All-Time and 237 Current since I have 3 Deleted entities worked on 80-M.  You can see two Yellow boxes with a "W" in them.  That indicates that A2, Botswana, has been "Worked" on those Bands but not yet Confirmed.

The Green boxes with a "G" in them indicate those QSO's have been Confirmed AND Credit for them has been "Granted" by ARRL.  The Orange "C" box tells me that QSO is "Confirmed" but not yet Granted toward my DXCC.  

This table is a HUGE help in trying to confirm your contacts.  Just scroll through the list and see what contacts are "Worked" but not "Confirmed."  Click on the "W" box and a pop-up will give you the log information on that entity/band QSO.  Below is what I see if I click on the Yellow box for 80-M on the A2, Botswana line.  This gives me the information for ANY station marked as "W" (Worked and NOT Confirmed.)  That will allow me to track when (or if) I sent for a QSL and give me access to all the information regarding that QSO.  Using these tools you can stay up to date on your QSL'ing.  And, we all know, the QSL is supremely important.  Without a QSL or an LoTW Confirmation, you have NO Credit for working that entity.  Anyone can "claim" they worked anything but if you can PROVE it, that makes all the difference.

The Red boxed text in the image below simply shows I've been DX'ing for a LONG time.  I have Worked and Confirmed 18 entities which no longer count for DXCC!  Some of those countries I have worked on as many as 3 modes and NINE bands!  But, none of those QSO's count anymore because those entities have been DELETED from the ARRL DXCC List.  BUMMER!

 

 

Below is the list of countries/entities I have Worked and Confirmed in the past that no longer count for DXCC:

  1.  Abu Ail Is.
  2.  Yemen Arab Republic
  3.  Saudi Arabia/Iraq Neutral Zone
  4.  Germany
  5.  German Democratic Republic
  6.  Bajo Nuevo
  7.  Serrana Bank & Roncador Cay
  8.  Kingman Reef
  9.  Canal Zone
10.  Czechoslovakia
11.  Territory of New Guinea
12.  Bonaire, Curacao (Neth. Antilles)
13.  Sint Maarten, Saba, Saint Eustatius
14.  Malyj Vysotskij Island
15.  Southern Sudan
16.  Aldabra
17.  Penguin Islands
18.  Walvis Bay


So, even though I have been DX'ing for over 50 years, I probably enjoy it now more than I ever have.  That is because of all the new technology that makes the hobby easier to enjoy.  For me, this thrill of contacting some far-off country on a band where I have never worked them before, is STILL powerful!  It just does NOT get old!

Please remember this history when your QSO does not show up in an online log as fast as you expect.  Or when you think it is taking too long for LoTW to update after your upload.  Today things are so much better than before so please - have a little patience!  Remember, I waited 13 YEARS for one country to be confirmed!!!  Just enjoy what we have now and keep working the New Ones!

GridTracker with Logger32

New Ham Radio software continues to appear which adds tremendous functionality to our hobby.  Computer programs for Amateur Radio applications seem to be growing at an exponential rate.  This provides a lot of utility for hams but also comes with a (sometimes steep) learning curve!

Red Path: W8TN to 5Z4VJ

Yesterday I decided to take a look at the program called "GridTracker" and I can report that my mind was officially BLOWN!  I had previously been using JTAlert since the beginning of December, 2019, and was very pleasantly surprised that it helped me work a half dozen New Countries and a couple of New Grids in really short order.

GridTracker performs similar functions.  JTAlert interfaces with WSJT-X or JTDX and provides audio and visual alerts for stations you may need for various awards and you can find it HERE.  GridTracker does the same thing but includes a graphical (map) interface which is WAAAAAY COOOOL!  On the right you can see the map showing the paths between stations I could hear on one period on 20-M yesterday.  The Red path showed up while I was working 5Z4VJ.  (Click on any image to see it larger.)  Notice that I had it display the position of the moon (at that time just off the West coast of South America.) Hover your mouse over the moon and you will see the Azimuth and Elevation for the moon from your QTH.

To begin learning about GridTracker I found a video on YouTube by Josh, KI6NAZ, who posts a lot of videos under the heading of "Ham Radio Crash Course."  This particular video is 1-1/2 hours long and has Josh interviewing the creator (author) of GridTracker, "Tag" Loomis, NØTTL.  You can see that video HERE.

Even though I was watching the above video, I still spent SIX HOURS getting GridTracker up and running and trying to understand some of its features.  The reason I placed the "WOW!" graphic above is because the functionality (and complexity) of this program is HUGE!  I have only scratched the surface of what it will do and what I have seen is just phenomenal.  In fact, I would stop the video every so often and use what I just saw/heard for learning about my installation.

You can download GridTracker HERE and rather than printing all the features in this Blog, I will just refer you to that page.  Suffice it to say that GridTracker is a companion program for WSJT-X or JTDX.  It listens to what those programs decode and displays that information on a map.  It also interfaces with your digital log and will give alerts for stations you have not worked or have not confirmed.  Say for example you are working on your W.A.S. award, it's nearly impossible to just look at what WSJT-X (or JTDX) decodes and know where a particular station is located.  GridTracker has a database of all U.S. hams and compares their call to that list.  It can then display the information for that station for you.

Note that I just said "display that information."  BOY, that is an understatement!  GridTracker can display more information than you can even imagine.  And, that is one of the keys to the utility of this program.

I looked for an online "manual" for installing the program and what I found was a PDF file (find it HERE) for Version 1.18.0318 and the current version is 1.20.0821.  In the YouTube video "Tag" says this information was written TWO YEARS ago and is out-of-date.  Still, it is a bit of a start.  "Tag" has a real job and works on improving GridTracker on the weekends but it seems to be evolving very quickly.  The YouTube video was created just 3-1/2 months ago and I found a TON of things that were different in the current version.

Settings for Logger32

Lightning Strike Alert Settings

I won't try to give a step-by-step description of how to install this program but, it is really not that hard to do.  For those with limited screen real estate, there are some things I can suggest to help out.  Right off the bat, you can shrink down the WSJT-X window vertically because you no longer need to see a LONG list of stations, GridTracker will take care of that for you. In the upper left you can see I shrank mine to about 5 lines tall.  Next, if the GridTracker map takes up too much room, you can grab the left side of it and shrink it to the right to just leave the control panel.

There is a grid of 18 buttons in the lower right of the control panel.  Just above that grid is a button called "Call Roster + Award Tracker."  Click on that and position the window that opens below your WSJT-X window.  On the Call Roster there is a menu screen with many selections.  Once you select what you want, Right-Click in the Black area and choose "Hide Controls."  To get that menu screen back, Right-Click  to the right of the word "Callsign" or any blank part of the menu bar and choose "Show Controls."  If you Left-Click on any column header in the Call Roster, the contents will be placed in order.  For example, click on the DXCC heading and all the same countries will be grouped together and alphabetically.  Click again and the column will change between "Lowest to Highest" to "Highest to Lowest."  When you are finished, click on the "Age" column to put the spots in order with the most recent showing first.

In that "Grid" of 18 buttons, the "Settings" button is at the right end of the second row.  It looks like two gears meshed together.  This is where you access most of the controls for GridTracker.  There are 11 tabs on that screen to organize the settings in a logical manner.

Once you set up the Audio Alerts, you will get a pleasant female voice saying "New State" or "New DXCC" or whatever alerts you have enabled.  There is also a Button for Lightning Strikes!  I thought this was a really nice feature.  It will indicate on your screen and play an Alert sound if lightning is within (I think) 30 miles from you.  (See the "Lightning Strike Settings" image above.)  So, I turned that on but nothing seemed to happen.  An hour or so later a HUGE sound burst from my speakers and nearly cause me to lose control of my bladder!  It was the Lightning Strike audio alert (default is set to "Long") and the volume level default was set to 100%.  I managed to find the controls for that under Settings | Audio, dropped the volume level to 41% and changed the alert to a "Voice" alert.  Whew!  If you want to hear the original sound, click HERE.

If you want to see how I configured GridTracker to work with Logger32, check out the second image above (on the right.)  It gives the settings I used in GridTracker and the ones I used in Logger32.  Now, spots from WSJT-X (GridTracker) flow into the UDP Bandmap in Logger32 and, when I tell WSJT-X to "log" the contact, it transfers to my Logger32 Logbook.

Use your mouse-wheel to scroll in or out of the Map.  If a country is shown bordered in Red it means you decoded someone calling "CQ NA" or "CQ JA" etc.  Click on Settings | Map and you can adjust a ton of things there and you can even change the map source.  

In Settings | Logging you can tell to get your log from ClubLog, LoTW, QRZ, eQSL, or from a local ADIF file.  You can set a "Button" for many of these on the menu and/or tell GridTracker to get the file at startup.  By mistake I clicked the "Log?" button for ClubLog (see above on the left) and today I find that my QSO from last night has been uploaded to ClubLog!

The place where I have NOT managed to fully understand GridTracker is in how to get it to just display ONLY the spots I am interested in.  I can "hear" the audio alert for "New DXCC" but I can't see the spot in the Call Roster.  I did manage to get it set up to display "New State" and you can see above the settings I used for that.

Press "F1" anytime and you will get a pop-up with all the Hot-Keys like you see in the image on the right.  Right from that pop-up you can print that list.  A push of one of two Buttons will pop-up a window for PSK Reporter for the last 24 hours or a set time to see who has heard you.  OH, there is a text messaging feature built-in where you can send a text to another user of GridTracker.  Maybe you need him on another band or something so just message him.  This only works if he is using GridTracker.

Click on the "Show Stats" button on the end of the top row of Buttons, and the window that opens has more detail about your logbook than you can imagine!  Keep scrolling down to see it all.  You can set GridTracker to pop-up a window from QRZ, HamQTH, QRZCQ or the free "CALLOOK" to give information on the station you are working.  You can see that function during the YouTube video above.

Click on the button that looks like a Gold Cup and toggle between EIGHT different "Overlays" for various awards.  This will show graphically (on the map) what Continents, CQ Zones, ITU Zones, States, DXCC Entities, Counties, Grids, etc. that you have worked.  Just zoom in with your mouse for more detail.  Hover your mouse over the Grid that is shown and see a pop-up of those stations you have decoded from that Grid.

I know I have covered only PART of the functionality of this program here so you can see why my mind was totally BLOWN yesterday.  It did take a little time to get this set up, and I know I need to figure out how to display only the spots I want, but the program is working GREAT without any "Gotches" so it seems to be a VERY well-written piece of software.

On the left above is a list of the items that need to be configured in WSJT-X under Settings.  These are just the UDP settings that worked for me - your mileage may vary!

So, this is my "overview " GridTracker.  I will continue to be learning how to work this going forward but I see that for many folks, this will be a WONDERFUL addition to your software stable.

FINALLY! Reached the 2,500 Level on the ARRL Challenge

Thirteen years after I first achieved the basic ARRL DXCC Challenge Award with 1,000 confirmations, I have now reached the 2,500 confirmation plateau.  When the envelope arrived with my 2,500 Medallion, it was a feeling quite a bit more exciting than receiving the QSL for an All-Time New One! (See photo of my 2500 Medallion at left - Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Once I took the photo on the left, I pealed off the 3M backing tape and affixed the 2,500 Medallion to my DXCC Challenge Award.  You can see the on the right.  This plaque hangs right on the wall as you enter my shack!

The way this award is figured is by counting your CONFIRMED "Band-Points."  Each "Band-Point" is earned by working a country on one band and getting it CONFIRMED.  Since this award applies only to the 10 bands from 160 through 6-M (60-M does not count), and since only "Current" countries (entities) are counted, when you multiply those 10 bands by the current maximum number of countries (340) you find that the maximum number of "Band-Points" you can achieve is 3,400.  But, to reach that level, you would need to work (and CONFIRM) each and every country in the world on each of those 10-bands.  Imagine trying to confirm 340 countries on 6-M!

Below is the basic rules statement for the DXCC Challenge Award as found on the ARRL web site:

"The DXCC Challenge Award is earned by working and confirming at least 1,000 DXCC band-points on any Amateur bands, 160 through 6 meters (except 60 meters). Certificates are not available for this award however, there is a distinctive wall plaque available to display your achievement. Plaques can also be endorsed in increments of 500 additional band points. Deleted entities do not count for this award."

Should you manage to reach the rarefied height of having 3,000 Confirmations, your "Medallion" would look like the photo on the left.  It is difficult for me to imagine my achieving that level but, as I make this post, I have 2,513 Confirmed and am waiting on another another 13 QSL's for stations already Worked.  So, only 474 more to go - Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

DX Cluster Client Program - CC User

Many, if not all, logging programs have the ability to connect to a PacketCluster server to obtain DX spots.  However, if you want to control the spots that are coming into your logger, you need to issue archaic DOS type commands.  VE7CC has created a program called "CC User" which resides on your computer and easily allows "mouse click" changes to the spot information which is displayed in your logger.

This software, which you install on your computer, allows you to connect to the VE7CC PacketCluster or any other cluster you want.  You then connect to the "CC User" program from your logger.  "CC User" has the advantage of being able to supply spots to other programs like contest loggers (N1MM+ for example) at the same time.  Or, if you have other computers in the house, you can connect to the "CC User" program on your main computer and save on the usage of your Internet uplink/downlink while maintaining the settings you have created for receiving spots.  Plus, there are tons of ways to filter the spots coming from "CC User".

One of the main reasons I started using the "CC User" program a few years ago was that you can tell it to "Auto Reconnect" if the link to your chosen PacketCluster fails.  And, not only can you reconnect if you get dropped, but you can also automatically pull in all the DX spots you missed.

CLICK HERE for the page describing all the features of "CC User."  It is free software.  Once on the CC User web page, scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page to find the "Installation of CC User" instructions.  Under that heading you will find the link to download the program: "Download CC User Full Version (ver 2.421)"   Clicking on this link will allow you to download a ZIP file.  Just Un-ZIP and proceed as you normally would with any program installation.

There are tons of ways to filter the spots with just a mouse click (instead of sending an archaic DOS command to the Cluster.)  For example, on the top left of this Post is a window showing how easy it is to reject spots from certain bands. On the right is a snapshot of the screen where you can filter the station sending the spots, not only by country (as by telling it you only want to see spots from the USA) but you can drill down and filter only spots from a particular STATE or PROVINCE.  Again, on the left, is a screenshot of the "Set" menu with just some of the options available available in "CC User."  Click on any image to see a larger view. 

On the right is a "Tab" in "CC User" which I use often.  The screenshot is captioned "DX Tab."  Say I'm trying to work a station that I see spotted on 40-M.  But, the most recent spot only says "UP" with no indication of how far up he is listening or, the spot does not even SAY UP, it just gives the DX station and frequency.  So, I click on the DX "Tab" of "CC User" and select "40" for the band and I can then see all the spots that have come in on 40-M in chronological order.  I can then scroll up through the spots and look for any spots with good info for me.  Check out the spots for T33C on the "DX" tab screenshot and you can see what I mean.  Using this will also help me find spots with comments giving QSL information or the fact that the DX station changed bands, etc.  Your logging program may only show the most recent spot which may not give you this info and trying to scroll back through all the spots for all bands to find any useful info is a PITA and usually unsuccessful.

DX Tab

If you are serious about getting your spots or have questions about certain PacketClusters, you can run multiple instances of "CC User" to test various Clusters and answer questions like:  Which node should you connect to? Which nodes are faster? Are you missing DX by connecting to a certain node? Does the "Get Missed Spots" really work?  Just set up multiple instances of "CC User", connect to various nodes, and compare them side-by-side.

When you setup "CC User" you need to look at the "Port Setup" screen like what is shown next on the Left.  I've marked in Red the part that deals with your connecting to "CC User" from your Logging Program.  If you are going to use Telnet to connect to your logging program you can ignore the settings for RS-232.

With the setup shown, the program is waiting for incoming connections from logging programs on port 7300. If the logging program is running on the same computer, use the local telnet loopback port (127.0.0.1 :7300). If the logging program is in a different computer, telnet to this computer's IP address at port 7300. The number of logging program connections is unlimited. To enable or disable this feature, you need to go to "Configuration>Ports/Logging Program>Logging Program Connection>Telnet" in the "CC User" program.

To enable this connection in the Logger32 logging program, Right-Click in the Telnet window of Logger32 and choose Setup | Setup remote hosts.  You should then setup a remote host to look like the screenshot shown on the right for "Telnet connection setup..."

You can see the address for connecting to VE7CC-1 is the telnet loopback port address of 127.0.0.1 and the Port is 7300.  This Port has to be the same as what you set up in "CC User."  In my setup I was already using Port 7300 so I clicked on "Use Custom Port" and entered "7100" - then that is the Port I had to use in Logger32.

This may seem like a lot of work just to set up a source for PacketCluster spots but, for me, the other benefits of the "CC User" program are well worth the effort.  I let my computer run 24/7 and "CC User" is always running.  I may shut down and later re-start Logger32 but when I do, my VE7CC-1 Cluster is always there.

ARRL Triple Play Award Received

WOW, what a nice looking award!  (Click on any image to see it in a larger size.)  The ARRL Triple Play Award (http://www.arrl.org/triple-play) is issued for confirmation of QSOs with each of the 50 U.S. states on voice, CW, and digital modes - those confirmations MUST be recorded on LoTW.  Contacts must be made after 0000Z on January 1, 2009, to be considered for this award.

My great friend, John, W8WEJ, achieved the ARRL Triple Play Award  on March 4, 2009, and was given Award No. 191 !!!  WOW!  At that time I started to think about trying for it myself.  However, it wasn't until the W1AW/portable operations from all the U.S. States in 2014 that I began to get serious about trying to accumulate the 150 necessary LoTW confirmations.  By the end of the W1AW/ program, I had acquired most of the necessary confirmations but not enough.

This spring I checked my records and found that I needed only four more states to reach the 150 total:

Georgia - Phone and Digital
Minnesota - Digital
Washington - CW

I actually posted a note on my computer monitor with the above information but it stayed there for several months before I did anything about it.

On 26-July-2018 I got an email from N1ADM asking if I could give him a CW QSO from WV as one of the last two he needed to complete his Triple Play.  In his email he said:

"I don’t have much to offer in return, except for my gratitude. Georgia isn’t very tough to work for awards, but I am happy to work skeds with anyone who needs my grid or county."


HEY, this dude's in GEORGIA - and I need GEORGIA on Phone and Digital.  What a match!

We worked that night on all three modes and N1ADM now only needed ND on CW to complete his award and I only needed MN on Digital and WA on CW.  BTW, N1ADM scored a ND QSO only 1 hour later and received his Triple Play Award (No. 2073) the next day.

Now that I was only 2 QSO's away, I finally got busy looking for MN on Digital.  Using FT8 I called "CQ MN" on 20-M for awhile - no response, then again on 17-M - no response.  When I moved to 30-M, before I could start calling CQ, I saw WBØN calling CQ from EN34.  A quick look to QRZ and YES - he was in Minnesota!  In 2 minutes we had completed and he quickly uploaded to LoTW.  Now I only needed ONE more - Washington on CW.

I looked around the Internet and found WR7K was a station in Washington and I decided to email him.  Guy, WR7K, promptly replied with his phone number and I set a sked with him for the next evening via a follow-up email.  When the sked time came I telephoned him but got his answering machine.  I called him on the sked for 5 minutes with no response.  I then noticed on QRZ that Guy was born in 1939 so I thought he might have fallen asleep on the couch!

The next day he emailed to say he was out at the sked time and we should try the next night.  Well, a half-hour before the sked time, Guy, WR7K, called me on the phone to say 40-M sounded a little noisy at his end but we could still try if I wanted.  The sked had been set for 11:30 p.m. EDT so I was not ready and had to turn on all the equipment.  When I got on frequency, there he was calling me with his 100-watts.  BINGO!  A CW QSO with Washington was made.  I telephoned him and got the machine again so I left him a message and he phoned right back.  By the time I hung up the phone and uploaded to LoTW, his QSL was already there!  That gave me the needed 150 QSL's and I applied for the Triple Play award right then.

Many awards only require you to work a certain number of QSO's (like 100 for DXCC out of 340 countries) but the Triple Play Award requires you to work ALL of the U.S. States on three different modes.  Getting them confirmed on LoTW is usually a lot easier than getting QSL cards.  Since they are all recorded on LoTW, it's a snap to apply for the award - you do it all online!

I'm very pleased to have finally completed this award.  And, it's a VERY NICE looking award as well.

New Feature of the 2Tone RTTY Decoder

The 2Tone RTTY Decoder by G3YYD has been upgraded with a new feature.  This new feature is ON by default and in operation and causes 2Tone for look for strings of repeated characters that are at least 6 RTTY characters surrounded by space characters.  2Tone will then enclose those characters in brackets { } so that it will stand out better when you are looking at the received copy.

Version 3.50.294 of Logger32 contains this improvement:

The latest 2Tone RTTY engine has an auto-correlation feature. Support of this feature is added to the Logger32 2Tone windows.

Here is the description from the latest version of 2Tone about this feature:

This version of 2Tone 16.11a introduces a new function. It is an optional function that is enabled by default. It looks for repeated strings of characters surrounded by space characters and are are at least 6 RTTY characters. 2Tone combines the analogue data of the two strings and displays something like this { G3YYD }. The brackets indicating it is a combined version of the 2 strings with a lower probability of error than the single strings on their own. It is all based on statistics so sometimes there will be false matches. Sometimes the {} will not be correct while one of the strings is.

Extract 2Tone.exe to overwrite your current 2Tone.exe.

In setup menu, there are two new items: Repeat Match and Same Reject on.

Repeat match checked (default) will enable the repeated string matching function.

Same Reject on (default unchecked) when checked will surpress the { } output when both input strings are identical. This saves display clutter.

       [NOTE from W8TN: I found the "Same Reject on" feature was CHECKED by default and I had to change it to get the feature to work.]

Internally 2Tone uses auto-correlation of the analogue data to find probable repeats of information. To eliminate potential false positives, the repeated character strings are identical and surrounded with space chacaters plus being at least 6 RTTY characters.

Sent message like " DAVID DAVID " will work but " ED ED " will not - not enough characters . Nor will " DAVID DAVID, " work due to comma at end. " IO92NQ IO92NQ " will work as will " M7T M7T "

This is the way G3YYD describes the new feature in his announcement to the RTTY Contesting Group:

This new version fixes a few minor items but the big one is it will now look for character strings that are repeated and combine the analogue data together to provide an output that has a lower probability of error. To distinguish this synthetic output from what was actually decoded its output is surrounded by curly {} brackets, e.g. { G3YYD }. Occasionally, it will get the matching wrong and give a false output. It is possible to turn this off see the documentation that comes with the upgrade.

In the recent WAE RTTY contest two stations in the UK found that in 4% of their QSOs that this new system saved asking for a repeat. The normal repeat request rate is 8% of QSOs. A 50% reduction is very worthwhile.

It does however require that the sent information is correctly formatted, which it is in most cases. The format required is for the repeated characters to be at least 6 RTTY characters long and surrounded by space characters. Examples of this are, the quotes are for clarity: " G3YYD G3YYD "  or " DAVID DAVID " or " IO92NQ IO92NQ ". However  " ED ED " will not work too short or " DAVID DAVID, " will not work comma after 2nd DAVID. " M7T M7T " will work as the figure shift, letter shift and a space character make it 6 RTTY characters.

It is not just for contest, it also works for everyday QSOs. Just make sure when sending you name, QTH etc to apply the rules as above when setting up the macros.

73 David G3YYD aka M7T in contests

For Logger32 users:

Bob/K4CY has incorporated this feature in Logger32 with an added twist. Logger32 users can opt to convert the   { G3YYD } to G3YYD  . Right click on the 2Tone decode window and check “Underscore corrections/recommendations.”

Below are a couple of screenshots of how this looks.  It was difficult to find any RTTY signals this morning with the CQWWDX CW Contest running so I had to use a pre-recorded sample RTTY file and a YouTube video to get some RTTY signals.

This first one shows the output of 2Tone recognizing a repeated character string (7L4IOU 7L4IOU) and the auto-correlated output is surrounded by curly { 7L4IOU } brackets.  I can see where this might help you notice the callsign better when there is a lot of text displayed on the screen.  Note that in the line above it auto-correlated (176 176) and printed it as { 176 } to show that it had auto-correlated that text string.  [Click on any image to see it larger.]

 But, in trying to get more samples, I found that 2Tone was making many mistakes in identifying a repeated string.  Many times it would print two calls but then put inside the brackets (or underlined in Logger32) a different callsign.  To me, this could lead to more confusion.

In the above example 2Tone prints (GA7RY VA7RQ) as the two strings but auto-correlates that to (VA7RY) which happens to be the correct callsign.  Then it correctly copies (7L4IOU 7L4IOU) and auto-correlates that to (7L4IOU) correctly but also to (UL4IOU) incorrectly.

I guess I will just have to use this feature in the real world for a bit to see how useful it actually is.  If I find it to not be useful, a simple mouse-click can turn it off.

You can download the latest 2Tone program as a ZIP file here:

http://www.rttycontesting.com/downloads/2tone/

For those with Logger32, you need to download the latest version of 2Tone (16.11a) as a ZIP file, extract the contents, and copy the “2Tone.exe” and “2Tone.pdf” files into your Logger32 directory.

Snap On Split Bead Ferrite Chokes for Noise Reduction

This morning I spent over an hour trying to work a station on 17-M with no luck.  Toward the end of that effort his signal dropped down into the noise and I decided to give up the chase.  As I was shutting down everything I noticed an issue.

I have a small program that runs on my shack computer which communicates with the SPE Expert 2K-FA amplifier over a USB cable.  I can turn the amp ON/OFF, put it into standby, and monitor its front panel display right from the computer.  Today I shut off the amplifier using that program and then when I closed the program itself, I noticed a change in the noise level in my receiver.  It was a small change but, nevertheless, it was there.  I turned the program back on and the noise came back.

Below you can see a screenshot from the Audacity program which is showing the noise from my receiver when switching the program on and off.  The line of numbers at the top beginning with "0.0", "1.0", "2.0" etc. is seconds.  Beginning just after 1.0 seconds until 4.5 seconds and again at 7.0 until 9.5 seconds, you can see the increased noise level when this computer program was running.  The lower noise displays are when the program is not running.

It is not a huge amount of noise, but, it is still there.  Adding just that much noise can at least make it more difficult to copy a weak station even if it does not cover up the station.  Add this little bit of noise to the noise generated by other pieces of equipment in the shack and it all increases the likelihood that you will have difficulty in hearing the weak ones or it could be enough that you don't hear them at all.

It is apparent that when this program is running, it is sending data back and forth to the amplifier along a USB cable that runs behind my radio.  That data stream is being picked up by the receiver as noise.  The noise is still there with the amplifier off.  It is only when the program is closed that the noise goes away.

Recently I purchased some Snap On Split Bead Ferrites from Palomar Engineers (http://palomar-engineers.com/) just for this purpose (image at left.)  I purchased a 25-pack of Mix 31 (1-250 MHz) 1/4-inch diameter snap on split beads for $50 and a 10-pack of Mix 31 (1-250 MHz) 1/2-inch diameter snap on split beads for another $50.  Shipping was $10.

I took one of the 1/4-inch Split Beads and snapped it on the USB cable at the computer end.  (The 1/4-inch ones fit well on Ethernet cables, USB cables, etc. for a 1-turn choke.  The 1/2-inch size will fit RG-8 cables or you can put 3 turns of Ethernet cable through the 1/2-inch ones for more choking if needed.)

Then, using the same settings on the receiver (same bandwidth, same band, same mode, same antenna, etc.) I listened for the noise when turning that program on and off.  The noise could no longer be heard.  Just to make sure I had actually found the problem, I removed the Split Bead Ferrite Choke from the USB cable and - the noise was back!

This problem turned out to have an easy fix which cost me $2.20 and about 1-minute of my time.  I plan to continue adding Ferrite Chokes to the computer cables in the shack, the Cable Modem, and to the feedlines to reduce and/or eliminate any common-mode issues I might have.  All these things add up to keep the noise away from the receiver so it can do its job and pick out that weak DX.  Every little bit helps!

Common-Mode Choke

Today was a MAJOR snow storm.  12" of snow in 10 hours and it is still coming down!  So, with nothing better to do, I decided to get caught up on some old projects that have been hanging around. You can click on any photo to see a larger image.

Looking Out my Front Door

The first project I decided to tackle was to build a couple of Common-mode Chokes for Jimmy, W8JA.  The one I built was 3-1/2 turns through two stacks of four Mix-43 toroids.  These are available from Fair-Rite as Part No. 5943003801.  This choke's impedance should exceed 1-K Ohms from 1.8 to 18 MHz. and dropping to 550 ohms at 30 MHz.  The full description can be found in an April 2006 document called "Common-Mode Chokes" by Chuck Counselman, W1HIS.  You can find it on the Internet.  

It's a pretty simple job to build this choke.  It is just a 36-inch piece of RG8/U type coax passing 4 times through the upper group of four toroids and three times through the bottom four.  My first job was to build a 36-inch piece of coax with PL-259's on each end.  I used Belden 8267 cable.  Below is a photo of one of the connectors after it was soldered to the cable. 

PL-259 Soldered to Cable

Below is a photo of the completed choke.  You can wind the choke through the toroids with the PL-259's already connected.  So, instead of building a 36-inch piece of cable from scratch, you could just purchase one and wind it through the toroids.  I used a couple of Ty-Raps to secure the windings so they did not "un-wind."  An Amphenol PL-258 double-female connector with Teflon insulation is connected to one end to simplify the installation of this choke either at the antenna or at the rig.

Completed Common-Mode Choke

Building the cable from scratch took some time.  I need to improve my method of doing this if I plan to build many more!

Still, I got one project off my "To Do" list today while "snowed-in"!  On to the next!

Preparing for the SteppIR Antenna Repair

NOTE:  I wrote first part of this post nearly TWO YEARS ago but did not publish it for some reason.  It's hard to believe that it's been that long that I have been "preparing" to take down and repair the SteppIR!

 ===== Previously unpublished info follows =====

Today (7 August 2013) was the day I began preparing to take down the SteppIR and repair/modify it.  I took a hike over the hill at 11:30 a.m.  The temperature was 79° and the humidity was 63% so it was not the most pleasant day for this work.  Still, we had not experienced any rain for a few days so things were dry.

Weed-eating to Clear the Work Area

After installing 18-feet of new trimmer line and filling the gas tank, I took my Stihl weed-eater and my electric leaf blower over the hill.  I also took a bottle of water, gloves, eye protection, etc.

The first thing I did was to trim around the tower and blow off the leaves and junk that had accumulated there.  I carefully pulled up the excess cables so I did not cut anything I did not want to cut.  Then it was just swinging the weed-eater back and forth.  Every so often the line would wrap around a bush and break and I had to shut off the weed-eater and fix the line.

End of Day No. 1

By the time I ran out of gas, I had run out of trimmer line on one hole and had about 1 foot left on the other.  I was more than glad to quit and climb back up the hill.

The picture at the upper left shows the work in progress.  You can see a stump that is tall enough to serve as a seat.  Basically the weeds were between 2 and 2-1/2 feet tall.  In the photo on the right, you can see how the tower area is now cleared.  The small bushes need to be taken out with some clippers and I may put the grandsons onto that project.

While I was there I noticed that a grapevine has grown up the upper guy line on to the North.  That guy will be dropped when the SteppIR comes down so that grapevine can be cleared then.  Next I need to measure the space I have cleared to see if it is enough to contain the SteppIR.  If not, I may have to take out some more bushes with a chainsaw to the NW of the tower.

Other items that need attention include pulling up the control line and RG-6 cable that run to the Beverage Hub so that they do not get damaged while the antenna work is being performed.  Also, the elevated radials for the 160-M Inverted-L need to be rolled up.  Installation of the top guy line to the NW needs to be completed.  The wires at the base of the tower need to be cleaned up so they do not get in the way.  Once that is done I can pull the 1/2-inch Heliax up to the top of the tower for measurement then cut it and install a connector on that end.  This will be the 6-M feedline and you can see it coiled up in the photo on the right.

Total time spent on the project today was just under 3 hours including the installation of trimmer line and cleanup of the tools and boots. Still, I'm pretty tired and need to rest before going over the hill again.

===== End of previously unpublished info =====

On a later date the grandsons DID go over the hill along with Evelyn and they removed the small bushes and finished the initial cleanup.  I think they also sprayed extensively with Roundup to prevent the undergrowth from returning.

Fast Forward to July 1, 2015, and the grandsons are back on the brush clearing project!  This time they are two years older and can run the weed eaters themselves.  They REALLY jumped into this job big-time and cleared the area around the tower in record time!

Owen Clearing the NE Guy Anchor

Grant Lopping Small Trees

On the left you can see a photo of Owen clearing things out toward the Northeast guy wire.  I did not clear the paths to the guy wires in 2013 and they had become quite overgrown.  On the right is a photo of Grant lopping off some trees that had been growing for quite some time.  We took a cooler with plenty of water and Gatorade because it was warm and humid that day.

I did not keep close track of the time but it seems like we only spent about two to two and a half hours and in that time the boys had completely cleared the area around the tower and cut a path to the Northeast and the South guy wires.  I had to go back up to the garage and bring back the chainsaw to complete the clearing of a path to the South guy wire.

We eventually ran one weedeater out of gas and the other one ran out of string and that was the point where we decided to call it quits for the day.  Back on the patio it was time to down another bottle of Gatorade and try to cool off before hitting the showers.  On the left you can see how Owen looked with weed litter all over him!  (Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Owen Covered in Weed Litter

CLICK HERE to see a 48-second video of Owen weed eating around the Northeast guy anchor.  I shot this on my cell phone and it was difficult to see the screen but the video captured what the boys were both doing.

Bringing Home the BIG Heliax

A couple of weeks later the grandsons helped me retrieve a 190-foot length of Commscope-Andrew AVA7-50 (1-5/8" Heliax) from Ravenswood thanks to the generosity of Mike, N8WC.  We first picked up the 4-wheeler trailer from the grandsons house (they did all the hooking up!)  A little more than an hour later we were in Ravenswood and trying to run my minivan (miniature van as Grant calls it) up through Mike's field to the barn.  We made it but did pick up a load of grass in my front bumper!  Loading the nearly 200 pound roll of hardline was not difficult considering the great help I had!  The hardline is now sitting on my patio about to be pulled up the tower to serve as feedline for my new 6-M antenna.  In the first part of this Post you have read that I planned to use 1/2-inch Heliax as the feedline but thanks to N8WC, this 1-5/8-inch Heliax will drastically reduce the feedline loss.  Thanks, Mike!

 As the years progress for me, having these two grandsons to help with projects like this is FANTASTIC!  Thanks, guys!

VP6DX - A Clean Sweep

With the VP6DX DX'pedition to Ducie Island drawing to a close, it has now broken the record for the most QSO's worked by any previous DX'pedition. Many people have managed to work Ducie for a new one or for new Bands or Modes that they were not able to do in previous DX'peditions. Personally, I only had three Bands and two Modes confirmed from previous operations.

But, now that I have moved to the New QTH on the Top of the Hill, and have installed the Monster-L for 160-M, I decided to see if I could fill in some of those needed Bands and Modes. As you can see from the VP6DX "Leader Board" below, I managed to do that - in style!


I do not believe I have ever swept a DX'pedition on ALL Bands and Modes they were operating on before. And, this is especially pleasing since I only have two antennas - an 80-M Inverted-L and the Monster-L for 160-M. All other bands were worked by loading one or the other of those two antennas with a Drake MN-2000 tuner. Working 20 Band/Mode "slots" is the MOST that ANY operator has accomplished with this DX'pedition! But, I'd trade a lot of those "slots" for a single 6-M QSO - Hi!

The most difficult contact by far was the 30-M RTTY QSO - and it was the last one I made. I probably spent 5 hours on the air calling them on that Band/Mode. Being restricted to 200-watts on 30-M and not having a 30-M antenna was really a challenge. But, as the DX'pedition was drawing to a close, lots of folks had already made their QSO's and that left room for the "little pistols" to make it into the log.

Now that I have all the "Greenies" showing in the VP6DX log, I'll send for my QSL's using their on-line QSL request service. And, I'll include an extra contribution for the huge expenses incurred by this operation to take all their equipment to such a remote location and, at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, pull off one of (if not THE) best DX'peditions of all time! Thanks VP6DX!