A-1 Official

A-1 Operator Certificate

Recently the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) honored their members of the American Radio Relay League's (ARRL) A-1 Operators during the April Weekend Sprintathon (WES). I sadly was not able to participate due to weekend conflicts but it got me to thinking about my nomination and entry into this prestigious club. I remember receiving a few congratulatory emails and saw my name on the A-1 Operators list but never received anything "official". I dropped a note to the ARRL and inquired about the certificate. My email was answered in short order and after receiving a response, 48 hours later our postal carrier hand delivered this certificate. I feel very honored that a few of my now fellow A-1 operators, felt I was worthy of nomination and award. 

I have always tried to be the best operator possible, from casual operating to contesting. I think good operators are products of good Elmer's. Even though I've been a ham radio operator for over 26 years now, I'm still learning! And the beauty of ham radio and the internet, you don't have to physically be in someones shack to learn to be a better operator. I learned so much from the Alaska Contest Group and a few, I never even personally met. Group emails, forums, blogs, simple research, Youtube and magazines, there are so many great resources to educate any ham on all aspects of our great hobby. Just because a person does not have this certificate does not mean that they are not a good operator. My plan is to pay it forward and nominate those who I feel should be on the list, those who's callsign are not currently there. 

For me, the pressure is even greater now to continue to live up to the standards set forth by the A-1 Operators Club. Will that be a hard thing to do? Nope, as long as I continue to do what I have been doing. Continue to learn, educate others, run clean equipment, by only using the minimum power necessary for the QSO, helping other hams where and when I possibly can and finally, learning from my mistakes. I think the most important aspect of this hobby is to have fun! Being an A-1 Operator is not attached necessarily to a callsign as much as it's attached to the person behind the callsign. Even though I have changed my call since my nominations and entry and now live in at a new QTH, my values remain the same. For any ham radio operator, the DX Code Of Conduct is a great foundation to build upon. I dedicate this award to all those who have helped me in this great hobby over the last 26 years. This speaks more highly of them as I'm only operating as I've been taught. I hope they are as proud of this achievement as I am.     

A1 to RTTY, It's All About How You Operate

2012 CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest 

Receiving a large white envelope in the mail will normally catch my attention. One of those attention getting envelopes arrived today. I was excited to receive the certificate seen to the left for my WPX RTTY effort this year. And I was reminded today during a QSO that next weekend is the CQ World Wide DX RTTY Contest!!! I'm hopeful that the bands cooperate and I will have the time to operate more than a few hours. I know I will be getting a late start at the very least but once home, I plan on firing up N1MM and getting started with my low power effort. And in the contest this coming weekend, Alaska (KL7) counts as a country multiplier, not a state. I always have to check as sometimes we are a country, sometimes a state. 

I had some fun today operating JT65 on 10 meters! I made one CW contact and also a handful of PSK31 contacts on that band as well. With 10 meters showing some signs of life finally, I'm even more excited about next weekend and the many other contests looming on the 2012-2013 contest calendar! 

I have had a few folks over the last few months comment (and congratulate) about me being an A-1 Operator. I've never received a formal notification of this honor but two generous hams felt I was worthy of such an honor and nominated me. I ventured to the ARRL A-1 Operators page and there my name was with all of the others who were granted the same honor!  I'm not sure who those hams were that nominated me but I'm deeply honored and forever thankful.  I always strive to operate to the best of my ability and I know I've had the honor of helping many with giving them a new country, state, county, prefix and more. The A-1 Operator Club is managed by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and I plan on doing my part in identifying those who I feel are just as worthy. I promote our hobby each and every moment I get and anyone who knows me, knows I'm a "Ham!" I'm approaching my 25 year anniversary for being a part of this great hobby. I've made life long friends and many I have never met, and might not ever meet. 

As far as the RTTY contest, it's obvious I must have busted some callsigns as my score is lower than what I submitted. But, with each and every contest, I will continue to strive for that "Golden Log" and hopefully achieve it more times than not. Contesting is about honing your skills and getting better with each and every contest. Now that I've had a summer off from radio, it's time to buckle up and get to working on my code speed again. It's also time to start working the digital modes and getting in some much needed practice for winter. But as the snow that accumulated on my lawn today reminded me, winter is here and I'd better get a move on, soon! 

 CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest

Call: KL8DX
Operator(s): KL8DX
Station: KL8DX

Class: SOAB(TS) LP
QTH: Alaska
Operating Time (hrs): 24:34

Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
  80:    0
  40:    7
  20:  250
  15:  410
  10:  73
------------
Total:  740  Prefixes = 371  Total Score = 628,103

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

My low power effort as I have not yet had my amplifier repaired. 
Obviously, 15 meters was the money band for me however, 20 meters
produced only 15 fewer multipliers for nearly half the QSO's! This
was due to better than fair conditions into Europe on 20 meters in
the mornings.

We once again are experiencing Chinook winds here in the interior
with gusts over 40 mph for most of the weekend. I had much more
QRN than normal, especially toward the lower 48. I just lowered my
beam as we are supposed to have 65 + mph gusts for the next 24 to
36 hours. My Hazer crank is approximately 4 foot above the ground
and I had to dig snow out from around the crank so I could turn it.
This is due to lots of drifting snow on the north side of my home
where my tower is. These winds are bittersweet. It has been well
above freezing so my heating bill should get a reprieve but the
warmer temps make things very slick outside not to mention it's
hard on the antennas. 

I'm pretty happy with my effort however, I slept in both mornings 
so I left 5.5 hours of available operating time on the table. I
was hoping get a 3am-4am start both mornings but it just did not
happen. Rough week I guess.  

I'm looking forward to next weekend as I once again continue my
pursuit of low power contesting. Two things are very apparent 
with low power;

1. A much lower score
2. Shack is 20 degrees colder than normal

Lots of stations with great receivers and thanks much for pulling
out my weaker than normal signal. I did put a bit more detail from
this contest in my latest blog entry.

73!

Phil - KL8DX
Denali National Park, AK

Blog - http://kl8dx.blogspot.com/
Website - http://www.livingindenali.net/
Work - http://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm