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.     

My ARRL RTTY Roundup 2013 Results for KL8DX

2013 ARRL RTTY Roundup Result for KL8DX

Very nice to see this wallpaper show up in today's mailbox. Also glad to see that it followed me here to MA from AK. 

I must say, the redesign on the new ARRL certificates are outstanding! I love everything about them. This certificate caught me by surprise as I've boxed up all of my accomplishments and have not kept track of what, if any, I had yet to receive. This certificate will be placed in a frame and be boxed away with my other from my Alaska operation. I'm not sure when they will be able to be posted on a wall again but I'm hopeful that someday that I can have my Alaska wall showing the fruits of my contesting efforts.

In looking at what I submitted to 3830, I apparently had a few calls pulled as my submitted and final score were off a bit. I will always strive for that golden log but I'm happy with the outcome all the same. There is no paper like wallpaper, of the award variety of course.

My submission to 3830;

webform@b41h.net

To 3830@contesting.com

Jan 7, 2013

                    ARRL RTTY Roundup

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

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Alaska
Operating Time (hrs): 21h11M

Summary:
Band  QSOs
------------
  80:    0
  40:  24
  20:  316
  15:  438
  10:  124
------------
Total:  912  State/Prov = 54  Countries = 48  Total Score = 93,024

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

No real complaints and the bands ended strong. Very nice
to have propagation into Europe on Sunday morning! That
made a big difference in the ol contest score. Lots of
regular friends encountered and always great to print and
log RTTY heavy hitters AA5AU and GU0SUP!

First contest using the "logthenpop" macro, so I apologize
to those that received extra jibberish from me. Tweaked as
I went and by the end, the planets aligned back up and life
was good.

Happy New Year from balmy Alaska! I uploaded a more detailed
overview of this contest to my blog site.

73,
Phil KL8DX
Denali National Park, AK
Blog - http://kl8dx.blogspot.com/
Website - http://www.livingindenali.net/
Office - http://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm

Equipment:
Rig: Icom 756PRO @ 100 watts
Antenna: Mosley TA-34-XL & Wires
Interface: Rigblaster Plus
Software: N1MM Logger V9.9.6

Beaming Over North Pole Twice for Europe And Later Finding I Took A Continent!

April 1st RTTY QSO's on 20 Meters from KL8DX to Europe

I had high hopes of actually working some of the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest this past weekend. Those plans were changed once the solar wind picked up and absorption whet through the roof. I tuned the high bands for a large part of the weekend and from Friday to Sunday morning, I did not hear much of anything. Sunday morning the bands started to come back to life but it was short lived. By Sunday afternoon, I went from hearing some stations to hearing none. I knew my 100 watts would not make it out of the state of Alaska. I'm not much into SSB contests anyhow but compounded with the poor conditions, it was not hard for me to focus my attention on other things. I've worked tough contest weekends before but this one was a bust, from my location at least. Some of the other Alaskan efforts I've seen posted are a small fraction of what those stations normally work. I sadly flew the white flag of defeat for this contest.

In speaking of the WPX contest, there was a small window where I was hearing a few West Coast stations but those signals were not very strong and were accompanied by lots of QSB. One of the highlights for me was listening to 9 year old Emma, the daughter of Andreas, KU7T. I always enjoy listening to the "younger crowd" and Emma was doing a fantastic job! I listened to her for approximately 10 minutes and she sounded like a seasoned contester. She was CQ'n and picked up a few stations during my presence on the frequency. I only wish the band had been a bit better for me to be able to QSO with Emma. Maybe next time! I hope Emma enjoyed the contest and I sure hope to hear her voice again on the radio. We need to do what we can to encourage  younger generations to get involved with our hobby.  Awesome job, Emma! Keep up the good work!

2012 ARRL DX CW results for ARS KL8DX

The graph at the top of the blog gives a graphic illustration of my 20 meter RTTY contacts this morning. I had my antenna fixed to the lower 48 but was hearing some European stations. I saw it was about Greyline for that part of the world and I noticed TF3IG/2 had been spotted on the DX Cluster. I turned my beam and found TF3IG with a respectable signal into Alaska. I went from decoding him on my rig to firing up MMTTY and working Ingi. I had a few stations call me after I worked Ingi (it was his frequency) so I QSY'd up a few and called CQ beaming Europe. I was surprised to find a handful of stations coming back to me. One thing led to another and I eventually had enough stations calling me that I needed to work split. Sadly, I had to shut down, even with stations calling, but I enjoyed the short burst of activity. I worked the band for nearly 1.5 hours.

We made our weekly trip to the Post Office and a large white envelope found a home in our Post Office Box. It was from the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and my wife was sure it was more wallpaper. When we arrived home, like a kid on Christmas morning, I opened it first. The certificate above is what I found in the envelope. I really like the new design and it has already found itself in a frame and will be hung on the wall tonight. What I'm most excited about is NO SCORE REDUCTION! Yea, I was just shouting out loud. If you look at the score on my certificate and the score on my 3830 submission, they are both the same. I strive for the "Golden Log" with each submission but I rarely get it. Practice makes perfect and I will continue to attempt to "get it right the first time." The other neat part of this certificate is being a "Continental Winner." That just takes this wallpaper up a notch. I've been lucky enough to do this two years in a row. Anyhow, I went into the archives and pulled up my 3830 submission and it's listed below. 

ARRL DX Contest, CW

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

Class: SOSB/20 LP
QTH: Alaska
Operating Time (hrs): 17.75

Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:          
  80:          
  40:          
  20:  828    57
  15:          
  10:          
-------------------
Total:  828    57  Total Score = 141,588

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

I started out on 15 meters but needed to move to 20 due to line
noise in the direction of the lower 48. The aurora on Saturday
evening ended my daily effort but led to some beautiful displays
overhead. Sunday, things were slow in coming back but finally 
propagation got a bit better during the last 3 or 4 hours of the
contest. I had several DX stations call me over the weekend 
probably not knowing we were DX in this contest and not a state.

A more detailed breakout of my effort can be found on my blog. 
Thanks for the QSO's and patience! Contacts will be uploaded to
LOTW today. 

73,
Phil - KL8DX
Denali National Park, AK

For my signal to make it to Europe, it has to cross over North Pole not only once, but twice!  This is the secret to some of my European success stories I'm sure. The double North Pole crossings actually lead to an increase of signal strength by at least 2dB. Even though my amplifier has bit the dust, I realized quickly that I really do not need it. My shack might be a few degrees cooler but my electric bill has dropped significantly. And my European path is, and always will be, my secret weapon during contest weekends, due in part to my double North Pole crossing. 

As we enjoy this first day of April, my thoughts can only be on spring. By next month, I will be planning our camping trips and hitting the campgrounds early. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, I feel that 2013 may send us on some new adventures. We are looking forward to our favorite campground outside of North Pole opening up for the summer. Even though my blog may have a bit of an April 1st twist, it just so happens that the "other" North Pole has a Zip Code of 99705. It actually does not increase my signal strength by 2dB, but I point my HF beam that way for a large part of the winter and I camp there during several weekends throughout the summer. I love camping and I love radio and to combine the two, well that just better than...

WSPR'ing & 29,147 DXCC Certificates Later

WSPR 20 Meters

The bands have been less than favorable but I've left my rig on 20 meters with the beam pointed to Europe. I decided to leave WSPR running for a few days this past week to see how well the European path was doing. WSPR is another mode that will have difficulties when decoding signals if there is an auroral presence. But, as the solar shake up calmed, callsigns were beginning to populate on my WSPR screen. I spent more time listening than transmitting but my power output was 10 watts when operating WSPR. I fed that to my 4 element tri-bander, which normally is parked at the 43 foot level on my tower.

Decoding WSPR

 WSPR is a great tool for weak signal propagation testing. Now that we officially entered into Spring (still looks and feels like winter around these parts) propagation will begin to take a different look when it comes to decoding signals. By May, the snow will begin to melt and it will be time to welcome back the return of the midnight sun. I very much enjoy the 24 hours of daylight in June. This enjoyment will keep me from occupying my ham shack but I've done enough of that all winter. As contest season wraps up, my sights will be on getting our camper ready for camping season. My goal is to head out earlier this year and break my portable station out of mothballs. Nothing better than to be camping in a remote location working DX from an unofficial campsite.

The DX talk of late is the operation of XR0YG on Easter Island. I was lucky enough to work the DXpedition team on 20 meter CW last night. Crazy pile-up but the operator was doing an awesome job. I knew I would have my work cut out for me as the pile-up was pretty big. I tried, gave up, tried, gave up and finally snagged em on my 3rd attempt. I hope to get them on a few more bands and modes before they depart. I heard them on 17 meters this past weekend but with my low antenna and power, they were well out of my reach. 

I've caught up with all of my QSL card requests and my next batch of replies will be headed out to the bureau this week. Activity level and QSL reception go hand in hand. At least from my operation here, as activity level directly correlates to how full my Post Office Box gets. 

Our weekly trip to the Post Office yielded a small tube with my name on it. It seems my DXCC certificate has arrived. My very first certificate, number 28,436, was dated February 10th, 1989. Today, I received my first DXCC certificate from this location, numbered 57,583. I also received two, 150 Endorsement Stickers (I assume the League meant to send me a 125 & 150 but instead, sent me two 150's by mistake). I remember sending my QSL cards via Express Mail and doing all the paperwork by hand. Then, patiently waiting for their return. Now, with LOTW, my certificate was achieved simply with a few mouse clicks and referencing my credit card number. Oh how times have changed.

Computers are pretty old around here and our main "family" computer just bit the dust (again). So, I will be in the market for one. Now I just need to decide if I want to stick with a desktop or transition to a laptop. I'm thinking laptop and docking station but it will come down to what I can afford. Thankfully, I had most of the stuff backed up. I'm still hoping I can retrieve my most recent data off of the hard drive. I had installed a second hard drive which was basically a mirror to the first. I think I might rebuild that computer and put it here in the shack. I need more horsepower that my aged shack Dell's can produce. My world is about multitasking and my abilities have been limited to my processor speed and RAM here in the shack. Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) is my logging program of choice but it taxes my aging computer to no end. Especially if I'm also running DM780 having fun on the digital modes.

I woke up this morning to find 20 meters in pretty good shape toward Europe. It's been snowing all day and most of the night. Working a few stations this morning and waking up to a nice hot cup off coffee helped start the new week off on the right foot. The DXCC certificate sent it to the next level. Now it's time to bundle up and head out into the single digits to plow snow. The calendar might of said "First Day of Spring" on March 20th but by Alaskan standards, that does not happen before April 20th. Officially it's here but unofficially, we have a month or more.   

2012 Year in Review - Out Like a Lion, In Like a...Ham?

NOAA Denali Forecast 

The weather for our part of Alaska has been pretty quiet for several weeks. Or at least, until recently. We have been effected by a Chinook system moving in from the south and it not only brings strong winds, but much warmer temperatures. The warmer temperatures are a welcome break from -20F to -40F that we have been experiencing. But as ham radio operators know, high winds are not ham friendly. That being said, my HF beam has been nested just above my roof level as we were forecasted to receive 80 mph wind gusts, as seen in the forecast listed to the left. Thankfully we did not see gusts that strong but anything above 55 mph has me lowering my antenna. The latest system is exiting but there is another system on it's heels that will bring strong winds once again for New Years day and probably into the night. Since my strongest gust today was only 45 mph, I took advantage of a snow blown roof and warm temperatures to tighten my driven element and then crank my beam back to its 43 feet normal operational level. 

Cell Photo by KL8DX

The view to the right is from the 25 foot level or so (standing on my roof getting a beams eye view) looking ENE from my QTH. As you may notice, the trees around here are not very tall. Also, just visible are the two overhead power lines that cut through the heart of where I would run many of my wire antennas, if I could. Not only do I have these lines which run to a neighbors house to contend with, I also have my own service line which is not seen in this photo. In looking back, placing my tower on the south side of the house would have been a much better choice, for various reasons.

Cell Photo by KL8DX

The view to the left here is looking south toward Mount Healy. Denali National Park has a great information page detailing Mount Healy (Unit 24) and in the top photograph on that page, you can see Otto Lake, or the reverse of what you are seeing to the left. My home is on on side of this mountain and my office is on the other. I took these photos just before noon and as you can see, there is no direct sunlight. This time of year, I can tell by the clouds the sun is there but we won't see direct sunlight here at this QTH until February. The happy thought we keep is that the sun is slowly making its way back toward Alaska and the midnight sun will once again be filling out days with warmth and funshine!

Club Log Stats for KL8DX

When looking at my 2012 statistics available to me using Club Log, I've worked 106 different entities and had a grand total of 8,184 QSO's. As you can see from the graph to the right, I'm not a big SSB operator however, I do find my microphone from time to time. As mentioned in a previous blog posting, I did hit my personal milestone of 50,000 QSO's recently operating from here in Alaska. I've accomplished DXCC but have yet to apply. I've managed to work 203 towards my 2nd ARRL DXCC Award and 177 of those Entities have wonderfully been confirmed via Log Book Of The World (LOTW). With US postage rates climbing again in January of 2013, I'm a firm believer in electronic QSL'ing with LOTW. I will always maintain hard QSL cards. I enjoy receiving them and will return QSL for those who follow my instructions on QRZ, but my days of sending direct for each new Entity worked are long gone. Especially if it requires the always rising return postage fee, typically running $3.00 USD or more nowadays, from outside the United States anyhow. I don't chase new ones like I used to either. After moving to Alaska, my focus has changed to more of a contesting perspective than DX'ing perspective. Not that you can't accomplish both of these at the same time but basically, I spend less time "on air" during the weekdays chasing, and more time on the weekends being chased. Life of a double multiplier can be stressful but fun!

Twitter QSO with Martin, W3MLK today

Bringing in the New Year like a Ham is simply getting on the air and operating and for me, Straight Key Night (SKN) is just the ticket! I love CW anyhow and I've really grown attached to my Navy Flameproof keys. And heck, my Icom 756PRO, by today's electronic standards, is nearly vintage! I don't own anything that will chirp or has tubes that give off a warm glow. But that's what I love about SKN, hearing all that manually generated Morse Code and hearing those old radios come to life. Martin, W3MLK asked me what SKN stood for as I had mentioned it in one of my previous "Tweets". This was my personal explanation to him, highlighting the festivities about to begin in a matter of hours. I had worries of missing it this year due to high winds and a 24 hour bout with the flu bug. Thankfully, it appears I will be making contacts and enjoying a fresh new year enjoying the hobby I'm still addicted to after 25 years! 

In a day of live news feeds that seem to carry mostly bad news, ham radio is a way to escape all that, for me anyhow. Sharing bandwidth with those all around the world who enjoy the same, fun through ham radio. I don't know what 2013 will bring, but it will have its ups and downs I'm sure. We can hope for more ups though, nothing wrong with hoping! I appreciate those who read my ramblings on with this blog as I sure don't do it for me. As long as someone is interested, I will continue to detail my Alaskan radio adventures as I experience them. Thanks for all the QSO's and I'm hopeful for many more in 2013. I'm not sure on a theme for 2013 yet, but I have a few hours left to think about it. Not only does the wind around these parts bring warmth, something tells me change is in the wind as well for next year. Happy New Year my friends!       

Yes Sean, It Was Well Worth The Wait!

Christmas comes a few days early

The ARRL Santa has been delivering these certificates all over Alaska over the last couple of days. My mailbox was no exception. It is always a very nice surprise to see a certificate in ones mailbox. When I opened the envelope, I was smiling with joy! Now, THIS is a contest certificate! What a beautiful job on the new design. I enjoy each and every certificate I receive obviously, but this new design by the ARRL is top notch in my opinion. So, even though these arrived a bit later than expected, it was well worth the wait! It will look very nice framed on the wall of my shack, for one an all a visitor to enjoy but I'll get the most enjoyment out of it. Not that I get that many visitors here in remote Alaska.

Sean, KX9X explains

In looking back at this contest, I remember it as being a challenging weekend. Of course, I never know what weather or propagation conditions are going to be like this time of year. Weather can put a damper on my operating and that was the case last year at this time. If it's a deep cold spell, I won't want to turn my beam to much. My rotor operates well below zero due to the fact of having it rebuilt and "greased" for arctic temperatures. It's my aging feedline that normally has me worried once the mercury (aging myself) heads well below zero. Or, as in the case of that weekend, we may have a Chinook blow through that increases my noise or forces me to lower my antenna to a height that is not optimum for 10 meters. With that said, I'm pleased with my effort last year (as mentioned in a previous post, I should have beat that this year) and just having any propagation on 10 meters is exciting! I've blogged about my love of that band and I'm glad I've been able to experience openings while living here.

My 3830 post from last year is listed. Once the log was washed and cleaned, my final score is reflected on my certificate above. I appreciate all the contacts that made this certificate possible. I also have to say a big "Thanks" to the ARRL for sponsoring the contest, for the certificate, and I think the new design is awesome! A sure winner in my book, Sean!

 ARRL 10-Meter Contest

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

Class: SO CW LP
QTH: Alaska
Operating Time (hrs): 15h12m

Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  CW:  883    63
  SSB:    0    0
-------------------
Total:  883    63  Total Score = 279,028

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

My long time friend and old neighbor Sean, KL1SF made a return
trip to Alaska on a work related mission. I was hoping to get
him in the shack but his schedule never allowed it. He headed back
to AZ on Friday night, so I did not operate a few hours so I 
could see him off. 

We were forecasted to receive strong winds yet again from another
of our famous winter Chinooks. I had to crank down my beam from 
the 42-43 foot level where it normally sits, to about 20 foot. All of
my operation on Saturday was with my beam at 22 foot! We had wind
gusts here at my QTH to 60 Mph over the weekend so needless to say,
the lower noise was horrible and it was directly in my lower 48 
path. 

I was able to send the beam back up Sunday once the winds dropped to
a normal speed. For me, I think the propagation on Saturday seemed a
bit better than Sunday but of course, my beam was 20+ foot higher
too! 

I will post a full overview on my blog in the next few days. I want
to extend the very best of holiday wishes to everyone! Thanks for all
the patience as I continue to learn the ropes to this contesting
stuff. May 2012 bring you a wealth of DX to your logbook. I'm sure
hoping it will bring me DXCC on 10 meters!

25 Years Ago

Tune In The World 1987 Edition

As I have mentioned previously, this is my anniversary week of passing my Novice Exam and Morse Code exam 25 years ago. In a very early blog posting, I went into detail on how I ended up becoming involved in this great hobby of ours so I won't go into detail here. But, I have a few hams to thank for it. The first being Don, KF8FE and the second, Ralph, WA8GAK. Don planted the seed and Ralph was the first one to give me a full demonstration of ham radio and also got me the information on the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). I ended up ordering the book you see to the left from the ARRL along with my 5 wpm cassette code tape. Once I received them in the mail (no internet ordering in those days) I jumped right into listening to my code tape and studying the book. It was not long before I felt I was ready to tackle both tests, my Novice exam and my 5 wpm Morse Code test. 

The ad that sold me!

I remember opening up my study manual (pictured above) and on the inside cover was the advertisement you see to the right, for then new Icom IC-735! I was immediately in love! I knew that was the radio that I wanted! I don't remember what I paid for that radio those many years ago but it was not cheap. If I passed my tests, I had plans of ordering this radio. In those days, the Form 610 had to be mailed in and it would take approximately 6 weeks to get your license. You had to wait patiently for it to arrive and see what callsign you were issued. Since I lived in Ohio, I knew it was going to be a 2X3 callsign, or 2 letters followed by a number, which was followed by three more letters. I obviously knew that the number was going to be an 8 but the rest was a mystery!

I believe that Ralph may have given me the phone number of Pat Keating, WB8KWD. I phoned Pat and made arrangements to meet him at the Red Cross building in Fremont, Ohio. Fremont was not far from where I lived at the time, approximately 45 minutes away. I met Pat along with Ron Winke, WB8NMK in Fremont, on December 12th, 1987. I took my Morse Code test and passed with not only 100% (10 out of 10 questions) but also with 100% perfect copy! I don't remember the reason but I ended up going back to Fremont on the 14th of December and I was given my Novice written exam. I passed that with a 96%, missing one question out of 30. The form 610 was completed and sent off! 

Feedback Response from ARRL

Since I had passed my Novice exam, I ordered the Technician study guide and began working on that license. There had been an issue with my original 610 Form submission so my wait for my Novice license took a bit longer than usual. But, I continued to study and shortly after passing my Novice license, I took and passed my Technician license test (passed my Technician Theory test on January 9th, 1988) along with my General (passed my General theory on February 7th, 1988 and my 13 wpm on February 13th, 1988)! It took two attempts to pass my 13 wpm code test but I made it. And the way things had worked out, by the time I received each of my licenses in the mail, I had already taken and passed the next level license class. I went onto pass my Advanced Class on March 12th, 1988. After passing my Advanced Class license, I opted to change my callsign and I received KE8RO. I stuck with it until I moved to Alaska. I had my sights set on my Extra Class next. At the time, the ARRL was interested in what you thought about their training manuals. I made sure to write in after passing each level of license. It was nice to get letters back from the ARRL responding to my comments (see ARRL letter above). I thought it was a nice note from Larry Wolfgang, then WA3VIL. 

Certificate of Successful Completion

The final step of my license journey ended on April 9th, 1988. It was that day in Maumee, Ohio that I passed my Extra Class exams! One thing I remember about Maumee was they ran a tight ship! Very professional, no nonsense and by the book. I was not quite yet at 20 wpm with my Morse Code but I was able to get the answers by fill-in. Basically, I was not at 100% perfect copy but I copied enough to fill in the blanks and obtain the correct answers to the code test. 

It's hard to believe that 25 years ago this week, I was pacing the floor awaiting the arrival of my FCC paperwork telling me what my callsign was. My new Icom IC-735 and accessories were ordered. When my license finally arrived, I made my first appearance on the bands as KB8DVT! I chatted with several of the locals on 10 meters and it was not long before I was making contacts on that band across the country and beyond. I was bitten by the ham bug and I'm as addicted today as I was then. The nervousness has long passed but I continue to learn and enjoy what ham radio has to offer. Even after all these years, there are modes and bands I have not yet tried. One person who I need to thank is my CW Elmer Ed, K8QWY. Ed is the reason I enjoy that mode today. I was about burned out on Morse Code studying for my tests and receiving is one thing but sending was another. With Ed's patience and persistence, I eventually saw the light. CW was truly the Key to my DX success and still is today!  

The 2012 ARRL 10 Meter Contest - Like Eggnog

Pre-amped Up and listening for all I have!

10 Meters was tough sledding this past weekend for the annual ARRL 10 Meter Contest. Having to work late on Friday, by the time I made it into the shack, there was not a single station to be heard on 10 meters. Normally I can snag a Hawaiian station or a few JA's on Friday night but NIL. On Saturday morning while waiting patiently for propagation to arrive on 10 meters, I worked a few stations in the monthly SKCC Weekend Sprintathon on 20 meters. Once 10 meters started showing signs of life, my focus changed to that band. It was obvious that it was gonna be a tough weekend.

My first QSO was around the 1830z mark with W0AIH, who had a super signal into my part of Alaska. But as it would turn out, the lower 48 was going to be effected by a mixed bag of propagation for me. The Central & South American stations were booming in, which is somewhat typical on 10 meters here. By the end of the opening on Saturday night, the furthest east I had worked was New York. This meant that the harder W1, W2 and W3 stations had to be picked up on Sunday, assuming there was propagation! 

Statistics from ARS KL8DX

My statistics graph to the right from Win-test puts things into perspective from Saturday. I had one fair hour of contacts rolling in when I found a clear frequency and called CQ. It was obvious that this was going to be another contest that was all about location! Hearing some of the numbers DX stations were exchanging as I tuned across the band, hearing stations like PJ2T with over 700 QSO's or CW5W with over 1,000 QSO's this early in the contest made me jealous. I can only imagine what they were hearing so far south as I've never personally experienced propagation down that way. My passport is like my wallet, empty. Anyway, my Saturday night ended with just over 100 QSO's in the log, leaving me with that sinking multiplier feeling. Highlights were finishing up the day with two VK4'S, VK4WIL and VK4IZ, and then my last QSO being with AH0BT.

States & Provinces Worked (Blue) & Not Worked (White) 

When I woke up early on Sunday morning, I was hoping for some either North East USA or some Europe. I sometimes can get lucky and attract the attention of the NE stations when they are working Europe by busting through the back of their beams. Normally this is only effective with the BIG GUN stations but I was hoping to close the book on some of the harder NE states. To my amazement, the band was pretty quiet Sunday morning except for D4C. Wait, D4C? Was I hearing that right? It was obvious that he had a pile-up (all of which I could not hear). Peaking at times 599 here, really? Like playing the lottery, I joined in knowing full well I was not going to win with all those playing. I called several times but I realized the obvious. But I did get to hear Rich, KL7RA snag em! Either way, D4C was putting in an extremely impressive signal into the Interior of Alaska Sunday morning. After listening to that for a bit, I tuned around hearing a few 1's and 2's but I was not having any luck putting any in the contest log. I finally scored my first NE stations just before 1600z with N1IW and N2MM. Kudos to N2MM for pulling me out of the mud! It was not long before the band fell silent once again.

Sunday was extremely slow going but 10 meters started to show signs that it wanted to cooperate around 1930z. I was beginning to hear more and see more activity on the spectrum scope of my Icom 756PRO. Even though things were looking up, QSB was extremely tough! I had stations call me and when I sent them my exchange, on several occasions, they were either very weak or unreadable and I had to ask for a repeat. An extreme case of "Strong & Gone" as I like to refer to it. I would call CQ for several minutes without a single caller. I would begin to multitask and do a few other things and when I turned my attention elsewhere, someone would call me. I would have to quickly hit the "Escape Key" to get my repeated CQ to stop and then shamefully ask for a repeat or a partial call confirmation. It can be hard to stay focused during those dry periods. 

In the end, I made well under half of the contacts I did last year. I'm certain I did not work anything new to me this weekend but I was sure hoping. Running low power, I sure had plenty of stations CQ'n in my face but that's all part of the challenge when the bands are tough. But a bad day of contesting is still better than a great day in the office! This week is the 25th anniversary of me taking and passing my Novice test in Fremont, Ohio those many years ago. Things have sure changed just in my 25 years of enjoying this hobby. But in keeping with the theme of the season, when it comes to 10 meters and 10 meter contesting, it's like Eggnog...I can't get enough of it. The holiday season brings the return of Eggnog to store shelves and the ARRL 10 Meter Contest. Thanks to the ARRL for supporting yet another great contest! Thanks for all the QSO's, too! My 3830 submission is listed below with further comments. This might as well be my last effort in this contest from this QTH but God willing, it won't be my last 10 meter contest effort and with any luck, I can enjoy Eggnog and the ARRL 10 meter contest next year.

ARRL 10-Meter Contest

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

Class: SO CW LP
QTH: Alaska
Operating Time (hrs): 10h14m

Summary:
Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  CW:  375    63
  SSB:    3      5
-------------------
Total:  375     63      Total Score = 94,500

Club: North Coast Contesters

Comments:

This will be a CW only submission but I did work a few
that asked me to QSY to SSB. I had to work late on Friday
so I also started out with NIL until Saturday morning.
My first contest QSO came at 1828z and last fell into
the log at 2342z, Saturday. Saturday was tough but that's
contesting. Saturday was even a bit harder due to QRN
as a direct result of 40 mph wind gusts that day. I
watched our temperature go from -21F to +20F in a matter
of a few hours thanks to the arrival of the SE wind flow.

The last four hours of Sunday showed my best rates all
weekend. I had higher hopes for the last big contest of
2012, as I didn't even hit the 50% mark from what I was
able to accomplished last year.

I think the most notable points with this contest was
the crazy propagation and QSB. The QSB was intense at
times and stations would call and then disappear. I was
low power so like many, I had multipliers CQ in my face
to no avail. I missed more than I care to list.

Happy Holidays to all and I hope to find my way into a
few logs as this contest season continues into 2013. I
have no valid complaints about this contest as 378 QSO's
are better than none, which was the case only a few years
ago. I predict that 2013 will be the year of change for this
station. But for now, it's time to enjoy the holiday season
and from our shack to yours, on behalf of KL8SU and myself,
Seasons Greetings from Alaska! May many new multipliers and
entities fall easily into your logbooks in 2013.

Sincerely,

Phil - KL8DX
Suann - KL8SU
Dempsey (The Wonder Beagle)
Luna (The Grandcat)