As a ham radio operator, I really enjoy DXing. I have a very modest station but it is very capable of working DX. I got interested in DXing by reading W9KNI's excellent book, The Complete DXer. Since then, I have eagerly been trying to improve my DXCC totals. I used to be limited mainly to 20 meters for DX because my G5RV antenna was not very efficient on the other DX bands. Last spring, I put up a multiband vertical so I can now work 40, 15, and 10 meters in addition to 20 meters. Here are my DXCC statistics:
Click HERE to see what parts of the world I have worked.
DXCC TOTALS: CQ ZONE TOTALS: DX AWARDS:
Mixed- 88 entities Mixed- 21 Zones Worked All Continents
CW- 58 entities CW- 17 Zones (WAC) Award
Phone- 69 entities Phone- 17 Zones March 2005
The Four Rarest Entities I Have Worked:
1. 3Y0X Peter 1 Island--I worked the 2006 dxpedition to Peter 1 Island. I had tried many times to contact them but they were not loud enough at my location to make a contact. Finally I got up early one day and tried to work them using grayline propagation. This time they were louder, and there wasn't much of a pileup. I couldn't believe when I heard my callsign come back to me! The 3Y0X team also sent out beautiful six-sided custom QSL cards.
2. YX0LIX Aves Island--I didn't even know about this 2006 dxpedition until after I had worked YX0LIX on 20 meter phone. At first, I thought I had worked Venezuela because YX0LIX had a great signal and there wasn't much of a pileup. When I typed the callsign into my logging program, it showed that I had worked Aves Island, a new country for me. I was even more excited when I found out that Aves Island was in the top 25 on the most wanted DXCC list. Before YX0LIX went QRT, I managed to work them one more time on 20 meter CW.
3. CY0AA Sable Island--I followed this 2005 dxpedition closely because I knew that I should have good propagation to Sable Island during the operation. It turns out I was right, and CY0AA was very loud on 20 meter SSB. It took me quite a few calls, but I finally got through the pileup. The team also sent out a very nice custom QSL card.
4. S9SS Sao Tome/Principe Island--I worked Charles, S9SS, on the Fourth of July, 2005. This was my first contact on 17 meters because I have trouble tuning up 17 meters with my autotuner. This was also my first contact using split operation. The pileup wasn't that big, but it took me awhile to figure out how split operation works. Click here to see a QSL card from S9SS.
Lately, I have been brainstorming ideas on how to improve my DXCC total. I recently put up a multiband vertical that covers 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. The vertical's low angle of radiation makes it a great antenna for DXing. I have not used the vertical much yet, but I do think that it will make a big difference compared to my G5RV in the attic. I am also trying to improve my CW speed because there is a lot of DX on CW that is nowhere to be found on phone. Also, when you are only running 100 watts, CW is the way to go if you like DXing. Right now, I can copy about 25-30 WPM in contests, but only about 15-20 WPM in a regular CW ragchew. I am hoping to get my CW ragchew speed up to my contest speed so I can actually enjoy a nice chat with DX stations instead of the typical TU 5NN 73 contacts that I am used to!!!
DX QSL CARDS
In this picture I am standing in front of my DX QSL cards. If you are a DX station and have sent me a QSL card, your card may be in the picture. These are not all of my DX QSL cards; some are cut off by the camera.
TO SEE ALL OF MY QSL CARDS INDIVIDUALLY, CLICK HERE.
Here are some excellent DX links I have found.
DXSCAPE Web Cluster–view DX spots in near real time
Buckmaster World Wide Callsign Database–an excellent callsign database for dxpeditions, special event stations, and portable operations
NG3K Amateur Radio Contest/DX Page– view announced DX operations, callsign databases, and much, much more
DX Summit–post your own DX spots, view the most wanted DX spots, and more
Propagation Information–see how good the bands are
IK3QAR QSL Information–get QSL information for that rare dxpedition or contest station
North Jersey DX Association Beam Headings–get precise beam headings to all the DXCC entities from your location
Most Wanted DXCC Entities–see how many of the top 100 rarest DXCC entities you have worked
DXer.org–read DX news, grayline maps, and more
DX.QSL.NET–search the logs of hundreds of dxpeditions and contest stations for your QSOs.
