Latest Happenings at N8OY
.
Here is the latest news on what is going on at my station. I will post updates on new countries I have worked, awards I have recently earned, or what I am currently up to in ham radio. If you have any comments, you can e-mail me or fill out a comment form and I will post your thoughts here.
July 14, 2006
CW Honor Roll
I just added a CW Honor Roll to my CW Page. Anyone can achieve my CW Honor Roll by taking a CW test and submitting what you copied to me. There are three different tests to take: beginner, intermediate, and expert. The beginner test is sent at 10 WPM, the intermediate at 20 WPM, and the expert at 25 WPM. The test consists of 1-3 ham radio-related sentences. If you copy everything right, your name and callsign gets posted on the honor roll. Click HERE for more information.
July 11, 2006
Comment Form
Today I added a comment form to my website. You can use this form to comment on this website, post DX news, or ask any questions you may have about me or this website. You can also tell me how I could improve this website. All comments are then e-mailed to me. Please feel free to send me comments; I welcome your feedback and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible.
July 10, 2006
Updated Log Search
I just added a G4ZFE log search applet to my log search page. I used to have a log search textbox that would link directly to my log on dx.qsl.net. However, with dx.qsl.net you can only send in updates to your log twice a month. I plan to update my log at least every week so I downloaded G4ZFE's search applet. This applet requires you to have a java aware browser to search my log. If you do not have a java aware browser, you can get one HERE. I will continue to update my log on dx.qsl.net twice a month so you can view my log without the java download.
I have the G4ZFE log search applet set up to display if I worked a station with my current callsign, N8OY, or my previous callsign, KC8VSB. The java applet also supports wild card searches. For example, entering W4* will show all of the W4's I have worked.
July 9, 2006
Country #88--Latvia
Today during the IARU contest I worked YL4HQ in Latvia for my 88th DXCC entity. At first I thought he had got my callsign wrong, but when I called him back to confirm my call he said I was in the log. Click HERE to listen to the recording of the contact. Did YL4HQ get my full callsign? I will let you decide. Anyway, too bad I don't have 88 countries confirmed.
June 26, 2006
Field Day 2006
I had a great time at Field Day 2006! We made lots of contacts, the food was great, and it wasn't as hot as last year. To read all about the event, click HERE.
June 20, 2006
3Y0X QSL Card
Today I was elated to receive my 3Y0X QSL card in the mail. The QSL took over four months to arrive, but the wait was worth it. I can safely say that the 3Y0X QSL card is one of the nicest I have ever seen. The card itself is six-sided and contains many colorful pictures of Peter 1 Island. With the addition of this card to my QSL collection, I now have 39 DXCC entities confirmed. Click HERE to view the 3Y0X QSL card.
April 25, 2006
I worked YX0LIX!!!
What a week for DXing! Last night, as I was tuning 20 meters, I came across YX0LIX on phone running a small pileup. They had a very strong signal and, although they were operating split, it only took me a few calls to make the contact. At first, I thought I had worked Venezuela, as I did not know about the dxpedition to Aves Island. However, when I entered the callsign into my logging program, it showed that I had worked Aves Island, a new country for me! I had no idea where Aves Island was located, so I looked YX0LIX up on QRZ.com and went to their website. I then found out that Aves Island was among the top 25 most wanted DXCC entities, making YX0LIX my second rarest contact ever!
Today I managed to work YX0LIX again, this time on 20 meter CW. Again, they had a great signal and it did not take me long to get through the small pileup. I will try to get the QSL off as soon as possible.
April 20, 2006
New Country!!!
Last night, I worked JT1CO in Mongolia, a new country for me, on 20 meter CW. JT1CO had a very nice signal and there was not much of a pileup but it still took me multiple calls to work him. Unfortunately, he was sending faster than I could reliably copy so all I did was exchange 5NNs with him. Mongolia is also a new zone for me, zone 23. I was very excited after working JT1CO and hope to exchange QSL with him. After all, Mongolia is over 6,500 miles (10,500 km) away. Not bad for a 100 watt signal!
April 4, 2006
Talking to Kids About Ham Radio
Today I talked to some boy scouts about Morse code and ham radio. The boys were an excellent audience and had many great questions. They were really interested when I showed them my QRP rig and how far I could communicate with the power of a Christmas light. Maybe we have a few future hams! Click HERE to see some short video clips of my presentation.
March 30, 2006
1,000 Miles Per Watt Award
Today I received my second ham radio award, the 1,000 miles per watt award from QRP ARCI. The certificate is very nice and is personalized with my name and callsign. I earned this award by working W0ETT from my home station with my transceiver set to one watt output power. I did this on the 20 meter band using CW during a contest. This is equal to 1162 miles per watt. Click HERE to see the certificate.
March 5, 2006
New Antenna--Hustler Vertical
Today I put up a new antenna, the Hustler 4-BTV. This antenna covers 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. The antenna took about three hours to install and has four radials per band. The SWR is very good on 10 and 15 meters but is a little high on 40 and 20 meters. I will probably end up using my automatic antenna tuner with the vertical on 40 and 20 meters. I have not had much time to operate with my new antenna, but I am looking forward to having a low angle of radiation on the DX bands. Click HERE to see some pictures of the antenna.
