Two in one

What a weekend, I decided to put my new RTTY setup to use in the NAQP RTTY contest and to work the CQ WW160 Phone contest too...160 was a bugger with high noise and not so good prop. I struggled with the whole thing. Friday night very bad with my low antenna and local noise plus the bad conditions, did not think I would make last years score.

I decided to check band at midnight and it was a bit better so stuck it out until about 0200 and managed to match score from a year ago but was a bugger.

However the NAQP RTTY contest was fun and I learned allot it has been 30 years or so for my last RTTY contact so I am in re-training. I managed to work 32 states and get my system setup like it should be. Next adventure in radio will be ARRL dx ssb contest this next weekend, and Clipperton Isl. will be on the air for the first time in some years so will try hard to get new country with that one.

Then the last of March it will be off to Or. for CQ WPX SSB at the K7BUY qth always a great time, good contest and best friend time. So get on the air have fun and 73....

Contest Season

Well it seems that winter has been a bit harsh here in Southern Idaho so only hope is to spend time in the shack. Did a little with NAQP SSB and ARRL VHF contests last weekend but was not fully involved....This weekend will be 160M CQ CW contest and I will be all in.

I hope you will all check the contest calender and pick one to be involved in, will sharpen your operating skills and pass some time in the dreary cold time of the year...73

HEY ARRL - IS THIS A JOKE ?

Just got my Jan. copy of QST on the front cover I see ( GET ON THE AIR WITH A STEALTH ANTENNA) This excites me as you all know I live in the CC&R world and I am always looking for STEALTH antenna ideas.
So I turn to the article...UH...stealth ? This is a 17m antenna mounted in the yard with a hazer type device to raise it and lower it...Stealth? I CAN SEE IT ! Please tell me how a 17m antenna in the back yard mounted  AGL made from shiny metal is in any way a stealth antenna...Burt says he can not have ground radials according to his CC&R restrictions this makes no sense to me at all...I can have this thing in my yard but no out of sight ground radials....give me a break!

So if had this thing in my yard at least 6 neighbors would be looking at it and know it was an antenna...so maybe a very good antenna but not stealth boys....Once again the ARRL and QST missed the mark....if you want to see stealth antennas come to my house.....oh never mind YOU CAN'T SEE THEM........73

CQ WW DX 160m (2012)

From the son of KI7KF

Jim I wanted to say thank you for the tribute to the passing of my father.  For those who read this I am not a HAM enthusiast and did not always understand my fathers passion for the hobby.  It was not until I joined the Army and was working with microwave line of sight rigs that I began to have somewhat of an understanding for what HAM meant to my Dad.  For forever my youth will be WB7QYU (Jim) and N7NUJ (Dad) two handles from days long gone but will never be forgotten.  I hold no memories so dear other than the birth of my son, than my time spent with the Nolands.  As you know my childhood after my parents divorce was not the most optimal of transmission conditions.  I have to say though the times that I spent with you and Fred and Dad "everything was right with the world". I will miss him forever.  73's

KI7KF

Some times it seems that all is right with the world, lets say the 1980's ham radio is good, solar cycle is heading for the top, ham friends going on off road trips to the wilds of Owyhee County in there Jeeps and all is good....One of those friends is now gone...to soon.

I lost a friend today, Dale Long KI7KF a one of a kind guy that I will have with me the rest of my life. Dale and I became friends in the 70's and remained so until his passing some 40 years later. Dale was not a ham at the time but had a keen interest in the hobby. He spent much time in my shack and got his license in the 80's......But this is not only a ham radio thing we were friends, co-workers and neighbors. Our children grew up together, we saw each other through bad times and had some wonderful adventures in the great outdoors of Idaho.....I will Cherish every moment....Field Day with Dale and his Dad, and others who have passed will forever be special to me, his son Chris and my son Fred...Field Day was radio, camping, dirt bikes and just a hell of a good time.

So 73 my old friend, I will miss you, remember you and each contest and field day from now on will be dedicated to you......Jim N7OKG left, Dale KI7KF (SK) center, his Dad Gene KB7SQH (SK) right. On one of our many Field Days.....

Cycle 24...hummmm

Well a little fall is in the air after a scorching summer....so much so I have put my wire in the tree for the fall/winter operating season. The wire in the tree represents a hope for some 40-160 operating in the weeks and months to come....However : (
Read a good article today about what a bust cycle 24 has been...wow, band conditions have been so bad for being a year out from solar max just a bummer....today the solar number was 44...it was 13 on field day this year...remember we are one year out from max....

Old friend K7BUY and I were talking one day about working JA (Japan) stations on 6m daily in the 80's
well with some research the solar numbers back then, I think it was cycle 22 at the max was near 200...
wow... Well with all that I feel bad for many new hams that wanted so bad to work a pile of DX on 10m and it just has been thin at best...many days have been poor 20m, no 15-10m...just not good...

Well with that a solar cycle being 11 years so if all forecasts are true next max will be 2024...just hope to be around for another one...So I hope winter propagation is good and will make the best of it....good luck and remember 2013 solar max lets keep our fingers crossed that it will be a good year....73