Saturday, 20 March 2010

What contest ?

In my 11m Dx days a contact into Stateside was always a big thing, since I have gained my HAM ticket, I have been gorging on the good ole US of A !
At home this morning I started hearing stations calling 'CQ Contest', I was not sure if I could call back as I was not registered in any contests, so I left it.
This afternoon I had to go to work and in my vehicle I have a Kenwood TS-50 and a monoband whip for 20m, the noise on 20m is like S9 and mostly Europeans heard, I decided that I fancied trying to work some stateside, contest or not and I knew that if I was patient the band should quiet down and the American stations would come through better.
So around 2100 UTC I tune around the band, and find NN3W in Vienna, N. Virginia, he gives me a number then ask's is this my first contact, I say it is, so he gets 001.



Ok so I am contesting now, my next contact is FM/P/KL7WA from New Jersey - I get # 269, he gets 002.



Next up is AI2C from Maryland, I get 304 Louden, which is the Loudoun Amateur Radio Group (http://www.k4lrg.org/) and he gets, you guessed it 003.
So I am now officially a DX contester..?
PS - Does anyone know what the contest was today, was  it a Russian contest ?



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2 comments:

  1. Adam21 March 2010 at 18:22

    Evening Paul,
    Fantastic contest QSOs. Excellent going on 10W in your first week! I think it was a Russian Contest. There is a good site here that teels you all about the upcoming contests:

    http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/cal2009.htm

    And excellent on the SSTV too. I have had no luck on that mode so far, though haven't tried too hard as I don't like the long time the tx takes. I though it was too hard a mode for 10W, so you have proved my theory wrong!

    73 Adam

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  2. Paul M0PCZ22 March 2010 at 08:18

    Morning Adam,

    I have had 2 operators tell me now that I've got the license at the right time, cycle 24 is definately picking up !

    Time to get the 817 out I think for portable op's.

    Thanks for the link, going to look at that now, though not sure I want to sit an a frequency all day shouting 'contest', plus I'm not a big enough gun, I find it easier to get contacts by calling back other cq's than by cq'ing myself.

    The SSTV, well it's another part of HAM radio to explore, so much to do and so much time as well, great isnt it.

    Adam, get back on the digi modes, you havent been seen for like 20 days !!

    73
    Paul.

    PS - listening to the plink plinky on 14.076..

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