And then, there were six...

Thanks to VE2PID operating portable/QRP in Vermont, I now have six states left before my WAS certificate is in hand!

Lately, I have been doing a lot of listening and not much transmitting. My class load has been a tad bit draining and when I'm done studying, I'm ready for bed.

Speaking of the bands, I believe we have definitely made a transition into the fall/winter mode of band condition. 20 and 30 are all but shut down when I turn the rig on at 9pm CST. 40 has been doing especially poor too. 80 has been open now which is nice to hear for once! I do have some local RFI interference on 80 meters which makes that band that much more challenging for me to use.

After the great RTTY run I posted about, I spent some time on the digital side. Out of 50+ CQ calls, I think I made 1 contact. I'm not sure if the conditions are bad or everyone is in bed, but that's how it goes sometimes!

Take care all... 73 Joe N0NS

RTTY For All

A few weeks ago I had a few hours to play amateur radio during the CQ RTTY contest.  I was very surprised to find the 20 meter band chock full of RTTY DX!  In a matter of two hours, I worked Poland, England, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Netherlands, France, Alaska, Spain, Italy, and a few others.  It was one of those days when you turn the radio on and all signals on the band are especially strong.  The interesting thing is I was using my 1/4 wave ground mounted vertical and about 75 watts of power.  It was a blast!

Since then, I decided to spend some more time on the digital portion of the bands.  I have worked a few guys on PSK31 but I really enjoy using any other mode besides PSK31.  Why?  Well for one, with a soundcard and free software, you can work a lot of different ditigal modes.  Each mode has a distinct flavor asscoiated with it.  It seems like PSK31 is used overwhelminly and I hope to change that.  I'll let you know how it goes!

73 for now de N0NS  Joe