#hamr Spirit On Twitter

Enjoy the video comprised of photographs from Twitter as we roll into the weekend. 73!

DX World | DXpedition Of The Year Announced

Screenshot Credit DX World

Congratulations Team HK0NA as DX World's DXpedition of the year! A task well accomplished and for delivering all time new one (ATNO) into the computer logs of ham radio operators all over the world.

DX World - Ham Radio news for real DXers - Free DX Resource for all Radio Amateurs: We are proud to announce that HK0NA – Malpelo has won the DX World – DXpedition of the Year 2012 poll. True recognition and hearty congratulations to all involved in that fantastic expedition. Acknowledgement must also be made to 7O6T – Yemen who came runner-up. It was duly noted, at one point, this DXpedition was top of the leader board as votes were cast. A job well done indeed.

My 10,000 Hour RadioSport Challenge | 9,368 - 20 = 9,348 To Go

2012 California QSO Party Results

Good late afternoon from #hamr shackadelic with my wireless TS850S patiently waiting for me to catch up on my RadioSport challenge hours. I have the Buddipole off center dipole tuned for 30m CW and, after finishing this posting, the plan is relaxation time with Morse code. Also, as I'm writing this post, Beethoven Symphony 9 is playing while a bar graph illuminates to each note. A stunning achievement.

Earlier this morning my Nikola Tesla photograph arrived thanks to the United States Postal Service. Tesla's photograph is framed and prominently displayed inside shackadelic. He is thinking almost if asking you to dare the impossible. Wardenclyffe is safe after $1.3 million was raised to ensure Tesla's legacy.

In the meantime, my challenge hours are caught up, with 348 remaining before the first one thousand hours are completed. I count only the number of hours per event. My skill set continues improving and I'm practicing, practicing, practicing for the Box.

Contest on!  

CQ Magazine On Twitter

CQ Magazine recently opened their Twitter account to connect with other ham radio operators who are exchanging ideas, activities, and information.

73 from the shackadelic near the beach.

My 10,000 Hour RadioSport Challenge | 9,378 - 10 = 9,368 To Go

2013 North American QSO Party CW Results

Good afternoon from the Shell Beach shack after 10 hours in the chair wearing RadioSport cans while logging Morse code driven stations off of the aerials. I want to thank John, W6SL for time in the chair because my 2013 NAQP CW score is a personal best.

Everything is coming together and my rate for the first hour peaked at 90 while noting 10 minute rate peaks at 200 plus a few times during the contest period. My overall average was one contact every minute for 10 hours of operating time and I'm pleased with the results.

Resting
Likewise, my rest periods were broken up into 30 minute intervals, thanks to sage advice from another RadioSport operator. I ate lunch then took a walk to the mail box. It was easy going downhill and the uphill grade was invigorating. It was a 20 minute nap for the second break giving myself a needed siesta. I'm one of those who can wake up out of a cat nap and feel rested. Lastly, it was dinner time consuming my last break and fatigue creep followed after a full meal.

Conditions
Wavelength conditions meant lots of fun especially on high bands like 15 and 20m while 10m continues to baffle my timing. Perhaps, I needed to be on this specific spectrum space, a little earlier however conditions on 15m pumped for two consecutive hours. Likewise, I followed the grayline on 20m at East Coast sunset and followed the terminator until near West Coast sunset.

Low Bands
The low bands were a conundrum as 40m production numbers were low and I never really gained any rate traction at this wavelength. Eighty meters was fast seemingly closing down a little earlier than expected. However, the work at SL's antenna ranch this summer continues proving antenna systems, specifically; the full size 160m loop which is vertically polarized. The signal felt loud at 100 watts.

In Sum
Overall, NAQP CW Winter, is one of my best scores thus far and I'm beginning to feel like everything is tuned up from the tip of understanding propagation to asking questions about rest periods to antenna systems. Lastly, I want to say thank you to W6TK, KI6QDH, K6RQT, KL8DX, NE4RD, N5KO, and N5TJ.

Contest on!

P.S. Don't forget to upload your log and LoTW credits.