I enjoyed reading the ZD7KYD DXpedition summary by KY8D, vacation style.
A modicum of polite banter was both hoped for and expected. Minimalist QSOs of just only 599 TU did not merit manual entry into my spiral-bound paper logbook. And for being absent from that, were not transcribed later into my PC database from which LoTW uploads get issued. No apology whatever shall be forthcoming.
Allow me to here lament the relentless erosion of amateur radio into just yet another sport. One now made completely silly by the invention of FT8. Hardly can you call it a communication activity once the majority of all radio traffic contains nil information. Connecting computers by radio to accomplish what, exactly? Just to play tag? Seriously?
The ADIF file is ready for upload. Said upload will eventuate immediately upon receipt of a certificate for ZD7KYD from the ARRL. Said certificate was applied for on 2025-02-16, and should not take long. Included in said ADIF are only those QSOs listed in my pencil-on-paper logbook (not any push-button ‘599 TU’ QSOs such as ignored my attempt to extend for a meaningful duration, and so proved not worth the effort to write down).
Sixty-Six
Today is my 66th birthday. They seem to be coming faster which is not necessarily a good thing. I am grateful for what is becoming a rather long-ish life with continued good health. Knock on wood.
I came of age in the 1970’s and am proud to be a product of the 20th century. To paraphrase Jackson Brown, ‘in 76 I was 17’. If I were a time-traveler I’d continuously reset myself to that era, especially having sampled this 21st century. I mean, come on, even John’s nightmares from Patmos seem like happy days compared with the realities of this millennium.
When my teenage kids were heading out the door on Friday nights I used to remind them, “nothing good ever happens after midnight” and I wasn’t wrong. Had I been been a more powerful prophet I would have told them, “nothing good will ever happen after the internet…”
International DX CW Contest
The plan was to hangout for several hours during the ARRL International DX CW contest this weekend in hope of snagging some needed DXCC. I hung out, but the pickings were pretty slim. I would say band conditions were “meh” but they were a little better than that. Big contests always tweak the ionosphere. I ended up working 57 entities (105 stations worked) with a few ATNO’s in the mix, if they confirm. There could also be a nice chunk of slot fillers. I’ve been watching them slowly hitting my LoTW account this morning.
As it turned out, I couldn’t resist working DX even if it wasn’t needed. I don’t really care about a score for this event, but cherry picking only what I need seems a failing strategy for me because I just enjoy working DX. For instance, I have more than fifty ZL’s in the log already, but there is ZL1BBW calling “CQ TEST” with a big signal, what, I’m not going to answer?
Most notable for me was working noted DXpeditioner Ken Opskar, LA7GIA as we are long-time friends via the internet, but this was the first time I’ve worked him from his home station.
The K4 performed admirably and I operated only a few hours on 20,15, and 10 meters - barefoot, LP, 100 watts into the vertical. I was tempted to fire up the amp and run at least a KW, but I’m still chasing a couple of goals that I want to accomplish without the amp. Trust me, it won’t sit idle in future DX contests…
QCWA Membership Special Offer
Quarter Century Wireless Association is offering an Introductory 90-day Full Membership for qualifying applicants for only $3.00.
That’s right; three dollars! This offer is limited to Amateurs licensed in 2000 or before and who have never been QCWA Members, as well as those whose membership expired before February 2024. We’re so confident you will like what you see and recognize many friends that you will renew for an extended term. You will enjoy access to our extensive website full of historical data and receive The QCWA Journal for three months, participate in any voting situation, and qualify to belong to a Chapter. Your Full Membership privileges will allow you to print from our library cadre, QCWA’s exclusive and frame-worthy, beautiful Amateur License Longevity Certificates from 25 Years and up in 5-year increments. If you are among the most elite, you can obtain our “50 Year Continuously Licensed Award.” Purchase wonderful merchandise and attractive apparel in our store and even personally recommend any (licensed) Student to receive one of more than a dozen QCWA scholarships, typically valued at $3000.
FYI: I am a Life Member of the QCWA.
Breaking My Own Rules
Yesterday I worked KH0W on 10 meters. The Saipan CW Club. The Northern Mariana Islands. Another joyless ATNO for me as I discovered LoTW was verboten to them.
This has not been an uncommon experience. When I set out on this quest for a little DX wallpaper in 2022 I knew I faced long odds. The little pistol station being the primary problem, my lack of prowess as a DX chaser being another. And I had also declared whatever would be achieved would be confirmed via LoTW. ONLY. On the way I’ve discovered that most digital operators I worked always confirmed via LoTW while a somewhat large number of CW operators I’ve worked do not.
I know. It’s a self-inflicted problem. And at least in this case the online QSL info declares it loudly, NO LOTW. My experience has been working lots of stations via CW who say they use LoTW, but apparently only upload their logs every five years or so. Because you know, clicking a button with a mouse is so difficult that it must be put off for as long as possible… These are the bigger disappointments as initial hope fades slowly for the confirmation that should, but never does, arrive.
I could get a paper QSL card from KH0W, but then I would have to get that card checked and added to my DXCC account. It’s a song and dance that DXers have been doing from the beginning so there will be no sympathy for me about this minor inconvenience. I’ll probably just bite the bullet and request a card via postal mail to begin the process. Normally, I’d wait and hope to work another KH0 who uses LoTW. According to the Club Log Most Wanted list KH0 is number 162, just above Zambia and below Rodriguez Island – not terribly rare.
But this was the first time I’ve heard KH0 on CW and I don’t want to wait “years” for another shot… I hate it when I break my own rules.
Long and Winding Road
I have a friend, a good friend, who is twenty years my senior. Our lifestreams crossed when we both worked for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati more than thirty years ago. Our common thread being amateur radio. He retired early, I think he was 56 when he bowed out of the workforce and he and his wife followed his muse to the mountains of western Colorado. He visited the area as a teenager and it had captured his imagination for life.
With the kids all grown and scattered to the wind, there was no good reason not to make the move. So they did, and enjoyed twenty years of additional wedded bliss in the majesty of the Great American West. He had a fantastic ham radio station with endless room for wire antennas, especially for 160 meters. After he moved we continued to meet on the air, and annually in Dayton for Hamvention where he would loiter for a week or two in order to catch up with family and friends. We often chatted the miles away on the air while he was on the way to and from his annual visits.
The years were good until they weren’t. Eventually his wife succumbed to the cruelty of Alzheimer’s and he was alone. In a big house, on a large tract of land. Far from family. A few weeks ago he fell and there was no one to help. Eventually he was found and taken to the hospital. He recovered quickly and went back home and fell again. This time his kids insisted this wasn’t safe and he needed to live with them or in some sort of assisted living facility where he could be looked after.
I haven’t spoken to him since this most recent event. The news I’m getting is second hand from a mutual friend. I’m certain my friend won’t be happy to give up his radio station and independent life but he can’t outrun Father Time. None of us can. If we live long enough the lives we enjoy now will eventually change, and rarely for the better. Having watched dozens of friends and relatives follow a similar journey, and being determined not to go down that path myself, I’ve always planned a quick trip behind the barn when I turn seventy-five to stop the clock as it were. It’s the best escape plan I can conjure from the multitude of indignities and loss of independence that attend old age.
But, sometimes I wonder if I’m not looking at it wrong. Perhaps advancing age is just another facet of life to be explored. A privilege, not necessarily a curse. I haven’t canceled my plan mind you, but I seem to wonder more frequently if there isn’t something that might be missed during an early departure. More heartbeats almost never equals more quality time, but maybe it’s not supposed to?
If I’ve learned anything in this life it’s that growing old requires a considerable measure of fortitude and bravery. It is NOT for the weak or cowardly…
Very Low Earth Orbit
There’s a new race in space, but it’s not where you might think. It’s happening close to home – in the nearest bit of space, right on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
Sky skimmers: The race to fly satellites in the lowest orbits yet
Roughly 10,000 satellites are orbiting our planet right now, at speeds of up to 17,000mph (27,000km/h). Every one of these delicate contraptions is in constant free-fall and would drop straight back down to Earth were it not for the blistering speeds at which they travel. It’s their considerable sideways momentum, perfectly stabilized against the Earth’s gravitational pull downwards, that keeps satellites in orbit.
A new class of satellites is aiming to push the limits of this balancing act and plough a much more precarious, lower orbit that would skim the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Known as Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), spacecraft at these altitudes have to battle against the significantly greater drag from the air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere than their loftier cousins, lest they get pushed out of the sky. Should they manage it, however, such satellites might achieve something even more jaw-dropping – they could potentially fly forever.
Celebrate
There was a lot of CW activity on the bands yesterday. I worked DL2025S again, on 15 meters this time. The 2025C ham radio event started on January 18, 2025, at the same time as the opening of the Capital of Culture (CoC) year of European Capital of Culture Chemnitz and region, and runs until March 31st. My two CW contacts, with the same station is good for 10 points. I hope to add a few more to plump up that skinny score before its over.
I made three contacts in the PACC contest on Saturday. I hadn’t planned to work in this one, and really just stumbled in because there was so much activity available and signals out of the Netherlands were so good, I couldn’t resist dropping my call in the mix a few times. Next year I think I’ll make a serious run at this one.
Among a few other random contacts around Europe, I bumped into GD4RAG on the Isle of Man and enjoyed a nice chat. I’m telling you, again, a few years from now as we approach the gloom of solar minimum, we’re going to miss the opportunities we can enjoy at this moment.
Celebrate it while you can!
Reconnaissance Satellite
Spy Satellite You’ve Never Heard of Helped Win the Cold War
IN THE EARLY 1970S, the Cold War had reached a particularly frigid moment, and U.S. military and intelligence officials had a problem. The Soviet Navy was becoming a global maritime threat—and the United States did not have a global ocean-surveillance capability.
It would be up to a top-secret satellite program called Parcae to help keep the Cold War from suddenly toggling to hot. The engineers working on Parcae would have to build the most capable orbiting electronic intelligence system ever.
Prologue
Mac Hodges has lived a long life for a guy just 30 years old. Friends call him an “old” soul, but he says “it’s not the years, it’s the miles”. A decorated Navy SEAL, retired. Raised by an uncle, a powerful and wealthy businessman in Virginia, now serving a second term as a US Senator, following his parent’s death in a plane crash a quarter century earlier. Since retiring from the Navy, Mac has been bushwhacking around the highways and byways of America’s flyover country for months on end. Some said he was trying to “find” himself, others opined he had something he needed to forget…
Senator Hodges was none too pleased when he first heard about Mac’s planned nomadic adventure, but what could he say? Tough to make the case to a trained assassin that it isn’t “safe” out there. Besides, the boy had served his country and wanted some downtime. So long as he stayed out of trouble and out of any headlines that could come back to haunt the politician, he was happy to see him go. Their relationship had always been a bit strained. He did offer to buy him a camper or motor home for the journey, but Mac chuckled when he politely declined the generous offer and walked out the door.
An Uber dropped him at a large downtown rental storage unit. Inside was assorted hardware including camping gear, guns and ammo, and his recently updated bug-out bag. It also housed his most prized possession, a 1967 International Harvester Scout with 51,000 original miles on it. After loading the gear in the vehicle, he took one last look at his iPhone before shutting it off and placing it on a table where it would remain for months until a court order permitted someone to enter the unit to investigate. They would find the phone along with his drivers license and credit cards cut up in a neat pile.
He drove into the sunset and arrived at the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota after 48 hours on the road, some of it spent napping while parked in highway rest areas along the way.
That he left his phone behind meant he was at least partially off the grid, but it didn’t mean he was incommunicado. A licensed radio amateur since his 12th birthday, Mac carried portable microwave equipment along with field deployable antennas in his go-bag. He pulled a printed satellite pass schedule from his shirt pocket using coordinates set deep in the National Forest. He knew he would have eight more hours to setup before a first attempt at contact could be made. Soon enough he will discover just how important this wireless connection would be for any chance of success with this mission.