An early start to a Good Weekend

Although today is only Thursday…

The big stations have already been flexing their muscles in anticipation of the IOTA (Islands on the Air) Contest this weekend…

Between that and the Olympic Games Station  2O12L which seems to be on the air from London 24/7 its making it a very busy time for Radio Amateurs in their persuits of new stations…

Don’t forget to check the DX Clusters to see whats on the air… 

The CY9M DXPedition from St. Paul Island should be on the air soon (if not already)

As I have mentioned in earlier blog posts…  The days before a Major Contest are some of the best days to try for some rare DX as the big guns are out there testing their equipment.  If you look at the DX Cluster there are lots of stations operating as Callsign/exotic location…  They are testing out the antennas, and gear before they come on the air with the Contest Callsign.  If you want an easier pile up to break the days before the contest are for you…  During this time you are only competing with the DXers and not the Contester and the DXers during the contest…  Think about it…

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Some of my best QRP DX came just before a contest…  The bands were cooperating and I was able to push out a signal strong enough for the Big Gun Station to hear.  He was doing 99% of the work but without my 1% the contact would not have happened…

Its amazing what you can do with 5w and a buddistick…

So why not Get on the Air and make some contacts…

73bob

Some “Stuff” to get ready for…

Not that we need an excuse to do so but….

I would think about checking antennas, coax runs, antenna connections etc as we have a few events starting up in the very near future…

The Olympics are about to start and with this event comes the “Official Special Events Station for the 2012 Olympics…  Give a listen on the bands for 2O12L.  You can find more info for them on Twitter @2O12L.  Their Website is ( http://www.2o12l.com/)

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Also…

On the Twitter Topic I see that the the CY9M (St Paul Island DXPediton ) has assembled in VE1 land in anticipation of their trip to the Island.  You can check their website ( http://www.cy9m.com ) or their twitter account ( https://twitter.com/CY9M  ) for more information.  As I mentioned earlier this DXPedition has an Eastern Ontario Flair to it as a couple of the Operators are from Cornwall Ontario.  I am hoping to get Kevin VE3EN and Steve VA3FM in the log as it would be really neat to work an operator I know.  Also it would be especially neat to work Kevin as he was one of my first contacts from the Champlain Trail activation of June 1 2008 when I was operating as VC3C.

So now you have two events to plan for….

It also give me a reminder to fix up an antenna for 6m because as you know I broke the Delta Loop on the past weekend.

73bob

YEEEEEHAAAWWWWWW

The following came to me via the RAC Bulletin Service and just in case you don’t subscribe to the service I thought I would post it here…  After reading it …  Why not subscribe to the service???

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Special Event Station CK6S July 5 – 15, 2012
2012-06-12

CK6S – Special Event Station for the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Amateur Radio Association will be operating special event station CK6S, from July 5 to 15th celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede.

A special QSL card will be available through the QSL bureau or direct, following the CK6S/VE6AO QSL instructions on QRZ.com.

Planned frequencies are in the general portion of the US phone bands around 3.825, 7.180, 14.250, 21.320 & 28.475 +-QRM

All amateurs within the City of Calgary can also use special prefixes CJ6 for VA6 and CK6 for VE6 for the same period.

Work 10 Calgary stations and you can qualify for the Stampede City Award, illustrating the chuckwagon races: http://cara.memberlodge.com/Default.aspx?pageId=905198

73,

Michael Ross, VE6TC
Calgary Amateur Radio Association

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Vernon Ikeda – VE2MBS/VE2QQ
Pointe-Claire, Québec
RAC Blog Editor/RAC E-News/Web News Bulletin Editor

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Thanks to the Calgary Amateur Radio Association and the RAC Bulletin Service  for this information

73bob

The VX3W (Sunburned but happy) aftermath

Well I’m back from Fort Wellington in Prescott Ontario where I operated 40m at VX3W.  This was a special event station operated by the Manotick Amateur Radio Group for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812

The band conditons were not the best and we had a higher than usual noise level which I suspect came from some sort of electrical device located inside the visitors center at the Fort.  Despite the static we did manage to make contacts on 40m and 20 m ssb.  VE3XGD operated with his Yaesu FT857 and a Buddipole Deluxe and I operated with my FT897 and a clone of the S9 31 foot vertical.

In addition to the contacts made we had many visitors drop in for a visit.  I did not know that Prescott had so many amateurs…  One of the participants in the reenactment was also an amateur so he came over for a visit inbetween battles… We also had a few visitors from a little further affield…  Its strange how amateurs always seems to find an antenna in a crowd…

Our VIP visitor of the day was the CEO of Parks Canada who was in town for the ceremonies.  He dropped in for a visit and also guest operated for a few minutes….  He made one contact…  It should be mentioned that Parks Canada has supported several DXPeditions by letting us operate on their property which includes the Rideau Canal System.  We hope to take advantage of their generosity again in the future…

Once I got back home Liz noticed a slight change in my colour and it was determined that I got a bit too much sun today….  I’ll pay for it later but it was worth it…

73bob

Working some DX

Between making a post for VE3XT and VA3PCJ I almost forgot to tell you what I got in the log on April 10th….

All contacts made from Ottawa using my FT 450 and 43 foot S9 Vertical antenna

80m ssb  S56P in Slovenia

15m ssb VP2MPM in Montserrat-  Buddipole DXPedition- New one #126 for me

15m ssb OR100MGY- Titanic Special Event Station from Belgium

15m ssb- GB4T- Titanic Special Event Station from England

17m ssb- VP2MQR in Montserrat0 Buddipole DXPedition

As you can tell it was a fun day.  I managed to work two stations in the same DXPedition…  Two special event stations for the same event and even managed to get Europe in the log on 80m ssb.

Gotta love our hobby…

73bob

VC3COPP Special Event Station in the log

VC3COPP

Tonight I got them….  Normally they get me….

Instead of driving down the highway and noticing that “erie blue-red glow” in the rear view mirror I got them….

On 3.765 ssb at 2323 UTC  October 6 2009 I managed the contact with VC3COPP which is a special event station celebrating 100 years service of the Ontario Provincal Police Force (OPP)

Follow the link at the very top of this post and see how you can get them in your log…

Congrats to the OPP on this special event…

73bob

Some bits and pieces

From todays email inbox comes the following tidbits of information…

I am sorry to announce that the Canadian Naval Centennial event planned by Spud Rosco previously mentioned in this Blog has been cancelled.

Kevins event CF3NAVY is still going ahead as planned…

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From the ARRL comes an interesting story on the National Hurricane Center in Miami FLA.  It has a link to a MP3 file that is part of a Duracell Battery commercial that says some nice things about amateur radio.  Well worth listening to….

Enjoy the rest of your day…….

73bob

I worked “the” MOON

Or to be more precise VE3MOON…

Now you would have to go back a couple of weeks ago to my posting on this special event station VE3MOON but I was able to make my first contact with the Station Operator on APRS and then we switched over to 2m FM Simplex to make the contact that got me into the log.

View Larger Map

If you consider where I live compared to where the station was operating from about 1km of wire and two tin cans would of done the job as well. This contact is just to get me in the log…  We are so close that groundwave does not even get mentioned…

But it was a legal contact and in effect no worse than someone running the bands with a local station during a contest…

Besides…  How many stations can say they talked to the MOON using 2m FM and 5w???

73bob

Another Special Event Station now on

While spinning the dial on 20m I found W9IMS around 14.257 or so…  Good strong signal into from Ottawa from the “Brickyard”.  This is my 2nd contact with their station as I have caught the station for the INDY 500 and now the NASCAR Brickyard 400 and if I can get the last one in I will be eligable for some sort of certificate…

I’m holding off on the QSL cards till I see if I can make the triple event contact but here is a picture of their card off their QRZ.com site.

And above is a YOUTUBE video I shot of the contact…
Two special event stations in one day… Not too darn shabby for a 70 foot long inverted L antenna in a very limited city environment…
73bob

Special Event Station NOW ON

at 1141 EASTERN on 14.245.5 SSB I found WA2LQO….

Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11

The Grumman Amateur Radio Club, WA2LQO, is the proud sponsor of a special event station operation commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11. In particular, the Club recognizes the incredible feat accomplished by the thousands of employees, suppliers and partners in achieving the Lunar Landing and safe return of our Astronauts in July 1969. The Lunar Module that delivered Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface and returned them to the orbiting Command Module was the 5th LM (LM-5) produced by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, with final assembly taking place in the Bethpage, New York, Plant 5 facility. A total of 13 LM units were produced, 10 of which were flown in space, see the Wikipedia for more information. Plant 5 was also home to the Grumman Amateur Radio Club for many years following the Apollo era.

Special Event Frequencies: The majority of operations will be on SSB, 40 KHz up from band segment/major MHz segment edges. Expect to find stations on, or near 3640, 3740, 3840, 3940, 7140, 7240, 14240, 21240, 21350 (above the SSTV operating frequency), 28340, 28440, and 28540 KHz – depending upon propagation. There will be occasional CW operation on or near 3540, 7045, 14040 and 21040 KHz. VHF operation will be on local Long Island, New York 2-m repeaters, particularly 146.745 and 145.330 MHz.

Operation Schedule: Special Event Stations will operate over the July 17, 2009 through July 21, 2009 period. Times of operation will vary by station, but generally will reflect periods of Apollo 11/Lunar Module – related events which mostly occurred during US East Coast hours of 9:30AM EDST to midnight. Accordingly, the “Official” period of operation is from 9:30 AM EDST (1330 UTC) July 17 – just prior to mid-course correction on the way to the moon; through 7:45 PM EDST (2345 UTC) on July 21 – following the jettisoning of the Lunar Module ascent stage upon the safe return of the crew to the orbiting Command Module for the return trip to Earth.

73bob