PODXS 070 80 Meter Sprint

So last night was the PODXS070 club's 80 meter sprint contest memorializing Jay Hudak (KA3X now SK), one of the original members of the PODXS club and a founding member of the 070 club. The contest had a rolling start as do most of the 070 sprints and ran from 2000 - 0200 local time. So I started off shortly after 8pm, once I was finished eating a wonderful supper that the XYL prepared. At first the waterfall was pretty cram-packed so I went hunting and pouncing until I had about 5 or 6 contacts then squeezed into a spot on the waterfall to call CQ. I had quite a few calls and within the first hour of operating the PSK31 mode I had around 18 quality contacts.

The second hour rolled around and I was determined to work more stations to increase the QSO rate. CQ 80 Meter Test de AJ4JD I continued to call. Contact after contact filled the log. At the end of the second hours I had 40 contacts in the log.

With each hour up to about 11:00pm I would find new blood as new time zones could start the contest. After the Midnight hour things began to slow and I would switch from calling CQ to hunting and pouncing. I did that for the last 2 hours of the contest (well last 2 hours for me). By the end of the 6 hour period I had 79 contacts, one of which was a dup, and 30 multipliers including a couple of DX entities: Puerto Rico, Venezuala, Spain, and Canada. With 78 QSO pts and 30 multipliers, I ended up with a total score of 2,340pts.

I don't know if that will earn me a place in the top or not but it was a fun contest none-the-less. I was able to add more 070 members into the log. As a matter of fact I have now contacted enough member to get my 150 endoresment for my LONP award. I know what you're saying, LON what? The Loyal Order of Narrow-Banded Phase-Shifters. It's a special member society in the 070 club for members who have contacted at least 100 other 070 members.

So that's all I have for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend. For those working the VHF contest good luck and have fun.

73 and good DX to all,
Tim - AJ4JD

PODXS 070 1K Results and the Tennessee QSO Party

Good morning everyone. Well it's been a fun couple of weeks of radio and it's not over by any means. Last week you may remember that the PODXS 070 club was having their 1K Celebration. Well the results have been published and I finished a respectable 6th place which I'm quite proud of. Also I have to offer a bit of congratulations to K1GMD who finished 1st overall with a whopping 143,000 points. Also congratulations to all who participated, it was an absolute blast. Also, Robin (AJ4IJ), my XYL, she finished a nice respectable 14th and contacted Sasquatch. I'm looking forward to the 80 meter sprint this coming weekend.

So this afternoon and evening was the Tennessee QSO Party. I had a lot of fun working the QSO party. I thought I was going to have to share the radio with the XYL but she wasn't feeling very well today and opted to not participate this time around. I did much better this year as compared to last year. Of course it helped that I knew more about contesting as compared to last years TNQP and that we have our very own HF and that I worked it solo.

I did take a couple of breaks during the contest. Once was to run to the CVS to get Robin some cold medicine. Another time was a few minutes here and there to play with the dog outside. The last break was to run out with Robin to pick up pizza and then eat it once we got it back to the house.

So after operating most of the contest, I ended up with 166 contacts. The break down is as follows I had 157 contacts on SSB, 9 contacts on PSK31. I had a total of 78 multipliers. I ended up working 21 TN Counties, 33 states, 3 Canadian Provinces, and 3 DXCC entities not including Alaska, Canada, and the US.

The final score that I had tallied was 26,798 points. That's not official but that is my best guestimation. I guess in a couple of months we will see were the cards fall.

Anyway, thanks to everyone that made contact with me over the past couple of weeks. It's been a blast and I hope to catch you all on the bands and the waterfall again real soon.

73, good dx, and God Bless de AJ4JD,
Tim

P.S. All logs have been uploaded to LoTW and eQSL.

Not to Ill to Play Radio...Thank goodness for digital...

If it weren't for the Digital Modes, I wouldn't have played any radio this past week. I've been down with a bad sinus infection since Tuesday. Luckily, I'm starting to feeling better today. Since last weekend, Robin (AJ4IJ) and I (AJ4JD) have been working the PODXS 070 club's 1K celebration contest. It's been a 3 stage contest for the celebration. The first stage, last Saturday, was to work as many 070 members in 24 hours. The second stage was a scavenger hunt that went from Monday through Friday. You had to work 10 different things (i.e. Fur-Bearing Creature (part of name, call or qth), A tree (part of call, name, QTH etc.)). The third and final stage started Friday evening at 8:00pm EST, after stage 2 ended. The objective was to work non-070 members only and the kicker was that it was no calling CQ, search and pounce only.

I have to say that I worked a lot of DX this last week and a half during the celebration. It seemed that there was a lot of DX on 20 and 40 this weekend. We were working Europe quite frequently and the occasional South American station and plenty of North American stations. Everything, of course, was worked on PSK31 and with 50 watts. Some of the countries include: Italy, England, Scottland, Germany, France, Sardinia, Mexico, Cuba, Netherlands, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Australia and many more.

So with all the logs uploaded to LoTW and eQSL, as well as having been submitted to the contest manager, all we can do is sit and wait for the results to be posted. For Robin and I, here is how we faired:

Robin
Stage 1: 28 contacts - 28,000 points (Each contact was worth 1,000 points hence the 1K celebration).
Stage 2: Found all 10 objects - 10,000 points (Plus another 5,000 bonus points if approved by the contest manager for finding all 10 making 15,000 points)
Stage 3: 13 contacts - 13,000 points
Total - 56,000 points

Tim
Stage 1: 43 contacts - 43,000 points
Stage 2: Found all 10 objects - 10,000 points (Plus the 5,000 if approved making total 15,000)
Stage 3: 26 countacts - 26,000 points
Total - 84,000 points

I don't know how that will place either of us in the contest, but regardless it was a lot of fun and sure did help to keep my mind off my illness this past week. I look forward to the endorsement for participating and I'm really looking forward to the next 070 contest, The Jay Hudak Memorial 80 meter Sprint. We will also be working the Tennessee QSO Party, from Union County Tennessee, I'll see everyone then.

Good DX and God bless.
Vy 73 to all
AJ4JD - Tim

Happy Birthday KJ4EGJ and PODXS070 1000th member celebration

I just thought I would get in here and leave a big callout (I guess in their lingo that would be a shout-out) to my daughter Ashby (KJ4EGJ). Yesterday was her 13th birthday. That's right she's now officially a teenager and is drifting further away from HAM Radio, at least until later on. Just like most young HAMs her age, there are more important things, like video games, playing outside, talking on the phone, and more things than I can list. Nevertheless, Happy Birthday Ashby. Daddy loves you.

On Thursday the PODXS 070 club reached it's 1000th member mark and has announce a big 3 stage contest/event. It sounds like great fun. Stage one, we have to contact as many 070 club members as possible in a 24 hour time period, starting tonight, August 22, 2009 at 8:00pm EST (0000Z) through 7:59pm EST (2359Z) Sunday August 23, 2009. Stage two is a week long scavenger hunt. It starts Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 8:00pm EST (0000z August 24th) and runs through August 28, 2009 7:59pm EST (2359z). In this stage you have to work 10 different things such as a tree (i.e. anything with a tree in the name or QTH like Oak Street). In stage three, from August 28, 2009 8:00pm EST (0000z Aug. 29, 2009) through August 29, 2009 7:59pm EST (2359z), we have to work as many non-070 members as possible. This stage however is a search and pounce only. That's right, we cannot call CQ during this stage.

I don't think I've ever worked a contest quite like this one. Of course I haven't been contesting but for about a year now so I'm not sure if there's anything like that or not. Anyway, that's about all I have for now. Looking forward to working you all between this week and next. If any of you fit the bill on the scavanger hunt please leave me a comment or something so we can set up a qso date and time next week. By the way, this is a PSK31 only contest.

Until then, good luck, good dx, 73 and God Bless,
Tim - AJ4JD
See you on the waterfall/bands.

North American QSO Party and a Few Lighthouses to Boot

So yesterday was a busy day. I started out running the garbage, then mowed my yard and the father-in-law's (KU4ME) yard. After that we decided to run up to Clinch Mountain. We had been out in the field a couple of nights this past week to watch the Perseid Meteor shower and to watch an Iridium flare. While we were up there watching the shower, I had been on the local 145.470 repeater, talking to a few friends. It was then that one of them mentioned going up to Clinch Mtn. to watch meteor showers. That brought the thought of a little restaurant up there to John the KU4ME. Clinch Mountain Lookout Restaurant is home to the famous vinegar pie. Anyway, we enjoyed a wonderful down home meal along with vinegar pie as well as strawberry rhubarb pie.

So once we got back home, it was time to sit at the station and get down to some serious contesting. Last night I worked the North American QSO Party for a good 5 hours. I know you are thinking that if I was a serious contester, the yards and dinner could have waited. Unfortunately, when the temps are hot and the humidity is low, we are plagued with a horrible AC line noise that won't quit. So needless to say, I wouldn't have done any good during the afternoon hours. After about 5 hours I had bagged a total of 120 contacts and 61 multipliers for a total of 7,320 points.

This morning I was awoke by my XYL (AJ4IJ) who was beaming about a couple of good contacts she had made. She contacted a couple of lighthouses and a special event station for the Mason-Dixon line. I won't go into the contacts as I'm sure she will want to blog about them, but she said I should get up and work some as well, considering the bands were doing really well and the noise wasn't in there. So needless to say, after a cup of coffee and a cigarette or two, I sat at the station and made a few lighthouse contacts, two in New York and one in Canada.

So that's been the amount of radio time I've had. I've been on the 470 repeater a bit more here recently so the activity is definitely picking up. Anyway, thanks to all the contacts I made. I hope all had a fun weekend. Good DX and God Bless to all.

73 de AJ4JD,
Tim

P.S. All contacts have been uploaded to LOTW and EQSL.