W4H - 470 ARG 4th of July QSO Party

Just thought I would make a quick entry about the special event that the 470 Amateur Radio Group has going on right now. W4H is the call for the event. We are celebrating the 4th of July. There will be several different operators in and around the Knoxville, TN area working the event. You will want to get their callsign as we all have our own QSL cards for the event. For example, if you make contact with me, you will want to send your QSL to my QTH as entered on QRZ.com for my call AJ4JD.

The event started on July 1 at 1:00pm and goes through to July 9th at 11:00pm EST. The frequencies we are operating on are as follows: 14.260, 7.260, 28.400, 3.960 mhz +/- 20khz per the ARRL instructions.

So that's all I've got for now. I hope to catch you on the bands either as W4H/AJ4JD or just as AJ4JD. Until then, 73 and Good DX to all.

Tim - AJ4JD

Happy New Year to all HAMs

Seeings how this is a new year now, I thought I would wish ever one a Happy New Year and hope that it brings much fortune, as well as many hopes and blessings. 2008 was a good year for me and my family personally. I got involved in Ham Radio this past year, having earned my ticket in May and worked up to Extra by July. Since then I became a member of the Claiborne/Union County ARES and look to be appointed EC of Union County sometime this month. I became a certified storm spotter along with the rest of the family (Robin - AJ4IJ, Ashby - KJ4EGJ, Mom - KF4SSI and Dad - KU4ME). We attended a few hamfests (Knoxville, Waynesville, and TenTec). We worked several special events (The Smithsonian Institute, The FBI, Collins Radio 50th anniversary of their S-Line radios, just to name a few, and we even called CQ for the 470 ARG 1st anniversary special event as W4H). We participated in a few contests (IARU HF Championship, NAQP, TNQP, and the PSK31/63 Deathmatch, speaking of which I placed 26th in the Medium Power Category). Finally, to cap off the year we finally purchased our very own HF rig (an ICOM 756 Pro). Those were the highlights of 2008 not to mention all the great HAMs we have had the pleasure of getting to know and meet at different times and occasions like the All Hams picnics held by Jack and Teresa (KD4TNY and KI4ZQO), and we are looking for many more highlights in 2009.

To start the year off right in 2009 we plan on attending the Morristown Hamfest tomorrow. We are hoping to find some deals on parts to put up a Windom so we can bring our HF rig home and get on the air. The rig is currently over at Dads as he has a couple of HF antennas up already and we needed a place to test the radio out before we bought it. This weekend is Kids Day, a chance for youngsters (HAM or not) to get on the HF bands and make contact with other HAMs (young and old) and get to know what HAM radio is all about. I think we will try and get Ashby over to dad's to make a few contacts. The weekend after next is the 1st North American QSO Party of the year. If everything works out okay I'm hoping to work the contest so if you hear me calling CQ, call back.

Yes 2009 definitely brings promise on it's wings and hope for many great things. Maybe this year I will earn the WAS, and WAC awards. I should also obtain EmComm levels I & II along with several ISO certifications in preparation of becoming EC for Union County ARES. There will also be several contests to participate in and hopefully, with any luck, any of us may have a great showing. So to all the HAMs out there, Happy New Year and may 2009 bring you the best DX, best contesting and many achieved milestones.

Best of 73 and good DX to all
de AJ4JD
Tim

2008 Skywarn Recognition Day

Last night marked the start of the 2008 National Skywarn Recognition Day. We (Robin - AJ4IJ, Ashby - KJ4EGJ and I - AJ4JD) were at home when we heard one of our local HAMs give a call with a different callsign WX4MRX on the 145.470 WB4GBI repeater for the Skywarn Recognition Day special event. We quickly made contact with John and exchanged current weather conditions marking our first contact for the event.
Later on in the evening I ventured over to dad's (KU4ME) to play radio with him and to try and catch up on the event. Dad had already worked 8 or 9 weather stations across the country. After firing up the laptop and starting the logging software, I sat down and began hunting down weather stations participating in the event on 80 meters. After a couple of hours of work I had tallied a total of 8 contacts with various weather stations from Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, and South Dakota just to name a few. Dad also added to his tally.
I believe we are planning to head over there later today to work some more weather stations on some of the other bands provided conditions are good. So if you have the chance, get on the radio and make some contacts to show your appreciation for Skywarn. Without Skywarn and our community of weather spotters, we might not have good up-to-date severe weather information. If you want to learn more about Skywarn and how to become a certified weather spotter check you local weather service website or you can go to the National Weather Service's Skywarn info page.

Until next time, 73 and God Bless,
Tim
AJ4JD

Happy DX.

ARRL November Sweeps 2008 SSB

This weekend I participated in the ARRL November Sweepstakes contest. This was my first time participating in the contest as I have only been a HAM since May. Being that it was my first time and I just started using a new logging program (N3FJP's AC Log) I was a bit slow and didn't make a whole lot of contacts. I started out on 40 meters and made about 20 contacts or so. I took a break long enough to take the XYL(Robin - AJ4IJ) and Harmonic (Ashby - KJ4EGJ) back to the house.

Robin and I had let Ashby go over to her Peepaw's (KU4ME) to play radio for the W4H special event while we put up some of our many Christmas lights. Anyway, after I dropped them off I went back over to dads and started contesting more. This time I switched over to 80 meters and I ended up with about 15 more contacts.

Altogether, I ended up with 35 contacts and 25 sections. 1 contact was a duplicate so I figured my score was around 1700 points. Nothing major and definitely not award worthy, but I did have fun and am starting to like contesting more and more.

As for the W4H special event, Robin and I didn't work it any more than what we had the last two weekends. We figured we'd let dad and Ashby get their fill. I think dad ended up with over 30 contacts and Ashby ended up with 20 over the weekend. Robin and I ended up with 51 and 88 respectively for a grand total of at least 189 QSOs for the special event. I know that Rick (N4JTQ) and I think Cathy (KI4YPO) ended up working the event a little bit. Other than that I'm not sure if anyone else did or not.

Anyway, to all the stations that worked us, thanks for making this a fun and special event. Also be on the look out for us as we celebrate the 4th of July as W4H 470 ARG July 4th special event and catch this time next for our 2nd Anniversary of the 470 Amateur Radio Group.

Here's a picture of Ashby working W4H

Antenna Maintenance, My First Asian Contact, and W4H Update (My first real pileup)

Well, yesterday we decided to go over to dad's (KU4ME) and play some radio. This was of course after we did a little maintenance to the wires we have up in the air over there. We needed to remove some of the tension on the ZS6BKV multi bander. There was a branch that was creating tension on the twin lead close to the choke as well as to much slack in the support rope we have strung the wire on. So after cutting out a whole big branch and removing the slack in the support rope we moved to the inverted vee for 80 meters. The balun had slid down a little back towards the house and had dropped a little as well. So we moved the balun back up the support rope and hoisted the antenna a little higher. We also got the multi-bander up a little higher as well. After we finished the antenna maintenance we went inside to eat supper that mom (KF4SSI) had made and watch an episode of Dexter.

Once we finished with supper we headed out to the shack to see how well our maintenance improved things. I started scrolling around on 20 meters and heard a station calling CQ contest from Japan. Ever since the Summer Olympics special event, I've been aiming at making a contact with Japan. Unfortunately, we've never heard any station from Japan when we seen that they were spotted on the DX Cluster. Well, I heard this station calling CQ contest on 14.317 and realized that it was a Japanese station (JR5VHU). So I tried a time or two but my timing was off. On the third go round I threw out my call and running a bare 100 watts, he picked me up. I was so elated that it didn't matter to me that it was a very short contact due to the station being a contester. I couldn't believe it, I had just made contact with Japan on 100 watts. I started doing my little Japan DX dance in the commanders chair and asked my XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) if she wanted to try. So she sat down and proceeded to make contact as well (her first Japan contact also). So she did the Japan DX dance as well. We finally convinced dad to give it a try even though the station was starting to fade. He almost gave up after the third try but went more time and made contact as well. It appears that the maintenance we had done had paid off. Robin made another contact with a Japan station (JH4UYB) shortly there after and we decided it was time to start calling CQ for the special event W4H.

It was about 8:00pm and I was all set up to log. However, Robin did not want to take the first shift calling CQ so we swapped spots and she logged and I called CQ. I found us an open spot on 80 meters as 20 was dying fast and there wasn't much happening on 40 meters other than noise and broadcasters. So 80 it was and I was able to find a spot on our special event calling frequency 3.850. My very first call and N1UK came back to me. We ragchewed for a few minutes and when we signed with each other he said he'd put me on the DX cluster. Sure enough he did and it wasn't long before the pileup started. It wasn't to bad at first. It was a slow trickle and I had time to give each calling station a little information about the event and how to receive QSL cards from us. I must have called CQ for about 40 minutes and made contact with 24 stations. I did talked to Mrs. Teresa (KI4ZQO), Mrs. Cathy (KI4YPO), Rick (N4JTQ), Bill (N4BHK), and Kevin(KG4LGL) . These are all local hams that are active on the 470 repeater and active on the 470ARG net. As a matter of fact, Rick is out NCS for the net and Cathy is the NCS for the 470 ladies round table.

So after about 40 minutes I was desperately needing a break and Robin was more than happy to take the reigns. She called CQ for about an hour and let me tell you the hornets nest of a pile up she had. There were a couple of times where everyone was calling at once and she couldn't make out anything to call for in return. She instead had to go back and call QRZed again just to try and pick out a call. Well in the hour she called CQ, she ended up with 46 contacts. Some of the most notable were with N3FJP (the maker/programmer of the logbook program we are using). She also had special event station N8F for the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald event contact her. In total now Robin has made a total of 51 contacts for the special event in 21 states.

Well after her hour she still had a pileup that wouldn't quit. However, she was needing a break and we tried to get dad to take it over. He declined and so I had to take it back over. I must have taken it for almost another hour and made another 30 contacts or so and ended up with a contact in Puerto Rico(KP4BAI) and many different states. Overall I now have made 88 contacts for the event and have worked a total of 32 states and 1 DX entity.

So with a week to go on the special event, I don't know if I will be able to get back on until Saturday. Hopefully though, Robin and Dad, along with other 470ARG participants will be able to get on during the week and call CQ for the event. I know that Rick has worked the event a little bit but I'm not sure of anyone else at this moment in time. Anyway, that's about all I've got for the present moment in time. I now await the QSLs to start rolling in. I just hope I can use the special event call towards my WAS award.

Anyway, until the next post,
73 and Happy DX de AJ4JD
Tim

W4H (1st Anniversary of the 470 ARG) Special Event Update

Just a quick update on the W4H special event. Last night Ashby(KJ4EGJ) and me (AJ4JD) went over to Dad's(KU4ME) while Robin(AJ4IJ) and mom(KF4SSI) went to do a little Christmas shopping. Once the station was warmed up and tuned I started calling CQ on 40 meters and ended up with another 13 contacts on the special event. Dad logged for me as he was going to wait until during the week to work the special event. Ashby listened to music and then talked to guys on the 470 repeater once I was done to get an update on who all had worked the event yet.
So in two days I've worked 32 stations in 23 states for the W4H special event. Hopefully I'll get to work some more and get Ashby and Robin going on it as well.

Until next time, 73 de AJ4JD.
Catch ya on the bands.

470 ARG 1st Year Anniversary Special Event

Well the W4H special event is under way. I'm not sure who else has been on the air working the special event, but Robin (AJ4IJ) and me (AJ4JD) went over to dad's (KU4ME) yesterday and worked it for a couple of hours. I took the reigns first and started calling CQ on 80 meters. Within 20 minutes I made 6 contacts on 80 meters but the signals coming were up and down and considering it was midday, 80 probably wasn't the best place to be. With that in mind I switched over to 40 meters and started calling CQ again. In 25 minutes time I made a total of 13 contacts on 40 meters including one with Jack(KD4TNY). Jack is a good friend of ours and lives in Clinton (that's just a couple of miles down the road from us). I found it amazing that he was able to hear me and vice versa considering how close we are in distance. So within an hours time I made a total of 19 contacts as W4H and worked 13 different states.
After that I decided to turn the reigns over to Robin. She took over and within 5 minutes made 5 contacts. She worked 4 different states on 40 before a station came in saying something about a NET they hold there and would move down 2 KCs. Robin went back to the station and told them that she didn't mind moving for their NET but they were already gone and being just 2 KCs down were bleeding over into her spot on the band. So we decided to call it quits for the day and head back home and try again another day. We may go over to dad's later today and try to work some more stations for the special event.
So in total we have made 24 contacts for the W4H special event. The event has just begun and will run till November 15. Hopefully we've ordered enough QSL cards for the event.
Be sure to check back for more updates. Also be sure to check out 470arg.com for more information on the W4H special event

Until next time 73 de AJ4JD
Tim

ARES Net and W4H Special Event

On Monday night, Dave KI4NSA called about an hour before our ARES net was to start. He had forgotten that it was his night to conduct the net and would not be able to. He asked if I would mind to take it for the night. I said sure no problem. So with an hour before net time, I ate dinner got my EmComm I book, and come up with a plan. I decided that I would read a small article from TEMA's website (Tennessee Emergency Management Agency). There was a small article on the front page on how a few people from their ranks had just received their HAM licenses thereby giving them more communications opportunities in emergency situations. I also read from the EmComm I book unit 14 on being activated for emergency communications needs. I found it to be a great topic and very informative. I had a total of 23 check-ins which is about average for our net.

This weekend we start operating a special event for the 470 Amateur Radio Group. Starting today Nov. 1, 2008 through Nov. 15, 2008 several operators will be operating special event W4H commemorating the 1st year anniversary of the 470 Amateur Radio Group net on the 145.470 WB4GBI repeater. We have a net every Tuesday night to discuss various topics about Ham Radio, current events, and more. The net is to promote HAM Radio and to have fun. This is the first anniversary of the net so we are having a special event to commemorate the occasion. To receive a QSL card for the special send your QSL card to the station you contact along with a SASE in the US or a SAE and a green stamp for outside the US. Be sure to look for us around the following frequencies: 14.250, 7.250, 28.350, 3.850. For more information about the special event check out The ARRL's special event page or the 470ARG website.

Well I hope to catch you on the air. Until then 73 and God Bless.

Tim
AJ4JD

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Well just last week and from what I understand the last couple of weeks, a special event was going on across the country commemorating the 82nd anniversary of the old Route 66 Highway. Well dad (KU4ME) worked them all week. I had heard about it but hadn't had the time to go over and play due to the website work we've had going on these past couple weeks. Last weekend however I was able to go over and work a few of them. Even Robin (AJ4IJ) worked one of them even though she really wasn't wanting to. It was fun but I'm more happy to hear that with 2 or 3 minutes of the event, dad was able to get the last station he had been hunting. In total I think there were 19 stations, two of which were rovers in California. Well dad was able to get them and I think he's going to send off for the certificate.

That's it for the moment. We attended an all Hams picnic this past weekend and got to meet and visit with a lot of the Hams we speak to on a regular basis on 2 meters in the local area. I will be posting on that soon.

Until then 73 de AJ4JD,
Tim

Congrats to KJ4EGJ (Currently Temporary A/G)

I thought I would get on here and brag about mine and my XYL's (AJ4IJ - Robin) harmonic (KJ4EGJ/AG). Ashby study all week this past week so that she could upgrade to General class and play more on HF with the rest of us. Well, it paid off and thanks to Robin for studying her all week. Yes, that's right, our little harmonic at age 11 (to be 12 in 4 more days) passed the test and is now a General class HAM operator.

I think I heard it best from one of the stations that Robin contacted last night during her CQ on the 20. Quoting Brian in Pennsylvania (WB3GVT), "You go girl!!!!"

Below is a pic of our new General class Harmonic. She's going to take just a short time off and then start studying for her Extra. Then she won't have to worry about any band restrictions.

KJ4EGJ/AG

Sorry Robin, I know you put this one on your blogs entry, but I had to show her off too. I know you won't mind. :P

Anyway, this weekend has been the Light House and Light Ship weekend, and we've contacted a few so far. Ashby's has really enjoyed working on 20 meters I think, especially since she can do it with out being third party. Last night was also the North American QSO Party contest. We worked several of stations during this time but we were not actively contesting. Hopefully we will get some QSL cards back in return to confirm more states. Robin, got on at one point and started calling CQ on the 20 and received her very first pile up. I think she ended up with a total of 26 contacts in just 30 minutes. Once again, "You Go Girl!!!"

I know you are all probably thinking I'm never going to put any station or rig pics up here, but I promise you, we took some shots last night of Ashby operation her peepaw's station (KU4ME). It was with his camera so once he sends them to us, I will get them posted. I will also get some pics of our shack once it's cleaned up a bit.

Well, that's about all I have for now.

73 and Happy DX de AJ4JD
Tim

The Arctic Circle, Smokey Bear's Birthday, and Maritime Mobile

This week sure has been a busy one. Last weekend we worked a few special event stations as there were plenty on the air. These include W8AL (The Pro Football Hall of Fame), Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary (we talked to K3MJW for this one), and the big one of last weekend was N9N (The Nautilus, celebrating its 50th anniversary of it's trip to the North Pole). You can get more information on about this event by looking at N4KC's bio on QRZed.
The big contact of the week was W1AW/KL7. We've been trying for days to make contact with the ARRL's portable station in the Arctic Circle. Every time we'd see them on the DXwatch, we'd call dad and have him listen. It was never any use, as you could just barely hear someone, but really couldn't make 'em out. Finally, on Friday night we struck pay-dirt. We saw they were spotted, so we rushed right over to dad's (well not necessarily as we had some errands to run). We got over to dad's and listened and go make them out a lot better than we had been able to before. I might also tell you that this time there wasn't a huge pile-up on him and dad (KU4ME) had aquired an Ameritron AL-811 linear amplifier this past week. Had it not been for that big piece of beauty, I don't think that the Arctic Circle would have heard us.
So the funny story behind the whole Arctic Circle is we are completely lucky we were able to make contact before they go QRT after today. This past week, dad was talking on the dual bander he has in his shack to some of our HAM friends here on 2 meters, when he got the report from someone that his audio went real week and scratchy. Dad started smell something burning. He sniffed the radio and sure enough that was the source of the smell. So he got under the desk and unplugged everything. When he was done, he let go of the ground wire and it smacked up against the power supply. Somehow the ground wire found it's way inside one of the vent holes and he said "Sparks went flyin' everywhere". Well it turns out the diodes have been burnt out, and the drive in his dual bander had burnt up. Luckily, dad had a spare power supply. If he hadn't, we would have never been able to contact the Arctic Circle.
So this weekend we've worked a couple few special events and some other contacts as well. We worked W1BIM, celebating the 64th birthday of Smokey the Bear. That's right folks 64 years in the prevention of forest fires. What a cool bear. I just hope we wasn't smokin' on a camel. LOL
Anyway, we also worked K5PRK. We spoke with Charlie who is part of the Plano ARC. They were celebrating the radio club's 35th anniversary.
Some other noteable contacts include:
HR2DX in Honduras
YN2N in Nicaragua
VK3SX in Australia
FK8CP in New Caledonia
and our first ever maritime mobile station, UU9JX/MM. Oleg was off the cost of California at 32*N/123*W.

In other happenings, we finally got the 440 rig up and running. We've tested it out and found it to work real well. Robin (AJ4IJ) got on it the other night and made her first 440 contact via FM simplex with her dad (KU4ME). I've still got to get all the memories programmed and a make a frequency chart to hang on the board.

Yes I know I promised pictures, and well right now our shack is an absolute mess. Once we get it cleaned up I will get some shots and post them. Until then, here's a pic of me on a trail with my HT (Yaesu VX-170).

AJ4JD - Frozen Head Portable

73 de AJ4JD
Tim

Wet Waynesville Hamfest Update

So I thought I would get in here and give everyone an update on the hamfest in Waynesville, NC. Robin (AJ4IJ) awoke early Saturday morning to a rainy one. It was around 6:00am as we were heading out the door when mom (KF4SSI) and dad (KU4ME) call. Robin says, "tell them we are on our way." At the same time I hear mom on the phone, "we just got up, can you give us an hour?" To which I reply no we're heading out the door now. I then hear dad in the background mumble, "they can't wait, they'll miss the deals." Mom's reply, "Well, go ahead and go on, don't worry about us."
So out the door Robin and I trot to the car and the out the driveway and off into the rain. We stopped to fuel up and the rain just kept falling. We stopped shortly after the fuel stop to grab nourishment and make a pitstop at a Micky D's. Once we were finished there we continue our drive east in the rain, struggling to stay awake and pondering if the rain would let up once we were through the mountains.
We finally reached our destination and the rain had let up considerably. We paid our entry fee and entered the hamfest. We walked around and looked at the wares that were available. We checked out the bone yard and really didn't find anything. Robin did spot a tower that would have been nice to have. However, we did not have the money, nor the means to transport it home. We really weren't going with the thought of purchasing anything unless we found a deal we couldn't pass up. It was nice to see that there was plenty of HAM gear at the HAM fest though.
We didn't stay very long. It was about 30 - 45 minutes before we decided we seen all we wanted and decided to head back west. On our way we rain back into more rain, but we figured once we were back on our side of the mountains the rain would be finished. With that in mind we decided that we would go home, pick up our trusty side kick b3ene (that's our dog Clover) and head North to Kentucky and take Clover for a sniff/walk at a park. You can read more on that at Robin's and mines outdoor blog.
We didn't get any photos at the hamfest. There really wasn't anything that caught Robin's eye. So we hope for better luck at TenTec's hamfest towards the end of September. There we will get to meet some of the hams we frequently talk to on the radio.

Well that's all I've got for now. Stay tuned for the new toy (lent to us by dad). Also, check out Robin's blog for the latest special event station we've worked (The Smithsonian Institute has gone QRT forever). BTW, thanks Jack (KD4TNY) and Teresa (KI4ZQO) for calling dad who called Robin about it, who called me.

Hamfests Ahoy, Special Events and Severe Weather Oh My!

Well, I thought I would jump in here and share a few more experiences. We've been kickin' it on HF lately and workin' special events. As you know we worked the FBI station and 4 of the Collins stations. I think our next special event we are going to try and work is the Olympics event. There are 5 stations one to represent each of the rings of the Olympic Rings. They are operating from China and the station calls are as follows: BT1OB, BT1OJ, BT1OH, BT1OY, and BT1ON. The QSL cards look pretty neat. I know my daughter would probably like to get one from each station, of course she will need to get her upgrade if she's going to work them on HF, unless 10 meters opens up. Anyway, they also have awards they will be giving depending on how many of the stations you work, what band, and what mode. For more info on it check the following website: http://www.bj2008ses.com.cn/.
So tomorrow is the Waynesville hamfest in Waynesville, NC. We (including AJ4IJ, KU4ME, KF4SSI) are going to be waking up real early and heading out that way to check it out. Maybe we will get lucky and find a great deal on something, or at least win something. Anyway, one can dream right. Stay tuned as I'll be sure to provide updates and pics later. Speaking of pics, I've still got to get some pics of the antenna we put up over at dad's (ku4me).
This past week we had some pretty bad storms roll through. Luckily we fared pretty well other than being without power for 24 hours. I have to commend the Skywarn folks here in the area for running effect weather nets on 145.230. Speaking on this point, I've been giving thought about joining the local ARES club here in Union/Claiborne County. I've checked in on their net on 147.360 repeater over the last two weeks. I've still got some thinking to do on it and I'll let you know what I decide. If anyone has any advice on the topic let me know by leaving some comments.
Well I'm going to say 73 for now. Got to get up early in the morning and head out to the hamfest.

Take care everyone.

73 de AJ4JD
Tim

In The Land of HF Part II

Hello everyone. I thought I would get on here and give everyone some updates about our adventures in HF here recently. I believe that last week I mentioned we were going to put up the ZS6BKV Multiband HF Dipole antenna that we built for field day. Well it is up in the air now and we've got it up there about 45ft or so. So far it seems to be working rather well. We've been getting great signal reports from stations that we've contacted around the world.
So last weekend was the IARU HF World Championship contest. Robin (AJ4IJ) and I (AJ4JD) decided to make some contacts just to test the antenna out. I mean after all, what better way to find out how well your antenna is doing right? Even though we really weren't competing in the contest, it was good experience seeing what contesting was all about. We ended up making around 22 contacts overall to stations all over the place including: Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay, Australia, Hiwaii, New Jersey, California, Washington, and Arizona.
Over the last week or so, we've been trying to work the Rockwell Collins S-Line Anniversary stations. There are 6 (N0CXX, W0CXX, W5ROK, W4CRC, W6CXX, F6KNZ) in all, and you need to contact 4 to qualify for the certificate they send out. We finally got all 4 the other day. Another special event we've been trying to get was the FBI station (K3FBI). They've been celebrating the 100th anniversary of the FBI. If you make a contact all you have to do is send a QSL card and they will send back a QSL and a real nice certificate. You can get more information from the ARRL's Special Events page. We've also been trying to work all states on 20 meters and have been doing some DX as well. Some of the states and countries we've worked this past week or so include: Ecuador, St. Barthelemy, Portugal (The Azores), Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cuba. Some of the states include: Texas, Florida, Iowa, Virginia, Missouri, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Alaska, and Pennsylvania.
So, with special events, working all states, and chasing DX, we have all certainly been abuzz about HF around here lately, even dad (KU4ME) has gotten real excited about it. Anyway, that's about all I've got for now. I'll try to get some pictures of the antenna in it's new home and post them soon. Everyone take care and I hope you enjoy reading the entries. If you do please let me know. Until next time....

73 and good DX de AJ4JD
Tim