Three-Day Weekend Comes to an End

First, I want to thank EVERYONE who contacted me, or entertained my contact, during this contest. The PODXS 070 Club hosted a Three-Day Weekend PSK31 contest over the weekend, and we've (the OM and I) had a wonderful time.

*Well, I have to be honest in saying it was a little long for me. I have a hard time sitting through a two hour movie, much less a three day contest*

I ended up with 166 qualifying contacts, 106 member numbers, and 1000 bonus points. *woot* Seeing how it is late, and I'm exhausted, if you're interested in my final point count, then you'll have a nice little math problem to entertain yourself with. :)

Overall, I was happy with the contest. I was afraid that the CQ CW contest was going to interfere, but it wasn't too much of a problem. I think we both did well with the bands we have and the conditions we were blessed with. Unfortunately, 10m and 6m never opened for me, so I made no contacts there. And we don't have 160m here, so I was left to work 80m, 40m, 20m, and 15m only (which is pretty decent I must add!).

I guess the next PODXS 070 contest is in July. I don't know if I'll be making that one or not, being 4th of July and all --- but anything's possible.

Again... Thanks to everyone and Good Luck to all who worked the contest.

BTW -- if I contacted you, you should be confirmed via LoTW and eQSL. :)

LoTW, FTW!!

Alright little kiddies... (Oh my... I had a teacher in high school that always called us that. It had implanted itself into my brain, biting and tearing, until one day... one long and happy day... I could use that single phrase: little kiddies. Now it's gone, for good I hope.)

Logbook of the World is up and running for AJ4IJ. If you've been wanting my confirmation via that, you now have it... provided you're in my log.

I'm so excited about it, and now I can say I have worked all the continents (minus Antarctica), since Japan is confirmed via LoTW. Congrats to Me!! Party Party!!

*doing the worked all continents dance*

-- What's that?? WAC doesn't recognize LoTW??? What a crock of 3 dits, 4 dits, 2 dits, and a dah!

Oh well, I've confirmed them in my eyes! I didn't want no stinking $13 cert anyway. hehehehe

*LoTW FTW Dance!!*

LoTW: Soon... Soon

For those I have previously contacted... and for those I will work... You'll be happy to know that I will soon be using Logbook of the World.

I'm waiting on my postcard, then my email, and then I'll have everything set up.

Thanks for your patience with this Behind-the-Times YL.... hahaha

But... by the way... I still LOVE receiving QSL cards. :)

New Dances and W4H Update

If you read this blog, then you know, each and every personal achievement deserves a special dance.

This weekend, I was finally able to sport the "I Contacted Japan!" dance -- not once, but twice. I just hope I can get confirmation, since they were both contesters. Thanks to JR5VHU and JH4UYB (btw, that's a station!) for the excellent signal reports and the contact on 20m!

Additionally, I hit another milestone, requiring another dance: the "I'm over 1,000 lookups" dance!
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We did some work on the dipoles this past weekend. Now that the leaves were falling off the trees, we could see where the wind had blown the balun around and got it all stuck in a branch -- a branch that Tim hacked down...

He's so good, he can cut down that limb with his eyes closed!

We also did some W4H Special Event cq'ing on 80m. I worked it for almost an hour, had a pile-up that sounded like a hornet's nest, got spotted on the DX Cluster, and made 46 speedy contacts. I was starting to lose my voice though, and had to pass it to Tim. I did make one very interesting contact... I pulled out a call at one point, N3FJP, and as I was writing it down I was thinking to myself how familiar that call sounded... you know that feeling when you hear a call and you know you've seen it before but can't place it. About that time, Tim piped up, "Hey, He's the guy that wrote this program." That's right folks. Another example of how small this world is. Scott, N3FJP, wrote the logging program that we use, the Amateur Contact Log. We've only been using it for about 2 weeks, but it is AWESOME! We're going to be sending him a check soon... this one is well worth paying $19.00 for folks!

Lastly, I just want to remind everyone that may have contacted me during the W4H special event. Since there are multiple operators in many places, we are all doing our own QSL'ing. We have had special QSL cards printed for this event, and if you want one, send your S.A.S.E. (or S.A.E. & 1 green stamp/1 IRC) to me directly. I'm good on QRZ.

Anyway... just thought I'd post that brief little update. Take care everyone and I'll "see" you down the log!

My QSL Card

Here's a look at my QSL card. I'm notorious for changing it around, though. For the moment, and probably for a little while, this will be my card. Until I'm so tired of looking at it that it needs a re-design.

Click on the Card to make it BIGGER!

QSL information for me can be found on QRZ. For now, I really only accept QSL cards direct. I am working on LoTW -- and will let ya'll know if and when I get that set up. For direct QSL, I do not require a S.A.S.E., since I am a firm believer that not just ONE Ham should have to cover the "to & from" postage cost. If you're interested in receiving a card from me... look for me on 20 meters -- my favorite place to call "CQ on the 20!" You may also find me calling "CQ on the 40!" and "CQ on the 10!"