K3TN makes a good point:  if you are interested in DXing, you really should read _The Complete DXer_, by W9KNI.  It's been through several editions (3?) and used copies can often be found at hamfests.  It's a GREAT look at how a top DXer thinks and how he works DX.  And it's an easy fun read, full of interesting stories that illustrate Bob's points. 

Also a big "me, too!" on working the contests.  With the propagation so good, you almost certainly CAN get your first 100 finished with one good contest weekend.   The way I work contests has nothing to do with scoring contest points--I'm just there to pick up a new country or three.  :-) Contests are fantastic opportunities for new ones; they want your QSO for their points so they'll WORK to hear you. 

73 and GL, Jeff!   

There are programmable small-volume pumps just like you describe; check the web for "Harvard Apparatus" and you'll find them.  They are NOT cheap, though.

I just got a confirmation in LOTW for a YB station from 2003.  :-)   I have a few confirmations in LOTW that go all the way back to 1992.  (Glad I put my paper logs into the database when I went to PC logging.)

I've been eligible for DXCC since the early 90s, but I never bothered applying for DXCC--until I hit 100 in LOTW.  Applying via LOTW was extremely fast and easy.  (Of course, now I still need to pull out about 80-90 countries on paper cards and send them in.)  :-)

I know this is all true 'cause I read it on the Internet

I was on my way to the post office to pick up my case of free M&M's (sent to me because I forwarded an e-mail to five other people, celebrating the fact that the year 2000 is "MM" in Roman numerals), when I ran into a friend whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (which is predictable, since as everyone knows, there's no actual chicken in Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is why the government made them change their name to KFC).

Anyway, one day this guy went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over and when he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEY HAD BEEN STOLEN. He saw a note on his mirror that said "Call 911!" but he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer.  He didn't dare turn on his computer since that same virus would destroy his hard drive if he did. The previous day, he had opened an e-mail entitled "Climb in bed with Sweet Jesus!", which instantly spreads the virus to every file on his hard disk. He knew it wasn't a hoax because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to prevent a global disaster in which all of the computers get together to distribute the $250.00 Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates.   (It's true - I read it all last week in a mass e-mail from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disney World vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the e-mail to everyone I know.)

The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidneys, but a voice on the line first asked him to press #90, which unwittingly gave the bandit full access to the phone line at the guy's expense. Then reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note that said, "Welcome to the world of AIDS."  Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital - the one where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an e-mail and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every e-mail he receives.

I had sent him two e-mails and one of them was a bunch of x's and o's in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to more than 10 people, you will have good luck but for 10 people only you will only have OK luck and if you send
it to fewer than10 people you will have BAD LUCK FOR SEVEN YEARS).  So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving without its lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights at him and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation. 

Send THIS to all the friends who send you their junk mail and you will receive 4 green M&Ms - if you don't, the owner of Proctor and Gamble will report you to his Satanist friends and you will have more bad luck: you will get sick from the Sodium Laureth Sulfate in your shampoo, and your spouse/mate will develop a skin rash from using the antiperspirant which clogs the pores under your arms. Do it soon!  The U.S. Government, this summer, will be putting a tax on all of your e-mails to support the Postal Department.

I know this is all true 'cause I read it on the Internet.

I used the "make morse" website a while back for that; my cellphone now says "TEXT MSG" or "VOICE" at 25wpm, to let me know what sort of call is coming in.

My wife tried to call me when I was at the Durham NC hamfest a few months ago, and I didn't notice the phone ringing--there were people playing with keyers and paddles and radios, and the incoming call was lost in the general Morse volume.  :-)

It will, if you feed it with balanced line (450 ohm window line or similar) and use a tuner.   I've been using a 40m dipole on 40 through 10 for the last month, with an autotuner instead of the manual tuner I used for so many years--very convenient!

Sam, you're absolutely right--ten WILL be back.  We're on the upsurge of solar activity, and the high bands will get more and more fun for another year or more.  :-)   I love the activity--I've worked a handful of new-while-mobile countries recently, from the car while commuting.  The high bands are GREAT for mobile ops! 

You're right:  Those beacons are just GREAT!  If you can hear one or two on any given band at any given time, you need to call CQ and see if you get something!   :-)

I mentioned this on the mobile echo earlier, but the other day I was driving to work, half hour before local sunrise (10:30Z), fifteen meters sounded dead, but on my third CQ call, a ZL came back to me, nice 5-7 signal.  :-)

In my home town, 15 years ago, the repeaters were full of that sort of thing.  JMHO, but I don't see a problem with it if they don't mind having others know what they're talking about. 

That is one nice day's work! 

I only had YB confirmed on paper QSLs, until a couple of days ago when it showed up in my LOTW count--someone had entered his logs from 2003.  :-) 

I really like LOTW.  I've got around 180-185 confirmed on paper, but I never bothered to put in a DXCC application until I hit 100 in LOTW--it's just so *easy* and convenient!

I've been a ham for 20 years, and I'm having a blast on 10 (and 12 and 15, too.)  :-)  Isn't it FUN?  Haviing the high bands open like this is just great--been YEARS since the high bands were so much fun!  :-)  ENJOY! 

This may not be any help, but I'll offer it anyway.  I used Hamsticks for a while, very happily, on a lip mount on the trunk of a sedan.  It was pretty routine--suddenly I'd have sharp spikes in SWR and drop in signal strength, on and off, or mostly on.  When that happened, I'd take off the lip mount, rub off the corrosion, give things a shot of WD-40, and put the lip mount back on, nice and tight.  That would solve it for the next few weeks. 

Truth!  Best HF mobile learning resource I've seen. 

Congratulations, Eric!  I hope you can get the Swan on the air--there may be some local hams who can help you if there are any questions while you're getting set up.   And congratulations on passing your General!  It opens a WHOLE new world of DXing up for you! 

It was about 20 years ago that I went to the Shelby NC hamfest for the first time, with a brand-new Tech+ ticket.  I bought an ancient Heathkit HF rig at that hamfest, and soon I was having a world of fun working DX on 15 meters.  :-)   And that ancient Heathkit is still getting some use from the friend who has it now.  :-)

There's also the other kind of return-QSLer.

A couple weeks ago I sent a paper card to a ham for a new country.  His QRZ entry said no LOTW, but bureau or direct, and it said he needed $3 to send a direct reply.

Now, if I'm sending a paper QSL to a big dxpedition, I'll often include an extra green stamp or two, just to help out.  The day I sent this new country QSL (to an individual, not an expedition), I didn't have any singles on me, so I put a $5 bill into the envelope.  It didn't seem like a big deal, help out a bit with the printing and with bureau cards--I may send a few hundred cards in a busy year, compared with a guy in a semi-rare one who may send a few thousand in the same time.   I don't send for many direct QSLs anyway, what the heck, right?

So I got the return card yesterday, beautiful card, color one side ... and in the envelope with the QSL were two one-dollar bills and a post-it saying "$3 is enough for return mail so I'm sending back the extra."    :-)    Nice nice guy, don't you think?