Years ago, I'd leave an FM rig on 146.52, squelched, while traveling; every now and then I'd give my callsign a time or two.  Or I'd be passing through a town and hear activity, and jump in for a hello.  The last few times I did this, though, I didn't find any activity--and that was well over a half-dozen years ago.

Tony, is that the "don't ask, don't tell" thing I keep hearing them talk about?   

In addition to the ARRL's list, try   http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/   for a listing of contests.   The idea of watching for state "QSO parties" is a good one!

I often hear people calling CQ to specific areas, including a few people I hear now and then saying "CQ CQ CQ from <callsign> I need Wyoming, South Dakota, and Idaho" (or whatever.)   It seems like a pretty logical practice to me--certainly worth trying.

Good luck!

Agreed!  I listened for a long time to their ops, waiting for good propagation between us, and every op I heard was doing a great job of handling the pileups.  Orderly, calm, and efficient--I wish I could say the same for everybody who was calling 3D2R!  ;-) 

The time to be concerned is if you DON'T hear weird stuff on the CB frequencies.  Ten-four, good buddy?   

As I understand it, many users of VHF and UHF (police, fire, etc) are now using digitally encoded repeater systems.  If the agencies you want to listen to have gone to digital, buying an analog scanner won't do you any good.  OTOH, 98% of ham radio on VHF & UHF is traditional FM and a regular analog scanner will work fine for listening to the local repeaters.  So you should find out if the people/services you want to listen to have gone to digital, or soon will.  HTH!

If you try phased verticals, remember NOT to boil the pasta first! 

Welcome!  This is a great place--have fun!
  --ken ac4rd

It IS fun, Paul, and it was a blast yesterday when it happened.  This morning I went to enter the paper logs into my database and realized I already have T32 confirmed on two bands.  :-/   I must have had a working memory some time in my life, but I probably put it down somewhere and wandered off.  :-/  So one of my "new ones" wasn't new--though it was still a world of fun to work him!  :-)

OK, there were two massive DXpeditions this weekend (T32C and 3D2R),
the high bands were in GREAT shape, I found a good bit of time to play
with the portable radio ..  and I didn't work either of the big guys,
despite plenty of trying.

Oh, I had a ball on 12m, working into Europe and Africa with low power
and wire antennas, working those great VKs and ZLs on 10 and 12, even
an hour after local sunset, or an hour before local sunrise!  It was a
great DXing weekend even without the two big DXpeditions.  I lucked
into a very nice KH2 on 15, and got my first Guam QSO (already in
LOTW!) for #197 worked.  Then on 20m I finally managed to work the
guys on Market Reef for #198--they've been handing out the QSOs like
crazy but I wasn't able to work them until this weekend.

So I was telling myself I had a darned good weekend, even without the
two big expeditions.  And I DID, too.  Fun AND two new ones!

And I wasn't going to turn on the portable setup tonight, when I got
home, but I just couldn't resist.  I fired up the "portable" rig, the
lawnmower one, though I used a 12v powersupply for 100watts instead of
the lawnmower battery.

And then in the first few minutes on 15m, I worked 7X, always fun, and
then an F.  And then I stumbled into the T32C group on 15m; took a few
tries and finally got them.  "THANK YOU for the new one!," I said, and
logged it(#199), and turned off the radio, grinning, and went to throw
the ball for my dog for a while, in the cool sunny afternoon.

Maybe a half-hour later I turned the radio back on, and in 15 minutes
at the radio, I worked one more station on fifteen before dinner:
3DR2.  :-)  Just wandered into him when we had good propagation.  For
(pause for modest bows as the audience applauds) ... for #200 for
me.  :-)

Yep, if you count "up until dark on Monday" as the weekend, I picked
up four good new ones this weekend.  :-)  Not a bad weekend at all.

If it was ZL4IV you could hear but he couldn't hear you, take a look at the photos he has on qrz.com--the homebrewed tower and antennas are pretty eye-popping!  :-)   (I worked him the other day on 20 about a half-hour before local daylight, from the car as I was driving to work.  Also worked ZL on 12 meters the other day from my portable rig.  Fun to hear VK/ZL on the high bands again!)

This is why I generally tell my neighbors, when I'm going to be active on HF again.  I generally email them and say I'll be playing with the radio, and give them my cellphone number, and tell them to call me if they have any interference or problems.  Over 20 years doing this and I've only had a few problems in all that time, easily and quickly resolved.  JMHO, but I'd rather resolve problems with friendly neighbors than fight with angry neighbors.

It's FUN, isn't it?  :-)  And if there are many people wanting to work the DX, I think going split makes it easier for everybody.

Congratulations!   With the high bands getting so good, you'll have a whole bunch of new "firsts" as a DXer soon!  ;-)

You're right!  Those guys are great operators, and they've handed out a BUNCH of FP contacts lately.  I've worked them from the car on several bands, and from my back-yard rig a few times, too.  They seem very well organized, and the pileups have been orderly every time I've worked them.  Three cheers to the FP/G crew!

I'm not surprised to hear that--the resonators don't seem terribly sturdy.   I'm using either star-type or spring-type lockwashers on many of the connections, to keep them snug on the road.  I guess I won't be surprised when some of the resonators fail, from being screwed on and off the mast top.    At times I may stay on just one band for a week, or I may change bands a couple of times in one day, depending on how propagation is.

Luckily, I've got a number of spare Hustler resonators & whips, because they've been reasonably inexpensive and I've been experimenting a lot.  I've also found a few used for cheap at hamfests, since so many people are using screwdrivers now.  :-)  So I've got a good stockpile to play with.

I have played a bit with with bigger coils ( there's one visible in the lawnmower page, http://www.duke.edu/~kuzen001/lawnmower.htm ), and I think some day I'll get back to experimenting with those and try to replace the Hustler resonators with a homebrewed multiband bugcatcher. 

Either way, I sure am having a world of fun from the car, with the high bands coming alive again!  :-)  (And from the lawnmower, too!)  ;-)