I know you originally asked about countries with band restrictions but I thought it was interesting to pass along information about Norway. Back in 2009, the government in Norway announced some band additions. Hams there got a whole band at 60m from 5260-5410 khz, plus frequencies in the 4 meter band (as many European countries have) and they got an extension of 12 m. Now they can use 24740 to 24890 khz in addition to the regular worldwide allocation that runs from 24890 to 24990 khz. Plus, they have LF allocations too. Seems to be a very ham-friendly nation.

73, N4KZ

FWIW, I got WAZ thru eQSL using AG certified contacts. No cards needed. I had to work 3 or 4 JT stations to get one AG to get my last zone. All in all, I think WAZ is a tougher award to get than DXCC. Now that I have 8BDXCC, I may start working on 5B WAZ.

73, N4KZ

Wow, strange coincidence. I read the original post and then clicked the link to an earlier eham post only to see I wrote it almost 10 years ago.

Kind of like my experience in the late 1980s of copying W1AW code practice one night on 40m and realizing they were sending text from one of my articles published in QST.

73, N4KZ

Yes, your observations on 20 and 40 meters are typical of propagation found on those bands. But at night 40 sometimes starts to behave like 20.

73, N4KZ

Lots of ground radials and put the vertical in the clear -- not cozied up to the house, shed or metal fence. Now reality being what it is, many times a ham simply can't accomplish these two ideal situations but if you do, watch out because you will have a top-notch antenna. And you might get decent performance from a vertical where these two ideal situations are rather compromised but you just never know until you get on the air.

I've used several different types and models of verticals over the years. When I was younger, I preferred them roof-mounted -- they were in the clear and needed far fewer radials. But as the years have crept by, climbing the roof seems less and less inviting. There's something wonderful to be said about installing a ham antenna while standing firmly on the ground!

Little story. I bought a Butternut HF6V several years back. I installed it on a Saturday morning and began laying 60-foot long radials but it began to rain. I got 8 radials down before having to give up to seek shelter. I used the vertical for the next week and was disappointed with its performance on transmit. I had an average signal at best. Not good enough.

The next Saturday was sunny and I added more radials. Now I had 35 radials -- each 60 feet long. Now, I got those 5x9-plus reports I coveted.

I ran it that way for a couple years and then we moved to a bigger home with a bigger yard. This time the Butternut went 120 feet behind the house and very much in the clear. And I put down 60  50-foot long radials. This was a really good set-up and I was working DX like crazy on 80 and 40 meter CW. Japan, India, Diego Garcia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Siberia -- all these and more routinely went into my log. Six hundred watts out with my Heath SB-200 and Kenwood TS-440S.

73 and good luck,
Dave, N4KZ

As a former broadcast radio news guy, I sounded best when I delivered the news while standing. But I can't imagine standing in my ham shack. Voice quality is irrelevant when working SSB.

73, N4KZ

DR for doctor? Surely you jest. In the world of CW DXing it's short for dear as in Dear OM.

N4KZ

Certainly a long call is not helpful in a DX pile-up. In that scenario, three things will get you through to the DX station -- brute signal strength, timing -- calling when no one else is, or transmitting on a lightly occupied frequency that the DX station is listening to.

Obviously, my comments were directed toward someone answering a casual CQ and not a DX pile-up.

My point being that operating techniques that are well suited for some situations are not suited for others. But not everyone makes that distinction and they probably should.

73, N4KZ

That's great.

Hope you have many, many more for years to come.

Nothing like talking to the world via HF.

73, N4KZ

Some ham radio terms trace their origins back to the early 1900s -- when amateur radio was born. Hams used to always call each other "old man" -- on or off the air. It was fashionable among young American men at the time to call each other "old man." It found its way into ham radio and just stuck. Fine business, abbreviated as FB on CW, was much the same. Seventy-three, as in best regards, was an old railroad telegrapher's term that got transferred to ham radio CW operation and it too just stuck.

I don't hear old man used as much on the air as I used to. But nothing seems to have taken its place.

Long calls to answer a station's CQ also have begun to fade from common use. Now, more people just answer a CQ by giving their call one time in reply. I am not a fan of that practice. Invariably, there's noise, static, interference, or several stations calling at once and I have to ask the calling station to repeat his call. Giving it one than once -- like 2 or 3 times -- the first time is much preferred and cuts down on asking for repeats. Besides, if several stations answer a CQ at the same time, the one repeating his call 2 or 3 times will probably be the one who gets heard and thus gets the QSO.

The short one-call routine was born from contesting where minimizing time and maximizing QSOs is desired. But what works well in a contest situation isn't necessarily good operating practice at other times.

And this has happened to me on several occasions -- including just yesterday. I was working a station on SSB and when we signed clear, another station announced his call one time. If he doesn't say who he's calling, neither of us signing were sure which was being called. So one of us had to ask.

Ham radio isn't a telephone. It's one big party-line with lots of fading, static and interference. Giving one's call sign just one time to answer a CQ or call a station really isn't adequate.

Perhaps the old practice of using a so-called 3x3 call is a bit excessive, but giving just once isn't enough either.

For the newcomers, a 3x3 call meant that when I answered your CQ, I said your call sign 3 times and then said "this is" or "from" and repeated my call 3 times. It was used on phone and CW. This practice seems to have faded away and I for one miss it badly.

Thoughts?

73, Dave, N4KZ

I have been using Global QSL for several years and am a happy customer. I have no financial interest in their operation which is based in Israel but it saves me time and money. I designed my own card via their website. I keep a computer log and upload QSOs to their site, they print out the four-color cards with all the QSO info and mail them to the bureaus. It's painless and fast. I can complete nearly 100 cards per hour. I could never do that by hand.

I, too, get a lot of DX cards from places where I already have tons of cards. That's what 40-plus years of active DXing will do for you but if someone sends me a card, I feel obligated to send them one in return -- regardless if I already have 100 cards or more from their country.

And I have been told more than once that my state can be hard to work and hard to confirm. So I am doing my part to help "alleviate" the situation while saving myself time and money by using Global QSL. If you get a lot of bureau cards, you should check them out. Google them for their URL.

73, Dave, N4KZ

Another poster mentioned listening to 10-meter beacon stations. That's good advice because hearing beacons will immediately tell you if 10 meters is open and where to. You will hear beacons from 28.2 to 28.3 MHz. Many beacons send relatively slow CW so it could be good code practice too.

And it takes a peak reading wattmeter to get an accurate determination of your rig's output when on single sideband. Your tuner does not have a peak reading meter -- only one that reads an average output. I know, all this can be confusing but hang in there. It's well worth the confusion to enjoy the best hobby in the world. With the meter that's built into your tuner, you can get an accurate output reading if you transmit a carrier -- either in the CW, AM or FM modes. 

Ten has been kind of iffy lately -- open at times and closed at other times. That's why the beacons can be so handy.

73, N4KZ

In no particular order, some of my most memorable DX contacts have been:

--Being a newly minted general class ham in 1970 and calling CQ on 20 meter SSB and having Marshall Moran, 9N1MM, answer my call. Wow. That's DX!

--Working into VK6 long path on 75 meter SSB.

--Working 2 European stations in the 75 meter SSB DX window. Oh, I should mention I was running 5 watts from my Yaesu FT-817ND. They were quite impressed. Heck, so was I.

--Running the same FT-817ND mobile on 15 meter SSB, calling CQ and having a ZS answer me. I'd worked lots of DX with low power from my home station, but from the car with an inefficient antenna? I was stunned -- but in a good way.

--For 25 years, I worked SSB and CW on the low end of 2 meters doing weak-signal work. A buddy convinced me to try some 2 meter EME despite the fact I only had one yagi (but it was a big one) and about 200 watts. I got a schedule with a HB9 station on CW and although we came close we did not complete the contact. But I clearly copied my call off the moon on a couple of transmissions. Imagine, hearing your call sign all the way from Switzerland via the moon on 2 meters. Certainly one of my most memorable DX near-misses.

--Finally, working ZS8M, Pierre, from Marion Island a few years back. Pierre was forced to run modest power with modest antennas and I had a difficult time hearing him. I got up in the middle of the night a couple times a week for months only to meet disappointment time and time again. But then propagation, which had favored the West Coast on 40 meters, began shifting to a more favorable condition for the southeast. One morning, I made a contact with ZS8M on 40 meter SSB. Then a few hours later, I worked him again on 20 meter SSB. After trying for months, as luck would have it, I got him twice in the same day.

And that's the magic of DX.

73, N4KZ

A few years back I was on 12 meter SSB and Paul, then A35RK, in Tonga answered my CQ. I had already worked him a few other times but all were in pile-ups and quick QSOs on other bands. This time we had a ragchew -- 90 minutes worth. He told me all about life in Tonga on a small farm and life with solar cells to run the ham gear and computers and much more. Great conversation. I thought when we finally signed there would be a big pile-up for Paul. Not one caller!

Back in the 1990s, I frequently got up early and got on 20 meter SSB around 6 a.m. The VK stations were rolling through from Australia. I worked one particular VK2 about six times in a couple of months. We always had very interesting chats about all types of things. Then the Dayton Hamvention came along and I was walking through the flea market as I do every year at Dayton. Suddenly, I hear an Aussie voice calling, "Dave, Dave, stop, I want to meet you." I looked around and standing beside me was the very VK2 I had worked several times in recent months. Despite all our contacts, he'd never said one word about going to Dayton. Needless to say, our chance meeting at Dayton was something special.

And another very memorable QSO was just a few nights ago on 15 meter SSB when I worked a JA. He travels frequently to the USA on business, he said, and he speaks fantastic English. He told me about the good time he had last year had on a business trip to a city near where I live. Many JA ops speak good English but his was a cut above most and therefore we could have a real conversation -- more than just the usual radio stuff. A nice QSO like that really makes it all worthwhile.

73, N4KZ

This year has been productive with six ATNOs for me. My total is now 340 worked with 338 confirmed. But being an old-timer has its cons since 15 of my 340 are deleted entities. But getting closer and closer to Honor Roll. Sadly, I know of no upcoming DXpeditions to anywhere new for me. But the activation of 7O was a pleasant shock -- so maybe XZ will surprise us too.
73, N4KZ