Check with the Smithsonian Institute ...

CORRECTION to my last post:

Sending more money is an insult but ...."

Should have been "Sending more money ISN'T an insult ..."

W2IRT, ditto my friend. Just went through mine and send out 40+ emails from appx 125 calls. So far about 10-15% replies, most sending funds. Glad for taht as one stack had a bunch of really nice cards; India, Bhutan, rarer island Dxpeds.

Good Luck in 2010,

Gene

I would recommend that you contact your Incoming DX Bureau(contact info on ARRL website) to see that they have received your pkg of envelopes, etc. Could be that they never received it. Could be that it is in the works but delayed for some reason. Out here in California at W6 bureau, the main bureau manager sends out an account update pkg to the individual segment managers every couple of months. I would have expected yours to have made it through your bureau system to the person who handles your cards within 6 mos. Also when you contact the W8 bureau, let them know how often you want your cards delivered. Some folks only want them once a year because they get so few, some when they get 5 to 10 cards at the bureau, others as they come into the bureau.

If you sent a qty of envelopes and postage, that should be enough to get you started. The bureau should notify you when you get low on supplies or funds. In my segment, I recommend hams just keep some funds in their accounts ($5 or so, more if they get alot of cards). I'll take care of envelopes, stamps, etc. so everything is common and I can get through the process quicker than having to keep trying to figure out what is what different from account to account. If it were me, I would hold on sending any more money until you find out what your account status is. Sending more money is an insult but may not be needed for a while and it is just something else for the bureau volunteer to keep up with.

Communications with your bureau staff is paramount for successful delivery of your cards. So long as your account is current (funded and all info up to date), you should get your cards. Keep in mind, it can take many months, sometimes years to get cards through the bureau. I just recieved a card that came from the JA Outgoing DX Bureau to a ham in my segment for a QSO that occurred in 1968. This is the longest I have ever seen or heard of. Before this, a friend received on from an EU ham after 19 year and a couple months. Six to 18 months is typical, up to 3 to 5 years in acceptably normal, longer happens but not as often.

Just keep working DX and the cards will start coming - especially if you work any JA's. They send lots and lots of cards thru the bureaus. We get 40 to 50 pound boxes of Japanese-only QSLcards just for the W6 bureau segments every few months.

Good Luck

Gene Brewer W5DQ
W6 Incoming DX QSL Bureau "L" Segment Manager.

Stamped "Verified By" by the DX station means they verified that your in their logbook. That stamp has nothing to do with LOTW verification. Also I use DX Lab Suite and it has "W" for worked, "S" for submitted to ARRL and "V" verified by ARRL for credit for paper QSLs and "R" for request (or sent to), "Y" for Received (or QSL matched) and "V" verified for Verified by (or credit bought) for LOTW.

Remember that just because you have a QSL match in LOTW, you can't count the QSL for awards until you 'buy' it from LOTW using their credits (which you have to purchase). Ain't no such thing as a free lunch!

Gene W5DQ

"... My local postal staffers freak out when asked anything abut IRCs because they see them so seldom ..."

I seldom see a flat tire but I know how to change one when I do see one. Just because they seldom see them is NO excuse for not doing something that is clearly spelled out in U.S. Postal Regulations as well as International Postal Union regs, of which the U.S. postal Service is a member.

The reason I mention this is that I get the same reaction when I ask about IRCs here too. I just quote page and paragraph from the U.S. Postal Regs and make'em look it up in their copy. The PO is required to have a copy so if they don't, the Postmaster needs to be called on the carpet for that screwup. Make sure you know which IRCs are currently valid and don't accept an outdated one. I had my PO clerk pull out outdated ones to sell me and I had to tell them those aren't valid no more to which I get more puzzled (and angry) looks. It's ok for me as I bowl on a league with the Postmaster and he is good friend.

Stan,

Actually it can be tedious sometimes, a bit of a pain to find the information for adddresses, etc. but I would not call it boring, at least for me. I would think I can safely speak for all buro volunteers that if it were boring, we probably would not do it. I enjoy seeing all the various cards that pass thru my hands on way to the intended QTH. I get to meet (although usually by mail or email) many more hams than I might otherwise.

It definitely a much more winter time activity than summer, except here in the Mojave desert where we tend to be sort or reversed on seasons. I'd much rather be outside at 40 to 50 degrees F working on antennas than 110 to 120 degrees F like in summer. Much easier to work on metal when its cold than when it feels like it just came out of the foundry

73 to all,

Gene W5DQ

Hello all,

Normally I don't post to much on forums but as a Segment Manager for the ARRL W6 Incoming DX QSL Bureau (i.e. bureau), I recently completed cleaning up a sizeable backlog of what is refered to as 'Orphan QSL cards'. These are cards that come into the bureau destined to calls that do NOT have an account with bureau. As most of you are aware, the bureau is run by volunteers and all postage expenses to do a final delivery of cards are paid from the funds supplied by the account holders. So in this larger stack of cards (almost 300), each destined call had to be contacted to either notify or re-fresh their memory if previously notified that they had cards waiting and needed to act to get those cards to them from the bureau.

In the process, I found that a large percentage of the intended calls did not have any email posted on QRZ.COM or other sources. If you do QSO with DX stations, you will eventually recieve DX QSL cards. To help out your bureau workers (regardless of call area) I would suggest that you do the following:

1) Ensure your bureau account is up to date and has adequate funds. Usually it only needs to have $5 in it to get your cards to you unless you are the lucky reciepient of hundreds of cards and then the postage will behigher so have more on hand.

2) If you change QTH, be sure and notify your DX bureau of the new address. You may also be transferred to a different call area bureau. Also you are required to update the FCC of your new address per license regulations. We use the FCC database to find people too.

3) It helps if you have an active email account on record. Placing it in your profile on QRZ.COM or eHAM will help out a lot. I don't intend for this post to cause a deluge of information to all bureau workers but it can be frustrating to have a pile of cards and no one to deliver them to cause the intended call has moved with no fwding info and is out of touch with the bureau.

4) If you do not want cards via the bureau, put an statement on your QRZ.COM or eHam profile stating so, up front and large letters. Not that it will stop all cards but it may help out to reduce the load of unwanted cards. These do not get sent back through the bureau like undeliverable mail. They get round filed.

I think I speak for all the ARRL bureau volunteers when I say we want to get your cards to you in a timely fashion but need your help in doing so.

73 and Gud DX'ing,

Gene Brewer W5DQ

I highly recommend that you DO NOT use anything like chain link fence top rail unless it is guyed properly if you have any high winds in your area. If you do, be prepared to replace it very soon. I had used a 11 foot piece of 1 3/8" top rail that was mounted on a roof top tripod and had a 4 foot piece of fiberglas surplus masting as a insulator offset for a simple wire antenna. There was minimal weight on the mast, only the 4 ft section and a small wire antenna across the top. After a sizeable wind storm out here in the Mojave Desert with gust upwards around 70 mph, the top rail pipe simply bent in a arc and was pointing to the side instead of straight up. I actually had this same setup on a matching tripod on another building about 85 ft away and it also bent but no as pronounced. Needless to say, I replaced the pipes with a stronger steel setup and guyed the heck out of it. 2 years, several wind storms and still all in place.

Gene W5DQ

Although I have worked on many amplifiers and transceivers, I can't provide direct answers to your questions about materials and such. I would recommend that unless you just have to 'roll your own', from what you have described, you're going to end up with something in the class of a Ameritron AL-811H.

From my own experiences with design, building and fabrication, unless you have a full set of tools to do quality metal work for the chassis, you'll end up with a 'Frankenamplifier' unless you outsource the metal work for added costs. Also unless you can spec out all the required components from one or two competent sources, piecemeal shipping of parts is going to push your project budget up and over what can be had ready built.

Just some things to consider in managing a project. Years ago when there were radio parts 'palaces' everywhere, you may have been able to get parts cheaply but today it isn't uncommon to pay more for shipping than the cost of the part(s) when buying as onesey-twosey method.

Good Luck on the project. If you do keep with it, I'd suggest photos and videos along the way to provide insight for others and maybe you'll consider an article for some mag (QST, QEX, CQ, etc.)

W5DQ

If you're 35 and younger, stop wasting time and do it before it goes up more.

If you're under 50 and in decent health, you should be able to 'recoup' the investment. If you family life expectancy is low, say death before age 65, maybe you should do the every 3 year renewal.

If you're 50 and over, health may be a major contributing factor. It is a fact that men usually die younger than women and that the average age of men today is upwards of 70+ so again it should be a good thing for both sexes. If you're in great health and family life expectancy is really up there, say over 70 or more, I'd say go for it.

I got my Life membership in my late 40's and feel it was money well spent. Wish I had done it back when I was first licensed in the mid-70's. Sure would have saved some money on the Life fees.

W5DQ

Either flavor will work now days. There might be a slight advantage in favor of a Windows based machine for ham-oriented software.

Which ever one you get make sure the keyboard has a SHIFT key so that the text can be typed properly with the correct syntax of captial letters to make it more readable

Appears to be an issue only on the AMPLIFIER forum. I looked at other forums here on QRZ and they don't appear to have this repeating post syndrome?

Weird at best. Seems to be happening in original post and reply postings too.

Never sold anything for delivery in Canada but I have bought a couple items from Canadians. Had to pay a sizeable tariff on incoming items. Bought a TS-440S a few years ago from a ham in Quebec and ended up paying for the radio, UPS shipping fees and another US$25 charged by UPS (seperate billing about a month later) for tariffs, duties, whatever you want to call it. And it took an additional 10 days to get the item here to California above the standard week of waiting for the UPS driver to find the West coast.

I don't buy or sell outside the US no more due to events like these. Not worth the hassle when selling things on eBAY when you already are being gouged out the ying-yang by eBAY and Paypal fees.

Now having said that, not sure if the same duties and such still apply if one ships via USPS, FedEx or others outside the US. I would imagine they do. I ship pkgs only USPS Priority Mail or FedEX now if at all possible. I avoid UPS like the plague.

I mainly do S&P during contests especially the ones where there is lots of DX on so that I may be able to pick up a few new ones I need. Having said that, I do occasionally call CQ to see what happens. I rarely generate a pileup being in California (I mean who hasn't worked that rare California DX . If I know that the frequency is used by a long time standing net, I tend to avoid it. However if the net isn't in session and there is a DX station there, I'll wade in a attempt to work him. If a net station comes on frequency and starts trying to bully people off to hold the frequency and the DX was there first, I ignore the net station and continue with the contest. It's a matter of following the rules which state that no one owns any particular frequency and we're not to interfere with established communications IN PROGRESS. A listed net frequency is NOT IN PROGRESS. A net in session is. If I happen to be on a frequency and a net station comes on and politely asks if I could move up or down since they have a net to start up in a few minutes, I have no problem in doing so. But I won't move if someone demands I move and I was there first. I have a tape recorder and would be happy to supply the FCC with a tape should they bully their way in and interfere with me. I would expect no different if I were trying to bully in myself, which I don't do.

Contests can be fun. I know from personal experience that contests can be frustrating to non-testers as I was one for many years before the contest bug bit me. I like the thrill of working thru a pileup to achieve a new DX contact in the big contests. It's just a matter of personal preference but we all need to learn to play together else someone may close the sandbox someday.

73 and see ya in the 'test,

Gene W5DQ

Not sure what 'event' could have been as I was tuning the amp into a dummy load when the 'smell' occurred - no bang, no pop, no sound - only the burnt component smell. However the 811A looks like a catastrophic meltdown happened as the plate is well deformed. If the PS in indeed in tact as it measures and appears like, I guess I should count my lucky stars.

I'll update this thread when I get more info for those interested.

Gene W5DQ