Good question!! Give it a try and see if it drives the DXCC desk nuts trying to figure this one out

John K7KB

Just worked HD8A up on 12M CW. Not a strong signal, but strong enough to get a Marathon point for the year and a band fill

John K7KB

Actually, you are not the only one. I always feel that if you have to break the rules to attain a certain award then you always know in your heart that you didn't deserve it. So it's much more fun and challenging to do it right. It wasn't that hard to attain 30M DXCC using 200 watts.

John K7KB

No, you are not wrong. Class I towers (Amateur, CB) are exempt from the icing ratings according to TIA-222G. I had to take documents into my local B & P department showing this before they would let me proceed with my permit. It certainly doesn't hurt to have the higher rated tower but it was an extra expense you didn't need to pay.

John K7KB

What?? You don't think those guys tuning up their amps on 30 meters are playing by the rules?
 

John K7KB

10 meters could be like that again next fall under the right conditions. During fall of 2011 we just happen to have a peak in the solar flux during the fall equinox which is optimum for that band. I had just installed my tower/SteppIR and was having a blast

John K7KB

Yep back then working Midway, Wake, Johnston, and others was not a big deal. Lots of military still stationed at those locations to keep it active. And although my Yaesu FTDX-560 couldn't compare with transceivers now, it still did a pretty good job of working some of the rare ones

John K7KB

I'm sure Slim has been to most every entity on the DXCC list so that also makes him one of the biggest DX'peditioners in history. That guy gets around

John K7KB

I think the last time I worked Norfolk Island was when Jim (VK9NS) was running the net back in the early 80's, so it was nice to work someone from there again. Is Kirsti still on the island? If so, I hope she is doing well. I see that the 2014 Heard Island expedition is dedicated to Jim and Kirsti as it should be.

John K7KB

Jim (AB4D): That's one of the biggest obstacles I had when I went to apply for tower permit, the ignorance of most Building and Planning departments in regards to the construction and engineering of most Amateur Radio towers. They try to lump it together with Wireless Communications Facilities (Cell towers) and as we both know they are not the same. For example, at first my local B & P department wanted me to supply welding engineering and specifications for a pre-built US Tower TX-472 as if I was building the tower from scratch. Also, the engineering guy there had no concept on how a crank-up tower worked. I tried to explain it over the phone, but ended up setting up a meeting with him so I could show the person a video on my iPad of someone cranking up the tower. And mind you I'm not saying these guys are stupid, but they just don't deal with Amateur Radio towers often enough to know what engineering specs should apply.

Another thing that compounds the problem is that because of the hassles and expense of getting a permit, fewer and fewer hams are applying for them. So that makes it worse for us smucks that actually try to do the right thing I eventually did get my permit, but it wasn't cheap and if I had to do it over again, I'll probably move somewhere a lot more Ham Friendly than where I'm at now.

John K7KB

And as those poor martians in "Mars Attacks", I think my head is going to explode! <SPLAT!>  

John K7KB

It's great to see the support offered to the DX'pedition so far. Let's keep the ball rolling!!

John K7KB

True, but even if I was outside working in the yard or in the garage, I would have my iPhone set to spot knowing I was only a short sprint to the ham shack

John K7KB

It sucks not to be retired. And then the wife wanted to go out for dinner last night. I complained, but it didn't do much good He was barely audible on 17M last night but I was hoping his signal strength would build and I would be able to give it a shot but when we got back he was on 20 RTTY. Forget that, what a zoo! Now he's on 12M this morning and you can forget that path to the West Coast. Looks like he's working EU anyway. I keep hoping that someday there will be a large scale operation from there, multiple days, on all bands. I'll keep trying but so far it doesn't look promising.

John K7KB

"Press Release

Since our last Press release early last month, we have a great deal of
news to report.

We have received the call sign FT5ZM.  It is a good call sign and we
thank TAAF for their cooperation.  Two new team members have joined the
team of fourteen. They are Neil, VA7DX and Andy, UA3AB.  Both men are
veterans of many DXpeditions and add expertise to the list of operators.

 Several more sponsors have joined in with their support, Spiderbeam,
Cycle 24 Antennas, and Array Solutions.  Array Solutions will be
providing the new OM Power amplifiers for our low band operations.

The team will assemble in Perth, Australia on January 10/11, 2014.  The
DXpedition vessel Braveheart will arrive on January 12th and loading of
equipment and personal items will begin. The North Coast Radio Group of
Western Australia, along with Alek, VK6APK, will be offering logistical
support to the FT5ZM Amsterdam Island DXpedition Team.  The VK6's will
assist in obtaining masts, ground rods, electrical hardware, and some
medical supplies.  This will result in a substantial decrease in the
bulk and weight of material that the team has to ship from the U.S.  We
plan to depart for the 9 day trip to Amsterdam Island on January 15th.

We are grateful to the growing list of DX Foundations, DX Clubs and
individual DXers who have contributed toward the DXpeditions expenses.
NCDXF, INDEXA, ARRL/Colvin and several European based DX Foundations
have made unusually large commitments.  They are aware of the extreme
cost of the venture at over $400,000. (see our budget on the website.)

However, thus far, we have only raised just over 53% of the money that
we need to complete this DXpedition.  As payments on the vessel begin
next month, we must ask the world-wide DX community for their support.
Visit our website at: www.amsterdamdx.org and contribute whatever you
can.  We need your help.

Thanks.we will update you monthly until departure."

I know sometimes it's hard to come up with a few extra $$$ at times, but if you can I'm sure the guys setting up this DX'pedition would appreciate the help. I realize there is no guarantee of a QSO, but that's especially so it they can't get there at all.

John K7KB