It's not really DX, but I think the FFMA (all 488 US grid squares on VHF - http://www.arrl.org/ffma) must be one of the more difficult, life-long awards one could earn. There have only been 5 recipients, and none in the last 2.5 years.

And I agree that WAZ awards are much more difficult than DXCC, at least for me.

Very sad. It's fortunate it wasn't on the island or at sea, I suppose. Luis was one of my first Mexico contacts and he's in my logbook several times, as he probably is for about anyone that chases DX.

WinKeyer USB - http://www.k1el.com/ I think this is pretty much the standard contest keyer. Easily set up with N1MM or pretty much any other contesting software.

VHF/UHF will pretty much be line of sight (plus a bit). You can't defy those laws of physics. For HF, as others have noted, don't worry too much about it unless you're gunning for #1 Honor Roll or something where you want every last dB possible to get over those mountains. My home is at 4600 feet and I have a 10000 foot mountain range just a few miles to the East of me - right in the direction of all the cool and hard-to-get DX (Europe, Africa, Middle East, etc.). I've still managed to work all over these regions with 100 watts and a terrible chunk of aluminum called a vertical and a modest beam.

I worked XT2TT in the DX SSB contest last weekend. I'm not sure who the operator was, but it was a thing of beauty to hear him working the SIMPLEX pileup with at least 100 stations calling him. I just sat and listened for about 10 minutes as he ran an outstanding pace with only occasional repeats. Even though he was relatively weak here in Utah, he pulled my 100 watt signal out of the fray with no problems after only a couple calls.

What an incredible talent and amazing ears to work stations like that!

Except that once that happens every thinks they're now working simplex and so you now have 5 more people calling on the DX frequency. This is a TERRIBLE practice.

The first rule of DXing is to LISTEN. I've found that most DX lately has been very good at telling folks they're working split. Most of the Africa DX today indicated so on EVERY exchange. If you can't hear "Up", how can you ever expect to hear your call sign correctly?

If someone is not listening or is inadvertently on the DX frequency, a simple and infrequent "UP" is usually sufficient.

After they busted my call on 20 meters a few days ago, I was determined to get them in the log for a new one. I pounded away for over an hour on 15 meters before getting in the log, then turned to 17 meters and got them on the second call 2 minutes later. Go figure.

So $10000 on a station and many hours per week in the shack is no problem, but $100/year and a few seconds per card IS a problem? I don't get it.

It's certainly anyone's prerogative to not return bureau cards. I at least hope that you'll indicate such on your QRZ page so that folks can be sure not to work you. At least I know I'm much less likely to work folks that don't QSL, even if I don't need the QSL. It's pretty telling about their motivations for being in and perceptions of others in the hobby.


So your time is more valuable than the time of the person that decided to send you a QSL? Sorry, but that sounds like selfishness to me.

Exactly. I'm pretty amazed at the selfishness expressed by many. It takes less than a minute to fill out a card (and a few seconds if you have a label printing system) and put it in your bureau pile. Send them once a year if it's such a "bother". If you're unwilling to reciprocate a common courtesy of a QSL card, perhaps it's time you stop reciprocating QSOs (or expecting others to do the same for you) and find another hobby that's less demanding and more ingratiating.

I hope that my next rare one doesn't have the same attitude as some of you - "Ugg.. another US buro card. I think I'll just start tossing these in the trash."

To get most very rare DX on the air these days requires as much political negotiating as it does money. It's my understanding that the Clipperton trip helps establish and validate the environmental program that will be used later on Heard.

For a lot of the rare ones (especially US properties) it will only be through coupling with environmental programs and negotiating politics and bureaucracy that activations will be ever possible.

I've struggled to get him in the log for a new one, even though it's a chip shot from here. I just can't get through for some reason with my 100 watts. WOW does he have some great signals though - the entire world had significantly weaker signals on 12m - even the JAs which should have been about the same propagation to here.

He works the pileups like a breeze, except for me, I guess. And definitely except RTTY - boy was that a mess. He was well below 1 QSO per minute with a split pileup that was 20 khz wide. His very long exchange didn't help, nor the fact that he operated for 45 minutes and never once indicated he was working split. He asked folks to send their calls 4 or more times - I suspect he has his software set so it won't reprocess from the previous waterfall data... or something. But it's easy to criticize - cheers to the guy for putting this place on the air.

An electronic keyer makes it much easier to send well-formed CW by converting the dit/dah signals from your key into perfect dits and dahs of the appropriate length. It also enforces minimum spacing. With an iambic key you don't have to worry about tapping the paddles at the exact right moment or holding them down for the exact length of time. The keyer fixes this for you (up to a point, of course).

For example, with my two-paddled key, if I want to send an "N", I can quickly tap the dash paddle and the dit paddle just milliseconds apart and the keyer will send a perfectly formed and spaced "dah dit".

A keyer can also allow iambic mode, which repeats dits and/or dahs by holding down the appropriate paddle. To send an H, I just hold down the dit paddle to make "di-di-di-dit" and release during or right after the last dit. It can also automatically toggle between dit and dah if both paddles are held down. To form a "C", I hold both paddles down (touching the dah paddle first) and the keyer sends "dah-di-dah-dit" and I release during or right after the last dit (which brings up Mode A or Mode B sending of the last dit/dah, which is a different topic).

For comparison, my call sign (N7SMI) with a straight key requires 14 key presses. With an iambic keyer, it takes 7. One "CQ" takes 8 activations with a straight key, but only 3 in iambic mode. This allows much faster and less effortful sending.

In looking at the eave mount, I don't think the top and bottom brackets could possibly be installed 4 vertical feet apart, unless you have a VERY steep pitched roof. The closer together they are, the more torque will be applied to them by the mast and antenna above.

Fortunately, the GP-3 weighs less than 3 pounds and has very little wind load. You might even consider a lighter weight mast (the schedule 80 is overkill, I think) such as a chain-link fence top post. Assuming you don't go to crazy on mast height, and if the eave mount is anchored into something relatively strong, your house will blow over before the antenna will come down. You'll lose little having it a couple feet lower - and the swamp cooler should have little affect on transmit/receive (RF noise may be a different story).

BTW, I have a GP-6 on a similar set up. Mine's on a 6 foot mast. I think you'll be very happy with your GP-3.

He's very good at QSLing direct. I sent a card and a few green stamps in November and had one back in just a few weeks.

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