What operating system? Do you have to kill the program and restart, or is a reboot required?

Rich, you forgot to mention that ham Romeo Stepanenko who claimed to operate from P5 but was never there (he was in Vladivostok at the time).  That's part of the story too.

http://hamgallery.com/gallery/R/Romeo/

That's great, John.  And BTW, thanks for the new one on 160!

Not yet

Do you mean back up as in back-up secondary rig?  Why not invest that money on your antenna system instead?  $500 will go a long way.  Might even get you a directional antenna for the higher bands or a nice vertical for the lower ones (or maybe both!)

I meant to say that Gene's last post had me cracking up.

AF3Y/Gene, that last post had me on the floor in laughter!

Folks, let's remember something here.  Some folks learn best by reading.  Others remember by pictures.  Others are audio learners, learn by hearing.  Still others are kinsethetic, learn by doing.  Some are a mix, some are extreme one way or another. 

The folks who learn by hands on with someone showing them...are NOT going to learn by reading it.  It just ain't gonna happen, their brains are wired different.  Not better or worse, just different. 

Ever seen smart people struggle in classrooms, but ace the laboratory work?  Those are the kinesthetics.  Folks that "never have to crack a book" are audio learners.  Visual recalls of maps and pictures and places are visual learners.

Just some examples.  I am a strong kinesthetic learner, and an extreme picture/visual learner.  I almost never read the manual except when I get stuck.  I like to ask questions or just power through.  Getting on the air with the Flex radio was a challenge for me, but once I powered through it...it made sense. 

Same with LoTW.  I read the instructions like 6 times.  I sort of understood it, but did not "get it."  Oh, I received the postcard and had my login set OK.  But the certificates, protecting them and backing them up...was all like some dialect of the long lost tribes of Bwana Bunga.  The concept finally clicked one Saturday night late when I was just fooling around with the TQSLCert program.  And I drew out a picture of what was happening.  And it made sense.  If I can diagram it, I get it.

I think somewhere there is a diagram of the process on the ARRL website, but I can't find it. 

Well here's a great written explanation (supposedly) of certificates, which looks to me like chickens in a break-dancing contest.  It means nothing to me as a picture learner.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc776447(v=WS.10).aspx

This is better, but not much.
http://www.digi-sign.com/digital%20certificate/how%20digital%20certificates%20work

To understand LoTW, I needed to know WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON.  I needed to understand some basics of WHY and WHAT.

1. What is ARRL trying to do?  Verify the user and implement some sort of authenticity to the LoTW program.

2. How are they doing it?   Using a digital certificate process.

3. What the HELL is a digital certificate? http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=digital+certificates+identity&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=digital+certificates+identity&sc=1-29&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=DE220764DAAFEE75AEF0257F71C19ABC9E7E19C7&selectedIndex=7

4. How do I get one, how does it work?  http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=digital+certificates+identity&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=digital+certificates+identity&sc=1-29&sp=-1&sk=&&id=04CD0A3FE651BEB5B81BBFFC28E138F9D266D108&selectedIndex=8#view=detail&id=04CD0A3FE651BEB5B81BBFFC28E138F9D266D108&selectedIndex=0

Here is a written explanation that my hard head can understand: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_digital_signature_work

This is a pretty good visual: http://www.youdzone.com/signature.html


The question everyone is asking is why did the ARRL go to such lengths with all this for LoTW?  Integrity of the LoTW process.

Why is it so complicated?  Complicated compared to what?  It's straightforward basic cryptography.  Crypto is not basic, but if somebody shows me with pictures what is being attempted, then I can understand it.

The problem is that I don't think the story and the logic behind LoTW is being told near and far.  Single Side Band?  Oh, EVERYBODY gets why we have SSB over AM.  And CW over spark gap.  But LoTW over mail in?  And LoTW security?  Needs to be a better story told there, in my humble opinion (and so says a bunch of folks who struggle with it).

VA2FSQ - very interesting situation.  Definitely not your station.  I am not hearing them that loud here in US East Coast.  Not sure what their antennas are, though.

It is fun, to see what low power and minimal antennas can accomplish.  Just don't look for any ragchewing to go on with it.

Get the free software JT65-HF.

Here are some good articles:

http://nw7us.us/jt65a.html

http://www.4x4ham.com/content.php?205-Work-the-World-on-10W-An-Introduction-to-JT65A

http://ve3bux.com/files/JT65_Operator_Guide.pdf

http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=82553.0

Wow.  That is a very expensive piece of gear.  To be broken and then not get good service from Yaesu...big time kudos to HRO!

Jonathan, no apologies necessary.  And remember, it ain't braggin' if you can do it (or you already did it)!

Good points, Chris. 

I don't recall making any comments about CB'ers in my post (I got started that way as well as a teenager).  Apologies if I did.  My comment was only referring to the stations who continued to call without listening to the frequency, and who transmitted over the station that S0 was replying to...or just kept calling on top of the S0 station.  I had the same situation as Jonathan, and after listening for 5 minutes I "spun the dial" and decided it was a no-win.  Even if he did hear me, I was not going to be able to hear him. 

Maybe I have not heard a rare DX station operate simplex in awhile (S0 is not, IMHO, rare DX, but that's just me).  But I don't recall that level of chaos on SSB since the 3Y DXped in 1978 when half SSB band on 20 had stations calling him (yep, from 14200 to 14270) hoping they would get a response.  Nobody knew where he would reply to, and there was no single transmit fequency for the DX for split (apparently the method chosen was to operate simplex and just pick a frequency where someone was calling the DX and reply, then move on).  I did not have SSB xmit capability back then, but I remember saying that I was glad I did CW DX only.  Even the CW simplex DX I worked did not seem as chaotic back then, even if it wasn't split. (Also, Chris, I was a lot younger and more patient back then...I am an OT now and I get crabby sometimes!)

For me, the one thing that drives me bananas is when another station calls on top of the DX station (whether the DX is split or simplex).  That one behavior (which includes cops and tuner-uppers) is something I can tolerate for about 2-3 minutes, then I leave the frequency or the shack.  It happend Tue night on 80 and 40 CW with 9U4U.  I was able to come back Wed night and get them  on 40, luckily.  For whatever reason, it's like "nails on a chalkboard" for me and I don't get mad anymore...I just QRT to chase another day.

Back to the S0 station: from my QTH with my hex beam, the EU stations were S9 +20 and the S0 station was S5.  It took several minutes before I could actually hear his signal clear enough to hear him identify himself (did not want to call until I knew it was S0 and I heard the ID).  But by then I was at my limit.

I agree with N3QE, I am ready to pounce as soon as he/she says "split"

I envy your Skyhawk.

Thanks for your comments to Simon, Chris. I think we hams should do everything we can to help Simon succeed in his Burma quest.  I am confident the DX orgs would HAPPILY contribute a rig that has some sort of split capability.

I was looking at the KX3, but I already have FT817, and if I did operating from the couch I would use a laptop and remote control back to the shack.  I don't do backpacking, but I do travel.  If I operate from the hotel, the 817 seems to offer everything I need.

But the KX3 does have me intrigued.  I am watching it closely...

Agreed, Gene.  TX5C was one for the ages; long duration, outstanding ops, well-planned.  Maybe because it happened during the sunspot low that it is still so high on the needed list?

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's DX achievements"

Can't help it.  I need XX9 for ATNO.