CQ Amateur Radio Enero-Febrero 2015

Never before has a compact HT offeredas many features, and such high poweredperformance as the TH-F6A. Arm yourselfwith one today and gain your own airwave superiority.

Triband (144/220/440 MHz) Receives 2 frequencies simultaneously

even on the same band 0.1~1300MHz high-frequency range RX (B band)1

FM/FM-W/FM-N/AM plus SSB/CW receive Bar antenna for receiving AM broadcasts Special weather channel RX mode 435 memory channels, multiple scan functions 7.4V 1550mAh lithium-ion battery (std.) for high

output2 and extended operation 16-key pad plus multi-scroll key for easy operation Built-in charging circuitry for battery recharge while

the unit operates from a DC supply Tough construction: meets MIL-STD 810 C/D/E

standards for resistance to vibration, shock, humidity and light rain

Large frequency display for single-band use Automatic simplex checker Wireless remote control function Battery indicator Internal VOX MCP software

1Note that certain frequencies are unavailable. 25W output

Customer Support: (310) 639-4200Fax: (310) 537-8235

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Cushcraft . . . Keeping you in touch around the globe!

Cushcrafts world famous R8 now has a big brother!Big Brother R9 now includes 75/80 Meters for local

ragchewing and worldwide low band DX without radials!Its omni-directional low angle radiation gives you

exciting and easy DX on all 9 bands: 75/80, 40, 30, 20,17, 15, 12, 10 and 6 Meters with low SWR. QSY instant-ly -- no antenna tuner needed.

Use full 1500 Watts SSB/CW when the going getstough to break through pileups and poor band conditions.

The R9 is super easy to assemble, installs just aboutanywhere, and its low profile blends inconspicuously intothe background in urban and country settings alike.

Compact Footprint: Installs in an area about the sizeof a child's sandbox -- no ground radials to bury with allRF-energized surfaces safely out of reach.

Rugged Construction: Thick fiberglass insulators, all-stainless steel hardware and 6063 aircraft-aluminum tub-ing is double or triple walled at key stress points to han-dle anything Mother Nature can dish out.

31.5 feet tall, 25 lbs. Mounting mast 1.25 to 2 inches.Wind surface area is 4 square feet.

R8, $539.95. Like R9 antenna but less 75/80 Meters. R-8TB, $79.95. Tilt-base lets you tilt your antenna

up/down easily by yourself to work on. R-8GK, $59.95. Three-point guy kit for high winds.

R-9$63995

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http://www.cushcraftamateur.comPrices/specifications subject to change without notice/obligation. (C) CushcraftR, 2014.

Cushcraft

RF ChokeDC groundsradiator toprevent staticelectricityfrom enteringyour shack.

BroadbandmatchingtransformerkeepsVSWR low.

Highstrength,high power,low dielectricPC boardmaterial

Stainless steelmachine screwsguarantee baseintegrity.

Dual plate mount makes iteasy to install counterpoises.

Heavy duty stainlesssteel/aluminuminterface plate mountkeeps your antenna upfor years to come.

Coaxialbalun keepsRF offexterior ofyour coax.

SO-239Feedpoint

MoistureRelease vent

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JANUARYLOCUST FORK, ALABAMA The Blount County Amateur Radio Club will hold the

Bill Pond Memorial Freezefest 2015 Saturday, January 3 at Locust Fork High School.Website: . Talk-in 146.700 (PL 91.5). VE exams.

BETHPAGE, NEW YORK The 2015 Ham Radio University and ARRL NewYork/Long Island Section Convention will be held Sunday, January 4 at Briarcliffe College.Website: . Talk-in 146.850 (PL 136.5). VE exams.

GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA The Greenwood Amateur Radio Society willhold the Greenwood Hamfest Saturday, January 10 at the Piedmont Technical College-James Medford Family Event Center. Contact: GARS, P.O. Box 2404, Greenwood, SC29646. Tedd Davison, AI4WN, (864) 377-1872. Email: or . Website: . Talk-in 147.165+ (PL 107.2) or 443.900+(PL 107.2). VE exams.

WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN The West Allis Radio Amateur Club Inc., will hold the43rd Annual Midwinter Swapfest Saturday, January 10 at the Waukesha County ExpoCenter Forum. Contact: Phil, W9NAW, (414) 425-3649. Website: .VE exams.

FOREST HILL, TEXAS The Cowtown Amateur Radio Club will hold the CowtownHamfest 2015 and ARRL North Texas Section Convention Friday, January 16 andSaturday, January 17 at The Forest Hill Civic and Convention Center. Email: . Website: . Talk-in 147.28 (PL110.9). VE exams.

HAMMOND, LOUISIANA The Southeast Louisiana Amateur Radio Club will holdthe 34th Annual Hammond Hamfest Saturday, January 17 at the Magnuson Hotel &Conference Center. Website: . Talk-in 147.000- (PL 107.2),145.130- (PL 107.2), or 444.250+ (PL 107.2). VE exams.

LOVELAND, COLORADO The Northern Colorado Amateur Radio Club will holdits 2015 Hamfest Saturday, January 17 at the Larimer County Fairgrounds, 1st NationalBank Building. Website: . Talk-in 448.025- (PL 100). VE exams.

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI The Jackson Amateur Radio Club will hold the CapitalCity Hamfest and ARRL Mississippi State Convention Friday, January 23 and Saturday,January 24 at the Jackson MS Tradesmart. Contact: JARC, P.O. Box 55643, Jackson, MS39216-5643. Email: . Website: . Talk-in 146.16+ or 146.34+. VE exams.

ARCADIA, FLORIDA The DeSoto Amateur Radio Club will hold its 18th AnnualHamfest in Arcadia Saturday, January 24 at the Turner Civic Center Exhibit Hall. Contact:Doug Christ, KN4YT, (863) 990-2507. Email: . Website: . Talk-in 147.075+. VE exams.

COLLINSVILLE, ILLINOIS The St. Louis & Suburban Radio Club Inc., will holdWinterfest 2015 on Saturday, January 24 at the Gateway Convention Center. Website:. Talk-in 146.760 or 146.940. VE exams.

OLATHE, KANSAS Special Event Station, KSKS, will air from 1600 to 2100 UTC,Saturday, January 24. Frequencies include 28.320, 21.320, 14.250, 10.115, 7.250. QSL aSASE to KSKS, P.O. Box 3144, Olathe, KS 66063. EQSL and LOTW.

LOCKPORT, NEW YORK The Lockport Amateur Radio Association will hold the54th Annual Winter Hamfest Saturday, January 31 at the South Lockport Fire Company.Contact: Steve Ortner, KD2GBD, (716) 491-3158. Email: .Website: . Talk-in 146.22+.

MIAMI, FLORIDA The Dade Radio Club of Miami will hold the 2015 TropicalHamboree in conjunction with Hamboree Mini Maker Faire Friday, January 30 andSaturday, January 31 at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center. Phone: (305) 590-8523.Email: . Website: . Talk-in 146.925(PL 94.8). VE exams.FEBRUARY

ELYRIA, OHIO The Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society will hold its WinterHamfest & Computer Show 2015, Sunday, February 1 at the VFW Post 1079. Contact:Dee Dee, KA8VTS, (216) 398-8858 before 11 p.m. Email: .Website: . Talk-in 146.700 (PL 110.9)

NEGAUNEE, MICHIGAN The Hiawatha Amateur Radio Association of MarquetteCounty will hold the HARA Swap and Shop, Saturday, February 7 at the NegauneeTownship Hall. Contact: Fred Mouser, KD8JIP, (906) 360-3326. Email: . Website: . Talk-in 147.27+ (PL 100).

NORTH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA The Charleston Amateur RadioSociety, Inc. will hold the 42nd Annual Charleston Hamfest and Computer Show andthe ARRL South Carolina State Convention Saturday, February 7 at the Armory ParkCommunity Center. Contact: Greg Amirault, KI4TVA, 109 Four Iron Drive, Summerville, SC 29483. Phone: (843) 469-5305. Email: or . Website: . Talk-in 146.790-, 146.940- (PL 123), or147.045+ (PL 103.5). VE exams.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA The Richmond Amateur Telecommunications Society willhold Frostfest 2015 and the ARRL Virginia State Convention Saturday, February 7 atthe Richmond Raceway Complex. Contact: RATS/Frostfest 2015, P.O. Box 14828,Richmond, VA 23221-0828. Phone: (804) 657-7038. Email: . Website:. VE exams.

SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT The Connecticut Valley FM Association will hold theSpringfield Amateur Radio Swap Fest Saturday, February 7 at the VFW Post 771. Contact:Steve, (802) 885-8110. Email: . Website: .Talk-in 146.760- (PL 110.9).

BRIGHTON, COLORADO The Aurora Repeater Association, The Cherry CreekYoung Amateur Radio Club, and Rocky Mountain Ham Radio will hold Swapfest 2015Sunday, February 8 at the Adams County Fairgrounds. Contact: Wayne, NPOH, (303)699-6335. Website: .

ORLANDO, FLORIDA The Orlando Amateur Radio Club will hold the OrlandoHamcation 2015 Friday, February 13; Saturday, February 14; and Sunday, February 15at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. Contact: OARC, (407) 841-0874 or (800) 214-7541.Email: . Website: . Talk-in 146.760-,147.015+, or DSTAR 146.820-. VE exams.

BROWNSBURG, INDIANA The Hendricks County Amateur Radio Society will holdthe 2015 Brownsburg Hamfest Saturday, February 14 at the American Legion Post 331.Email: . Website: . Talk-in 147.015+.

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2 CQ January/February 2015 Visit Our Web Site

EDITORIAL STAFFRichard S. Moseson, W2VU, EditorJason Feldman, WPC2COD, Associate Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSKent Britain, WA5VJB, AntennasJoe Eisenberg, KNEB, Kit-BuildingTony Emanuele, WA8RJF, VHFRichard Fisher, KI6SN,

Emergency CommunicationsCam Hartford, N6GA, QRPTomas Hood, NW7US, PropagationIrwin Math, WA2NDM, Maths NotesTed Melinosky, K1BV, Awards & USA-CARon Ochu, KOZ, Learning CurveJeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, Mobile/Radio MagicDon Rotolo, N2IRZ, DigitalBob Schenck, N2OO, DXTom Smerk, AA6TS, InternationalGeorge Tranos, N2GA, ContestingGordon West, WB6NOA, Short CircuitsWayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, The Ham Notebook

AWARD MANAGEMENTJohn Bergman, KC5LK, WAZ AwardSteve Bolia, N8BJQ, WPX AwardKeith Gilbertson, KKG, CQ DX AwardTed Melinosky, K1BV, USA-CA Award

CONTEST MANAGEMENTAndy Blank, N2NT, CQ 160 Meter Contest Steve Bolia, N8BJQ, CQ VHF ContestEd Muns, WYK, CQ RTTY ContestJohn Sweeney, K9EL, CQ DX MarathonRandy Thompson, K5ZD, CQ WW DX ContestTerry Zivney, N4TZ, CQ WW WPX Contest

BUSINESS STAFFRichard A. Ross, K2MGA, PublisherEmily Leary, Sales CoordinatorDoris Watts, Accounting Department

CIRCULATION STAFFCheryl DiLorenzo, Customer Service Manager

PRODUCTION STAFFElizabeth Ryan, Art DirectorDorothy Kehrwieder, Production DirectorEmily Leary, Production ManagerHal Keith, IllustratorLarry Mulvehill, WB2ZPI, Staff PhotographerRod Somera, Webmaster

!PUBLICATIONOFCQ Communications, Inc.25 Newbridge RoadHicksville, NY 11801 USA.

CQ Amateur Radio (ISSN 0007-893X) Volume 71, Nos. 1 & 2.Published monthly by CQ Communications, Inc., 25Newbridge Road., Hicksville, NY 11801, Telephone 516-681-2922. E-mail: [email protected]. Fax 516-681-2926.Web site: www.cq-amateur-radio.com. Periodicals PostagePaid at Hicksville, NY 11801 and at additional mailing offices.Subscription prices (all in U.S. dollars): Domestic-one year$38.95, two years $70.95, three years $102.95; Canada/Mexico-one year $51.95, two years $96.95, three years$138.95: Foreign Air Post-one year $63.95, two years $120.95,three years $177.95. U.S. Government Agencies: Sub-scriptions to CQ are available to agencies of the United Statesgovernment including military services, only on a cash withorder basis. Requests for quotations, bids, contracts., etc. willbe refused and will not be returned or processed. Entire con-tents copyrighted 2015 by CQ Communications, Inc. CQ doesnot assume responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Allowsix weeks for change of address.

Printed in the U.S.A.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CQ Amateur Radio, 25 Newbridge Rd., Hicksville, NY 11801#ONTINUEDONPAGE


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Work amazing DX with these extremely low radia-tion angle omnidirectional antennas. All self support-ing, 1500 Watts PEP SSB, low SWR. Heavy duty, slot-ted, tapered, swaged, aircraft quality aluminum tubing.Stainless steel hardware. Two year limited warranty.

AV-680, $549.95. 9 Bands: (6,10,12,15,17,20,30,40,80 Meters). 26 ft., 18.5 lbs. Our most popular verticalnow has 75/80 Meters! Lets you work exciting DX with alow 17 degree radiation angle! Easily mount on decks,roofs, patios. No ground or radials needed. Extra wide2:1 SWR bandwidths. Each band tunable. Auto band-switching, handle 1.5kW, 80 MPH wind survival, low2.5 sq. ft. wind surface. Aircraft aluminum tubing,stainless steel hardware.

AV-640, $449.95. Like AV-680 less 80M. 251/2, 171/2 lbs.AV-620, $349.95. Like AV-640 less 40M. 221/2/101/2 lbs.AV-14AVQ, $179.95. (10, 15, 20, 40 Meters). 18 ft.,

9 lbs. Classic AV-14AVQ uses same trap design asfamous Hy-Gain Thunderbird beams. 3 air dielectricHi-Q traps with oversize coils give superb stability and1/4 wave resonance on all bands. Automatic bandswitching.

AV-12AVQ, $139.95. (10, 15, 20 Meters). 13 ft., 9lbs. Lowest priced automatic bandswitching tri-bandvertical! Uses Thunderbird beam design air dielectrictraps for extremely hi-Q performance in limited space.

AV-18VS, $119.95. (10,12,15,17,20,30,40,80M). 18ft., 4 lbs. Hy-gains lowest priced vertical gives you 8

bands. Easily tuned to any band by adjusting base loading coil. See our website for even more hy-gain vertical antennas!

Hy-gain beams are stronger, light-er, have less wind surface and lastyears longer. Why? Hy-gain usesdurable tooled components -- massiveboom-to-mast bracket, heavy gaugeelement-to-boom clamps, thick-wallswaged tubing -- no failures!

TH-11DX, $1159.95. 11-element,4.0 kW PEP, 10,12,15,17,20 Meters.The choice of top DXers. With 11-elements, excellent gain and 5-bands,the super rugged TH-11DX is theBig Daddy of all HF beams!

Features low loss log-periodic driven array on all bands with mono-band reflectors, BN-4000 high power balun, corrosion resistantwire boom support, hot dipped galvanized and stainless steel parts.

TH-7DX, $869.95. 7-Element, 1.5 kW PEP, 10,15,20 Meters.7-Elements gives you the highest average gain of any Hy-gain tri-bander! Dual driven for broadband operation without compromis-ing gain. SWR less than 2:1 on all bands. Combined monobandand trapped parasitic elements give you an excellent F/B ratio.

TH-3MK4, $469.95. 3-Element, 1.5 kW PEP, 10,15,20 Meters.Gives most gain for your money in full-power, full-size hy-gaintri-bander! Impressive gain and a whopping average front-to-backratio and still fits on an average size lot. 95 MPH wind survival.

TH-3JRS, $359.95. Compact 3-Element, 600 W PEP, 10,15,20Meters. Hy-gains most popular and lowest-priced tri-bander fitssmallest lot, 14.75 ft turning radius, 21 lbs. Excellent gain and front-to-back let you compete with the big guns! 80 MPH wind survival.

Antennas and Rotators

HAM-IV . . . $649.95The most popular rotator in the world! For medium

communications arrays up to 15 square feet wind load area.New 5-second brake delay! New Test/Calibrate function.New low temperature grease permits normal operationdown to -30 degrees F. New alloy ring gear gives extrastrength up to 100,000 PSI for maximum reliability.New indicator potentiometer. New ferrite beadsreduce RF susceptibility. New Cinch plug plus 8-pin plug at control box. Dual 98 ball bearing racefor load bearing strength and electric lockingsteel wedge brake prevents wind inducedantenna movement. North or South center of rotation scale onmeter, low voltage control, max mast size of 21/16 inches.

HAM-VI, $749.95. For medium arrays up to 15 sq. ft. wind load.Like HAM-IV but has new DCU-2 Digital Rotator Controller. Justdial in your beam heading or let your computer control your antenna.

HAM-VII, $799.95. Like HAM VI but with DCU-3 digital con-troller with six programmable memories.

Tailtwister T-2X . . . $799.95For large medium antenna arrays up to 20 sq. ft.

wind load. Choose DCU-2 digital controller (T-2XD2)or analog control box (T-2X) with new 5-second brakedelay and new Test/Calibrate function. Low tempera-ture grease, alloy ring gear, indicator potentiometer,ferrite beads on potentiometer wires, new weather-proof AMP connectors plus 8-pin plug at controlbox, triple bearing race with 138 ball bearingsfor large load bearing strength, electric lockingsteel wedge brake, N or S center of rotation scaleon meter, low voltage control, 21/16 max. mast.

T-2XD2, $899.95. Tailtwister with DCU-2 digital controller. T-2XD3, $949.95. Tailtwister with DCU-3 digital controller

with six programmable memories. AR-40, $349.95. For compact antenna arrays and FM/TV up to

3.0 sq. ft. wind load. Dual 12 ball-bearing race. Fully automatic. CD-45II, $449.95. For antenna arrays up to 8.5 sq. ft. Bell rota-

tor design gives total weather protection. Dual 58 ball bearing race.

Rotators . . . the first choice of hams around the world!

Visit http://www.hy-gain.com

Antennas, Rotators & Towers308 Industrial Park Road, Starkville, MS 39759 USAToll-free Customer Sales Hotline: 800-973-6572 TECH: 662-323-9538 FAX: 662-323-6551

http://www.hy-gain.comPrices and specifications subject to change without notice or obligation. (C) Hy-GainR, 2013.

V2R, $109.95. 2-Meter verticalhas two in-phase 5/8 Wavecollinear radiators for exceptionalhigh omnidirectional gain. It hastwo sets of quarter wave radialsthat decouple radiator from mast.Covers 138-175 MHz. SO-239,handles 500 Watts. 9 feet. V4R, $109.95. UHF vertical. Like

V2R but covers 400-475 MHz. Type N,handles 500 Watts, 4 foot. V42R, $169.95. Dual band covers 144/440 MHz bands. Two 5/8 Wave collinears.

VB-214FM,$89.95. 14-element2-Meter FM beamantenna providesexceptional front-to-back ratio andmaximum obtainable gains. VB-23FM, $49.95. 3-element. VB-25FM, $59.95. 5-element. VB-28FM, $79.95. 8-element.Threaded stub for feedpoints. Acceptsup to 2 inch mast. DB-2345, $89.95. Dual band 144 (3-elements) 440 (5-elements) MHz.

HF Verticals HF Beams

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New DCU-3 Digital Controller lets you pro-gram 6 beam headings! Gives you fully auto-matic or manual control of your hy-gain HAMor Tailtwister Rotators.

Push a memory button or dial in your

beam heading or let Ham Radio Deluxe (orother program) control your DCU-3. Yourantenna automatically rotates precisely andsafely to your desired direction.

Free Hy-Gain Catalogand Nearest Dealer . . . 800-973-6572Call your dealer for your best price!

DCU-3$44995

Digital Rotator Controller with 6 Programmable beam headingsNew!


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January/February 2015CONTENTS

VOLUME 71 NUMBER 1 & 2

10 SEVENTY YEARS OF AMATEUR RADIO AND CQ, PART I: 1945-1980 "Y2ICH-OSESON765

16 THE CQWW 160-METER CONTEST: A WINTERTIME CONTESTING ADVENTURE "Y"OB(OUF+:"

18 RESULTS OF THE 2014 CQ WW VHF CONTEST"Y3TEVE"OLIA."*1

26 FM FINDS A HOME IN VHF CONTESTING"Y"OB7ITTE+.2

30 DXING THE GUANO ISLANDS"Y%DMUN"2ICHMOND79/

33 ANNOUNCING: THE 2015 CQ WORLD-WIDE WPX CONTEST36 THE VIEW FROM (OF?) STEWS ... A GLIMPSE OF TOP-

BAND HISTORY "Y"OB(OUF+:"40 ANNOUNCING: 2015 NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR THE CQ

AMATEUR RADIO, DX, AND CONTEST HALLS OF FAME42 ANNOUNCING: THE 2015 CQ WORLD-WIDE WPX RTTY

CONTEST45 OP-ED: ONE READERS OPINION TOO HIGH SPEED

IN CW"Y2OD!LESEN+!44

46 MATHS NOTES: Food for Thought"Y)RWIN-ATH7!.$-

52 CQ WORLD WIDE: Indian Hams Work to Loosen Licensing Restrictions "Y4OM3MERK!!43

56 QRP: Some Serious QRPp Work and Some Serious QRPAntennas "Y#AM(ARTFORD.'!

62 HAM NOTEBOOK: A is for Arc, G is for Ground"Y7AYNE9OSHIDA+(7:

68 MOBILING: Going Minimal Mobile"Y*EFF2EINHARDT!!*2

70 KIT-BUILDING: Building Techniques: Kits Are Hard To Resist"Y*OE%ISENBERG+.%"

72 MAGIC IN THE SKY: How Cool Is That?"Y*EFF2EINHARDT!!*2

75 ANTENNAS: Manufacturing Coax"Y+ENT"RITAIN7!6*"

79 LEARNING CURVE: Making Cans Better! CQ Reviews: Heil Sound Pro 7 Headset Mic

"Y2ON/CHU+/:

48 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS: Past Success Prompts Indian Officials to Call Up Radio Amateurs for Cyclone Hudhud

"Y2ICHARD&ISHER+)3.86 VHF PLUS: VHF/UHF History Part II: 50 MHz, Continued

"Y4ONY%MANUELE7!2*&89 AWARDS: Award Programs That Grow Over the Years

"Y4ED-ELINOSKY+"692 DX: DXers and the Local Ham Radio Club, and We Welcome a

New DX Editor "Y"OB3CHENCK.//98 CONTESTING: Murphy Strikes Again

"Y'EORGE4RANOS.'!103 PROPAGATION: Electromagnetic (EM) Force, Part One

"Y4OMAS(OOD.753

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS8 ZERO BIAS9 HAM RADIO NEWS

50 SPURIOUS SIGNALS85 READER SURVEY

110 HAM SHOP

10

18

16

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plusplus (digital edition only)

116 MANY (MOUSE) EARS AGO: A STORY OF LIFE IN THEDISNEY RADIO SHOP, PART I

"Y*AY5NDERWOOD7"79*

120 FLASHBACK: SHOPPING FOR A BROADCAST BAND RADIO IN THE 1920s

"Y*#ONRAD&LEMMING

FEATURES

COLUMNS113 WASHINGTON BEAT: FCC and Capitol Hill Actions Affecting

Communications "Y2ICHARD&ISHER+)3.

114 THE LISTENING POST: Shortwave Listeners Protest the Shutdown of REE

"Y'ERRY$EXTER70#',$

125 MORSE CODE: Going Boldly: CW Space The Final Frontier"Y2ANDALL.OON+###2

128 ACROSS THE SPECTRUM: Reader Opinion: Why Digital Ops Should Stand Staunchly Against ARRL-Backed RM-11708

131 OFF THE AIR: What Weve Got Here Is Failure to Educate "Y#ORY'"3ICKLES7!566

134 PRACTICAL PROPAGATION: Two Interesting Issues Tied to 160-Meter Propagation

"Y#ARL,UETZELSCHWAB+,!

138 TRAIL-FRIENDLY RADIO: Thinking Differently About the Radios We Wish Were Field-Ready

"Y2ICHARD&ISHER+)3.

142 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS: Proper Care and Especially Feeding, of Your CB, GMRS, or MURS Antenna

"Y#ORY'"3ICKLES7#1#3

146 EASY DOES IT: A Super Simple NPN-PNP Transistor Identifier You Can Build

"Y2ICHARD&ISHER+)3.

149 RADIO DRAMA: That Rascal! Uncovering Pops Subterranean Secret

"Y2YAN!RCHER+#1+0(

151 UNWIRED: The Weirder Side of Wireless and Beyond "Y2ICHARD&ISHER+)3.

152 AERIALS: W6SAIs Remarkably Simple, Highly Efficient 10-Meter Yagi

"Y+URT.3TERBA

116

125

131

138

CQ PLUS FINAL EDITIONDear Readers: This is the Final Edition of the CQ Plusdigital supplement. We thank you for your support andwill continue to serve you through the pages of CQsbasic print and digital editions. See page 8 for details.


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System Fusion is designed to enable seamless intercommunication between conventional FM and C4FM Digital using a single unified platform, without manually switching between the communication modes.

The Best Solution for the FutureSystem Fusion provides Total Integration of Digital and Conventional FM

FM Friendly Digital Auto Mode Select (AMS)&

System Fusion - C4FM Digital makes possible 9600 bps data speed utilizing 12.5 kHz bandwidth. 9600 bps data transmission speed enables the high speed data communication and provide the new attractive digital functions to expand your enjoyment of the amateur radio communication.

The Choice of C4FM Digital New Attractive Digital Functions&

FMFM

FM

Digital

Digital

Digital

AMS transmit

This is made possible in System Fusion by the Auto Mode Select (AMS) function. With AMS, the modulation mode of your station is automatically selected according to the received signal. If a member transmits the conventional FM, the other System Fusion radios automatically select their modulation to conventional FM and permit communication between all members.

Digital Group Monitor (GM)Automatically checks whether members registered to a group are within the communication range, and displays the distance and the direction with each call sign on the screen.

Smart NavigationReal-time navigation function enables Location checking at any time. With the simple touch of a button, you can start navigating to your departure point or any location previously saved. (Backtrack Function)

Snapshot (Image Data Transmission)Simply connect an optional speaker microphone with camera (MH-85A11U), you can take snapshots and easily send them to other System Fusion radios.

System FusionLineup

4/a+


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Welcome to the 70th anniversary issue of #1. It kindof boggles my mind to write that, since my first sig-nificant work on this magazine was coordinating its50th anniversary edition 20 years ago. Also slipping by in thepast couple of months was my 15th anniversary as Editor. IfI recall my #1history correctly, that would make me the sec-ond-longest serving editor, after K2EEK (SK), in our 70 col-lective years of publication.

The changes in our hobby over the past seven decadeshave been nothing short of astounding. Of course, thats trueof our society in general. After all, I am sitting here typing thison my iPad, which was the stuff of science fiction as recent-ly as the 1970s. When radio amateurs returned to the air-waves after World War II, they were operating separate trans-mitters and receivers, all of which used vacuum tubes, andmuch of which was home-built. Licenses were Class A, B,and C, and your choice of modes was either CW or AM phone.

In the intervening 70 years, weve gone to six license class-es and back to three, from hollow state (tubes) to solidstate, from license exams only at FCC offices to volunteerexamining just about everywhere, and from AM phone toSSB and FM to digital voice. CW is still CW, but the handkey and bug of the 40s have been joined by electronickeyers and computer keyboards. On the receiving side, ourears and brains can now get help from a wide variety of com-puter code-reading programs (more on that later).

With all these changes, though, some things haveremained remarkably consistent, most notably the type ofpeople who are drawn to amateur radio. As a group, we haveendless curiosity, a tremendous amount of knowledge on awide array of topics (not all of which have anything to do withradio), an amazing willingness to share that knowledge witheach other, and an unwavering commitment to helping ourneighbors in times of need. While the technology of the 21stcentury may be alien to a ham of the 1940s, the characterof todays hams would be totally familiar.

Another interesting thread of consistency ... as I was writ-ing the paragraph above about changes in our technology,I realized that along with my main transceivers for homeand mobile use, my growing collection of QRP gear includesa crystal-controlled CW transmitter and a separate crystal-controlled receiver; several items Ive built myself and a cou-ple of good old-fashioned hand keys. A ham from the 40swould find the use of transistors instead of tubes amazing,but would otherwise feel right at home using this gear. Onthe other hand, watching code messages being spelled outon my computer screen by Ham Radio Deluxe would blowhis mind, as would the concept of using the computer to con-nect with and operate someone elses radio several hun-dred or several thousand miles away. (It blows MYmind, andIm a ham from the 70s, not the 40s!)

Elsewhere in this issue, you will find part one of a two-partreview of the past 70 years in ham radio and CQ history,covering the years from 1945 to 1980. Part two will be alongnext month, and we'll have several other anniversary-relat-ed articles over the course of the year. Stay tuned.

Taking My Own AdviceLast November, this columns topic was Becoming a

Newbie (Again), and we encouraged readers to try some-thing new and different and to broaden their ham radio expe-riences. One of the things I havent tried in a very long timeis CW contesting. The guys calling CQ have always beenjust too blankety-blank fast for me (and yes, I passed a 20word-per-minute code test back in the day). Requests to slowdown were often met by stations turning UP the speed andcalling CQ. I gave up on operating CW contests, even our

own, many years ago. But since I had recently figured out thesettings to get the audio from my receiver into the ears ofHam Radio Deluxes Digital Master program whichcopies CW as well as keyboard modes I decided it mightbe time to try CW contesting again, if for no other reason thanto see how well HRD does at decoding CW on a packed band.

I learned a few things: First, the program does as well asor better than any other CW decoding program Ive ever tried.But no program is perfect on a band full of signals of varyingstrengths and noise in between them. I still needed to listenfor myself to make sure the info appearing on my screen wascorrect. So, as much as some people complain that CW read-ing programs make it possible to operate a CW contest with-out knowing Morse code, the truth is that they cannot.

You must confirm what the program is copying; you mustbe able to pick out your callsign when youre getting aresponse; and especially in a program such as HRD that usesa waterfall to display a number of transmissions on a rangeof frequencies, you must be able to copy enough of what'sbeing sent to know whether the signal you're SEEING is thesame as the signal you're HEARING! And when the signal isdown in the noise, you've just plain got to use your ears.

Overall, I made a whopping 50 contacts in a couple ofdozen countries on all continents. I wont be winning anyplaques, but I was quite happy that I managed to success-fully operate in a CW contest at all.

There is still a basic problem, though, that discouragesnewcomers to CW contesting, all in the name of speed andefficiency. Rod, K9ATT, explains quite eloquently in his Op-

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Combined Issue and Other ChangesAs most of our print edition subscribers are aware, our

efforts over the past year to get our printing and mailingschedule back on track have not been successful. In a fur-ther effort to get back on schedule, or at least closer to it,the issue you are reading is a combined January/February issue. The QRP Special, which normally runs inFebruary, will appear this year in the March issue. Theresults of the 2014 CQ World Wide Foxhunting Weekendwill run in March this year, as will the Digital Connectioncolumn originally scheduled for February. All other contentis as planned. !LLSUBSCRIPTIONSBOTHPRINTANDDIGITALWILLBEEXTENDEDBYONEMONTHBECAUSEOFTHECOMBINED*ANUARY&EBRUARYISSUE

In addition, for digital edition readers, this issue is thefinal one in which our CQ Plus supplement will appear.Despite our best efforts, the economics simply are not thereto support a digital-only magazine at this time, either on itsown or in combination with a print magazine.

This does not mean that our coverage of the radio hobbyoutside the ham bands is going away. Over the past sev-eral months, we have included in the print edition a num-ber of articles that were originally intended for #10LUS,due to either their broad interest level or a tie-in with anoth-er article in the issue. We are planning to continue pub-lishing occasional articles on the broader aspects of theradio hobby in #1, so if you have something good and inter-esting about shortwave listening, scanning, or personaltwo-way radio of any sort, let us take a look at it. Well behappy to consider it.

It is our sincere hope that these further changes will pro-vide the boost we need to get everything back on sched-ule and keep it there. We greatly appreciate your patience,loyalty, and understanding through the past, very difficult,year; and we hope youll stay with us as we begin our nextchapter as well as our eighth decade of publication. 765

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Hitchin a Ride A Japanese space mission to visit an asteroid

launched in early December included two hitch-hikers,amateur radio satellites Shinen 2 (JG6YIG) and ART-SAT2:DESPATCH (JQ1ZNN), the two latest ham satel-lites to venture beyond Earth orbit (a recent Chinesemoon mission also carried a downlink-only ham satel-lite). According to the !22,,ETTERthe two satellites willhave an elliptical deep-space orbit around the sun,between Venus and Mars. The satellites should remainin Earths equatorial plane and their orbit will take thembetween 65 million and 121 million miles from the Sun.

Shinen 2 carries a CW beacon and a telemetry trans-mitter, as well as a digital store-and-forward transponderwith an uplink on 2 meters and a downlink on 70 cen-timeters. ARTSAT2:DESPATCH carries a sculpture builtby a 3-D printer as well as a 7-watt transmitter sending outCW on 437 MHz. The satellite carried only batteries andno solar panel, so its estimated operating time was onlyabout one week. One of the first reception reports, accord-ing to the AMSAT News Service, came from MichalZawada, SQ5KTM, who reported monitoring both satel-lites two days after launch from a distance of approximately1.1 million kilometers, or 683,500 miles, from Earth.

A third satellite, called SpinSat, was launched Novem-ber 28 from the International Space Station. Built by theU.S. Naval Research Laboratory, its prime mission is totest new micro-thruster technology. But it also carries anamateur packet radio store-and-forward system on437.230 MHz. It was expected to operate for approxi-mately six months.

Frequency Set to Be Adapted for TV4HE(OLLYWOOD2EPORTER says NBC has signed on for

a pilot of an adaptation of the 2000 Dennis Quaid movie,Frequency, as a possible new series. Many hams willrecall this movie, since it was built around the stars useof ham radio to do something most of us cannot talkacross time. There was no timetable given for possibleairing, or any indication of whether any of the moviescast members might return for a TV version.

If Frequency does get the green light to become aseries, it would be the second current prime-time seriesto feature amateur radio, along with the occasional butmuch more realistic portrayals of the hobby on ABCsLast Man Standing.

IARU Calls for All-Out Effort on 60 MetersThe International Amateur Radio Union is encourag-

ing all member societies to seek support from theirrespective governments for a worldwide amateur allo-cation on 60 meters (5 MHz). Currently, the U.S. andseveral other countries allow amateurs secondary useof the band. In the U.S., it is the only channelized hamband. The next World Radiocommunication Conference(WRC-15), later this year, is slated to take up a propos-al for a worldwide secondary amateur allocation on 5MHz. The !22,,ETTER reports that IARU President TimEllam, VE6SH, sent a letter to all member organizationssaying that getting a band at 60 meters is one of themain goals at WRC-15 for the Amateur Radio Service.The IARU is made up of national amateur radio associ-ations from around the world.

NJ Ham Group Enters InnovationCompetition

The 721st Mechanized Contest Battalion, a group ofyoung hams from New Jersey, has entered itsEmergency Antenna Platform System (E-APS) in theBoca Bearings Innovation Competition, which offers

prizes for innovative projects using any sort of bearings.The E-APS is a robotic device that can carry an anten-na up virtually any parking lot light pole and use is as anad-hoc tower. Applications for emergency communica-tions and other portable operations are obvious. Thegroup has demonstrated the system at Dayton, the NewYork Maker Faire and the ARRL Centennial Convention.To learn more, visit .

Ham Radio Included in Updated NationalEmergency Communications Plan

The latest update to the U.S. Department of HomelandSecuritys .ATIONAL%MERGENCY#OMMUNICATIONS0LAN,or .%#0, specifically includes amateur radio as aresource for supporting or sustaining communications inan emergency or disaster. According to the !22,,ETTER,the new plan says amateur radio operators can beimportant conduits for relaying information to responseagencies and personnel when other forms of communi-cations have failed or have been disrupted. It also urgedthe inclusion of amateur radio representatives onstatewide interoperability planning or steering commit-tees. The 2014 update is the first since the plan was orig-inally rolled out in 2008.

New Study Casts Further Doubt on HealthRisks from Weak Magnetic Fields

For nearly 40 years, there have been fears among somesegments of the public that there was somehow a tie-inbetween the magnetic fields created by cell phones, powertransmission lines, and radio transmitters and diseasessuch as leukemia. The FCC has even issued strict guide-lines limiting exposure to RF fields, even though there hasnever been a conclusive study showing a cause-and-effectrelationship, and no mechanism connecting magneticfields and human illness has ever been found.

Now, a new study by Englands Manchester Instituteof Biotechnology published in Decembers *OURNALOFTHE2OYAL3OCIETY has apparently ruled out one of theprime candidates. The website MedicalXpress.comreports that the team from Manchester studied theeffects of weak magnetic fields, or WMFs, on FLAVOPROTEINS, a class of proteins responsible for a variety of vitalfunctions in the body. Their research showed nodetectable impact of WMFs on flavoprotein functioning.One of the papers authors said that while more workneeds to be done on other possible links, this study def-initely takes us nearer to the point where we can say thatpower lines, mobile phones, and other similar devicesare likely to be safe for humans. (Tnx WA5VJB)

Industry News: Call Him Dr. Heil; DXEngineering Buys Bencher & ButternutAntennas

The University of Missouri-St. Louis granted an hon-orary Doctor of Music and Technology to Bob Heil,K9EID, during its December 20th commencement cere-mony. Heil was recognized for his contributions to theworld of broadcast, live and studio sound, and innova-tions in amateur radio, according to a news release. Bobalso spoke at the commencement. (We hope the uni-versity was using a Heil mic!)

DX Engineering has purchased Benchers Skyhawkand Skylark Antenna lines as well as the ButternutAntenna line. It will continue manufacturing all modelsand will carry all the service, repair, and replacementparts required to keep these antennas in good oper-ating condition.

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January 1945 World War II is stillraging. Allied troops in Europe arefighting the Battle of the Bulge,which turns out to be the final majorGerman offensive of the war. In thePacific, Allied forces are slowly recap-turing islands from the Japanese.Amateur radio ... does not exist, havingbeen shut down indefinitely in the U.S.immediately after Pearl Harbor. But asthe tide of war turned in favor of theAllies, former hams were starting todream of its return, as were radiomenin military units who had begun to fall inlove with the idea of exchanging mes-sages without wires.

In New York City, two magazine men Sanford Cowan and John Potts took a leap of faith and rolled out thefirst issue of a brand new ham radiomagazine called #1.

Cowan and Potts were not hams; theynever had been and never were, evenafter the birth of #1. They had pur-chased a West Coast magazine called2ADIO, which had covered amateurradio, broadcasting, and the emergingfield of audio. Its focus was alreadyshifting toward audio, but the shutdownof amateur radio at the start of the warnonetheless took a big toll on 2ADIOsreadership.

Potts and Cowan hadnt planned tostart a new ham magazine the directsuccessor to 2ADIO was !UDIO %NGINEERINGmagazine but according toCowan, in an interview for the 50thanniversary edition of #120 years ago,

the magazine you are reading was bornbecause the FCC didnt want 134 tobe the sole voice for amateur radio.

#1WASSTARTEDBYMEDURINGTHEWARAT THE INSTIGATION OF # #OWANRECALLED7EHADONESUCCESSFULMAGAZINE134FORMANYYEARS)WASPUBLISHING OTHER MAGAZINES AT THE TIME#OMMISSIONER&LY*AMES,&LY##HAIRMAN ED SUGGESTEDTHAT)STARTAHAMMAGAZINETOCOMPETEWITH 134 ) TOLD HIM THAT WOULD BEIMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE ) HARDLY HADENOUGHPAPERTOPRINTTHEMAGAZINES)WAS ALREADY PUBLISHING JUST ABOUTEVERYTHING INCLUDING INK AND PAPERWERERATIONEDDURINGTHEWAR ED(ETHENSAID THATHEDGETME THEPAPERQUOTAIF)DPROMISETOSTARTTHEMAGAZINE3O THATSHOW IT STARTED )TWASPRACTICALLY AMANDATE FROMPEOPLE IN7ASHINGTONWHODIDNTWANT134TOBEALONEINTHEBUSINESS

Cowan and Potts printed 10,000copies of the new magazine, and quick-ly sold them all. #1 was on its way ...even though ham radio itself still had towait until the war ended. Amateur radioactivity was allowed to resume band-by-band, starting with the old 2-1/2meter band just four days after VJ Dayin August 1945. It took more than a year,until November 1946, for all of the hambands some old, some new to bereactivated. One exception: 160meters, which was still being heavilyused by the LORAN navigation systemfor ships and aircraft.

Of course, its difficult to run a hamradio magazine without any hams mak-

ing editorial decisions, and one of thefirst things Potts and Cowan did was tobring on board Larry LeKashman,W2IOP, as Assistant Editor, although,according to several people involvedwith #1 in the early days, LeKashmanreally ran the book. [After leaving #1in 1949, LeKashman went to Electro-Voice, the microphone manufacturer,where he rose from Sales Manager toPresident; and then to Lafayette Radio,

CQ turns 70 years old this month! As we begin our 71st year of continuous publication, we decided to look back at where weve beenand how weve gotten to where we are today. We start out with a lookat our hobby and our magazine during CQs first 35 years.

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where he was Executive Vice President. When LeKashmanwas at ElectroVoice, that company was owned by Al Kahn,K4FW, who later became a co-founder of Ten-Tec.]

Several columnists from 2ADIO joined the #1staff, addingto its foundation of accomplished hams. These included DXEditor Herb Becker, W6QD; YL Editor Amelia Black, W1NVP;and UHF Editor Josephine Conklin, W9SLG, who had co-edited 2ADIOs UHF column with her husband, Bill, who wasstill serving in the Navy in #1s early days. Also joining thestaff in those early days was Oliver P. Perry Ferrell hewas never a ham but was the leading authority of the day onpropagation forecasting, and his column helped demystifythe then-new science for the average ham. Ferrell alsoserved as #1s Managing Editor from 1951 to 1955, whenhe left to become founding editor of 0OPULAR%LECTRONICS.

From the start, #1 provided readers with articles on lead-ing-edge technology, but always with a practical focus. In theMarch 1946 issue, Jack Babkes, W2GDG, introduced #1readers to narrow-band FM, an article that laid the ground-work for all of todays VHF-FM amateur communications. Ayear later, #1 introduced the grid-dip meter, which becamean essential tool for designing and testing antennas fordecades to follow. The late 40s also saw the release of aflood of cheap surplus military communication gear, some-thing that radio manufacturers hated but hams loved. So did

#1, which relied heavily on surplus advertising during its firsttwo decades.

An Existential ThreatHam radio came close to being wiped out once again in 1947,when various commercial and government interests attempt-ed to get amateur frequencies re-allocated at the Atlantic CityInternational Radio Conference, the precursor of todaysWorld Radio Conferences, or WRCs (THERESONESCHEDULEDLATERTHISYEAR). Hams lost parts of the 80-, 40-, 20-, and 10-meter bands as a result, but also came away with a new bandat 15 meters. (%VERWONDERWHYMETERSENDSATORMETERSAT-(Z4HE!TLANTIC#ITYCONFERENCEISYOURANSWER)

In 1947, #1 re-introduced the Worked All Zones award,which debuted in 1934 under the sponsorship of 2 maga-zine, which was later absorbed into 2ADIORights to theaward were part of the package that Cowan and Potts boughtfrom 2ADIOs previous owners. Only the InternationalAmateur Radio Unions Worked All Continents (WAC) awardis older than WAZ, which remains one of amateur radiosmost prestigious awards.

Also in 1947, #1sponsored the first #1$8-ARATHON asan effort to promote DXing activity as the hobby came back

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to life. After one year, the Marathon wasrenamed the #1 7ORLD 7IDE $8#ONTEST, which is today the worlds mostpopular amateur radio contest and, quitepossibly, the worlds biggest sportingcompetition. (4HE#1$8-ARATHONWASREVIVEDINASAYEARLONGCOMPETITION INTENDED TOHELPSTIMULATE(&$8ACTIVITY IN BETWEEN CONTESTWEEKENDSAND$8PEDITIONS ED)

The late 1940s and early 1950s sawthe introduction of transistors (which134 said were unlikely to find much usein amateur radio, except perhaps inaudio amplifiers) and single sideband,which was fought tooth-and-nail bymany AM traditionalists. #1 promot-ed the new mode, however, with manyarticles and even a new contest focusedon SSB the precursor to todays verypopular CQ WPX Contests.

One of the things that helped SSBfinally catch on was that it was far lesslikely to cause TVI (television interfer-ence) than AM or at least less likelyto be clearly audible through a TV speak-er and TVI became a major problemfor hams as the popularity of televisiontook off after World War II. One out-growth of the TVI battle was increasedpopularity of mobile operating. #1 ledthe parade there with Bill Orrs 2ADIO!MATEURS-OBILE(ANDBOOK.

The early 50s also saw a majorchange in amateur licensing. In 1951,the FCC replaced the old Class A, ClassB, and Class C licenses with Advanced,General, and Conditional Classes; cre-ated a new Amateur Extra Class license(with no additional operating privi-leges); the Technician Class licensewith all privileges above 220 MHz; andthe one-year, non-renewable, Novicelicense with HF privileges on 80 and 11meters (yes, 11 meters), limited toMorse code, crystal control, and 75watts maximum power, along withphone privileges on part of 2 meters.Seven years later, 11 meters was with-drawn from ham use to open the doorfor CB.

Solid State and Ham Radio inSpaceFrom a ham radio perspective, the mid-to-late 1950s saw continued growth ofsingle sideband, newer and betterantennas, and the introduction of tran-sistors to ham gear. #1was the firstham magazine to devote a column tosemiconductors, written by Don Stoner,W6TNS, beginning in December 1957.

In his April 1959 column, Don waswriting about the growing popularity oftransistors in VHF circles. Currently

being tested,he wrote, is a solar-pow-ered six meter to two meter transistorrepeater which could be ballooned overthe South West. Can anyone come upwith a spare rocket for orbiting purpos-es? Don later said that was basicallya throwaway line, but it turned out thatsome hams at Lockheed did ... and thatstarted the ball rolling for the launch (lit-

erally) of the amateur satellite programin late 1961. It was also Don who coinedthe term /3#!2 for Orbiting SatelliteCarrying Amateur Radio.#1 was also the first ham magazine

to have a space communications col-umn, starting in December 1960. It waswritten by Propagation Editor GeorgeJacobs, W3ASK, who was also a mem-

#1CELEBRATEDTHELAUNCHOF/3#!2ONTHECOVEROFITS*ANUARYISSUE

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ber of the original Project OSCAR teamand a co-founder of AMSAT some yearslater.

Speaking of propagation, the late 50sand early 60s saw the peak of solarcycle 19, the most active sunspot cycleof the radio age. It was accompaniedby some of the best DX ever, andGeorges Propagation column helpedhams get the most out of these once-in-a-lifetime conditions. George wrote#1s propagation column for more than50 years. Todays Propagation Editor,

Tomas Hood, NW7US, is only the thirdperson to hold that position in our 70-year history.

The only other position at #1 to beheld by so few people is that ofPublisher, held only by co-founderSanford Cowan; his son Richard,WA2LRO; and Dick Ross, K2MGA, whojoined the staff in 1960 as AssistantEditor, became Editor in 1964 andPublisher in 1979, when he and then-Editor Alan Dorhoffer, K2EEK, pur-chased the magazine from CowanPublishing.

Incentive Licensing, Radiosfrom Japan and 2-Meter FMThe early 1960s saw more transistorsshowing up in ham gear, more single-sideband rigs and the first nibbles byJapanese manufacturers into the U.S.ham market. Much of the decade,though, was dominated by debate overso-called incentive licensing, a still-controversial move, proposed by theARRL in 1963 and not decided by theFCC until 1967. The result was that theFCC subdivided most of the HF hambands by license class, giving exclusiveallocations to Advanced and Extra Classlicensees and removed some privilegesfrom Generals. Many Generals neverforgave either the ARRL or the FCC forthe change.

Ham radio emergency communica-tions began moving to the forefront ofthe hobby in the 1960s. While an earth-quake in Alaska in 1946 demonstratedthe capabilities of a reborn amateur ser-

vice in providing emergency communi-cations, the massive quake that struckAlaska in 1964 cemented our reputationfor being able to communicate whenall else fails.

The beginning of the 1970s saw #1s25th anniversary, the birth of our QRPcolumn, and the return of our novice col-umn, which continues today asLearning Curve, the only regular col-umn in a ham magazine focused onnewer hams. The early 70s also sawthe beginnings of the 2-meter FM revo-lution, as repeaters began to grow inpopularity. So did solid-state VHF rigs,more and more of which were made inJapan. Japanese HF rigs were makinginroads as well, such as the classicKenwood TS-520, while the bigAmerican manufacturers of the 50sand 60s began to back out of the hammarket or close down altogether.

In mid-November 1974, the seventhamateur radio satellite successfullyplaced in orbit was launched. The trulyamazing thing about AMSAT-OSCAR 7is that it is still functioning today onits own terms, only in sunlight buthams are still using it to make long-range contacts, 40 years later!

The mid-70s saw yet another restruc-turing of licensing by the FCC, as dis-cussions began on a no-code license totry to attract more newcomers to thehobby. That was still many years downthe road, but in 1976, the FCC gaveTechnicians all Novice privileges andgave Novices a power boost from 75 to250 watts and freed them from therestrictions of crystal control.

The end of the decade saw the FCCchange the callsign system to the onewe have today and institute instantupgrades, although license examswere still administered by FCC staff,and usually at FCC offices; computersbegan showing up in ham shacks andsome enterprising hams tried connect-ing computers over the air using some-thing called packet radio.

The biggest event of the late 70s,though, was WARC-79, the WorldAdministrative Radio Conference thateventually gave us three new HF bands,30, 17, and 12 meters, still known todayas the WARC bands.

Coming Up Part II of this article will cover the yearsfrom 1980 to the present. We are alsoplanning additional articles over thecourse of the year on various specificaspects of both #1s and amateurradios history over the past sevendecades. Stay tuned

!S#1ENTEREDITSTH YEAROFPUBLICATIONITDIDSOUNDERNEWOWNERSHIPASSTAFFERS $ICK 2OSS +-'! AND !L$ORHOFFER+%%+PURCHASED IT FROM

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N3FJP Amateur Contact Log 5.0 is Now Available N3FJP Software has updated its AC Log 5.0 program. Some of the enhance-

ments include:

A band map DX spotting zoom scale and rig tracking features added QRZ Callbook image and biographical display on call tab LoTW identification of DX spots The ability to save current rig settings from Rig Interface form The ability to adjust CW character spacing for PC generated CW Frequency privileges display form remembers last license class selected on

next display The ability to disable Watch List form display on Call tab The ability to disable list matches on Country field tab for users country, to

speed tabbing through the Country fieldWhen you upgrade, please be sure to follow these upgrade steps for AC Log:

. Upgrades are provided free toregistered users, including N3FJP Software Package users.

Note: h7HATS.EWvISNOTAPRODUCTREVIEWANDDOESNOTCONSTITUTEAPRODUCTENDORSEMENTBY#1)NFORMATIONISPRIMARILYPROVIDEDBYMANUFACTURERSVENDORSANDHASNOTNECESSARILYBEENINDEPENDENTLYVERIFIED

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The snap and crackle of the oldwood burning stove occasionallycame through the headphones asI tuned the transceiver one more timeup from the bottom of the 160-meterband, listening for CQ TEST from anew one.

Hours had passed since wed finishedstringing the inverted-L antenna withthe two counterpoise wires (Photo A).The driven vertical element was only 10

feet off the ground and we were still wor-ried that the height of the counterpoisewires might garrote an elk or mule deer.But nightfall had come, and with it, theanxiety slowly faded. That much cop-per wire strung across a possible gametrail could have made for a wild night,but the storm most likely kept the biganimals down. With that much snow onthe ground, it was anyones guesswhere their trails ran.

All the carefully designed antennaplans were upset by a howling snowstorm the night before that plastered thecabin (Photo B) and the toweringPonderosa pines (Photo C) with a deep,

fresh coat of powdery snow. Temper-atures both outside in the forest andnow in the cabin (Photo D) were rapid-ly dropping as the cold front that blast-ed through at just the wrong timepassed over us.

Dave, AB7E, (Photo E) had done hisbest trimming of the antenna for anacceptable match and the amplifier wasputting out a good 600 watts withoutbreaking a sweat. Or a final. Or four ofthem old 1625s in parallel stillworking like a team of draft horses in aBudweiser beer commercial.

Holding Off the ColdThe old stove did a fine job of holdingoff the cold January winter outside thecabin as long as you kept it fed. Inthe wee hours of the morning when thefire died down and the other operatorwas asleep the cold began to seepthrough the cabin walls and made yourfeet ice cold. You wished you could propthem up on top of the amplifier to keepthem warm because you wouldnt thinkof taking time off to stoke the fire andmiss a new multiplier. The cabin lightswere turned down and the soft red glowfrom the four finals looked warm eventhough it didnt contribute much to thecabin comfort. When it got cold enough,the icy air in the cabin bedroom wokeup the sleeping operator, who wouldstumble down from the loft and toss inmore logs.

The band sounded as crisp and clearas the night sky looked after the storm the noise level was amazingly low upin the high country of Arizona, awayfrom the electrical noise generated inthe city. At 7,500 feet above sea level,with Ponderosa pines that towered 200feet above ground for antenna sup-ports, we had a near-perfect radio loca-

This months CQ World Wide 160-Meter CW Contest part radiocompetition, part winter adventure, at least for some of us! K7ZB shares his memories of cold-weather contesting with AB7E in the Arizona mountains.

7KH&4::0HWHU&RQWHVW$:LQWHUWLPH&RQWHVWLQJ$GYHQWXUH

BY BOB HOUF*, K7ZB

37INTER,N'ILBERT!:EMAILKZB YAHOOCOM

0HOTO!4HEPINEYWOODSOF!RIZONASMOUNTAINSMAKEAGREATQUIETLOCATIONFOROPERATINGTHE#177-ETER#ONTEST,OOKCAREFULLYANDYOULLSEETHEFEEDLINEFORTHEINVERTED,ANTENNAINTHECENTEROFTHISPHOTO0HOTOSCOURTESY

OFTHEAUTHOR


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tion to operate CQs annual top-bandCW DX contest.

Ghostly SignalsAs we tuned across the band, signalswould magically appear out of the etheras if they were ghosts. Dead, eerie quiet then a signal would rise up, and withthe filter adjusted just so, it was musicto our ears. Unless you have experi-enced a near-zero radio noise-levelreceiving location, it is hard to describethe sensation. It is addictive. Modestcontest stations were easy solid copy even the lowest-powered stationswere loud but gave us a challenge astheir inability to hear us made for manyunanswered calls.

The keyer pounded out our CQTEST, and as the band lengthened outfor the night, we began to fill in ourstates, Canadian provinces, and coun-tries. Surprisingly, we inched closer andcloser to working each state and nowextra attention was paid to find and workthe last few before sunrise.

The band was peaking as I called CQand paused many stations were call-ing, with several that stood out for notonly their signal strength but crisp key-ing with careful timing to break the pile-up on Arizona. One of them was an HAwho had a beautiful 579 signal and wasriding over the top of many other sta-tions. I jerked back in my chair and whis-tled at hearing the call, then made sureI was really copying Hungary and quick-ly sent the exchange.

An Amazing Smorgasbord 160 meters had again delivered anamazing smorgasbord of DX as the HAwas added to the growing list of multi-pliers. In order to make sure that signalwas real, I emailed the HA after the con-test and confirmed the contact yes,indeed, it was a good and true contact.

As time ran out we found our last state a clean sweep of all 50 states on 160meters in one weekend contest

See you in this years contest!

0HOTO"#OZYBUTBLANKETEDWITHSNOW+:"AND!"%gSCABININTHEWOODSWASKEPTWARMBYANOLDWOODSTOVEWITHHELPFROMTHEFOURTUBESINTHEIR

WATTAMPLIFIER

0HOTO#4ALL0ONDEROSAPINESMAKEEXCELLENT SUPPORTS FORWIRE ANTENNAS"UTASNOWSTORMJUSTBEFORETHECONTESTMADE IT HARD TOMOVEAROUNDAMONG

THEM

0HOTO$.ICE ANDWARM INSIDE THECABINASLONGASSOMEBODYREMEMBEREDTOKEEPADDINGLOGSTOTHEFIREINTHESTOVEAUTHOR+:" LISTENS FORA

NEWONE

0HOTO%&ELLOWCONTESTER$AVE'ILBERT!"%LOGSANOTHERTOPBANDCONTACTFROMTHESTATIONINTHEWOODS

www.cq-amateur-radio.com January/February 2015 CQ 17WorldMags.netWorldMags.net

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Not the best of times, not theworst of times! This is howNIW describes the 2014CQ VHF contest. Depending on whereyou operated from, the contest waseither very good (Europe) or not quiteas good (everywhere else). From thescores reported and the comments byK9AKS, the European 6-meter, ops hada great time while most of NorthAmerica struggled until the last fewhours of the contest.

Marshall, K5QE, summed up the con-test from the North American side ofthe world:

4HECONTESTSTARTEDOUTSIMPLYTERRIBLE4HEREWASNOPROPAGATIONATALLON3ATURDAYANDTHEMOONROSEABOUTAMON3UNDAY7EHADAGREATRUNON%-%THEREAFTER4HEWEEKENDCOINCIDEDWITHTHE$5"53METERDIGITAL%-%

;%ARTH-OON%ARTH= CONTEST SO THEREWEREALOTOFGUYSONFROM%5THATWEREWORKINGTHEIRCONTEST7EMADE%-%CONTACTSTHISTIMEMOSTLYFORNEWGRIDSINTHECONTEST4HATISANEWRECORDFORUS3IXMETERSFINALLYOPENEDUP3UNDAYAFTERNOONSOWEHADA LOTOFGOOD%SCONTACTS)DONTREMEMBERTHEEXACTGRIDCOUNTONMETERSBUTITWASINEXCESSOFGRIDS3OEXCEPTFORAVERYSLOWSTARTWEDIDFAIRLYWELLTHISYEAR7EWORKHARDER AND TRY HARDER FOR THIS CONTESTTHANANYOTHER6(&CONTEST4HERULESFORTHE#1776(&CONTESTARETHEMAINREASONWHYTHISCONTESTISTHEBEST6(&CONTESTTHATWEHAVEv

For the first time, the most logs werereceived from outside of North America(375 to 371). The 746 entries weredown a bit from the 2013 record. WhileNorth American submissions weredown, entries from Europe and Asiaincreased by about 60. Total Qs weredown about 10,000 from last year but

grids activated stayed the same at 417.Rovers activated 111 grids and 23 ofthose were unique grids. Thanks, guys.

Now for a few words from our recordscustodian, Curt, K9AKS:

7HILEMANY.ORTH!MERICANOPERATORSWEREGRUMBLINGABOUT THEBELOWAVERAGEMETERCONDITIONS%UROPEANSTATIONSWERECELEBRATINGEXCELLENTCONDITIONS ON THAT BAND AND BREAKINGNUMEROUSALLTIMERECORDS4HEPREVIOUS HIGH NUMBER OF METER 13/SMADEIN%UROPEWASBY-ULTIOP55!IN4HISYEAREIGHTENTRIESEXCEEDEDTHATTOTALTHREEOFTHEMWORKINGOVER4HISYEARTHESIXHIGHEST%UROPEANSCORESEVERWEREPOSTEDINTHE METERONLY CATEGORY LED BY3!S/F THEHIGHESTMETERONLY%UROPEANSCORESINTHEHISTORY OF THE CONTEST OF THEMWEREPOSTEDTHISYEAR%UROPEANENTRIESINOTHERCATEGORIESBENEFITEDFROMTHEGOODMETERCONDITIONS$,/-BARELYEDGEDOUT('7IN THE ALLBAND CATEGORY TO4HEIRTWOSCORESWERETHEHIGHESTSCORESEVERFROM%UROPEINTHECATEGORYTHEPREVIOUSHIGHBEINGSCOREDBY$,/- IN(!+$1AND 58+! TWO 120 STATIONS HADEXCEPTIONAL SCORES OF AND RESPECTIVELY THE SECOND ANDTHIRDHIGHESTEVERFROM%UROPE)NTHE-ULTIOP CATEGORY (!7S WAS THE THIRDHIGHESTEVER IN%UROPE4HEIR 13/SON SIX AND THE WORKEDBY!-32ARETHETWOHIGHEST-ULTIOPMETER13/TOTALSEVERWORKEDIN%UROPE"EYONDTHEBIGYEARONSIXIN%UROPEWEFINDONLYAFEWSCORESTHATSTACKUPAGAINSTSCORES FROMPREVIOUSYEARS )NTHE(ILLTOPPERCATEGORYTHEPOINTSSCOREDBY(!620WASTHETOPSCORETHISYEARANDTHESECONDHIGHESTEVERIN%UROPE )N THE METERONLY CATEGORY%/&REACHEDOVERTHEHIGHESTEVERFROM5KRAINE&INALLYALTHOUGHHEWASNOTABLETOBENEFITFROMMETERCONDITIONSIN%UROPEBECAUSEHEWASROVINGAROUND)LLINOISAND)OWA!#2!2SCOREDOVERHISTORICALLYTHEFIFTHHIGHEST ROVER SCORE FROM THAT REGION

5HVXOWVRIWKH&4::9+)&RQWHVW

By STEVE BOLIA*, N8BJQ

EMAILNBJQ CQAMATEURRADIOCOM

4HE%!8OPSASSEMBLINGTHEMETERBEAM


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WorldMags.net

4HE RECORDS PAGES AT HTTPWWWCQWWVHFCOMSHOULDBEUPDATEDBYTHETIMETHISARTICLEISPUBLISHED

USABob, K2DRH, topped the all-band cate-gory with a fine 101,000 score. Jay,W9RM, was second; Bruce, KG6IYN,finished third (SEE "RUCEgS 5NOFFICIAL,EFT#OAST2EPORT ELSEWHERE INTHIS ARTICLE ED), followed by Jim,W4RX, and Ken, WETT. All of the 6-meter propagation started and ended atW5PRs QTH. Chuck worked 484 sta-tions in 155 grids for 75,000 points. Tom,WD5K, was second, followed by Austin,N4WW; Emil, W3EP; and Vince, KSIX.The 2-meter title goes to Don, NL7CO,followed by Ron, KARYT; and Todd,N4QWZ. Steve, WI2W, takes theHilltopper title with Zack, W9SZ, secondand the Oregon Summits on the AirAssociation manager, Steve, K7ATN,finishing third. Official records keeperCurt, K9AKS, is number one in the QRPcategory with an excellent 11,500-pointeffort. Steve, N2CEI, used his newportable setup (see photo) to take sec-ond with Axel, N8XA, coming in third.Wyatt, ACRA, did a great job to cap-ture the Rover title with Darryl, WW7D,placing second; and N2SLN in thirdplace. In the Multi-op category, Marshall

and crew at K5QE (W7XU, NQJM,K5MQ, AE5VB, K5QE, N5YA, KE5VKZ,WA5FWC, and VE3WY, ops) took ad-vantage of a good EME multiplier totalto take the top spot. The gang at K2LIM(KA2LIM, W9KXI, KB2YCC, andWA3CSP, ops) made the best of mar-ginal conditions, '2%!4 food, andseveral flavors of home-brewed beerto finish second, with W4MW (K4CEB,K4VCF, W3OA, W4GRW, W4WNT,WW4CP) third. The WopsononockMountaintop, ops W3SO (W3BC,W3BTX, W3IDT, W3TM, WA3TTS,and W3YOZ, ops) came in fourth andN9UHF (K9TMS, N9REP, K9HA,W1MRK, and KM9M, ops.) roundedout the top five.

DXThe World All Band title was hotly con-tested with Roland, DL2OM, edging outGabor, HG1W, for the top spot by 838points. HG1W made more Qs butDL2OM had 32 more grids. Third goesto Dusan, OK1DC; with Nickolay,UT8IO, fourth; and Sergey, US7VF,fifth. This was the year for 6 meters inEurope. Drago, S59A, is the 6-meterchamp with a European record of110,000 points. The next five (E73S,EI9FBB, Z37M, LY1R, and HA8IB) alsobroke the existing European record.

Nikolay, EO6F, had a great 2-meterscore to finish number one in the Worldfollowed by Petro, UT5DV; Karoly,HG5BVK/P; Somjai, E22HUV; andChiradet, HS8JWH. Gyula, HA2VR/P,wins the Hilltopper category withUR5QU less than 100 points behind andHA1WD/P in third. HA5KDQ (HA5IWop) is the QRP champion with Sergey,UX2KA, in second and Luis, EA1SI, inthird. The crew at HA6W (HAMK,HALZ, HA6ZFA, HA5OKU, HA6WX,HALO, and HALC, ops) had the thirdhighest Multi-op score ever in Europefollowed by AM5SR (EA5GF, EA7IYI,EA5HYC, EA5SR,EA5BJ, andEA5HPX,ops) and UZ5ZZZ (UX1HW, UT7HA,UR6HBH, UY1HY, and UW7LL, ops).

Other StuffThanks to an anonymous donor, two

(OWMUCHEXTRAGAINDID+5,3GETFROMTHEBIRDS

TOP SCORESWORLD

USA

All BandDL2OM............94,128HG1W .............93,290OK1DC............40,749UT8IO .............25,920US7VF ............21,670YO6FNA..........10,296

6 MetersS59A .............110,962E73S ...............91,205EI9FBB............90,540Z37M...............83,293LY1R ...............81,940

2 MetersEO6F...............15,552UT5DV ..............5,040HG5BVK/P ........4,428E22HUV ............4,000HS8JWH ...........3,150

HilltopperHA2VR/P...........6,325UR5QU .............6,237

HA1WD/P..........2,640IZ2JNN/IN3 .......1,224HS4WLA/P...........624

QRPHA5KDQ .........68,101UX2KA ............40,256EA1SI..............10,650OK7N ................4,440YL2CV...............3,456

RoverHS8IMH/R............966HS1PYT/R ...........224YU4VIP/R.............198VE3RKS/R .............91

Multi-OpHA6W............239,316AM5SR.........78,210UZ5HZZ ..........60,310J48KEF ...........29,440E2AW ...........26,275

All BandK2DRH.........101,728W9RM............72,504KG6IYN..........50,731W4RX.............26,052WETT..........25,620

6 MetersW5PR.............75,020WD5K.............28,980N4WW............16,072W3EP.............11,440KSIX............11,242

2 MetersNL7CO.............1,440KARYT ..........1,302N4QWZ............1,134KD8NYO .............560

HilltopperWI2W ...............2,375W9SZ...............1,652K7ATN .............1,349

K7NIT..................572K4SME................560

QRPK9AKS ...........11,592N2CEI ..............7,729N8XA................3,619KKQ...............1,960N4TZH ................700

RoverACRA/R.......99,681WW7D/R........59,976N2SLN/R........27,825W3DHJ/R.......22,220W7QQ/R ........20,160

Multi-OpK5QE ...........198,930K2LIM.............69,125W4MW ...........61,728W3SO ............41,820N9UHF...........20,054


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additional plaques will be added for the2015 contest. One will be the MarshallP. Williams, K5QE Highest Portable 2mSingle Band Award for the highest 2-meter, single-band only North Americanentry operating from a location not theirnormal operating location. The intent isto encourage people to go out and acti-vate a grid that is not normally activeand/or to encourage those of us who livein HOA restricted areas to operate FieldDay style.

The second will be the Edward J.'Ned' Sterns, AA7A Worked Most NorthAmerican 2m Grids Award for the sta-tion (any category) that works the mostNorth American grids on 2 meters. If youwould like to sponsor a plaque (or morethan one), please contact me.

Line scores and other boxes will be onthe CQ Magazine website at the sametime the results are published in themagazine. Records and other stuff willbe on the website.

Im not too proud to beg pleasesend in a log even if you work only acouple of stations. If you cant do anelectronic log, I will take just abouteverything (except on a napkin or an 8-

(ERE IS .#%)S NEW PORTABLE SETUP WITH WHICH HE PLACED SECOND IN THE120CATEGORY

GRID LEADERS BY BANDWORLD

USA

Single Op50 MHz

S59A ....................218E73S ....................185DL2OM ................181EI9FBB ................180HA8IB ..................175

144 MHzEO6F .....................81DL2OM ..................41HA5KDQ ................37UT5DV ...................36UY9VY ...................27

Multi Op50 MHz

HA6W ..................203AM5SR..............165UZ5HZZ ...............153J48KEF ................109UT7E....................109

144 MHzHA6W ....................56HG6Z .....................399A5G......................369A1I .......................299A1CEQ.................21

Single Op50 MHz

W5PR...................155W9RM ..................155K2DRH .................125WD5K...................115K7ULS....................97

144 MHzK2DRH ...................51NTV .....................41W4RX.....................34N9DG .....................27KARYT ................21

Multi Op50 MHz

K5QE....................188K2LIM.....................82W9RVG ..................72W4MW ...................66W4NH.....................61

144 MHzK5QE......................97W3SO.....................43K2LIM.....................43N8ZM .....................31W4MW ...................30

Rover50 MHz

ACRA/R.............129W7QQ/R...............109WW7D/R ..............103W3DHJ/R ...............91AF5Q/R ..................74

144 MHzACRA/R...............94N2SLN/R ................43K9JK/R ...................41WW7D/R ................33WB2SIH/R..............27

QSO LEADERS BY BANDWORLD

USA

Single Op50 MHz

Z37M ...................511S59A....................509EI9FBB ................503E73S....................493LY1R ...................482

144 MHzE22HUV ..............250HS8JWH..............225HA5KDQ..............122EO6F .....................96HG5BVK/P ............82

Multi Op50 MHz

AM5SR .............474HA6W ..................472UZ5HZZ...............344J48KEF................230HS5AR ................196

144 MHzE2AW ...............501E27AC .................297E22FFJ................296HS3SMO .............291E29BMW .............291

Single Op50 MHz

W5PR..................484W9RM .................374K2DRH ................322WD5K..................252KG6IYN ...............247

144 MHzKG6IYN ...............138K2DRH ................128W4RX....................91WA2VNV ...............52N9DG ....................51

MULTI OP50 MHz

K5QE...................606K2LIM..................371KBHH ................520W4MW ................421W3SO..................309

144 MHzK2LIM..................198W3SO..................144K5QE.....................92W4MW ..................90KBHH ..................46

Rover50 MHz

WW7D/R .............221ACRA/R............187W7QQ/R..............142W3DHJ/R ............134N2SLN/R .............115

144 MHzACRA/R............130WW7D/R .............110N2SLN/R ...............75K9JK/R ..................54K9PW/R ................41

www.cq-amateur-radio.com January/February 2015 CQ 21

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Have you ever prepped for a contest and then wonderedif anyone else was coming to the party? That was moreor less how this event started on Saturday and stayedfor much of the day. I only had one of the harmonics along forthe contest this year, so Kira and I set up some of the anten-nas the day before, and planned to finish when we returned tothe hill Saturday morning. That was probably a strategic errorsince we were finishing the setup before the contest in moder-ate winds and light rain. Resulting weather delays and issuesdelayed our start of the contest by almost two hours.

Getting back to my opening question, its one of those thingsas a VHF Contester that I go through every time I go hilltop-ping: Is the band open? Was the band open? Will the bandopen? Did I miss a rare opening or contact while setting up,etc? After getting everything plugged in, radios set up, rotorsand switchboxes connected, computers time-synced and readyto log, the radios get turned on and the initial listening begins.

The first half-hour or so, starting at 1935Z for us, was pret-ty telling. Only a handful of local contacts on 6 and 2 meters,to adjacent grid squares, were the fare. It was much the samefor the next couple of hours with lots of calling CQ and justlight traffic and replies. With a bit of patience we managed towork a mobile that was making his way from greater Phoenixand heading to Las Vegas, which helped with the overall gridsquare count.

There were a few notable highlights to Saturday despite tooverall dry spell we were having on the bands. A little before2200Z, we had light tropo ducting on 2 meters to the SanJose/San Francisco areas in California. The copy on my endfrom CM87 was light but perfectly readable for AJ6T and then

AF6RR, with the latter hanging in there for several hours. Thiswas one of those events where I was hearing several QSOsand other folks making contacts locally in Orange County andthe Greater Los Angeles region, while hearing and workingAF6RR over the 290-mile path consistently during the next sev-eral hours.

An interesting challenge is what to do when 6 metersappears to be dead and all youre working is a grid square ortwo away. I will generally go to the time-honored tradition ofpicking a starting point and call CQ several times before jog-ging the antenna 15 to 20 degrees at a time. Not much joy inthat so the next thing Ill do is turn the beam until I find whereI have the most noise and then start calling CQ. The latterworked, and contacts to XE2JS in DL68 and XE2JA (once JShad let him know the band was open) in DL68 were made onan 820-mile path.

This opening moved around a bit but persisted and allowedseveral other regional operators here in the U.S. to work oneor both of them over the next hour. Then it was back to lots ofcalling in different directions and not much resulting in the wayof contacts. Until about an hour and a half later, when turn-ing antenna for maximum noise and then calling CQ sever-al times resulted in a weak but readable again, again? Thisresulted in several minutes (with the band just on the edge ofcooperating) of repeated calls but successfully getting XE1AOin DK89 over a 1,300-mile path. 6ERYCOOLSTUFF.

The rest of Saturday and then on Sunday the band open-ings were all sporadic-% and exceptionally short in duration.Openings were often literally a matter of seconds and if youdidnt get the full exchange completed in the first pass, it was

!NAWESOMEVIEWFROM"RUCESOPERATINGSITEIN#-#OURTESYOF+')9.

7KH8QRIILFLDO/HIW&RDVW5HSRUWBY BRUCE KRIPTON, KG6IYN


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done and gone. I lost perhaps 30 to 40possible contacts because folks weretrying to turn antennas, light up an ampli-fier, dial me in better, or want to have aconversation: Well, I just turned the radioon and I was tuning around and I heardyou calling CQ so I thought I would give ita try, followed by pop, sizzle, crackle, lossof signal and the potential contact. Goodpractice for VHF ops who havent ever hadto experience these kinds of band condi-tions, but frustrating overall for the lossesthat occurred.

Generally, as many of us do, we plot ourgrid squares on a map after the contest, forfun if nothing else. In most of those cases,well see a resulting first hop patternemerge for wide areas of the continentalU.S. where there were %s and other con-ditions supporting the band openings. Forthose of us here on the Left Coast, everyonce in a while, we might see the secondhop pattern emerge as well. This timearound my propagation map was justplain random and ugly. Instead of blocksor chunks of the maps being colored in,showing openings that were larger innature or persistent, mine was just one bigand fairly open checkerboard with little tono patterns that developed. *USTWEIRD.

On Sunday, fun times were had when Ifound K2DRH and then an hour later,K1TEO, who were also on 50.135 whereI had been running for several hours onmy side, as they were doing the same fromtheirs. Several more from the northeast-ern U.S. made it in my log before the dou-ble hop opening fizzled out.

Overall, the contacts were on the lightside, propagation was everything fromtropo, %s, scatter, backscatter, side scat-ter, you name it, and it was there. Manycontacts were made with better signalquality when the 6M7JHV was pointed any-where other than a direct path to the con-tact. An interesting note for those who haveworked VHF via aurora, was that many ofthe contacts had that deep QSB andcrackle characteristic even though thatwasnt the case. I think Ill formally call thisyears contest 98 Grid Squares, the HardWay .

Thanks as always to #1 magazine forpromoting and sponsoring this contest, aswell as all of the other patient operatorswho participated in the event. My thanksas well to my aspiring ham daughter, Kira,who helped me set up and tear down andshuttled food and iced tea to me, as wellas being my cheerleader to carry on whiletimes were really slow. Kira continues tolearn the process by logging in parallel andlearning the mechanical parts, whichinclude how the radios work, as well as theoperator parts of making contacts.Perhaps next year, itll be her soapboxinstead of mine.

"RUCE+')9.

www.cq-amateur-radio.com January/February 2015 CQ 23

by Ken Neubeck WB2AMUThe fourth edition of the ultimate book on Six Meters is still available! The original edition

was published by Worldradio, Inc. in 1994. The 2008 fourth edition is the most complete ver-sion with information on propagation, equipment and antennas for the Magic Band.

Special 20th anniversary price of $18.00 includes shipping and handling andpersonalization by the author.

Please indicate callsign and name for personalization when ordering.Please make check or money order to:

Ken Neubeck, 1 Valley Road, Patchogue, NY 11772

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inch floppy disk). There are several free logging programsthat are readily available, easy to set up and export the login the correct format. Contest loggers work much better thanDX logging programs for exporting the correct information.There were easily 200 or more stations that appeared inmultiple logs but did not submit a log. If you need help,

please ask. More logs means more accurate log checkingfor all. All paper logs get typed in. Paper logs go to P.O. Box481, New Carlisle, OH 45344. Cabrillo logs go to. You may type in your paper log at

and it willbe submitted to the robot.

Thanks to K9JK and K9AKS for their invaluable assistancethroughout the year. They act as my sanity check in additionto other duties (JK does the certificates and Curt keeps theall-time records). Without their help, my job would be a lottougher. Complete scores are on the #1 website.

The 2015 contest will be held on July 18 & 19. Mark yourcalendar. Lets all ask the propagation gurus for some helpthat weekend. 3TEVE."*1

Pete, KBAK, had never entered a ham contest beforenor operated VHF, but thought hed like roving. In about amonth he started from scratch to get an all-mode radio,two beams, and a walk-up mast on a trailer hitch. Operatingfrom the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania on Saturdayand the Delmarva Peninsula on Sunday, he had a blast mak-ing his first contacts from eight grids. Getting out of the carto turn the mast by hand was a pain, and having to installthe antennas at each stop took a lot of time, but he learneda lot and is looking forward to future contests as a rover.

3HWHV)LUVW6KRWDW5RYLQJ

0ETEOPERATINGNEARTHEINTERSECTIONOF&-AND!TTHISMASTHEIGHTHECANDRIVEVERYSLOWLYTOTHENEXTGRIDALITTLEWAYDOWNTHEROAD#OURTESYOF+"!+

0ETEDISCOVEREDONEOF THEMANYHAZARDSOF ROVINGxTHERESHOULDBEAGOODOPERATINGSITEDOWNTHISROADBUTTHEMAPSDIDNTSHOWITWASPRIVATE#OURTESYOF+"!+

UNITED STATESClub Name # Entries ScoreGRAND MESA CONTESTERS OF COLORADO ...................8 ............153,627PACIFIC NORTHWEST VHF SOCIETY ...............................13 ............146,877SOCIETY OF MIDWEST CONTESTERS .............................15 ............130,476POTOMAC VALLEY RADIO CLUB.......................................14 ..............88,841CAROLINA DX ASSOCIATION ..............................................3 ..............62,968SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONTEST CLUB.........................7 ..............59,413ARIZONA OUTLAWS CONTEST CLUB...............................11 ..............49,088DFW CONTEST GROUP........................................................7 ..............44,735NORTH TEXAS CONTEST CLUB ..........................................3 ..............40,306NORTH EAST WEAK SIGNAL GROUP .................................6 ..............36,450BADGER CONTESTERS........................................................3 ..............36,210NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONTEST CLUB.........................9 ..............20,498FLORIDA CONTEST GROUP ................................................5 ..............19,978NORTHERN LIGHTS RADIO SOCIETY.................................6 ..............17,998FRANKFORD RADIO CLUB ...................................................4 ..............13,188CTRI CONTEST GROUP........................................................3 ..............12,131YANKEE CLIPPER CONTEST CLUB.....................................6 ................9,711CENTRAL TEXAS DX AND CONTEST CLUB .......................3 ................9,702

SOUTH EAST CONTEST CLUB.............................................4 ................9,489FLORIDA WEAK SIGNAL SOCIETY ......................................3 ................8,324BRISTOL (TN/VA) ARC ..........................................................4 ................3,365TENNESSEE CONTEST GROUP ..........................................4 ................1,773

DXUKRAINIAN CONTEST CLUB ..............................................11 ............128,873HA-DX-CLUB ..........................................................................4 ..............77,055LATVIAN CONTEST CLUB.....................................................3 ..............33,156BLACK SEA CONTEST CLUB................................................4 ..............30,510RHEIN RUHR DX ASSOCIATION ..........................................3 ..............19,683BAVARIAN CONTEST CLUB .................................................4 ..............17,789SIAM DX GROUP ...................................................................8 ..............16,228RADIO CLUB KVARNER RIJEKA ..........................................3 ..............11,960CONTEST CLUB ONTARIO .................................................12 ..............11,105CONTEST CLUB SERBIA ..........

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CQ Amateur Radio Enero-Febrero 2015