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Note: I have discovered that the recording audio leads from my transceiver were in the wrong sockets. Since I have not touched these for months, since installation at least, it appears that the mischievous Elves of Otradalur may be to blame. From now on both channels should be present in the recordings.
The Arctic King once again showed his tremendous power.
The first DX QSO of the year on Top Band was with KL7KY near Anchorage, Alaska.
I had been listening to Kevin for a long time and was able to make the QSO with him on a QSB peak.
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I received my DXCC Challenge plaque today. Processing of the award was slightly delayed at ARRL as the date shows, but all is good that ends well. It is certainly beautiful and I am proud to hang it on my wall.
Despite numerous attempts, I was not able to raise him to give him a quick report, – we have worked twice before on Top Band.
Listen to his contact with SP3DOI
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Upon checking my records, I found that I have never received a QSL card from BU2AQ, although I have worked and confirmed another station from Taiwan – BU2AI.
My cards for both contacts with BU2AQ will be posted on Monday.
This bodes well for the winter DX season, I am still missing several Asian countries – including China…
They use the call sign 7Q7GM and battle high noise and frequent power cuts.
I have called them for hours on end on 160 Meters without any luck. It was also clear that their noise level must have been very high, as they did not answer any of the dozens of calling stations.
Last night the noise on their end must have subsided and once more the Arctic King showed his power.
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My totals now stand at 172 Countries Worked and 166 Countries Confirmed on Top Band.
Despite generally poor conditions on 160 Meters due to the recent Aurora, I heard TL0CW in Bangui, Central African Republic last night.
He is staying in Bangui for only one week from the 25th of October, so it was important that I make the QSO since TL is quite rare DX.
Rudi, DK7PE is on a one man DXpedition around the world and has visited 152 countries and operated from 127 countries!
I was unable to raise him last night, but tonight his signals were slightly stronger and I became convinced I would eventually get through the pile up of stations from Japan, Asia, Europe and the USA who were calling him by the thousands.
At times it was quite obvious that he was having reception difficulties due to QRN, since he would not come back to any of the callers.
It took about two hours of calling to get through, thanks to the magnificent signal of the Arctic King.
This is my 160 meter entity number 170 worked – I now have 166 entities confirmed.
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I need ZD8 on a couple of bands so will keep looking for them.
Here is what their signals sounded like.
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Southern Sudan is being activated as a new entity with the call sign ST0R.
Pile ups have been fierce but I was able to work them on 30 Meters.
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And on 40 Meters SSB:
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The pile ups have been very chaotic and unruly, it seems that constant calling is in vogue and in addition extremely bad behavior may be observed on the transmit frequency of the DXpedition making copy extremely difficult. On top of all this jammers are out in force as well, creating a most shameful spectacle.
I agree with Andrey, RW3AH in his post, that this is probably the result of dropping the morse code requirement in Amateur Radio licensing.
We now have many former CB freebanders within our ranks who bring their criminal mindset to our hobby now that the only requirement for an Amateur Radio licence is enough money to buy a radio.
To the ST0R team: Thank you for going there and making the effort and thanks for all the excitement!
I found ST0R on 20 Meter CW in a free for all huge pile up this morning. It took only a couple of calls to get into the log and since it took a few tries to correct my call, I was greeted by name by the operator (RA9USU)
ST0R on 20M CW:
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The recording runs for a minute after the QSO to give an idea of the massive pile up.
Here is a video from RW3AH of the ST0R 20m pile up:
Wednesday July 27.: This morning they were quite light on 17 Meters, but I decided to try anyway. When I heard the operator say UP8 I immediately gave my call a few times on that frequency which resulted in the valuable contact.
ST0R on 17M CW:
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I spent a long time calling ST0R on 80 Meters when they first came on, but without a dedicated 80 Meter antenna I am simply not making it through the EU wall.
Later I was ready when they started operation on 40 Meters CW and snagged them within a minute of calling. The operator started listening low in the band moving slightly up with each QSO – such predictable operating makes it relatively easy to work the DXpedition – good work. (RA9USU).
ST0R on 40M CW
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This is what the pile up looked like on the display of my SDR receiver. (click on image to see it full size)
Thursday, July 28:
Things seem to be calming down a bit. After monitoring 17 Meters SSB for most of the day, their signals improved a bit and it only took a couple of calls to make the log.
ST0R on 17 Meters SSB:
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They have now been QRV on 80 Meters for a couple of nights. I have called them endlessly without luck since I do not have a dedicated antenna for 80 Meters (under construction – will hopefully be ready this winter) and have been using my USA Rhombic which has a poor radiation pattern at such a low frequency although it accepts the power readily.
I heard TF3SG work them – congratulations Guðmundur! – and it took me an hour more to finally work them.
ST0R 80M CW:
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ST0R 20M SSB:
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Now I am waiting for them to show up on Top Band and if I can contact them there I will be well pleased.
