LOTW vs. eQSL: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Came across some interesting observations out in the blogosphere re: LOTW, whether its worth the hassle and such, by VE3OIJ and KB6NU. I shared some thoughts a few months ago not long after I got LOTW working. Some time has passed so I did some logbook analysis on my contacts since getting back on the air (16 June through the 30 November) to see if things got better or worse.

Every QSO in my logbook for this time period (379 total) has been uploaded to both eQSL.cc and LOTW. Here's what I got for my trouble:

• Confirmations via eQSL: 118 (31.1% return rate)
• Confirmations via LOTW: 113 (29.8% return rate)
• QSOs confirmed via both eQSL and LOTW: 55
  
• QSOs confirmed via eQSL but not LOTW: 25
• QSOs confirmed via LOTW but not eQSL: 58
• DXCC entities confirmed by both eQSL and LOTW: 16
• DXCC entities confirmed via eQSL but not LOTW: 10
• DXCC entities confirmed via LOTW but not eQSL: 14

So what does this prove? Nothing, really, except that more than two thirds of the stations I've worked in the past 6 months don't use either method of electronic QSLing, or simply haven't bothered to upload their logs yet. As for those who do QSL electronically, just under half use both LOTW and eQSL. Unless and until more logging software integrates automatic uploading, I don't see how electronic QSLing will be a viable replacement for the analog method.

I'm sure more electronic QSLs will trickle in over the next few months, but in my experience I've found that most people who use eQSL and/or LOTW will upload their logs pretty soon after the QSO. Therefore, I don't expect the percentages to skew drastically either way. Whether my experience is in any way representative of reality, I can't say. I'm curious to know how other hams are faring. Is my 30% return rate typical?

Meanwhile, I'm sitting on a pile of cards ready to go out to DX stations but I haven't had a burning desire to cough up the $150+ for postage (including the return postage that most DX stations ask for), nor have I sent off any cards to the outgoing bureau. I've been happy thus far to sit back and watch the LOTW verifications trickle in and my DXCC and WAS totals slowly increase.

In a perfect world, the ARRL would accept eQSL as a legitimate confirmation method. But in reality, this would net me very few "new ones" since many of those 10 eQSL-only countries were already verified when I was QRV from New Jersey, years before either LOTW or eQSL.cc were a gleam in their programmers' eyes.

November 2009 Wrap-Up

The hunt for WAS and DXCC continues...: Got back to the shack this month (actually, late October) to work a few contests and return to my WAS quest. I worked Maine three times, leaving only Delaware unworked; QSLs still needed from AL, DE, ME and NV.

Now I'm turning my attention to filling in the grids on individual bands with an eye towards an eventual 5-Band WAS. As of now I have 42 states confirmed on 20m and 16 states on 40m. On the 80, 30m, 15m and 17m bands my counts are in the single digits, though the cards are trickling in and the number of states worked is increasing as I spend more time on 40m at night, 17m and 15m during the day, and avoid the lure of 20m as best I can unless something good pops up on the cluster. Even made a few QSOs on 80m the other night -- the Tarheel doesn't deliver an SWR better than 2.5:1 but my signal made it into the midwest for KS, MO and IL. Unfortunately 12m and 10m operations will have to wait as my Tarheel won't tune those bands (need to get it closer to the ground, I'm told).

FWIW, I now have 39 states confirmed on eQSL.cc, so their eWAS won't be far behind the "official" WAS award from ARRL. As for other eQSL awards, I have 17 zones and 36 countries confirmed.

On the DXCC front, I worked 7 new countries in Oct/Nov and received confirmations from 8 new ones. Now just 17 QSLs away from all-band DXCC...

Misc. QRM: I had my first MT63 QSO with N1GKE in Rhode Island on 17m -- saw his RSID pop up in DM780 and gave it a try. Neat mode -- not sure if it's as error-free and fade-resistant as Olivia, but close.

October/November 2009 Stats (To-Date Confirmed/Worked):
27 DXCC Entities (83/124)
18 CQ Zones (27/30)
26 States (46/49)
160 Total QSOs

Waiting for Baudot

I just submitted my meager log from last weekend's WAE RTTY test -- just 45 QSOs and a whopping claimed score of 1,530. I only operated for a few morning hours (between 1125-1345 on Saturday and 1245-1700 on Sunday) in order to give DM780 a try at good ol' fashioned 170/45 Baudot, a mode I haven't worked since days of yore with the trusty old KAM and a terminal program. High time to give the new technologies a try, said I.

Some random thoughts and observations about RTTY operation with the K3 and DM780 follow...

The DM780 + HRD Logbook combination did fairly well, considering HB9DRV himself says "HRD/DM780 is not contest software." As such, there is no easy provision for sending or receiving QTC info for extra multipliers, and it wasn't clear at first how to get DM780 to increment serial numbers in the exchange field (put them in [brackets], I finally discovered). Using a fresh database file for the log (as I do for every contest) lets me use the logbook's Awards Tracking and Worked Status functions to keep an eye on what stations and countries I've worked on each band, but I have to be careful to individually set the other databases (previous contest logs, plus my master logbook) to not figure into the worked status lookups (this is one in the Logbook Databases control panel).

Another limitation from a contesting perspective is HRD Logbook's inability to output Cabrillo files for log submission after the test, a feature that was available in HRD v4. So I have to use another app (SP7DQR'S nice ADIF2CABR freeware app) to convert an ADIF export file into Cabrillo format, and that only after doing a search-and-replace on the ADIF file to change the tag to that the conversion app is looking for. No biggie, I mud-wrestle data for a living, so this is just another day at the office...

That said... I'm familiar and comfortable with DM780 and HRD Logbook so it all worked just fine for me.

I worked the first day with the K3 in DATA A mode before remembering that AFSK A mode allows DUAL PB filtering to peak the mark and space tones. The DM780 waterfall screenshots below illustrate the difference far better than words:

K3 set to DATA A mode. BW = 400 Hz, Fc = 1530 Hz

K3 set to AFSK A mode. BW = 400 Hz, Fc = 1530 Hz, DUAL PB enabled

Note that the overall bandwidth in AFSK A mode is quite a bit narrower, even though in both cases the K3 was set to 400 Hz, and the distinct notch between mark and space tones is indicative of how effective this filtering mode works. Back in the pre-DSP days with the TS-930S and JST-135/245 transceivers and NRD-525/535 receivers, I used to use a Datong FL-3 audio filter which had a RTTY mode that accomplished the same thing, albeit at the AF stage.

DATA A and AFSK A each have their advantages. In DATA A (or AFSK A with DUAL PB turned off), I can open the bandwidth up and see a good portion of the band (I generally set DM780 to display 3 kHz on the waterfall and set the K3 bandwidth to match) and all the signals on the air, then select the desired signals with a point-and-click like I do in PSK31 mode. If QRM is a problem, I can crank down the bandwidth and shift the passband center frequency to pass only the station I'm working; once the QSO is complete, a quick tap-twist of the K3's shift control recalls my wide settings and I'm back on the hunt. I rarely touch the VFO dial, all tuning is done with the mouse.

In AFSK A mode with DUAL PB enabled, however, the K3's center frequency is fixed at 1530 Hz so all tuning must be done with the VFO. Also, the bandwidth is limited to 500 Hz max (which as shown in the image above is a bit less in practice, more like 250 Hz or so) making VFO tuning very touchy and slow (the 1 Hz fine steps must be used) and renders the waterfall useless for spotting other signals. But the filtering advantage is huge, especially in a contest scenario.

For me, it's a no brainer -- in the latter stages of the WAE contest I found myself using DUAL PB almost exclusively, occasionally switching it off and opening up the bandwidth if the band was quiet or if I've already worked the majority of the stations I tune across, since clicking on a waterfall makes it far easier to hunt and pounce.

DM780 facilitates the switch from narrow DUAL PB to wideband waterfall tuning easily: I first activate the center frequency marker (Tools>Program Options>Waterfall menu, or F8) and set it to match the K3 DUAL PB center frequency (1530 Hz). After finding a signal on the waterfall and clicking on it, I can then click the C button just above the waterfall to center it at 1530 Hz (HRD offsets the K3 VFO frequency to do this), and then activate the DUAL PB (press/hold the #6 key on the K3 keypad). The bandwidth is narrowed to 500 Hz, and the mark and space tones are perfectly positioned for decoding. To switch back to wideband, press/hold DUAL PB, and tap XFIL a couple of times to select the 2.7 kHz filter or use one of the filter presets to select my standard wide data setting of 3 kHz. This can perhaps be simplified to a one-button process using the new macro feature Elecraft just added to the latest firmware version; I need to check into that...

Note to K3 users: when working RTTY in AFSK A mode, either the radio or DM780 needs to be set to reverse, as AFSK A demodulates the lower sideband while DM780 looks for the upper. DATA A, however, works in the upper sideband.

CQ WWDX SSB 1996: Lost Log Discovered!

Almost as much fun as finding a $20 bill in an old coat is finding an old contest log on an even older hard drive! Today I discovered my log data from the 1996 CQ WWDX SSB contest, which I must have exported from Log Windows before my erstwhile Toshiba laptop screwed the pooch back in the late 90's.

After some data mud wrestling, I was able to convert to ADIF and import into HRD and saw my total DXCC worked count jump from 119 to 123 (the "new" ones are 3DA Swaziland; FS Saint Martin; V4 St. Kitts & Nevis; and GU Guernsey).

I then uploaded the new QSOs to LoTW and immediately had 13 new QSLs credited to my account, with a handful of new DXCC/bands confirmed: VP5 Turks & Caicos (80m); P4 Aruba (15m); 8P Barbados (15m); V2 Antigua & Barbuda (15m & 20m); and GI Northern Ireland (20m) -- the latter two being all-time new ones confirmed, bringing my DXCC confirmed count to 80, and DXCC Challenge totals to 239 worked/123 confirmed.

God only knows how many of my other contest logs are gone forever -- I must have worked at least another dozen contests back around that time, and all these logs got nuked along with the Toshiba. This is why I now keep separate paper logs as backup.

Also found this photo of the old N2HIE shack in Closter, New Jersey circa 1998.

Complete with that utterly dreadful JRC NVT-56 desk mic. Wish I held onto that, seeing how one just sold for over $1,300 on eBay. Please, stop laughing... I'm not kidding:

WTF is wrong with people? Clearly some hams have more money than sense...

CQ WWDX SSB 2009

My first major contest with the K3 -- not a major effort, mind you, just a major contest, and it leaves me smiling. I could only squeeze in around 10.5 hours over the weekend, just enough to give the station a good shakedown under contest conditions and leave me hope for the future when I add an amp and a better antenna.

The K3 was a champ. With the latest DSP noise reduction tweaks I found it possible to run with RF Gain full throttle and not have the background noise kill me. Auto Notch took care of the tuner-uppers and the SWBC carriers on 40m. Left NB off most of the time as there was little QRN for a change, and the noise from the plasma TV was easily notched out with manual notch. All that was left was the DX.

Things started out rough Saturday morning (UTC) on 40m. Worked TO7M on my first call then spent a frustrating hour or so with no contacts. After a break things started to improve a little. Stayed at the mic until around 0600 UTC (2 am local) and landed 12 countries/7 zones on 40m, plus Canada (zone 3) on 80m. Worked 20m and 15m for about an hour and a half in the morning before going out and about, and again early Saturday evening (UTC Sunday) for about a half hour. Worked 13 countries/9 zones on 20m, and 3 countries/3 zones on 15m. Sunday saw fairly good conditions on 15m (14 countries/7 zones) and 20m (9 countries/7 zones).

Most of the DX I was able to work was in the Caribbean, Central and South America, but I managed to work D44AC (Cape Verde, an all-time new one on 20m), CN3A (Morocco), EA8/OH6CS (Canary Is.), three Hawaiians, and a few Europeans. 6W1RY (Senegal) was loud on 15m but I couldn't break through the pile. Heard 4U1UN on 40m and 20m but only managed to work them on 15m.

It's pretty frustrating to work a contest with 100 watts and a mobile antenna (without the benefit of an actual automobile underneath the antenna to provide a decent ground plane) but in the end, 10.5 hours at the mic netted me a bunch of new ones on 40m and 15m:

15m: 4U1UN (UN HQ), 8P (Barbados), CN (Morocco), EA (Spain), EA8 (Canary Is.), HI (Dominican Rep.), LU (Argentina), P4 (Aruba), PJ2 (Bonaire/Curacao), VP2V (British Virgin Is.), VP5 (Turks & Caicos Is.), and YV (Venezuela).

40m: FM (Martinique), HC8 (Galapagos Is.), HR (Honduras), KP2 (US Virgin Is.), PJ2 (Bonaire/Curacao), V3 (Belize), VP2V (British Virgin Is.), and XE (Mexico).

Totals:

Update 10/30: Was filling in some of the blanks in the HRD Logbook tonight and discovered one of the US stations I worked during the contest (K8PO) was in Maine. It didn't immediately dawn on me because of the K8 prefix, but according to QRZ he's in Union, ME. That's #49 on my WAS tally sheet, just need Delaware now...

IOTA 2009 Contest Results - Seriously?

I have the highest USA score in my class (World Single-Op Assisted SSB Low Power)?!?!? LOL! Maybe next year I'll stay at the mic for longer than 2 hours...

Thinning Out The Herd

The NRD-505 is gone, the JST-245 will be gone next month, the NRD-535D is still for sale. If someone told me even a few short months ago that I would sell off most of my JRC gear I would have slapped them. But alas, it's time to get over my separation anxiety and find good homes for this stuff. The reality is, the K3 has proven itself to be the complete HF rig for me, as close to perfect a radio as I've ever owned. I'm keeping my pair of NRD-515s for mediumwave DXing, and there's that mint NRD-525 sitting in an unopened box. But the rest of it was just eye candy, well loved but never used.

Then there are the boat anchors still sitting in boxes since our last move -- do I really need a pile of hollow-state relics? Do I have the time to work on them and get them into good working shape? Would I ever use them? Probably not on all three counts. So they will probably be gone soon, too.

Oddly, I'm not too depressed about it. The cash this stuff has turned into will pay off some lingering debts, with likely enough left over to go towards some needed goodies for the shack (sub-RX module or panadapter for the K3, or maybe an amp). A bit of real estate in the shack has been cleared up, too. But most of all, I'm happy that this gear will finally get some use.

My NRD-505 is on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250504814357

Hate to do it but need some cash flow. This is another one I'll regret selling.

Update 10/3: Sold for $2,025.00. Was hoping for more but think my eBay rating (a big, fat zero because it's a new account) probably pulled down the final price. Also had my NRD-535D and NVA-319 listed; the speaker sold ($202.50) but the radio did not.

August 2009 Wrap-Up

Not a very active month here in W5-land -- only 28 Q's, one all-time new DXCC (FJ - St. Barthelemy), one new-for-TX (V31 - Belize), and a couple of new ones on 40m (ZL and VK). Was distracted by work most of the month, missed the North American QSO Party due to family duties, and generally found the bands dead whenever I found time to operate.

August 2009 Stats (To-Date Confirmed/Worked):
6 DXCC Entities (75/117)
7 CQ Zones (27/30)
18 States (42/48)
4 IOTA Islands (33/58)
28 Total QSOs

QSLs: Despite the lapse in activity, I am ahppy to report that the QSLs have been coming in. My QSL rate on LoTW has improved markedly, and I received a bunch more cards from stateside ops, bringing my DXCC confirmed total up to 75 and WAS confirmed to 42.

Stats: It's getting harder for me to track which states, DXCC entities, zones and islands are "new", so from this month forward I'll just post my stats for each month along with the running total worked/confirmed. Also, totals include QSOs from NJ.

(And yes, I realize no one cares about my piddling DX efforts; I do this for my own amusement - an extension of my logbook, if you will.)

HRD v5 Beta

HRD Logbook v5 Beta

I generally avoid beta software like the plague. In fact, I even avoid most official "dot.zero" software releases, especially if the previous version works well. I try not to get suckered into the oft overhyped promises of nirvana that software developers promise. Pioneers take the arrows, as they say...

Nevertheless, I decided to be brave and upgrade Ham Radio Deluxe & DM780 to the latest v5 Beta release (build 2293). Since the price is right I had little to lose; I could always switch back to v4.whatever if v5 turned my screen blue. So after making sure all important data and pref files were backed up and safe on another drive I went ahead with the v5 installation.

So far, so good. The new stand-alone Logbook is awesome, and maybe it's my imagination but I swear DM780 is doing a better job of decoding digital signals now. The HRD rig control seems to be pretty much unchanged except for a few tweaks and additional features.

Things I like:

• DM780: RSID is cool... just not sure if it's working for me on transmit; I have it enabled, but I don't hear the distinct RSID tones in my monitor when I begin transmission.
  
  
• Logbook: Awards tracking is much improved over the "analysis" function of v4! The ability to set up and switch between different layouts is a nice addition, too. I will eventually take advantage of v5's ability to use a remote database; my plan is to set up a myQSL-based log on the web.
  
  
• HRD: Not much difference from v4 as far as I can tell -- which is fine, I liked it just the way it was. Just wish the integration with logbook was a bit better; having an Add Logbook Entry window in HRD that doesn't require a switch to the Logbook app itself would be a big plus. It's certainly possible, DM780 does it.
  

There are issues, of course

• The filter buttons in the main HRD control screen don't work.
  
  
• I still can't save a "Favourite" (that's Eurospeak for "favorite") with DATA as the stored mode (it defaults to USB).
  
  
• The "NR" button doesn't change color when engaged (this issue is carried over from v4...).
  
  
• Clicking the Add To Log button (or pressing F7) in HRD doesn't switch to the Logbook, have to do that manually; also, the ALE function doesn't seem to carry the callsign from the DX Cluster window over to the ALE window.
  
  
• I can't seem to get Logbook to upload QSO data to the HRDlog.net web site.
  

My biggest problem, however, is performance. Most of the windows are slow to render, especially the Add Logbook Entry window. DM780 has a tendency to freeze for several seconds whenever I do something like double-click on a call sign to look up QRZ data, or switch between SuperBrowser and the QSO screen. I'm guessing this is not an HRD problem, however; more likely caused by my aging, underpowered PeeCee, I'm sure.

Next Beta release is scheduled for tomorow (18-Aug).

Elecraft P3

K3 with prototype P3 panadapter unit

The long-awaited Elecraft panadapter unit for the K3 is now officially beyond the rumor-and-innuendo stage of development. The announcement on 11-Aug by Wayne N6KR and Eric WA6HHQ was immediately followed by the predictable flurry of questions, praise, complaints, nit-picking and feature requests that Elecrafters have grown to expect any time a new product is announced, ranging from the serious to the absurd:

• Q: Will there be point-and-click tuning? (A: Yes.)
  
  
• Q: Will it be I/Q-based and thus able to use PowerSDR, Skimmer, etc.? (A: Perhaps.)
  
  
• Q: Will their be a built-in speaker and/or power supply? (A: No.)
  
  
• Q: Will the P3 be able to be used for text display in data modes? (A: It's on the list...)
  
  
• Q: The photo shows it on the left side of the K3. This is an affront to the Right Handed-American Community. Will there be a right-side version to comply with the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment? (A: Huh?)

(OK, that last question wasn't exactly asked in those words, but one guy really expressed concern that a photo showing it on the left side of the K3 meant that it wouldn't be "optimized" for use on right side. You can't make this stuff up...)

I love Elecraft and their close relationship with their customers, but I've previously commented [see here, read last paragraph] that in the future (that is, now) they need to play their cards a bit closer to their vest than they did with the K3. It has to be counterproductive to announce a product too early, then spend valuable time fielding absurd questions, squelching rumors and erroneous information from well-meaning Kool-Aid Drinkers (I use that term in the most endearing way), and generally trying to please everyone with an ever expanding feature list to accommodate feature requests from customers. All of this ends up pushing the delivery date back, causing the company to endure months of bitching and moaning about deadlines promises being broken, features left out, firmware revisions, fix bugs, etc. This is what happened with the K3, and sadly I can see it happening again right before my very eyes. Sigh.

That said, I like the concept; it adds the most lamented missing feature of the K3 (perhaps second only to band-stacking registers). I plan to order one as soon as it is orders are accepted. Whether I place it to the left or right of my K3 has yet to be determined...

July 2009 Wrap-Up

What's "New?": I'm still limiting my running totals to my operations from Waco, so "new" means a lot of countries and states that I've worked and confirmed in the past from W2-land. I'd prefer to earn DXCC, WAS, WAZ, etc., from the new QTH and not count the old QSLs, but I may change my mind once I have enough cards to qualify.

WAS: I made a concerted effort this month to pad my WAS numbers, working 41 states in July (33 of them new) to bring my total to 45 since moving to Texas with 31 confirmed (if I count my NJ QSL from NE, I have 46 states worked and 35 confirmed). The states still giving me agita are DE, KY, NE, ME and WY, the first two of which I hear on 14070 damn near every day. And for Christ's sake, how can it be possible that I operated from the NYC metro area for so many years but do not have NY and NJ confirmed?!?!?

DXCC: Short operations during the IARU and IOTA contests this month brought in a few new ones for me, including SV9, VK7, CN, & UN plus several "new for TX" countries. I started to move off 20m a little bit, working 8 countries on 30m (incl. EA8, SV, & YO) and 6 countries on 40m. I've yet to hear anything on 17m or 15m strong enough to even hope to work.

Misc. QRM: Still mostly working PSK31, it's simply the most practical for me to monitor and operate during the week while I work in the mornings and afternoon. Only 1 of 37 phone QSOs this month was made during a weekday, and most of the rest were during the IARU and IOTA tests. •---• The QSLs are finally starting to roll in, getting few each day in the mail from US stations, while LOTW delivered nine DXCC confirmations in July. Also good return with eQSL.cc this month with 46 incoming QSLs from 15 countries. •---• Noise is still my enemy, a constant S7 on the meter. The K3's NB and NR helps, but pretty much any signal below the S7 threshold is lost in space. Once the weather cools off I want to venture into the attic to see about putting up something that's horizontally polarized; I might be able to manage a full-wave loop for the high bands which should be less susceptible to electrical noise.

July 2009 Stats:

• 131 Total QSOs Logged
• 37 DXCC Entities (25 new)
  
• 22 CQ Zones (9 new)
  
• 41 States (33 new)
  
• 20 IOTA Islands (12 new)
  

Overheard on The Intertubes

"This discussion is about SDR. A K3 is a firmware defined radio not a SDR."

On QSLs

Sadly, the Logbook of the World QSLs are not coming in nearly as fast as the QSOs, with just 21 QSLs received and 8 DXCC confirmed on LoTW out of 149 QSOs uploaded. By comparison, my eQSL.cc delivered 51 QSLs and 15 DXCC with the same 149 of my QSOs uploaded. Not a scientific study, but there it is. I wonder if it might have something to do with all the contortions and hoop-jumping the ARRL makes one do before being granted access to LoTW. On this note, I submitted a LoTW review on eHam, reprinted here for your reading enjoyment:

I share most of the bad experiences others have already stated. My initial attempt to register for LoTW ended in failure. I'm still not sure why. A few years later I tried again with better results. Still, the first time signing and uploading a file was confusing, and adding a certificate for my previous callsign left me scratching my head when no postcard came in the mail (I later realized that the postcard thing only applied to the first callsign certificate). In the end, I got it working and have had no further issues.

Now that I understand the system, I find it works as advertised. I upload new loggings regularly, painlessly, and with little effort. It's clear that the process in and of itself is not complicated; it's simply a case of really, really crappy instructions.

The ARRl web site has a "Getting Started" page with step-by-step instructions to walk you through the process of requesting a certificate and validating it with the password you receive from the postcard you receive in the mail. Then... nothing. It just stops short, with no info on creating or exporting the ADIF file, or using TSQL to sign and upload the file. Digging around further on the ARRL web site, I found and watched a PowerPoint slideshow that filled in the blanks. Only then was I able to put all the pieces together. Why all the information in the PowerPoint file isn't available on the "Getting Started" page is beyond comprehension.

In practice LoTW works like a charm once you get into the groove of things. I can appreciate the ARRL's desire for strong encryption methods to prevent fraud -- I use eQSL.cc as well as LoTW and while I enjoy the simplicity of it, I have received (and rejected) a few incoming QSLs from stations that I did not work; someone less scrupulous would merely have accepted the QSLs and padded their DXCC total without actually working the DX. At least with LoTW there can be no doubt that the DX was actually worked.

I also like the fact that I can get quick confirmation of QSOs and apply them to DXCC and WAS much sooner than it would otherwise take me to collect all the cards via snail mail and the bureau. I still send out "real" QSL cards as I enjoy collecting them, but for award purposes LoTW is a really great tool.

However, the League needs to address the fact that they have needlessly complex instructions for a relatively simple process. The number of people expressing anguish over registration and giving up on the system should be a wake-up call. I'm a fairly bright computer professional, and I'm sure everyone else complaining about LoTW's complexity and difficulties are fairly bright as well. If so many of have had trouble getting started, I think it's fair to say there's something wrong with the way it's being explained to us.

And that's it in a nutshell: If it's a chore to use, hams won't use it, especially the 'modern' ham who expects everything to happen with the push of a button. LoTW's three-step process of exporting the log file from your logging program, signing it with the TSQL app, and uploading it from the ARRL web site is not the kind of elegance and simplicity people expect from an ostensibly technology-driven hobby like amateur radio. And we won't even talk about the registration process.

By comparison, every QSO I log gets uploaded to eQSL.cc by Ham Radio Deluxe automatically and transparently with no additional effort on my part. Yes, I know eQSL doesn't have the crypto-security of LoTW and the possibility of QSL fraud is increased. Who cares? It's a friggin' hobby; these are QSLs, not ICBM launch codes.

Then there's the 20th century method of QSLing: snail mail. So far I've only received 5 QSL cards in the mail, all from US stations. It's going to be a long, long road to DXCC and WAS.

I'm filling out my outgoing cards as soon as possible after each QSO, it's much more efficient than doing a hundred of them at a time. Now my first batch is ready to go out. All of the US cards of course are going direct, and more than a couple of them need SASEs according to the worked stations' QRZ listings. I have about 25 DX cards that I'm sending direct for those countries which I've never confirmed, and I'm including a self-addressed return envelope and $1 (or $2 if so requested by the station on QRZ). I'll send the rest of the DX cards via outgoing bureau because the cost of international postage has become obscene since the last time I did this; as bad as I want my DXCC award there's no way I can spend upwards of $100 a month to mail QSL cards. All told, this first pile of outgoing cards is going to cost me around $85 to send out

My HRD log file with all of my old N2HIE and WW2PT contacts was fubar'd pretty well and good with the Country listings wrong for about half of them, so I went through the log line by line and corrected everything in order to get a definite DXCC count (64 countries confirmed out of 112 worked, although this excludes several contest logs that never made it into my master logbook file and have since been lost). More importantly I've found a ton of DXCC entities that I never sent cards to, so I'm hoping these guys are packrats like me and have kept their logs from the late 80's and early 90's...

Julian G4ILO writes about his PSK31 pet peeve: hams who ask -- or rather demand -- that you don't QSL them via eQSL or LoTW. I've noted this phenomenon as well, both on the air and on QRZ. I also see some people on QRZ ask we ONLY use eQSL and/or LoTW and say they do not want paper cards. I remember back when working the station was the hard part; now, it's figuring out how to QSL them. Frankly, I love the cards, it is a tradition that I don't want to see end. I will send cards to stations that I've already got via LoTW. Whatever floats your boat.

The Ultimate DXpedition

Oh, the stuff that comes across on the DX cluster sometimes...

Now that is a great QTH, but I don't know if I'd find much time for operating -- assuming, of course, that the locals are the friendly and fun sort (as opposed to the angry ones you find in the East Village).

Funny, though... I always assumed the mythical Island of Lesbos would be down in the Amazon region, not Greece. I learn something new every day.

IARU Contest: Nolo Contendere

Much as I wanted to give a wholehearted effort in yesterday's IARU HF Championship, I was only to operate for less than 2 hours mid-afternoon. I still managed 6 new-for-Texas countries, two of which were new all-time for me: CN3A in Morocco, and SV9CVY, Mike in Crete, who eluded me the last time I heard him on 20m. This brings my DXCC total to 43 worked since June 16. Plus I worked South Dakota and Connecticut, too; nine states to go...

On more than one occasion I had DX stations question my Zone 7 exchange, asking if I wasn't Zone 8. I'm guessing whatever contest software they're using is pre-filling the ITU zone to 8 based on my W2 prefix. Hope these QSO's weren't blown.

Despite the embarrassment my whopping claimed score of 742 will surely cause me, I submitted my Cabrillo log file in order to help the guys I worked.

Complete DXing.

My goal each time I sit down in front of the radio is to do something new -- work a new DXCC country, or a new state, or a country or state on a new band or in a new mode. This helps overcome the doldrums of watching the same stations scroll by in SuperBrowser or listening to the same people having the same old QSO on 20m phone.

Perusing my logbook over the past few weeks since going QRV, I find that I have largely succeed in this endeavor; every day of operation has yielded something new, and I've watched my totals climb (37 countries and 39 states worked in 22 days of operation). All this, mind you, with a low-power rig, a mobile antenna, a questionable ground system, a high-noise level QTH, and minimal effort.

Looking further back through my logbook I found that it took me just over a year to work 37 countries at a time when the propagation conditions were far better, I had a better antenna situation, I operated a lot more, and (for a short time) ran a JRL-2000F at 600W. What's changed? Well.... me, that's what, and I can thank a single book for fostering this change.

I attribute my recent results, meager though they may be, to The Complete DX'er by W9KNI, a book which I've read and re-read several times during 10-plus year period of little or no activity and one which has become a mainstay of my toilet-reading regiment (and I say this with utmost respect, as my most productive reading occurs in the Porcelain Library). If nothing else, the book repeatedly pounded into my skull the most important skills a DX chaser can master -- listen, learn the behavior of the DX station, understand when to give up on a hopeless pileup situation, then listen some more. These simple, common-sense principles are so ingrained in my operating style that I don't even think about them anymore.

While working PSK31 on 20m the other day, I encountered a DX station in QSO with a stateside ham. I waited for the QSO to end then dropped in a call to the DX station but got no response. Switching back to SuperBrowser, I saw him just north of his last operating frequency already in QSO with another US station, so I QSY'd and waited. In the past I would have called him again as soon as this QSO was complete. But alas, the lessons of W9KNI reigned in my old impulses. Instead of calling again, I watched the waterfall to see what he was going to do next. Sure enough, he moved up-band slightly and a few minutes later answered a CQ from another station. As this QSO was in progress I scouted out the next clear piece of real estate on the waterfall. Then, as the DX was just about through signing clear, I started sending a long call to the DX station in hope that he would once again QSY up the band to look for a new station to work and see me calling. He responded to me after one call. As we QSO'd, I noted (with smug satisfaction) that others were still calling him on his last frequency while I was putting a new one in the log.

While I can't say for sure that I wouldn't have eventually learned how to do this on my own, the fact is I learned it from W9KNI by reading his book, and I did so a long time before I would likely have figured it out for myself. Gone forever are my days of shouting into a storm of big guns or trying to work stations that probably have a slim chance if any of hearing my near-QRP signal. My ratio of stations called to stations worked is far better, not because my equipment is better but because I simply operate smarter.

My copy of The Complete DX'er is the First Edition (1983), old enough that it still refers to external VFOs and the Soviet Union (remember "Box 88?"), while making no mention of packet clusters, DSP radios or digital modes; relics of the past such as outboard audio filters and a DX-Edge are among the recommended accessories a DX'er needs, items which are presently gathering dust on the shelf as they've been replaced with my K3's variable DSP filtering and computer-based grey line maps. Most of the book's narrative revolves around CW operation, yet the basic concepts of successful DX chasing still apply today to the modern digital modes I'm so hooked on. The Complete DX'er has just been updated to a Third Edition which I imagine will cover all of the modern radios and tools introduced since the early 1980's that are now commonplace in the modern ham shack. I intend to pick up a new copy one of these days.

Perhaps now more than ever, this book should be required reading for all amateurs who operate on the HF bands -- simple observation of the way some people behave in a pileup makes it all too clear that they've never read this book nor otherwise learned through experience the principles it espouses.

Postscript: It should be noted that W9KNI is now, unsurprisingly, a practitioner of the QRP arts (link to PDF file).

The Last Honest Reporter in America

I'd be remiss in my duty as your faithful chronicler of all things remarkable about ham radio if I did not wax enthusiastically about how insanely cool the PSK Reporter web site is. The general idea of the system is described on the home page:

"[PSK Reporter] automatically gather[s] reception records of PSK activity and then make those records available in near real time to interested parties — typically the amateur who initiated the communication. The way that it works is that many amateurs will run a client that will monitor received traffic for callsigns (the pattern 'de callsign callsign') and, when seen, will report this fact. This is of interest to the amateur who transmitted and they will be able to see where their signal was received. The pattern chosen is typically part of a standard CQ call. The duplicate check is to make sure that the callsign is not corrupted.

"The way that this would be used is that an amateur would call CQ and could then (within a few minutes) see where his signal was received. This can be useful in determining propagation conditions or in adjusting antenna and/or radio parameters. It will also provide an archive of reception records that can be used for research purposes"

I vaguely recalled skimming over something in the DM780 operation manual about enabling reports to a web-based propagation monitoring system but didn't follow through and check it out until last week when a station I was working mentioned it during our PSK31 QSO. Since then I've had the site up on my Mac whenever the radio is on and parked on a PSK31 frequency.

PSK Reporter answers the two most important questions an amateur can ask: "Who can I hear?" and "Who can hear me?" It plots markers on a Google Map for all stations you're copying -- even when you're not paying attention -- and also lets you see how your own signal is propagating by plotting all monitor stations that hear you. It's an incredible useful tool for someone chasing WAS and DXCC points. Just mouse over any of the monitor station markers and you'll get a pop-up box with details. The map scales automatically, so when all of a sudden the page refreshes and pops open a map showing Europe, Asia, the Pacific, South America or Africa, you know it's DX time. The screen grab atop this post was captured Wednesday morning on 20m just a few minutes after a single test transmission.

At first glance one may wonder how PSK Reporter is different or better than your garden variety DX Cluster. The difference is localization -- that is, local to your own station. It shows you what your station is hearing; you no longer have to sift through spots by European or Asian stations for DX that you couldn't possibly work. Just as it is unthinkable today for someone to chase DX on phone or CW without a DX Cluster connection, I believe it will soon be equally unthinkable to operate PSK31 without PSK Reporter.

Advantages over DX Cluster:

• Automatic, no need for an individual to spot the DX.
  
  
• Only shows stations that your own station has received and therefore have a possibility of working.
  
  
• Gives you near-real time feedback on how your signal is propagating and where you are being heard.
  

Disadvantages:

• Only useful on a single band at a time. I suppose multiple receivers can be used, but that would take some engineering...
  
  
• Not yet universally supported -- at present only DM780 and fldigi facilitate automatic updates to PSK Reporter. All major apps need to support this project for it to become completely ubiquitous.
  
  
• PSK Reporter is run by an individual, not an organization. What if Philip Gladstone loses interest in ham radio, or gets tired of footing the costs for hosting the site, or gets hit by a meteor? What happens when (not 'if') the system grows to thousands of users instead of hundreds, all posting their spots simultaeneously to the server, and the current host becomes unable to handle the increased traffic? Perhaps it needs to be institutionalized by a group similar to AMSAT or TAPR to ensure its longevity.

By and large, PSK Reporter is a brilliant creation and should be utilized by all who use digital modes on a regular basis. Kudos to Philip Gladstone N1DQ for developing the system and providing it to the amateur community, free fer nothin'!

Top Loading

"It is important to recognize that simply adding a top hat to a vertical of a given physical height may reduce ground losses." -- The ARRL Antenna Book, 21st Ed.

June 2009 Wrap-Up

First month (well, half-month actually...) back on the air, worked a few all-time new ones like New Caledonia (FK), Aaland Is. (OHØ), and New Zealand (ZL). (Have I really never worked ZL?!?!? That's hard to believe.) Also missed a few like S. Cook Islands and Fiji, both of which I heard on 20m PSK31 but QSB beat me too 'em.

QRV mostly on 20m but managed a few contacts on 40m including Barbados (8P6) on phone and Cuba (CO) on PSK31.

The IOTA count is tentative -- I fill in the IOTA numbers when I know I'm working an island on the official list; none of the stations worked so far have included IOTA no. in the exchange. Hopefully it will be stated on their cards so I can get award credit.

I probably should be working more USA stations for WAS but I'm too focused on DX. Still, I've got 13 states in the bag, and I know I've passed up at least a dozen others.

June 2009 Stats:

• 55 Total QSOs Logged
• 27 DXCC Entities
• 12 CQ Zones
• 13 States
• 8 IOTA Islands