JA CQ Magazine and DX "Celebrities"

It’s been just over 90 days since I returned from E51AMF/E51ADD. The memories are still just as vividly and indelibly etched in my skull, but I haven’t been good about sharing them here. Instead of aiming for long-form updates, I endeavor to share snippets and may stumble upon inspiration along the way.

As I reflected on my return trip, this hobby has brought me in touch with incredible people around the world. Even given my meager number of contacts, I was floored by the outpouring of gratitude for new-bandmodes, ATNOs, or even just the opportunity to make a contact. While this was surprising to me, I understood it. I’ve done the ATNO dance a couple hundred times and totally get it.

Reflections on Radio and My Trip

As I departed Manihiki on the little Embrair 110, I found found myself reflecting on my time on the atoll, the people I met, my experiences, and my first real DXPedition. I scrambled to retain the incredibly positive and optimistic feelings I had.

This tiny little island has left an indelible mark on me and the time off the air will have a lasting effect, far beyond anything I had expected. In this context, I won’t expound on that topic to any great length, but there are a few things I’d like to share with DXers and DXPeditioners.

Magic Incantation to Redeem IRCs

Up until this DXPedition, I’d only received on IRC (International Reply Coupon) and simply passed it on to another JA who’s confirmation I wanted. With the flood of E51AMFQSL cards, I received a pile of IRCs and needed a mechanism to redeem them. Coincidentally, Dan – W7WA, posted to the Western Washington DX Club’s Yahoo Group (“reflector”) that he’d been successful doing so, last week. He shared the magic incantation:

On their touch screen ask the clerk to proceed as follows: Sales => More => Exchanges => Foreign IRC

E51AMF - K7ADD Confirmed

Having returned from E51AMF in the North Cook Islands, I was incredibly excited to see my own confirmation. I used the expensive WiFi on-site to remote my home station’s Flex 6500 and make a barefoot RTTY contact. I gave myself bi-directional 599s, but the K7ADD me was probably 459 – took a number of repeated calls to make sure I felt right about logging it. That’s right, I gave myself an ATNO.

E51AMF - Thanks!

With E51AMF and E51ADD QRT for a few days, a quick update on operations, QSL’ing and next step are in order.

As E51AMF, I completed 7363 QSOs with 4224 unique stations over the course of approximately 25 days. Additionally, I logged just over 1000 QSOs from E51ADD on Rarotonga. I’m pleased with my effort and the results and learned an incredible amount in a compressed time.

50% Checkpoint

Yesterday marked the half-way point for E51AMF, Manihiki Atoll, E5/N. This is a solo operation and the first DXPedition by me, K7ADD, a relatively new ham. I appreciate all the attention that the trip has brought to The Amateur Foundation and we’re grateful for the donations that we’ve received. As a reminder, all donations and OQRS fees beyond QSL costs will be donated directly to the Amateur Foundation. This is a self-funded trip.

E51ADD - South Cooks

I’ve extended my trip to include several weeks on Rarotonga (OC-013).

I will be active from Rarotonga (OC-13) in the South Cook Islands - E5/S as E51ADD. Active from Jan 5th-9th 2017 and again from Feb 8th-18th. As with the North Cooks, will also focus on EU, ATNO, and rates.

A DXCC A Year Keeps the Doctor Away

One of the visualizations on Club Log is the DXCC Timeline view. It’s shocking how much DX I worked in my first 5 months on the air (2013) with an IC-7000 and a G5RV at 20 feet. 2014 saw me addition of the Hexbeam on the roof and the AL80B and not much travel. Throughout 2015 and 2016, I traveled a ton and spent much of my shack time refining the setup, instead of on the air. Even still, my ongoing goal will be to work (and confirm) a full DXCC every year.

E51AMF

If you’re seeing this, you’re almost certainly here because you followed a link from QRZ to my blog. If it’s around the end of December 2016 or early in 2017, you’re probably here because you’re interested in the North Cooks DXPedtion. Welcome! Go ahead and subscribe to the RSS feedin your favorite reader (I like Feedly) or bookmark this page… then head on over the DXPedition site.

I’ll keep this blog updated with the more personal side of the trip and the DXPedition site with the specifics of the equipment, QSO rates, etc.

Club Log and Donations Live

I’ve set up the basic Club Log page and the Club Log donation page. I’ve left the leaderboard feature enabled, please read our Plans page for our operating guidelines. I’m happy to make the QSO, but will be working off our list of priorities with Europe and ATNO coming first. I’ll leave the leaderboard enabled as long as it isn’t causing problems.