Operator Change

N5EIL has had an employment change that will prevent his travel to Manihiki. Neil will remain instrumental in furthering the goals of the Amateur Foundation and will continue to support the DXPedition with technical expertise.

Stay tuned for more operator news soon…

Western Washington DX Club Sponsorship

Thanks to the Western Washington DX Club for their generous sponsorship. Their monetary support will help to defray some of the QSL costs. If you’re in the Western Washington area, be sure to check out the club. The club meets monthly in North Seattle with several informal weekly lunches all over the area.

DX Engineering Sponsorship

DX Engineering has graciously agreed to sponsor our expedition with some incredible equipment to augment our transmit antennas with world class receive capability. We’ll share more both on the equipment page and some photos and video of the gear in use, once QRV.

DX Engineering is a great company, staffed with hams with a long history of supporting DXPeditions, innovation, and the hobby.

It's On

With the help of Andy, E51AND, we’ve officially been granted a license to operate in the Cook Islands by Bluesky and the Ministry of Telecom in Rarotonga. We’re lining up travel, lodging, equipment, and logistics… now the real work starts!

Thanks Andy!

Quadcopter

In conversation with WU9Pon 20m, I realized I hadn’t posted any updates on the tower project.

I’ve take a quick quadcopter video from the house up and over the tower. More details later.

Expert Linears Sponsorship

We have secured sponsorship for a second SPE Expert 1.3K-FA, thanks to Expert Linears America LLC.

It’s a small and powerful (near legal limit) linear that covers all amateur bands from 1.8 to 54 MHz including WARC bands and, where permitted, is able to work on 5 MHz (60 m.) and 70 MHz (4 m.). It’s completely automatic and remotable. Weighing only 7.5 Kg. (16.5 lbs), it’s perfect for use in the shack and is superlative for DXpeditions. All operating conditions (frequency, antenna, tuner etc.) are controlled from your transceiver. The operator needs only move the frequency-tuning knob on the transceiver. It is possible to connect it to every transceiver available on the market as it is extremely user-friendly and is easily best-in-class.

Kids on PSK

I was wrapping up some stuff on the computer, yesterday, and poked at 20m PSK (14.070). Conditions weren’t great, but I watched broadband decode for a minute and asked Eva (my younger daughter) if she wanted to talk to a 7th grade girl… she timidly took over the keyboard. After a few minutes, she was really enjoying it.

>> N4SMS DE K7ADD K7ADD K7ADD

<< K7ADD DE N4SMS

<< Report : 599 599

<< Name : SCHOFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL RADIO CLUB, AIKEN SC. RADIO ICOM 71ØØ, 2ØW WIRE DIPOLE

<< How copy? BTU OM, K7ADD DE N4SMS K

>> N4SMS de K7ADD PSE standby for third party traffic from Eva, Age 12 (6th Grade).

>> .... hello my name is Eva and im visiting my dad near seattle pleased to meet you. N4SMS de K7ADD k

<< K7ADD DE N4SMS MY NAME IS ELLA IM IN 7 TH GRADE MY FAVORITE SUBJECT IS SCIENCE I JUST GOT MY LICENCE ON MY BIRTHDAY JANUARY 14

<< BTU K7ADD DE N4SMS K

>> N4SMS de K7ADD Mine is too! I live in Wichita KS but visiting my dad who is a ham. My birthday was Marcch 5th and i turned 12. I plan on getting my license soon. Was it hard? N4SMS de K7ADD k

<< K7ADD DE N4SMS NO NOT REALLY IF YOU STUDY HARD!

<< K7ADD DE N4SMS K

>> N4SMS de K7ADD I have to go get my nails done but it was nice talking to you. Are you on often? We can try a sked tommorow. Would you like a card? N4SMS de K7ADD

<< K7ADD DE N4SMS WE ARE OUT OF SCHOOL TOMORROW I AM BUYING A NEW DRESS! K7ADD de N4SMS k

>> N4SMS de K7ADD It's my Spring break i go back to Kansas on Sat. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Nice to talk to you Ella! 73 N4SMS de K7ADD

<< K7AAD DE N4SMS 73 and thanks for PSK31 QSO Ø on 2Øm K7ADD de N4SMS

Upgrade - I didn’t move to Seattle!

A couple weeks back, I decided to start studying for the Amateur Extra test and a couple days later, I was hitting mid-90’s on the practice tests. I decided to I was best of testing “soon” instead of waiting to gain complete mastery of the material. Since, I’ve actually gone back and re-read and studied some of the topics that were particularly interesting. I found a VE session in Capitol Hill and made my way down to Ada’s Technical Books, that Monday night. The exam was administered by a super friendly Laurel VE team. Test jitters got the better of me and I powered through, completing it around the 5 minute mark (50 questions). I missed a few, but walked out with a shiny CSCE!

VP8SGI / Tower Update

I landed two of this month’s three big DXPeditions (on this side of the planet, anyway).K5Pand VP8SGI are now both in the log. I just worked VP8SGI (South Georgia Islands) on 17m. Greyline does magic for the compromise antenna (a ZS6BKW) that I’m rocking @ 500W. I literally cannot wait for The Tower Projectto continue progressing (details below).

I was watching the pack on the panadapter, and observing how much sway the cluster has on their behavior. They were listening 18.130 and running split 18.135 to 18.145. A spot came through “QSX 18.138.2” and much of the pack takes the bait… they jump right there, despite the fact that the last five or six he’d worked were 3 kHz up from there. Many others sit right at the bottom of the split, right at 18.135. Again, watching the panadapter, he wasn’t workinganyonein those tangles of callsigns.

40M4LLDD Delivered

Adam dropped the big 40m beam off this morning. I had been playing in the Minnesota QSO Party and chasing some NPOTA activators, so I’d missed his call.**Holy crap, this boom ishuge.

Getting seriously excited! Still waiting on a couple more RF and control parts. Final order for structural parts will go out tonight. M2 40M4LLDD Delivered – I Am Ridiculously Excited!