by Lucky

2013 – A retrospective

2013 was all about chasing DX on QRP. The aim was to complete and apply for a QRP DXCC by the end of the year. Work pressures ensured that I would find very little time to get on the band – especially because of my extended work day that spans India and the US.

I was predominantly on JT65 and JT9 and found a few good openings to NA and SA in the mornings on 20M. There were some good long openings late in the night into NA on 15M too.

The CQWW CW contest was a great opportunity to work a number of good ones on QRP. I completed my QRP DXCC after the contest. I applied for and received my QRP DXCC dated December, 2013.

Raj/VU2ZAP is the only other VU who has received a QRP DXCC way back in 2002. Nice feeling to have joined him on the list. Looking back, it was a fun two year hunt. It took a lot of patience, many agonizing hours chasing rare ones and a large dose of luck to achieve it. All this with a yagi stuck pointing to Europe!

by Lucky

Time flies …

It’s one year since I last blogged. And, it’s been a busy year in the shack as well as at work.

To summarize, here are the few highs and lows that I can recollect:

  • Had a lot of fun on the CQWW SSB 2011. Managed to work C5, 3D2 and TS2 on 10 Meters. This was my foray back into SSB contesting after a couple of decades!
  • Was looking forward to chasing a few and S&P’ng on CQWW CW 2011, but had to give that idea up as I was caught up on the work front.
  • With my rotator controller broken and having had to rig up a temporary solution for the CQWW RTTY, I went to the local electronics market and picked up an outdoor camera to mount on the tower. Works very well and also has infra-red LED’s that light up the boom in the dark. This wa going to be good for the new contest season in 2012.
  • Qualified for DXCC’s on 20M and 15M with confirmations on LOTW. The wallpapers arrived in December.
  • Made hybrid DXCC applications for Phone and 10M. Had my cards checked by Prasad/VU2PTT. In fact, mine were the first applications he checked after he became a card checker. This saved me a lot of time and money.