Well the band conditions have been very poor today, but I was able to make my 700th contact (KI4FIA).

Starting to Make Some Contacts

Conditions have been somewhat better over the last several days. I did not have the opportunity to play radio yesterday. But between Sunday and today I now have 386 contacts in my log. I was doing very well in to PA and the Carolinas. However, I also worked as far west as LA. I also made contacts as far east as Moscow. Everything has been uploaded to www.eqsl.cc. I am going to have to keep working if I am going to break last year's record of 1000 contacts.

Band Conditions

The band conditions have been very poor the last two days. I made two contacts on April 23rd. One contact on the 24th and 12 today.

TW2010

The first intersection of good weather and free time was Monday. So I set up the TW2010 and hooked up the MFJ antenna analyzer. I bought the antenna in late January as a replacement to my Force 12 Sigma 5. Before Monday, I did not have an opportunity to test it out. When the weather was good I was busy. When I had free time, the weather was lousy. Well this last Monday the weather was good and I had free time.

The Antenna looks good. The only place the SWR was a little high was 17 meters (1.6:1). However, in retrospect this may have been due to the facts that I set up the antenna less than 20 feet from car and I did not feed the coax at a 45 degree angle to the antenna. When I get to St. Martin I will set it up properly. If the SWRs are still high, I can always use my tuner.

DXCC Credit

A number of the folks I had QSOs with last year told me that I was their first St. Martin contact and needed it for their DXCCs. I wanted to make sure that these and future contacts would not have a problem using our QSOs for DXCC credit.

I sent a note to ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L. Asking if I need to provide formal documentation to verify my time in St. Martin. Here is his response:

• Bill
  
  I was in St. Martin last year and made over 1000 contacts as FS/N9QGU. A lot of those contacts have requested QSL cards. Is there anything I need to do so that the ARRL is comfortable that these are legitimate contacts? I will be back there again this year and will probably make a bunch more QSOs.
  
  Thanks
  
  Bob N9QGU
  
  
• Hi Bob:
  
  Thanks for contacting me and at this time we do not need any documentation for your op
  
  Regards
  
  
  Bill Moore NC1L
  DXCC Manager
  
  

US Airways...

So..When we originally booked our tickets to St. Martin in January it was $500 per person. I checked the US Air website earlier this week. The price had dropped to $350. So I gave them a call. They wanted to charge me $100 for a change fee and then give me a $46 coupon. Last year we took United. When the price dropped the credited me back the difference. No questions asked. I don't think we will be flying on US Air again.

St. Martin QTH

The St. Martin QTH is a villa that sits on the northwest side of Mount Rouge about 200 feet above sea level and about 300 yards back from the ocean (Baie Rouge). The top 20% of Mount Rouge is directly behind us and effectively cuts off most of the propogation to the South and South East. This location favors Central America, North America, and Western Europe. North America and Western Europe represented the bulk of last year's QSOs. However, I was able to work North Africa, Japan, and the Solomon Islands. So all hope of earning the DXCC is not lost.

How to QSL

I just looked at last year's results. I received 236 QSL cards via eQSL.cc. This is about twice as many as I received via paper qsl cards (190-ish) and way...way...more than I received via LOTW (38). I must admit that I had never heard of eQSL.cc until I received an email in mid DXpedition, announcing that I had received an eQSL card. I quickly discovered that my logging software had a feature for posting contacts, directly to the eQSL site...sweet....Once I spent some time with eQSL, I realized that it was much more user friendly than LOTW.

If you want a paper qsl card (they are quite attactive and may someday be a collectors item, please see above) and are a US Ham, send me an SASE and I will send you a card. If you are a non-US ham send me a self addressed return envelope and $2.00 US. Given my honest nature, you will probably get a card in return.

If you send me a card directly without SASE or $2.00, it will sit on my desk for a while, I will poke at it...and at some point in the future, if the cat doesn't eat it, I might send a reply via the bureau. If you send me a card via the bureau, once I have accumulated 15-20 cards, I will send you one back the same way.

Where To Listen

I usually work SSB. However, I may also try PSK31this year, if I can make it work in time. The Antenna I am bringing is good for 20-10 meters. Last year I made 95% of my 1011 contacts on 17 meters, because it was open in the late afternoon when I was ready to play radio. I tried 20 meters on several occasions but it was too noisy. Ten, twelve, and fifteen meters were dead.

Force 12 Sigma 5 vs. TW2010

Previously I used a Force-12 Sigma 5 vertical dipole. You can see my review of the Sigma 5 on eham.net. Although the Sigma 5 has performed well, I am retiring it from travel due to concerns about its longevity. These concerns were brought to a head by a blog I read about a DXpedition to the Cook Islands. After a few days the salt spray destroyed the PC board in the Sigma 5. The problems they ran into confirm my fears about the design of the Sigma 5 antenna. The PC board is mounted in a large piece of PVC in the center of the antenna. The PVC has openings at the top and bottom to accomodate the antenna. There is also a large slot in the side to accomodate the coax and control cable. To be a fair, a number of individuals on eham.net have reported using this antenna in adverse conditions for extended periods with out any problems.

Although both antennas are based on the same design (short vertical dipole) and appear to have the same electrical characteristics, the TW2010 is a much more elegant implementation. In addition, the TW2010's PC board (where the coils and relays are mounted) is sealed.

I just received the TW2010 last week. By all appearances the folks at TW Antennas have done an outstanding job on design and construction. It does not have the problems with rough edges and missing pieces that I initially ran into with the Sigma 5. It has been too cold and snowy in Chicago to test it. However, once the weather breaks I will set it up and give it a test run. Base on what I have seen, I have extremely high hopes for it.

Equipment

IC-706 MKIIG

TW2010 antenna

Gamma Research Power Supply

LDG Tuner

Winlog 32 Logging Software (very nice freeware logging program)

N9QGU Returns to St. Martin

I will be operating from French St. Martin April 23-May 5 2008 as FS/N9QGU. You may have worked me last year. I was there in early May 2007 and made 1011 contacts in less than 12 days. I worked over 50 countries and to date, have confirmed about 30 of them. I would really like to get a DXCC for the St. Martin call.