3rd GTC CW Cup preliminary results on-air !!

 

 

Today, I have uploaded all in-time submitted logs of the 3rd GTC CW Cup in public, as well as the preliminary score rankings, before the QSO cross-checking, at Greek Telegraphy Club's official web site here.

While on Cat. B' (SOAB/QRP), it is pretty clear that SV1KU/QRP will be the trophy winner, on Cat. A' (SOAB) a real drama is going to take place !!

At the top 3 places of the preliminary ranking, SV1JGX, SV1ME & SV1/SV2FWV are very close, as they have accomplished similar results. The battle will be judged upon the number of QSOs that will be confirmed and those derive from the QSO cross-checking, as the rules of the GTC CW Cup clearly state.

It is going to be a time of patience for those 3, who are all very good friends of mine, until the final results will arise, clearing everything out. Still, the trophy winner of Cat. A' is going to be only one and he will be lucky enough to receive the beautiful and BIG cup that GTC is going to award him with.

While we are working on the organization of the 4th GTC CW Cup, I leave you browsing through the preliminary results and the public logs of the participants, waiting for any comments or notes from you, to this e-mail address: 

sv5dkl@rho.forthnet.gr

73

Stathis, SV5DKL

E.C.M. - G.T.C.

G.T.C. #028

GTC CW Cup Contest Manager

ZD7VC St. Helena - Another new one on 6m

I know that most of you had already worked ZD7 on 6m, but until yesterday evening that was a new one for me, too.

Bruce, ZD7VC from St. Helena island (AF-022) was spotted by numerous southern european stations on the DX-cluster at 50.183 SSB, so I thought I'd give it a try.

And, there he was !! A huge 5/7 signal with clear, punchy audio was heard in my headphones. I worked him first call, after turning the beam to his direction and loading up the amp, and after our QSO, I stayed QRV on his frequency to check what stations he kept on working. He, indeed, worked a lot of SVs, as well as 9As and S5s. During my time monitoring his QSOs, his signal peaked up to a real 5/9 to the s-meter of my FT-2K.



That was just incredible and propagation favored particularly the eastern mediterranean countries. Lucky me !!

Bruce gave me nr. 94 DXCC worked on 6m and the target set is to reach 100 DXCCs on 6m until the end of coming June, which I think would be somewhat easy to achieve.
 

J42T - CQ WPX SSB 2014

Last preparations are under way at Leo, SV2DCD's QTH for our participation in 2014's CQ WPX SSB Contest, in M/2 category, under the callsign of Northern Greece Contest Team, J42T.

 

A fine group of SSB contesters will be gathered from all over Greece to join J42T in this effort, which is dedicated to our good fellow Panos, SY2ALT, who became a SK very early.

 

I was very excited to receive Leo's invitation for this effort on the first days of December 2013, and with no further hesitation, I made all necessary arrangements and pinpointed my calendar !!

 

Leo has a very well appointed amateur radio installation, which aids significantly to the success of J42T effort and to a great score. Check his blog for more Info:

 

http://sv2dcd.blogspot.com

 

Also, an interesting feature will commence at J42T during the contest, that is LIVE video & audio directly from the transceivers, will be available for viewing.

You will be able to see and hear us operating, by clicking here:

 

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/j42t-1

 

Further detailed info on J42T and the team formation for CQ WPX SSB 2014 may be found here:

 

http://www.j42t.net/

 



All of the team members hope for the best, and of course we will have lots of fun and spend time with each other to strengthen our relationships.

 

If you hear us during the CQ WPX SSB 2014 contest, give us a call. We'll need it.

 

73

Stathis, SV5DKL

VP8NO new one on 6m

6m may, indeed, be the "Magic" band !!

Yesterday, it was one of those "magic" afternoons on 6m and I made it into Mike, VP8NO's log on 50.130 at 15:41z in SSB, exchanging 5/5 reports both ways.

 

I monitored Mike for quite a while and he worked a lot of SV Stations. Later, I received a phone call by my good friend Lampros, SV1LK in Athens, who congratulated for my new one and told me that during his QSO with VP8NO, Mike mentioned that propagation was so precise, that it was like you had a wire connecting GREECE with the Falklands !!

 

Mike is also using LotW, so this new one will be confirmed easily, too !!

 

VP8 has been my 92nd DXCC worked on 6m, a few more to go ...



USA-CA County Award with E-QSL only confirmations earned and arrived

Endless hours on the radios, tons of QRM and QRN down the ear tunnel, so hard for my part of the world to achieve it, yet the CQ USA-CA County Award Nr. 3638 has been awarded and arrived yesterday in the mailbox !!

The remark "All E-QSL" at the endorsement sector of the award says it all. We are in for good into a new era of operating our radio stations. Networking and globalization have zeroed distances between people far apart, everything is easier and faster, as they want to make our way of living. No more waiting time, no more paperwork going back and forth ... electronic means of various aspects are here to service us. Use them at your advantage ... Total application time, approval, payment, shipment and arrival of my USA-CA award was a mere 2 weeks !!

Back to the USA-CA award ... IT IS ENORMOUS in size ... didn`t think it would be larger than a A3 or B3 page ... yet it measures 35,5 x 44 cm !!! It doesn`t fit in my awards` wall ...

It is not printed on paper, it more like a papyrus of some kind, coloring is superb and overall decoration is amazing, topped by the flags of each of the 50 U.S., surrounding the main theme.

Ted, K1BV has done an amazing job with this award has made it very easy to apply for and complete, through eQSL.cc

Here is a HQ photo of the award itself:

Use eQSL.cc and see for yourself whether you are liable to apply for it, too !!

73 and enjoy DX

Stathis, SV5DKL

Confirming new ones ... the fast way

I am moving towards completing my 10B DXCC (160m-6m), as 6m is my last band left, so every new one there gives me unprecedented joy, especially when the correspondent confirms through ARRL`s LotW.

For the time being, I am landed on 90 worked DXCC on 6m, with the last new ones worked last week being CE2AWW, ZD8D, 5V7DX, 9J2T & ZP5SNA.

All have already been confirmed through LotW:

Showing DXCC Award data for
SV5DKL - DODECANESE

	Call sign	Worked	Date/Time	Band	Mode	Freq	QSL		DXCC
Details	SV5DKL	CE2AWW	2014-03-09 22:50:04	6M	CW	50.102070	CHILE		Mixed; CW; 6M; Challenge
Details	SV5DKL	CE2AWW	2014-03-09 22:03:20	6M	CW	50.102060	CHILE		6M; Challenge

Showing DXCC Award data for
SV5DKL - DODECANESE

	Call sign	Worked	Date/Time	Band	Mode	Freq	QSL		DXCC
Details	SV5DKL	5V7DX	2014-03-09 21:53:22	6M	CW	50.098530	TOGO		6M; Challenge

Showing DXCC Award data for
SV5DKL - DODECANESE

	Call sign	Worked	Date/Time	Band	Mode	Freq	QSL		DXCC
Details	SV5DKL	ZP5SNA	2014-03-08 20:55:59	6M	CW	50.105650	PARAGUAY		6M; Challenge

Showing DXCC Award data for
SV5DKL - DODECANESE

	Call sign	Worked	Date/Time	Band	Mode	Freq	QSL		DXCC
Details	SV5DKL	ZD8D	2014-03-05 21:26:59	6M	CW	50.113070

Showing DXCC Award data for
SV5DKL - DODECANESE

	Call sign	Worked	Date/Time	Band	Mode	Freq	QSL	DXCC
Details	SV5DKL	9J2T	2014-03-03 17:53:36	6M	SSB	50.120130
Details	SV5DKL	9J2T	2014-03-03 16:56:33	6M	CW	50.103120

For the last two, they still haven`t uploaded their part of the log, but judging from previous QSOs LotW confirmations, it won`t take much longer. 

Looks like this coming summer I will finish off with 6m as well, if propagation will be that good.

Thuringen Diplom & Trophy Nr. 067 entitled

A fine trophy by Thuringen district of DARC has been applied for and granted by Uwe, DL5AOJ, solely through DARC's DCL system.

Below are the diplom and a sample of the Trophy, which is personalised and will be at most in 4 week's time in my hands:

 



Every Thuringen-Trophy is UNIQUE as the stones come from Thuringen mountains. It is about 19cm. high, is made of clay cast and is framed with a color metal plate with the Trophy number and owner's details.

See if you can apply for Thuringen Trophy and/or Diplom here:

http://www.darc.de/distrikte/x/diplome/thueringen-diplom/

DIG CEPT Diplom awarded

I wanted to apply for this specific award for years, since I first started showing interest for Diplom Interessen Gruppe awards and trophies, but it somehow lost my attention.

Being integrated into DARC`s DCL diplom system, it was easy to apply and be awarded this nice DIG CEPT Nr. 386 diplom.

Here it is:

Many thanks to Alfons, DJ8VC for all his invaluable help, throughout all of my award/trophy applications made via DCL.

6m season begins in SV5 !!

 

We clearly verified all signs of previous days, as well as last week`s VHF and up propagation forecast.

6m band opened up today for the first serious Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP) opening of the season.

ZS6WN was the first station to get audible in our area and was very easy to work. 559 both ways with no QSB/QRN.

Afterwards, ZS6BTE was heard, as well as another ZS station calling a S57.

So, 6m season seems to start on time here on SV5 land.

We`ll be looking for any occasional openings and will try to complete the 6m DXCC this summer, too.

73

Stathis, SV5DKL

DJ60DXMB Award - 60 years Jubilee of DARC's DX-Newsletter - 1954-2014

60 years ago, the first DXNL was published, by DX section of DARC e.V.

A commemorative Special event station under the callsign DJ60DXMB ,with a Special S-DOK 60DXMB and a respective 60DXMB Special award, will be aired for all 2014.

More detailed Info on the Special event and the conditions of the Special award, may be found here: http://www.qrz.com/db/dj60dxmb

It is important that applications for 60DXMB award may only be applied through DARC's DCL system here: http://dcl.darc.de/~dcl/public/index.php

I have already applied and was awarded 60DXMB Special award with Serial nr. 014, with a very simple procedure through DCL. Below is an image of my award:

 

YL WPX Trophy

Got another one !!

Another beautiful, prestigious plaque arrived today at my shack.
The YL WPX trophy is another great addition to my long ago acquired LY WPX Trophy Honor Roll Plaque.

Sam, LY5W, was very helpful and kind to send me this nice YL WPX Trophy which will decorate another empty space at our living room.

Below is the YL WPX Trophy nr. 3 acquired:

Info on how to obtain the YL WPX Trophy yourself can be found here:

http://www.lrsk.lv/awards

and Trophy Holders list can be seen here:

http://www.lrsk.lv/awards/plaquenr

WAS Triple Play Award arrived

The prestigious Worked All States Triple Play Award numbered 1008 arrived yesterday in the mailbox.

This was the outcome of MANY hours on-air, both in contests and in casual daily QSOs.

It is reminded that WAS TPA is available to all licensed amateur radio operators that have confirmed at least one QSO in SSB & CW & DATA with all 50 United States, solely by LotW confirmations.

Application procedure is done via LotW and once you fulfill the aforementioned prerequisites, applying becomes a piece of cake.