HST updates ...

Well, it looks like 2013 is a fruitful HST year. Lots of events, new targets set, new friends made, new travels enjoyed ... well, sure that is better than sniffing what your radio neighbours are saying on the local VHF frequencies, waiting for the worst time to attack them ...

So, back to the good stuff ...

Take a good look at this article on IARU's Region 1 official web site and read on Oliver's (Z32TO) list of HST events to take place this year. Bulgaria's BFRA is organizing two main HST events, one is the 1st Balkan HST championship, scheduled to take place end of May and of course, the 11th World High Speed Telegraphy Championship to take place between 22 and 26 September. Both of these events sound quite interesting to me and since they are being held in my neighbourhood, I will attend one of them for sure, and try to make some plans to attend the other, too.

A bit sooner, in the first 5 days of May, HST World Cup wil be held in Serbia by SRS. Sounds like a nice event, too, but it's Easter time here during that period and I cannot make any plans to attend.

There is also going to be held the DTP by DARC in Germany, and another event in Belarus, but those two are more "local" events, so I will just be monitoring the athletes' results.

The vast majority of you out there, is unaware of what exactly happens in HST Championships and how they are organized. Well, thanks to my good friend Vicky, SV2KBS, please find below a couple of links for the current HST rules in effect and also the current World Records per sport and per category:

HST Rules

 

HST World Records

 

Also, if you go to www.youtube.com and search for "High Speed Telegraphy", you will come across a few very interesting videos, to give you a glimpse of what is going on there.

 

Moreover, in the site of RufZ software you will find a new tag named "Movies" ... most interesting videos in there, too !!

 

Finally, below is the link to the 1st official Bulletin of the 11th World HST Championship to be held in Borovets, Bulgaria. Those of you that are interested, read it on and examine the possibility to join in.

 

1st Bulletin

 

73s from Rhodes Island

 

Stathis, SV5DKL



2000 WPX prefixes confirmed in LotW ... Ready to apply for WPX Award of Excellence

Just today I reached 2000 WPX confirmed prefixes solely from LotW confirmations.

Of course, much more have already been worked here (about the double !!), but it was a challenge to see this number showing up in LotW`s roster.

I have already been awarded the WPX mixed award and also I`ve been endorsed for the WPX mixed 20m, WPX mixed 15m, WPX mixed 10m, WPX mixed North America, WPX mixed Europe, WPX mixed Asia, WPX CW and WPX SSB awards.

Next step will be to apply for the WPX Award of Excellence which includes a beautiful engraved plaque for my trophies wall, after applying for WPX mixed 40m, WPX mixed 80m, WPX mixed South America, WPX mixed Africa and WPX mixed Oceania endorsements, for which I am already liable to apply, since my LotW confirmations allow me to do so.

Here is my current WPX standings in LotW:

Your Logbook WPX Account (SV5DKL - DODECANESE)

Account Status Award Selected Applied Awarded Total WPX Mixed * 775 0 1225 2000 WPX Mixed 160M 210 0 0 210 WPX Mixed 80M 441 0 0 441 WPX Mixed 40M 807 0 0 807 WPX Mixed 30M 270 0 0 270 WPX Mixed 20M * 704 0 331 1035 WPX Mixed 17M 295 0 0 295 WPX Mixed 15M * 883 0 421 1304 WPX Mixed 12M 280 0 0 280 WPX Mixed 10M * 821 0 301 1122 WPX Mixed 6M 105 0 0 105 WPX Mixed North America * 201 0 192 393 WPX Mixed South America 97 0 0 97 WPX Mixed Europe * 323 0 766 1089 WPX Mixed Africa 102 0 0 102 WPX Mixed Asia * 105 0 150 255 WPX Mixed Oceania 68 0 0 68 WPX CW * 871 0 625 1496 WPX CW 160M 204 0 0 204 WPX CW 80M 328 0 0 328 WPX CW 30M 258 0 0 258 WPX CW 40M 605 0 0 605 WPX CW 20M 645 0 0 645 WPX CW 17M 205 0 0 205 WPX CW 15M 925 0 0 925 WPX CW 12M 218 0 0 218 WPX CW 10M 637 0 0 637 WPX CW 6M 67 0 0 67 WPX CW North America 269 0 0 269 WPX CW South America 66 0 0 66 WPX CW Europe 769 0 0 769 WPX CW Africa 82 0 0 82 WPX CW Asia 176 0 0 176 WPX CW Oceania 48 0 0 48 WPX SSB * 831 0 538 1369 WPX SSB 160M 7 0 0 7 WPX SSB 80M 157 0 0 157 WPX SSB 40M 370 0 0 370 WPX SSB 20M 599 0 0 599 WPX SSB 17M 117 0 0 117 WPX SSB 15M 672 0 0 672 WPX SSB 12M 75 0 0 75 WPX SSB 10M 805 0 0 805 WPX SSB 6M 56 0 0 56 WPX SSB North America 234 0 0 234 WPX SSB South America 75 0 0 75 WPX SSB Europe 686 0 0 686 WPX SSB Africa 69 0 0 69 WPX SSB Asia 176 0 0 176 WPX SSB Oceania 53 0 0 53 WPX Digital 637 0 0 637 WPX Digital 80M 64 0 0 64 WPX Digital 40M 128 0 0 128 WPX Digital 30M 19 0 0 19 WPX Digital 20M 372 0 0 372 WPX Digital 17M 30 0 0 30 WPX Digital 15M 374 0 0 374 WPX Digital 12M 32 0 0 32 WPX Digital 10M 76 0 0 76 WPX Digital North America 68 0 0 68 WPX Digital South America 15 0 0 15 WPX Digital Europe 424 0 0 424 WPX Digital Africa 32 0 0 32 WPX Digital Asia 84 0 0 84 WPX Digital Oceania 16 0 0 16 * = Award has been issued Stay tuned for my progress on WPX awards programme. 73s from Rhodes Island Stathis, SV5DKL

DXCC Challenge 1400 points reached ... next stop ... 1500 points !!

Back in 6th September 2012, I had reached the 1300 points mark in LotW`s DXCC Challenge confirmations. Read this post.

In just 3 months, I got today to the 1400 points mark, especially after many DXpeditions I had worked in the past uploaded their logs into LotW. Each DXped gave me a 6-point addition on average.

Here is my current DXCC & DXCC Challenge standing in LotW:

Being damn proud of this, I will move on the next stop, being the courteous 1500 points mark.

... One small step each time ...

73s from Rhodes Island

Stathis, SV5DKL

1994 - 2012 Review

Best wishes to all my radio friends for the New Year 2013.

Completing 18 years in Amateur Radio, I thought I'd check out my all-time statistics, leading to a general review of what has been accomplished so far ...

As far as quantity is concerned, at the end of 2012 my QSO totals are 82.051 QSOs. And below is the QSO dispersion per year:

 

 

2012 was the most fruitful year, numbering about 12000 QSOs...that is almost 33 QSOs / day ... not bad !! Of course, the main reason for this high number is my participations in all major contests, plus many minor ones.

 

 

Band preference is the next statistic ... initially I thought 15m would prevail, but after seeing the below bar chart, I recalled the thousands of QSOs made with my 2 element Cubical Quad on 20m, when I used to be SV1DKL back in Athens.

 

 

But, what about continental dispersion ??? Well, I didn't expect the unexpected, so EU has my vast majority of my QSOs. AS and NA share the next place and as expected, OC and AN, with their reduced ham population, are far low in the list.

 

 

Last interesting statistic is the Mode preference. Again, I was suspicious that A1A would be the winner, but J3E still heads the race, with a marginal difference of about 2000 QSOs. F1B, as expected, rules the 3rd place and then come all the rest ...

 

 

That's all for now !! Most possibly, next review will be made when my 2nd decade as an Amateur Radio operator will be over ... I hope by then the magic number of 100.000 QSOs will have been reached.

 

73s from Rhodes Island and HNY to all.

Stathis, SV5DKL