NJ2X

Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have been so constantly under the necessity of watching the movements of the most unprincipled set of pirates I have ever known, that all my time has been occupied in defense, in putting evidence into something like legal shape that I am the inventor of the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph.
From a letter to his brother describing the challenge of defending his patents (19 Apr 1848).

— Samuel F. B. Morse

We have all been there.  You are calling and calling on HF with no reply.  You then start to wonder, "Is anyone receiving me?"  Perhaps you may even begin to doubt your signal is making past your properly line, "Is my signal going anywhere?"

CQ, CQ, CQ, ...
Faced with this type of doubt many hams simply turn the dial or switch bands.  After all, if your signal is going nowhere then why bother?  However, does abandoning the frequency as a strategy make sense if your signal is actually being heard in desirable DX locales?  As in life, good things (i.e. good DX) come to those who are persistent.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." -- Thomas A. Edison

Often the key to unlocking your own personal power of persistence is information.  Information can remove the uncertainty and doubt and help us make an informed choice to stay or move from a frequency.  In the age of the Internet, we now h…

What God Hath Wrought. Message transmitted to inaugurate the first U.S. telegraph line (24 May 1844). The biblical text, from Numbers, 23:23, was selected by Annie Ellsworth, daughter of the Commissioner of Patents.   — Samuel F. B. Morse

I was very excited to receive my ARRL Centennial Points Challenge award this week.



I rather like the design of the award certificate with the Hartford, CT skyline in the background.  I earned the Level 3 award with my final score of 9,746 points.  Not too shabby considering that I was unable to operate for most of the first 6 months of 2014.

The ARRL President (Kay Craigie) signed the award and also contributed quite a few points via our contacts.  It was always great fun to hear her on the air working the pileup.

The ARRL Centennial Points Challenge is one of my very favorite contests of all time.  May of us wish there would be a similar contest in the future.  I hope we don't have to wait until 2114 though.

:-)

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

I was very excited to see that my QSO's (17m and 20m SSB) with the DX Expedition E51MKW (North Cook Islands on the Manihiki Atoll) were confirmed today.  Propagation was very poor.  However, the expedition team did a stellar job in pulling stations out of the noise.  I am very impressed and pleased on how quickly the team uploaded their contacts to the Logbook of the World (LoTW).  The Manihiki Atoll is magnificent.  I am considering adding a visit there to my bucket list.


This was the final contact (number 100) I needed to complete my ARRL DXCC Phone award.  All contacts were completed using wire antennas with 100 Watts of power.  Looking forward to receiving the certificate and add another to the shack walls.


Good DX and 73, NJ2X

On this day (October 9) in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson conducted the first two-way telephone conversation over outdoor wires using telegraph line between Boston and East Cambridge.

The most incomprehensible thing about our universe is that it can be comprehended. -- Albert Einstein

Be sure to join in the fun on October 3-4, 2015 with the Clifornia QSO Party.  The QSO part starts at 1600 UTC October 3, 2015 and ends 220 UTC October 4, 2015.

There is a way to qualify for a really cool looking Gold Rush Commemorative Coin.  Check out http://www.cqp.org for complete rules and information.


Hope to hear on the air.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X