700 DXCC Challenge Contacts Confirmed on LoTW

A big THANK YOU To Lee, VE4DXR, in Winnepeg Canada for being my 700th confirmed DX contact on LoTW.  I need to confirm just 300 more DX contacts to earn the DXCC Challenge award.  

Even though Canada is relatively close, I hadn't previously managed to confirm a contact with a Canadian station on 12m since becoming a ham.  This is explained by the fact that my present home brew 80m Sky Loop antenna doesn't tune up on 12m and my previous last contacts on the band were in 2015.  12m was the final HF band that I needed with Canada which makes my contact with Lee, VE4DXR extra special.

The Winter of 2022 produced a barrage of 31 Atmospheric Rivers that inundated the Central Coast of California and brought 80 mile-per-hour winds.  The high winds shredded many limbs on our majestic cypress tree.  I have been using this particular tree as the primary support for my horizontal 80m sky loop antenna.  Innumerable broken limbs piled up on top of each other in several large tangles out-of-reach up in the tree and on top of my antenna.  Once things have settled down for tree specialists, I plan to hire a professional tree climber to remove the debris so I can put my 80m sky loop antenna back on the air.

Fortunately, I recently ordered a monoband 12m half wave end-fed antenna (EFH12) from Radio Wavz to take advantage of high band propagation conditions and to operate once again on the band after a long hiatus.  A vertical half-wave antenna is excellent for DX due to low take-off angle RF radiation pattern.

Once the storms passed, it only took a few minutes to improvise a temporary antenna setup using a bit of 550 cord and a telescopic 15-foot painters' pole.  I used the painters' pole as a support and the rope to provide distance between the antenna and the conductive pole.  I then leaned the pole upright against a tree near the shack to create a 55-degree sloper antenna configuration.  I also added a 24-inch wire terminated with alligator clips to ground the antenna's PL259 connector to the copper water entry point to my shack.  The grounding helped eliminate reflected RF coming into the shack due to using only a short length of coax.

I was impressed with the initial results obtained from this improvised setup when I quickly logged a good number of DX contacts on the 12m band.

• PU2GHZ - Iuri - Brazil - 6008 miles
• LU2NI - Carlos - Argentina - 5835 miles
• HL2IFR - Ryu - Republic of Korea - 5693 miles
• JF1NZW - Hiro - Japan - 5133 miles
• E6CI - Leszek - Niue - 4980 miles
• 5W1SA - Atsuo - Samoa - 4788 miles
• J68HZ - William - Saint Lucia - 4046 miles
• HI8VJS - Victor - Dominican Republic - 3382 miles
• VE4DXR - Lee - Canada - 1517 miles

I am delighted with the results from my initial test of the Radio Wavz EFH12 antenna.  I plan on setting up the antenna in a permanent configuration in a vertical orientation with a longer run of coax.  I expect these improvements will yield even better results.  I look forward to working you on 12 meters soon.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

Canadian War Museum

We recently had the opportunity to spend an afternoon visiting the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.  This is one of the finest museums of its kind.  The museum has an incredible collection of artifacts, photographs, and armaments.  The presentation incorporates personal stories woven into a timeline of conflicts.  Walking through the museum, one cannot help but be moved.

One of the first things that caught our attention as we approached the museum entrance were the odd windows.  On closer study we recognized that the windows were arranged in the distinct pattern of dits and dahs representing a message in Morse code.  We will leave it to the reader to decode the two messages one in English and the other in French.

The Canadian War Museum


Related article:

• An American Ham in Canada

An American Ham in Canada

As a licensed amateur radio operator and citizen of the United States, you may operate in Canada as a domestically licensed station without the requirement of obtaining any license or permission from the Canadian government.

An American amateur may allow third party use of his station and call sign, carry international third-party traffic, serve as a temporary control operator for a repeater station, and identify themselves as a domestic station using the national call sign system, provided:

• The Licensee has citizenship and a valid amateur radio license from the country for their residency;
• The Licensee appends the local Canadian Zone(Region) to the END of their call sign when identifying their station (e.g. KC2XXX/VE3); and,
• The Licensee adheres to the Canada operating powers, frequency (band) allocations, and laws.

US amateurs operating in Canada must abide by Industry Canada RBR-4 rules.

- A US amateur who is qualified to send and receive in Morse code at a speed of at least 5 wpm may operate an amateur station in Canada in accordance with the provisions applicable to the holder of an Amateur Operator's Certificate with Basic, Morse Code (5 wpm) and Advanced Qualifications.
- A US amateur who is not qualified to send and receive in Morse code may operate an amateur station in Canada in accordance with provisions applicable to the holder of the Amateur Operator's Certificate with Basic Qualifications.

United States licensed stations are required to carry and provide upon request:

• A US passport;
• A copy of the 2009 FCC CEPT notice; and,
• A valid FCC amateur radio license.

Special considerations for 420-430 Mhz - Line A and C
By international treaty between the US and Canada, operation in the portion of the band from 420 to 430 MHz is prohibited north of (an imaginary) "Line A",which runs approximately parallel to the US-Canadian border just south of the Canadian border from Washington state to Maine, and east of Line C, which runs from northeast to southeast Alaska.

Part 97 Legal Description of Line A:

§97.3 Definitions. (29) Line A. Begins at Aberdeen, WA, running by great circle arc to the intersection of 48º N, 120º W, thence along parallel 48º N, to the intersection of 95º W, thence by great circle arc through the southernmost point of Duluth, MN, thence by great circle arc to 45º N, 85º W, thence southward along meridian 85º W, to its intersection with parallel 41º N, thence along parallel 41º N, to its intersection with meridian 82º W, thence by great circle arc through the southernmost point of Bangor, ME, thence by great circle arc through the southernmost point of Searsport, ME, at which point it terminates.

It is a wonderful privilege for US hams to have the ability to operate in Canada.  This is particularly valuable considering the vast border that our two countries share.  Amateur radio is a useful asset when exploring the great Canadian wilderness and natural beauty.  So the next time you are headed to the Great White North do consider bringing amateur radio with you.

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•  Flying With An HT

© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.