1900 US Counties Confirmed on QRZ.com

A BIG thank you to Richard, N7WFK, located in Canadian County, Oklahoma, for being my 1900th United States County contact confirmed on LoTW and QRZ.com (1900 out of 3,007).

I noticed that it took me much longer to complete the last 100 Counties than it did to go from 1700 to 1800 Counties.  My q-rate for making contacts with new US Counties has noticeably decreased.  All the same, I am undeterred as completing contacts with all 3,007 US Counties is a long-term goal.  One thing that I have learned in life is to enjoy the journey more than the arriving at the destination.

Chasing US Counties is great fun and if you are looking for a new challenge in amateur radio, I encourage you to dive in.  You may be surprised how far you have progressed already.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

The fun of receiving a LoTW confirmation for a DX contact long ago

Today, I am reminded of the fun of receiving a LoTW confirmation for a DX contact made long ago.  This morning, I received a confirmation from 2013 for a SSB contact with a station in Ireland.  

2013-10-27 18:05:00

10M

SSB

28.62100

IRELAND

Ordinarily, a confirmation that is not received within a relatively short period of a few months is one that will likely never be received.  

Flag of Ireland

I really appreciate hams who take the time to upload their logs to the LoTW since leads to confirming contacts which helps everyone.  For many of us, the LoTW is our primary means for tracking awards.  I use the LoTW confirmations to earn both ARRL awards like DXCC and WAS as well as the QRZ awards like the United States Counties Award.  

I have a nice QSL card collection that I enjoy browsing and sharing with others.  I haven't used any of the cards I have received for earning awards.  I much prefer the simplicity and ease of earning awards through LoTW confirmations.  

A single confirmation on LoTW could help someone complete an award they have been working toward for many years and make their day brighter.  If you are a ham who is not yet using the ARRL logbook of the world, please consider joining in the fun and uploading your logs.  No doubt you will give many hams a happy surprise confirmation on the LoTW.

If you are already using the LoTW and have logs that you haven't uploaded yet, please consider taking the time to do so.  There are hams who would greatly appreciate your confirmation on LoTW.

Blessings to all in the coming New Year.  See you on the radio.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

DX Technique: Persistence

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 have access to excellent information regarding where our signals are being received.

A wonderful free service that provides remarkable information is "PSK Reporter".  Using PSK Reporter you can quickly determine visually where in the world your signal is being received with just a few clicks.  If you haven't tried it be prepared to be amazed!

Example 1: configuring PSK Reporter to determine where your JT-65 signal is being received

1. Using your web browser navigate to PSK Reporter.
2. Enter your own call sign in the upper left corner of the screen and click, "Find".  This will take you to a screen with a map and drop down filter options at the top.
3. Select the band you are using with the drop down next to "On".
4. Select the mode you are operating with using the drop down next to "using".
5. Select the time interval you are interested in using the drop down next to "over the last".  We typically use "15 minutes" to limit the results to the last 15 minutes.
6. Click "Go!" to retrieve your results and update the map.

In the example above, we can see that my JT-65 calls were being received and decoded by stations all over the world as indicated by the yellow call out balloons with time durations.  For example, 3 minutes prior to this query, my JT-65 signal was received and decoded by a station in Canada (VE6ADZ).  My signal was also received 13 minutes earlier by stations in Hawaii and Asia.  My signal was also received 1 minute earlier by a station in Puerto Rico.

This information helped motivate me to continue operating even though I wasn't receiving as many calls as I would like.  I could see quickly that my signal was being received in many of the locations I was targeting such as the US Eastern States, Hawaii, and Asia.

Recently, I was operating JT-65 on 40m in the morning.  I had been calling for about 30 minutes without any DX calls.  I was beginning to feel a little discouraged; however, I could see from PSK Reporter that my signal was being decoded in Asia and this motivated me to continue calling.  Once again the power of persistence paid off and I was rewarded with a contact with 9V1XX in Singapore which is a new DXCC entity for me and Kazuhiko confirmed the QSO via LoTW!  This was an excellent contact indeed.

The next day, I started decoding E21LXK (Thor) at 1546 UTC from Thailand on 20m JT-65.  His signal was weak and according to PSK Reporter my signal was not crossing the gray line to Asia yet.  It seemed it was too early for a contact.  Thailand would be a new DXCC entity for me so I was determined to see if I could make the contact.  Each time Thor would call CQ I would diligently return his call.  The contact would then proceed between Thor and some station in Europe or Asia (none in the US).  Each time I returned his call I would check PSK Reporter and found that no stations were reporting receiving my signal.  I noticed that E21LXK's signal strength was increasing slightly as time went on.  This gave me hope that an opening would appear and provide a window of opportunity to complete the contact.  This went on until 1738 when suddenly his signal shot up as though he was operating from my neighborhood coffee shop!  Excited at my good fortune, I returned his call again and this time Thor replied and we completed the QSO!  Persistence paid off once again.

There are many interesting uses for the information provided by PSK Reporter.  For example, the information is very good for radio experimentation (e.g. power settings, antennas, etc.).  It is quite interesting to adjust your power and see the immediate impact on where the signal is being heard.  It is surprising how little power is needed with modes like JT-65.  This is great fun.

Fire up PSK Reporter, get on the air, and drop your call to see where you are being heard.  There is a good chance you are being heard in more places that you thought and you have better odds at making an interesting DX contact when you are persistent.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X



NJ2X Kindle Edition is now available.

Completed DXCC on Phone

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.

Manihiki Atoll (aerial photo by NASA)

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

Finished 20 Meters WAS award from California

Thanks to AB1NJ in Vermont today, we completed the WAS award for 20 Meters (from California) with a JT-65 contact.

Chasing ARRL awards is good fun.  Awards also encourage radio amateurs to stay active which is good for the hobby.  The LoTW makes it easy to keep track of all the contacts for the various awards.  Looking for the next award which will likely be Phone DXCC.  So many interesting and challenging choices...

NJ2X's ARRL WAS Award with 20 Meters endorsement

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

NJ2X's QSL/QSO Ratio for 2014

With the arrival of the New Year, it is time for our annual measurement of our QSL/QSO LoTW ratio.

	2013	2014	2015	Delta
QSO	3556	3955	4745	790
QSL	1486	1780	2338	558
Ratio	42%	45%	49%	4%

As we write this on January 1, 2015, there are 72,697 hams registered with LoTW (increase of 17,947 users over this time 1 year ago) and our QSL/QSO LoTW ratio is at 49%.  Our prediction of our QSL/QSO LoTW ratio would increase in time continues to hold true with a 4% increase from last year's measurement.  We attribute this increase to having more hams join in the LoTW fun by becoming LoTW subscribers and uploading their logs.

 

Additionally, we spent a good of our operating activity this year working on the ARRL Centennial QSO Party.  These contacts would have a strong bias for LoTW subscribers which would also account for some portion of the increase in our QSL/QSO LoTW ratio.

The LoTW is an excellent example of network economics in action.  The more hams that subscribe to the LoTW and submit their logs the more utility each already-subscribed ham derives (in the form of more of confirmed contacts).  An increase in LoTW subscribers thus will increase the QSL/QSO ratio on average for all subscribed hams.

I am looking forward to the day when we see the number of registered LoTW users increase to 200,000 hams worldwide.  At the present growth rate, there is a good chance we will see over 100,000 users in the next year.  How about 1,000,000 LoTW subscribers?  What will the average QSL/QSO LoTW ratio be when that happens?

So how does your QSL/QSO LoTW ratio compare?  Not using the LoTW yet?  Well come on and join the fun.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X


Other related articles on NJ2X.COM:

• Logbook of The World to Now Support CQ Awards
• Hunting LoTW Stations
• Powerful DX Hunting Accessories - Your Ears
• DX Code of Conduct
• DX Technique: Taking A Break = Opportunity For A Modest Station

© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2015. 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.

Reflections on NJ2X's LoTW statistics for 2013

As we start the new year 2014, we reviewed our LoTW stats to see how our year in ham radio went.

1/16/2013                  1/1/2014                       Delta
3,556 QSO records    3,955 QSO records      399 QSO records
1,486 QSL records     1,780 QSL records      294 QSL records
42% QSL/QSO           45% QSL/QSO           74% QSL/QSO
54,750 LoTW users    62,151 LoTW users    7401 increase in registered LoTW users

It is nice to see the number of registered LoTW users going up each year.  The 14% increase of users helped drive up everyone's LoTW QSL/QSO ratios.  We saw a 3% increase in our overall QSL/QSO ratio in 2013 as a result.  Tell your friends now is a great time to jump in and join The Logbook of The World.

I am looking forward to the day when we see the number of registered LoTW users increase to 100,000 or 200,000 hams worldwide.  How about 1,000,000 LoTW subscribers?  What will the average QSL/QSO LoTW ratio be when that happens?  Pretty darn good I am sure.

So how does your QSL/QSO LoTW ratio compare?  Not using the LoTW yet?  Well come on and join the fun.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X


Other related articles on NJ2X.COM:

• Logbook of The World to Now Support CQ Awards
• Hunting LoTW Stations
• Powerful DX Hunting Accessories - Your Ears
• DX Code of Conduct
• DX Technique: Taking A Break = Opportunity For A Modest Station

© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2014. 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.

What is your LoTW QSL/QSO ratio?

We are very enthusiastic about the ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW).  It is an excellent concept, easy to use, cost effective, generally fast, and an useful source of interesting data.  Being numerically inclined, one of the things we check from time-to-time is the ratio of our QSO's confirmed via the LoTW.

You have 3,556 QSO records
You have 1,486 QSL records

As we write this on January 16, 2013, there are 54,750 ham registered with LoTW and our QSL/QSO LoTW ratio is at 42%.  Being a glass-is-half-full ham, we do expect with time to see this ratio increase as more hams join in the fun and become LoTW subscribers and upload their logs.

There is a fascinating area of study in economics regarding networks.  One of the important ideas from network economics is that the utility that a single subscriber gains from participating in a network is a function of the size of the network.  The more subscribers, the more utility each subscriber derives from belonging. 

To illustrate, just imagine the early days of telephone networks.  It wasn't too useful to own a phone when there were very few people to call and even fewer that you actually knew.  However, once nearly every home had a phone it was extremely useful to own a phone.

The LoTW is an excellent example of network economics in action.  The more hams that subscribe to the LoTW and submit their logs the more utility each already-subscribed ham derives (in the form of more of confirmed contacts).  An increase in LoTW subscribers thus will increase the QSL/QSO ratio on average for all subscribed hams.

I am looking forward to the day when we see the number of registered LoTW users increase to 100,000 or 200,000 hams worldwide.  How about 1,000,000 LoTW subscribers?  What will the average QSL/QSO LoTW ratio be when that happens?  Pretty darn good I am sure.

So how does your QSL/QSO LoTW ratio compare?  Not using the LoTW yet?  Well come on and join the fun.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

Other related articles on NJ2X.COM:

• Logbook of The World to Now Support CQ Awards
• Hunting LoTW Stations
• Powerful DX Hunting Accessories - Your Ears
• DX Code of Conduct
• DX Technique: Taking A Break = Opportunity For A Modest Station

© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2013. 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.

DXCC Completed!

We are celebrating in the shack today on completing the requirements to earn the ARRL DX Century Club (DXCC) award. The DXCC award is a worthy challenge. To earn the ARRL DXCC award a ham must confirm 100 contacts each from a qualifying different DX entity. These entitities are defined in the DXCC list. To qualify, an entity must have some definable political or geographical distinctiveness.

ARRL DXCC Information

Proof of a confirmed contact can be either a paper QSL card or a Logbook of the World (LoTW) QSL.  We are a big fan of the ARRL's LoTW so for an extra challenge we decided to we would confirm 100% of our qualifying DXCC contacts via the LoTW (and not use any paper QSL card confirmations).  This proved to be more of a challenge than we anticipated since we had to complete several contacts with many DX entities before locating a LoTW subscriber.

We also decided to make all of our contacts using transmitter power of 100W or less and with a simple wire antenna.  This meant we would not use amplifiers, towers, beam antennas for the DXCC contacts.  We were interested in demonstrating that the ARRL DXCC award is within the reach of hams with modest stations (like ours).

Today we filed our application when the 100th qualifying contact was confirmed in the LoTW.  Our award is #57,420.  What a great feeling!

Good DX and 73, NJ2X


PS: In 2012, the DXCC Desk processed 14,301 applications, comprising 1,491,661 QSOs.



© Michael W. Maher and NJ2X.COM, 2012. 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.

Logbook of The World to Now Support CQ Awards

The ARRL and CQ Communications, Inc have signed an agreement to begin providing support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the ARRL’s Logbook of the World LoTW electronic confirmation system.  The target for phase in of the CQ awards is April 1, 2012.

This is very exciting news for hams especially those who have already made the leap to the LoTW.  In network economics, the value of belong to a network is directly related to the size of that network.  This means that the LoTW users will enjoy more and more value as the number of hams susing LoTW increases.  CQ awards will definately increase the popularity of this wonderful system.

We are looking forward to expanding our award pursuits to include the CQ awards and seeing an increasing number of confirmations via LoTW.  If you haven't joined the LoTW, now is a great time to do so.

The ARRL announcement provides additional details regarding the agreement.

Check out related articles on NJ2X.COM:

• Hunting LoTW Stations

How to determine with LoTW and 5 clicks which states you need

The log book of the world (LoTW) offers some very useful tools for managing and tracking QSL's.  We use it regularly to quickly determine which states we need for a particularly WAS award.  Here is how in 5 easy steps:

Log into your LoTW account.
1) Click on the "Awards" tab.
2) Click on the button, "Select WAS award account".
3) Click on the award you wish to check.  This will bring up a list of all the states you have QSL's with in LoTW for the selected award.
4) Click on radio button, "All entities".
5) Click on the button, "Select WAS Award to View".  This will bring up a list of all states.  The states you have a confirmed QSL will have a call sign next to them.  Those states you still need will not have a call sign listed.  This gives you an instant visual indication.

We use this trick when hunting specific states for WAS.  A quick check using this technique allows you to focus on the states you need.  This technique will help you make the most of your limited radio time when you are chasing an award.

This same trick works with DXCC awards page also.

By Michael Maher (NJ2X)
Be sure to check out NJ2X's article on Hunting LoTW Stations.



Hunting LoTW Stations

The advantages of the Logbook of The World (LoTW) were apparent immediately when we first learned about the system.  The promise of matching QSL's (a confirmation of communication between two hams) instantly, instead of waiting months or even years for paper QSL's, is compelling by itself.  Automating QSL administration with electronic logging meant more time operating and less on paperwork.  Avoiding the cost of postage, paper, and ink meant more money for other things in the shack.  From our view the LoTW promised a win-win-win.

The challenges of the LoTW became visible only after having adopted the system.  The primary challenge is to find contacts that also participate in the LoTW.  Fortunately, the ranks of LoTW users continue to grow every day making it easier and easier to find and make contacts and LoTW QSL's.

Our approach in the beginning was a shotgun method - making contacts without concern if the station was a LoTW user or not.  As a result, LoTW QSL's were a minority and our progress toward WAS (Worked All States) and DXCC (DX Century Club) proved to be somewhat slower than we would have liked.

Our next strategy was to call and indicate we were looking for LoTW stations.  This seemed to improve the LoTW contact rate somewhat.  Again the progress toward WAS and DXCC was slow.

Over time, we learned of several resources on the web that can help identify, target, and locate LoTW stations.  Armed with information our LoTW contact rate improved greatly which ultimately help us earn the ARRL WAS and Triple Play (#464) awards.  Here are three excellent sources on the web for finding LoTW stations:

K3UK LoTW Sked - This is a really great site for meeting and making skeds with other hams using the LoTW.

LOTW Online Users Cluster - The purpose of this site is to locate stations who are registered in the LoTW.

HB9BZA LoTW User List -Compilation of information from many different sources identifying LoTW users.

QRZ - QRZ, is a wonderful source of worldwide call signs and data about hams including if they use the LoTW (or not).  How did we hams live without qrz.com back in the days before Al Gore invented the Internet and global warming?

QRZ Forum - SKED - QSO Scheduling - The QRZ SKED forum is a good resource for finding hams looking for a sked or to post your own request for a sked.

Interestingly enough, the ARRL does not provided a comprehensive list of the LoTW users or a database to query for this information.  That makes the above sources positively essential for hams attempting to make LoTW contacts and earn awards though LoTW QSL's.

As the saying goes, information is power.  Armed with the above you are now empowered to focus your search for LoTW stations on the air and hopefully rack up some serious LoTW contacts, QSL's, and awards.  These sites can help you enjoy the full benefits provided by the Log Book of The World.  If you don't use the LoTW, we hope this article will motivate you to get started with the LoTW today.

Stay tuned for the next articles in this series where we discuss various ways to leverage each of these websites to improve your LoTW contact rates.

Be sure to check out our related article, "Chasing DX The Easy Way with HRD DM780".

73,

NJ2X


Related articles:
HRD DM780 - variations of the 73 macro 
HRD DM780 Macros: Curse or Blessing?
HRD DM780 Calling Macro 

© 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.