Archive - September 2012

NH8S qrv from Swains Island

7th September 2012

NH8S qrv this morning for the first time on the Swains island DXpedition (IOTA OC-200). Very good signals 0800-1000+ so looks promising for the UK. Band conditions a little livlier too since the Solar Storms and poor K index over the last 6 days.

Swains Island has a total area of 460.9 acres (186.5 ha), of which 373 acres (150.8 ha) is land. The central lagoon accounts for the balance of 88 acres (35.8 ha). There is a small islet of 914 square yards (764 m²) in the eastern part of the lagoon.The atoll is somewhat unusual, featuring an unbroken circle of land enclosing a freshwater lagoon cut off from the sea. Recent U.S. Coast Guard visitors to Swains described its lagoon as “brackish” and a source for the plentiful numbers of mosquitoes which plague the island.In April 2007, a member of an amateur radio expedition confirmed that the lagoon water was fit only for bathing and washing, and that fresh water seemed to be in rather short supply on the island at the time. According to a United States Department of the Interior description of Swains Island, drinking water on Swains is derived entirely from rainfall collected in two large mahogany tanks near the island’s copra shed.

Swains Island has a population of 37 Tokelauans, who harvest the island’s coconuts.

Olympics 2012 – Part 2

3rd September 2012

There was the usual parade of countries, and the Olympic flame descended into the arena carried by a Royal Marine, who had lost his legs in a conflict, from the 100ft top of one of the buildings down a Zip Wire (a wire between 2 points with a harness or other device attached 300128-london-2012-paralympics-opening-ceremony allowing the person to slide – also known as a death slide) and then handed over to one of the first Paralympian medal winners to light the cauldron. Fantastic. And once more I think Great Britten showed how we can put on a party and welcome the visitors and atheletes to the games.

And as we are a Amateur Radio club we must also mention Louise Simpson, M3WSQ, who is one of the atheletes at the games, click here for more information. We wish her and the GB Team all the best and good luck in all their sports

Don’t forget that during this period we will still be on the air and using our special calls, MO0OXO and GO1VDP, on all modes. Sadly Charles has had a computer failure and has been off air for the past few weeks but he is getting back on this weekend and will be racking up the contacts. Also look out for Chris on JT65A on the HF bands. He has just 2012LondonParalympics-OpeningCeremony got the software and his radio working so will be using this mode over the weekend to give people a chance of getting the GO1 prefix in their logs.

And remember to support the atheletes now competing in the Paralympic Games, London 2012.

Dr. Spock’s take on DX behaviour

1st September 2012

Maybe you don’t know that Dr. Spock is an avid DXer and is a supporter of ethical operating practices.

Hear what he has to say.

Click the image to go to watch his video. We may have found our new spokesperson to assist in the DX Code of Conduct.

Thanks to NZ3M for this invaluable contribution.

DX Code of Conduct Newsletter

1st September 2012

DC Code of Conduct September Newsletter

I am pleased to report that our second objective has been achieved, to get DXpeditions to ally with us with a common objective of increasing ethical conduct. All of the DXpeditions are pleased to tell the world that they support the DX Code of Conduct. They all link to our website. We post them on our DXpeditions page. http://dx-code.org/DXendorse.html

I am also encouraged by the fact that many do so as they assemble their website. It’s already up when I hear about it. I don’t even have to ask. We are all pleased that those guys, whom we are trying to benefit, all seem to quite pleased at our effort. I have also heard from some returning DXpeditions that they think that we are making a difference. Great news!

We continue to get new visitors to our website. Every time I check in and click on the globe at the bottom of the 2nd page, I find that 3 or 4 others who are also be in the site at the same time. I am not about to fool myself and think that we are QRZ.COM or something like that. But it is clear that we have achieved our goal of having our mission universally recognized in the ham community. I believe that all active HF operators are aware of the Code.

I am sad to report that our “shop” has not been successful. It turns out that almost no one 0seems to want a DX Code T-shirt or coffee mug. I own them and like them. It doesn’t hurt to keep it open but I would have thought that there would be more interest among our community of subscribers – YOU. So check it out. http://shop.cafepress.com/dx-code-of-conduct and imagine how handsome you would look in that T-shirt!

Finally, our next goal is to get your national society to support the Code publicly and put a link at their website. DARC and RSGB have joined us in promoting it but for U.S. hams, I continue to be embarrassed that the ARRL is still just ignoring our existence. Take a minute to write or e-mail to your Section and Division Leaders and the management at Newington.

For our supporters in other countries, urge your leaders to join us in supporting the program. All of us have a duty to be sure that the next generation of operators learn how to operate ethically and responsibly.

There are lots of DXpeditions in the Pacific coming up very soon. They ought to be a lot of fun and they are all well run professional teams that endorse the Code. Let’s hope that the pileups are orderly.

Thanks for all your support. It invigorates the team. You might consider forwarding this to your ham friends, like members of your club.

73,

Randy W6SJ