[Nodxa] (AF8C) Last chance for good DX

Alex Dolgosh K8EUR al.dolgosh at hamradio.org
Fri Jun 17 07:45:02 PDT 2011 

Hi, John.

At the risk of us sounding like old geezers, it sounds as if you just
missed the granddaddy sunspot cycle of the late 50's.  Coincidentally, the
International council of Scientific Unions had declared 1957-1958 as the
International Geophysical Year (IGY) - and the sun provided them with a
lot of activity to study!

I was listening to a 10 meter AM QSO in 1958 and observed my first LDE
(Long Delayed Echo) where I heard a W6 turn it over to a W2 (who I wasn't
hearing), and about 20 seconds later the W6 signal faded back up out of
the noise and repeated the last 15 seconds of his "back to you" and call
sign ID!

1958 also marked the first time I heard Europe on 6 meters.  EI2W was
coming through at S9+20, and W8SQU grabbed him and ragchewed him into the
noise - no one else had a chance to work him then!

I recently spent many hours going through my 20+ ARRL logbooks and keyed
all the DX QSOs into a logging program so I can easily keep track of them.
 I chickened out on keying in all the domestic HF and VHF/UHF QSOs - not
enough spare time, I guess!

If you are a QCWA member, they have a nice 50th Anniversary certificate -
I got mine in 2007.

Sorry for the lengthy "geezing".

Al - K8EUR

> All,
>
> Old qsl's are an interesting topic for me since I am celebrating
> 50 years of ham radio this year.  Looking back at my first log as
> a novice, KN8YSE, I decided to see if those early contacts were still
> around.
>
> The third contact I made was with K8AAI who has now changed his
> callsign to KN8AI.  Bob comes to the NODXA meetings once in a while.
> I sent him my 50 year special qsl fot that contact back in 1961.
>
> Contact number two was with KN4NNO in Covington KY.  QRZ.com showed
> a K4NNO near Covington so it had to be him.  He and I are the same
> age.  After receiving my qsl card, Ron sent me a copy of the qsl card
> that I sent to him back in March 1961.  Postcards were just 3 cents back
> then.  Ron said that he is not active on HF now but the equipment is
> in place and can be turned on at a moments notice.
>
> My first contact was with K9ZVS; no listing for him.  An old callbook
> revealed his name and a search on qrz.com came up with W4NGS in North
> Carolina, born in 1931.  I hope to get a response back from him.
>
> It is amazing that after 50 years, my first three contacts are still
> around and licensed.  Looking through my 2 meter and 6 meter cards from
> that era is a different story.  Not very many are still with us.
>
> What a difference in finding this kind of data now compared to the 60's.
> If
> you worked a novice, it wasn't easy to find an address because they would
> not be in the current callbook.  You waited for a supplement and hoped
> someone would buy one that you could use.  I found that many of my HF
> contacts included a mailing address in the comments field for that reason.
>
> Of course today many DX qsl cards are very difficult to obtain.  Some are
> charging $$ for them as if you were buying something in a store.  Some
> want money to put your contact in LOTW.  The ARRL has turned a blind eye
> to this unacceptable behavior.  They just do not want to get involved.  I
> just wonder what Don Search would have done if he were still there.  I'll
> have to ask him.
>
> 73,
> John K8YSE
>
>
> At 07:16 AM 6/17/2011, Radioal wrote:
>>Hi, Scotty.  I am talking about QSOs from the 1960s and earlier.  I
>>have been trying to confirm some of them and have been lucky with some.
>>
>>Most have been like my 10 meter Chatham Island ZL7/ZL2AFZ from
>>January 1969.  I found he still had a callbook address (no email
>>address) and sent him a letter and card.  A few weeks later I got a
>>letter back from his granddaughter saying "I'm sure Grandpa would
>>have been glad to send you a card, but he passed away two weeks ago".
>>
>>More recently, I just can't seem to get a card from EP3SMH.  He
>>answers emails sporadically, but never answers direct questions -
>>only "I will send card when yours is in my box".
>>
>>Working the station IS only a small part of the QSO!
>>
>>73,
>>
>>Al - K8EUR
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: james scott
>>   To: al.dolgosh at hamradio.org ; metro351 at sbcglobal.net
>>   Cc: wb8n at sbcglobal.net ; nodxa at contesting.com
>>   Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:14 PM
>>   Subject: RE: [Nodxa] (AF8C) Last chance for good DX
>>
>>
>>   Al, just how old are your 10 meter contacts?  Just this week I
>> received two qsl's from 1999 that I hadn't sent back then.  A 9V
>> and and EP came back with a 30 day turnaround.
>>
>>   I hope the science guys are off on their predictions.  Cause
>> Dxing is my only business.
>>
>>     de Scotty WK3N................beaming up.
>>
>>
>>
>>   "WK3N NEVER SLEEPS !" Quote from Martti Lane, OH2BH.
>>
>>
>>
>>   > Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:03:15 -0400
>>   > From: al.dolgosh at hamradio.org
>>   > To: metro351 at sbcglobal.net
>>   > CC: wb8n at sbcglobal.net; nodxa at contesting.com
>>   > Subject: Re: [Nodxa] (AF8C) Last chance for good DX
>>   >
>>   > Congratulation, Metro!
>>   >
>>   > I am waiting for them to process the paperwork for mine - I finally
>> got
>>   > enough for 10 meters DXCC. Most of the people I worked on 10 meters
>> years
>>   > ago (when I wasn't collecting confirmations for DXCC) are now
>> silent keys,
>>   > so I had to wait for this cycle to work the entities again!
>>   >
>>   > Al - K8EUR
>>   >
>>   > > .............I JUST RECEIVED MY 5BDXCC # 6983  WITH ENDORSEMENTS
>> FOR
>>   > > 30,17, AND 12 METERS.....I WILL BE READY FOR THE NEXT
>> CYCLE....73 TO ALL
>>   > > de  W8MET   METRO
>>   > >
>>   > > --- On Thu, 6/16/11, Brian Hemmis <bhemmis at mac.com> wrote:
>>   > >
>>   > >
>>   > > From: Brian Hemmis <bhemmis at mac.com>
>>   > > Subject: Re: [Nodxa] (AF8C) Last chance for good DX
>>   > > To: al.dolgosh at hamradio.org
>>   > > Cc: nodxa at contesting.com
>>   > > Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 8:28 AM
>>   > >
>>   > >
>>   > > I say put the best station together that you can and just get
>> on the radio
>>   > > and have fun. If 10-20m are poor then 160-30 should be good.
>> It's only a
>>   > > hobby-enjoy !
>>   > >
>>   > >
>>   > > On Jun 16, 2011, at 8:11 AM, Alex Dolgosh K8EUR wrote:
>>   > >
>>   > >> I think this falls into the category of weather forecasting.
>>   > >>
>>   > >>
>>   > >> Al - K8EUR
>>   > >>
>>   > >>
>>   > >>
>>   > >>> Glenn,
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> No problem.  I plan to have myself cryonically stored and
>> brought
>>   > >>> back for Cycle 26 when the Bands will REALLY be hot!!
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> 73,   Bob K8BL
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> --- On Wed, 6/15/11, Williams, G (AF8C)
>> <af8c at alumni.caltech.edu>
>>   > >>> wrote:
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> From: Williams, G (AF8C) <af8c at alumni.caltech.edu>
>>   > >>> Subject: [Nodxa] (AF8C) Last chance for good DX
>>   > >>> To: nodxa at contesting.com
>>   > >>> Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 10:20 PM
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> If you work DX, better plan on being active in 2012.  If
>> you are as old
>>   > >>> as
>>   > >>> I
>>   > >>> am or older,
>>   > >>> after this cycle drops you may never see a good cycle again.
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>>
>> http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Major_Drop_In_Solar_Activity_Predicted_999
>>   > >>> .html
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>> 73,
>>   > >>> Glenn, AF8C
>>   > >>> _______________________________________________
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>>   > >>> Nodxa at lists.contesting.com
>>   > >>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/nodxa
>>   > >>> _______________________________________________
>>   > >>> Nodxa mailing list
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>>   > >>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/nodxa
>>   > >>>
>>   > >>
>>   > >> _______________________________________________
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>>   >
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>
> John Papay
> john at papays.com
>

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