DX-ing

How many hobbies can offer you a "World Wide" activity. Yes! and with such a small financial investment. A General or Extra Class operating certificate, a radio, some coax and an antenna and the "Whole World" is waiting for your call. Oh! Yes, it can get a little more complex then that, but really that is all it takes to make things happen. We have some amateurs that get a lot more serious and of course put a lot more energy & finance into their hobby, but the bottom line is the World is open to You as well even without a lot of sophisticated equipment.

Those that are more serious of course have a better chance at making contacts then others, but remember it just a chance. It is the "RECEIVER" that decides on who he/she will acknowledge. So a lot of it is how you come across - even with a weaker signal.

To get into HF and the World Wide Communication System one needs to obtain their "Amateur "General" Radio Licence, see AB7EM and he will try and steer you in the right direction. The General Classification will give you most all the frequencies that the FCC allows for Amateur Radio. Then if you are not satisfied and want it all and not want to think about what band or frequency you might be operating in, then by all means attack the Extra Class Arena. Yes then you will have it all. But like everything else - consider a step at a time.

Some of our Club Members are having so much Fun with HF Amatuer Radio even during our Sun Spot Cyle Drought. They also have some pretty impressive stations and maybe they will share some photo,s so you can view their station. Stop by often as I'll incorporate the information as I recieve it.

It would be cool to cover topics like DX'ing from the standpoint of "how to" rather than a report on an adventure, and on digital modes such as the HF-TOR Modes, PSK31, PSKMail, Winlink, APRS, D-Star, Telpac, and Packet Radio. Would you be willing to be a speaker at the Club? If so call Jerry France K7LY and get on the agenda.

Hamcall net just added a sunspot count graph to their DXSpots page. The graph is at the bottom of the page and will display the last 30 days of sunspot activity. More sunspots = better DX. You can also use the Band Activity Graph to see what bands are hot at the moment.

Understanding propagation & predictions.