[ADXA] Various Comments -
John McKinnie
kt4ac at att.net
Wed Sep 23 18:54:28 EDT 2020
When I got into the hobby, I got to use KN4Fs 2 meter packet cluster. N4JQQ was on it as well. Bought a few antennas from him. He was an air traffic controller for a lot of years.
Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 4:11 PM, edward jones <ejj at suddenlink.net> wrote:
#yiv5229860339 P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}Looking forward to your editorial. I agree with your comments about resisting diluting the DXCC award. Cluster spots, "professional" DXpeditions (at least pre COVID) and FT8 already give incredible advantages to current DX'ers.
So sorry to hear about Jim, KN4F. I called him not too long ago and he was not well at that time. I became friends with Jim about 1990 when we were establishing the 2 meter PacketCluster network. He carried on with an internet node after the 2 meter repeaters went away. Great guy. Always knew when he called with greeting "Hi Boss"
I'm down in Panama City Beach on vacation. I took an SDR-Play receiver and threw a wire out the window. I'm pleased that 10 meters is opening. Copying lots of Euro stations. Keep an ear out on 10
EJ K5EJ
From: adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of w5zn at w5zn.org <w5zn at w5zn.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 8:27 AM
To: adxa <adxa at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [ADXA] Various Comments - LONG Email Greetings ADXA Folks!
I'm sitting here early this nice, cool fall morning listening to 160
meters for the first time this "season". I don't have my RX antennas up
and running yet, that is this weekend's project. I am listening on my TX
array and its good to hear some sigs coming in from South America and
VK.
As Glenn has noted, the quarterly newsletter will be out in a few days.
We have articles from Rick, AI5P and EJ, K5EJ plus my usual ramblings.
In my section I talk about remote operation. It was, once again, a major
topic of debate, confusion and agitation on the ARRL Awards reflector a
few weeks ago regarding its impact on the DXCC awards program.
The ARRL Awards reflector debate has now turned to whether or not some
reefs currently on the DXCC Entity List should be deleted. As you can
imagine from other reflector debates the discussion has migrated to a
variety of related and unrelated topics!
I won't repeat my editorial that is forthcoming in the newsletter as you
can read it when it is distributed however I will state, firmly, that
the expectation that a person should achieve DXCC Honor Roll, or
"working them all" in some perceived period of time is not only a false
perception, it is ridiculous! If you're sensing that I'm not a fan of
"everyone gets a trophy" you're right. Whether you believe the pursuit
of DXCC is a competition or an individual achievement is irrelevant
because very simply it is an award that is EARNED regardless of how you
view the program. Some have complained that the award and rules have
become too political....uh??? Did they just wake up yesterday? I've been
DX'ing and a DXCC holder for over 45 years and I've heard that statement
the entire time! Since the DXCC program is based on countries (OK
"Entities") that are controlled by governments would you expect anything
else? The DXCC rules have evolved over time and that is a good thing but
we simply do not change rules on a whim or because someone cannot have
instant access to a country that currently outlaws or prohibits amateur
radio. To quote John Wayne from the movie Big Jake, "Times change" and
if you've been DX'ing as long or longer than I have you are well aware
of countries that outlawed or prohibited amateur in the past that now
are active on the air daily. Just hang on....remember this program is
based on political entities that change and evolve over time. If you
feel slighted because your one or two needed countries seem hopeless,
just QRX, times change and remember I still need one, just one, to have
"worked them all" that seems hopeless right now but I'm not throwing in
the towel over P5!
I remember an interview with past ADXA Charter Member Dick Freeling,
W5TIZ (SK) that appeared in the Arkansas Democrat statewide newspaper on
May 29, 1975. During the interview he noted he had made contact with all
countries except South Sandwich Island and Bouvet Island. Dickie said
"It is highly unlikely I will ever contact them in my lifetime. There is
no one there and they are closed down due to an active volcano." If you
are not aware of W5TIZ he was a blind radio amateur. He lost his sight
as a Lieutenant in World War II at the hands of a German sniper. At the
end of the interview Dickie said his life was much better because of
amateur radio. I believe we can all say that! Fortunately, times changed
and he did work South Sandwich and Bouvet before he became a silent key!
Let's all remember one thing. The DX Century Club Award is still the
premier operating award in amateur radio, period, whether you chose to
only pursue a mixed award of 100 or you continue that pursuit toward a
5BDXCC on your way to the Honor Roll or 3,000 on the DX Challenge. PAY
NO ATTENTION TO THE WHINERS AND CRYBABIES that try to tell you
otherwise. If you hold a DXCC award at any level YOU EARNED IT! Remember
that. You earned that award using a shortwave station that you assembled
at your home after you studied and passed an exam to be granted a
license to transmit by the federal government. Don't forget that and pay
no attention to the minority of folks who believe just because they
can't work an entity today that somehow they have been "cheated" from a
life achievement. To once again quote a movie character, James Bond,
"We're not dead yet!" :-)))
I am being somewhat firm with my comments and highlighting them for one
reason and that is I love the Arkansas DX Association. Why? Because
we're not on our reflector fighting, crying, cussing or discussing
things for the purpose trying to convince someone we know more than we
really do. We're on our reflector posting juicy DX we're hearing and
working so others can possibly grab a "new one". We're on here
congratulating our fellow ADXA members for their DX achievements and
helping each other improve our stations and operating efficiency. That
is our objective.
Yes, the rules will continue to evolve and it is important that we
provide our input on these matters. We are fortunate to have ADXA member
Steve N4JQQ as our DX Advisory Committee member for the ARRL Delta
Divison. Steve is very active in the discussions and always seeks our
input on matters regarding the DXCC awards program. With that aside,
let's continue to keep our actions civil and positive. Thank you ADXA!
NEXT TOPIC:
We most likely will NOT be hosting a virtual conference this year. I
believe most of us are virtually Zoom'ed out, literally. If not, that is
a blessing. Try to stay in perspective! This technology is great and in
the future will provide an excellent path for folks to join our sessions
who cannot attend in-person for one reason or another but for now we do
not plan an annual conference event. What we do need is to hold an
annual meeting of some sort to conduct a little association business.
The ADXA board will be reviewing options.
SILENT KEY:
Some of you knew DX'er Jim Lane, KN4F, in Memphis. Jim became a silent
key a couple of weeks ago.
That's about all (enuf??) for now. Thanks to everyone for your support
of ADXA, the DXCC program and ARRL.
73 Joel W5ZN
ADXA President
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