[ADXA] Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues?

Tue May 9 11:25:09 EDT 2023

Very good comments, Joel.  I chased the expeditions but got other things
going on and sorta lost my DXing mojo.  I got to 1200 for the DeSoto
Challenge, but 1500 seems so far away.  I just have to realize that you
work them one at a time and keep going.

We have the Arkansas QSO Party coming up, local Winlink training in
preparation for the 2024 eclipse or zombie apocalypse, whichever comes
first.  Then W1AW in Arkansas, followed quickly by Field Day.

I think I got my amplifier woes figured out.  I have two AL-811s and
neither worked right on the low end of 80.  Output is about 500 watts and
DC power in was over 800 watts on one and 900 watts on the other.  Three
811As have a total plate dissipation of 195 watts FOR 3 tubes, so CW and
digital on 80 was bad news.  I experimented with load padder capacitors and
got them where they should be.  The top of the phone band requires careful
tuning now, but I can check into the Razorback Net just fine without an amp.

I also got a Heathkit SB-220 cheap and would like to see it run even though
it won’t do 160, but I think it has a bad bandswitch wafer.  That’s always
a tedious repair but I’ll find the energy someday or find someone to hire
to do it.  I think the tubes are good, but I can’t drive it well enough to
be sure.  I got my Drake 2B working like it should and now will swap some
tubes in the Collins 75S1 to try to improve it.  I spend too much time just
listening to those old receivers.

My 6 meter antenna is on the ground - need to fix that right now!

That may be boring info, but I’m always interested to see what kind of
equipment and antenna issues other members are having.

I had good intentions for getting on 160 but I’m not getting things done
very fast.  There are plenty of Challenge points to work on bands like 30
meters, though, and i’m not on there working them like I should be.

My son built a QDX for my birthday - neat little rig for single tone
digital modes like RTTY and FT8.  It’s about the size of a pack of cards
and puts out several watts with a 9V battery.   I need to do a POTA
activation with it sometime.   Yes, that’s another distraction from DXing.

73,
Dennis/RZ
1500 or bust! (repeat as necessary)

On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 6:49 AM <w5zn at w5zn.org> wrote:

> Greetings ADXA Folks,
>
> When Eddie Cochran's song "Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues" was
> released in August, 1958, summer was in full force. The weather here in
> Arkansas has now turned "summer like" and the focus we had on radio through
> the winter months dissolves into outside activities and other interests. DX
> activity and reflector traffic diminishes. You might say we suffer from
> summertime radio blues!
>
> Once daylight savings time kicks in I begin the effort of removing all of
> my low band receive antennas (about a four day job for one person) to allow
> for summer hay cutting out in the fields as the low band season in the
> northern hemisphere is winding down. The major contest season is over as
> well. Before we fall too deep into radio depression, though, an assessment
> of DX during the past six months is in order so we can plan and look
> forward to the 2023-2024 season.
>
> Activation of the #2 and #3 most needed DX entities was exciting in its
> own right but to have the upper bands, 10, 12, and 15 meters explode with
> significant propagation was amazing. Whether it will continue is yet to be
> seen but if the current propagation trend is any indication the doomsday
> predictors of a Maunder Minimum can just go sit in the truck next to the TV
> personalities that masquerade as a weather predicting meteorologist!
>
> We all nabbed a new one, at least on a band, during the past six
> months.......yes even the old dogs of ADXA whether they will admit it or
> not!! After two years of nothing new on 160 meters due to COVID I was able
> to add 3 this past winter with the most exciting being Eddie, XV1X, in Viet
> Nam on 160 CW early one morning that brought my band total to 286.
>
> There were days when the spots posted on our reflector were coming in so
> fast it looked like the DX cluster during CQWW and we were chasing DX all
> over the bands, night and day! Now, the summertime blues are taking charge,
> major DXpeditions and DX contests have ended and will not fire back up
> until the fall. We're all outside doing "summer things".
>
> So where does that leave our passion for DX? For those of you who have
> been around for a while and read my past posts, you know now is the time to
> plan for the fall-winter DX and contest season. If you wait until then
> you've missed the train. Now is the time to review your station, your
> operating technique, and make a list of things that need improvement. Don't
> just sit around a think (dream?) of what you wish you could do or what you
> would do if you just "had the time". Get those thoughts out of your head
> and on paper, write it down, then spend a little time developing a plan to
> accomplish your goal. Some of my projects take a long time, even years to
> complete. I pose questions to those who have been successful in
> accomplishing a similar task and I write it down and assess how that would
> work in my station configuration. I'll even talk to or visit someone I
> don't like if I can learn something from them (oh yea, I have a list of
> those folks!!). I read a lot (I don't really watch television so cut that
> out and gain some time!) and study the topic I want to implement here.
> Sometimes I don't understand what I'm reading, so I read it again, and
> again if needed until it sinks in.
>
> If you're a serious DX'er, learn that sleep is secondary to working a new
> one! Yea, that's right - DX and propagation don't always work on your
> schedule. Some of you have seen the card in my shack with the picture of a
> very mean, grizzly coyote that is growling with the caption "You can't run
> with the BIG DOGS if you pee like a puppy!" Real DX'ers will be awake and
> at the radio when a new one is on. I have two old dog DX buddies in ADXA
> that are always on to nab a new one when I am regardless of the time of day
> or night and we're exchanging texts about who is hearing the station. The
> importance of that goes much farther than bragging rights. If one of my
> buddies can hear the station and I can't, I'm reviewing his station
> installation and why he's outperforming me. It might simply be propagation,
> even if we're close, but maybe I need to improve something in my station.
>
> You can do this. START NOW! You can't work ten projects at the same time
> but if you prioritize your list you can begin to work them down one by one.
>
> By working your plan, you'll be ready to "GET IN THERE AND WORK 'EM!" when
> the DX starts pouring in.
>
> 73 Joel W5ZN
> ADXA President
>
>
>
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