[ADXA] Sound of Silence

[sbranyan at cox.net]

The songs that came to mind while reading your remote post were, “What a wonderful world that would be” and “Dream, Dream, Dream.” LOL

 

Never gonna happen here but 73 and I wish you great fun and success!

 

Little Pistol Scott/W5AAJ

 

From: adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of w5znjoel at gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2025 6:25 AM
To: adxa at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [ADXA] Sound of Silence

 

ADXA Folks,

 

I make reference to a lot of songs when I write, mostly because music expands my (narrow?) thoughts! I had an ADXA member comment the other day that the reflector seemed to have gone silent. With respect to Simon and Garfunkel, the ADXA reflector “sound of silence” is normal during the summer months. It’s rare that a major DXpedition occurs during this time and we are simply occupied with other activities. I know I certainly fall into that routine but make no mistake, if a needed DX appeared we would all be “in there!”

 

Summer offers an opportunity to take care of your radio “to do” list. I’m reworking part of the station in the shack, I don’t seem to stay satisfied with an arrangement for very long as I’m always seeking improvement. From the “chair” side of the desk nothing is different but the computer that managed a lot of the work on the EME station for the VHF bands was old and getting a little bogged down trying to handle a lot of automated controls I use so that has been replaced, upgrades performed, and working very fast and efficiently.

 

Now I am setting up my station for full remote access. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?????? Harrison you have been a staunch opponent of remote operation and hate it! Not so, I am a staunch opponent of people using different remote stations in various locations to gain a geographical advantage for DXCC purposes and I still hate that! I want to access my station, located in the exact same place as when I’m home, when I’ m away if needed. This all started during the ZS8W op. The night Yuris planned to be on 160 meters was my grandson’s 16th birthday and we were sked to be in Little Rock – quite a dilemma! I was lamenting the situation to K5EJ (actually I was whining and crying because he would listen and Kim wouldn’t) and EJ gave me some tips on accessing my station using my iPad and RemotePC similar to what he does to access his station from work if needed. It isn’t a full remote capability and is somewhat elementary, and I had to have things turned on and ready in the shack while we were away that evening, but it gave me a chance. Most importantly, Kim was agreeable and allowed me to keep an “eye” on the iPad while we were away that evening. A second situation occurred when Bob, ZL1RS, went to YJ for a 6-meter EME op a few weeks ago. He never got on the air because he did something “utterly stupid” (his words) and blew up his amplifier. He told folks not to worry, he had already scheduled a return in October……during the exact same time I will be out of the country on IARU business!!!! 

 

The ZS8W setup was nice but wasn’t complete and full remote and at a level to what Kevin, N5DX utilizes with his contest efforts and achieves amazing results! Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when Stan, K5GO and I were discussing 160 meter receive options for his upcoming multi-multi effort from ZF5T in CQWW CW this November. I needed to assess the noise floor at his station on Cayman Brac. Stan has the station set up for remote access capability during contests so N5DX and others can operate ZF5T so Stan hooked me up with Gerry, W1VE (remote.radio) for a tutorial on accessing a station remotely. I became addicted, an addiction second only to jumping in a DX pileup. I now have everything setup to operate my station remotely with one exception – I cannot power up and turn everything on remotely but I have ordered hardware, that should arrive in a couple of days, to resolve that. 

 

Even though I no longer get on a plane every week and travel somewhere for work it’s good to have access to my station remotely, if needed. If I had this capability 20 year’s ago I would have P5 in the log!

 

The IARU HF World Championship contest, phone & CW, is this weekend. There will be lots of DX on the bands. The exchange is your ITU zone (NOT CQ Zone!!!) In Arkansas, we are in Zone 7. You will also hear headquarters stations sending their society abbreviation, e.g. ARRL, DARC, RSGB, etc. You will hear me sending “AC” for Administrative Council. This is the one contest where I get to be a rare multiplier!!!

 

TY5AD and C94RRC are both on the bands now so if you need one or both of those somewhere, stop reading my dribble and “GET IN THERE…………….” 😊

 

73 Joel W5ZN

 

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