I’m getting ready for fall by setting up a “DX Vacuum” station.   This is to increase my Challenge score.   I got another TS-590S, so I will have three transceivers going simultaneously on the three bands I need the most entities on.  I have bandpass filters on all, and can run an amplifier on two rigs.  These will all run FT8 24/7 and I will run Grid Tracker to alert me every time a new one comes on.  I expect to make it to 1500 Challenge points by the end of 2023.

NOW THAT I HAVE GEORGE AND JOHN’s ATTENTION, I’LL TELL THE TRUTH!

I did acquire another 590S so I plan to devote one to CW and SSB with no digital capability.  The second 590S will have a digital interface for FT8 and also, of course, be capable of CW/SSB.   The third rig is a Yaesu FT-991, which will primarily be used for VHF digital, SSB, and CW.  It can also be used on HF but will not be connected to an HF amplifier.

There may be some minor antenna upgrades, but my problem has mainly been B.I.C. (butt in chair) so maybe having the rig setup a little smoother will help.

I’m not going to get serious about 160 meters this winter because there are so many to work on other bands.  

I’m looking forward to fall both for the DX and the weather!

73,
Dennis/RZ
keep repeating…B.I.C, B.I.C……


On Tue, Aug 22, 2023 at 3:24 AM <w5zn@w5zn.org> wrote:

Greetings ADXA folks,

 

It has been a very busy summer for me, much more so than I thought it was going to be. I’ve mentioned many times on our reflector that my attention is always directed in other areas during the summer months. This summer is no exception so my on-the-air radio time has been minimal. It appears, though, based on ADXA VP W5VY’s reports the past couple of days that I’ve become a slacker as Dennis DCT, Don DB, and Charles TL, and many others have been in the fast lane – CONGRATS TO YOU ALL. Keep those activity updates coming to Pat. I know the local Searcy gang has been knocking off new ones, or many new ones on a band/mode, this summer at a pretty fast pace.

 

I was cleaning up and reorganizing my office/shack yesterday since I had let it get a bit “untidy” and realized that Labor Day and football season is in sight and it occurred to me my on-the-air time isn’t the only thing I haven’t been paying attention to. My station/antenna plans for the upcoming season have laid dormant and the clock is ticking! I called N5QS yesterday to discuss a project I would need some assistance with and discovered his station plans for the upcoming DX season are moving ahead quickly and so is a “top-secret” antenna project at N5QZ! So, even on the local level I’m once again a slacker!!!

 

Time to step up my game and get going! In another four to six weeks the second hay cutting will occur here in the field by the house and it will be time to get low band RX antennas out. I also have a new “secret” 160 meter receive antenna to erect and test for a designer this winter.

 

With the understanding that my ADXA leadership has been stellar this summer – stellar as the leader of laziness and procrastination, how is your station plan coming along? Need some motivation? Look at the ADXA website homepage and all the DXpeditions coming up this winter. There are more countries planned to be activated than you can shake a big 20-meter monobander at. That alone should be serious motivation.

 

So blow the dust off your 2023 station plan, revise your project schedule as necessary and work your plan. Yea the wx is very hot right now but in a few short months we’ll be complaining about how cold it is. Don’t let the more pleasant fall months pass by and leave you sitting in the shack this winter saying “I can’t get in there and work ‘em because I followed ZN’s lazy lead this summer!”

 

73 Joel W5ZN

ADXA President

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