Greetings ADXA Folks,

Every morning since long, long ago Jon, AA1K, is on 1820.6 KHz every morning calling CQ. The objective is to check DX propagation. Many of us listen to see what Jon’s trolling may attract as he has an amazing 160 meter station at his Delaware QTH. Yesterday morning Jon was calling CQ on 1817.6 and we all assumed he had simply misread his dial but that was not the case. Jon moved a bit that morning because he had a birdie show up on 20.6.

That prompted my buddy Dave, W0FLS, in Iowa to spot Jon on the DX cluster with the comment “w/new xtal” !! Several of us had a nice early morning chuckle out of that. Now, you old dog hams that remember the crystal controlled transmitter days know what that meant, and it got me to thinking about upgrading your station, something we discuss quite frequently within ADXA.

Back in the “old days” buying a new crystal (xtal) or picking one up from a generous Elmer was a station upgrade! It provided flexibility and options for you; it gave you an all time new frequency to transmit on. Station upgrades are much more challenging today. Rigs are sophisticated, controlled by software, and just working through the menu structure can make you go cross-eyed. Spectrum pollution from consumer devices creates a significant challenge to receiving weak signals and a lack of interest in moving beyond an appliance operator by some people with an amateur license can wreak havoc on the bands.

As we enjoy a time with family and friends over this Christmas celebration weekend and move into next week thinking about the new year and what our objectives in 2024 will be, review your station “to do” list and set target dates to complete the list items. We’ve had a lot of new ones on the air the past three months so while you’re updating your station to-do list also update your DXCC need list.

Life is grand, amateur radio is great so get a new xtal and ‘GET IN THERE AND WORK ‘EM !!!”

73 Joel W5ZN