[K3PZN-List] NH8S Swains Island

[Curt Milton]

I am not religiously into DXCC, but when the station is out there on the air - one should consider the opportunity.  
 
Now seems to be the time for those smaller stations (most of us ...) to start aiming for this destination about 9000 miles away near Guam.  It counts as a separate country (or DXCC entity to be precise) because of its distance from its 'parent.'  I understand it became a separate entity when they converted the 'rules' from English to Metric units, and the rounding was sufficient to push it over the threshold (see N3UR in QST a month of two ago).  
 
At the beginning of course the pile-ups were too big.  Then a few days later they had nicer signals but wanted to only work Europe (given it is much harder to get them into the log than us).  Last night they showed up on CW on several bands - I anticipated less competition on 10m and got them about 9 pm last night.  Don't be afraid to park you rig on a frequency and wait for them to peak up some, but don't be afraid to call them either when they seem faint.  Keep in mind if you can recognize your own call at about 20 wpm, and can program your keyer to send your call -- its not so hard.  
 
CUL Curt