[SFDXA] Tips for working K1N

[Bill]

I cut and pasted this information from the LoneStar DX Club reflector in 
Texas. It came in nearly at the end of the K1N DXpedition . It is too 
late for that one, but if you are a newcomer to DX there are some 
valuable tips on how to view and improve your chances in working the 
tough ones. The thinking applies in all your approaches to successful DXing.
Bill W2CQ


        Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:42 pm (PST) .

On Feb 9, 2015, at 11:08 PM, vmpaul at iname.com [lsdxa] 
<lsdxa at yahoogroups.com> wrote:

  For those who have not yet filled in their K1N bingo cards, here are 
some tips that have worked well for me and some of my local friends:

  Low Bands (160/80/40):
Set your alarm clock for 0830Z and try to work them then. Up until that 
time sunrise will be sweeping across Europe but by 0830Z the sun will be 
up all across the continent and low band propagation to EU will have 
died. Meanwhile, the sun will just be starting to set across Japan. That 
gives an hour or two when they won't be working much DX and much of NA 
will be in bed. Using this strategy on the morning of Feb 4 I was able 
to work K1N on 80, 160 and then 40m all in the space of 30 minutes. Went 
back to bed a little after 0930Z with a big smile on my face.

High Bands :
Again, we don't have a propagation challenge to work Navassa, (its a 
chip shot from here), its a pileup challenge. You want to work them when 
most of the other folks aren't. For that I'd recommend early afternoon 
our time, say after 2000 after EU has been in darkness for some time but 
before 2300 when the high band path to Japan is solidly open. Not only 
would this be good strategy, its also polite to our propagationally 
challenged brethren in EU, AS and elsewhere to stay out of the pileups 
during the few hours they have propagation. As testament to that 
approach, on Feb 5 I worked them on 15 SSB, then 10 SSB, then 17 CW all 
in the space of 30 minutes ending around 2230Z.

The last two (30m RTTY) and 12m CW were the toughest. The pileups and 
competing DX propagation will likely be at their most manageable in the 
0900-1200Z time frame. I think I saw that Dave W0VX worked them on 30m 
RTTY around 0940Z and I caught them on RTTY (after 30-45 minutes of 
calling) around 1130Z.

12m is a tough one because they are only doing a single mode (CW) so 
everyone that wants a 12m band slot has to dive into that 10-15 kHz wide 
pile. The op moves around alot within the pile so I just picked a spot i 
the QSX band and plugged away there. Again here, I'd suggest the 
2000-2300Z time frame. It took me the better part of an hour but I 
finally worked them around 2030Z.

Lastly, since Navassa was and will be so rare, I'd encourage folks to 
NOT make another QSO with K1N unless that QSO nets you either a new band 
slot or a new mode. Ideally, if Navassa is an ATNO (as it was for me) 
you'd make 1 and only 1 QSO on each band, with at least one QSO on each 
mode you care about. In my case I got all 9 bands (no 6m for me) and all 
3 modes in just 9 QSOs. I never understood "leader board-itis" anyway. 
Okay, technically I had 10 QSOS because I made a second 160m QSO when 
the first one didn't show up on club log when it "should" have.

20m should be easy by now. A friend of mine across town just texted me 
to let me know he'd worked them on 20 SSB first call (with 100 W into a 
low Carolina Windom) at around 0400Z. If you get up in the wee small 
hours to chase them on low bands, and still need 20m you can often find 
them on then too. A few nights ago a little before 0900Z K1N (with Jerry 
WB9Z at the mic) was booming in here and practically begging for QSOs. I 
even chatted with him for a minute or so to let him know he still had 
great prop up here and to congratulate him and the team. He informed 
that he and most others were on 3 hour long shifts and his thankfully 
was coming to an end in a few minutes at 0900Z after which he was going 
to assume a much need horizontal polarization.
73,
Victor - WB0TEV
Greenville TX EM13