DDXG 2012 Year in review

~ w4bno

RTTY Roundup

Many members of the club participated in the ARRL RTTY Roundup contest in January.  The combined club score was well over 600,000 points.  Thanks to everyone that participated.

Tangier

Our Tangier operation this year was different than what we have done in the past.  We only operated a single station and let club members and guests operate under their own call sign if they chose to.  We had a great time and made several hundred QSOs over the weekend.  W4BNO has uploaded some pictures of the weekend to flickr.

DXCC

Several club members got DXCC awards this year.  Congratulations to these folks for the work they put into getting their awards.

  • KC4QYG
  • KW4CQ
  • W4DKR
  • NQ4A
KC4QYG DXCC
KC4QYG presented with his DXCC award.
KW4CQ DXCC 2012
Bob, KW4CQ, proudly displays his DXCC certificate!
W4DKR DXCC Phone - 2012
Barry, W4DKR, receives his DXCC Phone certificate.
NQ4A 15m DXCC 2012
Jon, NQ4A, receives his 15 meter DXCC award at the December 2012 DDXG meeting.

 Other Awards

In addition to DXCC, several members of the club received other awards.

  • WD4LBR received his “Worked All States” Triple play certificate.
  • Joe Fijol, KJ4SSX, received his eQSL 25 Country certificate.
  • WD4LBR received a “DX Champion” award from the Central Virginia Contest Club for working the most new band entities and the highest percentage of needed entities.
  • Several members of the club participated in the 2011 ARRL SSB DX contest from Costa Rica and took first place!
  • Andy, KC4QYG, earned his WAS Triple Play certificate.
WD4LBR WAS Triple Play 2012
Bruce, WD4LBR receives his Triple play award from Sheila.
KJ4SSX eQSL feb 2012
Joe (KJ4SSX) with his eQSL 25 country certificate.
WD4LBR DX Champ 2012
Bruce, WD4LBR is presented with his DX Champion award.
Costa Rica team
Costa Rica DX Contest team 2011

New Members

Despite having known the members of the club, Joe Fijol, KJ4SSX became a full member of DDXG in 2012. 😉  Welcome, Joe!

KJ4SSX becomes full member
Joe Fijol (KJ4SSX) becomes a full member at the May 2012 DDXG meeting.

Looking back, 2012 was a great year for DDXG and we are looking forward to more radio active fun in 2013.

Tangier 2012

~ w4bno

Tangier 2012 is July 27-29

Tangier 2012 QSL
QSL for Tangier 2012

Members and friends of DDXG will again travel to Tangier Island on the weekend of the RSGB HF IOTA Contest, but with a slightly different emphasis. The club will participate in the contest, but will be there primarily to activate NA-083.

This means that we will be QRV on Friday, shortly after our arrival. DDXG will run a separate log for the contest and may revert to the earlier ‘activation’ log after it ends. Please look for K4VAC on the bands!

Operating from Distant Locales

~ w4bno

At the November 19, 2011 meeting Rick Cook, AB4U, a regular guest at the DDXG monthly meetings, gave a presentation on operating from distant locales.  From foreign countries, to boats, to remote areas in Texas, the presentation covered how to prepare for remote operations and pictures of some of the places he has operated from.  Rick was kind enough to allow us to post his presentation.

A PDF version of Rick’s presentation is linked below.

Operating from Distant Locales-DDXG 19 Nov

DDXG Welcomes KC4QYG

~ w4bno
Sheila welcomes Andy
DDXG President, K4WNW, welcomes Andy Hodges, KC4QYG to the club.

Andy Hodges, KC4QYG, was welcomed to the club at the October 2011 membership meeting.  Andy was first licensed in 1990 and is getting back into the hobby after several years of being inactive.  In 2010 he became active again and started hanging out with the DDXG.  Andy has been an active member of the club – he taught us all about JT65 and WSPR by giving a presentation to the members earlier this year. Andy has achieved the following awards:

  • Worked All States Basic #55,101
  • Worked All States Digital
  • Worked All States JT65
  • Worked 88 DXCC entities and confirmed 83. Working to achieve DXCC by end of this year.

Presentation on Solar Numbers

~ w4bno

Robert, W4BNO, gave a presentation on “Solar Numbers and Amateur radio propagation” at the October 2011 monthly membership meeting.  This presentation discussed Solar Flux Index, Sunspot numbers, K index, A index and how these affect the upper atmosphere.  This also helps in understanding the solar reports from WWV and others.

A copy of the presentation is here:  Solar Numbers and Amateur Radio

Comments and feedback on this presentation are welcomed.

DDXG To Bring Home 2nd Gavel!

~ admin

According to an article soon to be published in QST, DDXG has again won the 2011 RTTY Roundup! A concerted club effort, the group beat out the Orleans County (LA) Amateur Radio Club with a score of 639851 points, compared to the latter’s 541423. DDXG won in the same category in 2009, only to be beat out by the Orleans club in 2010. Now with a target on their backs, DDXG members have several months to hone their operating skills for what will be a fierce contest in early 2012!

DDXG member stations N4KFT (+op W4DKR) and W4BNO (+ops KC4NYK, KJ4NPR) also showed in the Roanoke Division Multi-op High power and multi-op low power categories, respectively.

Link to the 2011 RTTY RU Results.

The DX Century Club Welcomes W4LEW!

~ admin
W4LEW DXCC
W4LEW with his DXCC award

Club member Lew Best W4LEW poses with his first (mixed) DXCC. Along with this award he also received his DXCC phone endorsement. Licensed for less than two years, Lew quickly obtained is Amateur General and Amateur Extra class licenses in order to take full advantage of the DX found throughout the spectrum. Congratulations to Lew for a notable achievement in an incredibly short period of time!

DDXG Welcomes KJ4NPR!

~ admin
KJ4NPR and K4WNW
KJ4NPR with his new membership!

The club welcomes William Orndorff KJ4NPR as a Full Member. A relatively new ham, William is on the cusp of obtaining his Amateur Extra class license. Nephew of Robert W4BNO and quickly logging DX contacts, William now becomes the youngest member of DDXG. Welcome aboard, William! Here, president Sheila Blackley presents William with his membership certificate.

DDXG Welcomes K3WRY!

~ admin
K3WRY accepting member certificate

DDXG welcomes Dr. Joe Palsa K3WRY as a Full Member. An ARRL Life Member and the EC for Chesterfield County, “Dr. Joe” enjoys experimenting and working with equipment for seismic and weather recording, among his other ham radio interests. Here, President Sheila Blackley presents him with a membership certificate.

12M DXCC

~ w4bno
Bruce and Sheila receive their 12M DXCC
Bruce and Sheila receive their 12M DXCC

Husband & Wife 12m DXCC – Bruce WD4LBR and Sheila K4WNW both received their 12 meter DXCC awards. Presenting the certificates is club Vice-President, Josh KD4ZDQ.