In mid-2018 I acquired VE7ZX as an additional call to be mainly used for CW ops. It was first used in battle during the 2018 CQWW CW contest. The shorter 2×2 call definitely allowed me to make more contacts from the condo QTH.
Overall I have found that I have less exchange and call repeats. Looking forward to continued use. But don’t worry, VA7DXC will still be rocking it on side-band!
Back in the saddle at VE7NSR. Single-op operation this time round. Amazing conditions with lots of complimentary signal reports from other stations. Stuck to my plan to do mult hunting and just missed out on DXCC on 10m and 15m both with 93 countries!
I think this is the biggest CQWW DX contest score from this station in a long while. I pushed myself quite a bit and would imagine that if I didn’t have a nagging headache on the Sunday I would have crept closer to 1 million points.
In the end a personal best for me in any contest, excluding PJ2T of course, and a real sense of accomplishment. Operating at VE7NSR is always a challenge, especially over all the local RFI in our urban location, but the score proves that it is great station especially on 15m & 10m.
VE7NSR (Op. VA7DXC) CQWWSSB 2013
Here is a recent report from my DXKeeper log of activity on 10m from my high-rise condo QTH in downtown Vancouver…all in the last month or so.
VA7DXC DXCC Progress 05-Dec-2011
Band = 10M, Mode = MIXED, Status = Worked or Requested or Confirmed
001: 6Y Jamaica
002: 9M6 East Malaysia
003: BY China
004: C6 Bahamas
005: CO Cuba
006: CX Uruguay
007: D4 Cape Verde
008: E5-S South Cook Is
009: EA Spain
010: EI Ireland
011: F France
012: HI Dominican Republic
013: HK Colombia
014: HL Republic of Korea
015: HP Panama
016: HR Honduras
017: JA Japan
018: K United States
019: KH0 Mariana Is
020: KH2 Guam
021: KH6 Hawaii
022: KL7 Alaska
023: KP2 US Virgin Islands
024: KP4 Puerto Rico
025: LU Argentina
026: P4 Aruba
027: PA Netherlands
028: PJ2 Curacao
029: PJ4 Bonaire
030: PY Brazil
031: T32 Eastern Kiribati
032: TG Guatemala
033: UA0 Asiatic Russia
034: VE Canada
035: VK Australia
036: VP2-M Montserrat
037: VP2-V British Virgin Is
038: XE Mexico
039: YB Indonesia
040: YV Venezuela
041: ZF Cayman Islands
042: ZK2 Niue
043: ZL New Zealand
Outgoing QSLs at VA7DXC
I don’t think I’ll ever be a true CW op though. I’ve grown up with computers all of my life and a mode like CW, that for most can be sent and decoded much more easily by computer is just another digital mode to me. The fact that it can be sent by hand and heard by ear is to me beside the point. If it were physically possible to send RTTY or PSK by hand does it mean we should do it that way all of the time too? Just because it is physically possible to do something doesn’t mean it is the best way to do it though, why make it harder for ourselves?
However I truly appreciate the personal enjoyment factor in sending by hand and decoding by ear, it is a pure hobbyist pursuit, much in the same way people restore old automobiles etc. There are obviously more efficient ways to restore the automobile but the enjoyment is garnered in the act of doing it by hand. However in situations where accurate communications is paramount i.e. contests, then sending and decoding by computer is the future. CW is the ultimate ‘digital’ mode, with extremely narrow bandwidth and a concise shorthand all of its own that allows a quick exchange of information. If CW was promoted more as a digital mode to new hams then you might actually eventually coax some into being ‘true’ CW ops. Automobile hobbyists don’t start with the most complex of restorations, they start with their love of automobiles. Lets just love CW, regardless of what way we send or receive it.
I’m part of the PJ2T team in Curacao for this year’s CQ WW DX SSB Contest. I’ll be working stations before and after the contest with my Irish call as PJ2/EI8GNB. See you on the bands.
One of the patio PJ2T
