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27 janvier 2015 2 27 /01 /janvier /2015 07:37

EP6T, ON7GB and leaderboard ?????

Hi all,

More and more DXpeditions tend not to use leaderboard anymore, hoping for a somehow smaller "green slot" race, so for a pile-up decrease. Undirectly, this enables more people to get in the log since those exotic slots generally have a very slow QSO rate.

Activating them is just a loss of time, energy, time during which other guys could have worked them for a real ATNO, or new band, or new mode, on a more classical "band-mode". You have understood, I'm not for this leaderboard statistics, this is totally useless and counter-productive to the success of an expedition.

Nevertheless, other expeditions still use this leaderboard function (they do what they want, by definition). Fine, but when this happens, we OFTEN observe some bad "behavior" from either DX'er or DX operator himself trying to fullfill his friend's hunger to finish at the Top position of this leaderboard.

Yes, I am against "arranged" or "pre-paid" QSO

 

2 concrete examples come to my mind

Who made the only 80m RTTY QSO during EP6T, enabling him to finish at the 1st rank ? ON7GB

Who made the only 160m SSB QSO during FT5ZM, enabling him to finish at the 1st rank ? UT7QF

 

This has to stop !

Those 2 guys, for example, didn't need AT ALL this exotic "slot" for any award or diploma. This QSO was made only to show "I'm the best", "I have the biggest one", "I finished 1st !!!!".

Totally immature behavior of kids, totally egocentric way of thinking, which is in contradiction with what we call "Ham community"...What are they expecting? Others recognition? This is the opposite actually !!!!!!

Those green slot chasers are not the only culprits. To make a QSO, we need 2 guys. So the responsability is also coming from the expedition operators themselves who took part in this arranged/sked/pre-paid QSO. This clearly contriibutes to the noawadays zoo on each pile-up, each time an "exotic" call-sign appears on the air.

Both EP6T and FT5ZM were not bad expeditions. That was fun to chase them, most of the operators were OK, even if that was very hard to get them into the log.

But this kind of results clearly make me think that I'll not keep in mind only a positive image of what they did.

Ronan, F8AFC

 

 

 

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31 décembre 2014 3 31 /12 /décembre /2014 10:20

2014 statistics...and 2015 target

Hi guys,

Being busy this afternoon/night as most of us, here is a short summary of my 2014 DX activities compared to 2012 and 2013.

A general chart "DXCC versus band" is also given from the day I started those stats (2009 !)

DXCC.png

 2013.png

 

As we can see

- Solar activitiy has been still good in 2014 : 12 and 10m brought me resp. 11 and 10 new DXCC on each band.

- 20/17/15m have been the least prolific bands, which sounds normal once above 300 DXCC on the band.

- 160 and 40m have been a little bit down my expectations with only 11 and 9 DXCC added. This is certainly due to the fact I'm approaching the limits with a simple 1/4 wave vertical on 40m and shortended inverted-L on 160m....

- To my surprise, 80m has been good with 12 more DXCC (certainly the effect of a full-size but inverted-L antenna)

- Of course 30m has been good (30 new ones !), but with a clear decreasing "new one" trend compared to 2012

 

In terms of WAZ, have completed full 5-Band WAZ and WARC WAZ (30/17/12m) end of 2013, and received the diploma during 2014. So I really have to work on 160m zones (20 so far), at least to try reaching the 30 zones required for 160m WAZ !!!!

 

In terms of All Time New Ones, for once, I didn't miss any !!!!!! But with 325 DXCC as of today, each ATNO is rare......This year has nevertheless brought me Amsterdam isl (FT5z), Mellish Reef (VK9m), Eritrea (E3) and Tromelin isl (FR/t)

 

Next year ?

All will depend on the sun !!!! As we have passed the solar maximum, things can only decrease on the highest bands, but with still some opportunities from times to times during the Equinoxe periods.

As a general remark, I suspect some decreasing number of new ones on 30/15/12/10m, and I hpoe for a constant "new one" number on other bands.

So here are my targets....

2014

I do not expect to reach the 300 DXCC on neither 12 or 10m with declining solar activity, but 5 more DXCC on those bands would please me.

For 20/17/15m, I hope for for 3 to 5 new ones, expeditions depending of course.

On 30m, reaching 280 DXCC would be good, as well as 225 on 80m and 290 on 40m !

On 160m, still running for the DXCC (100).....keep your fingers crossed.

Clearly, each new slot will be a real fight !!!!!!!

 

As far a ATNO's are concerned, there are already 2 announced expeditions: Heard island (Nov-Dec 2015) and of course K1N (Jan-Feb 2015). So if verything goes well, this would bring my total to....327, 4 steps behind the Honor Roll....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

HAPPY NEW DX-YEAR TO ALL !!!!!!!!!

 

Ronan, F8AFC

 

 

 

 

 

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21 octobre 2014 2 21 /10 /octobre /2014 10:06

K6VVA and P5 IOTA activation ????

Hi all,

Small note today on the "possible" P5 activation by K6VVA.

http://www.dx-world.net/p5-cw-only-iota-as-197-project/

Although this guy knows very well how propagation works and how to handle a fluttery polar pile-up, I must say I do not agree at all with his policy of "NO paper QSL" in case he succeeds in going to P5. 

Actually, he has started almost 9 years ago (he said) to negociate for such activity, certainly too ambitious for a single-guy. From times to times (once a year approx.), hekept informed ham community and in his last information, he simply admitted that his main contact in a local NGO finally went somewhere else. Back from scratch ?????

I've been travelling quite often to South-Korea, I had visited DMZ of course, I talked with local hams with a possible P5 ham trip. So I can assert that it is more than difficult to go there (almost this is possible for a 1-day, 3 days or 1 week trip even), but it is clearly almost impossible as a single-guy to bring ham equipment from a personal initiative. The only possibility was, a few years ago, to give money to local police/government so that they continue their dictatorship. Ethically speaking, I'm against it.

That being said, now let's imagine this would be possible:

Even if I can understand the "1 QSO" policy, I can certainly NOT understand the "no paper" QSL. This is even truer since K6VVA already has an excellent  QSL manager that would perfectly handle this for him.

So why "no paper" QSL?...His reasons given on DXWorld.net are more than obscur (Postman retirements, theft in post offices...etc ????). What about OQRS ? What about QSL manager? I miss something there.

As of today, If I had to conclude and after following closely his attempts and his "information" from the past years, when looking at what's real today, well, there is nothing.  I do not believe anymore in a realistic expedition from his side to P5. But more and more I believe this "P5 story" is coming from an excessively selfish guy trying to get an ultimate recognition....Psychiatrically speaking, we call this "mythomania" or "megalomania". And the day another expedition would take place from P5 prior to his, I fear about his psychic health !

GL anyway "The Locust" in your impossible quest. Nothing too personal here, and sorry to have been crude this way. But you are more and more boring everybody with those useless annoucements from the past "almost 9 years".

Ronan, F8AFC

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2 janvier 2014 4 02 /01 /janvier /2014 14:51

2013 : F8AFC statistics

Hi all,
Here is a summary of my 2013 "DX" statistics 
 
 
F8AFC 160 80 40 30 20 17 15 12 10 Total
2013 score 70 206 276 240 318 307 302 276 272 2267
New slots in 2013 21 10 11 78 8 7 12 9 10 166
2014 target 100 215 285 275 325 315 310 285 280 2390
 
   
Good points
I could go over the 200 DXCC on 80m (as well as finishing the 40 zones there in order to get complete 5-B WAZ, that was my primary focus actually)
I also could go over the 300 DXCC on both 17 and 15m bands
30m was definitely the most productive band (being new one that band, that as easier)
I could still enjoy 10 and 12m good opening (K9W for example recently).
I could go over the 320 DXCC limit, 11 more to go to HR, HI !
 
Bad points
I couldn't go over the 100 DXCC on 160m despite having built a "more efficient" antenna there.
I missed some new ones on 40m (the 40m trap of the vertical is KO from beg of November, but I don't have fair climate/free time to restore it).
I couldn't reach the 275 DXCC on 10m....
 
Next year target
Reaching the 100 DXCC on 160m
Approaching the 275 DXCC on 10m and reaching 275DXCC on 30m
Approaching the 285 DXCC on both 40m and 12m
Be over the 310 DXCC on 17/15m, and reaching the 325 DXCC on 20m.
Reaching a total number of DXCC of 325 (that will depend a lot on the expeditions annouced, hard to anticipate)

 

Conclusion
If propagation remains still good in 2014, I should concentrate on the highest band before solar cycle decreases. But even on 12/10m, I need specific DX expeditions  and specific propagation to increase my "score". This will become harder and harder.
On the other 20/17/15m, clearly, being over the 300 now, I need expeditions (and a bit of propagation)
On 30m, this should be the most productive band, but being at 240DXCC, I do not expect to get 78 new ones there next year of course, HI.
On 40m, I must first of all repair the antenna, then get a few new ones if possible. But a simple vertical on 40m is far from being qualified as a big gun, I'll need some luck.
On 160/80m, I should concentrate more on listening to the bands there. 80m will be hard, 160m even harder (no RX antenna there), but who knows.
As a conclusion, I'd say that I will not make 166 new ones next year, and that each new band slot will be hard. But that's the fun of the game !
GL and HNY to all !
Ronan, F8AFC
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23 décembre 2013 1 23 /12 /décembre /2013 19:18

Very busy here....

Hi all,

I hadn't much free time recently (end of the year....), but here I am, on holidays !!!!

Unfortunately, those holidays start quite badly, with high winds forecast this night :

 

http://images.meteociel.fr/im/5155/nmm-11-17-0_vxz7.png

I'm located right in the dark-red, and strongest are planned for 01AM, and up to 110km/h here.

 

Please keep your fingers crossed so that the aerials survive !!!!!

Ronan, F8AFC

 

Update : 24th of December

Well, winds have been blowing strongly here, but not as strong as announced (98km/h max). All antennas survived perfectly, which makes me say I feel a lot better now.

 

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5 octobre 2013 6 05 /10 /octobre /2013 17:11

Who ? Qui ? I'll know soon (je vais savoir vite)

F8AFC-@ i spot  a pilleup so u know i made qso!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      1249 05 Oct

CL0STER-@ Who spot a pilleup showing he qso                          0507 04 Oct
CL0STER-@ F8AFC one of these EGO MANIAC                              0507 04 Oct

 

Certainly a jealous guy, frustrated not be able to make QSO's, and whose IP address has been identified already.

Certainement un gars jaloux, frustré de ne pas pouvoir faire de QSO, et dont l'adresse IP a déjà été identifiée.

Update : Here it is

80.215.64.82

 

Easy to locate this non-expert IT guy in Esteran Part of France.

 

Next?

 

Ronan, F8AFC

 

PS : Perso, je m'en fiche royalement, c'est simplementtriste car symptomatique de certains handicapés qui se disent 'amateur de radio' et qui en fait ne sont que des baltringues

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20 mai 2013 1 20 /05 /mai /2013 21:40

DX season has ended, time for "band slot" chasing now

Hi guys,

No major expedition announced in the next weeks (even month), in addition to a summer propagation coming in (although we have a Autumn WX here), makes me say that the DX season has now ended.

It is time to chase some band slots, or to try re-getting some still-missing QSL's. I still have the advantage to have some potential new ones to be worked fron Europe on 30m, and I could add 3 new ones in the last few days (S5, OZ, and OD5ZZ), bringing me to a total of 205 DXCC on 30m.

In Europe, I miss JX and SV/a on 80m, SV/a on 12m, and 1A / ES / GU / HV / JX / OK / ON / OY and SV/a on 30m. After that, I would have gotten all EU DXCC on all bands (160m apart). Wish me good luck !

Ronan, F8AFC

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonjour à tous,

Pas de grosses expé annoncées pour les prchaines semaines (voir moins), auquel on rajoute un propagation de plus en plus estivale (même si le WX est digne d'un WX d'automne), ça me fait dire que la saison des DX est désormais terminée;

Il est temps de chasser les band-slots, et/ou d'essayer de ré-avoir certains dont la QSL manque. J'ai tjs l'avantage d'avior quelques new ones potentiels à faire en Europe sur 30m, et j'ai pu en ajouter 3 les derniers jours (S5, OZ et..OD5ZZ), ce qui m'amène à un total de 205 DXCC sur 30m.

En Europe, il me manque JX and SV/& sur 80m, SV/a sur 12m et 1A / ES / GU / HV / JX / OK / ON / OY et SV/a on 30m. Après cela, j'aurai tous les DXCC en Europe sur toutes les bandes, à part le 160m...Souhaitez-moi bonne chance !

Ronan, F8AFC

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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18 avril 2013 4 18 /04 /avril /2013 11:37

My linear amp is back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all,

I met a problem of "power cut" on my linear amplifier last July, and sent it to a "professional" guy in order to get it repaired.

Each time I was powering it ON, fuses blown away....I hate working into High Voltage area, this is why I sent it to this guy who already worked on it in the past.

In 6 months time, I could enter in contact with this guy only 3 or 4 times (RCC34 = http://radiowork.fr/F_frame.html?http://radiowork.fr/F_home.html ) But I had to send him thousands of emails / phone calls and even registered letters before he decided to answer me !!!!!!

Each time he accepted to reply, he told me he would repair it within the following week and ship it back. Just lies, he never did it !!!!!! I'm not the only guy into the same situation with this "thief", that's a shame that such guy can still have a "professional" window with such amateur/not recommended behavior.

Last November, I even had to call French justice (court/police) and helped by a national customer organization, we could force him  sending back the amplifier, even if not repaired. I received it only 2 months later, at the very end of Dec 2012. What a shame !

Even worse : This guy threatened with by emails insulting me, threatening me to come to my house and fight, etc etc etc. Amazing behavior !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--> I will let you make your own opinion of this guy, but clearly for me, I'll NEVER recommend working with him anymore !

So the amplificer was back in late December, and I shipped it beginning of January to another but very professional guy (HF-SAV). His schedule was very busy so he could have a look at it only beginning of March. It took him only 1/2 day to understand where the issue was coming from : Some wires were cut into the amplifier (guess who cut them ?), a MOV was dead, tubes were dead (whereas they were OK when leaving home last July, guess who burnt them ?), and the ceramic rotary switch was more than tired.

It then took more than 1 month to get a new rotary switch (beginning of April), and as soon as received, he replaced the defective part and sent back the amplifier to me, which I received TODAY at my office !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, I'll do all the necessary pluggings, and see how it works......This amp has been completely "renewed", with new matched-quad of Svetlana 572b tubes instead of old 811a's....should be more stable.

73

Ronan, F8AFC

 

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19 janvier 2013 6 19 /01 /janvier /2013 10:23

A new French antenna manufacturer : VDC-Beam !!!!!!

Hi all,
A new French antenna manufacturer was born recently and he's just starting his activity. No doubt, when looking at the quality of the materials, the result obtained and the super low prices, he will have a great success. This is all I hope for him !!!!!
Click on the icon : http://www.yagi-antenna.fr/wpimages/wp26e40d71_06.png
 
 
    Un nouveau fabricant d'antenne a vu le jour récemment et il commence juste son activité. Pas de doutes, quand on regarde la qualité des matériaux utilisés, les réultats obtenus et les prix super-bas, il va avoir un gros succès, c'est tout ce que je lui souhaite !!!
 
 
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7 janvier 2013 1 07 /01 /janvier /2013 21:10

2012 statistics

Hi all,

Here are my statistics for 2012.

It looks obvious that 2011 propagation helped a LOT for improving 12m and 10m scores, so 2012 didn't bring that much improvement there.  

160m : From 0 up to 49 DXCC (+49) --> next target = 100 DXCC (+51 to be wkd !)

80m : From 183 up to 196 DXCC   (+13) --> next target = 200 DXCC (+6 to be wkd)

40m : From 247 up to 265 DXCC (+22) --> next target = 275 DXCC (+10 to be wkd)

30m : From 4 up to 162 DXCC (+158) --> next target = 200 DXCC (+38 to be wkd)

20m : From 304 up to 310 DXCC (+6) --> next target = 315 DXCC (+5 to be wkd)

17m : From 285 up to 301 DXCC (+16) --> next target = 310 DXCC (+9 to be wkd)

15m : From 281 up to 290 DXCC (+9) --> next target = 300 DXCC (+10 to be wkd)

12m : From 249 up to 267 DXCC (+18) --> next target = 275 DXCC (+8 to be wkd)

10m : From 248 up to 262 DXCC (+14) --> next target = 275 DXCC (+13 to be wkd)

 

In terms of band slots, I made 305 new slots in 2012, mainly thanks to 160m and 30m addition on the vertical antenna. 

 

What's next ?

Priority 1 : 200 DXCC on 80m and 100 DXCC on 160m (Low band focus !)

Priority 2: 200 DXCC on 30m, 300 DXCC on 15m and 275 DXCC on 40m

Priority 3 : the rest, as written here above

 

In terms of Zones, clearly, Zone 12 on 80m is still missing for the #200 on 5-band WAZ.

I'm also targetting the 40 zones on 30m, and ideally 20 zones on 160m (this last one will be tough but who knows) 

 

Cross your fingers for me    

 

Ronan, F8AFC

 

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