Solid state 500W HF-6M amplifier by Elecraft.

Expo where manufacturers and vendors can display equipment. New products were announced at a special presentation.

I flew into Fresno, CA Friday morning. I met Tom Harrell N4XP on the plane and told me he was giving the K4M presentation at the banquet Saturday night. This was essentially the same presentation he gave to the SEDXC in February 2010.

Once I arrived at the Convention in the Holiday Inn I went to the Contest Academy that I had signed up for earlier in the year. I was in the advanced presentations.  Since I arrived right at start time I got one of the few empty chairs in the back of the room which made seeing the screen difficult.

N6BV gave a presentation on Propagation Predictions for HF contesting. These techniques can also be used for DXing. This is an area that I am not near as knowledgeable as I should be. I will be able to use these techniques to increase my chances for a QSO for difficult DX stations.

The next presentation by KF6T had some information on Contest Antennas +. Or, things in addition to antennas that can help improve scores.  He covered terrain analysis, QTH selection, PCs, and some interesting antenna configurations such as his delta loop for 80/75M and a shortened 40M dipole that covers the whole band.

The final presentations were on logging accuracy and CW Skimmer use with waterfall displays.  All I needed was more whining from contesters about CW Skimmer so I went to the bar to see what was happening there. Turns out there was some drinking going on. Imagine that.

Saturday, for those who could make it, opened up with a welcome and presentations by vendors on new equipment.

N6BT.com had new verticals. He was very excited about them so I think they are extra special verticals.

Force12 had a presentation on LWA Yagis and some of the antennas they had using this technology.

SteppIR had a new small footprint Yagi that was on display on top of a 75 foot tower in the parking lot (see picture to the right.)

Eric from Elecraft talked about their new Pan-adapter and solid state 500W linear amplifier. The 1500W solid state amp I had been waiting for was dropped since Eric felt they couldn’t make enough money on it.

Hi-Q Antennas talked about working with NASA to develop antennas for a ship that will land on an asteroid and antennas for a satellite to measure the height of the ionosphere. Incredibly, scientists are trying to link the height of the ionosphere with earthquakes.

At 10 AM NC1L from the ARRL gave an update on the DXCC program and LOTW. back in the 90s there was a 6 month wait for DXCC applications. Today they are down to about 6-8 weeks. This is due to some “round the clock” card checking by a dedicated group of people to get the rush of cards for the DXCC deadline quickly processed. The new ARRL Web site is up but it has some issues with a few links that is being addressed.  VUCC support for LOTW is on the roadmap but it will not be soon.  He ended with a 50 slide show presentation about how easy it is to apply for an award for LOTW.  OK, it wasn’t 50 slides but it was a lot for a process that is supposed to be easy.

Next was the Contest forum roundtable discussion with K1DG, K6VVA and a RTTY contester (sorry I missed the call since the moderator mumbled it in the introduction.) Some of the topics of discussion included:

1. -Can RTTY and CW contests co-exist on the same weekend? CW ops just treat it like another source of QRM to ignore.
   

2. -Can remote contesting compete with non-remote stations? Low latency links are needed and better voice over IP software that does not try to implement noise reduction. The existing Internet audio programs are not sufficient for HF communication.
   

3. -Shortening the length of contests? 24 hour contests is the most I have done full time. I have no opinion here. On 48 hour contests I just work them as long as I feel like. If I had the chance to participate in a multi-op I might get more excited about ARRL DX or CQ WW.
   

4. -Leveling the playing field? Right, let’s penalize someone who improves there QTH, towers, antennas, etc.
   

A Contest Advisory Committee report was given and they are currently addressing the following topics:

1. -More categories / does it increase participation or dilute competition?
   

2. -What ARRL categories should low power be added?
   

3. -Change Low Power from 150W to 100W?
   

4. -Would more Low Power categories encourage more DXpeditions?
   

5. -Pay if you win? (That will show ‘em. However, I would pay for a plaque that is not sponsored)
   

6. -Print your own certificates
   

K1DG announced the formation of the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation with the goal of increasing operating skill and to support contesting efforts like log checking that requires a lot of volunteer resources to make happen.

Lunch was BBQ served out in the parking lot behind the hotel. The weather was perfect for an outdoor lunch picnic.

In the afternoon, two presentations were given concurrently. One room had more DXpedtion presentations and the other was on more technical topics. I split between the two rooms depending on the topic I was interested. I like to hear about DXpeditions but I also like to hear technical discussions that will help my ability to work DX.

The first afternoon presentation I attended was by K7BV who gave an interesting talk on a DXpedition to San Andres to put 6M on the air there. It was quite humorous has he talked about trying to get a QTH that where he didn’t upset the neighbors with his 6M beam, renting to others after he cut a deal, and language problems with the locals.

Next was an update on QRZ.com by Terry Graves, K7FE. He gave a history of the site and some updates on what is happening now and the near future. One thing he said is that if a call is missing from QRZ it is for our protection. Most likely this individual had been involved in some sort of fraud or stalking.

Stan, SM7WT gave a very interesting presentation on Thor’’s QTH in Iceland TF4M.  He’s got a lot of land with few neighbors, but it is almost impossible to get there! It was very challenging to build this station. TF4M has a lot of land so he put up Rhombics in various high population areas.

Ned, AA7A gave a talk on the 9L7A VooDude CQWW contest effort. It turns out that with the stability situation in Guinea that the equipment stored there could not be accessed. Several members canceled the trip for the contest and a small multi 2 effort was put on with small antennas.

The final presentation I saw was on High Performance RX Tools for DXing. Eric, WA6HHQ gave the talk which was mainly on RX diversity using the K3. He had some audio examples in CW and SSB showing how diversity can allow you to hear a station with fades since a fade into one antenna does not necessarily mean the signal is faded into the other antenna.

After a full day of presentations it was time to unwind in the bar to meet some new friends and prepare for the banquet that night.

I wore my SEDXC shirt and the logo was very recognizable by a number of people there. There were not many people from SEDXC there. The only ones I saw were N4XP, W4GIW and W6XA. But everyone there knows about SEDXC!

I skipped the Sunday morning breakfast since my flight left Fresno at 5:30 AM.

I can highly recommend this convention for anyone that enjoys DX presentations and fellowship with other DXers. Several people told me that this year’s convention was better attended than last year. The only complaint I had was that the rooms were too small for the number of people there. You had to get to a presentation early to get a seat. 

But If you’re like me and getting a bit bored with Dayton give Visalia a try. If you like the SEDXC DX presentations then you will love Visalia. They’ll give you all you can stand!

A display be NCDXF with QSLs of all of the recent DXpeditions that were sponsored by this organization.

K7BV makes a point in his San Andres presentation.

“Wow that’s a long line for drinks.”

Marilyn and KJ6Y having a great time right before the banquet starts.

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