NAQCC January 2006 Challenge

Call      Band  Wkd             Endorsed
K3WWP     160   K8JD KK8B       All simple wire antennas
           80   W8GND AA9KH
           40   KA9GSU K9LIR
           30   KI4CIA KB3LFC
           20   VE9AGC WB0POQ
           17   WA6NHD W4CI
           15   KP4FJT VE5ZX

VA3RKM    160   KK9K  K8CC      All FT817 & simple wire antennas
           80   W2LB K3WWP
           40   K8WIW AE4FE
           30   W9GK IZ5EKV
           20   WB9MII K7MW
           17   LY3BW EA8CN
           15   K7BG  N0NI
					 
KI4DEF     40   F5OEL IS0HQJ    Simple wire antenna (dipole)
           30   W9QKL K4MF
           20   KC0KTQ VE2BGX
           17   W5TOM W7QC
           15   K0UK NN7ZZ

KD2MX     160   N4QR NK8Q
           80   W3BBO W2TOM
           40   N8ZV W0DF
           30   KG4CUY W8RJW
           20   K5NER W0TIL
           17   F2YT N1GQV
           15   N2IC NK7U

AG8A       80   W1GUE KN1H
           40   N9DFM KC0JKD
           30   W1PXA R1ANN
           20   WB9JTK/M W4/VU2YK
           17   ON6RJ 4N7ZZ

W3FAF     160   N8ER WQ9H
           80   W6EET KG4LDD
           40   W7LPV W9AJR
           30   FG5FR AK4Z
           20   N1NM N7OG

NU7T       80   K7TQ K7TA
           40   NQ6V W6JL
           30   W0MPR K4UK
           20   KG0PP W2ODC
           17   KG4SB FO/DL5XU

K2EKM      80   AE5X VE3SMA     simple wire antenna (88ft doublet)
           40   WA1ABI N9RMB
           30   C6AGN 8P9NX
           20   F6KAR F6KSM
           17   V44KJ VA7CRH
           15   F5MOO F6CTT
           12   TI8CBT XE1XR

W5ESE      80  AA5OZ KB6FPW     Simple wire antenna (300' HOHPL)
           40  N5YFC AD5LY
           30  WA9PWP W4NCA
           20  KA2UQW N3XUK
           17  K6RB KI4JKU
           15  N1WSD W7WE

Soapbox:

K3WWP - Well, I got my 7th band (17M) today (1-21) to catch Bob and Paul. I wonder if anyone is going to get 12 and/or 10 meters? It will take a lot of monitoring and/or luck to find an opening on those bands. I don't have the time for the monitoring so I'll have to depend on luck to happen to be there at the right time. I didn't make a single QSO on 12M all during 2005, although in all honesty I didn't really try more than a few times all year. Hope you all have a lot of fun with this one. It is challenging, but not all that hard to do. - I'm enjoying reading the soapbox comments hearing that you are operating some bands for the very first time. That's what we want - to spread out CW activity all over the ham radio spectrum.

VA3RKM - A great way to encourage operating. I had only one QSO before on 17m but had two DX QSOs in my next 3 with my 80/40 dipole. The Lithuanian op sent an eQSL right way as well. Seems like a good band for QRP. I'll try for all 9 bands now.

KI4DEF - This challenge was a lot of fun, and took me to two bands I had never tried before (17 and 15m). The QSOs on the three bands I usually work (40, 30 and 20m) came quickly. 40m was very long--I was pleasantly surprised to have QSOs with Jean-Pierre F5OEL in France and Frank IS0HQJ in Sardinia, two of the longest ever for me with the Sierra on that band. I had to struggle a bit with the other two bands. 17m wasn't bad, but it took me a while to figure out when the band would be open, and I never did hear very many signals. 15m was a real challenge. I had to align the Sierra's 15m band module before I could do anything. Then I spent a few days listening unsuccessfully for signals and occasionally calling CQ. Fortunately, today brought both a band opening and a lot of activity during the North American QSO Party so I was able to manage a few 15m QSOs.

KD2MX - My station is a FT-897 @5watts. Antenna is an end-fed longwire, abt. 300 ft long and up abt 35 ft. My 30 minute 3-way qrp qso on 80M was one of the highlight qsos... I could've used it last month. I found December's challenge to be a tough one. I didn't realize how difficult it is to hold one 30-minute qrp qso much less six of them. This month's challenge is a good one as it is very doable (at least the 5 bands) and it finally got me to make some contacts on 30 & 17. I've been missing out on some fun on 30M! Completing the nine with 12M & 10M will be the true test.. I haven't heard anybody on 12M since getting back on HF last year but I'll be checking and calling CQ more now. I've enjoyed a few excellent openings on 10M over the past month or two so I'm hoping to catch another one. I think many hams are missing out by just dismissing the higher bands as worthless because of the current sunspot activity (or lack thereof). I've worked about 25+ states and a handful of dx qrp on 10M since November, although the 10M contest really helped. Thanks for the challenge and 73

AG8A - This is the first challenge I have entered. Was a lot o fun but here it is the 21st already and I was starting to worry about the last band as 20 has been dead here the last few evenings. Then I heard just the end of the W4/VU2YK call and thought it was wide open!!!! Oh well I'll settle for Florida.

K2EKM - Seems these days that timing (and some luck) is even more important for making contacts on several bands. Used my Ten-Tec Argonaut V at 5w. Trying to fit in time for hamming with other things going on these days, I did a fair amount of listening on the higher bands before getting the contacts. This weekend seemed a little better,as there was some activity on the higher bands, even a little on 12M (a surprise). Been listening on 10M but nothing - will try listening more on 10M 'till the end of the month. Don't have 160M capabilities with my antenna. Too bad, since it seems hopping here this weekend with the 160M test. Judging on the strength of the signals of the stations I worked on 12M, think that part of the problem is that people have largely given up on the higher frequencies, making contacts scarcer on some bands than they have to be. I've always liked the WARC bands, and try to listen to them on a regular basis. I've found that 17M can be a very good daytime DX band, and of course the power limit on 30M helps level the playing field. Have had a fair amount of success on 10M in the past, but contacts there nowadays are definitely sparse. I've always found 12M as the most under-utilized band. Wonder what could be done to encourage more activity on the higher frequencies these days? Too bad it seems to take something like an ARRL 10M contest to bring people out during this part of the cycle.

W5ESE - I set out with the best of intentions early in the month, picking up my first two bands (80m and 40m) on the first day of the month during Straight Key Night. Trouble was, I spent alot of the month operating 80m (I like 80m alot), and by the last weekend of the month, I needed to fill in alot of gaps in a hurry. I made the 80 meter contacts with a Ten-Tec TKIT 1380, the 40 meter contacts with a Small Wonder Labs SW+, the 30 meter contacts with a Ten-Tec TKIT 1330, and all the higher bands on my Ten-Tec Omni VI. I tried a little on 160m, 12m, and 10m on the last weekend of the month, but without luck.

RULES:
We want to preserve CW operation on all the bands, not just a select few so this month we're challenging you to spread out your activity to as many bands as possible. To satisfy the challenge you must make at least 2 QSO's (preferably more) on 5 of the 9 bands 160-80-40-30-20-17-15-12-10 meters. All who do so will get a listing on the web site. If you make at least 2 QSO's on all 9 of the bands, you'll be awarded a certificate. As with all our challenges, all QSO's must be 2XCW and you must be running QRP, but the other station may be running any power. You may use any kind of antenna for the basic 5 band challenge, but if you go for all 9 bands and a certificate, you must use simple wire antennas for all QSO's.

Submit a list of the QSO's sorted by band before the deadline. You may also tell us of any special way you did the challenge and we'll list that on the web site. For example, all QSO's made using a straight key or all 2 way QRP, and so on.

Send to KB3LFC at:

E-mail:

You must type that address into your email program. No attachments - keep the log in the body of the message.

Postal mail: Tom Mitchell, KB3LFC, RD6 Box 122A, Kittanning, PA 16201
All entries must be postmarked or email dated before Feb 10, 2006.