The cat that saved dinner

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Rob Smith

The Brussels sprouts were washed and draining by the sink.  A couple of their outer leaves had fallen to the floor.  Jet, the youngest and most playful of our kitties, was interested in these leaves and began playing with them.  The tasty veggies were seasoned, put into the pan, and began to cook.  It was then that we noticed the little kitty limping as if she had hurt her front paw.  We picked her up to see what possibly could be the matter.  …poor little kitty…  On her front paws, and wedged between her toes, was a nice sized garden slug. Wondering if there were more of those tasty morsels among the simmering veggies, we tossed the entire pan of brussel sprouts.  Kitty’s paw was fine, and we were saved from a dinner surprise.

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DXCC

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Rob Smith

DXCC Status for W6GRV

  • Mixed: 318
  • SSB: 305
  • CW: 298
  • Digital:40  (Ok, I need to work on this one…)

 

My next task is to update my DXCC records.  This list has not been updated since my latest application, and I have a pile of cards for band country contacts to submit once I get some time.  Also, I have a couple of new contacts pending credit in LoTW.

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Bureau QSLs

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Rob Smith

This week, I received an envelope from the W6 QSL bureau. there were a total of 15 cards from Asia, Europe, and South America. On the back of the envelope, it stated I had zero envelopes left.  the labels are in the mail for the set of envelopes.  I should have sent these when it was down to 1 or 2 envelopes!  In the search for what was needed, I found the W6 QSL Bureau has a nice web page that let you see how many envelopes and how much postage you have remaining. This weekend, I will checking the logs and filling out QSLs to send the the ARRL Out Going QSL Service.

73 Rob.

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Had fun in the contest

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Rob Smith

Although I spent only a hand full of hours in the contest, it was very fun and logged a total of 136 contacts. It was good to hear ten meters open to western Europe in the mornings.  It has been awhile since ten meters has been this packed with stations, even above 28.100 Mhz.

Ten meters accounted for 125 of the total contacts, representing 66 countries from 28 different zones. The remainder of the contacts, 11 QSOs in 3 different countries, were on 15 Meters. I have all these countries conformed, but need to go back and check if any are new on CW, and look for new band-countries on 10 meters.

Logs have been updated on this web site, as well as on LoTW and eQSL.

Hope you had fun in the contest too.

73 Rob, W6GRV

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Contest has begun

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Rob Smith

This afternoon, after making one CW and one RTTY contact, I downloaded the latest cty.dat file, and configured the logging software (currently using CT-Win). The linear was tuned to 28 Mhz, and the equipment was tested. Many stations could be heard on 10 meters getting ready and staking out their operating frequencies. Conditions seemed very good leading into the CQWW CW contest! As the contest was about to start, the cats decided it was dinner time. Then, with the cats fed and the beam to the north west, a handful of contacts were made.

For me, this weekend will not be a serious contest effort, but I will have fun working a few stations. I am hoping for a good 10 meter opening into Europe in the morning.

73 & good luck in the contest, Rob.

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