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VQ9 DX trip by M1KTA.... no chance.

January 15, 2015, 3:09 am
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Reminded of the school report from my second year in Geography when it was suggested that sometimes I really need to focus on the topic and must try harder..

I have tried and tried over a couple of years almost every way I can think of to try and get out to VQ9 to operate, as it is technically a British territory and part of the Commonwealth you'd think it would be possible...but got nowhere.

Finally had the response...

", it is not possible for private individuals to visit Diego Garcia.  There are no exceptions to these restrictions, it is not simply a matter of security clearance."

Unless you are a contractor to the USAF and a US citizen it doesn't seem to be possible. Most odd as the place is British and the US are a guest :-)

Perhaps when/if the US lease runs out it might be possible?

Ho hum.... add it to the list of DXCC that I must try harder to get to one day.
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torroids to ID

January 15, 2015, 4:10 am
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Anyone got any idea WHAT those torroids are?

Sort of a light purple/mauve colour.

It is the LPF in a RM HLA300 (so not qrp)
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High winds

January 15, 2015, 7:27 am
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I'm sure loads of other in UK are having high winds... I just had sustained 35mph winds, no gusts and it took out several fence panels, antenna supports (even guyed) and a G7FEK I had just put up so I'm off air for a bit.
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C5X

January 18, 2015, 10:06 am
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Thought I'd have a listen and see if you can work them qrp .... 4 hours of non stop listening and sending m1kta when heard the c5x up..... only to them hear them answer someone else... until... finally I got them at 17:22 UTC 15m 21.009.168 qsx 21.010.724 cw abt 17:20, I was 100% on macros and if I blinked it was all over, lot faster than my C5 operating, I got lot of learning to do hihi!

http://m1kta.ham-radio-op.net/m1kta/c5x_qsowithm1kta15m.wav

about 21 seconds in...

KX3 10W cw (so not qrp) into a 6BTV vertical.

So can be done almost qrp :-)

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Scandanavian IOTA 2013 and 2014

January 30, 2015, 7:53 am
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Was asked to list the IOTA trip days and locations for those IOTA QSL chasers

14/6/2013 oz/m1kta/mm
16/6/2013 sm/m1kta/p from mainland (sm7ucz qth)
17/6/2013 sm/m1kta/p ditto
18/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu138 utlangan
19/6/2013 sm/m1kta/p ditto
21/6/2013 sm/m1kta/p ditto
22/6/2013 sm/m1kta/p North Of Kalmar Paskallavik
23/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu037 oland sandvik campsite
24/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu037 oland speudde beach
25/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu037 oland lange erik light house north oland
26/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu037 oland sandvik
28/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu037 oland sandvik
30/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu138 tjurko
30/6/2013 sm7/m1kta/p eu138 sturko
1/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p ditto
2/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p torshamm
1/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p eu138 utlangan
2/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p eu138 utlangan
3/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p eu138 langoren
4/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu030 bornholm
5/7/2013  sm7/m1kta/p mainland
5/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu029 mon
6/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu029 lolland
7/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu172 langeland
8/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu172 langeland
9/7/2013  oz/m1kta/p eu172 sio

2013 IOTA contest I was on EU138 Utlangan SM7/M1KTA/P
I came 18th in the DXpedition 24h mix single operator assisted QRP category (135 QSO, 16 IOTA... you can find it hard to get that number up from a rare IOTA!) 13840 points.














2014 IOTA contest I was on EU037 Garpen SM7/M1KTA/P
I cam1 11th in the DXpedition 24h mix single operator unassisted QRP category (265 QSO (double previous year!), 30 IOTA and 58650 points



2015 IOTA Contest I expect I will be on EU138 Utklippan
(or EU011 St Agnes with SCC M1K)
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C5 AF-060 photos

February 11, 2015, 1:22 am
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In order they were on the camera....


The boat that took me to AF-060


 And Christine (not a radio amateur)

The Gambia coast... about mile or so into the Atlantic.... note the typical warm/hot Gambia weather... not that  day, it was cold!
I set-up literally as the boat landed so was away from the bird nesting areas. As required by the warden. Note the seaweed I was at high water mark!

Christine carried on walking as I operated...

Terns... lots of them... I think called carrot terns (beaks looks like carrots)

Pelicans.



The remains of the old lighthouse is a prize nesting site and the highest thing on the islands. Don't think I'd like to be here in rough weather though as the waves could cover this place. It is a big sand bar really.


Pelicans

Terns... and see the little baby terns too.

Sort of fluffy grey with orange legs and beaks.
 Me operating photo taken from the lighthouse... note water had gone out a bit since arrived.... that is the Gambia coast in the back ground.

When I started I was almost sitting in the water... this was as dry as it got.
 The guide (in orange top) and the boat man on the left.


Stuffing the most important bit inside the life jacket the log book!

bye bye bijol islands...


Dropped camera... so I knackered it I think...




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K1N nope NIL..

February 16, 2015, 3:21 am
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Hey I got the inverse leader board #1






:-)


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C5 in 2015

February 17, 2015, 3:24 am
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Once the current build backlog is dealt with (K2 to finish off) I will be off to The Gambia in 12th March for BERU. Will probably activate AF-060 Bijol Island one morning or afternoon when out there (until 17th).

QTH will be the beach again near Brufu. Probably same place as I did last year....


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30m data from C5

February 18, 2015, 10:59 pm
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Going to be trying data modes (expect RTTY and PSK) on 30m from C5 for those interested.
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Testing battery for C5

February 23, 2015, 8:13 am
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Got the same type of motorbike battery will have in C5... testing operation...


They sell them dry and you add electrolyte (sulphric acid)... They will then have 9.5AH charge and will run what I need for more than couple hours.
Will recharge constantly at 0.9A from Pro-peak smart recharger, using a PSU.

 
So in the photo.. At the back left, a PSU... actually the workbench one but doesn't matter.... output is 12V... into the Yellow (front left) smart charger (will do Pb, Li, NiMH, NiCd batteries and in all sorts of combinations, mine is the one that has small charge/discharge rates, no fan so silent), from there to the battery... I have meter in series (just to see the charge rate) and a small ebay voltage LED module across the battery. It takes about 12 hours from flat to recharge it.... I should only need it in C5 twice (not this actual battery but another like it.

I can also just shove 13.8V into the battery at 2-3 amps (got a couple limit resistors and 6 amps diodes in a set of leads already (wirewound 10W things) but that will wreak the battery, long term but will recharge in only a few hours, which I might do for the trip last day if I do not need it after. I'll give back to the place I bought it after.
 
If operating from the hotel mains (might be possible) then will use PSU and the recharger at same time ... It is RF quiet I know this already.





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K2 Build

February 23, 2015, 8:19 am
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Been working on this for ages (almost a year now).

It is a K2, fully loaded, with 100WPA and ATU in an external encloure.

The Mic the end user will use is different to mine so used the K2 mic rework eliminator... here this is it being fitted. To change mic you adjust the jumpers.


Control board removed this is the rear of the front panel. P1 mike header jumpers already in place. But not configured yet.


rework eliminator in place (I have set the jumpers for the heil traveller headset I have)
 Control board back in place...
 Then the AF filters, dsp and RTC
 Side panel off to show the jumpers.





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BERU 2015

March 2, 2015, 1:00 am
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Well it seems I am in the BERU Team Africa...  so please help me help you add a rare one.

Some comments from me for those that might try a contact.... please SLOW DOWN ALL EXCHANGES. If you are only in it for the qsl (BERU countries only please I will likely ignore you otherwise) Yes I know it is a contest and needs to have rapid exchanges but if you want the C5 then please slow down or I might not get the whole exchange correct. The reason is very simple....I may just delete the qso. In 2014 I got fed up being sent a serial number and tu at 30wpm (probably from some macro) and never getting it and I'll not put in 001 entry as I will get penalised, you will get a NIL and will loose points.

I will almost certainly confirm BOTH your serial and mine and I'll not give you my serial number until I have yours.

Please please make sure you think I have BOTH numbers correctly. Very happy to be told I got it wrong and corrected.

The example exchanges I will be used are:

If I am search and pounce... (I'll probably contact the 'big guns' myself and I'll have listened loads so I will probably know what serial number to expect)

abc: cq G3ABC test
kta: M1KTA
abc: M1KTA 5nn  nr
kta: sri   nr agn                       
abc: M1KTA 5nn  nr           or just 5nn cfm nr on the repeat
kta: r 199 nr
abc: tu G3ABC

or

If brave enough to send a CQ:

kta: CQ M1KTA BERU test
abc: G3ABC
kta: G3ABC 199 nr
abc: 599 nr                           
kta: nr ?
abc: 599 nr                             
....  repeat until OK
kta: tu  M1KTA BERU
 
Oh yes I'll be the slow one in contest (expect sub 16wpm).

Africa DX contest is on too so I expect might get interesting as I expect I will be cq'ing and will get hassled by the odd one.

Note I KNOW these stations should be in BERU from Africa but dare I suggest listen on air:

5V/G3TXF, 5Z4LS, ZS1EL, ZS1C and 7Q7BP

Be aware many AF stations might not be in BERU and will be operating in SARL contest.

NOTE if I am in BERU almost definitely NOT on AF-060
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BERU Africa Team

March 3, 2015, 5:37 am
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Bumped to reserve in team as 7q7bp will be active.

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RFI from old PC fan - using copper mesh to fix.

March 4, 2015, 4:21 am
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Whilst waiting for the solder iron to heat up I thought I'd have a quick look at a a couple of cooling fans and the RFI they were creating.

Two 80mm (c 3") PC fans bolted to a heatsink, 30 amp 13.8V supply I need for the K2 I am building. They have a simple set of DC leads to powerpoles.

When in use the RFI they create is a tad obvious, does not effect operation of the supply at all. Without them the supply gets warm :-) I cannot change the fans (although I might look at doing that another time maybe).

Why I do not know but was thinking about PhD Chemistry days (93-96) I used to use a reflux still to purify some solvent (I am sure you homebrew moonshine guys know the stuff I mean) I was using at the time, even AR grade 99% wasn't good enough and was effecting the laser dye output ... the what/why doesn't matter but the how is I remember using some pure copper woven cloth, looks a bit like one of those holey jumpers, in the distillation setup. We fed in the solvent, distilled it and hey presto laser dye worked.

So quick visit to my ex-labs and chat with a technician and I now hold a new 2 foot length of it. It is considered a consumable so they have it on a big drum and just hacked off a piece. They use it for one experiment and ditch it! and use a new length.



It is a woven 'tube' so it will expand a bit, but this is made from 99.99% pure copper wire. So the idea is to wrap the fans with it.... reattach to the heatsink, add a couple common mode chokes to the DC feed line. The holes will allow the fans to keep doing their job and hopefully the copper screen will help a bit.

Took all of 5 mins to put into place and tried both without and with -61 ferrite common mode choke on the DC line (12 turns in opposite direction of the feed line about a torroid)  and seems to have reduced the noise to the point where it is usable again.

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K2 microphone adapter

March 4, 2015, 5:23 am
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Just put this together so that all the 'functions' are external, (mostly for testing)



I wired it up...

Foster 8 pin plug.

Pin 1 AF
Pin 2 PTT
Pin 3 Down
Pin 4 Up
Pin 5 FUNC
Pin 6 5V DC 
Pin 7 GND
Pin 8 GND

You cannot see it but I put a 3.5mm socket for a PC mike on the right hand side of the poting box. I MIGHT label the buttons as likely to forget but big one is PTT, red are down and up, black is func (not implemented in K2 anyway). The 5V is visible on a small pcb board in the box.

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From C5 in 2014 were you really qrp from the beach...

March 6, 2015, 1:06 am
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I just had an email exchange with someone I contacted last March from there as asked if I could try a few skeds with some of his locals (He is in ZL near Christchurch, where that Earthquake destroyed the city, not a million miles from a mates place but definitely not local to me!) to allow them to confirm C5. This kinda answers this question and a few other about the station...


This photo was taken by the wife Christine as I sat on the beach that last morning session as I finished operating, she had just finished packing and was 'collecting me' for breakfast! I already had packed the previous night and I had everything I needed with me.... note I am paper logging !

Photo taken Sun, 09 March 2014  08:00:30 AM the qso I had with Paul ZL4PW  5W SSB was just minutes before so there's some proof for you ( I never checked the times until just yesterday). I do not have the biggest rig or antenna set-up ever, of course the sun lounger made all the difference (damned comfortable way to operate!). Bit of a shame but just out of shot to the left were the security guards that had been watching over me the whole time, never did get a photo of them all, I owe them a lot really. A West African beach at night time not safest place to be. 

I often use a buddipole, some call them dummy loads well I'd say those that do are probably being dummy as they probably had not thought about HOW or WHERE to use them. Yes they are a compromise antenna but they work very well if you use the little grey cells and think about what you are doing. Very quick to put up too. Yes I like fishing poles too but sometime the buddipole wins for me.

I was on 15m at the time so a buddipole is pretty efficient.

The antenna base was usually about 4 feet from the waters edge at high tide, near where the photo was taken from. I had just moved it as they were about to sweep the beach!

8am and no guests were even thinking about being up whereas I'd been there most of the night.

Zoom in on me and you can see KX3, paper log and a motor bike battery and the feeder to the antenna so no snake oil pa's used. I was running VOX (down and up 4 as you know to shake up/off the pile up) so hands on the log and pen. Simple qrp radio fun from DX just as it should be. I was still going and asked Christine to just take photos as I put another 10 qso in the log :-)

The sun had come up and the sky had been very pink, and I had just watched the local pelican flock fly up the beach to Tanji bird reserve ready for the tide to turn as the fishermen were setting off from Tanji fishing village (off to my left) The Gambia was unseasonably cold in March 2014... night dropped to 18'C which for the locals might as well have been -18'C for me very comfortable operating in shorts.

This photo was the operating position few days earlier Wed, 05 March 2014  04:31:38 PM clearer picture of rig etc.


Note the essential Cricket Hat and the green thing on the lap is actually the portable seat I use. Everything fits in the rucksack next to me.

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Where have you been operating?

March 6, 2015, 1:38 am
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Was asked where have I been QRV so... all these were qrp too!

From http://www.dxfc.org/index.php?categoryid=6&callsign=M1KTA

Long way down but I've only be active for a few years.....

DXFC Scoreboard

DXFC Listing for M1KTA

Country

Prefix

Updated

QRV?

 Monaco  3A2012-10-16  
 Mauritius  3B82012-10-16  Y
 Tunisia  3V2012-10-16  
 ITU HQ Geneva  4U1I2012-10-16  
 United Nations HQ NY  4U1U2012-10-16  
 Cyprus  5B2012-10-16  
 Senegal  6W2012-10-16  Y
 Malta  9H2012-10-16  
 East Malaysia  9M62012-10-16  
 Singapore  9V2012-10-16  
 China  BY2012-10-16  
 The Gambia  C52012-10-16  Y
 Fed. Rep. of Germany  DL2012-10-16  Y
 Canary Is.  EA82012-10-16  
 Ireland  EI2012-10-16  Y
 France  F2012-10-16  Y
 England  G2012-10-16  Y
 Northern Ireland  GI2012-10-16  Y
 Scotland  GM2012-10-16  
 Wales  GW2012-10-16  Y
 Switzerland  HB2012-10-16  Y
 Liechtenstein  HB02012-10-16  Y
 Vatican  HV2012-10-16  
 European Italy  I2012-10-16  
 United States  K2012-10-16  Y
 Hawaii  KH62012-10-16  Y
 American Samoa  KH82012-10-16  Y
 Norway  LA2012-10-16  
 Luxembourg  LX2012-10-16  
 Austria  OE2012-10-16  Y
 Belgium  ON2012-10-16  Y
 Denmark  OZ2013-07-14  Y
 Netherlands  PA2012-10-16  Y
 Slovenia  S52012-10-16  
 Sweden    SM2013-07-14  Y
 Egypt  SU2013-07-14  
 Greece  SV2012-10-16  
 Crete  SV92012-10-16  
 Mount Athos  SY2013-07-14  
 Canada  VE2012-10-16  Y
 Australia  VK2012-10-16  
 Hong Kong  VR2012-10-16  
 Indonesia  YB2012-10-16  
 Serbia  YU2012-10-16  

DXFC Total = 44QRV Total = 20


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AFS CW UBN

March 7, 2015, 11:26 pm
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Looks like serials are my issue....


AFS Contest CW Adjudication report for M1KTA : 3500 11/01/15
Date
Time
Call
Correct Call
RST Tx
SN Tx
SN Rx
Correct SN Rx
Reason
Notes
11/01/1514:08G4ASR
5994
11
10
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1515:01M0DXR
59916
110
107
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1515:52G4ARI
59929
46
146
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1516:04G4ERW
59931
60
160
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1517:00M0TDW
59943
1
165
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1517:12G4ZFE
59947
209
208
Broken:Serial RX
11/01/1517:33
G0ORY
G3ORY
59952230
Broken:Callsign
11/01/1518:00M5O
59957200
Time outside contest
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e30fb 28.005 QSX up abt 5

March 9, 2015, 1:59 am
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VERY loud into eu this morning. Was reading S7 on the meter and able to hear him no problem.

My setup Kx3, simple GP vertical.

This is the audio of him working the pile up... calling JA only... few didn't get the message earlier as had been working EU for a while.

http://m1kta.ham-radio-op.net/m1kta/e30fb_1.wav

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How working the DX qrper should NOT be done :-)

March 11, 2015, 3:28 am
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You have set your DX cluster alarm and the station you want is on the air.... (C5/M1KTA is expected on AF-060 this w/e at some point).

(seriously tongue in cheek)...

You come upon the pileup the alarm tells you I am on air, you must find the exact frequency I am using and slowly tune up your amplifier, best take a few minutes to do this, use the mike a few 'dah dah dah's' and maybe a few ditdahditdah of the key for best effect to really squeeze that last watt out.... Take your time doing this as it has maximum effect this way. The longer you take, the better. It lets others know that YOU are going to call me.

You THINK it is Dom C5/M1KTA but being the sort of fellow you are you just cannot wait to find out who he is as his signal is pretty weak and you didn't get it all so you just have to drop in and ask, "What is the DX call sign is that C5/M1KTA?" On CW best send ?DX?? Call? at 30wpm as I really love that and find it so useful" Don't forget to confirm I am on AF-060 too (or not) that is so important, I will not have done it when you 'found me' so of course you would not know. Whatever you do do NOT listen, this takes time. If I have not responded and you are not sure if everyone else has heard you yet you need to repeat, I am sure that someone else will let you know. BTW this will display to all others on frequency that you are a serious and important operator and really want to work this DX. This is called sharing.

Now you have it confirmed that it is me, it is time to send your call sign, please do not be worried about the fact that someone else has just been trying to finish a contact with me , it is important that you must get through to me immediately so, repeat your call over and over again on the DX frequency using non standard phonetics. Don't worry that I had been speaking to someone else, he will not mind.  This works really well if you cannot hear any other stations on that frequency, I'll be working split which means I'll be listening either up or down from the transmit frequency. That way I'll never hear you and you will make sure that everyone knows and eventually someone will relay that you are transmitting over me.

Then you must make sure that you protect YOUR qso and the DX is a qrp station so you need to remain on frequency and shout UP at regular intervals or let others know I am on that frequency and how I am operating it is so helpful.

As I know C5 can be a rare one from some places about the globe the bands open only for a short while for a qrp signal so just when I say Pacific or JA only please, all you stations from EU with 24x7 propagation please try extra hard to contact me. Of course I'll forget you are there and never come back again (SP8 station you know who you are!).

When I have a few stations calling and it sounds like I got part of one call sign and say 'G3XX only' or the 'G3xx portable station only' then please make sure I don't forget you are there too and keep calling. You're right I am a qrp station and probably couldn't hear him anyway.

You manage a contact and I am running split and there is a mini pile up and I have a small run of stations (SSB) so by all means move just a khz up above my calling frequency, switch in that speech processor and pa and start calling CQ I just love the effect it makes. And then ignore all attempts to ask you to qsy as that VFO dial seems locked.

If you have worked me before either this trip or a previous one then please make sure you call and let me know I am stronger/weaker than the last 6 times you worked me before. I will be really grateful you let me know this. Others on frequency will respect you more, you will be recognized as a Big Gun DXer. (One EA station called me every day last time just to tell me this!)

I have just spent 2 hours working station after station on say 15m SSB and propagation has improved to the extent that I am now working West Coast NA stations and you manage to work me, being so excited don't forget to ask me when I am going to operate another mode just for you. I am sure all the other callers will love to know this too. And even though I cannot say make sure you discuss on air when YOU need to schedule a contact as you need that mode too, I am sure everyone else will love that.

I finally manage to find time to operate some RTTY from C5 and ask for short contacts only, but please don't listen as I am sure I need to see every macro you have spent hours coding into your software that tells me all about your pet cat and their kittens too. This is really helpful to everyone and I am sure it will not hold up anyone else, this is extremely effective operating practice if you time it so that it happens just as 15m propagation fads out for everyone.

You KNOW I am in West Africa and on an island in the Atlantic so why should you have to wait for a QSL card or a LoTW confirmation? Make sure you ask what the QSL route information is on air too as this is most effective use of everyone's time and my precious batteries. Of course the QRZ and blog pages will not have any useful information and of course LoTW certificates were not already applied for and loaded.

Lastly my favourite as we all love these guys.... you have that regular contact you make with your mate 'Sid' down the road on 14.260 or 14.285 (you see each other in the pub later anyway) and you know that often the frequency isn't being used or it is but you only hear these really faint signals that only seem to be calling CQ UP or they are using some wierdo language that isn't English of course the hearing aid batteries are not what they were as you bought them from Woolworth but it is a shame to have to buy new ones and the audio isn't working too well from the radio so you need to make sure you let Sid know he needs to turn his pa on and then arrange to chat for hours talking complete drivel about whatever the grand kids did at the lunch, or was is dinner you forget. Make sure you do this every day that I am in C5 I really appreciate this and so will everyone else.

Life's too short for QRO.
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