News came in last last month of the passing of Kurt Andress, K7NV (formerly NI6W and a very active SCCCer at the time). Our condolences to his family. We have lost a good one. See elsewhere here on the website for more.

We had a good turn out for the NAQP CW contest last month. Marko, N5ZO reported that 15m conditions were great. He thinks he worked more on 15 than ever before in an NAQP from his home QTH. 20 was also great he said. He had noisy conditions with QSB on 160-40 meters. Dana, K6NR had generally good conditions. He started on 10 and went to 15 when that slowed down. Joe, AA2IL had a lot of fun and recorded a personal best in the contest despite spending a little too much time S&Ping. David, N6AN was portable at a campsite north of Big Bear Lake. He used the W6AQ call sign. Paul, K6PO/VE7 got on using using a wire run through the trees up there in BC. Dick, W6TK got off to a great start in the contest. He did a lot of band changing chasing good conditions. 80m was a bust though. Sounds like everyone had a great time.

I'd like to see more of you sign up for SCCC teams during these contests. It really doesn't matter whether you plan to operate full time or part time. Even if you can't be sure that you will be on but are hoping to be, do sign up. I'll get you on a team. The more teams, the better. In some of these contests, we have more people not signed up but submitting scores than signed up for a team. Please consider joining our team efforts going forward.





Tim Shoppa, N3QE of CQ Magazine posted this "Updated CQ COntest Policy Relating to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine" on August 31. Click on the thumbnail to the right to enlarge. You may also need to zoom further to enlarge the image.










Just a reminder that we are always looking for your station pictures, antenna pics and award pictures/scans. Also pictures of any expeditions or multi-ops. These are always a lot of fun for everyone to see. So send them in and we'll get them posted. (Note: CQP is coming next month. Have you received a CQP certificate and/or bottle of wine over the years? Send a picture!)





This flyer was published in the summer edition of the NCDXF newsletter. It pertains to the 2023 International DX Convention, which as you probably know, caters to both DXers AND contesters. Click on the thumbnail to the left to view the flyer. The IDXC is currently a go as an in person gathering!





News and happenings have been pretty thin this summer. So, I thought I would share this fun little non-ham related video. This is a vintage video clip showing Sony manufacturing plants and products in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As hams, most of us are pretty serious techies so we can appreciate this stuff. In fact, you may even recognize some of the products, despite their vintage. I do too. At 1:29 minutes in, a shot of an early Sony Trinitron TV brought back memories for me. That particular Trinitron was widely used as a studio monitor at my place of employement back in the day. It's resolution and color reproduction were unmatched at that time. Check out this 11 1/2 minute video and enjoy the trip back in time. Click here and enjoy!

Strange but true...
In 2005, a fortune cookie company called Wonton Food Inc. correctly foretold lottery numbers, resulting in 110 winners and an investigation. No fraud was found to be involved.

73 for now,
--Dennis NE6I

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Kurt up a tower in 1984 (photo from his Facebook page)





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Our August, 2022 poll was a two parter. Do you have/own an HF amplifier? If so, which brand. And, is it 
a tube or solid state amp?

50% of respondents said they have an Alpha amplifier. 30% said Elecraft. 11% said OM Power. 5% said Heathkit and 
another 5% said Acom.  56% said their amp uses tubes and 33% said their amp is solid state. 11% do not have an 
amplifier. 

Our July, 2022 poll was "A must do contest for me is"

A whopping 30% said CQWW DX CW! 14% said Sweepstakes CW. The balance was divided equally amont the rest 
of the contests lin the poll.

Our June, 2022 poll was "I will be operating Field Day this year"

39% said with a club at a park or other location away from home. Another 39% said from home said from home.
22% said they wouldn't be participating this year.

Our May, 2022 poll was "My first contest was:"

22% said the Novice Roundup. 17% each said ARRL Sweepstakes, a state QSO Party, CQWW DX, or another contest. 
 10% said the ARRL International DX Contest. 

Our April, 2022 poll was "Your top QSOs per hour rate over a full 60 minutes is:"

47% said 61-70. 18% said 41-50 and another 18% said 81-90. 17% said 41-50. 

Our March, 2022 poll was "In a single contest weekend, you have worked 100 DXCC entities."

36% said yes and 64% said no.

Our February, 2022 poll was "You are only allowed to contest on one band, the band of your choice. Which one 
would it be?"

42% said 40 meters, 27% said 20 meters, 15% said 15 meters, 8% said 10 and 4% said 160. 4% said 2 meters or 
above.

Our January, 2022 poll was"Continuing with last month's typing subject, for those of you that touch type, 
did you learn to do so in a class, on the internet (including a typing app or program), or are you self 
taught?"

50% said in a class. 19% said self taught and 31% said they use hunt and peck instead.

Our December, 2021 poll was"When using contest software, do you touch type or hunt and peck?"

61% said hunt and peck. 39% said touch type.

Our November, 2021 poll was "Have you ever owned a Heathkit Radio transmitter, receiver or transceiver?"

70% said yes, in the past. 18% said they own one or more now and 12% said no.

Our October, 2021 poll was "Have you ever owned a Collins Radio transmitter, receiver or transceiver?"

11% said yes, in the past. 17% said they own one or more now and 72% have never owned one. 

Our September, 2021 poll was "I plan on purchasing at least one new station accessory in the 
coming year."

80% said yes and 20% said no. Are you listening, vendors?

Our August, 2021 poll was "I plan on installing at least one new antenna in the coming year."

64% said yes and 36% said no.

Our July, 2021 poll was "The last time I visited a brick and mortar ham radio store was"

47% said in the past two to four years. 37% said in the past year. 16% said five or more years ago.

Our June, 2021 poll was "My career (or former career if retired) is/was in the electronics or 
telecommunications industry."

53% said yes and 47% said no. 

Our May, 2021 poll was "I have a family member who is also a licensed amateur radio operator."

44% said yes and 56% said no. 

Our April, 2021 poll was "My significant other_____in contests."

60% said tolerates me participating. 15% said encourages me to participate. 10% said doesn't care if I 
participate and another 10% said sometimes participates with me. 5% said they don't have a significant 
other.

Our March, 2021 poll was "Keeping with the theme of last month's poll, my favorite 
type of contest is:"

47% said DX. 33% said stateside. And 20% said both.

Our February, 2021 poll was "My favorite contests are (those in duration):"

28% said 48 hour contests, 11% said 30 hour contests, 5% said 24 hour contests, 17% said 
10 hour contests, 5% said 4 hour contests and 5% said 1 hour contests. 22% said all of
the above! One respondent said all of the above with the exception of Field Day and 
those with other complicated exchanges. 

Our January, 2021 poll was "Do you prefer hard copy QSLs or electronic ones?"

19% said they prefer hard copy (paper) QSLs, 50% said they prefer electronic QSLs (IE, LOTW, 
eQSL, QRZ, etc.), 25% said they had no preference, and 6% said they do not QSL at all. 

Our December, 2020 poll was "I sometimes have conflicts between contest events and
 family events on holiday weekends preventing me from as much participation in one or
 both of them as I'd like.

17% said often, 56% said occasionally, 22% said contesting always wins out, and 5% said
 family events always win out. 

Our November, 2020 poll asked "Is your antenna system mostly:"

42% answered less than 5 years old. 16% each answered 5-10 years old, 11-15 years old 
 or 16-20 years old. 10% answered more than 20 years old.

Our October, 2020 poll asked "Is your current primary transciever:"

43% answered 5-10 years old. 30% said less than 5 years old. 17% said 11-15 years old and
 10% said more than 20 years old.

Our September, 2020 poll was two parts. "Are you an ARRL member?"

87% said yes and 13% said no.

Are you a paid member of any other club other than ARRL?

73% said yes and 27% said no.

Our July, 2020 poll was "Where do you typically operate Field Day from?

23% said from home, 6% said portable by themselves, 59% said with a club and 12% said they
 don't typically operate Field Day.

Our June, 2020 poll was "Did you discover amateur radio on your own?

35% said yes, 35% said that they discovered it via a family member and 30% said that they
 discovered it via a friend.

Our May, 2020 poll was "Have you ever built and/or used Heathkit amateur radio equipment?"

65% said they have both built and used Heathkits. 20% said they have used but not built them
 and 15% have neither built nor used a Heathkit.

Our April, 2020 poll was "Did you participate in the National Traffic System (NTS)?"

25% said yes and 75% said no.

Our February, 2020 poll was "What is your thought on the new digital modes as it pertains
 to contesting?"

27% said great! And another 27% said "not for me." 21% said "they are poisoning amateur radio
 contesting." Wow, brutal. 14% said they haven't tried them. 8% said "not bad" and 3% said
 "unsure / too early to day."

Our January, 2020 poll was "Have you ever operated in a RTTY contest?"

86% said yes and 14% said no. 

Our December, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated in a VHF contest?"

86% said yes and 14% said no. 

Our November, 2019 poll was "Do you operate in very many contests just to have some
 fun / hand out some contacts?"

86% said yes and 14% said a few.

Our October, 2019 poll was "LOTW has revolutionized QSLing. How do you respond to
 hard copy QSLs that you receive after a contest?

87% said they send a return QSL the same way the incoming card was received (direct or via
 the Bureau). 13% said they send electronic QSLs only (IE, LOTW, eQSL, QRZ and/or other).

Our September, 2019 poll was "If you could go or are going on a Contest Dxpedition
 next year, where would you go?"

75% said to the Caribbean! 25% said somewhere in the Pacific.

Our August, 2019 poll was a two parter. "Do you miss (or wish we had) SCCC pizza meetings?"

20% said Yes, I really miss them. Another 20% said Yes, I hear they were a good time.
 10% said I could take them or leave them. Another 10% said No, I'm not that interested in
 attending meetings at this time. 60% said I probably wouldn't be able to attend many of them
 due to distance or other reason.

The second question was "If we had SCCC meetings, I would..."

10% said Attend as many as possible. 20% said Attend them if they were less than an hour's
 drive. 40% said Attend now and then. 20% said Might attend some of them, and 10% said Probably
 wouldn't attend any of them.

Our July, 2019 poll was "When was your first contest?"

16% said 2010 or later. 5% said 2000-2009 and another 5% said 1990-1999. 32% said 1970-1979.
 26% said 160-1969 and 16% said 1950-1959.

Our June, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated a Dxpedition in a contest?"

25% said yes, as part of a multi-op DXpedition. 25% said no. 20% said yes, as a single op.
 Another 20% said no, but I would like to! And 10% said yes, both as a multi-op and as a single-op.

Our May, 2019 poll was "Have you ever operated mobile or portable in a contest
 (not a DXpedition)?

35% said both, 35% said no, 20% said portable and 10% said mobile.

Our April, 2019 poll was "For manual CW sending, what do you use?"

65% of our respondents said a keyer. 35% said contest software. 12% said a straight key and
 5% said a bug. 8% said other.

Our March, 2019 poll was "What logging software do you use in contests?"

75% of our respondents said N1MM+. 10% said Writelog and another 10% said N3FJP. 5% each said
 TRLog/TR4W, Win-test or other.

Our February, 2019 poll was "Do you use high, low or QRP power in contests?"

56% of our respondents said high power. 21% said low power and 13% said QRP.

Our January, 2019 poll was "What brand of radio to you use primarily in contests?"

25% of our respondents said Yaesu. 18.75% said Kenwood. 12.5% said Icom. 6.25% said Flex, and
 43.75% said Other. We should have included Elecraft! 

Our December, 2018 poll was "Have you ever hosted a guest operator at your station?"

11% of our respondents said yes. 89% said no.

Our November, 2018 poll was "Have you ever operated multi-op in a contest (home or away)?"

80% of our respondents said yes. 20% said no.

Our October, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest mode?"

76% of our respondents favored CW. 12% favored SSB and 6% favored RTTY. 6% had no favorite mode.

Our September, 2018 poll was "What is your favorite contest?"

CQP took the top spot. CQWW DX, WPX, NA Sprint and Sweepstakes all tied for second.

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FOR SALE: HyGain TailTwister with DCU 3 controller New in 2021 $450 M2 2 element 40-mini New in 2021 $450 Both available for pick up in early August in Northridge Contact Roger, W6LAX 818-455-5038 Posted 24 June 2022 FOR SALE: Elecraft K3/100 Transceiver 100 watts, 2.7 kHz SSB filter KXV3 I/O transverter KIO3 RS232 Great entry level radio Power cord and manual $1295 Same as above with a built in tuner $1495. If you want custom options, please email. I have many options available that are not being made by Elecraft. Filters KSYN3A upgraded SYN board. DVR's Sub Receivers P3 Panadapter $795.00 Add VGA $1050 Contact Larry, K6RO Lashap at cox.net 310-710-2869 Posted 20 Oct 2021 FOR SALE: Corsair VX550W computer power supply from the estate of WA6STJ. New in the box. Asking $100. Click thumbnail and link for more information. Link: https://www.cnet.com/products/corsair-vx550w-power-supply-550-watt-cmpsu550vx/ Contact Don, N6IC dbostrom at pacbell dot net Posted 25 July 2021 WANTED: Johnson Invader 2000 Power Supply. I recently acquired an Invader 2000 but without the power supply and missing all the cabinet-mounting hardware, including the two long bolts from the back to the front panel common to most Johnson rigs. WANTED: Kaar KE-23A or KE-23AT communications receiver. Contact Steve, K0XP k0xp (at) k0xp dot com Posted 19 June 2020, renewed 6 July 2021 FOR SALE: I have a two year-old SteppIR DB36 with 80 M dipole option for sale. The stepper motors, controller, etc all work perfectly, and the boom and trombones/straight fiberglass poles are in good shape. You will likely need to replace some of the small parts (some bolts and Nylock nuts), but can have a working DB-36 for less than half of what it cost new. I'm selling the antenna because the trees near the antenna became so large that tilting it over was becoming impossible, and I purchased a DB-18E to replace it. I have some extra fiberglass poles that I will include, and I guarantee that the antenna will work (motors, etc.). Due to the weight and size, I'm thinking it's going to have to be a pickup in the San Diego area. I might be willing to remove the heat shrink couplings and try to box it if the buyer covers the shipping charges (FedEx ground). Asking $3500 for everything. Seller: Eric, NC6K egruff [at] cox[dot]net Posted 9 Oct 2018, renewed 6 July 2021

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