First 23cm EME QSL's - KB7Q & DK3WG

After completing 50 "Initial" QSO's (contacts with 50 "different" stations) in just 2 days of operation, I was really looking forward to receiving some 23cm EME QSL's.  Well, Gene, KB7Q, was the first to satisfy that "itch" by sending me his QSL (See above.  You can click on the image to see it larger.)  What a THRILL!  This is my FIRST EVER QSL for 1296 MHz and my first EVER for an EME contact on that band.  WOW!  Thanks so much Gene.

I should also mention that over the past several months I have leaned heavily on Gene for advice on putting together my 23cm EME station.  He has always been there for me with the answer to nearly every question I posed.  So, a BIG THANK YOU, Gene for being my mentor on this new adventure.  I really appreciate your efforts.

Then, just 4 days later, I received a direct mailed QSL from Germany!  DK3WG even sent me a SAE plus $2 US currency for the return of my QSL!  Of course I will send the $2 back to him when I mail him my new 23cm EME QSL.  It's fun to feel like you are rare DX!!!

But, sadly, just 2 days after I received the above QSL from Jürgen his son sent me an email telling me that his father had passed away last week at the age of 82 due to a heart attack!  What a loss!

23cm EME QSL

Now that I have made multiple QSO's on 23cm EME, I realized I would need a new QSL.  So, I quickly ordered them from UX5UO QSL who I have used several time in the past.  Gennady is AWESOME and returned proofs to me actually just 2 hours, 20 minutes after I sent my order!

He said I could expect delivery in 3-5 weeks which is amazing to me, especially considering he is located in Kyiv, Ukraine!  While I'm waiting on the cards to arrive I'll be printing some envelopes so I can get the new cards in the mail ASAP.

As always, you can click on any image to see it a bit larger.

The "Diamond Ring" image of the moon on the QSL is a photo I took during the 2017-08-21 Solar Eclipse in Sweetwater, TN.  One of the top 5 events of my life! 

The other image on the QSL shows the operating position on my driveway.  The laptop is inside the Sun Shield so that I can more easily see the screen in daylight.

2,700 Challenge Points Reached

With a QSL received from JD1BMH yesterday for 20-M and 17-M contacts, I have now reached the 2,700 point level on the DXCC Challenge.  This is 4-2/3 years after I hit the 2,500 level (https://w8tn.blogspot.com/2020/03/finally-reached-2500-level-on-arrl.html).  The further you go up this "ladder", the harder it is to contact New Ones. (Click on any image to see a larger view.)

 

I wonder if I can order a 2,700 Medallion from ARRL?

Clipperton Island Confirmed on 6-M

 

What a THRILL to get this entity confirmed on 6-M.  I spent a fair amount of my time on Clipperton (FOØXX) in 1985 trying to make even a single 6-M QSO.  We set schedules with California KW stations to no avail.  Not a single Magic Band QSO was made in our 8 day operation of 30,958 QSO's.  (Click on any image to see it larger.)

W8TN as FOØXX from Clipperton in 1985

 

This year's TX5S operation made a total of 226 QSO's on 6-M including EME.
 
In 2013 TX5K made 329 QSO's on 6-M including 56 on EME by W7GJ. 

In 2000 FOØAAA made 139 QSO's on 6-M.

In 1992 FOØCI made 279 QSO's on 6-M.

Those four Clipperton Island operations may have produced all the Magic Band contacts EVER made on 6-M with Clipperton Island - 973 QSO's!  A RARE QSL indeed.

This contact now gives me confirmations on 10-Bands and 3-Modes with Clipperton Island.  Maybe someone will operate 2-M EME from there in the near future?

And, to make this contact even more memorable, I worked ZL7DX, Chatham Island, less than one hour before I worked Clipperton Island.  WOOF!  Some days the Magic Band is truly MAGIC!

These LoTW confirmations bring me to 157 All-Time Entities confirmed on 6-M.  WOW!  I never dreamed of reaching such a level on 50 MHz.

QSL'ing Tips & Tricks - Hint #4 - Bypassing Postal Thieves

 A series of "Tips and Tricks" for obtaining a QSL when normal means fail.

If you need to acquire a QSL from a DX station via the postal service, this method can have its own risks.  Mail delivery in foreign countries is not always the best of services and those who handle the mail are not always the most trustworthy.

Your envelope could just never get delivered - go missing in transit - or the contents of your envelope may not arrive.  Some nefarious person can "tamper" with your envelope and
     A.  Remove the money you included
     B.  Remove the SAE you included.
     C.  Or, just "take" the entire envelope for themselves.

It seems that when a foreign ham gets a lot of mail from overseas, the "bad guys" in the postal system will begin to recognize that these mailings many times contain U.S. dollars.  Thus they actively look for those envelopes and take the contents (or the entire envelope) for themselves.  Being aware of this you can take steps to "disguise" your envelope and prevent pilferage.

Never put callsigns on the envelope.  This is a dead giveaway!  Personally I like to print my envelopes so the text can be as clear as possible to the machines and people who sort the mail along the way.  I also like to capitalize the name of the country to make it stand out.  (You can click on any image here to see it in a larger size.)

For my SAE (Return Envelope) I like to spell out my country AND put in the normal abbreviation for it:

VERY IMPORTANT:  Never allow your dollars to be seen through the envelope even if it is held up to a strong light.  I like to fold my dollars in half and insert one end of them in the Return Envelope and then slide my QSL up under the Return Envelope flap over the dollars to further conceal the money.  I also press the folds down well to make the envelope as thin as possible.  HINT:  Use the nicest bills you can find.  Torn, dirty, or even heavily wrinkled bills can not be exchanged in some countries.  I have even purchased 100 Brand New bills from my bank for this purpose. 

However, all those tricks may just not be enough.  If you find a DX station who posts that his mail is being stolen or that envelopes arrive without money, there is another step that has been proven to work several times.  Make the envelope look like it is a business communication which contains a "bill" and not money.  I created a fake invoice in Microsoft Word with the word "INVOICE" large and Bold so that it would show through the envelope.  I inserted it in a business size envelope from my defunct business to make it appear even more real.  In every instance where I have used this trick - it has worked.  The money and QSL's arrived at the DX station and I received my return QSL from him.

If even the "Fake Invoice" trick fails, you can still ask the DX station for a PayPal address where you can send him the money to pay for him sending you a QSL.  LoTW has helped immensely to remove the problems of getting paper QSL's by mail but sometimes this is what you need to do in order to obtain that elusive confirmation!

QSL'ing Tips & Tricks - Hint #3 - QSL Cards

 A series of "Tips and Tricks" for obtaining a QSL when normal means fail.

Why would anyone even go to the trouble of getting a QSL card from any DX station they work?  One of the main reasons is that a confirmation of a QSO is essential to many awards.  Logbook of the World (LoTW) has made a major impact on confirmation of contacts but not every station uploads their logs to LoTW.  That leaves a "written" confirmation (QSL card) as the method needed to apply that contact toward many awards.  And, collecting QSL's from rare DX stations is FUN!  Looking back through a stack of attractive and informative QSL's allows you to remember those contacts and educates you, your family and friends about the interesting places around the world which you have contacted.

You can view many different QSL's from all 340 Current DXCC entities from 1920 to the present on the K8CX QSL Museum.  In addition to QSL's, the K8CX Museum contains Sound Clips, Photos from the Dayton Hamvention, Tributes to Ham Operators, and several other interesting items.  Check out the Table of Contents for all that info.

An important first step in filling out your own QSL is to make certain the DATE is understandable to anyone in any country around the world.  If you put the date down as "10/12/2023" does that mean October 12 or December 10?  American usage calls for a month/day/year date format, the United Kingdom and much of Europe use a day/month/year format, and most countries in Asia use the year/month/day format.  Confusion!  Putting the date in the wrong format can result in the dreaded "Not in Log" result.  Make sure you either spell out the Month or create columns on your QSL that leave no doubt as to the date of the QSO:

It should go without saying that you need to write out your QSL information in a legible manner.  Always think that your QSL is being viewed by someone for whom English is NOT their primary language.  PRINT everything as clearly as possible.  Better yet, use your Logging program to either print the QSO information directly onto the QSL Card or onto an adhesive label.  This is not difficult to do and provides the clearest way to put all the necessary information onto your QSL.  (The pre-printed information on my QSL in the image below has been grayed out to better show the QSO information I printed onto the blank QSL with my own computer & printer.  Click on any image to see it larger.)

Where to have your QSL's printed?  There are dozens of printers who will print QSL cards for you and you can even print them yourself.  (See my Hint #1 Post HERE for a way to print your own.)  For several years I have been using UX5UO Print to print my QSL's.  Gennady is located in the Ukraine and appears to still be in business even with the current Russian war.  As of October 2023, 21,972 unique callsigns from 320 DXCC countries have already been printed by "UX5UO print".  You can get 1,000 Luxury cards printed with Full Color on the front and single color on the back for less than $85 including shipping!  Below are my current QSL's which were printed by UX5UO from photos I provided.  You can see the rear of one of the QSL's above - the grayed out area.

You do not need fancy QSL's but you do need at least a basic one to be able to send for the QSL's you want to collect.  I have worked four New Ones on 6-M in the last 3 days and TWO of them are NOT on LoTW!  Therefore, I need to send my QSL to them or request their card via OQSL (more on that method later.)

QSL'ing Tips & Tricks - Hint #2 - Using Email

A series of "Tips and Tricks" for obtaining a QSL when normal means fail.

Often you "think" you had a good QSO but it never shows up on LoTW or on the Online Log for the station you think you worked.  If it is for a New One (on a particular Band or Mode) or even an All-Time New One (ATNO) then working a bit to secure a confirmation for that contact is warranted.

If it is a DX'pedition, you really need to immediately try to work the DX on that same Band or Mode for an "Insurance Contact."  That way if your initial QSO can not be confirmed, you have a 2nd chance with the insurance contact.

A good first step to acquiring the confirmation is to send an email to the station you worked - or to the QSL Manager.  You can usually find the email address on QRZ.com under the callsign of the DX station you worked.  Or, if the DX has a Manager, look at the Manager's QRZ.com address for his email.

ALWAYS be polite in your email.  Never make statements like "You busted my call!" or "Why did you not put me in your log?"  Being polite always pays off.

Make the subject line descriptive of what you want.  Something like "4L4DX QSL Question from W8TN" will tell the DX or the Manager what you are seeking.

In the body of your email, keep it "short and sweet."  Describe why you think you had a valid QSO for which you are seeking a QSL.  For a WSJT-X contact, you might include something like this:

I have a question about a QSO I believe I completed with 4L4DX on 17-M FT8 back on May 30, 2023.  I am writing because this QSO does not show in Club Log.

Below are all the pertinent items I have in my ALL.TXT file:

230530_031930    18.100 Tx FT8      0  0.0  506 4L4DX W8TN EM98
230530_031945    18.100 Rx FT8      1  0.2 2012 W8TN 4L4DX -17
230530_032000    18.100 Tx FT8      0  0.0  506 4L4DX W8TN R+01
230530_032115    18.100 Rx FT8     -9  0.2 2012 W8TN 4L4DX RRR

If it was an SSB/CW/RTTY QSO, you could say something like this:

Dear Mr. Jones,

I sent my QSL with $2 U.S. and a self-addressed envelope to the following address on 05/05/2014 (05-May-2014):

Esmond Jones
P.O. Box 10868
Georgetown
GUYANA
SOUTH AMERICA

As of 02/11/2015 (02-November-2015) I have not received a QSL from 8R1AK.  Did my envelope/QSL/$$ get lost in the mail?  Do I need to send again?

QSO info:

W8TN

05-March-2014 (05/03/2014)

2209 GMT

12-M (24.950 MHz)

SSB

This is my only 8R QSO on 12-M.  Thank you for your consideration.

Finally, keep track of these emails you send.  Make a note in your log as to when you sent an email or make a "Label" or "Folder" in your SENT email folder for "QSL Questions" and put these emails there.  That makes it easy to look back and note if you have not received a response after a reasonable time.  This will allow you to follow up with another email or try to contact someone else.

For reference, both the above examples were successful.  The QSL Manager agreed that I had a valid QSO and saw to it that my QSO with 4L4DX was placed in the online log.  And for 8R1AK, I did receive the paper QSL a few months after sending this email.

QSL'ing Tips & Tricks - Hint #1 - Blank QSL

A series of "Tips and Tricks" for obtaining a QSL when normal means fail.  

Recently a friend told me he was trying to obtain a QSL for a contact that was several years old.  He had sent his QSL + SASE to the QSL Manager but the manager replied with a note saying he recently had downsized, moved, and no longer had any blank QSL's.  The manager DID state he had uploaded the logs of the DX station to the QRZ Logbook and my friend's contact WAS listed there.  However, since he had no blank QSL cards, he was unable to confirm the contact.

My method of solving such a problem is to send some BLANK QSL cards to the QSL Manager.  I learned this trick from Steve, KØCS, (now a SK) several decades ago.  YI1BGD in Iraq came on the air in the late 1970's and Steve worked them for an ATNO but could not get a QSL.  So, he had 100 QSL cards professionally printed and he airmailed them to Iraq.  He then sent his QSL + SAE +$5 EVERY MONTH for a year until he got it confirmed.  Unfortunately it was not with one of the QSL's he had printed!  Still, I learned from that trick and have used it on a few occasions to secure a QSL for a needed State or Grid. 

To help my friend get the QSL he needed I found a website where you can quickly design a Blank QSL.  The site will produce a PDF file which you can use to print on your own printer or at a local print shop.  Then you just send the Blank QSL's to the QSL Manager and ask him to fill one out.  Here is the website I used: QSL Card Creator. You can make just a very simple, basic QSL or get creative by adding graphics.  Below is the Blank QSL I created for my friend.  It took about 5 minutes to do this.

I gave my friend 6 of these Blank QSL's (which I printed on some card stock) to send to the QSL Manager.  I will post back here his results.

BONUS HINT: You can use this method to print Blank QSL's for yourself to confirm contacts you may have made while portable - like Field Day or POTA.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The A35TR QSL Manager DID respond by filling out one of the blank QSL's and he returned it to my friend.  The Blank QSL preparation was well worth the minimum effort it took in order to receive a confirmation for a New One which had seemed impossible to get confirmed in a normal manner.

ZC4RH - British Military Bases, Cyprus - 2-M EME

Today I received a QSL for my QSO with ZC4RH on 2-M EME!  This is my 63rd Country confirmed on 2-M EME with one more worked but not confirmed (VK.)  (Click on any image to see it larger.)

Chris, PA2CHR, Jos, PA3FYC, and Dave, ZC4RH, set up and operated an EME station on three VHF bands in November 2022 from an extremely rare location.  The British Bases on Cyprus occupy only about 98 square miles so it's quite small.  This operation took at least a year of planning, on-site visits, pre-shipment of all equipment by UPS/DHL, and loads of preparation.  Many difficulties had to be overcome but the final result was a huge success.

The ZC4RH operation ended with: 144 MHz:  213 QSO's    /     432 MHz:    54  QSO's   /    1296 MHz:   32  QSO's

For 2-M the ZC4RH station consisted of: FT857, SSPA, LNA and 2 x 10/10 ele x-pol yagis (16 dBd).  My own 800-watts and 2 x 14/14 XPOL InnovAntennas was sufficient to finally make the QSO - just moments before their MoonSet on the final day of 2-M operation.

 

I am just SO excited to have added this very, very rare entity to my list of countries worked and confirmed via 2-M EME!  Opportunities to work such stations come along seldom so to check this one off is a HUGE satisfaction to me. My sincere THANKS to Chris, Jos, and Dave for all their efforts in making this happen!

Previously I have worked Chris, PA2CHR, and Jos, PA3FYC, from TD9FYC (2018) and VP2EMB (2019) as both New Countries for me.  I'm anxiously waiting to see where they go next!

2-M Worked All Continents Completed

My 2-M Digital EME activities started on November 1, 2017.  Less than 4 months later, on February 21, 2018, I managed to make my first QSO with South America by working PY2GN.  There are not very many EME stations active in South America so this was a "big deal" for me because it was the last continent I needed to work to be able to apply for the Worked All Continents (WAC) award.  The WAC is sponsored by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), and isissued for working and confirming all six continents. These are North America, South America, Oceania, Asia, Europe and Africa.

The very next day after that QSO, I sent PY2GN a self-addressed envelope with $2 U.S. to cover the return postage.  I also emailed him and told him how excited I was to work him and how much I would appreciate his QSL.  Just a few days over 2 months later, on April 27th, 2018, I received his QSL which you can see on the right (click on any image for a larger view.)

In order to not let any grass grow before I applied for that WAC award, I downloaded and prepared the WAC application and asked WVDXA Member, Hal, W8HC, who is an ARRL Card Checker, if I could drive by his house and get those 6 QSL's checked.  Hal was most gracious and said, "Come ahead!" When I got to Hal's QTH, it was really easy to see where I was going to get my cards checked!  (See image at the left.)  THANKS, HAL!

So, I have managed to complete the requirements for the Worked All Continents Award including making QSO's on 144 MHz with the six required continents, acquiring the necessary QSL cards for those contacts, completing the application, and getting the QSL's checked.  The application is now in the hands of the U.S. Post Office on its way to Newington, CT.  Once I receive the award, I will post a photo of it here. 

As of the date of this Post, I have now worked 52 DXCC Entities on 2-M (by EME) and have 39 of those confirmed.  That puts me well on the way toward the DXCC Award but, as you all know, the first 50 are by far the easiest!

Below are my totals as of 2018-04-28, after less than SIX Months on the moon:

Total EME QSO's  -  200  /  Initial Contacts  -  190
DXCC's Worked  -  52  /  Confirmed  -  39
Grids Worked via EME  -  154
States Worked via EME  -  30

EME QSL's Received

WOW!  Yesterday was a VERY good day at my mailbox.  I received THREE QSL's confirming EME QSO's with New Countries:  F5AQX, V31EME, and HSØZIL.  This brings my 2-M Country Totals to: Worked / Confirmed  :  34 / 29  –  As of 31-January-2018.  I still have QSL's outstanding from Alaska, Asiatic Russia, European Russia, Australia and Romania.

Here are images of two of the QSL's that came in yesterday.  The first is from HSØZIL which was a total surprise for me to work.  I did not think I had a chance to work him and was not even ready to transmit when his CQ was decoded on my screen.  Click HERE to see a Post on my Blog for the details and read the section titled "UPDATE."

The next QSL shown is from my first EME DX'pedition, V31EME.  Click HERE for the DX'pedition web page.  Uwe Danzinger, DG8NCO, traveled from his home in Muenchberg, Germany, to Belize, Central America, with antennas, computer, radio, amps, rotors, etc.  He set up a portable EME station and managed to work 330 stations on 2-M and 70cm EME while he was there.  Prior to his travels to Belize, he shipped his amplifiers and got stuck with paying over $687 in Custom Duties!  His total trip cost over $4,200.  Just to work Moonbounce!  AMAZING!  Thank you, Uwe, for giving me my first EME contact with Belize and my first EME DX'pedition worked!  Below is the front and back of his beautiful QSL.  Click on any image to see it larger.

During the month of February, I have a shot at working FOUR New Countries via EME DX'peditions: CR3EME (Madeira Is.), 3YØZ (Bouvet Is.), PJ2T (Curacao Is.), and TG3MB (Cuba.)  I am READY!

The EME QSL Cards have ARRIVED!

I felt that I needed to create a special QSL card for my EME contacts.  In the past I have used Gennady, UX5UO, with great results so I sent him an email with my idea for a QSL and he cleaned it up nicely and emailed me a proof in just over FOUR HOURS!  WOWZER!

I made the PayPal payment the next day and TODAY, a mere 22 DAYS later, the Postman brought me a package with 1,000 exquisite QSL's direct from the Ukraine!  What service!

You can see the Front of the QSL on the left.  The "Diamond Ring" photo was taken by me on August 21, 2017, in Sweetwater, TN, during the Total Solar Eclipse.  I felt it would make a nice EME QSL so I put that photo on the QSL along with the photo of my antennas.

You can see the rear of the QSL on the right.  The blank space at the upper right is where I will computer print the QSO information.

Click on any of the photos to see a larger image.

You can visit Gennady's web site by clicking on this link "UX5UO Print".  I am not connected with his company in any way but am definitely a VERY satisfied customer.

Now to start printing QSL's and get them in the mail.  As of today (6-December-2017) I have completed 80 EME QSO's with 75 Initials, 69 Grids, 21 States,and 27 DXCC's.  All of that in the last 36 days!