QSL Inbox 2020-06-01

5T5OK QSL Card

Not a bad outing to the PO Box to pick up the mail today. Among the QSL cards received were these two African DXpeditions. OK6DJ was on both outings and most operators were part of the Czech DXpedition group. Díky moc OMs! And on to some DXpeditions not done by the mighty Czechs. All in […]

Multiple WSJT Configurations

WSJT Configs

As I have written in the past, my home station is very modest. Nearby neighbors and antenna restrictions mean no powerful antennas at home are in my future. I compensate somewhat for this by using modes such as FT8. Another way of coping is by using remote stations on RemoteHamRadio.com. The problem in using WSJT […]

Certificato Del Mediterraneo

Certificato Del Mediterraneo

During the the time of the Roman Empire the Mediterranean Sea was sometimes known as the Roman Sea. The Romans themselves referred to it as Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea”). It’s fitting that Italy, whose capital is Rome, should provide an Amateur Radio award promoting contacts with modern countries that now line its shores. For this […]

Via Regia Award

Via Regia Award

There are several things about an Amateur Radio award that can interest me. Learning something while earning it, a handsome award with flags, a map and no cost are a few things that come to mind. The Via Regia Award touches on all of those points. The Via Regia (Royal Highway) refers to the oldest […]

PSK Reporter

PSK Reporter Map

After calling a station on Nauru using FT8 for some time with no response I was left with a question. Is my signal getting out at all? Is the target station deaf? How would I know? Navigating to the PSK Reporter website I was able to quickly determine that no station anywhere was receiving my […]

Worked All States (WAS)

Worked All States (WAS) Digital certificate

The American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) Worked All States Award (WAS) is one of the most prominent domestic awards in Amateur Radio. To obtain the award applicants must submit proof of having worked another Amateur Radio station within each of the 50 states that make up the United States of America. I recently achieved WAS […]

GCR – General Certification Rules

GCR List

When looking at Amateur Radio operating awards and the rules that apply to them you will often come across the acronym GCR. GCR stands for General Certification Rules. It defines a method by which the operator can prove to the award manager that they successfully made and confirmed the required contacts for an award. Traditionally, […]

Get Your ARRL Certificates

June VHF 2011 Certificate

Certificates are the awards of Amateur Radio contesting. Many Hams around the world dedicate large amounts of money and time building up stations and operating skills to take on their competition and win. But there are plenty of opportunities for participants of all levels to take part and compete against similarly equipped stations nearer to […]

Sticker Shock

Endorsement stickers

No, this is not a post about the high price of HF gear, or anything similar to that. Instead it’s about award stickers. I recently received two stickers for two separate awards and thought I’d pontificate a bit about them. The two stickers that just arrived are for my DXCC Phone and WPX Mixed certificates. […]