News

Chuck’s KI7DG Tower and Antennas are now all working

Thursday, May 18th, 2023

Mike K7STO made a new controller for Chuck’s crank-up tower. It is beautiful workmanship.
Today Mike drove over to Okanagan and met Joe KF7PBM and they installed it.
Here are a couple of photos:

First SDXA Hybrid Meeting

Thursday, May 4th, 2023

The May 2023 SDXA meeting was the first attempt at a hybrid meeting.
Brandon W7BKS  did a great job of putting it all together and pulling it off.

The in-person crowd

Mike K7STO sharing hints for better operating

Randy K7TQ SDXA President leading the meeting. Some of the online participants can be seen on the edge of the screen.

The next hybrid meeting is scheduled for November

Tower & Antenna Repair for KI7DG

Thursday, April 27th, 2023

On April 27th we had a great work crew go over to Chuck’s KI7DG in Okanagan to work on his tower and antennas.

From left to right: Chuck KI7DG, Mel N7GCO, Joe KF7PBM, Mike K7STO, Bob N7AU, Scott N7SJM, Woody N7HCJ, Gary AD7XG, Diane KB7JPZ and Carol (Chuck’s XYL).

They were able to repair Chuck’s 160-meter inverted V, replace a VHF/UHF antenna, repair a multiband vertical, remove an unwanted mast, fix or replace some guy lines, and begin replacing the motor in his crank-up tower. The tower motor needed the switching system replaced and Mike K7STO and Woody N7HCJ took it home to build a new switch.

A huge thank you to all who gave the day to help get Chuck back on the air.

International DX Convention Visalia, CA

Saturday, April 22nd, 2023

Here are the three amigos (Bob N7AU, Mike K7STO and Woody N7HCJ) with John Mertel at his SteppIR booth.

Also at the 2023 convention from the SDXA are Rob N7QT, Robbin WA7CPA, and Art K6XT.
I heard Rob’s “DXing with FT8” presentation was fantastic! He also did a presentation on “T88WA DXpedition To Palau”

SDXA April Connection Dinner

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

We had a wonderful connection dinner at the Longhorn BBQ on April 6, 2023. There were 35 in attendance. Here are some photos from the evening.

Enjoying the meal.

Jeff & Peter showing their Power Boxes

PJ2T reports from Jay AC7DC & Gary AD7XG

Juaquetta Holcomb showing wool spinning

Diane Morissette sharing about Master Gardener & Garden Coaching

Also had interviews with David N7LL & Bob K7TM

 

Congratulations to Henry W7HTA

Tuesday, April 4th, 2023

Henry W7HTA just received his WAS for digital and mixed. Congratulations Henry.

CQ WPX SSB Contest at PJ2T

Sunday, April 2nd, 2023

It was great to have three members of the Spokane DX Assocaition at PJ2T for the CQ WPX SSB contest: Gary AD7XG, Robin WA7CPA and Jay AC7DC.
What a great experience to be at a contest station for a major contest.
The PJ2T Antenna Farm
The PJ2T Shack
While there they were able to meet with the President of the Swiss Amsat Society, HB9WDF who was working a 10 minutes satelite pass

Thanks to Geoff PJ2DX for making this happen!

Randy K7TQ at PJ2T for CQ WPX CW Contest

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Geoff PJ2DX reported that Randy arrived on schedule last night at PJ2T. Here he is this morning running some Europe DX pileups on 15 meters.

SDXA Members Get Their DXCC

Saturday, February 11th, 2023

Del WA7AQH and Henry W7HTA both get their DXCC certificates.

In the SDXA we love when our members get their DXCC and other significant awards.

Congratulations Del and Henry

 

 

 

 

 

Proposed Constitution Change

Sunday, January 29th, 2023

Here is a marked up copy of the proposed SDXA constitution Change.

It will be presented at the February  2023 meeting and voted on at the March 2023 meeting

Constitution_sdxa_2023_mar_02_markup-b

SDXA Million Point Club

Thursday, January 26th, 2023

SDXA Million Point Club

The SDXA Million Point Club was established in October 2021 to recognize SDXA members who accomplished a combined score of at least one million points in the ten PNW Challenge Cup contests. The ten contests are a combination of three CW, three SSB, three RTTY, and one mixed CW and SSB DX contests.  There were six club members who achieved this award in the inaugural year, thus, becoming Charter Members.  Each of them received a plaque recognizing their accomplishment plus an “SDXA Million Points Club Member” tag to hang on their SDXA name badge.  The six, in alphabetical order, are

  • Randy Foltz, K7TQ
  • Jay Holcomb, WA0WWW
  • Jay Lopes, AC7DC
  • Mel Ming, N7GCO
  • Pat Murphy, N7UVH
  • Gary Swartout, K7GS

The opportunity for other SDXA members to join the Million Points Club will continue for the 2022-23 PNW Challenge Cup season.

25 Year ARRL Certificate and Pin

Wednesday, January 18th, 2023

Congratulations to Jim Monroe N7ESU for receiving his 25-year ARRL certificate and pin.

Highest DX Awards – DXCC Honor Roll #1

Wednesday, January 18th, 2023

One of the highest DXCC awards anyone can achieve is DXCC Honor Roll #1

To qualify for the #1 Honor Roll one has to have all current entities confirmed (currently 340)

The SDXA is proud to have Gary Swartout K7GS who has achieved this prestigious honor.

 

2023 RTTY Round up

Sunday, January 8th, 2023

This weekend Mel N7GCO hosted a multi-one team for the ARRL RTTY RU. We all had a great time and exceeded our contest goals, which is always fun.

The team consisted of Randy K7TQ, Jay WS7I (one of the co-creators of the contest) who have been my mentors on RTTY contesting and Mel N7GCO. In a little over 24 hours they made 1,233 radio contacts (a little over 50 an hour) and had a score of 136,863. They gave Mel’s ham station a real workout.

2023 SDXA Election of Officers

Saturday, November 12th, 2022

The Spokane DX Association November 3rd elected a new club president, Randy Foltz K7TQ. Randy has served as president previously and as chair or co-chair for four PNW DX Conventions. He is also a frequent contributor to the Spokane DX YouTube channel.

The other three SDXA Officers were returned to office on a unanimous vote:

  • Mel Ming N7GCO as Vice President and program planner.
  • John Gager K7KB as treasurer.
  • Jay Holcomb WA0WW as secretary.

The club is fortunate to have a large group of additional leaders and activity teams as well:

  • Club Log – Pat Murphy (N7UVH)
  • Contesting – Jay Holcomb (WA0WWW)
  • DXing Emphasis –Bob Hallock (K7TM), Mike Buettner (K7STO), & Mel Ming (N7GCO)
  • DX Awards – (100 Country Club & Challenge Award) — Mike Buettner (K7STO)
  • DX Net – Pat Murphy (N7UVH)
  • Field Day – Jim Monroe (N7ESU), Bob Hallock (K7TM), & Pat Murphy (N7UVH)
  • Finance Investment Team – John Gager (K7KB), Gary Swartout (K7GS), Del Morissette (WA7AQH)
  • Health and Welfare of Members – Gary Swartout (K7GS)
  • Historian – Steve Sala (K7AWB)
  • Hybrid Meetings – Brandon Childs (W7BKS)
  • K7SDX Trustee – Mike Buettner (K7STO)
  • Membership – John Gager (K7KB)
  • Million Point Club – Randy Foltz (K7TQ)
  • New HF Mentoring – Del Morissette (WA7AQH)
  • Pre-Zoom meeting hosts –– Pat Murphy (N7UVH), Del
  • Morissette (WA7AQH), & Jeff Banke (NZ2S)
  • QSL Card Checker — Gary Bytnar (AD7XG)
  • Spokane Hamfest – Jay Halcomb (WA0WWW)
  • Spokane DX YouTube Channel – Mel Ming (N7GCO)
  • Technical – Gary Swartout (K7GS), Jeff Banke (NZ2S) & Bob Zavrel (W7SX)
  • Webmasters – John Gager (K7KB), Mel Ming (N7GCO), & Del Morissette (WA7AQH)