Welcome to the Spokane DX Association  

Serving Eastern Washington and North Idaho

UPCOMING SDXA MEETING

June 4, 2020

On Zoom
Randy Thompson (K5ZD) –  How to be a better single operator 

Randy Thompson, K5ZD, has been licensed and active in contesting since 1973 at age 13. He is an accomplished contester, having multiple single-operator wins in the ARRL Sweepstakes, CQ World Wide DX Contest, and the CQ WPX Contest, among others.

Randy is a past editor of the “National Contest Journal” (a post he has held three separate times) and a co-founder of the eHam.net website. He was the Director of the CQ WPX Contest 2008-2013 and the Director of the CQ World Wide DX Contest 2013-2016.

Randy is a member of the CQ Magazine Contest Hall of Fame. He has competed in five World Radiosport Team Championships and is a member of the organizing committee for WRTC2014. When not in front of a radio, Randy is in the office of CTO for a large computer company.

For the Love of Drake

Dale (AF7WH), a member of our user group from CDA, has an impressive Drake collection. Using his Drake radios he has achieved WAC, WAS and DXCC. He almost has WAZ. His new goals are 5BWAS all on Drake equipment of course.

Here is a photo of his Drake Tube Line (TR3, 4, & 6)

Here is a photo of his Drake Solid State Line:

Geoff Howard (W0CG/PJ2DX) Inducted into CQ Contest Hall of Fame

Geoff Howard (W0CG/PJ2DX) was inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame 2020 at Contest University. This is one of the highest awards any contester can receive. Those in the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are the giants of Amateur Radio.

Geoff, your fellow members of the SDXA add their congratulations. No one deserves this award more than you. Your accomplishments leading PJ2T are tremendous.

Geoff’s acceptance speech was outstanding. If you did not hear it, by all means, listen to it when it is uploaded to YouTube.

Congratulations Geoff! We all in the SDXA are honored to have you as a member and call you our friend.

UPCOMING SDXA PROGRAMS

July 2, 2020

Hints and Tools for better DXing

#1. Antenna Analyzer Review – Jeff Banke (NZ2S) Don’t you love the James Bond look?

#2. Working Split & Keeping a Station Binder – Mel Ming (N7GCO)

This will be a very active session on ways to improve your station and operating. Get first-hand information on equipment, technics and practices for working DX.

August 1, 2020 SDXA Club Picnic

September 3, 2020

Rob Fanfant (N7QT)  — So Orkney Island (VP8) DXpedition (President of WWDXC)

South Orkney Islands (IOTA AN-008) DXpedition was from Feb. 21, 2020 through March 5, 2020.  South Orkney Island is currently #16 most wanted on Clublog.  The previous Dxpedition was in 2011.

 

October 1, 2020

John Gager (K7KB) — “Everything You Wanted to Know About Ham Radio Deluxe But Were Afraid to Ask”

 

John will lead us on a deep dive into the features and options of HRD.


SDXA DX Net

Every Wednesday morning at 8 AM on 3808 Lower Side Band.
Net Controller will be Murf (N7UVH)

The net will be:

SDXA DXCC AWARDS

Check out the AWARDS page for a list of SDXA member’s DXCC accomplishments.

SDXA CLUB LEADERS

SDXA Officers

President – Gary Bytnar (AD7XG) — Card Checker & Room Setup
Vice President – Mel Ming (N7GCO) — Programs, User Group & Webmaster
Secretary – Jay Holcomb (WA0WWW) — Contests & Spokane Hamfest
Treasurer – John Gager (K7KB) — Membership & Webmaster

SDXA Leaders & Activity Teams

Club Log – Chuck Williams (KI7DG)
DXing – Mel Ming (N7GCO), Bob Hallock (K7TM), & Mike Buettner (K7STO)
DX Net – Pat (Murph) Murphy (N7UVH)
Field Day – David Wilhelm (WA7TNT) & Mike Buettner (K7STO)
Health and Welfare of Members – Gary Swartout (K7GS)
Historian – Steve Sala (K7AWB)
K7SDX Trustee – Dick Snell (W7BHP)
New HF Mentoring & Remote Station – Del  Morissette (WA7AQH)
Photographers – Jeff Banke (NZ2S) & Bob Hallock (K7TM)
Refreshments – Mike Buettner (K7STO), Bob Lee (N7AU), Diane Lee (KB7JPX), Tom Flint (KC7UG) & Cathy Flint (KB7BEK)
QSL Card Checkers — Gary Bytnar (AD7XG) & Bruce Wade N7ZA
Technical – Bob Zavrel (W7SX)
Webmasters – John Gager (K7KB), Mel Ming (N7GCO), & Del Morissette (WA7AQH)

MOST WANTED LIST (TOP 25)
FOR NORTH AMERICA, WEST COAST
AS OF January 7, 2020

from ClubLog
1. FT5/W CROZET ISLAND
2. SV/A MOUNT ATHOS
3. P5 DPRK NORTH KOREA
4. 3Y/B BOUVET ISLAND
5. FT/G GLORIOSO ISLAND
6. YK SYRIA
7. FT5/X KERGUELEN ISLAND
8. BV9P PRATAS ISLAND
9. ZS8 PRINCE EDWARD & MARION ISLANDS
10. EZ TURKMENISTAN
11. BS7H SCARBOROUGH REEF
12. CE0X SAN FELIX ISLANDS
13. PY0T TRINDADE & MARTIM VAZ ISLANDS
14. T5 SOMALIA
15. AP PAKISTAN
16. 5A LIBIA
17. YV0 AVES ISLAND
18. Z6 REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
19. 3Y/P PETER 1 ISLAND
20. 3A MONACO
21. VU7 LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS
22. VK0M MACQUARIE ISLAND
23. PY0S SAINT PETER AND PAUL ROCKS
24. ET ETHIOPIA
25. FT/T TROMELIN ISLAND

This list is taken from the ClubLog MOST WANTED section using filtering for North America, NA West Coast, all bands, all modes. The ClubLog list covers all 340 entities. ClubLog is free to join with many SDXA members joining.

DXPEDITION SOLICITATIONS

ALL DXpedition funding requests are to be in writing to the club’s mailing address. Since funding is limited, in this manner, our DXpedition funding committee can give your request the consideration it deserves.

SOLAR ACTIVITY AND PROPAGATION SECTION


For additional info, try this SOLAR LINK for everything you ever wanted to know about the current Sun at the SolarHam site by VE3EN
Link to SPACEWEATHER.COM, a quick source for the daily activity on the sun
Link to NOAA SPACEWEATHER
What is this?

The Miscellaneous Area

SDXA CALENDAR

2020

JOIN THE SDXA

Regular dues – $20 per person.
Second family member – $10.
Under 19 years of age are free.
DUES LINK.
We accept PayPal too.


Gary Bytnar AD7XG


Recent News


New Grounding Project by K7STO

Mike (K7STO) has added to his grounding/lightning protection for his tower. The enclosure box is 18x18x8 deep and includes two-line control devices and six coax devices. For the grounding/lightning protection, he used Morgan systems suppressors. Antennas routed through this enclosure include 3-element SteppIR, 80/40 dipole. 80m vertical, 160, inverted L and 2,/70cm vertical. Note the […]

SDXA Lending Library

Did you know that the SDXA has a lending library? Each month Jay (WA0WWW) brings these books in his truck and any member can check them out. Up the Tower by Steve Morris, K7LXC ($35) If you are thinking of putting up a tower, this is a great book. Array of Light, 3rd edition: Straight […]

New CQ Awards Checker (including WAZ)

  We are excited to announce that Gary Bytnar (AD7XG) has received appoint as an Official CQ Awards checker. This means you can get your CQ WAZ QSL cards checked locally. Congratulations Gary! Thanks for serving the SDXA in this needed area.      

Congratulations to Geoff and PJ2T

The March/April 2020 issue of the National Contest Journal (NCJ)  included a wonderful article on PJ2T and our own Geoff Howard (W0GC/PJ2DX)   by Robert Ramirez (CE3CT). Thanks to the generosity of the NCJ and Editor Scott Wright, we received permission to post the article on the SDXA website. You will enjoy reading about it […]

Congratulations to Bob (W7SX) for QST Cover & Article

In the March QST magazine, our own Bob (W7SX) has the feature article “Building Your Own Open-Wire Line” on pages 30-33. It is also featured on the magazine cover. In the article, Bob shares the step-by-step construction of his incredibly efficient feed line. His rugged open-wire line holds up in difficult weather and works great […]

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