Reached 150 on DX Marathon!

 I hit the 150 point level this morning by working a UA0 in Zone 18!  For the class that I am entered into, last year the top scorer had 311 points.  So, I am in the 50 percentile bracket it appears.  I honestly thought that zi would only this 130 - 140 points for the whole year.  I think I need to review that goal.  Maybe 175 points by the end of the year?

DXCC Endorsement Completed

 My DXCC endorsement for the 200 entities sticker for the Mixed award has been completed by the DXCC desk.  I should hopefully be getting it next week or so.  I also added all that I had at the time to my 12m totals - and I did get one more confirmation after I submitted.  So I am at 97 confirmed on 12m - so close to that one!  

Weekly Update - 4/26/2025

 Here is the take for this week:

DX Marathon
Entities - 112 / Zones - 34= Score 146

+4 Entities / +1 Zone From Last Week

DXCC Challenge
Worked - 833 / Confirmed (LoTW) - 725

+15 Worked / +12 Confirmed From Last Week

New Ones Worked 

(*Indicates LoTW confirmed as posting date)

4/18    40m    FK8    New Caledonia*

        30m    J6    St. Lucia

        17m    5W    Samoa*

4/20    20m    TG    Guatemala

4/23    30m    LX    Luxembourg

4/24    17m    GD    Isle of Man*

        N/A    HC8   Galapagos (ATNO for Digital)

        17m    LA    Norway*

        17m    DL    Germany

4/25    20m    HL    South Korea (Plus ATNO for Digital)*

        17m    TF    Iceland (Plus ATNO for Digital)*

        17m    OE    Austria (Plus ATNO for Digital)*

        17m    S5    Slovenia

        17m    SP    Poland*

WAZ

No Updates

WAS

No Updates

Comments:

I am starting to like 17m more and more - this week 8 of the 15 new ones were on 17m, so those numbers really shot up on the scoreboard.  The bands weren't all that good at the beginning this week - a bit on the soft side IMHO.  But they did improve towards the end of the week giving me 4 new Digital All Time New Ones.

Still waiting for my latest DXCC submission to be worked.  From what I have been reading, it is about a two week wait.  Just lacking 3 confirmations now for the 12m DXCC.  I hope that by the end of the year, I will have the 12m and hopefully either or both of the 17m and 30m DXCC's on the wall.  I don't think it will be a stretch for having 12m up there by the end of the summer.

Closing in on 150 for the DX Marathon - I am frankly surprised at this, as I really didn't expect to get more than 135 or 140 points for it over the entire year.

Will start posting this on Sunday mornings local, as that is my normal "down time" on the radio.

Software Review - JTAlert 2.80.4

 Once you really start getting into DXing and/or award chasing - you need to be able to know when that is a new one on the band immediately.  And you need an interface between your logging software and the WSJT software as well.  There are two main applications to do this - one is called GridTracker and the other one is called JTAlert.  Both are good programs, but they have different strengths and uses IMHO.  I will not be reviewing GridTracker here as it, IMHO, is better suited for POTA than DXing.  I will be doing a review of it on my POTA page in the future.  JTAlert is by far the best interface software for DXing due to three main factors.  

First is the vast number of options that you have for tracking the data needed for DXCC, WAS, WPX, WAC, VUCC, or the DX Marathon.  You can also have it notify you for specific callsigns- very useful in the case of DX-peditions!  Paired with audio alerts, you can be doing something else in the shack and be alerted to something you may want to work.

Second is a panel called "Callsigns" - 

This is a graphic representation of what you have just decoded from the most recent time period.  The top panel shows all of the decodes during that time period.  The bottom blocks - which you can customize to the total number and what is displayed in each - let you know ASAP if there is something that you need to work.  The one above is set to display new or unconfirmed DXCC entities, decodes from US stations (for WAS), and DX decodes.  The combinations of how you can set this panel up are unlimited.  To the left is another related panel that shows my color setup for alerts.  They all show gray on the Callsigns panel above as none are "needed" for 20m DXCC, CQ Zone, or DX Marathon.  Note that in the Alert Types panel, you can quickly enable or disable notification of an indication on the Callsigns panel.  Also, if enabled, an ATNO will cause the call block to slowly pulse on and of alerting you to it.  Oh, and also at the very bottom it shows you what your delta time (DT) offset is to indicate if you need to re-sync your clock.

Third is a small panel called activity - which at first seems to be a minor feature.  But I think it is a critical provider of information that you shouldn't ignore.

This panel provides two pieces of important information that will greatly assist you in your DXing.  It shows the current count of stations that are on the air and connected to PSKReporter.  That is an important caveat - they must be online and connected to PSKReporter.  The good news is that almost all of those stations that have connectivity to the internet are connected.  The second is the current solar indices at the bottom of the panel.  Obviously this is important.  Hower the most critical information is the levels of activity - a very good indicator of which band is open and where you should focus your efforts.  If you pursue 6m, then this is very, very important.

Overall, it is my opinion that JTAlert should be very strongly considered for your go-to interface software for DXing and award chasing.

Application On The Way!

 Received an ATNO via LotW for A3 (Tonga) so sent in an application for the 200 entity endorsement for my Mixed DXCC.  Also applied some new ones to the 20m DXCC and preemptively submitted 96 credits on my (future) 12m DXCC. 

Blog Updates

 I have made the following changes to the blog:

1. Removed the Super Fox Keys issue list and the description of them.  They have either not updated them at the NCDXF site (the issuers), or no one is requesting them.  Most of the expeditions are using MSHV it seems.  So, in order to free up some additional space, I deleted them.  I retained the link to the NCDXF listing so you can check them if you are so inclined.
2. The Project RETRO page is up and running.  Note that it is not a listing of DXCC band needs, but a matrix showing my legacy worked but unconfirmed.
3. I have gone back and added labels to all of the blog postings in case you want to home in on a specific topic.  I did also delete a couple of posts that were superfluous.

And for some upcoming previews - I will be reviewing some software that is (IMHO) of significant use in FTx DXing, as well as some hints, trick, and tips to maximize your entity count in pursuit of your DXCC(s).  And there will also be some contesting tips as well.

Weekly Update - 4/18/2025

 Here is the take for this week:

DX Marathon
Entities - 108/ Zones - 33= Score 141

DXCC Challenge
Worked - 818 / Confirmed (LoTW) - 712

New Ones Worked 

(*Indicates LoTW confirmed as posting date)

4/11        15m    TG~ Guatemala*

            15m    GJ~Jersey*

            15m    VP2V~British Virgin Is.

            30m    VP2V~British Virgin Is.

            30m    EA~Spain*

            30m    S~Slovenia*

            30m    EA8~Canary Is.*

            30m    PA~Netherlands*

4/13        30m    DL~Germany*

            30m    ZA~Albania      ATNO

            30m    OH~Finland*

4/15        30m    CX~Uruguay

            30m    PY~Brazil

            30m    YO~Romania*

            12m    GU~Gurnsey

            12m    GD~Isle of Man* 

4/16        30m    HC-Ecuador 

            20m    EA9~Ceuta & Melilla

4/17        40m    VP2V~British Virgin Is.

            40m    PZ~Suriname*

            12m    3D2~Fiji

Older New Ones Confirmed

2/7/2025    12m    LA~Norway

2/25/2025   20m    KH0~Mariana Is.  ATNO

3/28/2025   15m    FJ~St. Barthelemy   ATNO

4/2/2025    30m    FJ~St. Barthelemy

WAZ

No Updates

WAS

No Updates

Comments:

I have been really working 30m the past couple of weeks, I was really negligent with that band, due to the lack of a decent antenna.  I currently have the  same issue with 80m.  I should have a lot more entities on that band as well.  It is at the top of my to-do list at the end of summer.  Right now, it would be a waste of time and resources to focus in on it.   It is a wintertime band, So will have that to look forward to this Fall/Winter.

Worked a Russian North Pole Expedition on 17m FT8 (RI42SP).  According to an online tracker for the station, it was located in grid AR05.  Not a counter for DXCC or WAZ, but still an interesting contact and well worth getting the card for it just to display.

Mixed DXCC Milestone Reached!!

 Confirmed my 200th DXCC entity today with the reeipt of a card fo KH0 - Mariana Islands on 20m!  Have a couple of LotW ones that should be coming in any day now that will let me submit a LotW for the 200 sticker.  

I Need To Do This More Often

 Woke up around 0100 Local and jumped on 30m to see what was going on, if anything.  In the space of 45 minutes I worked 5 new band entities!  Four new Europeans and the VP2VI expedition.

Weekly Update - 4/11/2025

Here is the take for this week:

DX Marathon
Entities - 105 / Zones - 33 = Score 138

DXCC Challenge
Worked - 795 / Confirmed (LoTW) - 697

New Ones Worked 

(*Indicates LoTW confirmed as posting date)

4/6     12m    C6    Bahamas*
4/6     30m    YB    Indonesia*
4/7     15m    GM    Scotland
4/7     15m    LZ    Bulgaria*
4/9     20m    TA    Turkey*    ATNO for Digital

4/10    17m    3D2   Fiji

4/10    17m    C6    Bahamas*

4/10    17m    GW    Wales

4/10    17m    TI    Costa Rica*

4/10    17m    HB    Switzerland*

WAZ

No Updates

WAS

No Updates

This will be the new format for the Weekly Update going forward, I will be putting this out around 0001 UTC Friday (Thursday night)..

30m Update - 4/6

 As stated in an earlier post, 30m was a gold mine of new ones for that band.  I had been sorely neglecting that band due to the method I was using to get on there.  With the addition of a dedicated antenna for the band, I hope to achieve DXCC on that one as well.  Numbers wise, it is in the same neighborhood as 17m currently with both worked/confirmed totals in the same range.

Here are the new ones on 30m (* indicates confirmed)

• HR9 - Honduras *
• C6 - Bahamas *
• DL- Germany
• GM - Scotland
• ON - Belgium *
• SV - Greece *
• OE - Austria *
• G - England *
• YS - El Salvador *
• ES - Estonia
• HB - Switzerland *
• VK - Australia *
• C2 - Nauru *

Not any really exotic ones in there, but they were new ones on 30m for me.  Hope to get DXCC on each of the WARC bands before Cycle 25 ends.

NOTE:   Updated 4/9 to show confirmations received via LoTW

Weekly Update - 3/31

 Posting a day late, but here we go!

• Worked 4U (United Nations) on 40m on FT8
• Worked TO1 (St. Barthelemy) on 15m on FT8
• Confirmed Ohio on 10m FT8 for WAS
• DX Marathon now at 103 entities/33 zones for a total score of 136

Waiting for a 30m ham stick to show up, so will look to greatly up my totals on 30m