Callbook??? Whats a Callbook????

Being a V.E. for ham radio sometimes brings on some rather unique things. This past session took us into something rather new. Recently their was a law passed that IF you held a ham radio license you could be grandfathered back in as an active ham without retaking a test. As part of the V.E. team we have to verify that the person actually previously held a valid ham radio license.

One of the other V.E's had the foresight to bring along with him a callbook from 1986. What is a Callbook? A callbook is what we as hams used to look up a fellow hams call etc. for the purpose of QSL'ing and on one occasion I had AES use it to verify I was a ham before selling me a radio. Callbooks were used before the dawn of the age of computers. Instead of  going to a website search box and typing in the call, you would have to leaf through this huge book to find the call you were looking for. To top things off there was one callbook for the United States and another one fo DX contacts.  These books were a bit expensive and had to be bought annually to keep you up to date, plus a quarterly subscription would be offered to find new licensee's. Personally I would buy mine every other year for the U.S. one and would ask someone locally if I needed info for a DX contact. The call books we're a bit costly at the time they were about $35.00 plus shipping and maybe taxes depending where you purchased it from.

Back to the exam, as my fellow V.E's filed in for the session they were wondering what we were using a phone book for? The phone book they were referring too was the callbook and of course they were young and never new of what a callbook was or how to use it. After a brief explanation to them of what it was and how to use it they began to use it and look up calls of hams they new that had been licensed over a long period of time. That exam session lasted less than an hour as we had only 2 hams and they both grandfathered. the session was an educational paperwork session and 2 older hams were able to get on the air once again just in time for Christmas!

Wondering about Space Weather Apps.

Lately I have been seriously doubting the validity of space weather apps or propagation apps. It seems that when there is a contest on a given band the propagation or conditions for that particular band sky rocket.
Is this really the cause of ideal conditions or are they just reporting the activity on a given band? To me it seems to be the later. I casually participate in contests and the contest I recently worked was the arrls 10 meter contest. I decided to work phone only. It was rather difficult to find and work contacts even though yes their were some pile ups especially on some rather unique or rare contacts ie...W1AW centennial contest stations. However it seemed the contacts were not as many as I would have thought. QRN noise was about an S5 on my meter. Anyways I checked my app. On my smart phone to what the propagation was reported as. You guessed it 10 meters was peaked out to the top while the other bands were rock bottom.
My thoughts are propagation actually effect all bands in one way or another. Anyways just an observation I made.

GOOD READING AND TIPS

I thought this would be the perfect time to write about a book I recently read. The book is called " The Complete DX'er" by Bob Locher W9KNI. The book shares Bob's operating techniques and skills he has used to get the DXCC and many more awards. For myself I was frustrated about getting my WAS contacts especially a qsl from Hawaii. I have made several qso's to Hawaii but never managed to ge a qsl either through LoTW or regular QSL cards. A member from the local radio club I belong to tipped me off about Bob's book. After reading a few chapters I began putting to work the things he talked about in the book. Soon my WAS number has dropped to needing 9 more states and I have received a qsl from Hawaii. I really don't want to say much more about the book and spoil it for you. If you can pick up a copy of the book and read it. Once your done with it keep it around for reference. You won't regret it!
73's
Mike/N8GBU

Never Trust the Internet!

I have been reading some material on DX'ing and one constant I have come across is don't trust the internet on conditions etc. I have found this to be very true. Numerous times I have tried the bands after the internet reported poor conditions and managed to make a couple DX contacts!

Electronic Logging and QSL's

One thing that I have been wanting to share my thoughts on is Qsl's and the online logbooks. When I first earned my ticket the only way to confirm a contact was through the regular mail in the form of a regular QSL card commonly called Wall Paper. As technology has progressed we have moved into communications by computers and keeping logs on a computer instead of a paper log. Which brings me to my thoughts on logging and qsl's. Today there are 3 major players in online logging and qsl's. My top 2 are the LoTW and EQSL, there are also some others. LoTW is the ARRL's version of online logging as you may know. Many people use this free service and you can obtain ARRL awards by having confirmed contacts on their online logbook and if needed you can do a combination of old hard copy QSL's and what is on their online logbook. The draw back not everyone choices to use them and they do not except confirmations from other online logbooks. There is no real qsl card involved in their logbook just text copies of the contact information.

Next comes EQSL a very unique service! On EQSL offers a few more features than LoTW. One really nice feature is they have printable e-qsl cards. You basically can design your own or upload one you had made. They have their own awards which I believe is to follow suit with Lotw. They do have different member levels. The first level is a absolutely free and as you donate (if you choose to) you can get a few more features.

Both LoTW and EQSL are tied for my top logbook/qsl services. One worth mentioning is QRZ.com, they are the number one source for call sign look up. They are a bit costly in my book, you buy features to make life easier using their sight. You can elect to have no ads on the website, the ability to upload adif's for a fee. My problem with that is I like many other ham's are on a fixed income and its very difficult to make those lump sum payments instead of making payments. I have also found out by my personal  experience that even fewer hams use their logbook service. 

Wolverine SSB Net

I have been working on my membership requirements to join the Wolverine SSB net. A min of participating of 4 nets for 3 months. I now have 5 for January and 4 for this month. They are a fun bunch to chat with.

N. A. QSO Party

Tried my luck at a little contesting. I have found I need to work on understanding logbook programs. All in all it was a lot of fun!