kx8c.sensfamily.com

 

Here's my home on the internet, with links of interest to me, and here's wishing someone out there finds them helpful.  My thanks in advance goes out to all those who work with me as I improve my HF technique.  I apologize in advance for anyone trying to decipher my CW; you certainly have my gratitude for your patience!

73 CU OTA DE KX8C

 

ORGANIZATIONS

 

HAM SHACK

  • Icom IC-718 HF Transceiver
  • Palstar AT1KM Tuner
  • Astron RS-35M Power Supply
  • Buddipole (10-80m capable) up between 8-24ft
  • Hustler 4BTV & G5RV Junior
  • And not a tree over 8' in sight in my back yard ... or any of my surroundings ... sigh.
  • Notes to self when the PSK31 isn't Transmitting at all:
    • Do I have the SignaLink plugged in properly and turned on? Duh.
    • Is the IC-718 MIC GAIN set to 0?  Set it to zero for PSK operations.
    • Am I trying to transmit below 500 or above 2800 hertz offset from the rig frequency?  Rig attenuates signals in those areas.
    • Is the Sound Card Volume set too high?  Turn it down to keep the distortion down.
    • Is the COMP turned on?  Turn it off to keep the ALC from kicking in.

 

CALLSIGN HISTORY

  • 21 May 1996 thru 7 Feb 2007 - KC8DXX Technician (Passed element 2 in a Cuyahoga ARS testing session in Independence OH; callsign was the luck of the draw.)
  • 8 Feb 2007 thru 27 Mar 2007 - KC8DXX Amateur Extra (Passed elements 1, 3, and 4 in Ravenna OH; test session was sponsored by Portage County Amateur Radio Society)
  • 28 Mar 2007 thru present - KX8C Amateur Extra (Pondered over the call sign for a bit, and finally decided to go for it.  2x2 or 1x3 with some combination of my initials or my family member's initials were all taken. So I found a call sign that had all letters from my first call, and applied for the vanity license.  The previous holder was David Scharra of Vermillion OH, license effective from 25 Aug 1987 or earlier, cancelled 1 Sep 1999.) 

 

 

TU's for 1sts and Lasts

  • Cuyahoga ARS and PORTCARS for holding the testing sessions.
  • 1st 40m CW with W2RC Marconi Special Station (Dick K2RFP) in New York
  • 1st 40m SSB with W2LIS Marconi Special Station (Avi KC2DEA) in New York
  • 1st 20m SSB with W4LEE in the Alabama QSO Party
  • 1st North American DX with VE7CVA (Canada)
  • 1st South American DX with YV1RDX  (Venezuela)
  • 1st European DX with S58N (Slovenia)
  • 1st Oceana DX with KH8/KK6H (American Samoa)
  • 1st 10m SSB with KD8CDC (Ohio)
  • 1st 40m PSK31 with KD8DKG (Michigan)
  • 1st 20m PSK31 with AC7IU (Wyoming)
  • 1st 30m PSK31 with N7UVH (Idaho)
  • 1st 10m PSK31 with KD5DE (Louisiana)
  • 1st 15m PSK31 with K0TW (Arizona)
  • 1st 15m SSB with IR4X (Italy)
  • EPC awards earned include MGSPA-100, EPCNA, CQPSK-10, and PHPA-100.  They were all earned within about a week of each other in October 2007, taking about 175 qso's on PSK31 to do it.
  • 1st 17m PSK31 with GI4SIZ (Northern Ireland)
  • 1st 40m PSK63 with K0GZL (South Dakota)
  • 1st Africa DX with CN3A (Morroco)
  • 1st 20m PSK63 with WA5DJJ (New Mexico)
  • 1st 30m PSK63 with KK3Q (Florida)
  • 50th state worked for a logbook WAS Mixed with NL7V (Alaska on 20m PSK31), taking about 8 months and 900 QSO's.
  • Earned the DMC award Worked 25 DMC Members, and the EPC award ITUPSK-19, in late December 2007.
  • Earned the EPC awards MGSPA-200 and PHPA-200 in mid January 2008.
  • Earned eQSL DX25 in early Feb 2008.
  • Earned ARRL WAS Mixed in late Feb 2008.
As of late February 2008,  I'm just a few states short of earning endorsements for PSK31, 20m, and 40m.

I have also worked 65 countries on 5 continents, farthest being 8200 miles away.  31 DXCC entities are confirmed.

All this was done with a basic IC718 rig and a portable Buddipole antenna, with a Palstar AT1KM tuner when needed, configured as a loaded dipole up about 20 feet.

So if a 'little pistol' like me can do it, all during a sunspot minimum, so can you!  To borrow a 10-10 slogan, "You have to make contacts to get results"!

 

 

QSL's

  • I will likely be sending out lots of QSL's with SASE, and I kindly request your QSL in return.
  • I will QSL 100%, SASE kindly requested but not required.
  • Logs will be periodically uploaded to EQSL and LOTW.
  •  
 

 

FAVORITE HAM LINKS

 

 

PDF REFERENCE FILES

 

 

RSQ for PSK

  • When someone gives me a 599 I'll likely give them a 599 back, especially for a DX station.  But if I get something else, I'll do my best to give a RSQ report that is real, using the following guidelines.  When I do give a real 599 out, I'll probably add a few words to emphasize that it's real and not routine laziness on my part.  Here's a chart summarizing RSQ:

 

  • Readability

R5 95%+ Perfectly readable
R4 80% Practically no difficulty, occasional missed characters
R3 40% Considerable difficulty, many missed characters
R2 20% Occasional words distinguishable
R1 0% Undecipherable

  • Strength

S9 Very Strong trace
S7 Strong trace
S5 Moderate trace
S3 Weak trace
S1 Barely perceptible trace

  • Quality

Q9 Clean signal - no visible unwanted sidebar pairs
Q7 One barely visible pair
Q5 One easily visible pair
Q3 Multiple visible pairs
Q1 Splatter over much of the spectrum

 

 

 

Please forward comments to   This website was last updated 5 Mar 2008.  All material contained on this website is copyright © 2007-2008 James M Sens except where otherwise noted. V10 website.