Bruce NJ3K earns first CW Mobile QRP DXCC Award

One of the CW wizards that help us get into the top 10 nationally each year during Field Day (one of many talented CW operators that we are fortunate enough to have as members) just completed a pretty monumental task.  He has made confirmed contacts with 100 foreign countries, all at low power (5 watts or less), all on CW, and all using the mobile radio in his car.

Most of us have enough trouble driving, Bruce is able to decode Morse in his head and sends the code using a key that can be strapped to his thigh.

Congratulations Bruce!

Fox Island Activation Coming July 16

The NCRC intrepid activation crew will be activating Fox Island, (US Islands RI025S once qualified).  This is a rare/unique opportunity, as the island is now owned by a corporation and visitors are not allowed.  Through good fortune and our ability to show a series of successful activations in the past two years, Jim, KA1ZOU, was able to secure one time permission to activate the island.

Expect the gang to be on the air by 10 AM local time and to remain until at least 2 PM (or later if band conditions support it).  Check around 14.260-14.265 MHz, using callsign W1SYE.

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NCRC Earns DXCC !!!

With the arrival of our 100th contact confirmation, from a CW contact with FY5KE (French Guiana), W1SYE has earned our first DXCC.

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As you can probably guess, DXCC is fairly easy to obtain, after all Willy, W1LY, and Bob, WB4SON, started working on it 72 days ago.  But this is the easiest aspect of DXCC — Mixed (any mode on any band).  Stations can apply for different modes (CW, Voice, Digital, Satellite), and different bands.  There are additional awards for completing DXCC on 5-bands (80/40/20/15/10), as well as 1,000 or more confirmed contacts with different countries on different bands.  The ultimate award is obtaining the DXCC Honor Roll, which requires confirmations from 331 or more DX entities.

Bottom line, the club can continue to work on DXCC for many years to come.  For those that might be interested, a breakdown of the contacts by mode and band is shown below:

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Congratulations to W1SYE for earning DXCC after 71 years!