Going Further... Year 2

The Antarctica contact resulted in a very nice QSL card and it led to reading about the German Antarctic research program at the Neumayer Station. Felix Riess, the operator for DP1POL uses his radio skills to pass the time in this isolated site on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf. These very distant contacts were accomplished with JT-9. However, I have had a near-miss contact on PSK-31 with a station in Indonesia recently (YB8MAN) that was even more remote. Here is the text showing how near a miss it was:

====================

CQ oCQ

Q YBhMAN YB8MAN YB8MAN

p Ee › i e

YB8MAN DE KC1DVT KC1DVT KN

1DVT KC1DVT de YBOMAN YB8MAN en tYBoAN iSE c

t h t

YB8MAN DE KC1DVT

Hi Badrin

UR RST 599 599 in Falmouth ME MAINE

Name is Walt, Walt

QRP at <5 W HR

HOW CPY?

YB8MAN DE KC1DVT KN

QRZ QRreo Dn YBi eMAl YBmMAKC1t1VTDQDN

Aapologize for the difft icuTies Ean

ur kunication is not perfect due to the propagation

later at agin if .n

ropation is *od

eYBAN wa3

æ t

YB8MAN DE KC1DVT

Hi Badrin

UR RST 599 599 in Falmouth ME MAINE

Name is Walt, Walt

QRP at <5 W HR

HOW CPY?

YB8MAN DE KC1DVT KN

er=e eo

CQ CQ ” Q deYB8omANYBuMANYBDt

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The operator was >15,000 km from Maine. Because he could not receive my reply that stated his signal strength it is not a legitimate contact so it is not in my QRZ.com logbook. Close only counts in horseshoes.

Spending time with the minimal radios and antennas that I have, and conversing with Phil (N4KEZ), has given me lots of new knowledge - what more can you ask from a hobby in retirement?

The digital modes of ham radio using electromagnetic waves and computer encoding is what I most enjoy. Follow the link below to read how I adapted my newest radio - a $20 software-defined radio disguised as a USB dongle - for use on a Mac to scan the 20 and 40 meter bands for CW and digital mode activity.