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Good to see you back Chris.
I'm thinking that resumption of some degree of DXpeditioning, as you had done
at shore sites here around MA, would be the cornerstone of your DXing out that
way, seeing that options for home-based DXing are limited.
There are probably five times as many active DXers from northern CA up through
OR and WA into BC as there are here on the East Coast. Just look at the
profusion of MID-SUMMER reports from Rockwork 4 (OR) and Grayland (WA) by
DeBock, Hutton, et al. along with regular home-based logs from Nick Hall-Patch,
Pat Martin, Bruce Portzer, and others.
Contrast that to here in New England where only a handful of reports trickle
out this time of year. We have maybe three or four around here seriously in
the international DX game these days. You're doing way better than that out
your way. So - as your home situation permits with some help by family members
- team up with some of the crew for some DXpeditioning. One coastal outing a
month can give you enough recorded DX to keep you busy for days or weeks back
at the house. Of course you already know that from your trips to places such
as Granite Pier and Fort Hill Park back this way.
Besides after-the-fact dissection of your DXpedition recordings, there's also
the element of remote receivers to allow dabbling in DX from whatever part of
the world intrigues you. Global Tuners, the Dutch SDR, and remote Perseus (and
other) SDR networks can put you in the operator's chair wherever you want to
be. Besides longwave, medium-wave, shortwave, VHF etc. listening, remote
station operating also extends to ham radio QSO's.
The need for antennas at the home QTH may, in fact, be nil.
It will be interesting to read of how your pursuit of the radio hobby develops
in your new setting.
Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, Cape Cod, MA
<<
Having first dabbled in SW, I was first
introduced to MW DXing in the mid 80?s when I lived in Lynwood and wondered why
I couldn?t get the same loggings with my NRD-515 and a piece of wire out the
window from my apartment as I saw reported by Mark Connelly! Boy did I have a
lot to learn!
Life and trying to keep from starving to death kept
interfering with my Dxing but I managed to plug along, learning little by little
from many in this group, attending conventions and get-to-gethers as well as
Grayland outings when I was in the Seattle area visiting my daughter. Along the
way, I got licensed but always kept MW Dxing on the front burner while living on
Cape Cod for the last 17 years.
Always eclectic, I dabbled in utilities,
NDBs and some of the esoteric modes as a diversion but managed to log over 100
countries on MW from Cape Cod locations and Prince Edward Island. It?s hard to
ignore the thrill of hearing KFI and Japan from the east coast. Of course,
having room for antennas like the flag, delta, super loop, K9AY, beverage, etc
was a decided advantage and I was fortunate to count as fellow DXers and friends
the likes of Mark Connelly, Bruce Conti and other legendary Dxers.
But, as I approached the seventh inning stretch of this game, my wife's health
prompted a move back to Washington to be closer to family. I now live in a
planned community in Redmond where antennas are as verboten as a t-bone to a
vegetarian. Having unloaded all radio equipment before the move, I was
despairing of ever re-connecting with the hobby. But we Dxers are a resilient
lot and so I throw myself on the mercy of the collected wisdom of the group for
suggestions as to radios, SDRs, antennas, etc so that I might stay in the game
from my modest digs in Trilogy at Redmond Ridge.
My best to all and its good to be back.
73 de Chris Black
>>
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