CQ WW DX CW  CONTEST  —>  The  following  stations  have  announced  their
participation in this year’s event (29-30 November):

ZONE CALL CATEGORY DXCC QSL VIA
————————————————————–
04 VC6R M/? Canada VE6SV
05 OH3SR/VP9 SO Bermuda OH3SR
05 VP9I SOSB 20m Bermuda N1HRA
07 HP1RIS SOSB 10m Panama HP1RIS
07 HR2/LT0E SOAB LP Honduras HQ2LAS
07 YN2Z SO Nicaragua K9ZO
07 YS4RR SOAB LP El Salvador K9GY
08 5K0T San Andres HA7RY
08 6Y1V M/? HP Jamaica OH3RB
08 8P5A SOAB HP Barbados NN1N
08 C6AKX SOSB 20m Bahamas WA4WTG
08 C6AQQ SOSB 40m or SOAB Bahamas ND3F
08 C6ARR SOSB 160m Bahamas WA4WTG
08 C6ATA SOSB 80m Bahamas WA4WTG
08 CO6LP SOAB LP Cuba CO6LP
08 CO7PH Cuba W3HNK
08 CO8ZZ SOSB 20m Cuba DK1WI
08 FJ/WJ2O SOAB LP St. Barthelemy WJ2O
08 FM/F5IRO SOAB LP Martinique F5IRO
08 J3/DL5AXX SOAB Grenada DL5AXX
08 J68V SOAB St. Lucia K5WW
08 J88DR SOAB LP St. Vincent G3TBK
08 KP2B SOAB Virgin Islands EA7FTR
08 KP2M M/2 US Virgin Islands AI4U
08 KP4EE SOAB Puerto Rico OK1DOT
08 TO2HI SO Guadeloupe F6AUS
08 TO4X M/M St. Martin KQ1F
08 TO5X SOAB Martinique K5UN
08 V26K SOAB LP Antigua AA3B
08 V47NT SOAB HP St. Kitts W2RQ
08 VP2MDG SOAB Montserrat K2DM
08 VP5W M/S Turks & Caicos Isls W7TSQ
08 ZF2AM SOAB Cayman Islands K6AM
09 FY5KE SOAB LP French Guiana FY1FL
09 P40W SOAB Aruba N2MM
09 P49Y SOSB 40m Aruba AE6Y
09 PJ2T M/? Netherlands Antilles N9AG
09 PJ4A M/? Netherlands Antilles K4BAI
09 PZ5TT SOAB Suriname VE3DZ
09 YW4D SOAB Venezuela EA7JX
10 HC5WW SO LP Ecuador JA6VU
10 HD2M M/M Ecuador SM6FKF
10 OA4WW SOAB HP Peru HP1WW
11 ZP0R SOAB Paraguay ZP5AZL
12 CE0Y/SM6CUK SO Easter Island SM6CUK
12 XR3A Chile CE3DNP
13 CW5W M/S Uruguay CX6VM
13 CW7T SOAB HP Uruguay K5WW
13 LS1D M/S Argentina LW9EOC
13 LU8YE M/? Argentina EA7FTR
14 CU2X SOAB Azores OH2BH
14 EA6IB SOSB 40m Balearic Isls EA6IB
14 EE2W M/? Spain EB2BXL
14 EG5T M/? Spain EA5EH
14 GU4YOX SOSB 40m LP Guernsey GU4YOX
14 HB0/DK4YJ SOSB 40m Liechtenstein DK4YJ
14 HB0/DK9TN SOSB 80m Liechtenstein DK9TN
14 LN3Z M/S Norway LA9VDA
14 LX7I M/2 Luxembourg LX2A
14 OP4K M/S Belgium ON4JZ
14 TM2S M/S France F5PED
14 TM4Q M/S France F6FYA
14 TM6X SO France F5VHY
15 E77CFG SOSB 160m LP Bosnia-Herzegovina E72U
15 II20CJ Italy IW2HAJ
15 IR9X SO Sicily (Italy) IW9HLM
15 IR9Y M/S Italy (Sicily) IT9ABY
15 IS0/IT9VDQ SOAB QRP Sardinia IT9VDQ
15 LY7A M/M Lithuania LY2ZO
15 OG50F M/2 Finland OH1F
15 OH0/OH2LRE SOAB Finland OH2LRE
15 OH0I SOSB 10m Aland Islands OH3BHL
15 OH0V SOSB 160m Aland Isls OH6LI
15 OH0X SOSB Aland Isls OH2TA
15 OH0Z SOAB HP Aland Islands W0MM
15 OH2BH SOSB Finland OH2BH
15 OH8X SOAB Finland OH2UA
15 RK2FWA M/S Kaliningrad DK4VW
15 Z37M M/2 Macedonia bureau
16 ER0WW SOAB HP Moldova UT3UA
16 RL3A M/S European Russia W3HNK
16 RT9W M/S Asiatic Russia RZ9WWH
16 UU3W SOSB 160m Ukraine UU2JZ
17 EY8MM SOSB 80m Tajikistan K1BV
17 RA9A M/S Asiatic Russia RK9AWN
17 UN4L SOSB 80m Kazakhstan UA9AB
20 5B4AII SOAB Cyprus RW3RN
20 C4N M/S Cyprus W3HNK
20 J49I M/S Crete IK0EFR
20 J49XF SOAB Crete G3URA
20 P3F M/2 Cyprus 5B4AGN
20 SV9CVY SOAB HP Crete SV9CVY
20 SX5R SOSB 15m Dodecanese SV5DKL
20 TA3KZ M/S Turkey TA3KZ
20 TC4X M/? Turkey OH2BH
20 YM0T SOSB 160m Turkey TA2RC
20 YM3A M/2 Turkey LZ1NK
20 ZC4VJ SOSB UK SBA on Cyprus ZC4VJ
21 4L0A M/S Georgia EA7FTR
22 8Q7DV M/? Maldives UA9CLB
22 8Q7RW SO Maldives LY1A
22 8Q7SC Maldives SP2JMB
22 VU2PAI SOAB India VU2PAI
22 VU2PTT SOAB India VU2PTT
23 JT1DA SOSB 40m HP Mongolia JT1DA
23 JU1DX M/S Mongolia qrz.com
23. JT1CD SOAB HP Mongolia JT1CD
24 B4TB M/S China BA4TB
26 E21EIC SO LP Thailand E21EIC
26 HS0GBI SOSB 80m Thailand HS0GBI
26 HS0ZGD SOSB Thailand HS0ZGD
26 HS1CKC SOSB 160m Thailand HS1CKC
26 XU7XXX SO Cambodia KC0W
26 XV4BX SO Vietnam EB7DX
26 XW1B SOAB Laos E21EIC
27 4F1AL SOAB Philippines 4F1AL
27 AH0BT SOAB HP Mariana Isls 7L1FPU
27 AH2R M/S Guam JH7QXJ
27 KG6DX SOAB HP Guam KG6DX
27 T88CJ SOAB Palau HA7TM
28 9M2CNC SOAB HP West Malaysia G4ZFE
28 9M6/N2BB SO East Malaysia MD0CCE
28 9M6NA SOSB 80m East Malaysia JE1JKL
28 YB0ECT SOSB 20m LP Indonesia K3AIR
28 YE1ZAT M/S Indonesia YE1ZAT
29 VK8NSB SOAB Australia VK6NE
31 AH6XX M/2 Hawaii K2WR
31 KH6/NE1RD SOAB LP Hawaii NE1RD
32 ZM1A M/2 New Zealand ZL1AMO
32 ZM2M M/S HP New Zealand ZL2AL
32 ZM4A M/S New Zealand ZL4AA
33 5C5T M/S LP Morocco EA5YU
33 7X0RY SOSB Algeria qrz.com
33 AN8R SOAB HP Canary Isls EA8AY
33 CN2M SOSB Morocco HP1WW
33 CN2R SOSB Morocco W7EJ
33 CS9M SOAB Madeira LoTW
33 CT9L M/M Madeira DJ6QT
33 EA8CMX SOSB 80m Canary Isls OH2BYS
33 EF8M M/2 Canary Islands OH1RY
33 IG9W SOSB 40m (African) Italy IZ1GAR
33 IG9X SOSB 80m (African) Italy IK1QBT
33 IH9M SOSB (African) Italy IK7JWY
35 3X5A M/M Guinea G3SXW
35 6V7N SOAB LP Senegal DL1EFD
35 9G5ZZ SOSB 20m Ghana DL1CW
35 D4C M/2 Cape Verde qrz.com
36 9J3A SO Zambia S53A
37 5X1AB SO Uganda K6EID
37 5X1NH SO Uganda G3RWF
37 C98LW SOSB 40m Mozambique UY5LW
39 TO3R M/S Reunion Isl RW3RN
40 JW5E M/? Svalbard LA5NM
40 OX5AA M/2 Greenland G3TXF
40 TF3CW SOSB 40m Iceland LX1NO

Do not forget to give a look at the Announced Operations listing  maintained
by  Bill,  NG3K  at  http://www.ng3k.com/Misc/cqcz2008.html- good contest to
you all!

Being a proud owner of a Yaesu FT-857D, I have most of the must-have accessories for the rig, but I had one dark secret: I hadn’t yet put in any sort of audio filter. Oh sure, I still think I have pretty good ears. And the Digital Signal Processing on the radio does a pretty good job of taking down the noise and interference. But during contests or pile-ups, or even a busy weeknight, it can be tough to pull out a signal, especially on SSB.Probably long before I even considered buying a Yaesu, I was aware of Collins filters. You can read all kinds of reviews and look at pretty bandwidth plots but until you sit down and actually listen to how much a difference one of these can make on your radio; you most likely think you can live without one.

I shopped around and found the Collins filters from W4RT.com were getting high praise. Earlier this year I purchased an LDG Z-11Pro Ultra Plus from them and I felt quite happy to give ’em my money again.

	The filters are individually wrapped for fresher taste and to keep rotten QRM and QRN from seeping into the package. 🙂
	Removal of the FT-857D top cover is a simple matter of taking off the seven Phillips screws, per the directions in your Yaesu FT-857D manual (page 120).
	Once the rig is open, you can see the empty filter slots in the upper-left corner.
	The top cover comes off easily once you disconnect the speaker from the rig chassis.
	“Gaze into the crystal . . . filter”
	The 500Hz filter installed. The 2300Hz filter fits right next to it. The filter boards can go in only one way. If you have difficulty, take a look at the pins in relation to the holes they go into on the Collins filter.

Since I installed the filters, I’ve been enjoying much better reduction in nearby QRM. The 500Hz filter is still wide enough to not ring. And it REALLY works beautifully with the DSP as well as the IF Shift.

The 2300Hz filter makes a slight difference, at first glimpse. But you’ll hear the difference when the conditions get crowded. Also, on transmit, you can select to have transmitted audio pass through the filter, giving your voice signal a bit more ‘punch.’ (update – 20080228):  The sideband filter really makes a HUGE difference!  Now that I’ve had time to use this filter in contests and pile-ups, I can certainly say that without the audio filter, I would not have made many of the contacts I did (including huge pile-ups for VP6DX).  The filters both make use of the DSP and IF shift MUCH more effective.  I’m also noticing that when I turn on the filter, the signal I’m trying to tune-in actually ‘pops out’ and makes copying a LOT easier.  My advice to new and old FT-857D owners: BUY IT!

All in all, I have found the W4RT filters to be a much-needed improvement to my FT-857D.

I purchased a PortaPaddle II kit from American Morse at Pacificon 2007. There’s something satisfying about purchasing something of quality from its maker. Let me tell you, Doug Hauff, W6AME, owner/operator/genius/master craftsman has really given the ham community a real gem here.

If I hadn’t been fiddling with trying to take short video clips of each step in the assembly process, I would have had it put together in under five minutes. That includes the trip to the fridge for a cold beer. Well, I also had some “QRD” (‘the place is going to the dogs’) from my canine kids Honey and Shaggy. Nevertheless my camera battery died and I really just wanted to get this paddle together so I could try it out. You can view the photos I managed to get here.

Tools required were a screwdriver and a pliers. The kit comes with an allen wrench and a locking nut wrench. One ‘mod’ I may make is to somehow stow the locking nut wrench somehow in the base. The builder’s manual is clear and concise. Doug obviously puts a lot of time and effort into not just making the kit itself, but writing quality assembly instructions, complete with color photos.

What I wanted was a paddle I could take with me when I travel. I needed something that could handle being handled, packed-away, carried through the woods, and sitting at the beach. This is a durable, solidly design (and built) kit that will amaze you with the high level of precision it gives you.

Each paddle has a finely threaded thumbscrew with a locking nut (the kit comes with a small wrench for this very thing). Tension is also adjusted by the thumbscrew on the right paddle. This also has a locking nut.

How does it feel? Well, my other paddles are beginning to gather dust. This little paddle fits my hand nicely and the perfectly-weighted base Doug sells makes the Portapaddle II stay put. This last point is VERY important to me. All too often I find my horrible habit of ‘slapping’ my CW paddles causes them to do everything but stand still.

The size of the PortaPaddle II is smaller than my J-38 straight key.

I may design some sort of mounting system for HF-Packing with the Portapaddle II. It will probably just be a quick-release (velco?) on my pack’s shoulder straps. I haven’t gone down that road just yet, but will keep you posted right here.

If you’re looking for a CW paddle that will give you the same level of precision and ‘feel’ as the high-end paddles (that cost many times more), try out the PortaPaddle II. For the price, it simply rocks!

72/73!

Jack, K6JEB