InnovAntennas acquires Force 12

InnovAntennas has acquired the legendary Force 12 antenna company and product line and has moved the Force 12 factory from Bridgeport, Texas, to Grand Junction, Colorado, into a facility shared with InnovAntennas America.

InnovAntennas Ltd in England is now manufacturing Force 12 products for the European market at its Canvey Island plant. The Grand Junction facility is up and running, manufacturing and shipping antennas.

InnovAntennas says it plans to produce updated versions of classic Force 12 antennas as well as all-new models. InnovAntennas Founder Justin Johnson, G0KSC, was at the Colorado facility earlier this year to assist in setting up and laying out the factory, and the company expects full production to be underway by January.

The feed system

Justin G0KSC has been working with Force 12 on model improvements over the last few years and has now set about an entire product overhaul which will include the already completed C and XR series Multi-monoband Yagis.

The XR3 (20/15/10) and XR4 (20/15/10/6) will replace the very popular C3.

The XR6 (20/17/15/12/10/6) replaces the XR5 and as with the XR4, the XR6 is much shorter than the original (30%), has comparable performance, wider bandwidth per band and includes the addition of 6m.

The new XR series has a single feed point and a new high-power inter-driven phasing arrangement capable of handling 5Kw+

InnovAntennas - http://innovantennas.com

Force 12 - http://www.texasantennas.com/

Amsterdam Island DXpedition

A Dxpedition to Amsterdam Island is on its way

The Braveheart is making its way across the Great Australian Bight and the North Corridor Radio Group of Western Australia has a stockpile of supplies queued up and waiting for us. Momentum has taken over now and there is no turning back.

Upon arrival in Fremantle, the Braveheart will re-provision and refuel to 90,000 to 100,000 liters of fuel. We will load the materials we've obtained from the NCRG, do a little shopping for personal supplies, set up our maritime mobile station, take our sea sickness pills and patches, and be prepared to sail on 15th January 2014.

The team will be passing through some rare grids on the way to Amsterdam Island and we are anxious to hand out QSO's from them. Be sure to look for us on the bands and track us on our website in near real time. Landing on Amsterdam can be "exciting."

The team will  have some heavy work to do upon landing and expect the set up time to take at least a full day.

Support the Amsterdam Island DXpedition Team - http://www.amsterdamdx.org

W100AW active for ARRL's Centennial Year

The FCC has authorized the Maxim Memorial Station W1AW to also use the call sign W100AW during 2014, the ARRL's centennial year.

Contacts made from the Maxim Memorial Station in Newington, from regional Centennial conventions, and during the IARU HF Championship will use W100AW, with portable designators as appropriate.

The "W1AW WAS" operations throughout 2014 from each of the 50 states will use W1AW, not W100AW.

Bulletins and code practice transmissions during 2014 also will still use W1AW. Contacts with W100AW are worth 100 points in the ARRL Centennial QSO Party.

ARRL Centennial QSO Party - http://www.arrl.org/centennial-qso-party