4m VHF Transatlantic Beacon

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Mike Schaffer KA3JAW would like to remind everyone in the British Isles and Europe that the WG2XPN 70.005 MHz beacon is active.

Some operators were mistakenly under the impression that beacon was active only during the summer season.

The beacon is on 70.005 MHz CW mode running 3 kW ERP beamed at 60 degrees towards Europe using a three element Yagi at 15 metres height on top the peak of Apple Orchard Mountain (1280 metres) along the Blue Ridge mountain range of Virginia state in Maidenhead grid square - FM07fm.

Thus far, there have been no reported detection of this beacon since the New Year 2014 from ITU region one.

The last ITU region one reception was last year on July, 7, 2013 at 1719 UTC from DI2MN (JN58wh) via Sporadic-E with a signal report of 559 QSB at a distance of 7092 km.

Also on the same date at 1710 UTC operator IS0AWZ (Sardinia Is.) Italy (JM49ng) detected the transmission at 7387 km with a report of 419 to 429 via 4x Es!

K9LA to receive the 2013 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award

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Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been named the winner of The Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award for the 2013.

The ARRL Foundation selected Luetzelschwab at its 21 January 2014 meeting for his article “The Sun and the Ionosphere,” which appeared in the March 2013 issue of QST. Luetzelschwab won the March QST Cover Plaque Award last year for the same article. Luetzelschwab, who frequently writes on solar and propagation phenomena and trends, is the “Propagation” columnist for NCJ — National Contest Journal.

“I am honored to receive the William Orr Award from the ARRL,” Luetzelschwab said. “Orr’s Radio Handbook (23rd ed) is one of my favorite references in my library because of its practical information.”
— Carl Luetzelschwab winner of the 2013 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award

EuCW launches Snakes and Ladders

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The European CW group, EuCW have launched a new on-air Snakes and Ladders, due to start on 1 April 2014.

For CW operators the game runs through from this April until the 31st of March 2015 on all HF bands. It is designed to promote activity on all bands and to encourage friendly contacts. It's not a contest; it's a game.

The Snakes and Ladders board is made up from a Maidenhead locator map of Europe and the position of each station after QSOs can go up thanks to a ladder or down when a snake bites.

Full rules are available in English and many European languages from the Snakes and Ladders web page - http://www.eucw.org/sl.html