I have enjoyed the challenges of Contesting since being introduced to this aspect of the hobby by Don, K9PPJ and Mel, K9QFZ while still in the Chicago area. When I moved to California in 1973 I changed my callsign to W6PXG and set up my own modest contest station with a TH6DXX triband yagi at 70 feet and a shorty-forty a few feet above that. When vanity callsigns first became available I switched to N6EE - nice and short on CW!
Ron's home QTH in Turlock, California
Travels
I have operated from a few DX locations and have held the calls: ZF1RL, C6AJU, VP5/N6EE, AH7NA, VP2VV (club station), and, most recently PJ2/N6EE. I also operated with Chet W6XK as VP5NN in the 2003 ARRL RTTY Roundup and took first place World with an all-time record score which stood until January 2012. Chet and I also set out to surpass the VP5NN record in the 2012 ARRL RTTY Roundup from PJ2N in Curacao. We accomplished our goal but the N0NI team in Iowa (of all places) beat us - Congrats to them!
*** VP2VV ***
Ron operated from the Brisitish Virgin Islands using the club callsign VP2VV from June 20 to June 23, 2011.
Please QSL VP2VV for the period June 20 to June 23, 2011 ONLY to me, N6EE. My VP2VV log was uploaded to LOTW on July 5, 2011. QSL cards have been ordered and will be mailed to all direct SASE as soon as they arrive.
All other QSOs outside the period June 20 - June 23, 2011 should QSL via VP2VQ.
Ron at VP2VV
IOTA NA-023
CQ Zone 8
ITU Zone 11
Grid Square FK78
Equipment: ICOM 746 Pro with MicroHam USB Interface II and Writelog on RTTY /Icom mobile hand mike on SSB (Ugh!).
Antennas (about 600 feet above sea level): Cushcraft A3S to North America / HyGain TH11DXX to Europe
Operation from Josiah's Bay Bed and Breakfast on Tortola, BVI. Many thanks to Colingston George VP2VQ for use of his fine station and to his wonderful family for a most pleasant visit.
Thanks for the QSOs - I had a blast!
73,
Ron N6EE
June 30, 2011
**************
Quest
In October of 2011 I decided I would like to visit as well as operate my ham radio from all 50 US states. I had previously operated from California and Hawaii, so that left 48 states I needed to visit. The first installment in this quest occurred in October 2011 when my wife Betty and I rented a car and drove through 13 states (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania). One fun aspect of the trip was working my buddies Chet, W6XK, Mike, W7MH, and Bruce, K6TIG, from all thirteen states. In May 2012 we did a 3500 mile western USA road trip which included 10 states (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, and Oregon). This was quickly followed in June 2012 with a short midwest USA road trip of five more (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio). We took a 2800 mile road trip to the Southeast USA in October 2012 which started in Orlando, Florida and progressed through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and finished in Savannah, Georgia. Forty two states visited and only eight more to go. One more road trip to the midwest will include Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. It looks like the final state will be Alaska, probably sometime in the summer of 2013. My wife Betty and I have been enjoying every minute of these trips through our beautiful country and look forward to completing our quest. Keep your ears open for N6EE/mobile, I'd love to work YOU! You can follow us on the road since we use both APRS and iPhone GPS tracking - see the links on this N6EE web site.
QSLs
Please QSL these operations as follows:
QSL Information
|
Callsign |
Via |
|
N6EE home or mobile |
N6EE direct or LOTW |
|
ZF1RL |
N6EE direct only |
|
C6AJU |
N6EE direct only |
|
VP5/N6EE |
N6EE direct only |
|
VP5NN |
NN6NN direct only |
|
AH7NA |
N6EE direct or LOTW |
|
VP2VV from June 20 to June 23, 2011 ONLY |
N6EE direct or LOTW |
|
PJ2/N6EE |
NN6NN direct or LOTW |
|
PJ2N |
NN6NN direct or LOTW |
|
WP2NN |
NN6NN direct or LOTW |
N6EE home or mobile
Home Station
Currently my home station consists of:
-
Elecraft K3/100transceiver (a truly GREAT radio)
-
Heathkit SB220 linear amplifier (>40 years old and still going strong)
-
SteppIR DB18E (2L 40M, 3L 30-6M) at 45 feet (check out my six part SteppIR DB18E videos on YouTube.com)
-
Inverted V dipole for80 meters
-
Numerous computers running Writelog / MMTTY / K6STI RITTY/DX Labs Suite
Contesting
I frequently join Chet W6XK at his impressive station for multioperator contesting typically using the callsign NN6NN. We have many plaques and first place awards for RTTY, SSB, and CW contests. I am also a long-time member of the Northern California Contest Club.
I do try to QSL 100% on all cards received either direct or via the bureau. An SASE is appreciated for direct replies. My address on QRZ.COM is current. I alsoput all myQSOs on the ARRL Logbook of the World. If I have had the pleasure of contacting you in a contest I'd like to extend a heartfelt Thank You! If we have never had a QSO I look forward to meeting you, or at least exchanging a contest QSO!
I also enjoy casual DXing and finally acheived DXCC #1 Honor Roll in 2009.
Ron at VP5NN
I retired in 2010 as Professor Emeritus of Computer Information Systems from California State University, Stanislaus giving me plenty of time to Ham it up!
73,
Ron N6EE
