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http://www.wd9ewk.net/

YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/va7ewk

Twitter feed (@WD9EWK): http://twitter.com/wd9ewk

APRS tracking (active while traveling): http://aprs.fi/wd9ewk-9

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Upcoming hamfests where WD9EWK will have an AMSAT table

• Saturday, 2 June 2012, in Show Low, Arizona: WD9EWK will have an AMSAT table at the Kachina Amateur Radio Club's annual White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low, Arizona. The hamfest will be at a new location for 2012, at the Show Low City Hall on 9th Street, south of Deuce of Clubs Avenue (US-60/AZ-260) - the main street through Show Low.

During the hamfest, there will be satellite demonstrations using satellites that pass by. Please call WD9EWK if you are working those passes.

After each hamfest, WD9EWK's QSOs will be uploaded to the Logbook of the World. If you would like to receive a QSL card, please e-mail me with the QSO details.

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WD9EWK at Dayton Hamvention and surrounding area, 18-21 May 2012

I attended the Dayton Hamvention in Ohio on 18-20 May 2012. While I was in that part of the country, I worked FM and SSB/CW satellite passes from there (grid EM79ut) and five other locations before flying home on 21 May 2012:

• Indiana/Ohio state line - 30 miles/50km west of Dayton, east of the I-70/US-40 interchange and next to a fireworks shop (grid EM79ot)
• West Chester, Ohio - at the site of the former VOA Bethany Relay Station, east of I-75 (grid EM79ti)
• Louisville, Kentucky - southeast of the Louisville airport, along Bardstown Road near the I-265 freeway (grid EM78ed)
• Memphis, Indiana - on Memphis-Blue Pike Road, east of I-65 (grid EM78cl)
• Gnaw Bone, Indiana - along Indiana State Road 46, a few miles/km west of I-65 (grid EM69we)

During this trip, I was able to operate from a new state (Kentucky) and two new grids (EM69, EM78).

All QSOs made during this trip have be uploaded to the Logbook of the World. QSL cards will also be available. Please e-mail me with the QSO details to receive a QSL card (or cards). You don't have to first mail me a card and SASE to get my QSL card(s).

SPECIAL NOTE: If you worked WD9EWK at the Indiana/Ohio state line and want credit for both states in Logbook of the World, you will need to upload two QSO records. The data in both records should be identical except for the QSO time. The time in the QSO records must differ by at least one full minute, in order to avoid having the second QSO record replacing the first QSO record in the system. I have uploaded my QSOs this way, including the state and county on each side of the state line for those QSO records.

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WD9EWK via satellite

If you are looking for my location after working me via satellite, please do NOT rely on the latitude/longitude or grid locator listed on here. I typically work satellites with portable equipment, and I may or may not be in the location listed here. I will announce my grid locator or locators to 4 characters (i.e. DM43) during satellite contacts, and you are welcome to e-mail me if you want a more specific description of my location during our contact (i.e., grid locator or locators to 6 characters, city/state, and/or latitude/longitude).

The latitude/longitude in my QRZ.com entry is actually for grids DM33xp and DM43ap, on the boundary between those grids (112 degrees West longitude). This is in a Phoenix city park that I used as my "home QTH" when working satellites for many years. From that city park and other locations in and around the metropolitan Phoenix area that comply with the 200km limit in the ARRL VUCC rules, I have confirmed satellite QSOs with all 50 US states, about a dozen other countries around the Americas, and over 460 different grids. I operate satellites in FM and SSB, and sometimes in CW, using portable or QRP equipment.

I have worked satellites from 64 different grids in 14 US states, Washington DC, Canada (British Columbia), Mexico (Baja California), and Australia (New South Wales and Victoria). This includes satellite operations from every grid and county in Arizona, many grid boundaries, three US state boundaries:

• Arizona/New Mexico - in October 2009, parked along a dirt track on the south side of the I-10 freeway in grid DM52
• Illinois/Wisconsin - in October 2010, along the I-94 west frontage road in grid EN62
• Indiana/Ohio - on multiple occasions since 2006, east of the I-70/US-40 interchange near Richmond IN, west of Dayton in grid EM79

and one international boundary:

• Canada/USA - on 8 July 2010, west of the Peace Arch, south of Vancouver. I stood in Washington state and British Columbia and operated as WD9EWK and VA7EWK from this location (grid CN89oa). Double-sided QSL cards were issued for contacts made at this unique location, with one side for each country and state/province.

If anyone wishes to make a satellite QSO with WD9EWK from the Phoenix park on the DM33/DM43 grid boundary, or from one of two other grid boundaries near the Phoenix area (DM32/DM42 south of Phoenix, or DM34/DM44 north of Phoenix), please e-mail me so we can make those plans happen.

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Operating amateur radio from Mexico

Looking for information on obtaining a Mexican amateur permit? http://xe-permit.wd9ewk.net/

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Current callsigns

• WD9EWK (USA, originally held May 1977-March 1978, reclaimed in June 1996)
• VA7EWK (Canada, since April 2002).

Former USA callsigns

• WB7VUT (March 1978-May 1979)
• KB7HFF (March-May 1989)
• N7MRV (May-December 1989)
• KF7YS (December 1989-June 1996)
• W9K (August 2002)

Callsigns used from Canada on past trips

• WD9EWK/VE7 (April 2002, from North Vancouver BC),
• CJ7EWK/3 (October 2002, from Toronto ON)
• CJ7EWK (November 2008, from Burnaby BC)
• VA7EWK (July 2010, from many locations on Vancouver Island and the British Columbia "Lower Mainland")

I also operated from Argentina as LU/WD9EWK in April 2004, from Mexico as XE2/WD9EWK during many trips since April 2000 (most recently in July 2010), and from Australia in May 2011 as VK/WD9EWK.

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QSLs for contacts with WD9EWK, VA7EWK, etc.

I am the QSL manager for any activity related to my callsigns WD9EWK and VA7EWK, including the following:

• All my trips to Mexico since May 2000 as XE2/WD9EWK
• All of my activity from Canada as WD9EWK/VE7 in April 2002, as VA7EWK since April 2002 or my Canadian call with special prefixes (CJ7EWK/3 in 2002, CJ7EWK in 2008)
• The special USA callsign W9K (15-27 August 2002 only)
• LU/WD9EWK (April 2004)
• VK/WD9EWK (May 2011)

If you work me, I will be happy to QSL our contact(s), direct or (for DX QSOs) through the QSL bureau. An SASE or SAE with either a green stamp or new unexpired IRC would be great, but not mandatory. NO eQSL.cc!

I am now participating in the ARRL Logbook of the World (LOTW) system. I have registered my personal callsigns and obtained the digital certificates for LOTW. I have already uploaded the following QSOs:

• All satellite QSOs, regardless of QTH
• All QSOs made from Canada (all calls listed above), Mexico (XE2/WD9EWK), Argentina (LU/WD9EWK), and Australia (VK/WD9EWK)
• Any Cabrillo-formatted log for contests I have participated in since 2000
• All 6m QSOs

I continue to upload new satellite QSOs to the LOTW system. Please note that I do not add anything to my WD9EWK call for satellite operations from the continental USA. If I operate from Alaska, Hawaii, or another US territory, I will add an indicator to show which state/territory (and DXCC entity) I am operating from.

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QSL VIA WD9EWK

In addition to my own radio activity, I am the QSL manager for the following call signs:

4A2Q (May 2003 only!), AY7X (2007-2008 only), AY8XW (2002 only!), LT5X (2009 and 2011), L25X (2010), LU3XQ, LU3XQO, LU4DLU, LU5ER, LU5EVK/L20E, LU6KK/L99K, LU6XV (also LU5XPZ, his former call), LU7JA/LR1J, LU8XW (also LU8XW/X), LU9XT (also LU9XPF, his former call), XE2BSS/N2IX (ex-KG6OJZ), XE2BOA, XE2S, and XE2VAS/N2IY

For all of these, cards are OK if sent directly to me or through the QSL bureau. If you send me a QSL card direct for any of the stations I manage (calls other than WD9EWK, VA7EWK, or anything else related to either of those calls), please include an SASE with proper US postage, or an SAE with either 1 US dollar or 1 unexpired IRC! If you send an SASE with the proper postage rate, there's no need to also send an IRC or other contribution. More QSL-related information is available at: http://qsl.wd9ewk.net/

NO OLD IRCs!!!!!!! QSL requests with old IRCs = your QSL sent via bureau.

I do not upload logs to Logbook of the World, eQSL.cc, etc. for the stations whose QSL cards I manage. Some of these operators participate in those services, and upload their logs themselves.

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My mailing address

I have received several reports of mail sent to me being returned by the post office. This has been due to some database or QSL-related list having one of two old addresses for me. When I received my current PO box in September 2008, I promptly changed my address on file with the FCC, which changed the address here on QRZ.com. I also changed the address listed on my http://qsl.wd9ewk.net/ web page at that time. If you tried mailing me a QSL request to either PO Box 9283 or 4031 E. Aster Drive since September 2008, the information you used was inaccurate. I have no control over the retention of inaccurate information by other sources. If you have experienced this, please contact the source of your information and advise them it was incorrect.

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WD9EWK maildrop

I am also acting as a maildrop for Rafael XE2RV (ex-XE2PWF, 6I2PWF, 6I2RV), Omar XE1AO, Eliseo XE2TPJ, and David XE3DX. I am not the QSL manager for these stations; I only forward the QSL cards I receive to them and they will answer those requests.

Please do NOT send me an SASE with US postage for cards going to these hams. US postage is not valid in Mexico. A US dollar bill is sufficient for return postage from Mexico to the USA, or a new IRC. You run the risk of not receiving a card from these stations if there is no provision for return postage usable from Mexico.

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I have dabbled with all sorts of modes on HF (SSB, CW, PSK31, RTTY, AMTOR, PacTOR, HF packet, 10m FM) and VHF/UHF (SSB, FM, operating through amateur satellites and the ISS). I'm still enjoying this hobby. Hablo, comprendo, y leo un poco de español.

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Please consider supporting AMSAT, toward its Fox project and its efforts to build and launch more satellites for amateur radio:

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Photo: VK/WD9EWK satellite station and my 2011 Toyota Corolla rental car, parked at Doncaster Reserve, a city park in Doncaster East, Victoria on 22 May 2011.

On the roof of the car are my two Yaesu FT-817NDs and Garmin GPSMAP 76S GPS receiver. Hidden by the GPS receiver is my Sony digital audio recorder, used to record the satellite audio for logging at a later time. On the dashboard is my iPod Touch (it had a satellite-tracking app I used when working satellites on this trip). Laying next to the Corolla is my Elk handheld 2m/70cm log periodic antenna. I worked satellites using this equipment, or substituting a Kenwood TH-F6A HT for one of the FT-817NDs as the downlink receiver, or on one occasion simply using my Kenwood TH-D72A 2m/70cm FM HT (which also saw use as my APRS radio during the trip - note the 2m/70cm magnet-mount antenna on the trunk/boot of the Corolla) in place of the other radios. I operated from this and two other locations around Melbourne, and two locations around Sydney, during my May 2011 trip to Australia.

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Updated 23 May 2012