Six slots with Conway Reef but less time now

I now have six slots with Conway Reef. At least I hope I have six. I worked them on 15m SSB yesterday morning and I wasn't 100% sure that they said EI2KC, but I will wait for a log update. My other five QSOs are in the log alright.

I find the hexbeam is doing a terrific job. None of the slots took more than half an hour to work, and, honestly, in some cases I was only calling for a few minutes. I did try 10m CW yesterday for a while, but with musical activities to attend to over the weekend I have less time for radio. The split was incredible. They were listening 25kc up at one point. So as you can imagine, the pile-up calling them from EU must have been significant. I will wait for the pile to calm down before trying them on 10m.

I still need them on 17m CW, where there seems to be a dearth of activity. And surprisingly, I also need them on 20m SSB. I am listening on their QRG on 14.190 right now and, unfortunately, someone is jamming them with a slow scan signal. This is an unfortunate and regrettable side of the hobby, where disgruntled individuals cause QRM on a DX station.

Ah well, we need lots of patience in this hobby. It is usually rewarded, but sometimes not. I am glad to say I am enjoying Conway Reef 3D2C so far. Being unemployed does have its upside!! In between hunting for a new job, I can be at the radio during the daytime, something which was impossible while I was working full time!

Delighted with NH8S Swains dxpedition results

The NH8S Swains Island dxpedition has gone QRT about three days earlier than expected. However, I am very happy with my results, having worked them on a total of nine band slots.

The 'league table' showing the top EIs in the NH8S log.

The last of those slots was on 15 metres SSB last night, but this morning I see my callsign is busted and I am listed as EI3KC. The result of this is that I appear to be in joint second place among the EIs who have worked NH8S, but in actual fact I should be joint first. I am not complaining though! I am extremely satisfied to have worked this rare and distant dx entity on so many slots.

My call was busted on 15 metres SSB.

The new hexbeam has certainly helped with that, and I managed two slots using the RTTY mode, one on 20m and one on 15m. I did not hear them on 40 metres at any stage, nor did I hear them on 12 metres, but only a couple of EI ops seem to have nabbed them on those bands so I am happy enough.

Below is a video showing how strong NH8S was on 20m SSB on my hexbeam a couple of mornings ago.