April 2005
Articles from the
April 2005 issue of CQ posted on our
website include:
The April 2005 issue of CQ features three first-person reports on ham radio activity related to the tsunami that struck southern Asia in late December. We start with a report from Bharathi Prasad, VU2RBI, leader of a DXpedition to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (VU4), on the pre-tsunami DXpedition and the post-tsunami emergency communications efforts by her group. We also have first-person perspectives from Charles Harpole, K4VUD, and Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF, both of whom had visited the VU4 DXpedition and were in the region during and after the earthquake and tsunami.
Next, we move back to the fun part of ham radio, announcing a new operating award designed to boost levels of DXing activity -- the CQ DX Field Award, based on 10x20-degree grid locator "fields." Details are in the issue and will be posted here once the issue is in distribution. When we started talking about what became the CQ DX Field Award, one of our goals was to present a new challenge to the long-time ham who's "done it all." Thinking along those same lines, William Jansen, K2HVN, gave himself the personal challenge of working all possible US callsign prefixes. He's only missing a few, and his story is an inspiration to anyone setting out to achieve a new goal in ham radio.
Grid locators are the basis for most VHF awards and contests, including the annual CQ World Wide VHF Contest. We have the 2004 results in this issue, along with the results of the 2004 CQ National Foxhunting Weekend and the rules for this year's hidden-transmitter hunting event. Plus we have our April installment of our year-long series in honor of CQ's 60th anniversary -- "60 Great Things About Ham Radio." And of course, it's time for our annual visit from the esteemed Dr. Emil Heisseluft. This year, he reports on new FCC efforts to defeat the scourge of "spectrum rage."
Among our April columns, "Math's Notes" editor Irwin Math, WA2NDM, looks at "Optical FM"; Public Service Editor Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, examines international assistance in times of disaster, and "Washington Readout" editor Fred Maia, W5YI, reports on the resignation of FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the ARRL's "regulation by bandwidth" proposal and new licensing rules in South Africa.
In "World of Ideas," editor Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, offers more "try HF" notes for new hams; Digital Editor Don Rotolo, N2IRZ, asks whether HSMM (High Speed Multi Media) can really find a home in ham radio; New Products Editor Karl Thurber, W8FX, looks at ICOM's new IC-756 Pro III, FlexRadio's SDR-1000 software defined radio and a variety of station accessories, and K4TWJ returns in his QRP Editor hat to look at low-power contesting, radios and antennas.
Beginner's Editor Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, tries to translate some of the specialized terms and jargon that a new ham will likely hear but not understand; "Magic in the Sky" editor Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, takes us behind the scenes at a ham radio swapfest; and "VHF-Plus" editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, begins a series titled, "They're not your father's VHF+ ham bands."
Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, writes about keeping on the alert for needed contacts; Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, explains log-checking by contest committees; DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, shares his experiences with a new mode, and Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, looks back at January's big solar flares and ahead to likely springtime propagation conditions on both the HF and VHF ham bands.
That's a preview of what will be in the April issue of CQ, which should be in readers’ mailboxes and on newsstands in mid- March.
CQ DX Field Award Announcement
