February 2005
Articles from the
February 2005 issue of CQ posted on our
website include:
CQ continues its 60th anniversary celebration this month, with the "/60" CQ Gang event on the air between January 1 and March 1, 2005, the first 60 days of the year. Contact enough stations signing "/60" after their calls and you'll qualify for the 2005 edition of the "CQ Gang" award. Plus, CQ Amateur Radio Club station WW2CQ will be on the air from around the U.S. during the /60 period. An additional certificate is available for contacting WW2CQ in each US call district in which it's active. Click here for details.
The February issue of CQ features a mix of articles from hams around the world. We start with an amazing story titled "Still Chasing the Invisible Wave," by Russian amateur Boris Meshevstev, RV3IZ, on the tremendous influence ham radio has had on his life. Next, in "Putting Your Heart into Your Hobby," Canadian ham Brian Campbell, VE3MGY, explains how adopting a healthy lifestyle can not only help you live longer, but give you more stamina for contest operating and late-night DXing as well. From Canada, we move to Japan, where Makoto "Mac" Obara, formerly JA8SLU and now TZ6JA (that call is from the African country of Mali, where Mac spends a fair amount of time), adds a new dimension to our ongoing discussion of Long-Delayed Echoes, sharing a theory of one or more ionospheres in interplanetary space that may be reflecting signals back to Earth. Read the article, and W2VU's editorial, "Outside the Box," before making any judgments.
Next, we have the rules for the 2005 CQ World Wide WPX Contest. This year, the SSB weekend is March 26-27and the CW weekend is May 28-29. Our February issue also has a CQ review of the Autek RF-1 RF Analyst, by Jack Najork, W5FG/XE1 (yet another country heard from - Jack is currently living in Mexico), and Phil Salas, AD5X, offers tips on building a mobile mount for an SGC SG-2020 transceiver. Continuing our world tour, Steve Ireland, VK6VZ/G3ZZD, brings us an excellent tutorial on the art of restoring old vacuum tube radios, a perfect intro for anyone just starting out in this very popular activity. Finally among our features this month, Alan Pevar, W6BAK, shows us how to use a wireless mic and headset combination to let you roam around your house and yard while talking on a radio that stays inside!
Among our February columns, "Washington Readout" editor Fred Maia, W5YI, starts us out with "License Plates on the Radio Highway," a short history of station identification rules, callsigns and distress signals; "Math's Notes" editor Irwin Math, WA2NDM, looks at "Non-Coax Video," and Public Service Editor Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, looks into the story behind the story of why hams did not participate in this year's Tournament of Roses parade in California, for the first time in nearly 30 years.
"World of Ideas" editor Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, covers one of his (and our readers') favorite topics -- building crystal sets to bring back the earliest days of radio. In "Beginner's Corner," editor Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, takes a look at what he calls "A Cornucopia of Neat Ideas for the Shack and Shop;" and Digital Editor Don Rotolo, N2IRZ, introduces a proposal for a new type of signal reports for digital QSOs -- labeled RSQ instead of RST.
"What's New" editor Karl Thurber, W8FX, checks out a five-time-zone clock and a new mini-handheld transceiver, among other new goodies; K4TWJ's QRP (low-power) column features a basic introduction to this fast-growing part of our hobby, and takes a look at some of the build-it-yourself QRP rig kits currently on the market, and VHF Editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, reports on a new distance record up at 403 GHz, plus a possible explanation for last November's highly unusual 2-meter sporadic-E opening in Europe.
DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, looks at "Working DX the Hard Way," Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, profiles some interesting awards from Scotland and Brazil, Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, has the results of his 2004 contest survey, and Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, looks back at conditions during the CQ World Wide DX Contest CW weekend last November, along with his forecast for propagation conditions in February.
That's a preview of what will be in February issue of CQ.
2005 Nominations Open for the CQ Amateur Radio
Hall of Fame
Rules: The 2005 CQ
World-Wide WPX
Contest
February 2005
Contest Calendar