October 2006
Articles from the
October 2006 issue of CQ posted on our
website include:
You might call the October issue of CQ our Joe Walsh special! We've got the rock superstar (for the non-rock 'n rollers out there, he's the guitarist for the Eagles and the newly-revived James Gang) who's also an active ham - WB6ACU - on our cover this month because he plays a role in each of our first two feature articles. We lead off with a report by Donald DuBon, N6JRL, on "Team TI5N in the 2005 CQ WW DX SSB Contest." Joe was supposed to be part of this DXpedition and when he couldn't go, he covered the expenses of his replacement, who otherwise never could have afforded the trip to Costa Rica. Next, Joel Thurtell, K8PSV, offers his "Rock Star Price Guide," a way of assigning a current value to vintage radios - a quest sparked by WB6ACU's inquiry about the price of the one-of-a-kind radio that's the jewel of Joel's vintage radio collection.
Bob Locher, W9KNI, takes us "back to the future" with his article, "Revisiting My Roots," which, unlike other reflections on one's early days in hamming, is not connected with using vintage radios, but rather the fun and challenge of working the world with 100 watts and a vertical antenna … even at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Next, we have a CQ Review of the Gamma Research HPS-1a Power Supply by Contributing Editor Phil Salas, AD5X; our annual update of all-time records in the CQ World Wide DX Contest -- Remember to mark your dates for the 2006 CQWW -- SSB on October 28 and 29; CW on November 25 and 26 -- and "More Cheap Antenna Improv," a follow-up article by George Ewing, WA8WTE, to his "Antennas for Next to Nothing" article in July, 2005 CQ.
Finally among this month's features, we have two project articles -- one electronic and one "nuts and bolts" -- "Rack Mount Your Station," by John Ellis, NP2B, and "(Yes, You Can) Design and Build Your Own Coax RF Choke," by Benson Smith, KA4LBE.
Among our columns, "World of Ideas" editor Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, starts us out with Part 2 of his "Hamming From the Shadows" series on operating with antenna restrictions -- a topic also discussed by CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, in this month's "Zero Bias" editorial; Public Service Editor Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, reports on a major new mission for MARS, the Military Affiliate Radio System, and "Math's Notes" editor Irwin Math, WA2NDM, updates his earlier column on white LEDs and discusses switching power supplies as well.
"Washington Readout" editor Fred Maia, W5YI, reports on the United Kingdom's new approach to ham licensing, featuring lifetime licenses with periodic online updates, something the FCC will no doubt watch carefully; "Weekender" editor Phil Salas, AD5X, offers two approaches to building attenuators for making performance measurements on HF receivers; Digital Editor Don Rotolo, N2IRZ, reports on the High Performance Software Defined Radio Porject, "Magic in the Sky" editor Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, takes us behind the scenes at Dayton, and K4TWJ returns in his QRP Editor role to write about "A Low-Power Fantasy Land."
Beginners' Editor Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, talks about how to say goodbye -- the sometimes surprisingly difficult task of ending a contact; "What's New?" editor Karl Thurber, W8FX, checks out a code practice oscillator, a spectrum analyzer, a new vertical antenna and more; while DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, brings us up to date on two new DX "entities," Montenegro and Swain's Island; Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, writes about visiting all counties (let alone working them); "VHF-Plus" editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, covers the 2006 "Great Plains Superlaunch"; Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, looks at the (mostly negative) impact of packet spotting on contesting, and Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, delves into the question of whether HF signal propagation is reciprocal, while he also looks ahead to expected conditions for the SSB weekend of the CQ World Wide DX Contest on October 28 and 29.
That's a brief look at what's coming up in the October issue of CQ magazine, which should be on newsstands and in subscribers' mailboxes by late September. For information on becoming a CQ subscriber, click the "Click Here to Subscribe" button at the top of this page.
Coming soon: 2007-2008 CQ Calendars!
Watch our webstore for announcements.
Hamparks: An Escape from Antenna Bans?
All-Time Records
CW & SSB,
CQ World Wide
DX Contest
All-Time Records
U.S.A.,
CQ World Wide
DX Contest
September 2006 Contest Calendar
November 2006
Contest Calendar
On the Cover:
America's
"hippest ham," Eagles and James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, poses in
front
of some of his many vintage radios.
Joe figures prominently
in our first two feature articles this month.
