Another Kind of Code Talker

I don't think this is the same as the Navajo code talkers.

New Tools (Toys) for the Contest Season

The LIDS just got back from a road trip to the Stinkbait Hollar Hamfest and Contest Symposium last weekend. All of the new products for Big Guns are introduced there. Dayton is too far a trip and too many Shack-on-a-Belt wannabe Squirt Pistols for those catering to Real Big Guns. No, the Stinkbait Hollar Hamfest is the place to go to get the real lowdown. If you've never been, put it on your calendar for next year. To get there, just head south on the big interstate until you hear banjos. Then you're getting close. Look for the signs. Or stop and ask directions. If you dare.

Below is a short list of must have items for the new contest and DX season. Without them, you'll be hard pressed to maintain your Big Gun status as the pileups will be fierce. With no sunspots, we all may be CQing on 160m during the day trying to scare up Qs. Don't say we didn't warn you. Ours are already on order.

Dr. DX's Double Zepp Antenna Wax

Do the bands sound noisier to you lately? Does your signal seem weaker than it used to be? It's probably not all due to the

lack of sunspots. As antennas age and weather, corrosion on the wire and tubing surfaces and result in decreased efficiency and increased noise.

Dr. DX's Double Zepp Antenna Wax can ameliorate those problems. Infused with state-of-the-art nanoparticles of room temperature superconductors, Dr. DX's Double Zepp Antenna Wax will coat and protect your antennas, cutting though the existing surface corrosion and providing a new layer of high conductivity coating while also sealing it from future corrosion.

Dr. DX's Double Zepp Antenna Wax can add dB's to your

dipole, varoom to your vertical and yowweee to your Yagi. To apply, use a rag and coat the entire antenna with a generous coat of antenna wax. While buffing is not required, it does add a shine and luster to your antenna making it sparkle like new.

McElroy Key Grease

CW operators, does your key make too many mistakes? Does your straight key stutter? Do you find yourself ditting when you meant to be dahhing?

It's not your fault!

Even the finest of paddles get rusty over time. Bearings and pivot points collect dust and dirt. Contacts oxidize, The result is erratic operation, resulting in Sloppy Fist Syndrome (SFS), characterized by missed dits and extra dahs.

McElroy's Key Grease can fix these problems and more. McElroy's builds upon the latest in tribological science and superconductivity research to create a key grease that combines a synthetic lubricant for the bearings and pivots with superconductive nanoparticles to lower the resistance of all electrical contacts. McElroy's Key Grease is the secret of success of top cw ops the world over. Periodic application to all mechanical and electrical connections of your key will ensure it stays in competition condition.

No animals are harmed in the production or testing of McElroy's Key Grease although several were very annoyed. Not responsible for excessive QRQ operation or carpel tunnel injuries resulting from the application of McElroy's Key Grease

M2Timer

Do you run Multi-2 in CQWW? Do you fear the dreaded DQ for accidental 'rubber clocking'? The new M2Timer will eliminate those worries. The M2Timer is an advanced hardware/software product that monitors for adherence to the CQWW Multi-2 10-minute rule and GUARANTEES* that you won't ever rubber clock, even accidentally.

The heart of the M2Timer is a GPS disciplined Cesium clock to insure timing accuracy to within 0.1 ns. The clock interfaces with your logging computers and all major contest logging programs (CT, N1MM, Writelog). The M2Timer software monitors the logging of both the run station and the multiplier station to insure compliance with the 10-minute rule. The basic version of the M2Timer locks out the PTT of the multiplier station if it tries to violate the 10-minute rule. The advanced version of the M2Timer attaches the amplifier HV supply to the multiplier station operator chair seat. If the multiplier operator attempts to violate the 10-minute rule, the amp HV is switched to the chair seat. No operator will attempt to violate the 10-minute more than once. Ever.

Having one of these insures you'll pass that CQWW committee inspection!

*Guarantee requires use of the advanced version of M2Timer.

EST-Detector

If you are a serious contest Big Gun, you know that you now have to worry about that dreaded station inspection from the CQWW contest committee. The EST-Detector (K3 model) is a new device that detects the presence of CQWW officials, providing needed warning before the dreaded knock on the door. Based on proprietary technology developed by water dowsers and psychics , the EST-Detector can detect a CQWW committee representative from a distance of 500m or more. It provides a visual alarm in the form of a flashing red light and an audible warning in the form of a 110 dB buzzer. With sufficient warning, you can have a hot cup of coffee waiting for the CQWW cop when he appears at your door.

QSL Venus?

Last month a team of radio amateurs with AMSAT-DL were able to successfully transmit and receive their signals after bouncing them off the planet Venus. This is the first successful amateur earth-venus-earth (EVE) transmission. They transmitted HI in morse code. With their signals traveling over 100 million kilometers and having a round trip delay of approximately five minutes, it was hardly QSK. Nevertheless, such an accomplishment certain qualifies them for Big Gun status. To prove that their successful transmissions were not a fluke, they repeated the tests the next night.

It turns out that they may not have been the only ones listening to their signals.

Late last week, an unusual thin metallic plate was discovered on the doorsteps of the station used to conduct the tests. The plate was oddly iridescent and unidentifiable as any common metal such as aluminum or steel. It was extremely light weight, almost impossibly so for its size. Upon further examination, the AMSAT-DL team members found its surface was extremely hard and they could not scratch or mar it with any tool they had.

But the real surprise came when they attempted to examine it under an ultraviolet light. Suddenly a hologram appeared on the top of plate, as if projected from within the plate. It was almost like a scene out of the original Star Wars, except there was no Princess Leila image. The hologram displayed a sequence of cryptic runes followed by a playback of the AMSAT-DL EVE transmission in morse code, followed by more cryptic runes. At a loss for the origin, let alone the meaning of the device and its message, one is led to the possibility that this may be an SWL QSL from Venus itself. But that begs the question, how do you QSL?

CW Speed Limit Proposed

It as just a couple of years ago that No-Code International helped to persuade the FCC to eliminate the Morse code testing requirements for American ham radio operators. The no-code fad spread to other countries faster than a chlamydia outbreak in Fort Lauderdale during spring break. Despite the success of No-Code International and its sympathizers, the airways have continued to be perversely full of cw signals. However, if another group has its way, those cw signals may be slowed to a crawl.

A new organization by the name of Slow-Code International plans to petition the FCC to place a speed limit on all cw signals. They suggest that no one be allowed to send cw faster than 15 words per minute. Although the Slow-Code International members have learned cw, they complain that too many operators send faster than they can copy. Many of these high speed, or QRQ, operators have spent decades polishing their cw skills through participation in traffic nets, contests, DXing, and everyday rag chewing. The Slow-Code group maintains that it is unreasonable to expect them to spend years practicing to perfect an outdated skill. A spokesman for Slow-Code International claims that 15 wpm is as fast as anybody need to operate cw. "Those hot shots running 20, 25, 30 words per minute are just show offs. Most of our members can't think faster than about 18 words per minute."

Slow-Code International has found an allie in their crusade. The Anti-CW Lovers Union (ACLU) claims that a cw speed limit is justifiable under the American With Disabilities Act (ADA). Prior to the elimination of the code testing requirement, the FCC would issue medical exemptions to license candidates who could provide a doctor's certification that they had a condition which prevented them from copying Morse code. By extension, the ACLU argues that the FCC must accept that not being to copy cw is a medical disability, hence not being able to copy fast code should also be considered a disability. Therefore, under the ADA, it is reasonable to place some limitation on cw operators to accommodate those with the disability.

Slow-Code International and the ACLU plan to file their petition with the FCC later this summer.