Countries/DXCC Entities Confirmed

I was just looking at the countries/DXCC entities I have confirmed on the ARRL's Logbook of the World. In just about a year of operating on HF I've have 51 countries/entities confirmed on LOTW. I don't think that's too bad for someone who is not a hardcore DXer or HF operator. Here is a list of the countries that I have confirmed:

ALASKA	AL1G
ANGUILLA	VP2E
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA	V26F
ARUBA	P40ZB
AUSTRALIA	VK4KW
BAHAMAS	C6APR
BARBADOS	8P5A
BONAIRE,CURACAO (NETH ANTILLES)	PJ4E
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLAND	VP2V/SP7VC
CANADA	VA3DX
CANARY ISLAND	EF8R
CAYMAN ISLANDS	ZF2AM
COLOMBIA	HK3O
COSTA RICA	TI5N
CRETE	SV9CVY
CUBA	T42T
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	HI3TEJ
ENGLAND	M6T
FERNANDO DE NORONHA	PS0F
FINLAND	OH8L
FRANCE	F5RQQ
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS	HC8A
HAITI	4V4JR
HAWAII	NH7C
HONDURAS	HQ3Z
HUNGARY	HA5BSW
IRELAND	EI3IO
ITALY	IU8ANT
LITHUANIA	LY8O
LUXEMBOURG	LX1AX
MARTINIQUE	TO8Z
MEXICO	XE3N
MONTENEGRO	4O3A
NETHERLANDS	PA9JO
NORTHERN IRELAND	GI5K
NORWAY	LN9Z
POLAND	SP5KP
PORTUGAL	CT1ILT
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA	ZS3Y
SAINT MARTIN	FS5KA
SCOTLAND	GA2MP
SLOVENIA	S53F
SPAIN	EA1EEY
SVALBARD	JW8DW
SWITZERLAND	HB9FAX
TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS	VP5/WB2REM
UKRAINE	UT7UV
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	N1API
US VIRGIN ISLANDS	KP2M
VENEZUELA	YV4A
WALES	GW4B

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

CQWW DX Contest

This weekend, I used the CQWW DX Contest to add some DX stations to my logbook and pick up a few new countries in the process. Overall, I had 83 contacts most of which were on 20 and 15 Meters. 15 Meters seemed to work the best for me this time; 20 Meters was just so jam packed and busy that it was hard for me to get through the big gun stations with 100 Watts and a G5RV. I found the easier going on 15 Meters both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The highlights were working New Zealand and the United Nations Headquarters, both early Sunday morning on 40 Meters.

The new countries/DX entities I picked up this weekend were:

Montserrat
Chile
French Guiana
Norway
Moldavia
Scotland
Cape Verde
New Zealand
United Nations Headquarters


Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Monitoring In Brunswick

I'm just about settled in Brunswick and I've had the chance to break out the scanners and do a bit of listening. I've been able to monitor some Fire/EMS traffic on the Glynn County TRS and some MilCom.

Listening to the Glynn County and Brunswick Fire Departments has been an adjustment. They use different terminology than I'm used to listening to from Chatham County and Savannah and they dispatch somewhat differently. I'd describe it, but I'm still in the process of getting a grip on it.

In the realm of MilCom, I've been able to catch some F/A-18s from Beaufort over the weekend and some JSTARS activity today. Monday is typically a slow day for Beaufort, so I haven't been able to ascertain how well I can hear the W-157 traffic (but it shouldn't be much of a problem). It is also worth noting that I heard some MARAUDER AH-64s from the SC ARNG working Townsend Range from I-95 at Exit 38 last week. Given the the AH-64s typically fly relatively low level, this could be a sign that there will be good listening to Townsend Range from here in Brunswick.

Stay Tuned, More to Come (Albeit it may be slowly...)

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air

This Saturday, 17 October 2009, is the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air. Savannah area scouts will be participating with a JOTA event at the 8th Air Force Museum in Pooler on US 80 just off of I-95. The plan is to be on the air beginning at 10:00 AM Saturday morning and will be operated like a mini-Field Day. If you are an amateur radio operator, please come out and help the Boy Scouts out. This event is a great way to encourage prospective hams, get experience in setting up and operating a station in the field (good ARES type training) and just enjoy camaraderie with other hams. If you aren't a ham and are interested in amateur radios, feel free to drop by and learn about the hobby. Philip, KA4KOE is organizing the event and has announced that an Army communications Humvee is scheduled to be on display at the JOTA event.

Unfortunately I won't be at the JOTA this year due to my work schedule. Despite that, I encourage folks to get out and support this great event. I'll truly miss not being able to help out.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

First Few Days in Brunswick

I am back from my first few days in Brunswick. I was pretty busy with work, so I don't have much to report quite yet. There wasn't much military to report on because one day was a holiday. The Glynn County TRS is very active, but I haven't had much time to search for TGs that aren't listed on the Radio Reference page. Here is what have found:

• The 442.700 repeater covers the area south of Savannah better than the 2-meter repeaters. I was able to start carrying on a conversation with Mark, KA4CID from milemarker 49 while on my way back to town this evening.
• The 444.625 repeater in Kingsland has good coverage in Brunswick. This is an interesting repeater; it is dual mode with both analog and P25 voice. I had a good QSO with Pete, K4QHR on the 444.625 last night while out getting something to eat.
• My programming files need some serious work! The portions for Glynn and Camden have not been used much and extended monitoring and attempted use has exposed some problems.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Chatham Emergency Management Agency Digital Talkgroups Revisited

This afternoon I'm revisiting a blog post from last month about CEMA talkgroups. Last month's post was about CEMA talkgroups being referred to as number/letter combinations such as 1A.

Today's monitoring has shed some more light on the designators for CEMA's talkgroups. As mentioned in the previous post, CEMA activity has been noted on TG 12496. It was in use today as CEMA and the Port Wentworth FD tested warning sirens. During that activity, the TG was referred to as "channel 1D." This would indicate that CEMA now has two groups of talkgroups for their use: a set of analog channels using A or ALPHA designators and a set of digital talkgroup using D or DELTA designators.

If TG 12496 is, as referred to, CEMA 1D and the D/DELTA talkgroups parallel the known analog talkgroups, we can extrapolate the following:

12496 - CEMA 1D

12512 - CEMA 2D

12528 - CEMA 3D

12544 - CEMA 4D

12560 - CEMA 5D

Future monitoring should indicate if those are the actual talkgroup assignments. I do have one note from December 2007 with radio testing on TG 12560. If anyone hears any activity on these talkgroups, please send me an email at kf4lmt @ comcast.net or post to the Scan Savannah Google Group.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

Mil Air Frequency List Updates

As promised, I have uploaded some updates. The Savannah IAP/CRTC list, MCAS Beaufort list, and the Shaw AFB list have all been updated and uploaded tonight. Next I'll be turning my attention to updating some of the public safety files (no guarantees on when the updates will be ready for upload though!)

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT

September MilCom Recap and Admin Notes

• There won't be a monthly MilCom recap for September. It was a busy month and I didn't have much time for radio so I didn't have time to make very many notes with which to assemble the recap.
• October could shape up to be very similar as I'll be making a move to the Brunswick area mid-month. After that I hope to get things back to normal. I'll be in the Brunswick area for roughly 5 days a week, so the postings will reflect some different monitoring. I hope to get a little bit more out of the Jacksonville area and the amount of info on Shaw AFB and McEntire ANGB will probably be reduced.
• I will be taking some time very soon to update some of the frequency lists linked on the side bar to this blog. I'll make some admin posts as I do to let you know when they are updated.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT