CQ CQ WES de W8MDE!

This weekend fans of manually generated Morse Code radio-telegraphy gathered on the high frequency bands to participate in the SKCC Week End Sprint.  I managed to log a few hours in my new and improved operating position and had a good time making contacts on my wireless set.

April 2013 SKCC Week End Sprint

14.052 MHz    AA5VE    Texas
14.052 MHz    W7GVE    Arizona
7.050 MHz    N8KR    Ohio
7.056 MHz    W0INS    Missouri
7.058 MHz    K8WSN    Michigan
7.053 MHz    N5RB    Mississippi
7.055 MHz    KC0M    Missouri
7.052 MHz    WA1OTZ    Connecticut
7.051 MHz    VA2SG    Quebec Canada
7.050 MHz    W9DLN    Wisconsin
7.053 MHz    N0UMP    Missouri
7.058 MHz    WA1HFF    Massachusetts
14.051 MHz    W6KGP    Wyoming
7.056 MHz    WN4AT    Alabama
7.055 MHz    WA1VIL    Massachusetts
7.053 MHz    N9ZXL    Illinois
7.053 MHz    W0CSR    Missouri
7.055 MHz    K8NB    Michigan
7.055 MHz    KB1NHV    Vermont
7.055 MHz    WW4DX    North Carolina
14.055 MHz    F6HK    France
7.055 MHz    AF2Z    New Jersey
7.114 MHz    K2RFP    New York
7.053 MHz    KL7GLL    Virginia
7057 MHz    W5KDM    Mississippi
7.057 MHz    NG2T    North Carolina
7.057 MHz    KE3O    Maryland
7.057 MHz    N5JPX    Mississippi
7.057 MHz    KG4WNA    Kentucky
7.057 MHz    KA1KU    Massachusetts
7.057 MHz    K1EDG    Maine
7.055 MHz    WS8K    Michigan
7.052 MHz    WI0S    Minnesota
7.057 MHz    K4GM    Virginia
7.054 MHz    WB0PYF    Missouri
14.053 MHz    NG7Z    Washington State
14.050 MHz    KZ5OM    California
14.047 MHz    K0JV    South Dakota

--

In other news at W8MDE I've upgraded my station computer to this new Toshiba laptop running Windows 8.  Progress marches on so instead of grumbling and hand wringing I've jumped right in.  The Windows 8 operating system is a bit different but not a big deal.  On the surface it looks and acts more like a touchscreen controlled Android device.  Clicking on the windows start button brings up a "normal" looking screen with a task bar at the bottom and desktop icons reminiscent of previous windows operating systems.
  

Happily the learning curve is not too bad even for someone like me who is not computer savvy in the least.  I've been trying to get more hands on with my computers and I recently learned how to clean and de-fragment my hard drives.  Wow! computers work a lot better with a little regular maintenance.  My idea of "hands on" technology is a Morse Code key.

Saturday afternoon I downloaded the popular PSK-31 program "digipan" successfully and plugged in my Signalink USB interface completing a hard link between the laptop and my transceiver and in short order was having a PSK-31 conversation with a station in the North of France.  Computers really are getting better and better.  This unit functioned perfectly from the start and didn't give me any static regarding the separate soundcard in the Signalink USB. I didn't have to reconfigure any of the computer's internal soundcard settings to get the digipan software working correctly with the interface and my amateur radio.