Author: Marion Mason

The annual Winter Field Day (WFD) was held last weekend, January 25 & 26. The WFD website indicates that 1,517 logs were submitted — that’s a strong showing! This year EAWA members participated in their own way. Their various experiences highlight the diverse ways ham radio operators joined in the exercise.

Like some WFD participants, Marion W1GRL, operated casually from home. For her, the experience was reminiscent of the ARRL Field Day in June. There were more younger and feminine voices on than is typical in contests, and often it was clear that there were two people working together. Also, she heard more Mainers on the air than usual. Congrats to Marion who set modest goals, met them, and enjoyed the experience!

Barbara KC1SSY, participated in WFD by visiting Joan W1DLC at her operating station, and Jeff KA1DBE, and Matt W1MRH at their field site. Matt demonstrated PSK and she was able to make some digital contacts. Reflecting on her experience, Barbara remarked at the innovative ways club members approached WFD, using their personal resources in unique ways. Congrats to Barbara for her clever way of gaining ham experience and supporting others in WFD!

As an example of those who activated solo, Joan W1DLC operated in a small shack, relying on a generator and a battery. For her, WFD is a test of her equipment, skills, and stamina. She set up a 40 meter EFHW for 20 meters, and low power 40/20 linked dipole for 15 and 40 meters. Having Barbara stop by to see her operation was a highlight. Joan met her goals in all areas – preparations, operations, and take-down — all while working alone. Congratulations to Joan for a great WFD!

Like those WFD participants who operated with friends or their club, Matt W1MRH and Jeff KA1DBE set up an extensive station at Matt’s lake-side camp. Operating as N1S, they worked to meet many of the WFD objectives and multipliers set out in the new 2025 rules. They were also gracious in opening their camp to several friends, a goal that is always present in field day activities. Congratulations to Jeff and Matt for a successful WFD, excelling in objectives and outreach!

Whether it is casual involvement from home, a solo experience in an outdoor shelter, or a full-on multi-operator camp experience, WFD has something for all hams. It will be some time before scores and winners are announced, but in many ways that is secondary to the fun and learning opportunities experienced by the participants. Now it is time to look ahead to the ARRL Field Day, June 28-29, 2025. 
Written by Marion W1GRL

As the award in the photo shows, EAWA member Matt W1MRH has contacted and confirmed at least 100 countries or entities on the five primary HF contest bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. In addition, he has secured the required 100 confirmed contacts on 160, 30, 17, and 12 meters. At the time of this writing he had 77 confirmed entities on 6 meters. Across all bands, he has confirmed 295 countries on the DX list.

Matt and a few others in the EAWA who have achieved this award are in rare company. According to an ARRL article published October 4, 2021, there are approximately 780,000 hams in the U.S. and 1.75 million world-wide. Matt is #10,556 to reach 5 Band DXCC, putting him in a group of 1% of the hams in the U.S. and a group of 0.6% in the world.

To reach his DXCC goals Matt has employed all the major modes, with most of his contacts made on phone or CW. His primary radios include an Elecraft K3, Icom IC-7300, and an Icom IC-7610. He has a tower with multiple antennas, four wire antennas, and a satellite antenna. In order to chase any DX signal quickly, he has various radios and antennas tuned to particular bands. Following a remark on the great set-up, he quickly added that most of the DXCC contacts were made with a dipole and 100 watts — sophisticated equipment is not required.

Matt began a dedicated effort to complete the 5 Band DXCC Award in 2014. When asked about the countries hardest to get, he rummaged through a sizable tub of QSL cards and settled on contacting Japan and New Zealand on 6 meters, and gaining confirmations from Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Today he continues his DXCC quest, working on 6 meters and adding new countries on particular bands. Currently he works mostly CW and FT8/4, and enjoys the January and June Field Days. 

When asked what advice he would give to someone who wants to achieve DXCC on multiple bands, Matt said to commit to it, be patient, find a DX cluster (spotting site), and use LOTW. Based on listening to his story, it also takes daily hunting and persistence in the follow-through from contact to secured confirmation, whether through international mail, LOTW, or some other means.

Congratulations Matt! Thanks for sharing some of your DXCC journey and inspiring others to join in the hunt for QSOs around the world.
Written by Marion W1GRL

EAWA members and friends are so accustomed to the redesigned website that it feels like it’s more than a year old! The feel of the website and the articles have evolved and grown over this first year, prompting a few minor changes. The opening page of the website still looks and functions in the same way. We, Marion W1GRL and Stan W1BOY, have added Announcements to the pinned-to-the-top “Upcoming Events.”

One of our goals was to make it easier to find older posts as some of them are quite good (hi hi). Seriously, some of them, such as the post on how the weekly nets are run for someone new, should be easy to find. With that in mind, we have changed the tabs at the top from Announcements and Happenings to Club News and Articles. Club News items are tied to specific club events such as monthly meetings, whereas Articles share news about particular EAWA members or more general club functions. The post on the nets is an example of items in the Articles tab. Some posts may show up in both categories.

Finally, there is a way to get a link to a particular post, should you want to keep the address to a useful post or perhaps one you are mentioned in. Someone may, for example, want to keep the specific address to the post about how the nets are run. This process works for any post: First, find the post and click or tap on the title.

Once clicked, the post will appear in its own window, with its specific website address.

If you click or touch the address box at the top, you will find the website address that will always take you directly to that article.

Once the address appears, there are many ways to save it, such as using the copy-and-paste process.

As club grows so does the website. It’s likely that a year from now there may be a few more small changes. The important thing is that the awesome content — the awesome things happening with the EAWA — is easy for all to find. Here’s to a great 2025 for the EAWA and many of good stories and articles for the website.
Written by Marion W1GRL

Approximately 20 (we lost count) EAWA members and friends met at Flexit Cafe for our weekly “Clandestine Coffee” gathering. It was delightful to see many new and old friends! Listening to the various conversations revealed that hardly a ham radio-related topic remained untouched during the 2+ hours of chatting.

With such a great kick-off to 2025, it seems the Ellsworth Amateur Wireless Association and friends are ready for an active, community-building year!
Written by Marion W1GRL