XE2/WD9EWK on 24-28 May 2002

Updated 12 January 2009

Another fun weekend of radio from Mexico! I only made 2 RTTY QSOs, but tried PSK31 from Mexico for the first time - with much success - and with only one time with a serious lack of propagation (Monday, 27 May, at midday and the early afternoon). It was a very enjoyable time, with the radios, good friends, and great Mexican hospitality - especially when I tried my Spanish with some non-English-speaking friends there, without the benefit of a translator!

Once again, my "home base" for this Mexican trip was the QTH of Alex XE2BSS and his family in Mexicali (grid DM22go). Muchas gracias a ti y tuyos, mi amigo!

What about my XE ham permit?
I maintain another page on this site with information on obtaining a Mexican ham-radio permit. The permits are getting more and more expensive. In January 2002, the permit cost 828 pesos (about US$ 90 then) for 6 months. The fees for these permits are fixed to the amount Mexican hams pay for their 5-year licenses. It makes the math easier on those collecting the fees, but the combination of the gradual increases in the fee coupled with the Mexican peso holding its value against the US dollar (and, since summer 2000, improving slightly against the dollar) makes these permits expensive!!!

My stations for this trip
I operated most of the time from Mexicali, but spent Sunday (26 May, into 27 May UTC time) at a different park near Rumorosa, in the mountains roughly 70km/45 miles west of Mexicali. My stations at each location:

Mexicali (DM22go), at the QTH of Alex XE2BSS

Icom IC-706Mk2G, at 35 watts on PSK31 and 100 watts on other modes
A-99 vertical (for 10-17 meters) or 40m inverted-V dipole (20 and 40 meters, with MFJ-969 tuner), both up about 10m/30 feet
KAM98 TNC for RTTY
LinPSK PSK31 software for Linux
Dell Latitude laptop

Rumorosa (DM12xl), at "Ponderosa" (a small park and campground southwest of town)
(70km/45 miles west of Mexicali, 1300m/4250 feet elevation, a few km/miles south of the USA border and Mexico highway 2)

With the help of XE2BSS, we had two stations operating from this QTH:

Station #1 (used for SSB and PSK31, along with CW by XE2BSS):

Icom IC-706Mk2G, at 10 watts on all modes
20m dipole, fed with 450-ohm ladder-line cable, up approximately 6m/20 feet with MFJ-969 tuner
LinPSK PSK31 software for Linux
Dell Latitude laptop
Xantrex xPower 300 portable 12V 21Ah gel-cell battery pack with AC inverter (had 2 of these at Rumorosa for the radios and briefly the laptop)

Station #2 (only SSB):

Yaesu FT-817, at 5 watts
Outbacker Joey multiband HF/VHF antenna, on its tripod

My radio time
I was hoping to make more RTTY QSOs, and I called CQ trying to round up any contacts on that mode. I ended up making two RTTY QSOs on Saturday night (26 May UTC time) with stations in California and Kentucky on 20m, oh well. I made 7 SSB QSOs - one with a K5 station in Texas on 17m, and the rest on 10m. One of the SSB QSOs was with a friend in Mexicali, Hector XE2DN, who was a couple km/miles north of me in Mexicali and closer to the USA border. Plus a station in Florida, a VK4, and 3 Argentine stations. The remaining 59 were on PSK31, split mostly between 10m and 20m with a single 17m PSK31 QSO with a station in Washington state and a 40m PSK31 QSO from Rumorosa with another good friend, Eliseo XE2TPJ, roughly 125km/80 miles east of Rumorosa in San Luis Rio Colorado, next to the Colorado River in the Mexican state of Sonora (also at the USA border, roughly 40km/25 miles south of Yuma, Arizona).

I did not have large pileups on this trip. If I called CQ I had an orderly response, and without those pileups I would slip into ragchew mode mentioning my location and station setup - and do this in Spanish if working a Latin American station. I was disappointed with the two RTTY QSOs, and did not intend to spend a lot of time working SSB, so I was very happy with my first PSK31 effort from Mexico. For not publicizing this trip in advance, and not intending to be at a radio for the entire weekend, I have no complaints. As always, a fun trip.

For both locations in total, here is a breakdown of total QSOs by band:

40m: 1
20m: 35
17m: 2
10m: 30

I worked 13 US states, 2 Mexican states (Baja California and Sonora), and a total of 13 DXCC entities on this trip. For my entity count as XE2/WD9EWK, new countries on this trip were 3D2 (Fiji), UA0, and ZP. I think Minnesota might be a new US state, so I am still a few shy of 50 for the Worked All States award from down there. The 10m band was in great shape except for Monday around midday and the early afternoon. I made many SSB and PSK31 QSOs with South America on this trip - one each with PY and ZP, and 14 in Argentina including some with the special Argentine AY and L5 prefixes. A real surprise was working Aisea (pronounced like "Isaiah") 3D2AA on 10m PSK31 2 hours after sunset on Saturday evening (27 May, UTC time). Alex also worked him, for a new country on his quest for DXCC. Another fun QSO was on Sunday afternoon at Rumorosa with Jorge ZP6KA in Paraguay - he called me, and we chatted for a few minutes in Spanish after exchanging the formalities.

I could have tried bands other than 10m to mix in more contacts with North American stations, but I could not resist the great conditions on 10m - especially on Sunday from Rumorosa. For my QSOs with the Spanish- speaking stations, I used my so-so Spanish and had some enjoyable QSOs where the other stations could understand my Spanish. Muchas gracias a todos para comprender mi espanol imperfecto. If I made a second dipole to use with my FT-817 at Rumorosa instead of the Outbacker Joey, I could have used that radio for more SSB with the excellent conditions on 10m and leave the 706Mk2G for PSK31 and CW (for Alex - not me - this weekend).

I had never used an IC-706 (any version) with gel-cells, so I had no real idea how much time I would have with that radio and the 2 gel-cell packs I had with me. One pack ran the 706Mk2G for 4 hours, and the other one took care of the remaining 3 hours or so before Alex and I packed up our equipment before sunset on Sunday. And we were able to use the inverter on one of the packs to run the AC adapter for the laptop to swap its battery packs without shutting it down. After this weekend, I might take the 706 with me and use it at a low power setting away from home along with my FT-817.

Need a QSL from XE2/WD9EWK?
I mailed QSL cards to all stations who had postal addresses I could locate on 8 June 2002 from a post office near my house. In addition, I will send a card to stations outside W/VE/XE by the end of July 2002 through the ARRL outgoing QSL service. If you wish to send your card to XE2/WD9EWK, please direct it via WD9EWK through the bureau or direct.

My online log has been updated with the contacts from this trip, if you are curious to see if you are in my log.

Comments/Questions?
If you have any other questions or comments about my XE trips, please feel free to contact me.

WD9EWK/VA7EWK - XE2/WD9EWK - QSL VIA WD9EWK