VQ975FOC/MM(Chagos Islands) - 2013 CQ WPX CW TEST!!!

VQ975FOC/MM(Chagos Islands) - 2013 CQ WPX CW TEST!!!

VQ975FOC  Chagos Islands  Jim Clary P.O. Box 18095 Panama City, FL 32417 USA [+] Mailing label
Lookups:   5964
Email: Use mouse to view.. QSL: VIA ND9M

20130526 1428UTC 14021.6kHz VQ975FOC
Date : 26/May/2013 1428UTC
Freq : 14021.6kHz CW
Rig  : ICOM IC-7200
ANT  : LOOP
PC recording

Tnx fer contact cuagn 73's : )  TX 599-018  >>  I am SKCC "10519"

This is a special event callsign used by Jim, VQ9JC, for the month of May 2013 as part of a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the First Class CW Operator's Club (FOC).

Contacts made with VQ975FOC as well as other FOC-suffix callsigns operated by club members (as well as M0RSE) are worth five points toward a special certificate that can be earned during this one-month period. There will be 50 or more special callsigns on the air during the month from nearly 30 different DXCC entities. Work any 3 of them and you will have qualified for the basic FOC award. How simple is that! Go to www.g4foc.org for more info on the celebration and the award.

The FOC fraternity is built on CW communications of course, but it especially focuses on getting to know each other. In fact, the motto of FOC is a quote from Samuel Johnson, an English writer who in 1755 said that "a man should keep his friendship in constant repair". Quick contacts are quite common the ham bands, but maintaining a friendship is paramount, so keep working at it!

The following is my tentative schedule for being QRV. Pse keep in mind that I'm at Diego Garcia on a work assignment, and that my operating will generally be during my local evening hours. (The local time is GMT +6 all year around.) The days that are marked with a "+1" are those that I might be able to remain QRV until 1700Z.

May 2 (Th) - 1230-1600Z
May 3 (F) - 0830-1600Z +1
May 4 (S) - 1230-1600Z +1
May 5 (Sn) - 1230-1600Z
May 9 (Th) - 1330-1600Z
May 10 (F) - 0830-1600Z  +1
May 11 (S) - 1230-1600Z +1
May 12 (Sn) - 1230-1600Z
May 14 (T) - 1330-1600Z
May 17 (F) - 0830-1600Z +1
May 18 (S) - 1230-1600Z  +1
May 19 (Sn) - 1230-1600Z
May 21 (T) - 1330-1600Z
May 24 (F) - 0830-1600Z +1
May 25 (S) - 1230-1600Z  +1
May 26 (Sn) - 1230-1600Z +1
May 28 (T) - 1330-1600Z
May 31 (F) - 0830-1600Z +1

I must QRT at about 1600Z (at 1700Z on weekends) during most of my on-air days so that I can catch the last boat back to the ship where I live and work. There are no hotels on the island, so if I miss the last boat, I sleep on the ground with the lizards and crabs!

Because the FOC is a CW group, most of my on-air time will be in that mode. But I'm well aware that there are lots of WPX chasers out there who look for prefixes on other modes, and I will make the call available on SSB on occasion. I'm also hoping to put PSK and RTTY back on the air from here in the near future. Pse note however that only CW contacts are valid toward the FOC award.

Good luck and have fun with the FOC 75th Anniversary celebration! CU in the pileups!