The 2010 ARRL International DX (SSB) contest was held over the 48 hour period from 0000Z 06 March to 2400Z 07 March. During this contest American (K) and Canadian (VE) amateur stations work as many DXCC amateur stations as possible on 160m, 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m bands. The mode for this contest is CW (continuous wave) or Morse code.
My final results for this contest were:
| Band | QSOs | Points | Multipliers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40m | 34 | 102 | 28 |
| 20m | 81 | 243 | 52 |
| 15m | 92 | 276 | 46 |
| 10m | 5 | 15 | 4 |
| Total | 212 | 636 | 130 |
Final score: 82,680
After having owned and operated a SBIG ST-8XME CCD camera for the past four years, I now own one of SBIG’s latest CCD cameras, the ST-8300M. Like the ST-8XME, the ST-8300M is a monochrome, temperature controlled, CCD camera. Here, most of the similarities between these two cameras comes to an end. The ST-8300M is an anti-blooming (ABG) camera with a large-format, small pixel-size CCD array. A comparison of the important specification differences between these two cameras is presented in the table below:
| Specification | ST-8300M | ST-8XME |
|---|---|---|
| CCD | Kodak KAF-8300 | Kodak KAF-1603ME |
| Pixel Array | 3326 x 2504 | 1530 x 1020 |
| CCD Size | 17.96 x 13.52 mm | 13.8 x 9.2 mm |
| Total Pixels | 8.3 million | 1.6 million |
| Pixel Size | 5.4 x 5.4 microns square | 9 x 9 microns square |
| Full Well Capacity | ~25,500 e- | ~100,000 e- |
| Dark Current | ~0.02e-/pixel/sec at -15C. | 1e-/pixel/sec at 0C. |
| Antiblooming | 1000X | None |
| Shutter | Mechanical | Electromechanical |
| Exposure | 0.1 to 3600 seconds, 10ms resolution |
0.12 to 3600 seconds, 10ms resolution |
| Correlated Double Sampling | Yes | Yes |
| A/D Converter | 16 Bits | 16 Bits |
| A/D Gain | 0.37e-/ADU | 2.3e-/ADU |
| Read Noise | ~9.3e- rms | ~15e- rms |
| Full Frame Download | ~7.5 seconds | ~3.7 seconds |
| Cooling – standard | Single Stage Thermoelectric, Active Fan, max delta -40C, -36C regulated at ~80% power |
Single Stage Thermoelectric, Active Fan, Water Assist -45 C from Ambient Typical with water, -35 C w/air only |
| Temperature Regulation | ±0.1°C | ±0.1°C |
| Power | 12VDC at 3 amps, universal power supply included |
5VDC at 1.5 amps, +/-12VDC at 0.5 amps, power supply included |
| Computer Interface | USB 2.0 | USB 1.1 |
| Weight | Approx. 1.8 pounds / 0.8kg | Approx. 2 pounds/0.9kg |
Today I completed adjustments to my Gap Titan DX multi-band vertical antenna and took SWR measurements (using a MFJ-259B analyzer) on the five bands that I use most frequently. Here are the results from this adjustment and measurement:
| 80m | 40m | 20m | 15m | 10m | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freq | SWR | Freq | SWR | Freq | SWR | Freq | SWR | Freq | SWR |
| 3500 | 2.8 | 7000 | 1.7 | 14000 | 1.7 | 21000 | 1.9 | 28000 | 1.6 |
| 3550 | 2.6 | 7050 | 1.4 | 14050 | 1.7 | 21050 | 1.8 | 28050 | 1.5 |
| 3600 | 2.4 | 7100 | 1.2 | 14100 | 1.7 | 21100 | 1.8 | 28100 | 1.5 |
| 3650 | 2.2 | 7150 | 1.3 | 14150 | 1.7 | 21150 | 1.8 | 28150 | 1.4 |
| 3700 | 2.0 | 7200 | 1.4 | 14200 | 1.6 | 21200 | 1.8 | 28200 | 1.3 |
| 3750 | 1.8 | 7250 | 1.5 | 14250 | 1.6 | 21250 | 1.7 | 28250 | 1.3 |
| 3800 | 1.6 | 7300 | 1.7 | 14300 | 1.6 | 21300 | 1.7 | 28300 | 1.2 |
| 3850 | 1.6 | 14350 | 1.5 | 21350 | 1.7 | 28350 | 1.2 | ||
| 3900 | 1.8 | 21400 | 1.7 | 28400 | 1.1 | ||||
| 3950 | 2.2 | 21450 | 1.7 | 28450 | 1.1 | ||||
| 4000 | 2.8 | 28500 | 1.1 | ||||||
| 28550 | 1.1 | ||||||||
| 28600 | 1.1 | ||||||||
| 28650 | 1.1 | ||||||||
| 28700 | 1.1 | ||||||||
| 28750 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| 28800 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| 28850 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| 28900 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| 28950 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| 29000 | 1.2 | ||||||||