POTA, whether you like it or not, seems to be a driving force behind new product development, whether it's smaller rigs, antennas or accessories. Elecraft has just announced a new antenna - the AX3, which they describe as "POTA ready".
I'm not going to go into the details here - they can be found at https://elecraft.com/collections/antennas/products/ax1_ax1-multi-band-whip-antenna-copy
My AX1 with the 40 Meter extension will pretty much do the same things, but that built in tripod is a nice addition! It appears to be a lot better solution than that "protractor" type support they were offering. The AX3 also comes with a waterproof nylon bag, which is a nice touch.
On to this weekend's events:
Contests to be aware of (busy weekend for contests!):
QRP-ARCI Spring QSO Party - which starts tonight! - http://qrparci.org/contest/spring-qso-party
JIDX CW Contest: - http://www.jidx.org/jidxrule-e.html
SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/
Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest - https://gccontest.ru/en/rules-gc-2025/
DIG QSO Party, CW - https://dig-contest.de/rules
Texas State Parks on the Air - https://www.tspota.org/
New Mexico QSO Party - http://www.newmexicoqsoparty.org/
Georgia QSO Party - https://gaqsoparty.com/
North Dakota QSO Party (for those of you needing ND for WAS, listen for this one!) - https://ndarrlsection.com/2025/2025_nd_qso_party_rules.pdf
International Vintage Contest HF - https://vintagecontest.webnode.it/residenti/
4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf
And ........ you may hear this digital stuff on the bands:
IG-RY World Wide RTTY Contest, and the Africa FT4 DX Contest.
Special Event Stations:
04/12/2025 | Activation of State Parks in the State of TX Commemorating Tom King, WK5DX
Apr 12-Apr 13, 0800Z-2000Z, K5LRK, The Colony, TX. Lake Area Amateur Radio Klub. CW bottom of +40 kHz; Phone General segment +25 kHz and 28.350; VHF 50.200 144.200. QSL. Ken Rainy, AC3EZ, 529 Kenilworth Ave, Oak Point, TX 75068. www.k5lrk.com
04/12/2025 | Mississippi State Parks on the Air
Apr 12, 1300Z-2300Z, N5OS, Biloxi, MS. Jackson County MS ARA. 14.074. Certificate. Jerry Davis, P.O. Box 234, Gautier, MS 39553. 2nd Annual MS State Parks on the Air event https://jcmsara.org/mississippi-parks-on-the-air
04/12/2025 | Operation Frequent Wind
Apr 12, 1600Z-2300Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 14.320 7.250 14.070 PSK31 DSTAR on Papa System Repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum Ship COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw
04/12/2025 | Venice Florida Shark's Tooth Festival
Apr 12-Apr 13, 1020Z-1017Z, K4S, Venice, FL. Tamiami Amateur Radio Club. 14.136 21.136 28.136. QSL. TAMIAMI AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, PO BOX 976, Nokomis, FL 34274-0976. QSL includes a fossilized shark's tooth from the beach in Venice, FL when S.A.S.E. is sent to W4AC address on qrz.com tamiamiarc.org
Finally, for those of you who are NOT space buffs - April 12th is a significant day. In fact, April 12th is observed as the International Day of Human Spaceflight. On this day in 1961, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin from the (at that time) USSR, became the first human being to orbit the Earth.
Some 20 years later, on April 12th 1981, Astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen flew the Space Shuttle Columbia into orbit on the very first shuttle mission - STS-1. The shuttle was the first spacecraft designed to be reusable. It's a shame the shuttle project was terminated, it was a huge success.
And for those of you who just love OTA events, there actually is a NOTA - NASA On The Air program. This is a series of special events where the various Amateur Radio clubs at NASA facilities, or clubs with NASA affiliation get on the air to commemorate significant space events, past and current. You can read about it here - https://nasaontheair.wordpress.com/. And there's a Facebook page as well - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1101291730008122/
Have a great weekend, and hope to hear you in the QRP-ARCI Spring QSO Party tonight!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP -When you care to send the very least!
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