South Cook Islands E51A - E51MMM - E51NNN: Nov 27, 2007

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

E51MMM - NNN Update - 27 Nov

We worked CQWW CW as E51A, and had a successful finish with 5500+ QSOs and 6.4 meg. Very pleased with our reslts.

Wx has turned very bad. High winds - 60 mph+ plus gusts - driving rain and high surf. On Monday morning after the contest four of our antennas were knocked down, and today our two 60 ft. fiberglass masts holding our 80m and 160m antennas were snapped in two. We will attempt repairs to try and get back on 160. Pse don't expect any more 80m operation. We should be able to get back on 20, 15 and 10, but no WARC bands. We are safe, and that is good!!!

Plan is to QSY home on Saturday night flight back to LAX.

I will try to post some photos to the blog.

73, Geo...

DOs and DONTs of QSLing

Having just completed the answering of 1300+ cards that have been received, I offer the following DOs and DONTs of QSLing:

DO use envelopes with peel and stick flaps. They speed up sealing of envelopes.

DO put your call sign in bold, large print on the same side as the QSO information.

DO enclose enough postage or an IRC to cover the cost of return postage. IF this isn't possible, send the card anyway with a self addressed envelope.

DO avoid extraneous enclosures. Personal notes, canceled stamps, etc. should be avoided unless critical. Sometimes they are nice, but slow down the process.

DO NOT enclose a small return address label instead of an envelope.

DO NOT use envelopes without glue. They have to be taped shut, and that is a real pain!

DO NOT seal envelopes so tightly that they can't be quickly opened with a letter opener.

DO NOT mix cards to or from different call signs. They really slow down the processing of cards.

DO NOT fold or "hide" IRCs or Green Stamps so intricately that they are hard to unfold when opening.

QSLs

There is no QSL bureau in the Cook Islands. All QSLs must go to K5KG, either directly with an s.a.s.e. or via the W5 QSL Bureau, attn K5KG.

Direct QSL requests must be sent to:

George Wagner, K5KG
5113 Higel Avenue
Sarasota, Florida 34242 USA

The QSLs have been designed and printed. We began the process of answering 1300+ QSLs beginning in late January 2008. As of Feb 4th, '08, nearly all cards have been answered. We continue to receive 6 to 10 cards daily by direct mail. We have not yet received any QSL requests via the W5 QSL bureau.

73, George