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About Me
My name is John Dwiggins and my call is N4QVM. I got my first license in 1987
when I tested and passed all of the elements up to General Class. The testers
told me I could continue if I wanted to, by that point I was ready to quit. I
hadn't studied for the Advanced or Extra class licenses yet anyway, so I
probably would not have passed. I decided it was better to leave on the positive
note of having passed everything I had attempted. This was in the period when
you had to copy CW at 13 words per minute for the General license.
Two months later I went to another test session and passed the written elements
for Advanced and Extra class licenses. I missed the 20 words per minute for Extra by one letter.
My Main interest in ham radio are working DX and playing in contests.
Playing in contests is a good way to work new entities if you are a DX'er, plus
they are a lot of fun. At the moment I am waiting on 6 more QSL cards, or LoTW
confirmations, and I will have 5BDXCC (5 Band DXCC) all while running 200 watts
or less and using only homemade wire antennas. I am also 1 zone away from having
Worked All Zones (WAZ), an award issued by CQ Magazine.
Playing in contests is also a good way to get the ARRL's WAS (Worked All
States) award. Without specifically chasing this award I did get the basic WAS
and RTTY WAS just from contacts I made during contests. The introduction of LoTW
by the ARRL has made it a lot easier to get the needed confirmations needed for
the WAS award. A lot of contesters use computers for contest logging and it is a
simple matter for them to upload their logs to LoTW. It is also a lot cheaper to
get the needed confirmations via LoTW. You don't have to mail out numerous cards
with SASE's hoping to get the few returns you need to complete the award.