2018 W9IMS QSL
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Brian D. Smith (W9IND) who shares the following W9IMS press release:
Amateur radio station W9IMS prepares to unveil a new season of Indianapolis Motor Speedway-themed special events, with three QSL cards and a certificate available to hams and SWLs.
DATE: April 24, 2019
Three colorful QSL cards and a glossy certificate await amateur radio operators and SWLs who manage to contact – or tune in – Indianapolis Motor Speedway special event station W9IMS during all three of its 2019 special events. And even those who fall short of the trifecta can claim one or two of the QSLs.
2018 W9IMS QSL
Your first shot comes in two weeks as W9IMS fires up from May 5-11 to commemorate the IndyCar Grand Prix. Only nine days later, the second W9IMS special event (May 20-26) gets underway, this one in honor of the venerable Indianapolis 500. Then comes a summer break until Sept. 2-8, when W9IMS stages its third and final special event of the year, celebrating the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race.
The certificate and QSLs change every year, so even if you scored the clean sweep in 2018, you’ll find new trophies to pursue this year.
But you’ll have a chance to snare the station on either of two bands (20 and 40 meters) and possibly three (80 meters). Remember, too, that on Race Day – the final day of each operation – W9IMS generally stays on the air late, sometimes until midnight local time (0400 UTC).
Here are a couple of hints for tracking down the station during special event weeks:
- Go to the W9IMS web page (www.w9ims.org), find the “2019 Operating Schedule” heading, and click on the link to the IndyCar Grand Prix or any other race. Although some W9IMS operators take to the airwaves at unscheduled times, you’ll have your best luck looking for the station during the hours and bands reserved with a name and a callsign.
- Check DX Summit (www.dxsummit.fi) anytime for spots that identify the current frequency (or frequencies) of W9IMS, if any. And if you type “W9IMS” in the search box, you can customize it to show reports for only that station.
For additional details, consult the W9IMS web page. Feel free to submit all of your 2019 QSL and certificate requests in the same envelope. Again, although you’ll need to catch W9IMS during all three races to qualify for the certificate, you can earn a unique QSL card for each individual race.
Thanks for replying to my weak signal on 20 m around 1530z. Strange condx today. Your signal was quite good while WWV on 15 MHz was hardly readable.
vy73
MNI TNX, Harald; good to hear from you!
Our first special event, commemorating the 2019 IndyCar Grand Prix, has been up and running since Sunday on 20 and 40 meters. On weekdays we’re mostly easily found from 6-10 p.m. Indianapolis time (2200-0200 UTC), although we periodically pop up during the day as well. We’ll pull the plug Saturday at or before midnight (0400 UTC Sunday, May 12).
Again, for hams and SWLs who’d like to collect our QSL cards and certificate, I offer these tips:
1. Check the first link under “2019 Operating Schedule” on our web page to find out our scheduled operating times (although there will frequently be unscheduled operations, including FT8): http://www.w9ims.org
2. So how can you find out about those unscheduled operations? Check DX Summit to see when and where we’ve most recently been spotted: http://www.dxsummit.fi/ (type “W9IMS” in the search box).
There are no plans to activate 80 meters this week, and possibly not even this year.
Remember, if you don’t bag our first special event of the season, you can’t qualify for our 2019 certificate.
73 and GL
Very good, tnx. Always a pleasure to meet you on 20 m.