All Hallows Eve

Happy Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en originally was not a spooky thing- but started a three day period in the Catholic Church to remember those who have gone on before us. It is known as Hallow Tide.

Hallowee'en was the vigil before All Saints Day, where we honor and remember those who we believe have made it to heaven. The next day, November 2nd, is All Souls Day, where we remember in particular, family and friends who have passed on,

In Poland, this is what a typical cemetery look like for Hallow Tide. Candles are placed on the graves of loved ones.

This year, my mind wanders to memories about good Ham Radio friends who have passed, but have left their mark on me.. Not a complete list ny any means - but it seems like there's way too many.

Mark Rosenwald N2EBA

Charlie LaTerra N2LHD

Bill Koeth W2WK

Drew Moore W2OU

Julius Kardos W2VO

George Miller K2FD

Rich Alderiso AA2KS

Chuck Phillips WB2MSV

Norm Bendell KS2SBB

Bob Conroy KB2VMG

John Anesh AA2AV

Ken Louks WA8REI

They were all good friends and they are definitely missed - but memories about them live on - and that's a good thing. They are not forgotten.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Fun, but not enough

I got on the air for the Zombie Shuffle late, not until around 8:00 PM local time. I started on 20 Meters, but signals were weak and there was horrid QSB.  I struggled and worked a pair before switching to 40 Meters, where I made most of my contacts, and spent most of my time.

I went to 80 Meters for a bit where signals were loud, but not many Zombies. I only heard and worked one, K1RF. Two non-QRP stations answered my "CQ BOO" and I had to explain about the Zombie Shuffle. When one heard my explanation, he responded, "UR 5 WATTS? UR BLOWING MY EARS OFF!"

THAT is always fun!

I went back to 40 Meters but wasn't hearing any new Zombies and my CQs were going unanswered, so I packed it in around 9:15 PM local time. I worked 10 Zombies and 2 QRO stations in just over an hour. Lots of fun, but not enough. Next year, if God is willing and I am finally retired, perhaps I can get on for the 3:00 PM local time kick off.

72 de Larry (Vlad) W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Zombie Shuffle THIS Friday!

 The Zombie Shuffle always takes place on the Friday before Hallowe'en. Next Friday IS Hallowe'en, so the Shuffle is happening this Friday!

The Zombie Shuffle has become one of the most highly anticipated QRP events of the year. I daresay, right on par with the Flight of the Bumblebees. It's a strictly fun, low pressure, easy going event that is always a ton of fun.

All the details can be found at: https://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/pg.html

There's a new rule in place since I last participated in a Shuffle - it's called the "Rebirth Rule". You can work the same station twice on the same band, but it has to be at least tow hours after your first contact.

My ETS of NJ Meeting falls on Hallowe'en this year, so I am looking forward to joining in on the fun this year. It runs from 3:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight Local Time.

Hope to catch you shuffling on the bands Friday Fright!

72 de Vlad - Zombie # 858

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

W2LJ was a No Show

Unfortunately, the QRP ARCI Contest Manager found no time to participate in the QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party on Saturday!

I got a late start on Saturday morning, and was almost late for my own VE Session More on that in a bit. I ran out of the house without taking my morning heart meds and as a result, felt kind of crappy for the rest of the day, until I took them a few hours later than I usually do.  After grocery shopping, I was kind of too "pooped to pop", so I didn't get on the air. Lesson learned - take those @#^%$ pills before leaving the house in the morning!

Getting back to the VE Session - we had one candidate.  This has been a pitiful year for our VE Sessions. Candidates are becoming scarcer than hens teeth. We had one in May, only two at the Hamfest in June, and none in July, August or September! The only thing I can attribute this to is the genesis and popularity of online exams. Candidates don't have to travel and can take the exam from the comfort of their own home.

I told the Team that I was going to schedule monthly exams for 2026 for the first half of the year only. If the number of candidates does not pick up, we will cease monthly sessions and go to a quarterly schedule. One of our Team members suggested that we offer online exams and I told him that if the Team wanted that, then one of them would have to take over as Liaison. I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in taking on that responsibility. In my mind, there's way too many opportunities for irregularities and I'm not putting my license on the line for that.

Maybe that was a bit harsh, but it is what it is.

Being a VE Liaison is a lot more work than just showing up to a session, grading exams and signing paperwork. The pre-session coordinating of candidates, making sure enough VEs show up, and preparing examination materials, in addition to post session paperwork eats up a lot of personal time. From what I understand, the on line sessions require even more work for the Liaison. 

Quite frankly, I've done this for a lot of years and it's getting to be that I'd rather spend the time sitting behind my own radio and getting on the air.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend of October 11th and 12th

I did not post the weekend events for last week. Marianne and I went down the Jersey shore to celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary.  Yet again, I had the chance to sit for a bit and train my gaze upon the Atlantic Ocean and marvel about how our RF energy travels that great distance.

It was a beautiful day, not only was it our Annicversary, but also the weather was prefect at Asbury Park.

Unfortunately, it's looking like the weather is not going to hold true for this weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, but Sunday into Tuesday we're staring down the gullet of a major Nor'Easter. Who knows? Rain totals anywhere between 2 and 5 inches, but more importantly we may see some pretty high wind gusts. The antennas have been through it before, I think they'll be okay again, but that worry is always on the mind of a Ham Radio Operator

Anyway, here's what to expect to be heard on the CW HF bands this weekend:

Contests:

QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party - http://qrparci.org/contest/fall-qso-party

Arizona QSO Party - https://www.azqp.org/

Nevada QSO Party - http://nvqso.com/contest-rules/

Oceania DX Contest, CW - https://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/

Pennsylvania QSO Party - http://paqso.org/pa-qso-party-rules.html

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

South Dakota QSO Party - http://www.sdqsoparty.com/

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

And for those who like to hunt Special Event Stations:

10/10/2025 | PCARS 60th Annual Ham fest

Oct 10-Oct 11, 0915Z-0914Z, W4MLB/60, Melbourne, FL. Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society. 14.245 14.265 14.325. QSL. W4MLB, P.O Box 1004, Melbourne, FL 32902-1004. This is the 60th annual PCARS Ham fest special Event station. Too late for October QST https://pcars.org/wp/#

10/11/2025 | 234th Anniversary of Columbus Day

Oct 11-Oct 13, 0000Z-2359Z, NJ2KC, Bridgeton, NJ. New Jersey Knights of Columbus Amateur Radio Club. 7.234 14.234 21.234 29.234. Certificate & QSL. NJ2KC C/O Thomas M. Perrotti, 785 Vineland Ave, Bridgeton, NJ 08302-4822. NJ2KC.org

10/11/2025 | 4th Annual Scratching Post QSL Party in the Lucedale City Park

Oct 11, 0300Z-1300Z, K5K, Lucedale, MS. George County ARES-Lucedale, Mississippi. 7.074 7.265 14.325 28.390. QSL. Brent Albrecht, 2088 Will Pet Rd., Lucedale, MS 39452. see website for instructions gcmsares.org

10/11/2025 | Collins Radio 92nd Anniversary

Oct 11, 1400Z-1700Z, W0CXX, Cedar Rapids, IA. Collins Amateur Radio Club. 14.263 MHz. QSL. Brice AntonJensen, 1110 Lyndhurst Dr, Hiawatha, IA 52233. www.qrz.com/db/W0CXX

10/11/2025 | Ike Eisenhower's Birthday

Oct 11, 1330Z-2100Z, K3S, Port of Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award

10/11/2025 | US Navy Birthday

Oct 11, 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

Have a great weekend!

72 de Larry W2LJL

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party this weekend.

The Skeeters have been hunted, and the Bumblebees have buzzed TWICE! The Zombies won't Shuffle for another couple of Fridays. So what do you do to keep your QRP muscles in shape? You participate in the QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party, of course - this coming Saturday (don't forget - Saturday UTC is Friday evening!) In fact, it's ALWAYS held on the second Saturday of October.  

Image courtesy of Gemini

Here's "the particulars".

Date/Time: 0000Z to 2359Z on 11 October

Mode:  HF CW only.

Exchange: 

Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, ARCI member number

Non-Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, Power Out

QSO Points:

Member = 5 points

Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points

Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

Multiplier:

SPC (State/Province/Country) total for all bands.  The same station may be worked on multiple bands for QSO points and SPC credit.

Power Multiplier:

>5 Watts = x1

>1 - 5 Watts = x7

>250 mW - 1 Watt = x10

>55 mW - 250 mW = x15

55 mW or less = x20

Suggested Frequencies:

160m1810 kHz

80m3560 kHz

40m7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)

20m14060 kHz

15m 21060 kHz

10m28060 kHz

Score:

Final Score = Points (total for all bands) x SPCs (total for all bands) x Power Multiplier.

BONUS POINTS: None available for this contest.

Categories:

Entry may be All-Band, Single Band, High Bands (10m-15m-20m) or Low Bands (40m-80m)

How to Participate:

Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies.  Work as many stations calling CQ QRP. You can work a station for credit once on each band.

Log Submission:

Submit your entry online at https://www.qrpcontest.com

Deadline for posting logs will be Nov 1 

As that old venerable and  time tested saying goes - "A day making QRP Contacts is better than a sharp stick in the eye OR raking leaves!" So if you 're into contesting, please join us - and even if you're not, fatten up your log book and hand out some points - who knows, you might just have more fun than you thought possible!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP -When you care to send the very least

I probably screwed up

 I spent some time yesterday sending in my results from the NJ QSO Party.

I'm pretty sure I probably messed up ........royally. 

"What's to ,mess up?" you might ask? Let me put it this way .......it's a good thing that contest reporting is not part of the Amateur Radio exam process!0 I'd probably still be a Novice.

The extent of my contesting is various QRP Sprints. Those usually involve filling out a log summary form on 3830.com, or e-mailing in a log summary like we use for the Skeeter Hunt. I am not used to the world of Cabrillo files. Heck, I'm not even sure how you pronounce that!

CA- BRILL-O or maybe CA-BREE-YO? 

You can tell I'm not into the contesting gig. I do not use N1MM and that has, in fact, kind of led to my ceasing participation in the QRP Fox Hunts. Using N1MM is an important part of the Real Time QSO Map feature that they employ.

I'm lucky that I can walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone use a computer for logging QSOs. No, I am an old fossil who paper logs and then transfers to digital storage. While that's easier for me, it also has a drawback. Sometimes, when I get a flurry of activity, I write so fast that I sometimes have a hard tie deciphering my own chicken scratch!

So I probably messed up my NJ QSO Party entry, and if there were any mistakes, they were definitely not intentional. Not that it matters, anyway, as I'm just a small fish in a large pond. But it would still be interesting to see how I did compared to other stations - that is if they don't reject my entry altogether. 

I wouldn't be surprised of that happened and I got an e-mail back saying, "You've got to be kidding!"

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Zombie Shuffle 2025

 Just announced:

QRP Zombies,

The 28th annual ZOMBIE SHUFFLE will be held this year on Friday afternoon and evening, October 24 from 1500-midnight YOUR LOCAL TIME.  It is always held on the Friday closest to Halloween, but not on Halloween, to not interfere with family activities PLUS the ARRL Sweepstakes begins that evening.

RULES AT:

https://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/pg.html

No major changes from last year's rules, except ...

The Grand Witchess and my wife, Jan N0QT, became a silent key early 2025.   

Our new Grand Inquisitor is Bill W2EB.  Request Zombie Numbers from Bill at owner@lazure.net.  Bill will provide Zombie Certificates for newly issued numbers.  Links also on the above Zombie rules website.

So think up a nice ghoulish name to use on the air and join the silly 

Zombie fun on October 24.

72, Paul NA5N and Bill W2EB

And the got have it!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It's still magical to me!

 A different take on Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me."

I keep thinking about that QSO with Alex RG5A that I had on Saturday night, during the NJ QSO Party.. At first glance, just another QSO with Russia - certainly no exotic DX, and millions of QSOs have occurred  between American and Russian Hams over the years.

But lest I grow jaded ...............

According to QRZ, the distance between South Plainfield and Alex's QTH is 5,340 miles. That means my signal covered that distance at a rate of 1,086 Miles per Watt. A record? Nowhere near, but still darn amazing when you pause to ponder it. Think of the flight time if you were to board a plane and travel there - HOURS! At the speed of light, my 5 Watts covered that distance instantaneously!

My transmitter to a hunk of wire, emitted RF energy into the dark night, traveling along the ionosphere to end up at Alex's antenna and his receiver. We take the process for granted, and we've come to expect this kind of thing as "normal", and we complain when it's not!. But to me it's still as magical as when I was studying for my Novice license back in 1978.

The world is huge, but we've made it small. Video and television from all spots around the world is commonplace since Telstar in the 1960s. The internet had made the world even smaller. But in my mind, it's still huge. I stand at the Jersey shore, looking at the waves break and the vastness of the open sea and I still can't quite grasp the miracle of radio, my 5 Watts traveling all that distance. 

It truly is incredible this gift of Amateur Radio that we have been given. I hope the fascination never fades.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend

I had limited time to work the NJ QSO Party. I gave it about and hour and a half in the afternoon and then another hour and a half in the evening, after dinner. My personal goal was to make at least 50 QSOs - big deal, right? But I did - I ended up making 52 when I decided to pull the plug with about 20 minutes of contest time remaining.

As I've stated so many times before, I'm not big into contesting to win. If I enter a contest or Sprint, it's just to have fun and fatten up the logbook. All my QSOs were made on 40 and 80 Meters. I didn't even bother with 20 Meters as it was for too early in the morning when I got on and too late in the evening when I got my second wind. My primary antenna for NJQP was my MFJ-1982MP EFRW. it hears much better than the Butternut on those bands. The Butternut is my go to for 20 Meters, but as I said, I stayed away from that band as I wasn't hearing many signals there.

After the action ceased, this is the RBN map: - not bad for 5 Watts.

For a rare change of pace, I decided to forego "searching and pouncing" and spent most of my time calling "CQ NJQP". I nearly fell out of my chair when my CQ was answered by RG5A in Russia. Granted, we were both 339/449, but we got the exchange done. Alex had to send his call a cou0ple of times as I thought it was a very weak KG5A or perhaps NG5A because of QSB.  When I finally heard that it was Russia, and he confirmed by giving his S/P/C as "DX", I was quite amazed This will be one of those that you remember for a long time.

Yesterday was FOBB Fall Edition, and I wanted to participate, but for some reason or other, I just was not able to get a good night's sleep on Saturday. I kept waking up for what seemed like every few minutes with sciatica discomfort. I ended up napping most of Sunday away. Towards the end of the Sprint, I did head downstairs and made 3 or 4 contacts as "a giver of points". I was too beat to do much else.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to sedn the very least!

Busy weekend - September 20th and 21st.

There's a whole lot of shakin' goin' on this weekend - most noticeably the First Autumn Flight of the Bumblebees! Here's what you may hear on the CW bands this weekend. I'm willing to bet there will be plenty of activity!

Contests:

Scandinavian Activity Contest, CW: - https://www.sactest.net/blog/scandinavian-activity-contest-2025-rules/

New Jersey QSO Party - http://www.k2td-bcrc.org/njqp/rules.html - W2LJ WILL be on the air, participating as a QRP Station - please listen for me!

Texas QSO Party - https://www.txqp.net/

Iowa QSO Party - http://www.w0yl.com/IAQP

Probably not, but listed anyway - QRP Afield - see below - https://www.newenglandqrp.org/qrp-afield-2018/ (NEQRP no longer seems interested in promoting this event)

New Hampshire QSO Party - https://w1wqm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/NHQP_Rules.pdf

Washington State Salmon Run - http://salmonrun.wwdxc.org/

Wisconsin Parks on the Air - http://wipota.com/files/WIPOTA_contest_rules.pdf

ARS Flight of the Bumblebees - http://ars-qrp.com/FOBB/FOBB.html

Special Event Stations:

09/20/2025 | Remembering the Freedom Trail - Underground Railroad through Indiana 

Sep 20, 1400Z-2200Z, W9EFU, Madison, IN. Clifty Amateur Radio Society. 28.328 14.314 7.207. Certificate. Jerry Barnes, 601 Spring Street, Madison, IN 47250. Remembering the citizens of Madison Indiana and the surrounding area along with others throughout the state for their efforts in providing safe passage to escaped slaves from the South. Unique eCertificate sent to operators email listed in QRZ. See our QRZ and FB page for frequency and details. www.qrz.com/db/w9efu

09/20/2025 | SENARC 89 Year Anniversary

Sep 20-Sep 21, 1500Z-2000Z, N0N, Lincoln, NE. SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AMATEUR RADIIO CLUB. 7.180 14.230. Certificate & QSL. Charles Bennett, KD0PTK, P.O. Box 67181, Lincoln, NE 68506. SENRC (senarc) WAS FOUNDED IN 1936 BY GAROLD C. BENNETT (W9WKP) SK. "JERRY" WAS THE FIRST ARRL EMERGENCY COORDINATOR FOR NEBRASKA. HIS MOTTO WAS "ALL HAMS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY". senebrradioclub@gmail.com

09/20/2025 | State Line Radio Club Annual Picnic

Sep 20, 1400Z-2000Z, W3A, Holtwood, PA. State Line Radio Club. 14.240 21.280. QSL. Edward Reichenbach, 108 Park Circle, Elkton, MD 21921-5444. Annual State Line Radio Club Picnic held at Muddy Run Park in Holtwood, PA. Public, Scouts and Scout groups are welcome! Free admission. www.statelineradioclub.com

It would appear that QRP Afield has gone the way of the Dodo, the dinosaurs and the carrier pigeon. As I've posted earlier, NEQRP no longer appears to be interested in holding or promoting the event, which is very sad. It was noted that perhaps they didn't want to compete occupying the same weekend as the Inaugural Autumn Flight of the Bumblebees, which should have a huge following.  In a way, that makes sense to a certain degree. 

That being said, the first Day of Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere is Monday, September 22nd. Why not move QRP Afield a weekend or two into October? The weather is still nice for the most part and there really isn't any "official" QRP activity in October, except perhaps for the Peanut Power Sprint.  Unfortunately, there's been no noise or announcement about that event, either. So October might be silent as far as sponsored QRP events go.

I'm also going to yammer on this one more time. There was a statement made that attendance for QRP Afield had  diminished with only one log received in 2024. This is the direct result of not getting the word out. If you don't advertise/promote, you're NOT going to get participation. You cannot rest on your laurels from previous years and just expect people to turn out for an event on its own merit. People are busy and have other commitments on weekends. You have to give folks ample time to set aside time for your event. You can't whistle at the last moment (or not at all!) and expect people to show up. So yes, it takes some effort and some work to keep events like these going. I guess some just aren't up to the task - and that's very unfortunate.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

RIP Robert Redford

 I don't usually pay much attention to Hollywood celebrities, and I was certainly not in tune with Mr. Reford's pollical views. He has a special place in my heart for one reason - this ......."The Natural", one of the better baseball movies ever made.

If you're a fan of the game, you gotta love Roy Hobbs.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Weekend of September 13th and 14th

Wasn't Labor Day just yesterday? Sheesh! We're halfway through the month already and it just started! 

Here's what you might hear on the bands this weekend as you try to have that rag chew or make that POTA contact (scratching your head, thinking "What the heck is that?!?"):

Contests:

Africa FT4 DX Contest - https://mysarl.org.za/contest-resources/

North American Sprint, CW: - https://ncjweb.com/Sprint-Rules.pdf

WAE DX Contest, SSB - https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/referat-conteste/worked-all-europe-dx-contest/en/

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

For QRPers we have on Sunday night:

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

Don't forget -  that next weekend is the first Fall FOBB !  https://ars-qrp.com/

Special Event Stations:

09/13/2025 | Baltimore Defender's Day

Sep 13, 1330Z-2100Z, K3S, Port of Baltimore. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award qrz.com/db/k3s

09/13/2025 | Celebrating Arthur Collins' Birthday

Sep 13, 1400Z-1700Z, W0CXX, Cedar Rapids, IA. Collins Amateur Radio Club. 14.263 MHz. QSL. Brice AntonJensen, 1110 Lyndhurst Dr, Hiawatha, IA 52233. www.qrz.com/db/W0CXX

09/13/2025 | Commemorating USS Midway Commissioning in 1945.

Sep 13, 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

09/13/2025 | Fred Harvey House Museum on the Air

Sep 13, 1400Z-2000Z, KS0LV, Leavenworth, KS. Pilot Knob Amateur Radio Club. 14.303 21.361 28.355 14.053. Certificate. Steve Rice, 6850 Deer Ridge Dr, Shawnee, KS 66226. Look for us on FT8 on 14 or 17M www.pkarc.org

09/13/2025 | SS John W Brown Sept 13 Living History Cruise

Sep 13, 1500Z-2000Z, K8JWB, Baltimore, MD. SS John W Brown Radio Club. 7210 14230 21300 28320. Certificate. Randall Crenwelge, 2 Laurel Hill Road Unit K, Greenbelt, MD 20770. Join us as we sail on the Chesapeake Bay for a living history cruise honoring those that built and served on the liberty ships during WW2. Please send us full size envelope with postage for a certificate. Dam the Torpedoes! Full speed ahead! www.ssjohnwbrown.org

As I mentioned in an earlier post, tomorrow should have been our monthly ETS of NJ VE Session. No one signed up. I think we're progressing from a dry spell to a drought. Oh well, I guess I'll get the grocery shopping done early this week!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A couple of things

 First, W2LJ is going to make a prediction.

"In person VE Testing will largely disappear."

With the proliferation of online testing sessions becoming more and more available, it appears that in person sessions are going the way of the dinosaurs. Next Saturday is our monthly VE Session and I've yet to have anyone contact me about registering. That is odd and not the way it used to be. 

If memory serves me, I don't think we've had a session this year with more than 3 candidates. We only had 2 at the W2QW Hamfest in June and that's very unusual. I don't think it's a lack of people wanting to get licensed, I think it's just a preference for taking the exams from the comfort of your own home, and not having to travel or search for a local session.

Personally, I don't want to have anything to do with online exams. As a VE Liaison, with my license on the line, I prefer the control of in person sessions. Members of the team can keep a watchful eye, in person, to make sure no irregularities take place. 

Maybe I'm wrong and on line sessions are just as stringent, if not more so, but I'm not interested in finding out 

Second item, I was able to repair my 4 States Tuner today. I mentioned that I had managed to break one of the BNC connectors. The 4 States Group was kind enough to supply a replacement upon request, but it took a long time to get here -;and not because they did anything wrong.

It made its way to South Plainfield only to be returned to the sender by our illustrious Post Office! 4 States sent it a second time only for it to be delivered to my neighbor across the street! He kindly brought it over yesterday and I installed it today.

In the meantime, I ordered these from Amazon - taking a shot in the dark that they'd be compatible based solely on the photo.

My guesstimate was that it was a match, so I took the plunge and ordered some spares. They arrived yesterday and it turns out that they ARE an exact match! So if anyone out there needs to order, or wants to order a few spare BNC connectors for the 4 States Tuner, here's the link.

https://a.co/d/hydnoGW

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP -;When you care to send the very least!

FOBB Part Deux

 Jody K3JZD sent out an email blast:

Only Three Weeks Until the New Fall Flight of the Bumblebees Event.

The new Fall Flight of the Bumblebees is scheduled for Sunday, September 21 2025, during a four-hour daytime window, from 1700 to 2100 UTC.

It is already cooling down here in WPA.  Hopefully it will be dry and more comfortable everywhere on September 21st.  And a little better propagation would be nice also.

This casual QRP CW event consists of 'Bumblebees' who are operating portable stations at outdoor locations, and 'Home Stations' (and other ‘Bumblebees’) who try to work as many of these portable 'Bumblebees' as possible.

Since this is a new impromptu Fall FOBB, the Bumblebee List is not yet quite as full as it was for the Annual Summer FOBB.  However, with still three weeks to go, we already have enough BBs signed up to make it a good QRP CW event.

You can see where all of the Bumblebees are located by checking the reports that are available at https://ars-qrp.com.  (If you have forgotten your BB Number, you can find it there). 

This event is open to all QRP CW operators.  Anywhere.  Operators who want to go out and setup a portable station at some outdoor location, and be a highly sought after 'Bumblebee', need to obtain a "Bumblebee Number". 

 It is very simple to obtain a Bumblebee Number.   There is still plenty of time left for you to get a BB Number. The https://ars-qrp.com web site will explain the whole process.

 I'll be out there as a 'Bumblebee' - hoping to work you during the event.

 72,

Jody - K3JZD

And there, you have the latest!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!