First taste of Winter

Winter does not "officially" arrive in New Jersey for another two weeks or so; but Ol' Man Winter sent us his calling card in advance warning today. The day started out with some rain and drizzle; but by lunchtime, the precipitation had turned into wet snow. Not any real accumulation, just a "dusting" of wet slush on grassy surfaces; but it was enough to raise the hackles on the back of my neck.

I am a warm weather person. I love the warmth. Give me May, June, July and August any day of the week. When the weather turns colder and the days grow shorter, I am ready to join the bears for hibernation. Like I've said before, the only good thing about this time of year is the return of good operating conditions to 80 Meters.

I spent some time with Bob W3BBO on Echolink this afternoon. We meet every Saturday for a BS session. We gripe, we moan, we fill each other in on our doings, both radio-wise and not. A lot of times we give each other good ideas and today was no exception.

Today, Bob filled me in on something I already knew about; but it was more or less on the periphery of my gray matter. Bob was telling me about the new keyer kit from the 4SQRP group, the AA0ZZ EZKeyer kit. Bob just recently built one to use with his PFR3. He built his in a little project box, not an Altoids tin as show below:

He really likes the keyer and he painted the box yellow to match the PFR3. He says that it is a lot easier to program and manage the memories of this little guy; than the memories of the built in keyer of the PFR3. Of course, this naturally got me thinking ....... so Santa ........

Anyway, before I get off track, we then got into a discussion of when I will probably see my PFR3. Bob and I both know that according to the Hendricks QRPKits website that PFR3s were supposed to begin shipping this week. But given the past track record; and the fact that I am a realist by nature, I told Bob that I expect to see my kit sometime in early January (if I'm lucky). Considering I ordered and paid for the kit in September ......... I won't say anymore because I'll only end up sticking my foot in my mouth.

What a difference a week makes, eh? This time last weekend the bands were simply humming. Tonight we go back to, "Anybody out there?" Maybe everybody's up on 160 Meters for the contest. I still have to finish that 160 Meter board for my K2 and get it installed.

Tomorrow, if everything goes according to plan, the day will be spent decorating the house for Christmas. I did the outdoor stuff last weekend; and am I ever glad that I did. Last Sunday the high temp for the day was near 60 degrees. Tomorrow's high is expected to be somewhere near 42 degrees!

73 de Larry W2LJ