That was fun and enlightening !

I participated in the Michigan QRP Club Independence Day Sprint for a little bit after almost forgetting about it. It was on my mind all day yesterday, how I wanted to join in; and then, when the Sprint begins, my mind is a million miles away!

Anyway, instead of using the K2, I used the PFR3A hooked up to the Butternut HF9V. Instead of using my Emtech ZM2 tuner, I decided to give the PFR3A's built in tuner a try. There have been a lot of comments on the PFR3 Yahoo Group about some guys not being able to make the built in tuner work properly. I hadn't tried it up until tonight; and I wanted to see if mine would work satisfactorily. Fortunately, mine seems to be working just great. On all three bands, I was able to get the indicator LED to go out completely, indicating a good match.

I worked 6 stations in the MI QRP Sprint on 40 Meters. I tried working a Scandinavian station on 30 Meters; but unfortunately all I got was a "W2??" in response to his CQ.

Then I hopped on up to 20 Meters and had a very brief QSO with AE4YP near the 20 Meter QRP watering hole frequency. So I was very pleased with the performance of the PFR3A tonight and am feeling much more confident about taking it as my only QRP rig on vacation this year.

My plan is to take the PFR3A loaded up with AA batteries in the internal holders, a paddle and my AA0ZZ external keyer, the ZM2 (as a backup) and a few assorted antennas (Buddistick and doublets). I want to keep it light and easy this year.

My goal is to get a few hours operating time in over the week we are up in Lake George; and I also want to see if W3BBO and I can hook up on CW this time around. I'm also thinking of setting up not only from the place where we'll be staying; but also getting to the top of one of the nearby Adirondack mountains for some extra footage above sea level.

By the way, the Independence Day weekend heatwave began with a vengeance! Yesterday just reached 90F (32C); and today we reached 97F (36C) according to the thermometer in the backyard. Tomorrow is supposed to reach or even break 100F (37C). I have some yardwork to do and I sure picked a good day to do it! I will probably get a very early or late start on that so as to avoid the peak temperatures.

We have not had a lot of rain as of late; and the back and front lawns are getting crispy. Looks like it's time to buy a new sprinkler.

72 de Larry W2LJ