Summer arrived with a vengeance in Central New Jersey. Temperatures in the 80s (29C) with the higher humidity and stickiness that accompanies it. But it made for a great opportunity to head out to the park for some QRPing during lunch break. Besides the warmth, the skies were sunny and clear, with just a few white puffy clouds floating by.
Wanting to set up the fastest today in order to get the maximum operating time, I decided to go with the Buddistick on the magmount on top of the Jeep. From the time I put the Jeep in park and turn off the ignition, I can be on the air in well under five minutes. Today was no exception. The Buddistick is exceptionally easy to set up when using the top of the Jeep as a ground plane. It goes together as magmount, two 11 inch arms, coil, and whip. The whip gets extended all the way and the one coil setting works well for both 20 and 17 Meters. The KX3's autotuner gets a 1:1 match without breaking a sweat.
First up was Pertti OG2W in Finland on 17 Meters. He was by far the loudest signal on the band and was a relatively easy catch even with 5 Watts. From there, I went on over to 20 Meters and called CQ near the 14.060 MHz QRP watering hole. To my delight, I was answered by fellow blogger, Greg N4KGL. Greg was also using a KX3, but had his going to an Alex Loop. Greg lives down in Panama City, Florida and started out at 559. There was some QSB and at times the APF function on the KX3 was a big help. Towards the end of our QSO, Greg was approaching 579. He was on lunch break also, and had to get going just as I did.
But as we all know, QRPing in the great outdoors can really be addicting, so I hopped on back over to 17 Meters for one last, quick listen. Before I tore the station down and headed back to work, I was able snag Bob WP2XX down in the US Virgin Islands.
Three lunchtime QSOs - two DX contacts and a rag chew really made my day. An added bonus was watching the RC Model airplane pilots doing their thing while I operated. These guys are really good and I was treated to barrel rolls, Immelmans and vertical climbs as I worked the world with my radio.
I think tomorrow is supposed to have more of the same weather.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Good morning Larry, can't think of a better way to spend lunch. Unfortunately I only get a 1/2 hour and between eating and setting up does not leave much time for on air time. Regarding the radio operated plane, Julie and I were out at the park the other weekend and there was an RC plane there. When I was a kid I remember these things being very noisy and very hard to start. Now they are like mice in the sky you can't hear a thing. I think they are battery powered now as well.
ReplyDeleteMike