Two heads are better than one!

 A good part of the Eastern part of the US experienced some high winds this past Thursday and Friday. My weather station recorded some gusts in excess of 30 MPH on Friday. I didn't give it a second thought, but when I let Harold out yesterday morning to do his business, I saw my W3EDP antenna laying on the ground. The mast that I had holding the center run had fallen to the ground. It was attached to a chain link fence post by a bunch of cable ties and the wind proved to be too much for them. It was not a big deal to re-do. It was sunny, warm day yesterday and I out everything back in order rather quickly.

Later in the afternoon, I had my weekly Skype call with Bob W3BBO, where we discuss all kinds of things, including Amateur Radio, of course! I mentioned to him about the antenna mast falling down and my repairs. That's when he told me how he attached his mast to a fence support at his house:

Hose clamps!

I hadn't even thought about hose clamps! Two heads are better than one - thanks, Bob!

It's raining today with a threat of thunderstorms. I may have some hose clamps down in the basement, and I'll have to check if they are long enough to do the job. If not, it will mean a trip to Home Depot, which is not a big deal. Once they are in place, I won't have to worry about them breaking, like the nylon cable ties did.

Those nylon cable ties lasted all winter long - through a couple of bad storms and some pretty windy days, even windier than what we experienced on Friday. Perhaps they degraded in the UV from the sunlight. That's another variable that will be eliminated with the use of metal hose clamps. I'll have to make sure I get stainless steel ones, though - so they won't rust and I can remove them if I ever need to.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Another virtual! FDIM

This time it's for Four Days in May - to be held (virtually) on Saturday, May 22nd. I'm sorry to say that  this will be my very first FDIM. My last trip to Dayton was the very last year before FDIM began. Talk about "so close and yet so far!".  Marriage and helping to raise two little kids followed closely and those duties along with work kept me from making the trips to Ohio.

But I digress.

For all the details, you can go to the QRP-ARCI Website

This year some of the topics are:

Jerry Wolczanski KI4IO - Making an Antenna Coupler

Dr. Jack Purdum W8TEE - How to Select a Microcontroller for a QRP Project

Dave Benson K1SWL - Anatomy of a Transceiver; Building a Better Mousetrap

Han Summers G0UPL - Reach for the Skies: Extreme QRP at 35,000 Feet

Dino Papas KL0S - Bench Setup Using Inexpensive Test Equipment

Tim Snodgrass KC0DN - Breaking Free of the Sunspot Cycle

Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE - sBITX - An Open Source SDR that YOU can hack!

I am so looking forward to this!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo

 is this coming weekend, March 13th and 14th.

https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/?fbclid=IwAR3tChz4f9f1iTS3kDgPGn_RkQSafx2woPP5ryBCUdSa_VuTPMtH2oyNCcM

This Virtual Ham Expo ....... Hamfest ...... Convention ....... whatever you want to call it is being run by Eric Guth, the founder of the now pretty well known "QSO Today" podcast.  I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Eric back in the earlier days, probably when he was less well known and was having trouble finding good people to interview. Sometimes you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

If you haven't registered, you may want to consider it. There is an "admission fee" of ten dollars, but I think it will be well worth it. There are a veritable slew of interesting speakers and presenters. Everything from SDR to building to antennas to POTA to, well .... whatever.

And manufacturers and sellers such as Begali and Quicksilver Radio and many more will be there to present the wares. all in all, I think it's an experience not to be missed.

If you're busy this coming weekend and can't make it for the live presentations, everything is to be archived for 30 days for later viewing. You'll have ample time to catch everything you wanted to see.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

So that's done!

The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt certificates for 2020 were mailed last Monday. Since then, I've already received reports that some of you have gotten yours, which is a relief. The mail can be tricky here in South Plainfield.

With that done, even though it's still cold and snowy for a lot of us, we are anxiously dreaming about Summer and warmer temps. It's time for you to start thinking about this year's Hunt!

The 2021 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt will be held on Sunday, August 15th. This is the 10th running of the event, and you will have two options to choose from to earn the 100 point bonus.  Note - you will be able to claim ONE bonus - not both. Although if you choose to accomplish both, I'm not about to stop you!

You can view all the details at https://www.qsl.net/w2lj/

For many, a fun part of the Hunt is in getting a low Skeeter number (Skeeter numbers do not remain the same from year to year), so number requests will be honored beginning the First Day of Summer - June 20th, 2021. PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST A NUMBER BEFORE JUNE 20th.

Lastly, a reminder that all log summaries must be submitted by an e-mail to w2lj@arrl.net. Submission e-mails will be answered with an acknowledging e-mail. If you don't get a "Thank You" e-mail from me, I didn't receive your summary - for whatever reason.

Hope to hear you on August 15th!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!