I thought it was going to be a good day. I got everything set up relatively early, in my favorite Skeeter Hunt haunt - Cotton Street Park in South Plainfield. The weather was almost perfect! Sunny, not terribly hot, but the humidity was still on the high side, which was a bit uncomfortable, but not terrible.
Things started out going swimmingly. I wasn't banging out contacts, but then IT happened. I was in the middle if a QSO when I got the "Low Batt" warning on the KX3 display. Like ........ what?
I was using my Powerwerx deep cycle battery. Sure, I had depleted it during Field Day, but I charged it back up right after. When I was getting ready on Saturday, I was going to top off my little blue lithium battery to have as back up. When I took it out of the pouch that I store it in, I noticed it was bulging. From the laptops I am familiar with at work, I know that's not a good sign. I put it on the side and will dispose of it properly when I get time. Seeing that option go down the drain, I decided to top off the Powerwerx, just to be safe. I put the charger on and within just a little bit the charge indicator turned from amber to green. I thought I was good to go.
So, getting back to the story ........ I disconnected the KX3, brought it with me in the car and headed home to grab some SLAs that I had in the shack.
I had no idea if they had charge in them, or how much, but I was desperate.. I had a little trepidation about leaving the antenna up and all my other stuff there while I ran home, but it's less than a mile away, and that park is never really crowded, so I kept my fingers crossed. I didn't want to waste all that time taking everything down, only to come back and put it all up again.
When I got back with my two SLAs, the first thing I saw was that everything was there, undisturbed, as I had left it. The second thing I saw was that the little battery had some charge in it, still; but the bigger one was totally dead.
So I decided to make like Gary Sinise who portrayed Astronaut Ken Mattingly in the movie "Apollo 13" and like him I tried to figure out what ever I could to conserve what little battery power I had left. I powered down the KX3 to 2.5 Watts and gave up on the idea of calling CQ and holding a frequency. It was going to be "Hunt and Pounce" for the rest of the afternoon. Certainly not ideal by any means, but al least I was mitigating a total disaster (in the small scheme of things - not being to operate in the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is not the end of the world, no matter how disappointing for me that might be.) I kept switching between the little SLA and the Powerwerx to take advantage of whatever electrons they were holding on to.
My takeaways - 40 Meters was pleasantly populated. The past couple of sprints I have participated in, 40 Meters was dead, but yesterday there were a lot of Skeeters there. 20 Meters was also great. I tried listening on 15 Meters a couple of times, but there was nada, zilch, zippo there that I could hear.
QRPers have great ears! Even with only 2.5 Watts out, I got answered by everyone I called. I was so grateful for that - I ended up making about 27 contacts. I was hoping to stretch that to 30 (originally I was hoping for 40+ before The Great Battery Incident), but I had to give up at just before the last hour when I took both batteries to their last breaths.
So it looks a Bienno is in my near future. I will charge up the SLAs and see if they hold a charge, as I will do once again with the Powerwerx. But I have a feeling like I can't depend on the Powerwerx with any degree of confidence. The thing is that when I bought it, it was "pre-owned" and it's lasted me at least about 10 years since I acquired it, so I can't complain. But the one thing I re-learned between last weekend and this weekend is that when these batteries go - they go! Not much in the way of a warning!
One would think that lesson would have been very fresh in my mind, because last weekend, I had to replace the battery in my Jeep. It was fine, even my son Joseph has borrowed it Saturday afternoon without a problem or even the hint of a problem. When I got in it Saturday evening, I pushed the starter button and all I heard was "Rrrrr . rrrrrr" and nothing. I successfully jump started it on Sunday morning and then proceeded to the local Valvoline Oil Change place and had them replace the battery with a brand new Interstate battery. I guess I'm good there for another 5 years.
Getting back to yesterday, even though it was not an ideal day, it was still super fun. I not only enjoy the Skeeter Hunt for myself, but I really get satisfaction that you all enjoy it. I've said this a lot over the past 12 years, but the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is not what it is because of me. It is what it is because of you! If there's no enjoyment and no participation, there's no NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. My cap is tipped to all of you and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
See you all next year? Please?
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
PS: My apologies for the videos and the narration. Now you know why I'm a CW op!
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