Gotta apologize

publicly, to the QRP Fox Hunt Committee. The final schedules for 80 and 40 Meters came out over the weekend. I was not forgotten like I thought I was. So I apologize for any premature false accusations  or sour grapes "trash talk" that I may be guilty of.  I am on the 80 Meter schedule for January 17th and Valentine's Day, February 14th. I'm also listed as an alternate for the 40 Meters schedule.

The season starts tomorrow - Election Day - of all days. I hope I can manage to stay awake to join in the Hunts for most of the season. I'll make my assignments, but ss far as the rest of the season goes, this was me yesterday:

Next weekend, I am going to have to re-take a look at the connection between the HF9V's matching stub and my coax.  I'm 100% sure of that connection. When I switch between the wire and the vertical, signal strength is much louder on the wire.  Maybe I didn't make as good a connection as i thought I had. Maybe I need to replace the coax. I hope not, but from looking back at past blog entries, next year this run of coax will be 20 years old.

I checked into the St. Max Net last night and from the conversation, I think the decision to move to 40 Meters is a permanent one. I was able to hear check in stations and Net Control much better on 80 Meters, but I guess I have no choice but to make due. Even with the HF9V "problem" that I may be having, I was switching back and forth between antennas and it was interesting to see how a given station was louder on one antenna over the other. My guess is likewise antenna polarization and/or the distance between us and the size of the skip zone. Frequency response of my headphones played a part, too.  A couple of stations I heard much better on that little golf ball speaker that I have as compared to the headphones.

In closing, for you newbie Amateur Radio ops out there who may be reading this, here's a YouTube video I cam across. I know that this is an expensive hobby and that as a newcomer that can be overwhelming. Here's a video that might be able to help you save some bucks when it comes to the antenna department:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least.