Another fun night in South Plainfield

It took me 2 & 1/2 hours to get home from work last night - normally, my commute is 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. 5.6 inches recorded at my house, other parts of town got over 7 inches - all in about 2-3 hours. At times, my weather station was indicating that rain was falling at a rate well above 3 inches an hour. While sitting still in traffic, I was paying attention to the weather radar on my phone. The storm cell with the most energy just did not want to move from South Plainfield - it was like it was stuck!

Multiple roads were flooded and impassable, but of course that didn't stop people from trying, anyway. The result was abandoned cars added to the mix.  And more than just a few idiots driving around in the POURING rain with almost zero visibility WITHOUT THEIR HEADLIGHTS ON! How stupid can you be?!?

I was the last one to make it home, but we all got home, safe and sound. Thank you, Lord!

By the way, here's a photo I found on Facebook of Spring Lake Park - where SPARC does Field Day

The lake superseded its shoreline and came up all the way to the roadway, flooding and closing Lakeview Avenue. I think as of this morning, the waters had receded enough to permit car travel again.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Plans didn't go well ......and other tidbits.

We're back from the Lake.

I did not get any HF in and that was a major disappointment for me. As mentioned in my last post, I was going to participate in the ARS Spartan Sprint last Monday evening. I set everything up at one of the picnic tables, but was just not being heard. There were several loud 13 Colonies stations still on the air during their final hour calling CQ. I tried calling them and just another CQ for my efforts. I figured if a 20 over 9 station wasn't hearing me, there'd be no sense trying to get other QRP'ers to hear me. I wasn't in the mood for more frustration.

I was lazy, I'll admit it. I did not pack a wire and only the AX1. While the AX1 absolutely sang for me up at Alexandria Bay last October (including a QSO from NY to Alaska!), at Lake George it was mute. My guess is that being surrounded by mountains had something to do with it. As the real estate people say, "Location, location, location!"

I did hear a Bulgarian station on a second attempt a day later. I got a 229 in response and he never got my call sign, so that was a busted QSO. Note to self - next year bring the 40 - 10 Meter EFRW and my Shakespeare Crappie Pole. That worked pretty well for me in 2024. The other times I set up during the week, I felt raindrops starting to fall soon afterward, so I packed back up pretty quickly. It was hazy, hot and humid up there with rain and thunder showers for at least part of every day. We even lost power twice! But I did get a nice photo one morning at first light:

What was a bit strange was how hazy it was all week long. Usually, we're able to look across the lake and see the mountains through the clean, crisp air. This year, smoke from the wildfires up in Canada obscured the view. In fact, we never saw the full moon last week and I was hoping to get a nice picture of that reflecting off the water.

Yesterday was the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. In a couple of hours, I made a grand total of two QSOs. Ugh! I tried my best to send out reminders on two different occasions to the various QRP group email reflectors and social media. Participation was not "deluxe".

Oh, and the complaint emails! One Ham sent me an email asking me if kits were considered to be homebrew - there was no information about that in the notice. I copied and pasted into my response directly from the info page:

BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points

If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points

If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points

(Homebrew is defined as:  if you built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

I was told that was embedded too deeply in the information and was not obvious enough. Sheesh!

Then, in the very next email, I got a complaint about kits being included as homebrew. I was told that this was like comparing a picture painted from scratch to a page out of a coloring book. This Ham thought it would be better to have fewer contacts made rather than include kit built radios as homebrew.

My response to him was that we had 8 entries in 2023 and 3 in 2024. How many few is too few? I also told him that if he had any ideas on how to increase participation, I was all ears and was willing to listen.

I never got a response and as of last night, when I looked at the auto-logger, he didn't participate, anyway. I guess some people just like to complain.

In any event, I guess my advertising efforts were semi-fruitful. So far we have 10 more entries than last year. The next QRP ARCI event is the Fall QSO Party on the second Saturday of October. I hope I can drum up more participation. It's a crying shame that an organization with literally thousands of members only gets a handful participating in these events.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It's a plan.

Tonight is the ARS Spartan Sprint. I have not participated in one of those in a very long time.

If it's not raining, I'll set up at a picnic table here as it doesn't get appreciably dark until after 9:00 PM.

Let's see how many times I'm tempted to send NJ as my state instead of NY.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A do not much of anything day

Today was a ay for relaxing. I did not intend to do much today and I succeeded in my goal  Tomorrow, I'll break out the radio and perhaps even do a little POTAing. I am in Adirondack State Park which is US-2001.

I brought the KX3 and the AX1. Keeping it low profile and hope to just operate picnic table portable this year. I brought a long my tablet for logging and will spot myself on QRPSPOTS as well as the POTA app.

Here's to good week!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

This never gets old!

 

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP -  When you care to send the very least!

Independence Day 2025

Whew! This will be one to remember! Yesterday, we had a serious storm/ weather event hit the area including the North end of South Plainfield. I almost made it all te way home from work, when the clouds burst and rain started falling at a rate exceeding 4" per hour. Winds exceeded 30 MPH, there was pea sized hail and there were trees and branches and limbs down everywhere! Several major roads in town are still blocked, with crews dealing with downed foliage.

As a Skywarn spotter, I made sure to make a report to the National Weather Service office out of Philadelphia / Mount Holly, our regional office.

But it IS Independence Day, so I hope everyone has a safe and happy one.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Q 

Long Holiday Weekend - July 4th, 5th and 6th

 

I'm a day early (for a change) - but Happy Independence Day - the 249th Birthday of the United States of America!

A lot doing on the airwaves:

First off, the Annual 13 Colonies Special Event is in full swing if you're into that - http://www.13colonies.us/  

No, that pileup you'll be hearing is not rare DX like Spratly Island - it's everybody trying to work Delaware or Rhode Island for a Clean Sweep!

Besides that, there are other Special Event Stations on the air this weekend:

07/03/2025 | SCARA at the Hendersonville Freedom Festival

Jul 3-Jul 4, 1500Z-0300Z, W4LKZ, Gallatin, TN. Sumner County Amateur Radio Association. 14.238 28.285 18.150 7.220. QSL. SUMNER COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 171, Gallatin, TN 37066. Freedom Festival is hosted on July 3, 2025 at Drakes Creek Park in Hendersonville, TN. This free, family-friendly event brings the community together for an evening packed with live music and entertainment, a Kids Zone, food trucks, vendors, and a breathtaking fireworks finale to close out the night! ​ This year we will have L'80's Nite, an 80's cover band, as the headliner along with a few other special performances. More information coming soon! ​ The Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce staff and the City of Hendersonville are working diligently to host an amazing event for families to celebrate our country and watch one of Sumner counties greatest fireworks show! www.scara.net

07/04/2025 | The White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club Independence Day 2025 Celebration Special Event

Jul 4-Jul 7, 0000Z-0000Z, W0H, Jackson, OH. White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club. 3.875 7.275 14.250 28.550. Certificate. Lowell Yates, 6809 Four Mile Rd, Jackson, OH 45640. Help the White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club celebrate our nations independence https://whitehousecomms-arc.org

07/05/2025 | 80th Birthday for Radio Association of Erie

Jul 5, 1400Z-1800Z, W3G, Erie, PA. Radio Association of Erie. 28.345 14.321. QSL. W3GV, PO BOX 8931, Erie, PA 16505. Come celebrate our 80th Anniversary. We'll be having a party at our clubhouse in Erie,PA. We'll be running a GOTA station at least one of the frequencies. w3gv.org

07/05/2025 | Colonial Williamsburg Special Event Station

Jul 5, 1400Z-2000Z, K4RC, Williamsburg, VA. Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club. 7.265 14.265. Certificate & QSL. QSL Manager, WAARC, P.O. Box 1470, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Celebrating the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. For QSL send your QSL and SASE to QSL Manager, WAARC, PO Box 1470, Williamsburg, VA 23187. The Virginia Historic Triangle Certificate is available for working the Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown Special Event Stations. You don’t need to make these contacts in the same calendar year. For a Certificate send QSO info from the three stations to qslmgr@k4rc.net. For event info: https://www.k4rc.net/events/special-event-stations https://www.k4rc.net

07/05/2025 | Scope's "Monkey" Trial - 100th Anniversary

Jul 5-Jul 19, 1400Z-1400Z, W4B, Dayton, TN. Rhea County Amateur Radio Club. 14.265 14.045 7.205 7.045. Certificate. Rob Frailing, 664 Lone Mountain Dr., Dayton, TN 37321. 100th anniversary of the trial of John Scope, in Dayton, TN, for teaching evolution. https://www.facebook.com/RheaCountyAmateurRadioClub

Contests:

Venezuelan Ind. Day Contest - https://radioclubvenezolano.org/independenciadevenezuela.html

FOC Old School Classic 1960s QSO Party - https://www.g4foc.org/foc-old-school-classic-1960s-qso-party/ - Using a computer to send Morse code, 15-30 wpm is not allowed.

Marconi Memorial HF Contest - http://www.arifano.it/contest_marconi.html

Original QRP Contest - http://www.qrpcc.de/contestrules/oqrpr.html

Monday Night - July 7th - ARS Spartan Sprint - http://ars-qrp.com/Spartan_Sprint/Spartan_Sprint.html

I finally hooked up my lithium battery to the smart charger last night. After a Field Day effort, in which it was used for the entire event, with the KX3's display backlight on (I normally keep it off for portable ops) it still had 50% capacity left! And we were not shy about making transmissions - in fact I tried calling "CQ FD" several times when the bands were on the quiet side.

My 12V SLA, which Bill W2AOF had hooked up to his KX3, was in turn connected to a solar panel that he had brought. It was kept topped off and was at 98% capacity when I hooked it up to the smart charger to check its condition.

Great battery performance!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Homebrewers and kitbuilders, this one's for you!

You dazzle everyone with your skills in kit building and homebrewing. It's high time you put those babies on the air and let their sweet sounds fill the airwaves!

2025 QRP-ARCI SUMMER HOMEBREW SPRINT

Always the Second Sunday of July

Date/Time:

2000Z to 2300Z on 13 July 2025 

Mode: HF CW Only.

Exchange:

Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, ARCI member number

Non-Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, Power Out

 QSO Points:

Member = 5 points

Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points

Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

 Multiplier:

SPC (State/Province/Country) total for all bands.  The same station may be worked on multiple bands for QSO points and SPC credit.

 Power Multiplier:

>5 Watts = x1

>1 - 5 Watts = x7

>250 mW - 1 Watt = x10

>55 mW - 250 mW = x15

<55 mW = x20

 Suggested Frequencies:

160m    1810 kHz

80m     3560 kHz

40m     7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)

20m     14060 kHz

15m     21060 kHz

10m     28060 kHz

 Score:

Final Score = Points (total for all bands) x SPCs (total for all bands) x Power Multiplier + Bonus Points.

 BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points

If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points

If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points

(Homebrew is defined as:  if YOU (not your friend, not your Uncle, not your nephew - YOU!) built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

 If you are operating PORTABLE using battery power AND a temporary antenna, add 5000 points to your final score.  (You can NOT be at your shack operating from battery power using your home station antenna to qualify for this bonus.)  This is to help level the playing field for contesters who work from the field against contest stations with 5 element yagis at 70 ft.

Categories:

Entry may be All-Band, Single Band, High Bands (10m-15m-20m) or Low Bands (40m-80m-160m)

 How to Participate:

Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies.  Work as many stations calling CQ QRP or CQ TEST as possible, or call CQ QRP or CQ TEST yourself!  You can work a station for credit once on each band.

 Log Submission:

Submit your entry online at http://www.qrpcontest.com

 Deadline:

Entries must be posted on or before 29 July 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Yet ANOTHER day late and a dollar short!

I guess the hot Field Day weekend really got to me and I guess I'm still in recovery mode. I'm sorry that this is a day late, but I would be remiss if I did not wish all the Hams from Canada a very Happy Canada Day!

I hope your day was relaxing and rewarding. We have THE best neighbors to the North! May the Maple Leaf continue to fly proudly and bravely forever!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

On The Road Again!

Pretty soon, Marianne and I will be making our annual Summer sojourn up to Lake George. We've been going up there very year since 2003 - 22 years now - wow!

What to bring with me Ham Radio wise?

I'm thinking the KX3 and just the AX1. The antenna worked so well for me when we went up to Alexandria Bay last October. I'm fully confident that it will do well again for me as I activate Adirondack State Park for POTA again this year.

Why not the QMX? I could, but I know the KX3 like the back of my hand and it's an old familiar friend. I'm such a creature of habit that I'm seriously thinking of divesting myself of the QMX. It's the 80- 20 Meter version, was not used much and is in excellent shape, both cosmetically and electronically.. It's really redundant to my needs, so if you're interested, or know of someone who might be, I'll let it go at a very reasonable price. Just drop me a line at w2ljqrp@gmail.com

It's a fantastic little rig, but I'm not one of these guys that needs a radio for each finger of both hands. You can use only one at a time, right?

One other last Field Day thought. My batteries! Bravo ......superb job, batteries!  I used my 12Ah lithium battery and I loaned my 12Ah SLA to Bill W2AOF for his KX3. Both lasted for the entire Field Day effort, allowing the KX3's to deliver a full 5 Watts out for the duration.

They are still in my ammo box in the baxk of the Jeep. I'll have to bring them inside tonight and hook them up to my smart charger.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day After Action

 I can succinctly sum up Field Day 2025 in this manner - The weather was hot ...the bands were not!

Overall, the weather was dry, but it was incredibly hot and humid. Set up on Saturday morning felt like we were setting up in a sauna. It was a bit drier on Sunday for teardown, but there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun provided a relentless reminder that it was indeed, Summer

Ahhhhhhh, but it would have been nice had the bands been as hot!

Last year, Marv and I racked up over 200 CW QSOs. That accounted for a couple hours off the air for thunderstorm and an educational activity that we performed. This year, with no lightning to worry about and no educational activity to interrupt our operating, we still only managed to log 169 CW QSOs. And Marv and I were behind the key at all times. He and I both noticed that there were many times that a station as loud as heck, calling "CQ FD" would just not answer us, as much as we would try. A reminder, I guess, that propagation is not always symmetrical.

Digital and SSB QSO totals suffered as well. We had a lack of operators this year, as a few that usually come weren't up to it this year. So, in a pinch, when Marty WB2BEW, our resident SSB Op went to his car for an AC break during the overnight, I picked up the mic and was making SSB QSOs while Marv was behind the key. Talk about feeling like a fish out of water!

Propagation held us to mainly the eastern and midwestern parts of the US and Canada, although we did manage to work the California coastal sections, as well as Alaska and Puerto Rico. The Alaska QSO was made by Dave KD2FSI on FT8 and I worked Puerto Rico twice on CW.

And what can I say more about Dave KD2FSI? He's a mainstay to and a MAJOR part SPARC's Field Day efforts. If he wasn't with us, we'd never have the success that we enjoy. He brings equipment and antennas in addition to what I bring and what Bill W2AOF brings. Without Dave, we'd be hurting puppies, indeed!

Under the miscellaneous file:

The Jackite stand worked perfectly. It held the pole upright to allow for easily installation of the tent pegs and CamJam tie down ropes without everything flopping over. In fact, it held everything so securely that I had a bit of a time getting it uninstalled!

From the "Stupid Me" Department:

The Vibrokeyer looked so mint out of the box, I did not check the condition of the contacts. They are tarnished and gave us fits all weekend. The key would work intermittently. I need to go over the contacts with a Q-Tip and some NOXON tarnish remover. For a major portion of the weekend, we used the QRP Guys paddles that I keep permanently attached to the KX3.

From the "Hog Heaven" Department:

The plan was for me to go out and purchase about five pizzas for dinner for Saturday evening.  During setup on Saturday morning, the Vadney brothers, Dave W2OIL and Dan KC2YRC came by and told us they were bringing BBQ ribs and baked beans that evening. Wow! The ribs were tender, juicy and fall-off-the-bone perfect! The beans were the epic compliment to the ribs and made for a perfect Summer feast! Thank you, Dave and Danny!

We had a lot of visitors and walk-up pedestrian traffic. We were visited by the ARRL, the American Red Cross and by members of our Borough Council. We were able to give our Mayor a copy of the plaque indicating that our Field Day was dedicated to the memory of his father, John AB2VE.

Here are some photos:

The other major development was that our generator that provides electricity for our computer logging network the crapped out early Sunday morning. We thought it had run out of gas, but it didn't - it just stopped working. We were provided a work around solution to the problem when Dave KD2FSI graciously fired up his Ford Bronco and allowed us to hook up an inverter to his battery. I'm not sure what the exact problem with the generator is; and what we're going to do about it. We will take this up at our next meeting on July 17th.

One thing that would have been nice to have? One of those chiller/mister fans. That would have been great! I'm seriously thinking of getting one of these and donating it to the club.

I made the executive decision to put the brakes on at 1:00 PM instead of 2:00 PM. The tent company came around 2:30 PM to retrieve the tent. I passed by the park at around 7:00 PM yesterday and you would have never known that we spent the weekend there.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Final preps for Field Day

I am mostly organized. I just have to do a few things.

I went to Home Depot last night and bought two lengths of 1" PVC and a can of fluorescent  orange paint. I am going to make new end supports for the MFJ-1980 LP.  I was using driveway markers, like two of these:

But, believe it or not, someone helped themselves to one end and I found that end of the wire touching the ground. I highly doubt that anyone will want a piece of PVC pipe painted neon orange. But I guess you never know!

I still have to figure out a carrying bag option for my Jackite stand. I have all day tomorrow as I'm taking the day off from work. Not because of Field Day, but I need new brakes on the Jeep before our yearly sojourn to Lake George, which is coming up soon. I'll be dropping my car off at my mechanic's place tonight and hopefully it will be done by tomorrow evening. Marianne suggested I take an Uber to work and back and I told her that would probably cost more than what I would earn for the day if I were there!

I'll borrow my daughter Cara's car to get the grocery shopping done; and if I can't find anything suitable in the house to use for carrying the stand, a quick trip to Dick's Sporting Goods for a sleeping bag storage bag should do the trick.

Other than that, i just need to bring everything together so I can load it into the Jeep on Saturday morning.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Evolution

 A brief history of the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt - I've told this before, but it bears repeating.

The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt came about in 2012, when it seriously looked to me like the Flight of the Bumblebees might be in peril. For several years prior, Rich Fisher KI6SN had volunteer Hams, myself included, in charge of handing out Bee Numbers. I had done it for two years, 2010 and 2011.

Come the late Spring of 2012 and there were no announcements being made about an upcoming FOBB. I had sent numerous emails to Rich asking if he wanted me to continue with the number issuing chore, but got no response. At that point, I guess I panicked a bit thinking FOBB was going by the wayside. It was and still remains my favorite QRP event of the year, and the thought of losing it was unbearable.

What the heck to do? As I said, FOBB, or something like it, not occurring during the Summer months was unthinkable to me. That's when I decided to contact George N2APB and Joe N2CX, the brain trust of NJQRP if they would put the club's name behind an idea that I had. I told them the why, when, what and how and they were agreeable. The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt became a thing in 2012.

In the meantime, Rich DID make announcements about continuing FOBB. This made me very happy , but it also gave me a bit of anxiety. Would Hams think of the Skeeter Hunt as competition? Was the Skeeter Hunt trying to dethrone FOBB as THE "Classic QRP Summer Event"? Of course the answer was and always will be an  emphatic "NO!"

In all the years that the Skeeter Hunt has occurred, I still heavily promoted FOBB here on this blog and in my e-mails to Skeeters. I have and still do remind them to sign up for FOBB while they are signing up for the Skeeter Hunt. The two events are similar, but not equal in structure. But both are definitely fun and that's what this is supposed to be all about., and ......... the more the merrier!

Last year, or the year before (my memory fails me) Rich stepped away from managing FOBB due to health concerns  Jody K3JZD stepped up to the plate to take over the reins and has been doing a simply outstanding job! FOBB is thriving under his watch. And in addition, we have been promoting each other. He promotes the Skeeter Hunt in his announcements and I continue and will always continue to promote FOBB in any way that I can. It's all about the fun - nothing more, nothing less.

In my minds (which is a scary place to be)  the QRP year revolves around:

1: FYBO - Freeze Your Buns Off

2) QRPTTF - QRP To The Field

3) FOBB - The Flight of the Bumblebees

4) The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt

5) QRP Afield

6) The Peanut Power Sprint

Sprinkled in between by the QRP-ARCI operating events, the Sasquatch Stomp and the Zombie Shuffle.

May each one thrive and be successful for many years to come!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Sizzling.

 I think you can flip New Jersey over - this side is done.

We are entering a three day period (Monday thru Wednesday) of excessive heat with temperatures above 100 F (38C) and heat indices of 105-100 F (40 -43C). Yesterday only reached into the 90s, but the humidity was out of sight, causing it to feel much, much warmer.

Of course, W2LJ lives in the "purple".

The morning actually started out cool and we had most of our windows open for fresh air. Around 11:30 AM or so, a thunderstorm rolled through and all I can say is "Wow!". I had dozed off on the couch in the rec room and even then, I saw a flash with my eyes closed. The resulting thunderclap seemed to last for minutes and the house shook and vibrated. If there was no storm, I would have sworn we had experienced an earthquake, that's how much the house vibrated.

After the storm went through the heat began to build up again. By the time dinner time came around, it was almost unbearable to go outside to cook on the grill.  Sleeping was not so great last night. We have central AC, but it's older so it's not zoned. The downstairs stays decently cool, but the upstairs can get stuffy.

When I was a kid, the heat didn't bother me as much. I grew up in a house without air conditioning. In fact, I much preferred Summer to the Winter. I still do, but the heat gets to me much more quickly now. I guess that's just a consequence of growing old. My ideal would be anywhere from 65 F to 80 F year around. Like that's gonna happen!

That being said, Field Day preps have begin for me. I made sure all my batteries are charged up for next weekend. I actually have enough "juice" for a week's worth of operating at 5 Watts between a lithium and two SLA batteries. I also have my two little "blue bricks" that  I use for portable ops like FOBB and the Skeeter Hunt. I should be in good stead.

Speaking of the Skeeter Hunt, we've had 113 people sign up for Skeeter Hunt numbers over the weekend. That warmed the cockles of my heart. I'm hoping that by the day before the Hunt, we will have some 200+ people signed up. The more, the merrier!

The VE Session at the W2QW Hamfest on Saturday went well. I was expecting four candidates. One cancelled late Friday night and there was one "no show". Two were successful - one brand new Tech and one upgrade to General. The weather was nice with no breeze. The breeze was probably wished for by the flea market attendees, but I welcomed the calmness as it made for no blowing away of paperwork. Such are the hazards of an outdoor VE Session.

After the exams were over, I left. I had been there since 5:00 AM helping to direct vendors to their spots. I still had the grocery shopping to do and there's nothing that I really need, Ham Radio-wise, so I bid my good-byes and got on with my day.

UPDATE:

At 4:30 PM, we broke 100 F, with a THI of 124.3F.

From my weather station.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Weekend of June 21st and 22nd

This weekend is the weekend of the W2QW Raritan Valley Radio Club Hamfest in Piscataway, NJ. Stop by if you're in the area!

Unfortunately, we have had only two people sign up for the VE Session. I guess that's better than nothing; but I think my VEs are going to outnumber the candidates by a factor of two or three!

The Hamfest is always a good time and I think the weather will be OK. I think any rain is supposed to hold off to the afternoon. I also have to get myself over to Home Depot and Dick's Sporting Goods at some point this weekend to pick up some last minute needed items for Field Day NEXT weekend.

I'll be up at 4:00 AM on Saturday to get to the site by 5:00 AM. In addition to running the VE Session, I also help out Tim AB2ZK by positioning vendors to their selling spots. It makes for a long day.

Here's what's happening on the air this weekend.

Contests:

All Asian DX Contest, CW - https://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-3_Contests/AA_rule_en.htm

SMIRK Contest - http://smirk.info/contest.html

SKCC QSO Party - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/QSO_Party/

Stew Perry Topband Challenge - http://www.kkn.net/stew/ - 160 Meters in the Summer - that MUST be fun!

West Virginia QSO Party - https://www.qsl.net/wvqp/

Special Event Stations:

06/21/2025 | 152nd Birthday of Indian Prairie School

Jun 21-Jun 22, 1504Z-1504Z, KF0MSJ, Washington, MO. Zerobeaters Amateur Radio Club . 14.330. QSL. Greg Ballard , 662 E Main St, Union, MO 63084. Help us celebrate our clubhouse. zerobeaters.org

06/21/2025 | Remembering Private Chester Bird

Jun 21-Jun 22, 2300Z-2000Z, K0CBP, Golden Valley, MN. The American Legion Amateur Radio Club (TALARC) Post 523. 7.260 14.260 21.360 28.360. Certificate. TALARC, E-certificate, see URL for details. Chester Bird Post 523 American Legion honors and is dedicated to the memory of Chester D. Ptaszek, Private, United States Army, who lost his life in the Second World War. Find E-certificate instructions, band/mode updates on qrz.com/db/K0CBP. https://chesterbird.org/amateur-radio-club. www.qrz.com/db/K0CBP

06/22/2025 | FESTIVAL JAZZ MONTREAL

Jun 22-Jul 7, 2200Z-0700Z, VE2JAZZ, Saint-Jérôme. HOME STATION. 14.030. QSL. JEAN CHARRON, 17 Rue Élisabeth, Saint-Jérôme, QC J7Z 2S9, CANADA

Oh, and by the way, TODAY is the First Day of Summer! Don't forget to sign up for your 2025 NJQRP Skeeter Number - https://www.qsl.net/w2lj for details.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least

Sacrilege?

From recent posts, you all know that I recently built my 4 States NM0S paddle kit. I had purchased it specifically for Field Day use. Personally, I love it! I love its small size, its action and feel. It occurred to me, however, that it might not be the best choice for Field Day for one reason.

I will not be the only CW op there. I will be one of two, or three at the most; and somehow I have a feeling that the paddle's small size will become an issue to the other ops. I'm definitely not bringing my Mercury or Begali paddles. They are too near and dear to my heart, so I decided that I will bring my trusty Vibroplex Vibrokeyer.

It works perfectly, has a good weight to it and is large enough where it will be comfortable in even hands older than mine.

I have one problem with the key, though. That (as far as I'm concerned) ugly tan base. Why in the world Vibroplex chose that color is beyond me. Sorry for the graphic image, but it reminds me of the colors I used to find in our kid's diapers when they were infants.  YUCK!

If memory serves me correctly, I picked this up at a Hamfest years ago. I don't use it all that much and it's usually tucked away on a shelf in the shack. And that's a pity as it's really a fine key. I just can't stand that tan base, it just irks me.

After Field Day is over, I think I am going to disassemble it and re-paint the base with the same Rustoleum Black Hammer Finish paint that I used when I restored my Vibroplex Original Bug. That may devalue it, but I don't really care. I'm not planning on selling it and maybe the new look will merit a place for it on the operating table instead of on the shelf.

I hope I haven't driven any Vibroplex purists to begin pulling out their hair. "You're going to do WHAT?!??"

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

"A Day Late and a Dollar Short" Part II

 Yesterday, June 17th, was apparently International QRP Day.

You would think that would be something I'd definitely celebrate and highlight, no?

My mind was otherwise occupied as my wife, the love of my life, was hospitalized for an attack of aFib. She went in on Monday in the wee hours of the morning (of course these things always seem to happen in the middle of the night) and was released yesterday, Tuesday afternoon.  As it turned out, it was not seriously serious, but still. I think it was more unnerving for me than for her.

I didn't get much sleep Monday night as the house just felt "different" without her, so yesterday I was pretty much in a fog all day. Thank the Lord, the Docs treated her quickly and prescribed some new meds and she's feeling no worse for wear.

However, it didn't even occur to me that yesterday was International QRP Day until I saw this posted on Facebook late last night.  It would have been fitting to have participated in the NAQCC mW Sprint last night, but by the time it started my brain was already like Jell-O. My fist would probably have been so bad as to be considered an advanced form of torture, thus prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

So, to all my brother and sister QRP'ers, I hope the day was filled with nice contacts for you. Hopefully, I'll be able to join in on the fun more, next year.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Darn it!

The stuff sack I purchased from eBay to hold my Jackite pole stand is too small. It's barely long enough but isn't big enough to hold all the pieces. I've never been good about ordering those kinds of things because their capacity is always demarked in liters. I guess I just can't accurately gauge what a 5L or a 10L bag will actually hold. I bought a 10L sack because I envisioned five 2L bottles of soda and thought, "That'll be big enough!". Wrong! Backpacks are rated the same way and that confuses the heck out of me as well. It's painfully obvious that I was never a Boy Scout or have done any camping.

I suppose I could go to the local sporting goods emporium to actually visualize in person before buying. Before I do that, I am going to go through a few of our closets to see if there's anything we already have that I can scavenge. I seem to remember my kids getting nylon sacks with drawstrings for various events when they were little. Maybe I can find something suitable already at home.

The parts are now contained in a reusable grocery store bag with handles. It works, but it looks dorky., and I can't close the top. I'd like something with a drawstring that I can cinch to prevent pieces from unintentionally tumbling out in the back of the Jeep.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Call me "A Day Late and a Dollar Short"

I hope all the Ham Dads in the US had a great Father's Day yesterday. It was a quiet one for me.  Got on the air a bit in the AM and then got in a nap during the afternoon.

The weather was dismal. Drizzly all day with a high only in the lower 60s. I was hoping to either go out to the Washington-Rochambeau Trail, or maybe just operate from the patio table in the backyard for a while. Sigh.

But Marianne, bought a nice cake that we had for dessert after dinner.

It is s'mores flavored and there's plenty left over for the next few days.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It may be Friday the 13th, but ...........

 It may be Friday the 13th, but that only means we are now one week away from the First Day of Summer. That means that next Friday is Opening Day for signing up for a 2025 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt number!

A few things to know

 Skeeter Numbers are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. They are handed out sequentially ONLY. The only Skeeter number that is reserved in perpetuity is #13, and that's for yours truly.

 Skeeter Number requests are made via e-mail ONLY to w2ljqrp@gmail.com No requests sent via social media will be honored as I may miss them there. I may miss duplicate requests made via social media AND e-mail. It has happened before!

 Requests will be honored for emails arriving at 00:01 EDT next Friday, June 20th. Any requests received before then will be honored at the end of the first day. Skeeter numbers will be handed out until the day before the Hunt. When you make your request, be sure to include your Call sign, your name and the S/P/C that you will be operating from. I can't count the number of requests I've received over the years without that basic information!

 This year the event will be held on Sunday, August 17th from 17:00 to 21:00 UTC.

 For bonus points this year, we are going to play Skeeter Hunt Blackjack. Work enough call sign numbers to add up to exactly 21 and you can earn 1,000 Bonus Points!

All the details can be found in either of two places:

https://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html

https://www.qsl.net/w2lj/

 Hope to hear from you on the First Day of Summer!

 72 es BZZZZZZZ

Larry W2LJ - Skeeter # 13

Weekend of June 14th and 15th

 Before we get started - Saturday, June14th is Flag Day here in the US.

Contests:

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

Portugal Day Contest - https://portugaldaycontest.rep.pt/rules.php

GACW WWSA CW DX Contest - https://www.gacw.ar/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Tuesday night:

NAQCC mW CW Sprint - http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html

Special Events:

06/01/2025 | W2W D-Day Commemoration

Jun 1-Jun 14, 1300Z-2200Z, W2W, Hunt Valley, MD. Amateur Radio Club of the National Electronics Museum (ARCNEM). 14.244 14.044 7.244 7.044. Certificate & QSL. ARCNEM, 338 Clubhouse Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031. Amateur Radio Club of the National Electronics Museum (ARCNEM) will operate W2W in commemoration of the anniversary of D-Day and the role of electronics in WWII. Primary operation will be June 1-June 6 with additional operation possible during June 7-14 as operator availability permits. Operation on 80M (3.544, 3.844), additional bands and digital modes possible during event. Frequencies +/- according to QRM. QSL and Certificate available via SASE; details at ww-2.us. ww-2.us

06/14/2025 | Appleton Flag Day Parade

Jun 14, 1830Z-2030Z, W9ZL, Appleton, WI. Fox Cities Amateur Radio Club. 14.246. QSL. FCARC, PO Box 2346, Appleton, WI 54912. Operate our special event station while we traverse thru the Appleton Flag Day parade. The largest flag day parade in the country. QSL via FCARC PO Box 2346 Appleton WI 54912 fcarc.club

06/14/2025 | Audie Murphy's 100th Birthday

Jun 14-Jun 29, 0000Z-2359Z, W5M, Greenville, TX. Sabine Valley ARA. 7.270 14.270 21.300 28.350. Certificate & QSL. SABINE VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO ASSN, PO BOX 843, Greenville, TX 75403. Audie enlisted at the downtown Greenville, TX post office in 1942. He went on to become the most decorated soldier of WWII, earning every medal possible, including the Medal of Honor, all before the age of 21. https://k5gvl.com/audie-murphy

06/14/2025 | Danbury Railway Museum's 9th Annual Steel & Wheels Car Show

Jun 14, 1400Z-1900Z, W2MNR, Danbury, CT. Metro-North Railroad Amateur Radio Association. 7.235 14.235; other frequencies as conditions permit. QSL. There will be, no QSLs, this year. Check dxsummit.fi. This event benefits HomeBridge Ventures. www.danburyrail.org or www.mnrara.org

Something from the "Something I've always wanted to do" category.

For Flag Day, I've always wanted to do a Special Event Station at the Middlebrook Encampment in Bridgewater, NJ, which is not far from home at all.

It was at this place that the first official flag of the United States was unfurled for the Continental Army, after a law to adopt a national flag had been passed by Congress. By special order of Congress, a Thirteen Star Flag is flown 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at the Washington Camp Ground.

There have been several things that have prohibited me from doing this. First off, while this location is on the National Register of Historic Places,  you can see from the Google Earth view that the monument is a bit away from the road. There's really no parking nearby, and there doesn't appear to be picnic tables or other amenities nearby. There is residential housing across Middlebrook Road, so I'd have to resort to parking on a side street and hoofing it in. 

Secondly, with Flag Day so close to Field Day, I haven't been able to drum up much interest from fellow SPARC members. Next year at this time, I'd be retired so I just might make this a solo event.

Once there, it would really be a field event. This would really be sort of like a mini Field Day warm up. I've only driven by and that was a while ago. One of these weekends, I'll have to take a scouting trip.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day article

 Our article made the local online newspaper - 

You can read the full article here:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-plainfield/sections/community-announcements/articles/south-plainfield-amateur-radio-club-to-participate-in-field-day-2025?fbclid=IwY2xjawK2wU9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFWc2tRWFl0WEVscWdGNFRHAR68e5W9QgCyCkxC8jZae9CATY_AJwgq83mFO1L_1ZiJMd_LkycL7dJG9yTEuw_aem_KGuWAKoUW6zCpLP-VRNdFQ

Only minor edits to what I sent, so i guess I didn't botch up things too badly, after all.

Actually, if your club is having Field Day, it's not all that hard to get local publicity. Local print and online publications are always looking for content. I conjured up this article all by my lonesome, but if you're not comfortable with your writing skills, the ARRL has resources that you can use:

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2020/3_4a-2020%20New%20Field%20Day%20PR%20Kit.pdf

I used their material as boilerplate for our article last year. I thought with Hurricane Helene and the havoc she caused in the Southeast still so fresh in everyone's mind, that I would write my own article this year. It's not all that different than composing these blog posts.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Maintenance

Something I forget to do on a regular basis is comments maintenance.

I have this set up so that any comments on posts older than two weeks old, automatically go into moderation. You would NOT believe the amount of suspicious and dubious links, advertisements, solicitations and just generally totally unrelated stupid stuff that spammers try to place in here, on the sly, via comments to older posts. What's really hilarious are the ones written in languages I don't even understand. Like I would let those through!

So if you comment on something older, and don't see it posted right away - please don't take offense. It's just my way of trying to keep out junk. From here on in, I'll make an effort to check for moderated comments on a weekly basis.

For instance, I just went through, and deleted a few spam comments soliciting product distribution from overseas manufacturers- but included among the legitimate comments was one made to a post I had written in 2014! That was approved.

Thanks for your understanding. I really like when you guys comment, especially if I say something stupid. Keeps me on the up and up. I don't delete negative  comments or ones that take me to task unless they include vulgarity, and yes, there have been one or two of those over the past 20 years.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Coming soon!

Not only here, but on Facebook and to a QRP e-mail reflector near you. 

The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt 2025 edition will be open soon for Skeeter Number signups! Details coming at the end of this week! Stay tuned!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Disappointment, again.

I swept the bands a few times yesterday and I could not locate any more museum ships that were on the air. In retrospect, what I should have done, and will do next year is to place a bunch of appropriate call signs in Ham Alert. I had NJ2BB in there, but band conditions were never good enough for propagation between South Plainfield and Camden. The distance between us is only 78 miles. I tried listening for them when they were spotted on 40 Meters, but even then, there was no groundwave propagation. 80 Meters would have been my best bet, but I doubt they have access to space for an 80 Meter antenna. I also kept looking at DX Summit and some of the other clusters, but I never saw anything in comments to indicate whether or not the spotted station was a museum ship or not.

The other disappointment for the weekend was the 4 States Second Sunday Sprint. I worked exactly one station and that was Mark WB9HFK, who had a terrific signal into NJ.  I also heard Chas W2SH on 20 Meters, but he was very weak. I tried calling him several times with no luck.

I called "CQ 4S QRP" a lot, with no success on both 20 and 40 Meters. On 40 Meters, I tried the 7.030, 7.040 and 7.120 MHz neighborhoods. Nada, zip zilch. In situations, like these, as unlikely as it would have been, I tend to thing maybe there's something wrong with my antennas. Afterwards, I plugged my call sign into the Reverse Beacon Network to see if I was being heard. This is what came up:

And for the most part, I was getting double digit dB numbers above the signal to noise ratio level, so I was not only being heard by the skimmers, but would have been audible to the human ear, as well. Even some of the skimmers in Europe were hearing me in double digit dB figures. That made sense to be as I had had that QSO with England just the day before on 17 Meters at only 5 Watts.

The timing for the Second Sunday Sprint is not ideal as that's the same time the weekly K1USN Slow Speed Sprint also occurs.  All you hear on 40 Meters is wall-to-wall "CQ SST". I may try another time or two before I decide whether or not it's worth attempting to participate at all.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Resting weekend, or at least trying to

Last work week was brutal, and not too much fun at all. Long, tough days at work and a couple evenings of CERT duty at a visiting carnival in town. I was doing pedestrian control, and it made for some extra very long days. I think from the look on my face, you could tell I wasn't the happiest of campers.

So this weekend, I wanted to get in a little radio time, and I did. It was a mixed bag. The highlight was working Mike KC2EGL as NY3EC aboard the USS Requin, a WWII submarine that was participating in Museum Ships Weekend. I wanted to work more Museum Ships, but I haven't been able to really find any.

I have worked a few POTA stations and I had a short QSO with John G4RCG in England on 17 Meters. The bands just seem to be devoid of a lot of activity this weekend, at least from what I've been hearing so far.

Tonight,I will see if I can drum up any QSOs in the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. I'll be using my newly built 4 States paddle, so maybe that will bring me luck.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend of June 7th and 8th

It's Museum Ships Weekend!  A lot of historical maritime vessels will be on the air this weekend! And band conditions look to be a whole lot better than last weekend, when that CME pretty much obliterated the HF bands.

Contests:

VK Shires Contest - https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

Tisza Cup CW Contest - https://www.tiszacup.eu/index.php/en/contest-rules

Wake-Up! QRP Sprint - http://qrp.ru/contest/wakeup/333-wakeup-eng

Atlantic Canada QSO Party - https://acqp.ca/

Kentucky QSO Party: - http://www.kyqsoparty.org/rules/

IARU Region 1 Field Day, CW - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rnfd.shtml

RSGB National Field Day: - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rnfd.shtml

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint: - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

K1USN Slow Speed Test - http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html

Tuesday night:

NAQCC CW Sprint - http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html

Digital modes you may hear - 10-10 Int. Open Season PSK Contest, ARRL Inter. Digital Contest

Special Event Stations:

06/04/2025 | Battle of Midway Island June 4-June 7,1942, and Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 4-Jun 7, 1200Z-2300Z, W2Z/WA4USN, Mount Pleasant, SC. Charleston Amateur Radio Society, Inc. 7.225 14.300. QSL. K4KOA, 14 Campground Rd, Yemassee, SC 29945. W2Z from 4 thru 6th operated out of K4KOA Yemasee, SC.W2Z and WA4USN on the 7th operated out of USS Yorktown CV-10 Charleston Harbor SC note: this is also Museum Ships on the Air weekend. it will be a combo weekend with WA4USN. wa4usn.org

06/06/2025 | Hank Williams Celebration

Jun 6-Jun 7, 0000Z-0000Z, W4H, Georgiana, AL. Jim Bell Wireless Association. 28.400 14.300 7.225 3.390. Certificate & QSL. JERRY MCCULLOUGH, 274 WEST PETTIBONE RD, Georgiana, AL 36033. SASE please. https://www.k4tns.com

Jun 6-Jun 7, 1700Z-0000Z, W4H, Georgiana, AL. Mom bell wireless association . 7180-7074 14250-14074 2140-21074 28400-28074. Certificate & QSL. Jerry McCullough , 274 West Pettibone Rd, Georgiana, AL 36033. k4tns.com

06/07/2025 | Elettra Back On Air!

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0600Z-1700Z, IY4RXO, Bologna, ITALY. ARI Fidenza Radio Club/Italian Amateur Radio Association. all bands, all modes, as available based on conditions. QSL. See website, for, information, ITALY. www.arifidenza.it

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1600Z-2300Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 14.320 7.250 14.070 PSK31 DSTAR on Papa System Repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum Ship COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0000Z-2300Z, W4AVM, Tampa, FL. American Victory Museum Ship. 14.320 7.268. QSL. American Victory Ship & Museum - W4AVM , c/o Richard Burbes - KE9VS, 5224 Franklin Woodland Drive, Plant City, FL 33565. www.w4avm.org

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Event

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0001Z-2359Z, NJ2BB, Camden, NJ. Battle Ship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station. 7044 7272 14044 14262. Certificate. Margaret Burgess - KB2BRR, 150 Schooner Ave, Barnegat, NJ 08005. nj2bb.org

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Event USS Tennessee BB43 Memorial Museum

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0001Z-2359Z, W4BSF, Huntsville, TN. Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club. 14.250. QSL. Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club, 2486 Leatherwood Road, Attn: BB43 QSL Mgr, Oneida, TN 37841. Check spotting networks. https://bsfarc.org/museum-ship-weekend

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Sat & Sun

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1330Z-2100Z, K3SAV, Port of Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. 2 day event. Same hours on Saturday and Sunday. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award qrz.com/db/k3sav

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Station

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0000Z-2359Z, N1S, Groton, CT. Submarine Force Library & Museum. 3.850 7.225 14.275 21.350. QSL. N1S Generations ARC, 110 Vinegar Hill Road, Gales Ferry, CT 06335. • NAUTILUS - First Nuclear Submarine| Jun 7-Jun 8, N1S, 0000Z – 2359Z N1S Groton, CT. Nuclear Submarine USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 Museum Ships Weekend. All Bands; All Modes. QSL; bureau via K3LBD; direct with SASE to N1S Generations ARC, 110 Vinegar Hill Road, Gales Ferry, CT 06335. NAUTILUS information http://www.ussnautilus.org/. Station information: www.qrz.com/db/k3lbd or www.qrz.com/db/n1s www.ussnautilus.org

06/07/2025 | National Museum of the Great Lakes Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1400Z-1830Z, K8E, Toledo, OH. Toledo Mobile Radio Association. 7.039 7.260 14.239 14.260. QSL. James M. Schoonmaker , P. O. Box 9673, Toledo, OH 43697. www.qrz.com/db/k8e or www.w8hhf.org

06/07/2025 | NB9QV USS Cobia Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1400Z-2000Z, NB9QV, Manitowoc, WI. USS Cobia Amateur Radio Club. 7.240 14.240. Certificate. Send contact information to, kc9yl@arrl.net, to receive PDF certificate. https://www.qrz.com/db/NB9QV

06/07/2025 | Ships On The Air

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0359Z-2359Z, W4JDD, Jacksonville, FL. Orleck Amateur Radio Society. 7.225 14.250. Certificate. John Reynolds, 5547 Lofty Pines Cir S, Jacksonville, FL 32210. Operate around the clock with the worldwide Ships On The Air event johnr1000@aol.com

And .....let us not forget the brave and valiant souls from 81 years ago - today.

May their bravery, courage and sacrifice never be forgotten.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

FOBB 2025 has been announced!

This just appeared in my inbox today.

2025 Flight of the Bumblebees

AI image courtesy of Gemini

The annual Flight of the Bumblebees will be held on Sunday, July 27, 2025.

 The event will be in a four hour daytime window, from 1700 to 2100 UTC.

 This casual QRP CW event consists of 'Bumblebees' who are operating portable stations at outdoor locations, and 'Home Stations' who try to work as many of these 'Bumblebees' as possible.

 This event is open to all operators.  Anywhere.  With the sunspot cycle still on the high side, this year's  event has the potential to be very interesting.

 Operators who want to go out and setup a portable station at some outdoor location, and be a highly sought after 'Bumblebee', need to obtain a "Bumblebee Number". 

 The window for obtaining your 2025 'Bumblebee Number' is now Open.   This year is is simpler than ever to get a Bumblebee Number.

 The https://ars-qrp.com web site will explain the whole process.

 I'll be out there as a 'Bumblebee' - hoping to work you during the event.

 72,

Jody - K3JZD

This is always a super fun event, and is a Summertime Classic! And what makes it even better is that there's always lots of participation. I've already signed up and I'll be Bee # 25!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

PS: Look for an announcement about the 2025 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt coming soon!

Activity Night

At the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club, we have two meetings a month, on the first and third Thursdays. The second meeting is our monthly Business Meeting, while the first one is "Activity Night". This was something that Marv K2VHW instituted as our Founding Club President. We got away from it for a while because of the pandemic. It's hard to have an activity when you can't meet in person. When I was s"elected" last year to be Club President, I made it my business to revitalize this.

Our Activity Night meetings are still hybrid, in person and on Zoom, so I try to keep it more of a learning experience rather than a hands on kind of thing so that everyone can benefit. So far we've had Activity Nights where we shared our experiences with the Reverse Beacon Network, how the National Traffic System works and how to send a radiogram, and a presentation on solar panels and controllers among other topics.

This past weekend, I was taken aback on a lot of the comments on social media referring to band conditions. "Who shut the bands off?" ......."Are the bands bad for everyone, or is it just my antenna?" ...... "My POTA activation was a complete bust!" and other comments like that.

We experienced a Coronal Mass Ejection and a series of geomagnetic storms and Hams didn't expect this? They didn't know about this? If you did more than just memorize answers for your Amateur Radio exam, this is basic knowledge. Surely, Techs must have a basic and rudimentary understanding of this, and Generals and Extras should be totally familiar with this. It appears not, from a lot of what I've read over the past few days.

For this SPARC Activity Night, we're going to have a very brief going over of our Field Day preparations, as we have one more Business Meeting before the big weekend. I want to spend the rest of the evening showing this YouTube video.

There are a few good PowerPoint presentations on the subject and a plethora of equally good videos. I chose this one firstly because it's only 22 minutes long, and I don't want to keep our club members occupied all night. Secondly, it treats the subject matter in "plain English" and doesn't get all esoteric, or go off on tangents. It's a very well done "meat and potatoes" kind of presentation, that I think will benefit our members who don't have HF rigs and are not all that familiar with HF operating.  Even for the VHF/UHF only people, this is good stuff to know and every Ham should at least be aware of the Sun and it's effect on our bands.

72 de Larry W2LLJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!