Hamvention Weekend

Even though the big shebang is taking place in Xenia this weekend, there will still be happenings on the bands this weekend:

Contests:

NZART Sangster Shield Contest - https://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contests/sangster-shield

His Maj. King of Spain Contest, CW - https://concursos.ure.es/en/s-m-el-rey-de-espana-cw/bases/

Arkansas QSO Party - http://www.arkqp.com/

Baltic Contest - http://www.lrsf.lt/en/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest/W8DIZ Memorial Sprint - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Special Events:

05/04/2024 | NJ Knights of Columbus 128th State Convention

May 4-May 18, 0000Z-2359Z, K0C, Brick, NJ. NJKCARC (N2AJO). 7.225 14.240 21.350 28.340. Certificate & QSL. Art Olson, 339 18th Ave, Brick, NJ 08724. For domestic contacts: QSL card, send SASE; for QSL card and certificate, send two dollars. For DX contacts: QSL card, send two dollars; for QSL card and certificate, send five dollars. For more information, visit K0C on QRZ.com or Email: olson339@comcast.net www.qrz.com/db/K0C

05/12/2024 | National Police Week - To Honor Our Fallen Heros

May 12-May 18, 0001Z-2359Z, K3FBI/0-9, Fredericksburg, VA. FBI Amateur Radio Association. 14.275 7.060. Certificate. Jay Chamberlain - NS4J, 27 Fox Run Ln, Fredericksburg, VA 22405-3303. To honor all Law Enforcement members who have died in the line of duty. All bands and all modes. Multiple stations from around the U.S. Downloadable PDF certificate by the end of June at QRZ, https://www.qrz.com/db/K3FBI k3fbi@arrl.net

05/12/2024 | Police Services Week

May 12-May 18, 0000Z-0000Z, N4P, Gainesville, FL. W. Travis Loften High School Amateur Radio Club - K4WTL. 14.335. Certificate. Robert Lightner, 3435 NW 34th Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32605. www.qrz.com/db/k4wtl

05/18/2024 | National Maritime Day

May 18, 1300Z-2100Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah ARC. 7.1 14.1 21.1 28.1. QSL. K3LU, 980 PATUXENT ROAD, Odenton, MD 21113. Single transmitter SSB and CW aboard N/S Savannah. Please check spotting networks for frequencies. Info on QRZ.com www.qrz.com/db/k3s

05/18/2024 | South Orange Amateur Radio Assoc., 50th Anniversary

May 18-May 19, 1700Z-0100Z, K6SOA, Mission Viejo, CA. South Orange Amateur Radio Assoc.-SOARA. 28.375 21.350 14.250 7.200. QSL. SOARA Special Event, P.O. Box 2545, Mission Viejo, CA 92690. To receive the QSL, send a SASE, or accept eQSL. soara.org

05/18/2024 | W6SFM Bug Roundup

May 18-May 20, 0000Z-0000Z, W6SFM, Fair Oaks, CA. Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club. 3.533 7.033 14.033 28.033. QSL. Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club, 4901 Minnesota Avenue, Fair Oaks, CA 95628. https://w6sfm.org/bug-roundup

05/19/2024 | National EMS Week

May 19-May 25, 0000Z-0000Z, N4E, Gainesville, FL. W.T. Loften High School Amateur Radio Club. 14.335. QSL. W.T. Loften High School ARC, 3000 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32641. www.qrz.com/db/k4wtl

On a humorous note - I came across this video during one of my meanderings across the vast prairies of YouTube:

For a humorous parody type of video - I think it was produced quite well. And make sure to watch it to the very end! And while this video is meant to be taken as humorous satire, I personally know of two instances where this happened in real life. These persons got interested in Amateur Radio, got licensed and got into DX hunting quite heavily. They had the means to be able to afford deluxe stations and very credible antenna farms. Once they earned DXCC Honor Roll, they both basically said "What's left?" and sold all their equipment and allowed their licenses to lapse. What a shame!

Today marks the last "in house production day" at MFJ - interesting that they chose the first day of Hamvention for that. And speaking of Hamvention, I along with the rest of you, wonder what new goodies will be introduced this year - not that I'll be able to afford any of them!

Have a great weekend!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least1

RFTB / W8DIZ Memorial Sprints

Dan Shepard N8IE has announced that the Flying Pigs QRP Club will be holding combined RFTB / W8DIZ Memorial Sprints each month through March 2025 to honor the memory of Diz Gentzow SK.

These Sprints will feature participation of the Club call sign W8PIG/# from as many call sign areas as possible each month. If you would like to volunteer to be W8PIG from your call area, please send an e-mail to w2ljqrp@gmail.com.

Terms and conditions:

1) You must be a member of the Flying Pigs (It's fun and free and I have no idea why you wouldn't want to be a member!) Our motto is "No Dues, No Rules, Just Fun - and if we don't like it we fix it!"

2) Your call sign doesn't have to match, you just have to live in that call area. Let's say your call sign is WB2XYZ but you live in Illinois - you can volunteer for W8PIG/9.

3) Right now I'll be looking to fill spots for May, June and July of 2024.

If you're not a Piggie and wannabe - you can join by going to https://www.fpqrp.org/join.php

There's a great quarterly newsletter which has once again taken up publication - "Bacon Bits" - https://www.fpqrp.org/baconbits.php

In addition to the monthly "Run For The Bacon", there are also two monthly "Walks For The Bacon" on 40 and 20 Meters. These are slower paced Sprints with a maximum code speed of 13 WPM, designed expressly for those who are new to CW and/or are working up their code speed. No "buzz saw" CW to be found here! And if all you can do is 5 WPM, please join us anyway - we'll slow down for you!

There are also weekly SSB Piggie nets  that are taking wing on the HF bands. In short, becoming a member of the Flying Pigs costs nothing, grabs you a ton of fun, and lets you make a lot of great friendships within the QRP community. Please consider joining .......ESPECIALLY if you're new to QRP. You won't regret it!

72 de Larry W2LJ / FP# 612

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

That didn't go as planned

 The weekend, I mean.

It started on Thursday with some soreness in my right foot. It elevated Friday and by the time I got home from work, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the library on Saturday with the rest of SPARC. An ugly bout of gout came to visit me. I haven't had an attack in about 7 years - but I did have two Guinness in March and I guess that was enough to trigger. This is why I don't drink much beer - a six pack will last me a year, or more.

Anyway, the pain was not in the toe as where most attacks occur, it was in the bunion. Every step was a wince in discomfort. Not excruciating pain, but enough to keep me off my feet. I stayed home with my foot elevated all weekend. My only two trips out were to the grocery store on Saturday and to Church on Sunday. And both of those days, I was walking around like Fred Sanford.

So I didn't make it to the library and I didn't get on the air to listen for any QRPTTF stations. From the emails I've seen, there wasn't all that much activity due to really crummy band conditions. That's a shame!

I did make it down the steps to the shack for the W8DIZ Memorial Run For The Bacon last night. The bands were weird! The Solar Flux was 227, the Sunspot number was 283. The K index was 3 and the bands were lousy, at least for me. High noise level and lots of QSB. By the time I pulled the plug, i worked 15 Flying Pigs including Memorial Stations W8PIG/1, W8PIG/2, W8PIG/8 and W8PIG/9. 

This is where I was heard - according to RBN:

The weekend could have been better and it could have been worse. And thanks to Advil and Blue Emu topical pain relief cream, I'm back here at work on this freezing Monday morning.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least1

Monday morning - ugh!

The week is not starting off on the greatest note. I got into work, flipped the light switch on here in the storage room that they call my "office" aaaannnnnddd . nothing! All the wall outlets work, just not the overhead lights. I have the door propped open, so there's enough light from the hallway spilling in to work by, but the situation is not ideal. The building engineers are working on it.

The situation was much better last night at home in the shack. I joined in on the Flying Pigs monthly  "Run For The Bacon" for the first time in years.  I started out on 20 Meters, where I heard K4KBL loud and clear, calling CQ. After I worked him, I moved down a few kHz and started calling "CQ FP" myself. It ended up being a big waste of time.

40 Meters was much better as I was able to find some Piggies amongst the myriad of VA QSO Party stations. I worked a few, called "CQ FP" again and worked a few more. Then, as the second hour was about to begin, I left to go participate in St. Max Net on 75 Meter SSB. When that was over, I went back to 40 Meters only to hear the band crowded with SST stations. So I jumped on down to 80 Meters and worked Tom KA2KGP and after working him, I called it a night as I didn't hear anyone else on 80 Meters.

So I finished the night with 9 QSOs - 5 fellow Flying Pigs and 4 other QRP stations. Obviously not the greatest outcome on my part, but it was good to reconnect with some old friends, like Brian KB9BVN, Will NQ2W and the aforementioned Tom KA2KGP. I am going to make it a point to participate each month going forward.

The weather yesterday turned out to be quite different from what had been prognosticated going into the weekend. It turned out to be a sunny day with a high of 60F (15C) in the afternoon. I had even contemplated making a run into the neighboring town of Edison to put the Thomas Edison Memorial Park K-1615 on the air. But as I sat in the living room mulling it over, I was hearing the wind HOWL. My weather station was reporting sustained winds at about 6 MPH with gusts to 18 MPH.

I am not as hardy an activator as most. I decided discretion was the better part of valor and stayed put. I know I'll probably regret it later, but I'm hoping there will be ample enough opportunities when the weather becomes warmer. The wind chill yesterday would have been bothersome, and when you're still not up to feeling 100% - I'll pass for now. I'm satisfied with the little activation that I did on Saturday.

Hey! The lights just came back on. One of the building engineers came by to tell me there's a dead relay in the electrical room and they bypassed it until a replacement comes in. Maybe it won't be such a bad day after all.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!.

Making a comeback?

 The "Run for the Bacon" Sprints, a monthly event held on the 3rd Sunday of the month, and sponsored by the Flying Pigs Amateur Radio Club Inc, have been on the contest scene for years. But like a lot of things over the years, participation has dwindled.

In an effort to correct that course, the Sprint time has changed to a little bit earlier start as a means to increase participation. For example, on the East Coast, the old time was from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM local time. For someone who has to get up early to go to work the next day, that's a big hurdle.

The time has been changed - to a start a couple hours earlier. In my case, it's now from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, much more appealing. In fact, the RFTB is occurring tonight and I just may jump into the fray. It's getting darker earlier so contacts on 80 Meters should be a real possibility.

For the details, please visit - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Hope to hear you on the air tonight!

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Father's Day

I was able to get on the radio for a bit today.  15 Meters seemed to be alive jumping with "AA" contest stations.  I didn't have much interest in competing in the contest, but it's always interesting to work Asian stations using QRP power. I managed to work several JA stations, cherry picking my way around, and trying the loudest ones. I also worked a few Asiatic Russian stations. Unfortunately, I did not hear or work anything more exotic.

I attempted to work Met TA3AX on 17 Meters, but this time QRP. Alas, Turkey was not to be had with 5 Watts - today. ;)

I finished the day by participating in the Run For The Bacon, the Flying Pigs monthly QRP sprint. Not a whole lot of activity, probably due to it being Father's Day, but I did manage to work fellow blogger, Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Jim W4QO and John K4BAI, twice. Earlier in the day we had another brief contact, so today was able to put John in the log three times today. I think that's a record.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!