Things

This afternoon, Anna Nicole Smith passed away in Florida, at the age of 39. The attention that the media is giving this is amazing! I don't think Gerald Ford got this much attention back when he passed away and he was a former President!

Other than being a pretty, well-endowed blond, is there anything that has she done to deserve the notoriety and attention? I guess it's the American passion for celebrity. As long as you have good looks and a penchant for publicity, you've got it made in this country. Meanwhile, the hard work of millions goes unnoticed and taken for granted. Sheesh! But in any event, may God bless her and bid her into Heaven. It seemed like she didn't have the best of lives on this earth. May she rest in peace.

In the back of my mind, however, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the diet product she was endorsing, Trim Spa, had something to do with her death. I remain skeptical about over the counter diet formulas. I think they end up doing more damage to your heart (in the long run) than any benefit they might have in helping you lose weight. A lot of these "diet formulas" use huge amounts of caffeine to boost the metabolism. I can't see how it could be a good thing to pop a few pills and then have your heart beating at a rate of about 1000 MPH.

Back to Amateur Radio. I got a pleasant surprise for a change and actually bagged both Foxes in the 40 Meter Foxhunt tonight. Todd N9NE was easy. He always has a superb signal into NJ and for some reason I seem to have an RF pipeline into Wisconsin. The other Fox, Mark K2QO up near Buffalo, NY was a complete surprise! I thought that Buffalo to South Plainfield would be way too close for 40 Meters, considering the band has been long for what seems like forever. After working Todd, I decided to at least go and listen to the pack of Hounds trying to work Mark. They were easy enough to find.

As I was listening to the Hounds take their turns, I started hearing the station they were working. Wow! It seemed too good to be true! Then out of ESP-land, Mark's signal rose to a good 559 and stayed there for a while. I bagged him on my second try; and it was a good thing as five to ten minutes later he was back into oblivion.

I was perusing through the Web today and was cruising through Ten Tec's site. Boy, the more I look at the Jupiter, the more I like that radio! If I were to ever get another QRO rig, I sure wouldn't mind having that one. Maybe it's a good time to start saving nickels, dimes and quarters again. Geez, if I managed to put $20 aside a week; I could have enough saved in just under two years to buy one of these. Maybe I should consider buying lottery tickets, too!

73 de Larry W2LJ

These are so cool!

Take a look at these two photos at this URL:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~christrask/ShuttleLaunch.pdf

They appear to be photos of the last Shuttle launch as seen by cameras aboard one of the military jets that are assigned as "chase planes" to track the Shuttle launches.

By the way, here's a link to information about the chase planes:

http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/wb57/index.html

Thank you, Chris Trask, for posting this to QRP-L.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Hendricks QRP Kits

I suppose there are a few QRPers out there who might not know .......

Doug Hendricks KI6DS of NorCal QRP Club fame has his own Web based business going. It's called "Hendricks QRP Kits" and Doug offers a lot of neat kits at really super reasonable prices.
In fact, Doug just introduced a new kit yesterday, the SLT Tuner. This tuner is designed to match longwire antennas and it uses an "L network" design. The price, $35.00 plus S&H, is hard to beat.

Doug offers other goodies, including a kit for a software defined radio, too - the FireFly SDR. Do yourself a favor and at least go visit his sight: http://www.qrpkits.com/

Don't blame me if you find yourself dropping a few bucks there! But I think I can guarantee that if you do; you'll be pleased with what you've acquired!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Voyager

As a child of the 60s, I grew up with the "Space Race". I spent countless hours watching and reading about every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned space mission. So when I read this on QRP-L today, I was immediately tantalized! Count on Paul Harden NA5N to post about another fascinating subject on QRP-L. This appeared today about the Voyager space probes:

"The last update on the JPL website on the Voyager I and II status is:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/weekly-reports/index.htm
This was the status in late 2006. Just add a few million miles or so to the numbers for Feb. 2007 :-) It was nuke-powered, with the small nuclear reactor mounted on the end of a long boom to get it away from the instrument package. Both are still being received. Signals are so weak, it requires a very slow data rate to send any useful information, such that it's not doing much science except sending a beacon and a particle detector count at most times.

Signals are monitored by JPL Goldstone and other facilities, and by the DSN (Deep Space Network) for special experiments. Last I heard, it takes about 30 hours to get a message to voyager. Thus, to send a signal to turn on a science instrument, wait for the answer, collect some data, then turn things off as quick as possible to save power takes DAYS. This is seldom done.

The next hopeful job of Voyager will be the day the signal strength suddenly changes, followed by a sudden increase in particle count, then a dramatic drop in the particle count. This would be when Voyager passes through the boundary of the heliopause. The heliosphere is the giant envelope that surrounds our solar system, and the heliopause boundary is the "wall" where all the particles from our sun suddenly stop moving as they reach equilibrium from the pressure coming towards us from the rest of the universe. Scientists have absolutely no idea how far the influence of our sun extends. If either Voyager manages to pass through the heliopause, it would be a major scientific discovery.

It is my understanding that Voyager receives almost no funding. Apparently, a couple of JPL workers check the beacon signal strength plots about once a week to ensure we're still receiving it. This would imply some antenna somewhere monitors it constantly, which I don't even think is the case.

We have a couple of people visiting next week from JPL. If I see them, I will ask them for details, as I'm curious myself. Regardless, Voyager I and II clearly have the record for "miles per watt," and clearly QRPpppp. And perhaps the record for the longest operating nuclear reactor without a fast scram recovery (sorry - a little OT nuke humor).

72, Paul NA5N"

Once again, many thanks, Paul! A combination of my two my favorite subjects - amateur radio and the space program. This was definitely much better reading than the sordid details of an astronaut love triangle.

73 de Larry W2LJ

My own version of FYBO

As I type this, it is 10 degrees outside and it is windy as heck. I stepped outside before just to check on things. A wind gust caught my front storm door and caused it to swing open. I nearly messed my pants thinking someone was trying to get inside the house. I stepped outside with a flashlight just to make sure no one was hanging around that should not have been. No one was; but I was greeted by a nasty gust of wind. It went right through me; chilling me to the bone. I can't wait for Spring! I hate going outside to be greeted by cold wind causing massive face pain where my sinus cavities are.

Tonight was the Spartan Sprint. Both 80 and 40 Meters had fierce local QRN on both bands for the first hour. I ended up watching "24" while waiting for whatever neighbor to turn off whatever appliance was causing the racket. When I resumed my post behind the K2 at a few minutes past 10:00 PM; all was relatively quiet. In the last 40 minutes of the contest I managed to make about 14 QSOs. Nothing to write home about; but they brought my QSO total for 2007 to 192 so far.

But, it was kind of like my own version of FYBO - indoor style! The temperature down in the basement was 58 degrees. It's normally around 63 or 64 degrees down there during the winter; but when it gets this cold outside, the temperature drops another few degrees. I had on a long sleeved T-shirt, a sweatshirt and a fleece sweater on top of that. I was pretty toasty except after a bit, my feet started feeling pretty cold.

Back when I lived in East Brunswick, before I got married, my parent's house had an oil burner that fired up a water boiler for steam heat. That baby was old and inefficient, I'm sure; but it kept the basement bearably warm during the winter! And the radiators would stay warm for a long time after the furnace shut off! In my house I have a "modern" gas fired, forced hot air heating system. It doesn't do anything to keep the basement warm; and the dry heat plays havoc with my sinuses!

Now that's what I call progress!

73 de Larry W2LJ

So ........ I'm a wimp!

Okay, so I'm a wimp ....... I'll be the first one to admit it.

Today is FYBO; or as QRPers know it better, Freeze Your Butt Off. This is an annual contest held by the AzQRPions. The idea? Simple. Go outside in the dead of winter, set up your portable QRP station and operate.

However, today in Central NJ, we're in the midst of an outbreak of Arctic air. After enjoying a relatively mild winter so far, today it is in the low 20s with wind chills in the teens. I really had intentions of setting up the K1 and PAC-12 antenna in the backyard and operating for an hour or two. Really!

But this is too much for me. I know there are some of my QRP brethren who will laugh at my unwillingness and scoff that it really isn't that cold here; but for me this is the pits. I'm sitting in the house with a long sleeved t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece sweater on. And I still can't get to feeling warm! I hate the cold. Let me repeat that. I HATE THE COLD!

Now, the AzQRPions hold an event on the opposite side of the scale, the summertime "Bubba" event. Now that I can operate with no problem. The 90s and higher I have no problem with. It's 100 outside? No problem! Give me a shady spot some ice water and I'm golden! I'll operate all day in conditions like that! But this, this is unbearable for me.

Today is for staying indoors and sitting by the fire, drinking lots of hot tea. No outside radio for W2LJ today.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Heathkit it still the King ...... for now!

This month's poll on my Website posed the question: "Which of the following kit types have you built?"

The answer surprised me a bit. Heathkit is still king by a narrow margin. I'm certain it's due to the fact that Heathkit was around so long; and most Hams have been around for a long time. If you got your ticket anytime before the mid-80's, it's probably almost a certainty that you would have built a Heathkit, or two, or three, or ...........

I was a prolific Heathkit builder; and in fact towards the latter part of their existence, I qualified for inclusion into their "Master Kit Builder" program or whatever it was called. I not only built a ton of Amateur Radio gear; but most of my sound system was Heathkit product, also. I think I had my own personal UPS truck route between Benton Harbor and my house back in the day!

This is how the voting rounded out, with 73 votes having been cast. I guess this was a popular topic!

Heathkit (16 votes) for 21.92% of the poll
Elecraft (11 votes) for 15.07% of the poll.
Small Wonder Labs (8 votes) for 10.96% percent of the poll.
Emtech (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
Oak Hills Research (9 votes) for 12.33% of the poll.
Wilderness Radio (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
Steve Weber KJ1DV kits (5 votes) for 6.85% of the poll.
Ten Tec (6 votes) for 8.22% of the poll.
Kanga Kits (3 votes) for 4.11% of the poll.
"Other" (9 votes) for 12.33% of the poll.

So Heathkit, Elecraft, Oak Hills Research and Small Wonder Labs were the top four vote getters and between the four of them, they accounted for 60.28% (over half and almost 2/3 !) of the poll.

Personally, I have built Heathkit, Elecraft, Small Wonder Labs, Emtech, Oak Hills Research and Steve Weber kits - currently working (very slowly) on an ATS-3.

It's good to see such an interest in QRP and such an interest in kit building. Now I have to think of a topic for February ..... hmmmmmmm. Check my Website tonight for a new vote!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Tastes change

Ever since I earned my Amateur Radio license, I have always subscribed to three periodicals. From the very beginning, I have always received QST, CQ and WorldRadio. For a time I was also a subscriber to 73 magazine; but I kind of gave that up when I just couldn't take Wayne Green's conspiracy theories anymore.

From the get go, WorldRadio was always my favorite followed by QST and then CQ. CQ was always a journal devoted to contesting; or so it seemed to me. WorldRadio had all the neat "here is what Amateur Radio is doing for the world" type of stories; while QST was always the flashiest. CQ was CQ and I think I used to get it just to get it.

Over the years, my tastes have changed and perhaps, the magazines also. My favorites now are CQ and still WorldRadio. WorldRadio is a friendly constant. I know I am going to enjoy each issue and I always have a good time reading it. CQ Magazine has changed a lot in my mind; or maybe I have. I'm still not pulled to the contesting content so much; but there is so much more in CQ than there ever was before (at least in my humble opinion).

I love the editorials by Rich Moseson W2VU. Rich is clearly a common sense kind of guy. I may not always agree with his point of view; but once you've read a few of his editorials, it's clear that he has the best interests of Amateur Radio at heart. And perhaps even more importantly, it is obvious that he still loves and is passionate about the hobby.

CQ also has one writer who I hope never moves on or goes away. Dave Ingram K4TWJ is perhaps the best part of CQ magazine. He covers various topics ..... QRP, CW (you can tell why he's my favorite!), new products and other special features. From his articles, you'd have to be totally unaware to fail to miss how much he loves Ham radio. His articles are always entertaining, educational and his enthusiasm is infectious. I've had the opportunity to talk with Dave a few times on the air and a couple of times on the telephone. He is one of the most gracious and sincere gentlemen that you could ever want to meet.

QST is QST. It has some good stuff in there from time to time; but it just doesn't pull me like it used to. I get it every month without fail as a Lifetime Member of the ARRL (I'll go into my feelings on THAT in a future post). Most of it is over my head; but every now and then they have a construction article that I can sink my teeth into. But when I come home from work and look at the mail on the dining room table; and I see that the new issue of WorldRadio or CQ has come ....... now THAT makes my day!

73 de Larry W2LJ

More Video

My friend Marvin, K2VHW sent me this link the other day:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wplyCogv3to

It's a link to a Dilbert cartoon video. I think you'll enjoy it if you don't get annoyed by the association of Ham Radio operators to geeks. One of the hazards of loving a technical hobby that most folks don't understand.

73 de Larry W2LJ

No way I could do this!

The following link appeared on QRP-L today, courtesy of Charles, W3KC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7toHrfL3c&NR

I love antennas just as much as the next Ham; and I realize that this is a commercial installation; but there is NO WAY that I could do this! I really have to respect the guys who can, though.

Even though it's a commercial for Coca-Cola .... enjoy the visuals! What got to me was the footage of the birds flying!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Dollar signs in their eyes

Maybe I'm just in a dour mood.

The Report and Order by the FCC removing the requirement for a Morse Code examination in order to allow an Amateur Radio operator to operate below 30 MHz was published in the Federal Register the other day. Thus, 30 days later on February 23, 2007 the long standing tradition that Ham radio operators must know Morse Code to get on the HF bands will be history.

I question the wisdom of this action. I question the wisdom of any action where standards are lowered and tradition is chucked out the window in favor of expedience. I fear we will suffer from the consequences of this some day, perhaps sooner than later. But the Genie is out of the bottle and I doubt anything will ever be done to stuff it back in and reinsert the cork.

What boils my onions is that the ARRL is so damned happy about it! On their Website, in the pages of QST, in the ARRL bulletins there is, in my opinion, a underlying level of giddiness akin to a youngster finding presents under the tree on Christmas morning. This is sad. The motives for the League's position on the issue were always suspect to me. Now, the harsh light of daylight is showing them for what they truly were. It was never about the "advancement" of Amateur Radio; it always about the money. Somewhere I read of their breathless announcement of how on the day the R&O was released they had 500 inquiries on how to become acquire an Amateur Radio license. Wow ...... 500 more opportunities to sell license manuals, CDs, books, etc. The old advice of "follow the money" never seemed truer than it turned out to be in this case.

I doubt that the elimination of the Code will mean a long term and dramatic increase in the number of Amateur Radio licensees. There will probably be a short term increase; but I doubt it will be the sustained growth spurt that the League touts as their reason for wanting the elimination of the Code requirement. All the doom-sayers who have Amateur Radio dead and buried think that the Code was an obstacle to the growth of the hobby. I think that's just a bunch of hooey; just another urban myth that took on a life of its own. Amateur Radio numbers are just about as high as they've ever been. Just because the influx of new Hams tends to be from an older demographic doesn't necessarily mean the end days of the service. Furthermore, if it is truly the "Amateur Radio Service" then I think the attitude and focus should be on quality and not quantity. An Amateur Radio license should not be regarded as a birthright. It is a privilege earned by study, hard work, desire and discipline. One of my bosses once warned me that when a customer receives something for free, then that item or service no longer has any value. It's not something that was end result of work; it becomes a trinket that was just freely given and loses whatever intrinsic value it once had held.

The bottom line seems to me to be that the FCC is just doing whatever they can to make the Amateur Radio service less work for them; and that ARRL is doing its part to make the Amateur Radio service into a moneymaker for them.

Time will tell.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Late Night Posts

These late night posts are killing me! I should be in bed; but I'm not, so .........

After watching "Monk", I headed down to the basement shack for a bit of operating. Being in the basement when it's 22 Degrees outside is not the most fun thing in the world. I don't have a thermometer down there; but if I had to guess, I would say it's about 63 Degrees or so down there. If I stay too long; the arthritis in my hands starts to act up and they begin to feel like a giant toothache. But, I digress .........

After "Monk", I settled in for a few QSOs. One was of particular interest. Bob K8CCG answered my CQ on 80 Meters, right in the vicinity of the QRP "watering hole" of 3.560 MHz. Bob lives in Muskegon, Michigan and he was using a home brewed transmitter. Bob was putting out 500 mW (1/2 a Watt) to a dipole. He had a very good 569 signal into New Jersey which actually peaked up at 589 when the QSB would go away. Bob had a very tiny bit of chirp on his signal which was not objectionable at all; but still was not a perfect tone note. I'm definitely no radio Einstein; but I think that Bob was suffering from some kind of parasitic oscillations in the oscillator section of his transmitter. He was monitoring his own signal; so he actually informed me about them.

I hear guys like Bob, putting their own home designed and built equipment on the air; and I just give out a heavy sigh! I wish I was talented and knowledgeable to do stuff like that. Maybe this year I should concentrate on building a few simple items from scratch instead of concentrating on kits. I do have a Tuna Tin 2 to build; and I ordered all the parts I need from Mouser to homebrew a 40 Meter receiver. Not my own design; but it will be my own construction from scratch. I guess everybody's got to start somewhere ..... right?

73 de Larry W2LJ

K9YA Telegraph

There was a pleasant surprise in today's e-mail. The latest issue of the e-zine, "The K9YA Telegraph" was witing for me in my e-mail inbox.

"The K9YA Telegraph" is written for Amateur Radio ops who happen to be aficionados of Morse Code and CW. The publication, which comes out monthly, has a whole slew of articles written about interesting topics that relate to Ham Radio and CW. Best of all, it's free! How can you beat that?

This month's issue includes articles about veteran Amateur Radio ops memories about operating during the Cold War in an article fittingly entitled "Cold War Tales"; as well as a great article about straight keys called "The Black Bouncer". Each issue contains about 3 or 4 subjects and I guarantee that you are in for a good read!

I whole heartedly recommend that you visit: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/k9ya_telegraph
and subscribe today. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! You can even print out copies of the issues in case you have a burning need to take them into "The Library" with you!

73 de Larry W2LJ

80 Meter Fox

Tonight was the beginning of the second half of the Foxhunt season. I shared 80 Meter duty with Randy K7TQ. It was a strange night. As the Foxhunts start at 9:00 PM local time, here in New Jersey, I went down to the shack to turn everything on and get everything going with about 20 minutes to go. 80 Meters was nice and quiet. A faint hiss was all the background noise I was getting, which was leading me to think that it was going to be a great night. With 10 minutes to go - same thing. I'm getting real confident now. At this point, I came upstairs to bring a glass of water with me to sip on during the Foxhunt. I picked up the headphones, plop them on my head to just to hear an S5 background noise level! What happened! In just a few minutes, 80 Meters went from sublime to a wreck!

I called "CQ Fox" and was greeted by nothing but noise. That I didn't hear my first Hound until four minutes into the hunt was not a good omen. It turned out that the entire 90 minutes became a struggle between me and the QRN. It was not the fun night that I hoped it would be; and I was doubly disappointed as I did not exceed my QSO total from the first hunt. That was my goal. I used every trick in the arsenal to pull out signals from the noise. That I worked 34 stations in the 90 minutes is probably very good under the circumstances. However, I expected more out of myself and am a bit disappointed. Sometimes, I'm my own worst enemy.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP as a mindset

Everyday, I read John Shannon's (K3WWP) "diary" or blog with intetrest. I noticed that in the entry for January 21st, he writes about corresponding with a Ham who seems to have no luck whatsoever with QRP.

I always kind of marvel at that, now. I can understand it though, because when I was first getting into QRP I also found it hard to wean off the dependency of 100 Watts. But as you make more and more QRP QSOs, you realize that it's not so much the Watts; but what it is that you do with the Watts you have.

While 5 Watts to a bedspring might cut it during a sunspot maximum, it's definitely not going to during a sunspot minimum. A decent antenna makes life easier. It doesn't have to be a monoband Yagi at 100 feet! Regular ol' vanilla wire antennas do a great job. Even attic antennas for those who are covenant restricted will do a decent job with a bit more patience.

But I think one of the major factors is that QRP is a mindset. If you have it in your brain that you will make QSOs, you will! One should not try QRP expecting to fail. If you think you're going to fail; then you will get easily frustrated and you most undoubtedly will.

The most successful QRPers are the ones who know their equipment inside and out. They know how to use it to its full advantage. They understand propagation (even if it's only the basics) and they use that knowledge to their advantage. They have patience and skill; but most of all they know that 5 Watts is not a serious handicap or limit and they operate that way. And boy, do they have the QSO tallies and contest awards and operating awards to show for it!

QRP is not for everybody, especially those who are totally dependent on instant gratification. But if you put your mind to it; I think you'll be quite surprised with the results you get.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Now I've seen it all

Watching the 10:00 PM News, I see where the State of New Jersey is stepping into the public schools and will remove all "junk food" from any vending machines present in the school buildings.

Isn't that nice?

You can't have M&Ms or potato chips with your lunch; but you can get an abortion without your parents ever finding out. In this state, if you have a headache in school, the nurse is not allowed to give you an aspirin without your parent's permission; but you can walk into the principal's office and get free condoms.

Is this state totally screwed up, or what?

73 de Larry W2LJ

Winter with a vengeance!

It seems the only section of the country that was getting Winter was the Rockies and Plains with the serious snows that they have been getting. Winter here in the NorthEast has been more like Spring! Christmas felt more like Easter and most of January felt like March or April.

That was until a few days ago. As I sit here typing this, my indoor/outdoor thermometer is letting me know that it's only 19 degrees outside. However, if you dare go outside, it feel more like zero; or below. The wind is bad; and the wind chill effect is dramatic.

We have been fortunate to have such good weather so far. It has been so much warmer than normal. However, after experiencing that, these normal or even slightly below normal temperatures feel a ton worse than they would any other year! I am constantly trying to stay warm. I have layers on and am for the most part, pretty comfortable. But my hands are another story. Trying to keep them warm is a battle. And sending code is just a bit of a struggle when the digits are not toasty warm.

We keep the house at 66 or 67 degrees. The shack, which is in the basement is at about 63 or 64 degrees. I can't stay down there too long in weather like this without coming upstairs for frequent warm-up breaks.

That all said, I still count my blessings - after all, it could be snowing ..............

73 de Larry W2LJ

Dell Craziness

Last summer, I bought a used Dell Inspiron laptop from where I work. The intention was to upgrade my laptop situation in the shack. I have been using an old Toshiba Satellite laptop; which I had also bought used, for a song. While the price was minimal, I was reminded that you get what you pay for. I should have known I was in for a less than optimum experience as the previous owner had a sticker of a picture of a snail stuck on the top half of the computer, near the screen. Shortly after I purchased the Toshiba, the sound card failed so I couldn't even use the computer for the digital modes.

The Dell was a step up; but I screwed it up totally, right after buying it. I thought I had turned the computer off and I folded it up and put it in it's case, to bring it home. When I got it home, I realized that the computer had been left on and it was very, very, very hot! Trying to turn it back on again yielded nothing. I must had damaged the power connection on the motherboard as the computer wouldn't even run off the AC adapter. This was definitely a Homer Simpson moment.

A few weeks ago, I put the computer on eBay for parts; and I sold it "as is". I got a goodly amount for it, much to my surprise. In turn, I scoured eBay and bought a Dell Latitude, which is a lesser model. I ended up getting it for about 10 bucks less than what I sold the Inspiron for. It's not as fancy as the Inspiron; but it works and it has a working sound card. Now one of these days, when I actually get some time, I will load up Spectrogram and will finally really nail the alignment of my K2's filters.

The computer has a 10 Gigabyte hard drive. It's running Windows 2000, which has chewed up a large chunk of that hard drive; but there is more than 5 Gigabytes left. For the few Amateur Radio programs that I will be putting on there, that's more than enough space. It came with a detachable floppy and a CD ROM drive. All in all, it's a good little laptop and will serve my purposes well.

73 de Larry W2LJ

NAQCC Sprint

Tonight was the monthly North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC) Sprint. Band conditions seemed to be excellent! 40 Meters was quiet with only very small amounts of local noise. 80 Meters was even better. So why did I manage only 28 QSOs in the two hours?

I just couldn't seem to get into a groove. At least twice, I started running a frequency, only to have another station stomp all over me and take over said frequency. Hey, doesn't anyone listen or send a "QRL?" before they put hand to key, anymore ???? I thought that most members of the NAQCC were of the highest caliber; but sadly I am becoming disappointed.

I realize that folks get caught up in the moment of competition; but that's no reason to stop extending common courtesy.

In any event, the whole evening seemed out of kilter after that. I never got a good rhythm going and ended up wasting too much time "searching and pouncing" or looking for a clear frequency. I know, sounds like whiney excuse making; but that's just the way it was. Maybe next month will be better.

73 de Larry W2LJ

New straight key impressions

Saturday January 6th was the Twelfth Day of Christmas. Since I've grown up, this day which is the Feast of the Epiphany, is also known as "Little Christmas". This is the day Christians celebrate the visit of the Magi to the manger in Bethlehem. In many eastern Christian cultures, THIS is the day for celebration and gift giving.

It was an appropriate day, then, that the USPS delivered my LTA SKCC straight key from Morse Express in Denver, CO. This was the straight key that my wife Marianne had given to me as a Christmas gift.

It is a beautiful key! Since I already own an LTA Cootie key, I had an idea of what the quality of this key would be even before it arrived. I was not disappointed. The construction is beautiful; and the 18K gold plating makes this instrument shine.

But this key has what it takes beyond good looks. I was able to adjust it to my preferred settings quite easily. I like the contact gap to be just a titch wider than the thickness of a few pieces of paper. I get a more positive sense of key closure this way, without it being so wide that using the key becomes tiresome. Same thing goes for spring tension. I like the key to be tensioned so that the key opens very easily; but at the same time, it doesn't take me a whole lot of effort to close the contact. That would make for choppy dits and is unacceptable to me.

The bottom line is the key looks wonderful and operates the same way. There is a distinct but gentle "clackiness" in using the key that is pleasant and doesn't become bothersome. The engraving of the Staright Key Century Club logo on the key's arm was done quite well. Mine also has the engraved serial number "33", meaning it was the 33rd key maunfactured in however long the SKCC series lasts.

The only problem now is that I see LTA offers a bug that would match this key perfectly ...............

73 de Larry W2LJ

Waxing eloquent

Ward Silver, NØAX writes the ARRL's "Contest Rate Sheet". Ward has been so very helpful to me in aiding me to get the word out about "Runs For the Bacon" and the NAQCC Monthly Sprints. This eloquent essay on Morse Code, by Ward, appeared on the Straght Key Century Club e-mail reflector, earlier today.

Stop Painting?

Regarding the end of CW testing and the future of CW on the airwaves, I thought this statement from Paul W9AC was worth consideration, "An artist does not stop painting because cameras can more accurately capture an image." Nor does a fly fisherman stop fishing because there are fish in the store or a sailor scrap his sailboat because a power cruiser can go faster.

Morse will be a part of ham radio for a long time, as long as someone wants to use it. Well, as long as TWO people want to use it. The question is whether it will drift off into obscurity or stay healthy. For inspiration, we can look to RTTY - the fastest growing contest mode of all! Who would have thought ten years ago that would be the case today? RTTY required an external gadget, cables everywhere, strange filtering, and so forth. Today, with a simple audio interface, a computer sound card, and free or cheap software, anybody can get on RTTY. Wow! Looked at the RTTY contest scores lately?

In the CW universe, high-speed Morse competition based on RUFZ and other programs is attracting some good young operators. The speeds are ridiculous - 200 wpm has been reached - and I don't expect to hear dots and dashes flying by quite that fast on 40 meters. In fact, I can't hear dots and dashes AT ALL at 200 wpm. It's like bar code! Nevertheless, there is plenty of interest to be tapped.

That's where you come in, of course. Lift that chin up and let's see if we can't actually make a compelling story out of Morse on the airwaves. I can say for sure that we won't convince a single person to take it up by loudly claiming that the hobby is all "dumbed down." When a prospective customer hears that sort of talk, the chances are pretty good that they'll just keep their money in their pocket as they walk on down the street.

Lately I've been looking at some pretty funny pictures of Novices that have all grown up into serious operators. They're sitting in front of ancient gear all lashed together and it's a wonder that they didn't all get electrocuted. What sold these kids on ham radio? It sure wasn't a bunch of old timers telling them how everything was better twenty years ago. It was pictures and stories of other people having what looked like fun and was something they could join on
their own terms.

Well, back to trying to find a clear frequency in between all those obsolete Morse signals! Seems like a guy can't hardly find a spot to call CQ anymore with all the signals on the band...

73, Ward N0AX

Bravo, Ward - from your "pen" to God's ear!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Relevance

There are folks out there who wonder if Amateur Radio is just a hobby for a bunch of aging curmudgeons. A dusty old pastime, a relic of the past that has no bearing on today's modern techno-riffic world. I submit the following ARRL official bulletin for your edification:


SB QST @ ARL $ARLB002
ARLB002 California ham has role in sea rescue

ZCZC AG02
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 2 ARLB002
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT January 9, 2007
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB002
ARLB002 California ham has role in sea rescue

A California radio amateur played a part in an international effort to rescue a US sailor attempting to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. Miguel ''Mike'' Morales, KC6CYK, of Riverside, told ARRL he was able to contact fellow radio amateurs in Chile to obtain and relay reassuring information to the family of Ken Barnes, whose 44-foot ketch Pivateer was foundering off South America. A Chilean trawler, Polar Pesca 1, rescued Barnes from his disabled vessel on January 5. Upon learning of Barnes's predicament on January 2, Morales said he contacted the sailor's fiance, Cathy Chambers.

''She mentioned that the satellite telephone was dying on him over there, so their communication was 30 to 60 seconds at a time,'' Morales recounted. ''I was lucky enough, I got in touch with some of the Charlie Echo [CE-prefix] stations until I got to someone in Punta Arenas, and then Polar Pesca, the vessel that did the rescue.''
Morales speaks fluent Spanish and has visited Chile and knew ''the way things operate down there.'' As a result, he says, he was able to obtain credible reports via his 10-meter contacts as to what was happening.

Morales said he was able to gather information via his Chilean ham radio contacts from the Polar Pesca 1. He relayed information about Barnes's location and when he was going to be rescued. Morales said he felt it was important for the family to know Barnes's situation and how the rescue plans were playing out.

Barnes, who's 47, left Long Beach, California, late last October, hoping to be the first person to sail around the world from the West Coast. A severe storm dismasted, badly damaged the vessel and soaked his supplies.

The Chilean Navy dispatched one of the CP3 Orion aircraft Chile uses to patrol its 200-mile-offshore territorial claim. The plane spotted the foundering vessel, photographed it and even attempted to drop a life raft that missed its mark. The Chilean Navy coordinated the operation and recruited the Polar Pesca 1 to undertake the actual rescue, although Morales says the US Coast Guard agreed to cover the expense. At that point he was able to pass along news to the family that the trawler was en route to Barnes's location.

''The main thing is, Ken Barnes is back, is alive,'' Morales said. ''What I did was on behalf of the US ham radio community, I believe. That's what you're there for.''

Barnes is scheduled to return home to California this week, and Morales will be among those on hand to welcome him.
NNNN
/EX

This is just one instance out of thousands in Amateur Radio's long history, where life and limb have been saved due to the efforts of "Joe Ham". It makes you pround to be an Amateur Radio op.

73 de Larry W2LJ

NSA Knows Best !

Well, even if the ARRL and the FCC have given up on Morse Code, it seems the National Security Agency hasn't. At their Website, they have a game featured to get the youngsters excited about learning Morse Code.

http://www.nsa.gov/kids/home.cfm

will get you there. Click on "Operation Dit-Dah" when it comes up near the bottom of the screen. I had a good time with it; and oft times I've been accused of being "just a big kid"; so if this big kid liked it, your little ones should, too.

Thanks, NSA! It's nice to see that the "grown-ups" are still behind the scenes taking care of things. The FCC and the ARRL would do good to start taking notes!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Nothing like CW

This post appeared on the QRP-L e-mail reflector yesterday. It hit the nail on the head; and I want to share with you folks who might not be subscribed. This was posted by Jeff, AB6MB:

Hello all;

I was out in my backyard working out the bugs in QRP portable setup.
There was a table on my patio that I setup my station on. Then I tossed my combo 20 meter half wave, 40 meter 1/4 wave up in the tree and sat down at the table. Turned on the K1, tuned up the antenna on 20 meters and listened around for QRP stations. Nothing on as it was pretty late in the afternoon. Tuned up the antenna on 40 and then over to 7.040 I went. Heard a loud station and called him when he finished his QSO. We had a nice chat and wished each other a Happy New Year.

That's when the beauty of CW hit me. I had been working a lot of digital and even posted here that digital would eventually dominate CW. However there is going to be something lost when that happens. Something about those CW signals on the air. Having to actually listen to them and copy down what is sent. Sending back with a keyer in response. Working them through the noise and QSB at times. Out on a patio, woods, a park or at a home station I have thoroughly enjoyed working those stations. Not just clicking on a signal on a computer screen in total silence. So while I still think wide scale use of CW will come to an end some day. It will be a sad day when that happens.

73!

Jeff
AB6MB
NorCal QRP Club #65, QRP-L #1780, ARCI 10071
Radical FIST Member 6798, Fanatic A's fan #1

Jeff, I agree with most of your post. I enjoyed reading of your appreciation for the mode. I disagree, however, that CW will ever disappear. On that matter, Paul W9AC posted this today, in answer to Jeff's post: "An artist does not stop painting because cameras can more accurately capture an image. " And I totally agree! Maybe while not in the majority, there will always be people who like to tie their own fishing flies, fabricate their own musical instruments, restore and use classic cars. There is a romance and magic to CW that will not let it disappear, will never let it die. There will always be people engaging in activities just because they are a little more difficult or a little more unique, or a little "different", or perhaps just darned more enjoyable!

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRPolitics

The following appeared on the various QRP reflectors today:

QRP Hall of Fame

Members will recall that this is the time of year for the call for
nominations for election to the QRP-ARCI ‘QRP Hall of Fame’.

First off, before I go off on a rant here; let me state for the record that I really, really like the QRP-ARCI. I have a relatively low membership number (4488) and I joined up when the organization was dedicated to keeping output power at 100 Watts or less. That was a long time ago. An overhwelming number of people that I have met via the QRP-ARCI are some of the nicest people I have ever known. I will continue to be a member; but with that all said ....... as far as the above announcement goes ........ I say "Harumpffffffff !!!!"

A while back I nominated someone for the QRP-ARCI QRP Hall of Fame. And a friend, unbenownst to me, nominated another. Well, we found out about it and seconded each other's nomination. I won't divulge the name of the nominees; but let me say this, if you've been into QRP for any significant amount of time, you will instantly recognize the names of the two folks we nominated. We felt and continue to feel that both these folks have done a lot for the QRP community and the QRP art; and that they are both very deserving of being HOF members.

Neither one was selected. Okay, I know, it sounds like "sour grapes"; but really it isn't. I was somewhat disappointed that neither got in; but was ready to move on and forget about it for then. What upset me was a private e-mail that I received from a QRP "insider", shall we say. Again, I will not divulge who this "insider" is. That secret will go with me to the grave; but again, if you're into QRP for any significant amount of time, you would know who this was instantaneously.

Basically, I had "The Facts of Life" explained to me. I was informed that the selection process was not solely based on merit; but as usual, is somewhat political, too. Merit is not all that it takes. Among other considerations, appearances at the major QRP confabs; such as FDIM, or Atlanticon, Pacificon, Lobstercon, Ozarkcon, etc. are also taken into account. That alone floored me! What does appearing at QRP conventions have to do with being a member of the QRP Hall of Fame? I would think the accumulated body of work should be enough! What a person has designed, what services a person has offered, what things a person has taught, how much a person has shared with the rest of the QRP community - THESE are the things that should go into determining the Hall of Fame members!

I guess I am just idealistic, simplistic and naive in things like this. I always thought that merit and accomplishments alone should be the qualifier. The other superfluous things just kind of turn it into a clique, as far as I'm concerned. Revelations like this leave one jaded and disappointed. It will probably be a long, long time before I ever consider nominating a person for the QRP Hall of Fame again.

Now, before I close, I want to state emphatically that there is NOT one single, solitairy person that is currently in the Hall of Fame that doesn't belong there, in my opinion. Everyone who has been selected is most deserving of the honor. It's just my humble opinion that there are other deserving people who also belong; and are not being considered perhaps for the wrong reasons.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Straight Key Night

As always, I had a ton of fun on Straight Key Night. It was so good to hear so many signals that one actually had to go looking for a clear frequency! I wish it could be like that all the time. One would think that if so many folks had such a good time then they would want that to carry on throughout the year, no?

I ended up with 6 QSOs for the event. They were all nice. The folks that I worked were Jim N3JV, Hank K8DD, JIm WG1L, Mike W4KAV, Lynn WA2DAC, Keith K1Y/1.

I tried to say on and linger in each QSO as long as I could. Some folks wanted to hang around longer than others; but all the contacts were good No shorty "599 TU" types of contacts, which was great! I finally left the airwaves when my wife got home from work. Spending time with her to see the New Year in at Midnight was my A#1 top priority.

I used the 2006 Christmas Key from Morse Express that my lovely wife got for me for Christmas. I have a picture posted because I want to give you all a frame of reference for how really small this key is. Yes, that is it sitting on top of the cover of my Elecraft Hex Key. However, as tiny as it is, it is a trooper! It's designed in a way so that as you "pound" this piece of brass (actually it's gold plated), you are concentrating your effort right onto the center of gravity. The benefit of that is that there is absolutley no wandering or wabbling of the key around on the operating surface. I sent for over two hours with this key on New Year's Eve without any pain or fatigue. Maybe that's just the technique I use for sending; but I think the quality of this little gem had something to do with that.

I actually like the action on the 2006 key better than the 2005 key; but from now on, when my wife asks me what I want for Christmas, I'll have a ready answer for her. These small straight keys by LTA in Spain are the best!

My SKN report will be heading into the League soon. I will be getting a soapbox report in tonight or tomorrow on the ARRL Website. I really hope they get avalanched by SKN reports this year! All you FISTS, NAQCCers and SKCCers - get your reports in and more importantly, your Soapbox comments uploaded! The ones that are already up are excellent; but we need a ton more. Even if you only made one QSO, don't be embarassed - let the world know about it!

73 de Larry W2LJ

W2LJ Poll for December 2006

On my website, I ran a poll asking folks for their MOST FAVORITE method for sending CW. The choices I gave were straight key, bug, sideswiper, Iambic paddles, single lever paddle, touch key or keyboard. I got 28 people to respond and this is how it tallied out:

• Straight Key (3 votes) - 10.71% of the vote
• Bug (1 vote) - 3.57% of the vote
  
• Sideswiper/Cootie (2 votes) - 7.14% of the vote
• Iambic paddles w/ keyer (18 votes) - 64.29% of the vote
  
• Single lever paddle w/ keyer (4 votes) - 14.29% of the vote
• Touch key (0 votes)
  
• Keyboard (0 votes)

It was no surprise to me that the Iambic paddle/keyer combination took 1st place. I was surprised that using a bug only received one vote and that straight key usage only received 3 votes. I guess not many SKCC members visit my Website!

My personal vote was for the single lever paddle/keyer combo. I love using a straight key and or a bug; but using a single lever paddle with the keyer on my K2 would be my most favorite. Strangely, though, I no longer own a good single lever paddle. I use my Elecraft Hex Key which I have set up so that it most closely resembles a touch keyer. Go figure!

I have a touch paddle kit that I bought a few months ago that I want to construct and experiment with. I guess I should add that to my list of resolutions for 2007!

73 de Larry W2LJ

New Year's Resolutions - Amateur Radio Style !

Here are some of the things I would like to accomplish in 2007, Amateur Radio-wise:

1) Finish my ATS-3 - Cripes! Steve Weber has moved on to offer the ATS-3A; and I still have not finished my ATS-3! I need to get on the ball and get this done.

2) Start up the "QSO a Day" run again. My streak broke while on vacation. Once it broke, it robbed me a bit of the "sense of urgency" to get on and operate every night. I ended up about 100 QSOs short of my total from last year. Hopefully a new streak attempt will get me going again.

3) Attend Atlanticon - The QRP confab for the Mid-Atlantic area. This is held every March in Baltimore. I would give my eyeteeth to be able to go to this! It's hard with family obligations; but I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

4) Get back onto a regular schedule of bug practice. If I attempt to keep resolution #2, then this should be easier.

5) Re-do the radial system for the HF9V this coming Spring/Summer. The same amount of radials would be fine. The old ones have gotten torn up by toddler play and by dog play. It's time to plant some new wire.

6) Probably a bunch of other things I can't think of right now!

73 de Larry W2LJ

The Joy of SKN

A fellow member of the Straight Key Century Club, Keith Darwin N1AS posted this to the SKCC e-mail reflector. It is a wonderful op-ed, which Keith has submitted to the ARRL about CW and Straight Key Night, which is tomorrow night. Keith kindly gave me permission to post this here. I think it is extremely well written, and spot-on! Thank you, Keith!

Regarding the SKN Announcement in QST

I read the 2007 Straight Key Night announcement (Dec QST, p. 98) with both joy and disappointment. Joy that another SKN is soon upon us, but disappointment in the color of the light with which SKN has been illuminated. While SKN certainly entails using some rather old-style equipment, it is anything but old-fashioned, and billing it as such sells the event short.

Consider the straight key itself. Contrary to common believe it is not just a beginner's toy, used to master the code to the minimal level and then cast aside in favor of something else. Instead it is a very workable, useable tool for sending CW on today's bands with today's rigs. No, that lowly straight key is a far more demanding task master who does not let you get away with sloppy sending or poor spacing. It's simple form places nothing between you and the CW you're generating.

In the same way, the simplicity of SKN gives us an opportunity to strip away the complex technology oriented aspect of our hobby as we zero in on the essence of Amateur Radio. We sit down in front of the rig with a straight key and set about to communicate with other people over vast distances. Just us and keys. No computer to generate the CW, no keyer to clean up timing errors and make us sound like robots. The priceless prize we get in return for our efforts is ourselves, encoded into unique sounding Morse code, sent through the ether and received in the mind of the op on the other end. The connection we make with the other op is more personal because the CW itself is more personal. In that moment a magic thing happens - we become, once again, a RADIO operator.

If this is old-fashioned nostalgia, then shame on us for ever having walked away from this essential core of Amateur Radio. I look forward to working you during SKN. I'll be using my straight key, doing my level best to send smooth code to you and hanging on every dit and dah you return to me as we share a special bond of manual CW.

KEITH DARWIN, N1AS
Ferrisburg, Vermont

73 de Larry W2LJ

SKN Soapbox comments

If you operate SKN (even if it's one tiny, measly QSO) PLEASE make sure you enter soapbox comments about your experience on the ARRL website!

http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/

I'm pretty sure you DO NOT need to be an ARRL member to post your comments.

In any event, please make sure you mention that you are a member of SKCC, NAQCC, or FISTS, or whichever CW group you belong to. In 2002 they got 39 soapbox entries, in 2004 there were 72, in 2005 there were 65 and in 2006 there were 86. I'd like to see the SKN Soapbox Comments area to get blown out of the water!

With the removal of the CW requirement from the licensing procedure; I've been seeing a lot of peeing and moaning on all the CW related reflectors about "the end of CW". Here's our chance to show everyone that CW is NOT dead! With the hundreds of CW ops that will be taking to the air for SKN, can you imagine seeing soapbox comments from a COUPLE hundred participants? That, in my humble opinion, would be a pretty potent message to the League, indeed.

Don't worry about your writing skills, you don't have to be Shakespeare. All you have to write, even if you have no idea what to say, is "I enjoyed SKN. I used (whatever key) and I had a real good time QSOing with ......". You get the idea!

I can't think of any better way to make our voices heard by the League than by blowing them out with participation and letting them know WE STILL CARE by publicly telling them about it. They are giving us a forum. Let's make use of it!

73 - Happy New Year - Happy SKN de
Larry W2LJ

One pelt last night.

The 40 Meter Foxhunt produced one pelt for me last night. I worked Wayne K5EOA rather late into the hunt. He was loud into New Jersey, at times about 579. The QSB was very frustrating, though. He would be loud, I would call, and then he would be weak and it was hard to tell exactly who he had picked out of the pileup. Another thing that made it hard, was that it was difficult to hear a lot of the hounds he was working. That made it exasperating to find out where he was listening. Then, when Wayne did finally hear me, he called for W2RJ; so I had to slow down the code speed just a titch so that my call was copied correctly.

The strange thing about last night was that I didn't hear the other Fox, Rick NK9G at all! I usually have no problem; and indeed I usually have a virtual radio pipeline into Wisconsin. I knew something was wrong when I couldn't hear any of the WI hounds that Wayne was working. After working Wayne I went listening for Rick; but it was pointless. I called it a night and hit "the big switch" early.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP .-..

For those of you who are code challenged, that's "QRP L". A new QRP related e-mail reflector. This was started with the hopes of creating a new QRP reflector with fewer restrictions and a more relaxed atmosphere. The only rule is "NO FLAMING !!!!" Flaming will result in an immediate lifetime ban from the list.

To check out the "new" QRP-L, please visit: http://qrp-l.org/

Exceedingly
Best wishes to
All the founders of the "New" QRP-L that they will have
Yet founded a most exceedingly happy and relaxed "QRP place" !!!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Another night for Le Pew!

No luck in the 80 Meter Foxhunt tonight. I never heard Jim, KGØPP in Colorado; but I did hear Wayne, W5KDJ in Texas. The problem was, however, that Wayne was S1 to S3 for just about the entire hunt! QSB was bad and Wayne never heard me.

In fact, it was kind of amusing. Ann K1QO and I were like a tag team on Wayne for the last half hour. We alternated and sometimes co-mingled our calls in our furious attempts to work Wayne. Wayne was so low that I turned the AGC off in the K2 to hear him better. Ann, who lives in New Hampshire is always loud to NJ on 80 Meters. With the AGC off she was deafeningly loud! With Wayne working simplex the last 45 minutes or so, I would go from struggling to hear him to having my eardrums blown out by Ann's healthy signal.

I think it's time for an aspirin; or maybe a shot of blackberry brandy would serve me better this chilly winter evening!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Santa was good to me!

Santa read my blog! And Santa (my wife, Marianne) was indeed very, very good to me!

Underneath the tree was the 2006 Christmas Key from Morse Express. I was lucky enough to receive last year's edition. The 2006 version is just as beautiful and just as nice to use.

But also under the tree was an "IOU" for one of the SKCC straight keys by LTA! Wow, I wasn't expecting two keys!

Unfortunately, the first run of 30 keys sold out. Mine will be among the next batch to make it over from Spain. Hopefully, it will be here some time in January. I already can't wait to get it on the air!

I hope your "Santa" was just as generous to all of you out there.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Merry Christmas!

"Glory to God in the Highest; and on Earth, peace and good will towards Men"

I'd like to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

This is a season of giving, peace, understanding and goodwill among all. I hope that this Christmas will find you among friends and family with good food, good times, and good memories.

May the Lord, who instituted this Holy Day, by giving to us Himself, grant you peace, serenity, happiness, joy and love.

Merry Christmas to all; and to all a good night!

PS: And I hope Santa lines the bottom of your Christmas tree with all the Amateur Radio goodies that it can hold!

73 de Larry W2LJ

PS: To those of you who are travelling this Christmastide, I wish you Godspeed and a safe journey. This same wish goes out double to all our dedicated men and women of our Armed Forces who are on duty this Christmas season, keeping our country safe while we celebrate the Christ child's birth.

A Christmas Eve tip

For any of you out there with young children or grandchildren that will be with you on Christmas Eve, I have the following suggestion:

http://www.santanorad.com/index.php

Many years ago (more than I care to remember!) I remember listrening to reports on the radio where NORAD was tracking the progress of Santa's famous Christmas Eve ride. Now, with the advent (no pun intended) of the Internet, you can see just where Santa is, at any moment on Christmas Eve.

This is a real cool Website and I guarantee that you will get just as big a kick out of it as any of your children/grandchildren!! Download the 60 second promotional video and you will see Santa's F-18 escorted ride through North America in 2005, where he was guaranteed safe an uninterrupted passage.

Oh, and of course, the sleigh team is led by none other than Rudolph, himself!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Skunked again in NJ

The 40 Meters Foxhunt was a bust last night - again! I heard a few stations that were hunting; but I never did hear either Fox. For a few minutes I actually thought I heard something; but looking at comments on Q-Fox, I see that I was nowhere close to where the Foxes were actually transmitting.

I took the opportunity to get a little further along with the ATS-3. All the semi-conductors are done; and now I have begun mounting the resistors. These little guys aren't much bigger than this "o" !!! I know I'm taking a super long time with this project; but with the Holidays and all that is going on at work, I don't get much construction time. I'm hoping that if I concentrate my efforts, that maybe I'll be done by the end of January.

On a bright note, 40 Meters seemed better last night. While I didn't bag either of the Foxes, I did end up having a ragchew on 40 after the Foxhunt was completed. For about 20 minutes, I had a nice QSO with Alan, who is visiting his Dad down in Florida for Christmas.

It felt like last year, when I was able to have a QSO every night with little or no difficulty.

73 de Larry W2LJ

From NASA's mouth to God's ear!

Lets hope the good folks at NASA have it right this time!

http://tinyurl.com/y5kbyu

The most active sunspot cycle since records have been kept? Oh, please, let it be true!

But we all know predicitons about celestial events can tend to be tricky. Remember the claims about the comet Kohoutek in the 70s? That fizzled out big time. It was supposed to be the brightest comet of our time, visible even in the daylight hours! I seem to remember needing a telescope to see it at night.

Then Halley's comet in 1986 turned out to be another big bust.

I think I'll take the attitude of "wait and see". But no matter what happens on down the road, solar conditions HAVE to improve over what we have now!

73 de Larry W2LJ

What the ......... ????

What is going on here?

http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=10198

Basically, a man who drives a school bus on Long Island, almost lost his job because he was wearing a Santa hat. One child was "offended" and complained to his/her Mommy and Daddy, who called the Board of Education and started the ball rolling. He was given a choice - remove the Santa hat or lose his job. In the end, Mr. Mott, the driver, refused to remove the hat and the Board of Education backed off after the outcries of other parents. You know, the parents with a smattering of common sense.

Again, this is just another example of the "Assault on Christmas". Anything remotely Christian anything remotely non-secular, anything tied to the TRUE meaning of Christmas is to be hidden, swept away, discarded and disdained.

Now any Christian worth his/her salt will tell you that while Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas; the popular image of Santa Claus that we hold near and dear; the one we see at the mall is a secular figure. He is nowhere even close to Saint Nicholas, who was a bishop in Turkey in the earlier history of the Catholic Church.

But, the Santa hat is unique. So a lot of people bullseye on it and connect Santa with the Christian holiday of Christmas. Then, of course, they immediately become offended by it, especially liberals and the enlightened oh-so Politically Correct. And of course, since ONE child got offended, we have to cave in, and stop displaying anything which even might be remotely misinterpreted as a religious symbol by some wild leap of the imagination.

Can I ask something, though? What if Mr. Mott, the school bus driver had been wearing a something else; perhaps a yarmulke or an Native American Chief's head-dress? If that child had complained; do you, for even a split second, think he would have been accomodated? No, I think perhaps the child would have been directed to "sensitivity training" or perhaps "diversity training". I don't mean to say that there is anything wrong with the examples of head gear that I have listed. It just stymies me why some cultures are revered and some are not.

"Sensitivity" and "Diversity" are code words to be used to institute the fight against anything that is American and/or Christian. All the "mulitcultural" things MUST be tolerated and promoted; while Christianity is to be persecuted and disposed of. Anything "American" is disdained, ridiculed or regarded as evil. Can someone please tell me what exactly happened to the concept of the United States as "The Melting Pot"?

When you can't say "Merry Christmas" and you have to display a "Holiday Tree" and you can't sing a song that mentions angels, Jesus or anything having to do with Heaven; it is a sad thing. This once God-fearing nation is turning into a pagan nation - no better than the Druids who worshipped trees and practiced magic. Might as well go bow down before an elm or something!

Happy freakin' Festivus.

BTW - Can someone show me in the Bill of Rights the one that guarantees your right not to be offended? I think I missed that one.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Musings of an Old Fart

I was really amused today by the appearance of several postings on QRP-L by some newer Hams who have complained about the treatment they have received by older Hams, who are now becoming known as "OF"s.

I guess I should be amused; but it seems to be a sad commentary not on just Amateur Radio; but of society in general. Here we have some postings by newer Hams who complain that they were mocked, made fun of, abused ....... whatever ....... by older Hams (henceforth known as Old Farts) because they received their licenses by taking exams with a percieved lower level of difficulty.

In my 28 years as a Ham, I am mystified by this. I have never encountered this to my recollection. Or maybe I did; but was smart enough to ignore the taunts of crazies, and instead went on to seek the knowledge I needed from kinder folks. I wanted my Ham license so bad that I was not go to be discouraged my some crackpot. In any event, the incident(s), if they did happen were such a small blip on my radar screen that I don't even remember them! My experience has been that older Hams were most helpful to me when I was a new Ham. Maybe they didn't treat me with kid gloves; but hey, I wasn't a baby and I didn't need to be treated like one! Even if advice was given in less than a cheerful manner; I always learned - and that was the main point, wasn't it?

What bothers me is how these folks use these incidents as a crutch to explain their own behaviors! How can you let the remarks of some stupid person deter you? How can you let what others think diminish your success and accomplishments? Have we as a society become so overly sensitive that no one can say anything without the fear of being labeled as an Old Fart or some other derogotory term? Why are folks so happy and content to assume the role of "victim" rather than take responsibility for their own lives?

I pity these people who look upon sage advice or some good natured ribbing as a put down or an insult. I look with pity on these enlightened ones who say we must respect the opinions and feelings of everyone EXCEPT those that conflict with their own.

Maybe I am just an Old Fart ....... at 49!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Requiescat in pace

Rest in peace.

The Morse Code requirement to obtain operating privileges below 30 MHz will be officially eliminated by the FCC. Or as the ARRL put it:

"In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235."

So what does this mean? Well, for now, CW is not dead. It is still VERY popular and is the preferred method of communication amongst QRPers, hard core contesters and hard core DXers. But even with all that understood, I believe this is the death knell of Morse Code as we know it as a communications form.

Look at recent developments:

The latest Amateur Radio band to be introduced, the 60 Meter band, does not even allow for A1 (CW) emissions.

The "refarming" of the 80 Meter band by the FCC puts the pinch on General and Advanced CW ops who ended up losing spectrum.

Anybody who thinks the FCC and the ARRL regards CW operators as a valuable resource are kidding themselves. The handwriting is on the wall.

In the future, I believe these developments are not far off:

The ARRL will discontinue code practice on W1AW.
SSB emissions will be allowed anywhere on the Amateur Radio bands (OR)
The existing CW only subbands will be renamed the Digital only subbands allowing for the proliferation of Pactor III, WinLink and other similar forms of data transmission.

Unfortunately, tradition, history, romance and magic have no use in today's society. This is the latest action to prove that.

For now, I won't even go into my rant about those who claim that they "just can't learn Morse Code". I'll save that for another day.

73 de Larry W2LJ

YAF

YAF - as Jim Miller AB3CV put it - Yet Another Flare. And boy, is he right! Ol' Sol is not sitting there quietly as we approach the dead bottom of the sunspot cycle. Sunspots, flares, Coronal Mass Ejections .... our yellow Sun is a happening place right now! In fact, this solar storm is SO intense that NASA had the astronauts aboard the Shuttle and the International Space Station retreat to the most shielded parts of each vessel.

What does that mean for amateur radio? Well, I was not home to witness it; but several of the e-mail reflectors had posts from guys who reported that 10 Meters was alive and doing quite well today. Several other have posted seeing intense Aurora Borealis tonight.; so that means 2 Meters and 6 Meters must be hopping like mad!

On the other hand, for the 40 Meter Foxhunt tonight, all the signals I heard were weak, fluttery and watery. Typical of signals that propagate over the North Pole that are most affected by Aurora. I finally worked Jerry N9AW ay 0316 UTC; but even his signal was not its normal healthy self. Jerry was anywhere from 449 to ESP. The QSB was deep; and I didn't think I was going to work him. However, persistance paid off this time around. I heard the other Fox, Randy K7TQ early in the hunt also; but he was VERY weak into NJ; so I went to search out Jerry first. After working Jerry, I went back to the frequency where I had heard Randy and he was gone. Actually he wasn't as I heard the hounds calling him; but for me, since I couldn't hear him anymore, he was gone.

So by working N9AW tonight; that puts me at 4 pelts out of 12 hunts. A .333 batting average. If I was in the Major Leagues, I'd be earning beaucoup bucks for that average. For Foxhunting, that stinks! In the 2004-2005 season, I batted .475, and in 2005-2006 I batted .225 (I had terrible local QRN problems last Winter on 40 Meters). So I guess I'm doing better than last year, so far.

In the 2005-2006 80 Meter Foxhunt, I batted .650; and so far this year, I am batting .583 in the 80 Meter Foxhunt. Slightly worse than last year; but still lightyears ahead of my 40 Meter batting average. (Can you tell I'm a big baseball fan?)

73 de Larry W2LJ

Not looking good.

My goal at the beginning of the year was to make 2006 QSOs in 2006. Looks like I'm not going to cross that finish line. It doesn't even look like I will be able to duplicate last year's total of 1800. I'm at 1700; but there are less than three weeks left of 2006.

The reason? Take last night, for example. The airwaves should have been hopping. There were three big CW events that took place last night. First, the QRP-L Foxhunt was held on 80 Meters. Second, the North American QRP CW Club was holding its monthly sprint. Third, the Straight Key Century Club was holding its monthly sprint, also. I was thinking an easy 40 or even 50 QSOs between the two sprints.

I had a wake to go to last night; and then a Knights of Columbus meeting. I got home at 9:15 PM and literally flew down the basement steps to get into the shack and turn the radio on. Much to my surprise, I heard nothing, zilch, zip, nada, the big donut hole.

No Foxes, no hounds, no NAQCCers and finally, only one single, solitary SKCC station. It was Kevin K4VD who was operating under the SKCC club callsign KI4SLY. And that was it! That was all she wrote from 9:15 until 10:30 PM. Calling CQ netted nothing. Searching and pouncing netted one station. And before I get to mention, this also means another week of getting skunked in the Foxhunts.

All in all, not a good night. The propagation gods seem to be dead set against me.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

I know my dear wife Marianne is in a quandry, trying to figure out what this Ham Radio operator would like for Christmas. If you're intent on helping her, I have two suggestions for you. Both can be gotten with the help of Marshall Emm at Milestone Technologies.

The new SKCC straight key would be neat! It's an LTA Marconi straight key with the Straight Key Century Club (of which I am a member) logo engraved on it! If you'd like to see what I'm talking about - go here:

http://www.mtechnologies.com/skcc/

Another item that I wouldn't mind finding under the tree would be the 2006 Christmas Key. If you remember correctly, you brought me the 2005 Christmas key last year. Lookie here:

http://www.mtechnologies.com/xmas/

I've been a real good Ham Radio Op all year, Santa! I hope you read my blog and bring me a radio goodie this Christmas!

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP and CW are the best!

I just finished a great ragchew with Dave WD4EKB out of Fulton, NY. Dave mentioned that he is 65 and has been a Ham for a number of years; but was inactive until just a few months ago. Since rejoining the hobby, his interests have been in QRP and CW.

This is not a new thing that I am hearing. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this repeatedly, in the past few years. Guys who were starting to get bored with the hobby (or were already bored) are finding excitement, nostalgia, romance and a little of the "magic" that got them interested in radio in the first place, in QRP and CW.

I'm not sure whether it's folks relishing a new challenge; or just returning back to their roots of building and using Morse Code and low power equipment. But whatever it is, it seems to be catching on quickly. The QRP branch of Amateur Radio is quite healthy from all reports that I have been reading. With the birth of organizations like the North American QRP CW Club and the Straight Key Century Club it also seems like CW is beginning a renaissance, also. While the "code/no-code" debate furiously rages on, quietly and surely the numbers of Hams who are using Morse Code for the first time (and enjoying it immensely) as well as those who are returning to Morse Code, seem to be on the rise.

And after all, what's not to like? Using QRP and CW is fun; and that's all that counts!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Sincere thanks!

My most sincere thanks to all of you who left a comment or sent a private e-mail with get well wishes and notes of concern about my recent back injury. Fortunately (thanks be to God!) that it was just a severe muscle pull and not anything like a disc injury.

For those of you who suffer from the same malady, from time to time, I heartly recommend the use of the ThermaCare brand of heat therapy wraps! I purchase the large sized back/hip wraps. These babies work wonders! They provide a gentle warmth and not a searing heat; and they last for 8 hours or more. I wear one underneath my shirt; but on top of an undershirt. Direct contact with the skin is okay; but I feel that would be a little too much warmth for me. The have a velcro belt type of fastener. To give you an idea of how you would wear it; just think of a tuxedo cummerbun worn backwards!

The ThermaCare wraps, combined with the use of Advil has gotten me through the worst. I still get some muscle "twinges" if I move a little too fast the wrong way; but for the most part I would say I am back to about 90% of normal.

I've thrown out my back several times before but this was the worst! The cramping was so bad; I'm sure that my muscles were just huge, cramped up balls. I'm feeling the after-affects now. This was also the first time that this has happened, that as a result, I was not able to lay in bed, for fear of not being able to get out of bed! Monday and Tuesday nights were spent trying to sleep in an easy chair in the living room. Not a restful or pleasant experience; but at least this way my muscles didn't stiffen up to the point where I would have been immobile. I was in bad enough shape to call out sick from work on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was informed that the last time I had used a sick day was nine years ago.

Once again, thanks to all of you who were concerned. Knowing that there are friends out there makes all the difference in the world! In fact, from my last two posts, you can see that felt well enough to brave the trip down to the basement shack to participate in last night's 40 Meter Foxhunt!

73 de Larry W2LJ

It was a Two-fer!

Dale WC7S just posted his log on the Q-fox e-mail reflector. It was a "two-fer" after all! Dale got my exchange at 0310 UTC perfectly. I think I'm going to start referring to Dale as "Steve Austin" because he just has to have bionic ears to have pulled me out of that noisy soup on 40 Meters!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Think I got a Two-fer!

Wow! I think I got my first Two-fer in the 40 Meter Foxhunt on Thursday night! And that on a day when Ol' Sol is tossing all kinds of garbage at us, with M-Class flares and coronal mass ejections and the like!

The evening started out by firing up HF Prop, a HF propagation prediction software program. With the Solar Flux at 96 and the K Index at 4, the program predicted that Dennis N4DD in Tennessee would be at about an S1 level. It also predicted that Dale WC7S in Wyoming would be at about S5. Of course, the opposite proved to be true!

Dale was a nice and loud (by QRP standards) 559. Just as I was going to touch the paddles and give him a call; someone in the neighborhood flicked on an appliance and gave me an instant S9 ambient noise level ! Arrrggggghhhhhhhh - Dennis went "Bye-bye"! Fortunately, about 10 minutes later, whatever got flicked on, got flicked off. I composed myself and shortly thereafter into the bag went Dennis' pelt.

A few minutes later, at the other end of the frequency range I heard Ann AB1DR's loud signal from up in New Hampshire calling Dale. Thanks for the guidance, Ann! By turning the VFO down a touch, I was able to finally hear Dale who was 339 and maybe 449 when the QSB would abate for a very short period. After calling a few times, I'm about 90% certain that Dale came back to me and that we completed the exchange. I'll know for sure when Dale posts his log for the night on the QRP Foxhunting e-mail reflector tomorrow.

Who would have guessed that when solar conditions were so abnormal as to make a headline on "The Drudge Report" that I might have gotten my first double pelt session of the season!

Go figure!

73 de Larry W2LJ

And now for something totally UN-PC!

As seen on the Internet:

T'was the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod ,
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

But as Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Pelosi, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they tried to take away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Holiday Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
And shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday,
Our Country was founded under the Judeo-Christian way
And to our"guests" I will most politely say,
If you find that you don't like it , You certainly don't have to stay!!

Merry Christmas to all!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Stormy weather!

More from Paul Harden NA5N on QRP-L today:

Gang,
Yesterday, the sun produced an X9 solar flare, *very* unusual for being near the bottom of the solar minimum. Today (6Dec) the sun produced another X6 flare. This certainly suggests that active region #0930 will be bringing us plenty of entertainment over the next two weeks as it rotates across the surface of the sun.

For the *duration* of the flare events, HF can be disrupted by bursty and continuum noise, plus enhanced D-layer ionization absorbing signals, if not a temporary HF blackout. However, once that bleeds off in an hour or two, the D-layer will be back to normal and the E/F layers will remain ionized above normal for the rest of your local daytime hours. This of course makes the E/F layers more reflective and raises the MUF. Therefore, a good time for QRPers to check the bands is an hour or so after a large flare until local sundown for enhanced HF propagation.

Most of today we've also been in a major geomagnetic storm. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with yesterday's X9 (or today's X6) flare. The Earth has simply run in to a high speed electron stream from a coronal hole. This has exerted pressure against our magnetic field, compressing it, and generating huge electrical currents causing high HF noise levels. This will subside by later in the day.

If the sun produces M or X class flares over the next few days, the coronal mass ejection (CME) will begin to be pointed towards earth, meaning we can expect a geomagnetic storm about two days following the flare event. The closer the solar flare is to the center of the sun, more the direct of a hit we'll receive on earth. Today's X6, being near the limb of the sun, will probably give the earth only a glancing blow for a few hours of unsettled conditions late Friday.

The >10MeV proton count is high. These protons tend to accumulate in the polar regions (where the Earth's magnetic field is weakest). This causes a Polar Cap Absorption Event, meaning high absorption to HF signals for those above 45-50 degrees latitude. These same protons are what fuels auroral displays. Those in the higher latitudes are experiencing aurora now.

The moral of the story for QRPers:
1) Don't let reports of solar flares, geomagnetic storms, CME's keep you
off the bands. Much of this is of short term duration.
2) Enhanced HF propagation, including sporaidic openings on 15, 10 and even
6M can occur after a major flare for the rest of the day until sundown.
3) This includes possible north-south dx propagation at sundown due to
gray-line propagation. (If you do work McMurdo Sound, you better make
the QSO a snappy one, though -hi).
Good luck and have fun on the bands. It's not nearly as bad as it appears. In fact, it really works in the QRPers favor.
72, Paul NA5N

Thank you, Paul! You make all this science more palatable by putting it into "laymen's terms".
You're a QRP treasure - no doubt!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Solar Activity

The following appeared on QRP-L today, courtesy of Paul Harden NA5N:

Gang,
Today's X9 flare was indeed quite a surprise, not only to us hams,
but to the scientific community as well. The flare occured right on
the east limb of the sun, that is, just coming into view, such that the
active region that produced it has not yet been viewed. This region
will be rotating into view over the next day, and over the next two
weeks will move across the surface of the sun (from east to west, or
left to right on most solar images).

Since this flare was on the east limb, Earth will experience on the
speed-of-light emissions (ionizing radiation and the radio storms) - NOT a subsequent severe major geomagnetic storm. Although, NOAA has predicted an A=20 (minor storm)
for Thursday, anticipating a glancing blow from the shockwave. It will not be a direct hit. However, over the next week and a half, further solar flares from region 0929/0930, as it nears the center of the sun, could cause major geomagnetic disturbances on Earth.

I talked to our head solar astronomer, Dr. Tim Bastian, who said the
40-ft. and 300-ft. antennas at Green Bank, WVa are now mapping this
area of the sun, trying to get some spatial resolution to see what this area looks like - difficult when it is right on the limb. Additionally, there are some pretty images of the Type II and Type IV sweeps on their radiometer. He has given me permission to pass on the following information. This is his website of the Green Bank solar radio burst spectrometer (GBSRBS), which is a newly created and EXPERIMENTAL website you might find interesting, though it has not been announced/released for public use yet (but released to QRP-L by permission). It is at:
http://gbsrbs.nrao.edu
Click on SELECTED EVENTS, then Type II and Type IV. Type II sweeps are caused by the shockwave of the flare punching through the magnetic field lines of the disturbance. They "sweep" from higher frequencies (50-300MHz) to lower frequencies (5-20MHz,
depending on the intensity of the shockwave). On earth, they will sound like bursts of static flying through your passband, much like ignition noise.

This X9 has been producing Type II events. Type IV sweeps are more continuum noise generated by the solar flare, though bounded in frequency to the 10-100MHz or so range, though effects much higher are not uncommon for a large flare. On earth, the Type IV sweeps
causes an overall increase in the HF noise level. This X9 has been producing Type IV events.

Now go to the DAILY SUMMARIES, click on DEC (December) and 2006. Click on Dec. 05 under the "BI 12-62 MHz" column. This is the Bruny Island Radio Spectrometer in Tasmania, which shows today's events so far. Can you see the Type II sweeps (going from the high to lower
frequencies)? And, the Type IV continuum noise?

The NRAO radio burst spectrometer is also real time, however, it is not updated on this PUBLIC website until the end of the UTC day, so Dec.05 is a bit blank yet. However, look at it later, which will give you a real-time (at least at the time -hi) spectrum of what happened to the HF bands down to 12MHz. You can compare it to Dec.04 (yesterday), which is pretty boring. Again, this will soon be an official NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) public website, and soon to have the daily real-time spectrograph on it, but still under development. Dr. Bastian was kind enough to allow me to share it with those hams so interested.

Lastly, Dr. Bastian is also observing, etc. to determine the effects of this flare to our upper ionosphere, and interested to know what effects this is or has had on HF propagation. There are facilities that measure these things, but it will be at the end of the UTC day or later before their
data is released. I am at work and no access to any HF gear. So, for those of you who have been on the bands since this morning, let me know (either private or via QRP-L) if you heard any Type II sweeps (the bursty, ignition noise stuff and approx. what time and frequency), an overall increase in noise (type IV), or if you experienced an HF black-out or near blackout condition. State your approx. location.

It is hard for some of these astronomers to realize there is a fleet of people out there who are experiencing these things real-time on ham radio. A sampling of reports across the country of noted effects could be helpful right now (as some of the propagation study instruments are shut down during the solar miniumum). I'll pass on anything interesting that might result from todays solar observing we're doing on this.

Thanks and 72,
Paul NA5N
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
Very Large Array (VLA) Radio Telescope
Socorro, New Mexico
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73 de Larry W2LJ

No radio for a bit .... for me!

I threw my back out at work yesterday. It went out on me pretty good, too! I can't remember being in that much pain in quite awhile! It's getting better; but I can tell it's going to take a week or more to come back to somewhere near normal. In the meantime, I think I'm going to stay out of the shack for the time being. That's the last thing the muscles in my lower back need right now - sitting in one position for an extended period of time in the basement, where it's cool and damp!

So while I didn't participate in the ARS Spartan Sprint last night; I see I had a lot of company. Reading comments on the various QRP reflectors, I saw this news tidbit:

MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites detected a
powerful X-class solarflare this morning, Dec. 5th, at 10:35
Universal Time. The source: big, new sunspot 929, which is
emerging over the Sun's eastern limb. Because of the sunspot's
position near the limb, this flare was not Earth-directed. Future
eruptions could be, however, because the Sun's spin is turning
the spot towardEarth. Sunspot 929 will be visible for the next
two weeks as it glides across the solar disk.

Please visit http://spaceweather.com for more information
and updates.

73 de Larry W2LJ