It's a whole 'nuther world

My wife and my son and I accompanied my daughter to her second cheerleading competition of the season. My daughter, who is 7 years old, is a Biddy Cheerleader at Sacred Heart School here in town. They have their little routines and they cheer each week at either the 3/4th grade or 5/6th grade basketball games each weekend. Basketball season lasts from November to March and they cheer just about every Saturday morning.

Each year, they also go to two or three cheerleading competitions. Today's was in North Arlington, NJ at Our Lady Queen of Peace High School. The Sacred Heart Biddy, Junior Varsity and Varsity squads were represented, cheering against 6 or 8 other Catholic schools.

We had to be there by 8:30 this morning, and it was an hour long ride - so we were up early at 6:00AM. We got there in plenty of time; but the parking situation was atrocious! I dropped Marianne and Joey and Cara off at the school and finally found a parking spot about 5 blocks away or so.

It was all worth it as the girls had a fantastic time; and my daughter's squad won a trophy and individual medals for being the Biddy squad who performed the best stunts. Nothing earthshaking or dangerous; but pretty involved considering the Biddys are girls who are in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. This is Cara's last year with the Biddy's as she will be in 3rd grade next year; and will move on up to the Junior Varsity squad if she decides to continue to cheer.

I was amazed at my first competition a few years ago how it seemed to be a whole 'nuther world that I had never experienced before! Besides the actual competition, vendor show up selling their wares which relate to cheerleading and tumbling and gymnastics. The moms at these competitions can get pretty worked up and involved - with some taking it way too seriously!

But later I reflected upon the Ham Radio world; and how we have our Hamfests, swap meets and auction events. I guess to the uninitiated, our world is "a whole 'nuther world" and seems awfully alien to them, also. We have our own members of the hobby who take things way too seriously at times.

But in the end, whether it be cheerleading or Ham Radio, the end game is to have fun. Whether you win the cheerleading competition or the QRP Sprint du Jour isn't as important as enjoying yourself and having fun, while trying your best.

73 de Larry W2LJ

The battery is charging

I hooked up my newly arrived 18V wall wart to the ACME QRP gel cell charger and made the adjustments as they appear in the instruction manual. Everything went flawlessly. Now to hook up an actual, live battery. Looking around my various parts bins, I noticed that I do not have the required 5.1mm jack for the output!

Not to be deterred, I took two alligator clip test leads and clipped one to D2 in the circuit and the other to circuit board ground and hooked up a gel cell. The LED ran red for a bit to indicate that the battery was receiving a full charge; and then just a little while later, it switched to green. This indicated that the battery's voltage was at the proper level and the charging current had decreased to "float charging" levels.

Now I'll have to go to either Radio Shack or perhaps Greenbrook Electronics to get a couple 5.1 mm jacks (always good to have a spare kicking around) and mount his circuit in some kind of enclosure bottom. I need to put in something to keep the circuit board insulated from any kind of metal, yet I need to keep the top open so I can view the color status of the LED. Hmmmm .... some type of clear plastic box, perhaps? That way I can totally enclose the charger; but yet still view the LED. Interesting.

When all is said and done, I promise to post some pictures.

What should be next? I have a few untouched kits to choose from. I have a set of QRP paddles from Arizona ScQRPions paddles that I purchased years ago that I never opened. Maybe it's time to get going on those.

73 de Larry W2LJ

A fun night

I got home from work today to see that my 18V wall wart finally arrived through the mail. I did not have a chance to hook it up to the ACME gel cell charger tonight - perhaps tomorrow evening.

The night was spent at my kid's school. They both take Spanish (2nd and 3rd grades!) and their Spanish teacher put on an "International Night". The parents agreed to bring the ethnic foods of each family's heritage. My wife made kielbasa and sauerkraut to celebrate our Polish heritage; and we brought a crockpot full of it!

There was soooooo much food and it was all so good! Some of the counties represented were Poland, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, Cuba, Guatemala, Germany, Slovakia, and a few others I can't even remember right now. It was truly an international smorgasbord and everybody had a wonderful time. Even my wife commented that she had a better time than she thought she was going to have.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day here - sunny and near 65 for a high. It will really feel like Spring for a change.

73 de Larry W2LJ

The Agony and the Ecstacy

I was substitute Fox last night for the last 80 Meter Foxhunt of the 2008/2009 Winter Season. As always, it was a ton of fun; and I managed to hand out 62 pelts during my 90 minute run.

The evening started off extremely well, and for the first 40 minutes or so, I was making contacts at a rate of one, maybe sometimes two a minute. Then at 0140 UTC, give or take (not sure of the exact time), it all came crashing down.

A loud (EXTREMELY LOUD = like 90 dB over 9 loud!) station came on the frequency N3SW, calling up the 3RN Net. Two things ticked me off here. First, I was occupying the frequency for over half an hour at this point - I was there first. Second, N3SW came on the frequency and started transmitting blindly, without so much as the courtesy of a "QRL?". And I don't want to hear that he couldn't hear anyone on frequency. I had a mini-pileup going. He HAD to hear some of them, even if they were QRPers! Things ended up with me changing the way I was operating; so as to accommodate them. I wouldn't have expected 3RN to move for me if they were on frequency first; and by rights, they shouldn't have made it necessary for me to vacate the frequency.

These guys are important as they move message traffic; and they can end up being a backbone someday if the country's communications network fails in the face of an all out disaster. But they can't figure out how to adapt to a situation such as an occupied frequency? These guys can't figure out how to QSY? I'm sorry - NTS or no - that was very rude and "Amateurish" of N3SW and 3RN.

No one should start transmitting on a frequency without listening first. The Foxhunt started at 0100 UTC. I was down at the rig at 0050 UTC picking a quiet spot and "QRLing" the heck out of it in order to insure that I wasn't interfering with anyone. All I ask is that other stations do the same. I don't care who you are and what you're doing. Unless it's a dire life and death emergency, courtesy should be the rule for everyone.

73 de Larry W2LJ

NJQRP Homebrewer Sprint - the day after.

I must say that I had a good time participating in the Sprint last night. I gave it a go for 2 of the 4 hours; then I headed off to bed as today was a work day.

I made a total of 19 QSOs and as I figure it, my claimed score is 8512 points. As usual, I used my K2 at the 5 Watt setting to my G5RV. 40 Meters was very noisy with a lot of RTTY QRM coming all the way down to almost 7.030 MHz; but I did manage about 6 QSOs on that band. The rest were garnered on 80 Meters; which had some atmospheric QRN - a sure sign that Spring is approaching.

The highlights were working the ever present N4BP, QRP contester extraordinaire, as well as Jim W1PID who had a super loud signal into NJ. Maybe the best QSO I had was with NØEAX out of Missouri who was operating at the 900 mW level. I got an e-mail from Rich stating that I was the only QSO he made during his 60 minute operating period. 80 Meter QRPp is a tough business; and I'm glad the K2 was able to help me pull his signal outof the aether.

I heard some stations going back to K4BAI; but sadly, I wasn't able to pull his signal out - maybe next time!

If you participated in the contest you have 30 days in which to get me your log. Please don't forget. As the deadline draws near, I will make announcements on QRP-L. So far, I have received eight logs. I know there were more of you out there than that!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Another cool thing.

While going through the NØHR.com Website to tell you about Propfire in my last post, I came across Patrick's Hamlinks Ham Radio Toolbar.

I was intrigued and installed it. And I am impressed!

It has a lot of neat features, such as allowing you to listen to Ham podcasts while browsing the Web or doing other Internet related things. It will let you know when you get new e-mails. It allows you to do not only standard Internet searches via Google; but allows you to various Ham Radio sites, also.

It's a useful tool - check it out and I think you'll like it.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Just a few changes

Last night I got in the mood to make a few changes here. Long time visitors will notice the change in color scheme and a new style clock.

I've also added a poll, which I hope to change every week or so. Please feel free to input your vote. This isn't meant to be any kind of scientific fact finding - just fun. So even if every now and then, you find that the questions venture away from Amateur Radio and towards silliness, please bear with me.

In addition, if you scroll down to near the bottom of the blog, on the right side you'll find a table with the current solar conditions. It updates every three hours. So far, since I have added it; it seems to agree with the Propfire propagation bar that I have at the bottom of my Firefox browser.

What's that you say? You have Firefox as your browser and you never heard of this? Well, my friend, please mosey on over to http://www.n0hr.com/Propfire.htm to see what I am talking about. This is a neat little tool to have and the Website will fill you in on all the details. Oh, and by the way, it is free.

I hope to make some changes to my Website in the near future too. I won't be changing the content; just the look and feel of it. I'd like to make it "fancier"; but have to do a lot of experimenting (offline). My Webmastering skills are self taught and I'm not up to snuff with any of the fancy stuff yet.

It's a gray and dreary day here in NJ; and kind of on the damp and chilly side. I wanted to take a ride down to the shore and set up a portable op for a few hours on the deserted beach at Long Beach Island State Park; but wisely, my wife pointed out that the weather isn't really amenable to doing that; and that it would probably feel even worse right by the water. She said that I'd be more comfortable once the temps reach the 60s on average; and I'd have to say that once again, she's right.

I would like to try it though. I think the PAC-12 being close to a humongous body of salt water acting as a ground plane would play very well.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Random thoughts

My 18V Wall Wart that I won on eBay did not arrive this week; much to my consternation. Luckily, the sun will come out tomorrow (What is this, "Annie"?) and I can hook up my 12V SLA battery to the solar panel to let it receive a nice charge.

I was hoping that during the coming week, that I might get a few lunchtime opportunities for some QRP QSOs from the park near work. Last Wednesday, it reached close to 70 Degrees here. Of course now that my gear is ready and the battery charged, I am sure it won't get above 45 Degrees all week!

I see that QRP Kits has announced two new ones. Today, Doug Hendricks KI6DS announced that he has added 2 new kits to his line of kits. They are an RF Probe packaged by Ken Locasale, and an Signal Tracer/Injector also packaged by Ken Locasale.

To check them out go to www.qrpkits.com and scroll down to the News section. Click on the items and it will take you to the page. The manuals for both kits are up and available for download, according to Doug.

I went through my "In Box" today and got rid of a ton of e-mails that I never deleted for some reason or other. I reviewed them, kept the few that were important and chucked the rest. I shouldn't be; but I get amazed at times about the number of e-mails I get a day! Between all the CW and QRP related e-mail reflectors I subscribe to, it can get daunting at times. I subscribe to a good number of them in digest form; but the two major QRP reflectors I get as individual e-mails. I tried digest form on those; but ended up accidentally deleting e-mails that I had wanted to save by deleting the entire digest for that day.

I guess I will continue to make liberal use of the Delete Key.

One last thought - don't forget the NJQRP Homebrewer Sprint tomorrow night!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Wrestling with the computer

I decided to try and synch my Palm Tungsten E with the computer this morning; as I haven't done it in a while. There's a lot of Ham Radio and work related data in there; and I like to keep it backed up. I have resolved perform this chore at least once a week. And I should be doing this way more often during the coming months as I am hoping the Palm will fill up with lunch time QRP QSOs now that the warmer months are approaching!

Much to my frustration, the Tungsten would not synch with the computer. I tried various things, like rebooting the computer, reloading the software and checking all connection settings, trying a different USB cable to no avail. As an experiment, I took the software, loaded it to a thumb drive and uploaded it to my shack laptop. Sure enough, after installation, it worked like a champ.

So now I knew that the Palm and its USB cable were fine. The fault had to rest somehow with my antiquated, dinosaur PC that I have up here.

That's when I had an inspiration. I went into the Windows Control Panel and totally removed the Palm software from the system. I shut the computer down, rebooted it and re-installed the software. It worked!

I have no idea what corrupted the software. I'm just glad that I lucked into a solution!

73 de Larry W2LJ

WorldRadio Online - a success!

The transition of WorldRadio from a paper periodical to an online e-zine seems to have been a big success.

Rich Moseson, of CQ Magazine, posted on the WorldRadio e-mail reflector today that the release of the latest issue has caused a "pileup" on the server. He issued a plea to spread out the bandwidth; and politely asked folks to not overwhelm the server.

I'm glad to see that WorldRadio has taken off as an e-zine; and I hope that it garners tons of success in the future. It is definitely one of my favorite Amateur Radio periodicals.

73 de Larry W2LJ

John Shannon K3WWP

If any of you out there are having trouble reaching K3WWP's Website; please note that the URL has changed.

It is now:

http://home.windstream.net/johnshan/index.html

The change over from "alltel" to "windstream" wasn't supposed to happen until May; but is seems to have already taken effect.

73 de Larry W2LJ

The NJQRP Homebrewer Sprint returns!

After a hiatus, the NJQRP Homebrewer Sprint is on again! And this coming Sunday night, March 22nd is the night. So put down the soldering iron and get on the air and make some contacts with the equipment that you gave your sweat, blood and tears to build!

The original purpose of this Sprint was to encourage the use of homebrewed equipment (kits count!) ; but we're not overly picky and we welcome all entries, whether homebrewed or not.

As always, this event which is sponsored by the NJQRP Club is a 4 hour event from 8:00 PM to Midnight EDT. (0000 UTC until 0400 UTC Monday March 23rd for those of you who prefer UTC).

For all the details and the whole skinny - please visit the following Webpage:

http://www.njqrp.org/data/qrphomebrewersprint.html

Special certificates will be awarded; and they will be suitable for framing!

So grab your Tuna Tin, Sardine Sender, Gnat, Flea, Pixie, ATS (any version), KX1, K1, K2 or K3, Warbler (yes, PSK-31 counts too) or whatever have you and join in on the fun!

See you all Sunday night!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Gotta share this

When I announced on this blog that my lovely wife was buying me the QRP Project Fuchs Tuner kit for my birthday; it intrigued one of my friends to the point of building one based on the documentation available on the QRP Project Website.

He sent me an e-mail tonight letting me know that the project was a success and that it successfully tuned his Inverted L on 80 through 10 Meters.

And he included the picture that you see here. Wow! How good looking is that! As you can see, my friend Bob W3BBO is one heckuva a homebrewer. If I were to attempt the same project, it would end up looking like something that was hit by an NHL goaltender, or possibly something that was found on the street as "roadkill".

I truly envy you folks who can not only homebrew from scratch successfully; but make it look so darned professional to boot!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Oh, man !!!!!

"Oh, man!!!!!!" is an expression that can be used in two ways; one being a state of disappointment and the other for a state of pleasant surprise. I've used it both ways tonight.

The first reason - disappointment. I saw on the ARRL Web Page that Burghardt Amateur Center in Watertown, SD has announced that they will no longer sell Amateur Radio gear. While they will continue to offer radio repair, which is lucrative, selling new gear became unprofitable. Wow! They've been in business since 1937 and I bought my Novice transmitter from them - my Drake 2-NT way back in 1978. I'm sorry to see another Amateur Radio outlet go by the wayside.

The second reason - pleasant surprise. Terry WAØITP announced today that the Four States QRP Group is offering two new kits! The first is the Four State Dummy Load SMD Starter Kit, designed to get builders acquainted with working with surface mount materials. It looks like plenty documentation is included about the various SMD building techniques and they include an parts for an RF Probe so you can calculate your output power using a DMM. Go here for details: http://www.wa0itp.com/dummyload.html

The second kit is the Enhanced Manhattan Islander Audio Amp. This ones uses Manhattan construction and is supposedly very powerful; but yet small enough to fit into the ever versatile Altoids tin. Go here for details: http://www.wa0itp.com/emislander.html

It's nice to see new items being introduced. It helps soften the blow about losing "an old friend".

73 de Larry W2LJ

A couple of things

I built the ACME QRP Gel Cell Charger today, even though I don't have a method for powering it up right now. It went together very easily; and if you're new to kit building, I would not hesitate to recommend this kit to you as a second or even first time build!

It's a small but not tiny circuit board, the parts are all "through hole" and with the exception of one lil' typo (that was easy to figure out), the instructions were a snap to understand and follow.

You can see a few pictures on my Web page here. Or go to my Windows Skydrive page (which I just started) and check out the folder named ACME QRP.

Kudos to Craig NR4E for putting together a neat little kit!

Secondly, a few of you might have read the article in QST two months ago describing how to homebrew a Spud Gun (antenna line launcher). Steve WGØAT (ex NØTU) of "Peanut and Rooster" fame has a YouTube video showing the very same launcher in action. It is impressive! Click here to see it.

I wish I had tall trees in my backyard where I would have a need to have one of those!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Aargh!!!

No, I'm not a pirate - just a bit frustrated with myself.

I am about to begin building the ACME QRP Gel Cell Charger kit today; and of course did another careful read through the assembly instructions. I was about to begin actual assembly when I thought I'd run down the basement to check my old junker Toshiba laptop's wall wart - just to make sure its output was in the necessary 16 - 22 Volt range. That's when I was rudely reminded that the Toshiba doesn't use a wall wart! It uses 115V AC directly - it must have a built in transformer to charge its battery!

The only wall wart I have that has the proper voltage is the one to my Dell laptop, which is my main shack computer. I'm not about to use that!

So a quick search on the E of Bay yielded several inexpensive 18V wall warts. I hit one of the "Buy Now" ones for $3.99 plus shipping; and got one for less than ten bucks.

So I will probably have the kit completed and "ready to go" for later this week, when hopefully, the wall wart will arrive. It's supposed to come via Express Mail - 3 to 5 business days from now.

With all the stupid little wall warts I have just hanging around the house, it's just my luck that I don't have ONE with the proper output voltage and that I had to end up buying one.

Aaarrrgggghhhhh!

73 de Larry W2LJ

An interesting e-mail.

I got an e-mail from a Ham from Slovenia today. This was in response to my going into eQSL the other day and cleaning out my "In Box". I had to reject his QSO and I guess he received an e-mail in turn from eQSL telling him of my action.

So when I got home today, there was an e-mail from him saying, "Hi W2LJ. What do you mean wrong mode? I worked you in the ARRL SSB DX Contest".

To which I replied, "Right mode for you - wrong mode for me. I am a CW only person. I do not own a microphone; and I don't even own a rig that is capable of SSB at the present time. Sorry."

I doubt that I'll get any response as a result of that. I guess there's always the possibility that someone is pirating my call - but seriously, who'd want to pirate W2LJ? You'd have to be pretty desperate!

73 de Larry W2LJ

It came!

When I got home from work this afternoon, I was happy to see a little white package in the mail. It had a customs slip on it and the distinctive logo of the QRP Project of Germany.

My multiband EFHW tuner arrived today! Cool!

I immediately handed it off to my wife and told her to keep hold of it until my birthday. It's no big deal, it's only six weeks away; and I have plenty to keep me busy until then.

Now for something totally different and totally unrelated to Amateur Radio. I see the Secretary General of the UN has called the United States a "deadbeat" nation. Excuse me, Mr. Ban Ki-moon?

Hmmmmmm .... let's see ..... the United States ONLY provides about 22% of the UN's annual operating budget. Foreign diplomats in New York City routinely disobey the parking and traffic rules and NEVER pay their fines - claiming diplomatic immunity. The NY Police department spends a hideous amount of its budget in UN related protection.

Seems to me the UN Secretary General needs to see what kind of financial shape the UN would be in if we taxpayers decided to tighten our national purse strings.

And what do we get for our effort? Not a whole heckuvalot if you ask me.

I'd better stop this before I get heartburn.

73 de Larry W2LJ

A note of passing

I read this on one of the e-mail reflectors I subscribe to:

"...At the tone, Zero Hours, Zero Minutes, Coordinated Universal Time...'BEEP'...This is Radio Station WWV, Fort Collins Colorado..."

WWV voice Silent key

The person behind the recorded voice of Time and Frequency Station WWV has passed away. Announcer Don Elliot Heald, of Atlanta, Georgia, who gave WWV its human touch, passed away on Thursday, February 19th.

He was 86 years old, and worked for a long time for WSB in Atlanta, GA. Among his other notable achievements, he was the first person to hire an African-American as an-air TV reporter; and the first to hire an African-American as an evening news anchor.

73 de Larry W2LJ

80M was tough tonight!

Spring is coming! But by the QRN levels on 80 Meters tonight, you might have thought it was already July!

The local QRN racket on 40 Meters raised its ugly head for the first time in a long time, tonight; which forced me to go on down to 80 Meters. The local QRN was not a problem; but the atmospheric QRN was indeed a problem!

I had a short QSO with Tom W4VHH out of North Carolina. I gave him a 569 and got a 459 in return. The QRM and QSB were bad, forcing a very short QSO upon us. This was a bad thing as I was in the mood for a good "chew".

After Tom and I called it quits, I called CQ for a bit more - however, there were no takers.

For those of you into QRP, I'd like to introduce you to a Website that you might not know about. It's a QRP Cluster, per se, named QRPSPOTS. It's sponsored by the Four States QRP Group and you can get to it by clicking here.

I think this site is a wonderful idea! You can list yourself when your headed for the great outdoors and you want everyone to know that you're out there, braving the elements and tickling the aether with your 5 Watts of RF. Or, you can list yourself when you're at home calling CQ from the home station and you feel like reaching out to other QRPers.

Either way, so far the site seems to have received only light traffic. But it's another wonderful free service to QRPers; and I think we should make the most use out of it that we can! I know Terry WAØITP and the Four States QRP group would love this site to take off and be used worldwide by QRPers.

Personally, I'd love to see "DX" QRPers post their times of operating on there. It's exciting to see how far you can make 5 Watts reach. So spread the word! If you're getting on the air via QRP - let EVERYONE know!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Birthday present

Actually, my birthday isn't for a couple of months; but I talked my wife into purchasing a kit for me as my birthday present this year. The kit is for a matching network for EFHW (End Fed Half Wave) antennas, which are easy to deploy for QRP portable operations.

The kit is sold by the QRP Project out of Germany. I figured it probably won't get here until real close to my birthday, anyway.

http://www.qrpproject.de/UK/multifuchs.htm

The article was an interesting read. I am looking forward to building it, hooking up a piece of wire to it; and seeing what happens.

Of course, I will keep you all informed when the time comes.

73 de Larry W2LJ

W2LJ reporting for duty ..... SIR!

Many of you are probably familiar with a post that appeared on all the major QRP e-mail reflectors a few weeks ago, about keeping QRP alive and healthy. It was written by a prominent and well known figure in the QRP world, with his exhortations as to what we QRPers need to do in order to keep this lil' corner of Amateur Radio alive and kicking.

All filled up with a sense of duty, I went out and ordered a kit. And it is actually something that I can use ! And it arrived today.

It is a Gel Cell charger kit, marketed by of all companies - ACME QRP. It looks like it will be a breeze to assemble and get working. It's all through hole parts and it is definitely something that I can use. Even though I usually charge my gel cells with my solar panel, this looks like a neat little device to have.

In case you're interested, here is where you can find it:

http://www.acmeqrp.com/main/page_products_gc100_gel_cell_charger.html

The only things missing are the little pictures of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.

73 de Larry W2LJ

'Nother one bites the dust

I saw this the other day on one of the local club e-mail reflectors:

"Hello RVRC, I have just spoken with the guys on the Cherryville Net and received the news that their hamfest will not be held this year. Hopefully they will get things together for next year, that seemed to be the thought at this time. 73 Mike, KB2VRM"

Hmmmmm ..... it's been my experience that when you see something like this, the odds of them "getting things together for next year" are not good.

Thw Cherryville Hamfest, sponsored by the Cherryville Repeater Group has been around as long as I can remember. I think it might have been the first Hamfest I ever went to after I got licensed. That makes sense, as I was licensed in December; and traditionally, the Cherryville Hamfest kicked off the NJ Hamfest season, holding theirs each March.

Admittedly, the Cherryville Hamfest has gotten weaker and weaker in the past few years. With the advent of E-Bay and the Internet in general, smaller Hamfests have seemed to have gone by the wayside. That's unfortunate as they are not only sales events; but they are also great social events. It's always nice to go and reconnect with folks you haven't seen face to face in a while.

I will keep my fingers crossed that the Hamfest will re-appear in 2010; but realistically, I won't be holding my breath.

73 de Larry W2LJ

March rolls in like a lion .....

I guess that's true. Signs of Spring are everywhere. Next weekend, Daylight Savings Time begins again, the days are getting noticeably longer (I no longer drive home from work in the dark); and those little green tufts of grass are starting to sprout in my backyard.

But Ol' Man Winter isn't done with us yet! By the time I wake up for work tomorrow morning, there's supposed to be around 6 - 9 inches of snow on the ground. It's a raw, cold, bleek day here in Central New Jersey.

If you're like me, you've had enough of Winter back in December; and you're counting the days until you can walk around outside without a coat or jacket. This means the beginning of the 2009 "comfortable" outdoor QRP season; when you can set up the antenna and radio without the risk of hypothermia and frostbite! And you can sit outside with an iced tea or a lemonade (or a brewski!) instead of a thermos of coffee or hot chocolate.

Until that time comes, I have a link to a video that will warm the recesses of your heart. Introduced on the QRP reflectors by Steve NØTU of "Rooster and Peanut" fame, it's about a 50 pound DXpedition to the Caribbean. It seems it's always warm enough down there to sit and do some radio from the great outdoors!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7l8fdgGkHA

is the link; and this should have you inspired and anxious for some good QRP weather that's sure to come our way sooner or later!

73 de Larry W2LJ

CFLs - revisited

From time to time, I like to look through my old QSTs and read articles I missed; or re-read articles that that I may have glanced over too quickly the first time.

In this case, the November 2008 had an article about making your station "green". Now anything that pertains to "green" tends to make me groan. Don't get me wrong ..... I believe in conservation, using energy wisely, not wasting resources and being a good steward towards the planet. But, in accordance with my Catholic upbringing, I believe that the planet was created for us; and not we for the planet. Ecology as a religion is just not my thing.

All that notwithstanding, the article was interesting and useful; as it contained some interesting information about CFLs - compact fluorescent lights. I have started using them about 16 months ago - mainly in my kitchen. The lights in the kitchen are recessed indoor floods and they tended to have very short lifespans. I switched over to Philips CFLs and for the most part have been happy with them. They do not generate any RFI that I can detect. I can have my radio on and if someone turns on the kitchen lights, I am oblivious to it. I can't "hear" them on the K2, which is known throughout the Amateur Radio world for its fine receiver. In addition to them being "radio quiet" the CFLs have lived up to their reputation of being longer lived. I haven't had to change them since I installed them. 14 months may not seem very long to you; but regular incandescent floods were only lasting 4 months or so - so to me, it means a lot. The thing I don't like about them, though, is that they are very dim on start up. I can come downstairs in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning; and when I turn them on, it's just not the same. Regular incandescent bulbs come on at full brightness. These Philips CFLs take about three or four minutes to "warm up" to full output.

Getting back to the QST article, the author recommended GE CFLs as they are the only ones that do not come with an RFI warning printed on the package. So when I went grocery shopping today, I bought two 100 Watt equivalent GE CFLs. And sure enough, there is no RFI warning label on the package (although there is a warning that they have to be recycled properly as these little devils, like all CFLs, contain mercury). I decided to test the author's claims and installed them in the two ceiling fixtures that I have in my basement shack.

His claims are true. No RFI that these 52 year old ears can hear, anyway! BUT, the one big difference I noted was that when I turned these puppies on - they are BRIGHT !!!! I would say at least 90% of their normal operational brightness. No annoying dimness while waiting for them to "warm up". And to me that is a big deal!

I can heartily recommend GE CFLs. They are "radio quiet" and I like the light they put out. The two 100 Watt equivalent bulbs that I installed will use substantially less energy than just one 100 Watt incandescent bulb that I used to use. It might take me a bit of time to get used to their squirrely corkscrew shape, though.

Which brings me to another thought - just how far away are we from the next generation of home lighting - LED based "light bulbs"?

73 de Larry W2LJ

Just in case

you never check out my "Amateur Radio Blogs of Interest" down to the lower right, please do your self a favor and either go to the SolderSmoke blog; or go to:

http://www.wa0dx.org/wa0itp/ns40.html

Either will lead you to a neat little 40 Meter transmitter kit called the NS-40 (No Simpler 40 Meter Transmitter). According to the article, it has only 14 parts and no coils to wind because they are etched right into the PCB! How cool is that?

At the same time, if you decide to buy the kit, your payment will help fund Ozarkcon. So you can have some fun melting solder and do your "patriotic duty" to QRP all at the same time.

I think I'm going to get a check out to WAØITP today!

73 de Larry W2LJ

K5D

Hooray! I worked the DXpedition today!

I got home from Church and saw an announcement by WB3AAL on one of the QRP reflectors that the K5D team was indeed on 30 Meters. He worked them at 1538 UTC.

Even though it was almost three hours later, I decided to say, "What the heck"; and I headed down to the shack and fired up the K2 and switched to the HF9V vertical. K5D was coming into NJ at 599; but I had a bit of a problem. The op was working a lot of Europeans; and propagation was such that I couldn't hear the Europeans answer. Thus, I didn't have a good idea as to how high he was listening. I flipped the K2's "B" VFO up two and kept my fingers crossed; and was lucky enough to grab them on my second call at 1825 UTC.

During my weekly conversation with Bob W3BBO yesterday; he informed me that according to the K5D Website, the CW side of the operation was sitting this weekend out because of the ARRL DX Contest. I told Bob that while I certainly respected their decision to not contest, I couldn't understand why they wouldn't then just operate on 30 and 17 Meters for the weekend, where no contesting is allowed.

We must have been on the same brain wavelength then; because they were on 30 Meters today; and I nabbed 'em! Thanks, K5D team! I think this was an excellent decision., as it gave us "non-serious" contesters and us QRPers a chance to get you without the heavy "normal" pileups!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Two blogs added

To the list of "Amateur Radio Blogs of Interest" to the lower right:

K3WI Blog - which seems to be a newer one; but I like the posts I've read so far.

a brasspounder's cafe - which is authored by JJ8KGZ from Hokkaido, Japan.

I hope you enjoy them!

73 de Larry W2LJ

ARRL DX Contest weekend

I've been playing around in the DX contest today. Not a big effort; just a sit down for a few minutes here and there between chores. It's nice to see 15 Meters open with great signals from the Caribbean and South America.

The Butternut is doing a fantastic job for me today. I'm working just about everyone I hear, even if it takes a few calls with the QRP signal!

Moved on down to 20 Meters for a bit and worked Ireland and Alaska - first try on each! The "magic of radio" rush always comes back during a DX contest!

73 de Larry W2LJ

The Gnat

OK - so I've been burning to build something from scratch for a while now. And today, on QRP-L, I think I found the answer.

Chris Trask N7ZWY published an article about a one-transistor CW transceiver for 40 Meters, called "The Gnat". Here's the link to the .pdf with all the details:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~christrask/Gnat%2040.pdf

Looks like I'm gonna order a few parts that I don't have from either Mouser or Jameco; and then I'll get to building!

73 de Larry W2LJ

From the ARRL Letter

This appeared on today's release of "The ARRL Letter". I thought it worthy to post here as many of you may remember reading of this man's ingenuity just a few years ago.

JOHN KANZIUS, K3TUP (SK)

John Kanzius, K3TUP, of Erie, Pennsylvania, passed away February 18 in Florida from pneumonia. He was 64. Kanzius was best known for his research into finding a cure for cancer using radio waves, specifically 13.56 MHz.

In 1966 at age 22, Kanzius came to Erie, Pennsylvania to work for JET Broadcasting. After 24 years as a broadcast engineer, he was appointed vice president and general manager of the company in 1980. After retiring, Kanzius was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002. He summarized his chemotherapy in a February 2008 article in QST as "Hoping we kill the cancer before we kill the person". In October 2003 -- thinking there had to be a better treatment -- Kanzius had the idea to kill the cancer cell with radio waves, not a new idea. But Kanzius went a bit further: Instead of using needles, as was currently used, why not "trick" the cancer cells into absorbing a metal target -- sent by RF -- into the inside of the cancer cells, leaving the healthy cells alone?

In 2005, Kanzius teamed up with cancer researchers at M. D. Anderson (part of the University of Texas health system in Houston) and Rice University (also in Houston). Using nanoparticles -- metallic objects measured in billionths of an inch -- heated by RF using a machine that Kanzius invented, the researchers were impressed: "The research scientists at Rice were stunned to see that my device could heat nanoparticles at the 13.56 MHz frequency," Kanzius said.

Kanzius credited his father for his inspiration: "Trying to build an array that would heat particles one billionth of a meter in length was challenging. But building equipment all of my life was inspired by my dad, W3NRE, who was licensed in 1934."

Kanzius told ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, that if it were not for his Amateur Radio background, "and all the days of experimentation to improve my station, this new procedure for treating cancer, which continues to show such promising results, would
probably not be on the cutting edge at the largest cancer center in the world [M. D. Anderson]."

But Kanzius did more than just try to find a cure for cancer. In 1991, he was Top of Honor Roll in the ARRL DXCC program; at his death, he had 347 countries confirmed. In the March/April 1987 issue of NCJ, Tim Duffy, K3LR, described K3TUP as "a relatively new contest call," but said Kanzius had been DXing for many years: "As he has caught the contest bug, John has taken a station which was designed for busting DX pileups and converted it over to have the flexibility and brute force required to compete in Multi-Single contesting." Duffy described the station as sitting "situated on a high ridge that overlooks Lake Erie. The station is well secluded from city-type radio noise and the rural setting allows John to run several temporary beverages for low band receiving." Both Duffy and Randy Thompson, K5ZD, have operated from
Kanzius's station.

Pitts recalled that in 2007, he received an e-mail from a ham, asking if he was aware of the research Kanzius was attempting: "I looked at the attached video clip and I was skeptical. But I became more curious about this kitchen table tinkerer-ham and investigated the claims. I learned two major things: First, this was not a harebrained scheme -- it really worked (!), and -- even more important for me -- John Kanzius was a true gentleman. Bright, polite and enthusiastic without being overbearing, I liked him. Over the next months as I wrote the QST article about his work, I came to know him and his true desire to help other cancer victims. Since then, we stayed in touch by phone and e-mail. I enjoyed his delight as each step in the process of bringing his machine and concept to human use was proven by M. D. Anderson and other cancer
research facilities. Some people just make your world better by being there. John was one of those people. Though I never met him in person, it was always good to hear from him and I enjoyed the friendship. Losing him makes the world a little colder. I will miss him."

Kanzius is survived by his wife Marianne, two daughters -- Sherry Kanzius and Toni Palmer -- and two grandchildren. Calling hours are Sunday, February 22 from 2-5 PM and 7-9 PM at the Duskas-Martin Funeral Home , 4216 Sterrettania Rd, Erie, Pennsylvania. A funeral service is planned for 10:30 AM on Monday, February 23 at the Episcopal Cathedral of St Paul , also in Erie. Memorial contributions may be made to the John Kaznius Research Fund, Palace Business Center, 915 State St, Erie, PA 16501.

END

Rest in Peace, John.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Oh My!

I must profess a certain amount of naivete' when it comes to DX pileups. I am certainly not a big gun DXer although I am not afraid to jump into the fray.

Today while testing the futile K5D waters, I heard behavior that I had never witnessed before in a CW pileup. It was behavior that I've witnessed in SSB pileups in years past; but never in a CW pileup before.

One Ham was calling on K5D's transmit frequency, so inevitably the "pileup managers" all started sending "UP" "UP". This must have frustrated the guy or gotten him angry for some reason, so he replied by sending, slowly and deliberately, "FU" "FU".

Has it come to this?

73 de Larry W2LJ

Struck me as odd.

Last night, as I recounted earlier, I had a QSO with K3OXG. Tonight I got on the air and the first station I worked tonight was K5OGX.

Back to back QSOs (almost 24 hours apart however) where the suffixes have O, X and G in them.

I guess I get amazed by minor things.

By the way, the pileup for K5D on 40 Meters tonight is horrendous, with lots of horrendous behavior. I salute the K5D ops for putting up with the nonsense. I'm sure glad that I didn't have anyone in the shack that I was trying to demonstrate the finer points of Ham Radio to.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Bedlam!

I turned on the rig this afternoon, to see if I could hear the Desecheo Island DXpedition.

I heard it, all right!

The bad news is that it was a mass of bedlam on both 20 and 30 Meters. The good news is that the signal to NJ was strong. I should be able to bag this one during the second half of the DXpedition, after all the Big Guns have gotten their QSOs on all bands from DC to Daylight.

If you're new to QRP - that's a sanity saving hint. Don't spend a lot of effort bagging the rare DXpedition during the opening phase. Save your effort towards the end when things are winding down. You're less likely to want to pull your hair out of your head.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Oh Lord, that felt good!

As a Ham who did the "QSO a Day" thing successfully for an entire year, a few years ago; it's frustrating when I'm not able to get on the air for extended periods of time.

That's why last night was such a treat. My wife came home early from work; and after a nice dinner that I prepared for both of us, I was able to get down to the shack to operate for a while. While she was relaxing, going over her e-mail and surfing the Web, I was able to pound some brass on 80 Meters. And boy, did that feel great!

My first CQ resulted in a call from an old friend, Dave W1DV. Dave lives in Upstate New York and had a solid 599 signal into New Jersey. Dave is a fellow SKCC member and we chewed the rag for a bit. I found out that he's out of retirement and back to teaching high school. It's nice when you can go into the logbook and read notes from past QSOs and carry on a nice conversation, rather than just exchange tidbits about rig, antenna, weather, etc.

After wrapping things up with Dave, I heard a loud CQ coming from a few KHz down the band. The caller was K3OXG, who turned out to be Lou from Waynesburg, PA. This was a fun QSO which I really enjoyed. Dave was using a K1 that he had bought used to a homebrew Inverted Vee. His really solid 599 signal was a joy to copy. What made it even better was finding out that he's just recently licensed (2007). He handled the key like a seasoned veteran! He was easy copy and it was heartwarming to see that a relative newcomer had really embraced CW; and was really enjoying it, too. Looking up Lou on QRZ, I see that he's active with the North American QRP CW Club, FISTS and the Straight Key Century Club - three organizations that I hold near and dear.

After the QSO with Lou, I turned the big switch and shut the station down, after being back on the air for about an hour. After all, it was St Valentine's Day and I didn't want to ignore my wife, the love of my life! A Ham is supposed to be balanced ...... right?

73 de Larry W2LJ

A new link

After a conversation with Bob W3BBO, I am proud to offer a link to a new blog in the bottom right hand corner.

It's called, "Trail-Friendly Radio Extra" by none other than Richard Fisher KI6SN, who also authors the blog, "The QRPer"; and who also writes for WorldRadio.

Even if your more of an outdoorsman "at heart" than than in action, like me; I think you'll enjoy glancing at this new blog from time to time. It offers to be entertaining and educational.

73 de Larry W2LJ

No Atlanticon this year

As seen on the NJQRP e-mail reflector today, this was George Heron's response when someone asked if whether or not Atlanticon would be held this year:

"Sadly, no Atlanticon this year (again). Economic troubles, attendance problems, coordination time problems.

Maybe next year."

Now that my kids are getting older, I was hoping to attend one of these, one of these years. Looks like my chances are dimming.

Could this be a sign that the "Golden Days" of QRP are waning? I certainly hope not!

73 de Larry W2LJ

QQ

Another surprise waiting in the mail for me when I got home from work! Today I received the Winter 2009 edition of "QRP Quarterly", the journal of the QRP-ARCI. QQ is a wonderful publication; and is well worth the subscription price. Even though by no means do I have the technical skill or knowledge to grasp all the contents, it's still a treasure trove!

This QQ features a good Ham Radio friend, Jim Cluett W1PID. It's always a pleasure to catch Jim on the air; and it's always fun to read his stories about QRP in the great outdoors. I haven't read the article yet; but am very much looking forward to it. I noticed that the editors of QQ did something different this issue with regards to Jim's article. In the main body of QQ, the photos that occur are published in black and white. Jim's article was accompanied by some many wonderful color photos that they took the extraordinary step of eliminating advertising from the back inside cover and published Jim's photos in color! That's a tribute!

BTW, if you want to visit W1PID's Website - click here.

Other articles that I want to spend some time reading are Roy Lewallen W7EL's article on QRP Field Day with Tips and Tales. And in the QRP World News department, there's a short bio of how Oleg Borodin RV3GM got into Ham Radio. For those of you who don't know, it was Oleg who coined the term "72" that we QRPers use in addition to or instead of "73". To us it means, "Wishing you good QRP".

Also, there's an article about working the Ham Satellites using QRP. Hmmmmm .... an article in QQ and QST about the same subject in the same month. Is someone trying to tell me something?

Finally, one of the most enjoyable part of QQ for me is the contest section. While I am no means a big hot shot contester, I do enjoy reading the Soapbox comments every issue. I have come to know and become friendly with a lot of the Hams that send in contest logs; so it's a treat for me to read their comments.

If you are a QRPer and you don't belong to QRP-ARCI, you really should consider it. You'll find that a lot of the "Cream of the Crop" of the QRP crowd belong. And it seems the best new ideas and technical articles make it into QQ sooner or later. Even if you're like me and don't pretend to understand half of it with any authority, you still have to shake your head in admiration of the guys who come up with this stuff.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QST

The February issue of QST came in today's mail; and from the looks of things, there seems to be a few articles there that have actually caught my eye this month!

When RS10 and RS12 were happily orbiting the earth, I was quite the fan of them. While I didn't achieve WAS on them, I did manage a QSO with a Ham from the UK, which was pretty rare, as the two LEO satellites didn't have huge footprints. Related to this, there's an article on working the LEO FM satellites which has piqued my interest. Yes, I know it's voice and not CW (still QRP however!); but "man was not meant to live on bread alone", eh?

There are also articles on logging, which is always a favorite subject of mine. Also, during a cursory glance of the issue, there appears to be an interesting Vibroplex related article. Love those bugs!

The last article that I want to investigate further, is entitled "Build a Battery in a Box" which is about a contained AC to DC power system. That might spawn some ideas for a better portable QRP power system.

Happy reading!

73 de Larry W2LJ

CQ and WorldRadio

I was very sad to see WorldRadio cease publishing a hard copy edition. I started getting the publication back in my Novice days and it has always been my favorite. In fact, it was so much my favorite that I became a lifetime subscriber way back when. I had my lifetime subscription to WorldRadio long before I decided to become an ARRL Lifetime member and that was back in the dinosaur days!

I loved the non-glossy newspaper feel of the magazine and I loved its content. It seemed to be the right mix of news, contest info, technical stuff with a healthy dose of Ham human interest stories blended in.

The new version will be just as good, I am sure; but I can't roll it up and carry it in my back pocket anymore! Certainly can't take it to the "Library" with me for some leisurely reading, either. Well yes, I suppose I still can - but I'm not about to print out a 40 page issue every month!

But I'll tell you one place they did make good on their word .... with this business of extending my subscription to CQ. I got my February issue of CQ the other day, and I see on the mailing label that my subscription has been extended to 2012.

Technically, CQ didn't have to do anything at all. I became a lifetime subscriber to WorldRadio back in 1979 or 1980, and I have gotten more than my money's worth of that initial payment years ago. To have my CQ subscription extended for a couple of years, gratis, is icing on the cake!

Thank you, CQ ! And I hope that WorldRadio continues to be a drawing card for you for many years to come.

73 de Larry W2LJ

'Tis gone

Not to belabor the personal health situation here; but ......

Mr. Kidney Stone left the building today - exactly four weeks to the day since that dreadful day of pain on New Year's Eve.

I was at work using the Port-O-John (the building that I work at is in the final stages of construction, so we still have to use these) when I felt it leave and I heard the stupid thing strike against the side of the plastic urinal. It sounded like a twig snapping!

This was much to my relief because I went for a follow up visit to the urologist yesterday; and he told me that if the pain came back like it did that first day, then the stone was probably trapped in the ureter and surgery would be required. I'm always glad when the only knives that come near my person are those used for cutting steak!

On a radio note, solder has begun melting on the 160 Meter board for the K2 ! So maybe things ARE starting to turn around from the dismal beginning to 2009 (knock wood).

73 de Larry W2LJ

Melting solder

I've been getting on the air lately, at nights after work, only to find that 40 Meters has gone super long; and that 80 Meters has very few signals on it. A few of the QRP e-mail reflectors have had guys raving about conditions on 160 Meters.

So I've buckled down and have begun sorting out the parts on my 160 Meter board for the K2. I hope to start melting solder this coming week. It's a small project and I'm sure I'll get the board done in no time flat.

The part that gives me the willies though, is opening my perfectly operational K2 to begin messing around with its innards. Logically, I know that I've done things like this in the past with no problems. And hey, I used to repair $12,000.00 professional studio strobes down to the component level for a living for 20 years. So why the unease? No idea - just foolishness on my part, I guess.

Hopefully, given enough spare time, I should be on 160 Meters real soon. I'll keep you posted.

73 de Larry W2LJ

No Luck

I went down the basement last night, to get on the air; only to find both 40 and 80 Meters totally dead. Well, I shouldn't say totally; but the signals were few, far between and definitely weak. I heard some Europeans coming through on 80 Meters, participating in some contest. I wasn't familiar with the exchange and was not much in the mood for non-substantial contest QSOs.

This afternoon, things haven't improved much. I'm hearing various nets; but not much in the realm of regular ol' ragchewin'. I called CQ and tuned around on both 20 and 40 for about 45 minutes and came away empty handed.

So, for the moment, I thought I'd share something else - not radio related. But it's definitely something you can do when the bands are pitifully dead. My dear wife gave me two books for Christmas and I finished the second last night after my lack of success on the air.

I love to read! My Mom instilled a love for reading in me and my sister early in our lives. A treat for us was to go to the library and check out a bunch of books. I don't read as much as I should; or would like. However, since last summer, I have read a series of books that I would highly recommend.

The author is James Rollins; and the books are thrillers, much in the tradition of Tom Clancy, Larry Bond and Dan Brown. The title of the books, which should be read in order are:

1) Map of Bones
2) The Black Order
3) The Judas Strain
3) The Last Oracle

The stories revolve around a central character, Grayson Pierce, who works for Sigma Command, which is part of DARPA. The Sigma Command is made up of professional scientist/soldiers and the stories involve their adventures, a la' "save the world from destruction" scenarios.

It's definitely fun, action paced reading and the books are very hard to put down. They're not involved with radio in any way; but the plots do involve science and scientific theory. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Re-joining the land of the living!

Thanks to all of you who sent private e-mails and comments with regards to my kidney stone(s). And, yes, I did go to a specialist and he told me that the CAT Scan revealed the 4mm stone in the right kidney and a 3mm stone in the left kidney. Double whammy!

I have now been pain free for the last four days. I am simultaneously drinking a ton of fluids and knocking on wood and praying to God for no recurrences of that pain attack I had New Year's Eve. For those of you who have never had to deal with these little devils, the only way I can describe the pain is as follows:

Imagine someone taking a wooden spoon and putting the business end in their hand. Then they take the handle end and press it into your side and hold it there, applying as much pressure as they possibly can. And they follow you EVERYWHERE that way. You can't get comfortable, you can't think; and all you want is something, ANYTHING to take the pain away.

The urologist and I both think I have passed the stones; and that the remaining discomfort that I was experiencing was just that my kidney was swollen from the ordeal. I have to go for a kidney-ureter-bladder X-ray on Monday just to be sure there are no blockages.

Sorry to get so personal and graphic; but remember when you were a kid; and you JUST COULDN'T WAIT to grow up? Adulthood DOES have its disadvantages.

Anyway, enough of the icky stuff. I worked through it; and am feeling about 95%. I issued some SKCC Centurion awards today and got back on the computer for the first time in about a week. I even went down to the shack and did some listening tests on the K2 with the new DSL modem.

I have heard that these little guys can be RFI generators for some people. So I turned on the K2 and listened for noise. Every time I found some, I came up here and turned off the DSL modem. Gladly, I did not find any noise that I can attribute to the DSL line or modem.

I haven't worked anyone today, so far; but hope to get on tonight and get on 40 or 80 Meters for a bit. The basement shack is especially cold with this Arctic blast that we have been experiencing. It was 0 degrees when I woke up this morning and Zero or below temps are extremely rare in NJ! However, I'll put on an extra sweater and will head down and see if I can hear any of the K3Y SKCC Special Event stations on the air.

By the way, I found a Morse Express 2004 Christmas Key waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning! It is one of the "camel back" type and it's one that I don't have. I'm hoping to wire it up tonight and have some fun!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Happy New Year !!!

Geez, I hope your 2009 started off better than mine!

I spent New Year's Eve in bed, fighting off what I though was a stomach virus. The discomfort in my stomach area was considerable. However, at 4:00 PM, I was feeling much better and thought the thing had run its course. I was soon to be disappointed at 7:00 PM, when the discomfort came back worse - this time bordering on true pain.

It was localized on my right side this time; and I got to begin worrying about appendicitis. I couldn't do anything about this until my wife got home from work. And being the idiot that I am, I thought that I could tough it out until the morning.

About 12:30 AM, 30 minutes into 2009, I decided that enough was enough. I headed out to the local hospital emergency room in 15 degree weather. Fortunately, even though it was New Year's Eve, the staff wasn't too busy.

They started an IV and gave me three different kind of pain meds, which was a welcome relief. I even nodded off for a bit when the nurse brought me about a quart of this stuff that I had to drink in preparation for a CAT Scan. Contrast dye is what he called it. He mixed it in with some apple juice and it actually wasn't terrible.

5:00 AM came and I went for the CAT Scan. The doctor told me he was trying to confirm that it was appendicitis, as he was beginning to have doubts. When he placed his palm in certain areas, he thought that I'd be howling in pain; and I wasn't.

I came back from the CAT Scan and fell asleep again, on the gurney in a hallway. The next thing I new, the nurse had handed over to me about 5 of these paper cone things that have mesh at the bottom of them.

The official diagnosis? I'm in the process of passing a kidney stone. Hopefully, it will pass over the next 2 to 3 days. It's small enough where it is passable. I was sent home with some Cipro and some pain meds; and the admonition to drink plenty of water.

So starts 2009 - I sincerely hope your New Year celebration was better than mine!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Merry Christmas !!!

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

May you and your family enjoy a
Holy and Happy Christmas.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Some things get better with time

When I was a kid, it was a big deal on Christmas Eve, to turn on the local AM news station out of New York in order to keep tabs on the whereabouts of Santa Claus.

I remember how they'd have a reporter based out at NORAD to relay Santa's position back to the whichever kids or their parents were listening.

Today, it's a whole lot better! There a website that you can go to: NORAD Tracks Santa 2008.

Due to the marvel (and I mean marvel - personal computers are something we take way too much for granted) of the Internet and home computers you can now get accurate, minute by minute position reports for Mr. C.

You can watch him as he flies about the globe and if you download Google Earth, you can even watch it in 3D! If we had this kind of thing when I was a kid, we would have been besides ourselves.

It's so cool to watch as Santa is escorted by F-15s and F-16s as he flies through USA airspace; with our brave military watching over him with care. This is the thing that memories are made of.

Treat your kids and yourself to something you won't soon forget.

Merry Christmas from the W2LJ household. May your day be merry and bright.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP-ARCI Sprint tomorrow night!

From QRP-L :

Hello All.

It is a busy time of year for many of us, but tomorrow gives us a good reason to step aside and make a few contacts with friends old and new during the Holiday Season.

DATE/TIME:

2000Z to 2359Z on 21 December 2008.

MODE:

HF CW Only.

EXCHANGE:

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

QSO POINTS:

Member = 5 points
Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points
Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

MULTIPLIER:

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

POWER MULTIPLIER:
5 Watts = x1
1 - 5 Watts = x7
250 mW - 1 Watt = x10
55 mW - 250 mW = x15
55 mW or less = x20

SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES:

160m 1810 kHz
80m 3560 kHz
40m 7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)
20m 14060 kHz
15m 21060 kHz
10m 28060 kHz

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

BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points per band
If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points per band
If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points per band
(Homebrew is defined as: if you built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

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

CATEGORIES:

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

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

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

LOG SUBMISSION:

Email Submission: Submit Logs in plain text format along with a summary stating your Callsign, Entry Category, Actual Power and Station Description along with score calculation to contest@qrparci.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Snail mail Submission: Submit Logs along with a summary stating your Callsign, Entry Category, Actual Power and Station Description along with score calculation to:

ARCI Holiday Spirits
c/o Jeff Hetherington, VA3JFF
139 Elizabeth St. W.
Welland, Ontario
Canada L3C 4M3

Deadline:

Entries must be postmarked on or before 21 January 2009.


RESULTS:

Will be published in QRP Quarterly and shown on the QRP-ARCI website.

CERTIFICATES:

Will be awarded to the top scoring entrant in each category, as well as the top scoring entrants from each State, Province and Country. Certificates may be awarded for 2nd and 3rd place if entries are sufficient in a category.

==========================================
L. Jeffrey Hetherington - VA3JFF / VE3CW
QRP-ARCI(sm) Contest Manager
QRP-ARCI(sm) #9223 / K2 #3375 / KX1 #631

Thanks for the announcement, Jeff!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Got it figured out!

OK - I seem to have gotten it figured out. I was able to get on the "Echotest" server successfully and listen to some test transmissions.

These are the steps I followed - they may or may not work for you. I am using Verizon DSL.

1) Start up Echolink and go to the "Help" menu.
2) Type in "DSL" and hit search topics - this is the part you will be most interested in:

Firewall Issues

EchoLink uses UDP ports 5198 and 5199. To use EchoLink, you must configure your router to direct all incoming data on these two ports to the PC on which EchoLink is installed. Typically, there are two ways to configure this:

• Forwarding. Most routers allow data on specific ports to be "forwarded" to specific computers. If you expect to use EchoLink on only one PC, configure your router to forward UDP ports 5198 and 5199 to that computer.
• Port triggering. Some routers implement a "smart" forwarding scheme which tries to direct data to the computer which is most likely to use it, based on requests each computer has recently made. If you expect to use EchoLink any of several different computers at different times, you may wish to try this option. Configure the router to direct ports 5198 and 5199 to any computer which makes outbound requests over UDP ports 5198 or 5199, or TCP port 5200.

EchoLink also uses TCP port 5200. Most routers will handle these requests correctly, since EchoLink always initiates them from the local computer. If you are using firewall software, however, you may need to "open up" outbound connections to this port. (EchoLink does not use TCP for incoming connections.)

Go to http://www.portforward.com and look for the make and model of your DSL modem. Type the IP Address in as a URL. In my case it was http://192.168.1.1 (yours will probably be different) in a blank browser window. BIG TIP: Use "admin" as the user name and use "password" as the password to log into your DSL modem. Using "admin" as both the user name and password will not allow you "in" to your modem! At this point, do not try to customize the firewall setting of your modem! Instead, I was able to go to a tab that said "Enable Applications". I opened this and added Echolink as a new application. I entered the Echolink recommended values for Port Triggering and Port Forwarding, saved this as a new application and Viola!, I can now use Echolink for my weekly chats with W3BBO.

Truth be told, I only have a vague idea of what I actually did! All I know is that Echolink now works; and I didn't seem to do any damage to anything else.

Maybe ignorance is bliss!

73 es Good Luck if you're as new to this as I am,

Larry W2LJ

I am back!

Boy, this DSL changeover thing has not been the easiest!

First off, my new ISP service was supposed to start on December 10th. It was just turned on yesterday, December 18th. Somehow, and I don't think that it's a coincidence, I no longer get a dial tone on my phone line! I think Verizon screwed something up when they turned on the DSL. Thank God for cell phones; as the earliest that I can get a technician to come out to the house won't be for another 4 days or so.

Now I have to figure out how to get Echolink to work again. Going through the DSL modem, I can't connect even to the EchoTest server. Something is wrong and I think it's going to take a while to figure it out.

You gotta love technology!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Coming of Age

First ..... don't forget that this weekend is the CQ WWDX Contest! If you're a new (or not so new) QRP DX'er this is one of the prime weekends for you! If you've never QRP DX'ed before, than you should be able to tally up 20 or more countries worked with ease this weekend (conditions halfway co-operating). If you're a not-so-new QRP DX'er you can still try for some countries you've never worked before. A small bit of advice ..... don't get discouraged if you don't make many contacts the first half of the contest. This is when all the big guns take care of their business. Second half, though? Some of these foreign contest stations will be begging for points and will go out of their way to listen to even less than 599 signals. This is where you can shine!

Secondly ..... believe it or not, since I have been on the Internet, I have always had a dial-up account. Hard to believe, eh? I'm one of the few people I know who is still on dial-up. However, that is soon to come to pass, as I'm in the process of changing Internet providers.

The bad news is that my current ISP account ends this month; and my DSL service won't be ready until around December 12th. So, for the next two weeks (approximately), I will be without any Internet service. Which means no more posts for a bit. I know I haven't been posting with great frequency, lately; but I don't want any of you thinking I have disappeared altogether, either.

See you in a few weeks!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

The times they are a troublin' ! The economy seems to be in the dumper, half the country is elated by the recent election results, while the other half is distressed. People are losing jobs and so far in the NorthEast, it's been a cold Winter (which officially doesn't even arrive for another month!).

But this Thursday, there will still be a lot to be thankful for. God Almighty has still blessed this country with innumerable gifts, for which we should all be thankful.

Maybe it's time to look past the material world and take stock of the spiritual. Our riches lay not so much in how many cars we have; or how big our houses are; or even how many "toys" we have; or even how many radios, antennas and other Ham goodies we own.

Our riches lay in the love of family and friends. Our riches lay in our ability to spend TIME with each other - not money on each other. Our riches lay in our ability and willingness to give our time and talents to those less fortunate than we.

These are the things that last, this is the treasure that will not rot or tarnish. So when you gather around the table this week for your big turkey dinner, BE thankful for the material things you have; because after all, all of that really belongs to God - He just lends them to you. But more imprtantly, be grateful for the family and friends that make "you" what you are - because God has given those to you also. It is a good thing to humble ourselves every now and then and bow our heads and give thanks to Him who gives us everything we have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Could not allow the day to pass

without offering all military veterans a big and heart felt "Thank You!" Thank you for your service; and thank you for your sacrifice. America is what she is; and owes her greatness to all of you.

To the families of those who made the Ultimate Sacrifice - I can offer no words that express the deep gratitude for your loved one's actions. Please know that we care and that we remember and that we pray.

Today, I found something on the Internet that I want to share in honor of Veteran's Day. This article was written by Tom Purcell and appeared on The Catholic Exchange Website. This article is titled quite simply:

The Tomb of the Unknowns

Hurricane Isabel struck Washington, D.C., hard that night.

It was Sept. 18, 2003. I lived in Alexandria, Va., at the time. I rode out the storm reading a book and enjoying a glass of wine.

At the Arlington National Cemetery, just a few miles from where I sat, the sentinels who stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns were having an entirely different experience.

The Tomb of the Unknowns was established in 1921. Three of its chambers contain the remains of unknown soldiers from World War I, World War II and Korea (a fourth chamber had contained the remains of an unknown soldier from the Vietnam war until DNA technology determined his identity).

Only the finest soldiers are selected to guard the Tomb. The sentinels are specially trained soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). They watch over the Tomb 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As each solitary guard paces before the Tomb, his movements are precise, his dress impeccable.

Each guard’s dedication is made clear by the Sentinel’s Creed:

My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted.

In the responsibility bestowed on me never will I falter.

And with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection.

Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements,

I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability.

It is he who commands the respect I protect.

His bravery that made us so proud.

Surrounded by well meaning crowds by day alone in the thoughtful peace of night,

this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance.

Which brings us back to Hurricane Isabel.

For the first time in the Tomb’s history, in preparation of a potentially dangerous storm, the commanding officers established a contingency plan.

The sentinels were free to withdraw to safer positions under the Memorial Amphitheater arches or inside the trophy room should conditions become life-threatening — positions from which they could still maintain their mission watching over the Tomb.

But none would leave.

It is a solemn duty to march before the Tomb, after all. The sentinel’s meticulous ritual is an outward display of gratitude and remembrance for the sacrifices so many have made for their country — particularly the unknown soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

By guarding the Tomb with eternal vigilance, the sentinel validates the words of the soldier’s prayer:

“It is the soldier who has given us our freedoms. It’s the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It’s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to object. It’s the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial….”

And so, as Hurricane Isabel struck — 24 trees would be uprooted across the cemetery and three headstones would be crushed — each sentinel took turns standing his ground.

There really was no other option. How could a sentinel retreat to safer ground in the midst of a dinky hurricane when so many others have given so much more?

It’s true the hurricane could have been plenty worse than it turned out to be. It’s possible that life-threatening severity might have caused the sentinels to, for the first time since they began guarding the Tomb in 1948, maintain their mission from safer ground.

Though I doubt it.

We’ve just come through a wrenching political season — some folks are jubilant at the results, whereas others are deflated and even worried — but despite the disagreement over policies and politics, I’m confident America will do the right thing over the long haul.

I’m confident America’s best is yet ahead.

I believe this because virtue still lives in America. Honor, sacrifice and duty are still alive and well.

If you don’t believe me, pay a visit to the Arlington National Cemetery and stop by the Tomb of the Unknowns.

It is one place where American sacrifice, duty and honor are on full display 24 hours a day every day of the week.

The End

Rest in Peace, brave soldiers - may God's Holy Light shine upon you.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Get on the air this weekend!

This weekend presents the perfect opportunity for the hard core CW op. This weekend is the CQ WW DX Contest - SSB portion. And to boot, there doesn't appear to be any major RTTY contest scheduled for this weekend either!

So the CW bands should be relatively QRM free, hopefully. Please keep in mind that not EVERY DX station is a contest hound; so there should be some pretty good stuff to grab if you listen hard enough.

I intend to get on the air this weekend for the first time in a bit to see what I can hear. Maybe I'll be able to grab a new country or two if I'm lucky. A lil' less competition never hurt!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Winter Foxhunt Season

for 2008-2009is fast approaching! We will be doing 20 and 40 Meter hunts again this year beginning the week AFTER Election Day.

Normally, as part of the Fox Hunt Committee, I schedule the Summer season. Jerry N9AW is indisposed and is not able to handle the Winter season this year; so yours truly is looking for volunteers to be the QRP Fox.

If you're interested please go to http://www.qrpfoxhunt.org/ for a schedule and applications, as well as all the information you need about QRP Foxhunting if the concept it new to you.

It's a ton of fun ....... join us!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Busy weekend!

Tonight is the Run For the Bacon, which is the monthly QRP Sprint sponsored by the Flying Pigs. It will run for two hours from 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern time. If you're so inclined to enjoy a little friendly competition, you need not be a member of the Flying Pigs to participate. C'mon and join us!

I got new tires for the Explorer today. Sears was running a "Buy three get one free" sale on selected brands. I had a slow leak on the rear passenger tire and this was long overdue. I'm glad I can face the coming winter season with one less worry (unless you count paying these babies off!).

I went up to Long Valley, NJ yesterday afternoon to pick up an elliptical trainer that I had won on eBay. It was a great deal; one of those rare ones. I got a Gold's Gym elliptical, which sells at Wal-Mart for $389.00 for only $32.00 !!!! The seller put no reserve on it; and I guess he only had a few sparse bids as it was a "pick up only" kind of deal. So I lucked out.

The reason for this? A couple of months ago I went to donate blood; and was turned away because my blood pressure was too high. Talk about getting a scare! Subsequently, I went to a doctor and have had a physical and have found out that I'm in pretty good shape except for my blood pressure and the fact that I can stand to lose a few pounds.

Micardis is keeping my blood pressure under control; but I have to do something in order to drop about 20 or so pounds. Hence, the elliptical trainer. I'm finding out that it's nowhere as easy to maintain an even weight as it was when I was in my 20s and 30s. Getting old sucks, pardon my language!

Moral of the story? Get active if you can. Walk, run or do whatever you have to do, to keep the "silent killer" from affecting you. There's more to life than just radio.

73 de Larry W2LJ

I just "re-upped"

I just received my latest issue of "The Keynote", the journal of the FISTS organization and saw that my current subscription expires on 11/11/08. So I hopped onto PayPal and ' re-upped" for two more years.

When you join FISTS, you receive a membership number and it's your for life. Mine is #1469 which I got when I joined back in the early/mid 90s. If you want to receive the magazine though, you have to subscribe to it, just like anywhere else.

Is it worth it? I think it is! I like the articles and the way they are written. And of course, it doesn't hurt that I agree with the entire mission of FISTS, which is the preservation and furthering the widespread use of Morse Code.

I like the fact that "The Keynote" publishes a lot of "volunteer" written articles. I'll have to think about something to write about and submit it and see if it gets published.

73 de Larry W2LJ

W2FNT SK

I would be somewhat remiss, if I did not mention the passing of a well known Central New Jersey Ham. I was paging through a recent copy of QST recently; and happened to peruse the Silent Key page. Much to my surprise, I saw the call W2FNT, which belonged to John Kakstys.

I knew John; but not personally. I guess a lot of Hams here in New Jersey and the greater metropolitan area could make the same claim. John ran a used Ham radio shop out of the basement of his house in Linden, NJ.

I don't quite remember how I first heard about him; but I have been to his house a few times throughout my Ham career. The first time was in 1979 when I was desperate to become "un-rockbound" during my Novice days. Somehow or other, it was brought to my attention that John had a Globe VFO that would work with my Drake 2-NT. A trip to his house one night after work was quite an experience. Walking into his basement was like walking into "Ham Toys R Us". It was great! He had all manner of boat anchors and varied Amateur Radio gear. You could spend hours talking with him and other Hams, and listening to different radios.

Over the years, I bought a couple of used pieces from John. He was always a good sport about returns and refunds if you discovered that what you bought wasn't quite what you had expected.
Back in the 70s and 80s, after the "Golden Age" of radio stores; but before eBay and the Internet, guys like John were invaluable if you needed something in between Hamfests; or if you didn't feel like doing the mail order thing.

As the Internet came into its own, I saw John at all the local Hamfests, trying to reduce his inventory. He was getting older (as we all were) and the basement "store" had become too much of a burden; and I guess he was forced to abandon it. But I'll always remember John's basement as the place "where real radios glowed, and you could smell the dust burning off the warm vacuum tubes".

73 de Larry W2LJ

On the radio this weekend

Sorry that I haven't been postng much, lately. Work has been a bear and I have been way too exhausted in the evenings to play much radio. But I sure hope all you guys are still having fun out there!

This is what's doing this weekend:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Worked All Britain HF Contest (Phone) ...QRP Category
Oct 11, 1200z to Oct 12, 1200z
Rules: http://wab.intermip.net/Contest%20Rules.php
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pennsylvania QSO Party (CW/SSB/Digital) ... QRP Category
Oct 11, 1600z to Oct 12, 0500z
Oct 12, 1300z to Oct 12, 2200z
Rules: http://www.nittany-arc.net/paqso.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EU SPRINT CONTEST (CW) ... 100W category
Oct 11, 1600z to 1959z
Rules: http://www.eusprint.com/index.php?page=140&lang=g
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FISTS Fall Sprint (CW) ... QRP Category
Oct 11, 1700z to 2100z
Rules: http://www.fists.org/sprints.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
North American Sprint (RTTY) ... QRP Category
Oct 12, 0000Z to 0400Z
Rules: http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintrules.php
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SKCC Weekend Sprintathon (Straight Key CW) ... QRP Category
Oct 12, 0000z to 2359z
Rules: http://www.skccgroup.com/sprint/wes/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Courtesy of N2CQ

73 de Larry W2LJ

This weekend on the radio .....

For those QRP contesters out there, these events may interest you:

German Telegraphy Contest (CW) ... QRP Category
Oct 3, 0700z to 0959z
Rules: http://kontest.de/dtc/DTC-Rules_e.pdf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TARA PSK31 Rumble (PSK31 only) ... QRP Category
Oct 4, 0000z to 2400z
Rules: http://www.n2ty.org/seasons/tara_rumble_rules.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EU SPRINT CONTEST (SSB) ... 100W category
Oct 4, 1600z to 1959z
Rules: http://www.eusprint.com/index.php?page=140&lang=g
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
California QSO Party (CW/SSB) ... QRP Category
Oct 4, 1600z to Oct 5, 2159z
Rules: http://www.cqp.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest (CW/SSB) ... QRP Category
Oct 5, 0700z to 1900z
Rules: http://www.vhfcc.org/hfcc/rules/2008/r2128.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to SM3CER, WA7BNM, N0AX(ARRL), VA3JFF & G4GXL (QRPARCI)
N2APB (AmQRP), WB3AAL (EPAQRP) and others
for assistance in compiling this calendar.

This was made possible through the courtesy of Ken Newman, N2CQ.

73 de Larry W2LJ

NAQCC turns 4 !

We invite all ops to come help the North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC) celebrate its Fourth Anniversary.

How?

By working our special event station N3A which will be active during the whole month of October.

A handsome certificate and/or QSL card is available to everyone who works N3A and requests one or both.

We also have 3 special certificates for the FISTS members who make the most different band QSO's with our N3A stations during the month and in the FISTS and NAQCC sprints.

N3A will be operated from all 10 US call areas with the appropriate portable designator - N3A/1, N3A/2....N3A/0.

All 10 calls will be active in the FISTS sprint on the 11th and our NAQCC sprint on the 14th (15th UTC).

Full details including an operating schedule and how to request the certificate and QSL are on the "N3A Operation" page on the club web site - search "NAQCC" in your favorite search engine, or follow this link to our website (www.arm-tek.net/~yoel/main_n3a.html).

Join us in celebrating our Fourth Anniversary, share the fun and earn a few certificates and special QSLs!

This is also a good opportunity to join NAQCC. Lifetime membership is free and you will receive your membership number, membership certificate and starter kit FREE! No cost or obligation on your part.

73,
Tom, WY3H (NAQCC President)
John, K3WWP (NAQCC VP)

This is way cool!

I was born in 1957, the year of Sputink. Throughout my kidhood and right through adulthood, I have been and remain fascinated with anything having to do with space travel and exploration. I have the editions of NY Times, NY Daily News and Newark Star Ledger describing the Apollo 11 moonwalks safely tucked away in plastic bags.

As a kid, I had every Revell model made that had anything to do with Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. I even have cassette audio tapes (somewhere) of the WCBS TV coverage of the Apollo missions - can you say Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra ?

So when I saw the following on QRP-L, I just had to re-post this here.

Dear QRPers!

Devoted to 51'st anniversary of the 1'st Sputnik launch. October 4-5 special event RU-QRP Club station UE3QRP/3 will active on International QRP freq's. QTH: Zvyozdny Gorodok (as Star City in Russian, nr Moscow), Cosmonauts Training Center. QSL via UA3LMR.

The same dates, from Baykonur Space Port (Kazakh Rep.) will QRP active UA9LAK/UN7 (op. Alexander, ex Space Radio Communications Engineer).

BCNU!

72 from Oleg V. Borodin RV3GM (RU-QRP Club Hon.Sec.)
=== In QRP We Trust! ===

I hope conditions are good enough to hear and work them this coming weekend!

73 de Larry W2LJ