Field Day 2015 - Comprehensive Report

Most of the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club showed up at Spring Lake Park at 10:00 AM or a little beforehand. There was enough pre-Field Day organization that we all pretty much knew what had to be done and what our roles were. Set up went well:

First - set up the antennas, and organize the tent - our "home" for the next 24+ hours.

South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club - NJ2SP - 3A - NNJ

Battery - all power provided was from solar charged batteries. No generators were used or fossil fuels burned to generate RF for the weekend.

Ron N2LCZ helping with the "tower" guys.

In addition to helping up with setting up antennas, Ron devised and built a network so that we could link the logging computers together. No small feat under the conditions we were operating under. N2LCZ is truly SPARC's resident Computer Expert (in addition to his yeoman's work as Club Secretary).

Notice the ominous looking sky - it was a harbinger of what was to come.

Dave KD2SFI (black t-shirt) putting together antennas for GOTA and VHF/UHF.

Dave Hackett KD2FSI, was our Field Day Committee Chairman this year. Dave was the "gasoline" in our Field Day "engine". Dave may be recently licensed, but he's already built up a good knowledge of what will work and what won't. He's got an enthusiasm for Amateur Radio and Field Day that is positively infectious. Dave is the kind of guy that makes you can't wait for the next operating event. If I was putting together a DXpedition to a very rare and exotic locale, Dave would be #1 on my short list of Hams who absolutely had to be part of the crew.

We had the tri-band beam set up on an extension ladder tower affair designed and constructed by our own Philip DeFort, KD2HPG.  Phil is a graduate of our Technician class from last Autumn. In addition to his mechanical contributions, he also added to our score by making some of his first on-the-air contacts as a Ham. He brought along his teen-aged son (also named Philip) who is now serious about getting his own ticket.

Here's a photo of Phil making some of his first contacts.

In addition to the tri-band beam, we brought back the EARCHI for another year. We had a ten meter dipole for GOTA and some VHF/UHF antennas built by Dave KD2DSI. We also had a W3EDP antenna up, which was built for the SSB station in anticipation that 20 Meters would probably close for the evening at some point.

We got through set up high and dry and were on the air promptly for the 2:00 PM EDT Field Day start. And that's when things started to go wrong. First, the winds kicked in and then it started raining buckets. It ended up being the soggiest Field Day that I can remember. In addition, it was pretty chilly all day. I was wearing a t-shirt with a sweat shirt on top, and resorted to adding a jacket as temperatures fell and humidity increased to 100%.  There were several times during the night when some of us went to our cars and just sat for about a half hour or so with the heaters on in order to get warm and dry out for a little bit.

Soon after the start, it became apparent that something was drastically wrong with the beam. The KX3 took a long time to find a match and even when it did, the antenna was not performing as expected. My Autek antenna analyzer showed the driven element was somehow resonant way out of band, so we switched the SSB transceiver over to the W3EDP and limped along for the weekend with that. Unfortunately, the W3EDP didn't perform much better, as I think there may have been a balun problem there. We would have been better off using Marv K2VHW's G5RV as we did last year, but it was already raining buckets and I wasn't about to risk pneumonia just to get another antenna up into the trees.

But even with the antenna mishaps, there were bright spots. Marc Sullivan W4MPS, who is a good QRP friend from North Carolina was in town to visit his daughter. He came by the Field Day site with his wife for a quick visit to say "Hello" before heading to his daughter's house. He came back by himself shortly after the starting gun sounded for a longer visit. And Marc's presence was truly a God-send because right around that time, the digital station was having some RFI problems which was causing their laptop to freeze. They needed some clamp on ferrites, which I had at home. Marc volunteered to keep our CW station busy while I was off fetching the ferrites and doing some other things.

Thank you,  Marc W4MPS for helping out!

 

In the photo of Marc W4MPS, the guy in background in the rain poncho is SPARC's own Mario KD2HPF. Undoubtedly due to his experience in Scouting, Mario was about the only one with proper foresight to come properly attired for the weekend.  Mario was also a graduate of our last Technician class held in Autumn, along with Phil KD2HPG. Mario was active in the Rookie Roundup and he was active again for Field Day. In addition to being a valuable part of the set up and tear down teams, Mario put in a lot of chair time at the 6 Meter station. He was our mainstay in keeping an eye open for any openings that may have occurred on that band. Mario had a Go Pro with him, and I think there's a video of him calling CQ on 6 Meters kicking around somewhere on the Web.

It was a long chilly night, but it was made bearable by visits from friends from our two neighboring clubs, the Electronic Testing Society of NJ, and the Raritan Valley Radio Club. So many showed up, that it's hard to remember them all and I beg pardon if I forget to mention any - but special thanks to:

Pete KD2ARB for the pizzas, Dave W2OIL and Dan KC2YRC for the home made brownies, the hot coffee and the help with tear down at the end. Marty WB2BEW donated the use of his pop up canopy, kept us company when it got lonely, and was just an all around morale boost. Marty is good people and it was good to have him with us. Same goes for Craig AC2FE, who came in the evening to keep us company for a while.  And Hank N2MU who was not only a friendly visitor, but also a critical thinker who helped us iron out some technical glitches. Again, if I left out any K2ETS or W2QW members, or any other visitors who showed up, I apologize, but my brain is still a little addled from the weekend.

On Sunday, around Noon, Mayor Matt Anesh and councilman Rob Bengivenga showed up at the site. We gave them the nickel tour and explained the operation and its purpose to them. The mayor was by last year, so he was familiar with Field Day, but Councilman Bengivenga was not. 

Yours truly talking antennas with Councilman Bengivenga. 

Marv K2VHW, SPARC President, explaining Field Day and the equipment with the Mayor and Councilman.

And wouldn't you know it, when the dignitaries appeared, the skies brightened up and the sun came out! I was joking around with Mayor Anesh that had we known that he was bringing better weather with him, we would have invited him over on Saturday!

And once again, South Plainfield's Finest parked one of their cruisers by our tent to serve as a little bit of an extra added deterrent against any possible mischief during our overnight stay. Police Chief Parker has been very accommodating towards SPARC, and as the SPPD takes on the role of OEM, we look forward to working with him. I didn't notice it, but fellow SPARC member, Tim Halloran AB2ZK pointed out to me the cruiser's official designation number. 

Car 73 - how appropriate!

So even though it was cold, wet and miserable, and we had antenna problems, and band conditions for Field Day weren't as good as they were in 2014, I think it's safe to say we all had a blast, and that SPARC is eagerly looking forward to Field Day 2016. We're going to remedy our problems and we'll be back, ready to once again take on whatever Mother Nature and Old Man Murphy dish out to us.

Drew W2OU working the digital station.

Drew Moore W2OU is our AC Log expert, fellow CERT member from Piscataway and a very valued member of SPARC.  Drew is a "Ham's Ham" and is a fun guy to be around and to just sit around and shoot the breeze with. Drew is also an ARRL official, so it's nice to have a little bit of the League with us all the time.

Tim AB2ZK and John AB2VE sharing a laugh during a lighter moment.

Tim AB2ZK was our "food guy" this year. Tim ran out Saturday night at 10:30 PM in the chill and pouring rain to bring us some hot sandwiches. He's always got a joke or quip up his sleeve exactly when one is needed. He was in South Plainfield's first CERT class and was a graduate of our first Technician licensing class back in 1995.  John AB2VE helped me set up the W3EDP and the EARCHI antenna. When I was getting a bit frustrated with the way the wind was blowing around the antenna lines I was launching, John kept me focused and on target. John is a veteran member of the South Plainfield Rescue Squad and is a very good friend to have.

W2LJ explaining the KX3 and the CW station to some visitors.

 

Lastly, two more SPARC members that I want to mention. Wayne Grennier N2LRE is our Vice-President. He's also our publicity guru who gets and keeps SPARC in the town's local publications. There are so many times that friends come up and say, "Hey Lar, I saw your picture in the Observer about that Amateur Radio thing you're involved with." Word of SPARC gets out because of Wayne. I wanted to snap a Field Day photo of him, but he was too busy flitting around with his camera, getting photos of the rest of us!

 

And our President, Marv K2VHW. Marv saw the need for a new Amateur Radio club in South Plainfield and did something about it. He's our navigator as we sail through uncharted waters. He has a good sense for what's good for the club and he's not afraid to try new things or to listen to a new opinion. SPARC is what it is because of Marv's leadership. We will forever be indebted to him. He keeps us engaged and active - and if a club is going to succeed, that's exactly what you need.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day 2015 - Preliminary report

It was perhaps the soggiest Field Day I have ever endured. Full report will come tonight after I download the photos from the camera. For now, let's just say that Field Day 2015, while it was soggy, wet, damp, chilly and whatever, was still fun, had some great surprises, some valuable lessons learned and I am glad I didn't miss it!

72 de Larry W2LJ

Getting ready for Field Day

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the radio is so delightful .... And since we have nowhere to go .... let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!"

 

That may very well be the tune we'll be singing this Field Day 2015. And we're supposed to be luckier than a lot of our fellow Hams in NY, CT, MA and PA. Our little patch of Central New Jersey should see just under an inch of rain, while some of those other spots are supposed to see a lot more. And it will all be a matter of timing. Looking at WeatherUnderground, we just may luck out with the heaviest rain falling AFTER set up and ending BEFORE tear down. 

 

So the intrepid Hams from the South Plainfield Radio Club will do our best to stay high and dry as we put NJ2SP on the air for a second year.  This year, we will be 3A Battery with a GOTA station in the mix.  The Mayor and Town Council have already declared this week to be Amateur Radio Week in our town. The Proclamation was presented last Monday evening.

 

 

I wasn't there for the presentation - I was picking up Marianne from the hospital, but my buds were there!

 

In addition, the Office of Emergency Management procured a tent for us, so we should remain dry and comfortable despite whatever Mother Nature may dish out.

 

 

SPARC in the Park - Field Day 2015

 

Listen for us! We will have a KX3 for SSB, a KX3 for CW and FT-817 for Digital and I think a FT-897 for the GOTA station, which will use call sign KD2FSI. Our antennas will be the EARCHI EFHW for CW, a Tri-band Yagi (using a 20' extension ladder as a tower), and a W3EDP for the lower bands for SSB.  The GOTA station will have a 10 Meter beam for its use.

 

We will be operating totally from battery again this year. No generator, except for a short while that will power a TV monitor that we will be using for an "educational event". We have local Boy and Girl Scout troops heading over for a lesson on radio. We also have ARRL and Town dignitaries scheduled to visit, so it will be an eventful weekend.

 

I really should have taken Monday off from work - hindsight is 20/20.

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!



105 and counting

Currently, we're standing at 105 intrepid QRPers who have signed up for Skeeter duty this coming August 9th.  The record stands at 160.

I am hoping we can approach 200 and really buzz up the airwaves with QRP that Sunday.

If you've never tried QRP outdoors, you are missing a treat! Even if it's just from your backyard, playing radio in the sunshine is something that's hard to beat. At a local park, field, hill or mountaintop the experience is multiplied by a factor of FUN!

Solo or with a bunch of friends, what can be better?  Set up the BBQ, set up an antenna, have a blast! Any excuse for a party - right?

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

Last few days have been a blur

and here it is Tuesday, and I am getting my first chance to take a breath.

I awoke Sunday morning at 5:00 AM as is my usual time. My wife Marianne got up at the same time, which is unusual for a Sunday. She didn't look well and she admitted she didn't feel well.  About eight years ago, she first suffered an attack of cardiac arrhythmia.  It comes back from time to time, but generally goes away on its own after only a few minutes. Sunday morning, it came back with a vengeance. It was bad, and it wasn't going away. Adrenaline starts to kick in when you see that look of panic in your spouse's eyes.

Without objection, I whisked her off to the hospital, which probably wasn't the smartest idea. Calling 911 would have been the wiser course, but then you have to wait for the police and ambulance to arrive. It seemed quicker to just drive her there. At 5:00 AM, I was one of very few cars on the road, and we were at the hospital in less than 10 minutes. Once there, she was immediately taken care of by the Emergency Room doctors, nurses and technicians. They did an outstanding job! Her heart rate was brought down from 165 to around 110 within minutes, and a few hours later she was back in normal sinus rhythm and had a heart rate in the low 80s.

There was a little worrying going on, on my part, as a stress test was ordered for yesterday morning. Positive results of blockages would have resulted in a cardiac catheterization. Fortunately, by the grace of God, the results proved negative and I was able to bring my lovely wife home last night. She is feeling much better and is back where she belongs - with her family.

Marianne is on some new meds, in addition to what she had been taking. A blood thinner and an anti-arrhythmic are new. Hopefully, it will be a long time, or perhaps never before we have a return episode.  I guess it's human nature for very dark thoughts to enter your mind when stuff like this happens. That's when faith kicks in and you just have to put things in the Hands of the God when you feel like there's nothing else you can do.

So here it is, Tuesday, and while I have been off the air, I see that the ionosphere has gone kablooey. Severe geomagnetic disturbances have been rendering the HF bands nil, from reports that I have been reading. Supposedly, there will be a good chance to see aurora tonight, even this far south - but of course, we're looking at clouds, rain and thunderstorms tonight - so I guess not.

Hopefully, ol' Sol will get his act together for this coming weekend. It's Field Day and we need some good propagation. The terrestrial weather is not looking great either, with rain being forecasted for the entire weekend. But we'll have tents, so I would rather have good solar weather than terrestrial weather. I can deal with rain - geomagnetic storms or no propagation would be a disaster.

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

Band conditions were as lousy as expected. No signals heard on 6, 10, 12, 15, or 17 Meters. I did have a brief QSO with Rob, W8BUJ on 14.061 MHz. At the beginning, he was 599 and I received a 579 in return. The QSB monster put a quick end to our QSO. The bands are nothing or volatile.

T-minus 60 days and counting

Maybe only children of the 60s Space Race will understand that blog post title, but we're now less than 60 days from the 2015 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. So as promised, here's the link to the roster.

I know, I know, it's not June 21st like I had insisted it would be, but it's June 21st as by my UTC clock, so that's close enough for me.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v3Du5kAzBLlizSlVscMR448mRVxhO9K0Yz7ySOzV4TU/edit#gid=84389755

As of this moment, we have 83 Skeeters signed up and there's room for plenty more. In 2014 we were just shy of 160.  This is a really fun event and it's also a very friendly event. If your code speed is on the slow side, heck, jump in with both feet. Most QRPers if not all, will slow down for you. You say CW's not your cup of tea? The Skeeter Hunt is SSB friendly - so there's no excuse not to join in on the fun.

Really - can you imagine a better way to spend your day than by QRPing in the great outdoors?

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

Outstanding!

One of the knobs on one of my KX3s broke. Actually, it broke a while ago - it cracked, fell apart and disintegrated.

In the photograph, it would be the one on the left.  Personally, I have been just "dealing with it". I turn the encoder shaft when I need to - no big deal, really.

However, my KX3s will be pressed into service for SPARC's Field Day effort (don't want the guys thinking that I keep a shoddy shack!), so this morning, I thought I'd fire off an e-mail to Elecraft, inquiring about a part number and price. I figured I would order two, one for the radio and one as a spare.

Within an hour of sending off my inquiry, I get a reply back that four are being sent at no charge. Wow. At the risk of being labeled an "Elecraft Fanboy", I think that's pretty darn neat, and that's all I'm going to say. I think Elecraft's actions speak more loudly than anything I can add.

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

Every Ham's favorite? He is mine!

Gil Gildersleeve, W1CJD - the cartoonist whose work appeared for so many years in QST. When I was a young spud, it was Gil's cartoons that always caught my eye in the ARRL's license manuals and QST. They made me chuckle, they made me want to be a Ham. Gill Gildersleeve's cartoons were part and parcel of Amateur Radio to me!

 

 

So it was nice to see N2EST, Jim Massara post a new article about Gil on Facebook (for those Hams who avoid Facebook, calling it a waste ......... we'll go into THAT some other time!). You can read Jim's interesting article here.

 

 



While there will never be another Gil, it's comforting to know that we have excellent talent in our ranks, still today. Jim N2EST, and Jeff K1NSS are without a doubt, our generation's premier Amateur Radio illustrators. We're lucky to have them.

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

Are you ready?

Skeeter Hunt numbers will be issued starting this coming Sunday - which is not only Father's Day here in the US, but also the First Day of Summer for all of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

Have you sent in your e-mail?  I've gotten only a few, so far. You don't have to wait until Sunday to request a number - but that is the day when I will start posting them to the roster.

A word to all those who have already requested a Skeeter number - In addition to having your name and call posted on the Skeeter Hunt roster, you WILL receive a confirming e-mail from me with your number, some time on Sunday. If you have already applied and do not have your number by Monday morning, let me know! In fact, throughout this process, ALL applicants will receive a confirming e-mail which will include their Skeeter number.

Now.....here's my pledge to all of you who participate in the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.

You go out of your way to join in on the fun. Some of you travel some distance to find the right spot - some of you operate from home or your back yards. But no matter where you operate from, you are the ones on the air, making the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt a success.

I will always do my level best to get your scores (and soapbox comments) posted in a timely manner. I can tell you right off the bat, that since log summaries are due two weeks after the event, you won't see anything for at least those first two weeks. But after that, I will get all that good stuff posted as fast as I can without sacrificing accuracy and completeness.

You, the participants, deserve as much. And if for some reason, I can't make this self imposed deadline, I'll communicate that to you and will let you all know so that you're not left in the dark, scratching your heads, wondering what's going on. You make the effort, you want to see how you did and how you stacked up amongst your peers. You want to see how that new rig or new antenna performed for you - I get that, and will do my best to let you see how it all panned out.

Certificates and plaques take a bit longer. But again, I will do my best to get those out within a couple months following the event. Just so you all know, Skeeter Hunt swag is available through CafePress. All proceeds go to help pay for paper, envelopes, ink, and postage.

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

Strange day

To say it's been a strange day would be putting it mildly.

I was gently wakened by my wife Marianne this morning at 4:00 AM. She was getting ready for work and she came upstairs and was tapping me on the shoulder. Groggily, I heard words to the effect that, "There's something wrong with the refrigerator."

I went downstairs to the kitchen and there was indeed something wrong with the refrigerator. The compressor motor sounded quite labored and there was an awful smell in the kitchen.  It was my guess that the refrigerator leaked some refrigerant/lubricant and that it dripped onto to the warm motor, causing the smell. I unplugged the fridge, and emptied the freezer into our chest freezer in the basement, and the refrigerator contents into two coolers. I opened all the windows to rid the house of the odor, and then it was off to the A&P at 6:00 AM for ice. I shouldn't complain, I guess, as the unit is only a few months from 17 years old.

At lunchtime, I headed out to the Jeep for some QRP, even though the solar weather forecast thing looked pretty grim. Heck, it looked very grim. QSB was bad - very bad. Propagation was like this:

I either heard you, or I didn't. Didn't matter whether you were 559 or 599++++. Your signal was either there, or it was gone.

Even with that, I made three contacts while I was out. One with KT0A who was SOTAing on W0D/BB-049, according to SOTAwatch. Another with N7G on 18 Meters - Special Event Station from the US Open Golf Championship. It took me a bunch of repeats to get a 599 (go figure). And finally a brief QSO with KG9HV, John in Indiana who answered my CQ. I would have really enjoyed chewing the rag with John, but I'm not a big roller coaster fan.

Finally, Joe W2OZO (a local Ham Radio friend) posted this on Facebook yesterday. I spent about 10 minutes or so trying to decipher this. I'll admit it - I couldn't. Just goes to show you that sending Morse Code is an art that requires practice. I'll say it for the thousandth time - spacing matters .... it's the difference between having a conversation or just sending gibberish. Anyone of you out there able to copy this?  If you can, you're a much better CW op then I will ever claim to be.

 

So the question is ..... did they mean this to be copyable - or is it just a gimmick? If they meant it to be copyable, I'll offer Dodge a no charge piece of advice.  "Next time, get an experienced Ham Radio op to send your Morse Code for you."  Plenty of them out there.

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

WA6ITF - Bill Pasternak - SK

It was announced last night / early this morning on Facebook that Bill Pasternak WA6ITF has become a Silent Key, after a long illness.

Bill was the founder and producer of Amateur Radio Newsline and founder and administrator of the Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award (co-sponsored by CQ Magazine). Bill was the author of many columns for many Amateur Radio publications over the years.

Bill was an outspoken advocate for all thing Amateur Radio. His achievements in Amateur Radio and in the promotion of it are too numerous to mention. I met him a long time ago (on-line) back in the good ol' days of Prodigy. Bill was always friendly, outgoing and willing to help anyone in any way he could. He will be sorely missed, and he has left us with a very large pair of shoes to fill.

My condolences to his wife Sharon KD6EPW and the rest of his family.

73, OM.

Larry W2LJ

When all else fails

We bandy this about. When all else fails, Amateur Radio will still be a method of communication. A nice thought, and very true, but I sincerely hope to God we never get to that point - where we're needed to fill that void.

A case in point.  This morning, along with my coffee, I went to go check e-mail, as has become my routine.  No e-mail, no Internet, no nothing.  I went over to the modem/router and the indicator LED for the Internet was amber.  Tried cycling the router power on and off - no joy.  Hit the router "reset" button - still no joy.  Finally, I unhooked the cable and power from the router, waited 60 seconds, and then re-connected everything. Still no joy. That was when I noticed that my tablet, as well as Cara and Joey's wireless devices were connected to the router - just no Internet. 

When I got into work, I got online and had a "chat" with Verizon. Turns out that it's an area-wide outage and they expect service to be restored sometime this afternoon. Life without the Internet. How quickly we've become dependent on it! Imagine - if I was lucky enough to be home today, there'd be no checking that callsign on QRZ, not looking at RBN to see where my signal was going, no checking DX Summit to confirm the callsign of that LZ station who was sending at 60 WPM.

How quickly I forget!  Later this year, it will be three years since Hurricane Sandy came to call. We were lucky, as we were without power for only five days. That was tough enough - although I did have Amateur Radio, because I always keep my batteries ready to go. But no e-mail, no TV, no telephone, no anything else really - I wouldn't like to experience that again, if I didn't have to.

"When ALL else fails" ....... if Amateur Radio ever becomes THE method of communicating around the region, the country, the world - that means everything - EVERY single way of communicating that we're accustomed to, has gone the way of the Dodo. That's a scenario I hate to imagine, because at that point, there'd be no telephones, possibly no electricity, along with inevitable disruptions of the delivery of all kinds of goods and services that we've grown accustomed to. It's enough to make you shudder.

The chaos that would ensue would be mind boggling. Not a happy thought.

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

CRUD !!!!

I just realized that I missed the QRP-ARCI Hoot owl Sprint, which was LAST Sunday.

Nuts!

That is one of my favorite sprints. Usually it coincides with Memorial Day weekend here in the States. This year, it was the following weekend, and I missed it. Durn.

Did any of you see any reminder announcements on any of the QRP e-mail reflectors? Am I that blind?

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

Lest we forget

This past Memorial Day, we had a wreath laying ceremony at our local Parish cemetery. Two active duty Marines came is dress uniform to pay honor to those men and women who gave their lives in service to our country.

Walking through the cemetery afterwards, I noticed numerous grave markers for Veterans of WWII who have passed away. There were so many!  The "Greatest Generation" is disappearing before our eyes!

This coming Saturday is June 6th - the 71st Anniversary of D-Day and the beginning of the liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny. I found this video on YouTube and wanted to share it. The young man in this video was obviously brought up by two loving and caring parents who passed on some pretty good values.

May we never forget, because if we forget our history, we will be doomed into repeating it - and may we always value and defend our God given rights to freedom and liberty, everywhere.

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Breaking news - FOBB 2015 is on!

From QRP-L this morning:

Today at 9:38 AM

The Adventure Radio Society 2015 Flight of the Bumblebees is scheduled for July 26 - the last Sunday of July. Please save the date! For complete information, rules and information on how field stations apply for a 2015 FOBB number, visit the ARS website: http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/

 

Thanks and 73,Richard Fisher, KI6SN / NE6SW The Adventure Radio Society

 

Thank you so much, Rich, for keeping FOBB alive and well for another year! This is hands down, no dispute, without-a-doubt the most popular and anticipated Summer time outdoor QRP operating event.  Yay!

 

It's a lot of work (I know), so thanks so much for doing this!

 

72 de Larry W2LJ (Bee #13)

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Listening to code practice

I like to listen to W1AW code practice.  Not only because it helps me in my never ending battle to improve my code speed; but also it helps me with sending at the code speed I am at right now.

"Whoa! What's that now? How can listening to code practice help improve sending?" you might be asking yourself (and me).

By listening to the timing gents (and ladies) ...... it's all in the timing - and the spaces.

Too many times I get carried away and ignore my spacing. Spacing between individual characters and spacing between words and even spacing between sentences is critical.  Ignore spacing and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you leave others scratching their heads trying to figure out what you're sending. You probably run into a lot of "Gotta QRT now" scenarios, too.

By paying attention to your timing and spaces, and you'll be that guy that everyone wants to QSO with - you'll be that guy with the "good fist". Run on sentences and run on words are not only hard to read - they're also hard to hear.

So I listen to W1AW to remind myself from time to time what perfect code sounds like. The more often I hear perfect code, the better I am equipped to emulate it. Oh, and this doesn't apply only to the QRQ guys, although I suspects it's more important for them. Proper spacing applies to the QRS guys as well - no one is exempt.

Do yourself a favor and tune into W1AW every now and then - especially if you feel you don't need to.

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

New NJQRP Skeeter Hunt logo

The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt now has it's own custom designed logo!

Many thanks to designer and artist extraordinaire Jeff Murray K1NSS, owner of Dashtoons for yet another brilliant effort!  You'll see Skeeter on the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt Webpage, on my NJQRP Skeeter Hunt page here on the blog, in the Yahoo Group and soon to come - a Facebook page.

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

Still amazes me

It still amazes me that I can do this. Well not me, but 5 Watts of RF energy can span the globe. To quote my son Joey, "What sorcery is this?"

 

I had a quick lunchtime QSO with Chris G4BUE on 17 Meters. He answered my CQ and gave me a 559. I told Chris that he was 599+ and that he sounded like he was just down the street.

 

Just 5 Watts from the roof of a Jeep, parked in a parking lot in Warren, NJ to a house in West Sussex, England. Just thinking about that - !!!! In the blink of an eye - less than the blink of an eye, my tiny signal traverses the Atlantic and made it to Chris' home. Wow! Simply wow!

 

Having an appreciation for history, to realize it took weeks, even months for sailing vessels to travel from Europe to the New World - and that I can make the return trip (in a manner of speaking) at the speed of light. How cool is that?

 

 

I've worked Chris before, but this was a new band for us. Thanks, Chris for your good ears and your superb station!

 

According to RBN, this is where my QRP signal was being heard this afternoon:

 

 

Personally, Amateur Radio never gets old. Each QSO feels like a new adventure. I feel badly for those who feel it does get old, and walk away from the hobby.

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Baofeng UV-5R mishap

A few weeks ago, our cat Sandy knocked my Baofeng UV-5R off the bookcase where I had placed it. It wasn't all that far a drop - maybe 2 1/2 feet (close to a meter - just under) and I really didn't think twice about it. Fumblefingers me, had dropped it before with no ill effect. A few days later, as I was going to a radio club meeting, I happened to grab it, only to notice that it must have hit something on the way down and the LCD display had cracked.  Again, no big deal, I could have lived with that. Then I noticed the keyboard had also gotten damaged as I can't change the frequency now. Luckily it's set to the repeater that I support - but that's not good for CERT activities, because various repeaters and simplex frequencies are needed and used. When I get the time (????), I'll try prying the case apart myself to see if perhaps there's just a stuck key - but am not sure when that opportunity will occur.

If the same thing had happened to a Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom, I would have really been upset with the cat. She was lucky it was a Baofeng. However, in all honesty, a Kenwood or a Yaesu or an Icom might have withstood the accident. We'll never know, as I don't have one of those. 

If I didn't have a lot of CERT activities coming up in the next few weeks, I probably would have put off replacing it. But the next three weeks will be chock full of CERT communications as we have track meets, a 5K race, middle and high school graduations and a church sponsored carnival happening all within a short span of time. So I ordered another one from Amazon, parting with a bit of money that I hadn't planned on spending. And it arrived yesterday - delivered on Memorial Day. Wow - who would have thought that could happen?

When I got into this hobby some 38 years ago, I never thought that I'd see the day when a hand held would become, for all intent and purpose, a disposable item.  But that's where we've gotten to - and in reality, I think that's pretty much where we've gotten to with a lot of electronics. i.e cell phones, TVs, tablets, etc.  I'm not sure that there's anyone who really does cell phone or TV repairs these days. The corner "Fix-It" shop is a rare thing, and in many cases, a repair would be less economical than purchasing a new unit, anyway.

Society worries so much about being "green", but this age of disposables really goes against that when you think about it. Repairing a TV or a radio or what have you was the Older Generation's way of recycling. Instead, today we just "buy another", using up more resources and generating more garbage in the process. We really have "evolved" haven't we?

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

All gave some

Some gave all.

We honor, we remember, we pray.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least

Memorial Day Weekend - 2015

To all my friends in the US, Memorial Day is so much more than "The Unofficial Start of Summer". It's more than BBQs and hamburgers and hotdogs and picnics.  It's more than a "long weekend" away from work and school.

It's the time we remember, honor, thank and pray for the men and women who wore our country's uniform and willingly went into battle, but never came home. We honor and remember their Ultimate Sacrifice and that of their family's as well.

So set aside some time this weekend to fly Old Glory, visit a cemetery, leave a flower, say a prayer, remember and be grateful. We have our freedoms because of them.


Happy Memorial Day - and THANK YOU to all the soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen and Marines who died to keep this Nation free. We owe you so much more than we can ever possibly re-pay. May you forever rest in peace in God's loving arms.

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

Feeling nostalgic this morning

While digging out a mug for this morning's cuppa, I found this all the way back in the cabinet, hiding amongst the bajillions of mugs we seem to have amassed over the years.

This mug as to be over 20 years old. I changed my call in 2000, and moved from East Brunswick to South Plainfield in 1998. I had this for a good number of years before then.

Seriously though, do you guys have the same problem? Between door prizes, company "gifts", and vacation souvenirs we have quite the coffee mug collection. Some are buried so far bag in the cabinet that they haven't seen the light of day in years, like ol' N2ELW above,

If coffee mugs were a rare commodity, "I'd be rich, socially secure - a happy miser!"*

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


* - Apologies to Daffy Duck for stealing his line.

FCC Eliminates Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Regulatory Fee

Courtesy of the ARRL:

05/22/2015

The FCC is eliminating the regulatory fee to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign. The change will not go into effect, however, until required congressional notice has been given. This will take at least 90 days. As the Commission explained in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Report and Order, and Order (MD Docket 14-92 and others), released May 21, it’s a matter of simple economics.

“The Commission spends more resources on processing the regulatory fees and issuing refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee payment,” the FCC said. “As our costs now exceed the regulatory fee, we are eliminating this regulatory fee category.” The current vanity call sign regulatory fee is $21.40, the highest in several years. The FCC reported there were 11,500 “payment units” in FY 2014 and estimated that it would collect nearly $246,100.

In its 2014 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for FY 2014, the FCC had sought comment on eliminating several smaller regulatory fee categories, such as those for vanity call signs and GMRS. It concluded in the subsequent Report and Order (R&O) last summer, however, that it did not have “adequate support to determine whether the cost of recovery and burden on small entities outweighed the collected revenue or whether eliminating the fee would adversely affect the licensing process.”

The FCC said it has since had an opportunity to obtain and analyze support concerning the collection of the regulatory fees for Amateur Vanity and GMRS, which the FCC said comprise, on average, more than 20,000 licenses that are newly obtained or renewed, every 10 and 5 years, respectively.

“The Commission often receives multiple applications for the same vanity call sign, but only one applicant can be issued that call sign,” the FCC explained. “In such cases, the Commission issues refunds for all the remaining applicants. In addition to staff and computer time to process payments and issue refunds, there is an additional expense to issue checks for the applicants who cannot be refunded electronically.”

The Commission said that after it provides the required congressional notification, Amateur Radio vanity program applicants “will no longer be financially burdened with such payments, and the Commission will no longer incur these administrative costs that exceed the fee payments. The revenue that the Commission would otherwise collect from these regulatory fee categories will be proportionally assessed on other wireless fee categories.”

The FCC said it would not issue refunds to licensees who paid the regulatory fee prior to its official elimination.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So basically the FCC is saying, it costs more to process the fees and refunds of fees than it's worth.  I am going to assume (a dangerous thing), or at least hope that this also applies to the renewal as well as the initial application.

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

Some great news

I received an e-mail from John AE5X this morning. John is one of the best Ham Radio/QRP bloggers out there, IMHO, and it was great to hear from him.  He informed me that he has undertaken authoring a specialized niche blog - about off road motorcycling and QRP.

My initial reactions were thus:

1) Wow! It's great to hear from John.
2) John's writing again - fantastic!
3) I know diddly squat about motorcycling.
4) This ties into QRP, so how can this be a bad thing?
5) Even though #3 is true, #4 is also true, so maybe I can learn something here.
6) Boy, it's good to have John back again.

So even if you're like me (and don't know squat about motorcycling), you do know about QRP and you do like the way John writes - it's still a win/win situation. AND if you DO know about motorcycling, then you've really hit pay dirt! (Win/win/win).

I have added John's new blog to the blog roll on the right, and the hyperlink above will take you right there.  Please take the time to read his work, and if you like what you're reading - let him know. We bloggers appreciate the feedback and love hearing from you, good, bad or indifferent. Just do ME a favor and tell him W2LJ sent you.

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

Skeeter Hunt 2015

E-mails are starting to roll in - so I wanted to make an early announcement.

Yes! There will be a Skeeter Hunt in 2015.  It will be held on Sunday, August 9th. Skeeter numbers will be issued starting on the "First Day of Summer", which will be Sunday June 21st - the weekend before Field Day.

There is one major rule change for this year - there will be no extra bonus points for working DX stations this year.  As many of you know, the Skeeter Hunt seems to always coincide with the "Work All Germany" contest, and in years past, working a DX station was worth 3 points.  Several Skeeters in the Mid-West and on the West coast pointed out that this is an unfair advantage to East coast Skeeters. After considering it, I have come to agree with this, and have eliminated that extra DX bonus.  The playing field will be much more equal this year.

The Bonus word for this year is "CULICIDAE", which is the Latin word for the family of insects that mosquitoes belong to.  Work enough call signs that include those letters and you can garner yourself another 100 points. There's an "L" in there and I will be happy to be the official "L" provider for the Hunt. Hi! (I think Don K3RLL among others, will also be happy to give away "L"s, too.)

I am having a bit of trouble with the QSL.NET webpage, so for all the details of this year's Skeeter Hunt, you can go to my Skeeter Hunt page of this blog - http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html.

I am hoping to have the QSL.NET problems ironed away by this weekend, but then again, you never know.

72 de Larry w2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Only one QSO during lunch

bands seemed "meh", and my partner is out from work today, so I had to make it an abbreviated lunch.  But I did work (on 15 Meters):

 

It's always fun busting a pileup with only 5 Watts!

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Hooray NJ2SP - SPARC Rookies!

Great job by the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club Rookies who activated NJ2SP - and an equally great job by Marv K2VHW who mentored the event.

Can't wait 'til Field Day!

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

Ham Radio to the rescue!

After kind of causing the problem, in the first place.

http://kdvr.com/2015/05/17/littleton-snowshoer-rescued-after-falling-off-icy-ledge/

Thanks to Drew W2OU for pointing this one out.

But in all seriousness folks, portable ops can seem harmless, but they come with their own hazards and some can be life threatening.

Just a few basic things to keep in mind:

Don't go hiking alone if you're unfamiliar with the trail. It's too easy to get lost. I speak of this one from personal experience. Once I was out on a hike in the Adirondacks on an unfamiliar trail for the first time, and I took a turn I shouldn't have and found myself off the trail. Fortunately, I kept calm, retraced my steps and found my way back quickly and easily. However, if you panic, all bets may be off. Moral of the story - two or more sets of eyes are better than one when looking for trail markers.

Always take along extra water, food and appropriate clothing. While it may be hot and sunny when you start out, weather can and often does change in a heart beat, so keep weather conditions in mind. For good measure, always bring along your VHF/UHF handheld, it could literally save your life.

Let someone know where you're going and approximately how long you'll be gone.

This is an obvious one, but people sometimes forget. If you can hear thunder, shut the station down! A storm does not have to be right on top of you to be a lightning threat. Lightning bolts can touch down more than 10 miles away from a thunderstorm's leading edge.

Portable operating is about the most fun you can have in Amateur Radio, but you have to approach it in a common sense fashion.

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

Wishing I was at Dayton

not so much for Hamvention itself, as that's always fun - but for FDIM.

For the newbies and those not familiar with QRP ..... FDIM is an acronym for Four Days In May. FDIM is a mini-convention or gathering of QRPers in advance of Hamvention.  FDIM consists of an arrival greeting at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn, OH on Wednesday evening, followed by forums all day Thursday. Vendor Night is Thursday evening and there are get-togethers, meals, other QRP activities and QRP fellowship that occur to fill in the gaps.  Hamvention itself takes up Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.  FDIM closes with the QRP banquet on Saturday evening. Pretty good summation from a guy who's never been, eh?

The last time I was to Dayton was way back in 1996.  FDIM inaugurated the following year, in 1997. so I missed it by a year, basically.  As I previously mentioned, it takes place at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn, which is literally across the parking lot from the Homewood Suites where I used to stay the years that I did go to Hamvention. The Homewood Suites was where the AMSAT group stayed, and I was big into working RS 10/11 and RS 12/13 back in those days. (See?  I have done stuff other than QRP CW operating!)

I'm getting off track here.

As part of my "QRP, You and the Great Outdoors" presentation that I gave earlier this month, I started explaining that one of the side benefits of being a QRPer is how close and tightly knit the QRP community is.  FDIM would give me the chance to finally meet face to face with so many people that I have come to call friends over the years. I sorely miss the opportunity to do that, and would love to - at least just once!

Maybe, just maybe, if God is willing - next year might finally be the year. My kids are getting older and don't need Dad to be with them 24/7.  If I start saving now .........

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

The scoop from Elecraft at FDIM

So Elecraft came to FDIM today, to announce the new K3S.

The new product is an enhanced K3 with many new features - here's a link to a .pdf which explains them all in detail. And here's a link to a FAQ.

It appears the new K3S will be approximately $500 more than the old version, and the original K3 has been "discontinued" or "replaced" - whichever you prefer. In addition, it appears most, but not all the enhancements will be retro-fittable to make a K3 a K3S. The new bezel and the attenuator, for instance, will not.

I wonder - how does the guy feel who took delivery on a brandy new K3, in the very recent past?  Are they happy because  they squeaked under the wire and got their K3 at the lower price?  Or are they feeling a bit miffed because they ordered and received something that is no longer "the latest and the greatest"?  Except for the cosmetics, it appears that you can pretty much turn your existing K3 almost into a K3S - and you do have a "system" that is continually upgradable. So if you're an Elecraft owner, you can take comfort in the fact that when you buy something, the company does its best to stand behind their product and you.

I for one, am quite happy with my KX3's. They're all the radio I need, and should Elecraft come out with a KX3S tomorrow, I would not be bothered in the least.

The morning UStream feed from FDIM was disappointing. If you attempted to watch it, you saw that only a portion of the video picture appeared and none of the audio. Basically, you missed the entire Elecraft K3S presentation. Things got straightened out during Rev. Dobb's presentation and we were able to hear that the good Reverend was inaugurated as QRP-ARCI's very first Lifetime Member.

The silver lining is that hopefully the feed will be up and running normally for the remaining sessions.

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

Something new from Elecraft?

Will Elecraft be introducing something new at Hamvention tomorrow? Seems like it to me. Eric and Wayne posted the following on Facebook:

Notice the use of tomorrow's date in the display. Also - the current black chassis radios in the Elecraft line are the K3 and the KX3.  Both use black screws on the bezel - not silver. AND the last character before the word "Transceiver" on both radios is a "3" ...... not an "s". Lastly, there's no current radio in the Elecraft line (that I'm aware of) that has that little "down arrow" above the VFO knob.

Seems to me that a major announcement is in the offing for tomorrow. I guess time will tell!

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

Nice shack!

Ed N3CW was kind enough to grace me with a photo of his shack - with the latest addition hanging on his wall.

Thanks for the e-mail, Ed. I am amazed the stamps got to Ed's house so quickly. I mailed them, via Priority Mail, on Saturday afternoon. He had them on Monday. That's way better (and cheaper) than UPS or FedEx - and the glass didn't get broken - icing on the cake!

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

It's time

As much as I hate to do it, I need to look for a new laptop for the shack. A few months ago, when the family computer gave up the ghost, I pressed my shack desktop into service in that role.  To fill the void in the shack, I resurrected my old Acer Inspire One netbook. It's a small machine with a very small screen, with hardly any processor power. It was performing duties way beyond its pay grade. This is the kind of computer that was designed for looking at e-mails and Facebook, and that's about it. Needing something better, I tried recruiting my even older HP laptop (the one with the broken top lid hinges - thanks, kids!) into service. Alas, it's better than the Acer, but only by the breadth of a hair.  It has a bigger screen, more RAM and a bigger hard drive, but it's still an old XP machine that has grown long in the tooth.

To explain what I mean ..... I went down to the shack last night to add some entries to my main logging program from the HamLog app I use when operating portable. I flipped the on switch at 9:30 PM and by the time it had booted up and the logging program had loaded it was about 9:47 PM.  17 minutes is not good. I wanted to start pulling out my hair by then. I think watching paint dry, or grass grow would have been less stressful and more entertaining.

That exercise in frustration drove me to start searching the Web. At work, IBM issued me a Lenovo T410.  I still use this model every day. Yes, they are slowly being refreshed out with the newer T440 model, but mine has served me decently well at the job over the last few years. I have found a couple places where I can pick up a refurbed T410 with 4G of RAM, a 250 GB hard drive and Windows 7 Professional in the $150 neighborhood.

This model has everything I would need. It can hook up to the Internet wirelessly, it has 3 USB ports (need one for the KX3, one for a mouse, and one for an external keyboard), provisions for adding a second VGA monitor and the standard audio ports, so I can do the digital modes, should I ever be inclined to go down that road. Not planning to go there, but you never know. I'll have to dip into savings to acquire one, but having a computer in the shack has almost become a necessity.

Of course, I could always go native and log strictly with paper and pencil, but I don't think the ARRL would accept mailed in Xerox copies of my log for LoTW.  Also, I like to keep my eye on QRPSPOTS as well as SOTAWatcher.  Can't do that without some kind of computer, although I guess I could always just use my cell phone for those. And having a Telnet DX Cluster at my disposal for confirming that I correctly copied the call of that DX station who was sending at a blistering 45 WPM is a nice thing to have, too. (Was that an "H", or a "5" ? - 37 years of Hamming and my ears still wig out on those two, at times.)

This is another occasion where I'll just have to bite the bullet and take the plunge.  Good thing I wasn't planning on going to Dayton.

Oh, and by the way, as long as I mentioned Dayton .... best wishes to all those heading to Ohio for FDIM and Hamvention. May the weather be good, the traffic light and travelling conditions safe - there and back!

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

US Amateurs - how to print out your license.

This appeared on QRP-L over the weekend, in a post by Bruce N1RX:

"Here are the steps to download an official copy of your license (authorization). Go to the FCC ULS database at:

http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/index.htm?job=home

Log in with your FRN number and password by clicking on the "LOG IN" button, next to "ONLINE FILING".

After logging in, click on "Download Electronic Authorizations" in the left-hand column.

Enter your callsign and click search. Your license will appear in the left box titled "My Authorizations". Click the "ADD" button, to add it to the list of Authorizations to download.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the "DOWNLOAD" button in the lower right hand corner. Your computer should then prompt you to "open or save" the PDF file."

Following Bruce's steps will get you to the "Official Copy".  If you just go to the ULS and do a simple search on your call, you will be able to print out a "Reference Copy". The "Official Copy" should be the one you hang on the wall and carry in your wallet.

Your FRN number (if you have one, and just about all of us should have one by now) can be found at the bottom of your license.  If you've never registered online with FCC via the Universal Licensing System website, you'll be asked to set up a password.  This, of course, will allow you to log on to your account in the future.  If you've registered before, but forgot your password, you'll be asked a security question which you had previously set up. If you answer correctly, you will be allowed to reset your password.

It's not a hard process - just one more password in a virtual blizzard of passwords to remember these days. Not sure how much money this actually saves the FCC, but it is convenient and it takes away having to wait for an envelope to come through the mail. It was nice, however, to get your license on whatever color paper they happened to be using with the official FCC emblem on it in the background.

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

This may work

Drew Moore W2OU was at the QRP presentation I gave last Monday and was recording it with his iPhone. He posted it to YouTube, and if you click on the link below, you should be able to see snippets of it.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdsjK-zolD2jT-LIREdQwdvAd9NUPx-70

So now you'll be able to know what I sound like. Not sure if that's a good thing or not!  :-)

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

Possibilities

It's sunny and the sky is a brilliant blue and there are no clouds. The high temperature for the day is expected to reach around 80F (27C). The SSN is currently at 110 and while the A index is slightly high, the K index is only "1".

I am hoping this makes for good band conditions during lunchtime today. Hopefully, I'll jump on somewhere around 1745 UTC for about an hour.

Amateur Radio is so much like fishing. The possibilities abound, and you rarely know what you're going to get. I don't get how anyone could not like this hobby. Even when I get skunked, I may be disappointed, but I never have a bad time.

To turn a phrase, "A bad day at Amateur Radio is better than a good day at ...... (you fill in the blank)".

I'll update this later to let you know how it went.

Lunchtime Post Mortem:

The weather was indeed beautiful, the band conditions were "meh".  Signals were non-existent on 10 and 12 Meters, sparse on 15 Meters and most plentiful on 17 Meters (which has become a favorite band).

I worked YN5SU in Nicaragua and OT4A in Belgium, and that was it.  I called CQ for a bit and had no takers. But I was getting out, according to RBN:

I have no idea, however, why RBN has my location as somewhere in the vicinity of Missouri.

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

So how did I do?

As mentioned in my last post, last night I gave my "QRP - You and the Great Outdoors" presentation to the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club at their meeting in Union, NJ. This is a very active club that not only owns and operates the W2LI repeater, but it also very active in Amateur Radio on an all-around basis. I saw and spoke with different members about their interests and they seemed wide and varied. Emergency traffic handling, NTS traffic handling, building, VHF/UHF, HF, QRP, the digital modes, antennas and DX were just some of the topics I heard being bandied about the room.

In all, TCARC seems to be a vibrant club, which is a very good thing. We need more clubs like this.

After the formal meeting opening and introductions, the regular meeting was suspended and I was asked to give my talk.  I think it went very well.  The members of Tri-County were warm, friendly and receptive, so I was very much at ease. Of course it helps that I know a few of them from serving with them at VE sessions. But even the members I didn't know proved to be a most gracious audience.

The presentation itself lasted somewhat over an hour, I think. I wasn't really keeping close track of the time, but that's an estimation on my part. Throughout that time, I tried to keep everything light and fun, and I hope I was successful in imparting upon them the fun I have with QRP, particularly portable ops outdoors. I didn't see anyone stifling a yawn, or any "deer in the headlight" looks and my few lame attempts at humor elicited a couple chuckles, so I think I did an OK job. And there were several instances, particularly during the slide that contains Sean KX9X's YouTube video about the US Islands on the Air program, that got a few "Wow"s uttered. I think there was some genuine surprise at what QRP can accomplish.

I have added the Powerpoint to my Public Dropbox folder, so you can download it and view it, if you wish. It's a 23 MB file, so it's kind of on the big side. If anyone desires to use it as a club presentation (even though it's kind of tailored towards the NJ outdoor experience), feel free to edit it as you wish - just make sure to give good ol' W2LJ some credit for authoring it (or co-authoring if you REALLY modify it).

The URL is: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20875533/QRP%20Outdoors.ppt

Lunchtime was successful today as well, it was like icing on the cake.  I worked three stations - EG8TRV (again), A0150E in Spain and Serge RU1AF who had a splendid signal into NJ - like he was down the street!

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

Tonight's the night

where I make my QRP presentation to the Tri County Amateur Radio Club. I was supposed to meet with the club president, Nelson KD2CYU for dinner before the meeting. The club treasurer, Paul KD2DRM, e-mailed me yesterday that Nelson had fallen off a ladder on Saturday and has been hospitalized and had undergone surgery. There was no further information than that, so I am assuming that Nelson will be OK, but if you would all keep him in your prayers and thoughts, that would be neat.

Anyway, we're skipping dinner. Time, distance and traffic had me a bit worried that I wasn't going to make it on time, anyway. So after work, I am going to head home for a quick hot dog or sandwich and then I will head on over to the meeting site.

I'm a lector at my parish and am used to getting up to read before large groups of people, so while doing something like this presentation is not foreign to me, I'm sure I'll still have some butterflies beforehand. I am giving a Powerpoint presentation that I came up with (first time I've ever actually authored one) and my accompanying "color commentary" will be pretty much ad-libbed, off the cuff remarks. But since I know a little something about the topic, I think I'll be OK doing that.

If the presentation goes over well, I will upload the Powerpoint to my Dropbox account. I'll post the link here in a future post and in the links section so anyone can view it, or use it for that matter. On the other hand, if it falls over like a lead balloon, we will never speak of this incident again.

Fingers-crossed (figuratively).

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

And the winner is ..........

Congratulations to Ed N3CW !!!

 

 

He is the winner of this blog's 10th Anniversary celebration, a full sheet of the 1964 Amateur Radio Stamp. It is known as Scott #1260 by stamp collectors and here's the official press release given by the USPS in a Postal Bulletin issued in 1964.

 

"This 5-cent stamp honoring the nation's 250,000 amateur radio operators was first placed on sale through the Anchorage, Alaska, post office on December 15, 1964.

Designed by Emil J. Willett, the stamp portrays a radio broadcast wave and a portion of a radio dial. It was in Alaska that "hams" wrote another chapter in a long public service record by maintaining communications following an earthquake. It was issued on the 50th anniversary of the American Radio Relay League.

This stamp was printed by the rotary process and issued in panes of fifty stamps each. An initial printing of 120 million stamps was authorized."

How fitting, seeing that Amateur Radio operators are keeping that tradition of public service alive today.  Whether it be earthquakes like in Nepal, flooding on the plains, hurricanes like Katrina and Sandy, typhoons in SE Asia, or the result of any other natural or man made disaster, Hams are there in the forefront, offering their time, talent and skills, freely.

Thanks to all of you who entered, and thanks to all of you who read this blog. It's been a fun first 10 years. I've learned a lot from you and hope to continue this for a good while into the future, God willing and the creek don't rise.

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