Butternut vs GAP - a personal perspective - and something else.

NB: The purpose of this post is not to start a war between GAP users and Butternut users. It is simply a recollection of experiences and impressions from a Ham who has owned and used both products. I have probably mentioned these in past posts, but the subject recently came up with a person who had asked me for my thoughts on purchasing an HF vertical.

I purchased a GAP Challenger back in the early 90s when I was still living at my old East Brunswick, NJ QTH. Up until that point, I had strictly been a user of dipoles, doublets and long wires. My first antenna as a Novice was a Mor-Gain multi-band dipole. Remember those? That antenna worked very well for me for many years.

I wanted to buy a vertical as I thought the lower take off angle would garner me more DX. Back then, my operating style was very eclectic. I took full advantage of the Amateur radio smorgasbord.  I was into EVERYTHING (or so it seemed)! I was operating QRP, QRO, satellites, digital, DX - you name it. About the only thing I wasn't doing was phone. Not to cast aspersions on SSB or AM ops, it's just not my thing.  I've gone into that in detail previously, so I am not going to re-hash that here.

I thought, after reading many articles, that a vertical would help me towards that goal of earning DXCC. At about that time, GAP was a young company, not even 10 years old. They were making a name for themselves. GAP was the Wunderkind, the "new kid on the block", they were splashy, new, and they were being advertised all over Amateur Radio creation and always seemed to be featured in magazine articles.

GAP had several advantages in my mind:

1) It was a new company, and I like to try new things.
2) They had antennas that were priced right to fit my budget at the time.
3) The Challenger model advertised the need for only three radials.
4) The antennas were actually not dismissed as "junk" by Kurt N. Sterba, the antenna expert from WorldRadio. In my mind, this counted a lot!

So I bought a Challenger.

It assembled very easily and went up well. I was able to build it and deploy it by myself. And it performed VERY well with the factory supplied radial kit. And yes, it was only three radials. If memory serves me correctly (and it may not), they were three 25' (8 Meter) radials. The "secret" was that for the most part, the Challenger was a vertical dipole, which didn't really need radials.

I was getting DX at a better clip than I was getting it before.  In all honesty, I can't tell you for sure whether that was due to the fact that I was on a DX jag at the time, so I was concentrating on it more, or because of the antenna. I tend to think it was because of the antenna, but I have no scientific proof to back that up.

There were only two problems with it in my mind:

1) It wasn't stealthy. That's not GAP's fault. If I had had more trees in the backyard to "hide" it in, it would have been better. As it was, it stuck out like a sore thumb and boy, did my backyard neighbor-one-over take notice!  In his mind, I had totally eliminated his ability to watch television. In addition, all other electronic maladies that occurred in his house were my fault.  If there was a flickering of the lights, or a brownout, it was my fault.  If he blew a fuse in the fusebox, it was my fault. If someone called him on the telephone and hung up before he could answer, it was my fault. If a CB'er running power (we lived about a block away from a heavily used State Highway) came through his TV speaker, it was my fault. If a house fly passed gas too loudly, it was my fault. You can see where this is going, right?

2) The antenna was not as sturdy as I would have liked.  Again, this is totally a subjective thing. The few years that I owned that Challenger, coincided with some pretty horrific New Jersey winters. Ice storms, blizzards, the whole nine yards. In fact, in the Winter of '96 we had what was later called a "white hurricane" - cold enough weather in combination with a monster Nor'easter that resulted in a blizzard that dumped about 32 inches of snow with just under official hurricane force winds.

The GAP survived all of that (I had it guyed, which was an absolute necessity), but in the process I had so many bad cases of agita that I can't even count them all. At times, the Challenger was so bent over with ice that I thought it was permanently damaged. "How the heck can an antenna bend that far and not snap?", popped into my mind so many times. And in the summers, during thunderstorms, the Challenger swayed like a hula dancer stoked out on sugar, caffeine and methamphetamine (all at the same time!). To its credit, the antenna always survived. There were times that I felt that I wasn't going to survive while I watched its gyrations, but yet it always survived.

I eventually sold the antenna.  Not because of the gyrations, or the antenna's performance (which was great), but because things got so bad with the neighbor that I had to do it to keep the peace. I know ..... the coward's way out, but you have to understand that at the time, I was still living at home in order to help support my elderly parents, and I didn't want to make life miserable for them. If it was MY house and MY property, I would have taken the vertical down .... and replaced it with a tower and a beam ...... but it was what it was.

When I moved to the current South Plainfield, NJ QTH, I decided to put up another vertical.  This time I chose the Butternut. I have had it up for over a fifteen years now and am quite happy with it.  The Butternut HF9V is a true vertical and because of that, it requires radials.  When I first installed it, I put down 26 radials.  I just placed them on the grass and installed a lawn staple every 3 feet or so to hold them down.  Within a few months, the grass grew over them, concealing them completely.  Two years ago, I put down another bunch, to bring the number up to 58 radials total. I've damaged three over the years with the lawn mower, so there are about 55 good radials in the system (and three very short ones!).

The antenna performs superbly, as far as I am concerned. I am as satisfied with it, performance-wise, as I was with the GAP. The one area where the Butternut exceeds the GAP, in my humble non-engineer's opinion, is in the area of sturdiness.  Since I moved to South Plainfield 17 years ago, I have experienced three major hurricanes (Floyd, Irene, Sandy) and the Butternut survived each without a whimper. Yes, the antenna did sway in the winds a bit - but compared to the GAP, it stood rock steady. And unlike the GAP, the Butternut is not guyed, nor does it need to be.  During blizzards, ice storms and summer thunderstorms, I can go to bed and not miss a wink of sleep. I don't have to give the Butternut a second thought, or swallow a bunch of antacids.  To me that peace of mind is worth a lot.

Now, that all being said ...... if the Butternut were to be disintegrated tomorrow by some kind of death ray from an alien spaceship, I would probably go back to being a GAP owner.  The price difference is the key reason - $369.95 for a Challenger - $604.95 for an HF9V. By they way, that is NOT what I paid for mine. I simply can't afford to replace it. With two kids rapidly approaching college age, I would definitely need to shell out fewer bucks. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.  As a result, I would guy the heck out of the antenna, and would then spend the almost $200 saved, slowly over the next years by investing in either Rolaids or Tums, or by buying myself a pair of horse blinders. Whichever works out cheapest.

In other breaking news - may a 60 Meter QRP band (not channel - but band) be in the offing?

Maybe - as per the ARRL:

"At World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), in Geneva, consensus continues to shape up around a new 15 kHz-wide global secondary 60 meter Amateur Radio allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz. On November 12, Conference Working Group 4B agreed to the global secondary allocation, with power limits designed to protect primary services from harmful interference. Sub Working Group (SWG) 4B1, chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, had presented its output document with two options, the other being no change — a position many administrations favored going into the conference. The current compromise making the allocation possible still must clear two more levels at the conference. This won’t happen until next week, and the issue is not final until it does. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, who attended the conference briefly on behalf of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), congratulated the IARU team and the national delegates who advocated for the Amateur Service."

“Assuming that the fragile agreement continues to hold, this will be the first entirely new HF allocation since 1979,” he said. “While we would have preferred more, anyone who understands what our proponents were up against will appreciate what they have accomplished.”

"SWG 4B1 held 15 meetings over the first 10 days of WRC-15. During week 1, the discussion focused on whether there would be an allocation at all. A number of administrations and the regional telecommunications organization (RTO) representing Russia and 10 of its neighboring countries (RCC) were bitterly opposed. As week 1 closed, it became clear that the widest achievable allocation was 15 kHz and that a power limit in the neighborhood of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) would have to be part of the package."

As they say, we shall have to wait and see!

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

New addition to the blog roll.

I got an e-mail from a QRP friend, Craig LaBarge WB3GCK. Craig is a very active outdoor QRPer, a man after my own heart, He's in the process of moving a lot of QRP info from a static webpage to one that has a blog type of format.  You can see it here

Craig has impecable taste in QRP portable outerwear, as you can see!

In addition to mentioning it here, I am going to add his blog to the blog roll to the right. It's worth your time to read what he has to say. Craig not only goes out operating portable whenever he gets the chance, but he's also a dedicated Skeeter Hunter. Hey, that ranks him "right up there" in my book!.

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

I think I found me a project for the Summer of 2016!

I saw this on eHam, and I think I can actually do this:

http://www.eham.net/articles/34910

I would love to have a Hexbeam, and the only two thing have been keeping that dream at arm's length is a) the cost and b) a way to support it.

This article solves "b)".  The way around "a)" is to start saving and to also consider what I can sell to make up the funds.  With the solar cycle rollercoaster heading towards the dip, having a Hexbeam would be very, very nice.  I could install this in a corner of the yard and crank it down when not in use and I think that would keep my XYL satisfied.

Here's KE1Q's photo of his permanent setup:

I'm pretty sure this project is within even my meager carpentry skills. All I have to do is come up with some scratch for the antenna and mast (and a small rotator, too, I guess) and the time. The time, the time, the time ....... always the most precious commodity of them all.

Even if it doesn't come to fruition, it's still fun to plan and dream.

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

Product review time!

Even though I'm a big Elecraft KX3 fan, never let it be said that W2LJ's Blog is unfairly biased or discriminatory.  If there are good (operative word "good") products out there that would/should be of interest to the QRP community, they WILL be featured here.

And as such, the LNR LD-5 does look like a winner!  It doesn't have all the features of a KX3, but then, not everyone needs or desires all the features of a KX3.  And for what it's worth, if Elecraft didn't exist (Heaven forfend!), I might be compelled to acquire one of these myself.

For a full product review by James Hannibal KH2SR, you can go here to read all about it.

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

COMEX-MARS exercise this weekend.

This coming weekend, the South  Plainfield CERT/RACES/ARES team, the Middlesex County RACES/ARES team and the State of New Jersey RACES/ARES team will be testing emergency communications resiliency in the event of a major CME (coronal mass ejection) such as The Carrington Event that ocurred in 1859.  During our weekly ARES net this Friday evening, it will be announced that a major CME has been detected and that communications and the electrical power grid are expected to be severely disrupted within the coming hours. We will be advised to store our communications gear in a safe manner - basically in a Faraday Shield.

Communications will go dark until Sunday morning, after the effects of the CME have passed. We will assume, for the purposes of this drill, that the VHF/UHF repeater system (as well as the cell phone system and the power grid) will have been "severely compromised or damaged".  We will then see how well we can communicate on a town/county/statewide basis relying on VHF/UHF simplex and HF communications on battery or generator power.  Of course it will be assumed that the gear being used had been adequately shielded and protected in advance of the CME event.

It used to be that you just worried about natural disasters from terrestrial weather. Now we're becoming more and more realistic about the havoc that solar weather can play. And we're planning for it and planning for reacting to it. All in all a good thing.

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

ATNO!

In the DX game, sometimes you have to be real good to work a new one, especially QRP.  You might have to break a dense pile up, or perhaps you have to get up at some ungodly hour to work a DXpedition when there's a lull.

Other times, you have to be lucky, or just at the right place at the right time. That was the case for me, yesterday.  I was down in the shack, twiddling the dial (no pandapter in the W2LJ shack) on 10 Meters. It was mid-morning, and I was just curious whether or not I'd be able to hear any signals. There on 28.050 MHz was 9J2BO calling CQ - without any takers!  Admittedly, off the top of my head, I had no idea where 9J2 was. But is sure as heck wasn't familiar, and if it's not familiar, then it's probably rare. So I dived in with all 5 Watts and gave a call.  9J2BO's signal was loud enough where I thought 5 Watts would be enough, and it turned out I was correct.  It took one repeat, but he had my call!

We exchanged signal reports. I gave Brian an 599 and I received a 559 in return - not bad for 5 Watts to Africa (Quickly inputting 9J2BO into Log4OM informed me it was Zambia. Hot dog!). Then the QSB kicked in (big time) and shortened our QSO.  I cheated a tad and kicked in the afterburner just to make sure that Brian heard my final "TU ES 73", but the previous 99% of the QSO was carried out at 5 Watts - so I'm counting it in my personal QRP tally.

A few seconds later, I heard Brian calling CQ again, and then he just faded totally into oblivion and I didn't hear anything more on 28.050 MHz. Not him, nor anyone else trying to call him.

Right place at the right time. That's all it took for this ATNO!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Notice the apostrophe in there?  That's because Hallowe'en is kind of an abbreviated form for the formal title of the day - All Hallow's Eve (or evening).  Hallowe'en used to be observed as the vigil for All Saints Day, a vigil (in Catholic terminology) being the night before a Holy Day or some other holiday. Hallowe'en was actually considered a quasi-Holy Day itself, the beginning of the part of the year where the Catholic Church remembers and honors those who have departed from this life and have gone onto their reward.

Then things happened and because the day was associated with the dead, it got twisted into goblins, ghouls, witches and demons.

Let's Go Mets!

Last night was the Zombie Shuffle, and as I stated before, last night was also the K2ETS monthly meeting. I was able to get on for about only 1/2 hour before having to leave. In that short period of time, just as the event was getting under way, I made eight contacts on 40 Meters. The best one of those was with Ed WA3WSJ who was Zombie Shuffling from the Appalachian Trail.

I tried CQ BOOing on 20 Meters for a bit, but since the Shuffle starts at 6:00 PM local time, 20 Meters is actually not usable until 6:00 PM kicks in for the other time zones.  At the same time, 80 Meters becomes better when it gets "dark" dark - after twilight. So for that first hour to 90 minutes, 40 Meters makes the best sense for the beginning of the Zombie Shuffle for the Eastern time zone.

After I returned home from the meeting, I went back on the air and made three more QSOs on 80 Meters and that was it. That was a bit after 10:00 PM and there was no longer any CQ BOO activity on 20 or 40 Meters that I was able to hear. I called CQ BOO and did some dial twiddling on 80 Meters, and after it looked like the well had gone dry, I went upstairs to watch the final innings of World Series Game 3. You know, sometimes it difficult enough using the KX3 in "Dual Watch Mode" attempting to simultaneously listen to two different Amateur Radio frequencies, one in each ear bud. I found that it's even tougher trying to simultaneously listen to the Zombie Shuffle in one ear and the ballgame in the other. Talk about scrambled brains!

The Zombie Shuffle is a lot of fun, though. If you've never tried QRP contesting, you might want to try it next year (if you can wait that long). I heard all kinds of CW speeds last night, from probably about 12 WPM to 25 WPM. The Shuffle is unique in that it's loosely organized and is actually more of an operating event than a contest. And the participation! Wow, it's talked up on the QRP email reflectors for weeks ahead of time and the participation is always superb!  Thanks to Paul NA5N and his wife Jan N0QT (who also sponsor QRP To The Field each year). It's amazing how popular the Zombie Shuffle has become, when you think about it - but then really it's no surprise, it's just a lot of fun.

One last thing - for those of you who observe Daylight Saving Time - tonight's the night we "Fall back" and set the clocks one hour behind. Tonight you'll get that extra hour of sleep in order to recover from all the Milky Ways and Snickers bars that you have "Trick or Treated" yourself  to!

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

Stuff

Tomorrow night is the Zombie Shuffle. Tomorrow night is our monthly Amateur Radio Club meeting. I have a conflict of interest, here. Since I am the recording secretary, the outlook for my participation in the Shuffle is bleak. Drat! If, I'm lucky, I can squeeze in an hour before I have to leave and perhaps another when I get home. Hopefully, by the time I get home (usually around 10:00 PM) there will still be some activity.

On the bright side, today was another productive QRP day at lunch. I worked PJ2/W4VAB, OM5XX and CU2AA. It was only after working Jacinto in the Azores that I looked down at the KX3 and realized that I had spent my entire lunchtime session at the 3 Watt level. Wow - 3 Watts into the Buddistick and I still managed to hop the Atlantic and get down into the Caribbean!

I heard and tried working UE25R on 20 Meters. He was CQing rapidly and was not leaving hardly any "blank space" at all for replies. It seemed he would finish sending his call, blink his eyes and start sending his call again. Obviously, with that approach, you must be looking for 599 stations only. I guess I didn't stand a chance with 3 Watts, even though he was L O U D!

The 4 States QRP Group came out with another new kit, which I immediately sent away for - a QRP antenna tuner.  I need one to use with the HW8, so I can hook it up to the W3EDP antenna. This will handle 10 Watts, and the HW8 tops out at about 4 Watts, so this will be perfect. Originally, the plan was to use my Emtech ZM2 Z-match tuner, but I like to leave that one in my portable ops backpack.

I'm also going to need a tuner for my Novice Station (redeux). When I was a Novice, I had a small MFJ tuner, but I think that this time, I am going to go totally homebrew. I wasn't  confident enough in my "from scratch" building skills as a Novice. I have a better idea of what I'm doing now.

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

Field Day results are in!

If you're anything like me, you were probably scratching your head a couple of weeks ago when the digital and paper versions of November QST came out, sans Field Day results. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I guess December, then."

Wrong! (This is getting to be a bad habit on my part.)

The ARRL has chosen to release the results of Field Day 2015 via the Web. The only reason I knew this was one of my Facebook friends had pointed it out to me, even before the announcement was made by the ARRL. See? I keep telling you guys that Facebook does have SOME value!

Even before I got dressed for work, I was checking to see how NJ2SP did this year. (I'm such a geek!) It turns out we did pretty darned OK.

We came in fifth in the nation in the 3AB (battery powered, 5W power limit) category.

And we came in tenth in the Hudson Division for all categories.

Now all we have to do is get Marv K2VHW's beam working for next year for the SSB station, and I'm thinking of switching from the EARCHI to the W3EDP for the CW station and we should be able to do even better. Now if we can only keep the deluges away, we'll be "In like Flynn".

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

DX at lunchtime

I didn't have as much success as Jim W1PID and Tim W3ATB had during their outing today, but I had a tiny bit of success.  17 Meters seemed to be open with not a bunch of activity. I did hear a few European and Russian stations. Instead of hunting and pecking, I decided to call CQ - you know, what all "the experts" say that QRPers should never do.

Perth, Scotland - near GMoLVI's QTH

For my daring, I was fortunate enough to be answered by Dave GM0LVI on 18.086 MHz (the 17 Meter QRP Watering Hole). It wasn't the longest of QSOs, but it was a bit more than "599 TU". Dave got a 559 from me, and I received a 539 in return - there was lots of QSB. The neat thing about this QSO is that it was 2X QRP. Not only that, but it was also 2X KX3.  I was on my Buddisitck, and Dave was using his 2 Element Quad, which I'm sure is responsible for making this QSO happen.

I'll have to look into the history of Perth. It got me wondering if it's the namesake of  Perth Amboy, a city very near me here in NJ.  Back in very early Colonial times, the current city was actually two entities - the towns Perth and Amboy. I am wondering if that Perth was named after Dave's Perth? The two towns constantly feuded, until someone got the idea to combine the two smaller towns into a bigger city, renaming the themselves "Perth Amboy".

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

AUXCOMM

I have taken the day off from work, I have just completed, along with several of my South Plainfield RACES/ARES compadres, a two day AUXCOMM class as taught by the Department of Homeland Security OEC/ICTAP, and offered by the NJ State Races Coordinator John Miller, and the Middlesex County NJ RACES Coordinator John Garmendi N2DV.

All I can say is, "Wow!".  This course was fantastic and re-awakened a lot of the training that I received when I was a Communications Officer with Middlesex County OEM back in the 80s and 90s. And a lot of things have changed since then, of course, and hopefully, I absorbed them like a sponge.

Hank Kobeler N3ORX listening to me explain our team's solution to one of the training exercises. 

(Photo by Drew Moore W2OU)

For those of you who are wondering what AUXCOMM is, that is the official name given by Homeland Security to Amateur Radio operators (RACES/ARES/CERT), REACT members and others, who augment the paid/trained first responders during declared emergencies.

The course, which spanned some 20 hours, was expertly taught by Hank Koebler N3ORX and Jim Millsap WB4NWS.  If I were to go into the experience which make these two fine gentlemen qualified to teach this course, it would probably occupy the next 5-10 blog posts. Suffice it to say that we were very fortunate enough to be taught by two experts with regard to Amateur Radio and EMCOMM.

The class went by quickly, and was never boring. Jim and Hank kept it interesting and, if I may dare say, fun. The pace was quick, but with enough time given to take in all the key and necessary aspects of what was being taught. There were ten units (I hate to call them "lectures") that were broken up by plenty of exercises where we had to identify resources, come up with communications plans, and then submit them for approval. This was followed by one last "Final Exam" or final planning session which brought together everything that we had learned up to that point, In addition, throughout the class, we learned the correct procedures for filling out the necessary ICS paperwork that accompanies all these kind of events.

I must admit that after the first day, my head felt like it does after the first day of Dayton Hamvention, busting to the seams with sensory overload. But it was all good, and by the second day, I think everyone returned in the morning feeling a bit better and just a tad more comfortable with their EMCOMM skills.

During our exercises, we fortunate to be joined by Mark Harla N2MHO (third from the right) from Cumberland County RACES. His experience and knowledge was invaluable to our little team.

The course built upon the education we received from those online FEMA courses that we all took on the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework. It expanded upon that and throughout the class, decorum, attitude and etiquette were accented.

It does not do any good for the name and face of Amateur Radio, for uninvited, untrained, undisciplined "know-it-all cowboys" to show up to an emergency with an attitude that Amateur Radio is there "to save the day". That attitude, along with "Hey, lookie here at all my latest and greatest gear" is most assuredly going to get you escorted off the scene with a firm admonition to never return.

The keys to a successful blend of Amateur Radio and Disaster Response are training, decorum, the willingness to help with ANY situation (not just communications), and above all, professionalism. The willingness to blend in, get the job done with a minimal mount of attention or hoopla to yourself or the Amateur Radio Service, are what is needed. In fact, if you follow those guidelines, the Amateur Radio Service and Amateur Radio operators WILL come out smelling like a rose, and will be asked to come back on a continual basis.

To all Amateur Radio ops who read this blog that are interested in Public Service and Amateur Radio EMCOMM - I heartily urge you to go to your Town/City, County and State RACES/ARES leadership team to request them to have this AUXCOMM class brought to your state. Regardless of your level of experience, you are going to enjoy this class and will learn things that you never knew before.

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

DX Spray .... it works!

Unlike the grand vistas that Jim W1PID encounters in the beautiful locales of New Hampshire, the views that I am afforded during my lunchtime QRP sessions are a bit more urbane.  However, as the season changes along with the leaves, even in a suburban setting there is beauty to be found:

Not bad for a parking lot view, eh?

As I was setting up the station, I noticed that the "stick" part of my Buddistick was ......well, rather sticky. I happened to have a can of this in the trunk, so I applied a bit to the whip and then proceeded to rub it in using some 3" gauze bandage from my First Aid kit.  Hey, you use what's on hand!

Little did I know that WD-40 actually stands for "Whopping DX - 40 Meters".  I didn't get on 40 Meters, but the can didn't know that, and the DX Spray seemed to work equally well on 15 and 17 Meters. In short order, after applying this miracle spray to my Buddistick, I worked T47GDXC, SM3PZG, RA1AOB and TF4X all in the space of about 15 minutes.

Who knew?  If I was aware of what WD-40 really stood for, I would have been applying it to my antennas years ago!  Just think ..... all the wasted time, all the wasted opportunities!  I could be on the DXCC Honor Roll by now.

Some would attribute my success today to the sun and something called "improved band conditions". But I, for one, know better. I have learned the secret of the magic "DX Spray".

Sob ....... weep!

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

Ol' Sol must be feeling better

The bands have been picking up the past few days. Ol' Sol must be out of the ICU and in to a private room and on the mend.

I was able to work Israel, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Ireland, St. Lucia, Aruba, and the Cayman Islands over the weekend. And today at lunch, I worked Anitigua, Hungary and Gary KT0A on a SOTA peak in Colorado - Berrian Mountain W0C/FR-060.

This sure beats calling CQ and not getting any takers, and makes lunch time so much more pleasant.

As I was taking the Buddistick apart and tearing down the station after lunch, I was looking longingly at a 50 foot pine tree that's just yards away from where I park. Boy, if I could shoot a wire into that tree ..........

But with Security roaming the parking lots, that would be probably a bigger risk than I would care to take. Maybe with some really fine guage magnet wire - it WOULD be practically invisible, but at the same time, so very fragile. In any event, it's probably not worth getting into trouble over, but I can dream ..... can't I?

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

Brrrrrrrr ......

Autumn has arrived with a vengeance! When I woke up today, it was 32F (0C). The furnace is now turning itself on its own, with the help of the thermostat, of course. It's time for multiple layers in the W2LJ household - multiple shirts and a sweater.

Look for the 2016 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt to incorporate, in a big way, the ARRL's National Parks on the Air program. I haven't worked out the details, but there will probably be special points given for working Skeeters who have opted to work from one of the many National Park units around the country. There will also be bonus points for Skeeters choosing to go set up in a National Park unit.

There are lots, and it shouldn't be that hard to find one near you. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/parks/

Lastly, here's a cool video pointed out to me by Marv, K2VHW. A nice promotional video produced by the RSGB:




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

This is tailor made for outdoor QRP

This is going to be good ..... and fun!

This activity, National Parks On The Air, was devised by the ARRL to celebrate the centennial of the National Park System.  The idea, of course, is to operate from and activate as many National Park units as you can.  We have twelve here in New Jersey.

1) Appalachian National Scenic Trail
2) Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
3) Ellis Island
4) Gateway National Recreation Area (Sandy Hook)
5) Great Egg Harbor River
6) Lower Delaware - National Wild and Scenic River
7) Morristown National Historical Park
8) New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route
9) Pinelands National Reserve
10) Paterson Great Falls
11) Thomas Edison National Historical Park (West Orange Laboratory)
12) Washington - Rochambeau National Historical Trail

As QRPers know, activating a park doesn't have to be an elaborate affair. In fact, most of the times we QRPers go out and about in the field, it's a minimalist affair - but that doesn't mean minimalist results. A radio, some wire and a battery - and you're good to go.

It will be interesting to see if QRPers and SOTA operators can take the lead on this one and show the Amateur Radio world what we're capable of and what we can do. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity to take members from your club and show them what QRP can do - and perhaps win a few converts in the process.

QRP and the Great Outdoors - perfect together!

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

A couple of things

then bed.

I just got home from some CERT training on how to assist EMS personnel in the event an evacuation by medivac helicopter is requested. It was an informative class, and didn't last long; but it was a long day at work and I am beat. I wanted, however, to make my QRP friends aware of a couple of things.

First - Friday, October 30th - Mischief  Night, Devil's Night, Prank Night, Goosey Night, Cabbage Night or whatever you might call it is the night for the Zombie Shuffle this year. THIS IS A FUN ONE! If you've never QRP contested before - this is where you get your feet wet. It is more of an operating event than a hard core contest.

And to give you a sense of the sense of humor behind the Zombie Shuffle  -why is it called the Zombie Shuffle and not the Zombie Sprint?  Because Zombies can't run! Believe me folks, this is one QRP contest that does not take itself too seriously!

So do yourself a huge favor - go to the Zombie Shuffle Webpage, read the rules and download yourself an official Zombie badge, and plane to join in on the fun. And there's lots of fun to be had.

Second - got this notice through an e-mail. There's a new QRP publication in town!

This is the official promo - NOT written by W2LJ:

New ‘Minimum QRP’ book released A new operating guide is helping amateur worldwide get the most from their QRP station.

‘Minimum QRP: Doing more with under five watt amateur radio’ contains tested strategies for low power success on the HF bands. Equipment, antennas and operating are all covered in detail.

Its crafty tips for working the most with the least should become more valuable as solar activity declines in the next few years.

‘Minimum QRP’ is for a broad worldwide audience. Newcomers, the more experienced and those returning to amateur radio are already benefiting from its contents with brisk early sales since its release.

‘Minimum QRP’ is exclusively available as a Kindle e-book. You can read it on a portable e-reader, your home PC or other device. Packed with over 200 pages of information it's yours for under $5.00 (US Dollars).

Further details, including a cover photo, table of contents, list of reviews and ordering information can be found at www.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/miniqrp.htm

About the author: Peter Parker VK3YE is a long-time builder, writer and video producer on QRP topics. Minimum QRP is his first ebook. (Note by W2LJ - When he's not saving the world as Spider-Man - OK, folks, just a joke that I couldn't resist!)

His articles and videos appear at www.vk3ye.com , www.youtube.com/vk3ye and various magazines including Sprat, Lo-Key and Amateur Radio. Enquiries about Minimum QRP: vk3ye@qsl.net

You folks know I don't normally go around advertising people's products - but Peter Parker? C'mon! I've been a Spider-Man fan since I was about 6 years old! How could I not spread news about a book written by a guy named Peter Parker? And it's about QRP to boot!  I may even plunk down the half of a sawbuck for this one!

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

Can you hear me now?

If you've never spoken with someone from New Jersey now's your chance to hear what we sound like.... nasal, New Jersey accent (dawg, cawfee) and all. We don't sound like what you've heard on "The Sopranos" - really.

A couple of weeks after the Skeeter Hunt, I had the delightful opportunity to sit down with Eric Guth 4Z1UG, author and producer of the "QSO Today" series of podcasts. We had a very pleasant conversation, which I enjoyed immensely. Eric deemed it worthwhile enough to turn into a podcast which you can find it at  http://www.qsotoday.com/

This is a fantastic site. Since our QSO, I have spent many hours listening to Hams of note, such as Pete Julian N6QW, Chuck Adams K7QO, Budd Drummond W3FF, Steve Galchutt WG0AT, and others. There are a lot more.

How I was selected to join this group, I'll never know. But I can tell you that I look forward to each new episode that Eric comes out with. Eric's guests span the wide spectrum of Amateur Radio interests. If there's something about Amateur Radio that intrigues you, odds are Eric has spoken with someone about it, or will be, in the near future.

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

Giving back to Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio, without a doubt, is the world's greatest hobby. It allows you to talk to like minded radio operators around the world, for free (once you've paid for the equipment!), anytime, anywhere. It provides hours of relaxing fun (ragchews), exciting fun (contesting, DX), frustrating fun (contesting, DX), exhilarating fun (SOTA, IOTA, DXpeditions) and even gratifying fun (public service communications).

And one of the unique things about Amateur Radio is that the participants who recognize this are particularly selfless. They go out of their way to "spread the wealth" and entice others into the hobby - perpetuating it for years to come. There are many examples of this, and I think it's something a lot of Hams don't even notice or perhaps take for granted. And it's a lot more common than many of us realize - when you really take the time to think about it.

The Internet, once thought of as "The End" of Amateur Radio, has actually become its best friend. It has given Amateur Radio a renewed breath of fresh air and has given Amateur Radio ops around the world an international "clubhouse" where they can meet, greet and share "war stories" with each other in a way never possible before. Think of all the things that are available to us now that we never had before:

Blogs -  Have an niche interest in Amateur Radio? Look it up on Google. Undoubtedly, some Ham somewhere has started a blog about it, where they are willing to share information about their special passion, in depth.

Podcasts - Podcasts provide hours of listening entertainment.  Podcasts such as QSO Today by Eric Guth 4Z1UG, or 100 Watts and a Wire by Christian Cudnik K0STH and Kair Allen WY7YL are not only fun to listen to, but you'll undoubtedly learn a thing or two in the process.

Videocasts - Ham Radio video series such as Ham Nation, the various live streams brought to us by W5UKB and the plethora of videos on YouTube are like having Ham Radio TV available to us 24/7, 365 days a year.

E-zines and E-books - There are many out there. But the ones that stick out in my mind are the K9YA Telegraph, which is an excellent magazine type publication by any standard.  Also out there are E-books, such as "Solder Smoke" which is available through Amazon.com, as well as a particularly entertaining book, "Worlds Best Hobby" by Dave Bell W6AQ, also available through Amazon.com.

Training materials - The "No Nonsense" instructions manuals by Dan Roamnchik KB6NU, which are available online have helped many a new Ham earn their very first license or upgrade to a higher class license.

E-mail reflectors - This is where the average "Joe Ham" can post his ideas and thoughts. I can't tell you how many invaluable tips and ideas I have received from e-mail reflectors. Yes, there's also a lot of garbage to wade through, but if you think about it, e-mail reflectors are like having "Hints and Kinks" with you all the time.

The opportunities to give back to the hobby are limitless. It enriches the hobby and helps to perpetuate it, and the beauty of it is that a lot of Hams give back without even realizing it. Many people consider "The Golden Age" of Amateur Radio to be in the 50s and 60s. Years in the future, when we have had the opportunity to look back, I think the "Golden Age of Amateur Radio" will be what we are experiencing right now.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

They ARE attempting a comeback, after all.

I'm sure many of you got the same email from Heathkit, either yesterday or early this morning. I had to admit that I thought it was going to be another one of those "We're still coming back!" emails, but this one had some substance.

It looks like the initial offerings are a table AM radio as well as some parts for already existing Heathkit products, namely the HW8, as well as their weather instruments.

Everything can be found here: https://shop.heathkit.com/shop

Obviously, it's a small fledgling offering, but every journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.  So before we make any harsh judgments, let's all take a deep breath, wish the new "Heathkit" well, and see how this all shakes out.

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

All certificated out.

I got all the 2015, and about ten remaining 2014 (sigh) Skeeter Hunt certificates enveloped and addressed. I will buy stamps tomorrow and will get them in the mail this week. Hopefully, that will be as early as Tuesday. I think I will be able to get away with two 1st Class stamps on each domestic certificate. Before inserting a certificate in an envelope, I put each one in a manila file folder first, in order to prevent the certificates from becoming bent or folded. I'll have to weigh one on the Post Office scale, but I think each is under two ounces.

The California QSO Party seemed to be all the rage on the bands this weekend. If I had a nickel for each "CQ P" that I heard this weekend, I'd be a rich QRPer. I worked VP2MLJ on both 10 and 15 Meters this weekend, both times with QRP power. I think the "LJ" at the end of my callsign may have been good for a few extra Watts.

I listened for the Chesterfield Island DXpedition, and actually heard them on 30 Meters this morning. They were too weak to work, and the DX Cluster said they were only working EU stations anyway, so.......

I am thinking that this may be another DXpedition where my best chances are going to come shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset. Hopefully, I will get them in the log, but if not, life will go on with nary a hiccup.

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

A shameless plug that worked

About a week ago, I received this e-mail in my G-mail account from Scott N0HOT. I don't check my G-mail account on a daily basis, so I didn't discover this until yesterday:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByXPhBf853_qaDVTemNEVklzVkttODFaRlJfSGdVcGpWQV9R/view?usp=sharing

As a Morse Code fan, I thought this was pretty nifty! I don't plug may people's products on this blog, but I thought this was neat enough to warrant an exception.  I guess I'm like Dan KB6NU, in that I consider myself a CW Geek. And for 99 cents, it's not like it's going to break the bank or anything - right?

So I think I'm going to pop on in to the iTunes store (if I can ever remember what the heck my Apple password is) and will purchase this little app.

Well played, Scott. Well played, indeed.

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

Stormy weather

The Summer of 2015 will probably be remembered very fondly by most Central New Jerseyans. It never got blisteringly hot. It was never chilly to speak of, while at the same time, the thermometer broke the 100 F (37 C) mark only once or twice.

But it WAS dry. Very dry. The last serious rainfall that we got this Summer was Field Day Weekend (of course). Since Field Day, you can probably count the number of days that it has rained on both your hands, and still have a finger or two left over.

Lawn mowing was sporadic. During a normal year, that's a weekly chore. This summer, there were stretches of weeks before mowing became necessary. My lawn is crunchy in spots, bare in a few, and green in others. The trees have been dropping leaves early, due to stress from lack of rainfall. According to the weather people, as of right now, we are about 5 inches (13 cm) below where we should be in rainfall for the year.

And it looks like that's all about to change:

Say "Hello" to Hurricane Joaquin. He may be visiting us this weekend. As always, weather prediction is still more of an art than a science, but it's looking like a fair assumption that he will be bringing us a lot of rain, even if he downgrades to Tropical Storm. As it is, we're experiencing a rainy week. Joaquin might just be icing on the cake. Come next Tuesday, we may have received a drought busting 5+ inches of rain.

The ARRL has announced that the Hurricane Net has already been activated. The Simulated Emergency Test is due to be held this coming weekend. Maybe it won't be so "simulated" after all. Our fingers are crossed that we will not be experiencing another Sandy like result, where power was out for five days.

72 de Larry W2LJ  

QRP - When you care to send the very least !  

Bless me Holy Father, for I have sinned .......

Yes, Holy Father, I had to resort to picking up the microphone in order to work the Special Event stations commemorating your visit to the United States. Oh, the humanity!

I know, Holy Father, I am ashamed and shocked too. But no matter how long I tuned, there were no CW stations to be found, so I had to dig out my microphone so that I could work K2P and WM3PEN on 40 Meters.

From here on, I promise to go to back on the narrow bandwidth path. Holy Father, if you have a few spare moments, would you please tell those fine Amateur Radio ops who are there in Philadelphia with you to start pounding some brass?

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

THAT would have been nice!

17 Meters was nice during lunchtime. I worked YU65GMN, which is in Serbia. I am wondering if with the "65" in the call sign, if this wasn't some kind of special event station.

Then I worked NP3CW a little farther up the band. I've worked Julio a couple of times before, and I just wanted to let him know his signal was loud.

The catch of the day would have been Madagascar. 5R8UI was very loud, and this may have been the first time I've ever heard Madagascar on the air, if memory serves me correctly. Even though he was very loud, my 5 Watts and my Buddistick were not equal to the task at hand ...... this time. Perhaps if I had more time, I would have snagged them. But not today.

So, what's life without goals, anyway?

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

Worked a QRP Celebrity

I spent a good portion of lunchtime trying to bust the pileup for T46X on 17 Meters.

No dice today, and that's a bit disappointing. Usually, NJ to Cuba is "easy-peasey-lemon-squeezey", but there's 8 days left to work them.  Maybe I'll have better luck from home with the "big antennas".

After T46X signed QRT, I still had some time to kill, so I went on down the road to the 20 Meter QRP Watering Hole environs. There I heard K7TQ calling CQ.  Randy K7TQ and I have worked many, many times before in the various QRP Sprints. Over the years, it's never been more than that, though, so I jumped at the opportunity.

We were both 449 and fighting QSB, so it wasn't a bona fide ragchew, but it was pleasant and (very) cool, nonetheless. Randy was working with 1 Watt to a Yagi at the 60' (18 Meters) level. We had good enough conditions to exchange weather reports and for Randy to tell me how he participated in the Salmon Run last weekend as a mobile station.

Randy Foltz K7TQ is one of the what I-consider-to-be "QRP Celebrities".  He is extremely well known throughout the QRP community and he appears in just about every QRP Sprint and contest that there is.  It was a pleasure to exchange a little bit more than the usual "559 ID 5W / 559 NJ 5W".  K7TQ is one of those iconic call signs that just about every active QRPer recognizes right away.

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

NAQCC Anniversary celebration in October

The North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC) will be celebrating its 11th anniversary the week of October 12-18 with some fun on-air activities.

Special event stations N1A, N2A, N3A, … N0A will be on the air from all over the United States, and special certificates and QSL cards will be available for these contacts. The stations will be operating CW at QRP power levels and will be announced on our special spotting page (http://www.naqcc.info/spot_schedule.php ) in almost real-time. (You do not need to be QRP but we encourage you to give it a try.) 

On Tuesday evening of that week (0030-0230Z Oct 13) we will have our usual monthly sprint but with the bonus that all NAQCC members who participate will be automatically entered into a drawing for some great prizes. 

More detailed information about our anniversary celebration can be found in our September newsletter at http://www.naqcc.info/newsletter_207.pdf . Information about the NAQCC, including a membership application (it’s free), can be found at http://www.naqcc.info/ .

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

Worked three during lunchtime

Which hasn't happened in a while. Could Ol' Sol be coming back to himself?

1) KA4CLM - Arn in Live Oak, FL - but the 20 Meter QSO got busted up by QSB.

2) S57S - Alex in Slovenia - 579 to him, 559 to me on 17 Meters

3) AB7RW - County Hunter in Iowa. I'm not a County Hunter, but just joined the pileup to see if I could bust it. I did.

I wanted to work Serge EW1TZ in Belarus on 17 Meters, but he wasn't hearing me. Funny, he was stronger that Alex in Slovenia who heard me first try.  Funny stuff, this QRP DX is.

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

RFTB - meh.

Only six QSOs here in the first hour, but RBN is hearing me:

More activity would be nice.

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

Going retro

Thanks to Bob W3BBO, I have a line on acquiring a Drake 2-NT, which was my Novice transmitter.

 

 

Last weekend, Bob and a friend went to a meeting of the Lake Erie Boatanchors, and spotted one.  He knows I have been looking to get my hands on one, so he got the owner's contact information. We have been corresponding back and forth and it looks like I may purchase it soon.

 

The next question will be - what to use as a receiver?  As mentioned before, I had a Heathkit HR-1680, but the prices I have been seeing on used ones are a bit more than I would like to spend.

 

Any suggestions for a decent Novice receiver of the 60s or 70s that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg?

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

1st lunchtime DX in two weeks!

This week is the week that I refer to as "Hell Week" at work.  One week, every month, we do inventory at all of the 40+ remote locations that the company owns, nationwide. We also do disposals at the same time. I'm the one who coordinates and schedules the technicians doing the inventories. I also arrange for either the shipment or pickup of old outdated computer and networking equipment to go to a recycling facility. I also have to examine and sign off on each inventory, a time consuming process.

We accomplish this by breaking up the sites over three days - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Needless to say, those days are hectic and lunch is eaten at the desk, in order to be available for telephone calls, from both technicians and trucking companies Today was the first day this week that I have been able to take a breath and the first day that I was able to make it out to the Jeep for some lunchtime QRP.

The bands seemed to be inactive - not dead, as I was hearing some signals - but not much activity. Then, on 17 Meters, at about 18.072 MHz, I heard a very loud JW/OX5M. I knew that OX is Greenland, and I was pretty sure the JW prefix was Svalbard. In any case, he was 599 at peaks with QSB taking him as low as 579 at times.

This was one of those times when I immediately got the gut feeling that "5 Watts will be enough."  Since there wasn't all that much other activity (at least that I was hearing), I decided to stay with him until he was in the books.

It didn't take long. Mia was running the pileup (split, of course) with great skill, answering a call and then moving slightly up after each - eventually running the "racetrack pattern".  I absolutely love when DX stations do this, as I feel it gives the QRPer a better than average shot of busting the pileup.  In this case, it becomes a matter of figuring out the pattern, placing yourself on the right frequency and then carefully timing your call. As someone else said, "Wits ...... not Watts."  Maybe that sounds a little too pretentious - how about "Technique ..... not Watts."? Or better yet, how about "Successfully getting in the way"?

I had Mia in the log within about 10 minutes worth of trying. Did I mention how he was managing the pileup with great skill?  Not only that, but he was also giving out his callsign VERY frequently. How many times have you run across the pileup, only to have to wait agonizing minutes for the DX to give out their call - only to find out it's someone you have worked recently, or perhaps it's not anything you particularly want to chase at the moment?

I have no idea what Mia was using up there on Svalbard, but his signal was terrific and this image from Reverse Beacon Network bears that out.

Thanks, Mia, for your great ears, patience and skill. You made my work day all that much nicer!

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

For every dark cloud, there's a silver lining.

I was hoping to go to the Delaware Valley Radio Association Hamfest this Saturday.  It's being held in a park not all that far away from where my sister lives. I know the area rather well and have been there before, so finding it would not have been a problem. The only Hamfest I have been to this year has been the Raritan Valley Radio Club, of which I am a member - so most of that Hamfest is spent working.

My darlin' wife Marianne reminded me that our son, Joey, has a dental appointment for 9:00 AM this Saturday.  She's working, so I am on the hook. I called in an attempt to re-schedule, but there are no open Saturday appointments until January.

Busy dentist!

So, while there will be no Hamfest for W2LJ this weekend, the consolation is that both QRP Afield and the NJ QSO Party are this weekend. As of this moment in time, the forecast is for clear and sunny skies with a high of 85F. The plan is to set up the Jackite in the backyard, hoist up at PAR END FEDZ and go to town (hopefully), for a while in the afternoon.

We've gotten some rain for the first time in a very long time, so lawn mowing may have to happen first - but after that, I should be a free man for the afternoon. 

Now all I need is for Ol' Sol to cooperate and not throw a temper tantrum, or flares, or x-rays, or whatever he's prone to throw.

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

A grave injustice!

I began work on the 2015 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt certificates this morning, and I have discovered that I have committed a grave injustice to the following Hams:

Malcolm VE2DDZ
Don KB1HZU
Art WB8ENE
Eric N0YET
Peter KB1PBA
Tom AC7A
Flying Pigs International - Mid Tennessee Chapter WA4PIG
Bill VE3XT
Pickett AD4S

All of you are owed 2014 certificates that I just plumb forgot to mail out! I found them in the box that I keep the certificate paper in.  Rest assured they will go out and you will have them - very soon!  My utmost apologies, guys.

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

Never forget

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

The Magic Word

"FREE" !

How can you pass up something for free?

You can't.

In case you are not aware, you can pick up Bill Meara's book, "Solder Smoke" for free from Amazon.com.  The actual "in your hands" paperback book is $19.99 (from Amazon), but the kindle edition is free.

You don't need to own a kindle to read this, which is the beauty of it. The kindle app is also free, and you can load it onto any Windows PC or Android device.  Sorry, I'm not up on Apple devices, but something tells me that the kindle app is probably available for them, too.

So how can you pass this up?

You can't.

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

Harrumph!

Do you like these band conditions?

I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.

I do not like
these band conditions.

I do not like these propagations.
They fill me with much trepidations.

I do not like them
here and now.
I do not like them
anyhow.

I do not like these band conditions.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

I want to play with my radio.

But the sun don't want to make it go.

I do not like these band conditions.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

I want the K-index to come down.

Until it does I'll wear a frown.

I do not like these band conditions.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

With sincerest apologies to Dr. Seuss,

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

What's next?

Now that the shack is cleaned, and I can move around down there and actually do things, what's next? It seems there's always a list of stuff to be done. These are the tasks that I hope to accomplish Amateur Radio-wise,  in the near future.

1) First and foremost - get the Skeeter certificates designed, printed out and mailed out. Yes, a new certificate is needed as this year's rendition (and hopefully, the certificate for years to come) will incorporate the new "official" Skeeter Hunt logo as designed by Jeff Murray K1NSS.

2) Finally get to building my Ozark regen receiver kit that I ordered from the 4 States QRP Group.

3) September 19th - QRP Afield.  Don't know if there will be any rule changes this year, but here's the link from last year.  Also the same weekend is the NJ QSO Party. I really want to attempt to make somewhat of an effort in joining in on the NJQP as a QRP station this year. Maybe I can combine the two events.

4) September 27th - Peanut Power Sprint - the season closer for the Summer outdoor QRP contesting season. This is an extremely fun event, and it's only two hours long - designed on purpose not to eat up your whole day. This year is the third year, and the first two years I came in 2nd place in the Salted Division. Will the 3rd time be the charm for W2LJ? Somehow, I doubt it!  ;-)

5) SET in October. Last year, I scripted an event for the South Plainfield CERT/RACES/ARES team. This year, I am expecting that we will be involved in whatever Middlesex County is planning. Our county's RACES/ARES program was dormant for a long time, as the Director became ill and no one immediately stepped to the plate to fill his shoes. We now have at least two really competent Hams at the helm now and we should be moving forward from here on out.

6) I recently ordered and received the upgraded KX3 heatsink from Elecraft. I want to get that installed and get on the air with the shack KX3 for some PSK and maybe some JT contacts. And maybe, just maybe, participate in the RTTY Roundup in January, which I have not done in about 20 years. For about five years in a row, in the mid 90s, I entered every year and always met my goal of making over 100 RTTY QSOs. That would be fun to get into again.

7) SKN this year will be conducted exclusively with the HW8. Again, I owe the pleasure of having this beauty to Dave KD2FSI. Ah, the memories! Thanks, again, Dave.  I don't think I'll ever be able to say that too much.

Of course, in between all this stuff comes important family and volunteer events that I am involved in. Family always comes first and supersedes anything else. Church and volunteer activities come next and then Amateur Radio. Whew! No wonder it's soooo hard when it comes time to actually stop, step back and take a breath for a while.  It gets to the point where all this activity becomes automatic and inactivity (rest, by any other name) just feels so weird and out of place.

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

Web designers of the world

you can sleep soundly tonight!

You have no competition from W2LJ - whatsoever. I have finished the 2015 Skeeter Hunt Soapbox and have posted it to the Web. A bona fide Web designer probably could have done in an hour what took me a lot longer to accomplish. And I bet it would look a lot better, too. Mr. Originality or Mr. Creativity, I am not!

In all their non-glory, they are there for your perusal. Just click and go!

2015 Scoreboard

2015 Soapbox

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

Got some stuff done today

The bands seemed pretty dead to me today, unless you were operating in the CW Open, which is being sponsored by the CW Ops. Since I'm not big on long contests I didn't participate, but I did pretty much finish up the shack cleaning / reorganization project I started a few weekends ago. I didn't take any "before" photos, as it would have been just too embarrassing; but here's an overall "after" photo.

It may look like it's still cluttered to you, but believe me, this is day and night different from what I let it get to.  Here's a close up of the operating desk.

You can see the KX3 with the KXPA100 amp to the right. Above it is the HW8 and power supply that were gifted to me by Dave Hackett KD2FSI. The Begali paddle goes with the KX3, my Elecraft Bencher paddle goes to the HW8. To the left of the HW8 is an OHR WM1. My laptop and the auxiliary monitor have the Skeeter Hunt logo as their desktop background. I also took the world map that was on the wall above the operating position and moved it to the side. I used the space to display my meager collection of operating awards.

You can see the Flying Piggie that hangs from the ceiling. The DXCC certificates and my cherished QRP-ARCI awards are below them as well as my WPX certificate. Here's a closeup of the QRP gear.

Shortly after I took these I worked EA2SS on 30 Meters. My only DX for the day. In addition, on some of the other shack walls, in addition to the obligatory QSL card displays, I have:

A set of my old N2ELW license plates hang above the shack doorway. These were the ones I had on my Nissan Sentra back in the late 90s. That's why they have the "-2" on them, as they were a second set.  The original set were on my 95 Jeep Wrangler, which got totalled in a hit and run accident. I wasn't able to get them off before the Jeep got junked.

In addition to Amateur Radio stuff on the walls, it's very easy to figure out that I am very much a child of the 1960s Space Race. I cut my eyeteeth while watching all the manned spaceflights on television.  I have these commemorative plates hanging on one side of a shelf:

There are three more that I have that finish out the set, but I have to get those roundy frames. I also have my complete set of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo mission patches framed and hanging on the other side of that same shelf:

This is my version of my "Fortress of Solitude". So if you're ever unfortunate enough to actually meet me on the air, and it's not lunchtime when I'm at work, or during an outdoor QRP event - this is probably where I'm sitting.

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

Because of this

and this

I was able to have a QSO with ON4UN on 20 Meters during lunchtime today.  It took a huge net to grab this little fish. Thanks John, for pulling my tiny little signal out of the aether!

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

156th Anniversary

It was this time of year, from August 28th to September 2nd, 1859 that the Earth experienced what was to be known as The Carrington Event. On September 1st, a solar flare was observed by two British amateur astronomers, Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson.

This was a coronal mass ejection that occurred during Cycle 10. It was a solar storm of such great intensity that reportedly, people as far south in Florida and Cuba were able to see aurora. In the Rockies, gold miners woke up in the middle of the night and started preparing breakfast because they thought it was daybreak. The aurora was so bright here in the northeast, that people outside were able to read newspapers by the aurora's glow.

Telegraph stations (our forerunners) were hit particularly hard. It was reported that some telegraph poles threw sparks into the air. Telegraph operators reported that not only did they receive shocks when they tried to operate, but that they were also able to continue to operate their telegraph apparatus after disconnecting it from the power supply.

I can only imagine the damage that would occur today if we suffered a direct blast from the sun as we did in 1859. I'm pretty sure that not only would the power grid be very badly affected, but that telephone and radio communications of all types would probably be non-existent, and much, much more.

Here are some interesting links:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/

http://www.history.com/news/a-perfect-solar-superstorm-the-1859-carrington-event

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

Meh

Boy, the sunspot cycle is definitely on the decline. And it's not a gentle "let's go down the water slide into the pool" kind of decline.  It's more of a "let's do a belly-flop and let's get soaked" kind of decline.

Just a few months ago, I was going out to the Jeep during lunchtime.  2 or 3 DX QSOs during lunchtime was relatively normal. 4 or 5 was a treat. Lately the bands have been dead, dead, dead, DEAD!

I tried to work Danny KD0SZS on 20 Meters and it was a struggle.  Warren, NJ to Springfield, MO was a struggle. Danny gave me a 459 and I gave him a 559. Those RSTs were made moot by the QSB that decided to "pull the plug" on both of us.

"Look, Ma ...... no acne!"

 

 

15 Meters was dead, 17 Meters had one QSO going - a G3 station with a W7 station. Both were pretty loud, but were engaged in a friendly ragchew - so I left them to their conversation. 20 Meters had some signals, so that's when I decided to go on up to "the watering hole". I heard Danny call CQ and we exchanged the basics - and that was it.

 

Here's hoping that conditions improve somewhat as we head into Autumn.

 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!