A St. Patrick's Day Story

Sort of - more of a personal story; and believe it or not, one that DOES have something to do with Amateur Radio.

Flashback to 1997, the year I met my wife, Marianne.  We had dated a few times before that fateful event that every boyfriend goes through - meeting the girlfriend's parents. My future in-laws were great!  We got along and loved each other very much, but of course when you meet them for the very first time, you never know how it's going to turn out.

As I recall the incident now, I was sitting at my in-law's kitchen table. We had finished eating something and we were sitting around, shooting the breeze. We were just making harmless small talk when somehow, and for some reason, I had mentioned that I was an Amateur Radio operator.

My future Mother-In-Law, who was Irish - and I mean Irish (born in Donegal) came to complete dead silence.  I had gotten a strange look, and I felt the room in the temperature drop about 20 degrees.

"You're a radio operator, you say?" she asked in her distinctive Irish brogue.

I responded in the affirmative and then explained my small station, my two small antennas and the various things that I liked to do in the hobby. The response that I got was non-committal in either way, not unfavorable; but not enthusiastic, either.

Later on, I asked Marianne what that was all about. It was then that I got the story. Her uncle, Lawrence McCrea, who was my future Mother-In-Law's brother-in-law, was a farmer in Ireland. He was also a Ham. More about this in a bit. Uncle Larry had a big farm and he also had a big antenna on a tower right next to the farmhouse. One day, during a thunderstorm, Uncle Larry's tower took a direct lightning strike and the farmhouse suffered from quite the fire as a result.

In my Mother-In-Law's mind, that meant every Amateur Radio antenna, no matter what kind it is, is automatically a magnet for lightning. She was deathly afraid that I would bring fire down upon whatever house we would purchase in the future.

Many years later, back in 2009 or so, my Mother-In-Law would suffer a fall which resulted in a broken hip. After her surgery, she came to live with us for a period of three months. I don't think she was too happy about staying with us, knowing that there were antennas involved! She never said anything about it to me directly, but I think that was always in the back of her mind. She went on to live in Senior housing, very independently for another three years. We lost my Mom and my Mother-In-Law the same year, in 2012. I miss them both, so much!

I have no idea what Uncle Larry's call sign was. I never met him; and I think he might have been a Silent Key by the time Marianne and I got married. All I know was that he lived in the area of Donegal in Ireland.  Marianne has since informed me that he was from Abbeylands, Ballyshannon, County Donegal.

If there are any Hams out there, particularly Irish Hams who might have worked him, or might have known him, I'd appreciate hearing from you. If anyone has a QSL card from Lawrence McCrea and could fire off a scanned copy to me, I'd really love that!

In any event, to all my friends, particularly my Irish friends - Happy St. Partick's Day!

May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you, 

Falling gently on your head, refreshing your soul 

With the sweetness of little flowers newly blooming. 

May the strength of the winds of Heaven bless you, 

Carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean

Sparkling after in the sunlight. 

May the blessing of God's earth be on you, 

And as you walk the roads, 

May you always have a kind word 

for those you meet.

72 de Larry W2LJ (Polish by blood, Irish by marriage)

QRP - When you care to say the very least!

What the ..... ????

Every now and then, I'll "Google" Amateur Radio and hit the news tab, to see if anything interesting pops up.  This time, a story came up about an 80 year old Ham from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, who was rescued from his tower earlier this week. It would appear that he was climbing his tower to secure something in advance of one the Nor'easters to go through lately.

Two things in the article caught my eye. The mention that he is 80 years old is not one of them. I know a few 80 year olds who are still quite spry. In fact, they may be doing better than this 61 year old. No, the first thing that caught my eye was this sentence:

"William Welch, an electrician and avid amateur radio operator, got his sneaker caught atop a 20-foot-tall backyard antenna after he scaled the structure to secure it ahead of the impending nor’easter, his wife Betty told The Times."

Sneakers? Really? Now look, I'm not a tower owner or climber, but it would seem to be common sense to me that were you to climb a tower, you'd want to be wearing work boots with a steel toe and even perhaps a steel reinforced sole. To this uneducated Amateur Radio Op, sneakers don't seem to be the "de rigueur" for tower climbs.

However, this next part REALLY caught my eye:

"Firefighters moved back and forth over the ladder and put a helmet on Welch and fitted him with a harness. The harness was fastened to the tower, so Welch couldn’t fall. "

So you mean to tell me that he climbed a tower with NO hard hat or climbing harness?  I sincerely hope this was just a case of bad reporting. I know I'm NOT the voice of experience or expertise ....... but seriously? No hard hat, no climbing harness, and it seems like no climbing partner, unless you count his wife who may have been watching from the ground.

We're finishing up an 8 week TECHNICIAN CLASS license course and even there, tower climbing safety is really stressed. Hard hat, climbing harness and NEVER CLIMB ALONE are stressed over and over and over!

If this is par for the course for this gentleman, than he's very lucky to have made it to 80. I hope this caused him to take pause and re-evaluate his past practice, and perhaps bone up on tower climbing safety. And while he's at it, perhaps say a prayer of thanks that things didn't turn out way worse than they did.

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

Batman humor

Although I'm a Marvel fan - this was too good to pass by.

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

Maker's Day

Yesterday was New Jersey Maker's Day, and I previously mentioned, the local venue was the John F. Kennedy Library in Piscataway, NJ. The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club was asked to participate, and we came up with a plan, and did. Participate ......that is.

The plan was to acquire 20 Simple Morse Code Practice Oscillator Kits from the 4 States QRP Group and to make them available free of charge, to any youngster of reasonable age who was willing to build one (with parental approval, of course). This was to be a totally mentored project, with a SPARC member sitting one on one with the builder, guiding them through the entire process. Our goal was to teach basic kit building and soldering skills, perhaps a little electronics theory and work in some interest in Amateur Radio in the process.

The kits were acquired through donations from a local business and the Boyle Family Education Foundation, a local concern that donates to causes that further the education of local youth. SPARC members provided the tools, the soldering stations, the know how and the passion for passing on knowledge and love for our great hobby onto a younger generation.  From past experience, we knew that kids are fascinated with Morse Code - simply because it's different. That's why we picked the 4 States QRP Group kit. It had a small number of components, it's easy to build in a relatively short amount of time, and it left each builder with a memento of the day.

To say the day was a rousing success would be an understatement. Our section was one of the most popular and the most visited. We were right up there with the robotics display.  In addition to the actual kit building, Dave KD2FSI had his rig set up to a 24 inch monitor and had his laptop running a program (Fldigi, I think) that was decoding actual Morse Code being sent on the air. Dave set up his AlexLoop and was monitoring the BERU contest on 40 Meters. Kids and adults alike got a kick out of seeing the code made understandable for them, live and real time.

We had a reception table where SPARC members took requests for kit builds and there was plenty of ARRL material about Amateur Radio available to anyone who wanted it. Our Section Manager, Rob Roschewsk KA2PBT came down for the morning and even served as a mentor for a kit build.

Even though the kit was a simple, through hole build, we allotted an hour for each. We took into consideration that the youngsters would probably have no soldering experience and that learning how to solder would be part of the process. We had four stations set up, so we planned to get four kits assembled per hour, with five hourly time slots to fill up the day.

From start to finish, everything went very well. There was a small glitch in that a number of the kits were missing some screws, but a quick run to Home Depot by yours truly took care of that situation. The ratio of kits that worked right off the bat to those that needed some TLC was about 50/50. In one incident, a transistor was soldered in backwards, in another the battery contacts were reversed. The code practice oscillator was rugged enough to withstand these mishaps, and once corrected, they buzzed away, quite happily.  There were of course, the expected cold solder joints and those were corrected, my failing eyesight notwithstanding. The number of solder connections on each circuit board was low enough so that when I had to, touching up every solder connection in a kit took less than a minute.

As we were breaking down and cleaning up at 4:00 PM, the person from the library responsible for putting on Maker's Day came by and told us how pleased she was with our participation.  Not only were we invited to come back next year, but we were also asked about the possibility of running a Technician Licensing Class some time later this year, at the library.

So all in all, Amateur Radio had a nice showing at Maker's Day. Our next project is to make ourselves available at a Boy Scout Merit Badge Fair in April. And the beat about spreading the word about Amateur Radio goes on!

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

Weather

Not an Amateur Radio post in the strictest sense.

The weather has been the big topic in this area since last Friday. That's when we had a Nor'easter blow through that caused a lot of problems. For the most part, precipitation wasn't a problem for most areas. In fact, it snowed throughout the day with no accumulations, except at the higher elevations, mostly in the Northwest part of New Jersey. Once again, like Sandy some five years ago, the wind was the big factor.

The winds were so strong that my PWS (personal weather station) which is mounted to a mast, anchored in a 100 pound bucket of cement, got blown over a bit during the event. It didn't tip over and hit the ground, but the wind leaned it just a bit (maybe 20 degrees from true vertical) and the anemometer was blocked by a piece of tall brush overhanging from my neighbor's yard. So for a period of about two hours, the anemometer wasn't spinning and recording wind data.  I up-righted it when I got home from work and secured the mast to the chain link fence with two bungee cords to prevent that from happening again.  To that point, I had a recorded gust of about 30 mph, but God only knows what I missed.

I'm sure I missed recording the record high wind gusts for the day because there were a lot of trees down in town; and as a result a lot of downed power lines. Knock on wood, our house lost power for all of about 5 seconds, more of a power blip than anything else. Long enough for the clock on the kitchen stove to display a "PF", though.

There was no damage, per se, at the W2LJ residence. Some minor twigs and branches came down, only. In fact, there was a side benefit, and here comes the Amateur Radio part of this post. When I elevated my W3EDP in the maple in the backyard last Fall, the wire got tangled up in the branches and took on a zig-zag kind of route.  The wind actually caused the branches to move enough to un-snare the wire some!  It's still not perfectly untangled, but it's a lot better than it was.

Tomorrow is another story. Another Nor'easter, but this time the track is different and the air is colder. Currently, the forecast for us is for 6 - 12 inches of snow. The wet, heavy March kind of snow. I'm not looking forward to shoveling and I'm not looking forward to driving back and forth to and from work in the mess of it all.  It certainly would be a good day to hang out in the shack and make a few QSOs!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least1

Expanded Technician Class Privileges

About a year or so ago, you might remember a survey that the ARRL conducted, asking licensed Amateur Radio Ops in the USA how they felt towards a new Entry Level License Class.  According to the League, the results of that survey have led to "recommendations put forth by the ARRL Board of Directors’ Entry-Level License Committee, which explored various initiatives and gauged member opinions in 2016 and 2017."

Instead of coming up with an entirely new license class, the ARRL is petitioning the FCC to expand the privileges of the Technician Class license. In particular, they are requesting "to provide Technician licensees, present and future, with phone privileges at 3.900 to 4.000 MHz, 7.225 to 7.300 MHz, and 21.350 to 21.450 MHz, plus RTTY and digital privileges in the current Technician allocations on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters."

Furthermore, the petition included the following:

"The ARRL petition points out the explosion in popularity of various digital modes over the past 2 decades. Under the ARRL plan, the maximum HF power level for Technician operators would remain at 200 W PEP. The few remaining Novice licensees would gain no new privileges under the League’s proposal.

ARRL’s petition points to the need for compelling incentives not only to become a radio amateur in the first place, but then to upgrade and further develop skills. Demographic and technological changes call for a “periodic rebalancing” between those two objectives, the League maintains.

“There has not been such a rebalancing in many years,” ARRL said in its petition. “It is time to do that now.” The FCC has not assessed entry-level operating privileges since 2005.

The Entry-Level License Committee offered very specific, data- and survey-supported findings about growth in Amateur Radio and its place in the advanced technological demographic that includes individuals younger than 30. It received significant input from ARRL members via more than 8,000 survey responses.

“The Committee’s analysis noted that today, Amateur Radio exists among many more modes of communication than it did half a century ago, or even 20 years ago,” ARRL said in its petition.

Now numbering some 378,000, Technician licensees comprise more than half of the US Amateur Radio population. ARRL said that after 17 years of experience with the current Technician license as the gateway to Amateur Radio, it’s urgent to make it more attractive to newcomers, in part to improve upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education “that inescapably accompanies a healthy, growing Amateur Radio Service,” ARRL asserted.

ARRL said its proposal is critical to developing improved operating skills, increasing emergency communication participation, improving technical self-training, and boosting overall growth in the Amateur Service, which has remained nearly inert at about 1% per year.

The Entry-Level License Committee determined that the current Technician class question pool already covers far more material than necessary for an entry-level exam to validate expanded privileges. ARRL told the FCC that it would continue to refine examination preparation and training materials aimed at STEM topics, increase outreach and recruitment, work with Amateur Radio clubs, and encourage educational institutions to utilize Amateur Radio in STEM and other experiential learning programs."

Some things that come to mind:

1) The Technician Class license has become the de facto "Entry Class License" ever since the FCC stupidly (my opinion, please) eliminated the Novice Class license.  The Technician Class license inherited the Novice HF privileges, but they were for Morse Code only. Since the Morse Code requirement was eliminated, it seems to make sense that the Technician Class license should now include some HF Phone.  The League is NOT proposing to give Techs the same privileges that General Class licensees have - they're giving them about 1/2 (roughly) that the Generals get, so there's still an incentive to upgrade.

2) Personally, I DO NOT care for this part: "RTTY and digital privileges in the current Technician allocations on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters." Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis know the affinity I have for CW and Morse Code operations. This feels like an attempt by the ARRL to further erase that mode from existence. It's bad enough when you're in a rag chew and you get blasted away by a digital signal by an existing General, Advanced or Amateur Extra Class licensee. Can you imagine the result of all of a sudden allowing 378,000 new users in to that space with new digital privileges? The Technician Class licensees represent the bulk of the amount of Amateur Radio operators in the States. I can easily imagine that the CW bands will become overly dominated by RTTY and other digital signals, with the sudden influx of so many licensees. And yes, I know CW is allowed anywhere - and it may result that we may have to resort to using CW in new and "unconventional" places - like the unoccupied frequency areas of the "phone bands".

3) I know that many Amateur Ops resent an established license class just being handed new privileges without having to do anything extra to earn them. Whether or not that is a valid feeling is not being discussed here. I'm just making note that the sentiment exists.

4) Many Amateur Radio Ops will probably claim that this is just another attempt by the League to drive up membership.  In fact, the figures of new League membership and retention of old memberships is pretty dismal. They may have a point, they may not - that is open to debate.

Whatever your thoughts on this proposal, pro or con, remember that it's just a proposal for now. The FCC has not issued an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) as of yet; and if and when they do (they could always dismiss this before getting to that point), we will all have ample time for making our voices heard. But .........pro or con, make sure your voice IS heard, if and when the time comes. Don't leave it up "to the other guy", because that "other guy" may also be leaving it up to "the other guy" - which is YOU!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A KX2 to FT-818 Comparison

All of you out there know that I am an Elecraft person, through and through. I love my KX3(s) and would not give them up for anything.  I don't own a KX2 (BTW, I know a few people who DO own one of every rig that Elecraft sells. Talk about dedicated!) but came across the following comparison by Wayne N6KR on the Elecraft reflector, and I thought it would be interesting to post, especially as it relates to my immediately previous report about the Yaesu FT-818. So here it is:

A number of customers considering the KX2 have asked us how it compares to the newly announced Yaesu FT-818. The latter is an updated ‘817, with a bit higher power output.

In terms of form factor, the ‘818 is essentially unchanged from the ‘817. So it’s worth asking again: just how “ultra portable” can an HF radio be?

Here’s how the KX2 stacks up:


--- Half the size ---

   The KX2 occupies 24 cubic inches, vs. 52 cubic inches for the ‘818. With dimensions about that of a medium-sized HT, the KX2 is truly pocket-sized.


--- Half the weight ---

   At just 13 ounces, the KX2 weighs 60% less than the ‘818. For hikers or backpackers, this means well over a pound of total weight saved. The light weight of the KX2 is also compatible with extended hand-held operation.


--- Twice the power output ---

   The KX2 puts out up to 12 watts on 80-20 m and 10 watts on 17-10 m. This is roughly twice the FT-818’s max output (6 watts). The KX2 also includes highly effective speech compression (not included with the ‘818). Taken together, these advantages translate to more QSOs, especially in difficult conditions.


--- 50% more battery power ---

   The FT-818’s internal battery, at 18 watt-hours, has more capacity than the FT-817’s. But the KX2’s internal battery has still greater capacity -- 24 watt-hours. This extra 50% allows you to operate longer between recharges.


--- One third the current drain ---

   Typical receive-mode current drain of the KX2 is 150 mA. The FT-818, at about 400 mA, is nearly three times higher. The KX2’s lower current, combined with the larger battery size, works out to over 4 times longer operating time RX-only, or 2 to 3 times longer for typical transceive operation.


--- Built-in ATU ---

   The KX2 has a wide-range internal ATU option that allows multi-band use of ad-hoc field antennas, whips, etc. There’s no need to carry a separate antenna tuner, loading coils, or even coax: just attach a wire or collapsible whip directly to the radio, and let the ATU do the work.


--- DSP ---

   Unlike the ‘818 or ‘817, the KX2 includes digital signal processing (32-bit I.F. DSP). This provides a wide range of features typically found only on desktop radios, including: adjustable noise reduction and noise blanking, auto-notch, variable filter bandwidth/shift, audio peaking filter for CW, full stereo receive, and RX/TX EQ. You can even listen on both VFO A and B frequencies at the same time (dual watch).


--- Built-in data modes ---

   The KX2 offers built-in PSK31, PSK63, RTTY, and CW encode/decode, with text displayed on its alphanumeric LCD. CW and data-mode QSOs can even be logged internally, then sent to a PC when you return from a field outing. A computer can be connected to the KX2 via the supplied USB cable (for text display/keyboard) or via the headphone/mic jacks (for FT8 and other audio-based data modes).


--- Built-in mic, keyer paddle, and tilt stand ---

   You can use either an external mic (MH4) or the KX2’s internal mic. The internal mic is positioned optimally for HT-style operation. In CW and DATA modes, you can use an external paddle, or directly attach our KXPD2, which weighs only one ounce and uses the rig itself as the base. For table-top use, the KX2 features a fold-out tilt-stand. This creates a 3-point mount that also works well on rough surfaces (ground, rocks, etc.).


--- Large, easy-to-read display ---

   The KX2’s display is five times larger than the FT818’s, with separate VFO A and B fields, S/RF-meter and DSP passband graphic, icons showing operating state, and alphanumeric text capability. In addition, the KX2’s LCD is transflective; it is highly readable in direct sunlight. The backlight is highly efficient and can be turned off to further increase battery life.


The KX2 starts at $769, factory assembled. For additional details, see:

    http://www.elecraft.com/KX2/kx2.htm


A few notes on the KX3
----------------------

The KX3 is a bit larger than the KX2, though still smaller/lighter than competing all-band portables. It includes the following additional features:  160 and 6 meters; 2 or 4 meter optional internal transverter; nearly twice as many direct controls; and RX I/Q outputs for use with our PX3 panadapter or computer sound cards. The KX3 is available factory assembled or as a no-soldering kit.

KX3 details:

    http://www.elecraft.com/KX3/kx3.htm

So there you have it.  I know, I'm biased! And while I readily admit that I am indeed biased towards Elecraft, I would never denigrate anyone's differing opinion. My passion is portable ops and I just feel that as far as that goes, Elecraft gives you some of the best options available - especially for portable ops!.

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

Yaesu backlash

As an Elecraft user, I wasn't going to post about this, but the big news recently came out. All QRPers and Yaesu fans finally got the announcement they were waiting for. Yaesu made the public at large aware of their plan to replace the venerable FT-817 and introduced the new FT-818.

I don't think that Yaesu got the reaction that they were looking for. Instead of excited anticipation, the reaction that I've seen from bloggers and on the e-mail lists that I've read was not so much "Wow!" or "Yay!", but more like "Why bother?" or "Huh?".

The big improvements seem to be:

1) An increase in mean power output - from 5 Watts to 6 Watts
2) An improvement in the battery.
3) The TXCO, which was an option before, is now standard equipment.

I think, by and large, Yaesu fans were looking for an overhaul. They were anticipating something different than what is being offered as an improvement.

Now don't get me wrong - the FT-817 has been a very fine piece of Amateur Radio equipment. It has a large fan base and a loyal customer base. It is a top notch performer and there are a lot of very satisfied users. My personal belief is that since the FT-817 has been on the market for so many years now, that the FT-818 was envisioned as to be something radically new, not just a "minor" upgrade.

But when you look at it, QRP is still a niche market.  I don't know how the FT-817 fit into the yearly sales earnings of the Yaesu brand.  I would tend to think that if it accounted for a significant amount of their income, then they would have paid more attention to introducing something totally different.

When in doubt, always "follow the money."

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

On the periphery

I've been doing a lot of Amateur Radio, lately - but not really in a way that you'd expect. Maybe it would be better termed Amateur Radio from the Periphery?

Monday night I participated in our Statewide RACES VHF Net on behalf of Middlesex County from our County's Emergency Operations Center. My good friend Marv K2VHW checked in for the County on the HF Net. The VHF net went without a hitch. We have a 2 Meter beam on a very nice tower pointed right at NJ State Police Headquarters in West Trenton, NJ. Communicating back and forth on the 144 MHz band is like you and me sitting next to each other.

HF was another story.  The net was on 80 Meters and early on, way before the net even started, Marv heard K2EOC, the NCS for the evening, on frequency.  Marv gave him a call and signals were great! K2EOC was easily 20 over 9, if not louder and we received a good signal report, in turn. Not surprising, given the hop, eh?

About 30 minutes later, the bottom dropped out from under the band. K2EOC was not 20 over S9 any longer, in fact, they were barely audible in amongst the band noise.  Even for a couple of pretty seasoned Amateur Radio ops, who've been around the block a few times, the change in the signal was shocking. The net got it's business done, but I'd not be surprised if a few counties tried to check in, but were unsuccessful. For Marv, it took a bunch of repeats to get recognized.

Last night was our 5th week of the Technician License class that we are currently teaching. The class is going extremely well. The students are all engaged, interested and are obviously doing their reading homework. I am expecting a 100% pass rate from this group; and you'll be able to knock me over with a feather if we don't meet that goal.

Tonight is a SPARC meeting, as we make final preparations for our Maker's Day presentation on March 10th. I ordered a bunch of handouts from the ARRL today, so we can have plenty of material about Amateur Radio to hand out to interested prospects.

So all of this Amateur Radio activity without actually sitting down behind the key and making contacts! I'd hesitate to say that it's not fun, because in its own way, it is. It's just different, that's for sure!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Bad news / good news

There always seems to be a silver lining.

Wednesday evening, after work, I attended a CERT Class on the new Code Blue initiative in New Jersey that calls for opening "Warming Centers" for the homeless when weather conditions dictate the need. After class I went to the parking lot, got in my car, started it up and I noticed the little tire warning light came on. This happens from time to time when one of my tires loses pressure - it lets me know I have to add air to get the pressure back up.

This was not that.  This time as I put the car in gear and started to pull away from my parking spot, I heard that distinctive "whump, whump, whump" sound that immediately sent the message to my brain - flat tire!

I pulled to the front of the County Fire Academy building, pulled into an empty slot and got out. Sure enough, the rear driver side tire was flat.  This was no leak, this was a full out breach!  The magical air had fled the friendly confines of the tire.

I got out the jack from the back and after a few minutes, figured out how to get it apart and working. The lug wrench part of the jack doubled as the crank for the scissor jack.  Of course there were no instructions, other than a few vague pictures, and since I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, it took me a while to realize that I had to crank the jack a few turns with my fingers in order to let the handle loosen up so that I could pull it away from the jack body and use it.

A fireman who was there taking a course helped me by making sure the jack was positioned correctly under the part of the car that is reinforced to handle being lifted. Soon he had to go inside, so I was on my own.  This is not the first time that I've been to this rodeo. I've changed my share of flats before, but believe it or not, this was the first time I've ever had to do it at night. For whatever reason (I guess that it's harder to see what you're doing when it's dark) that increases the difficulty factor X10.

Got the flat off, and as I'm sitting on the ground, putting the donut (el cheap-o spare tire that they give you) on, it starts to rain.  No, make that, it starts to pour.  So by the time I got finished, I was soaked. My glasses were wet from the rain and the humidity and I had nothing dry to wipe them on. All my clothes, my jacket, everything was water logged. I wiped them off with my fingers the best I could and made it home, slowly and safely.

Yesterday morning, after I dropped the kids off at the school bus stop, I headed to my local Goodyear Tire Center, which is about 2 miles down the road. I explained what happened and the Service Manager said he needed to go out to check the tire size. When he came back in he said, "I have good news and bad news. You need four new tires, not one. They're all worn to the point where you need new tires. I don't have them in stock, but I can get them here for 2:00 PM, so we can get this done for you today". What are you going to do? The car needs maintenance to keep it running, so I agreed. I knew that this was probably going to be the case in advance, as the tires are 4 years old and have over 50,000 miles on them.

I had planned to take only the morning off; but ended up burning a vacation day, as it didn't make any sense to go into work for only an hour or two. The good news in all of this was that while I kept myself occupied at home with various chores while I waited for the tires to arrive, I also got the opportunity to set up the KX3 on the dining room table, alongside the magloop.

And, on the first try, I was able to snare John Laney K4BAI who was signing as PJ4/K4BAI on 20 Meters. John must have been down on Bonaire for the ARRL DX Contest. It still amazes me that my 5 Watts from my dining room table was able to traverse all the way to just about South America using an indoor compromise antenna not 3 feet away from me! And if it works for me - then there's no reason on Earth that a magloop can't be a viable solution to those who have to live under situations where antennas are not allowed or are severely discouraged.

That definitely made the day much. much better! Even later, as I was forking over the $$$ for the tires, that DX QSO brightened the whole day.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The EMCOMM/AUXCOMM challenge

My teaching partner, Mark K2VHW and I are currently midway through another 8 week class, in the process of getting another group of candidates to pass the test for a Technician class license. The challenge is that these are for the most part (but not all) CERT people. They want their licenses so that can engage in Public Service communications for their town.

But that's not all there is to Amateur Radio, is there?

And of course, the answer to that is, "No, it isn't." And while obtaining a license for the purpose of Public Service communications is certainly admirable; it isn't the end all and be all of Amateur Radio. We would be derelict in our duty as Amateur Radio instructors if we didn't point out the "fun" aspects of the hobby. Not to mention that these new Technicians will be more likely to maintain their licences (and actually use them) if they become more involved in Amateur Radio for other than just the utilitarian uses of it.

So inevitably, our first session of an eight week class tends to involve the mundane tasks of signing in, collecting contact information, handing out textbooks, study aids and all that kind of thing. But we like to end the session by exposing the students to the fun.  After all, the fun part is what will hopefully keep them engaged and interested in Amateur Radio for a long period of time.

To that end, we have been showing this video by RadioQRV.com.

As you can see, this is a highly polished, professional quality video and it certainly goes over all the aspects of Amateur Radio, but yet, it still has a kind of .........detached. clinical feel to it.

This morning, Marv pointed me to this video by HamRadioConcepts:

And while this one also is a very high quality video; it has an appeal that the other does not. This is what I'd hope to end up with if I got a bunch of Ham friends together (who are very "into" the hobby) in order to put together a show like this. A high quality product, but yet something that says, "Hey, this is what we do and how we have fun. Would you like to come out this weekend and join us? We hope you would!"

Our goal, then, is to always end up with a bunch of Amateur Radio operators who also engage in Public Service communications; and not ONLY a bunch of Public Service Communicators who only occasionally get involved in other Amateur Radio pursuits. Because we all know that "All work and no play make Jack (or Jill) a very dull Amateur Radio op." After all, it's all about balance.

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

ARRL DX CW aftermath

I wasn't expecting much, now that we're on the downward slope of the sunspot cycle.  This really got reinforced for me on Friday.  I had taken the day off from work, to use up some leftover vacation days from last year, and to make the long President's Day weekend even longer. So Friday afternoon, I got on the radio, expecting to hear all kinds of stations warming up for the Big Event.

Nothing - the bands were dead!  I had mentioned this on Twitter and K2MTS came back to me that there were some tough solar conditions that were occurring. Of course, on my day off, O'l Sol would choose to throw a hissy fit.

Come Saturday afternoon, I got back on again, not quite knowing what to expect.  This time, the Sun and the ionosphere had decided to make nice. Conditions seemed to be remarkably better. I stuck to mainly 20 and 15 Meters and was able to work anyone that I chose to (I was searching and pouncing). The Caribbean nations and Europe were within easy reach. I was even able to work Japan on 20 Meters and a couple of Hawaiian stations on 15 Meters.  In all, operating VERY casually, if memory serves me correctly, I made close to 75 contacts and probably worked 30 to 40 different DXCC entities.

I have Log4OM set up to notify me whenever a station from Poland is spotted.  I guess it's a heritage thing; and I pay close attention to working Polish stations whenever I can. I worked and handful of them as well.

So it turned out to be a delightful weekend of twiddling the knob and getting back into the swing of being able to bust small pileups, even with only 5 Watts.  Even though I know that it's true, it's nice to have that confidence in the back of my mind that QRP works, even when band conditions are less than optimal.

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

ARRL DX CW Contest

Is on for this coming weekend!

Even with us being in the lousy part of the sunspot cycle; this is a perfect opportunity for budding QRP DXers to get their hands (and keys) dirty. When the sunspots are high, it's not unheard of to work DXCC in a single weekend, if you're really gung-ho about it and don't mind not sleeping for 48 hours.

But with conditions such as they are, you can still expect a nice country total if you're starting from scratch. The exchange is simple - US/VE stations give a signal report and state/province. DX stations give a signal report and a number corresponding to their power output.

If you're a newbie to CW, QRP and/or DXing, I'd advise not to jump into the contest for the first 12 hours or so - maybe even not the first 24 hours. For this part of the contest, the big gun contest operators are sending their exchanges with code speeds that sound more like a buzz saw than any kind of Morse you'd understand.  Granted, even in the opening hours of the contest you'll find ops sending code that you can decipher; but for the most part, if you're a neophyte to QRP DXing or Morse Code, you'll probably get frustrated and want to hang up your key and turn the rig off.

It's better to wait to Saturday evening, or even Sunday.  The big guys have gotten a lot out of their systems and now they're just looking to increase their points total by as much as they can before the contest ends.  This means that they'll no longer dismiss signals that are less that 599+ and they'll be more patient with you if your code speed is a bit slower.

As an example, a few years back, I jumped into the fray on Saturday night with my K2 (before I sold it to be able to afford my KX3) set at the 900 mW level. I surprised myself how many stations I was able to work! Unlike many others, I've never contemplated trying to work DXCC at QRPp levels; but if I were so inclined, the ARRL DX CW contest would be a great place from which to begin.

So if you get a chance to jump in this weekend, by all means, give it a shot! I'm sure you'll have fun. You know what would be an interesting stat? To somehow be able to find out how many QCX transceivers are going to be in the contest this weekend. I'd be willing to bet quite a few.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least1

NAQCC Sprint tonight

I made a mistake last night when posting to the various e-mail servers the notice about the NAQCC February Sprint, which occurs this evening.

The proper link is: http://naqcc.info/sprint/sprint201802.html

Sorry, if my e-mails were driving you crazy!

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

Major Sheldon's Last Watt

For those of you who get the Elecraft Newsletter via e-mail; don't pass by the February edition.  I know that sometimes we get so many e-mails in our inboxes that we tend to pass on these, every now and then. Thanks to W3BBO, this time I didn't - and you shouldn't either. There's a great short story in there by W.A. Taylor, titled "Major Sheldon's Last Watt."

It's a fun read and very well written. I wish I could spin a yarn like Mr. Taylor.

I'd love to post a link to it here; but it's copyrighted and I'm sure Elecraft used it with permission, and I want to respect that.  If you're not on the Elecraft mailing list; hopefully you have a QRP friend or Elecraft user friend who can show you the story.

Who knows? If someone from Elecraft reads this and feels that it's not problematic - they can always feel free to post the link in the comments section!

UPDATE:  I got permission from Wayne NK6R to post the link to the story.  It appears that Mr. Taylor gave unlimited distribution rights - so here it is!

http://www.elecraft.com/fiction/Maj%20Sheldon's%20Last%20Watt.pdf

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

Getting back to the subject of Maker Fair

Plans are coming together.  We're in the process of acquiring the kits and getting together all the ancillary equipment needed (diagonals, soldering stations, solder, needle nose, safety glasses, etc.) to build these 4 Sates QRP Group code practice oscillators at the Maker Fair at the Piscataway Public Library on Saturday, March 10th.

There will be 4 or 5 building stations, with an experienced Ham/builder at each to guide the construction step-by-step. In the background we will have this video that Alan Wolke W2AEW so generously made for us.  It will allow those in queue to see what they will be doing while they wait their turn to begin building.

We also plan to have another demonstration going. This will be one of either two things - either an HF radio set up with a program such as Fldigi running, so the participants can see Morse Code being decoded for them. Or perhaps we can have a computer running with MorseMidi or some other program so that they can type plain text in and be able to hear the Morse Code it has been translated to.

It looks like it will be a good day.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

AWESOME !!!!

I just finished watching the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy booster. It was awesome! So many memories evoked from watching Mercury, Gemini and Apollo launches as a youngster.

I must admit that I waited with breathless anticipation, waiting for the countdown to be aborted at the last minutes, as was usually the case in the early manned launches. But everything went absolutely flawlessly. And to be able to watch the launch from the cameras on-board the spacecraft as well as land based cameras! Terrific!

Then came the icing on the cake. Watching the two side boosters separate from the core rocket, and return to Cape Canaveral and land (simultaneously) dead center on their targets! On my!

Thanks, Elon Musk and SpaceX for taking me back in time and giving me another thrill ride!

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

N2CX antenna as a new QRPGuys kit

Joe Everheart N2CX can probably best described as a "QRP Guru".  Joe's tips regularly appear in issues of "QRP Quarterly" published by the QRP-ARCI.  He and George N2APB were the brain trust behind Atlanticon and are still the brain trust behind the NJQRP. They are both QRP geniuses.

That being said, Joe, who was always an active QRPer, got hit by the portable operations bug hard during the National Parks on the Air event. And by "hard", I mean REAL HARD!  He and his son traveled to just about anywhere they could get to, to put National Park entities on the air. As you can see from the NPOTA Leaderboard, Joe tied for 11th Place, nationwide in Activations, with 235. He made literally thousands of QSOs! And when the NPOTA program ended with 2016, Joe continued on. He is a major activator in the WWF POTA program. Joe is out there, putting parks on the air just about every chance he gets.

The reason for his success, is of course the superb operating skills that N2CX possesses. But right behind that was the equipment he used. And as all QRPers know, the antenna is probably the most important part of that link. It doesn't matter if you use the world's finest transceiver, if you hook it up to a piece of limp macaroni you might as well just stay home..

Joe's antennas were of course, of his own design.  The QRP Guys persuaded to coax some of Joe's antenna secrets out of him and they are offering his Tri-band (covering 40, 30 and 20 Meters) NPOTA antenna as their newest kit: You can get the details here - http://qrpguys.com/qrpguys-tri-band-portable-vertical-antenna

All you need to supply in addition to the kit is wire for the radiator and radials and some sort of support system - whether that be a mast or some way of hanging it from a tree limb. For only $15 for the kit, how can you go wrong?  And sooner than later, Winter will be over and Portable Ops Season (as I like to call it) will be upon us again.

Be ready!

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

My start in Public Service

Thanks to a post on Facebook by Nicholas Bachar from South River, NJ, I was reminded that my start in Amateur Radio Public Service began some 38 years ago today, on February 4th, 1980. This was the day that the Olympic Torch, which was to light the Olympic Flame at the Lake Placid Olympics made its way through our local communities.

I was licensed for only fifteen months, and I had only upgraded to General eight months before, but I joined with other local Hams from the Old Bridge Repeater Association to volunteer for the event. We were tasked with keeping the Torch Relay support vehicles apprised of any problems or disruptions along the route as the Torch made it's way from Philadelphia through New Jersey and into New York. The torch passed through three adjoining towns -  East Brunswick (my home town), into South River (my second home town - where our Church was located, where I had attended elementary school and where my Dad's business was located) into Sayreville, NJ (my Mom's hometown).

This was all quite heady stuff for a Rookie Amateur Radio op - to be involved in something of national and international significance.  As I remember when we marshalled for duty, it was pitch black and cold, cold, cold!. The Torch was due to make its way through South River (where I was stationed) around 6:00 AM or so.  For various reasons, it was delayed and came though just as dawn was breaking.

Thanks to Nicholas Bachar and the "You know You're From South River" Facebook page for posting photos:

 

There was a short ceremony in the center of town as a commemorative Olympic Flame was lit in front of the library.. From there, residents were able to light souvenir candles that were being given out so that they could have their own remembrance of the day the Olympic Flame passed through town.

It all happened so quickly! It seemed like it was over before it started. Fortunately, there were no problems to report, but we enjoyed communicating with the Hams on the support vehicles, nonetheless. And if participating in such an event weren't enough in and of itself, about a month later this came through the mail.

Needless to say, from that day on, I was hooked!  And I'm proud to say that throughout my Amateur Radio career, I have been providing communications for various civic events.  Granted, nothing as "glamorous" as an Olympic Torch Run, but each vital and necessary to their respective communities in their own ways.

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

Once more, we prove our worth

Amateur Radio's role in the false nuclear attack alert in Hawaii.

http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/how-amateur-radio-played-a-role-in-the-hawaii-eas-emergency-response/341139

It always pays to keep training, to be alert; and to be ready for anything - even non-emergency emergencies.

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

Technician License Class

On Tuesday evening, Marv K2VHW, Drew W2OU and I started another eight week foray towards helping another group of people earn their Amateur Radio license. Like another class we held two years ago, this one is being sponsored by the Clark, NJ Office of Emergency Management. The initial goal was to get some of their CERT members licensed, but it seems to have branched out from there.  In addition to the Clark CERT members, we also have a few "civilian" type walk ins from the community at large who are also interested in obtaining a license.

The first session went well; and the students seem to be motivated and enthusiastic. A tell tale sign that this is going to be successful class was that there were a significant amount of general questions that were asked the first night.

We are going to follow the format that has worked so well for us in the past. Eight sessions following the material found in the ARRL's Technician License manual. Then one session with a brief review and the actual license exam administered to the students.  If this class is typical of the ones we've held before, we expect an 85 - 90% success rate.

Winter is a bad time to hold one of these; as the weather is so unpredictable. But "God willing and the creek don't rise", we'll get this done and we will hopefully have a bunch of new people embarking upon a journey into the fun filled world of Amateur Radio.

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

Maker Fair

One of the "pillars" of the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club" is to establish an outreach to the youth of our local communities, in order to get them interested in Amateur Radio, and electronics in general.  To that end, we've given demos on Ham Radio to local Scout Troops, and we've participated in JOTA, among other activities.

We've been approached to participate in a Maker Fair in early March in nearby Piscataway, one of our neighboring towns. To that end, we've decided on constructing a small electronics kit that will allow the youngsters to get hands on experience with kit building and soldering.  My fellow QRPers would call this a "buildathon".

To that end, we've selected the 4 States QRP Group's NM0S Code Practice Oscillator as the kit du' jour.

As you can see, the number of parts is small, so the kits won't take too long to assemble.  And at the finish, each attendee will have a functioning code practice oscillator (there IS a method to our madness!).  We hope to purchase 20 kits and get them all assembled over the 4 to 5 hour period that this will last.

Each builder will have an experienced Amateur Radio op right by their side to show them how to stuff the circuit board and the proper technique for soldering.  While we're hoping they'll do most of the work and have most of the fun, we'll be there to make sure no one picks up a soldering iron by the wrong end, or hurts themselves in any way, for that matter.

At the same time we'll have a PC with some Morse Code decoding software running, so that the kit builders can try out their newly assembled oscillators, as well as their fists. We'll also have video running that Alan W2AEW (of YouTube fame) will be making for us, showing how this kit is built. Hopefully this will really pique the interest of the builders who will be patiently waiting their turn behind the soldering iron.

Thanks to the 4 States QRP Group for making available reasonably priced kits that can be used to spark the electronics/Ham Radio bug in the younger crowd.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least.

I haven't posted in a while

due to ongoing events in life - family matters, church matters, etc. There's been not much time for radio; AND when there has been time, I've been too pooped to pop!

So I came across this on YouTube. Many of you have undoubtedly heard this before; but for those of you who haven't I present the great Jean Shepherd K2ORS (SK), with a little Ham Radio humor (about a serious subject).

This recording of Shep's program is 45 minutes long, if you don't want to listen to the whole thing, you can fast forward to the 30 minute mark. Or for an abridged, slightly different Reader's Digest version, Jean Shepherd WOR Radio 'Lightning Hits the Ham Radio' in a new tab, click this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akyTVNorXQ8&t=63s

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Got a lot accomplished

Just about everything that I wanted to get done this weekend, I did.

The highlight was getting on the radio on Monday.  There wasn't much activity, but I did hear Eritrea rather loudly on 30 Meters.  I dove into the pileup, but gave up rather quickly. My heart just wasn't into working DX. Instead, I went down to 40 Meters and had two "Bob" QSOs. The first one with Bob KC8MFF, in West Virginia.  We chewed the fat for about a half an hour.

As I was signing with him, I heard a very familiar call, calling me.  It was Bob W3BBO in Erie, PA on his recently built QCX transceiver.  Powered by 4 Watts, Bob was a very pleasantly readable 569 in NJ, and I got a 579 in return.  Bob told me that my signal was the best he's heard from me in a long time.  This was the first time we've QSO'ed since I raised the W3EDP another 10-15 feet, so it was either that, or band conditions were just very good. Maybe a combination of both.

I also got the PWS (personal weather station) up and running in a temporary spot.  As mentioned, the station is being held aloft by 20 feet of aluminum Army surplus masting, which is anchored in a 5 gallon paint bucket full of concrete.  It was tricky getting the whole affair level, so that the anemometer (wind meter) would function properly.  It's a hack job for now, but the masting is plumb. This spring, I'll get some brick, blocks or pavers and I will make a level base for the bucket to sit on. Once that's done, I'd feel more comfortable about adding a couple more mast sections to get the sensor up to the 30 foot level.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog, you'll see a WeatherUnderground box which is displaying real time weather conditions at the W2LJ QTH.

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

Busy weekend coming up

We have a long weekend coming up, as the company where I work (NOT the company for whom I work) observes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday as a holiday.  I have to use one of my vacation days if I want to receive paid time off.

Even though I have to burn a vacation day, I am grateful for the extra day off as there is a ton of things I want to accomplish this weekend.

1) Tomorrow morning is the monthly VE Session that our club holds. According to Drew W2OU, our VE Liaison, in his last e-mail to the team, he announced that we have only one candidate who pre-registered. We do accept walk-ins, so that could very well increase.

2) I want to get on the air!  Dang it, I haven't had the chance to play radio in too long of a while.  The NAQP CW is this weekend and that's an easy exchange. Of course the weekend I'd like to rag chew, there's a major contest going on - that's always the way.  I suppose if I decide to not get involved with contest exchanges, there's always 30 Meters.

3) Sunday is our monthly day at the soup kitchen, That kind of eats up the whole afternoon.

4) Today, we have a big rain storm here in NJ  and temperatures are in the upper 50s. That should wash away all the snow from last week.  That will allow me to get the outdoor Christmas decorations taken down and stored in the basement.  That looks like a Monday chore. Of course after the storm pulls out, Arctic air will come rushing back in - so Monday will be frosty, but sunny and dry, hopefully.

5) I want to get the personal weather station that I got from Marianne for Christmas up and running!  I plan to use my military surplus masting for the purpose.  I have one piece already anchored in cement in a 5 gallon paint bucket.  I just need to drag that to a suitable place  (it only weighs about 70 pounds) and plop it down.  I think another mast section or two will get the unit to a suitable height for proper performance. This might also be a Monday project.

I cringe, because the line "The best laid plans of mice and men .............." come to mind whenever I make plans. I hope I can get most, if not all of this, done.

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

January thaw?

I certainly hope so!

Once we get out of this deep freeze my basement shack should warm up enough to where I actually feel like spending time behind the radio and soldering iron again. I spent the afternoon yesterday putting away all the indoor Christmas decorations and my little Brookstone clock/thermometer on the shack bench-top was indicating an ambient room temperature of 56F (13C). Even with a long sleeved T-shirt (my NPOTA shirt), a golf shirt AND a hoodie sweatshirt, it was only slightly comfortable.

Such is the "advantage" of having an efficient gas fired furnace.  It radiates little radiant heat from itself, putting all the energy into the forced hot air going to the rest of the house. Now, when I was a youngster living with my parents, they had an old coal furnace that was converted to oil.  That monster would not only boil enough water to force steam to the radiators throughout the house, it always kept the immediate surrounding area in the basement warm and toasty.

For a brief while, I had my shack down there.  The way the house was situated though, made for a really long run of coax from antenna to rig. I'm sure that I lost more RF through the feed line than I radiated out into the aether.

I know I mentioned a few posts ago about getting a space heater for the basement; but those things really run up the electric bill.  If I'm going to throw money away; I'd rather throw it away on something else.

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

My kindle is on fire!

Not literally, but I've been using it a lot lately.  I've had my kindle Fire for about 3 or 4 years since my wife gave it to me as a Christmas present.  I have always used it for reading books, but it took a back burner to Samsung tablets, which I seemed to prefer.

That changed recently when Marianne's tablet gave up the ghost. Instead of going out and buying a new one (it happened just AFTER Christmas, isn't that always the way?), I did a factory reset on my Samsung Galaxy 4 and gave it to her to use.  Since then, I've been concentrating on using the kindle.

In addition to all the books I already had on it, I've added more Amateur Radio stuff:

1) The Radio Boys books

2) The QST app (which I didn't know you could get on the Fire - I was pleasantly surprised.)

3) I renewed my subscription to CQ through the Amazon magazine app.  The Fire doesn't support Zinio, which is what I was using on the Galaxy. The neat thing is that, while Zinio never sent out a notification when my CQ subscription would run out, the Amazon app will auto-renew until I tell it to stop. No more missed issues!

I use the kindle at work every day for listening to music via Pandora. It has rich, Dolby sound that is far superior to the sound coming out of the Galaxy.

Yeah, using the kindle as my primary tablet device has its downfalls. There are a lot of Android apps it won't support because of conflicts with Amazon. But I have the important Amateur Radio related ones on my phone - so no problem there. And by resetting the Galaxy and giving it to Marianne, I've gotten rid of a lot of useless junk that I was accumulating over the past few years.  This is yet another case where "Less is more". Appropriate for a QRPer!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

So far, a mixed bag.

2018 has started out with a bang.

My wife Marianne, woke me up New Year's Day at 5:30 AM, asking me to take her to the Emergency Room at the hospital, as her heart was racing and fluttering. She has a history with A-fib, so I got her there quickly enough. They increased one of her medications intravenously, and our scare abated in a few hours.

However, her doctors decided to run a few tests, which ended up taking a few days.! "Just to be sure, you know.", they said. And really, who can argue with that?  Thank the Lord, all the test results were good and I was able to bring her home Wednesday night,

Yesterday, we had our first significant snow for the Winter.  The Governor declared an emergency in order to keep non-essential traffic off the roads. That didn't bother the company where I work, one whit. I managed to get in early, but it seemed almost everyone who works here decided to telecommute and work from home. Unfortunately, my position doesn't allow that. I was given permission to leave an hour early and the commute only took about 20 minutes longer than normal, so even that wasn't too bad.

When I got home, I was positively overjoyed to see my son had shoveled the walkway and the driveway. I have a great son!  All I had to do was clean off Marianne's car.  In addition to doing that, I decided to start it up and let it run for a bit, only to find the battery exhausted. It jump started right away; but it's the original battery and it IS 6 years old. This weekend I will replace it.

The only problem being that the process will be no joy in and of itself. The temps the next few days are going to be uncommonly cold for a QTH that is only about 20 miles or so (as the crow flies), away from the relatively warm Atlantic Ocean. It's NOT common for us to get into the minus Fahrenheit numbers here in South Plainfield. Maybe only once or twice a winter?  Of course, that will occur the weekend I need to work outdoors, replacing a car battery.

No, no garage and "Mr. All Thumbs" here has difficulty working with gloves on, so I am sure there will be a trip or two inside to run my hands under lukewarm water in order to get the feeling back in them.

But ....... it could always be worse ........ right?

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Not so "oldies".

Thanks again to Mike KD5KC for posting these on QRP-L.

You may remember a few years ago (I think it was just a few years ago - maybe 10 years?, or maybe I'm having a "senior moment"?) Icom released a series of comics entitled "The Adventures of Zack and Max".  These were anime style comic books intended (I guess) to get the youngsters curious about Amateur Radio.

Max was a strange little pig companion to Zack - a boy and his pig - go figure.

Anyway, here are their links - both as comic books or as coloring books. If you have any kids or grandkids who are curious about what it is that you do - these may be helpful to explain it to them in a more contemporary fashion.

The Adventures of Zack and Max, Vol 1-7
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v1/ComicBookV1color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v2/ComicBookV2color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v3/ComicBookV3color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v4/ComicBookV4color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v5/ComicBookV5color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v6/ComicBookV6color.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v7/ComicBookV7_Color.pdf

Accompanying coloring books of The Adventures of Zack and Max.
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v1/ComicBookV1BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v2/ComicBookV2BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v3/ComicBookV3BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v4/ComicBookV4BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v5/ComicBookV5BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v6/ComicBookV6BW.pdf
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/amateur/comic_book/Books/v7/ComicBookV7_BW.pdf

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

Some more oldies, but goodies

This list was posted on QRP-L by Mike Olbrisch KD5KC - The Radio Boys series.  These books are in the same genre as The Hardy Boys or Tom Swift, but these deal with "wireless" and go back to the early 1920s when Amateur Radio was still in its infancy.

For those of you with a kindle, these can be download for FREE from Amazon.

1. The Radio Boys’ First Wireless
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008476T3S/

2. The Radio Boys at Ocean Point
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TSAZWM/

3. The Radio Boys at the Sending Station
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TQF6BE/

4. The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006T5TLSM/

5. The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TRF6S6/

6. The Radio Boys on the Mexican Border
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TIJRP8/

7. The Radio Boys on Secret Service Duty
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQMGFB0/

8. The Radio Boys in the Thousand Islands
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQMZS86/

9. The Radio Boys’ Search for the Inca’s Treasure
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Z0MNBU/

10. The Radio Boys Rescue the Lost Alaska Expedition
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058KSAW2/

11. Radio Boys Cronies
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00848O6YQ/

12. Radio Boys Loyalty: Bill Brown Listens In
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TRO448/

13. The Radio Boys with the Revenue Guards
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UKEU2A/

So yeah, the stories are a bit campy, perhaps and the language and slang is old - but what the heck? They're free and they're almost 100 years old!

I downloaded them all to my kindle and am enjoying them. I hope you will, too!

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

A little dated

but still fun to look through:

The Archie comic book issue devoted to Amateur Radio - https://kk4dsd.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/archies_ham_radio_adventure.pdf

I don't know if kids read comic books, anymore - other than graphic novels.  I was past kidhood when this first came out. As one who DID read Archie comics at one point, I can confidently say, that had it come out when I was a youngster, it would be dog-eared, and practically worn out from being read so much!

Hope it stirs some fond memories for you!

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