It warmed up yesterday

and the basement shack was a balmy 60 F (15 C), but I decided to give the 40 Meter QRP Fox Hunt a whirl with the magloop, anyway.  I was able to locate Wayne N4FP in Florida rather easily and worked him without a problem. Physically rotating the loop to where I could hear him the loudest, helped tremendously.

Drew K9CW in Illinois was a different story. He was weak, VERY weak, no matter which way I oriented the loop.  But since I had discovered where he was hiding, I decided to run to the basement shack to see if I could hear him any better there.

Using the Butternut HF9V,  almost as soon as I sat down, I caught him on a QSB peak and completed the exchange for the second pelt. After that, he faded away and I was able to hear him no better than on the loop. So I cannot conclusively say that the HF9V outperformed the magloop in this case. I just may have been fortunate to have caught him at just the right time with the HF9V. For all I know, he might have come up just as loudly on the loop. There was no way I was able to make a direct A to B comparison.

One thing I will say, though ....... the loop is much easier to tune now. I took one of the sidereal drive "extenders" from my telescope and fit it onto the shaft of the tuning capacitor of the loop. Before I just had a plain ol' vanilla knob. The "extender" is long enough to remove any hand capacitance effect that my body previously presented, throwing off the setting once I removed my hand. Now I can tune for loudest background noise, and lowest SWR and nothing changes when I remove myself from the equation.

Before

After

I was pleasantly surprised at what a difference this extension proved to make.

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

Plans derailed by chores and the weather.

My melting solder plans for this long weekend became derailed by other chores and the weather. By the time chores and other obligations were finished, Saturday and Sunday evaporated, leaving only Monday for my build day.

However, the temperatures dropped as predicted on Sunday and yesterday's high temperature was only 14F (-10C) and that was only for a very brief period of time. Most of the day was in single Fahrenheit digits. That meant my basement shack was at a crisp 56F (13C) which was too cool for these arthritic hands and fingers to deal with.  I did get a few minutes on Saturday to inventory and organize the components of the kit I am going to work on, though. That was some progress, at least.

While it supposed to warm up today, it will be cold again this evening. I've decided that for the 40 Meter QRP Fox Hunt tonight, I will set up on the dining room table and will use the mag loop. I've done that one time before during the last Winter season and had success. We'll see how it goes tonight.

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

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful!"

Well ...... not right now; but it will be.

We've had some snow showers this morning, which have not amounted to much more than a nuisance as I had to deal with a bunch of idiot drivers this morning on the commute into work. The BAD weather is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon into Sunday morning.

It doesn't sound as bad as it may end up, as only 3 to 6 inches (7.5 - 15 cm) of snow are forecast, with that even changing to rain Sunday afternoon. The tricky part is that as the precipitation ends, and the front moves through, the temperatures are supposed to drop faster than the proverbial lead balloon. By Sunday evening, we will drop from the upper 30s F (3-4 C) to a low of around 4F (-15 C) or thereabouts. That means all that moisture on the ground is going to flash freeze before it has a chance to evaporate. Come Monday morning, the roads and sidewalks will probably be pretty treacherous.

The company that I work for does not take off for Martin Luther King's Birthday. However, the company that I work at DOES close the building for Monday, so I have to burn a vacation day. With how busy things have been at work, I am not disappointed!

I have no pressing plans for the weekend, except for getting on the air and melting some solder. First time in a long time that I may actually get to enjoy these activities!

Actually, that's not totally true - I cannot tell a lie. I did get on 80 Meters last night for the Thursday Night 80 Meter QRP Fox Hunt.  I did bag two pelts last night; but I have to tell you ..... every time I think I have a handle on propagation, it kicks my butt.

Both Foxes were in Georgia - John K4BAI and Jim N4TMM. They're not all that far from each other. I mean, with regard to how far both are from NJ, they're basically in the same neighborhood. Jim N4TMM was 579 for pretty much most of the night. So...... you would think - the two of them being in the same state and all - K4BAI should be somewhere around 579, also - right?

No, silly rabbit!  John was 559 AT BEST and the QSB on him was horrendous. One second he was there, next second, poof!  I managed to make contact with him towards the end of the hunt. It was a struggle, but John's more-than-excellent ears got me into his logbook. Indeed, a testimony to him and his operating prowess - not mine in the least.

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

This is a real treat!

A professionally done documentary (about 10 minutes long) about Field Day and Amateur Radio in general in Fort Wayne, Indiana - from 2017.


Personally, I think they overplay the "weak signal" aspect of low power operating. So many people do this that it becomes a psychological handicap. Sure, QRP signals are generally not as loud as 100 Watt signals - but it's not like they're microscopic in comparison. And if the propagation is right, the guy on the receiving end might never know - unless you tell him. 
On the whole, though? Nicely done, gentlemen ...... nicely done!
72 de Larry W2LJ QRP - When you care to send the very least!

40 Meter QRP Fox Hunt

was last night and I got skunked.

The Foxes were K4BAI in GA and K3ESE in MD.

When I saw on the Fox Hunt e-mail reflector that one of the California Hounds had pelted the MD Fox, I knew I was in trouble. The band was long - way long.

I never heard a peep out of Maryland and John K4BAI in Georgia was nothing but a mere ESP whisper all night. You can't work 'em if you can't hear 'em.

90 minutes of my life that I'll never get back, but as "they" say - "A bad day at QRP is better than a good day at work.", so there's always that.

Always look on the bright side. Right?

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

North American QSO Party - NAQP CW

Thanks to John Laney K4BAI for posting a reminder on the CWOPS e-mail reflector.

This weekend is the NAQP CW contest. As you all know, I don't consider myself an avid or even semi-avid contester, but this one is generally fun.  The exchange is simple - your name and state. It doesn't get much easier than that! Even if your CW speed isn't the greatest, this should be relatively easy copy.

If you're working on your Worked All States Award - whether it be just starting, almost finishing, or somewhere smackdab in the middle, then this is a good one for you. There's generally a lot of participation and you just may be able to find the "elusive" states on the airwaves this weekend.

The rules are here - http://ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

To help fulfill my goal of getting on the air more this year, W2LJ plans to put in an hour or two, handing out that very NOT elusive "NJ" to anyone who so desires it.

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

OK, so I'll be Captain Obvious

I've mentioned many times on this blog how I came to be an Amateur Radio operator and how I built my first receiver, a Heathkit HR-1680. Suffice it to say, I've been building kits for the last 40 years. And in all that time, I've inventoried, separated and organized components the tried and true way - muffin tins. This was the method I read about while devouring books on "How to Become a Radio Amateur" in my younger days. The older Novice License Manuals from pre-1070s invariably had chapters on how to construct your own first simple receiver and simple transmitter, and they always showed the sorted components neatly organized and laid out in recommended muffin tins.

I think that at one time or another, we've all used these; whether they be the real nice ones, like the one above, or even the cheapie disposable aluminum ones. Each muffin tin offers a dozen little compartments for separating out resistors, transistors, ICs, capacitors, etc. Right?

Muffin tins present a problem, however. If you're building something other than a simple kit which can be done in one sitting, muffin tins can present a disaster. They can be accidentally tipped over, spilling their entire contents onto the shack floor (or the floor of wherever you do your kit building). There's nothing more frustrating and aggravating than crawling around on your hands and knees looking for parts (AND hoping against hope that you find them all!) because you, or maybe even a pet came by and knocked the tin over.

One time, while I was building a kit, my knee hit a tin as I was getting up out of my chair. Not only did some of the parts land on the shack floor, I think a couple SMD components got launched into orbit. I never found some of them and had to order replacements via Mouser or Jameco or Digikey. Not only was it frustrating, which was bad enough, but then there was added expense and delay time to deal with.

The solution to this came to me one year while I was coloring Easter eggs with my two kids. Egg cartons!

It had never occurred to me to use egg cartons! Duh! Captain Obvious strikes again!

They have the same number of twelve little compartments, but ........... and here's the BIG BUT ........ you can close an egg carton when you're not actually working on your kit! So if you (or your cat or dog or hamster or gerbil) accidentally bump into your parts container, they may get a bit disorganized - but they'll remain safely "locked" inside. No more crawling around and muttering expletives under your breath while looking for that lost resistor or diode!

I'm sure most of you who are reading this are probably thinking, "Is he really THAT dense? NOBODY can be THAT dense, can they?" And I'll have to answer you, "Yes. Yes they can; and yes I am." But on the off chance there's someone out there as badly off as me; I'm hoping I can save you a bit of frustration, time and expense.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Getting ready for Maker's Day

Once again, in 2019, the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club will be participating in Maker's Day. Our goal this year is to offer a variety of rather simple electronic kits to the participants. We will be concentrating on soldering and kit building skills - not necessarily laser focused on Amateur Radio, although we plan to offer a lot of Amateur Radio "side content". We feel that if one knows how to solder well and can develop the skills to follow basic instructions, then the sky is the limit.

We still have some left over 4 States QRP Group Simple Code Practice Oscillator kits that we will offer for construction. In addition to those we are offering other kits - a clock, a digital volt meter/thermometer, an FM wireless microphone, and a simple electronic organ, among others. These were selected mainly for ease of construction and also because their cost fit within our meager budget; and also because they will be something "neat" and semi-useful for the builders to take home with them after construction is completed.

We got together last night as a group and built one of each kit. We came away with some thoughts.

1) We need to do some "pre-work" on a couple of kits. As we only have 45 minutes to an hour scheduled for build time with each Maker's Day participant, we decided that we would pre-mount and pre-solder any IC sockets.  This will make sure that the builder can complete the kit in the allotted time, while still having the ability to solder other components.

2) We need to author our own instruction sheets. The instruction sheets that came (not all kits had them!) were a bad mixture of Chinese and English. Because most of our group are experienced kit builders, we were able to figure out what went where and it wasn't a problem. I'm thinking that our own instruction sheets will make things easier not only for the builders; but for those from our group that were not able to attend the buildathon last evening.

Maker's Day is not until March, but we don't want to be scurrying around like chickens with our heads cut off at the last minute. We will remember "The Five Ps" - Proper Pre-planning Prevents Poor Performance!

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

This was in my e-mail the other day

Thank you, Burlington County Amateur Radio Club!

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

New Year thoughts - this 'n that

First off:

Best wishes for a very happy, healthy and joyful 2019 to all my friends who read this blog. May the coming year be filled with great DX, ATNOs, wonderful rag chews and lots and lots of fun.

The family went out for dinner last night. We got home around 8:30 PM local time, which was already 0130 UTC. I came downstairs and flipped on the KX3 thinking that I would hear a lot of SKN activity. There seemed to be some, but most of the signals seemed on the weaker side and there didn't seem to be as much "wall to wall" activity as I was used to hearing on other SKN nights. Maybe it was because I didn't sign on right at 0000 UTC. I don't know. I eventually worked another Ham right in my own town - Lou WB2QNU. His grandson was in one of our Technician classes a few years ago, while he was a Senior at South Plainfield High School.

Unfortunately, he was one of the ones that didn't pass, but it was quite understandable. He was so busy with Honors and Advanced Placement classes while simultaneously holding a position on the school's gymnastics team. It was a wonder he found time to eat and sleep, let alone find time to study for a Technician license. I asked Lou if his grandson ever got his ticket and he told me "No, he's in the military now". Too busy with Air Force stuff - but the time will come, eventually. If he has a Ham Radio future, it will come, eventually.

I got on the air this morning to take part in the QRP ARCI New Year's Day Sprint which took place from 1500 to 1800 UTC. I got on at about 1600 UTC. Again, not a lot of activity. I guess everyone was too pooped to pop after celebrating New Year's Eve.  In the final two hours, I made six contacts. Three on 20 Meters and three on 40 Meters. There would have been a seventh, from WA6OEF on 20 Meters, but just as we was giving me his exchange, he was covered up by a digital op. No warning, just digital QRM, out of the blue, covering up WA6OEF (grumble, grumble).

Yesterday, another goodie arrived from Gear Best. It's a magnetic circuit board holder, and again, it was one of those things that looked intriguing and was priced so low as to not pass up. If memory serves me, it was around $10 (US).

The four magnetic posts hold the board up high enough so that there's ample room for most  components when the board is upside down for soldering. There's probably not enough clearance if a heat sink needs to be installed, but most times those can be added later. This unit comes from the Netherlands. You can find it on the Gear Best site or at http://store.eleksmaker.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=100&product_id=212  The board is big enough to hold a circuit board just slightly bigger than a QSL card.

It's a balmy 53F (12C) here in South Plainfield today; but the weather prognosticators are saying that won't be the case for long. Soon, frigid air is supposed to be arriving, with Winter making a comeback.

For 2018 I can tell you that at W2LJ, according to my weather station:

The record high temperature was  97F - 36C
The record low temperature was 10F - -12C
The average humidity was 73%
We received 64.77 (164 cm) inches of rainfall - way above the normal 42 inches (106 cm) for this area. It was a very wet year.

According to WeatherUnderground, which stores my weather station's reports, the largest wind gust in 2018 clocked in at 28.6 MPH (46 KPH). I would have suspected a higher reading as close as we are to the Atlantic Ocean, but then, we had no hurricanes come through this year, either. I and my antennas are grateful for that! I have come to learn by observation, that just a little breeze can move things around a lot. When the tree limbs really start swaying, the wind speed indicator reads a lot lower than I would have expected.

Goals for 2019?
Build my QCX and get a few more kits done that have been backing up here.
Get on the air more.
Increase our CW QSO total at Field Day.
Blog more often than I have been. But I want to write about meaningful stuff, not just drone on to fill space. So hopefully, I won't become just a rambler.

Once again, thanks to all of you who read this on a regular (or even not so regular) basis. I hope you'll find it informative, interesting and even entertaining in the year to come.

Happy 2019!

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

Reminiscing

As 2018 draws to a close, I can't help but sit here, with a broad smile on my face, and remember this day, two years ago. December 31st, 2016 - the very last day of National Parks on the Air.

NPOTA was such a wild success, I have said and will continue to say that when the bicentennial history papers are written for the ARRL so many years into the future, NPOTA will continue to stand out as one of the all time crown jewels of ARRL operating events. Over 20,000 NPOTA activations were completed and over 1,000,000 QSOs were logged on LotW.  I think it will be a very long time before we ever see its likes again.

So much fun was had, so many friendships were made, so many fledgling operators became grizzled veterans. So much good stuff happened that year. Even a book on portable operating by Stuart Thomas KB1HQS, came out as a result of NPOTA.

But that day, December 31st, 2016 still ranks in the top five of my personal "Best Days in Amateur Radio". I started the day at Morristown National Historical Park, making contacts. My goal for the day was to work Dave KD2FSI on SSB and I met that goal. We had worked the park together that January and that's where Dave's year long NPOTA adventure was launched. I wanted to end the year as it started and there was no better way to do that than to hook up with Dave on the radio.

The QSO was made and I was happy as a clam. However, the day got better when Dave showed up at the park in person a little while later and we got the chance to reminisce about our NPOTA experiences.. Even "better-er", we got the chance to put in some PR or Amateur Radio by explaining to some curious bystanders what NPOTA and our hobby were all about. In return, they shared their "glug" with us, which is a Norwegian concoction of warm red wine, raisins and almonds, It seems that small group of friends also gather at the park every New Year's Eve to share their own tradition; and they were kind enough to include us. So cool!

After Morristown, I headed back home to the Frazee House on the Washington-Rochambeau Trail which is not far from my house. 40 Meter CW was quite good, but pickings on 20 Meter CW were disappointing. Not wanting my end to NPOTA to come so early, I decided to switch from CW to SSB. To my amazement, I was occupied with a pileup on 20 Meters that lasted well over an hour! I was so glad that I had brought the microphone along, as that is something that I don't normally do. It proved to be a providential move for me, and an eye-opener, too.

It was a day of personal Amateur Radio accomplishment and a day of total fun. I met up with KD2FSI, made a slew of contacts at multiple NPOTA sites, and then finished the day in conversation with Bob W3BBO. It just doesn't get any better than that, and it sure seems that days like that don't come around often enough. The memories are cherished long after the event concludes.

I missed the days of "The Golden Days of Amateur Radio" from the 40s, 50, and 60s - but I was fortunate enough to live through and participate and be part of National Parks on the Air. For that, I am very, very grateful!

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

Mustel G600 microscope/camera thingy

With the weekend here, I finally got some downtime and was able to do some Amateur Radio stuff today. I got on the air and worked a few Canadian stations in the RAC Winter Contest and I also worked a station down in the Cayman Islands. Both the Caymans and British Columbia with 5 Watts and no sunspots? Not bad.

What I really enjoyed was the opportunity to finally give that Mustel G600 microscope/camera thingy a whirl that I purchased a few months back through Gear Best. I bought an inexpensive cutting board at the store when I went grocery shopping this morning, and I mounted it to that.

The suction cup at the base seems to hold it in place very nicely. After playing with it for a while, I've come to the conclusion that this will be extremely useful for parts identification.

The printing on tiny capacitors really stands out, as does the printing on transistors:

And it will be also very useful for checking for solder bridges - particularly for SMD soldering. Please pardon the bright yellow spots in the photos, that's the flash from the camera. Those spots aren't there in actual use.

But to actually use it while soldering doesn't seem possible to me. I have to look at what I'm soldering while I solder it. I don't think I'd be able to solder something while looking at a remote screen instead of looking at the actual board itself. For actual soldering, I will rely on the cheapie reading glasses I bought at the drug store.

But for parts ID and solder bridge checking? This thing has a magnifying glass or head mounted magnifying loupes beat nine ways to Sunday! A more expensive unit would probably allow me to zoom in and out. This unit is fixed as far as that goes. The adjustable arm will allow me to move it back and forth a tiny bit, but not much. For the money I paid, which was a pretty small amount, this unit will serve me well.

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

160 Meter Fox Hunt last night

Since Christmas was Tuesday and it's a holiday week, there were no regularly scheduled QRP Fox hunts this week. However, W2SH and a few of the regulars organized a 160 Meter Foxtravaganza last night. During one of these, all the Hounds and Foxes get on the air at one time and try to work as many of each other as possible.

I made only one contact last night, and that was with Dave K1WHS. I heard quite a few people out there; but I was suffering from S9 noise from about 1.805 MHz to about 1.820 MHz - and that was the sweet spot where everyone seemed to be hanging out.

80 and 40 Meters were both noise free - go figure. Recently, we've had a utility company go around to all the utility poles in the neighborhood and re-do the ground wires. It's made quite the difference on 80 Meters, which has really quieted down in the last few weeks.

Maybe once all the neighbors take down their Christmas lights, 160 Meters will go back to its normal, quiet self.

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

My buddy, W3BBO has been busy again.

This time building a crystal radio and an antenna to use with it:

Admittedly, we are both fascinated by the ability of a diode, capacitor and a coil to detect radio waves and convert them to audible signals that you can actually listen to. "The Magic of Radio" as we both refer to it. It never gets old, and it seems that as technology gets ever more sophisticated and complicated and involved, we are both still fascinated by and drawn to the simpler aspects of radio. That may mean crystal sets or just "doing HF" like we used to - twiddling the dial, making QSOs without the aid of Clusters, Panadapters, and other gadgets and hoo-haws, and just enjoying being on the radio.

Isn't his handiwork the coolest?

You might think a crystal radio wouldn't be worth much; but this is how Bob described it to me in an e-mail:

"I removed the headphones and attached my old Radio Shack amplified speaker.  Basement filling sound, just like having a “real” radio on.  I find it’s performance amazing!  The only power source is the 9-volt battery in the amplified speaker!"

That's the wonder of it all - radio from a receiver that's not powered by anything, really.

When I was a young one, I had one of these:

I used to sit in our kitchen with the alligator clip attached to the metal finger stop on our rotary wall phone. I was able to pick up WWOR and WABC and a few other NYC stations, as well as WCTC our local AM station in New Brunswick, NJ.

Looking back at it, I think that like Bob, it was crystal radio that planted the seed about RF that eventually bloomed into the Amateur Radio flower.

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

Thoughts of SKN

The weather forecast for New Year's Eve this coming Monday is a rainy one. We rarely go out on New Year's Eve anyway. Marianne and I are not partying people. Our idea of a big New Year's Eve is to go out to a quiet restaurant for dinner and then come home to watch the ball drop in NYC via the television.

Sign of the times - I saw a commercial the other day for WABC's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" and I was able to recognize only two of the performing artists. I am getting old.

I will undoubtedly jump on the air for a QSO or two for SKN. Hopefully they will be nice rag chews. I am debating what to use this year - my Llaves Cootie Key 

or my Vibroplex Original.

I have had more practice with the Vibroplex and while I'm a bit rusty, I don't sound too terrible. After using a keyer and paddles for so long, it is harder for me to transition to the sideswiper. When you get so used to one side of a key making "dits" and the other side making "dahs", it becomes harder for me to send somewhat decipherable Morse Code with the Cootie.

Maybe I'll practice for a bit this weekend with the VOX on the KX3 turned off so that it becomes one of the most expensive code practice oscillators in the world.

72 de Larry W2LLJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Hoping Santa was good to all of you

and that those who were wishing to find a nice new shiny transceiver, key, or accessory - or perhaps and older, slightly less shiny vintage radio that you've been pining for - found it waiting for you in your stocking; or under the Christmas Tree.

W2LJ doesn't really get many Amateur Radio gifts for Christmas, anymore. I really don't need anything very badly and my wife really doesn't have much more than an outside acquaintance with the hobby, so she wouldn't know what to get without my direction, anyway.

My big sister surprised me this year, however. We went over to her house for Christmas dinner, as we do every year. As if our family spending time with her, and my brother-in-law and my nephew isn't enough of a Christmas gift in and of itself, a special present was waiting for me.

I have to admit, when I unwrapped it, I was wondering what the book was about. My sister knows that I'm a big NY Mets fan; but baseball isn't exactly what you would consider a contact sport - unless you're talking about the bat and the ball. I immediately thought it might be about some other sport - but then the cover has that picture of the tent, and the mention of the word "airwaves". What is this all about?

A quick glance of the inside jacket flap revealed that this book was indeed about Amateur Radio. In particular it is the story of the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship. I didn't even know that a book had been written about that! Not that I'm anything of a die hard contester; but this book intrigues me. The WRTC is a lot like Field Day on steroids when you think about it, and I love Field Day, very much  I think that this is going to be a very enjoyable read. But then again,  I find any book that has a story to tell about Amateur Radio to be very enjoyable.

So once again, a very Merry Day-after-Christmas to all my readers out there.  Enjoy the Season. The world might tell you that the holiday is over; but for a lot of us, it has just begun!

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

Christmas Eve 2018

"Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.

The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. 

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

 “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Slipping the surly bonds of Earth

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air...

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark or even eagle flew --

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr

It was 50 years ago today that the crew of Apollo 8 slipped the surly bonds of Earth, taking mankind on one of its most daring voyages - the first manned flight to the Moon. Never before had human beings escaped the confines of Earth orbit - never before had humans ridden the monster known as the Saturn V rocket - the most powerful machine ever built with human hands.

Today, we remember and salute not only the brave and valiant crew of Apollo 8, but the untold thousands of men and women who worked behind the scenes at NASA and all the supporting agencies and companies. They got these men to the Moon and safely back to earth.

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

Facebook chuckle

When I see something like this, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter or some other social media platform, I just have to smile to myself.

The guys gets 26 comments. mostly from Amateur Radio operators who understand propagation, how it works and that QRP doesn't necessarily mean "weak signal".

So what does he do?

He turns off commenting for the post.

Kind of like throwing a smoke bomb into a room, yelling "fire" and then running away. I wonder what he was thinking?

I think the internet definition of a person like this is "troll".

He'd be much better served by doing a little research, maybe get to know what he's bashing and then seeing if his preconceived ideas actually hold water. This is the same reason why I won't jump on the FT8 bashing bandwagon. Even though it's not my cup of tea - there's a ton of folks out there who seem to enjoy it and get a kick out of it. Just because it doesn't tickle my fancy and I don't see the big attraction - I'm not about to put them down or tell them they shouldn't be having fun doing what they're doing.

Amateur Radio is a big enough tent under which we can all have fun.

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

New VHF/UHF rig for the car.

About a week ago, I went to my car to participate in the Northern New Jersey ARES Net. The repeater that the net is held on is in Morristown, NJ. Not that far away; but not reachable with a hand held from my house. I went to the car to use the mobile rig, as it has more "oomph". It was then that I noticed my QYT 8900 mobile VHF/UHF radio was not transmitting. When I would key the microphone, the display would show full output, but I was not making it into the repeater. ANY repeater. I tried just about everything that was in memory - nothing.

That's definitely not good. As the EC for South Plainfield and as a member of the Middlesex County ARES Team, I can't afford to be without VHF/UHF capability in my vehicle.

I also have a son in college and am paying a hefty tuition bill, so I can't afford a new rig, either.

I went to Amazon to see what I could get for under $100 as that's all I was able to scrape together right now - the fact that Christmas is next week wasn't helping, either.

I "settled" on another QYT product - this time the KT-8900D:

Yes, indeedy a Kenwood / Yaesu / Icom product would have been much preferred. At this time, I cannot afford that - and the QYT 8900, while it lasted, provided me with a couple years of good service. The quality of received audio was very good to excellent; and no one ever complained about my signal other than the normal "being out of range" type of comments that you'd get with any mobile VHF/UHF transceiver.

It arrived last Friday and I began to program it last weekend. Manual programming as the programming cable that comes with the radio seems to be a piece of junk. Using the QYT software or CHIRP, I get the "Cannot Clone Radio" error with both Windows 10 or XP. Manual programming isn't difficult at all, it just takes more time - and I cannot change the splash displays manually, either.

It would be neat to change that "KT-8900D" display to "W2LJ" - but such is life. At least I have emergency capability back up and running should the need arise (God forbid!)

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A little audience participation ...... please?

To paraphrase the popular credit card commercials .......

"So what is Santa leaving under your Christmas Tree this year?"

Or maybe more appropriately, what Amateur Radio goodies are YOU wishing that Santa will leave for you this year?

Please let us know in the comments......you never know - Santa may very well be a reader of this blog!

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

Second laugh of the day

The results for the 2018 NJ QSO Party have been published: http://www.k2td-bcrc.org/njqp/results/2018%20NJQP%20Results.pdf

W2LJ came in as the 1st place station for Middlesex County in the 2018 NJ QSO Party.

Pretty hard not to when you're the ONLY entry from Middlesex County!

But seriously, it WAS a fun event and my first time entering into the fray of the NJ QSO Party. Next year, I hope to get the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club involved and maybe we can give some of the other NNJ Clubs a run for their money.

But even more seriously - many kudos and thanks to the great folks at the Burlington County Amateur Radio Club for the excellent work they do in sponsoring this. The NJ QSO Party was on its deathbed just a few years ago. BCARC breathed life into it and resurrected it. It seems like participation is growing with each year.

Like I said before - I had fun. God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be back in 2019. And maybe by then, I'll figure out how to submit a proper cabrillo file.

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

Laugh of the day

Posted by the K9YA Telegraph on Facebook:

BTW, if you don't subscribe to the K9YA Telegraph, please consider doing so! IMHO, it's THE best free Amateur Radio e-zine available today.

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

Better late than never

You know that old saying, "He's a day late and a dollar short"?

That's me.

I'm a day late in posting this, but it's relevant to all of us Amateur Radio operators, especially the DXers among us. For 117 years ago, on December 12th, 1901 a single Morse Code "S" was transmitted via radio from Poldhu, England to St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

You can argue all day about who actually invented radio, but it was Guglielmo Marconi who first succeeded in proving that radio signals could traverse the Atlantic. His detractors, "The Experts" of the day, came to a "consensus" and insisted that radio waves could only follow the curvature of the Earth and would be limited to a range of 200 miles or less.

Marconi believed different and was able to prove them wrong.

You can read more about this, if you want, on the History Channel page for December 12th - https://bit.ly/2zWRsCV

I wonder what Mr. Marconi would think of modern QRP'ers, with our ridiculously short antennas (compared to the miles of wire he thought necessary) and our measly 5 Watts?

I think he'd be beaming and would be the prime SOTAteer.

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

This transceiver is going to be quite THE thing when it is finally available!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

QRP Field Day is not as hard as you might think!

There was a post on the 4 States QRP Group e-mail reflector, where one of the members asked if anyone from the group was interested in doing an all QRP Field Day effort.

It's really not that difficult a proposition and I heartily encouraged them to do so. SPARC and NJ2SP got started doing Field Day in 2014. A bit of background - we were founded in April of that year. Planning for Field Day only two months later doesn't leave you with much time, does it? I opened my big fat mouth and suggested that we just go to the local park, throw some wires in the trees and go from there.

Wow, did that take off!

That year we entered under the 2A Battery banner. We came in 3rd place in our category, 39th place out of ALL 315 stations running 5 Watts that year, 16th place out of 97 in our Division, and 7th place out of 44 entered in our Section.

I fully suspected that even with that great inaugural performance, the club would want to go QRO in 2015. To say I was surprised when they made it known that they wanted us to stay QRP would be an understatement! We've had a blast every year and 2017 was THE banner year for NJ2SP so far.

2017 saw us end up in 2nd place in our category, nationwide and 8th place out of ALL 321 stations running 5 Watts. 4th place out of 98 in our Division and 2nd place out of 36 in our Section.

In 2018 we placed a greater emphasis on "Elmering" and PR for Amateur Radio, in general. As a result, we didn't place as well as 2017. But hopefully with a few new members that we have introduced into our fold,  2019 will allow us to do all that AND get fannies behind the mic and key in order to get those QSO totals back up again.

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

Elecraft's 20th Anniversary

It's hard to believe they've been around for that long. To celebrate Wayne Burdick N6KR was interviewed on Bob Heil's "Ham Nation" Web show.  Here's a link:

https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/379?autostart=false

I haven't watched it yet, but will do when I get a chance.

I'll never forget that Field Day some 17 or 18 years ago when Bob W3BBO brought his brandy-new K2 to our PARC Field Day outing. One look and I knew I had to have one of them puppies for myself some day.

After a K1, a K2 and briefly a K3, I have settled on my KX3 as the day-in/day-out rig for W2LJ. It's equally hard for me to believe it's been over six years since I made that choice.

Where does the time go?

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

All is quiet

on the Amateur Radio front - sadly.

I've been to busy with other "nonsense" to give radio the time it deserves, lately. In fact, last week I missed both QRP Foxhunts. On Tuesday because my son was involved in an MVA (no one was hurt - just car damage - thank God!) and I just didn't have the heart to get on the air that evening. Thursday night I attended an ARES Connect webinar. The weekend was spent doing house chores and starting to get the house ready for Chrsitmas - decorating the outside, inside and all that jazz.

However, during my weekly Skype session with W3BBO, I decided which kit I am going kick off the 2018/2019 Winter Building Season with.

It's a cheapie little o'scope kit that I purchased from Bangood about a year ago. I know, I know - you're all thinking, "But Larry, you get what you pay for!" And that's true. I don't expect much from it. But if I can use it to trace signals on circuit boards, it will have been worth it.

Besides, it doesn't look very complicated and should go together rather quickly. Just what I need before jumping in with both feet with my QCX and Bayou Jumper.

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

Thanksgiving 2018

To all my Amateur Radio friends,

May this Thanksgiving holiday bring you peace, love, happiness, warmth. comfort and joy. And may it bring you some pretty good turkey, too!

Of all the things I am thankful for this holiday, and there is lots to be thankful for - I am especially thankful for all of you who read this humble blog. Amateur Radio is a big part of my life and it would not be half as enjoyable as it is, without all of you sharing this experience with me.

May God continue to bless you all, in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

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

Tips for the budding QRP DXer

I've posted about this before; but maybe it's a good time to bring this subject up for the newer QRPers out there who want to get their share of DX.

You may have heard rumors that working DX as a QRPer is dang near impossible; or a Herculean task at the very best.  That's a rumor spread by those who don't know any better. I will admit, though, that working DX as a QRPer during the valleys of the sunspot cycle IS more difficult than when Ol' Sol is sporting a lot of freckles. But it can be done, you just have to be smart about it.

1) Use the best antenna you've got at your disposal, whatever it is.

2) Know when to cast your net. And that's what this post is all about. This coming weekend will be a VERY good time to cast your net.

The CQ WorldWide DX (CW portion) Contest is this weekend. Even if you're not a contester; or dislike contesting in general - this is still a great way to boost your countries worked total. When the sunspot cycle is at its peak - stations have been known to complete DXCC in one weekend! Don't expect that this weekend - even though NASA has confirmed that we are now on the upward leg of Cycle 25, it will be a few years before conditions become primo again. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun and work a lot of countries right now.

The exchange is easy, RST and your CQ Zone. That's it - no hellishly long exchange or serial numbers to have to remember.

Know when to jump in with QRP. This is the key to success. My advice is that unless your code speed is very good - and I'm talking 25 WPM or faster - you might want to avoid jumping in until Saturday evening at the earliest.  If you jump in at the sound of the starting gun, you're going to be hearing a lot of buzz saw sounds, and you'll probably be sitting at your bench with ????? floating all around your head.

The beginning hours of the contest is the province of the Big Boys and the Contest Pros.  Yes, you'll find stations to work and copy, but make things easy for yourself. Get to harvesting when conditions are in your favor.

So when are conditions in your favor? Experience tells me late Saturday night into Sunday - ESPECIALLY on Sunday. The previously mentioned Big Boys and Contest Pros have had ample time to work each other and now they become sharks. From the second half of the contest until the end, they're so hungry for new contacts (in order to bump up their QSO total) that they will take time to listen for less than 599 signals, and less than buzz saw code speeds.

This is when you go hunting.  Twiddle the dial a lot and listen for signals that you're comfortable copying and make your move. Don't try to send any faster than your comfortable with. You'll only mess up the exchange and will probably get asked for numerous repeats. Just send steady, copy-able code - the smoothest you can, and you'll be just fine. And even though you may not have a 599++++++ signal at the receiving end, you'll get you share of DX.

The main thing is, have fun and enjoy yourself, and watch your DXCC tally grow in the process.

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

Thanksgiving humor

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in these United States of America. It's my favorite holiday because with the exception of the Black Friday nonsense (which has nothing to do with Thanksgiving) there's no hype like there is for other holidays. Just family, friends, food and togetherness with a big dose of thanks to the Almighty tossed in for good measure.

So I'll begin this week with a pun, courtesy of the ARRL - taken from Jeeves, who appeared in QST for many a year:

Courtesy of the ARRL and QST

Oh! Another thing to be grateful for, pre-Holiday! This coming weekend is the CQ WWDX CW contest, so during this week, there should be plenty of stations in exotic DX locations setting up, getting ready and testing out antennas and equipment. Keep an ear peeled for ATNOs!

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

Unadulterated bragging

Some more Field Day results - the ARRL 2018 Field Day results are in the database.

As mentioned in a previous post, SPARC came in 4th for our category 3AB, Nationwide.

In our NNJ section, we came in 4th out of a total of 39 stations that participated in Field Day (all classes and categories)

AND, out of ALL the 2018 Field Day stations that utilized 5 Watts of output power - there were 276 - SPARC came in 17th

So all in all, NJ2SP placed well. However, no resting on laurels! I need to come up with a better antenna solution for the CW station, so that we can surpass 400 CW QSOs in 2019 and boost our total even higher.

Maybe a home made hex beam?

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

Stymied

I am stymied, perplexed and confused.

I had signed up to attend an "ARES Connect" Webinar tonight, to introduce ARES District Emergency Coordinators (DECs) and Emergency Coordinators (ECs - I am the EC for South Plainfield, NJ) to "ARES Connect". ARES Connect will be the new, online platform for reporting, scheduling and communicating about ARES activities.

I guess the Webinar was supposed to originate from ARRL HQ tonight; but because of our impending first Winter storm here in the NorthEast, the Webinar has been postponed for two weeks, until November 29th.

Huh?

I thought that advantage of a Webinar was that it could be held anywhere and at any time, You know, attend a class from your home in the comfort of your PJs. Right? So if that's the case, why would the instructor(s) or facilitator(s) have to be in an office? As long as the material is in their computer(s), just dial into the company hosting the Webinar, or somehow connect to the proper IP, right?

Or am I missing something? There MUST be more to this than my simple mind thinks there is.

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

Special Net tonight

The local Repeater Club, for which I am Secretary, is having a special net tonight, and I will be the NCS. Maybe a little back story is in order, first.

We used to have a weekly "Wednesday Night Information Net" for many years. The last iteration was run by our club President at the time, Jeff N2VHV. Jeff had COPD and when it became difficult for him to run the net, at times, either Rodolfo N2HRG, Pete KD2ARB or myself would pick up the slack.

When Jeff finally passed on, the net kind of went into "hiatus" mode, as no one really was able to make a weekly commitment. At a recent club meeting, we decided to try to revive the net, and I volunteered to serve as Net Control. However, I have SPARC and ARES commitments on three out of four Wednesdays a month, so the club agreed it would be a monthly, instead of weekly, net.

So far, in September and October, we've had decent, but not stellar participation. I am hoping that tonight will be different. Borrowing from the Catholic custom of November being the month in which we remember those who have gone on before, I decided that tonight's net will be a "Silent Key Net". Members who participate will be invited to share a special memory or story of one of our club members who have gone on to "The Shack in the Sky". For those who are newer to the club and are not familiar with any past members, they will be asked to share a memory or story about someone who may have played an important part in their time as an Amateur Radio op.

I am hoping that this will make the net a bit more personal and meaningful, instead of something that's perhaps a bit too routine and dry. I try to present a topic for discussion for each session, and I am hoping one that "hits home" will draw more into participating. I have sent out club e-mail notices for the past couple of weeks in order to let every member know what will be happening tonight. We'll see it it generates a bigger turnout.

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

Winter is settling in ...... early!

While talking with W3BBO last Saturday evening, during our weekly gabfest, he told me how Erie, PA had already received 7-8 inches of snow that day. While it's been downright chilly, wet and nasty in Central NJ, we haven't seen any snow - yet. Not of Erie proportions, but I see that we're expected to see about 1-3 inches of the fluffy stuff here between Wednesday evening and Friday.

It's rare that we get snow in these parts before Thanksgiving. I hope that doesn't foretell a long, cold, snowy winter.

But, in the event that is does, one has to be prepared. I have a PLETHORA of kits, just waiting to be built this Winter. How many I will get to is anyone's guess, but I would like to get my 40 Meter QCX and my Bayou Jumper done this building season.

In that vein, I saw one of these posted for sale on the Interwebs:

It's a Mustel G600 microscope/camera thingy that amplifies/enlarges the view of what's beneath it. As you can see, in the picture, they have it aimed at a circuit board. On Amazon, this model goes anywhere from $50 to about $70. The ad I saw on the Interwebs was selling them for $37.00.

I figured, "Oh, what the heck". Even if it turns out to be an under performer, it may help these old eyes check for solder bridges more easily and help identify component color codes and value numbers more easily. It's not like I have a spare $37 to throw away; but if it does half the job it is advertised to do, it will be a big help. The company that is selling them it called Gear Best; and this is the first time I've dealt with them. We'll see. I'll let everyone know how it performs and if I bought a pig in a poke (it wouldn't be the first time!), I'm not too proud to own up to it.

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

Gratification!

It's not often that you wake up on a Saturday morning and experience something exciting that warms your heart to boot. Today was one of those mornings. Today was our club's monthly Volunteer Examiner Session.

We had three unlicensed people come in to take the Technician Class license exam. All three passed; and that in itself was gratifying. As usual, when a candidate passes the Tech exam, they automatically get an invitation to take the General Class exam. We tell the candidates, right off the bat, that if they haven't looked at the General Class License Manual, to expect to only get about 30-40% of the questions correctly answered. The important point is that they will have seen the exam, and when they study to upgrade, they'll have a better feeling on areas they may need to especially concentrate on.

The first two candidates did as expected and were pleased to go home with their CSCE (Certificate of Successful Completion of an Exam), hoping their call signs would show up in the FCC database some time later this week.

Our third candidate was special - he got 33 out of 35 answers correct! Not only did he earn his Technician, but also his General in the same sitting. Hoping that lightning would strike a third time, we encouraged Doug (his name) to give the Extra exam a shot.  He was hesitant at first, but then decided to give it a go.

Before he started, he asked to use the rest room and we found out a bit more about him. Doug's an engineer by profession, so that says a lot right there. But we also found out that he was a lapsed Ham. He got his ticket in high school way back in the 60s. His call sign was WB2GVE and he had upgraded to Advanced class before career and family pre-occupied his time so much that his license lapsed.

As soon as I heard that he had an Advanced Class license I had a gut feeling that he would pass the Extra this morning. In my 40 year career as a Ham, the Advanced Class exam was by far THE toughest of them all. The Extra Class exam was a cake walk, by comparison. It's a little tougher now that they did away with the 20 WPM Morse Code requirement; but it's still easier than the Advanced.

Doug came back in, sat down and got to work. About a 1/2 hour later or so, he sighed and handed in his exam and answer sheet. He was not optimistic; but I was. A few minutes later, I was able to tell him that he did indeed earn his Extra with some room to spare. To say that he was elated is an understatement. He was flabbergasted and the whole exam team was beaming from ear to ear.

With the exception of a couple of us, this was our (my) first time that a person has gone from unlicensed to Amateur Extra in one sitting. I'm sure it wasn't as gratifying for us as it was for Doug; but it was sure darn close!

And there's icing on the cake! Doug lives in South Plainfield, so he was heavily encouraged to join SPARC, where he will be welcomed with open arms. Icing on the icing (or maybe ice cream on the cake)? He's interested in QRP !!! Now THAT went a long way to make my morning!

And....... all THAT came after finding out last night that SPARC came in 4th Place, Nationwide, in our classification for Field Day.

So, without even so much as touching a key, or twiddling a knob, it's been a very good Amateur Radio weekend, so far.


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

QCX Field Day

I saw this post of Facebook the other day:

It's so cool that they used two QCX transceivers for Field Day. Can you imagine how long they could last on a deep cycle marine battery or a solar panel?

My question is - I wonder where they got their Field Day results from?  The December 2018 edition of QST is not out yet - not even digitally. That's the only place that I know of where the scores are published.

It will be interesting to see how SPARC did this year. We had less Qs because we did a lot more "Elmering" this year. That's a big part of what the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club is all about - so if our score suffered, we're okay with that.

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

Old habits die hard

Even though it was a long, tough day at work, and anywhere from 9:00 to 9:30 PM seems to be my bedtime anymore - I gave in and joined in on the inaugural session for the 2018/2019 Winter Fox Hunt Season. I had a successful evening, which of course, is now going to encourage me to participate in the rest of the season.

40 Meters seemed to be in decent shape and Jerry N9AW was the first Fox that I found. He was the "upper" Fox, located between 7.040 and 7.050 MHz. He had a decent signal from the get-go. I called him a few times before he worked me, but eventually made it into his logbook.

Mac NN4K was a bit harder. I heard some familiar call signs that I knew were hounds and tuned down 1 KHz. Mac was indeed there, but weak - ESP weak. I could tell he was there and that was about it. So I hunkered down and kept listening. Slowly his signal rose, and he also changed from working split to working simplex. I threw out my call, thinking it was going to take a long time to work him, if at all. Much to my surprise, I actually heard my call sign come back to me. We completed the exchange and Fox #2 was in the log!

My "nemesis" was there again, using his scatter gun approach, but the tight filters on the KX3 really helped tune him out. Thursday night is the 80 Meter hunt. Now my appetite is whetted enough to give that a go and see what happens. Dave N1IX is one of the Foxes. He's a superb operator, "A1" in every sense - AND he is located in New Hampshire, which should be very do-able for 80 Meters.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to this, now.

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

Election Day 2018

To my readers in the USA:

These brave men, and many more men and women just like them, have been defending your right to vote since 1775.

Honor them - go cast your ballot.

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

It was 40 years ago this month .........

that I took and successfully passed my Novice exam and earned my license.

I had previously told ya'll how I wanted to become a Ham in high school, but ultimately gave up the quest for a while, as I couldn't learn the Morse Code. In October of 1978, I was reading the weekly Amateur Radio column, "Calling CQ" by Bob McGarvey (sp?) in the Sunday New Brunswick Home News Tribune. In that particular column, Bob announced that there would be an Amateur Radio class conducted once a week at nights, at North Brunswick High School.

I signed up for it and attended, faithfully. Memory fails me as to how long it lasted, but 8 weeks seems to be about right, as we started in September and the exam was in November. The two teachers were excellent and it was their method of teaching and explaining that I follow today when I conduct a Technician class along with Marv K2VHW. The one teacher that I remember in particular for being extra especially helpful was Ed O'Donnel K2YJE (SK). I probably owe the fact that I got licensed to Ed.

The license manual that we used was this one, "Tune In The World With Ham Radio", which I still have in my library today - and actually still refer to it from time to time. It was written in a "Ham Radio for Dummies" kind of style and made all the concepts easy to understand.

Morse Code was learned via the ARRL Morse Code tapes. I really stuck with it this time and for whatever reason, it was far easier for me to learn the Code than when I first tried. Looking back, I think that maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had no visual cues. There were no pre-printed out alphabet/character charts to look at or refer to. I learned simply from what I heard. And maybe, just maybe that was all the difference in the world avoiding the eye-ear-brain sequence and just going with the ear to brain sequence.

On the night of the exam, we were all pretty nervous. The instructors used the now famous "Novice Test Trick". Basically, they began by telling us how that they knew how nervous we were so there was going to be a five minute Morse Code "practice exam" that would allow us to get our our jitters out of the way.. "Just listen to the Code and try and copy along", they told us. This way we'd be more at ease when the actual exam began.

They played the QSO tape and we all copied it. They came around, looked at our chicken scratch copy and smiled and announced, "You all passed!" There was no multiple choice. You copied what you heard and you had to get at least one minute's worth of solid copy. Only then the written test was given. Again, my memory fails me as to how many questions that had on it, although I think there were 35 questions. And my failing memory is also telling me it was a multiple choice test, not fill-in-the-blank.

The big difference back then was that they didn't grade it immediately and you didn't know whether  you failed or passed. The instructors mailed all the exam materials to the FCC and you had to wait for a letter from the Government. In my case, that took about six or seven painstakingly long weeks.

I was at work at the camera store that I was employed at, at the time. It was late afternoon, close to closing time when my Mom called to tell me that the letter from the FCC had arrived. I asked her to open it shutting my eyes and crossing my fingers. "Your call sign is KA2DOH" she told me. "What was that?", I asked. I was so apprehensive about what she was going to tell me that I didn't even hear my call sign correctly!

But I had done it! I was a Ham! I had to build my receiver which was a Heathkit HR-1680, first, before I could get on the air. But get on the air I would - and I'm still there, 40 years later. And at least for me, it's as exciting now as it was back then.

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

A side benefit of being a Ham

Kit building and homebrewing have been a big part of my Amateur Radio career. Tinkering with electronics and the mechanical aspects of building kits has always been fun. In fact, that was what led me to a 20+ year career in electronics repair in the professional photographic industry.

Even though that chapter of my life has closed. the skills seem to remain. A week ago, my wife Marianne was opening the dishwasher when the handle cracked off in her hand. We were able to get the thing open and emptied, but the latch wasn't working well enough to keep the machine tightly closed for a wash cycle.

One YouTube video later, it became obvious that replacing the latch AND handle would be the easiest way to get the repair done. I ordered the part and replaced it yesterday. It was definitely NOT the most complex repair I have ever made in my life. I still give Amateur Radio credit though, because it's been through Amateur Radio that I learned not to have fear of, or have qualms about taking things apart and putting them back together again. And because of that, I probably saved a decent amount of money in the process.

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