A sad event

I had to come home from work during lunchtime today, to bring down my G5RV. Hopefully, it's only temporary. The maple tree that it is anchored to has become old and it's upper branches weak. It is a danger in a high wind situation. The tree will be topped, that is the top 15 feet or so worth of branches are going to be trimmed off and hauled away.

I won't have a good idea of what I'll be up against until I get home tomorrow night ...... maybe. To make matters worse, there is a wind advisory posted for the NorthEast for tomorrow. I was hoping to have this done tomorrow and then spend part of Saturday getting the antenna back up in the tree or maybe put some masting up if there's not enough of the tree left.

I hope it can be done soon. This leaves me with only the Butternut HF9V. Don't get me wrong - it's a fine antenna; but now I have no back up. I'm getting too close to finishing off "QSO a Day" for 2005 to have things loused up with less than a month to go just because of some tree surgery.

73 de Larry W2LJ

MOCADing - 11 months in.

As mentioned previously, at the beginning of this year, I made a resolution. Not something unrealistic, like losing 25 pounds (which I should do) or to give up smoking (which I don't do anyway). No, my resolution was to get on the radio every single blessed day of 2005, and make at least one QRP CW QSO. My motivation greatly enhanced by the fact the North American QRP CW Club offered it's "QSO a Day" award around the same time I began to contemplate undertaking this task. Talk about timing!

It's December now, and eleven months have passed with, so far, a QRP CW QSO being made each and every day. I have come to learn a few things:

First - This goal, while obtainable, seemed a lot easier to achieve than reality has borne out. I really didn't take into account the declining solar conditions at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. I didn't think that there would be nights when a QSO with someone within the state of NJ would seem like the greatest DX I have ever worked! There were evenings this past January and February, when the ionosphere was sooooooo screwed up from Coronal Mass Ejections, that a QSO with a guy some 30 miles away from me was as difficult as working the DXpedition on Kure Atoll this past fall. Luckily, I was able to work the guy 30 miles away - I never really even heard the guys on Kure all that well.

I didn't take into account things like school plays, recitals, civic meetings which eat up a huge chunk of evening "free time" (a term I use VERY loosely!). Getting home late some evenings and then running down to the basement shack got me operating when a lot of other guys were calling it quits for the night. I know we all need our sleep because we have to go to work tomorrow; but hey! I'm trying to accomplish something here! And I have found, quite remarkably, that is indeed possible to nod off during the middle of a CW QSO. There have been a number of times that my neck snapped and my head jerked as I caught myself dozing off!

I kind of thought that summer vacation was going to be a problem; but it turned out not to be. We rented a cabin at Lake George and I was able to take my K1 along with the PAC-12 antenna; and made the required QSOs. My family is very understanding (for which I love them dearly - especially my wife, Marianne); and fortunately, so was George - the owner of Stepping Stones Resort in Diamond Point, NY. (An unabashed plug for George and Stepping Stones, who were and continue to be very, very gracious).

My brother-in-law's wedding in late July was another concern. That was a hectic two days; but it turned out I had to come home the night of the rehearsal dinner as I had to be home to let our dog Jesse out to do his "business" for the night and again the next morning. This allowed me to squeeze in my QSO in for that Saturday.

Second - I didn't realize how rewarding this quest would become. Not just for making at least 365 consecutive QSOs; but also for a lot of "fringe benefits". My code speed has increased significantly. At the beginning of the year, I was comfortable at the 16 - 18 wpm range; and I could copy at up to 30 wpm for short bursts. Now, in December, I am quite comfortable in the 20 - 25 wpm range and have no problems copying in the 35 - 40 wpm range for short amounts of time until my brain cramps. And I can tell that this spiral upward will continue if I keep at this. The only downside is finding guys who can keep up a QSO at these speeds. Sadly, they seem to becoming fewer and fewer.

I am very fortunate to have a lot of friends that I have met through Amateur Radio. Some like Bob W3BBO, I have met locally. But MOCADing has allowed me to have made friends that I know only from QSOs on the air. These are genuine friends, who I have come to know and have had multiple QSOs with. It is so nice to hear a callsign and know who it is on the opposite end before making contact. There was one instance in particular, that I recall especially. I was in QSO with Jim Stafford W4QO, relatively late one evening in September. From the basement, I was able to hear my son crying in his bedroom. I immediately dropped everything to go and see what the matter was. My five year old had had a nightmare and needed some TLC, which he received. About twenty minutes later, after Joey was securely tucked back in bed, I went back to the shack to fine Jim - on frequency - patiently waiting! He was wondering what the matter was and was relieved with the explanation. He was actually on the verge of reaching out via the telephone to make sure there was no dire medical emergency. Other than the brotherhood of Ham Radio; where could you find that kind of concern and camaraderie?

And there are plenty of others like John AE5X and Gary K8KFJ, who I have come to know from working during QRP Sprints. It's always nice to run into them on the air, only to hear a "Hi Larry" come from the other side! Bob KB2FEL originally from NY and now from WV is also a good contesting "buddy". He always has a great signal and a friendly attitude. Then there are great guys like Geoff W1OH who took the time to send me information on great vacations destinations like Prince Edward Island. Then there are Tom KB3LFC and John K3WWP who I have come to know through the NAQCC and on the air. Also, there is Charles W2SH, who I found out, doesn't live very far from me. I have also come to know Lloyd K3ESE from the air and through a QRP club we both belong to, the Flying Pigs QRP Club International. Lloyd's political views and mine are like oil and vinegar - they DO NOT mix; but LL is a superb CW op. His fist is excellent and he is a joy to copy. His enthusiasm for QRP, CW, building and operating portable know no bounds. Did I mention Lloyd's sense of humor? - definitely quirky; but always amusing and funny.

Third - I have increased my knowledge of propagation. I have come to know what all these solar numbers and indexes actually mean; and I can know ahead of time whether or not it is going to be an easy go on a particular day. Directly responsible for my knowledge is Paul Harden NA5N. Reading his "plain language" articles and postings to the QRP e-mail reflectors has taken a complicated science; and has made it much more understandable.

I fully expect to make my goal; and make another 30 more QSOs to finish off December. The NAQCC is doing the award thing again in 2006; and I may actually try again. You may or may not be able to reach the goal; but I will guarantee you one thing. The attempt is truly an adventure and a learning experience; both at the same time.

See you on the air,
73 de Larry W2LJ

Things I am thankful for.

In keeping with Thanksgiving tradition, which is tomorrow, I am mindful and give thanks for all the wonderful gifts that God has given me. I am thankful for them all; but in particular, I am most thankful for these:

My lovely wife, Marianne.
Our two great children, Joey and Cara
My Mom and my sister; and my Dad who has since passed away
My extended family - by blood and by marriage.
My Catholic faith.
For my country, the United States.
Our dog Jesse and our cat Sadie
Our nice warm and dry house
Our jobs, that allow us to have necessary and good things.
Baseball, especially the New York Mets.
Amateur radio - the world's greatest hobby.

There are so many things to be thankful for - I can never think of them or list them all. Thank you, God, for blessing the lives of me and my family.

Giving Thanks.

It's less than a week to go until Thanksgiving. This is a day set aside, by the leaders of our country, in order to step back, take a breath and thank the Creator for the wonderful bounty He has bestowed upon the United States.

There are many out there who are uncomfortable with the abundance that has been bestowed upon us. I guess there are some out there who feel we have been given too much and that other nations have so little. There is some validity to that. The United States has been given much - but in turn, we give much in return. There has NEVER been a nation like ours, who gives and gives and gives, for the most part without asking for anything in return. Tsunami, earthquake, famine, flood, whatever ...... if it happens in another part of the world, Americans unhesitatingly open up their wallets or larders and donate whatever they can.

However, while the actions are all well and good; and very commendable, they are not enough in their own right. It is necessary for us to humble ourselves (I know .... what a concept!) and get down on our knees and thank God for the gifts He has given us. Because in the end, the wise ones know, that we can do nothing on our own. It is only by the grace and gifts from God that we are able to achieve what we achieve; and accomplish what we accomplish.

So this Thanksgiving, please put some time on the side - even if it's just a few seconds while you're shaving, dressing, taking the dog for a walk, or whatever; and from the bottom of your heart give thanks to the Almighty for the benevolence that He has deemed to bestow and continues to bestow upon us and our great country.

73 de Larry W2LJ

PS: To all the men and women in all the branches of the United States Armed Service - THANK YOU for defending our freedom and our way of life! Thank you for being there on the front lines so we can enjoy our bounty and give thanks without fear.

Whoa, Martha! Who turned off the ionosphere?

Wow! Tonight was a tough one! It was definitely like I was scraping the bottom of the QSO barrel in order to eke out a QSO to fulfill my "QSO a Day" obligation. Here it is, November 12th. I've made a QSO everyday since January and I'm getting down to the last 6 to 7 weeks of the year. I do not need the ionosphere to go haywire on me just now.

After puttng the kids to bed tonight, I went down to the shack for my nightly QSO. I got a late start because there was a new episode of SpongeBob Squarepants that the kids wanted to watch. As of 8:30 local time, I started calling CQ for an hour and a half with no takers! 40 Meters was wall to wall RTTY (yet another contest ... sigh!) and 30 Meters was pretty much dead. 80 Meters had some signals on it; but not all that many.

Around 10:30 I decided to come upstairs for a short break. When I headed down about 10 minutes later, I heard a very loud station calling CQ on 80 Meters. It was Mike Barrell WB9DLC. We've QSOed a few times before; so right then seemed as good a time as any to drop in my callsign and say "Hello". Mike and I chatted for about ten minutes, and then I let him go. He was hunting for new FISTS numbers as he is not far from achieving Century Gold, the award you earn for working 500 other FISTS members. Way to go, Mike!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Tally ho!

Last night was the third installment of the QRP-L 40 Meter Foxhunt. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept of a QRP Foxhunt, this is how it works.

We get these tiny, small clubs ........ No, No, NO !!!! No wild animals are bothered, injured or harassed. The way it goes is that two volunteer "Foxxi" get on an unnanounced frequency somewhere between 7.030 and 7.050 MHz. For the next 90 minutes, they call "CQ Fox" and then it's up for the rest of us "Hounds" to find the Fox; and have a successful exchange of RST, State, first name and output power. When the exchange has been successfully made, then and only then, can you consider yourself to have "bagged a pelt". If any of you out there have animal sensitivities and are bothered by the jargon; then I can only tell you to "Get a life". It's all in fun and there is no harm done to anything except for maybe knocking off a few charged particles up in the ionosphere.

At any rate, the current Foxunt season began three weeks ago and will continue to run every Thursday night until sometime in March 2006. Last night the Foxii were Doc KØEVZ and John W1RT, who are two very, very good QRPers. I didn't expect to hear John at all last night. He lives in Viriginia, which is too close for good communications on 40 Meters at that time of night at this time of year. I was not disappointed. I heard the pack of houds baying at him; but as expected, I heard nary a peep out of W1RT. I was disappointed, however, with Doc's signal. Doc lives in New Mexico and normally at this time of year, propagation to Texas and Louisiana and a lot of the great SouthWest is an easy hop for me.

I don't know if the ions decided to take the night off for Veteran's Day, or what. I heard absolutuely nothing of Doc or the pack of Hounds chasing him. Disappointed, I took a quick run down to 80 Meters and had a quick QSO with W9TO to at least fulfill my "QSO a Day" obligation.

With a half hour to go, I popped on back to 40 Meters and lo and behold, I was able to hear the faint whispers of Doc on the air. QSB was fast and deep, with Doc rising out of the ashes to be a solid 559; only to go to ESP levels within seconds. What made a bad situation worse was that I could hear Doc handing out exchanges to stations; but I couldn't hear any of those guys he was working! It was impossible for me to tell if Doc was working simplex (on his own frequency) or split (listiening on one frequency and transmitting on another). So I decided I was going to work split; but carefully. I started out almost simplex and then with each try I would move my transmit frequency just a touch higher and higher.

It didn't look good; but finally, with about 5 or 6 minutes left in the Hunt, Doc came back to "??LJ". I sent my call and heard it comeback, along with Doc's info. I sent mine only to hear "QRN agn pse". So I sent my information again, this time just about a WPM slower and sent each bit twice in an attempt to overcome the cruddy band conditions. I was awarded with a "Tnx Larry 72 de KØEVZ".

There's nothing like a fresh pelt hanging in the larder!

73 de Larry W2LJ

By the way, to all of you out there who have served; or are serving in the Armed Forces - "Happy Veteran's Day" !!!!! I thank you for your service to our country. These feelings of gratitude come from the heart and are not just "words" for me. I would like to especially thank a man from New Jersey who served as a Sergeant in the Signal Corps. during WWII in England, France and Germany. He was known as Master Sergeant Alexander Makoski. He is my Dad, who passed away in February 2001. I used to really enjoy his recounting of his experiences in Europe during the war.

Getting old .......

It is often said that as you get old the eyesight is the first to go. I have started building my ATS-3 transceiver kit ala' Steve Weber KD1JV. Working on this kit will put the above mentioned hypothesis to the test. This kit is 99% surface mount technology, or SMT as it is known.

SMT had to have been developed by masochists. The parts are so tiny that I'm pretty sure a grain of uncooked rice is bigger than some of these capacitors and resistors. All work is done with a tweezers and I have resorted to wearing one of those magnifying loupe headband thingies. My bifocals alone are not cutting muster.

The solder that Steve has supplied with the kit is so thin that it reminds me of a cat's whisker from the old crystal radio sets that I played with as a kid. Soldering is done carefully and methodically, all while trying to balance solder, soldering iron and a dental tool for holding parts down in two hands. After each component is soldered in, a visual inspecion is done with all the magnifiers flipped in place to make sure there are no solder bridges as well as no forgotten soldered joints. After the visual inspection is finished, I take an Ohmmeter and check for continuity from the component just soldered in to whatever pad or device that it is connected to.

Construction is definitely taking longer this way; but I want to make sure that if the radio doesn't hum on initial power-up, that it won't be due to some stupid soldering mistake that I may have unwittingly made.

If I can still see straight when I'm finished with this project; then I will consider myself to be a very fortunate Ham, indeed!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Arrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!

The people of this state (New Jersey) went and elected yet ANOTHER tax and spend Democrat to the Governor's office. I swear, a rattlesnake could run for office in this state, put a "D" by his name; and would be elected.

You know what the biggest "Jersey Joke" is? It's not the Turnpike, it's not the pollution, it's the people!

A Good Time

I had an extremely good time on the air last night! I flipped the K2 on and tuned in 40 Meters. Once again, I was greeted with a near silent hiss of a quiet backgound. Every time I turn to 40, I'm afraid that I'm going to be confronted with that buzzsaw of noise again. Breathing a gentle sigh of relief, I turned the K2 off and plugged in the Rockmite 40. After a few CQs, I was granted the opportunity for a QSO. The station I was working was a brand new QRPer who was trying out his new SW40 We were both 559 until the band changed a bit; and QSB took over the frequency. It was nice to see my 500 mWatts get out into the Midwest; and to see the radio still works.

About a half an hour later, I jumped into the fray of the Adventure Radio Society's monthly Spartan Sprint. That was good time as well. Twenty Meters wasn't the greatest, yielding only 3 QSOs. 40 and 80 Meters were great, though. I made 18 QSOs on each band. It was nice to hear the callsigns of fellow QRPers who have become friends; as well as new callsigns, perhaps those just being bitten by the bug?

At any rate, as a really "in it for the fun" kind of contester, I was pleased with my tally of 39 QSOs in two hours. The QRP Sprints are a lot of fun for me; and I look forward to them each and every month.

73 de Larry W2LJ

The Quiet That Was

The quiet that was ....... is back! Yay!

For the past week, the nice quiet background that I have come to know and love on 40 Meters is back. I have no idea as to why or wherefore; but the month of October saw an ambient noise level of S3 to S5 on 40 Meters. It made the band all but unusable. Only the strongest of signals were copyable; and this is not the "bread and butter" of a QRPer. Our strength is in our above average skill in copying signals that are "less than optimum".

There is a house across the street from us that is being renovated for resale. The folks who lived there left to go live with one of their children. It seems that workers have been in and out of there constantly, getting the place ready for resale. I have no proof; but I feel they must have been using something during their labors that was generating a ton of RFI. Now that the house is almost complete, the noise has seemed to have diminished.

Whether I am correct or not in my assumptions is immaterial. The noise is gone for now; and I hope it's for good!

My comments

My comments to the proposal by the FCC to eliminate the Morse Code requirement from Amateur Radio exams:

Gentlemen,

There have been may persuasive arguments put before the Commission as to whether or not the Morse Code requirement should be kept as part of the examination process. It appears the Commission deems that Morse Code requirement is an anachronism that no longer has any validity and should be eliminated. In my opinion, I believe the Commission is being shortsighted and that we should maintain the requirement.

Many amateurs and organizations point to the fact that the military and other professional communications services have abandoned Morse Code. To some extent, this is true. But those services have gone on to highly advanced satellite communications systems. Amateur radio operators, at least for the majority, have not. Our communications depend mostly on voice or radiotelegraphy in the High Frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radiotelegraphy has proved itself to be the most reliable method of communications using those portions of the spectrum that we, for the most part are relegated to. During times of "radio blackout" due to increased sunpsot or other types of geomagnetic activity, often Morse Code communications using Continuous Wave transmission is the only permissible means of radio communications. It should also be noted that the most "cutting edge" frontiers of Amateur Radio - meteor scatter, spread spectrum, low power and microwave and weak signal communications all rely on Morse Code and CW as the "mode of choice" in completing communications.

The Commission has expressed a concern that the providing of Morse Code testing presses an "undue burden" on the part of the VE examining teams. I would like to say, that in over ten years personal experience as a Volunteer Examiner, my team and I never found administering the Morse Code exam to be a burden. In fact, we took extreme pleasure in administering the exam and watching untold numbers of candidates pass. Again, in my personal experience of over a decade as an examiner, I have never come across an individual who was unable to pass the exam given enough time to properly prepare.

The argument has been proposed that the Morse Code exam is a roadblock, preventing untold numbers of qualified individuals from entering the Amateur Radio service. I believe this claim to be unsubstantiated at best; and just another "urban myth" at worst. The Commission has indeed licensed children as young as the age of six or seven as Radio Amateurs. While this is the exception rather than the rule, I would suggest this points to the fact that anyone with a fair amount of ambition, desire and discipline can master a 5 word per minute Morse Code exam. For those who honestly and truly have a valid medical reason for being unable to complete the Morse portion of the test, the Commission had already provided recourse via the medical waiver. I would like the supporters of this argument substantiate their claims with some kind of documentation. It is not proper to make "wild claims" before the Commission without proper documentation. Furthermore, it would seem inappropriate for the Commission to accept these unproven claims as the rule; rather than the exception.

Were the Commission to delegate the Amateur Radio Service as some non-essential radio service such as CB, GMRS or the FRS then I would accept the hypothesis that the Morse Code exam is of little value and should be eliminated. But clearly, the Commission has repeatedly avowed the importance of the Amateur Radio Service and the need for it's continued health and well being. I would hope the Commission would agree with me that to maintain that health and vitality; that it is paramount to not lower standards; but on the other hand to maintain or increase them.

Respectfully submitted,

My favorite band

I'm going to be upfront. I hate the Fall and Winter! There, I've said it. I hate the cold weather and I hate even the approach of cold weather. I hate the Winter and I despise Autumn because it means Winter is coming. I know, I've heard all the excuses - turning leaves, pumpkins, holidays, etc, etc, etc. Bah! I hate the cold and the lack of daylight. Fall and Winter are nothing but misery for me - with one exception .........

One of the only good things about this time of year is that 80 Meters comes back for the season. This is my favorite band; or at least it's in a tie with 40 Meters for that role. And fortunately 80 Meters comes into it's own at this time of year.

In Spring and Summer, along with the increased daylight and warmer weather also comes thunderstorms and aggravated atmospherics. When 80 Meters becomes noisey; I know warm weather it on the way. So, my favorite band disappears for just about 6 months except for a rare evening here and there.

But now, in October, the band pops up its' head again and becomes a joy to use. There is hardly any QRN and the signals pop out of nowhere all the way to 10 or even 20 over 9. Both my G5RV and Butternut HF9V vertical load quite readily on 80 Meters with no problems. I can ragchew to my heart's content and even work some DX here and there. All the "close in" states become more easy to work, once again.

This year, the QRP Foxhunt Committee had decided to run QRP Foxhunts on both 40 and 80 Meters this Winter season. I have signed up to be a Fox for an 80 Meter hunt or two. I hope they let me; it would be a blast!

73 de Larry W2LJ

It always amazes me ........

It never fails to amaze me .....

There are nights that I can be sitting behind the rig; and I seem to be calling "CQ" endlessly on or about the QRP watering holes with nary a nibble. Then I'll go down toward the bottom of the band edge and I'll hear some DX and will chase it down with not much trouble.

That was the way it was tonight. I was calling "CQ" for what seemed to be an eternity on 80 and 40 Meters. I thought I was going to nod off; I was getting so bored! I then spun the frequency knob towards the bottom of 40 Meters and heard SP3EPK calling "CQ" from Poland. I gave him a shot and he answered me on the third try!

I couldn't raise a stateside station; but yet somehow my 5 Watts made it to Poland and I got a 579 signal report to boot! Thanks, Les!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Code Practice

Are you tired of listening to the same old Morse Code practice tapes? Do you want to listen to some fun Morse Code and improve your speed - even if you're a grizzled old veteran? I have a solution for you; and best of all, it's all pretty much free!

The first thing you have to do is go to http://www/g4fon.com and download the program "Koch Trainer" for yourself. It's freeware that was developed and is maintained by Ray Goff G4FON.
This program will not only aid in teaching Morse Code to the neophyte; but it will also translate text files into audio files that the experienced operator can make use of.

I went to the Gutenburg Project and downloaded "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as a text file. I opened up "Koch Trainer" selected the speed I wanted and set the program to record the session as an audio (.wav) file. I then had the trainer play my text file and when it was finished, I converted the .wav file to mp3 format and then burned it to a CD.

Perfect for playing in the CD player in my car during the ride back and forth to work! This is the Amateur Radio version of "Books on Tape"!

73 de Larry W2LJ

I can't hear you .......... !!!!

The current big DXpedition is to Kure Island which is at the Northwestern most end of the Hawaiian chain. The callsign they are using is K7C. They've been on that island for about 5 days now and I still haven't even heard them yet! I'm hearing the pile-ups; but not the DXpeditioners themselves. They've had thousands of QSOs according to the official Website - mostly with Japanese Hams, it seems.

Well, I've printed out some propagation forcasts using W6ELprop software. It looks like my best chance will be during the middle of the night; perhaps 3 or 4 in the morning! I'll set the alarm and we'll see. Is this sick, or what?

73 de Larry W2LJ

Memories of Wellfleet

It was the autumn of 1979; just about this time of year. A friend and I decided to go on vacation to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Our goal was to photograph the beautiful reds, yellows, browns and golds of the changing New England foliage. We were not disappointed; and to this day I have those photographs tucked away.

The way south, home to New Jersey saw us take a detour to visit Cape Cod. It was there, passing through Wellfleet when I spied the sign on the road, diverting my attention to Marconi Station. I was a new Ham at the time, licensed for under a year. I was learning the ropes and was eager to soak in as much about the hobby and it's glorious past as I was able. The old ruins of the radio station beckoned; and I headed in the direction that the road signs indicated.

I was not disappointed, even though there is not much there anymore. This was the site of the first wireless communications that spanned the Atlantic. President Teddy Roosevelt used Mr. Marconi's station to send greetings to King Edward VII in Great Britain. All that was left of the giant curtain antenna were the concrete anchors that supported the giant masts in the dunes of sand. A gazebo with a diorama of the orignal radio shack and antenna displayed what was built there so many years ago.

Standing there on that chilly October day; I looked out upon the vastness that is the Atlantic Ocean. As the sea gulls cried, and the breeze howled I was able to feel the electricity in the air. Radio waves emanating forth; traveling up to the ionosphere; only to be bent - refracted back to the surface of the earth so many, many miles away. In an instant, the size of the world was conquered. Vast distances were made relatively small; but being there reminded me how really vast those distances truly are. And like Mr. Marconi, I too, travel them with ease. My meager few watts travel over the oceans and continents at the speed of light, making the world smaller; but at the same time reminding me of it's vast beauty and grandeur.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Dave Benson strikes again!

As if my 40 Meter Rockmite isn't fun enough! Dave Benson strikes again and receives a few more dollars from me. I am now the pround owner of a companion 20 Meter Rockmite to accompany the 40 Meter version.

I have put my other construction projects on the side and am constructing this 'lil beauty. It's just as easy as it's 40 Meter brother; and in fact they're pretty much identical twins. It's just about done with only the resistors and transistors to solder in to the PC board. I should have it done and ready to be enclosed some time this coming week.

If you want to treat yourself to a small radio that's fun to build and easy to operate; then check out K1SWL's Website: http://www.smallwonderlabs.com/

There are plenty of rigs to choose from should you decide you would like something more "well rounded" than a Rockmite. Whatever you might choose from Dave's inventory, I can pretty much guarantee that you won't be disappointed!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Noisey conditions

For me, 40 Meters has been strange. It has been noisey, so noisey in fact, that it has almost been unusable. Same thing with 20 Meters. 80 Meters, however, has been a pleasant surprise. It has yielded a few decent ragchews over the past few evenings. I am guessing that it's just atmospheric conditions and that things will clear up in time.

Getting Political

I know the topic of this blog is Amateur Radio and QRP in particular; but I have to get this off my chest. I have been watching the Main Stream Media for over two weeks now since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with utter disgust! The way they are politicizing this natural disaster just steams me off!

I have been involved in Emergency Management for just about twenty years now. Admittedly, I'm a low level player without any real authority or expertise. I do however, "know the drill". I've been given enough training and have taken enough courses, through local government and on my own, to know how the system works.

When an emergency or natural disaster or terrorist incident of any kind occurs, the response is totally in the hands of local officials. It is up to the first responders (police, fire, EMS, public works) to handle the emergency the best they can. Once they use up their resources and realize that they are in over their heads, it becomes a county problem. The reponsibility of the county is to help the town in anyway they can - provide assistance, supplies or mutual aid if necessary. Once the resources of the county become overwhelmed, it is the responsibility of the state to take charge and do all it can. In the same vein, once the state is overwhelmed, the respective governor calls the President of the United States (POTUS) and asks him to declare an emergency which starts the wheels turning for Federal aid.

Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were hit by a hurricane of Biblical proportions - there is no doubt about that. But the repsonsibility of "first response" laid upon the shoulders of the mayors of the affected municipalities and the governors of these states. It was up to them to follow their emergency plans or SOPS (Standard Operating ProcedureS). It is quite evident from the events that occured that the SOPS were not followed or were woefully inadequate.

I have seen the SOP for my county; and was involved with helping to carry it out for years. The SOP is so thorough that it even details how to open the Office of Emergency Management, whom to call and what procedures to initiate if your the first officer to reach the building once a call gets issued! To this observer, it seems the response by New Orleans officials was willy-nilly at best - chaotic at worst. Their evacuation plans were not carried out; and it seems like their evacuations plans were poorly thought out from the get go. The response by local officials was not fluid and it appeared like they were not ready, untrained and were ill equipped to respond. It seems in Louisiana that everyone went off half cocked in their own little direction and that no one talked with each other. The governor appears to have been overwhelmed by the situation and was paralyzed with indecision.

So what does everyone do? Do they look at themsleves and figure out what went wrong and where? NOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!! Blame the POTUS and whine and cry that Federal aid was inadequate and was slow in coming, to boot! Why look at yourself when it is so much easier to just pass the buck?

If the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana had their acts together, that city would have been totally evacuated before Katrina struck. Heck, they had five days warning! The head of the Hurricane Center personally called the Governor and begged he to evacuate! They had plenty of buses to get the job done, too. Too bad they ended up sitting in 5 feet of water!

I don't care what the Democrats say, what the Media says, what anybody says ..... given the scope of this disaster; and the amount that was dumped in their laps, FEMA, the military and the Fedreal government acted swiftly, decisively and competently.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Public Service Radio

Since Katrina unleashed her wrath upon the Gulf states; there has been a lot of discussion on various Amateur Radio e-mail reflectors about the value of Ham Radio and emergency communications. This post is not intended to stir up any controversy or debate; it's purpose is, however, to get you to think.

We are ALL vulnerable to natural disaster, whether it be a hurricane on the south or east coasts. Blizzards in the temperature appropriate areas of our country, earthquakes and brush fires out west; flooding in the Midwest; or a tornado just about anywhere. When these things happen and devastation is widespread; your help is needed! We are seeing that this week more than ever.

Please consider volunteering your time and talents. There are many ways you can do this. Hook up with your local Office of Emergency Management and see if there is a CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team) in your area. If there is none; then maybe there's a ARES or RACES group in existence. Where these do not exist contact your local branch of the Red Cross or Salvation Army as both of these organizations have "letters of understanding" with many local Ham radio Emcomm groups.

The point is that Ham Radio is as valid and valuable as it has ever been. Maybe it's not done by Morse Code or maybe not even HF SSB anymore. Maybe it will all be done in your area with VHF/UHF FM communications or packet. Maybe Amateur Radio doesn't get the press that it deserves and maybe it's not as valued as it ought to be. But when all is said and done with Katrina, the stories WILL come out. You will hear instances of where communications systems failed and how Amateur Radio was the only way that rescues were performed, services delivered, families reunited. The ARRL had a slogan on their T-shirts for Field Day a few years ago, "Amateur Radio - When All Else Fails". That has never been more true.

But all that said, YOUR help is needed. Volunteer communicators are needed on a nationwide basis, starting with your own local communities. Get trained and be prepared. The best side benefit is that the knowledge you gain will not only help keep your community safe; but your own family safe as well. You folks who are into QRP and Homebrewing are among the most knowledgeable, brightest, most versatile, most adaptable, best trained Hams we have out there. You build, test and repair equipment. You set up and operate stations from fields, forests, oceansides, backyards, parking lots and even from inside EOCs. You are an asset to this country and its communities.

For more information about CERT - please visit: http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/CERT/certfaq.asp


73 de Larry W2LJ