SKN Soapbox comments

If you operate SKN (even if it's one tiny, measly QSO) PLEASE make sure you enter soapbox comments about your experience on the ARRL website!

http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/

I'm pretty sure you DO NOT need to be an ARRL member to post your comments.

In any event, please make sure you mention that you are a member of SKCC, NAQCC, or FISTS, or whichever CW group you belong to. In 2002 they got 39 soapbox entries, in 2004 there were 72, in 2005 there were 65 and in 2006 there were 86. I'd like to see the SKN Soapbox Comments area to get blown out of the water!

With the removal of the CW requirement from the licensing procedure; I've been seeing a lot of peeing and moaning on all the CW related reflectors about "the end of CW". Here's our chance to show everyone that CW is NOT dead! With the hundreds of CW ops that will be taking to the air for SKN, can you imagine seeing soapbox comments from a COUPLE hundred participants? That, in my humble opinion, would be a pretty potent message to the League, indeed.

Don't worry about your writing skills, you don't have to be Shakespeare. All you have to write, even if you have no idea what to say, is "I enjoyed SKN. I used (whatever key) and I had a real good time QSOing with ......". You get the idea!

I can't think of any better way to make our voices heard by the League than by blowing them out with participation and letting them know WE STILL CARE by publicly telling them about it. They are giving us a forum. Let's make use of it!

73 - Happy New Year - Happy SKN de
Larry W2LJ

One pelt last night.

The 40 Meter Foxhunt produced one pelt for me last night. I worked Wayne K5EOA rather late into the hunt. He was loud into New Jersey, at times about 579. The QSB was very frustrating, though. He would be loud, I would call, and then he would be weak and it was hard to tell exactly who he had picked out of the pileup. Another thing that made it hard, was that it was difficult to hear a lot of the hounds he was working. That made it exasperating to find out where he was listening. Then, when Wayne did finally hear me, he called for W2RJ; so I had to slow down the code speed just a titch so that my call was copied correctly.

The strange thing about last night was that I didn't hear the other Fox, Rick NK9G at all! I usually have no problem; and indeed I usually have a virtual radio pipeline into Wisconsin. I knew something was wrong when I couldn't hear any of the WI hounds that Wayne was working. After working Wayne I went listening for Rick; but it was pointless. I called it a night and hit "the big switch" early.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP .-..

For those of you who are code challenged, that's "QRP L". A new QRP related e-mail reflector. This was started with the hopes of creating a new QRP reflector with fewer restrictions and a more relaxed atmosphere. The only rule is "NO FLAMING !!!!" Flaming will result in an immediate lifetime ban from the list.

To check out the "new" QRP-L, please visit: http://qrp-l.org/

Exceedingly
Best wishes to
All the founders of the "New" QRP-L that they will have
Yet founded a most exceedingly happy and relaxed "QRP place" !!!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Another night for Le Pew!

No luck in the 80 Meter Foxhunt tonight. I never heard Jim, KGØPP in Colorado; but I did hear Wayne, W5KDJ in Texas. The problem was, however, that Wayne was S1 to S3 for just about the entire hunt! QSB was bad and Wayne never heard me.

In fact, it was kind of amusing. Ann K1QO and I were like a tag team on Wayne for the last half hour. We alternated and sometimes co-mingled our calls in our furious attempts to work Wayne. Wayne was so low that I turned the AGC off in the K2 to hear him better. Ann, who lives in New Hampshire is always loud to NJ on 80 Meters. With the AGC off she was deafeningly loud! With Wayne working simplex the last 45 minutes or so, I would go from struggling to hear him to having my eardrums blown out by Ann's healthy signal.

I think it's time for an aspirin; or maybe a shot of blackberry brandy would serve me better this chilly winter evening!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Santa was good to me!

Santa read my blog! And Santa (my wife, Marianne) was indeed very, very good to me!

Underneath the tree was the 2006 Christmas Key from Morse Express. I was lucky enough to receive last year's edition. The 2006 version is just as beautiful and just as nice to use.

But also under the tree was an "IOU" for one of the SKCC straight keys by LTA! Wow, I wasn't expecting two keys!

Unfortunately, the first run of 30 keys sold out. Mine will be among the next batch to make it over from Spain. Hopefully, it will be here some time in January. I already can't wait to get it on the air!

I hope your "Santa" was just as generous to all of you out there.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Merry Christmas!

"Glory to God in the Highest; and on Earth, peace and good will towards Men"

I'd like to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

This is a season of giving, peace, understanding and goodwill among all. I hope that this Christmas will find you among friends and family with good food, good times, and good memories.

May the Lord, who instituted this Holy Day, by giving to us Himself, grant you peace, serenity, happiness, joy and love.

Merry Christmas to all; and to all a good night!

PS: And I hope Santa lines the bottom of your Christmas tree with all the Amateur Radio goodies that it can hold!

73 de Larry W2LJ

PS: To those of you who are travelling this Christmastide, I wish you Godspeed and a safe journey. This same wish goes out double to all our dedicated men and women of our Armed Forces who are on duty this Christmas season, keeping our country safe while we celebrate the Christ child's birth.

A Christmas Eve tip

For any of you out there with young children or grandchildren that will be with you on Christmas Eve, I have the following suggestion:

http://www.santanorad.com/index.php

Many years ago (more than I care to remember!) I remember listrening to reports on the radio where NORAD was tracking the progress of Santa's famous Christmas Eve ride. Now, with the advent (no pun intended) of the Internet, you can see just where Santa is, at any moment on Christmas Eve.

This is a real cool Website and I guarantee that you will get just as big a kick out of it as any of your children/grandchildren!! Download the 60 second promotional video and you will see Santa's F-18 escorted ride through North America in 2005, where he was guaranteed safe an uninterrupted passage.

Oh, and of course, the sleigh team is led by none other than Rudolph, himself!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Skunked again in NJ

The 40 Meters Foxhunt was a bust last night - again! I heard a few stations that were hunting; but I never did hear either Fox. For a few minutes I actually thought I heard something; but looking at comments on Q-Fox, I see that I was nowhere close to where the Foxes were actually transmitting.

I took the opportunity to get a little further along with the ATS-3. All the semi-conductors are done; and now I have begun mounting the resistors. These little guys aren't much bigger than this "o" !!! I know I'm taking a super long time with this project; but with the Holidays and all that is going on at work, I don't get much construction time. I'm hoping that if I concentrate my efforts, that maybe I'll be done by the end of January.

On a bright note, 40 Meters seemed better last night. While I didn't bag either of the Foxes, I did end up having a ragchew on 40 after the Foxhunt was completed. For about 20 minutes, I had a nice QSO with Alan, who is visiting his Dad down in Florida for Christmas.

It felt like last year, when I was able to have a QSO every night with little or no difficulty.

73 de Larry W2LJ

From NASA's mouth to God's ear!

Lets hope the good folks at NASA have it right this time!

http://tinyurl.com/y5kbyu

The most active sunspot cycle since records have been kept? Oh, please, let it be true!

But we all know predicitons about celestial events can tend to be tricky. Remember the claims about the comet Kohoutek in the 70s? That fizzled out big time. It was supposed to be the brightest comet of our time, visible even in the daylight hours! I seem to remember needing a telescope to see it at night.

Then Halley's comet in 1986 turned out to be another big bust.

I think I'll take the attitude of "wait and see". But no matter what happens on down the road, solar conditions HAVE to improve over what we have now!

73 de Larry W2LJ

What the ......... ????

What is going on here?

http://www.fox28.com/News/index.php?ID=10198

Basically, a man who drives a school bus on Long Island, almost lost his job because he was wearing a Santa hat. One child was "offended" and complained to his/her Mommy and Daddy, who called the Board of Education and started the ball rolling. He was given a choice - remove the Santa hat or lose his job. In the end, Mr. Mott, the driver, refused to remove the hat and the Board of Education backed off after the outcries of other parents. You know, the parents with a smattering of common sense.

Again, this is just another example of the "Assault on Christmas". Anything remotely Christian anything remotely non-secular, anything tied to the TRUE meaning of Christmas is to be hidden, swept away, discarded and disdained.

Now any Christian worth his/her salt will tell you that while Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicholas; the popular image of Santa Claus that we hold near and dear; the one we see at the mall is a secular figure. He is nowhere even close to Saint Nicholas, who was a bishop in Turkey in the earlier history of the Catholic Church.

But, the Santa hat is unique. So a lot of people bullseye on it and connect Santa with the Christian holiday of Christmas. Then, of course, they immediately become offended by it, especially liberals and the enlightened oh-so Politically Correct. And of course, since ONE child got offended, we have to cave in, and stop displaying anything which even might be remotely misinterpreted as a religious symbol by some wild leap of the imagination.

Can I ask something, though? What if Mr. Mott, the school bus driver had been wearing a something else; perhaps a yarmulke or an Native American Chief's head-dress? If that child had complained; do you, for even a split second, think he would have been accomodated? No, I think perhaps the child would have been directed to "sensitivity training" or perhaps "diversity training". I don't mean to say that there is anything wrong with the examples of head gear that I have listed. It just stymies me why some cultures are revered and some are not.

"Sensitivity" and "Diversity" are code words to be used to institute the fight against anything that is American and/or Christian. All the "mulitcultural" things MUST be tolerated and promoted; while Christianity is to be persecuted and disposed of. Anything "American" is disdained, ridiculed or regarded as evil. Can someone please tell me what exactly happened to the concept of the United States as "The Melting Pot"?

When you can't say "Merry Christmas" and you have to display a "Holiday Tree" and you can't sing a song that mentions angels, Jesus or anything having to do with Heaven; it is a sad thing. This once God-fearing nation is turning into a pagan nation - no better than the Druids who worshipped trees and practiced magic. Might as well go bow down before an elm or something!

Happy freakin' Festivus.

BTW - Can someone show me in the Bill of Rights the one that guarantees your right not to be offended? I think I missed that one.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Musings of an Old Fart

I was really amused today by the appearance of several postings on QRP-L by some newer Hams who have complained about the treatment they have received by older Hams, who are now becoming known as "OF"s.

I guess I should be amused; but it seems to be a sad commentary not on just Amateur Radio; but of society in general. Here we have some postings by newer Hams who complain that they were mocked, made fun of, abused ....... whatever ....... by older Hams (henceforth known as Old Farts) because they received their licenses by taking exams with a percieved lower level of difficulty.

In my 28 years as a Ham, I am mystified by this. I have never encountered this to my recollection. Or maybe I did; but was smart enough to ignore the taunts of crazies, and instead went on to seek the knowledge I needed from kinder folks. I wanted my Ham license so bad that I was not go to be discouraged my some crackpot. In any event, the incident(s), if they did happen were such a small blip on my radar screen that I don't even remember them! My experience has been that older Hams were most helpful to me when I was a new Ham. Maybe they didn't treat me with kid gloves; but hey, I wasn't a baby and I didn't need to be treated like one! Even if advice was given in less than a cheerful manner; I always learned - and that was the main point, wasn't it?

What bothers me is how these folks use these incidents as a crutch to explain their own behaviors! How can you let the remarks of some stupid person deter you? How can you let what others think diminish your success and accomplishments? Have we as a society become so overly sensitive that no one can say anything without the fear of being labeled as an Old Fart or some other derogotory term? Why are folks so happy and content to assume the role of "victim" rather than take responsibility for their own lives?

I pity these people who look upon sage advice or some good natured ribbing as a put down or an insult. I look with pity on these enlightened ones who say we must respect the opinions and feelings of everyone EXCEPT those that conflict with their own.

Maybe I am just an Old Fart ....... at 49!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Requiescat in pace

Rest in peace.

The Morse Code requirement to obtain operating privileges below 30 MHz will be officially eliminated by the FCC. Or as the ARRL put it:

"In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05-235."

So what does this mean? Well, for now, CW is not dead. It is still VERY popular and is the preferred method of communication amongst QRPers, hard core contesters and hard core DXers. But even with all that understood, I believe this is the death knell of Morse Code as we know it as a communications form.

Look at recent developments:

The latest Amateur Radio band to be introduced, the 60 Meter band, does not even allow for A1 (CW) emissions.

The "refarming" of the 80 Meter band by the FCC puts the pinch on General and Advanced CW ops who ended up losing spectrum.

Anybody who thinks the FCC and the ARRL regards CW operators as a valuable resource are kidding themselves. The handwriting is on the wall.

In the future, I believe these developments are not far off:

The ARRL will discontinue code practice on W1AW.
SSB emissions will be allowed anywhere on the Amateur Radio bands (OR)
The existing CW only subbands will be renamed the Digital only subbands allowing for the proliferation of Pactor III, WinLink and other similar forms of data transmission.

Unfortunately, tradition, history, romance and magic have no use in today's society. This is the latest action to prove that.

For now, I won't even go into my rant about those who claim that they "just can't learn Morse Code". I'll save that for another day.

73 de Larry W2LJ

YAF

YAF - as Jim Miller AB3CV put it - Yet Another Flare. And boy, is he right! Ol' Sol is not sitting there quietly as we approach the dead bottom of the sunspot cycle. Sunspots, flares, Coronal Mass Ejections .... our yellow Sun is a happening place right now! In fact, this solar storm is SO intense that NASA had the astronauts aboard the Shuttle and the International Space Station retreat to the most shielded parts of each vessel.

What does that mean for amateur radio? Well, I was not home to witness it; but several of the e-mail reflectors had posts from guys who reported that 10 Meters was alive and doing quite well today. Several other have posted seeing intense Aurora Borealis tonight.; so that means 2 Meters and 6 Meters must be hopping like mad!

On the other hand, for the 40 Meter Foxhunt tonight, all the signals I heard were weak, fluttery and watery. Typical of signals that propagate over the North Pole that are most affected by Aurora. I finally worked Jerry N9AW ay 0316 UTC; but even his signal was not its normal healthy self. Jerry was anywhere from 449 to ESP. The QSB was deep; and I didn't think I was going to work him. However, persistance paid off this time around. I heard the other Fox, Randy K7TQ early in the hunt also; but he was VERY weak into NJ; so I went to search out Jerry first. After working Jerry, I went back to the frequency where I had heard Randy and he was gone. Actually he wasn't as I heard the hounds calling him; but for me, since I couldn't hear him anymore, he was gone.

So by working N9AW tonight; that puts me at 4 pelts out of 12 hunts. A .333 batting average. If I was in the Major Leagues, I'd be earning beaucoup bucks for that average. For Foxhunting, that stinks! In the 2004-2005 season, I batted .475, and in 2005-2006 I batted .225 (I had terrible local QRN problems last Winter on 40 Meters). So I guess I'm doing better than last year, so far.

In the 2005-2006 80 Meter Foxhunt, I batted .650; and so far this year, I am batting .583 in the 80 Meter Foxhunt. Slightly worse than last year; but still lightyears ahead of my 40 Meter batting average. (Can you tell I'm a big baseball fan?)

73 de Larry W2LJ

Not looking good.

My goal at the beginning of the year was to make 2006 QSOs in 2006. Looks like I'm not going to cross that finish line. It doesn't even look like I will be able to duplicate last year's total of 1800. I'm at 1700; but there are less than three weeks left of 2006.

The reason? Take last night, for example. The airwaves should have been hopping. There were three big CW events that took place last night. First, the QRP-L Foxhunt was held on 80 Meters. Second, the North American QRP CW Club was holding its monthly sprint. Third, the Straight Key Century Club was holding its monthly sprint, also. I was thinking an easy 40 or even 50 QSOs between the two sprints.

I had a wake to go to last night; and then a Knights of Columbus meeting. I got home at 9:15 PM and literally flew down the basement steps to get into the shack and turn the radio on. Much to my surprise, I heard nothing, zilch, zip, nada, the big donut hole.

No Foxes, no hounds, no NAQCCers and finally, only one single, solitary SKCC station. It was Kevin K4VD who was operating under the SKCC club callsign KI4SLY. And that was it! That was all she wrote from 9:15 until 10:30 PM. Calling CQ netted nothing. Searching and pouncing netted one station. And before I get to mention, this also means another week of getting skunked in the Foxhunts.

All in all, not a good night. The propagation gods seem to be dead set against me.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

I know my dear wife Marianne is in a quandry, trying to figure out what this Ham Radio operator would like for Christmas. If you're intent on helping her, I have two suggestions for you. Both can be gotten with the help of Marshall Emm at Milestone Technologies.

The new SKCC straight key would be neat! It's an LTA Marconi straight key with the Straight Key Century Club (of which I am a member) logo engraved on it! If you'd like to see what I'm talking about - go here:

http://www.mtechnologies.com/skcc/

Another item that I wouldn't mind finding under the tree would be the 2006 Christmas Key. If you remember correctly, you brought me the 2005 Christmas key last year. Lookie here:

http://www.mtechnologies.com/xmas/

I've been a real good Ham Radio Op all year, Santa! I hope you read my blog and bring me a radio goodie this Christmas!

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP and CW are the best!

I just finished a great ragchew with Dave WD4EKB out of Fulton, NY. Dave mentioned that he is 65 and has been a Ham for a number of years; but was inactive until just a few months ago. Since rejoining the hobby, his interests have been in QRP and CW.

This is not a new thing that I am hearing. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this repeatedly, in the past few years. Guys who were starting to get bored with the hobby (or were already bored) are finding excitement, nostalgia, romance and a little of the "magic" that got them interested in radio in the first place, in QRP and CW.

I'm not sure whether it's folks relishing a new challenge; or just returning back to their roots of building and using Morse Code and low power equipment. But whatever it is, it seems to be catching on quickly. The QRP branch of Amateur Radio is quite healthy from all reports that I have been reading. With the birth of organizations like the North American QRP CW Club and the Straight Key Century Club it also seems like CW is beginning a renaissance, also. While the "code/no-code" debate furiously rages on, quietly and surely the numbers of Hams who are using Morse Code for the first time (and enjoying it immensely) as well as those who are returning to Morse Code, seem to be on the rise.

And after all, what's not to like? Using QRP and CW is fun; and that's all that counts!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Sincere thanks!

My most sincere thanks to all of you who left a comment or sent a private e-mail with get well wishes and notes of concern about my recent back injury. Fortunately (thanks be to God!) that it was just a severe muscle pull and not anything like a disc injury.

For those of you who suffer from the same malady, from time to time, I heartly recommend the use of the ThermaCare brand of heat therapy wraps! I purchase the large sized back/hip wraps. These babies work wonders! They provide a gentle warmth and not a searing heat; and they last for 8 hours or more. I wear one underneath my shirt; but on top of an undershirt. Direct contact with the skin is okay; but I feel that would be a little too much warmth for me. The have a velcro belt type of fastener. To give you an idea of how you would wear it; just think of a tuxedo cummerbun worn backwards!

The ThermaCare wraps, combined with the use of Advil has gotten me through the worst. I still get some muscle "twinges" if I move a little too fast the wrong way; but for the most part I would say I am back to about 90% of normal.

I've thrown out my back several times before but this was the worst! The cramping was so bad; I'm sure that my muscles were just huge, cramped up balls. I'm feeling the after-affects now. This was also the first time that this has happened, that as a result, I was not able to lay in bed, for fear of not being able to get out of bed! Monday and Tuesday nights were spent trying to sleep in an easy chair in the living room. Not a restful or pleasant experience; but at least this way my muscles didn't stiffen up to the point where I would have been immobile. I was in bad enough shape to call out sick from work on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was informed that the last time I had used a sick day was nine years ago.

Once again, thanks to all of you who were concerned. Knowing that there are friends out there makes all the difference in the world! In fact, from my last two posts, you can see that felt well enough to brave the trip down to the basement shack to participate in last night's 40 Meter Foxhunt!

73 de Larry W2LJ

It was a Two-fer!

Dale WC7S just posted his log on the Q-fox e-mail reflector. It was a "two-fer" after all! Dale got my exchange at 0310 UTC perfectly. I think I'm going to start referring to Dale as "Steve Austin" because he just has to have bionic ears to have pulled me out of that noisy soup on 40 Meters!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Think I got a Two-fer!

Wow! I think I got my first Two-fer in the 40 Meter Foxhunt on Thursday night! And that on a day when Ol' Sol is tossing all kinds of garbage at us, with M-Class flares and coronal mass ejections and the like!

The evening started out by firing up HF Prop, a HF propagation prediction software program. With the Solar Flux at 96 and the K Index at 4, the program predicted that Dennis N4DD in Tennessee would be at about an S1 level. It also predicted that Dale WC7S in Wyoming would be at about S5. Of course, the opposite proved to be true!

Dale was a nice and loud (by QRP standards) 559. Just as I was going to touch the paddles and give him a call; someone in the neighborhood flicked on an appliance and gave me an instant S9 ambient noise level ! Arrrggggghhhhhhhh - Dennis went "Bye-bye"! Fortunately, about 10 minutes later, whatever got flicked on, got flicked off. I composed myself and shortly thereafter into the bag went Dennis' pelt.

A few minutes later, at the other end of the frequency range I heard Ann AB1DR's loud signal from up in New Hampshire calling Dale. Thanks for the guidance, Ann! By turning the VFO down a touch, I was able to finally hear Dale who was 339 and maybe 449 when the QSB would abate for a very short period. After calling a few times, I'm about 90% certain that Dale came back to me and that we completed the exchange. I'll know for sure when Dale posts his log for the night on the QRP Foxhunting e-mail reflector tomorrow.

Who would have guessed that when solar conditions were so abnormal as to make a headline on "The Drudge Report" that I might have gotten my first double pelt session of the season!

Go figure!

73 de Larry W2LJ

And now for something totally UN-PC!

As seen on the Internet:

T'was the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod ,
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

But as Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Pelosi, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they tried to take away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Holiday Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
And shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday,
Our Country was founded under the Judeo-Christian way
And to our"guests" I will most politely say,
If you find that you don't like it , You certainly don't have to stay!!

Merry Christmas to all!

73 de Larry W2LJ