Surprise (again) !

Imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon as I took a quick break at work and checked my e-mail, and saw this, posted by Dean N2TNN:

"I’ll be one of your two foxii on 80 meters Thursday night, along with Larry, W2LJ, in New Jersey.  I'll be operating from Gloucester VA, between 0200 and 0330Z and within +/- 10Khz of 3.560 MHz.  I’ll be running my K3 throttled down to 5 watts into an 160 meter full loop up 55 feet."

I've been so pre-occupied as of late that I totally forgot about Fox duty last night! But in a way, it was a blessing in disguise as it took my mind off of the echo cardiogram that I went for today. The good news there is that no one screamed "Oh my! Rush this man to a hospital!" My cardiologist (I still can't quite come to terms that I actually need one!) will call sometime next week with the results. (Fingers crossed for no really bad news.)

The Fox Hunt was a good time, as I was lower Fox. This was Dean's baptism by fire as his first time as a Fox. A bit more on that later. I put myself at 3.5575 MHz, listening up one. That worked well until about 0254 UTC when a QRO and QRS QSO obliterated my ability to hear any Hounds calling me, so I had to go simplex.

In all, not counting the two Foxes, I was able to hand out 45 pelts. I more or less divided my time up between the EFRW and the HF9V. Neither seemed to have an advantage over the other. QSB was a vicious beast at times last night, but even so, I had fun and was able to concentrate on something other than "concerns" for a while. The RBN map from last night isn't all that impressive, but here it is:

I was able to make it all the way out to Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado, even though the map doesn't show me as having been picked up by skimmers out that way.

Dean's first time as Fox was phenomenal! He handed out 50 pelts - a true testament to the superb operator that he is! If I remember correctly, the first time I was a Fox so many moons ago, I was so nervous that I was lucky to hand out 30!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

My apologies for not posting lately

 But as John Lennon wrote, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

I went for a physical last September with my Primary Care Physician, and his EKG machine was down, so he suggested "at your age, you should have a stress test done." I went for a consult last Wednesday, and the cardiologist (the same one my wife Marianne goes to) told me I had "an abnormal EKG". Something about "left branch bundle block", or something. So now I'm wearing a heart monitor for a month, and I go for a cardiac ultrasound on Friday and a stress test on March 19th. A follow up visit with the cardiologist in April will decide how we tackle this problem.

Then, on Friday, as I was driving to work at 6:00 in the morning, I noticed I was being tailgated by someone driving one of those stand up electric scooters. I slowed down, pulled off to the side so he could pass me - I figured he was in a hurry.

Turns out that he must have been drafting me, using my Jeep to block the cold winds that were blowing that morning. I told him that it was stupid to tailgate - that if I had to stop short because of a deer running across the road or for some other reason, he could be seriously injured.

Instead of going on his merry way, he started cursing me out and punched out my driver side rear view mirror.

He then proceeded on his way towards Plainfield. Besides be shocked as all get out, I didn't want to follow him, because I figured if he got injured or hit by a car while trying to evade me, I'd probably be open to some kind of crazy civil suit. I called the South Plainfield Police Dept as soon as I got into work and left a voice mail with the Traffic Safety Department, explaining the whole incident.

Being a CERT Member in town may have paid off a bit as I know the Mayor and the Council Members. I asked one of them if it would be possible to have a police car keep an eye on that section of town early in the mornings for a while. This guy is either going to kill himself or injure someone else if he keeps this up. Several residents posted on Facebook that they've seen this guy do this to other drivers, as well as buzz people on the walking trails of Spring Lake Park.

So I haven't been on the radio lately as I haven't really been in the mood - hence, not much to write about. Maybe I'll get on the air tonight for the 40 Meter QRP Fox Hunts. John K4BAI in GA and Dave N1IX in NH will be serving as Foxes. We'll see how I feel tonight. Physically, I feel OK - just been bummed out a bit. To add to it, I spent the weekend "de-decorating" the house from Christmas and that always depresses me.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Just as i thought

I went down to the shack at about 6:00 PM to turn the space heater on so that I could check into the St. Max Net at 7:00 PM - 00:00 UTC. I turned the KX3 on and went to 40 Meters, where I usually keep it parked at about 7.038 MHz. There was RTTY all over the band way down into the 7.030's!

I expected as much as yesterday was the RTTY Roundup. However, I remember when I used to participate back in the 90s, we strove to try and not go below 7.060 MHz. I suppose with the proliferation of software that doesn't require you to use a TNC anymore, that there are way more participants than there used to be. And I guess that's a good thing.

I enjoyed the RTTY Roundup back in the days of my Icom IC-751A and my KAM TNC. Guess I'm really dating myself. Maybe I'll look into downloading some software so that I can jump in next year. I still have my certificates from placing well in the NNJ section.

The St. Max Net was a good time with some 20 check-ins. Turning on the space heater made it comfortable down in the shack. From 58F to about 63F in that hour. If I had turned it on even earlier, it would have been warmer, but I don't want to drive up the electric bill too much.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The first weekend - January 4th and 5th

Before I get into the happenings of the weekend, I DID get on the air last night for the 80 Meters Fox Hunts. I thought they'd be slam dunk, easy peasy. I was wrong, again! I nabbed both pelts but it was far from easy and this is probably why - the k Index was 3 and these were the band conditions for the night:

"Fair" was being generous - at least from my QTH. I was able to find both Foxes, but from the beginning, both were at ESP levels, with Steve WD4CFN in TN having just a bit of an edge. Once I found Steve and realized I probably wasn't going to work him for a while, if at all, I went looking for John AJ1DM in RI. I found him and he was way down in the background as well. I made a note of each Fox's frequency and kind of bopped back and forth to continuously check for signal improvement. 

I finally snagged Steve at 0241 UTC and then John at 0247 UTC, and I was thrilled, as for a long time, I didn't think I was going to get either. Not only were Steve and John weak, but the Hounds that i normally hear booming into NJ were down in the mud as well. I could barely hear Rick NK9G and Todd N9NE, two regular signal giants here in NJ. About the only Hound that blew my headphones off was Dean N2TNN down in Virginia. Even John K4BAI's signal was a ghost of its normal self.

I'm sure glad I have that space heater down in the shack. We're heading into an Arctic blast here in NJ over the next days and it was a might chilly in the shack. The space heater made it bearable. Not totally comfortable as I didn't start it up until I went downstairs for the Hunt. If I had turned it on an hour or 90 minutes ahead of time, it certainly would have been comfortable.

Anyway, enough of my escapades - here's what's going on this weekend. Again, I do this so you can have a good idea of "What's that contest I hear?" is.

Contests:

Marconi Club ARI Loano QSO Party Day - http://www.ariloano.it/marconiclub/mcd_reg/regolamentomcday_ENG.pdf

WW PMC Contest - http://www.s59dcd.si/index.php/sl/ww-pmc/ww-pmc-contest-rules

ARRL RTTY Roundup - https://www.arrl.org/rtty-roundup - Expect RTTY signals WAY down into the CW subbands!

EUCW 160m Contest - https://www.uft.net/activites-et-concours/concours-eucw-uft-on5me/

Monday night - ARS Spartan Sprint - http://ars-qrp.com/Spartan_Sprint/Spartan_Sprint.html

Special Event Stations:

01/02/2025 | "Remembering WØJH Father Metcalf" at Belwin Conservancy

Jan 2-Jan 4, 1600Z-2300Z, W0JH, Stillwater, MN. Stillwater (MN) Amateur Radio Assn - SARA. 3.860 7,260 14.260 21.360. Certificate. Shel Mann - N0DRX, 1618 Pine St W, Stillwater, MN 55082. This event pays tribute to the original W0JH, Father George Metcalf. As a WWII Chaplain for General Patton, Fr. Metcalf drafted the famous “Weather Prayer.” The General and his troops believed it ended 3 months of cloudy, rainy skies in December, 1944. QSL certificates may ONLY be requested and will ONLY be sent via email. Send requests WITH W0JH QSO CONTACT INFO to: W0JHrequest@gmail.com. IMPORTANT: ONLY W0JH confirmed contacts qualify (See www.radioham.org and QRZ.com (W0JH) for more details.) www.radioham.org

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Let's face it ........ I suck

when it comes to using a straight key. I am so out of practice, that I was embarrassed how my fist sounded on Straight Key Night. I only made two QSOs, and for the second I switched to my Vibroplex Original. Can you imagine that? I sound better on a bug than I do on a straight key! How pathetic is that? 

I've dropped a long way off from my Novice days, which were completed entirely with a Nye Viking straight key.  I suppose given time, I could get my straight key fist sounding reasonably decent again, but if I'm going to go mechanical, I'll stick with my bug. My fist there may not be the best, either, but it's yards better than my straight key fist! 

As far as only two QSOs go on Straight Key Night, I took a break after the second QSO and came upstairs to get some iced tea. While I was in the kitchen, I saw a bright flash and heard a very loud rumble of thunder. I raced back down to the shack to shut down and disconnect the antennas. We had intermittent thunder and lightning for the next couple of hours. New Year's Eve thunder and lightning - wacky weather!

Tomorrow, Friday, we're supposed to get another Arctic blast and we're looking at a possible snow event next Monday into Tuesday. I'll have to make sure the outside Christmas decorations come in this weekend. We've already have had wind gusts exceeding 20 MPH, that have knocked a few things over. It won't be pleasant doing this in sub-freezing temps, but it will have to get done while the ground is not covered with snow.

On another note, that SpaceWeather Live app has been sending me all kinds of alerts. We're experiencing a lot of geomagnetic activity and just a few minutes ago, I received a notification concerning a large trans equatorial coronal hole that is directly facing the Earth. Looks for band conditions to be on the wild side for the next few days.

The QRP Fox hunts resume tonight on 80 Meters and the Foxes are "local" enough that i should be able to work both. For whatever reason, I slept terribly last night, kept waking up every few hours it seemed like. I may be sawing wood tonight by the time the Hunts begin at 9:00 PM local time.

Mom was right when she used to tell me, "Larry, don't get old." I always used to answer, "There's not much I can do about it." But boy howdy, was she ever right!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Happy New Year 2025!

Here are my wishes for you for 2025:

May you get on the air a lot.

May you get that DXCC entity you always wanted.

May you work all the POTA stations you can and conversely, may all your activations be successful

May your equipment never fail or break in 2025.

May Amateur Radio treat you very well and bring you many hours of enjoyment this coming year.

And seriously, may you be graced with good health, and good fortune in 2025.

May your worries be few and your good times be plentiful.

Happy New Year de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Time honored tradition for New Year's Eve and Day:

Straight Key Night!

I already have a couple of tickets for another event tonight:

 But maybe I'll use these after getting on for a QSO or two for Straight Key Night.

As per the ARRL Website:

ARRL Straight Key Night: January 1, 2025

12/25/2024

ARRL Straight Key Night is January 1, 2025, from 0000 UTC through 2359 UTC. This 24-hour event is not a contest but rather a day dedicated to celebrating our CW heritage -- radio communications by Morse code.

Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable, conversational CW QSOs (radio contacts). The use of straight keys or bugs to send CW is preferred. There are no points scored and all who participate are winners. All authorized amateur frequencies may be used but activity has traditionally been centered on the HF bands.

Entries for Straight Key Night must be received by January 3, 2025. Votes for "Best Fist" and “Most Interesting QSO” will be tabulated and included in the results. Send your information to straightkey@arrl.org or by mail to ARRL Straight Key Night, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut 06111. For more information, contact contests@arrl.org or (860) 594-0232.

Visit the ARRL website for more details: www.arrl.org/straight-key-night.

The cold weather has moderated in NJ with it being rather warmish the past couple of days, so I should be able to spend some time in the shack without turning the space heater on. But there is a local meteorologist that I follow on Facebook, and the reason I follow him is that his forecasts are usually spot on. He's right more often than he's wrong, which can be said to be unusual for a weatherman. His latest post included forecasts for New Year's Eve and Day, but ended with an ominous note.  (Paraphrasing here) "After the New Year, Winter is going to bite us on the butt (his exact words) in early January, with way below normal temperatures and the possibility of significant snow events."

Not exactly my idea of kicking off the new year in good fashion.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Christmas Day 2024

 

From our house to yours, best wishes for the Merriest of Christmases! May God bless and keep you all in the palm of His hand!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP  - When you care to send the very least!

Christmas Eve 2024

 

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.

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

So why is the line "you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”  so important? Because these shepherds were not your ordinary any-day-of -the-week Bethlehem shepherds. These were the shepherds of the Migdal Eder, which was very close by to where Jesus, Mary and Joseph were.  It was a place reserved for raising lambs for temple sacrifice. When an ewe birthed a lamb, the shepherds would immediately clean it and then wrap it in blessed swaddling cloths supplied by the local Rabbis. These lambs were wrapped and laid in mangers so they would not get hurt, and become blemished and unfit for sacrifice.

No ...... these angels knew EXACTLY who they were telling the Good News to,  and how the meaning behind this all would be immediately understood.

Merry and Blessed Christmas!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

New Holiday Operating Event

This came across to the inbox of the QRP-ARCI Contest Manager. I guess they wanted all QRP-ARCI members to know, and now I get to share it with you, too:

EURAO Party - Winter 2025: Season's Greetings

Mon, 23/12/2024 - 23:00 — eurao

The European Radio Amateurs' Organization announces a new party on the air, this time with the motto: "Season's Greetings". Remember this is not a contest, it is just a radio meeting with a few simple 'rules', better to call them recommendations.

Purpose: Wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the stations you contact with these days. This is a good time to wish peace and love to everyone. Have fun and meet other hams all over the world or just locals. Of course SWLs are welcome to participate.

Date & time: from December 24th, 2024, to January 6th, 2025, 00:00-24:00 UTC.

Bands & modes: all modes and frequencies, mainly in HF bands, but not only. EFG.

Call: "CQ EURAO Party".

Exchange: because this is a QSO event, not a contest, you can talk about whatever you want, in any language, and for as long as you like. Here are some topic suggestions to get the conversation going: name, city, locator, weather, antennas, rigs, etc.

Also talk about QSL interchange. Tell the truth. Say "no, thanks" if you are not interested in QSL cards. But if you would like to have a memory of your contact, feel free to use our EuroBureauQSL (see below).

Logs: for statistic purposes only, we ask participants to submit their logs to party@eurao.org in ADIF format, where the filename should be your callsign (e.g. EA3RKF.ADI).

There will be no results or league tables, only statistical information about number of QSOs, countries, callsigns, OMs/YLs/Clubs, etc.

Certificate of Participation: for all those sending the log and without a minimum of confirmed QSOs.

EuroBureauQSL: you can use it to interchange QSLs even if you are not member. In this case, just send the QSL to the entry point of the country of the station you have contacted

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Disappointed

When I got home from work last night, I was really tired (like, try putting 5 really's after that one!) and I didn't have much of an appetite. Just overworked, I guess. I sat and talked with Cara and Marianne for a bit and then hit the sack at 7:00 PM. I was not about to go down and sit in my cold shack for whatever time it would have taken to work K4BAI and K9DRP. 

In their logs today, I see that my NJ Hound buddy, Chas W2SH worked both, so conditions to New Jersey were probably good. C'est la vie! I woke up, coincidentally at 10:30 PM, just as the hunts were ending. I went downstairs to grab a small bite to eat (a buttered hamburger roll) as I had gotten hungry, and then went back to bed. It's better today, but I still could use another long night in bed. I'm getting too old for this 8:00 to 5:00 stuff!

Here are the going on for the weekend.

Contests:

Croatian DX Contest - https://www.hamradio.hr/9a-dx-contest/

RAEM Contest - https://raem.srr.ru/rules/

ARRL Rookie Roundup, CW - http://www.arrl.org/rookie-roundup

Special Events:

12/21/2024 | 80th Anniversary Grumman Amateur Radio Club

Dec 21, 1400Z-2200Z, WA2LQO, Bethpage, NY. Grumman Amateur Radio Club. 14.240 7240 21.350. Certificate. Downloadable Card Only, Check www,limarc.org, Bethpage, NY 11714. Amateur Radio Club of Grumman Aerospace contact George Sullivan, WB2IKt sullige@verizon.net downloadable QSL Sponsored by the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club www.limarc.org for log confirmation and download operating SSB and FT8

12/21/2024 | Christmas in Bethlehem New Mexico

Dec 21-Dec 24, 1500Z-2359Z, KC5OUR, Peralta, NM. Valencia County Amateur Radio Association. 7.183 14.283 21.283 28.383. QSL. VCARA, P. O. Box 268, Peralta, NM 87042. www.kc5our.com

In other news - I've gone against my gut and volunteered to be the QRP-ARCI Contest Manager. Paul Womble, K4FB. who I believe is still a rather newlywed needed to step back and concentrate on other things in life - like his duties as an Emergency Management Director in Florida. That'll keep you hopping during hurricane season!

The way I look at it, participation in the QRP-ARCI events has really fallen off. The plan to remediate that is to advertise the heck out of them. Not just a quick e-mail, one or two days in advance, but a concentrated effort. What's that quote from "Field of Dreams"? - "If you build it, they will come". So I figure if I build up interest, Hams will start to come back and participate. People have lives and need to plan. It's hard sometimes to just sit down for a QRP Sprint when you only found out about it the day before. Maybe we can fix that.

I do it with the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt and have been moderately successful. And if it doesn't work, they can always fire me!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Christmas is a coming

and Santa is getting a few boat anchors ready for some Hams who have been good all year long!

I may end up getting disappointed, but I am looking forward to the 80 Meter Fox Hunt tonight. The Foxes are John K4BAI in Georgia  and Don K9DRP in Illinois. Both should be reachable/workable from New Jersey on 80 Meters.

I am looking forward to seeing which antenna might be successful in nabbing contacts with them. Ever since I've replaced that matching stub on the HF9V it's been like a brand new antenna again! I still have to go out to the backyard and grab a plastic flower pot from our shed. I want to cut a hole in the bottom, and put a slit up the side so that I can invert it and create a protective shield around the matching network so that the wires cannot be accidentally damaged by weedwhackers ever again I'm not sure my word description actually conveys what I want to do, so after the deed is done, I'll take some photos and will post them here.

By the way, speaking of Santa - for those of you who have young kids or grandkids - you probably know all about this, but there's still time left if you want your kiddoes to talk with Santa:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Missed opportunity and Christmas memories

I guess I kind of blew an opportunity in the 40 Meter Fox Hunt last night. I didn't walk away empty handed, but I might have walked away with more if I wasn't so tired.

I heard Cathy W4CMG's Hounds baying rather loudly. I tuned 1 kHz down and there she was. I had to tighten up the filters a bit as last night was also the NAQCC mW Sprint. Anyway, I had her frequency picked out and was listening to her hand out pelts. I called a few times with no result and then some kind of digital signal came on, right on top of her! I have no idea what mode it was, as the only ones I can recognize by ear are RTTY and Olivia. This must have been one of the FTs. Fortunately, whoever was generating the signal didn't stick around long, and I finally worked Cathy at 02:23 UTC.

Cathy was the lower Fox, so I dialed up looking for Brian K0DTJ. I heard A Hound (just one!) and dialed down 1 kHz again. This time - nothing. I hung around a while and continued to hear only background noise, so I pulled the plug and went to bed. Looking at Brian's log this morning, I see he started working some East coast stations towards the very end of the hunt. I guess I should have stayed; but as I've said before, that's tough when you have to get up for work at 5:00 AM the next morning. That was no big deal when I was younger, but now ...................

Al Hanzl K2AL was asking about the Christmas keys on the 4 States io group. These were keys that were offered by Marshall Emm N1FN (SK) through his company, Morse Express. Each year a new miniature, yet fully functional straight key woold be offered to us Morse Code enthusiasts. They are so small that the advertising photo always depicted them as Christmas Tree ornaments.

This must have been all new to Al and he was asking for more information about them. Several of us pointed him to various websites and I e-mailed photos of the ones that I have, so he could see examples of what he was asking about,

Most of the ones that I have were manufactured by LLevas Telegrafia (pardon the spelling, I probably have it wrong) until he became an SK. The 2007 key, the only one that's not brass, is the last one that I collected. These are all given to me as Christmas gifts from my wife, Marianne.

I should have included a quarter in the photos to give you and idea how tiny these are. At the same time, these are not gimmicky, junky toys. They are fully functional, superbly manufactured straight keys. If my straight key fist wasn't so lousy, I would use them more. As it is, they've been on my shelf for so long that they need a decent cleaning.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Mind if we brag?

I guess you can consider this a guest post - good friend Dave KD2FSI posted this to the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club Facebook page, and I'm posting it here as well, because there's an important message here.

2024 Field Day Results:

The ARRL Field Day Results are now out in a CSV file format. This file format can be imported to an Excel spreadsheet and sorted to compare the results by categories, sections and so forth.

We know from the results published in December’s QST that SPARC came in 3rd out of 5 in the 3A-Battery category, but I was interested in seeing how we did overall compared to all categories and sections.

Looking at all categories In the NNJ section, SPARC ranked 2nd out of 47 entries.

I then combined all categories in the NNJ section with all categories in the SNJ section where we ranked 5th out of 77 total New Jersey entries.

But what I always think is impressive, is where SPARC ranks when compared to total of all categories participating nationwide.

And this year, SPARC ranked 216th out of 4319 total Field Day entries! This puts SPARC’s score in the top 5% of all the submitted logs that participated in the 2024 Field Day.

What I think is even more impressive is that SPARC can complete this well against well equipped, big money stations. Some of which are using as many as 13 transceivers running 100 watts out to crank-up towers with beam antennas sitting on top. While SPARC uses just 3 battery powered transceiver running 5 watts out to wire antennas.

Congratulations to SPARC and everyone involved, for a considerable effort with a great outcome. 

73, Dave KD2FSI

Thanks, Dave, for your research. And I'm posting this here because it's important for all of you out there to know - if we can do this, so can you! We are not super special, by any means, we're just a bunch of Hams who like to play radio and enjoy a challenge.

QRP is NOT a handicap, and does not have to take a backseat to anyone! Don't let anyone ever tell you different!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Broken pipeline

More about that in a minute or two, but first here's the weekend's goings on:

Contests

One biggie - especially as we're at the peak of Cycle 25:

ARRL 10-Meter Contest - http://www.arrl.org/10-meter

And some smaller ones:

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html

K1USN Slow Speed Test - http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html

Special Events:

12/14/2024 | Big Bend ARC 50th Anniversary

Dec 14, 1500Z-2300Z, K5O, Alpine, TX. Big Bend ARC. 7.240 14.320 21.350 28.400. QSL. Big Bend ARC, 1402 N 5tn Street, Alpine, TX 79830. www.bigbendarc.org

12/14/2024 | Ike's UN Atoms for Peace Speech (1953)

Dec 14, 1400Z-2200Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah ARC. 7.1 14.1 21.1 28.1. QSL. K3LU, 980 PATUXENT ROAD, Odenton, MD 21113. Single transmitter SSB and CW aboard N/S Savannah. Please check spotting networks for frequencies. Info on QRZ.com www.qrz.com/db/k3s

12/14/2024 | Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Special Event

Dec 14, 1700Z-2359Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 7.250 14.320 14.070 PSK31 DSTAR on Papa system repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum Ship COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw

Getting back to the pipeline business. I'm going to bore you with more QRP Fox Hunt stuff, but lately, it's about the only time I've been managing to get on the air. Last night was the 80 Meter hunt, and I (mistakenly) thought it was going to be a quick and easy night, as we had two super good Foxes running - Dave N1IX in NH and Rick NK9G in WI.

It started out that way! I found Dave right off the bat and worked him at about two or three minutes into the Hunt. I had to be his second or third Hound worked.

Rick NK9G, on the other hand, took a bit of doing, and that was a surprise. Normally it seems I have a pipeline to Minnesota and Wisconsin, with fast and easy QSOs. Last night, the pipeline was either broken or had a serious kink in it.  Rick was loud enough, a legit 559 or better, but he was having problems. I eventually worked him at around 03:12 UTC (I don't have my log with me), but it took much longer and a lot more effort than I had anticipated.

All evening long, Rick was asking for repeats and was sending a lot of "?"s and "QRZ"s. It seemed to me at least, that he must have had either a high ambient noise level or all our signals were down in the mud.  I'm so used to him working stations in rapid fire succession in Sprints, almost effortlessly it seems. He's such a superb op! Last night, though, the band seemed to be biting him on the butt. 

He didn't post his log yet, but he did send an e-mail saying how everyone's signals were exceptionally weak at his end. He wrote that he still managed to hand out about 50 pelts, which is a goodly amount! And that is truly the mark of a top notch op, to endure and achieve success despite the conditions that prevail.

One other thing that became apparent last night - winter shack conditions. When I got down to the shack about 10 minutes before the start of the Hunt, my little Radio Shack wall thermometer was reading 59F (15C). From here on out, if I'm going to participate, I'm going to have to go down to the shack about an hour ahead of time and plug in and turn on the DuraFlame space heater that I purchased at the end of last winter. I wasn't too uncomfortable during the Hunt, but when I got up out of my chair, my knee and hip joints were telling me that they were NOT happy with the chill.

72 de Larry W2LLJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!