Happy April Fool's Day!
I'll admit, I'm the black sheep of the family - image courtesy of Alain Mouton as seen on Facebook.
It's just a joke, guys. Please don't get offended!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Happy April Fool's Day!
I'll admit, I'm the black sheep of the family - image courtesy of Alain Mouton as seen on Facebook.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
March is just about over! Where does the time go? Anyway, here's what's going on this weekend (and into next week):
Contests:
Sasquatch Stomp - https://www.pnwqrp.org/sasquatch-stomp
CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB - https://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm
Classic Exchange, CW - http://www.classicexchange.org/
Next Tuesday night - Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest - https://qrpcontest.com/pigwalk20/
Special Event Stations:
03/22/2025 | The White House Communications Agency 83rd Anniversary
Mar 22-Mar 29, 0000Z-0000Z, W0H, Jackson, OH. White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club. 3.875 7.275 14.250 28.550. Certificate. Lowell Yates, 6809 Four Mile Rd, Jackson, OH 45640. https://whitehousecomms-arc.org
03/29/2025 | 70th Anniversary of the Birmingham Zoo
Mar 29-Mar 30, 0000Z-2359Z, W7P, Birmingham, AL. N4GHP. 7.290 7.296 14.296. Certificate & QSL. Lloyd Palmer, 1325 Windsor Ct., Alabaster, AL 35007. This event is planned for March 2025. Watch for more details. www.qrz.com/db/n4ghp
03/30/2025 | Centennial Commemoration for the Veterans Memorial Building of the San Ramon Valley
Mar 30, 1800Z-2359Z, K6V, Danville, CA. VFW Post 75. HF 10m (see spotting networks) HF 20m (see spotting networks) DMR TG 98008 (Military Veteran Echolink (*TALARC*). QSL. VFW Post 75, 400 Hartz Av, Danville, CA 94526. Celebrating the 100 Year Anniversary of the Veterans Memorial Building of the San Ramon Valley in Danville, CA. Confirmed QSO may request QSL card by sending self addressed stamped envelope and your QSL card (if you want to send one): VMBSRV Centennial Attention: VFW POST 75 - K6V Event 400 Hartz Av, Danville, CA 94526 https://www.qrz.com/db/K6V
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
There's a QRP Sprint tomorrow, March 28th, that hasn't gotten a lot of press, so I am going to highlight it here. The Pacific Northwest QRP Group is holding its annual Sasquatch Stomp tomorrow. This sprint is modeled after Paul NA5N's Zombie Shuffle, so if you've participated in that, you should be very comfortable here. You should also know that a bunch of fun is in store for you if you do participate.
Time: From 19:00 UTC Friday until 03:00 UTC Saturday For those on the West Coast, that translates to 12:00 Noon local to 8:00 PM local. On the East Coast that translates to 3:00 PM local until 11:00 PM local time.
Exchange: RST, SPC (state, province, or country), Sasquatch Number and Name. If you don't yet have a Sasquatch Number, use the last three numbers of your ZIP Code, or, if you are Canadian, the numbers included in your Postal Code. This event is open to all licensed Radio Amateurs.
Call : CQ STMP
There are more nuances to this sprint that you can read about in the rules.
72 de Larry W2LJ - Sasquatch # 910
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I will be pinch hitting for Dan N7CQR in the 40 Meter QRP Fox Hunt tonight. I wasn't planning on volunteering as a Fox anymore as these Hunts run late, I get wired after a session and generally don't fall asleep until around Midnight. All this with a 5:00 AM wake up call for work. Maybe I can get in a catnap between dinner and 8:30 PM.
The Committee sent me an e-mail as they were in a bind. Against my better judgment, I agreed to the assignment. I hate seeing folks in a bind if I can help. I will probably be a zombie at work tomorrow.
Anyway, if you're so inclined, you can listen for me tonight beginning at 9:00 PM EDT and ending at 10:30 PM EDT, somewhere between 7.030 and 7.050 MHz. If you hear me, I will give your call sign, and then my half of the exchange which is RST, State, Name, Power Out. Your assignment is to come back to me with your info - RST, your State, your Name, your Power Out.
I'll be working split from the beginning. If you've never tried hunting a QRP Fox before, maybe you'd like to give it a try!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I have to say that I witnessed something last night that I have not seen happen very many times in all my years of being an Amateur Radio operator.
Last night, I checked into the St. Max Net a few minutes before net start as Net Control, Lloyd K3QNT was looking for check ins. As we got closer to net start, the band changed a bit and we were able to begin to hear some other voices on the frequency and they were able to hear us.
It appeared that another net was on frequency, since the afternoon in fact, and they were complaining that the St Max Net would be interfering with them. Lloyd explained to them that their signals had just become audible and that there was no intention to interfere with them. Lloyd informed than that our net would begin at 0000 UTC and politely asked if they might have concluded their net by then.
They actually answered that they would be done by then and to stand by for the use of the frequency. So in turn, Lloyd postponed calling for early check ins until the appointed time, in order for them to conclude their session without interference.
It did my heart good to see two groups of considerate, and polite Amateur Radio ops successfully and congenially accommodate each other. It seems so often these days that in situations like these, the immediate response is to become stubborn, rude and unyielding. There ARE grown-ups on the Ham bands and it was great to see!
In other business, since the debacle with the disappearance of the 2024 Skeeter Hunt Scoreboard, I sat myself down in front of my computer and spent a goodly amount of time getting the 2024 certificates composed, and I'm about half way done at this point. The Top Five finishers get a printed hardcopy mailed to them. Because of prohibitive ink and postage costs, everyone else deserving of a certificate gets a .pdf certificate e-mailed to them, so they can print it out for themselves, if they so desire. It used to be that I would send a hardcopy to all the Skeeters who earned one, but that became cost prohibitive after a few years.
For a few years, I experimented with financing all that with markups on Skeeter Hunt merchandise available through Cafe Press. That didn't quite work out so well, so I went into the Skeeter Hunt store and changed all the markups on merchandise to 0%. Cafe Press gets all the proceeds as I thought that the minimal markups that I had put on items made them too expensive. My philosophy is that if something is too expensive for me to buy, I wouldn't expect anyone else too, either.
I think this current solution probably works out for the best, as the Skeeter Hunt being such a small QRP Sprint that only occurs once a year, probably resulted with a lot of the certificates getting stowed away in a desk drawer or some place like that. A Skeeter Hunt certificate is a nice thing to have, but I'm not sure of they're deserving of any wall space.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Here's what's on the bands this weekend:
Contests:
AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest - https://www.antiquewireless.org/homepage/event-details-for-rollins-dx-event/
FOC QSO Party - http://g4foc.org/qsoparty/
Russian YL/OM Contest - https://www.contest.ru/russian-yl-om-contest-en/
Africa All Mode International DX Contest - https://mysarl.org.za/contest-resources/
Next Tuesday night:
SKCC Sprint - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekday_sprint/
Special Event Stations:
03/22/2025 | Battle of New Bern Adventure Day Special Event
Mar 22, 1600Z-2000Z, N4B, New Bern, NC. New Bern Amateur Radio Club. 14.330 7.065. QSL. John Riley, 980 Dry Monia Road, New Bern, NC 28562. www.qrz.com/db/N4B
03/22/2025 | Cherry Blossom Special Event Station
Mar 22, 1400Z-2000Z, W4BKM, Macon, GA. Macon Amateur Radio Club. 7.225 14.240. Certificate. Macon Amateur Radio Club, 305 Millwood Court, Macon, GA 31210. https://maconamateurradioclub.wordpress.com
03/22/2025 | The White House Communications Agency 83rd Anniversary
Mar 22-Mar 29, 0000Z-0000Z, W0H, Jackson, OH. White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club. 3.875 7.275 14.250 28.550. Certificate. Lowell Yates, 6809 Four Mile Rd, Jackson, OH 45640. https://whitehousecomms-arc.org
03/23/2025 | The White House Communications Agency 83rd Anniversary Special Event
Mar 23-Mar 25, 0000Z-0000Z, W0H, Jackson, OH. White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club. 3.875 7.275 14.250 28.550. Certificate. Lowell Yates, 6809 Four Mile Rd, Jackson, OH 45640. Join the White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club Amateur Radio club with the 83'rd anniversary celebration of the establishment by President Roosevelt of the White House Communications Agency. www.whitehousecomms-arc.org
I did get on the air and joined in on the NAQCC Sprint last night. it's been a long time - too long; and I had a lot of fun. I stayed up later than I had planned as I was having so much fun! It took me a while to fall asleep as I got wired (as I feared), but it was worth it.
I started off on 20 Meters, where I worked four stations. Conditions on 20 were tough! Signals were way down in the mud for me. The EFRW was extra noisy for some reason, so I switched over to the HF9V. By far the loudest station on 20 Meters was N9EEE. I really had to strain my ear to hear the other three that I worked.
40 Meters on the other hand, was THE band for the night! I switched back to the EFRW where my signal was even skimmed in Spain! I worked 23 stations on 40 Meters and I pretty much stayed on 7.038 MHz, running the frequency. I worked a lot of old friends and made some new ones. The lowest member number that I heard all night was John K4BAI, NAQCC # 644. I wonder how may people may have been taken aback with my NAQCC # 35! The best DX catch of the night was working DK1VD, Fred in Germany.
It was great to hear so much activity! There's nothing worse than jumping into a Sprint only to be calling "CQ" continuously with no takers, or twiddling the dial and finding no one else calling "CQ", either. That's what makes you never want to bother again.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
And I'll be participating - maybe, probably, not definitely, but most likely.
I need to get on the air more and as I mentioned forcing myself to stay up a bit later helps me sleep through the night. By the same token, though, I most likely won't participate for the entire two hours because, conversely, I'll become too wired up and will be unable to fall asleep. I learned that from the QRP Fox Hunts.
I need to step up my game and join in on more of these events. Form what I understand, the NAQCC Sprints always seem to get a lot of participation. It's a popular group, and from what I've been told, there are prizes and give aways as the organization gets a lot of donations.
Other Sprints are not as fortunate. As I stated in the post announcing the QRP-ARCI Spring QSO Party, there were only 16 scores submitted in 2024. For an organization so large, that's kind of pitiful. In the 4 States QRP Group e-mail reflector, I read where they only had about 4 participants in their Second Sunday Sprint last month. Wow! I am going to have to jump in and start participating in those, as well, to try and help drive up activity there.
I have not jumped into an ARS Spartan Sprint in a long time, either. I don't know what participation is like in those, but when I used to show up, there was always a decent amount of activity.
Events such as these used to be very popular and were always hives of a lot of activity. Those salad days seem to be gone. I wonder why. I suppose that It might be that the demographic of the participants has changed - i.e older Hams with a lot of them having become SKs. Probably a lot less CW ops as well, but I always held the premise that most QRPers are decent CW ops. Maybe it's just a lack of notices and advertising.
As the newly volunteer QRP-ARCI Contest Manager and of course the manager of the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt, if participation declines, it won't be for lack of publicity. I hope to keep all these events in the limelight and it is my fondest hope that participation increases as a result.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
You can now add SSB to your QMX or QMX+ via a beta firmware update released yesterday by QRP Labs.
For all the details, please go to https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp/ssbbeta
Personally, I'll pass; but I'm sure there's a lot of you who have been patiently waiting for this.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Save the date! It's not too early to plan to carve out some time for yourself during the weekend of April 12th. That's the date of the QRP-ARCI Spring QSO Party!
You do NOT have to be a member of QRP-ARCI to participate, but keep in mind that QRP-ARCI literally has thousands of members - certainly we can easily surpass the number of 2024 entries with ease! As an added bonus we're at the top of Cycle 25! So if you're a regular participant, thanks so much and join us again! If you haven't been in a QRP-ARCI Sprint in a while (or ever!), dust off that rig, fire it up and join in on the fun!
Rumor has it that certificates may be in the offering for the top scorers!
72 de Larry W2LJ - QRP-ARCI Contest Manager
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Looks like we're heading into a rainy weekend in my part of the woods. Now that it's getting warmer, I'm hoping to spend a bit of time during the weekends down the street, at the PAL parking lot, putting the Washington-Rochambeau Trail on the air, as that's where it's located. Maybe not this weekend if the skies are weeping. But maybe, just maybe, I can eventually earn a Kilo Award by getting 1,000 contacts from there? Time will tell.
This is what you can expect to hear on the bands this weekend:
Contests (again, even if you're not participating, this is what you can expect to hear) - Going forward, dedicated QRP Sprints/Events will be highlighted in red:
BARTG HF RTTY Contest: http://www.bartg.org.uk/
Popov Memorial Contest: https://www.contest.ru/memorial-popov-eng/
Russian DX Contest: https://www.rdxc.org/rules_eng
Virginia QSO Party: https://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2025_VQP/2025_VQP_Main.html
AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest - https://www.antiquewireless.org/homepage/event-details-for-rollins-dx-event/
Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/
K1USN Slow Speed Test - http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html
This coming Wednesday Night 3/19 (Thursday Morning UTC)
NAQCC Monthly Sprint - https://www.naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html
Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest (20 Meters) - https://qrpcontest.com/pigwalk20/
Special Event Stations:
03/14/2025 | PI Day - David Sarnoff Radio Club, Princeton, NJ
Mar 14-Mar 15, 1800Z-0100Z, N3P, Princeton, NJ. David Sarnoff Radio Club. 14.031 14.314 7.031 7.227 . QSL. Don Corrington, AK2S, 7 Pinewald Lane, Burlington, NJ 08016-3421. n2re.org
03/15/2025 | Gulf of America Special Event
Mar 15, 1400Z-2000Z, K5K, Kingwood, TX. Texas Emergency Amateur Communicators (TEAC). 7.20 14.325 21.235 28.325. QSL. David Taylor, N5KWD, 2179 Lake Village Dr, Kingwood, TX 77339. Celebrating the renaming of the Gulf of America, from Galveston Island State Park on the Gulf of America. Special Event + POTA + IOTA. QSL and SASE to N5KWD for commemorative QSL card. teac.net
03/15/2025 | Solivita Car Show
Mar 15, 1300Z-1900Z, N4SRC, Kissimmee, FL. Solivita Radio Club. 18.124 24.980 14.074 21.074. QSL. Solivita Radio Club, 307 Bell Tower Crossing West, Kissimmee, FL 34759. FT8 on all frequencies (10 through 40 meters). Frequencies may change. See website for updates. https://solivitaradioclub.weebly.com
I think I've told this story before, but in honor of the day, I'll tell it again. I always get a chuckle when I think about it. When Marianne and I first started dating, it was a little bit before she took me to her home to meet her parents. As any young suitor would be, I was a bit nervous, but upon meeting my future in-laws things seemed to go warmly and exceedingly well. The conversation drifted to things about me, as they wanted to get to know me better and that's when I mentioned that my main hobby was Amateur Radio.
My future M-I-L gave me a look like I was Medusa and I had 1,000 snakes growing out of my head. After a bit of awkward quiet, we got past that and had a wonderful dinner and evening together. My Father-In-Law, who was a petrochemical engineer seemed genuinely intrigued and asked me a lot of questions about the hobby and the various contacts that I had made, particularly the DX ones. Later, as I was driving Marianne back to her apartment, I asked her what that was all about.
It turned out that one of her uncles back near Donegal was a Ham - and no, I never found out what his call sign was. I was told that he had a tower and Yagi attached to his house. One day, during a particularly bad thunderstorm, his tower took a direct lightning strike and there was significant damage to the house.
That's all my M-I-L knew about Amateur Radio. Lightning and damage to the house. That was why I got the stare that I received. I later assured them both that I was licensed for over 20 years at the time and that I never had a tower and I always took the utmost precautions to prevent anything like that happening to me. I doubt that swayed her misgivings any, but I never heard anything about it again.
Nora (she was always "Mom" to me) actually came to live with us for a time after my Father-In-Law, Joe, or "Dad" as I always called him, had passed away. She had broken her hip and couldn't live alone on her own anymore. She eventually moved to a Senior Assisted Living Facility near us until she too, passed away. I'll always wonder if that was because she just craved a bit more independence, or if she just wanted to be away from my vertical and wire antennas!
Anyway, in any event
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago informing me that the link to the 2024 Skeeter Hunt scoreboard was no longer working. I went to the Webpage, clicked on the link and sure enough, it wasn't working!
I immediately went to my Google Drive to find that the spreadsheet was no longer there. I sure as heck don't remember going there and deleting it! Maybe I did, accidentally, but I seriously doubt that I did. What the heck, Google?!? All the other spreadsheets are still there, only 2024 is missing, so I guess I must have stupidly done something I shouldn't have.
The good thing is that I still have all the results e-mails saved, so like the Six Million Dollar Man, "We can rebuild it." I don't have too much planned for this weekend, so that's what I hope to do. It's only about 150 scores or so, it shouldn't take me forever.
What I do plan to do, however, is to take a run to Target and purchase a thumb drive dedicated solely to Skeeter Hunt spreadsheets and other Skeeter Hunt data, so that I have a back up of what's existing in the cloud. I don't ever want this to happen again. And should the day ever come that I am not able to run the Skeeter Hunt anymore, all the data can be trusted to whomever might volunteer to take it over. (Hard lesson learned from FOBB and the circumstances related to Rich Fisher KI6SN).
Now don't get all panicky on me! I'm not saying that anything is going to happen to me, but I want to make sure the Skeeter Hunt will be around long after I am not - some day very far, far away into the future.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Sorry that I have not been posting much lately, as I've been dealing with some personal health issues. But I received some good news lately (I think) and I thought I'd share. On Friday February 28th, I went to the hospital for a same day procedure - a transesophageal echocardiogram (Oh, what fun!). The cardiologists wanted a closer look at my heart than the standard echocardiogram provided. Anyway, I was told my mitral valve leak is considered "trivial", so I'm pretty sure that's good news. Looks like I won't be needing that clip installed after all!
I go for a follow up visit this Wednesday, and I guess I'll hear more about whether or not they think I need a defibrillator installed as I have an irregular heartbeat. Good thing I'm a QRP'er, huh?
The weather is starting to turn warmer here in Central NJ and the shack is warming up from the deep freeze we've had this Winter, so I'll be able to spend time down there without turning on the space heater. As it happens, PSE&G, our energy provider, was granted a rate increase by the NJ Board of Public Utilities. Our January bill was a shocker with a hefty increase, so I don't want to plug that heater in unless it's absolutely necessary!
Now onto Amateur Radio stuff. I received an e-mail from a Mom whose son is working on his Signs, Signals and Code Merit Badge and they actually found some of the content here useful! That just blew me away! I am so glad that someone was able to find something here to be of value! Thanks so much Annie and Kyle!
And if that wasn't enough, Kyle came upon a website that goes into the timeline of the evolution of telecommunications, from ancient times, right up to our present day satellite and wireless cellular technologies. www.ooma.com/blog/telegraphs-phones-mobile-devices-telecommunications-timeline/ I am adding that to the links portion so you can all enjoy it as well. Again, thanks so much Annie and Kyle, not only for the link, but also for your very kinds words!
This blog is my labor of love for Amateur Radio, QRP and Morse Code. I don't monetize it, it just makes me happy to share my passion with like minded folks. I'm thrilled when someone finds something useful that I post - it's really gratifying. As always, thanks so much to all of you who come here to read this humble little blog. There's really no point to it without you!
So as I get back into the swing of things and start getting more active again, I'll be posting more and more. Believe me, I'd rather spend time in the shack and writing posts here than concentrating on health issues. But as my dear departed Mom used to say - "Larry, don't get old!" and I used to answer - "Not much I can do about that, Mom!"
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!