It may be Friday the 13th, but ...........

 It may be Friday the 13th, but that only means we are now one week away from the First Day of Summer. That means that next Friday is Opening Day for signing up for a 2025 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt number!

A few things to know

 Skeeter Numbers are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. They are handed out sequentially ONLY. The only Skeeter number that is reserved in perpetuity is #13, and that's for yours truly.

 Skeeter Number requests are made via e-mail ONLY to w2ljqrp@gmail.com No requests sent via social media will be honored as I may miss them there. I may miss duplicate requests made via social media AND e-mail. It has happened before!

 Requests will be honored for emails arriving at 00:01 EDT next Friday, June 20th. Any requests received before then will be honored at the end of the first day. Skeeter numbers will be handed out until the day before the Hunt. When you make your request, be sure to include your Call sign, your name and the S/P/C that you will be operating from. I can't count the number of requests I've received over the years without that basic information!

 This year the event will be held on Sunday, August 17th from 17:00 to 21:00 UTC.

 For bonus points this year, we are going to play Skeeter Hunt Blackjack. Work enough call sign numbers to add up to exactly 21 and you can earn 1,000 Bonus Points!

All the details can be found in either of two places:

https://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html

https://www.qsl.net/w2lj/

 Hope to hear from you on the First Day of Summer!

 72 es BZZZZZZZ

Larry W2LJ - Skeeter # 13

Weekend of June 14th and 15th

 Before we get started - Saturday, June14th is Flag Day here in the US.

Contests:

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

Portugal Day Contest - https://portugaldaycontest.rep.pt/rules.php

GACW WWSA CW DX Contest - https://www.gacw.ar/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Tuesday night:

NAQCC mW CW Sprint - http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html

Special Events:

06/01/2025 | W2W D-Day Commemoration

Jun 1-Jun 14, 1300Z-2200Z, W2W, Hunt Valley, MD. Amateur Radio Club of the National Electronics Museum (ARCNEM). 14.244 14.044 7.244 7.044. Certificate & QSL. ARCNEM, 338 Clubhouse Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031. Amateur Radio Club of the National Electronics Museum (ARCNEM) will operate W2W in commemoration of the anniversary of D-Day and the role of electronics in WWII. Primary operation will be June 1-June 6 with additional operation possible during June 7-14 as operator availability permits. Operation on 80M (3.544, 3.844), additional bands and digital modes possible during event. Frequencies +/- according to QRM. QSL and Certificate available via SASE; details at ww-2.us. ww-2.us

06/14/2025 | Appleton Flag Day Parade

Jun 14, 1830Z-2030Z, W9ZL, Appleton, WI. Fox Cities Amateur Radio Club. 14.246. QSL. FCARC, PO Box 2346, Appleton, WI 54912. Operate our special event station while we traverse thru the Appleton Flag Day parade. The largest flag day parade in the country. QSL via FCARC PO Box 2346 Appleton WI 54912 fcarc.club

06/14/2025 | Audie Murphy's 100th Birthday

Jun 14-Jun 29, 0000Z-2359Z, W5M, Greenville, TX. Sabine Valley ARA. 7.270 14.270 21.300 28.350. Certificate & QSL. SABINE VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO ASSN, PO BOX 843, Greenville, TX 75403. Audie enlisted at the downtown Greenville, TX post office in 1942. He went on to become the most decorated soldier of WWII, earning every medal possible, including the Medal of Honor, all before the age of 21. https://k5gvl.com/audie-murphy

06/14/2025 | Danbury Railway Museum's 9th Annual Steel & Wheels Car Show

Jun 14, 1400Z-1900Z, W2MNR, Danbury, CT. Metro-North Railroad Amateur Radio Association. 7.235 14.235; other frequencies as conditions permit. QSL. There will be, no QSLs, this year. Check dxsummit.fi. This event benefits HomeBridge Ventures. www.danburyrail.org or www.mnrara.org

Something from the "Something I've always wanted to do" category.

For Flag Day, I've always wanted to do a Special Event Station at the Middlebrook Encampment in Bridgewater, NJ, which is not far from home at all.

It was at this place that the first official flag of the United States was unfurled for the Continental Army, after a law to adopt a national flag had been passed by Congress. By special order of Congress, a Thirteen Star Flag is flown 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at the Washington Camp Ground.

There have been several things that have prohibited me from doing this. First off, while this location is on the National Register of Historic Places,  you can see from the Google Earth view that the monument is a bit away from the road. There's really no parking nearby, and there doesn't appear to be picnic tables or other amenities nearby. There is residential housing across Middlebrook Road, so I'd have to resort to parking on a side street and hoofing it in. 

Secondly, with Flag Day so close to Field Day, I haven't been able to drum up much interest from fellow SPARC members. Next year at this time, I'd be retired so I just might make this a solo event.

Once there, it would really be a field event. This would really be sort of like a mini Field Day warm up. I've only driven by and that was a while ago. One of these weekends, I'll have to take a scouting trip.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day article

 Our article made the local online newspaper - 

You can read the full article here:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-plainfield/sections/community-announcements/articles/south-plainfield-amateur-radio-club-to-participate-in-field-day-2025?fbclid=IwY2xjawK2wU9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFWc2tRWFl0WEVscWdGNFRHAR68e5W9QgCyCkxC8jZae9CATY_AJwgq83mFO1L_1ZiJMd_LkycL7dJG9yTEuw_aem_KGuWAKoUW6zCpLP-VRNdFQ

Only minor edits to what I sent, so i guess I didn't botch up things too badly, after all.

Actually, if your club is having Field Day, it's not all that hard to get local publicity. Local print and online publications are always looking for content. I conjured up this article all by my lonesome, but if you're not comfortable with your writing skills, the ARRL has resources that you can use:

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2020/3_4a-2020%20New%20Field%20Day%20PR%20Kit.pdf

I used their material as boilerplate for our article last year. I thought with Hurricane Helene and the havoc she caused in the Southeast still so fresh in everyone's mind, that I would write my own article this year. It's not all that different than composing these blog posts.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Maintenance

Something I forget to do on a regular basis is comments maintenance.

I have this set up so that any comments on posts older than two weeks old, automatically go into moderation. You would NOT believe the amount of suspicious and dubious links, advertisements, solicitations and just generally totally unrelated stupid stuff that spammers try to place in here, on the sly, via comments to older posts. What's really hilarious are the ones written in languages I don't even understand. Like I would let those through!

So if you comment on something older, and don't see it posted right away - please don't take offense. It's just my way of trying to keep out junk. From here on in, I'll make an effort to check for moderated comments on a weekly basis.

For instance, I just went through, and deleted a few spam comments soliciting product distribution from overseas manufacturers- but included among the legitimate comments was one made to a post I had written in 2014! That was approved.

Thanks for your understanding. I really like when you guys comment, especially if I say something stupid. Keeps me on the up and up. I don't delete negative  comments or ones that take me to task unless they include vulgarity, and yes, there have been one or two of those over the past 20 years.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Coming soon!

Not only here, but on Facebook and to a QRP e-mail reflector near you. 

The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt 2025 edition will be open soon for Skeeter Number signups! Details coming at the end of this week! Stay tuned!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Disappointment, again.

I swept the bands a few times yesterday and I could not locate any more museum ships that were on the air. In retrospect, what I should have done, and will do next year is to place a bunch of appropriate call signs in Ham Alert. I had NJ2BB in there, but band conditions were never good enough for propagation between South Plainfield and Camden. The distance between us is only 78 miles. I tried listening for them when they were spotted on 40 Meters, but even then, there was no groundwave propagation. 80 Meters would have been my best bet, but I doubt they have access to space for an 80 Meter antenna. I also kept looking at DX Summit and some of the other clusters, but I never saw anything in comments to indicate whether or not the spotted station was a museum ship or not.

The other disappointment for the weekend was the 4 States Second Sunday Sprint. I worked exactly one station and that was Mark WB9HFK, who had a terrific signal into NJ.  I also heard Chas W2SH on 20 Meters, but he was very weak. I tried calling him several times with no luck.

I called "CQ 4S QRP" a lot, with no success on both 20 and 40 Meters. On 40 Meters, I tried the 7.030, 7.040 and 7.120 MHz neighborhoods. Nada, zip zilch. In situations, like these, as unlikely as it would have been, I tend to thing maybe there's something wrong with my antennas. Afterwards, I plugged my call sign into the Reverse Beacon Network to see if I was being heard. This is what came up:

And for the most part, I was getting double digit dB numbers above the signal to noise ratio level, so I was not only being heard by the skimmers, but would have been audible to the human ear, as well. Even some of the skimmers in Europe were hearing me in double digit dB figures. That made sense to be as I had had that QSO with England just the day before on 17 Meters at only 5 Watts.

The timing for the Second Sunday Sprint is not ideal as that's the same time the weekly K1USN Slow Speed Sprint also occurs.  All you hear on 40 Meters is wall-to-wall "CQ SST". I may try another time or two before I decide whether or not it's worth attempting to participate at all.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Resting weekend, or at least trying to

Last work week was brutal, and not too much fun at all. Long, tough days at work and a couple evenings of CERT duty at a visiting carnival in town. I was doing pedestrian control, and it made for some extra very long days. I think from the look on my face, you could tell I wasn't the happiest of campers.

So this weekend, I wanted to get in a little radio time, and I did. It was a mixed bag. The highlight was working Mike KC2EGL as NY3EC aboard the USS Requin, a WWII submarine that was participating in Museum Ships Weekend. I wanted to work more Museum Ships, but I haven't been able to really find any.

I have worked a few POTA stations and I had a short QSO with John G4RCG in England on 17 Meters. The bands just seem to be devoid of a lot of activity this weekend, at least from what I've been hearing so far.

Tonight,I will see if I can drum up any QSOs in the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. I'll be using my newly built 4 States paddle, so maybe that will bring me luck.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend of June 7th and 8th

It's Museum Ships Weekend!  A lot of historical maritime vessels will be on the air this weekend! And band conditions look to be a whole lot better than last weekend, when that CME pretty much obliterated the HF bands.

Contests:

VK Shires Contest - https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

Tisza Cup CW Contest - https://www.tiszacup.eu/index.php/en/contest-rules

Wake-Up! QRP Sprint - http://qrp.ru/contest/wakeup/333-wakeup-eng

Atlantic Canada QSO Party - https://acqp.ca/

Kentucky QSO Party: - http://www.kyqsoparty.org/rules/

IARU Region 1 Field Day, CW - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rnfd.shtml

RSGB National Field Day: - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rnfd.shtml

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint: - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

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

Tuesday night:

NAQCC CW Sprint - http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html

Digital modes you may hear - 10-10 Int. Open Season PSK Contest, ARRL Inter. Digital Contest

Special Event Stations:

06/04/2025 | Battle of Midway Island June 4-June 7,1942, and Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 4-Jun 7, 1200Z-2300Z, W2Z/WA4USN, Mount Pleasant, SC. Charleston Amateur Radio Society, Inc. 7.225 14.300. QSL. K4KOA, 14 Campground Rd, Yemassee, SC 29945. W2Z from 4 thru 6th operated out of K4KOA Yemasee, SC.W2Z and WA4USN on the 7th operated out of USS Yorktown CV-10 Charleston Harbor SC note: this is also Museum Ships on the Air weekend. it will be a combo weekend with WA4USN. wa4usn.org

06/06/2025 | Hank Williams Celebration

Jun 6-Jun 7, 0000Z-0000Z, W4H, Georgiana, AL. Jim Bell Wireless Association. 28.400 14.300 7.225 3.390. Certificate & QSL. JERRY MCCULLOUGH, 274 WEST PETTIBONE RD, Georgiana, AL 36033. SASE please. https://www.k4tns.com

Jun 6-Jun 7, 1700Z-0000Z, W4H, Georgiana, AL. Mom bell wireless association . 7180-7074 14250-14074 2140-21074 28400-28074. Certificate & QSL. Jerry McCullough , 274 West Pettibone Rd, Georgiana, AL 36033. k4tns.com

06/07/2025 | Elettra Back On Air!

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0600Z-1700Z, IY4RXO, Bologna, ITALY. ARI Fidenza Radio Club/Italian Amateur Radio Association. all bands, all modes, as available based on conditions. QSL. See website, for, information, ITALY. www.arifidenza.it

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1600Z-2300Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 14.320 7.250 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

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0000Z-2300Z, W4AVM, Tampa, FL. American Victory Museum Ship. 14.320 7.268. QSL. American Victory Ship & Museum - W4AVM , c/o Richard Burbes - KE9VS, 5224 Franklin Woodland Drive, Plant City, FL 33565. www.w4avm.org

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Event

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0001Z-2359Z, NJ2BB, Camden, NJ. Battle Ship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station. 7044 7272 14044 14262. Certificate. Margaret Burgess - KB2BRR, 150 Schooner Ave, Barnegat, NJ 08005. nj2bb.org

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Event USS Tennessee BB43 Memorial Museum

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0001Z-2359Z, W4BSF, Huntsville, TN. Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club. 14.250. QSL. Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club, 2486 Leatherwood Road, Attn: BB43 QSL Mgr, Oneida, TN 37841. Check spotting networks. https://bsfarc.org/museum-ship-weekend

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Sat & Sun

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1330Z-2100Z, K3SAV, Port of Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. 2 day event. Same hours on Saturday and Sunday. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award qrz.com/db/k3sav

06/07/2025 | Museum Ships Weekend Station

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0000Z-2359Z, N1S, Groton, CT. Submarine Force Library & Museum. 3.850 7.225 14.275 21.350. QSL. N1S Generations ARC, 110 Vinegar Hill Road, Gales Ferry, CT 06335. • NAUTILUS - First Nuclear Submarine| Jun 7-Jun 8, N1S, 0000Z – 2359Z N1S Groton, CT. Nuclear Submarine USS NAUTILUS SSN 571 Museum Ships Weekend. All Bands; All Modes. QSL; bureau via K3LBD; direct with SASE to N1S Generations ARC, 110 Vinegar Hill Road, Gales Ferry, CT 06335. NAUTILUS information http://www.ussnautilus.org/. Station information: www.qrz.com/db/k3lbd or www.qrz.com/db/n1s www.ussnautilus.org

06/07/2025 | National Museum of the Great Lakes Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1400Z-1830Z, K8E, Toledo, OH. Toledo Mobile Radio Association. 7.039 7.260 14.239 14.260. QSL. James M. Schoonmaker , P. O. Box 9673, Toledo, OH 43697. www.qrz.com/db/k8e or www.w8hhf.org

06/07/2025 | NB9QV USS Cobia Museum Ships Weekend

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1400Z-2000Z, NB9QV, Manitowoc, WI. USS Cobia Amateur Radio Club. 7.240 14.240. Certificate. Send contact information to, kc9yl@arrl.net, to receive PDF certificate. https://www.qrz.com/db/NB9QV

06/07/2025 | Ships On The Air

Jun 7-Jun 8, 0359Z-2359Z, W4JDD, Jacksonville, FL. Orleck Amateur Radio Society. 7.225 14.250. Certificate. John Reynolds, 5547 Lofty Pines Cir S, Jacksonville, FL 32210. Operate around the clock with the worldwide Ships On The Air event johnr1000@aol.com

And .....let us not forget the brave and valiant souls from 81 years ago - today.

May their bravery, courage and sacrifice never be forgotten.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

FOBB 2025 has been announced!

This just appeared in my inbox today.

2025 Flight of the Bumblebees

AI image courtesy of Gemini

The annual Flight of the Bumblebees will be held on Sunday, July 27, 2025.

 The event will be in a four hour daytime window, from 1700 to 2100 UTC.

 This casual QRP CW event consists of 'Bumblebees' who are operating portable stations at outdoor locations, and 'Home Stations' who try to work as many of these 'Bumblebees' as possible.

 This event is open to all operators.  Anywhere.  With the sunspot cycle still on the high side, this year's  event has the potential to be very interesting.

 Operators who want to go out and setup a portable station at some outdoor location, and be a highly sought after 'Bumblebee', need to obtain a "Bumblebee Number". 

 The window for obtaining your 2025 'Bumblebee Number' is now Open.   This year is is simpler than ever to get a Bumblebee Number.

 The https://ars-qrp.com web site will explain the whole process.

 I'll be out there as a 'Bumblebee' - hoping to work you during the event.

 72,

Jody - K3JZD

This is always a super fun event, and is a Summertime Classic! And what makes it even better is that there's always lots of participation. I've already signed up and I'll be Bee # 25!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

PS: Look for an announcement about the 2025 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt coming soon!

Activity Night

At the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club, we have two meetings a month, on the first and third Thursdays. The second meeting is our monthly Business Meeting, while the first one is "Activity Night". This was something that Marv K2VHW instituted as our Founding Club President. We got away from it for a while because of the pandemic. It's hard to have an activity when you can't meet in person. When I was s"elected" last year to be Club President, I made it my business to revitalize this.

Our Activity Night meetings are still hybrid, in person and on Zoom, so I try to keep it more of a learning experience rather than a hands on kind of thing so that everyone can benefit. So far we've had Activity Nights where we shared our experiences with the Reverse Beacon Network, how the National Traffic System works and how to send a radiogram, and a presentation on solar panels and controllers among other topics.

This past weekend, I was taken aback on a lot of the comments on social media referring to band conditions. "Who shut the bands off?" ......."Are the bands bad for everyone, or is it just my antenna?" ...... "My POTA activation was a complete bust!" and other comments like that.

We experienced a Coronal Mass Ejection and a series of geomagnetic storms and Hams didn't expect this? They didn't know about this? If you did more than just memorize answers for your Amateur Radio exam, this is basic knowledge. Surely, Techs must have a basic and rudimentary understanding of this, and Generals and Extras should be totally familiar with this. It appears not, from a lot of what I've read over the past few days.

For this SPARC Activity Night, we're going to have a very brief going over of our Field Day preparations, as we have one more Business Meeting before the big weekend. I want to spend the rest of the evening showing this YouTube video.

There are a few good PowerPoint presentations on the subject and a plethora of equally good videos. I chose this one firstly because it's only 22 minutes long, and I don't want to keep our club members occupied all night. Secondly, it treats the subject matter in "plain English" and doesn't get all esoteric, or go off on tangents. It's a very well done "meat and potatoes" kind of presentation, that I think will benefit our members who don't have HF rigs and are not all that familiar with HF operating.  Even for the VHF/UHF only people, this is good stuff to know and every Ham should at least be aware of the Sun and it's effect on our bands.

72 de Larry W2LLJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A bit more about yesterday.

When I first started building the Jackite support, I went the cheap route and tried cutting up the 2 foot sections of PVC in half using a hand saw. That was idiotic on my part. After about 15 to 20 minutes of getting not much anywhere, and only getting a sore and tired arm I decided I had enough of that. I went to Home Depot and bought one of these:

The brand is Husky, and it is a ratcheting  2" PVC pipe cutter.  A little pricey for the little I will probably make use of it, but I got the PVC pieces cut in SECONDS! A chore that would have taken all afternoon was accomplished in an "n-th" of the time, so I consider it money well spent. And you'd think that cutting 2" PVC with a cutter like this would be hard, but it took almost no effort.

The other thing about yesterday - that G4 geomagnetic storm ........WOW! I tired checking into the St. Max Net last night. Lloyd K3QNT, who is NCS, is usually 10 to 20 over 9 dB here at the W2LJ homestead. Last night I could barely hear him at times. I managed to get checked in, and when he called my turn, I made a few comments. When I let go of the mic, all I heard him say was, Larry W2LJ, are you still there?" So I knew I wasn't getting through. I was only able to hear two or three stations, so I shut the rig down early.

I was hoping to see Northern Lights last night like I did last year when we had a G5 storm. The skies were clear last night, but no dice. I checked several times and have come to the conclusion that a storm needs to be at least G5 before we'll see anything in New Jersey.

This week, one of the local Churches in town is holding their annual Feast of St Anthony carnival. I have sent an e-mail to our CERT Coordinator that I am available for duty a couple of nights this week, but I have not heard anything back. Last year, I spent most of my time escorting carnival go-ers across a busy street, making sure no one got injured, or worse. Maybe it's just me being an old curmudgeon, but is seems like drivers are more inconsiderate and reckless these days.  What I've witnessed on the roads recently could fill up another whole three, four or five or more blog posts. But this is not the place for that. My son Joseph has one of those dash cams in his car and some of the things that he has shown me that have occurred during his commute are enough to curl your hair. I should get one, but hopefully by this time next year, my commuting days will be a thing of the past.  334 to go!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Got stuff done!

This past week was extremely busy at work. So busy, that I didn't even get the chance to do my weekly Friday post about contests and special event stations. And yesterday was busy with chores and errands at home. But today I did get some "me time", and I used it to full advantage.

I got the Jackite stand built, And as promised, here are a couple of pictures.

It's made entirely of 2"PVC. And it is all pressed fit together so I can transport it more easily when broken down. I know it looks kind of flimsy, but the idea here is that this stand's purpose is only to hold the Jackite upright while my hands are free to pound in the tent pegs and secure the CamJams and tie down ropes. Otherise, it's just juggling things and watching them fall down, while doing my best octopus impression. I've ordered a camping stuff it bag to make it easy to transport the parts.

The other thing that I got done was to build the 4 States paddle.

It was a pretty easy build, and it works very well. The only thing that I think I got wrong is that the actual paddle levers are upside down, but I have other commercial paddles where the "ears" point down, so that doesn't bother me and it doesn't adversely affect performance.

This will make for a nice Field Day paddle and I can leave my March and Begali paddles safe at home.  The only pre-Field Day chore that I have left to do Is to e-mail all the newly licensed candidates that we've tested over the past year and invite them to Field Day.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The best laid plans .......

I definitely didn't get as much done this weekend as I had hoped for. Two goals eluded me. I did not get the Jackite stand started, nor the 4 States paddle.

I DID get the shack cleaned - at least half way, there's a bit more decluttering to do. I also got that new rolling cart built. Here's a photo of the old one.

You can see that bottom left leg just collapsed. Even the Amazon envelope on top isn't happy! I don't know what caused it. I just came down the shack one day to find it that way. Here's a photo of the new one.

It's slightly smaller than the broken one, but it's a combination of metal and plastic construction, whereas the old one was entirely plastic. Don't get me wrong, the old one last some 20+ years. This one will outlive me. 

I have to admit to myself that even after I finish straightening up and de-cluttering, my shack is never going to be one of those "House Beautiful" ones like you see from time to time in publications, or on the Web.  Mine is just a very utilitarian one located in our basement, which is unfinished. It's a good thing that radio is not a visual medium, or I'd be sunk! In fact, I'm probably the only one on Earth who can tell when my shack is cluttered and when it's not!

I also went to Harbor Freight yesterday and bought a new travel case for the QMX, 4 States Tuner and the battery.

Sand colored, should keep the interior cool under the hot sun. This is the kind of case where you pluck out the foam pieces to make your equipment fit. 

I also made sure to participate in the QRP ARCI Hoot Owl Sprint. Started out on 20 Meters and heard Mark WB9HFK, all the way down in the noise - 229 maybe. I called him several times with no answer, so after tuning around just a tad more, I went to 40 Meters.

Signals were much, much better and I worked 10 QRP ARCI members in eight different states and provinces. I wish there had been more activity, but it was a holiday weekend and I guess folks either had company or were out enjoying a BBQ at somewhere other than home.

The rest of the weekend was filled with cleaning, laundry and some yardwork. Next weekend, I WILL build that Jackite stand - by hook, or by crook.

Before I go, last night I had a few free minutes and I played around with AI for just a bit. I created a W2LJ action figure.

A little chunkier than I think I am, but I shared it with my sister and she thought it was hilarious and that it did resemble me.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Memorial Day 2025

Today, we remember and honor the fallen, who made the Ultimate Sacrifice for our country. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. May Perpetual Light shine upon them.

Prayers and honor,

de Larry W2LJ 

The weekend May 24th and 25th and 26th

 First ........ a shameless plug:

Now for the OTHER stuff.

Contests:

CQ WW WPX Contest, CW - https://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm

QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint: - http://qrparci.org/contest/hoot-owl-sprint

QCX Challenge - http://www.qrp-labs.com/party.html

Tuesday night:

SKCC Sprint - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekday_sprint/

Special Event Stations:

05/19/2025 | National EMS Week

May 19-May 25, 0000Z-0000Z, N4E, Gainesville, FL. W.T. Loften High School ARC K4WTL. 14.325 MHz. QSL. W.T. Loften High School ARC K4WTL, 3000 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32646. Help us celebrate the work by EMS workers!

05/24/2025 | Living History Cruise of SS John W Brown: WW2 Liberty Cargo Ship

May 24, 1500Z-2000Z, K8JWB, Baltimore, MD. Project Liberty Ship (SS John W Brown). 7210.00 14230.00 21300.00 28320.00. Certificate. Project Liberty Ship K8JWB, Pier 13, 4601 Newgate Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224. Join the SS John W Brown while it sails on the Chesapeake Bay maritime mobile. Remembering the United States Merchant Marine, Navy Armed Guard crew and the shipbuilders including Rosie the Riveter who built 2710 of them who deeply impacted the winning of WW2. Those people and ships were critical to Winning the war www.ssjohnwbrown.org

Not much going on besides the biggie - CQ WW WPX. I suppose I could get on the air for a while with SPARC's NJ2SP call sign. I don't think NJ2 is all that common.

I hope to get the Jackite stand built this weekend as well as that new rolling storage cart for the shack - which also needs a good straightening out.  You could take a picture of my shack and put in the dictionary next to the word "Chaos". If I can get those three things - stand, cart, declutter - accomplished this weekend, I will be a happy camper.

Memorial Day weekend, as important as it is to remember those who died defending our country, is also touted as the "Unofficial Start of Summer". Big laugh!

Monday will be the warmest day of the three. The others will be downright chilly for the end of May, and I've actually have had to wear a sweater the past three or four days. We are normally in the low 80s by now, for a high for the day. Not that great of a beach weekend. That's for sure!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Busy, busy. A lot to do!

Field Day has pre-occupied the last couple of month's worth of South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club meetings. Fortunately, we're on target and pretty much raring to go.  W2LJ on the other hand? Not so much. There are several important things that I need to get done. Fortunately, next weekend is the three day Memorial Day weekend here in the US, so I'll make the best use of the time that I can.

1) I want to construct that 4 States paddle that I purchased.

Last year, I brought my March paddle to Field Day. I'd prefer to leave both my "luxury Ferrari" keys - my Begali and my March paddles home in the shack. Not concerned about pilferage, but more of exposing either to the elements if we get really crazy weather. Last year we experienced a lot of windblown rain during a period of thunderstorms. We managed to keep the equipment dry, but it was an adventure.

2) I will be building a base for my Jackite mast holder.  In the past, I've deployed it like this:

The PVC pipe held in place by the three tie down ropes. It works quite well, but dealing with those ropes while simultaneously trying to keep the pipe upright as currently configured is quite a pain in the butt cheeks. If I had eight arms like an octopus, it would not be a problem. But I don't, so some aid is needed.  I want to build a base for it, and I purchased the PVC that I need to do that. I'll still use the tie down ropes to anchor everything in order to keep it all from being blown over, but this base idea that I have in mind will keep everything upright while I fiddle with each individual tent peg and rope. I'll post pictures next weekend, hopefully.

3) The shack needs some straightening up.  I need to do that so I can accomplish #s 1 & 2 above. I have a three tier cart thing right next to my bench that holds a lot of stuff. The cart that I had been using is old, was never the epitome of strength to begin with and now a caster has caved in and it's a wobbly, unstable mess.. I purchased this one from eBay for under $30. It actually has some metal to it and is not entirely plastic.

This should help clear up some space, because I moved everything from the old cart onto the benchtop to keep things from falling and breaking. It should come early this week.

In addition to the shack work, I need to update NJ2SP's QRZ page with our Field Day info. I also need to write and submit Field Day articles to our town's local publications. One is a print publication and the other is web based.

I also want to go through my VE paperwork for the last 12 months and want to extend invitations to Field Day to the new licensees that are relatively local to us.

Not too much to do .....right? Actually, I can work on the invitations and the news stories during the evenings this week after I get home from work and have dinner.

Finally, to end this post, a tip o' the cap and a hearty round of Congratulations have to go out to John Laney K4BAI. John, who I know from the QRP Fox Hunts, and various QRP Sprints - and, who is a stalwart participant in the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt, was elected to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame at Hamvention this past weekend.  FB, John! I can't think of a more well deserving and top notch operator than you.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend of May 17th and 18th

Kind of quiet here in the US, as you might expect. After all, it IS Hamvention weekend in Xenia, Ohio. With all the hullabaloo going on there, there's not much in the way of on the air activity going on. Too many souls searching the gigantic flea market there for that "Holy Grail" bargain.

I believe the last Hamvention that I attended was in 1995. The last one before Four Days In May started. Great timing for a QRP'er .........right?  As I've stated before, if God lets me live that long 2026 will see retirement and a return to Hamvention AND my first Four Days In May. I don't have many things in my bucket list, but FDIM is one of them.

I miss the times in the 90s when a gaggle of members of the Piscataway Amateur Radio Club would make the trip to Dayton together. Those were great times! In fact, Dayton Hamvention was where I first met Marv K2VHW.

Anyway, enough chasing ghosts. Here's what's going on this weekend.

Digital you might hear on the bands - EU PSK DX Contest: and the Feld Hell Sprint

Contests:

His Maj. King of Spain Contest, CW: - https://concursos.ure.es/en/s-m-el-rey-de-espana-cw/bases/

Arkansas QSO Party - http://www.arkqp.com/

Baltic Contest - http://www.lrsf.lt/en/

FISTS Sunday Sprint - https://fistsna.org/operating.html#sprints

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Wednesday evening:

NAQCC CW Sprint - http://naqcc.info/sprint_rules.html

Special Event Stations:

05/10/2025 | 129th Annual New Jersey State Knights of Columbus Convention

May 10-May 17, 0000Z-2359Z, NJ2KC, Bridgeton, NJ. New Jersey Knights of Columbus Amateur Radio Club. 14.2500 28.4500 7.2500 21.3500. Certificate & QSL. Thomas M. Perrotti, N2JIE, 785 Vineland Avenue, Bridgeton, NJ 08302. NJ2KC.org

05/10/2025 | National Police Appreciation Week

May 10-May 17, 0000Z-0000Z, N4P, Gainesville, FL. W.T. Loften High School ARC K4WTL. 14.325 MHz. QSL. W.T. Loften High School ARC K4WTL, 3000 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32646. Let's show some appreciation for the work our Police do for us!

05/15/2025 | 73rd Convention CNH District-LCMS

May 15-May 17, 2200Z-1800Z, N6H, Sacramento, CA. Glen Amateur Radio Society and Lutheran Emergency Disaster Response. 7.178 14.240 144.950 440.750. QSL. Philip W. Zabell, 881 Brennan Pl, Willows, CA 95988. During the 73rd Convention of the California, Nevada, Hawaii District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a disaster response trailer with communications capabilities will be set up on the hotel grounds in Sacramento, CA. Operators will use multiple modes on 40, 20, 2m, & 70cm. The objectives are to demonstrate the ability to have communications even when all else fails and to encourage visitors to get their ham radio license. www.garshamradio.org

05/17/2025 | Air power Museum Honoring all veterans

May 17, 1300Z-2000Z, W2GSB, West Bablyon, NY. GREAT SOUTH BAY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB . 28.340 21.250 14.246 7.245. Certificate. GREAT SOUTH BAY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, PO BOX 1356 , West Babylon, NY 11704. Operating inside the historic hangar from World War Two is where Rosie the Riveter became famous. This special event honors all who have served and done their part to defend our country and democracy. Please join us on the air for this special event station certificates. Look us up on qrz WWW.GSBARC.ORG

05/17/2025 | National Maritime Day

May 17, 1330Z-2100Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton, MD 21113. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award qrz.com/db/k3s

05/17/2025 | New Providence ARC 60th Anniversary Special Event

May 17-May 31, 0000Z-2359Z, N2J, New Providence, NJ. The New Providence Amateur Radio Club. 160-10 meters all modes including digital. QSL. NPARC, PO Box 813, New Providence, NJ 07974. May 17 – May 31 0000z – 2359z N2J. The New Providence Amateur Radio Club, located in the Watchung Hills of North Jersey, is hosting an on-air Special Event in commemoration of its 60th Anniversary. 160-10 meters on all modes including digital. Exchange: Signal Report and State. A few N2J stations will be POTA. Contacts >>>> uploaded to LoTW. Commemorative QSL card sent via SASE on request >>>> and via the bureau for DX stations. QSL via NPARC New Providence ARC NPARC.org

05/17/2025 | W6SFM Bug Roundup

May 17-May 19, 0000Z-0000Z, W6SFM, Fair Oaks, CA. Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club. 3.533 7.033 14.033 28.033. QSL. Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club, 4901 Minnesota Avenue, Fair Oaks, CA 95628. The Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club (W6SFM), a Sacramento, California based CW enthusiast club wanted a special time to bring bug operators together on the air. In the same spirit as ARRL's Straight Key Night, participants are encouraged to make simple, conversational, "rag chew" QSO's using their bug type key. This is an opportunity to exercise, share and exhibit your personalized fist. Call "CQ BR" so folks know you are a Bug Roundup Participant. https://w6sfm.org/bug-roundup

05/18/2025 | National Maritime Day 2

May 18, 1330Z-2100Z, K3S, Annapolis, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah Amateur Radio Club. 7,14,18,21,28. QSL. Ulis Fleming, 980 Patuxent Rd, Odenton. Check spotting networks for frequency. See QRZ.com info for Savannah Award qrz.com/db/k3s

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!