Musing

I often wonder about Edward Swoffer. He was the original W2LJ before I took on the call sign. Ed lived in Binghamton, NY and other than that, I know not much about him.

Was he an SSB guy? Was he a CW devotee like I am? Was he into DX? Traffic Handling? Or maybe he was just an inveterate rag chewer? By some oddball chance, could he have been a QRPer? What clubs, if any, did he belong to? Did he participate in Field Day with his Ham buddies? What kind of station did he have? What was his antenna farm like? A search on Google maps shows their address (which is public info) has a decent sized back yard with lots of trees. I'm betting he was a wire antenna guy.

He was an Amateur Extra, so I have to believe that, at least for a while, he was more than just a casual operator. 

Doing a Google search on W2LJ doesn't lead to anything other than stuff about me. By doing some digging on the name Edward Swoffer AND Binghamton, NY I was able to find out that Ed was born in 1919 and died in 1993. That makes him two years older than my Dad.  He was married to Norma Thompson who passed away in October 2009, They had a daughter who earned a degree in Philosophy. Other than that, zip.

Why the fascination? No reason, really. It's just that it would be neat to sit down and talk with him and find out if we have anything else in common besides being W2LJ. Or, for that matter, a family member who could tell me more about him.

What would b icing on the cake would be to somehow acquire one of his QSL cards. THAT would be a treasure!

History was my favorite subject in school. As a kid, I loved reading biographies and still do. I have an appreciation for things from the past. It would be fun to know more about the original W2LJ.

72 de Larry (the current W2LJ)

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Miscellania

Logbook of the World seems to be back. I was able to log on and see my QSOs - which reminds me, I haven't done an upload in a while. I'll make sure to do that over the long holiday weekend. I also checked to see if our July 13th VE Session was removed from the calendar. It wasn't, even though I had sent an e-mail to the ARRL requesting that be done. I received a reply informing me that they still could not access that server. I'll be away that day and rather than put the onus on someone else to act as "Liaison for the Day", I decided to cancel.

Our annual trip to Lake George will be happening soon.  This year, in addition to the AlexLoop and the AX1, I'm going to bring along the PAR ENDFEDZ 40-20-10 as well as my drive on mast base and my 20 foot crappie pole. I'd like to bring the Jackite, but it doesn't slip into the mast holder - it's too wide/thick. Usually, each time we go up to the Lake, I take some time to head up to Mt. Prospect (which is not a SOTA peak) and set up in the parking lot that is near the summit. There's a solitary picnic table there (in the parking lot!) and in the past I've parked the car some 20-30 feet away and have used the end fed as a sloper. There are other picnics tables in a wooded grassy area off to the side, but those are usually occupied by picnickers. Who wants to picnic in a parking lot, right? I usually have that table to myself. I can do a POTA activation as it's part of the Adirondack State Park - US-2001.

We had a CERT meeting in town last night and Marv K2VHW and I were asked to do some kind of licensing class for the CERT members in town. The two words I hate to hear the most were bandied about - "Ham Cram".  I know Marv feels the same way I do. But what I'm thinking is maybe to have a period of reading the licensing manual beforehand with some Zoom meetings interspersed where we can answer questions and explain more "difficult" topics culminating in a day of review - the "cram" - followed by the exam session.

Looking at the QRP Labs website, I'm calculating that based on the number of built kits that leave the factory every month, I may see my QMX sometime in August. It would be neat to have it for the Skeeter Hunt. I was smitten by that HB-1B that I was given the opportunity to play with. I'm looking forward to adding the QMX to my small herd of radios.

Finally, I signed up and am Bumble Bee # 57 for this year's FOBB. The Heinz Bee - LOL! I will probably head over to Cotton Street Park for the event, although if I decide to head up to Washington Rock State Park it would be a two-fer ...... FOBB and a POTA activation.

Thirteen Colonies started Sunday night, I guess. I've no interest in participating in that at all, for reasons which I will not go into here. The best I can say about it is that it generates a lot of activity on the bands. I'll leave it at that.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Adventure Radio Society Spartan Sprint tonight

 Spartan Sprint QRP CW Event 

The monthly Spartan Sprint QRP CW event will be this coming Monday evening.  (This is UTC Tuesday from 0000z-0200z).

No membership required - the  Spartan Sprint is open to all.

If you have never tried running 5 watt QRP CW, here is a chance to try it. Most modern rigs can be turned down to 5 watts.

During QRP CW events everyone is listening for weaker signals - you will be surprised to find out what 5 watts CW can do.

More information can be found at :   https://ars-qrp.com 

73,

Jody - K3JZD

‐------------------------------------------------------

BTW, NJ POTA folks. Today starts the new fiscal year for New Jersey. The "holiday" for free entry into NJ State parks has ended. For a lot of them (but not all), there is now a $5 entry fee. Seniors can continue to get in for free by applying for a special permit https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/getinvolved/stateparkpass.html

I filled mine out, I have to get it in the mail.

And lest I forget ......

Happy Canada Day to all our brother and sister Amateur Radio ops north of the border!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!