The weekend - and an oldie but a goodie.

First, the doings for the weekend:

Contests:

North American QSO Party, CW - https://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

European HF Championship - https://euhf.s5cc.eu/euhfc_rules/ - NOTE: This is open to European participation only - this is for "What contest is that? purposes.

Batavia FT8 Contest -  https://batavia-ft8.com   (If you hear FT8 coming down into the CW sections)

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

Special Events:

07/31/2024 | 127 Yard Sale/Newhope Community Church Mission to Uganda

Jul 31-Aug 3, 1300Z-1200Z, W8W, Bryan, OH. Williams County Ohio Amateur Radio Association. 146.820Mhz pl 107.2 3.900MHz LSB 7.230MHz LSB 14.250MHz USB. QSL. Williams County Amateur Radio Association, 3440 County Road 9, Bryan, OH 43506. wmscoarc@gmail.com

08/03/2024 | Popcorn Festival, Van Buren, IN

Aug 3, 1400Z-1900Z, W9EBN, Van Buren, IN. Grant County Amateur Radio Club. 7.250 14.250 DStar Ref #24 DMR TG 3100 / DMR TG 31656. Certificate & QSL. L B Nickerson - K9NQW, P O Box 1786, Marion, IN 46952. www.Grantarc.net

08/04/2024 | Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention

Aug 4-Aug 8, 0000Z-2359Z, K0C, Bridgeton, NJ. New Jersey Knights of Columbus Amateur Radio Club . 7.185 14.250 18.140 21.350. Certificate & QSL. Thomas M. Perrotti, N2JIE, 785 Vineland Ave, Bridgeton, NJ 08302-4822. KØC will be in operation from various locations throughout the state of New Jersey, the United States of America, Europe and in Quebec, Canada, the site of the Knights of Columbus 142nd Supreme Convention. www.nj2kc.org

Regarding the oldie but goodie.

I'm going to fabricate another drive on mast holder like I had before. This time, I'm going to make it slightly smaller so that it eats up less space in the trunk. I'm also going to make a change. Instead of holding the Jackite by the U-bolts, I will use them to hold a section of PVC. This way I don't have to continuously tighten and loosen wing nuts. I will be able to just slip the Jackite into the PVC.  It will function exactly the same way, with a few cosmetic changes. I never had a problem with the old one not working properly. It was just a bit too big.

I went to Home Depot last night and got the materials that I needed. I ended up spending $22. The hardest part was finding two of the same sized u-brackets. They're in open bins and people must take them out to look at and then don't return them to their proper place. It was a jumble! It may not be elegant, but it's sure a lot cheaper than the commercial solutions out there.  (My boss at Sinar Bron, Ulrich Krahenbuhl, was an engineer. He always loved "elegant" solutions.)

I was going to try Craig WB3GCK's version, but the only lengths of galvanized pipe that they sell are 10 feet long. I only need a three foot section and not only do I not have a good enough pipe cutter, but I would also have no use for the remaining 7 feet. Seems like a waste to just throw it away. In any case, I should have plenty of time to build it this weekend, as scattered thunderstorms are predicted for both Saturday and Sunday - throughout the day and evenings - the culmination of yet another hellacious heatwave!

The other thing I need to do is to unpack and check out a purchase that was delivered the other day.

And I'll have to drop off the big (dead) battery at the metals recycling place in town. This battery has the BMS system incorporated into it. After communicating back and forth with the seller, he confirmed I can use the ACME battery charger that I presently use. He informed me I need to be watchful that once I get an indication of full charge (LED changing from red to green on my charger) that I unhook it and not let it go into a trickle charge state for a prolonged period of time. I never leave charging batteries unattended in our house, anyway. I'm too paranoid about something blowing up or catching fire to do that.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!