Long Holiday Weekend - July 4th, 5th and 6th

 

I'm a day early (for a change) - but Happy Independence Day - the 249th Birthday of the United States of America!

A lot doing on the airwaves:

First off, the Annual 13 Colonies Special Event is in full swing if you're into that - http://www.13colonies.us/  

No, that pileup you'll be hearing is not rare DX like Spratly Island - it's everybody trying to work Delaware or Rhode Island for a Clean Sweep!

Besides that, there are other Special Event Stations on the air this weekend:

07/03/2025 | SCARA at the Hendersonville Freedom Festival

Jul 3-Jul 4, 1500Z-0300Z, W4LKZ, Gallatin, TN. Sumner County Amateur Radio Association. 14.238 28.285 18.150 7.220. QSL. SUMNER COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, P.O. Box 171, Gallatin, TN 37066. Freedom Festival is hosted on July 3, 2025 at Drakes Creek Park in Hendersonville, TN. This free, family-friendly event brings the community together for an evening packed with live music and entertainment, a Kids Zone, food trucks, vendors, and a breathtaking fireworks finale to close out the night! ​ This year we will have L'80's Nite, an 80's cover band, as the headliner along with a few other special performances. More information coming soon! ​ The Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce staff and the City of Hendersonville are working diligently to host an amazing event for families to celebrate our country and watch one of Sumner counties greatest fireworks show! www.scara.net

07/04/2025 | The White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club Independence Day 2025 Celebration Special Event

Jul 4-Jul 7, 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. Help the White House Communications Agency Amateur Radio Club celebrate our nations independence https://whitehousecomms-arc.org

07/05/2025 | 80th Birthday for Radio Association of Erie

Jul 5, 1400Z-1800Z, W3G, Erie, PA. Radio Association of Erie. 28.345 14.321. QSL. W3GV, PO BOX 8931, Erie, PA 16505. Come celebrate our 80th Anniversary. We'll be having a party at our clubhouse in Erie,PA. We'll be running a GOTA station at least one of the frequencies. w3gv.org

07/05/2025 | Colonial Williamsburg Special Event Station

Jul 5, 1400Z-2000Z, K4RC, Williamsburg, VA. Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club. 7.265 14.265. Certificate & QSL. QSL Manager, WAARC, P.O. Box 1470, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Celebrating the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. For QSL send your QSL and SASE to QSL Manager, WAARC, PO Box 1470, Williamsburg, VA 23187. The Virginia Historic Triangle Certificate is available for working the Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown Special Event Stations. You don’t need to make these contacts in the same calendar year. For a Certificate send QSO info from the three stations to qslmgr@k4rc.net. For event info: https://www.k4rc.net/events/special-event-stations https://www.k4rc.net

07/05/2025 | Scope's "Monkey" Trial - 100th Anniversary

Jul 5-Jul 19, 1400Z-1400Z, W4B, Dayton, TN. Rhea County Amateur Radio Club. 14.265 14.045 7.205 7.045. Certificate. Rob Frailing, 664 Lone Mountain Dr., Dayton, TN 37321. 100th anniversary of the trial of John Scope, in Dayton, TN, for teaching evolution. https://www.facebook.com/RheaCountyAmateurRadioClub

Contests:

Venezuelan Ind. Day Contest - https://radioclubvenezolano.org/independenciadevenezuela.html

FOC Old School Classic 1960s QSO Party - https://www.g4foc.org/foc-old-school-classic-1960s-qso-party/ - Using a computer to send Morse code, 15-30 wpm is not allowed.

Marconi Memorial HF Contest - http://www.arifano.it/contest_marconi.html

Original QRP Contest - http://www.qrpcc.de/contestrules/oqrpr.html

Monday Night - July 7th - ARS Spartan Sprint - http://ars-qrp.com/Spartan_Sprint/Spartan_Sprint.html

I finally hooked up my lithium battery to the smart charger last night. After a Field Day effort, in which it was used for the entire event, with the KX3's display backlight on (I normally keep it off for portable ops) it still had 50% capacity left! And we were not shy about making transmissions - in fact I tried calling "CQ FD" several times when the bands were on the quiet side.

My 12V SLA, which Bill W2AOF had hooked up to his KX3, was in turn connected to a solar panel that he had brought. It was kept topped off and was at 98% capacity when I hooked it up to the smart charger to check its condition.

Great battery performance!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!