QRP Field of Dreams

 A video by Kevin, K0KLB - thanks, Kevin!

We still have corn farms in New Jersey - but NOT Like this. Holy cow! I found the drone footage to be spectacularly breathtaking!

And now, if I may take the liberty of re-interpreting one of my most favorite parts of the movie. (As a baseball fan, Field of Dreams is my all time favorite movie!) I'm no Terrance Mann, but .........

Kevin, signals will come, Kevin.

They'll come to Iowa via groundwave and skywave. From their aerials and antennas, they'll turn up in your receiver via the magic of radio.

"You're 5 X 9 in Iowa, you'll say. Thanks for the QSO and 73!"

And they'll put you in their logs, happy as a newly licensed Ham after making their first contact,  glad to have worked you.

Amateur Radio is part of America's history, Kevin. It has marked the times. Time and time again, radio signals have turned strangers into friends, have helped save lives, and Hams have helped to push the boundaries of new levels of technology.

These signals.....CW, SSB ......they remind us of how good Amateur Radio is and continues to be.

Oooooh, signals will come Kevin, signals will most definitely come!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend of August 23rd and 24th

Didn't August just begin a few days ago?  And here we are, the next to last weekend of the month. The hours of daylight are getting noticeably shorter, as by my QTH, it's appreciably dark at around 8:00 PM and in the mornings, the daylight is taking longer to gain a foothold. 

It's this time of year, and going forward that I'm reminded of that Simon and Garfunkel lyric - "Hello Darkness, my old friend."

But enough of the depressing stuff. We still have some Summer left and there will be that second FOBB on September 21st, so all is not lost!

Here's what you may hear on the bands this weekend (especially if you're in the CW sub-bands - as if there's anyplace else to be - right?):

Contests:

Hawaii QSO Party - http://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/

YO DX HF Contest -  http://www.yodx.ro

ARSI VU DX Contest - https://arsi.info/dxcontest/

Ohio QSO Party - http://www.ohqp.org/index.php/rules/

SARL HF CW Contest - https://mysarl.org.za/contest-resources/

Special Event Stations (for those who like to chase em!)

08/23/2025 | Commemorating the 68th Annual International Airstream Rally and 62 years of the WBCCI ARC

Aug 23-Aug 27, 1400Z-1800Z, W1A, York, PA. Wally Byam Caravan Club International - WBCCI Amateur Radio Club (WB8RC) . All bands, all modes, as available based on conditions. QSL. WBCCI Amateur Radio Club, c/o Jim Cocke, PO Box 1307, West Jefferson, NC 28694. Times are daily. Please check spotter pages daily. QSL via QRZ.com and USPS. https://www.qrz.com/db/WB8RC

08/23/2025 | Buhl Farm Park Celebration

Aug 23-Sep 1, 0000Z-2359Z, W3B, Hermitage, PA. Mercer County Amateur Radio Club. 7.185 7.074 145.350. QSL. Mercer County Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 996, Sharon, PA 16146. Mercer County Amateur Radio Club is celebrating BUHL DAY, the 110th Anniversary of Buhl Farm Park, which covers 300 acres donated to the Shenango Valley community by Frank Buhl a local industrialist, for the use and recreation purposes. Check the www.w3lif.org webpage for scheduled times of W3B operation or the QRZ website for W3B for more information. As conditions permit you will find operators at various times on from August 23 to all day on September 1, 2025. A commemorative QSL will be available with a SASE. www.w3lif.org

08/23/2025 | NS Savannah Maiden Voyage Anniversary

Aug 23, 1330Z-2100Z, K3S, Port of Baltimore. 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 www.qrz.com/db/k3s

08/23/2025 | Pokagon State Park Centennial Celebration

Aug 23, 1300Z-2200Z, K9P, Angola, IN. Land of Lakes Amateur Radio Club. 7.180 7.280 14.240 14.340. Certificate. Mark Tritch, 4340 S. 1000 W., Hudson, IN 46747. www.qrz.com/db/k9p

08/24/2025 | Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival Special Event Station

Aug 24-Sep 6, 0000Z-2359Z, K9A, Auburn, IN. Northeastern Indiana Amateur Radio Association. 7.180 MHz 14.250 MHz 28.360 MHz. Certificate & QSL. K9A - NIARA, P.O Box 145, Auburn, IN 46706. QSL Information: There will be no Log Book of the World or eQSL. For a QSL card only, Please send your card and a SASE. For a Certificate and QSL Card, Please send your card and $4.00 USA – $6.00 International We will furnish certificate, QSL card, envelope, and postage. The mailing address for this special event station is: K9A – NIARA P. O. Box 145 Auburn, IN 46706-0145 THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION! W9OU@W9OU.ORG.

Speaking of Special Event Stations, I pout the callsign into Ham Alert for the W9AEF Special Even t Station honoring St. Maximilian Kolbe.  Lots of FT8 kits, not many for CW, which was a bummer.

Last night at our monthly SPARC meeting we started kicking off discussions for a Special Event Station for South Plainfield's Centennial in 2026. We did one in 2016 for the 90th Anniversary, and I'd like to make sure we something special next year.

One last thing, here's something interesting that I saw on the QRP-ARCI io group yesterday; and it's compelled me to comment (rant). Someone asked if QRP Afield was going to be held this year. This was the answer given. (The words in bold italics are what caught this eye.)

Quote:

"We have had almost no turnout for QRP Afield for the past couple of years. I received ONE log in 2024.

FOBB has announced that they're going to hold a fall edition on that date this year. Perhaps they'll have more success promoting the event than we did; it just wasn't our style to flog it endlessly as some of the QRP events do. Given that, I'd say there will be no QRP Afield this year.

End quote

"flog it endlessly"? Seriously? ........... Guilty as charged !

QRP Afield is going the way of the Dodo because it wasn't advertised, hardly, if at all ! Hams are busy people with families. For a lot of people time needs to be set aside and "reserved" so as to not interfere with other commitments. You can't make one single announcement a week before or a day before an event and expect people to show up. Organizers have to have respect for the time and commitments of the people they hope to attract. In addition, there are new Hams who might be interested in participating, but they don't because they don't even know that something is happening.

I'm sorry, but to me "it just wasn't our style"  is code for "we didn't want to be bothered". It doesn't take a lot of effort to send out a blast of e-mails. It's not spam, it's giving people a chance to participate in something fun. AND .......if they're not interested, they have a thing on their keyboards called the delete key.

But really, you can't complain about non-attendance when you haven't even made an honest effort to drum some up.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Let me bore you

with a map of my Skeeter Hunt QSOs.

Nothing spectacular, although when I looked at the RBN map the other day, I noticed I had some pretty good above the noise floor dB levels to Europe.  I guess they weren't thrilled about answering a "CQ BZZ". HI!

So far I've received about 80 Log Summaries which is about what I would expect at this point. Log Summaries are due by August 31st so there's time for more to come in.

Something I should have made clearer and for that I apologize. The 1,000 Bonus for making Skeeter Blackjack? One per customer, please.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Man, was it hot!

It was predicted to be in the 90s yesterday and it was; but what I didn't quite count on was the humidity. Boy Howdy, it must have been upwards about 300% !!!  As my Uncle Frank used to say, "It ain't the heat, it's the humdigity!"

I'm glad I decided to set up as backyard portable, so I could be near the refrigerator in the kitchen. If I didn't put away close to a half gallon of cold water, I didn't drink an ounce!  It was the type of day, that as I was pounding the tent pegs into the ground for the Jackite support, that sweat was dripping from around my eyes onto my glasses!

Marianne keeps the A/C in the house set to about 77 degrees, but when I would step inside for either more water or a bathroom break, it felt like I was stepping into a meat locker. The heat never bothered me much as a kid. In fact, I grew up in a house that didn't have A/C. It was only in my teens when my parents were starting to grow older that we bought a couple window air conditioning units. But as I age, the heat gets tougher and tougher to deal with, especially in the sense that it really tires me out.

I did not let the heat deter my Skeeter Hunt efforts. From the beginning I thought the day might end up being a dud. After the first hour. I had only 6 or so contacts written down on my scratch pad. They were all on 20 Meters. Signal strengths were decent, it was just that I wasn't hearing too many people.

That changed as we entered the third hour. It was like a dam broke. Lot of signals on both 20 and 40 Meters. I tried a couple of times to go on up to 15 Meters and either listen or call CQ. As far as I can tell, there were no Skeeters on 15 Meters.  Here's my RBN map for yesterday:

I was making it into Europe, but I did not work any DX stations. However, there was a PA0 station right around the FISTS frequencies that nearly knocked the earbuds out of my ears!

My goal for the day was 40 QSOs and I made the last one with about two minutes left on the clock. I have not tallied how many different states and Provinces I worked - but I did get Quebec and Ontario in the log. 

The setup was the KX3, of course and the antenna was my K6ARK EFRW. I draped the counterpoise to a patio chair to keep it elevated and off the ground. I don't know if it was exceptional band conditions or what; but I was able to work everyone I heard in the times I went into "search and pounce" mode. I was very pleased with the K6ARK EFRW, but I really need to find a nice winder on which to roll the wire up on. Right now I just have the wire in a loop, secured with some Velcro ties, but that's not the most elegant solution.

The paddle I used for the day was this little guy (which I had purchased after reading Craig WB3GCK's review):

The magnetic base attached very securely to the metallic rim of the patio table and was rock solid for the whole event. The "feel" was great and I was able to send decent Morse, even at the end of the event, when I usually get a bit tired and sloppy. I definitely like this little guy! This and my 4 States paddle will be my portable ops keys going forward.

About 30 minutes after the Hunt ended, we had a small thunderstorm come through the area. It only rained a few drops, but it brought with it a cool and refreshing breeze.

As always, I'd like to thank everyone who participated. This event would not be what is has become without you. You guys are the wind beneath the Skeeter's wings and for that I am most grateful!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to end the very least!

FOBB News on Skeeter Hunt Eve

Told you to stay tuned! Great news came out tonight, from Jody K3JZD:

There will be a NEW Fall ARS FOBB on September 21st

Thank you everyone who responded to the poll concerning moving the very popular Flight of the Bumblebees (FOBB) QRP CW event to the 3rd Sunday in September when the temperature should be more moderate.  

Almost all poll respondents favored moving the Adventure Radio Society FOBB event to the 3rd Sunday in September.  However, not surprisingly, some had reservations about moving the Legacy ARS FOBB event away from July. 

Probably most of the responses were based on local weather patterns.   I suspect that those who live where it was 90+ degrees with high humidity in both July 2024 and July 2025 likely said 'Yes, move it'.  And I suspect that those who live in more moderate Northern states likely said ’No, leave it where it is'.

Almost all of the poll respondents said that they would like to work an ARS FOBB event on September 21, 2025.

After consideration, it was decided to leave the Legacy ARS FOBB where it has always been, on the last Sunday in July.  And add a NEW Fall ARS FOBB event which will occur on the 3rd Sunday in September.  

You can work one of these ARS FOBB events each year, or you can work them both each year.  As a Bumblebee or as a Home Station.  Double the Fun!!

Bumblebees will have to obtain a new sequentially issued BB Number for this new Fall ARS FOBB – Bumblebee Numbers are always temporary – they are only good for one ARS FOBB event.

You can get your sequentially assigned Bumblebee Number for this NEW September 21 2025 Fall ARS FOBB event now.  Go to https://ars-qrp.com/FOBB/FOBB.html.

Yes, there will be a 3830scores.com facility setup for entering results for this NEW Fall ARS FOBB.   It will be the same as we used for the Legacy ARS FOBB in July.  (Thanks Bruce – WA7BNM).

72,

Jody – K3JZD

ARS Trustee

I've signed up already! Bee # 5

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Skeeter Hunt Weekend!

It's finally here! This coming Sunday is the Annual NJQRP Skeeter Hunt! There's still time to get a Skeeter number if you want one, but even if you don't that doesn't mean you can't join in on the action. Every year we get log summaries from folks who jumped into the fray without a Skeeter number and just used their output power as their part of the exchange.

So far we have 209 Skeeters signed up from 38 different States and 3 Canadian provinces. There's always room for more and as the old saying goes ......."the more, the merrier!".

For all the info about the Hunt, you can go to either the Skeeter Hunt page of this blog, or visit https://www.qsl.net/w2lj

Come and play "Skeeter Blackjack" with us!

And .........oh, yeah ........ I guess there's "other" stuff happening this weekend:

Contests:

Russian District Award Contest: - http://rdaward.org/rdac1.htm

Keyman's Club of Japan Contest: - https://kcj-cw.com/contest/rule/2025_46_kcj_dx_.pdf

CVA DX Contest, CW: - https://cvadx.org/

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

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

Special Event Stations:

08/12/2025 | Wyoming State Fair Special Event Station Activation

Aug 12-Aug 16, 1600Z-0400Z, W7F, Douglas, WY. Mark James Mullins, NN5NN. 40-15m, possible 10m depending on bands, SSB Talk-in 447.900 100Hz tone. Certificate. Mark James Mullins, NN5NN, email for, information. Certificate/QSL may not be available. Times are daily. windmechanic@gmail.com

08/14/2025 | Remembering Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Aug 14-Aug 16, 0000Z-2359Z, WB9AET, Summit Argo, IL. Western Area F. M. Amateur Repeater Club. 10.136 14.245; SSB and FT8. QSL. WAFAR , 7326 West 57 Street, Summit Argo, IL 60501. SASE for QSL, please. https://sites.google.com/view/wafarchicago/home

08/16/2025 | Celebrating Gene Senti’s Birthday

Aug 16, 1400Z-1700Z, W0CXX, Cedar Rapids, IA. Collins Amateur Radio Club. 14.263 MHz. QSL. Brice AntonJensen, 1110 Lyndhurst Dr, Hiawatha, IA 52233. w0cxx.kb4sby@gmail.com or /www.w0cxx.us

08/16/2025 | Fire Island Lighthouse US0019

Aug 16, 1000Z-2030Z, W2GSB, Babylon, 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. International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, we will be on the air with two stations using all modes. Please join us on the air for this excellent event. The lighthouse number is US0019. It is also an IOTA and POTA station WWW.GSBARC.ORG

08/16/2025 | International Lighthouse Weekend - Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, Mi.

Aug 16, 1300Z-1800Z, K8L, Eagle Harbor, MI. KCRA, CCRAA Copper Country Radio Clubs. 14.270. QSL. Jeffrey Stricker W9GY, 59624 Dextrom Rd., Calumet, MI 49913. SASE Please. https://kcra-mi.net

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

St. Maximilian Kolbe

In the Catholic world we celebrate a Saint's "Feast Day", the day they passed from this life into the next Eternal Life. August 14th is the Feast Day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who also happened to have a Polish Amateur Radio call sign - SP3RN.

St. Max was a Franciscan priest who was arrested by the Nazis because he was a combination of some very bad things in their eyes. He was a Polish Catholic priest who protected Polish Jews during WWII. Because of this, he was arrested and carted off to Auschwitz, where he was imprisoned in 1941.

One day, there was a prison escape and the Kommandant ordered that 10 prisoners be placed into a starvation bunker as an example to anyone else who might be thinking of planning another escape. One of the 10 men cried out that he had a wife and children and pleaded to be spared. Fr. Kolbe stepped forward and volunteered to take his place.  Most of the men were dead within 10 days expect for Fr. Kolbe and a few others. On August 14th, 1941, they were all given injections of carbolic acid in order to finish the sentence.

Fr. Kolbe was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. Present at the ceremony was Francizek Gajowniczek, the man whose life was spared because of  St. Max's selflessness..

A group of Catholic Hams get together every Sunday to form the St Max Net - to honor him, his memory and his sacrifice. Information about the net can be found here - https://www.saintmaxnet.org/

There are various movies about the life of St. Max, but a new one is coming out this September, titled "A Triumph of the Heart". A trailer for it can be found here - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1C476bFqd3/

Although it's a very unofficial title - St. Max is honored as the Patron Saint of Amateur Radio Operators by those of us Hams who are also Catholic.  St. Max, pray for us.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Got it all working!

The new-to-me Lenovo T490S is on its dock, the second monitor is working as an extended display, and HamClock is humming away as usual. The laptop and the KX3 are happily conversing, so for good measure I upgraded the firmware in both the KX3 and the KXPA100, not that I'll probably notice any difference.

It took a while for me to figure out how to update the display drivers to get the 2nd monitor going, but I fumbled my way through it. The blind pig found an acorn again!

I have a wireless keyboard with an incorporated touchpad coming from eBay, and that will finish off the shack setup.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Way too early !

 It's only Tuesday and I shouldn't post this, but I'm going to anyway, with a prayer in my heart and my fingers crossed te weather outlook for the Skeeter Hunt for South Plainfield, according to Weather Bug:

Only a 25% chance of storms / precipitation, so that will probably mean backyard portable (under the patio umbrella!) - the KX3 to the K6ARK EFRW antenna. I've never used it in a Sprint situation, but have deployed it a couple times, It seems to hear as well as mu PAR ENDFEDZ or my EARCHI EFRW.

WeatherUnderground is calling the best chance for precip on Sunday is during the evening around 8:00 PM local time or later - so that's even more encouraging!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

FOBB moving? Maybe ............

For those of you who might not subscribe to any of the QRP email reflectors - Jody K3JZD posted this yesterday.  Rather than summarize and possibly get something wrong, I'm going to cut and past here:

Considering a Date Change for the ARS FOBB

Maybe the End of July Is Not Ideal

Russ–AA7QU created the Adventure Radio Society (ARS) Flight of the Bumblebees (FOBB) event.  Russ liked to operate from his camp in the mountains above the McKenzie River valley.   From what I know about the Oregon high country, there is a good chance that the last Sunday in July was not as hot there as it typically is in most of the US.

As a Bumblebee in PA, I got cooked in 2024 and again in 2025.  Many Bumblebees all around the US reported in their comments on 3830scores.com that they dealt with even higher temperatures.  Some Bumblebees abandoned going out due to the dangerously high temperature in their area.  So maybe having the annual FOBB in the Fall might be a smarter idea.

I’m thinking that Third Sunday in September would probably be cooler, making it a better day to hold the annual FOBB.  There is no major contest that weekend.  And no major holiday that weekend.

FOBB Participants, what do you think about this idea??  I need your feedback.  Please go to https://ars-qrp.com.  Near the top of the main page, you will see a FOBB Poll.  Click on the “Move the Flight of the Bumblebee to September???” link.  Then answer the two simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions.  I will report the results of the poll in two weeks.

By the way, the 2025 Bumblebee photos that were submitted will get posted – I have not had the time needed to get started on that task.  

Groups.io Moderators – Thank you for letting me post Adventure Radio Society news and event announcements on your reflector.

72,

Jody - K3JZD

ARS Trustee

If you participate in the Flight of the Bumblebees, please let Jody know what you think. As with just about everything in life, there are Pros and Cons. Personally, I don't much care when FOBB occurs - July or September - I'll be there ready and raring to go. If I operate portable, that's the bomb. If I end up having to operate from the shack because of the weather - well ......... yes, that may be disappointing, but at least FOBB is still happening regardless, and that's the good thing.

What is exciting is that if Jody decides to move to September, he has hinted that we may get another shot at FOBB this year! That's just good news any way you slice it! All I can say is, stay tuned! I'll keep you guys up on the latest news about this that I come across.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP -When you care to send the very least!

Weekend of August 9th and 10th

We're one weekend away from the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. If you don't already have one, make sure you get your Skeeter number by end-of-day NEXT Saturday!

Here's what's going on this weekend:

Contests:

WAE DX Contest, CW - https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/wae-dx-contest/en/

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

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

Maryland-DC QSO Party - https://www.w3vpr.org/Maryland-DC_QSO_Party

Kentucky State Parks on the Air - https://k4msu.com/kypota/

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

Special Event Stations:

08/03/2025 | Jackson County Fair, Jackson Mi, Ham Radio demo

Aug 3-Aug 9, 1600Z-2200Z, W8J, Jackson, MI. Cascade Amateur Radio Society (CARS). 7.225 14.250. QSL. CARS - W8JXN, P.O. Box 512, Jackson, MI 49201-0512. w8jxn.org

08/09/2025 | 20th Anniversary Club Celebration - Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS) Ohio

Aug 9, 1400Z-2200Z, K8BF, Ravenna, OH. Portage County Amateur Radio Service (PCARS), Ohio. 7.220 20.260 28.320. Certificate & QSL. Tom Parkinson - KB8UUZ, 9992 State Route 700, Mantua, OH 44255. SASE for certificate and/or QSL Card www.portcars.org

08/09/2025 | Anniversary of Three Polish Lighthouses 2025: Czolpino, Rozewie II, and Krynica Morska

Aug 9-Aug 17, 0000Z-2359Z, SN150LHC*, Gdansk, POLAND. Pomeranian Branch, Polish Amateur Radio Union. 160m to 6m. WARC, 2m, 70cm, SAT, FM; CW SSB FM RTTY FT4 FT8. Certificate. see website, for, information, POLAND. *SN150LRN and SN130LHK. This is an operating event. See website for details. ot09.pzk.org.pl

08/09/2025 | US Coast Guard Birthday

Aug 9, 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

Tomorrow morning, August 9th is our K2ETS VE Exam session. We have a whopping single candidate registered so far. Registrations have fallen markedly this year, and I'm not sure why that would be. Mike N2JUN mentioned something to me about the FAA eliminating the need for a Tech license for drone operations. I'm not up on the regs and rules for that, so I don't know if that's a valid reason or not. Perhaps, and this is just a guess, but maybe the proliferation of online testing will put an end to these in-person sessions in the near future.

If it comes to that, I doubt that I will continue being a VE Liaison. I really don't want to get involved with the on-line testing program.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Catharsis

A post totally unrelated to Amateur Radio (maybe not), but something I need to get off my chest after many, many years. And this place is as good as any, I guess. I saw on Facebook where a Math teacher that I had in High School just passed away a few days ago at the age of 94. From the comments, she was beloved by many. My experience was 180 degrees out of phase. (To borrow an electronics math term.)

When I completed 6th grade, my parents decided to transfer me from Parochial School to the East Brunswick Public School system. When I entered Churchill Junior High (that's what they called 7th, 8th and 9th Grades back then - now it's called "Middle School") I was placed in an advanced Math program. It's proper name was S.M.C.C.S. or something like that. We called it "Columbia Math" because it was developed at Columbia University.

I did fairly well - always getting As or Bs. The key to that success was a fantastic teacher - Mr. Cady. He made the esoteric and difficult to understand Math principles totally understandable. He was tough, but fair and was always encouraging and would spend extra time with you if you needed extra help.

In 7th Grade, when most kids were doing like Algebra 101, we were studying Venn diagrams, subsets, advanced Algebra, statistics and stuff like that. Mr. Cady made it "do-able".

Three yeas later, in 1972 I entered East Brunswick High School as a Sophomore. I was carried over into the Columbia Match program, because that's what I was taking at Churchill, and was doing well in. My results there were quite different. I had the teacher that I mentioned who just passed away.

She was a Math genius, but as far as I was concerned, a lousy teacher. She made no effort to go out of her way to explain difficult concepts, at least not in my view. She seemed to get annoyed when you couldn't grasp the concepts she was teaching, and extra help was not really offered. I went from getting As and Bs, to Cs at best and lower grades at worst.

After one particular hard exam to end the first quarter of the Sophomore year, she went around the classroom handing back graded tests. Generally, she was pretty pleased. However, and this is something I still remember some 53 years later and will NEVER forget -  when she got to my desk and handed me back my exam ..... she looked me straight in they eye and in a voice loud enough for all the class to hear, actually said, "Unfortunately, some people who are in this class are not smart enough and do not belong here."

I was devastated. She could have brought me on the side offered that maybe another type of class would be a better fit, or something a little more uplifting. IMHO, you NEVER, EVER tell a 15 year old kid that they are stupid. In some ways, I have never recovered from that. I'm still a dunce when it comes to Math. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm weak, maybe I am stupid when it comes to Math. I was never able to get back to that A or B range in the subject again. My confidence was totally shot. My great grandfather, whom I have been told was a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Kiev was probably rolling over in his grave.

In a way, this caused my delay in chasing after my Ham Radio license. I wanted to get it while I was in High School, but the Morse Code eluded me and the thought of Math being involved petrified me. It took about three more years after graduating before I finally took the plunge, determined to buckle down and earn that Novice license. It turned out the Math involved was so basic, that even in idiot like me was able to pass, easily.

But in a strange way, the humiliation that I had to endure brought about a silver lining. When Marv K2VHW and I would hold Technician Class License courses, I was always determined to take the Mr. Cady approach. I always made my best effort to make concepts understandable in plain ol' English, in a way the people could grasp and be comfortable with. And I always made sure to make it clear that I was always available for extra help, if needed.

Thanks, Mr. Cady! I'll never forget you or your classes. May you rest in peace.

And to my readers, thank you for allowing me to vent.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

NNO 2025

Last night was National Night Out. This event is held by Police Departments throughout the country every first Tuesday evening in August. It was inaugurated for the purpose of fostering good relations between local Police Departments and their served communities. The people of South Plainfield in general have a very warm and cordial relationship with our officers. But a few freebies each year never hurt ...... right?

There were plenty of local businesses manning booths, giving away items, and promoting their wares. Our CERT members manned to OEM booth and we gave away small things for the kiddos, like vials of bubble soap, coloring books, mini Etch-A-Sketches and stuff like that. For the adults we had information on emergency preparedness and I brought lots of ARRL informational handouts about Amateur Radio.  I also purchased a pack of ARRL pens and they disappeared quicker than you could say "Jack Robertson"!. As an added bonus, the International Space Station made a pass at almost 90 degrees and Marv was able to play the audio from his HT.  People were astounded that they were listening to Hams orbiting the Earth,

Attendance was noticeably larger than the last time we did NNO two years ago. Last year NNO was postponed due to rain and then the make up date got rained out as well! The event was supposed to las from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, but according to Marv K2VHW the line for free burgers was still "a mile long" at 8:00 PM!

The photos aren't the best quality. If they look hazy that's because we've been inundated with smoke particulates in the air from the wildfires in Canada. As a result, the contrast is very poor.

One of our members Harry KC2PGX is also a Scout Master. He was looking for help last night as one of his Scouts is trying to earn his Merit Badge in Amateur Radio. There are two requirements - the Scout has to participate in a QSO lasting at least 10 minutes and the Scout needs to visit a licensed Ham's shack. I suggested to Harry that he should check into Marv's Middlesex County Chatgroup Net one evening along with his Scout.  Once the guys hear that they have a guest trying to earn a Merit Badge, 10 minutes worth of conversation would be the last of his worries. As far ad the Ham Shack visit goes - I offered to make my humble shack available - as long as they didn't mind "the mess that it is'!

All in all, it was a successful event. It didn't rain this year and National Night Out went off without a hitch to maybe a record setting crowd.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least.

Personal Satisfaction

 This post is going to be about personal satisfaction, but in two different ways.

First off, last night after dinner, I went down to the shack, determined to get the new laptop talking to the KX3. I use the rig control feature on AC Log for one reason only and that's to allow the logging program to know what frequency I'm on, so that I don't have to manually enter it. Lazy? Yeah, I guess, but I like it!

I realized the other night, or remembered would be more accurate, that I needed to load the drivers for the KXUSB Cable in order for everything to work properly. It was easy enough to find them via a link on the Elecraft KX software and firmware page. I downloaded the drivers, but then ..........what next? Where do they go and how do they get there? I am definitely no computer genius.

I perused the page and discovered the installation utility all the way to the right of the page. I clicked on that, and installed the drivers. Success - kinda. I went to the KX3 utility which I had downloaded and installed on Sunday and hit the "Test" button and saw that rig was talking to computer via COM 4 at a rate of some 38 point something kilobytes a second - or whatever.

I opened AC Log and ............. nothing. The Rig Control utility was polling the KX3 but wasn't giving any answer. So now what? That's when I spied that you can choose the "communication speed". I hit the 38 point whatever button and the rig and logging program started singing a duet. Nice!

Here's the thing. When I run into computer problems, I generally take on the IQ of a small soap dish. I work in an IT Department and work with computers every day; but when it comes to drivers and where to put them, and configurations and opening up databases and stuff like that - well, you'd get better help from an Oreo.

BUT ........ I got it done! All by myself, without going to YouTube or Google or asking anyone for help and that's where the personal satisfaction comes in. But I'm not about to become smug about it. I will always remember that one time I was working at Sinar Bron and I came up with the solution to a problem our studio strobes had encountered. I was feeling pretty proud of myself that I had figured out an answer that even the factory engineers hadn't thought of. My Boss, who was Swiss, looked at me and said, "Larry, even the blind pig finds an acorn every now and then." Wow! Talk about bringing you down to Earth and keeping you grounded! But it was a lesson I'll never forget.

The second thing about personal satisfaction that's on my mind. Last night on the POTA Facebook page, someone was complaining that his QSO acknowledgement rate seems low to him and sometimes it takes a very long time for activators to load their logs so that he can get credit for his QSOs.

Why does everything in Ham radio have to be about competition, awards and all that kind of stuff? What happened to going to a park, getting out in the fresh air and sunshine and having fun making radio contacts? What happened to the personal satisfaction of breaking a pileup and getting a QSO; or the satisfaction of completing a successful activation? Why the need for awards and tallies so that you can declare yourself "King of the Hill"?

I've got my share of POTA certificates. I haven't downloaded or printed any of them to hang on the wall. Just knowing I can be heard, that my station is working and that I can make the contacts is plenty good enough for me! Same thing with activations. I don't need to make 137 Qs on an activation.  Don't get me wrong, that would be nice; but I get my 10 done and in the log and I'm a happy camper. I accomplished something and there's deep satisfaction in that - and that's good enough reward for me.

However, I guess it takes all kinds to make up this world that we live in. The trick is in not letting the annoying ones get to you - and most of the times, I fail miserably at that.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Computer games

I spent the afternoon yesterday playing computer games, but not the kind you're probably thinking of. I recently purchased via eBay a refurbished Lenovo T490 at a really good price. This will replace my Lenovo T430, which has grown long in the tooth.  The T430 is pretty much incapable of efficiently running anything higher than the Windows 8 system that is on it, and it's slow and kludgy to boot.

The "new" laptop arrived on Thursday and when I unpacked it, I was unaware that I had bid on the T490S model, which comes with a touchscreen instead of the standard screen that my work computer has. Nice feature, but not really necessary as far as I'm concerned. It has 64 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, so it's decked out pretty much the same as the laptop I use everyday.

The fun began when I powered it on, and before I could even start to personalize it, an hour went by getting Windows 11 updates. I spent the time working a few POTA stations including one being run by fellow QRPer, John N0EVH.

When all was said and done, I installed N3FJP's AC Log as well as the KX3 Utility program from Elecraft.  I hooked up the data cable to the new laptop to make sure that the radio was talking to AC Log as far as frequency goes. As expected, they two were not talking with each other. Tried various different settings, as well as different port settings. Nothing. Instead of getting frustrated, i decided to just walk away from the problem for a bit.

Later, that evening, after dinner and while I was waiting to check into the St. Max Net, it hit me. I have to download and install the FTDI drivers for the KXUSB cable! The cable is not going to function without those!

I also have to download and install the KXPA100 utility and I want to also install a copy of Libre Office. I already downloaded and installed Kompozer, the program/app that I use to author webpages for SPARC and the Skeeter Hunt (which is only two weeks away, by the way!)

Setting up a new laptop is all kind of a pain in the backside. Samsung has a neat utility on their phones, so when you buy a new one - all you have to do is turn both on and place them side by side. The utility will copy just about everything from your old phone to the new one, without much work and even less thinking about it.  It's not perfect, but it beats the band out of setting up a new phone the old conventional way.

The weekend of August 2nd and 3rd

 Good bye July, we hardly knew ye! It's August already? My, how time flies.

Yesterday's weather turned out not to be not as bad as predicted for my area. From what I understand, this time the Jersey shore and the boros of NYC bore the biggest brunt of flooding. I'll have to admit that it was disconcerting to be sitting at the computer here at work, taking care of business, only to hear my cell phone erupt with a siren and the words "Tornado Warning". Not a watch - a warning as the NWS radar saw a severe thunderstorm around home begin to show evidence of rotation. 

Marianne, who was working just a couple miles down the road in Plainfield said she never saw such frequent and crazy lightning before. I was here in Hunterdon County, two counties over, tuning into my Ring doorbell on my phone. The fact that it turned on meant the house was still standing and that we had power. The picture showed that the tree in our front yard was showing no evidence of severe wind, so that was somewhat of a relief. 

They actually permitted us to leave about an hour early, as the severe weather was supposed to last until somewhere between 6:00 and 8:00 PM. Traffic was heavy due to everyone travelling slowly, due to the weather, but this time I did not encounter any flooded roadways on the way home. 

It was spritzing on the way into work today, and it's supposed to be showery all day today. but starting tomorrow and lasting into next weekend, we're supposed to get pleasant weather with temperatures only in the 80s. A little bit cool for August. I'll take it.

Here's what you might hear on the CW portions of the HF bands this weekend:

Contests:

European HF Championship - https://euhf.s5cc.eu/euhfc_rules/

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

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

Special Events:

08/02/2025 | Alcatraz

Aug 2, 0130Z-0830Z, W6P, Vacaville, CA. Vacaville Amateur Radio Club (W6VVR). 7.200 MHz 14.250 MHz 28.500 MHz. QSL. Art Aronsen, 7319 June Bug Lane, Vacaville, CA 95688. There will be 3 stations on Alcatraz Island during times stated. All stations will be on SSB on battery. w6vvr.net

08/02/2025 | KDKA Shortwave Network Centennial

Aug 2, 1200Z-2000Z, KD3KA, Wexford, PA. Allegheny Valley Radio Association. 7.040 7.240 14.040 14.240. QSL. AVRA, P.O. Box 24, Wexford, PA 15090. AVRA & Skyview Radio Society will commemorate the centennial of Westinghouse station KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska. In 1925, following Frank Conrad 8XK's successful shortwave experimentation and the establishment of the Hill Station, KFKX was networked via shortwave with KDKA in Pittsburgh to achieve nationwide KDKA broadcasting. https://www.qrz.com/db/kd3ka

08/03/2025 | Jackson County Fair, Jackson Mi, Ham Radio demo

Aug 3-Aug 9, 1600Z-2200Z, W8J, Jackson, MI. Cascade Amateur Radio Society (CARS). 7.225 14.250. QSL. CARS - W8JXN, P.O. Box 512, Jackson, MI 49201-0512. w8jxn.org

This Sunday marks two weeks before the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt! You can still get a number to participate as a Skeeter - right up until the day before - but why wait? We are up t0 168 Skeeters signed up, representing some 46 different states and provinces.

https://www.qsl.net/w2lj

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Here we go again!

 

Of course, I live in the red zone. I hope it doesn't take me another 2 & 1/2 hours to get home tonight! The only good thing about this event is that the rain is supposed to occur from this afternoon, into tonight and overnight into tomorrow morning. It's when we get an exorbitant amount of rain in only an hour or two that things get really wacky. 

The good thing about this system is, that once through, it will pull along behind it some drier and cooler air. We've been in the 90s since Sunday and this has been one of the hottest summers that I can remember in a long time. We had a bunch like this when I was a kid, but I was better equipped to handle it then.  Even when I was in my 20s and 30s, I would think going out for a long bicycle ride in the 90s was "no big deal".

I'd probably keel over if I tried something like that now. Growing old is not for sissies!

The weekend outlook is looking very nice. Maybe on Sunday, I can pull out the QMX and my K6ARK EFRW and play a little radio from the patio table in the back yard, instead of confining myself to my basement shack. Admittedly, I still have not used my QMX enough for it to become second nature to me. Looks like Sunday might be a chance for a learning opportunity - maybe even at Washington Rock State Park for a POTA activation? Hmmmm?

I love the QMX for its size and portability - but menus drive me nuts! I need a lot more time behind the wheel before "comfort zone" and "second nature" happen. The downside of being a fossil ... being more comfortable with mechanical knobs, buttons and switches.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Some final thoughts on FOBB for 2025

 Before I get into that, I have a confession to make.

As you all know, I love QRP. If I was told that the power setting on all my radios was permanently welded to 5 Watts for the rest of my life, I could live with that - quite happily. But I saw this on the K9YA Telegraph Facebook page last night and my brain immediately screamed "No, no, no ...... NO!"

I'm sorry, but unlike my RF, my coffee has to be QRO! No decaf for me unless it's late in the day after 3:00 PM, excepting Filed Day, of course - then all bets are off and caffeine is mandatory, no matter the time of day.  I'm usually a one-cup-in-the-morning kind of guy, and it has to be hi-test! My brain would be chocolate pudding if I didn't fire up my one cup coffee maker here at work. I've had this thing since the pandemic when the cafeteria here was shut down and have been using it ever since. The cafeteria brews Starbucks, which to me has always tasted burnt, so I brew my own.

Now, getting to FOBB. What a magnificent job that Jody K3JZD has done by it. Really ...... a PHENOMINAL job! There were 268 Hams who signed up for Bee numbers. The contest had potential representation by 53 S/P/C's. I can't even fathom that! I know not everyone who signed up was actually able to get on the air, for whatever reasons, but still - the level of enthusiasm and excitement that FOBB generates is awesome.  When Rich Fisher, KI6SN's health started to decline, FOBB could easily have rode off into the Amateur Radio sunset. But Jody grabbed the horse by the reins and has done a marvelous job promoting the event, and ensuring that the rest of us have a good time. And after all, that's what these Sprints are all about - having a good time and having fun.

Hats off to K3JZD and a very big "Thank You" for all your hard work! And I'm sure that Rich KI6SN is quite proud and grateful as well to see that his baby is still thriving.!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Weather prognostication

Boy Howdy! I wish I could be wrong as often in my line of work and still be employed! All last week, all I was seeing from various outlets was that this past weekend was going to be a rainy one. Hazy, hot and humid with a chance for thundershowers on Saturday and most likely all day Sunday. They even gave Sunday a 70 - 80% probability.

Saturday turned out to be sunny and hot ....... all day long. Sunday ..... well, Sunday? The day started out sunny. When I went to my car in the morning to go to Church, I saw there was some moisture on the car and the road, so it must have rained some overnight. However, my weather station did not even record 1/100th of an inch, so whatever happened was really minor.

As the morning progressed, the skies did get grayer and more ominous. I decided that if I was going to set up portable, it would be backyard portable so I could bring all my Ham gear inside quickly. Then, as FOBB start time approached, the skies became even grayer and darker, so I decided at the last possible moment to participate as a home station.

Wouldn't you know it? At the halfway point at 3:00 PM EDT, I came upstairs to refill my water cup and take a "nature calls" break. When I passed our front window, it was sunny as all get out! As bad as it looked, we never got any rain all weekend, except for that tiny smattering during the overnight Saturday/Sunday!

Being on the air from home is better than not being on the air at all, so for that I am grateful. Band conditions were not the best. From the beginning, signals on 20 Meters were down in the mud and QSB was just terrible! A classic case of hearing someone and then they're gone before they even finish calling CQ! 40 Meters was as dead as a door nail, except for W2TEF, who had a good signal, and I think just stayed on 40 Meters the whole time.

Band conditions improved as the Sprint progressed. 40 Meters actually ended up being the better band for me with more QSOs that 20 Meters. I checked 15 Meters about 4 or 5 times and heard no one there. I think that would have been my best chance for QSOs with the Western part of the country.  I ended the day with 21 QSOs in the log, with 13 of them being Bumblebees. I think the farthest west I got was Missouri. i worked a couple Florida stations and desperately tried to work old friend Kelly K4UPG, who is also down in Florida. At one point, I thought I had caught his attention as he was calling CQ. He faded out both times I tried to work him, so I don't think he ever heard me. And that's the kind of day it was, There were others whom I would call and they would fade away before I could tell if they were coming back to me  or not.

But, so far, as per the 3830 Contest page, I'm currently in 5th place in the Home QRP category. I'm sure that I'll drop down as more entries come in, but 5th place for now is nice, and much better than I expected.

So I guess my experience was about average for the day.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself, which is what it's all about, anyway. I just hope the weather - both solar AND terrestrial are better for the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt on August 17th.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The weekend - July 26th and 27th

Contests:

MARAC US Counties QSO Party - http://www.marac.org/contests.htm

FRAPR 10M Contest - https://www.frapr.org/concursos/

RSGB IOTA Contest - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/riota.shtml

Alabama QSO Party - http://alabamacontestgroup.org/aqp/rules/

Flight of the Bumblebees - http://ars-qrp.com/FOBB/FOBB.html

Special Event Stations:

07/24/2025 | Central Kentucky Antique Farm Machinery Show

Jul 24-Jul 26, 0400Z-1000Z, K4HSN, Paris, KY. Harrison County Amateur Radio Club. 28.550 14.300 7.250. QSL. K4HSN c/o C.J. Clifford, 58 Ky Highway 3003, Cynthiana, KY 41031. Commemorative QSL available with SASE. www.qrz.com/db/k4hsn

07/26/2025 | Friends of Bodie Living History Day

Jul 26-Jul 27, 1500Z-0100Z, W6B, Bodie State Historic Park, CA. Bodie Foundation. 7.185 14.235 21.235 28.310. Certificate. John F Pinckney, 139 Belle Boyd Boulevard, Inwood, WV 25428. Frequencies are +/- QRM. POTA# K-3410 No souvenir cards. SWL reports must include call of station in QSO.

And now, for an appropos "Dad Joke" for this weekend:

Q) What kind of animal makes the best Ham Radio operator?

A) Bumblebees! They always bring their antennas with them!

Ba-Dum-Dis

I'll see myself out now.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Don't bee sorry!

Before I post my usual "What's up this weekend?" post tomorrow that I try to make every Friday, I wanted to take a little time to make sure that you ............

Don't "bee" late, so you won't "bee" sorry!

This Sunday IS the annual Flight of the Bumble Bees!  YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!

Jody K3JZD has done a fantastic and phenomenal job of promoting this mid-Summer Classic. There are currently 238 QRP'ers who have been assigned Bee numbers. How FANTASTIC is that!?! Can we possibly get up to 300 by game time? THAT would be grand!

I wish we could get this kind of participation for the QRP-ARCI events!

There's still time to sign up for a Bee number if you want one. But even if you prefer staying home and operating from your shack, and there's no reason on Earth to prevent you from doing that - you just jump into the fray without a Bee number. No harm, no foul - just a ton of fun.

Here's an idea and a suggestion........Hey POTA guys who have never tried your hand at QRP CW..... sign up for a Bee number! Talk about a target rich environment?!? You can literally have your activation done in minutes! You wouldn't even have to call "CQ POTA" if you didn't want to!

I am SO hoping that the weather at my neck of the woods is decent on Sunday. As of right now, it's not looking too promising. The hazy, hot and humid I can deal with - the possible lightning is another matter. BUT .......... if the weather prevents me from going portable, I'll just operate as a 5 Watt station from home. I'm not about to miss this for "all the tea in China" if at all possible!

For all the skinny that you need to know about FOBB, you'll find all at https://ars-qrp.com/FOBB/FOBB.html

Let's fill the air with so many signals that Hams not aware of the QRP world will tune into the bands on Sunday only to hear what sounds like a swarm of buzzing bees!

72 de Larry W2LJ - FOBB # 25

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Failed experiment

So I got a few answers to some questions last night.

1) HAMRS will not install on my laptop. I tried both the 32 bit and 64 bit Windows downloads. I currently have Windows 10. I got a message saying that some kind of file was necessary to complete the installation, that apparently my laptop does not have. Unfortunatrly, the error message did not specify what the needed file was.

2) I did successfully install HAMRS on my tablet, but it would not accept an ADIF file that I generated from AC Log. Just to be sure the file was OK, I imported that very same ADIF file into VLS Logger and it imported with nary a whimper.

So I will continue using my tablet and VLS Logger and will periodically export an ADIF file to AC Log on my laptop for posterity and safe storage (of which a copy of that AC Log  ADIF file gets put on a USB thumb drive for extra protection). It's just so much more convenient to bring the tablet on portable ops (or vacation, for that matter) instead of my laptop. Another factor is that a battery charge on my tablet lasts much, much longer than the battery on my ancient, wheezing laptop.

I received a disturbing e-mail today. I'm sure it's a scam, but what they are offering to sell me was disturbing. Of course, I have deleted the e-mail, but I snapped a screenshot of it before doing so.

I guess I'm naive in being disturbed that a list of email addresses from the ARRL would be available for sale. But after that ransomware incident they went through, I guess I'm stupid enough to think they wouldn't offer that for sale. Obviously these people have already bought an e-mail list that I am on in order to even send me an offer like this.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

If wishes were nickles

I'd be a millionaire. But before I get into the reason behind my statement, here's a neat phot of "home"., courtesy of the ISS. "Home" is in the upper right corner of the photo, right about where I put that yellow circle.

Back to my wish.

I use N3FJP's AC Log to account for my Amateur Radio QSOs. I was using Log4OM, which I love, but it has become clunky on my ancient Lenovo T430. One of these days, when I get something with more memory and a faster processor, I may switch back, but for now it's AC Log, exclusively on Windows.

My wish is that Scott N3FJP had a comparable and compatible version for Android, as I usually end up using my tablet instead of my laptop. It's much easier to carry the tablet than a laptop, and it would be nice to be able to have the same program on all my devices and have all the QSOs synced between them..

I currently use VLS Logger on my phone and tablet. It's intuitive and easy to use, but it also does not offer a version for the Windows platform. 

If I'm not mistaken, HAMRS may be the only logging software out there that is available for both Windows and Android.  I may have to play around with it to see if I like it. I'm not terribly good with change. The other problem is that I invested $$ to purchase a license for the entire N3FJP AC Log suite. I'd hate to not use it now.

I know, a minor first world problem, but most Amateur Radio problems are.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Never heard K2CAN

The Special Event Station that the LIMARC Club was holding to honor Apollo 11's landing on the Moon. I probably would have never heard them, anyway, as they were operating on 40, 20, and 15 Meters - all of which are probably unsuitable for an HF contact between Central NJ and Long Island. However, they never triggered HamAlert, which tells me they might not have been spotted anywhere.

This is a scan of a certificate I received for working WA4NZD from the Marshall Spaceflight Center ARC during the 25th Anniversary of the Moon landing, back in 1994. It proudly hangs framed on the shack wall.

Then Bob, W3BBO sent me photos of a couple Apollo certificates that he earned:

^This first one also commemorated the Anniversary of Apollo 11. While this second one commemorated the last Apollo mission - Apollo 17.

I should have checked the NASA On The Air website to see if nay of the NASA affiliated Amateur radio Clubs would be on the air this past weekend. Again, the idea came to me the day after. Typical!

While listening for a possible appearance by K2CAN, I also scanned the bands for POTA stations. I worked one on 20 Meters, and that was it. A bunch were listed on the POTA app, but I couldn't hear or could only barely hear any of them. So I spent some time reconfiguring my Jackite stand/holder.

Originally, all the PVC pipe lengths were 12" (30 cm) long. I shortened the ones in the cross piece to 3" (8 cm) long. In addition, I cemented all the pieces of the cross section together. This will prevent the Jackite from falling over to either side. 

I shortened the leg sections from 12" to 6" (15 cm) long.  This takes up a lot less real estate and is easier to pack in a bag for portability. The leg sections are still press fitted together. I didn't want to permanently cement the entire thing as it would make it much bulkier and harder to store or transport.

Later in the evening, after checking in to the St. max Net, I scanned 40 Meters for some POTA stations and was able to pit three in the logbook. Which brings another topic to mind, which I will save for tomorrow - after I do a little more research.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Weekend of July 19th and 20th

First off, this Sunday - July 20th marks the 56th Anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.

I was all of 12 years old and was glued to the TV from launch to splashdown. That was such a time to be alive to see history being made! Looking back on it now, I marvel that we were able to accomplish that given the technology of the time. I also wish that back then, we had the high-def cameras and TVs that we have now. If you watch video of missions to the ISS, it's amazing the picture quality we get now. Almost like being there!

As an aside, I still have all the local newspapers from that day, carefully tucked away, carefully preserved. Also, I wish I was licensed back then! I have no idea what kind of special events may have been taking place at that point in history. Were there any?  Were any of you reading this licensed back then? If you were, please share your memories in the comments, I'd love to hear them!

So here's what's going on the bands this weekend.

Contests that you may hear in the CW portions of the bands.

LABRE DX Contest - https://www.labre.org.br/contest/en/regulamento/

Russian Radio Team Championship - http://srr.ru/chempionat-rossii-po-radiosvyazi-na-kv-rrtc/

YOTA Contest - https://yotacontest.mrasz.org/

RSGB International Low Power Contest - https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rqrp.shtml

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

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

Special Events:

07/18/2025 | Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Wall Replica

Jul 18-Jul 20, 1400Z-2200Z, W4L, Antioch, IL. Wisconsin and Illinois Radio Enthusiasts (WI9RE). 7.250 14.250. QSL. QSL will be sent via FCC ULS, or, WIRE , c/o 25395 W. Richmond Ave., Antioch, IL 60002. July 18 and 19, 1400Z-2200Z daily, and July 20 1800Z-2200Z.

07/19/2025 | 36 th anniversary of SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network)

Jul 19-Jul 20, 1500Z-1500Z, KD9NJR, Hoffman Estates, IL. Salvation Army SATERN . 3.820 7.265. Certificate & QSL. Salvation Army Central Territory Headquaters. SATERN TEAM Don Dewar, 5550 Prairie Stone Parkway, Hoffman Estates, IL 60192.

07/19/2025 | Bicentennial Hinckley Township, Ohio

Jul 19-Jul 20, 1300Z-0100Z, W8H, Hinckley, OH. Noarth Coast Amateur Radio Club. 7.185 MHz +/- 10 KHz 14240 MHz +/- 10 KHz 18.150 MHz +/- 10KHz 28.390 MHz +/- 10 KHz. Certificate. Downloadable certificate, available; see website, for details, OH 44233. Certificate download available via instructions to be posted on www.n8nc.org web page (Under EVENTS drop-down) 30 days after event dates. QUESTIONS: via email (ncarc@n8nc.org) www.n8nc.org

07/20/2025 | Apollo 11 Celebrated

Jul 20, 1330Z-1900Z, K2CAN, Garden City, NY. Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club. 14.240 7240 15.350. QSL. LIMARC, For digital QSL, send information to: k2knb@limarc.org, or QSL with SASE to: P.O. Box 392, Levittown, NY 11756. https://www.qrz.com/db/K2CAM

07/21/2025 | Orleans County 4-H Fair

Jul 21-Jul 27, 0000Z-0300Z, W4H, Albion, NY. Orleans County Amateur radio Club. 7.210. QSL. Terry Cook, 14069 W County House Road, Albion, NY 14411. ocarc.us

The weather in NJ is supposed to be on the crummy side this weekend. I would love to spend Sunday afternoon out back on the patio table with my QMX and maybe the AX1 or K6ARK EFRW just working stations, but it looks like there may be too many thunderstorms happening. I sure hope this weather pattern changes in time for FOBB next Sunday!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Rick N8TGQ's advice

 Heeded!

Rick mentioned in the comments section in one of my latest posts that he never goes portable without his trusty EFHW. I am going to take to heart his sage advice, and from now on will always pack my K6ARK EFRW for 40 through 10 Meters.  It's small, light and with one of my 25 foot sections of RG-8X, is not all that much more to carry.

I used something similar (PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10) last year at the Lake with my Shakespeare 20 foot Crappie Pole bungeed to a fence post, serving as a mast. It worked well; and I just should have gone with "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But sometimes I'm like a moth attracted to a flame, getting entranced with "lighter and smaller".

In fact, the K6ARK EFRW is what I am planning on using for Flight of the Bumblebees which is coming up a week from this coming Sunday. The only thing I haven't decided is exactly which park I am going to operate from. If I elect to go to Cotton Street Park in town, it's a real short trip home should the weather get nasty all of a sudden. If I go to Washington Rock State Park, FOBB could double as a POTA activation.

The weather here at the W2LJ QTH has been like the Summers I remember from when I was a kid. Nastily hazy, hot and humid with pop up thunderstorms just about every afternoon. If that weather pattern continuers for the next couple of weeks, I may just decide to stick closest to home.

Speaking of other sage advice, I recently read Jeff KE9V's blog post about his "Purge". He's culling down the amount of organizations that he has to pay membership dues to now that he's retired. With my own retirement looming next year, I should probably think about doing the same. I'm already a Life Member of the ARRL and CW Ops. 

The only orgs I continue to pay dues to are QRP ARCI and the QCWA. I'll probably bite the bullet and continue to pay those, though.  Technically, there are no dues for QRP ARCI. Once you join, you are already a life member. The $25 yearly fee is for "QRP Quarterly" which I will continue to subscribe to - for now. QRP ARCI # 4488 is mine whether I subscribe to the magazine, or not.

Will I continue to keep my subscription going for SPRAT?  That may require the flip of a coin.

Life Membership in the QCWA is $500. I should have considered that when I became eligible to join in 2004. There is no way I'm coughing that up now. Dues are also $25 a year and to make Life Membership make sense at this point, I'd have to live for another 20 more years. Will I make it to 88? God willing, I will, but that's not a gamble I'm going to wager on at this point. Not pleasant to think about - but it is what it is,

In addition, I don't plan on making any MAJOR new equipment purchases any time soon. I am quite content with  my KX3 and KXPA100 in the shack, and my KX3 or QMX for portable operations. I don't need a radio with a waterfall or spectrum display. I'm good with what I have; and I don't need or desire the latest and greatest radio with bells and whistles that I probably wouldn't use anyway.  Truth be told is that if all I had at my disposal was an old Heathkit HW-101, I'd probably be happy with that! i guess I'm not a major supporter to the Amateur Radio community economy.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Another fun night in South Plainfield

It took me 2 & 1/2 hours to get home from work last night - normally, my commute is 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. 5.6 inches recorded at my house, other parts of town got over 7 inches - all in about 2-3 hours. At times, my weather station was indicating that rain was falling at a rate well above 3 inches an hour. While sitting still in traffic, I was paying attention to the weather radar on my phone. The storm cell with the most energy just did not want to move from South Plainfield - it was like it was stuck!

Multiple roads were flooded and impassable, but of course that didn't stop people from trying, anyway. The result was abandoned cars added to the mix.  And more than just a few idiots driving around in the POURING rain with almost zero visibility WITHOUT THEIR HEADLIGHTS ON! How stupid can you be?!?

I was the last one to make it home, but we all got home, safe and sound. Thank you, Lord!

By the way, here's a photo I found on Facebook of Spring Lake Park - where SPARC does Field Day

The lake superseded its shoreline and came up all the way to the roadway, flooding and closing Lakeview Avenue. I think as of this morning, the waters had receded enough to permit car travel again.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Plans didn't go well ......and other tidbits.

We're back from the Lake.

I did not get any HF in and that was a major disappointment for me. As mentioned in my last post, I was going to participate in the ARS Spartan Sprint last Monday evening. I set everything up at one of the picnic tables, but was just not being heard. There were several loud 13 Colonies stations still on the air during their final hour calling CQ. I tried calling them and just another CQ for my efforts. I figured if a 20 over 9 station wasn't hearing me, there'd be no sense trying to get other QRP'ers to hear me. I wasn't in the mood for more frustration.

I was lazy, I'll admit it. I did not pack a wire and only the AX1. While the AX1 absolutely sang for me up at Alexandria Bay last October (including a QSO from NY to Alaska!), at Lake George it was mute. My guess is that being surrounded by mountains had something to do with it. As the real estate people say, "Location, location, location!"

I did hear a Bulgarian station on a second attempt a day later. I got a 229 in response and he never got my call sign, so that was a busted QSO. Note to self - next year bring the 40 - 10 Meter EFRW and my Shakespeare Crappie Pole. That worked pretty well for me in 2024. The other times I set up during the week, I felt raindrops starting to fall soon afterward, so I packed back up pretty quickly. It was hazy, hot and humid up there with rain and thunder showers for at least part of every day. We even lost power twice! But I did get a nice photo one morning at first light:

What was a bit strange was how hazy it was all week long. Usually, we're able to look across the lake and see the mountains through the clean, crisp air. This year, smoke from the wildfires up in Canada obscured the view. In fact, we never saw the full moon last week and I was hoping to get a nice picture of that reflecting off the water.

Yesterday was the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. In a couple of hours, I made a grand total of two QSOs. Ugh! I tried my best to send out reminders on two different occasions to the various QRP group email reflectors and social media. Participation was not "deluxe".

Oh, and the complaint emails! One Ham sent me an email asking me if kits were considered to be homebrew - there was no information about that in the notice. I copied and pasted into my response directly from the info page:

BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points

If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points

If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points

(Homebrew is defined as:  if you built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

I was told that was embedded too deeply in the information and was not obvious enough. Sheesh!

Then, in the very next email, I got a complaint about kits being included as homebrew. I was told that this was like comparing a picture painted from scratch to a page out of a coloring book. This Ham thought it would be better to have fewer contacts made rather than include kit built radios as homebrew.

My response to him was that we had 8 entries in 2023 and 3 in 2024. How many few is too few? I also told him that if he had any ideas on how to increase participation, I was all ears and was willing to listen.

I never got a response and as of last night, when I looked at the auto-logger, he didn't participate, anyway. I guess some people just like to complain.

In any event, I guess my advertising efforts were semi-fruitful. So far we have 10 more entries than last year. The next QRP ARCI event is the Fall QSO Party on the second Saturday of October. I hope I can drum up more participation. It's a crying shame that an organization with literally thousands of members only gets a handful participating in these events.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It's a plan.

Tonight is the ARS Spartan Sprint. I have not participated in one of those in a very long time.

If it's not raining, I'll set up at a picnic table here as it doesn't get appreciably dark until after 9:00 PM.

Let's see how many times I'm tempted to send NJ as my state instead of NY.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A do not much of anything day

Today was a ay for relaxing. I did not intend to do much today and I succeeded in my goal  Tomorrow, I'll break out the radio and perhaps even do a little POTAing. I am in Adirondack State Park which is US-2001.

I brought the KX3 and the AX1. Keeping it low profile and hope to just operate picnic table portable this year. I brought a long my tablet for logging and will spot myself on QRPSPOTS as well as the POTA app.

Here's to good week!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

This never gets old!

 

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP -  When you care to send the very least!

Independence Day 2025

Whew! This will be one to remember! Yesterday, we had a serious storm/ weather event hit the area including the North end of South Plainfield. I almost made it all te way home from work, when the clouds burst and rain started falling at a rate exceeding 4" per hour. Winds exceeded 30 MPH, there was pea sized hail and there were trees and branches and limbs down everywhere! Several major roads in town are still blocked, with crews dealing with downed foliage.

As a Skywarn spotter, I made sure to make a report to the National Weather Service office out of Philadelphia / Mount Holly, our regional office.

But it IS Independence Day, so I hope everyone has a safe and happy one.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

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