KI6DS & QRP Guys SK

 Friends: KI6DS (SK)

I regret to inform you that Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, passed away early this morning. He was a giant in the QRP community and will be sorely missed in many amateur radio circles.

I've been in touch with his daughter over the past few days. He had gone into the hospital for a minor operation related to his heart and complications began mounting. A pacemaker was put in, but the complications continued. His weakened cardiac condition ultimately took its toll.

Doug was a strong-willed, strong-minded purist for the QRP community and had a knack for organizing many disparate efforts for the betterment of all. 

Doug will be remembered for his contributions to QRP through efforts like NorCal, QRPGuys (and spinoffs), the Hendricks PFR-3, and the countless other kits he helped design, organize, and send out to the community.

Personally, I learned so much from Doug throughout the years. I'm going to miss the OM and was proud to have earned the title of friend in his book.

One of my proudest achievements is when he finally bestowed upon me thetitle of being "a good op" when he was describing me in a public forum.

73

Tommy, N5DUX

This other item is older news, but approximately two months ago, QRP Guys went QRT.  For those of you unfamiliar, QRP Guys was a source of QRP kits, components and accessories formed by Doug with a few other NorCal QRP members.

No official reason was given, but the company was suffering from counterfeit kits being sold on eBay. I know this because I know someone who purchased one of these kits. The counterfeiters didn't even bother to remove the QRP Guys logo off the cloned circuit boards.

Stealing designs and selling knock offs is one thing. Stealing and using the designers logo is another grevious offense altogether. In any case, it's a sad state of affairs.

72 ðe Larry W2LJ  

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

QRP -

Radio Clubs

 In my Amateur Radio lifetime, I have been a member of several local radio clubs:

The Old Bridge Radio Association

The Metuchen ARC

The Raritan Bay Radio Amateurs

The Piscataway ARC

The Raritan Valley Radio Club

The South Plainfield ARC

The Electronic Testing Society of NJ

Each had their pros and cons, but of all of them by far the best of them was the Piscataway ARC. First and foremost, it was NOT a repeater based club. It was an activity based club.We conducted Special Event Stations, including an annual one to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the Voice of America, as we were located very close to what was once one of early antenna sites. Our club call sign was K2VOA.

in addition to Special Event stations, every Summer we went to Camp Diana, which was a Special Needs camp sponsored by the Lions. We would spend the entire day introducing the kids to the wonderful world of Amateur Radio. 

We also held the most kick butt Field Day every year. Members of other local clubs would come by for the food ...and to operate for a bit.

We also held an auction each year to generate funds for the club. The only bad memory about the auctions is that one year I donated my original HW-8 as one of the items for bid, Biggest Amareur Radio blunder that I ever made!

Still these were good times, and perhaps the best of times. I was honored to serve as VP for two terms and as President for two terms.

In reminiscing about PARC with fellow member Bob W3BBO, I told him thar the greatest thing about the club was that there was not one single member that I.would not want to sit next to at a meeting. Every single member was "good people" PARC seemed to defy that old saying that  "there's one in every bunch". What greater testimony can there be for an Amateur Radio Club?

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Thank you, Joseph and Cara

 The 2026 Skeeter Hunt is over. I posted the Scoreboard yesterday.i think that now that it's over, that I might just start making more posts here. Call it part of my recovery process. As long as i can think of something not boring to write about, I will.

By the way, the link to the Skeeter Hunt Scoreboard appears on the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt tab above.

Now to explain the title of this post. From 1979 when I first got on the air, until about 2000, I was just another run-of-the-mill Amatuer Radio Operator. Most times I operated around 75 - 100 Watt1, even though I was always intrigued by QRP.

I got married in 1998 and Marianne and were fortunate enough to bring our son, Joseph, into this world in 2000. Cara came a year later in 2001.

My antennas always included some kind of wire where one end was anchored to the house. It's that way to the present day. However, that one anchored end is near their bedrooms.

It was about the same time that the cause du jour was RF Exposure. Not wanting to take even the mosr infantesimal.chance that my RF energy could have some long term effect on them, I decided to go 100% QRP. Yes, I do have a 100 Watt amplifier, but thar is reserved for new DX. It's more of a paperweight than anything else.

So that's my story as to how I became a QRPer 99% of the time. I hope to be bringing more new content soon.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

RP - When you care to send the very least!