Busy weekend

It's hard for me to believe it's Monday already! The weekend just flew by, at like SST supersonic speed! It almost feels like when I went to bed last night, it was Friday night.

As I mentioned earlier, even though QRPTTF was this Saturday, I was busily engaged elsewhere, with the 2025 Spring NJOEM CERT Workshop at the Middlesex County Fire Academy in Sayreville, NJ. I participated as a member of the Middlesex County AUXCOMM Team, not as a member of South Plainfield CERT.

There were over 200 CERT members attending from all over the state of New Jersey. I saw CERT shirts emblazoned with such organizations as Sussex County CERT, which is way up in northwest New Jersey and even Cape May CERT, which is down at the southern tip of New Jersey, a nd a lot of other places in between.

AUXCOMM was given two tasks. The first was to deploy, track and receive back the handheld radios that were used for the day, We were given 36 Tait TP9400 handhelds to disburse to each Team Lead as needed, as well as to the assorted Bureau Chiefs and VIPs. For that, we used an ICS-211e form and modified it for our needs. We recorded the radio identification number, the name of the person who it was deployed to, as well as their cell phone number. We also required the users to present a photo ID, which made recording names much easier, rather than asking them to spell their names. It was kind of loud at times, so recording names from their IDs made the task much easier. We also made notes when a radio was handed out without a speaker mic, or if we handed out a spare battery.

For the non-professional OEM people, we had to explain how to use the radio. When exactly to start talking after pressing the PTT button, how to change between talk groups if necessary, and that kind of thing.

Our other task was to log all pertinent communications on the comm channels. There were eight different talk groups altogether.  The various groups such as Logistics, Operations, Search and Rescue, County Animal Rescue Team, Medical, etc., had their own talk groups. We had to enlist several CERT members to help with the scribe duties. Marv K2VHW and I were assigned to log the Logistics talk group, in addition to taking care of radio disbursal.

It sounds like it was a lot to do; and it was, but it was not overwhelming. We couldn't log until the radios were handed out and we didn't need to log while the radios were being handed back at the end of the exercise, so the logging task filled in the downtime in between.

Receiving the radios back went rather smoothly. We just had to make sure the radios were turned off and put them back in their waterproof travelling cases - 12 radios and spare batteries to a case. Towards the end, as I was receiving back the handhelds that I was responsible for, one of the higher-ups decided to test me. He asked me which radio he had been issued before handing it back to me. I guess he wanted to see how thorough our record keeping was. I asked him what his name was, looked it up on my sheet and gave him the radio ID number. He seemed to be kind of surprised when I was able to give him the correct information. Taking care of inventorying 36 handheld radios is nothing compared to keeping track of all the laptops, desktops and other equipment under my charge here at work.  I could have done Saturday with one eye closed!

One thing about our detail that was very nice was that we were indoors at the Fire Academy for the entire workshop. Around 11:30 AM or so, it started pouring. Hard enough that we were able to hear the rain pelting the roof and a window a hundred or so feet away from our radio table. The Fire Academy is a HUGE building and in the gazillion times that I have been there, I have never heard the rain hitting the roof before. Some of the volunteers who came in for lunch between assignments were soaked. It was good to be where it was nice and dry.

Yesterday was spent recuperating from Saturday. Marianne and I went and did the grocery shopping after Mass, I did NOT have enough energy to get it done Saturday evening.  I haven't seen any chatter on the e-mail reflectors mentioning QRPTTF. I wonder how participation was,

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Ham Radio to the rescue?

Kind of, sort of, I guess.

Last night, during Marv K2VHW's nightly Middlesex County Chat Group Net, we had a regular check-in come on, who was speaking gibberish.  The problem is, this particular person is a bit of a jokester and it might not be unusual for him to do something like this for a laugh. But as time wore on and he continued, it became apparent something was wrong, and that this was NOT a joke!

One of the other check-ins broke in and asked for the address of the Ham in distress. I quickly accessed QRZ and relayed the information. Then that person called the police department for that town, explained that he was an Amateur Radio operator and described what was happening and requested "A Health and Welfare Visit".

Marv K2VHW suspended the net while we all waited for further developments. The Ham in distress eventually came on the air and sounded a bit better, but we could tell that all was still not quite right.. Finally, someone, probably one of the Law Enforcement Officers, or perhaps an EMS person picked up the radio and just briefly said, "He's going to the hospital, boys."

It was then that we were able to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that our friend was in good hands. But it was a stark reminder knowing that had it not been for this nightly net, the outcome could have been much darker. This Ham lives alone and was obviously not aware of his own circumstance and was not even aware that he needed help.

Hopefully, tonight, or on one of the next few nights, our friend will be back on the air with us and we'll be told what exactly happened. If you've ever watched that 1939 Pete Smith short "Radio Hams:", this incident reminded me of the one with the cinematographer in Alaska.

In the meantime, Thank You, Lord, for Amateur Radio!

This all came after a CERT activity that Marv and I were involved in. South Plainfield had it's annual Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony yesterday. The festivities started at 5:30 PM and was it ever cold! I had a long sleeved Tee shirt on underneath a thermal shirt underneath a sweatshirt with a windbreaker type jacket on top of those layers and then a final layer, my CERT Vest to top off all!  I had gloves and earmuffs on to keep my extremities warm. 

Our duty was to keep pedestrians safe while crossing the streets as the activities for the night were staged at Boro Hall, which is on one of the busiest streets in town. While traffic was closed for a while, we still had to stand at the places where traffic was diverted to keep pedestrians safe and traffic moving in the right direction.

When I got home around 7:00 PM, my weather station was reporting a temperature of 29F (-2C), and there was a breeze to make it feel even chillier!  Being dressed properly, I was mostly comfortable except for my hands and toes. I should have worn heavier socks and my CERT issued gloves are really work gloves and not intended so much for warmth, but they were better than nothing on my hands. I'll be more completely prepared next time - live and learn.

72 de Larry W2L:J

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

What is it about barricades?

Yesterday, the ARES/RACES members of the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club (AB2ZK, K2VHW, KC2PLO, KC2PGX, KD2YYQ, W2LJ) held our SET, which coincided with a South Plainfield Volunteer Fire Department Drill. We were "activated" by the South Plainfield Office of Emergency Management to set up an On Site Command Post, provide security for that Command Post and to also assist with traffic and pedestrian control, as well as provide back up communications in the event that unforeseen circumstances developed.

The scenario involved the SPVFD having to put out a blaze at a propane sales and storage facility in town. While there was not an actual fire, the organizers of the event placed some dry ice in water in various places, to create the illusion of a smoky blaze. There were actors on scene to simulate wounded employees and even a belligerent employee who refused to evacuate. 

On Site Command Post (photo courtesy of SPVFD)

SPVFD Pumper

SPVFD member doing his thing (photo courtesy of SPVFD)

CERT members on traffic control duty (photo courtesy of SPVFD)

Yours truly, for a moment taking his eyes off the cars that want to cream him. (photo courtesy of Marv K2VHW)

Marv K2VHW as our CERT trailer arrives on scene

I was on duty with Marv K2VHW and our assignment was to signal to drivers that they could not drive down South Clinton Avenue - where the drill was taking place. As you can see from the photos, there were plenty of barricades, but that did not stop umpteen drivers trying to make the turn onto the street where all this was going down.

What is it about barricades? What is it that seems to signal to drivers, "OK, I get it, the road is closed .......but certainly you don't mean that it's closed to me !?!?!?!?!?!" After a while, it actually got kind of comical. But there were enough drivers trying to go where they couldn't to keep Marv and I busy for the four hours that the drill lasted. 99% of the people were cooperative, but there were a couple of times we had to call upon the South Plainfield Police Dept. officer on duty so that he could more adamantly explain things. That blue uniform (and gun) always seems to carry more weight than citizen volunteers explaining things.

For communications we had the County OEM repeater available for our use as the Middlesex County Hazmat Team was also invited to take part in the drill, However, since the County EOC was not activated, we didn't need to make use of the frequency. We were cleared by the South Plainfield OEM to use the Department of Public Works frequency, as we are able to program that into our HTs and the Police and Fire Depts have that frequency in their radios. The area of the drill was so confined that simplex communications were more than enough to handle the situation.

So as I stated in the opening of this post, in essence, we got a "two-fer" with the drill. We helped the Emergency Services Departments of South Plainfield and this also nicely doubled as our yearly Simulated Emergency Test. Better and more realistic than any of the simulated table top exercises that we've held in past years.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Hurricane Helene

As Hurricane Helene bears down on Florida and Georgia, please be mindful of our brother and sister Amateur Radio ops who will be manning their radios on behalf of public safety. Some HF frequencies to be aware of:

Some Florida Nets

South Florida ARES Net 3.940

North Florida ARES Net 3.950

Northern Florida ARES Net (NFAN):

9:00 AM Eastern time Monday through Saturday Frequencies are 7.198 MHz. Backup on 7.242 and 7.265 MHz, all LSB-

Hurricane Watch Net

14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz

To ALL our friends in the Southeast who are in Helene's path ...... our prayers are with you. Take care, be safe and may God be with you.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

12V USB Boost Converter

I saw this on a post to the POTA Facebook page by Mike Kelly. It seems he forgot to take a 12V power cable with him on one of his activations. He was using a (tru) SDX transceiver which can run off its USB port, so his day wasn't ruined, but he was limited to 0.75 Watts output. That my friends, is QRPp, and he was still able to make his 10 contacts.

In turn, after hearing his story, a friend of his turned him on to this, available through Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NSHWLV9/?fbclid=IwAR0uXr6js6_FkSnHPFb6yD2V7Iw-oa2h3RcVMgiVGRGCU1ao80ixSqXSm7I&th=1

This booster will allow you to power your 12V devices from the USB-A port on your laptop. It probably kills the battery fast, but for only $10, it's probably a good thing to have in your go kit. I don't take a laptop with me on portable ops outings, but I'm thinking it might be a handy thing to have in the event of a prolonged power failure at home; or maybe during some kind of CERT activation.

Looks like Summer is coming to an end and the seasons will be changing soon here in Central New Jersey (it's official now, BTW. There IS a Central New Jersey even though those of us who live here always knew that - but that's a story for another time). We've been having a lot of rain and thunderstorms lately. It seems like almost every day for the past week or two. On Monday evening in particular, there was quite the light show in the sky during the drive home from work. However, today is supposed to be the last day of it. The forecast for the coming week is for cooler daytime temps and overnight lows in the 50s. We'll be able to turn off the A/C and open the windows - AND I'll be able to leave my antennas connected for the foreseeable future.

On the flip side, the leaves will begin their annual suicidal jumps. Charles Schulz had the idea!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

When all else fails!

Sadly, there are a lot of Hams who scoff at that, saying Amateur Radio as a true mode of emergency communication is just a fantasy.. They should know better and this says otherwise:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day - a mixed bag!

(Editor's Note - This post has been edited and supplemented. I have it on good authority that the author was half asleep while writing on Sunday afternoon. LOL!) 

Wow!

I am starting to write this as I take a brief respite from Field Day. I've come home from our Field Day site to take a shower and go to 9:00 AM Mass this morning. I will head back after to finish out the day.

Yesterday was definitely a mixed bag. We fought the bands, but we also fought the elements. There was supposedly only a 20% chance of rain for yesterday, but I guess that 20% headed to the front of the line. We had intermittent downpours several times during the day. We had four 10 X 10 pop up canopies placed in a row to form a huge 10 X 40 foot tent, so gladly, the operators and equipment stayed dry. However, we lined the open sides of the pop ups with a huge tarp to form sides ..... which quickly became sails. Yesterday turned out to be one of the breeziest days in memory! So we alternated between radio duty and tarp management.  I have to say, now I think I know what Major League Baseball Groundskeepers feel like as they rush to get the tarp on the baseball diamond during inclement weather!

And of course, we had our share of computer problems, too. During a re-fill, the generator that powered our "logging network" was turned off and when it came back on, all the logging computers came back on line except for mine, of course! We discovered a disconnected Ethernet cable a little later and that resolved the problem.

After that, everything went rather smoothly, and when Field Day ended, most everyone was happy with our effort. Our antennas were two MFJ-1928s - one a high power model and one a low power model. We operated 3A Battery, so we were confined to running at 5 Watts. Both antennas performed like a charm, and basically we were able to work everyone that we tried. We ran the two end feds at right angles to each other. The CW antenna ran pretty much North-South, while the SSB antenna ran East-West. Interference was kept to a minimum by carefully making sure that we did not operate on the same band at the same time. There was no need for band pass filters this year.

Our new location was good, maybe a little less traffic than we were accustomed to, but in all we had plenty of visitors. We had a couple families come by with kids in tow - they loved seeing the radios and watching us in action. In fact, a few visitors early on Saturday returned later in the day, specifically bringing their children to show them what we were doing. We had some local Hams come and visit for a while and two in particular - Pete KD2ARB and Len WB2HKK came early on Saturday to help with set up. On Saturday evening, two members of the South Plainfield Town Council came by to visit, bearing gifts - pizza! We have a really good relationship with our Town Council and South Plainfield's Office of Emergency Management. It was nice of them to come by and visit - we really appreciate that! We also were visited by a member of the local Elks club, who asked us if we'd put on an Amateur Radio demo at the town wide block party celebration that is held after our annual Labor Day parade.

Nigh time crew

Marty WB2BEW on SSB, Bill W2AOF on CW

Marty reacquainting himself with a KX3

Dave KD2FSI and Hillary KC2HLA doing some digital.

SPARC with some South Plainfield Town Council members

The CW MFJ-1982LP center support - my 31 foot Jackite. The orange cones prevented people from driving where they shouldn't.

The CW station, pre-Field Day start.

The tarp covering for the pop up canopies

Added yellow caution tape so no one would walk into wire.

Dave KD2FSI's 20 Meter vertical.

The almost constant breeze made the tarp covering "puffy" and act like a sail at times.

KD2FSI's Spider-beam mast is off in the distance. It supported his end fed in the middle.

Marv K2VHW setting up one of our solar panels, to keep batteries charged.

Our banner faced a very busy street, hoping to pique curiosity.

The PVC and CamJam mechanism that KD2FSI fashioned for holding up antenna masts worked very, very well. My End Fed supported by my Jackite pole required a few tweaks of the anchor ropes once or twice to eliminate some leaning induced by the hefty breezes. The whole arrangement was very stable after those were made and there was never a second thought given to the antenna system. I'll have to say again, just for emphasis, that in all the Field Days that we have done as a club since 2014 - this was by far the breeziest!.  According to my weather station at home, we were experiencing sustained gusts in the 11 to 15 MPH range, I know that doesn't sound like a much, but it sure kept that tarp flapping around! While we had a few downpours on Saturday, Field Day 2015 still takes 1st Prize for the "Wettest, Chilliest and Most Miserable" Field Day.

The rigs lived up to their expectations and we had a good productive Field Day.  Band conditions varied. 40 Meters was hopping through the entire event. 80 Meters was busy Saturday evening. I did not get a chance to check out 20 Meters on Saturday, as that was the province of the SSB station. When I had the chance to check it out on Sunday, it was disappointing. Signals were down in the mud and it seemed sparsely populated, considering that 20 Meters is usually "The Band". 15 Meters on Sunday morning was very nicely QUITE busy. I love 15 meters when the band is open and active! In all, we made close to 300 CW contacts, about 60 or so SSB contacts and a couple dozen digital contacts. Our best DX was the North American west coast, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I never heard a peep from Hawaii this year. Something in the vicinity was creating 20 over 9 hash on 160 Meters - all across the band. This was one of the few years that we did not make at least one contact on 160 Meters.

This year, we intentionally decided to keep the antenna system simpler than in past Field Day efforts. Just wires and simple verticals. No Yagis with makeshift extension tower ladders, no Hex beams. The result was that in after 24 plus some hours of set up and operating, this weary bunch of Hams was able to tear down in 90+ degree weather in little over an hour. Only one man was needed to take apart and pack up each wire antenna. I don't know that it affected our QSO total, but when you're bone tired that is a very nice thing, indeed! 

Speaking of the wire antennas, Dave KD2FSI once again came up with an handy device for storing those. He gave me two and I'll take some pictures for a "Show and Tell" post for another day.

To any of you who worked NJ2SP, the membership of SPARC thanks you! We're already looking forward to Field Day 2022!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ..............................

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Got the antenna up

I got the VHF/UHF J-Pole up yesterday, but it seems there's always a side story involved.

I actually got a lot accomplished yesterday. Grocery shopping, errands, and I made some stuffed cabbage for dinner for today. My first time ever. It looks good; but tonight we'll see how good it actually is.

But getting back to the antenna ...........

Yesterday was pretty breezy and chilly. It's hard to believe that on Friday morning, on my way to work it was 60F (15C). A cold front swept through during the day; and by the time I left for home, it was 27F (-3C). The remnants of the wind were still evident yesterday, so I decided to connect the J-Pole to the top most mast section and connect the coax inside, where it was warm.

I worked on the living room floor. Securing the antenna to the mast was a piece of cake using three hose clamps. Then I hooked up the coax just like the picture from Friday's post. I secured the coax running along down the mast piece with cable ties. When it was all done, I went to put on my coat, so that I could carry the assembly outside and place it atop the other mast sections already out there.

That's when it got weird. I wanted to take the cable ties with me, so I could secure more of the coax neatly along the bottom sections of mast. I picked up the package of cable ties from the living room floor and then I looked around for my cutters. I couldn't find them anywhere. I JUST HAD THEM IN MY HANDS !!!!

I checked my pockets - nope. I looked under the sofa, thinking maybe I knocked them under there, somehow. Nope. I checked my coat pockets. Nope. I looked under the hassock and the chairs. Nope. I have no idea where they went. I finally went down the basement for another pair and got the antenna up easily. After I finished running the coax to the shack, I came back inside and started looking for the missing cutters, once again.

I still haven't found them. Maybe they ended up wherever the missing socks from the clothes dryer eventually end up - some sort of parallel universe. They were a pair of Harbor Freight cutters, so they weren't expensive - but they were very good and had become my favorites. I guess the bright side of the story is that I'll get to go to Harbor Freight in order to buy another pair - and you know what will happen, don't you? As soon as I buy another pair, the missing ones will somehow miraculously show up!

The bottom line is that I seem to be hitting the repeaters I need to hit, very well. I am officially ready for the monthly ARES nets that I participate in. This month they occur this coming Tuesday evening. I can finally join them from the chilly comfort of my basement shack - much better than running out to the car in order to use the mobile rig.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Rain, rain go away!

It seems like it's been raining here in Central NJ forever.  There have been sunny days, I guess. It's dark when I leave for work and it's dark on the drive home (although that's starting to change). The room I work in has no windows, so I don't get to see much sunshine. Today it's misty, foggy and supposedly we're under a flash flood warning. But later today, it's supposed to start clearing, get windy and the temperature is supposed to drop like a stone.

And I hope the forecast for partly cloudy skies for tomorrow is accurate. I want to install a VHF/UHF J-Pole in the backyard.

I am and always will be an HF kind of guy. For me, the "Low Bands" are what Amateur Radio is all about. Ever since I discovered that there was such a thing as Amateur Radio, the goal has always been to communicate with people via shortwave. This will always be my passion and first love.

The outdoor VHF/UHF antenna is needed for ARES nets that I regularly check into. The NNJ ARES Net is conducted on a repeater in Morristown, NJ. While it is not that far away and not that difficult to check into from the car, it is darn near impossible from inside the house with a handheld. And it's a pain in the posterior to run out to the car on cold Winter nights.

In addition, as the appointed Emergency Coordinator for South Plainfield,  I run an ARES net for our group every third Tuesday of the month on the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club repeater, NJ2SP. Hitting that with a handled is a piece of cake; but depending on what room in the house I am situated, sometimes I can get noisy.

The J-Pole, up about 20 feet or so, running down to a VHF/UHF mobile rig in the basement should do the trick. Hopefully, the job won't take more than a half hour or so. I have to run to Home Depot for a couple hose clamps. The bottom section of masting is already in place. I did that last Sunday. All I need to do is clamp the J-Pole to the top portion, connect the coax, make a balun of about 5 turns of coax and tape that to the the mast about a foot beneath the antenna, raise it and run the rest of the coax to the basement.

If all goes well, that will be another Amateur Radio chore taken care of.

Last night in the 80 Meter QRP Fox hunt, I was really able to see a difference in the W3EDP after "un-drooping" it last Sunday. The noise difference between the HF9V and the wire used to be like day and night. Now they are both pretty low. There's still a bit more hash with the wire on 80 Meters at night, but it's nowhere as bad as it used to be. I used the W3EDP to get both Fox QSOs last night.  For the majority of this Fall/Winter season, I have been relying on the Butternut to get the job done.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Puerto Rico Earthquake

From the ARRL:

Strong Earthquake Shakes Puerto Rico, ARES Standing By

01/07/2020

A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Puerto Rico early on January 7 on the heels of a smaller magnitude 5.8 tremor a day earlier. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported widespread power outages after generating plants automatically activated protective shutdown systems following the earthquake. Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced urged citizens to remain calm.

“The entire government is active and in action,” Governor Vazquez said in a tweet. “I ask our people to remain calm and urge you to remain safe.” Government offices have been shut down for the day.

The director of Puerto Rico’s Seismic Network, Víctor Huérfano, told The Associated Press that it’s been difficult to obtain reports of damage or injuries because communications are out over much of the island. Geologists had warned of additional seismic activity following the January 6 earthquake. Tremors have been occurring in some areas of Puerto Rico since December 28.

ARRL Puerto Rico Public Information Officer Angel Santana, WP3GW, said the earthquakes have damaged homes in communities including Guánica and Guayanilla, with aftershocks felt minutes later from today’s event. A tsunami advisory for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands was canceled minutes after being issued. Santana said the PREMA Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated.

Santana said VHF and UHF repeater systems having emergency power carried reports of power outages and other information. ARRL Puerto Rico Section Manager Oscar Resto, KP4RF, told ARRL that no Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) activations have been necessary, as commercial telecommunication systems remain functional.

“The situation is scary, with houses, schools, and roads collapsing,” Resto said, with many structures — including a school and homes in Guánica — damaged.

********************************************************************************

Should any HF emergency frequencies become activated, please be sure to give them a wide berth.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP _ When you care to send the very least!

Field Day 2019 postmortem

Personally, Field Day 2019 was pretty much a disaster. Coming down with a stomach ailment in the middle of the night, making you feel like the Grim Reaper has a hand on your shoulder while standing on a banana peel was no fun. I didn't get to operate nearly as much as I has wanted to; and our QSO total was down as a result. Fortunately, Marv K2VHW and Bob WB2UDC and Bill W2AOF did take up some of the slack. Our results weren't as bad as I had thought they would be.

Field Day is not a contest; and the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club doesn't consider it to be one or operate it that way. We operate it as an emergency preparedness exercise and we try to push ourselves to our limits to see what we are capable of were we ever truly needed. So in that regard, we do like to see how we fare against other stations in our categories.

How we compared in the standings:
Top 11% all Field Day stations
Top 50% of 3AB stations
Top 10% of all 5W stations
Top 20% of Hudson Division stations
Top 24% of NNJ Section stations

Not bad, but not as well as we usually do. We're already making plans for 2020.  We may go with the Hexbeam for the SSB station from the get go, instead of relying on the "iffy" Mosley.  I am thinking of going with the MFJ-1982LP for the CW station instead of the W3EDP next year. And I definitely want to get a dedicated 160 Meter antenna going for the overnight QSOs for next year.

And I firmly resolve to stay away from anything that contains mayonnaise or any suspect cream donuts in 2020!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Sometimes you run across things that surprise you.

Every day, I have one guilty pleasure.  I get on the Web and I go to two different sites where I can read the comics. There, I said it. 62 years old and I love to read the funny pages. Some new ones are my favorites, like Zits, Pluggers, Sally Forth, Bliss, and Andertoons join my old favorites like Beetle Bailey, Blondie, BC, the Phantom, Gasoline Alley, Mutt and Jeff, Funky Winkerbean and Crankshaft - and of course Peanuts and Family Circus.

Anyway, while reading the comics, advertisements always pop up.  Most of the time they seem to be for things that barely interest me, or mostly have nothing to do with me. Yesterday, however, was a different story.  One came up with the words "Ham Radio" in it. And it wasn't for any of the usual suspects such as Gigaparts, or Jameco or DX Engineering. This ad was for a company that I never heard of; and it immediately caught my eye.

https://worldgonesilent.com/

My concern here, is that while they DO mention that you need to be a licensed Ham to use these products legally, the average buyer might just say "Pfffffffft" to that requirement and will start using this stuff illegally. Many might say it's just an ill-founded worry, but IMHO, I think it's a legitimate concern. As it is, with the proliferation of inexpensive HTs, I hear plenty of interlopers that are obviously not licensed on the local repeaters - another reason that I am mostly an HF kind of guy.

The other thing that surprises the heck out of me is the "Ham Radio Go Kits" page on Facebook.  Have you ever visited that site? I look at some of these Go Kits that these guys put together and I think, "Geez, you'd need a crane to move that thing!". I thought the purpose of a personal Go Kit was to be relatively light and portable, so that you can go anywhere and provide emergency communications wherever it might be needed. What's the purpose of building a Go Kit that you need a hand truck or dolly to tote around?  That might be OK for a local shelter in town, but what if it's a situation like they had in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria? If you're being tasked to some remote location, I would think you'd want to simply pack as much as you could into a backpack that you would then carry into the affected area. Elaborate and pretty is nice I guess, and may generate lots of "Oooohs and aaaahs"; but unless your setup is tactically ready and efficient, it may not end up being of much use. When I think of "Go Kit" - personally I think of portability - not necessarily a shack away from home with all the bells and whistles. And if something more elaborate is needed, at least put it in something that already has wheels built into it that can be easily pulled or pushed around.  50+ pounds in a hard Steelcase with one or two handles that needs two guys to carry it just doesn't seem to cut it, in my mind.

Field Day is coming up this weekend and the CW station, for which I am responsible, will be coming to the site contained entirely in one backpack and one plastic ammo box.  Not that I would want to; but if I had to, I could comfortably walk it to the Field Day site without exhausting myself in the process of getting it there.

Sorry for the rant - maybe it's just Monday morning crankiness.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

CERT Week

June 3rd through the 8th is National CERT Week. This actually started in my county, Middlesex County, NJ about 5 or 6 years ago. Our County OEM set aside a week to recognize the various CERT Teams throughout the county and word spread about it. Soon enough, other counties in other states started doing the same. As time passed, enough CERT Weeks were being conducted to warrant a unified, national CERT Week observation.

Last night, the Mayor and Boro Council of South Plainfield awarded the South Plainfield CERT Team with a Proclamation.

It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years since I took the classes and became part of South Plainfield CERT. As a team, we've been through a lot of public service events, a couple of hurricanes, a few blizzards and there have been many, many more classes taken to further our knowledge base. A few of us have taken the Homeland Security AUXCOMM classes and have reached that rank.

If I had to do it all over again, I would, in a heartbeat. The people that I volunteer with put in a lot of their "free" time, give a tremendous effort, and are genuinely fun to work and be with. We are proud to stand behind our town's First Responders and offer them the assistance they need so that they can concentrate on more pressing matters that is their job to handle. And really, that's the purpose of CERT - not to be a First Responder, but to assist those who are, so that they don't get bogged down in the minutiae, and can do the jobs we need them to do.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Getting ready for Field Day

Even though it's only April, SPARC is getting ready for Field Day,

I've added our NJ2SP Field Day info to the official ARRL Field Day locator, and we're in full preparations swing.  Once again we'll be operating 3A with a GOTA station. This year, though, I'd like to add a proper 160 Meter dipole so that we can make contacts on Top Band through out the evening. The W3EDP was successful in making contacts for us on all bands last year 160 Meters through 10 Meters, but on 160 Meters it was a compromise antenna. Only the loudest and nearest 160 Meter stations were able to hear us. With a proper resonant antenna, we should be able to make more than just a handful of contacts.

We're also intent on doing more to get the local Scouts to come visit and operate this year. We need to start advertising that to the local troops now, because once the Scouts scatter for the Summer, it will be harder to get the message out.

What does your club/organization do to put Field Day in the eye of your community? Anything?

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Posting just to post

Is something I will not do. I know there has been a dearth of activity on this blog the past few weeks; but that's just because I have not been very active radio-wise. I will post when I think that I have something of value to offer, not just to have you read empty words.

LAST Saturday, February 16th, I attended a conference on Amateur Radio in Public Health and Medical Services Emergencies. It was help at Cooper Hospital, in Camden, NJ, which is the home of Campbell's Soup, the Battleship New Jersey and the NJ State Aquarium.

Tim AB2ZK drove us down the 50 or so minute ride to Camden. I was a bit apprehensive about attending as I had a flare up of tendinitis in my left ankle and I was pretty uncomfortable. But Tim offered a ride and the ankle was beginning to feel better, so I decided to give it a shot.

I am glad I did. There were excellent presentations by AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) who provides the equipment needed to set up an emergency mesh RF domain. You're probably asking yourself, "Exactly what on earth is THAT?"

I may be explaining this incorrectly, but a mesh network is kind of like a private, little closed Internet domain. By adapting routers to use the microwave frequencies in the Amateur Radio bands, we can create a little independent Internet style domain which will allow the transfer of data - e-mails, SMS as well as regular messages, pictures, etc between an emergency site or multiple associated sites and an EOC without having to rely on the regular Internet - especially when that becomes over clogged and over worked with traffic. And let's face it - when the fecal matter hits the rotary oscillating air current generating device, the Internet and cell phone networks are among the first casualties.

It's not as expensive or complicated to set up as you might think; but it IS helpful to have someone who is familiar with computer networking if you seed to get a domain set up with more than just a few access points. You can click on the AREDN link that I have above to get more information.

There was also a good talk on NVIS antennas given by Joe Everheart N2CX, one of the co-founders of NJQRP. Joe gave a good talk on what will work in order to make HF usable in an emergency when you needs to communicate with stations pretty much in just your local area.

There are a couple of other presentations that made me wonder why they were included, but that's par for the course, I guess. In all, it was a very informative day with a lot of good information made available to us who are involved in AUXCOMM.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

This is a real treat!

A professionally done documentary (about 10 minutes long) about Field Day and Amateur Radio in general in Fort Wayne, Indiana - from 2017.


Personally, I think they overplay the "weak signal" aspect of low power operating. So many people do this that it becomes a psychological handicap. Sure, QRP signals are generally not as loud as 100 Watt signals - but it's not like they're microscopic in comparison. And if the propagation is right, the guy on the receiving end might never know - unless you tell him. 
On the whole, though? Nicely done, gentlemen ...... nicely done!
72 de Larry W2LJ QRP - When you care to send the very least!

New VHF/UHF rig for the car.

About a week ago, I went to my car to participate in the Northern New Jersey ARES Net. The repeater that the net is held on is in Morristown, NJ. Not that far away; but not reachable with a hand held from my house. I went to the car to use the mobile rig, as it has more "oomph". It was then that I noticed my QYT 8900 mobile VHF/UHF radio was not transmitting. When I would key the microphone, the display would show full output, but I was not making it into the repeater. ANY repeater. I tried just about everything that was in memory - nothing.

That's definitely not good. As the EC for South Plainfield and as a member of the Middlesex County ARES Team, I can't afford to be without VHF/UHF capability in my vehicle.

I also have a son in college and am paying a hefty tuition bill, so I can't afford a new rig, either.

I went to Amazon to see what I could get for under $100 as that's all I was able to scrape together right now - the fact that Christmas is next week wasn't helping, either.

I "settled" on another QYT product - this time the KT-8900D:

Yes, indeedy a Kenwood / Yaesu / Icom product would have been much preferred. At this time, I cannot afford that - and the QYT 8900, while it lasted, provided me with a couple years of good service. The quality of received audio was very good to excellent; and no one ever complained about my signal other than the normal "being out of range" type of comments that you'd get with any mobile VHF/UHF transceiver.

It arrived last Friday and I began to program it last weekend. Manual programming as the programming cable that comes with the radio seems to be a piece of junk. Using the QYT software or CHIRP, I get the "Cannot Clone Radio" error with both Windows 10 or XP. Manual programming isn't difficult at all, it just takes more time - and I cannot change the splash displays manually, either.

It would be neat to change that "KT-8900D" display to "W2LJ" - but such is life. At least I have emergency capability back up and running should the need arise (God forbid!)

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Stymied

I am stymied, perplexed and confused.

I had signed up to attend an "ARES Connect" Webinar tonight, to introduce ARES District Emergency Coordinators (DECs) and Emergency Coordinators (ECs - I am the EC for South Plainfield, NJ) to "ARES Connect". ARES Connect will be the new, online platform for reporting, scheduling and communicating about ARES activities.

I guess the Webinar was supposed to originate from ARRL HQ tonight; but because of our impending first Winter storm here in the NorthEast, the Webinar has been postponed for two weeks, until November 29th.

Huh?

I thought that advantage of a Webinar was that it could be held anywhere and at any time, You know, attend a class from your home in the comfort of your PJs. Right? So if that's the case, why would the instructor(s) or facilitator(s) have to be in an office? As long as the material is in their computer(s), just dial into the company hosting the Webinar, or somehow connect to the proper IP, right?

Or am I missing something? There MUST be more to this than my simple mind thinks there is.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

On the periphery

I've been doing a lot of Amateur Radio, lately - but not really in a way that you'd expect. Maybe it would be better termed Amateur Radio from the Periphery?

Monday night I participated in our Statewide RACES VHF Net on behalf of Middlesex County from our County's Emergency Operations Center. My good friend Marv K2VHW checked in for the County on the HF Net. The VHF net went without a hitch. We have a 2 Meter beam on a very nice tower pointed right at NJ State Police Headquarters in West Trenton, NJ. Communicating back and forth on the 144 MHz band is like you and me sitting next to each other.

HF was another story.  The net was on 80 Meters and early on, way before the net even started, Marv heard K2EOC, the NCS for the evening, on frequency.  Marv gave him a call and signals were great! K2EOC was easily 20 over 9, if not louder and we received a good signal report, in turn. Not surprising, given the hop, eh?

About 30 minutes later, the bottom dropped out from under the band. K2EOC was not 20 over S9 any longer, in fact, they were barely audible in amongst the band noise.  Even for a couple of pretty seasoned Amateur Radio ops, who've been around the block a few times, the change in the signal was shocking. The net got it's business done, but I'd not be surprised if a few counties tried to check in, but were unsuccessful. For Marv, it took a bunch of repeats to get recognized.

Last night was our 5th week of the Technician License class that we are currently teaching. The class is going extremely well. The students are all engaged, interested and are obviously doing their reading homework. I am expecting a 100% pass rate from this group; and you'll be able to knock me over with a feather if we don't meet that goal.

Tonight is a SPARC meeting, as we make final preparations for our Maker's Day presentation on March 10th. I ordered a bunch of handouts from the ARRL today, so we can have plenty of material about Amateur Radio to hand out to interested prospects.

So all of this Amateur Radio activity without actually sitting down behind the key and making contacts! I'd hesitate to say that it's not fun, because in its own way, it is. It's just different, that's for sure!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The EMCOMM/AUXCOMM challenge

My teaching partner, Mark K2VHW and I are currently midway through another 8 week class, in the process of getting another group of candidates to pass the test for a Technician class license. The challenge is that these are for the most part (but not all) CERT people. They want their licenses so that can engage in Public Service communications for their town.

But that's not all there is to Amateur Radio, is there?

And of course, the answer to that is, "No, it isn't." And while obtaining a license for the purpose of Public Service communications is certainly admirable; it isn't the end all and be all of Amateur Radio. We would be derelict in our duty as Amateur Radio instructors if we didn't point out the "fun" aspects of the hobby. Not to mention that these new Technicians will be more likely to maintain their licences (and actually use them) if they become more involved in Amateur Radio for other than just the utilitarian uses of it.

So inevitably, our first session of an eight week class tends to involve the mundane tasks of signing in, collecting contact information, handing out textbooks, study aids and all that kind of thing. But we like to end the session by exposing the students to the fun.  After all, the fun part is what will hopefully keep them engaged and interested in Amateur Radio for a long period of time.

To that end, we have been showing this video by RadioQRV.com.

As you can see, this is a highly polished, professional quality video and it certainly goes over all the aspects of Amateur Radio, but yet, it still has a kind of .........detached. clinical feel to it.

This morning, Marv pointed me to this video by HamRadioConcepts:

And while this one also is a very high quality video; it has an appeal that the other does not. This is what I'd hope to end up with if I got a bunch of Ham friends together (who are very "into" the hobby) in order to put together a show like this. A high quality product, but yet something that says, "Hey, this is what we do and how we have fun. Would you like to come out this weekend and join us? We hope you would!"

Our goal, then, is to always end up with a bunch of Amateur Radio operators who also engage in Public Service communications; and not ONLY a bunch of Public Service Communicators who only occasionally get involved in other Amateur Radio pursuits. Because we all know that "All work and no play make Jack (or Jill) a very dull Amateur Radio op." After all, it's all about balance.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!