For those of you who are sheltering in place and are looking for some activity, NEXT weekend has a bonanza of activity.
It all starts next Friday with a QRP sprint, the Sasquatch Stomp, which is sponsored by the Pacific Northwest QRP Group - it runs from 2100 UTC on Friday to 0300 UTC on Saturday. My Sasquatch number is 910. The rules can be found here. Hopefully, I'll hear you on the bands. With no where to go, why not get on the air?
Next weekend has a plethora of State QSO parties:
Nebraska QSO Party: Exchange is simple - your S/P/C (state, province or country)
Louisiana QSO Party: Exchange is RST and S/P/C.
Mississippi QSO Party: Exchange is RST and S/P/C.
Missouri QSO Party: Exchange is RST and S/P/C.
I will definitely be on the air.
Today I got on the air for a little bit and worked Tom EA8YV on 20 Meters. There was a lot of QSB and band conditions were not the best, but we got a valid contact made. I hope to get on the air tomorrow afternoon and see if anyone's on the air - you would think with all this social distancing going on that the bands would be wall-to-wall busy ........right?
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Showing posts with label on-the-air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label on-the-air. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Friday, February 21, 2020
Impressive!
My good friend, Bob W3BBO picked up one of these this past week - the Xiegu G90.
Bob is the guy who really got me into QRP as a full time Amateur Radio pursuit - not sure whether he knows that, or not. I've said before that I was always a QRP dabbler since my Novice days, but then one day, back in the annals of history, he brought his brandie-new Elecraft K2 to one of our Piscataway Amateur Radio Club Field Day efforts. A few minutes behind the dial and buttons and I was a hooked QRP'er for life.
Bob still has that K2. Mine was sold off a long time ago in order to afford my KX3. I love my KX3; but I still have a tiny bit of remorse about having to lose the K2. The sacrifices we make ...............
Anyway, Bob bought this little rig this past week and he's been having a ball. And I must say, I've been quite impressed. It's really gotten him back on the air in a big way. I have W3BBO set up in HamAlert so that I know when Bob has been spotted on RBN or on the DX Cluster. If I'm home, I go out of my way to get into the shack to try and work him. While I'm at work, there's not much I can do - it just chirps at me. And it's been chirping a lot this week - which has been a good thing! And the results he's been getting are not shabby. Look at this RBN report from a couple days ago:
Bob is the guy who really got me into QRP as a full time Amateur Radio pursuit - not sure whether he knows that, or not. I've said before that I was always a QRP dabbler since my Novice days, but then one day, back in the annals of history, he brought his brandie-new Elecraft K2 to one of our Piscataway Amateur Radio Club Field Day efforts. A few minutes behind the dial and buttons and I was a hooked QRP'er for life.
Bob still has that K2. Mine was sold off a long time ago in order to afford my KX3. I love my KX3; but I still have a tiny bit of remorse about having to lose the K2. The sacrifices we make ...............
Anyway, Bob bought this little rig this past week and he's been having a ball. And I must say, I've been quite impressed. It's really gotten him back on the air in a big way. I have W3BBO set up in HamAlert so that I know when Bob has been spotted on RBN or on the DX Cluster. If I'm home, I go out of my way to get into the shack to try and work him. While I'm at work, there's not much I can do - it just chirps at me. And it's been chirping a lot this week - which has been a good thing! And the results he's been getting are not shabby. Look at this RBN report from a couple days ago:
There's only one report that's not in double digit dB's. That's pretty darn good! Of course, no rig is going to get out without good antennas and Bob is fine in that regard. It's still a good thing to know that a purchase that you've made is a good one. And anything that gets a friend back on the air, big time, is also a good thing.
Wishing you much success and fun with your new radio, Bob - can't wait to hear it on the air!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Friday, March 29, 2019
A Tale of Two Georgians
Last night's 80 Meter QRP Foxhunt featured two Foxes from the Great State of Georgia. One was John K4BAI, who lives close to the Alabama border, about half way up the state line. The other was Jim N4TMM who lives in Atlanta, which is not all that far way from John, if you look at their respective QTHs on a map.
You might expect, that although they live a couple to several hundred miles apart, that difference would make "no difference" compared to their distance from New Jersey. Given some variables, such as antenna, etc - they should sound about the same at my end of the QSO - no?
NO!
Their signals were miles apart (pun intended!) John K4BAI was down in the noise. QSB was terrible and at times he was unreadable. He had to QSY due to a traffic net on a nearby frequency. And to my surprise, he was working simplex, which a Fox does not often do until the very end of a hunt after the Hounds have dried up. Listening to him was tough.
Jim N4TMM, on the other hand, was pretty loud. Not 599, but definitely 569 - 579 his signal was pretty stable. There was some QSB, but not nearly as bad as the QSB on K4BAI. Jim had a good, almost conversational quality signal going for him all night.
So which one did you think I worked? If you guessed N4TMM - surprise! You're wrong!
As bad as K4BAI's signal was, I got into his log. I called N4TMM all night until I was blue in the face. I tried changing frequency a bit in order to vary my tone in his ears. I tried changing from the Butternut to the W3EDP, thinking that one antenna over the other might yield a more successful result. All I got for my efforts with Jim was a skunk pelt.
So what did we learn?
Once again, we learn that propagation is not reciprocal. Just because he's loud in your headphones doesn't mean you're loud in his. You'd think after 40 years in this hobby that would not be such a surprise; but I have to tell you, it still is. "I can hear him so well - he HAS to be able to hear me!" I'm sure that many of you have uttered that same sentence. It's amazing how hard that lesson is to learn.
We also learn that just because two stations are roughly at the same distance, doesn't necessarily mean both will sound the same, or even nearly the same. I have no idea why K4BAI and N4TMM were heard so differently here in NJ. I'm sure their antennas probably had a lot to do with it; but I'm sure other, unknown variables to me also made a difference.
We also learn that when you assume ..................... (I'll let you finish that one). I assumed that both stations would be heard about equally as well here in NJ. Once again, I made the wrong assumption.
So better yet, what do we take away from all this?
Since propagation is not reciprocal, the next time you hear a DX station, and he's weak - that doesn't necessarily mean that your signal will be weak to him. It may be; but then again it might not. So don't pass that station by automatically. Throw out your call and give it a shot - you might just be surprised.
If you're looking for a certain country or state, or county, or what have you - and you find one on the air - but they are having a hard time copying you - don't assume that ALL stations in that certain country or state, or county, or what have you will also have a hard time copying you. When you're working towards WAS and the Hawaii QSO Party comes around and you find a station and he can't copy you, no matter what you try - don't turn the radio off, walk away and give up. There may be another station only 10, 20, 50, or 100 miles away that may be able to copy you like you're in the same room with them.
I think the longer you're in this hobby, the more you think "you know" the ins and outs of what is and what isn't. Instances like last night just go to prove to me, once again, that "you never know ....... you just really never know." It's a hard lesson learned - and maybe it's never completely learned.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
You might expect, that although they live a couple to several hundred miles apart, that difference would make "no difference" compared to their distance from New Jersey. Given some variables, such as antenna, etc - they should sound about the same at my end of the QSO - no?
NO!
Their signals were miles apart (pun intended!) John K4BAI was down in the noise. QSB was terrible and at times he was unreadable. He had to QSY due to a traffic net on a nearby frequency. And to my surprise, he was working simplex, which a Fox does not often do until the very end of a hunt after the Hounds have dried up. Listening to him was tough.
Jim N4TMM, on the other hand, was pretty loud. Not 599, but definitely 569 - 579 his signal was pretty stable. There was some QSB, but not nearly as bad as the QSB on K4BAI. Jim had a good, almost conversational quality signal going for him all night.
So which one did you think I worked? If you guessed N4TMM - surprise! You're wrong!
As bad as K4BAI's signal was, I got into his log. I called N4TMM all night until I was blue in the face. I tried changing frequency a bit in order to vary my tone in his ears. I tried changing from the Butternut to the W3EDP, thinking that one antenna over the other might yield a more successful result. All I got for my efforts with Jim was a skunk pelt.
So what did we learn?
Once again, we learn that propagation is not reciprocal. Just because he's loud in your headphones doesn't mean you're loud in his. You'd think after 40 years in this hobby that would not be such a surprise; but I have to tell you, it still is. "I can hear him so well - he HAS to be able to hear me!" I'm sure that many of you have uttered that same sentence. It's amazing how hard that lesson is to learn.
We also learn that just because two stations are roughly at the same distance, doesn't necessarily mean both will sound the same, or even nearly the same. I have no idea why K4BAI and N4TMM were heard so differently here in NJ. I'm sure their antennas probably had a lot to do with it; but I'm sure other, unknown variables to me also made a difference.
We also learn that when you assume ..................... (I'll let you finish that one). I assumed that both stations would be heard about equally as well here in NJ. Once again, I made the wrong assumption.
So better yet, what do we take away from all this?
Since propagation is not reciprocal, the next time you hear a DX station, and he's weak - that doesn't necessarily mean that your signal will be weak to him. It may be; but then again it might not. So don't pass that station by automatically. Throw out your call and give it a shot - you might just be surprised.
If you're looking for a certain country or state, or county, or what have you - and you find one on the air - but they are having a hard time copying you - don't assume that ALL stations in that certain country or state, or county, or what have you will also have a hard time copying you. When you're working towards WAS and the Hawaii QSO Party comes around and you find a station and he can't copy you, no matter what you try - don't turn the radio off, walk away and give up. There may be another station only 10, 20, 50, or 100 miles away that may be able to copy you like you're in the same room with them.
I think the longer you're in this hobby, the more you think "you know" the ins and outs of what is and what isn't. Instances like last night just go to prove to me, once again, that "you never know ....... you just really never know." It's a hard lesson learned - and maybe it's never completely learned.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Friday, January 18, 2019
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful!"
Well ...... not right now; but it will be.
We've had some snow showers this morning, which have not amounted to much more than a nuisance as I had to deal with a bunch of idiot drivers this morning on the commute into work. The BAD weather is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon into Sunday morning.
It doesn't sound as bad as it may end up, as only 3 to 6 inches (7.5 - 15 cm) of snow are forecast, with that even changing to rain Sunday afternoon. The tricky part is that as the precipitation ends, and the front moves through, the temperatures are supposed to drop faster than the proverbial lead balloon. By Sunday evening, we will drop from the upper 30s F (3-4 C) to a low of around 4F (-15 C) or thereabouts. That means all that moisture on the ground is going to flash freeze before it has a chance to evaporate. Come Monday morning, the roads and sidewalks will probably be pretty treacherous.
The company that I work for does not take off for Martin Luther King's Birthday. However, the company that I work at DOES close the building for Monday, so I have to burn a vacation day. With how busy things have been at work, I am not disappointed!
I have no pressing plans for the weekend, except for getting on the air and melting some solder. First time in a long time that I may actually get to enjoy these activities!
Actually, that's not totally true - I cannot tell a lie. I did get on 80 Meters last night for the Thursday Night 80 Meter QRP Fox Hunt. I did bag two pelts last night; but I have to tell you ..... every time I think I have a handle on propagation, it kicks my butt.
Both Foxes were in Georgia - John K4BAI and Jim N4TMM. They're not all that far from each other. I mean, with regard to how far both are from NJ, they're basically in the same neighborhood. Jim N4TMM was 579 for pretty much most of the night. So...... you would think - the two of them being in the same state and all - K4BAI should be somewhere around 579, also - right?
No, silly rabbit! John was 559 AT BEST and the QSB on him was horrendous. One second he was there, next second, poof! I managed to make contact with him towards the end of the hunt. It was a struggle, but John's more-than-excellent ears got me into his logbook. Indeed, a testimony to him and his operating prowess - not mine in the least.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
We've had some snow showers this morning, which have not amounted to much more than a nuisance as I had to deal with a bunch of idiot drivers this morning on the commute into work. The BAD weather is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon into Sunday morning.
It doesn't sound as bad as it may end up, as only 3 to 6 inches (7.5 - 15 cm) of snow are forecast, with that even changing to rain Sunday afternoon. The tricky part is that as the precipitation ends, and the front moves through, the temperatures are supposed to drop faster than the proverbial lead balloon. By Sunday evening, we will drop from the upper 30s F (3-4 C) to a low of around 4F (-15 C) or thereabouts. That means all that moisture on the ground is going to flash freeze before it has a chance to evaporate. Come Monday morning, the roads and sidewalks will probably be pretty treacherous.
The company that I work for does not take off for Martin Luther King's Birthday. However, the company that I work at DOES close the building for Monday, so I have to burn a vacation day. With how busy things have been at work, I am not disappointed!
I have no pressing plans for the weekend, except for getting on the air and melting some solder. First time in a long time that I may actually get to enjoy these activities!
Actually, that's not totally true - I cannot tell a lie. I did get on 80 Meters last night for the Thursday Night 80 Meter QRP Fox Hunt. I did bag two pelts last night; but I have to tell you ..... every time I think I have a handle on propagation, it kicks my butt.
Both Foxes were in Georgia - John K4BAI and Jim N4TMM. They're not all that far from each other. I mean, with regard to how far both are from NJ, they're basically in the same neighborhood. Jim N4TMM was 579 for pretty much most of the night. So...... you would think - the two of them being in the same state and all - K4BAI should be somewhere around 579, also - right?
No, silly rabbit! John was 559 AT BEST and the QSB on him was horrendous. One second he was there, next second, poof! I managed to make contact with him towards the end of the hunt. It was a struggle, but John's more-than-excellent ears got me into his logbook. Indeed, a testimony to him and his operating prowess - not mine in the least.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
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