KX9X

Many have probably wondering what happened to Sean KX9X since he left the ARRL. For one thing, he moved back to Illinois. He's also operating the satellites and is actively pursuing portable ops. And he's blogging on the DX Engeneering site - "On All Bands". To read his latest follow this link:

https://www.onallbands.com/backpack-qrp-basics-creating-a-backpack-qrp-station/

Sean is one of the best and engaging bloggers in our hobby. His writing really gets one enthused and "raring to go" about some of the neater aspects of our hobby. I'll be adding "On All Bands" to the blog roll so you can all keep track of it from this page.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRO - When you care to send the very least!

Mt. Allamuchy

Our (the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club) day at the Mount Allamuchy Scout Reserve for Jersey Jam 2019 was very successful. A good day was had by SPARC members, the Scouts, and their leaders. I hope we can do this again next year, should there be a Jersey Jam 2020.

The day started on the brisk side. Marv K2VHW, Chris N0CC, Wayne N2LRE and I caravanned  the hour ride up to the reservation, after loading up essential gear from our SPARC meeting place. When we left South Plainfield, it was probably around 44F (6C). When we arrived at our destination, it was 37F (3C), and you could tell there had been frost on the ground overnight.

Dave KD2FSI, who lives only 17 miles away, had already been there and had set up most of his equipment. He had an HF/VHF/UHF station going with his big batteries in attendance, running 100 Watts. In addition, he set up his portable man pack station, as well as his satellite station and his Alex loop for demonstration purposes. It was an impressive sight to say the least; and I saw no point in setting up a QRP station. We would have been in such close proximity that I probably would have been blanked out on receive and the day was for demonstrating Amateur Radio, not operating QRP,

The Scout Reservation has its own Ham Shack and WW2BSA was on the air, making contacts at the other end of the venue. This was a great opportunity, as we were able to put Scouts on the air, allowing them to talk to WW2BSA from the field using VHf/UHF handhelds.  Scouts visiting the Ham shack got a chance to talk to Scouts at out field and visa-versa. There was a shuttle bus that ran back and forth between sites, so we encouraged the Scouts at our set up to go and visit WW2BSA.

Dave KD2FSI's main HF antenna, a 20 Meter Buddipole type, was working its magic. We were able to demonstrate HF contesting to the Scouts as SPARC members took turns working a lot of station from the California QSO party, which ran yesterday. To demonstrate working DX, we were able to make contacts with Slovakia, Norway, and Hawaii to name a few.

Even with the sunspot total down in the dumps, it's amazing who you can work with a good antenna and some patience and determination.

But once again, the hit of the day was the Morse Code demonstration area. Marv K2VHW brought along a code practice oscillator, a bug and a paddle, and I supplied one of my straight keys. The kids were fascinated by the set up. This area of our booth seemed to be almost constantly occupied, and Marv and I took turn explaining the history of Morse Code and how it evolved over time from land line telegraphy to CW in Amateur Radio.

Another facet of the hobby which interested both the kids and the adults was Dave's satellite antenna.

Although the station was set up more for looking at, rather than trying to work an actual satellite, both the kids and adults were fascinated when they found out that with a Technician  license they could communicate with not only the many Amateur Radio satellites orbiting the Earth, but the International Space Station as well.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, getting the chance to spread the news about Amateur Radio to people who probably had no idea of what was available to them. At 5:00 PM, we tore our display down and headed home, tired and hungry, but satisfied that we had accomplished our mission for the day. Thanks go out to the Scouts, Chris WW2BSA, Bill W2AOF, Marv K2VHW, Harry KC2PGX, Wayne N2LRE, Chris N0CC and of course to our "Main Man" Dave KD2FSI for another successful venture.

Now ....... on to Jamboree on the Air in two weeks!

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

W5LFL SK - Owen Garriot

The original "Ham Radio Operator in Space" - Owen Garriot W5LFL has passed away at the age of 88.

Owen's historic flight took place in 1983 on the Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-9 mission. I can still remember sitting in my car, tuned to the appropriate frequency as the Shuttle flew over NJ, several times during the mission.  As soon as Owen announced his call and mentioned that he would be listening for call signs, the frequency became maybe the worst pileup in history! Of course, I never made it through, but it was still a thrill to listen. When W5LFL came on the air with his uber line of sight signal, it was like he was sitting in a chair right next to me.  Some of the more famous Hams of the age DID make contact with W5LFL, notably King Hussein of Jordan JY1 and Barry Goldwater K7UGA.

Interestingly enough, years later, his son Richard W5KWQ, became a private space traveler. Launched to the ISS via a Russian launch vehicle, he also made contacts from space, following in his father's footsteps.

I think this mission whetted the appetites of many Hams for making satellite QSOs. I know it did for me; and some years later, I was very active on RS-10/11 and RS-12/13. Back then you could make contacts on satellites using your "everyday" shack HF equipment. It was a thrill to hear your own signal come back from space on the downlink - especially for this "kid" who cut his teeth on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.  I worked many states through those two LEOs - but alas, not all 50. I did, however, work across the pond into England on a rare mutually visible pass.

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

OK - new project

Since Santa didn't bring the Arrow antenna that I wanted in order to try my hand at the FM satellites (and possibly get more Field Day points this year), and my homebrew magloop turned out so well - I've decided to try my hand at another:

http://www.amateurradio.bz/4_dollar_satellite_antenna.html

And it comes complete with a video!

Doesn't look too expensive to build and I think we have enough coat hangers in various places around the house where I wouldn't have to go out and buy any.

The Arrow antenna is nice and all, but the cost was around $140, if I remember correctly. That's a lot to pay for something that I just want to play with from time to time and not be really dedicated to. This will probably serve me just as well; and I could use whatever $$$ I manage to save in the future towards more QRP and CW stuff.

And the last benefit ..... there's NOTHING like homebrewing something and have it work. I know I'm jumping the gun here; but KG0ZZ certainly makes look "do-able".

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Kaboom!

Most of you have undoubtedly heard by now that the Antares rocket, launched from NASA's Wallops Island Launch Facility in Virginia, blew up 6 seconds after lift off.

Unfortunately, the rocket was carrying various OSCAR satellites, specifically the GOMX-2 and RACE CubeSats.  Fortunately, it appears that no ground personnel were injured or killed by the mishap.

According to the ARRL:

"The 2U GMX-2 CubeSat was intended to test a de-orbit system designed by Aalborg University in Denmark. Karl Klaus Laursen, OZ2KK, is listed as the “responsible operator” on International Amateur Radio Union frequency coordination documents. The Amateur Radio payload proposed using a 9.6 k MSK data downlink on 437.250 MHz. Also on board was an optical communications experiment from the National University of Singapore. The mission also hoped to flight qualify a new high-speed UHF transceiver and SDR receiver built by an Aalborg University team.

The Radiometer Atmospheric Cubesat Experiment (RACE) CubeSat was a joint project between The Texas Spacecraft Laboratory (TSL) at the University of Texas-Austin and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It carried a 183 GHz radiometer, a new science instrument designed by JPL. The primary objective of the RACE mission was to collect atmospheric water vapor measurements. The spacecraft was equipped to transmit using GMSK at 38.4 k and CW telemetry on a downlink frequency of 437.525MHz, as coordinated with the IARU. TSL’s Edgar Glenn Lightsey, KE5DDG, was listed in the IARU coordination documents as the responsible operator."

The Antares rocket is a design of the Orbital Space Sciences group. It was on a re-supply mission to the International Space Station and had 5000 pounds of cargo as well as more than two dozen satellites on board. Mankind has been launching payloads into earth orbit for 57 years now. This just goes to show, that as much as this is "rocket science" - that stuff still happens.

On a related note, I was able to visually witness a very nice pass of the ISS this Monday evening.  It was about a 60 or 70 degree pass just around local sunset.  The ISS was very bright and showed up on the horizon right on cue. Wonderful how that works, isn't it?  As I watched it fly overhead, just over the waxing crescent moon, I was reminded of the many passes of RS10/11 and RS12/13 in the 90s. I used to work those LEOs a lot, and had many pleasurable contacts over them.

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