Interesting what 500 mW can do.

NY3A	W2LJ	3560.4	CQ [LoTW]	9 dB	20 wpm	0112z 24 Oct
K3MM	W2LJ	3560.4	CQ [LoTW]	5 dB	19 wpm	0112z 24 Oct
W4KKN	W2LJ	3560.4	CQ [LoTW]	13 dB	19 wpm	0111z 24 Oct
KM3T	W2LJ	3560.4	CQ [LoTW]	8 dB	19 wpm	0111z 24 Oct
NY3A	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	11 dB	19 wpm	0109z 24 Oct
K1TTT	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	7 dB	19 wpm	0109z 24 Oct
W4KAZ	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	5 dB	20 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
W2RDX	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	12 dB	19 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
KQ8M	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	5 dB	19 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
AA4VV	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	8 dB	19 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
W4KKN	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	16 dB	19 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
KM3T	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	7 dB	20 wpm	0108z 24 Oct
K3MM	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	16 dB	20 wpm	0107z 24 Oct
W3LPL	W2LJ	7041.0	CQ [LoTW]	7 dB	20 wpm	0107z 24 Oct
WA7LNW	W2LJ	10116.0	CQ [LoTW]	9 dB	21 wpm	0105z 24 Oct

Antenna was the 88' EDZ - rig was the K3 - power out was 500 mW.

No QSOs, but interesting to see where I was heard via the Reverse Beacon Network.

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

Something new every night

Working HF is definitely like fishing - or maybe like the proverbial Forrest Gump "box of chocolates".  You never know what you're going to get.

Last night, I cast my net out upon the waters and was fortunate to have two nice QSOs on 40 Meters. One was with Rick KC4KNN and that was immediately followed up with a nice chat with Scotty KG3W.  I have worked both ops before, Rick once back in 2006 and Scotty several times in various QRP events.  It's always nice to run into someone you've worked in some contests. The chance to QSO and talk for a bit longer than "559 NJ 5W" is very pleasant.

Tonight, I was tuning around 30 Meters and heard a loud station way down near the bottom at 10.103 MHz.  Loud, calling "CQ DX" and not getting many takers.  I listened for a bit to find out it was ZB2FK.

ZB2 - that's Gibraltar!  Hot chocolate, that's a new one for me!  I have heard Gibraltar several times in the past; but was never able to break the pileup.  This time, Ernest was not all that busy. I waited until he was done with the station he was working and threw out my call.  As I finished unkeying, I heard several others also calling.  I thought to myself, "Here we go - from nobody to pile up in 60 seconds" but he answered ME!  Little, puny ol' 5 Watt me - and on the first call! Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of netting a new DXCC entity.  And I'm a lucky kind o' guy, as I seriously doubt I'll ever make Honor Roll, I have close to 200 more chances to feel that exhilaration again!

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

And now for something completely different.

Courtesy of Rem K6BBQ - questions that I guarantee you have never been asked before!



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

My Ham Radio Heroes

Sounds silly, doesn't it?  But yes, I do have Ham Radio heroes.  They include the ones who Elmered me; and the ones who have mentored and motivated me.

But tonight, I'd like to concentrate on the ones who have inspired me, in a very particular way.

My big dream as a QRPer is to someday be in the position where I can operate from the "Great Outdoors" on a regular basis.  Whether it be SOTA or a far away DXpedition like Steve WG0AT and Guy N7UN. Or day hikes like Jim W1PID or Ron WB3AAL. Or even perhaps, someday, serious trail hiking like Steve KD1JV.  And then there are always the pedestrian mobile exploits of Paul W0RW and Ed WA3WSJ to enjoy.  There are also the adventures of Martin VA3SIE to admire.  He always seems to be able to get to a good location for the outdoor QRP events - or just a fun day out.



For now, I will have to settle for trips to the local parks and even the back yard to fulfill my outdoor "fix". But someday ........ someday .......... (the dreaming continues).

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

Antenna planning

I measured out the distances from the house to the maple tree in the back yard and over to the mast in the "upper right" corner of the back yard.  The 85 foot W3EDP will fit just fine, with room to spare.  There should be less than 10 feet worth of Dacron rope between the end of the antenna and the mast.

The drawing is not to scale; but the run along the side of the house accounts for no more than 15 to 20 feet or so of the antenna run.  The EDZ currently follows the same route (more or less) but I am hoping to get a dog bone insulator (which will serve as the wire "bending point") up about 10 to 15 feet higher in the tree than where the center insulator hangs for the EDZ.

Last Thursday, I ordered a 4:1 current balun from Universal Radio and I have all the other materials I need.  The balun should come during the week, and hopefully I will get to do some antenna installing next weekend.

In the end, this W3EDP will be configured as a horizontal "L" as you can see from the diagram.  The ends will be at about a 25' level and I am hoping the point at where the wire will take its sharp right turn will be in the 35 - 40' neighborhood.

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

To quote John Lennon

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans".

Yes.  The original plan today was for self indulgence - to spend all afternoon playing in the QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party.  Needless to say, it didn't happen.  Not by a long shot.

There was grocery shopping to get done, lawn mowing and leaf clean up to get done, baking to be done for the Sacred Heart Music Ministry bake sale tomorrow.  All things that had to get done, which left me not much time on the radio.

After dinner, I have gotten on the air and have made some contacts on 20 and 80 Meters.  40 Meters would be nice but the RTTY'ers are once again swallowing up the band all the way from 7.040 to 7.100 MHz.  Wow, I remember in my RTTY contesting days in the 90's we didn't dare come below 7.060 MHz.  Times have changed.

I will go back down to the shack in a bit; but wanted to share something I found in the basement while calling "CQ QRP' looking for contacts.

I found some old licenses. These three each have one of the call signs that I have held.

The top one is a KA2DOH one, and this is the license I received after upgrading to General in the Summer of 1979.  The N2ELW one is from when I applied for a General Class call in 1983.  Got this one in August of 1983 and shortly thereafter upgraded to Advanced on October 18th, 1983.  The reason I remember that date so well is that's the date of my parent's Wedding Anniversary.  If they were both alive, they'd be celebrating their 60th this year.  Both of these licenses were from back in the days when the license term was only five years.

The W2LJ one is the license that I carried before I renewed two years ago.  I found the CSCE's (for you non-US Hams, those are Certificates of Successful Completion of Exams) from when I upgraded to Extra all the way back on March 1st, 1993.  Next year will be 20 years as an Extra and this year will mark my 34th as a Ham - sure doesn't feel that long!

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

Enough with the nitrates, already !!!!

There's a couple of threads going on the KX3 e-mail reflector today. One is titled "QRP Baloney" and the other "QRP Sausage".  Both threads are a "discussion" trying to determine what QRP "really is".

I, for one, originally thought that QRP was making sure your transmitter put out 100 Watts or less. Well, that was back in the "Ancient Times", in the Mesozoic Era when I originally joined QRP ARCI.

Somewhere along the line, that changed and the definition of QRP became a power output of no more than 5 Watts for CW and 10 Watts for SSB.

I am fine with that definition. Period.

Now we have some purveyors of bologna that are insisting that QRP means "5 Watts with ONLY simple, non-gain type antennas".  Wow!

Somehow it's not in the "Spirit of QRP" to do as much as you possibly can with that 5 or 10 Watts.

Really?

For the record, my antennas (currently - might add a W3EDP soon) are simple, and non-gain - a Butternut HF9V ground mounted vertical and an 88' Extended Double Zepp wire . But while I am sleeping tonight, if the Angel of the Lord appears in a dream and says, "Lawrence, the Father has decided that you have truly been a good and faithful servant lately.  In appreciation, when you wake up tomorrow morning, in your backyard He will provide a 40 foot tower with a multi-band Yagi mounted at the top".

What? Am I supposed to say, "Dear St. Michael (or Gabriel or Raphael - whatever), I am a QRP Purist - could you tell the Lord to make that a Buddipole instead"?

No .... I don't think so.

The concept of QRP is to limit your power output.  If you take that 5 or 10 Watts and pump them into an antenna "fire hose" so that you SOUND like you're pumping out a kW, then I say "Bravo for you".  The true "Spirit of QRP" is "doing more with less" - taking those Watts that you're using, and with a combination of good operating skill and the best antenna you can muster, putting out the best signal that you possibly can.  That's it - no more, no less.

If you listen to the purveyors of bologna, I guess they would also tell you that a guy pumping 500 Watts into a 6 inch piece of copper at ground level is actually QRP.

No ...... that would just be stupid.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least! (But take the pains to make it sound like the very most!)

Antenna contemplations

The wire from my Inverted L End Fed Zepp met its doom this past August..  I went outside after a particularly bad evening of thunderstorms to find wire hanging down on the back porch and the other end hanging down the mast that was supporting the far end.  The gusty winds caused it to fall apart somewhere in the middle.

I didn't use it much as I could never get a decent match on the antenna tuner.  For whatever reason, perhaps the truly random length of it and the lack of a decent counterpoise, it always gave my auto tuner fits and starts.

This evening (and for the past few evenings) I was following a discussion on W3EDP antennas on the Polar Bear QRP Ops mailing list.  I did a lil' Googlin' and came up with this:

http://www.qsl.net/w5rin/Projects/Antennas/ae5vv/W3EDPAntenna.pdf

I can (I think) definitely fit a 67" hunk of wire along the run that was occupied by my ill fated EFZ.  According to the .pdf, that should make operations on 80 Meters and up possible.  However, I would really like to find a way to squeeze an 85" piece of wire, in order to make operations possible on 160 Meters, too.  I know, not nearly an ideal antler for 160 - but something is better than nothing (which is what I have right now).

I have the ladder line and I have a heavy duty 4:1 balun that my friend Bob W3BBO was not using and sent me.  I have the wire and the coax is still there. I just need to cobble one of these together and get it up before the weather really turns nasty for the winter.

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

Big Brutus

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know how much I love Amateur Radio. Two of my "passions within a passion"  are operating QRP and taking QRP to the great outdoors and operating portable.

I use this blog as a vehicle to promote and publicize those two passions (among others).

So you will forgive me while I extol the adventures of the 4 States QRP Group and their portable operations at Big Brutus.  "What the heck is a Big Brutus?" you might well be asking yourself. I did the first time I heard of it.

Big Brutus is a gigantic electric powered coal shovel that was used in Southeast Kansas.  In 1985, Big Brutus was dedicated as a museum and memorial to Kansas' rich coal mining history.

The 4 States QRP Group has made an official club outing to Big Brutus for four years now.  You can see a slide show of their outing here.

Thanks to good friend, Terry WAØITP for sharing!

As you can see, this was a well coordinated group event.  But it doesn't necessarily have to be. Whether you're like our buds from Kansas, here; or whether you're like Jim W1PID, taking day hikes and making contacts - it's all good!  I know we're coming up on colder weather here in North America as we travel farther into Autumn towards Winter ...... but it's never too early for even just thinking about treating yourself to some fun outdoor QRP outings in 2013.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Apologies for my absence.

But during the past week, we had another family milestone event. The last of our parents, my mother-in-law, Nora Dunmyer, passed away last Monday.  The funeral was this past Friday. Needless to say, it was a hectic week - mostly for my wife Marianne and her brother, Tim.

Obviously, the photo above was taken on the day of our wedding (14 years ago, when I was much thinner and my hair had way less gray in it).  In the photo, my father-in-law, Joe is standing next to Marianne, and my mother-in-law, Nora is standing next to me.  She was a wonderful woman who was born in Donegal, Ireland into a large family.  Of all her brothers and sisters, only she and her brother Harry Gallagher came to the United States. As a young woman she earned a degree in teaching. She taught reading and English in the Catholic Schools system in New York City and in various communities in Northern New Jersey, for many, many years.

She was an inspiration to many of her young students, who have since grown up to lead responsible, productive lives.  And several of them contacted Marianne this past week, via Facebook, to let her know how important her mother, "Mrs. Dunmyer" was to them.  That has to be about the nicest tribute anyone can pay.  To touch lives in a significant way was her gift.  She will be missed.

On a side note, Marianne still has plenty of cousins and a few aunts and uncles still living in Ireland. One of her uncles was a Ham, although Marianne cannot recall his call sign.  From the times she has visited the Emerald Isle, though, she was able to tell me about the tower he had on the side of his house, and unfortunately, also about the time it was struck by lightning and how the house almost burned down as a result.

Needless to say, there was no radio activity of any kind this past week.  I had hoped to play in the 4 States QRP Group 4X4 Sprint yesterday, but that was not to be.  However, an e-mail today on QRP-L from Hank  N8XX reminded me that the QRP ARCI Fall QRP QSO Party is next weekend.  So while that is not a portable event by any stretch of the imagination (although there's no reason it couldn't be if you wanted) I hope to make a semi-significant effort if time allows. There's no way in Heaven that I will be able to operate anywhere near the 24 hours out of 36 allowed.

A) I just have too much going on which precludes that possibility.
B) And even if "A" were not true, my butt would preclude the rest of my body from sitting in a chair that long.

So I will be happy if I manage to get 4 to 6, perhaps even 8 hours in of "giving out points".  Hope to hear you  on the bands next weekend!

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

Android

I am making this brief post on a very inexpensive Android tablet that I purchased through eBay.  Not the ideal way to do this, but fun in any case.

I was amazed on finding so many Amateur Radio apps in the Google  Play Store.

I have a few installed, including Ham Log. It will be interesting to see if this tablet can be used as an effective portable ops logging device.  Reminds me of the time that I used to use a Palm Pilot for that purpose.

One concern would be that the battery life on this thing isn't all that great.  It will be fun to experiment, though.

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

New QRP operating event

A new QRP operating event will occur NEXT Saturday - October 6th from 17:00 to 21:OO UTC. It is sponsored by the 4 States QRP Group and is called the "4X4 QRP Sprint".

For particulars, please visit:
http://www.4sqrp.com/FourByFour/4%20State%204x4%20QRP%20Sprint.pdf

This was the announcement that hit the QRP e-mail reflectors:

QRPsports has a new Sprint to provide lots of fun!

The 4 State QRP Group is sponsoring the new: 4x4 QRP Sprint........4 hours and your best 4 bands! October 6, 2012......1700 to 2100 UTC

Special Bonus Points for being portable
Special Bonus Points for making a contact with a station using a HamCan
Extra Points for being a member of the 4sqrp reflector or having attended OzarkCon

More on the rules, awards, online downloadable scoring, and Bonus Points, see: http://www.4sqrp.com/4sqrpOnTheAir.php 
Scroll to the 4x4 QRP Sprint information. Its gonna be fun!

72/73....Walter - K5EST - 4x4 QRP Sprint Coordinator

I can deeply appreciate the endeavor of launching a new QRP event!  And any excuse to get outside and operate is a good one as far as I am concerned.  I hope to get out next Saturday and jump into the fray. The  AccuWeather outlook for next weekend in Central NJ is clear with daytime highs in the 60s (18C). So if that holds true, it can potentially be beautiful outdoor operating conditions.

As far as QRP events go - the more the merrier.  Please consider joining in to make the 4 States QRP Group's new event a rousing success!

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

USS Slater

At the beginning of the month, I posted about a Special Event Station - K2N, that was going to be operating from NY State aboard the USS Slater.

As luck would have it, my schedule did not permit me to get on the air that day "to give a shot" at working them.  This was a disappointment as I love working Special Event Stations, especially those that in anyway commemorate our Military or our Veterans.

Fortunately, Stan WB2LQF announced on the e-mail reflectors about a video posted to YouTube showing the day's activities.  Here it is:



On a different note, I spent the evening printing out certificates for the 2012 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.  The top five finishers, as well as the high scorers from each state or province that entered should be seeing something in their mailboxes within the next week or two.

Again - thanks to all for making this inaugural 2012 event a big success!

Lastly - ATTENTION KIT BUILDERS !!!!!!

The ARRL wants your input, as they are looking for recommendations for "easy to build" kits for first time or Newbie kit builders.  The link to the page is: http://www.arrl.org/news/attention-kit-builders-the-arrl-wants-to-hear-from-you.

I recommended the ACME QRP GC100 Gel Cell Charger Kit.  It was easy to build and is highly functional and usable.  What more could you ask for?

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

Inspiration

In my links section, I have a link to W6AQ, Dave Bell's e-book, "Worlds Best Hobby".  I've mentioned the book on the blog here, before. I'd like to make a couple of points about it.

The first is that it is a WIP - a work in progress.  If you haven't visited the site in a while, you might find that Dave has added a few more chapters since you last aimed your browser his way.

That happened to me. As I read the last two "new" chapters, I became intrigued with Dave's first ARRL Film, "The Ham's Wide World". Produced in the '60s, this would have been EXACTLY the kind of film that would have started me on the journey towards my ticket. 

I'm so sorry that I never saw this film when it first came out, when I was 11 years old.  If I had, I am sure that I would now be closer towards my 45th anniversary as a Ham instead of closing in on my 35th, as I am now.

I found the movie on YouTube and am posting it here.  Event though the equipment is old and outdated, I still gleaned an eternal and timeless spark of enthusiasm and excitement while watching it.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope you will enjoy the nostalgia also.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

2012 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt results

Are finally done - thanks for bearing with me!

Spreadsheet of scores: http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/index%20page%203

Soapbox comments: http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/index%20page%204

Main Skeeter Hunt page: http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/

Thanks to the NJQRP for sponsoring and thank you to all who participated. Special thanks to those of you who sent in Log Summaries and Soapbox comments and photos.

There WILL be a 2013 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt!  Stay tuned to the QRP e-mail reflectors and this blog for an announcement around the beginning of May 2013.

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

Beautiful Autumn Day

The weather was sunny, and mild - not hot. A gorgeous Autumn day with crisp, blues skies and big, puffy white clouds.  We spent the early afternoon picking apples at a nearby "pick your own" orchard.  We got some great looking Red and Golden Delicious, Winesap, Jonathan and Macintosh apples.  Probably about 15 pounds of apples all told. Great snacks for a person (yours truly) who has sworn off junk food in an effort to drop some poundage.

After returning home, I spent some time on the radio and worked some DX as the bands were open. 20,17, 15 and 12 Meters were active and I even heard some stations on 10 Meters, too. I managed to snare the following:

PA6XX on 15 Meters
PA3FQA on 12 Meters
S57DX on 17 Meters
EA8DO on 12 Meters.

I heard a ZL1 station on 10 Meters; but from listening, it was apparent he was running QRO and was only about 569/579 here and there was quite a pileup.  Getting him in the log would have been nice, and I gave a few tries; but decided that hanging around too long was not going to bear fruit.  As the song says, "You've got know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em."  And sometimes you do "just know" when it's not going to work, and sometimes perseverance also means "not today; but some other time".

I also worked two stateside stations. One was Terry WA0ITP, on 20 Meters, who was working portable from Pioneer Ridge County Park near Ottumwa, Iowa.  Terry self posted onto QRPSPOTS and sure enough, I was able to get into his log.  That was fun, as I consider Terry to be one of the better known QRPers and it's always a delight to work a QRP "celebrity".

QRPSPOTS is (if you're not already familiar) a QRP Spotting site, sponsored by the Four States QRP Group..  QRPers who are going portable will often spot themselves in advance of their outing in order to let everyone know that they are active in the field.  There are a lot of spots posted for SOTA activities and many QRPers will spot juicy DX that they have been able to work with low power.  Nothing like spreadin' the wealth, man!  QRPSPOTS is a boon to QRPers and many thanks to the Four States QRP Group for the service they make available to us.

The other QSO was after dinner with Adam N0SSS who answered my CQ on 20 Meters. Adam is a younger Ham (relatively speaking) at 32 years of age and only 4 years as a Ham.  But I have a feeling that Adam will go a long ways in the QRP world.  He was using his KX1 at 2 Watts with a Moxon antenna that he built himself this summer.  When he turned the antenna so that I was in his sites, his signal went from 559 to 599+.  We had a very enjoyable chat that lasted for over a half an hour.  I sure hope we run into each other again sometime.

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

Oopsy!

Forgot a score.  And it affects the Top Ten - mea culpa, mea culpa. mea maxima culpa!

My apologies to Pete W1PNS who came in with a score of 4620 - so let me rephrase this .....

The Top 11 Finishers

KXØR - 11984 points

NØSS - 5840 points

NK9G - 5520 points

K9DXA - 5016 points
W1PNS - 4620 points

W4QO - 3760 points

W2LJ - 3672 points

WGØAT - 3268 points

K4UPG - 2320 points

AF40 - 2025 points

AD4S - 2016 points

Golly gee, and Pete went to so much trouble to post niceness about the Skeeter Hunt on his blog and I went and left him out - truly and purely accidentally with no malice a forethought.

Thanks, Pete, for being so understanding.  I'll get the hang of this yet, I promise!

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

2012 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt Results

Are in!  Well, partly that is!

I have yet to post the Soapbox pictures and comments - that WILL be completed by the end of the weekend, God willing and the creek don't rise.  But for a spreadsheet of the scores, you can visit - http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/index%20page%203

123 of you signed up for Skeeter numbers and there were a number of non-Skeeter participants (how many exactly, is known only to God). 45 logs were received, so I am going to very roughly guesstimate and hope that was maybe a 25% log submission rate.  Not bad for our first year, I guess!

The Top 10 Finishers

KXØR - 11984 points

NØSS - 5840 points

NK9G - 5520 points

K9DXA - 5016 points

W4QO - 3760 points

W2LJ - 3672 points

WGØAT - 3268 points

K4UPG - 2320 points

AF40 - 2025 points

AD4S - 2016 points

But in my book, all who participated were #1 Finishers.

Special kudos to NØSS, NE5DL,K4UPG, and ACØXR who fashioned homebrewed keys just for the Skeeter hunt.

I had a blast putting this together, operating in it and now tallying up the results.  A very, very special "Thank You" goes out to the NJQRP Club, especially George N2APB and Joe N2CX for lending "Big Name" sponsorship for this event.

I will announce on this venue when the Soapbox page is done - I hope that will be by Sunday evening.  And yes, Virginia, this year's Skeeter Hunt was enough of a success where there will be a 2013 version.  Any suggestions you might have towards improving the event will be entertained - please send me a private e-mail.  I am considering opening up a SSB category next year to encourage those who feel that CW is not their thing.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Skeeter Hunt results delay

I had intended to post the 2012 Skeeter Hunt results last weekend; but alas, some family stuff has come up which has taken away my discretionary free time.

Results will be posted this coming weekend on the Skeeter Hunt page of my blog and at  http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/

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

Whither "DE" ???

Listening to some QSOs on 30 and 40 Meters tonight, I have noticed an increasingly less usage of "DE".

VERY often, I seem to be hearing (for instance) "W2WK W2LJ" instead of "W2WK DE W2LJ".

Was "DE" tossed out the window?  Did I not receive the memo?  I know it's gone by the wayside in contests. Lord knows, the hour and a half it takes to send two letters will really cut down on the ol' QSO per Hour rate.  But in casual rag chews?

Call me a curmudgeon, call me old fashioned, but I'll stop using "DE" when I stop using my rotary phone, my 5.5" floppy disks, my Smith Corona typewriter and stop wearing my spats.

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

Remember

W2LJ

A beautiful day!

I got up this morning for my daily walk - well, actually, I don't do a daily walk, anymore.  Saturday and Sunday, I get up early and go for a walk. Monday through Friday, I spend a half hour on my elliptical machine in the basement - but I digress.

I woke up this morning to the beginnings of a beautiful day!  Yesterday was positively tropical, hot and humid, with the threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes all day. One minute it would be sunny, the next it was dark and threatening. While other areas in the North East were not so lucky, I praise God, that in South Plainfield, all we got was some really heavy rain from about 5:00 to 6:00 PM yesterday evening.  After that, the temperatures dropped, dry air moved in and you can honestly say that today is one of the "Ten Best of the Year".

Weather issues aside, the object of this post is to relate that I did something yesterday that I have not done in a very long time - about 9 years to be exact.

I made a contact using SSB.

Yes, I know - totally out of character; but I did it and surprised myself in the process.  After mowing the lawn yesterday, I had a little bit of down time, so I went down to the shack to spend a little bit of quality time behind the rig.  Alas, 12 Meters, 15 Meters and 17 Meters were a vast wasteland.  20 Meters was not bad; but had very little activity in the CW portion of the band.  So I decided to switch the K3 over to USB, and went "up" the bad to see if perhaps there were any special event stations doing their thing.

Didn't hear any of those, either.  But I was hearing a lot of loud European stations working the WAE contest. So I thought to myself, "I wonder if one might hear me ........ hmmmmm".  I twiddled the dial looking for a particularly loud one - there were a good number of them.  Then I heard a call sign that sounded interesting - 3Z2X.  AC log informed me that it was Poland.  All the better, the country that my ancestors came from!

Using my noodle, I pumped the K3 up to 10 Watts - still QRP by definition (I may be a little crazy; but I'm not insane - SSB and QRO? No way!). Then, I picked up that funny looking little box that you speak into - I think it's called a microphone and pressed the button thingy on the side.  Announced my call sign and actually heard him call me back!  I gave the contest exchange, got his and then sat there kind of amazed.  10 Watts via SSB all the way to Poland - and he heard me!  We spoke to each other, exchanged information and said good-bye. It worked. I was amazed.

I made a few more and it was fun but it wasn't enough to convert me from being a dyed-in-the-wool CW op.  But it did hold out hope for me that, in the future, I may be able to work Special Event stations that choose not to have CW as one of the modes that they employ.  It also encouraged me to maybe dip a toe into the pool when the QRP-ARCI holds their annual QRP SSB Sprint.  I never participated in one of those before.  This year just might be different.

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

A must read!

If you are a QRPer and are serious about it, especially when it comes to working DX or participating in the QRP Fox hunts (or any radio contest, for that matter) then the following IS A MUST READ.

http://www.ae5x.com/blog/2012/09/07/from-sardine-sender-to-dxcc-honor-roll-in-10-years-qrp/

This post on John AE5X's blog, is an absolute gem.  I have rarely read posts that are more pragmatic, to the point, that are dead on and hit the ball over the wall.

Pay particular attention to the passage that begins with, "There is a common misconception that the heavy lifting in a QSO containing a QRPer is done by the non-QRP station" and then ends with, "rather than using a strategy, are simply calling on unproven frequencies within the split range, thereby eliminating themselves as valid competitors."

This part is what I consider to be the "meat and potatoes" of this post, and I can think of no better words of wisdom to impart upon ANY Ham, let alone a budding QRPer.

John, thanks so much for writing this and sharing it with the radio and QRP community.  Words to live by!

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

TALARC

A tip o' the cap and a smart salute to NS8R for making me aware of The American Legion Amateur Radio Club.

http://www.legion.org/hamradio

If you're a US Armed Forces veteran and belong to the American Legion - please be sure to check it out.  It looks really, really nice.

Oh, and if you're a veteran and a Legion member or VFW member, or not a member of any organization at all - thanks for your service!

On another note, QRP DXing can be a mixed bag.  Some days, when the band conditions are right, it can be like shooting fish in a barrel. Other days, when the bands and the sun are not very cooperative, it can be akin to having a root canal.  But either way, it's fun. Hey, even trying for "the one that got away" is more fun than being at work!

But I really have to give credit to my brother and sister QRPers who go about it using SSB.  They have just that smidge more of patience and endurance than most of us. Sometimes, it seems like it just can't be done - but here's proof that it can.



Thanks, John K7HV for posting to YouTube.

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

New one

Worked a new one for me.

I heard 5N7M from Nigeria on 30 Meters and it took a little doing; but I got an answer for my efforts. Nigeria is a new one for me - never worked 'em before - via QRP.

This brings me up to (I believe) 112 DXCC entities worked via QRP and somewhere in the neighborhood of 138 DXCC entities worked over all.  I really have to do a serious recap accounting one of these days.

As hot as 12 Meters was on Saturday, the bands seemed pretty crummy yesterday and today. And that was matched by the weather here in Central NJ.  I participated, along with my CERT Team, in providing communications for the South Plainfield Annual Labor Day Parade and got downpoured on twice. And like the Ham that I am, I was more concerned about the radios getting wet than me! Fortunately, that was quite early in the morning; and by the time the parade kicked off, it was only overcast, with no precipitation.

Our annual fireworks display should kick off in about an hour and a half, really signalling the end of summer.  While it's been a pretty crummy year so far, personally, I still hate to see summer come to an end.  It's my most favorite season of all.  But the nights are getting longer; and the maple in the back yard is already starting to shed its first leaves.

Time stands still for no man.

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

Special Event station coming up

From the KX3 e-mail reflector (posted today). And this sounds very interesting:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a note to advertise a Special Event Station scheduled for 1600 UTC to 2400 UTC on 19 September 2012 - a hairbrained scheme launched too late to meet the printed matter deadlines.

Further details at www.qrz.com under call sign K2N. Bottom line: An eight (8) hour QRP CW-only special event aboard the only floating American WW II destroyer escort in the world that has been restored to its original 1945 wartime condition. We will operate two - possibly three - barefoot Elecraft KX3 transceivers and our antennas will consist of the authentically restored maritime verticals and horizontal wires. That means 70 and 80 foot wire verticals on the port and starboard sides; 100 and 190 foot long wires running amidships toward the fantail. We've already run a test and the KX3 internal ATU loads to 1:1 with no complaints whatsover on 40 through 6 meters inclusive. Our counterpoise is to die for -- a 1200 ton navy warship floating in the Hudson River at the Port of Albany, New York.

If everything goes according to plan, we also expect to have pre-production versions of the new Begali "Adventure" paddle to field test. Two iambic paddles and one non-iambic mono version. The "Adventure" is designed to mate directly with the KX3 - or - sit in its base for use with any other transceiver.

So, if you are interested in working an historic ship then please mark your calendar as per www.qrz.com. We will QSL as per www.qrz.com with a nice postcard of the USS Slater (DE-766). 

73, Stan WB2LQF www.wb2lqf.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's the middle of the week - on a Wednesday.  But they will run until 8:00 PM that evening, so I stand a chance after getting home from work.  I would like to nab this one!

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

Cool - neat - keen!

I was playing around on 30 Meters and 40 Meters tonight, listening, tuning, calling CQ.  I had a very FB QSO with Rudi W8DJ on 30 Meters, where the signals were plentiful and loud.

After our QSO, I hopped on over to 40 Meters and heard a weak; but perfectly copyable CQ from VA3IED/QRP near 7.030 MHz.  So I decided to throw out my call, and sure enough, I got an answer.

The op's name was Scott, and he told me that he was on a camping trip to a remote island in Canada. Alarm bells immediately went off in my head!  I remembered seeing a video on YouTube about something like this!  I asked Scott if that was him and sure enough, it was!

Scott is back to the same island - canoeing out there and having a grand old time camping and playing radio, QRP style that is.  Last year's video told the tale of his PFR3A. This year it is Scott's new KX3 that has accompanied him.

During our QSO, he was about 539 and I got a 529 in return.  Not the strongest of signals; but very easily readable nonetheless.  As I sit hear typing this, Scott is in conversation with another Ham after taking a short break after our QSO.  I don't know if it's changing band conditions; or if he re-oriented his antenna, because he is an honest 579/589 into NJ now.



This is last year's video; so you can see where he is camping.  It sure is beautiful, that's for sure. I didn't ask Scott; but sure hope he's shooting more video this year, showing off his KX3!

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

Going out on a low note

Arghhhh!

With 16 Fox hunts completed, I was 10 for 16.   If I was in the major leagues, that would be a .625 batting average and I'd have mansions, yachts, and sports cars.

But alas, it's JUST the QRP Fox hunts; and in the last two weeks, I have been shut out!

To make matters worse, tonight's hunts are the last of the Summer 2012 season, so I will be going out on a really lousy note. I'm doing about as well as Mr. Fox shown above, who got stuck in the fence that surrounds my cousin's house in Pennsylvania.

A revoltin' sitchyashun!

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

Jim Cluett W1PID

I am so happy to see that Jim W1PID's outdoor QRP adventure stories have now been picked up over at AmateurRadio.com, which is a great site, by the way.

Since Jim's posts will be picked up there, I would ask you to keep an eye out for them and will no longer mention them here, in order to avoid a duplication of effort.

If you're into QRP and the outdoors, or would like to be, or find yourself forced to live vicariously, please treat yourself to Jim's sagas.  If you'd like to re-read an old story or catch up on a few you might have missed - here's Jim's Website:  http://www.w1pid.com/

Happy reading!  And Jim, thanks so much for sharing.

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

CW Ops contest this weekend

The following article appeared on eHam - may be of interest to those of you who like CW contests:

CW Open Contest Sept. 1 and 2:

Ed Tobias (KR3E) posted on August 27, 2012
Second Annual CW Open THIS WEEKEND!

Are you ready for one of the most unique and fun contests on the air? If so, jump into the CW Open, organized by the CWops club…it’s three-contests-in-one!

Like most contests, the goal is to work as many stations as possible (in this case CW stations only). Each station may be worked once per band.

Unlike other contests, however, in the CW Open there are three separate competitions at three separate times -- each is called a "session". You can enter one, two or all three of these sessions. Each session is scored separately. For those who enter more than one session, there is also a multiple-session category that combines all your session scores into one grand total score. So, if you enter 2 or 3 sessions you will be competing in each individual session plus the multiple-session category. More chances to win!

Join us for as many sessions as you can make.

Session 1 September 1 1200-1559Z

Session 2 September 1 2000-2359Z

Session 3 September 2 0400-0759Z

The exchange is easy: just a serial number and your name.

Awards: (Sponsored by ICOM America)

•Trophy for 1st place in each time period.

•Plaque for 1st place in each power level in each time period

•Trophy for over all combined score of all three time periods.

•Plaque for 1st place for each power level in the combined score group

Note: if the same entrant wins multiple awards, they may be combined).

•Certificates for achieving more than 100 QSOs in any or all time periods.

Is it fun? Here’s what some of last year’s contestants said:

“A fun, new way to contest. Many thanks to the organizers!” - AE6Y

“Running QRP 5W from IC-7400 to a trap vertical. First time in this contest. Very enjoyable pace. Look forward to next year. – G6CSY

“Good traffic and very quick ops. Hats off….See all you next year. Ciao.” - IK0HBN

“Enjoyed every minute and looking forward to next year! 73.” – KA3DRR

For more information and full rules go to: http://www.cwops.org/cwopen.html

73 de Ed, KR3E – CWops #133

72 de Larry W2LJ - CWops #1005
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Contemplating "The Magic"

On this next to last weekend of "Summer" 2012, my wife Marianne suggested we take the kids down to the shore for the day.  The last time we were down there with them was when they were just babies, and they don't even remember that trip. Since then, both Joey and Cara have learned how to swim (even though their Dad never learned) and they are both excellent swimmers.  With dangerous rip tides and undercurrents, it was a priority of ours that they be excellent swimmers before allowing them to venture into the surf.

So today, after Sunday Mass, we went down to Belmar, NJ.

And while Marianne, Joey and Cara enjoyed the surf, I did "Dad Duty" and played sentry, watching all our "stuff" on the beach.  Not a tough job, mind you, sitting in beautiful sunshine, enjoying the salt air and sea breezes and the view.

And it's the view that ALWAYS get me when we go anywhere near the ocean.

Inevitably, as a Ham, I look at the ocean differently than most folks. I look at that vast expanse of water and that flat horizon, and in my mind's eye, I can picture the far off countries that lay on the other side of all that water. And I think of my 5 Watts of RF energy crossing all that water and reaching out to all those far away places and it just boggles my mind!

We've become jaded. Today's technology - heck, the technology of the past 40 or so years has shrunken the world and we take so much for granted.  Satellites, cell phones, the Internet have all done their part to shrink vast distances and make the world seem so small.  Communications are instantaneous and we can find out about just about anything, anywhere on the globe in the blink of an eye. And now, it's come to the point where we demand and expect that instant communication.

But then you take a trip to the ocean.  You feel the warm sand beneath your feet and the cool water lapping at your ankles and you look out upon ALL that water.  And you look, and you look and all your eye can see  is water and horizon.  And it hits you how small you are and how big this world really is.

Then you think of the QSOs - OK1DX, EA6UN, HA5AGS, D3AA, 2012L and it goes on an on. All those places on the other side of all that water - as far as the eye can see.  And those QSOs all happened with 5 Watts of power. Less power than the night light that each night illuminates the upstairs bedroom hallway in our house, zipping across that vast expanse - dits and dahs forming letters and words - making acquaintances and friends.

Awesome - truly awesome to think about it.  I can't help but thinking that if Mr. Marconi were alive today, he would be a QRPer.  Once the airwaves were conquered, I think it would tickle him to no end to see just how far he could go with lesser and lesser power.  If anyone was thrilled by "The Magic", it was him.

On another note, I received a nice e-mail this morning from none other than Steve WGØAT.  He included a link to a video of his 2012 Skeeter Hunt effort.



My sincere thanks to Steve and to all of you who partook in the Hunt this year.  And thank to all of you who have sent logs and summaries so far, it's so gratifying to know that you enjoyed the Skeeter Hunt as much as I did.  The results are racking up, and very shortly after the September 12th deadline, I will make a full posting of scores, sopabox comments, photos and videos.

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

RIP Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the surface of the Moon, died today at the age of 82. The cause of death was from complications from heart bypass surgery which occurred earlier this month.

Neil Armstrong was a humble hero, who did not seek the limelight; and was always eager to praise those who shared in the efforts to land an American on the moon.

You will be sorely missed, Neil.  You were larger than life to those of us who grew up with Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

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

Strange

Lots of yard work today.  As a reward, I put some time in behind the key tonight.  All the bands seemed to have a lot of background noise tonight for some reason. Last night, while listening on 20 Meters during the QRP Fox hunt, the background noise was almost non-existent.

Anyway, I worked OK1DX on 30 Meters at 10.120 MHz. He was calling "CQ DX" and wasn't getting any takers. So I threw my call out there and got an immediate response.  Pavel was 579 here and I got a 559 in return.  No surprise there.  The QSO was a bit more than your normal run of the mill DX QSO; and by the end, Pavel had told me that I had also come up to 579.

Here's the kicker.  I was running 5 Watts to my 88' EDZ antenna.  He was pushing 400 Watts into a dipole. My first inclination at learning he was pushing 400 Watts, was to wonder why he was only 579 here. I would have thought at that power he would have been 599+.

Of course, there are reasons for that, I know. But sometimes, even as a QRPer, I fall into that "more power equals louder" trap myself.

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

Learning something new

You never know when you're going to learn a new and better way of doing something. TJ W0EA posted this on the KX3 list, which led to (what I thought) was a fascinating discussion on how to coil and store antenna wire.



You'd think that winding up a wire antenna is a pretty mundane thing, eh?  But no, there is an art to it, so that when you're out in the field, you're not dealing with a tangled mess and cussing like a sailor on shore leave. I tried the method shown above and dang it! It works!

I love it when I learn a new way to do something better.

I am taking some needed vacation time from work on Friday and Monday.  Have to use what days are coming to me as I found out my department is being eliminated due to a contract change.  Originally, I was given to the end of August; but found out that I was extended until the end of October, in order to help train the guys from the new company that is taking over the contract.

But I digress. I still have a lot of yard work to do and hope to accomplish it over this prolonged weekend. But I am also hoping to perhaps get out to one of NJ's state parks to do a park activation.  Maybe Hacklebarney State Park which is located between the villages of Chester and Long Valley in Morris County. If the weather's nice on Sunday, perhaps the KX3 and the PAR can get a workout.

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

Eeeeewwww !

That pretty much describes the state of the bands this afternoon.  I took a break from yard work this weekend for some R & R time, hoping to get some radio in this afternoon.  I got plenty of time behind the key; but not much to show for it.

I worked W7L, a lighthouse station and HA9RT.  W7L is in North Carolina Arizona (thanks, Hans BX2ABT), according to QRZ, and I finally got in the log after much trying. Hungary?  First try and a 579 report - go figure!

Another nice story with some beautiful pictures was posted by Jim W1PID today. He went up to Knox Mountain with his friend Hans, late Saturday afternoon. Detail here:

http://www.w1pid.com/knox_eve/knox_eve.html

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

Today was a very good day

Amateur Radio-wise, that is!

At the VE session this morning, we were able to welcome three new Hams into the fold. Well, make that two and one revert.  One of the candidates was a Ham years ago; but let his license lapse. So maybe it would be more accurate to say that we welcomed three potentially active Hams into the fold.

I guess I am from another era; as I get frustrated (a bit) when the first question out of a new Ham's mouth is something to the effect of, "So where can I get a good price on a dual band handheld?"  Man, when I was studying for my Novice ticket, the LAST thing I wanted was an HT. All I had my sights on was HF and working the bands.  In fact, I didn't get my first VHF radio until nearly a year after I was licensed.

I got my ticket in December of 1978.  Spent November and December and part of January assembling my station, which was a "pre-owned" Drake 2-NT transmitter (which was my Christmas gift from my parents that year) and a Heathkit HR-1680 receiver which I saved up for and built all by myself. That receiver was the very first of many Heathkits that I was to build.  Between buying, building and making an antenna, I had my first QSO on January 29th, 1979.  And it was an HF QSO.  I still have that QSL card, framed in my basement.  Can't recall the entire call of the poor victim that I plied my nasty fist on, but I do remember his name was Adam and he was KA9something.

My first VHF radio was a Tempo1 handheld, the very first to have a synthesized VFO, not relying on crystal control.  I bought it a year later, after I had upgraded to General, specifically to assist in the 1980 Winter Olympics Torch Run.  Those were the Lake Placid "Do you believe in miracles?" Olympics and the torch run  traveled right through Central NJ on its way to Lake Placid.  I was with a local club providing communications in an ARRL led effort.  I still have the Public Service Commendation hanging on the shack wall that commemorated that event.

But for me, VHF and UHF were never a Number One favorite. Don't get me wrong, I have spent A LOT of time on UHF and VHF repeaters - making friends, doing public service and all kinds of stuff.  But in W2LJ's mind, when Ham Radio pops up in a little thought balloon, it's always a picture of an HF radio, making worlwide contacts.  Just me, I guess.

I had another treat this afternoon, working my good friend, Bob W3BBO, who also took the plunge and just very recently got a K3.  He finished building his this past week and this was our very first K3 to K3 QSO.

It wasn't a long rag chew, just enough of a QSO to see how we each sounded to one another. Good signals both ways.  It was a hoot!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Lest you think

that we bloggers never get on the air and just sit behind the keyboard all the time ......

I had a very FB QSO with fellow blogger Dan KB6NU on 30 Meters tonight.  I was calling CQ and Dan answered.  Dan is working on his Extra Class study guide, so we chatted for a bit and reminisced about our own exam experiences.  Dan and I have actually worked numerous times on the HF bands - it's always nice to run into him.

That was followed by two more rag chews, one with Tom, N8TL and Jim NH4C.  Both were on 30 Meters, also.  The 88' EDZ antenna seems to do a very good job for me on 30 Meters.  A far cry from the G5RV.  Not to say that the G5RV wouldn't load on 30 Meters - it did.  But I get much better signal reports with the EDZ and I feel like I'm warming up the ionosphere instead of just the antenna wire.

I was going to go to the NJQRP meeting tomorrow; but received a request to help out at a VE session with the Raritan Valley Radio Club at the Somerset County Fire Headquarters building in Hillsborough, NJ.  It's been a while since I have participated in a VE session and I do want to keep my credentials up.  Besides, it's a much closer trip for me to Hillsborough, than it is to the NJQRP meeting.  I'd say the trip to the VE session is about a 1/2 hour to 40 minute (if there's traffic) ride from here. The ride to the NJQRP meeting is an hour and a half from here - easy.  With gas prices going up yet again, I think I'll stay closer to home.

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

Like listening to a symphony

It was a tough day at work, but ......

I was really lucky tonight and both Foxes in the 20 Meter QRP Fox hunt were loud into New Jersey. I got both their pelts quite quickly and they were both VERY honest 599s into NJ.  This was kind of an unexpected surprise, and a quite welcome one at that. Tuning around 20 Meters a few minutes prior to the hunt, I saw that the ambient noise level on the band is around an S7. I was expecting to be skunked as a result.

But TJ W0EA and John K4BAI have superb ears and both heard me really quickly. And as a side benefit of working them so early, I can now sit here and relax and listen. It's like listening to a fine piece of music. Both are masters of their frequencies - firing off QSOs with liquid ease.  If not like a symphony, then it's certainly like a fine ballet; or perhaps akin to enjoying a piece of velvety smooth chocolate.

Bravo to both Foxes. It was not only good working both of you; but a joy to listen to your efforts working others.  Fine codesmanship (new word?) is a wonderful thing.

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

Trickles

Skeeter logs are trickling in. So far, I've received 29. I know there were a lot more than 29 participants; so don't be shy about getting your log in.  You have until September 12th - but why wait?  Beat the last minute rush.

Full logs (adif and cabrillo files) are not necessary. The following is more than enough:

Name
Call
Skeeter number (if you had one)
Number of Skeeter QSOs
Number of Non- Skeeter QSOs.
Number of S/P/Cs that you worked on all bands. For example, if you worked GA on 20 and 40 it counts twice.
Your station class multipler:
X1 Home stations - commercial equipment
X2 Home stations - home brewed or kit built equipment
X3 Portable station - commercial equipment
X4 Portable station - home brewed or kit built equipment

And whether or not you're claiming the homebrewed key bonus of 1,000 points. Remember, the key had to have been built specifically for the Skeeter Hunt and you have to send me a picture. (So far, three entries have claimed the 1,000 point bonus and have sent photos).

All soapbox comments and photos will be posted.

On another note (totally unrelated to Ham Radio) I have recently taken efforts towards living a more healthy life style.  I was looking at some of the pictures that Marianne took while we were on vacation and I saw one of myself and thought, "You have GOT to be kidding!".

For the past month, I have gotten out of bed extra early before work and have been going out for a daily two mile walk (about twice as far on Saturday mornings when I have more time). I have cut out sweetened beverages (still allow myself the very occasional cold 807, however!) and unhealthy snacks.  I am eating more fruit and fresh vegetables.

I have lost about 5 pounds so far; but my goal is to lose 30 by the time we head back to Lake George next summer. The ultimate test came today, when I got home from work. The kids wanted to indulge in a rare trip to Burger King.  While they ate their cheeseburgers, I munched on a grilled chicken salad with (zero fat) honey mustard dressing. I shouldn't complain as it was quite good; but I was so in the mood for a Whopper!

I recently went for a physical and everything turned out well; except for the fact that my cholesterol is a tad high. The upper limit is supposed to be 200 and I came in at 211.  I am hoping the change in diet and the increased physical activity will take care of the cholesterol level as well as lowering my blood pressure, too.

I remember when I was a kid and was in such a hurry to be a grown up.  Sometimes, it ain't what it was cracked up to be!

BTW, Doug Hendricks announced today on the QRP reflectors that Hendricks QRP Kits is re-opening as of tomorrow, 8/16.  For those of you who were unaware, Doug's wife passed away a month ago on 7/16. It will be good to have him back; and it will probably be good for him to be back.  Our thoughts and prayers are still with you and your family, Doug!

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

Slow on the uptake

That's me .... W2LJ .... incredibly slow on the uptake at times.

For FOBB and again yesterday for the Skeeter Hunt, I ended up using my Whiterook single lever paddle instead of my American Morse Dirt Cheap Paddle.  Not because I don't like the DCP, in fact I love its action and feel.  The problem was that every time I would go to pick the paddle up with my big, hammy hands, I would inadvertently squeeze it and start sending unwanted dits or dahs.

This paddle is too good to not use - so tonight I had a "V8 moment" where I hit my forehead as the obvious solution occurred to me.  And actually, I ended up killing two birds with one stone.

I carry my ear buds in an old Velamints tin.  It occurred to me that the tin could do double duty - carry my ear buds AND serve as a base for my paddles.

I punched a hole through the top of the tin and secured the paddle to the top lid with a #4 screw, lockwasher and nut.

Now the tin does double duty, perfectly!  And when I put my big mitts on the tin, I am no longer accidentally squeezing the paddle levers and generating unwanted Morse.  Not a good thing in the middle of a sprint (or anytime for that matter!).

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

Skeeter hunting fun

I had a real good time during the 1st Annual Skeeter Hunt today, although the outlook appeared bleak from the very beginning.  Just as I was heading out the door to go to the park, our vacuum cleaner decided to give up the ghost.  It made a real funny noise and a burning smell.  I tried troubleshooting it quickly; but it turned out we needed a new one.  Of course, my XYL didn't want to wait; so it was off to Target to buy a new one.

That chore taken care of, I headed to the park (dressed in my WGØAT "Old Goats Rule - QRP Adventures" T-shirt!) - nearly an hour and a bit into the contest.  Fortunately, everything after the vacuum cleaner incident went as smooth as butter!

The weather here in Central NJ was gorgeous!  A high of about 84F with sunny, blue skies and lots of white, puffy clouds.  The humidity was not bad, and the only Skeeters that I had to worry about were the ones on the airwaves.

The wrist rocket got a line up over a pretty high tree branch on my first attempt.  The PAR antenna went up without any trouble at all and and didn't even cause the KX3's autotuner to even so much as burp - 1:1 SWR on both 20 Meters and 40 Meters.  The little box to the right of the KX3 is the PAR matchbox.  I used my Whiterook single lever paddle today.  And of course, you can see Ol' Blue, my battery, up there in the upper left hand corner of the camping table.

And the good SWR on 20 and 40 was a very good thing, because unlike the Flight of the Bumblebees, I was to find a lot of activity on 40 Meters.  In fact, a little after 20:00 UTC, 20 Meters became dominated by European stations and I was barely able to hear any Skeeters on that band after that point.

In all, I managed 28 QSOs - 13 were on 20 Meters and 15 were on 40 Meters.  Best DX was working Mike DJ5AV from Germany on 20 Meters at 18:55 UTC.  I only got a 529 from him; but there were a lot of strong signals on both bands and I received quite a few 579s to 599s in addition to the "normal" 559s.

Tear down was just as easy as set up.  After the contest ended, I was able to pack up things and be out of the park in less than 10 minutes.

I would like to thank all of you who took the time to participate in this first ever NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.  I think a good time was had by all; and this will definitely become an annual Summer QRP event.

Remember, logs are due by September 12th, after which I will post results.  Log summaries are fine - details of each QSO are not necessary - but if you want to send a log in that way, that's OK, too!  And any pictures, especially those of you who home brewed keys for the event will be greatly appreciated!

I've gotten a few logs in already and I hope to get many, many more.  In fact, Jim W1PID, posted another of his great stories today - this one about the Skeeter Hunt:

http://www.w1pid.com/skeeter/skeeter.html

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

Sunday !!!

There's still time to get a number for the Skeeter Hunt, if you are so inclined.  I will honor any request e-mailed to me by 0400 UTC Sunday (12:00 Midnight Saturday).

The weather here in Central NJ is supposed to be sunny with a high of around 87F.  Hope you all get a chance to participate - and even more so ..... hope you all have fun and enjoy the event!

Remember, if you're going to claim credit for the homebrew key bonus, you have to send me a photo of your key along with your entry.

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

APF made all the difference

in the 20 Meter Fox hunt tonight.

I worked Dave AB9CA first.  His signal strength was a bit different tonight as he is not home in Alabama, but is vacationing in Wisconsin.  Completing Fox duty while on vacation - now THAT'S dedication!

Paul AA4XX was another matter.  I could barely hear him when I did finally find him.  The K3's APF (Audio Peak Filter) made all the difference in the world.  At ESP levels when I first heard him, turning on the APF feature insured that when I finally worked him, I was able to hear him answer me back!  It took a barely audible signal and boosted it to a 449 to my poor old ears.

Thanks Elecraft, for a real neat (and usable) feature!

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

I can't resist

posting Jim W1PID's accounts of his portable ops on my blog.

http://www.w1pid.com/hike/hike.html

This is a report on his latest trip to Knox Mountain and the DX he worked while there.

I am sorry for not being original and I certainly don't mean to steal Jim's thunder in any way.  He posts these to QRP-L, but these are always so good, they're worth sharing with those of you who might not be subscribers to QRP-L.

These little reports that Jim posts are a huge inspiration to me; and I hope they serve that purpose for you too.  You don't need to be stuck in your "normal" shack all day in order to make contacts or work distant countries.  You know it as well as I do - a radio, a battery, a key and some wire is all you need for a passport to the rest of the globe.

Thanks Jim, for sharing again!  These keep me wanting to do the same. I've said it before and I'll say it again:

"There's nothing better than a QRP radio, some wire and the great outdoors!"

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

Happy Dance Time!

Turned on the radio to around 14.060 MHz, hoping to hear some QRPers, only to hear "CQ NA".  I didn't remember that the North American QSO Party was this weekend.  Regular readers of this blog know that except for short QRP Sprints, W2LJ is not big into contests.  I have nothing against them; just can't force my butt into a chair for a long enough period of time to make it interesting for myself.

So instead of kvetching, I pushed the band button on the K3 and took 'er up the road to 17 Meters.  I love 17 Meters! When the band is open there is usually all kinds of good DX.  Tonight was no different - and since 17 Meters is a WARC band - no contesting!

So, as is my usual routine, I started at the bottom of the band at 18.068 MHz and slowly twiddled the VFO dial upward.  I came to a stop at around 18.074 MHz. D3AA calling "CQ UP" - not too many takers, a small pile up building, but still not bad yet.

Where the heck is D3AA?  I quickly plop D3AA in to AC Log.  Angola.  Hot dog - Angola is a new one!  Never worked Angola - QRP or QRO (100 Watts) before.

I throw my call out a couple of times; but no dice.  D3AA is up and down. One time he calls, he's 599 - next time, 569. So I'm thinking to myself that he's going to fade and that I missed the best propagation (as usual).  But no!  As time goes along, he's actually getting louder; but the pile up is also growing, commensurately.  The K3 makes it pretty easy to figure out where he's listening as he stated he was listening up.  So I go to where I heard the last few stations he worked and figured out that for the time being, he was staying put and not drifting up after each contact.

Patience and persistence are a big part of QRP and this time was no different.  I stayed at it for about 15 minutes and finally, I interjected "W2LJ" at just the right moment and was rewarded with "W2LJ 599 TU", to which I responded in return, of course.

Coolest of the cool beans!  A new African country - a new country via QRP (or ANY power level for that matter).  I opened up Chrome on my netbook and figured I would post this to QRPSPOTS. Most of the time I figure that if I was able to work a station with my simple antennas, then a lot of other QRPers should be able to, also.  I posted anyway, but saw that I was beat to the punch by my good bud, John AE5X - Amateur Radio op, DXer and QRPer and photographer extraordinaire

Anyway, that's the reason for "The Happy Dance" tonight.

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

Now THAT'S a Skeeter

Courtesy of my good friend George N2JNZ, who sent it along with his Skeeter number request e-mail:

I think he's a tad QRO - what do you think?

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The "other" side of the pile up!

Daunting, isn't it?  Just goes to show that there were some superb ops up there on CY9M!

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

The other thing I wanted to talk about tonight

is the new book out by Don Keith N4KC.  If you haven't read about it on his blog, then I am going to tell you about it here.

The name of the book is "Riding the Shortwaves: Exploring the Magic of Amateur Radio"

I purchased it the other day, and this book is fantastic, IMHO!

If you have someone that you know is thinking of becoming a Ham, has inclinations about becoming a Ham, or is actively studying to become a Ham, or recently became a Ham - direct them to this book!  Don is an accomplished, published author -  and this book showcases his writing skill.

It is written in friendly, plain language, with just the right amount of Ham jargon infused (fully explained) that is perfect for those who are getting into or just got into the hobby.  And the primary focus of this book is getting on the HF bands.  How many new Hams do you know that get their license and then just seem to stagnate on VHF/UHF, get bored and leave the hobby?

That situation vexed Don N4KC also, and this is his effort to solve that problem.  The first thing he does (and does it really well!) is to inform the prospective or new Ham just how great operating on the HF bands is.  He puts "The Magic" that is HF into words better than I've ever read before.  Then he builds upon that by covering how to set up your station, how to choose and set up an antenna, which are just a few of the topics covered in this book. I have to tell you, that in all honesty, I wish this book was out 34 years ago when I first got started.

This book has all the stuff that we OT HF operators learned the hard way.  Now it's written down in a book that is a delightful and very entertaining read.  Hey, there's even stuff in here that's a good review for us OT's, too!  Learning and having fun while doing it - what could be better than that?

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

Ham Radio T-shirts

Rem K6BBQ sent me an e-mail letting me know about Ham Radio T-shirts available on Cafe Press.  Right now, through August 5th (Pacific Time) Cafe Press is running a 50% off sale. All you have to do is enter the Promo Code "BIYEARLY" (no quotes) when you check out.  Look at some of the cool shirts they offer:

If you like Ham Radio t-shirts (like I do!), just go on over to Cafe Press and search on "Amateur Radio" - there are tons of great designs on there!

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

This n' that

A package arrived through the mail today from Universal Radio.  I purchased one o' them thar fancy PAR EF-10-20-40 antennas.  It kind of goes against the grain to buy a commercial antenna, but it has gotten great reviews and eliminates the need for a counterpoise.  I figured, "Why not?".  The other thing that is good is that I can use it on other bands by cutting my own radiators. Hopefully if the weather is decent this weekend, I can take it to the park with the antenna analyzer to tune it.

Skeeter number requests came in a flurry today!  We're up to number 105; and I think I owe many thanks to Jim W4QO for promoting the Skeeter Hunt on the NOGAQRP e-mail reflector.  Thanks, Jim!

The 20 Meter QRP Fox hunts continue tonight.  No thunderstorms like last week, so just maybe I'll be able to catch a pelt or two.

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