Did I do something smart?

For once in my life? (Besides marrying Marianne!)

I started working "real jobs" back in 1977, By a "real job", I mean a 40 hour per week, not the kind of work you did as a teen, or a minimum wage type job.  I have to admit, though, the first few jobs I had were not that far above minimum wage! So back in the 1980's, when I started making what you might consider a decent salary at Sinar Bron, where I would remain for the next 22 years, I decided to shell out the $$$ to become an ARRL Life Member.

Even back in 1980's money it was a lot and I had to pay it over a few successive quarters. Sometimes I have wondered whether or not that was a fool hardy choice. I especially came to question my decision when the League decided to jump on the bandwagon for eliminating the Morse Code requirement for obtaining an Amateur Radio license. "Time heals all wounds" and I got over it, I guess. That policy change still lives in the back of my mind, though. There's a "never forget" flag flying in deepest and darkest recesses of my memory with regards to that issue which is near and dear to my heart.

All that aside, I received an e-mail to all ARRL Members that yearly dues are going to go up to $59 a year. That's a significant increase. I know all the ARRL does with regard to lobbying for Amateur Radio and all. I'm good with that - but as I come closer and closer to retirement (sometime within the next 2 to 4 years. I haven't truly decided yet) I have to wonder how I'd be able to justify that on a fixed income, were I still a "Standard Member". 

In addition. it was announced that applications for Life Membership are being suspended for the time being until they can "price the offering to be revenue neutral over its term". I guess that means they feel they're currently losing money on the likes of me. In actuality, they shouldn't. I opted out of getting paper copies of QST a few years ago.  It always seemed that among my local group of Ham Radio friends, I was the last one to receive the latest version of the magazine. So aside from producing digital versions and making them available to me, they don't spend all that much on me. I don't get pins or certificates for 25, 30, 40 or whatever consecutive years of membership like the rest of you do. AND when I changed from N2ELW to W2LJ back in the year 2000, I had to pay for a new Lifetime Membership plaque. It wasn't a freebie - so IMHO there's not too many perks to being a Life Member other than not being bugged about dues.

It will be interesting to see how this affects League membership going forward. I'm certain it will decrease, but by how much will remain to be seen. I think it's pretty much a no-brainer that if membership numbers do decline then that deficit will have to be made up by increasing the prices of books, apparel, and other swag. And you would NOT be able to knock me over with a feather if all of a sudden it was decided that requesting a call sign certificate for Logbook of the World became associated with a fee.

I could be totally wrong on that last one, but time will tell.

Oh, and by the way ........ if you change your call to N2ELW via the Vanity Callsign system ...... do I have a plaque for you !  LOL!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

From utter chaos to a minor disaster

I guess that's the best way to describe the shack now. I spent a couple hours filling two big green garbage bags with "stuff". It seems my precious radio room had become the Makoski family repository for just all kinds of "stuff".

I can now sit down and turn on the radio without having Fibber McGee's closet come raining down upon my head. Unfortunately in the trash went two small semi-started kits that I began working on literally years ago. I don't remember what they were and where the remaining components went to, so as much as it pained me, I let them go. Believe me, in their stead, I have plenty of projects to work on. I am not going on in life kitless.

I still have a ways to go, but I made a start and I'm getting there. The main goal here is to have enough clean space to build the QMX when I eventually get around to ordering one. I'm hoping that will happen before summer ends.

Just a reminder - FOBB is next Sunday! If you haven't made your plans, or requested a Bee number, time is getting short. And speaking of time getting short, I am already noticing that the hours of daylight are getting less. Boo! Hiss!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Did anyone listen for KPH yesterday?

The Maritime Radio History Society ran an event yesterday, where Maritime Station KPH was sending five letter code groups in which listeners were to decode a message using a WWII Enigma machine simulator.

https://www.radiomarine.org/mrhs-events?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR2xzJ9-IqeqaOjs7wUPrvfe-TJ9nl8fU1kGAMcXLMqEKd5HNn-O6qYzObU

I wasn't participating in the event myself, but my friend Tim Koeth, K0ETH, the son of my friend Bill W2WK (SK) was. He had sent me a message during the week asking if I would copy the code groups as a back up to his effort.

At 4:00 PM local time, I ran down to the shack and fired up the KX3. Since the transmissions were way out of the Amateur Radio bands, I bypassed the internal tuner so no "last settings" from our bands could possibly attenuate whatever signal I was able to receive.

The KPH CW frequencies are (in kc):

426 (after an announcement on 500)

6477.5

8642.0

12808.5

17016.8

22477.5 

The only frequency on which I was able to copy was 17.0168 MHz. The signal was not bad, I'd say a decent 579, but QSB was pretty significant and my background noise was at least S3 on the W3EDP. I did not switch to the Butternut, and I should have as it's a bit quieter as far as background noise is concerned.

Anyway, the transmission of the code groups was at 15 WPM, so when I had solid listening, it was easy copy. I had two code groups where I only got 4 characters. The rest I got complete, but with band conditions, I highly doubt all were correct. But I DO know that if this were an old school FCC Code Test (remember those? WHEW!) I'm 100%! confident that I would have at least one minute's worth of solid copy. At the same time, if the Allies had depended on me alone back in WWII, the free world as we know it today, might have been in big trouble

I sent off my copy to Tim and wished him luck. He had several other people listening for him besides me (and himself). I hope he had a set up with the ability to copy the same in a RTTY message which followed the Morse Code transmission. But my own experience is that knowing that RTTY is not a Forward Error Correcting system, that copy might be as dicey as my old ears listening to CW being sent from 3,000 miles away amidst the QSB, background noise and static crashes.

So........ did you listen? How did you do?

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Stuff like this really toasts my marshmallows

 A Facebook friend posted this on his page:

And generally, it was received well. However, one Ham who shall remain un-named had to copy it onto his page, modify it and begin denigrating QRP. All "tongue-in-cheek", of course!

I got to read that tired old garbage about how QRP is not special and how ALL the hard work is done by the receiving station, yadda ...yadda....yadda. QRP doesn't involve any real skill, in fact it's "mousy". QRO is what real Hams do.

The thing that ticked me off is that this guy is a Ham with some semi-celebrity cred of sorts who has a regular column in a national publication. He's not an idiot and he should know better. And even if his comments were "tongue-in-cheek" other Hams were, of course, more than willing to play "Dog pile on the rabbit".

So when I called him out on it, I was told to "lighten up".

Many years ago, when I was in the photo retail game, I learned that if you wanted to sell a Nikon, you didn't tell the customer that his Minolta or Mamiya was a piece of crap, or was somehow inferior.  You just sold them on all the great features and quality that they would be purchasing.

From that I learned that in Amateur Radio you never publicly criticize or belittle what another person likes, no matter what you might personally think. You like QRO? Fine. You like FT8? Fine, You like contesting? Fine. I may or may not be into any of those things, but I will never try to convince you that what you like is wrong. (Unless, of course, it is illegal).

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Weather

 This time, of the terrestrial kind.

My phone went off at about 3:30 AM this morning, just about the time Marianne wakes up to get ready for work - she has to be at the dialysis clinic at 5:00 AM.  It was the WCBS Weather app on my phone, warning of a severe thunderstorm warning. A quick glance revealed that it was for Rockland and Westchester counties in NY.

When I awoke at 5:00 AM and headed downstairs to the kitchen, I heard a loud kind of whooshing sound. At first I thought the compressor in the refrigerator was going bonkers, but it turned out to be rain hitting the skylight in the rec room. It was raining hard!

It seems we've had a lot of wild and wooly weather this summer. Of course, you'll always have people whose first words out of their mouths are "climate change", but I remember summers like this when I was but a youngster. I remember one summer in particular when I must have been either 5, 6 or maybe 7 years old. It seemed like we got thunderstorms just about every day that summer. And the reason for my memory is that my Mom was deathly and I mean DEATHLY frightened by thunderstorms.  

There was a time when she was a little girl and answered the telephone during a storm and she received a bad shock. She carried that fear with her for her whole life and whenever a thunderstorm was upon us, particularly the bad ones, she would herd my sister and me and herself down to the basement. I also remember one time that same summer when the sky got so black like nighttime, that she hustled the three of us next door to my aunt and uncle's house, as she was afraid to be alone, even with us kids. The grown ups stayed upstairs and my sister and I and our two cousins played in the basement. That storm was so bad that during a particularly close lightning strike, it caused the lightbulb in an overhead ceiling fixture to burst.

The point of all this is, that whenever someone panics about the weather and claims that this is new and that the world is coming to an end, I just chuckle to myself. Yes, the weather HAS been like this before, it's just that you weren't around to see it! I remember the 60's being particularly bad for hurricanes affecting New Jersey because our basement was leaky and I spent a lot of time picking up water.

It's all cyclical and there will be periods of violent weather and not so violent weather. You just have to keep an eye on the big picture. And as for climate change? Yep! Certainly! And you know what? It's been changing since "Day One" and will keep on changing until "Day Last", and other than being the best and most responsible stewards of the planet that we can be - there's not much we can or should do about it.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Solar Weather Widgets

 I re-installed Paul N0NBH's Solar Weather Widget. If you scroll down all the way to the bottom of the blog you will see it:

Interestingly, as I was looking at the page,  https://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html, I noticed there was an Android app available. So I clicked on the link, only to find out that while the app is available at the Google Play store, it was not available to me because it was written to work on an older version of Android.  BUT ........ there was a link to downloading the APK file - so I clicked on that and got it running on my Galaxy S10E.

Nice! There's a little overlap between the second and third photos (screenshots from my phone), but you get the idea. Wish I had this with me last week up at the lake.  Once again, hindsight is 20/20.

By the way, there are also versions of the phone app available for iPhones and there are versions of the main widgets available for iOS and Linux machines.

I'm not associated with Paul N0NBH, other than that I think that he provides we Amateur Radio ops an excellent service. If you would like for him to keep developing widgets like these, there is a link on the webpage where you can make a free will donation, if you so desire - just sayin'.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Change in plans

A thought came to me while I was at work on Monday. I think I can myself save a few $$.  I know that I have a couple old magmounts in the basement from antennas that I have used over the years that either got damaged or otherwise fell into disuse. To keep the magnets strong, I've kept them attached to the ductwork in the basement ceiling. I found this one Monday night, which is perfect for my needs. (I love scavenging!)

The threaded hole perfectly matches the thread size of the Buddistick extension arms.  All I have to do is replace the coax. I took it apart to see how that was originally fitted as there's still a tiny stub of coax left - I guess the original coax got damaged and I had cut it off. This one's been literally "hanging around" in the basement for so long, I don't even remember what antenna I had attached to it.

It's a press fit. Maybe not the best arrangement, electronically, but it works. I cut the coax off one of these, which I recently removed from the Jeep:

I wasn't getting the range from this Compaqtenna that I was used to getting with a more "traditional" type of VHF/UHF dual band antenna, so I switched back to one. The coax was still good and it will mate perfectly with the old magmount that I rescued from the basement (or so I hope!).

The weather is supposed to be good this weekend and I don't have too many outstanding obligations glaring me in the face. I am going to get this repair job done on Saturday and then maybe on Sunday, if God is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll go up to Washington Rock State Park and will activate K-1635 using the Buddistick.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Blast from the past

An article that I authored which CQ Magazine saw fit to publish in their February 2014 issue. It's pertinent to my discussion of the Buddistick on top of the Jeep in yesterday's post.

I've posted these on the "Portable QRP Ops" page for future reference.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Things have changed!

Things have changed since I acquired my Buddistick! Improvements have been made and one of the most important pieces that I use, this "old school" Buddistick mounting plate, seems to be no longer made, or available as a part.

Glad I still have mine!

What I do need to do is to acquire one of these:

I have an adapter which is basically two PL-259's back to back. I will attach the mounting plate to the magmount using that, which will once again allow me to use the Buddistick mounted at the top of my Jeep. The Buddistick really sang for me when I used it that way before and I expect the same result again.  This will be useful when a wire is not allowed in a tree; or when a tree is not available. It's also a quick and dirty setup when time is an issue. My best DX using a similar configuration was from NJ to a far part of European Russia (almost Asiatic Russia) at about 8,000 some miles with 5 Watts CW.

I wish I had all this with me last week at the lake, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

POTA SYP Weekend

This weekend is POTA's "Support Your Parks" weekend. Wrong weekend for me, as we're back home and I'm slowly preparing myself to get back to the grind tomorrow. The older I get, the harder the transition of getting back to the normal routine is.

In any case, even if I wasn't going back to work tomorrow, this weekend would not have been a good POTA weekend as the weather has been less than deluxe since we got home. After we unpacked the car yesterday, I travelled to 25 or so miles south of here to my sister's place to pick up Harold (our Beagle), as she was watching him for the week. As we traveled back to South Plainfield, Harold and I hit some pretty nasty rain on the highway. I kept pressing on with my windshield wipers on at full blast at times. Other drivers, not as confident in their ability to proceed had either pulled over to the side of the highway, or were driving with their hazard blinkers on.

The big Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest was to be held at the Sussex County Fairgrounds this morning. I was debating whether or not to go. I really didn't feel like driving all the way up to the NorthWest corner of New Jersey after all the driving I did yesterday. What sealed the deal for me, though, was when my phone blasted off at 4:30 this morning that our neighboring county, Somerset County, was under a tornado watch until 5:15 this morning. Basically, I can throw a rock out my window and hit Somerset County. I don't think a tornado would have had second thoughts about wandering into Middlesex County just because the National Weather Service didn't give it permission.

So I stayed home. And from some pictures I saw on Facebook, a lot of people made the same decision that I did. Let's just say the photos didn't indicate that there were mobs and crowds of vendors or attendees. My weather station has reported that we have received 1.40" of rain since yesterday afternoon with more to come. It's supposed to clear up and be hot and sunny for tomorrow, a prototypical Summer day. 

Of course it will. I'll be at work.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

FOBB is on!

For any new QRP Newbies out there,  FOBB is the Flight of the Bumblebees. It is the longest held, and arguably the best and most popular outdoor QRP event of the Summer.

I'm so happy to see sign ups begin tomorrow! If you're new to QRP, or a seasoned veteran ....this is a must do, must not miss event! Here's Rich KI6SN's announcement:

We were hanging on until this Sunday to officially announce the 2023 Flight of the Bumble Bees, but there arose such a clatter, we figured we'd better pull the trigger now.

You'll find everything you need to know to take part in the event on July 30 at:

http://www.ARSqrp.blogspot.com

The FOBB BB Numbers Roster is developing at:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1onAsqMAvYBWp5Ifcpg3fXNYNxrx0dvPfxNWk1-rmP_o/edit#gid=0

Please check it out, and by all means, sign up as a Bumble Bee if you'd like to do a field operation.

Thanks in advance to everyone who joins in to make this one of the premiere QRP contests of the year. We'll be listening for you from the field.

73,

Richard

__________________________________________________________________________________

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Already thinking of next year

It's our last full day up here, so no radio today. Just enjoying the day and soaking in all the lake ambiance that I can. But that's not stopping me of thinking about next year.

I need to not forget the Buddistick whips next year. The Buddistick, mounted on a magmount on the roof of the Jeep can really sing. I've used it way that way before and having the vehicle act as the ground plane makes all the difference in the world. I'm not going to bring along aluminum screening, that's for sure.

I will bring along my drive on mast holder and my 20 foot crappie fishing rod. That used to work well for me from the top of Mt. Prospect. They don't like anyone hanging anything in the trees up there; but the PAR, running from a picnic table to the crappie pole some feet away causes no complaints.

Oh, I uploaded my log to the POTA website this morning, so if you worked me, you've gotten credit.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Better day today

 Maybe because it was that I was wearing my lucky W1AW t-shirt?

Unfortunately, the ARRL doesn't offer these anymore. I'd order another if I could. Not that I'm superstitious, or anything!

I set up the AlexLoop on the porch again. My plans to deploy the Buddistick evaporated when I realized I left the whips at home. I wasn't expecting much, but my expectations proved foundless.

I ended up working the requisite 10 stations, with three of them being Park to Park. All were on 40 Meters except for the last. I worked Dave AB9CA on 20 Meters. He was at K-8170 in South Dakota. Actually, in all I worked 16 stations from K-2001.  I know I could have worked more if I had used the PAR ENDFEDZ, but I didn't want to throw it up in a tree in cabin property here.

I will submit my log to the POTA people after I re-read the rules and requirements about submissions, It's been a while.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Solar Weather

I should have checked the solar weather report yesterday before getting on the air. Looking at it later, I discovered that it was a lousy day to concentrate on 40 and 20 Meters. I should have spent my time on 15 Meters or perhaps 10 Meters, where conditions were much better.

As it was I only made three contacts in about an hour. One was a Park to Park, which made up for the otherwise "meh" of the day. At 19:04 UTC, I worked WI5D who was at K-7390, Leavenworth Park in Kansas.

If I get a chance later today, I may set up with the Buddistick. I have to make 5 more contacts here before I can count this as an activation. The weather forecast for today is "ok". Tomorrow and Friday are looking iffy.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A good day to do not much

It's raining again today up here at the lake. A lot of people might complain that their vacation is being ruined by bad weather, but you won't hear a peep out of either Marianne or myself resembling anything like that. We're so busy with our day-today lives that precious and few are the days in which we are afforded the luxury of doing nothing. Like yesterday, "I'll take it."

Tomorrow, however, I'll have to make a run to the grocery store to get hamburgers or something for dinner. One of the things I have on my list is a small note pad. I did not pack one in the daypack and even though I have HamLog NG on my phone and AC Log here on the laptop, I still find it easier to log on paper and transfer to the computer.

I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's just ingrained into me from my Novice days, when there was no such thing as personal computers and Ham Radio logging software. Or perhaps it's that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Don't get me wrong. I love both my logging programs and I use them and would be lost without them. It's just at THE moment of making a QSO, I find it less distracting to put down the necessary information on a piece of paper and then type it in afterwards.

It's the same way for me on Field Day. I enter the callsign into AC Log to make sure the QSO won't be a dupe, but I write the received exchange down on paper before entering it into everlasting digital life. I don't know, maybe it's a matter of distraction, maybe it's a matter of not being able to multi-task in this particular circumstance, or maybe I just have a short attention span. In any case, I think I'll always be a paper first, digital second type of person.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Not exactly what I was hoping for ...

 but I'll take it!

I met with W3BBO for our weekly ragchew on Skype at 3:00 PM. He let me go early so that I could set up for the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. I was going to set up on the big deck they have here where we're staying, but the skies have been overcast and threatening all day, so I set up on the porch instead.

At 4:00 PM I tuned to 20 Meters and I heard quite a few SKCC Weekend Sprinters (WES) all by their frequency and up into the QRP Watering Holes. However, I did not hear one single solitary QRPer calling "CQ QRP" or whatever. Undeterred, I called CQ for a while on 14.062 with no result. I switched over to 40 Meters and that band was pretty dead as a door nail, too.

Rather than call it a day so soon. I decided to go back to 20 Meters, but down the band a bit. Maybe I could catch some DX?  Sure enough I did! I heard F5PLC calling CQ on 14.037 MHz with no takers. I crossed my fingers, took a shot and put out my call. I got an answer immediately. Michel "Mike" was a solid 599 and he gave me a 579.  How could I help but not be 579 when my signal was being picked up by this antenna?

Mike was transmitting with 50 Watts from near Belfort, France which is not too far from the Swiss border.

I think I may have been close to his QTH when I was in France during my second visit to Switzerland in 1994. And looking at his QRZ page, Mike is quite the CW aficionado and a QRPer, too. Look at his KX1 !

After we signed, I decided to go back up to QRP Country to see if I could hear any Summer Homebrew Sprinter's and alas I did not. But I did hear OZ30EU coming in like gangbusters!

Svend was 599 +++, but I was avery weak 329 to him, but as I said up top - I'll take it! Svend was very gracious and patient. He stuck with me when he could have easily resumed calling CQ right over me. He didn't and I sent him an e-mail of thanks, explaining my set up. I just hope that his e-mail address as provided by QRZ.com is current and accurate.

I finally gave up when Marianne joined me on the porch, nudged me and said, "Don't you hear the thunder?" In all honesty, with earbuds in, I did not and I didn't see any flashes either, but maybe I was just concentrating too hard on the KX3 and the DX. I tore down and brought everything in, not desiring to take any chances as minute as they might be. So no Summer Homebrew Sprinters, but France and Denmark running 5 Watts to a magloop. Nice way to start off the week here!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Our Happy Place

Hope to hear you on the air and work you this week. I will spot myself when I do the for real activation of K-2001.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Taking with

I've decided that this year, instead of taking my entire backpack up to Lake George, I'll just be bringing a daypack (the KISS principle). The contents will be:

1) KX3

2) Small blue lithium battery / charger

3) AlexLoop and PAR ENDFEDZ (I might include my Buddistick package as it's as small as the AlexLoop package)

4) Earbuds and bulldog clip paddle

5) 25' length of RG-8X (for the PAR)

6) Arborist's throw back which always resides in the Jeep, anyway.

And that's it. But with that, I hope to activate K-2001 Adirondack State Park while I am there. In addition, there's also the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint this Sunday from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. While my KX3 doesn't count as homebrew (even though it was built from a kit) it's still fun making contacts and handing out points. I hope there's a decent amount of activity.

Oh, and of course the laptop. I'll want to upload my log to POTA before we leave for home. For actual logging while operating I use HamLog NG on my phone. There's probably better software available now as this one's been around for a while, but I am comfortable with it and used to it. I don't think it's even available at the Google PlayStore anymore! 

I could really use a tablet for this. I gave my tablet to Marianne when hers broke. I never purchased a replacement for myself.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

I am a dinosaur

A curmudgeon, a crab, sourpuss, stick-in-mud, killjoy ........whatever you want to call me. I freely and openly admit it.

So what's W2LJ going on about now?

Knowing that I am a VE Liaison, someone (who shall remain nameless) approached me and asked to see the copies of the new Element 3 General exams that took effect on July 1st that were sent to me by the ARRL. I immediately and outrightly refused.

After I calmed down (my temper flared), I asked this person (an Extra) why exactly did they want to see them? The answer was (paraphrased) "I want to teach a General licensing class" - Ham Cram style.

So I directed this person to the NCVEC website, where the new question pool has been available since April. But that wasn't good enough - again paraphrasing,  "I want to know which questions are actually on the tests."

Again came the answer - unequivocally and forever "NO!" And then I got the "Why not?" attitude. Maybe because this my license and my VE credentials, my honesty, my reputation and my integrity on the line?

And this is where the curmudgeonliness comes in. I am probably going to raise a lot of hackles with this, but I loathe Ham Crams just for the sake of Ham Crams. They definitely have their place and purpose and ARE very worthwhile when used properly. In my book, you teach a licensing course - properly and traditionally- and then you can use a Ham Cram as a sort of final review before exam time. This way, you teach the theory and the Ham Cram will make the candidate comfortable with what they might find on the exam, as well as jog their memories on any finer points they may need reinforcement on.

This has been my personal experience where I have been involved in running VE Sessions for both scenarios. In the VE sessions where beforehand the material was taught traditionally (ie. hold classes and/or home study where the students read the license manual, the instructor reviews that material with them, answers questions for them, explains and tries to simplify the theory that wasn't clear to them) and the Ham Cram was used only as a final review, the passing rate was 85% or higher. In the sessions where the only exposure to the material was the Ham Cram itself on the day of testing, the passing rate was closer to 10-15%. I asked one of the participants at one of the latter types of sessions if they looked at the material at all before coming to take part of the Cram and I was answered "I looked at it on my way over here." I held my tongue, but probably rolled my eyes.

The point being, are you teaching theory or are you just teaching people how to take a test? Allowing students to memorize answers without understanding a scintilla of the background behind them is a fool's paradise. I hate to sound snobby, demeaning or condescending, but I've run across way too many Amateur Extras who have no idea how to build a simple dipole for themselves. Even worse, it seems they don't even have the wherewithal to go and look up the information for themselves! 

My $00.02 is that the hugest tragedy that ever occurred was when the FCC eliminated the Novice license. For years this was a training ground that led to the higher class licenses. We had our own little "playground" of spectrum, we made our abundant mistakes, we learned from them, we made friends, and if our interest was high enough - we upgraded and moved on.

Cranking out licensees for the sake of cranking out licensees - what's the value in that? Like so many other things in life, if there's just a mild curiosity about the Amateur Radio experience with no real passion behind it, you're just inflating numbers for the sake of looking good. And in the end, that does no one any good, except maybe for the lobbyists and the equipment manufacturers.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Night of Nights

Courtesy of Dave Ring N1EA:

Announcement: Night of Nights XXIV

13 July at 0001 GMT (July 12 at 5:01pm, PDT

Each year, as the day turns from July 12 to July 13 the transmitters of KPH are brought to life once again, performing the service that they were originally designed to perform, to honor the men and women who served in the maritime radio service, afloat and ashore, for a century. This year marks the twenty-fourth year that the rituals of this now traditional celebration will be observed. For details on this years Night of Nights, click here. The MRHS web site will be updated shortly with all the details you will need to participate in Night of Nights at home. And mark your calendars for 13 July at 0001 GMT (July 12 at 5:01pm, PDT). Get those receivers and antennas ready to once again hear the "music of Morse" in the Maritime Radio service, during this special anniversary celebration.

https://youtu.be/2a4scmlC7tI

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

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Happy Independence Day!

 

Happy 4th of July!

As we in the USA celebrate our birthday and our independence from the British Crown, it is wise to remember that the fight for said independence was not quickly gained nor without a price.

A mere six months from the signing of the Declaration, things looked very bleak for the newly declared "United States of America". General Washington and the Continental Army were being chased by British forces all along the East Coast, and there was an excellent chance that the dream of founding this new nation would be utterly and forever quashed.

But in December of 1776, thing took a dramatic change .......in New Jersey. New Jersey is proudly hailed as "The Crossroads of the Revolution" as more skirmishes, battles and sorties were fought here than in other colony. As much as New Jersey is often the butt of jokes - even going back to Colonial times, it is fair to state that if it wasn't for New Jersey, there might never have been a United States of America. Being born, raised and living in this "colony" makes this holiday all the more special.

If you have the time, I would recommend spending some time to watch the following:

A superb film that pretty accurately tells the story of the bravery, courage, fortitude and determination and stubbornness of the men and women who fought and died to make this new nation free. We owe much to them and they are solemnly remembered on this day.

Happy Independence Day and may God forever Bless the United States of America.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Freaky!

Sunday afternoon I received an alert over my phone that Middlesex County was under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11:00 PM. Being cautious, I went downstairs to detach the coax cable running to the KX3. But before I did that,  I wanted to see how the bands were. So I turned on the KX3.

Nothing. It was dead.

My immediate reaction was to panic, beads of sweat started popping out on my forehead, but I fought off the urge. I broke out the VOM and took a reading at the Astron's terminals. 13.5 Volts, we're good there.

Take a reading at the power connector to the KX3. Nothing. Next step was to turn off the Astron, switch the meter to Ohms and check for continuity from the Astron to the KX3's  power plug. Direct short from outer connection on the power plug to the negative terminal of the Astron.. Same for positive side of things. What ???!!!???  Holy electrons, Batman, this doesn't make sense!

Next step was to run upstairs and break out the PowerWerx battery and the power cord that I use with it. Hooked that up to the KX3 and all is well.

Deep breath and huge sigh of relief!

Then I took that power cord, attached the two alligator clips to the Astron's terminals, plugged that plug into the KX3, turned them both on and again, all is well.

So the culprit is the power cord. How does that go bad just sitting there doing nothing? The only thing that I can think of is that our cat must have been climbing around down there behind my shack table and must have broken it. I'm still.puzzled as how the cable tested OK with the Ohms setting on the meter. Maybe the way I had it twisted made a temporary good connection. Either way, I will fabricate a new power cord on Monday.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

What came down DID go back up!

 The shed came and the install went rather quickly. It's an amazing process to watch.

They back it in on this trailer which has a second set of wheels that come down that are on a perpendicular axis to the main wheels so not only can they back it in, but they can swivel it it the direction they need.

The driver can control all the mechanized movements of the trailer using a hand held remote. It looked exactly like a TV remote from where I was standing. He can see the trailer movements as they are occurring and he is controlling them real time. Nothing is done from the driver's seat, and there's no guess work.

The shed in its final resting place. They pivoted it and made the final positioning adjustments by placing two long lengths of what looked to be 8" PVC pipe, which acted as rollers. Like moving blocks to build pyramids!

Fortunately, they did not have to remove the fence post that supported my W3EDP mast. I actually could have left it up, but who knew? With my luck, if I had left it up, I would have been panicking that I had to take it down while they waited. The whole process took about an hour andthey  finished early enough where I was able to run the coax back to the Butternut and re-install the W3EDP and my 2 Meter/440MHz J-Pole.

When I disconnected the coax from the Butternut, I was happy to see the coax connectors were still bright and shiny. I had covered them with a layer of electrical tape, then a coating of plumber's putty and then a final wrapping of electrical tape.  This time I went with a layer of electrical tape, a layer of Flex-Seal Flextape, and then the final coating of electrical tape.  I have used the Flextape before and it has been very effective in creating a water-tight barrier.

I had to postpone my weekly ragchew with W3BBO. We'll hook up tomorrow. I wanted to get the antennas up and the associated work out of the way. Boy, I used a lot of cable ties securing the Butternut's coax to the top rails of the chain link fence, but it came out looking nicely done! That's a good thing as the weather for today and tomorrow is supposed to be very rainy with lots of thunder.

I may not be able to get on the air, due to the weather, but at least I can sleep well knowing the installation of both shed and antennas is done.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Pre-shed before and after

Before clean up

Post clean up

The W3EDP is down, and the coax from the HF9V is rolled up and out of the way. Scheduled delivery for the new shed is for sometime this morning around 10:30 to 11:00 AM.

The weather picture is looking grim. Depending on how fast they are in and out, I may be able to get the coax to the Butternut hooked up again, today. We'll see about the W3EDP. If the post it was hose clamped to is not touched, I may be able to get that back up, as well. If they have to remove it and re-set it in new concrete, I may have to wait until Tuesday. The concrete needs time to set and the weather is looking soaky for tomorrow and only a little better on Monday. Tuesday looks to be the best bet.

BTW, for those of you who are interested, The 13 Colonies event starts today. I mention it in passing, as, while I will admit that it IS a fun event, I no longer participate for reasons that will be best left unsaid here,

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It's getting to be that time of year again

When I have to decide what equipment I'll be taking up to Lake George when we return for our annual trip this summer. Undoubtedly the KX3 and the AlexLoop with be the main components, but I'm thinking of also bring the PAR ENDFEDZ and the arborist throw bag to get some wire in a tree.

The problem is that I really haven't practiced tossing that thing up into the trees enough so that I don't look like some kind of idiot. Maybe this weekend after I get all the other stuff done that needs to be done (and if the weather cooperates), I can make my way over to Cotton Street Park, where I go for FOBB and the Skeeter Hunt. There's a lot of tall trees that would make for great practice.

In the meantime, I know there are some tutorial videos on YouTube that I can watch so that at the very least I look like I know what I'm doing. You'd think that this would be a no-brainer, but I've seen a couple if videos a while back that indicate there are several techniques that the pros use for good success. 

The last thing I want is to look like a rube, and ideally I'd like to get a line up in one shot, if I can. I'm not into attracting curious onlookers. And if I do attract onlookers, I don't want to provide them with reason for hilarious laughter.

All that being said, Sunday July 9th is the QRP-ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. This always seems to occur the first Sunday we are there. It may be time for a trip up Mt. Prospect.

2023 QRP-ARCI SUMMER HOMEBREW SPRINT

Date/Time:

2000Z to 2300Z on 9 July 2023  (4PM to 7PM EDT)

Mode:

HF CW Only.

Exchange:

Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, ARCI member number
Non-Members send:  RST, State/Province/Country, Power Out

QSO Points:

Member = 5 points
Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points
Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

Multiplier:

SPC (State/Province/Country) total for all bands.  The same station may be worked on multiple bands for QSO points and SPC credit.

Power Multiplier:

>5 Watts = x1
>1 - 5 Watts = x7
>250 mW - 1 Watt = x10
>55 mW - 250 mW = x15
<55 mW = x20

Suggested Frequencies:

160m    1810 kHz
80m     3560 kHz
40m     7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)
20m     14060 kHz
15m     21060 kHz
10m     28060 kHz

Score:

Final Score = Points (total for all bands) x SPCs (total for all bands) x Power Multiplier + Bonus Points.

BONUS POINTS:

If operating a HB Transmitter add 2000 points
If operating a HB Receiver add 3000 points
If operating a HB Transceiver add 5000 points
(Homebrew is defined as:  if you built it, it is homebrew (kits too!)

If you are operating PORTABLE using battery power AND a temporary antenna, add 5000 points to your final score.  (You can NOT be at your shack operating from battery power using your home station antenna to qualify for this bonus.)  This is to help level the playing field for contesters who work from the field against contest stations with 5 element yagis at 70 ft.


Categories:

Entry may be All-Band, Single Band, High Bands (10m-15m-20m) or Low Bands (40m-80m-160m)

How to Participate:

Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies.  Work as many stations calling CQ QRP or CQ TEST as possible, or call CQ QRP or CQ TEST yourself!  You can work a station for credit once on each band.

Log Submission:

Submit your entry online at http://www.qrpcontest.com

Deadline:

Entries must be posted on or before 29 July 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

What comes down must go back up

This weekend is a loonnnggg holiday weekend in the USA, as Independence Day is next Tuesday. The company that I work for is also closed on Monday, so it will be in essence, a four day weekend. I am extending that to five, as I will be taking Friday off as well.

Last summer, we had to take down our backyard shed, due to damage from branches overhanging from our backyard neighbor. It didn't help that squirrels found openings from the branch damage and seized the opportunity to make our shed their winter home. That, plus age, water damage and rot, it was time to say goodbye to the old shed.

A new one is coming on Saturday. However, before they can install it (it's pre-built) I need to get some things done, hence the reason for taking Friday off. They will have to temporarily remove part of the chain link fence that separates our property from our neighbors, so they can haul it into the backyard. Once it's back there, they will simply lift it onto the same patio block pad that is already there. I'm okay with it being in the same place as there are new owners of that house back there, and they removed all those trees that had caused the damage to the old shed, which you can see in the photo below.

There are weeds to be whacked along the chain link fence, so the fence workers won't be cussing me out under their breath as they do their thing. This is a constant battle. As soon as I whack them, they spring back like Slinkies after a good rain. I need to mow the lawn and get all the garden stuff off the pad. What garden tools and paraphernalia that we decided to keep have been residing on the pad under a tarp, so that has to be moved so that the pad is free, clear and clean.

The most concerning part for me is that the mast that supports my W3EDP is hose clamped to one of the chain link fence support pipes, so that has to come down. Also, the coax that runs from my Butternut vertical to the shack is very neatly secured to the chain link fence top sections by cable ties. That has to be removed, rolled up and neatly stored so the truck coming in to set the shed in place doesn't crunch my coax.

So the order of the day for Friday is antenna removal and landscaping. The original plan (there's always an original plan that gets shot to blazes) was to get this stuff done each evening this week after work. Mother Nature has put the kibosh on that. Ever since Field Day, we've been getting some pretty intense thunderstorms towards the dinner hour.

The forecast for today and Friday has changed. Both days are supposed to be sunny and warm, but most importantly, dry. I am hoping to get the front and backyards mowed tomorrow evening after dinner and leave the antenna work and weed whacking for Friday. I'm not going to kill myself and try to get that all done after dinner on Friday, so I decided to take the day off. This way, I have the entire day to get the needed work completed, under a lot less stress and pressure.

The concrete that they will have to pour to reinstall the chain link fence posts will need some time to set, so I probably won't be able to get the W3EDP back up until maybe Tuesday. I'm hoping I can move that mast farther back along the property line, more to where the red line is in the photo. That would make it a little less conspicuous and would make the XYL and my neighbors a bit happier. I will also have to run the rolled up coax back to the Butternut and re-secure that. That can actually be done on Saturday, weather permitting. It's a good thing they are coming early Saturday morning to install this shed, because it's looking like as of Saturday afternoon, we're going to return to this cycle of thunderstormy weather for Saturday afternoon, Sunday and Monday. 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Taking things for granted

Before I start this post, I want to dispel any rumors that all W2LJ does at Field Day is take photographs. Here are two of yours truly actually pounding brass and adding points to the NJ2SP Field Day total - courtesy of Mario KD2HPF.

Field Day, or perhaps better said, the end of Field Day often causes me to wax nostalgic. That definitely happened this year, and a large part of it was seen in that video which I posted yesterday. Watching Marv K2VHW working ZL4TT in New Zealand brought back me back, in an instant, to something that happened to me, as a  newly licensed Amateur Radio operator so many years ago. 

A little context - Bill W2AOF, our Club President, spent a month with friends in New Zealand earlier this year. When he got back, he filled us in on the details of the trip. He had a great time, got to see a lot of wonderful sights, got to eat good food and spend quality time with good people. Yet, there was a price to pay, and I'm not referring to the monetary expense. Sure, there was that, but there was also an expenditure of time. 

With all the technological advancements we've witnessed over the last century, getting to New Zealand from New Jersey is comparatively easy compared to 100 years ago. Back then, the ocean voyage took weeks. Flying by air is a snap compared to that, but even that takes time. You don't often think about it, but even flying on a commercial aircraft, going at speeds never dreamt of by the seafaring ships of the old days, it still takes the better part of a day (around 18 hours) to get from New Jersey to New Zealand.  And in the middle of the overnight, in the wee hours of Sunday morning, with 5 Watts of power to a hunk of wire hanging in the air, we made that trip and back in seconds, the whole conversation taking a few minutes!

I was struck by that, once again. I wish Bill had been there. He had left a few hours earlier to make sure the A/C was working properly in his home as well as to get some much needed rest. Had he been there. Bill is the kind of guy who would have been taken aback and would have experienced that "Wow factor" of what had just been accomplished. We communicate with all parts of the world. There is really no place too far that our radio waves can't reach. But how often do we let that soak in? How often do we get annoyed when that DX contact isn't made. How often do we take our radios and our hobby and all the physics involved for granted?

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, as I had a similar experience happen to me back in 1979, and I'm sure it's been related somewhere earlier in this blog. But I like to think about it, it's an enjoyable memory and I'll re-tell it again.

I passed my Novice exam sometime back in October/November of 1978. The actual paper "ticket" came in the mail the last week of the year. I didn't even get on the air until the end of January of 1979, as I was busy putting my station together, and building my Heathkit Novice receiver kit that I had gotten as a Christmas gift. I upgraded to General in July and I worked my first DX contact with a Ham in Germany shortly thereafter.

Later that year in October of 1979, my best friend and I decided to take a trip up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to do some photography. We were two young budding photographers who were working together at a local camera shop and we both needed a road trip. We got our much needed time off and eventually made it all the way to Maine, specifically Bar Harbor. From there we decided that we would follow the coast as we made our way back to New Jersey. 

That meant a side trip to Cape Cod, and on the way out to Provincetown for some authentic New England clam chowder we came across a sign indicating that we were approaching the site of Marconi's Wellfleet Station.  I had to stop. We were in my car and I was the driver, so what I say goes .....goes. Right? What newly minted Amateur Radio operator would not want to visit a Marconi site? 

Not my image, but this is what you see when you visit. ^ This site is part of the National Park's Cape Cod National Seashore entity, so it is well maintained and there is a plethora of history to read about. This is what it looked like back in the day:

A few of the cement pylons that anchored the legs of the antenna towers were still there when I visited. Most had washed away into the sea as a result of beach erosion.

But it was the sea that struck me the most, which is a strange thing to say as I was born, bred and continue to live in New Jersey. I've seen the Atlantic Ocean and it bays hundreds, if not close to a thousand times in my time here on earth. But that time was different. 

I had not yet traveled to Switzerland, and would not experience air travel to Europe for another nine years, but standing there, for a VERY long time, where history had been made, just staring at the ocean, looking out upon all that water as far as my eye could see, was an experience unlike any other I had ever had. All I could think of was the radio waves from my Drake 2-NT and my MorGain multiband dipole, flying over all that water to another Ham in Germany. And her radio waves (she was an XYL) travelling back to my Heathkit HR-1680 receiver in a matter of seconds.

That water looked like it would never end. I knew that it did. I knew that on the other side of that vastness was Europe and the rest of the world. To contemplate my radio signals covering all that distance made me feel so tiny, but also filled me with awe at the immensity of Creation at the same time. 

We get so busy on Field Day and the rest of the year with making contacts, conducting ragchews, running nets, competing in contests, speaking into microphones, banging away on keys, typing away on keyboards that we forget to notice what is really happening. It's the magical part of Amateur Radio that never grows old for me and I hope I never take it for granted.

Long winded, I know, but thanks for staying with me!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

W9 SOTA Association 10th Anniversary Event

 From Tim N9PUZ on the 4 States QRP Group io.group

The SOTA W9 Association (Indiana-Illinois-Wisconsin) is planning an operating event on Saturday July 1st for the association's 10th anniversary. Multiple activations are planned for all 3 states.  A certificate will be available for all activators in Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin on July 1, as well as for chasers who make at least one contact with an activator in Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin on July 1.  An endorsement for the chaser certificate is available for contacting at least one station in all 3 states (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin) on July 1.

How to find the activators:

SOTA Activators almost always use a spotting page so you can find them easily. Activators primarily use CW or SSB, the spotting page also indicates the Mode being used. You can see those spots by visiting this web page:

<https://sotl.as/spots/sotawatch>

Any summit reference in one of the three W9 Association States begins with.. "W9"!

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

Also from the ARRL - news about the FCC ULS System

ZCZC AG14

QST de W1AW 

ARRL Bulletin 14  ARLB014

From ARRL Headquarters 

Newington CT  June 27, 2023

To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB014

ARLB014 FCC ULS System Restored

The FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) has resumed operations, including the Electronic Batch Filing system (EBF).

As of June 27, 2023, all systems have been reported to be working.However, visitors to the website will see a message referring themto Public Notice DA 23-529 for additional information and guidance

on filing deadline extensions.

The systems were first reported unavailable on June 9, 2023. OnFriday afternoon, June 23, the EBF  system was restored. All VEC organizations use that system for filing exam sessions, individual applications, and club license applications. ARRL VEC staff worked late into Friday night to ensure all backlogged sessions and application files were transmitted to the FCC before the weekend. Approximately 350 backlogged files were successfully submitted toand processed by the FCC before the system's normal shutdown at 8 PM.

ARRL is still monitoring the ULS system, and any further updates will be available at ARRL News.

NNNN

/EX

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

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!