Turning the page

Two weeks ago, I hit a milestone on the "road we call life". I hit the big Five-Oh.

Yep, I'm 50 now. Officially middle aged. Only 5 years from being eligible to join the AARP and only some 15 or 20 years away from retirement.

No K3 to commemorate the event. Harumpff!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Aloha!

It came! It came! It came!

A milestone arrived in the mail today! That most coveted piece of cardboard, measuring only approximately 3.5 X % inches; but yet of inestimable value to me! My QSL card for my QRP contact with Hawaii from back in 2005, finally made it to my door!

Oh joy of joys! Only one more QSO to make; and have confirmed and then I will have made contact with all 50 United States via QRP CW. Alaska - the final wilderness - the final frontier - the final QRP CW QSO needed.

I imagine it will come sooner or later; probably later than sooner. I imagine ol' Sol is going to have top break out in a decent case of acne before I manage Alaska with 5 Watts from New Jersey. However, stranger things have happened; so you never know.

Godspeed and safe travel to all of you headed out to Dayton this weekend for Hamvention and FDIM. I envy you all; and wish I could be there with you. Hey, if Elecraft is handing out samples of the new K3; will someone be sure to pick one up for me? Pretty please? ;)

73 de Larry W2LJ

Did you feel the earth move?

Did you feel it? There were rumblings throughout the Amateur Radio and QRP worlds today! The epicenter was in Aptos, California and shock waves are still being felt throughout the Amateur Radio community; and probably this will continue right throughout the time of Dayton Hamvention.

Today, Elecraft announced the new pinnacle of its line of Amateur Radio transceivers as they rolled out the K3!

You know, I cannot do justice to the explanation of this radio; so I will just post what Wayne Burdick, one of the co-founders of Elecraft posted to the Elecraft and QRP e-mail reflectors:

Greetings!

This afternoon at the DX Convention in Visalia, CA, we unveiled a new top-of-the-line transceiver -- the Elecraft K3. This is the culmination of three years of design, test, and refinement, and we believe the K3 will set a new standard for performance and value in its class. It has features and performance comparable to present radios ranging from $4000 to $12000.

(We'd like to thank the many surprised convention attendees. What they all said boils down to something like "Yes!")

A full K3 web page will be set up by Monday, complete with order form and other details. Meanwhile, please take a look at the temporary page:

http://www.elecraft.com/K3

Among other things, you'll find a very high-resolution front panel photo (as well as other photos):

http://www.elecraft.com/K3/K3_big_v2.jpg

And the K3 data sheet:

http://www.elecraft.com/K3/K3_Data%20Sheet_rev06.pdf

There's also an order form that could be printed and mailed, but sometime on Monday the on-line order page will be up and running, which is the preferred method.

As explained on the order form, you can reserve a K3 now for initial shipments in July. A 50% deposit is requested if you'd like to secure one of the first 200 production units (serial numbers 20-220, probably).

Here's a quick summary of the K3's specs:

- K3/100 and K3/10 models (the K3/10 can be upgraded very easily, internally, to a K3/100)

- Basic K3 price ranges from $1399 to $1989 depending on whether you start with the
10-watt or 100-watt model, and whether you choose factory assembled or
modular, no-soldering, kit (this is the subject of the next email).

- Desktop/portable size: 4"H x 10"W x 10"D (10 x 25 x 25 cm) -- optimized for both
home and travel use

- All modes (SSB, CW, DATA, AM, FM, plus AM-sync receive, and built-in PSK31/TTY decoder)

- High-dynamic range, down-conversion architecture, plus 32-bit I.F. DSP
for software-defined capabilities (and lots of room for future expansion)

- Optional subreceiver with *identical* performance to the main receiver,
including a fully independent front end, its own set of roofing filters,
its own DSP, and low-noise synthesizer; binaural or combined receiver audio

- Up to five crystal roofing filters *per receiver*, with bandwidths as narrow as 200 Hz

- Narrow ham-band filtering, plus optional general-coverage receive filters
(can be added to either or both receivers)

- Internal 100-W ATU option with two antenna jacks

- 100 W PA module includes two large fans, circuit breaker, full parameter monitoring

- All signal sources phase-locked to common 49.380 MHz reference oscillator;
1 PPM TCXO option, firmware-correctable to better than 0.5 PPM

- Built-in PSK31, RTTY, and CW decoding and display allows use of
digital modes with or *without* a computer; use CW keyer paddle or
attached computer for casual, two-way data QSOs

- Advanced noise reduction; auto- and manual notch. Noise blanker included (both
I.F. hardware pulse blanker and DSP noise blanking)

- Easy-to-use DSP shift/width and locut/hicut controls with automatic crystal filter
selection based on selected passband width (in real-time -- no filter calculation delays)

- Dedicated CW/voice message buttons; optional digital voice recorder

- 100 general frequency memories with alphanumeric text labeling, plus 4 scratchpad memories per band

- Full-custom, optimized, segmented LCD with two VFO displays, alphanumeric text, and
dedicated filter passband graphic

- Rich I/O set: stereo speaker outputs, fully isolated soundcard interface, dedicated RS-232
I/O (and optional USB adapter), receive antenna in/out jacks (for patching in RX filters, etc.),
and both front- and rear-panel mic and headphone jacks

- One-click PC firmware download program checks for updates automatically and quickly
updates microcontroller and DSP firmware

If you have any questions on specifications, performance, etc., that are not answered by the data sheet, feel free to email wayne@elecraft.com.

Sales questions should go to Lisa:

sales@elecraft.com

We'd like to acknowledge the hard work of the following colleagues:

Lyle Johnson, KK7P (DSP, digital I/O, audio I/O, many of the PC boards, and countless critical tasks)
Bob Friess, N6CM (RF deck, ATU, high-performance 1st mixer, noise blanker, other receiver design)
John Grebenkemper, KI6WX (synthesizer, general receiver architecture)
Brian Broggie, W6FVI (manufacturing engineering -- say hi to him at Visalia tomorrow)
Paul Russell (purchasing)
Lisa Jones (who somehow held down the fort during the entire process)

Eric (WA6HHQ), as usual, applied pressure in all the right places to ensure that this would be the best radio we could make: he's Mr. Performance and Features. Wayne (N6KR -- yours truly) was the principle designer, and also got to do all the fun parts (packaging, firmware, and Owner's manual). And that's why he gets to answer your questions :)

We'd also like to express our thanks to our very patient 15-member focus group. Over a period of about a year, they endured a never-ending series of concept drawings, refinements, and feature discussions. They're a distinguished bunch! I'm sure you'll hear from some of them as the K3 is discussed at length.

Finally: thanks to all of you who have generously contributed ideas for a hypothetical K3 during our many on-line "fishing expeditions." You had wonderful input, and I hope we've created the radio you've always wanted.

73,
Wayne, N6KR
Eric, WA6HHQ

Thanks Wayne, Eric and all the folks at Elecraft! If this radio is even as good as the K2, you have a proven winner on your hands! Now all I have to do is start saving and maybe in about 5 years, I'll be able to afford one! (I guess there's always the lottery!)

73 de Larry W2LJ

Please excuse my absence

Please excuse me not blogging for the last week and a half or so .......

I just started a new job last week - my first new job after 23 years. And I have changed fields entirely. Ever since I left college to join the work force, I have been involved in the photographic field. I have worked as a studio assistant, I worked as a Public Relations photographer for Six Flags corporation, I have done the photo retail thing; and I also worked in a custom color lab. For the last 22 years, I worked for Sinar Bron, a distributor of high end Swiss made professional photographic equipment, as the Service Manager of the Service Dept.

Last week, I went to work for Pitney Bowes. I work in an IT environment, prepping routers, switches and servers for installers to install in their various facilities.

On Monday night I was overwhelmed.

On Tuesday night my head was spinning.

On Wednesday night I was asking myself what ever made me decide to change jobs?

On Thursday night I was feeling a little better.

Tonight I'm feeling like I might actually get the hang of this!

So once I'm feeling a bit more confident, I'll get back on the radio more. Right now, when I get home, I'm ready to hit the rack - and that's about it! The one good thing about this job? An hour lunch break! That will leave me with more time for lunchtime QRP sessions!

73 de Larry W2LJ

You would think I'd know better!

This is one for the "Frustrating QSO' column - the name and callsign of the Ham are withheld to protect his stupidity.

It began with me calling CQ on 7.055 MHz. I was answered by W$XXX, who was absolutely pinning the S meter on my K2. ALL the LEDS were lit up - he had to be 60 over 9! Of course, I gave him a report of "5NN plus". In turn, I got a 579 - pretty good. Perfectly readable, moderately strong signals - I love to get RSTs like that.

We go further into the QSO and I'm always getting "FB COPY" whenever he starts transmitting. Cool beans!

Then I make the dreaded mistake. On my next over, I mention that I am running a K2 to a G5RV. On his next transmission, I get "BK RU QRP?"

I answer, "BK YES 5 WATTS".

Oh crap! I knew it ...... here it comes!

"U BETTER RUN LIL MORE POWER. BAD QRN RUFF COPY. 73 TO U. W2LJ DE W$XXX SK"

Like magic, I went from a 579 to a 229 in one fell swoop! I hate QSOS like that and the lids who hear the words "5 Watts" and suddenly go deaf. If I had never given my power; or perhaps lied and said that I was running a K2/100 at 100 Watts; I'll bet the stupid QSO could have lasted a lot longer. But no, "5 Watts" means "crummy signal no matter how well I'm hearing you - don't disturb me with the facts, please!"

Sheesh!

73 de Larry W2LJ

SOC

SOC stands for The Second Class Operators Club. It's a group of good natured and perhaps a little bit too self-deprecating bunch of Hams who celebrate our human-ness, our foibles, and our ability to screw up royally!

We realize we're not icons of Hamdom; and we're darned proud of it! The only requirement for membership is to realize that you're not perfect and to have fun with that reality. Today on the SOC e-mail reflector came a post by Rich Arland W3OSS who is an SOC member and a member of the QRP Hall of Fame, by the way!

"As long as we are sharing stories: In the mid-late 80s was stationed at Langley AFB, VA and was a member of the Southern Peninsula Amateur Radio Klub (SPARK) who's membership was made up of a group of rocket scientists. No, I mean "REAL" rocket scientists....from the OSL (Other Side of Langley)....the NASA side. One of our FD sites was on the NASA grounds a couple of blocks away from a huge wind tunnel. (Believe me....this was MUCH better than the Nike missile site and it's bazillion mosquitoes!!) Several of our "Rocket Scientists" had researched an idea for a huge loop antenna for 80 meters. They announced at a meeting before FD that their newest antenna design would garner some really good 80M Qs....much better results than over the last several years. The "Rocket Scientists" proceeded to erect their "super-loop" on Saturday afternoon and shortly before sundown they started hunting on 80M with a virtually no success. They worked a few stations over the night but nearly not as many as previous years. They futzed and putzed with their death-ray antenna to no avail. They still had problems working stations on 80M. Signal levels were down and it took many calls for them to work even the loudest stations. About 9AM on Sunday, I was told to drag my Argonaut 509 into the 80M camper and use a hastily erected G5RV to make the five Qs for our "low power points". So here I am, rummaging around inside the camper setting up the Argo. I look down behind the table and saw several runs of coaxial cable laying on the floor. The "Rocket Scientists" had apparently loaded up into he dummy load the night before, confused the coaxial cables (they weren't marked) and tried making 80M Qs using the dummy load. Amazingly, they actually made contacts....I made sure to tell them that I was extremely impressed by their "QRP" operations, but they should really leave the low power stuff to some of us that knew what we were doing! Needless to say, there were some red faces at the next club meeting."

"Rocket Scientists" or no; these guys are prime membership material for the SOC. After all, who among us hasn't screwed up big time to the point of wanting to disappear?

Just so you know what we're all about, here are two quotes from a couple of our members:

Competence is tolerated, but not encouraged (Chris, SOC#436)

I demand the right to make a fool of myself in any way I see fit (Lee, SOC#425)

If you think you're SOC material; and want to investigate a little further, then visit:
http://www.qsl.net/soc/

73 de Larry W2LJ
Proud to be known as SOC Member #619

5 Whats?

40 Meters didn't seem to have a whole lot going on. I called CQ up by the QRP watering holes for a while and was fruitless. I wanted to get my QSO in for the day; because I 've been doing real well in that department. In the first four months of 2007, I think I've only missed one or two days without at least one QSO.

I decided to go down to the bottom of 40 Meters and see if there was any decent DX that I could hear. I did hear an Israeli station calling "CQ USA"; and I tried calling once or twice without success. Then the station must have shut down for the night; as I didn't hear any more CQs out of him.

A bit further down the band I heard RA6AU, Vasili in Russia calling CQ. He had quite the little pile up going. I heard some pretty loud stations calling, too. For the heck of it, the next time he called CQ, I waited for just about two seconds before throwing my call into the mix. I figured that I'd let the QRO stations drown each other out for a bit; and then try and make an end run.

It worked! Vasili came back with "LJ?" and I repeated my call two times more. We exchanged RST and names and he was on to the next station with a "TNX QSO QRZ DE RA6AU". Not the rarest of DX; but it's always nice when a 5 Watt station can beat out some of the big boys.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Foxtravaganza 2007

Last night was Foxtravaganza. Foxtravaganza is the final event of the QRP Foxhunting season. The individual hunts are over, and team and individual results have been tallied and recorded. But for one last frenetic evening most, is not all, the Foxes get on the air at one time for an fast paced, frenetic evening of fun.

I divided up the evening into two halves. I spent the first 45 minutes on 40 Meters and the last 45 minutes on 80 Meters. When all was said and done, I handed out a total of 34 pelts. This total was a bit less than the evenings during the regular season; but during the season, I only had one other Fox on the air along with me. Last night there had to be at least a good 10 -15 Foxes on the air all at the same time!

It was a ton of fun; and the Foxtravaganza experience just reinforced to me just how good the other Foxes and the Hounds are. These guys are the best!

Today is Good Friday, the most solemn day of the year for Christians. It is the day we remember how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took upon a human nature and offered His life up in order to win our salvation. The day is spent soberly and quietly.

73 de Larry W2LJ

March Poll Results

For March, the poll on my Website featured a question about antennas. Specifically, the questions was, "Which of the following antennas do you use most of the time?"

The answers, rather surprisingly to me, shook out as follows:

Resonant Dipole received 8 votes or 20.51%
Yagi or log periodic received NO votes!
Doublets received 10 votes or 25.64%
Verticals received 11 votes or 28.21%
Spider or Hexbeams received no votes.
Full sized wire loops received only 1 vote for 2.56%
Compact Magnetic Loops received 2 votes for 5.13%
Cubical or other quad antennas received 2 votes for 5.13%
Long Wire or Zepp antennas received no votes
"Other" received 5 votes for 12.82%

I am surprised that no one who voted in my poll seems to use either Yagi or long wire antennas. And I was also surprised that vertical antennas won the vote by a narrow margin. I expected Doublet (or multi band) antennas to receive a large portion of the vote; but I also thought the resonant (single band) dipole category would receive more votes than it did.

I guess more people are using verticals as a way to deal with the limitations of small, suburban lots.

Interesting.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Madre de Dios!

The Democrat leadership of the House Armed Services Committee is doing away with the term "Global War on Terror" in all 2008 budgetary documents.

They don't like the way it sounds.

Hmmmm ..... the terrorists have no problem declaring war on the United States by using passenger planes as weapons of mass destruction.

Maybe the Democrats need to grow a backbone; or better yet, we can call them the "Linguini Spined Party of Appeasement".

I like the way that sounds.

73 de Larry W2LJ
(Sorry for getting political ...... but enough is enough.)

Back home where it belongs!

I came home from work yesterday to see a white USPS Priority Mail box waiting for me. I did not need the powers of the Amazing Kreskin or even Superman's X-Ray vision to know what was inside. My K2 was back! Hot dog!

My initial inclination, of course, was to rip the box open and run the rig downstairs to the shack and start pounding brass. But first things, first! First there was track practice for my son, homework for both my kids, bath time and bed time. Then and only then did I take the K2 and put it back in its rightful place on the operating table.

To my delight, I found out that Alan W3DVX did an outstanding job putting the final touches on my K2. The frequency is spot on! Twirl the dial on 30 Meters to 10.000.00 MHz and WWV is there, right where it should be! Next was a check of the K2's internal crystal filters. I went to 40 Meters and picked out a station that was in a cluster of several close by signals. Changing the filters was a thing of beauty. The station I had picked stayed put, rock solid and the interfering stations magically disappeared as I flipped through the K2's filters.

The KAF2 is now installed and I reset the internal clock to UTC. The audio filter sounds fabulous and I can already see where it will be a big help in the QRP sprints; when everybody and his brother seems to obstinately occupy about 5 kHz of spectrum instead of spreading out!

And as if things couldn't get better, I started calling CQ down around 7.031.00 MHz and I was answered by TK5JO, Guy in Corsica. A new one for me! I've never worked Corsica before, either QRP or QRO. This becomes my 69th DX station worked as I continue on towards QRP DXCC. Oh baby, what a night!

As I predicted, an already fabulous rig is now even better since it has been professionally tweaked and aligned by someone who knows EXACTLY what they are doing! And with this result, I can recommend Alan Wilcox, W3DVX and his firm Wilcox Engineering enthusiastically and whole heartedly!

If you want to have an Elecraft radio; but are hesitant for whatever reason to build it on your own; then Alan is THE man! If you're like me; and you've already built your own KX1 or K1 or K2, and you know it can stand some improvement and don't have the time to tackle the job on your own; then Alan is the man for you! His work is top notch, A-1 and his rates are reasonable. He is a true gentleman and he'll keep you informed every step of the way. By all means, do yourself a favor and visit his Website: http://wilcoxengineering.com/

You will be so glad that you did!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Two nice Qs!

I got on 40 Meters on the K1 tonight and seemed to have a pipe line into North Carolina. The pipe line was very productive and yielded two very nice QSOs. The first was with Jim KB2JWD who lives in Waxhaw. Waxhaw is near the South Carolina border, not too far away from Charlotte.

I've worked Jim before in the Adventure Radio Society's Spartan Sprint; but this was the first opportunity I've ever had to chew the rag with Jim for a bit. Jim was running his NorCal SST rig at 1 Watt out to a G5RV. He was an honest to goodness 579 into New Jersey. That 'lil NorCal rig was doing a great job squeezing out RF into the aether. Unfortunately, Jim had to QRT and couldn't stay on too long. But for as long as it lasted, QRP to QRP QSOs always seem extra special.

The next QSO was with W4/VU2YK. Wouldn't you know that the first VU station that I've ever heard, let alone worked, would be portable in Raleigh, NC ???? Rahul has been in the USA for the last three months, visiting his son who works and lives in Raleigh. He's going to be here for another month, and then will be heading for New Delhi, which is his home QTH.

Rahul was using an Icom IC-706 at 100 Watts to a dipole that was only 15 feet up above the ground. The dipole may not have been high; but Rahul had a killer signal! If the K1 had an analog meter, the needle would have been pegged. We talked for a bit and then the band started going even longer and both our signals were getting weaker. We exchanged the normal "end of QSO" pleasantries and we both QRTed for the night.

A relaxing night on the radio is better than just about anything!

73 de Larry W2LJ

#68 is in the books!

Just because the K2 is away at the doctor's getting some TLC, doesn't mean that Amateur Radio has to stop! In the meantime, my able bodied K1 has switched from its role as my primary portable rig to a new status as main shack rig.

As much as I love my K2, the K1 has always been my sentimental favorite as I built it before the K2. It's a great little radio; but its size in no way limits its capabilities. The receiver is superb and the transmitter is every bit as rock solid as the K2. Really, its only limitations are the bands that I can go on. I constructed my K1 as a 4 band version, employing 40, 30, 20 and 15 Meters.

Since Foxhunting season is over; I'm now back into a nightly routine of looking for a nice ragchew. Tuesday night, however, I had the bug to go to the really bottom end of 40 Meters to see if there was any DX to be had. A little tuning around got me locked onto a new one! On 7.005 MHz, I heard HH4/K4QD calling CQ. Now Haiti is not the rarest DX in the world; but it is kind of rare. Its a very impoverished and strife torn nation and is not noted for too much Ham radio activity. My ears perked right up when I heard Jan. He was clipping along at about a 23 WPM pace, working split and listening for calls 1 kHz up. I twirled the VFO up to where I thought he'd be listening and used my RIT control to get back to the frequency he was transmitting on. Three or four calls and I was in the log. Jan was a strong 599 and he gave my 5 Watt signal a 579.

Haiti is my 68th DXCC entity worked since I went 100% QRP in 2004. 68 countries worked on the bottom end of the sunspot cycle. Not too shabby! A few minutes later, I heard and worked Ego, 9A2SY in Makarska, Croatia. Croatia is not a new one for me; but I still get a thrill of having my 5 Watt signal heard 'round the world. QRP is a real kick - QRP DX is even better!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Alan's got my radio!

As mentioned previously, Alan W3DVX of Wilcox Engineering, has my K2 at the moment.

I heard from him the other day. He's got the frequency readout and the filters aligned. He fixed my BFO problem where I was hearing both sidebands of a signal.

He's at the point of installing the KAF2 and has run into a problem. When the KAF2 is installed, it messes up the operation of the KAT2 auto tuner that I built and installed last year. I should have my K2 back this week, hopefully, all professionally tweaked, aligned and ready to go!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Say It Ain't So, ARRL !!!

This was posted to QRP-L yesterday by Alex KR1ST. Alex is a very level headed guy; and I have no qualms with accepting this as the truth.

The top echelon of the ARRL and its counsel have met with the FCC, on February 13th 2007, to change their petition on regulation by bandwidth (RM-11306). Indeed, after the deadline for comments and reply comments have expired:

http://tinyurl.com/2v6k63

The changes they now propose will in effect allow (automated and non-automated) RTTY and data transmissions up to 3kHz wide in those portions of the HF band you now traditionally find only CW. If you read the appendix carefully and compare that to their original proposal you can see that they have dropped bandwidth segment divisions for all but the ten meter band.

If you thought that CW operations were relatively safe under the original regulation by bandwidth proposal because the proposed bandwidths were so narrow in your segment of interest to be useful for high speed data, well, it is not anymore. The new proposal allows for RTTY and data up to 3 kHz wide to be transmitted all the way down to where you now traditionally only find CW transmissions.

One may wonder why the membership is not informed of this meeting and the dramatic changes in the petition. This new proposal is not only harmful to (QRP) CW operations but also to operations outside the USA and its territories.

As you can see from their meeting record, the ARRL argues that a revision of the petition was necessary because of recent rule changes. One of the big rule changes is of course the dropping of the Morse Code proficiency test. Perhaps the ARRL expects CW to eventually disappear and has already begun the refarming of the CW portions of the HF bands. You probably noticed the recent request on the ARRL web site for expertise on HF Digital Communications.

If you haven't done so before, now is a good time to let the FCC and the ARRL know what you think of this revised proposal so that you don't get reminded one day that you should have taken action, when that robot station pierces your ears during your pleasant Sunday afternoon CW sked. You can file additional comments through the FCC's ECFS system:

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi

and you can contact the ARRL through the usual channels.

73,
--Alex KR1ST
http://www.kr1st.com

Write your Division Director and leave comments with the FCC today!

73 de Larry W2LJ

Time for a callsign change!

I was a happy ham as a General. I had plenty of
HF privileges, which is what I always had wanted. I was also getting my share of DX as well as ragchews. Life was pretty good.

However, in the radio club that I belonged to, there was another DOH. Phil Styn WB2DOH was the other DOH And people used to get the two DOHs confused.

So in 1983, two momentous things happened. First, I set paperwork in motion with the FCC to request another callsign. It was granted and I became N2ELW in the Spring of that year. That was the callsign that I was to live with for the next 17 years.

The second thing that happened that year was that I started on the road to upgrading my license class once again. This time my sights were fixed on to acquiring an Advanced Class Amateur Radio license. I commenced studying in the mid-summer and was finally feeling fairly confident by October. Confident enough to make a trek to the FCC and take the exam.

Taking a license examination in those days was light years different than it is today. First off, there were no question pools. You picked up a copy of the license manual for whatever class license you were interested in, and you married it. You and the book became inseparable companions. You and the book became one. You not only studied the theory; but you learned it. You had no idea as to what kind of questions they were going to throw at you; so you learned everything the best you could. Sure, everybody memorized formulas and stuff like that; but you had no questions to pick from - you were going into the exam cold as an ice cube.

Secondly, if you wanted to upgrade; then that meant a visit to the FCC offices. For those of us in New Jersey, that meant either a trip into New York City on Varick Street, or a trip out to Langhorne, PA. I chose the Langhorne, PA location. It was an easy drive and the Oxford Valley Mall was located right next door. There were plenty of places there to go grab a snack, afterwards.

Unlike today, there were no friendly "Joe Hams" there to greet you. You were met by FCC personnel who usually acted like you were the last person they were interested in seeing. The usual demeanor of the day was brusque and "no nonsense" of any kind. But, on the up side, the FCC folks were extremely professional, competent and fair.

We lined up like cattle waiting for the slaughter. Code exams were given first. For the heck of it, I decided to give the 20 WPM code test a try. I had my 20 WPM certification from ARRL Qualifying Runs for a while by then, and I figured it would be a cakewalk. WRONG! For whatever reason, I choked like a Little Leaguer on a baseball bat. I failed miserably - making the "newbie" mistake. I missed some characters and instead about forgetting them and moving on; my brain became a log jam and my copy ended up looking like gibberish. Kind of like "white coat" high blood pressure, I guess. Some folk's blood pressure goes up at the Doctor's office just because they know it's going to be taken and they get all worked up about it.

Later on, I realized that it was a case of the pressure of the moment of being in the Hallowed Halls of the FCC. Once I was out of there, I was able to copy at 20 WPM with no problem. Good thing I wasn't testing for the Extra exam that day! But it was not a good way to start; especially on the day that I was taking the hardest examination of all the FCC offered for Amateur Radio exams. Years later, upon earning my Extra, I was to confirm what many others had told me. The Advanced Class Amateur Radio exam was THE toughest of all the tests. The theory and the math were difficult; and I still had to know frequency allocations as well. All in all, it was not a pleasant experience; but I did in fact make the grade.

It was October 18th, 1983 and I walked out of the FCC offices as N2ELW, Advanced Class Amateur Radio operator. New frequency privileges in my pocket and a burnin' yearnin' desire to make use of them.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Reality comes crashing down

In the months that preceded my upgrade to General, I scrimped and saved my money for a new rig. The Drake 2-NT and Heathkit receiver were good; but General class Hams use SSB ..... right? Once I had upgraded to General, I was headed for the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey ..... 20 Meter phone!

As much as I liked CW, I still had the visions of Ham Radio in my head that I had since I was a kid. Being a General meant sitting at the desk with my feet up and chair tipped back. There would be a microphone in my hand and I would be talking to all the rarest places on planet Earth! I would become close friends with people around the globe. A bit naive, yes, but old visions die hard.

I managed to save up some cash and bought myself a used set of Kenwood T-599 and R-599 Twins. I bought them from John Kakstys W2FNT who was for years an icon in the used Amateur Radio equipment market in New Jersey. A trip to John's basement was like Christmas, the 4th of July and Disneyland all rolled up into one - especially for a newer Ham!

After the license upgrade, the Kenwood Twins were installed into the place of honor on the operating desk. An Astatic D-104 all bright, and shiny chrome was to be the method of sending my voice into the aether. I turned them on, tuned everything up and proceeded to cautiously call CQ on the 20 Meter phone band. And that is precisely when all hell broke loose!

Unbeknownst to me, my family was downstairs trying to watch TV when I undertook my SSB maiden voyage. Much to their dismay, as well as mine, my voice made 5X9 into the TV! Walter Cronkite sounded like a weird Frankenstein Donald Duck thanks to yours truly! The picture took on a herringbone pattern unlike anything I had ever seen before! This had all NEVER happened in all those months of pounding brass! TVI had never raised its ugly head until that day.

Still being a relatively new Ham, with no Elmer (mentor) to speak of, I was blissfully unaware of the proper RF grounding techniques that would be needed to successfully carry on a SSB career. Some further delving into the ARRL Handbook as well as other ARRL publications gave me quite the education. However, working out of a second story shack made things all that much more difficult in obtaining the proper RF ground. Counterpoises of the proper length helped; but did not solve the problem completely. I was gloomily staring at self imposed quiet hours as there was no way the family was going to let my hobby interfere with their TV viewing. That's when it struck me! All I had to do was hook up the key and I could operate anytime I pleased! The plan was formed ...... CW during Prime Time and SSB during the off hours.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Hamfest. I took a liking to CW even more than I had before!. I ended up using it all the time after a bit of experimentation revealed that I was getting much more of a "bang for the buck" using CW. I quickly got disenchanted with SSB as my meager antenna set up wouldn't allow me to get out much. It became quite plain to me that CW was getting me scads of DX that I was never able to get with SSB. And CW was keeping my family from turning into a lynch mob out to get ME!

So it was quite by accident that I became the avid CW op that I am today. But it was a happy accident; and I'm glad that it happened. I've had the best time I could ever hope to have using Morse Code, simple wire antennas and QRP. I wouldn't change it for anything.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Upgrading

One of the first things that I did after making my first few QSOs as a Novice was to purchase an ARRL General Class License manual. Even though the Novice license had become a renewable license class; I decided that I would pretend that is was "old school" and that I would upgrade within a year.

Many QSOs and listening to W1AW got me up to 13 WPM rather quickly. I buried my nose in the license manual for what seemed like months. Finally in either June or July, it was announced that the FCC was going to be appearing at a Hamfest up in Morristown, NJ to administer exams. Wow! That was not a common, everyday occurrence. The rule of the day was that you had to appear before the FCC at their offices. This was truly the exception to the rule.

The day for the Hamfest came. I remember that it was ultra hot, humid and sticky; and I was as sick as a dog! I had some kind of summer cold; and as hot as it was, I was shivering. I must have been running one heck of a fever. My sister was kind enough to drive me up to the Hamfest and wait for me while I tested. I wasn't feeling well enough to drive myself.

I remember going in there and putting on those antiquated headphones to take the Morse Code portion of the exam. I remember that they started with the higher speed 20 WPM exam and work their way down. This was good; because after listening to the code at 20 WPM, 13 WPM actually seemed slow! This was still at the point where you copied a QSO and they checked your copy for at least one minute of solid copy. I must have done all right; because the next thing that I remember was someone shoving a copy of the written exam to me along with a sheet on which to mark my answers. I answered the questions the best I could and then this grumpy older lady who worked for th FCC was shoving a white cardboard slip into my hands which informed me that I has to sign as KA2DOH/AG until the permanent version of my license came through the mail. I was happy, I was proud; and I was feeling miserable. If I didn't want to stay for the rest of the Hamfest, I must have been doing pretty badly. I remember crawling into my sister's car so that she could drive me home. I didn't even get on the air when I got home. All I remember at that point was crawling into bed and falling asleep so fast that it was like I had passed out.

The next thing to happen over the next few days changed my Ham radio life forever.

73 de Larry W2LJ

The Beginning

I was first licensed in December of 1978. This was a few years after my first, unsuccessful foray into Amateur Radio. I tried to earn my license as a high school student; but as it turned out, I did not have enough determination to learn the Morse Code. I got frustrated and gave up way too easily.

After college and winning my "first" full time job, I read in the local newspaper about an Amateur Radio Novice Class license course that was being offered at a neighboring town's high school night program. I took the plunge and jumped in with both feet. Eight to ten weeks later, in November of 1978 I passed the test. I even aced the Morse Code part! Four weeks later, in December, I received my license with the callsign KA2DOH.

As a Christmas gift that year, my parents bought me a used Drake 2-NT transmitter from Burghardt's in North Dakota. I has saved for and had purchased a Heathkit HR-1680 receiver that was specifically oriented towards the beginning Novice operator. I took most of January to build that radio. Finally on January 28th, 1979 I was ready! The antenna was a random length wire stretched between my bedroom window and the garage. This went to an antenna tuner which went to the 2-NT. I don't quite remember how I rigged the station to switch the antenna between the transmitter and receiver; but I do vaguely remember there being a manual throw knife switch in there! My dummy load was a Heathkit Cantenna. The key was a Viking Master straight key. I had a Globe VFO hooked up to the Drake 2-NT through its crystal socket.

I carefully tuned the transmitter and the antenna tuner and listened for a station calling CQ. I was too nervous to put out my own. I finally heard someone calling at a comfortable speed. The frequency was 21.135 MHz on the 15 Meter band. I put out the station's call followed by "de KA2DOH" and was answered by Adam KA9CIH out of Armington, Illinois! This milestone QSO lasted all of about 20 minutes, from 2110 - 2130 UTC. I gave him a 589 and he gave me a 599. I don't remember too, too much about the QSO except that I was terrified, ecstatic, sweaty-palmed and elated all at the same time! And at the end I was walking on air because finally, I was a "real Ham"! I was also exhausted! I didn't make any more QSOs that day. I didn't even call CQ any more that day; as I even logged unsuccessful CQs in my logbook.

My second QSO came a few days later when I answered a CQ put out by KA3CIV, Gary in Saxonburg, PA. And so it went, day after day after day. My code speed increased; and by the summer of that year, I was ready to go for my General. That's a whole story in its own right that I will go into in another post.

For kicks, I've dug out my old Novice logbook and have entered into QRZ, some of those first stations that I had worked. Sadly, some of these folks are either Silent Keys or have dropped out of Amateur Radio altogether. Happily, some others are still active and have upgraded and sport different class callsigns. The image above is my Novice QSL card. I did the artwork myself and had them printed by a QSL printer who no longer exists. Those Novice days were good days! I'm glad that I entered the Ham radio arena the way I did. I think the FCC made a terrible mistake when they discontinued the Novice license. It was certainly an experience that I will NEVER forget.

73 de Larry W2LJ

Living with compromise antennas

The results came in for Monday night's Spartan Sprint. Out of 78 entrants, I came in 17th in scoring, if you look at it solely based on the numbers of QSOs generated. Not bad; but again not great. There's another method of scoring, which is based on the number of QSOs generated that is tied in to the weight of your station. In that category, I came in 21st, which shows I need to get cracking and finish the ATS-3 !!!!

The first method, though, is scoring as per any other QRP Sprint. And like I said before, I did okay - just okay. Such is the curse of living on a typical 100' X 50' NorthEast suburban lot. My G5RV is layed out more like a shallow horizontal Vee rather than a straight line dipole. And since the maple in the back yard had to be topped; I lost about 15 feet worth of height for the apex of the antenna. My Butternut HF9V is okay; but typically for a vertical, it's noisier than the doublet. Add to this the fact that I desperately need to re-do the radial system this Spring or Summer.

I sure could use a few higher trees in the backyard! I know that the G5RV would certainly play better if I could manage to get it up higher. But right now, 25 feet is all she wrote. My darling wife is adamant about no towers; and besides, I can't afford one anyway. So I guess I have to face it and work with what I have.

It's human nature, I guess, to always want more. I should be happy with what I have. I live in a community with no HOA's or any kind of deed restrictions. I COULD have a tower if I really desperately wanted it enough. I am not forced to live with indoor attic antennas. I need to learn to be satisfied with; and be grateful for what I have.

73 de Larry W2LJ