72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Ready for winter
Let the cold weather come when it may, I'm ready to be toasty warm with a new hoodie sweathshirt.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thursday, November 19, 2015
New 60 Meter Allocation
As reported by the ARRL:
ZCZC AG34 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 34 ARLB034 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 19, 2015 To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB034 ARLB034 World Radiocommunication Conference Approves Global 60 Meter Allocation!
The Plenary Meeting of the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) in Geneva has approved an allocation of 5351.5-5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis with a power limit of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP). The November 18 decision on Agenda Item 1.4 was adopted on two back-to-back readings. Some Region 2 countries, but not the US, will be permitted up to 25 W EIRP. With this action, and despite conditions that are more restrictive than had been hoped at the start of the Conference, the Amateur Service has obtained its first new global HF allocation since 1979. The new band will not become available until and unless the FCC adopts the Acts of the Conference and establishes operating rules. Until then, the five discrete channels will remain in place.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) team in Geneva is now focusing its efforts on tweaking the agenda for WRC-19. It is likely, but not certain, that the agenda will include an effort to harmonize the Amateur Radio allocation at 50 MHz. A proposed agenda item to align the 160 meter allocation in Region 1 with the rest of the world is no longer under active consideration.
The WRC-19 agenda will also likely pose spectrum defense challenges, including the possible consideration of the 144 MHz and 430 MHz Amateur Radio allocations for sharing with the space operations service, and the possible consideration of one or more bands above 10 GHz for 5G smartphone use. The bounds of these potential defensive items, however, are still under discussion.
The IARU team continues to monitor several other WRC-15 items that appear to be headed toward acceptable conclusions. WRC-15 continues through the signing of the Final Acts on November 27. NNNN /EX
Now it's up to the FCC as to if/when this will become a reality here in the USA.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
ZCZC AG34 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 34 ARLB034 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 19, 2015 To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB034 ARLB034 World Radiocommunication Conference Approves Global 60 Meter Allocation!
The Plenary Meeting of the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) in Geneva has approved an allocation of 5351.5-5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis with a power limit of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP). The November 18 decision on Agenda Item 1.4 was adopted on two back-to-back readings. Some Region 2 countries, but not the US, will be permitted up to 25 W EIRP. With this action, and despite conditions that are more restrictive than had been hoped at the start of the Conference, the Amateur Service has obtained its first new global HF allocation since 1979. The new band will not become available until and unless the FCC adopts the Acts of the Conference and establishes operating rules. Until then, the five discrete channels will remain in place.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) team in Geneva is now focusing its efforts on tweaking the agenda for WRC-19. It is likely, but not certain, that the agenda will include an effort to harmonize the Amateur Radio allocation at 50 MHz. A proposed agenda item to align the 160 meter allocation in Region 1 with the rest of the world is no longer under active consideration.
The WRC-19 agenda will also likely pose spectrum defense challenges, including the possible consideration of the 144 MHz and 430 MHz Amateur Radio allocations for sharing with the space operations service, and the possible consideration of one or more bands above 10 GHz for 5G smartphone use. The bounds of these potential defensive items, however, are still under discussion.
The IARU team continues to monitor several other WRC-15 items that appear to be headed toward acceptable conclusions. WRC-15 continues through the signing of the Final Acts on November 27. NNNN /EX
Now it's up to the FCC as to if/when this will become a reality here in the USA.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
What's a Fox hunter to do?
Tonight was the 40 Meter QRP Fox hunt. The two Foxes were Rick NK9G in Wisconsin, and Steve WX2S in New Jersey. I worked Rick very quickly. I was probably among the first five pelts handed out, I would imagine. Our exchange was completed so close to the top of the hour, that I had to be one of the first.
With Rick in the bag, I went hunting for Steve. With a little effort, I found the pack chasing him, and then going down 1 kHz more, I found Steve, himself. But man, oh man, was he weak! Steve lives close to me, only 18.5 miles as the crow flies. For 40 Meters, I was in the dreaded "skip zone".
That's right! Go on a road trip! Even though it was after 9:00 PM, I figured that if I could cut the distance to Steve's house by half (or better) that I stood a reasonable chance of being within groundwave range.
I tossed the KX3 in the Jeep, and headed out. The neat thing is, that after 9:00 PM at night, about 90% of New Jersey's notorious traffic is non-existent. I had a destination in mind, and made my way to it.
You have to understand, that for the most part, New Jersey is pretty flat. Until you get to the first ridge of the Watchung mountains, everything in New Jersey to the east is Piedmont. So straight line from South Plainfield, where I live, to Kingston where Steve lives is flat. However, as you travel south down Route 1, there is one hill. The hill is where appropriately named Sand Hill Road crosses Route 1, and the landmark there is this massive water tank that's the property of the township of South Brunswick. In fact, it is very near there where the KA2RLM repeater is located - a UHF repeater with great coverage.
I knew that if I could make it to that area - the high ground, so to speak, that I stood a great chance of working Steve. Fortunately for W2LJ, at that intersection is a conveniently placed McDonalds with a huge parking lot. I pulled into the lot, all the way towards the back so that I would draw as little attention as possible. I put the Buddistick together - all 4 eleven inch arms, the coil untapped and the whip fully extended - and placed it on the car. The KX3's autotuner gave me a 1.7:1 match, Not great, but not bad. Power would probably be folded back by about a Watt. If I had time to futz around, playing with the whip sections would have given me a better match, but I wasn't being fussy.
I tuned the KX3 to the frequency where I heard Steve at while I was at home. He was coming in like gangbusters! He was a solid 559, but compared to how I was hearing him at home, Steve sounded more like 599. I listened for a bit, only to find he had ceased working split and was now operating simplex. I gave him a call, and first shot - I was in the books! I signed W2LJ/M so he would know that I was mobile (even though I was stationery - perhaps it would have been better to sign /P), But no matter, I had a second pelt in the bag!
I disassembeld the Buddistick, put all the other equipment back in my day pack and drove home, a happy Fox hunter!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
With Rick in the bag, I went hunting for Steve. With a little effort, I found the pack chasing him, and then going down 1 kHz more, I found Steve, himself. But man, oh man, was he weak! Steve lives close to me, only 18.5 miles as the crow flies. For 40 Meters, I was in the dreaded "skip zone".
Too far away for ground wave, but way too close to be at the other end of "the bounce". I was not happy at the thought of spending the next 80 minutes straining to listen to Steve's ESP signal, hoping that some miracle would occur and that I could work him.
Then it occurred to me ...... I have a KX3, I have a Buddistick, I have a Jeep. What's a Fox hunter to do?
I tossed the KX3 in the Jeep, and headed out. The neat thing is, that after 9:00 PM at night, about 90% of New Jersey's notorious traffic is non-existent. I had a destination in mind, and made my way to it.
You have to understand, that for the most part, New Jersey is pretty flat. Until you get to the first ridge of the Watchung mountains, everything in New Jersey to the east is Piedmont. So straight line from South Plainfield, where I live, to Kingston where Steve lives is flat. However, as you travel south down Route 1, there is one hill. The hill is where appropriately named Sand Hill Road crosses Route 1, and the landmark there is this massive water tank that's the property of the township of South Brunswick. In fact, it is very near there where the KA2RLM repeater is located - a UHF repeater with great coverage.
I knew that if I could make it to that area - the high ground, so to speak, that I stood a great chance of working Steve. Fortunately for W2LJ, at that intersection is a conveniently placed McDonalds with a huge parking lot. I pulled into the lot, all the way towards the back so that I would draw as little attention as possible. I put the Buddistick together - all 4 eleven inch arms, the coil untapped and the whip fully extended - and placed it on the car. The KX3's autotuner gave me a 1.7:1 match, Not great, but not bad. Power would probably be folded back by about a Watt. If I had time to futz around, playing with the whip sections would have given me a better match, but I wasn't being fussy.
I tuned the KX3 to the frequency where I heard Steve at while I was at home. He was coming in like gangbusters! He was a solid 559, but compared to how I was hearing him at home, Steve sounded more like 599. I listened for a bit, only to find he had ceased working split and was now operating simplex. I gave him a call, and first shot - I was in the books! I signed W2LJ/M so he would know that I was mobile (even though I was stationery - perhaps it would have been better to sign /P), But no matter, I had a second pelt in the bag!
I disassembeld the Buddistick, put all the other equipment back in my day pack and drove home, a happy Fox hunter!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
A semi-annual rant about learning CW
I have been seeing this posted more and more on CW minded Facebook pages:
This is the worst! Yuck! Argh! Ack! Ptooey!
Please take my word for it! As I've told so many times before, I know the frustration of not being able to learn CW. I put off getting my license for at least five years (maybe more), because I could not wrap my brain around the code. And one of the major reasons for that lack of brain wrapping was because someone thought that they were doing me a good turn by handing me a chart similar to the one above.
From personal experience, I can tell you that making the jump from audio input to visual input to brain is the perfect recipe for frustration and resignation. I made the mistake of hearing, trying to visualize and then decode. What you need to do is skip that visual step. Morse Code is a heard language, and unless you're in the Navy operating signal lamps, it's primarily an aural language. To this day, I have extreme difficulty (in fact, I don't even bother) when people "type" out cutsie messages using periods and hyphens to make dits and dahs in print. I have to hear it to de-code. No ifs, ands or buts ..... I have to hear it.
Think about it for a second. When you were a baby, how did you learn to talk - by reading, or by listening to your parents and siblings?
So thanks be to God for the Hams who taught my Novice class. They handed me a set of ARRL Morse Code cassettes with only one word of instruction - LISTEN! And in the end, that's what did it, but the damage had already been done. I had to "unlearn" my past efforts and had to re-learn the direct step of "hear, then de-code". For me, that damage lasted well past 5 WPM. I was stuck at the 10 WPM barrier for a long time, and it was only by the Grace of God that I was able to get up to 13 WPM within 6 months in order to earn my General ticket.
So my advice for those wishing to learn Morse?
1) Ditch any visual aids, as if they were a rattlesnake or the plague.
2) Listen to letters being generated at a speed of anywhere from 13-18 WPM. Let the spacing between the letters determine the code speed. If you listen to Morse being generated slowly and drawn out, you're more than likely going to suffer the 10 WPM plateau like I did.
3) Limit your dedicated practice sessions to no more than 15-20 minutes a pop - two sessions a day, max. At other times, I find it helpful to have Morse playing quietly, almost subliminally in the background while driving, doing chores, etc. IMHO, it gets your brain used to hearing it, and before you know it, you're going to be picking out characters without even realizing it. Lastly, I never liked the concept of listening to random characters once I learned the alphabet. From then on, I found it most useful to listen to actual words and not letter groups. Let's face it, unless you're a spy, you're going to be on the air making conversation - not sending clandestine messages.
4) Once you've learned all the characters and numbers and basic punctuation, and feel somewhat confident in being able to de-code, then get on the air and make QSOs. Real live QSOs are without a doubt, the best vehicle towards increasing your code speed. You can find a lot of beginners hanging out in the 7.120 MHz neighborhood of 40 Meters.
5) Relax, and don't get down on yourself. We all learn things at different speeds. Some people are quick studies and then there are people like me. But if you stick with it, you will get it - I promise.
6) Make full use of W1AW code practice and all the free CW learning software that's out there. Personally, I keep "Morse Trainer" by Wolphi on my phone. It's not a free app, you have to pay for it, but it will generate Morse at speeds up to 60 WPM. I keep it set at 40 WPM. Can I de-code Morse that fast? No way in heck! But I can tell you that after listening (JUST listening - not even trying to decipher) code at that speed for 15 minutes .... code sent at 25 or 28 WPM sounds a lot slower than it used to.
I suffered the double whammy. I had to "unlearn" the aural to visual to brain process; and then once I actually learned the code, I had to unlearn the "code letters sent at 5 WPM" error. Look at me now - CW is my most preferred mode and I am comfortable anywhere around the 25 WPM mark! On a good day, if I don't tense up, I can go for short bursts of 30 -35 WPM. The bottom line is, that learning and becoming proficient with Morse Code is not impossible, in most cases.
Take it from someone who thought it was.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Please take my word for it! As I've told so many times before, I know the frustration of not being able to learn CW. I put off getting my license for at least five years (maybe more), because I could not wrap my brain around the code. And one of the major reasons for that lack of brain wrapping was because someone thought that they were doing me a good turn by handing me a chart similar to the one above.
From personal experience, I can tell you that making the jump from audio input to visual input to brain is the perfect recipe for frustration and resignation. I made the mistake of hearing, trying to visualize and then decode. What you need to do is skip that visual step. Morse Code is a heard language, and unless you're in the Navy operating signal lamps, it's primarily an aural language. To this day, I have extreme difficulty (in fact, I don't even bother) when people "type" out cutsie messages using periods and hyphens to make dits and dahs in print. I have to hear it to de-code. No ifs, ands or buts ..... I have to hear it.
Think about it for a second. When you were a baby, how did you learn to talk - by reading, or by listening to your parents and siblings?
So thanks be to God for the Hams who taught my Novice class. They handed me a set of ARRL Morse Code cassettes with only one word of instruction - LISTEN! And in the end, that's what did it, but the damage had already been done. I had to "unlearn" my past efforts and had to re-learn the direct step of "hear, then de-code". For me, that damage lasted well past 5 WPM. I was stuck at the 10 WPM barrier for a long time, and it was only by the Grace of God that I was able to get up to 13 WPM within 6 months in order to earn my General ticket.
So my advice for those wishing to learn Morse?
1) Ditch any visual aids, as if they were a rattlesnake or the plague.
2) Listen to letters being generated at a speed of anywhere from 13-18 WPM. Let the spacing between the letters determine the code speed. If you listen to Morse being generated slowly and drawn out, you're more than likely going to suffer the 10 WPM plateau like I did.
3) Limit your dedicated practice sessions to no more than 15-20 minutes a pop - two sessions a day, max. At other times, I find it helpful to have Morse playing quietly, almost subliminally in the background while driving, doing chores, etc. IMHO, it gets your brain used to hearing it, and before you know it, you're going to be picking out characters without even realizing it. Lastly, I never liked the concept of listening to random characters once I learned the alphabet. From then on, I found it most useful to listen to actual words and not letter groups. Let's face it, unless you're a spy, you're going to be on the air making conversation - not sending clandestine messages.
4) Once you've learned all the characters and numbers and basic punctuation, and feel somewhat confident in being able to de-code, then get on the air and make QSOs. Real live QSOs are without a doubt, the best vehicle towards increasing your code speed. You can find a lot of beginners hanging out in the 7.120 MHz neighborhood of 40 Meters.
5) Relax, and don't get down on yourself. We all learn things at different speeds. Some people are quick studies and then there are people like me. But if you stick with it, you will get it - I promise.
6) Make full use of W1AW code practice and all the free CW learning software that's out there. Personally, I keep "Morse Trainer" by Wolphi on my phone. It's not a free app, you have to pay for it, but it will generate Morse at speeds up to 60 WPM. I keep it set at 40 WPM. Can I de-code Morse that fast? No way in heck! But I can tell you that after listening (JUST listening - not even trying to decipher) code at that speed for 15 minutes .... code sent at 25 or 28 WPM sounds a lot slower than it used to.
I suffered the double whammy. I had to "unlearn" the aural to visual to brain process; and then once I actually learned the code, I had to unlearn the "code letters sent at 5 WPM" error. Look at me now - CW is my most preferred mode and I am comfortable anywhere around the 25 WPM mark! On a good day, if I don't tense up, I can go for short bursts of 30 -35 WPM. The bottom line is, that learning and becoming proficient with Morse Code is not impossible, in most cases.
Take it from someone who thought it was.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Friday, November 13, 2015
Fattening the blogroll even more
A tip o' the hat and thanks to George K2WO for pointing out a new one - and it looks like a good one!
http://n4pbq.blogspot.com/p/n4pbq.html?view=magazine
Is that a cool title, or what? "Lower your power and raise your expectations."
Love it!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
http://n4pbq.blogspot.com/p/n4pbq.html?view=magazine
Is that a cool title, or what? "Lower your power and raise your expectations."
Love it!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
So much to do ..... so little time.
We have been fortunate in New Jersey. For the most part, with some exceptions, the days of September, October and November have been pretty mild. That is about to change drastically, though. We've had some warm but nasty weather the past two days, and the winds of change are blowing in. Today and tomorrow we're going to have windy days with sustained winds at 15-20 MPH (24-32 KPH), with gusts up to 30 MPH (48 KPH). It's going to make raking leaves a fun chore tomorrow. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll all blow away!
With the coming of colder weather, and less outdoor time, brings the prospect of Wintertime Amateur Radio projects. And like every other Ham that I know, W2LJ has a "To Do" list. My problem is the list keeps getting longer and never seems to get shorter.
These are my top 5 for the Winter of 2015/2016:
1) Get the enhanced heatsink installed on the KX3
2) Get my 4 States QRP antenna tuner built - it arrived a few weeks ago. Then I can put my ZM-2 back in my portable ops backpack.
3) Get my 4 States Ozark regen receiver built.
4) Get my "Glowbug" 40 Meters tube transmitter kit built - to go with the Ozark. I bought this so long ago, I can't even remember when.
5) Homebrew an antenna tuner for the Novice station - something that will handle 50-75 Watts.
And the list can go on, if I care to think about it more. The problem is an age old one, namely time, or the lack thereof. Lawn mowing and leaf raking get replaced by snow shoveling (I hope not), holiday stuff, house cleaning (that never goes away), and various other sundry chores. In addition, there's chauffeuring the kids around, various civic and Church commitments, etc, etc, etc.
I'm not complaining (well, maybe a little) as it sure beats not being able to do all this stuff, but it seems there's barely enough time for doing the things you HAVE to do, let alone to do the things you WANT to do. In addition to all this building, it would be nice to just squeeze in some operating time, too.
Anybody want to take bets on what I'll actually get done? To be totally honest with you, I have no idea, myself.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
With the coming of colder weather, and less outdoor time, brings the prospect of Wintertime Amateur Radio projects. And like every other Ham that I know, W2LJ has a "To Do" list. My problem is the list keeps getting longer and never seems to get shorter.
These are my top 5 for the Winter of 2015/2016:
1) Get the enhanced heatsink installed on the KX3
2) Get my 4 States QRP antenna tuner built - it arrived a few weeks ago. Then I can put my ZM-2 back in my portable ops backpack.
3) Get my 4 States Ozark regen receiver built.
4) Get my "Glowbug" 40 Meters tube transmitter kit built - to go with the Ozark. I bought this so long ago, I can't even remember when.
5) Homebrew an antenna tuner for the Novice station - something that will handle 50-75 Watts.
And the list can go on, if I care to think about it more. The problem is an age old one, namely time, or the lack thereof. Lawn mowing and leaf raking get replaced by snow shoveling (I hope not), holiday stuff, house cleaning (that never goes away), and various other sundry chores. In addition, there's chauffeuring the kids around, various civic and Church commitments, etc, etc, etc.
I'm not complaining (well, maybe a little) as it sure beats not being able to do all this stuff, but it seems there's barely enough time for doing the things you HAVE to do, let alone to do the things you WANT to do. In addition to all this building, it would be nice to just squeeze in some operating time, too.
Anybody want to take bets on what I'll actually get done? To be totally honest with you, I have no idea, myself.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Butternut vs GAP - a personal perspective - and something else.
NB: The purpose of this post is not to start a war between GAP users and Butternut users. It is simply a recollection of experiences and impressions from a Ham who has owned and used both products. I have probably mentioned these in past posts, but the subject recently came up with a person who had asked me for my thoughts on purchasing an HF vertical.
I purchased a GAP Challenger back in the early 90s when I was still living at my old East Brunswick, NJ QTH. Up until that point, I had strictly been a user of dipoles, doublets and long wires. My first antenna as a Novice was a Mor-Gain multi-band dipole. Remember those? That antenna worked very well for me for many years.
I wanted to buy a vertical as I thought the lower take off angle would garner me more DX. Back then, my operating style was very eclectic. I took full advantage of the Amateur radio smorgasbord. I was into EVERYTHING (or so it seemed)! I was operating QRP, QRO, satellites, digital, DX - you name it. About the only thing I wasn't doing was phone. Not to cast aspersions on SSB or AM ops, it's just not my thing. I've gone into that in detail previously, so I am not going to re-hash that here.
I thought, after reading many articles, that a vertical would help me towards that goal of earning DXCC. At about that time, GAP was a young company, not even 10 years old. They were making a name for themselves. GAP was the Wunderkind, the "new kid on the block", they were splashy, new, and they were being advertised all over Amateur Radio creation and always seemed to be featured in magazine articles.
GAP had several advantages in my mind:
1) It was a new company, and I like to try new things.
2) They had antennas that were priced right to fit my budget at the time.
3) The Challenger model advertised the need for only three radials.
4) The antennas were actually not dismissed as "junk" by Kurt N. Sterba, the antenna expert from WorldRadio. In my mind, this counted a lot!
So I bought a Challenger.
It assembled very easily and went up well. I was able to build it and deploy it by myself. And it performed VERY well with the factory supplied radial kit. And yes, it was only three radials. If memory serves me correctly (and it may not), they were three 25' (8 Meter) radials. The "secret" was that for the most part, the Challenger was a vertical dipole, which didn't really need radials.
I was getting DX at a better clip than I was getting it before. In all honesty, I can't tell you for sure whether that was due to the fact that I was on a DX jag at the time, so I was concentrating on it more, or because of the antenna. I tend to think it was because of the antenna, but I have no scientific proof to back that up.
There were only two problems with it in my mind:
1) It wasn't stealthy. That's not GAP's fault. If I had had more trees in the backyard to "hide" it in, it would have been better. As it was, it stuck out like a sore thumb and boy, did my backyard neighbor-one-over take notice! In his mind, I had totally eliminated his ability to watch television. In addition, all other electronic maladies that occurred in his house were my fault. If there was a flickering of the lights, or a brownout, it was my fault. If he blew a fuse in the fusebox, it was my fault. If someone called him on the telephone and hung up before he could answer, it was my fault. If a CB'er running power (we lived about a block away from a heavily used State Highway) came through his TV speaker, it was my fault. If a house fly passed gas too loudly, it was my fault. You can see where this is going, right?
2) The antenna was not as sturdy as I would have liked. Again, this is totally a subjective thing. The few years that I owned that Challenger, coincided with some pretty horrific New Jersey winters. Ice storms, blizzards, the whole nine yards. In fact, in the Winter of '96 we had what was later called a "white hurricane" - cold enough weather in combination with a monster Nor'easter that resulted in a blizzard that dumped about 32 inches of snow with just under official hurricane force winds.
The GAP survived all of that (I had it guyed, which was an absolute necessity), but in the process I had so many bad cases of agita that I can't even count them all. At times, the Challenger was so bent over with ice that I thought it was permanently damaged. "How the heck can an antenna bend that far and not snap?", popped into my mind so many times. And in the summers, during thunderstorms, the Challenger swayed like a hula dancer stoked out on sugar, caffeine and methamphetamine (all at the same time!). To its credit, the antenna always survived. There were times that I felt that I wasn't going to survive while I watched its gyrations, but yet it always survived.
I eventually sold the antenna. Not because of the gyrations, or the antenna's performance (which was great), but because things got so bad with the neighbor that I had to do it to keep the peace. I know ..... the coward's way out, but you have to understand that at the time, I was still living at home in order to help support my elderly parents, and I didn't want to make life miserable for them. If it was MY house and MY property, I would have taken the vertical down .... and replaced it with a tower and a beam ...... but it was what it was.
When I moved to the current South Plainfield, NJ QTH, I decided to put up another vertical. This time I chose the Butternut. I have had it up for over a fifteen years now and am quite happy with it. The Butternut HF9V is a true vertical and because of that, it requires radials. When I first installed it, I put down 26 radials. I just placed them on the grass and installed a lawn staple every 3 feet or so to hold them down. Within a few months, the grass grew over them, concealing them completely. Two years ago, I put down another bunch, to bring the number up to 58 radials total. I've damaged three over the years with the lawn mower, so there are about 55 good radials in the system (and three very short ones!).
The antenna performs superbly, as far as I am concerned. I am as satisfied with it, performance-wise, as I was with the GAP. The one area where the Butternut exceeds the GAP, in my humble non-engineer's opinion, is in the area of sturdiness. Since I moved to South Plainfield 17 years ago, I have experienced three major hurricanes (Floyd, Irene, Sandy) and the Butternut survived each without a whimper. Yes, the antenna did sway in the winds a bit - but compared to the GAP, it stood rock steady. And unlike the GAP, the Butternut is not guyed, nor does it need to be. During blizzards, ice storms and summer thunderstorms, I can go to bed and not miss a wink of sleep. I don't have to give the Butternut a second thought, or swallow a bunch of antacids. To me that peace of mind is worth a lot.
Now, that all being said ...... if the Butternut were to be disintegrated tomorrow by some kind of death ray from an alien spaceship, I would probably go back to being a GAP owner. The price difference is the key reason - $369.95 for a Challenger - $604.95 for an HF9V. By they way, that is NOT what I paid for mine. I simply can't afford to replace it. With two kids rapidly approaching college age, I would definitely need to shell out fewer bucks. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. As a result, I would guy the heck out of the antenna, and would then spend the almost $200 saved, slowly over the next years by investing in either Rolaids or Tums, or by buying myself a pair of horse blinders. Whichever works out cheapest.
In other breaking news - may a 60 Meter QRP band (not channel - but band) be in the offing?
Maybe - as per the ARRL:
"At World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), in Geneva, consensus continues to shape up around a new 15 kHz-wide global secondary 60 meter Amateur Radio allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz. On November 12, Conference Working Group 4B agreed to the global secondary allocation, with power limits designed to protect primary services from harmful interference. Sub Working Group (SWG) 4B1, chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, had presented its output document with two options, the other being no change — a position many administrations favored going into the conference. The current compromise making the allocation possible still must clear two more levels at the conference. This won’t happen until next week, and the issue is not final until it does. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, who attended the conference briefly on behalf of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), congratulated the IARU team and the national delegates who advocated for the Amateur Service."
“Assuming that the fragile agreement continues to hold, this will be the first entirely new HF allocation since 1979,” he said. “While we would have preferred more, anyone who understands what our proponents were up against will appreciate what they have accomplished.”
"SWG 4B1 held 15 meetings over the first 10 days of WRC-15. During week 1, the discussion focused on whether there would be an allocation at all. A number of administrations and the regional telecommunications organization (RTO) representing Russia and 10 of its neighboring countries (RCC) were bitterly opposed. As week 1 closed, it became clear that the widest achievable allocation was 15 kHz and that a power limit in the neighborhood of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) would have to be part of the package."
As they say, we shall have to wait and see!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I purchased a GAP Challenger back in the early 90s when I was still living at my old East Brunswick, NJ QTH. Up until that point, I had strictly been a user of dipoles, doublets and long wires. My first antenna as a Novice was a Mor-Gain multi-band dipole. Remember those? That antenna worked very well for me for many years.
I wanted to buy a vertical as I thought the lower take off angle would garner me more DX. Back then, my operating style was very eclectic. I took full advantage of the Amateur radio smorgasbord. I was into EVERYTHING (or so it seemed)! I was operating QRP, QRO, satellites, digital, DX - you name it. About the only thing I wasn't doing was phone. Not to cast aspersions on SSB or AM ops, it's just not my thing. I've gone into that in detail previously, so I am not going to re-hash that here.
I thought, after reading many articles, that a vertical would help me towards that goal of earning DXCC. At about that time, GAP was a young company, not even 10 years old. They were making a name for themselves. GAP was the Wunderkind, the "new kid on the block", they were splashy, new, and they were being advertised all over Amateur Radio creation and always seemed to be featured in magazine articles.
GAP had several advantages in my mind:
1) It was a new company, and I like to try new things.
2) They had antennas that were priced right to fit my budget at the time.
3) The Challenger model advertised the need for only three radials.
4) The antennas were actually not dismissed as "junk" by Kurt N. Sterba, the antenna expert from WorldRadio. In my mind, this counted a lot!
So I bought a Challenger.
It assembled very easily and went up well. I was able to build it and deploy it by myself. And it performed VERY well with the factory supplied radial kit. And yes, it was only three radials. If memory serves me correctly (and it may not), they were three 25' (8 Meter) radials. The "secret" was that for the most part, the Challenger was a vertical dipole, which didn't really need radials.
I was getting DX at a better clip than I was getting it before. In all honesty, I can't tell you for sure whether that was due to the fact that I was on a DX jag at the time, so I was concentrating on it more, or because of the antenna. I tend to think it was because of the antenna, but I have no scientific proof to back that up.
There were only two problems with it in my mind:
1) It wasn't stealthy. That's not GAP's fault. If I had had more trees in the backyard to "hide" it in, it would have been better. As it was, it stuck out like a sore thumb and boy, did my backyard neighbor-one-over take notice! In his mind, I had totally eliminated his ability to watch television. In addition, all other electronic maladies that occurred in his house were my fault. If there was a flickering of the lights, or a brownout, it was my fault. If he blew a fuse in the fusebox, it was my fault. If someone called him on the telephone and hung up before he could answer, it was my fault. If a CB'er running power (we lived about a block away from a heavily used State Highway) came through his TV speaker, it was my fault. If a house fly passed gas too loudly, it was my fault. You can see where this is going, right?
2) The antenna was not as sturdy as I would have liked. Again, this is totally a subjective thing. The few years that I owned that Challenger, coincided with some pretty horrific New Jersey winters. Ice storms, blizzards, the whole nine yards. In fact, in the Winter of '96 we had what was later called a "white hurricane" - cold enough weather in combination with a monster Nor'easter that resulted in a blizzard that dumped about 32 inches of snow with just under official hurricane force winds.
The GAP survived all of that (I had it guyed, which was an absolute necessity), but in the process I had so many bad cases of agita that I can't even count them all. At times, the Challenger was so bent over with ice that I thought it was permanently damaged. "How the heck can an antenna bend that far and not snap?", popped into my mind so many times. And in the summers, during thunderstorms, the Challenger swayed like a hula dancer stoked out on sugar, caffeine and methamphetamine (all at the same time!). To its credit, the antenna always survived. There were times that I felt that I wasn't going to survive while I watched its gyrations, but yet it always survived.
I eventually sold the antenna. Not because of the gyrations, or the antenna's performance (which was great), but because things got so bad with the neighbor that I had to do it to keep the peace. I know ..... the coward's way out, but you have to understand that at the time, I was still living at home in order to help support my elderly parents, and I didn't want to make life miserable for them. If it was MY house and MY property, I would have taken the vertical down .... and replaced it with a tower and a beam ...... but it was what it was.
When I moved to the current South Plainfield, NJ QTH, I decided to put up another vertical. This time I chose the Butternut. I have had it up for over a fifteen years now and am quite happy with it. The Butternut HF9V is a true vertical and because of that, it requires radials. When I first installed it, I put down 26 radials. I just placed them on the grass and installed a lawn staple every 3 feet or so to hold them down. Within a few months, the grass grew over them, concealing them completely. Two years ago, I put down another bunch, to bring the number up to 58 radials total. I've damaged three over the years with the lawn mower, so there are about 55 good radials in the system (and three very short ones!).
The antenna performs superbly, as far as I am concerned. I am as satisfied with it, performance-wise, as I was with the GAP. The one area where the Butternut exceeds the GAP, in my humble non-engineer's opinion, is in the area of sturdiness. Since I moved to South Plainfield 17 years ago, I have experienced three major hurricanes (Floyd, Irene, Sandy) and the Butternut survived each without a whimper. Yes, the antenna did sway in the winds a bit - but compared to the GAP, it stood rock steady. And unlike the GAP, the Butternut is not guyed, nor does it need to be. During blizzards, ice storms and summer thunderstorms, I can go to bed and not miss a wink of sleep. I don't have to give the Butternut a second thought, or swallow a bunch of antacids. To me that peace of mind is worth a lot.
Now, that all being said ...... if the Butternut were to be disintegrated tomorrow by some kind of death ray from an alien spaceship, I would probably go back to being a GAP owner. The price difference is the key reason - $369.95 for a Challenger - $604.95 for an HF9V. By they way, that is NOT what I paid for mine. I simply can't afford to replace it. With two kids rapidly approaching college age, I would definitely need to shell out fewer bucks. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. As a result, I would guy the heck out of the antenna, and would then spend the almost $200 saved, slowly over the next years by investing in either Rolaids or Tums, or by buying myself a pair of horse blinders. Whichever works out cheapest.
In other breaking news - may a 60 Meter QRP band (not channel - but band) be in the offing?
Maybe - as per the ARRL:
"At World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), in Geneva, consensus continues to shape up around a new 15 kHz-wide global secondary 60 meter Amateur Radio allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz. On November 12, Conference Working Group 4B agreed to the global secondary allocation, with power limits designed to protect primary services from harmful interference. Sub Working Group (SWG) 4B1, chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, had presented its output document with two options, the other being no change — a position many administrations favored going into the conference. The current compromise making the allocation possible still must clear two more levels at the conference. This won’t happen until next week, and the issue is not final until it does. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, who attended the conference briefly on behalf of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), congratulated the IARU team and the national delegates who advocated for the Amateur Service."
“Assuming that the fragile agreement continues to hold, this will be the first entirely new HF allocation since 1979,” he said. “While we would have preferred more, anyone who understands what our proponents were up against will appreciate what they have accomplished.”
"SWG 4B1 held 15 meetings over the first 10 days of WRC-15. During week 1, the discussion focused on whether there would be an allocation at all. A number of administrations and the regional telecommunications organization (RTO) representing Russia and 10 of its neighboring countries (RCC) were bitterly opposed. As week 1 closed, it became clear that the widest achievable allocation was 15 kHz and that a power limit in the neighborhood of 15 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) would have to be part of the package."
As they say, we shall have to wait and see!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
New addition to the blog roll.
I got an e-mail from a QRP friend, Craig LaBarge WB3GCK. Craig is a very active outdoor QRPer, a man after my own heart, He's in the process of moving a lot of QRP info from a static webpage to one that has a blog type of format. You can see it here
In addition to mentioning it here, I am going to add his blog to the blog roll to the right. It's worth your time to read what he has to say. Craig not only goes out operating portable whenever he gets the chance, but he's also a dedicated Skeeter Hunter. Hey, that ranks him "right up there" in my book!.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Craig has impecable taste in QRP portable outerwear, as you can see!
In addition to mentioning it here, I am going to add his blog to the blog roll to the right. It's worth your time to read what he has to say. Craig not only goes out operating portable whenever he gets the chance, but he's also a dedicated Skeeter Hunter. Hey, that ranks him "right up there" in my book!.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
I think I found me a project for the Summer of 2016!
I saw this on eHam, and I think I can actually do this:
http://www.eham.net/articles/34910
I would love to have a Hexbeam, and the only two thing have been keeping that dream at arm's length is a) the cost and b) a way to support it.
This article solves "b)". The way around "a)" is to start saving and to also consider what I can sell to make up the funds. With the solar cycle rollercoaster heading towards the dip, having a Hexbeam would be very, very nice. I could install this in a corner of the yard and crank it down when not in use and I think that would keep my XYL satisfied.
Here's KE1Q's photo of his permanent setup:
I'm pretty sure this project is within even my meager carpentry skills. All I have to do is come up with some scratch for the antenna and mast (and a small rotator, too, I guess) and the time. The time, the time, the time ....... always the most precious commodity of them all.
Even if it doesn't come to fruition, it's still fun to plan and dream.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
http://www.eham.net/articles/34910
I would love to have a Hexbeam, and the only two thing have been keeping that dream at arm's length is a) the cost and b) a way to support it.
This article solves "b)". The way around "a)" is to start saving and to also consider what I can sell to make up the funds. With the solar cycle rollercoaster heading towards the dip, having a Hexbeam would be very, very nice. I could install this in a corner of the yard and crank it down when not in use and I think that would keep my XYL satisfied.
Here's KE1Q's photo of his permanent setup:
I'm pretty sure this project is within even my meager carpentry skills. All I have to do is come up with some scratch for the antenna and mast (and a small rotator, too, I guess) and the time. The time, the time, the time ....... always the most precious commodity of them all.
Even if it doesn't come to fruition, it's still fun to plan and dream.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Monday, November 09, 2015
Product review time!
Even though I'm a big Elecraft KX3 fan, never let it be said that W2LJ's Blog is unfairly biased or discriminatory. If there are good (operative word "good") products out there that would/should be of interest to the QRP community, they WILL be featured here.
And as such, the LNR LD-5 does look like a winner! It doesn't have all the features of a KX3, but then, not everyone needs or desires all the features of a KX3. And for what it's worth, if Elecraft didn't exist (Heaven forfend!), I might be compelled to acquire one of these myself.
For a full product review by James Hannibal KH2SR, you can go here to read all about it.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
And as such, the LNR LD-5 does look like a winner! It doesn't have all the features of a KX3, but then, not everyone needs or desires all the features of a KX3. And for what it's worth, if Elecraft didn't exist (Heaven forfend!), I might be compelled to acquire one of these myself.
For a full product review by James Hannibal KH2SR, you can go here to read all about it.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
COMEX-MARS exercise this weekend.
This coming weekend, the South Plainfield CERT/RACES/ARES team, the Middlesex County RACES/ARES team and the State of New Jersey RACES/ARES team will be testing emergency communications resiliency in the event of a major CME (coronal mass ejection) such as The Carrington Event that ocurred in 1859. During our weekly ARES net this Friday evening, it will be announced that a major CME has been detected and that communications and the electrical power grid are expected to be severely disrupted within the coming hours. We will be advised to store our communications gear in a safe manner - basically in a Faraday Shield.
Communications will go dark until Sunday morning, after the effects of the CME have passed. We will assume, for the purposes of this drill, that the VHF/UHF repeater system (as well as the cell phone system and the power grid) will have been "severely compromised or damaged". We will then see how well we can communicate on a town/county/statewide basis relying on VHF/UHF simplex and HF communications on battery or generator power. Of course it will be assumed that the gear being used had been adequately shielded and protected in advance of the CME event.
It used to be that you just worried about natural disasters from terrestrial weather. Now we're becoming more and more realistic about the havoc that solar weather can play. And we're planning for it and planning for reacting to it. All in all a good thing.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Communications will go dark until Sunday morning, after the effects of the CME have passed. We will assume, for the purposes of this drill, that the VHF/UHF repeater system (as well as the cell phone system and the power grid) will have been "severely compromised or damaged". We will then see how well we can communicate on a town/county/statewide basis relying on VHF/UHF simplex and HF communications on battery or generator power. Of course it will be assumed that the gear being used had been adequately shielded and protected in advance of the CME event.
It used to be that you just worried about natural disasters from terrestrial weather. Now we're becoming more and more realistic about the havoc that solar weather can play. And we're planning for it and planning for reacting to it. All in all a good thing.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Sunday, November 01, 2015
ATNO!
In the DX game, sometimes you have to be real good to work a new one, especially QRP. You might have to break a dense pile up, or perhaps you have to get up at some ungodly hour to work a DXpedition when there's a lull.
Other times, you have to be lucky, or just at the right place at the right time. That was the case for me, yesterday. I was down in the shack, twiddling the dial (no pandapter in the W2LJ shack) on 10 Meters. It was mid-morning, and I was just curious whether or not I'd be able to hear any signals. There on 28.050 MHz was 9J2BO calling CQ - without any takers! Admittedly, off the top of my head, I had no idea where 9J2 was. But is sure as heck wasn't familiar, and if it's not familiar, then it's probably rare. So I dived in with all 5 Watts and gave a call. 9J2BO's signal was loud enough where I thought 5 Watts would be enough, and it turned out I was correct. It took one repeat, but he had my call!
We exchanged signal reports. I gave Brian an 599 and I received a 559 in return - not bad for 5 Watts to Africa (Quickly inputting 9J2BO into Log4OM informed me it was Zambia. Hot dog!). Then the QSB kicked in (big time) and shortened our QSO. I cheated a tad and kicked in the afterburner just to make sure that Brian heard my final "TU ES 73", but the previous 99% of the QSO was carried out at 5 Watts - so I'm counting it in my personal QRP tally.
A few seconds later, I heard Brian calling CQ again, and then he just faded totally into oblivion and I didn't hear anything more on 28.050 MHz. Not him, nor anyone else trying to call him.
Right place at the right time. That's all it took for this ATNO!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Happy Hallowe'en!
Notice the apostrophe in there? That's because Hallowe'en is kind of an abbreviated form for the formal title of the day - All Hallow's Eve (or evening). Hallowe'en used to be observed as the vigil for All Saints Day, a vigil (in Catholic terminology) being the night before a Holy Day or some other holiday. Hallowe'en was actually considered a quasi-Holy Day itself, the beginning of the part of the year where the Catholic Church remembers and honors those who have departed from this life and have gone onto their reward.
Then things happened and because the day was associated with the dead, it got twisted into goblins, ghouls, witches and demons.
Let's Go Mets!
Last night was the Zombie Shuffle, and as I stated before, last night was also the K2ETS monthly meeting. I was able to get on for about only 1/2 hour before having to leave. In that short period of time, just as the event was getting under way, I made eight contacts on 40 Meters. The best one of those was with Ed WA3WSJ who was Zombie Shuffling from the Appalachian Trail.
I tried CQ BOOing on 20 Meters for a bit, but since the Shuffle starts at 6:00 PM local time, 20 Meters is actually not usable until 6:00 PM kicks in for the other time zones. At the same time, 80 Meters becomes better when it gets "dark" dark - after twilight. So for that first hour to 90 minutes, 40 Meters makes the best sense for the beginning of the Zombie Shuffle for the Eastern time zone.
After I returned home from the meeting, I went back on the air and made three more QSOs on 80 Meters and that was it. That was a bit after 10:00 PM and there was no longer any CQ BOO activity on 20 or 40 Meters that I was able to hear. I called CQ BOO and did some dial twiddling on 80 Meters, and after it looked like the well had gone dry, I went upstairs to watch the final innings of World Series Game 3. You know, sometimes it difficult enough using the KX3 in "Dual Watch Mode" attempting to simultaneously listen to two different Amateur Radio frequencies, one in each ear bud. I found that it's even tougher trying to simultaneously listen to the Zombie Shuffle in one ear and the ballgame in the other. Talk about scrambled brains!
The Zombie Shuffle is a lot of fun, though. If you've never tried QRP contesting, you might want to try it next year (if you can wait that long). I heard all kinds of CW speeds last night, from probably about 12 WPM to 25 WPM. The Shuffle is unique in that it's loosely organized and is actually more of an operating event than a contest. And the participation! Wow, it's talked up on the QRP email reflectors for weeks ahead of time and the participation is always superb! Thanks to Paul NA5N and his wife Jan N0QT (who also sponsor QRP To The Field each year). It's amazing how popular the Zombie Shuffle has become, when you think about it - but then really it's no surprise, it's just a lot of fun.
One last thing - for those of you who observe Daylight Saving Time - tonight's the night we "Fall back" and set the clocks one hour behind. Tonight you'll get that extra hour of sleep in order to recover from all the Milky Ways and Snickers bars that you have "Trick or Treated" yourself to!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Stuff
Tomorrow night is the Zombie Shuffle. Tomorrow night is our monthly Amateur Radio Club meeting. I have a conflict of interest, here. Since I am the recording secretary, the outlook for my participation in the Shuffle is bleak. Drat! If, I'm lucky, I can squeeze in an hour before I have to leave and perhaps another when I get home. Hopefully, by the time I get home (usually around 10:00 PM) there will still be some activity.
On the bright side, today was another productive QRP day at lunch. I worked PJ2/W4VAB, OM5XX and CU2AA. It was only after working Jacinto in the Azores that I looked down at the KX3 and realized that I had spent my entire lunchtime session at the 3 Watt level. Wow - 3 Watts into the Buddistick and I still managed to hop the Atlantic and get down into the Caribbean!
I heard and tried working UE25R on 20 Meters. He was CQing rapidly and was not leaving hardly any "blank space" at all for replies. It seemed he would finish sending his call, blink his eyes and start sending his call again. Obviously, with that approach, you must be looking for 599 stations only. I guess I didn't stand a chance with 3 Watts, even though he was L O U D!
The 4 States QRP Group came out with another new kit, which I immediately sent away for - a QRP antenna tuner. I need one to use with the HW8, so I can hook it up to the W3EDP antenna. This will handle 10 Watts, and the HW8 tops out at about 4 Watts, so this will be perfect. Originally, the plan was to use my Emtech ZM2 Z-match tuner, but I like to leave that one in my portable ops backpack.
I'm also going to need a tuner for my Novice Station (redeux). When I was a Novice, I had a small MFJ tuner, but I think that this time, I am going to go totally homebrew. I wasn't confident enough in my "from scratch" building skills as a Novice. I have a better idea of what I'm doing now.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
On the bright side, today was another productive QRP day at lunch. I worked PJ2/W4VAB, OM5XX and CU2AA. It was only after working Jacinto in the Azores that I looked down at the KX3 and realized that I had spent my entire lunchtime session at the 3 Watt level. Wow - 3 Watts into the Buddistick and I still managed to hop the Atlantic and get down into the Caribbean!
I heard and tried working UE25R on 20 Meters. He was CQing rapidly and was not leaving hardly any "blank space" at all for replies. It seemed he would finish sending his call, blink his eyes and start sending his call again. Obviously, with that approach, you must be looking for 599 stations only. I guess I didn't stand a chance with 3 Watts, even though he was L O U D!
The 4 States QRP Group came out with another new kit, which I immediately sent away for - a QRP antenna tuner. I need one to use with the HW8, so I can hook it up to the W3EDP antenna. This will handle 10 Watts, and the HW8 tops out at about 4 Watts, so this will be perfect. Originally, the plan was to use my Emtech ZM2 Z-match tuner, but I like to leave that one in my portable ops backpack.
I'm also going to need a tuner for my Novice Station (redeux). When I was a Novice, I had a small MFJ tuner, but I think that this time, I am going to go totally homebrew. I wasn't confident enough in my "from scratch" building skills as a Novice. I have a better idea of what I'm doing now.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Field Day results are in!
If you're anything like me, you were probably scratching your head a couple of weeks ago when the digital and paper versions of November QST came out, sans Field Day results. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I guess December, then."
Wrong! (This is getting to be a bad habit on my part.)
The ARRL has chosen to release the results of Field Day 2015 via the Web. The only reason I knew this was one of my Facebook friends had pointed it out to me, even before the announcement was made by the ARRL. See? I keep telling you guys that Facebook does have SOME value!
Even before I got dressed for work, I was checking to see how NJ2SP did this year. (I'm such a geek!) It turns out we did pretty darned OK.
We came in fifth in the nation in the 3AB (battery powered, 5W power limit) category.
And we came in tenth in the Hudson Division for all categories.
Now all we have to do is get Marv K2VHW's beam working for next year for the SSB station, and I'm thinking of switching from the EARCHI to the W3EDP for the CW station and we should be able to do even better. Now if we can only keep the deluges away, we'll be "In like Flynn".
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Wrong! (This is getting to be a bad habit on my part.)
The ARRL has chosen to release the results of Field Day 2015 via the Web. The only reason I knew this was one of my Facebook friends had pointed it out to me, even before the announcement was made by the ARRL. See? I keep telling you guys that Facebook does have SOME value!
Even before I got dressed for work, I was checking to see how NJ2SP did this year. (I'm such a geek!) It turns out we did pretty darned OK.
We came in fifth in the nation in the 3AB (battery powered, 5W power limit) category.
And we came in tenth in the Hudson Division for all categories.
Now all we have to do is get Marv K2VHW's beam working for next year for the SSB station, and I'm thinking of switching from the EARCHI to the W3EDP for the CW station and we should be able to do even better. Now if we can only keep the deluges away, we'll be "In like Flynn".
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
DX at lunchtime
I didn't have as much success as Jim W1PID and Tim W3ATB had during their outing today, but I had a tiny bit of success. 17 Meters seemed to be open with not a bunch of activity. I did hear a few European and Russian stations. Instead of hunting and pecking, I decided to call CQ - you know, what all "the experts" say that QRPers should never do.
For my daring, I was fortunate enough to be answered by Dave GM0LVI on 18.086 MHz (the 17 Meter QRP Watering Hole). It wasn't the longest of QSOs, but it was a bit more than "599 TU". Dave got a 559 from me, and I received a 539 in return - there was lots of QSB. The neat thing about this QSO is that it was 2X QRP. Not only that, but it was also 2X KX3. I was on my Buddisitck, and Dave was using his 2 Element Quad, which I'm sure is responsible for making this QSO happen.
I'll have to look into the history of Perth. It got me wondering if it's the namesake of Perth Amboy, a city very near me here in NJ. Back in very early Colonial times, the current city was actually two entities - the towns Perth and Amboy. I am wondering if that Perth was named after Dave's Perth? The two towns constantly feuded, until someone got the idea to combine the two smaller towns into a bigger city, renaming the themselves "Perth Amboy".
Perth, Scotland - near GMoLVI's QTH
I'll have to look into the history of Perth. It got me wondering if it's the namesake of Perth Amboy, a city very near me here in NJ. Back in very early Colonial times, the current city was actually two entities - the towns Perth and Amboy. I am wondering if that Perth was named after Dave's Perth? The two towns constantly feuded, until someone got the idea to combine the two smaller towns into a bigger city, renaming the themselves "Perth Amboy".
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Monday, October 26, 2015
AUXCOMM
I have taken the day off from work, I have just completed, along with several of my South Plainfield RACES/ARES compadres, a two day AUXCOMM class as taught by the Department of Homeland Security OEC/ICTAP, and offered by the NJ State Races Coordinator John Miller, and the Middlesex County NJ RACES Coordinator John Garmendi N2DV.
All I can say is, "Wow!". This course was fantastic and re-awakened a lot of the training that I received when I was a Communications Officer with Middlesex County OEM back in the 80s and 90s. And a lot of things have changed since then, of course, and hopefully, I absorbed them like a sponge.
For those of you who are wondering what AUXCOMM is, that is the official name given by Homeland Security to Amateur Radio operators (RACES/ARES/CERT), REACT members and others, who augment the paid/trained first responders during declared emergencies.
The course, which spanned some 20 hours, was expertly taught by Hank Koebler N3ORX and Jim Millsap WB4NWS. If I were to go into the experience which make these two fine gentlemen qualified to teach this course, it would probably occupy the next 5-10 blog posts. Suffice it to say that we were very fortunate enough to be taught by two experts with regard to Amateur Radio and EMCOMM.
The class went by quickly, and was never boring. Jim and Hank kept it interesting and, if I may dare say, fun. The pace was quick, but with enough time given to take in all the key and necessary aspects of what was being taught. There were ten units (I hate to call them "lectures") that were broken up by plenty of exercises where we had to identify resources, come up with communications plans, and then submit them for approval. This was followed by one last "Final Exam" or final planning session which brought together everything that we had learned up to that point, In addition, throughout the class, we learned the correct procedures for filling out the necessary ICS paperwork that accompanies all these kind of events.
I must admit that after the first day, my head felt like it does after the first day of Dayton Hamvention, busting to the seams with sensory overload. But it was all good, and by the second day, I think everyone returned in the morning feeling a bit better and just a tad more comfortable with their EMCOMM skills.
The course built upon the education we received from those online FEMA courses that we all took on the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework. It expanded upon that and throughout the class, decorum, attitude and etiquette were accented.
It does not do any good for the name and face of Amateur Radio, for uninvited, untrained, undisciplined "know-it-all cowboys" to show up to an emergency with an attitude that Amateur Radio is there "to save the day". That attitude, along with "Hey, lookie here at all my latest and greatest gear" is most assuredly going to get you escorted off the scene with a firm admonition to never return.
The keys to a successful blend of Amateur Radio and Disaster Response are training, decorum, the willingness to help with ANY situation (not just communications), and above all, professionalism. The willingness to blend in, get the job done with a minimal mount of attention or hoopla to yourself or the Amateur Radio Service, are what is needed. In fact, if you follow those guidelines, the Amateur Radio Service and Amateur Radio operators WILL come out smelling like a rose, and will be asked to come back on a continual basis.
To all Amateur Radio ops who read this blog that are interested in Public Service and Amateur Radio EMCOMM - I heartily urge you to go to your Town/City, County and State RACES/ARES leadership team to request them to have this AUXCOMM class brought to your state. Regardless of your level of experience, you are going to enjoy this class and will learn things that you never knew before.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
All I can say is, "Wow!". This course was fantastic and re-awakened a lot of the training that I received when I was a Communications Officer with Middlesex County OEM back in the 80s and 90s. And a lot of things have changed since then, of course, and hopefully, I absorbed them like a sponge.
Hank Kobeler N3ORX listening to me explain our team's solution to one of the training exercises.
(Photo by Drew Moore W2OU)
The course, which spanned some 20 hours, was expertly taught by Hank Koebler N3ORX and Jim Millsap WB4NWS. If I were to go into the experience which make these two fine gentlemen qualified to teach this course, it would probably occupy the next 5-10 blog posts. Suffice it to say that we were very fortunate enough to be taught by two experts with regard to Amateur Radio and EMCOMM.
The class went by quickly, and was never boring. Jim and Hank kept it interesting and, if I may dare say, fun. The pace was quick, but with enough time given to take in all the key and necessary aspects of what was being taught. There were ten units (I hate to call them "lectures") that were broken up by plenty of exercises where we had to identify resources, come up with communications plans, and then submit them for approval. This was followed by one last "Final Exam" or final planning session which brought together everything that we had learned up to that point, In addition, throughout the class, we learned the correct procedures for filling out the necessary ICS paperwork that accompanies all these kind of events.
I must admit that after the first day, my head felt like it does after the first day of Dayton Hamvention, busting to the seams with sensory overload. But it was all good, and by the second day, I think everyone returned in the morning feeling a bit better and just a tad more comfortable with their EMCOMM skills.
During our exercises, we fortunate to be joined by Mark Harla N2MHO (third from the right) from Cumberland County RACES. His experience and knowledge was invaluable to our little team.
The course built upon the education we received from those online FEMA courses that we all took on the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework. It expanded upon that and throughout the class, decorum, attitude and etiquette were accented.
It does not do any good for the name and face of Amateur Radio, for uninvited, untrained, undisciplined "know-it-all cowboys" to show up to an emergency with an attitude that Amateur Radio is there "to save the day". That attitude, along with "Hey, lookie here at all my latest and greatest gear" is most assuredly going to get you escorted off the scene with a firm admonition to never return.
The keys to a successful blend of Amateur Radio and Disaster Response are training, decorum, the willingness to help with ANY situation (not just communications), and above all, professionalism. The willingness to blend in, get the job done with a minimal mount of attention or hoopla to yourself or the Amateur Radio Service, are what is needed. In fact, if you follow those guidelines, the Amateur Radio Service and Amateur Radio operators WILL come out smelling like a rose, and will be asked to come back on a continual basis.
To all Amateur Radio ops who read this blog that are interested in Public Service and Amateur Radio EMCOMM - I heartily urge you to go to your Town/City, County and State RACES/ARES leadership team to request them to have this AUXCOMM class brought to your state. Regardless of your level of experience, you are going to enjoy this class and will learn things that you never knew before.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
DX Spray .... it works!
Unlike the grand vistas that Jim W1PID encounters in the beautiful locales of New Hampshire, the views that I am afforded during my lunchtime QRP sessions are a bit more urbane. However, as the season changes along with the leaves, even in a suburban setting there is beauty to be found:
Not bad for a parking lot view, eh?
As I was setting up the station, I noticed that the "stick" part of my Buddistick was ......well, rather sticky. I happened to have a can of this in the trunk, so I applied a bit to the whip and then proceeded to rub it in using some 3" gauze bandage from my First Aid kit. Hey, you use what's on hand!
Little did I know that WD-40 actually stands for "Whopping DX - 40 Meters". I didn't get on 40 Meters, but the can didn't know that, and the DX Spray seemed to work equally well on 15 and 17 Meters. In short order, after applying this miracle spray to my Buddistick, I worked T47GDXC, SM3PZG, RA1AOB and TF4X all in the space of about 15 minutes.
Who knew? If I was aware of what WD-40 really stood for, I would have been applying it to my antennas years ago! Just think ..... all the wasted time, all the wasted opportunities! I could be on the DXCC Honor Roll by now.
Some would attribute my success today to the sun and something called "improved band conditions". But I, for one, know better. I have learned the secret of the magic "DX Spray".
Sob ....... weep!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
As I was setting up the station, I noticed that the "stick" part of my Buddistick was ......well, rather sticky. I happened to have a can of this in the trunk, so I applied a bit to the whip and then proceeded to rub it in using some 3" gauze bandage from my First Aid kit. Hey, you use what's on hand!
Little did I know that WD-40 actually stands for "Whopping DX - 40 Meters". I didn't get on 40 Meters, but the can didn't know that, and the DX Spray seemed to work equally well on 15 and 17 Meters. In short order, after applying this miracle spray to my Buddistick, I worked T47GDXC, SM3PZG, RA1AOB and TF4X all in the space of about 15 minutes.
Who knew? If I was aware of what WD-40 really stood for, I would have been applying it to my antennas years ago! Just think ..... all the wasted time, all the wasted opportunities! I could be on the DXCC Honor Roll by now.
Some would attribute my success today to the sun and something called "improved band conditions". But I, for one, know better. I have learned the secret of the magic "DX Spray".
Sob ....... weep!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Ol' Sol must be feeling better
The bands have been picking up the past few days. Ol' Sol must be out of the ICU and in to a private room and on the mend.
I was able to work Israel, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Ireland, St. Lucia, Aruba, and the Cayman Islands over the weekend. And today at lunch, I worked Anitigua, Hungary and Gary KT0A on a SOTA peak in Colorado - Berrian Mountain W0C/FR-060.
This sure beats calling CQ and not getting any takers, and makes lunch time so much more pleasant.
As I was taking the Buddistick apart and tearing down the station after lunch, I was looking longingly at a 50 foot pine tree that's just yards away from where I park. Boy, if I could shoot a wire into that tree ..........
But with Security roaming the parking lots, that would be probably a bigger risk than I would care to take. Maybe with some really fine guage magnet wire - it WOULD be practically invisible, but at the same time, so very fragile. In any event, it's probably not worth getting into trouble over, but I can dream ..... can't I?
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I was able to work Israel, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Ireland, St. Lucia, Aruba, and the Cayman Islands over the weekend. And today at lunch, I worked Anitigua, Hungary and Gary KT0A on a SOTA peak in Colorado - Berrian Mountain W0C/FR-060.
This sure beats calling CQ and not getting any takers, and makes lunch time so much more pleasant.
As I was taking the Buddistick apart and tearing down the station after lunch, I was looking longingly at a 50 foot pine tree that's just yards away from where I park. Boy, if I could shoot a wire into that tree ..........
But with Security roaming the parking lots, that would be probably a bigger risk than I would care to take. Maybe with some really fine guage magnet wire - it WOULD be practically invisible, but at the same time, so very fragile. In any event, it's probably not worth getting into trouble over, but I can dream ..... can't I?
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Brrrrrrrr ......
Autumn has arrived with a vengeance! When I woke up today, it was 32F (0C). The furnace is now turning itself on its own, with the help of the thermostat, of course. It's time for multiple layers in the W2LJ household - multiple shirts and a sweater.
Look for the 2016 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt to incorporate, in a big way, the ARRL's National Parks on the Air program. I haven't worked out the details, but there will probably be special points given for working Skeeters who have opted to work from one of the many National Park units around the country. There will also be bonus points for Skeeters choosing to go set up in a National Park unit.
There are lots, and it shouldn't be that hard to find one near you. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/parks/
Lastly, here's a cool video pointed out to me by Marv, K2VHW. A nice promotional video produced by the RSGB:
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Look for the 2016 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt to incorporate, in a big way, the ARRL's National Parks on the Air program. I haven't worked out the details, but there will probably be special points given for working Skeeters who have opted to work from one of the many National Park units around the country. There will also be bonus points for Skeeters choosing to go set up in a National Park unit.
There are lots, and it shouldn't be that hard to find one near you. Here's a good place to start:
http://www.npca.org/exploring-our-parks/parks/
Lastly, here's a cool video pointed out to me by Marv, K2VHW. A nice promotional video produced by the RSGB:
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
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