For the Key collectors and users out there.

 This was brought to my attention by David Ring N1EA on the CW e-mail reflector. It's a Kindle book for $2.99 by Ken Krause. It is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FH2MN3W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the description as it appears on Amazon:

"This book describes the best way to clean Vibroplex and other telegraph keys. It includes buying tips, how to clean and repair telegraph keys, and much more. This short book will teach you the best ways to clean and repair your Vibroplex key without ruining it.

Many keys get ruined by improper cleaning techniques. Don't let this happen to your key. If you plan on cleaning your Vibroplex key this book is a must read before you begin.

You will learn how to make your own cleaning solution, how to blue steel, how to make minor repairs, how to clean bases and nameplates - everything you need to know to get the job done right the first time."

It looks worthwhile to have and the fact that Dave Ring endorsed it is good enough for me ... and the price is right!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A good one for the QRP CW Newbs

 This weekend is the ARRL DX Contest (CW).

Even in you're not a contester and even if you're not a CW Wizard, this is still a good one to dive into for several reasons:

1) It will improve your CW.

2) The exchange is simple.

3) You'll be able to work your way well toward earning QRP DXCC.

4) It's a lot of fun!

Here's the official line from the ARRL:

Contest Objective: To encourage W/VE stations to expand knowledge of DX propagation on the HF and MF bands, improve operating skills, and improve station capability by creating a competition in which DX stations may only contact W/VE stations. One contest period is CW-only and one is Phone-only.  Use only the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands.

W/VE amateurs: Work as many DX stations in as many DXCC entities as possible.

DX stations: Work as many W/VE stations in as many of the 48 contiguous states and provinces as possible.

Dates:

CW: Third full weekend in February (February 19-20, 2022).

Phone: First full weekend in March (March 5-6, 2022).

Contest Period: Begins 0000 UTC Saturday and runs through 2359 UTC Sunday.

Exchange:

W/VE stations send a signal report and their state or province. DX stations send a signal report and power as a number or abbreviation.

How simple is that?

But here's the big tip!

For those of you new to QRP CW - either your code is kinda on the slower side; or you're not a big contester - I would wait to jump into the fray until Sunday.  If you jump in right at the beginning, you're likely to get frustrated and discouraged. At the beginning of any big contest like this - it' s best to let the big guns and CW speed demons get their rocks off for a while.  From the very beginning, a lot of the CW is going to be sent so fast, that you'll think you're listening to a buzz saw.

It's way better to wait until the latter part (second half) of the contest. Those big guns will have worked just about everyone they could have and they will more than likely be willing to listen for weaker signals and slower CW in order to fill up their logs. This is your big chance!

If conditions are right, and you're new to QRP DX, you can easily work your way to a quarter, halfway or even more countries needed for QRP DXCC.

Go get 'em!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The ugly truth

 Saw this posted on Facebook and had to share:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

ARRL announces Field Day rule changes for 2022

From the ARRL Website:

Some New Rules Going into Effect this Year for ARRL Field Day

02/09/2022

After taking a few detours over the past couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ARRL Field Day rules are being updated on a permanent basis starting this summer. ARRL conducted a Field Day community survey with invitations propagated far and wide, and direct emails sent to more than 15,000 individuals and ARRL-affiliated clubs. After sorting through, reviewing, and discussing the survey results, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee recommended a number of rule changes for ARRL Field Day, which will take place this year over the June 25 – 26 weekend.

Starting this year, the maximum PEP output for a transmitter used by anyone submitting a Field Day log will be 100 W. The power multiplier of 2 will remain in place, and the high-power category will be removed from the rules. Until this year, the maximum low-power limit had been 150 W for most ARRL-sponsored operating events. The power multiplier will remain at 5 for QRP participants running a maximum of 5 W or less. As previously announced, 100 W is now the low-power category limit for all ARRL and IARU HF Contests, effective January 1, 2022.

A couple of changes instituted initially as accommodations for the COVID-19 pandemic will remain. Class D (Home) stations will continue to be able to earn points for contacts with other Class D stations. The club aggregate scoring change initiated in 2020 as a temporary measure will become part of the permanent rules. In the aggregate scoring plan, the scores of individual stations are combined under the score of a single club.

Another change, involving Rule 7.3.2 Media Publicity, has been modified. Rules to date have offered 100 bonus points for attempting to obtain publicity and demonstrating same. With the ease of posting via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and various other media websites, Field Day participants will now be required to obtain publicity, not just try to do so. Any combination of bona fide media hits would qualify for the bonus points. For example, posting the details of your upcoming or ongoing Field Day activity, or your Field Day results, on a club or news media site, on Facebook, or via Twitter and Instagram would meet the bonus criteria. Photos and videos are encouraged as part of media posts.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Low attendence?

 From what I've been reading on QRP-L, Freeze Your Buns Off, held this past Saturday didn't have much in the way of participation. I'm partly to blame for that as I haven't been in the mood lately to get on the radio. But is this a creeping phenomena?

The warmer weather staples, QRP To The Field, The Flight of the Bumblebees, the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt and for that matter, an October event,  The Zombie Shuffle still seem to have a decent amount of participation. But other events seem to be experiencing a decreasing amount of participation. Maybe that's just my misguided perception?

I think a big part of this is publicity and advertising. If you want a successful event, you can't announce it once and expect everyone to just "show up". There has to be way more than that. Multiple announcements (not to the point of SPAM, of course, but more than one) need to be made. And the announcements need to be made in as many outlets as possible. QRP-L is a good starter, but other QRP e-mail group reflectors. as well as social media sites need to be utilized.

Maybe that seems like too much effort on the part of the organizers. I don't know. But it seem to me, if you want an event with lots of participation, you have to get the word out early and often. You can't sit back on the laurels of past participation and assume everyone will remember for next year, ESPECIALLY when the sunspots are in the doldrums. We seem to be coming out of that now, though - maybe that will help.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

My silence

 At the beginning of 2022, two of my resolutions were to get on the air more and post here more. As John Lennon wrote, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

On January 12th, I had a little accident at work:

I cut the back of back of my third (middle) finger on my left hand, between the hand and the first knuckle. Not only did I require five stitches, I also severed the tendon.

I was cutting open a plastic bag containing rolls of bubble wrap, turned my head for half a second and sliced myself, and the rest is history. I went to a MediMerge where they stitched me up. I have some more graphic photos that I won't post here out of consideration for those with weak constitutions.

I required surgery, which was done on January 27th. The Hand Specialist reattached the ends of the tendon and put some pins in place (temporarily) to prevent me from bending the finger.

I'm currently wearing this hard plastic splint which has relegated me to the world of one-handedness. Luckily, my right hand is my dominant hand, but it's still a not deluxe situation. I see the surgeon tomorrow for a follow up visit and will find out more how long it will be before stitches and pins are removed.

Until I get somewhere back to normal, my blogging will probably be on the light side. Just wanted you to all know that I haven't disappeared or gone anywhere, I'm just not 100% right now.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Skeeter Hunt Video

 I wanted to share with you a video by Rick McGaver NK9G. He produced this regarding his effort in the 2021 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. He published it to YouTube, but granted me permission to post it here. Rick spent a lot of time on it and I think it came out very well - OK, I'll admit I'm biased with the subject material. Judge for yourselves:

Thank you, Rick for the superb video. I'm hoping we see a definite uptick of entries for 2022!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A little activity

 I rang in the new year with just a little bit of activity.

New Year's Eve was of course, Straight Key Night and I got on the air after a little detective work. My W2WK straight key did not work at first. Tapping the key resulted in a big - nothing. I broke out the VOM and checked for continuity. One post to the key arm and I got the confirming "BEEP". The other post to the contact point and I also got the confirming "BEEP".  The only thing I could think of was that Bill may have silver coated the contact point, so I put a little NOXON polish on a Q-Tip and cleaned the actual contact points. Eureka! A functioning straight key! I worked W4NNF in Mobile, Alabama for my SKN QSO. After I finished with Rod, Marianne arrived home from work, so I QRT'ed and went upstairs.

This morning, after Mass, I came home and tried the QRP watering holes to see if there was any activity in the QRP-ARCI New Year Sprint.  I worked Rick NK9G in Wisconsin and Mark WB9HFK in Illinois. Other than those two, there was not much activity that I was able to hear. I did hear Gene N5GW in Mississippi working stations, but he was not calling CQ.

I'm hoping to work some POTA stations tomorrow.

My New Year resolutions for 2022 are very modest and very do-able (why set lofty goals that you have no chance of accomplishing?)

1) Get on the air more than 2021 - very do-able.

2) More relevant and timely posts here - again, very do-able.

3) Get the 2021 Skeeter Hunt soapbox published and the certificates printed and mailed by the end of January. Do-able.

4) Activate some New Jersey parks this year. Very do-able as I can incorporate that with other QRP events, such as QRPTTF, QRP Afield, FOBB and the Skeeter Hunt.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

New Year's Eve

Happy New Year!

For a lot of us 2021 was a mix - there were some good times and some you'd rather forget.

We bid some friends goodbye, but we also made some new ones.

As we turn the calendar page and ring in 2022, my wish for you is for a new year filled with hope, health, happiness and way more ups than downs!

Personally, I have a few goals for the coming year - but the ones germane to this blog are to get on the air a lot more than I did in 2021 and to write more entries this coming year. 2021 had the second least amount of posts since I started this back in 2005. That's not to say that 2022 will be filled with fluff just to eat up blogger.com space. I hope to spend more time relaying and reporting about the things we have in common - QRP, building, CW, and Amateur Radio, in general.

As the clock strikes Midnight tonight and I lift a glass with my lovely wife, Marianne, please know that I'll also be lifting that glass for all of us - hoping that 2022 will be kind to us all.

And once again, thanks for being here and sharing this journey with me.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!
 

A Sprint ....... or not?

 According to qrpcontest.com, there is a QRP-ARCI New Year Sprint on Saturday, January 1st.

The details are that it will run from 1500 - 1800 UTC. It is CW only and the exchange is RST / State - Province - Country / QRP ARCI Membership # or Power Out.

Here's the rub.  This sprint does not appear on the official QRP ARCI Contest Calendar

And on top of that, if you go to the WA7BNM Contest Calendar and look up the QRP ARCI New Year Sprint, it is listed as "inactive".

So will there be a sprint or not? I don't know. But if you're on the air on New Year's day between 1500 - 1800 UTC you might want to check the QRP watering holes to see if there's any activity.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP = When you care to send the very least!

Straight Key Night

This coming Friday night (here in the USA) is Straight Key Night. Here's the official announcement from the ARRL webpage:

Straight Key Night is January 1, 2022 (UTC)

12/27/2021

The annual ARRL Straight Key Night (SKN) returns on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, January 1st, 0000 – 2359 UTC.

Many hams look forward to SKN as one of the highlights of their operating year. It’s not a contest, so there’s no need for quick exchanges. All you need is your favorite straight key or bug. Many participants dust off vintage radios and keys and put them back into service each year, just for SKN. However, all hand keys, regardless of age, are welcome.

The number of contacts you make is not important. The reward is meeting many new friends as you get together on the air. Send a list of stations contacted and any SKN stories and photos, along with your votes for Best Fist and Most Interesting QSO, before January 31, 2022. ~

This year as a special tribute to my friend Bill Koeth W2WK, who I mentioned in yesterday's post, I will use the straight key that he made for me.

I'm sure my straight key fist (I'm a single lever paddle devotee) will be a terror on the ears of whomever has the misfortune to work me, but it seems fitting to get it on the air this SKN. As straight keys go, Bill's creation is a gem to use.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

What the heck is going on?

 A few weeks ago, I lost a really good friend. Bill Koeth W2WK passed away after suffering from cancer. I first met Bill through the Piscataway Amateur Radio Club back in the early 90s. I was honored to serve as his vice-president for two terms before going on to take that office, myself.

Bill could best be described as a "gentle giant" and he was as good as they come. He was a master machinist and after he retired he fabricated some dang good straight keys.  I'm glad to have one. He was a true CW Ham and he was always getting me to get on the air with him so that he could "practice".

We attended so many events together. Dayton, various Hamfests, special events, parties, meetings - we were good friends. In addition to being his friend, I truly respected him. He was the kind of person that people aspire to be.

I will miss Bill greatly and was truly heartbroken when I learned that he had passed. He is survived by his wife Janet K2MOM and is son Tim K0ETH. 

I received another shock this morning when an e-mail was copied to the NOGA reflector. It mentioned that Jim Stafford W4QO had passed away. Jim is a member of the QRP Hall of Fame, was a stalwart of the NOGA QRP Group and was truly a general all around great guy.  

I have two special memories of Jim which I will always treasure. One of the first times I QSOed with Jim, I had technical difficulties (I don't remember exactly what went wrong) that caused me to "disappear".  Jim actually looked up my e-mail from QRZ and sent me an e-mail asking me if I was okay!  That's the kind of guy Jim was. I e-mailed him back to explain what had happened, and he was glad that nothing serious had happened.

Jim was also one of the two Hams who actually took to the air after Hurricane Sandy to see if I was safe and all right. Jim W4QO and another Jim, W1PID, both called me on the HF bands in the days after the chaos here, just asking if me and my family were okay.  I will never, ever forget either one of them for that.

I had the opportunity to engage in conversation with Jim many times. He was always friendly, kind and courteous, Cancer took both of them - way, way, way too soon. There are just so many people who make a deep impression on you. The two gentlemen did that to me.

Rest in peace, Bill and Jim. We're all poorer for your absence, but richer for having you as friends.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Christmas Eve 2021

 

What a year!

May this Christmas Eve bring you peace, love and joy.

May your Christmas be Merry, Blessed and Healthy!

From our house to yours, we extend you all the most warmest wishes of the Season!

Thank you for being such loyal readers!

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

72 de Larry W2LJ

Christmas is a comin'!

‘Twas the night before Christmas

The shack was quiet as a mouse

Not an amplifier was fired up, or was warming the house.

The tree was lit up, all the presents were wrapped,

All the busy-ness was done, I should have taken a nap.

Rubbing my eyes, I turned towards the rig  

To see if the bands might be hopping, activity big.

20 Meters was quiet, no signals to be heard

40 Meters seemed better, by the activity I was spurred.

I twiddled the dial, across the band the tuning knob purred 

And to my surprise, I came upon a Morse tone that chirped like a bird.

It was a Ham In 8 Land calling CQ, kind of weakly

His fist was not shaky, but he was only S3

So I decided to throw out my call to see if he would answer me.

He told me his rig was homebrewed, not quite up to snuff

His first go at building, the design was still rough, but he had turned on the power,

Hoping he’d snag a QSO if conditions weren’t too tough.

We were both pumping five Watts

Sending our RF to and fro

He was thrilled his creation was working– his excitement was beginning to show.

We had a nice rag chew, on this Noel

Finally, he sent me his fondest farewell.

In turn, I bade him a Merry Christmas, and 73

I switched off the rig, took my hand off the key.

It was not a big deal, not an extraordinary contact, it would appear

Certainly, no great feat of DX – he was actually quite near

But it did my heart good to make another Ham happy at this time of year.

So if you hear a signal that’s not quite S9

Perhaps a bit warbly, or choppy or a fist touching a paddle for the very first time

Work them, if you can, it won’t cost a dime

To make a brother or sister Ham’s Holiday sublime!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

He did it!

 John K3WWP making his QRP contact for the 10,000th day in a row.

Video courtesy of Mike KC2EGL

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Wanna be part of QRP history?

Then you may want to get on the air tonight. John Shannon K3WWP, will be marking the 10,000th consecutive day of his streak of making at least one QRP QSO a day using simple wire antennas.

Think of that! 10,000 days! That's over 27 years! Not only is that mind boggling in and of itself, how many of those QSOs were made during the poor conditions of sunspot minimums, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections? Keep in mind that the recent phenomena of RFI pollution which plagues a lot of us with high S level background noise hasn't made this feat any easier.

For those of you not in the know, John lives in kind a row house type of house, so add to all of the above, the lack of real estate he has to contend with. Yet, here we are at day 10,000.

Technically, Day 10,000 is tomorrow, December 20th, but since we keep to UTC, 7:00 PM EST tonight is the beginning of Day 10,000, so the milestone QSO will be made tonight. According to his online "diary", this is how John is planning to operate tonight and tomorrow:

Sat Dec 18 5:54PM - The two contests, Croatian and SP 160 should make quick work of day 9,999 of the streak and set things up for day 10,000 on Sunday evening at 0000Z in the SST Sprint. Then on to the following schedule to which I've now added specific frequencies:

12/20 80M - 3526.6 or 3525.6 depending on QRM after the SST QSO shortly after 0000Z until 0200Z

12/20 20M - 14026.6 or 14025.6 depending on QRM 1500-1700Z

12/20 40M - 7026.6 or 7025.6 depending on QRM 2100-2300Z

Remember I have strong local QRN here, and you may have to use QRO power for me to hear you.

I'll call simple short CQs like CQ CQ DE K3WWP K3WWP K. If it is busy, please keep the QSOs short.

So if you want to work John tonight, after he makes his landmark 10,000 Day QSO, he will be on 80 Meters until about 9:00 PM EST and the he will be on 20 and 40 Meters tomorrow.

Whether you work him or not, this is quite the feat. I have John in my log 63 times. The first time we worked was on September 3, 1994 during the Hiram Percy Maxim Anniversary Event. And back in August 2015, while I was participating in a Ham Radio demo at National Night Out, I had the honor of being his first QSO for the 22nd year of his streak.

Other than to those who read his "diary" on a regular basis, I don't know how many QRPers out there really know about or appreciate this streak. You'd think something like this would be a hot topic for QST or QRP Quarterly, but it doesn't seem to get much mention.

I did the "QSO a Day" thing myself back in 2012. Let me tell you, by the time December 31st rolled around, I was ready to pull my hair out! Conditions were bad towards the end and I thought that I'd never make it. These things take on a life of their own and personally, I was glad it was over! How John has done this for over 27 years is beyond me! All I can say is that he is a way better operator and man than I'll ever be and may God bless him!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A new kind of Project Diana

 From the ARRL:

World’s Smallest Moon Lander from Japan will Put Ham Radio Transmitter on the Moon

12/09/2021

Japan’s OMOTENASHI, the world’s smallest moon lander, will have an X-band and UHF communication system, although it will not carry an amateur band transponder. OMOTENASHI is a 6U CubeSat set for launch via a NASA SLS rocket as early as February 2022. It will have a mission period of from 4 to 5 days. The name is an acronym for Outstanding Moon Exploration Technologies demonstrated by Nano Semi-Hard Impactor. Wataru Torii of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Ham Radio Club, JQ1ZVI, said radio amateurs can play a role in gathering data from the spacecraft.

The spacecraft is made up of two separable components, both having independent communication systems — an orbiting module and a surface probe. The orbiting module will take the surface probe to the moon. It will transmit beacon or digital telemetry data on UHF (437.31 MHz). The surface probe — the moon lander — will transmit digital telemetry or three-axis acceleration analog-wave with FM modulation on UHF (437.41 MHz). Transmitter power will be 1 W in both cases.

“If we succeed in receiving the UHF signal from the surface probe, we could know the acceleration data on the impact on the moon and the success of the landing sequence,” Torii explained.

“We already have a station for uplink and downlink at Wakayama in Japan — used as an EME [moonbounce] station. However, if the satellite is invisible from Japan, we cannot receive the downlink signal. So, we need a lot of help from ham radio stations worldwide.” Torii noted that the RF system on the lander only operates on UHF.

The orbiting module beacon will transmit on 437.31 MHz using PSK31. The surface probe beacon will transmit on 437.41 MHz using FM, PSK31, and PCM-PSK/PM.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The next time someone you know talks down QRP:

 Dave KD2FSI just posted the following to the SPARC Facebook page:

The 2021 Field Day results database is out. 

The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club ranked 203 out of a total of 5878 entries in all categories. This would put us within the upper 4% in the nation. 

We ranked 8th out of all 220 entries in the Hudson Division also putting us within the upper 4% in all categories. 

And we ranked 3rd out of 93 entries in the NNJ section. (W2LJ note - that puts us in the top 4% in NNJ)

We came within the upper 5% for all QRP entries in the nation (W2LJ note - 24th out of 547 entries) and 3rd out of 10 entries for the 3AB category.

No matter how you look at the data; we did outstanding!

73, Dave KD2FSI

So when someone laughs at you when you tell them you want to do a QRP Field Day and they tell you, "We'll never make any contacts!" just keep our results up your sleeve.  QRP CAN hold it's own!

I thought after our first Field Day in 2014, that the rest of the club would want to go up to 100 Watts for 2015. They chose to stick with the 5 Watt limit. We've always done well. This year, we kept it even simpler using only wire and vertical antennas - no yagis, no Hexbeams - and our results show what 5 Watts and simple antennas are capable of. You don't have to kill yourself to have fun and put up respectable results for Field Day. The KISS principle does work!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

CQ WWDX

Sorry to say that I did not partake in the big contest this past weekend.  After cooking the big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday for family that came over, I was just a bit tired. Instead, I got the last of the leaves raked and bagged. I also got the outdoor and indoor Christmas decorating done and in between that, there were a lot of naps.

It was cold over the weekend and we got our first dusting of snow for the season Saturday night into Sunday. No contest next weekend, but maybe I'll get to chase some POTA stations.

My friend Bob W3BBO was able to get on the air this weekend and worked some DX. He moved in with his daughter this past year and is currently using a GADS antenna. It seems to be working well for him and that makes me happy. 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day 2021 Results

If you're an ARRL member you can check out the 2021 Field Day results. The digital December issue of QST is online.

The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club, operating NJ2SP came in 3rd place, nationwide, in the 3A - Battery classification.

The results were in two separate columns (necessitated two screenshots) - 10 entries total for the category. Our setup was two KX3's to two MFJ end feds, the MFJ-1982 and the MFJ-1982LP., each perpendicular to the other - one running N-S and the other E-W. Dave KD2FSI had his FT-8 and other digital modes station hooked up to various arrows from his portable ops antenna quiver.

Once the Contest Results database is updated, I can figure out how SPARC fared compared to other stations in the NNJ Section,  the Hudson Division, and how we fared against ALL 5 Watt (Battery category) entries.

It was a good time and we're already looking forward to and preliminarily planning for 2022.

73 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!