AmateurRadio.com

As with most of the USA, this Winter of 2013/2014 sure has been a rough one! The cold snaps have been harsh and long lasting. And this has been causing the snow that we have gotten to stick around longer than usual for this area. Pardon the pun, but this Winter has been about 180 degrees different from last year, when we had only one minor snowfall. And for the most part, last Winter was downright balmy!

The extra cold weather has been kind of keeping me out of my basement shack. Thanks to our efficient gas furnace, all the heat goes to the upper floors, while the basement remains chilly. When the outside temperatures approach the single digits, my shack thermometer registers about 55F (13C), definitely not the most comfortable.  Even with wearing a long sleeved T-shirt, a polo, AND a sweatshirt, I get to the point where my hands get cold and sending without errors becomes a chore.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending comments and emails with regard to my quest for a single lever paddle. I am still leading towards the Begali, but looking at some other manufacturers has been fun. It seems I always hesitate before making a purchase like this, as I am not used to spending money on myself. Plus the fact that I’m concerned about the cost of all the natural gas I’m burning this heating season, I have to double and triple think purchases like this.

The QRP Fox Hunt season enters the second half tonight. With the two pelts I nabbed on 40 Meters tonight, I have 16 pelts in 22 hunts for a .727 batting average. In the 80 Meter hunts, I have snared 13 out of 16 possible pelts for a .8125 batting average. Thanks to good propagation and the excellent ears of our Foxes, I am having one of the best seasons I have had in a while.

The last good news that I have for the night is that Jim W4QO posted on the North Georgia QRP Group email reflector that he has successfully worked Amsterdam Island FT5ZM with QRP, not once – but twice! Since Jim is a fellow Eastern Seaborder, that gives me hope. Amsterdam Island is close to 10,000 miles away from New Jersey, so that’s a long haul by any standard. Right there, that puts you close to 2,000 miles per Watt. With my dinky antenna farm, I am sure that if I work them at all, it will be during the second half of their stay on the Island. I read somewhere that if all goes well, the DXpedition will remain in place until about February 20th. So that gives me some time, and I will do my best to get them in the log.

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

I am pondering the possibility of acquiring a single lever paddle, possibly the Bengali Simplex Mono, with the palladium base.

I have always been more comfortable with single lever paddles, and have always used any iambic paddles that I have owned that way. I am not a squeeze keyer.

The Sculpture Mono would be great, but the price tag is too hefty for my wallet. Any of you readers have a recommendation for a good single lever paddle other than Begali? Maybe there’s a good one out there that I am not aware of?

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

As I type this on my tablet, it is -2F (-19C) outside. The furnace is running its little heart out and I just can’t wait for the next utility bill. On second thought, instead of complaining, I’ll just be happy that it’s warm inside! Although I do get tempted every now and then to dream of what Amateur Radio goody that I could buy with the money that is literally going up in flames.

A little bird brought to my attention that congratulations are in order, as a milestone has been reached. Charles Moizeau, W2SH is celebrating his 80th birthday. Chas, as he is affectionately known, is a fellow New Jersey QRPer. He is very active and very successful in the QRP Fox Hunts. Charles is also quite active in NAQCC activities as well as being a regular check in in many QRP CW nets. Happy birthday, Charles, with wishes for many more!

Speaking of the Fox Hunts, last night was a success as I managed to work both Foxes. The surprise of the evening was working Dale WC7S in Wyoming on 80 Meters. Dale was at ESP levels for most of the night. I could tell where he was, but that was about it. Towards the end, the band started going long and Dale’s signal grew stronger. With less than 15 minutes to go, Dale actually approached 599 levels (I confess that I turned my AGC off, so that I could hear him better. I know ….. risky move!) and I was able to sneak into his log.

The QRP ARCI Fireside Sprint is this weekend. I might give it a go. I have never participated in it before, as it is an SSB sprint. But I do have a microphone for the KX3, and the weather outside is supposed to be less than stellar, so maybe I’ll try something different.

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

I was shocked and saddened to discover through Facebook, that fellow QRPer and Amateur Radio blogger, Ron Bowman W8VZM became a Silent Key today. From the information that appeared on his timeline, it was revealed that Ron was involved in a fatal car crash.

I had worked Ron a few times on the air and we kept in touch through Facebook, commenting on each other’s posts. Ron was a QRPer, a CW and an HW-8 fan, and was an all around good person, admired by his friends and coworkers.

My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his surviving family, as they go through this time of mourning and loss.

73, Ron. It was my pleasure to have made your acquaintance and to have known you.

Eternal rest, grant unto him, Lord
And may perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace. Amen.

72 de Larry W2LJ
Take time to let your family and friends know how much you love them. Our time on this Earth is way too short. And to all my Catholic friends out there – as Fr. Z. says …. go to Confession. You never know when you’ll be called Home.

I was actually able took get on the air for a bit today! A Saturday that’s not full of obligations and chores is a rarity for me.

And I got a new one via QRP! Paraguay, by working ZP6CW on 12 Meters. And I got a 579 report to boot, so since it wasn’t the automatic 599, I will take him at his word. The antenna was the Butternut HF9V.

A little while later, I worked KH7Y in Hawaii, so the bands were open. With the NAQP SSB, going on, the CW portion of the bands was not as crowded as usual.

I worked a few QRP Polar Bears today, as well – WA8REI, VA2SG and K3Y/1 who was Pete N1ABS, who is also a Polar Bear.

I have decided that I am going to be countercultural, and I am NOT going to try and work all 50 W1AW stations this year. A few years ago, I worked 48 states for the K6JSS anniversary event that QRP ARCI held, and besides, I have two ARRL WAS certificates already. I earned one as N2ELW, and I got another as W2LJ. The W2LJ certificate was earned by working all 50 via CW and QRP. I don’t need another, even though having a special certificate for the ARRL’s Centennial would be nice. I’m just not in the mood to break another 50 different pileups for another WAS certificate. Bah humbug!

I have tomorrow and Monday off, so hopefully, I will get more air time this long weekend.  Oh! I just remembered …. tomorrow is the third Sunday of the month. Join us for the Flying Pigs Run for the Bacon tomorrow night.

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

Some random thoughts before turning in.

Just when you think you have a handle on this propagation thing. The 80 Meter Fox Hunt was especially and  surprisingly tough tonight. The Fox that I thought was going to be easy pickings was a lot tougher to nab than expected, Ray K9XE in Illinois.

Usually, Illinois is a cakewalk from NJ. Signals between the two states are usually decent and reliable. Not so tonight! I tried nabbing Ray for most of the first hour without success. At that point, I figured I’d better try the other Fox, John N4KV before time ran out. I didn’t want to flip the big switch with no pelts in the bag. Luckily, I was able to work John in TN after only a few calls, so I was “going home” with at least one fur.

I then switched back to Ray’s frequency to find that he had QSYed a bit up to try and end run some QRM, and he went simplex. After a few calls, I got a W2?J.  So I put out my call a few times more. Finally, Ray got my call and sent my exchange. And as I was sending mine …… wouldn’t you just know it? A net barged on frequency without checking to see if anyone was there. Ray eventually copied my exchange despite the net QRM, but it took us about a good two or three minutes to get it done. Usually, a two way exchange occurs in well under a minute. In spite of it all, I brought two pelts home, but the one I thought would be easy was painful, while the one I expected to be trouble was far easier. So much for expectations and conventional wisdom.

The other thing going through my mind concerns this year’s Skeeter Hunt. Yes, it’s still seven months away, but the wheels are already turning. I am toying with the idea of changing the exchange this year. Up until now, I have gone with the conventional RST, S/P/C, Skeeter # or power output. I am thinking of ditching the RST and using the op’s first name instead. I am also thinking of seeing if I can get plaques donated for the top CW and SSB finishers.

Oh well, time to hit the sack. I am looking at a potential 12+ hour work day tomorrow. Ugh!

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

Back in the day, we Hams used to get blamed for everything!

Now, it’s come full circle and all these new fangled electronic devices seem to be polluting our bands with all kinds of RF noise.

It used to be that we had to prove that we weren’t the “interferers”, and now we have to prove that they are! Who would have thought that one day, the tables would be turned?

I remember when I lived in East Brunswick, I lived a couple of houses away from the only guy in New Jersey that didn’t have cable TV. He used to gnaw on my ear all the time that I was interfering with his TV. I even had him over to the shack to show him that my station wasn’t interfering with a small portable TV that I had set up there. That the TV picture didn’t so much as flicker when I transmitted didn’t convince him in the least.

But the funniest time (and you really just had to shake your head and laugh) was once when he confronted me as I pulled into my driveway. He was standing at the fence and was literally yelling at me how he couldn’t even use his TV the past couple of days because I was “screwing it up so bad”.

“Really, Bob?” I asked, “The past few days have been really bad?”

“You’re darn (he didn’t use “darn”, but this is a family friendly blog) right. I haven’t been able to watch TV the past four nights because of you and that Ham Radio of yours”.

I smiled (which made him angrier, but I couldn’t help myself) and answered, “Then that’s a pretty good trick, Bob, because I’ve been out of the country for the past two weeks. I just got back from the airport.” I had been in Switzerland on a training session for my old job.

Of course, the facts made no difference. I was still to blame as far as he was concerned. I can chuckle about it now, but back then it was annoying and upsetting to always be harped on for something that wasn’t my fault. It got to be that I hated walking out my own back door, dreading the next needless confrontation. I think that experience is one of the factors that drove me to go QRP full time, as I never want to go through that again.

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