Author Archive
A good day
November 14th, 2013 | 
Author: is one where I can rack up at least 4 QSOs during lunchtime. Today was such a day.
PJ6/W4VAB – Hugh in Saba, St Eustatius on 15 Meters. DX contact
IK2SND – Danny in Italy on 17 Meters. DX contact – Danny was 599+ in NJ.
K9WIS – Brian in Waterford, WI on 20 Meters. Short ragchew.
N4KGL – Greg in Panama City, FL on 20 Meters. Very short ragchew.
The QSO with Greg N4KGL intrigued me. Greg also does the lunchtime QRP portable ops thing, and we have hooked up several times. He uses a KX3 to an Alex Loop. He was a good 579 / 589 into New Jersey and the Alex Loop was doing a superb job getting his 5 Watts up here in good shape. I may have to look into magnetic loops as a serious option for QRP portable ops.
On another note, sometimes, when you collect a lot of Ham paraphernalia over the years, you forget some of the stuff you already have. I am a case in point. The other day, I was in correspondence with a fellow Ham who was looking for a very small, miniature straight key. I e-mailed him that I had one and was willing to part with it. In turn, I received an e-mail back, asking for a photo. I was searching the shack for it last night, for picture taking purposes, only to suddenly remember that I sold that very key along with my K1. It was part of the package that I had put together, back when I was trying to raise funds for my KX3. I sheepishly informed the inquiring Amateur that I no longer had it (losing your memory is a terrible thing!), and was feeling bad for having given him inaccurate information. I was relieved as everything turned out all right. He informed me that a friend of his had actually given him exactly what he was looking for, and that it met his needs very well.
But during my search for the straight key, I came across a Viz Key that I had purchased about 7 years or so ago. I had totally forgotten that I had it
And that was a fortuitous discovery, as for a while now, I have been trying to settle on a key to stick in with my KX3 in my portable QRP ops bag. I was originally using an American Morse “Dirt Cheap Paddle”. It was very good and had an excellent feel, but was just a bit too light for my hand. When I’m doing these lunchtime ops, I like to hold the paddle in my left hand and squeeze the levers with my right hand. Call me crazy, call me weird but that’s what works best for me. When I would try to find the “sweet spot” for the DCP in my hand, I seemed to always accidentally squeeze the paddle levers at the wrong time and would send out a string of inadvertent dits. Next I tried a TE-NE-KEY, but I just couldn’t get used to the feel of that at all. I ended up making more mistakes with it than I do when I am on a bug! So I had resorted to using a White Rook MK-33 single lever paddle that I had. That was actually too light also, but I overlooked that, as I absolutely love single lever paddles.
The Viz Key is an iambic paddle, but it’s a bit heftier than what I have been using, without being too hefty (it weighs in at 8 oz. or just 1/2 pound). It’s just the right weight for me, whether it is in my hand or on whatever table I happen to be sitting at. It is stable without being cumbersome. If I was hiking for a long period of time, I’d probably switch back to the White Rook, but the small amount of weight savings is not a concern for me right now. I used the Viz Key for my QSOs today, and it took a few minutes of getting used to again. But very quickly, my sending became less error prone and I was able to make the QSOs that I did make without sending the Hams on the opposite end into a messy Morse Code frenzy.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
And just like that ……. pfffft !!!
It was about 35 degrees (2C) when I set out for the Jeep at lunchtime. Not as breezy as yesterday, but it still felt nippy. Though that was a lot better than the 19F (-7C) that I woke up to earlier in the morning. New Jersey is not supposed to be quite this cold around this part of November! Anyway, once again I operated from inside the Jeep as opposed to standing outside. I didn’t need to turn on the heater as my upholstery is black and on a sunny day like today, the car can get rather warm on the inside. Solar power at its best!
The bands may still be in good shape, but once again, activity seemed sparse. Maybe it was because I wasn’t hearing 25 kHz wide DXpedition pileups, so it just seemed more quiet. I called CQ and was awarded with a nice QSO with Terry W9UX (who’s name I remembered, BTW!) in Madison, WI. Terry is an avid and active QRPer, so I was rewarded with a 2X QRP KX3 to KX3 QSO (THAT’S a mouthful!). We talked for a bit, and then, just as I was mentioning how the bands seemed to have lost some of their zip lately, wouldn’t you know? We both QSB’ed from 589 to maybe 219 (generous). We were both at ESP levels and couldn’t hear each other for anything as the band dropped out on us like the proverbial lead balloon.
A lesson re-learned, as sometimes I can get a bit too wordy in my QSOs. When band conditions are subject to volatility, it’s best to stick to a lot of our CW abbreviation lingo and not spell too much out, word for word. CW abbreviations – the original texting shorthand!
TNX QSO – BCNU AGN SOON, 73 ES GB
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Interesting articles
and
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304672404579183940409194498
No luck today at lunchtime. One of those rare days where I got skunked.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
A personal challenge
I went out to the car during lunchtime today. Temperatures here in New Jersey have cooled down. It was only in the upper 40s here (about 9C), so instead of standing outside and operating from the rear hatch of the Jeep, I sat inside to keep out of the breeze. Activity on 10 Meters seems to have gotten sparse. I still hear signals, mind you, but they are not as loud and not as “wall to wall” as they were just a few weeks ago. I don’t know if it’s that the band has changed a bit, or perhaps the novelty of 10 Meters coming back to life has worn off. In any event, I found myself on 17 Meters today, tuning around the band to hear what I could hear.
I worked EI13CLAN, whom I worked last month on 10 Meters. He was very strong, a very legitimate 599.
The tuning around some more, I heard XF1P calling “CQ DX UP”. OK …….. Mexico. But the pileup was huge …… HUGE! I wasn’t exactly sure why. Mexico is not exactly what you’d consider to be the rarest of rare DX. I reasoned that with a pileup that big, something that I was unaware of must be “up”. Additionally, I took it as a personal challenge. Could a QRP station running 5 Watts to a Buddistick possibly bust that pileup? XF1P was 599, but just barely. There was QSB to boot. I was reasonably sure that my signal would be audible on his end, but with that pileup, would I get lost in the sauce?
I sat there for about 20 minutes, listening and sending out my call. The KX3, with it’s Dual Watch feature, almost makes it unfair. I was able to follow XF1P along the band as he would move slightly after answering each station, XF1P in my right earbud and the station he was working in my left earbud. It just became a matter of sensing his pattern and setting the transmit VFO just a tiny bit higher after each call. Also, I had to time the sending of my call – not transmitting immediately, but waiting for the pileup to fade “just” enough where my call would be heard among the cacophony of all the true 599s that he must have undoubtedly been hearing. Finally, I heard him send back “W2L?”. Wouldn’t you know it? True to form, all kinds of stations without a “W”,” 2″ or an “L” anywhere in their calls began blindly transmitting. Not deterred, I stayed with it and threw “W2LJ” out there just a couple of more times and was rewarded with a confirmation.
Coming back from lunch, a quick peek on the computer before resuming work informed me that XF1P is an IOTA DXpedition to Partida Island – NA-124 located in the Gulf of California off the coast of Baja, Mexico. It is an uninhabited island, so I guess that makes it rare as IOTA goes. The pileup of IOTA devotees was intense, but I accepted the challenge with 5 Watts, took advantage of XF1P’s exceptional ears, and got through! That’s always a good feeling. And it also goes to show, that if I can do this, then YOU can do it too. It just takes some persistence and a lot of listening.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
If you’re a QRPer
then I am willing to bet that you know, have worked, or at the very least, heard of one or more of these fine individuals.
From Jim W4QO:
“Travel plans are set for the fifth “Buddies in the Caribbean” (BIC) mini-DXpedition to St Lucia (J6). Eight operators, some of whom have never experienced the “other side” of a pileup, will be operating from Chateau Devaux on the NE side of St. Lucia from December 1st through 9th, 2013.
This “Suitcase DXpedition” will operate QRP to 100-watt radio stations using backpackable Buddipole antennas to make contacts from the villa, the surrounding mountains, and (of course) from St. Lucia’s superb beaches.
The eight operators are Jerry—N9AW, Craig—NM4T, John—W5EXJ, Joe—K3JDB, Rick—AA4W, Jim—W4QO, Chris—W6HFP, and Budd—W3FF (J68FF). Ops will preface their own calls with “J6/”.
Team members will operate several CW, SSB, and/or Digital Mode stations on 160-10 Meters from the villa while others make contacts with portable set-ups from other J6 locations.
Per tradition, meeting and operating with local hams while on J6 is one of our key goals.
Details for obtaining contact confirmations from the operators can be obtained by checking www.QRZ.com. The BIC team members will confirm contacts via LOTW and/or QSL cards.”
Got to hand it to these gents – they know when to make an escape to the Caribbean, eh? Just as the really cold weather settles in, they’ll be on the beach, enjoying the balmy breezes and having drinks with little umbrellas from coconut shells. And enjoying Amateur Radio to boot! Have fun, guys …. I’ll be listening for you!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
2013/2014 QRP Fox Hunt Season
The season started tonight on 80 Meters. I worked Tom KV2X in NY rather easily. Then I located Jay KT5E in CO, and called him pretty much non-stop for the next hour. Sadly, it was not to be. Conditions didn’t favor me, and out of the three regular NJ Hounds, only Al W2EEW, got a two-fer. Both Charles W2SH and I nabbed only one pelt each.
Today during lunch, I was disappointed to hear that activity on 10 Meters seems to be waning. I didn’t hear many CQers, so I shinnied up to the QRP Watering Hole at 28.060 and called CQ for a bit myself. I was answered by Gerry EI5HJ. It was a nice QSO, but copy was a bit tough, with lots of QSB. 10 Meters may still be open, but the band seems to be in a bit rougher shape than it was just a mere week ago.
After my QSO with Gerry, I slid on down to 17 Meters, where I worked Cedric, CT3FT on Madeira Island. Band conditions seemed a lot better there. There was also more activity there than there was all last week.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Sometimes life just kinda sucks
especially when you lose your dog, or your cat, or your goat. This was re-posted by Alex K5UNY to the QRP Polar Bears e-mail reflector today:
“On 11/6/2013 2:31 PM, qrp.wg0at@… wrote:
It’s with deep sorrow I have to make this announcement …”Rooster” goat died suddenly last night of unknown causes …his trail buddies will soon be scattering Rooster’s ashes on many SOTA peaks throughout western NA.
The Boys ——–Photo by Chuck/N6HUB
Farewell, Rooster! RIP …we will really miss you but are so so grateful to have had you in our lives. …Steve/Pam “
I couldn’t see the picture taken by Chuck N6HUB, but here’s one I found of “The Boys” on the Web:
