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I headed up to the top of Mount Prospect to operate in the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. It’s not on the SOTA list, but it affords a fantastic view of Lake George. I headed up there one day last year, but unbeknownst to me at the time, we were experiencing a geomagnetic event, and there was nothing to be heard on the bands.

This year was different. I headed out early and set up the PAR ENDFEDZ, using the Jackite pole and my drive on mast support. One thing you notice when you get up there is how quiet it is. There weren’t many people up there, even though it’s an easy drive to the top and its a local tourist attraction. All I was able to hear was the breeze rustling through the trees.

Set up went easy, like a hot knife through butter. It turned out that there was a conveniently placed picnic table there, which provided a perfect operating location. Within minutes I was calling “CQ QRP”.

WB5CTS
KB5JO
VE3EDX
KB5FCF
N7RVD
K4BAI
K4KJP

All these stations were worked on 20 Meters. I tried going to 40 Meters for a while, but the static crashes and QRN were so vicious that I didn’t stay there long.  When I went back to 20 Meters to call CQ again, I knew it wouldn’t be for long as I would have to begin packing things away soon for my return trip down the mountain.

That’s when I had my “winner” QSO of the day. My “CQ QRP” was answered by DK7IT, Fred in Stuttgart, Germany. Fred was a loud 599 and I received a 579 in return. Fred was attracted by the “CQ QRP” and told me that he was not accustomed to hearing such clear QRP signals from the States. He was curious as to what the setup was, so I gave him the rundown. Admittedly, Fred’s great signals were due to him running 100 Watts into a 3 element Yagi, but I guess the mountaintop location sure helped my QRP signal.

After my QSO with Fred, I quickly repackaged everything and made it down the mountain in time before closing.  Not a ton of contacts were made, but I had a lot of fun and the DX QSO, which turned out to be a real “honest to goodness” QSO was icing on the cake. The cheeseburgers that I grilled for dinner when I got back to the cabin weren’t half bad, either!

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!

Is this coming Sunday from 20:00 to 24:00 UTC. That’s from 4:00 to 8:00 PM EDT for those of us here on the East Coast. I will have to participate as W2LJ/2 (technically), as I won’t be home. Tomorrow we’re leaving for our yearly sojourn to Lake George, NY.

Of course, the KX3, Buddistick, and PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10 will be accompanying me. Not sure if I’ll operate from near the cabin with the Buddistick, or perhaps from a park, or even from a nearby mountaintop with the PAR.

In any event, I am looking forward to some well deserved R&R. I anticipate a lot of reading, and a lot of radio in addition to all the fresh mountain air and cool lake breezes.

I have some good books loaded on my kindle, including James Rollins’ new one, “The Eye of God”. If this Sigma Force novel is as good as his others, I should burn through it in two or three days. For the past several years, I have been able to read two books during our time up north. In addition to Rollins’ new one, I also have several of David Baldacci’s novels loaded on the kindle.

FYI, any requests for Skeeter numbers will be processed when I return. So if you send me an e-mail, I will acknowledge it, and I may even issue you a number. However, I won’t be able to update the online roster until I return.

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

I did it! I got New Hampshire and Maryland for the sweep! New Hampshire in the morning, and Maryland in the afternoon. All stations were worked on 40 Meters and three were worked with CW, the rest SSB. This has been the most SSB work that I have done in decades.

I have to say that this was a lot of fun, especially for something I really hadn’t planned on taking on. But the other evening, when I had worked the first 8 Colonies before I had really even realized it, I became hooked.

There’s still plenty of time for you to complete this, or even get started if you haven’t already. The 13 Colonies event runs until midnight Sunday morning, so get behind the radio and start spinning the dial!

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

I had another good day out at the car today during lunch time.  Both 17 and 20 Meters were active and I nabbed three QSOs during my lunch break.

“What’s that got to do with your post title, W2LJ?” you might be asking yourself.

One of the stations I worked at lunch was HF80LOT.  You hear a call sign like that and your first impression is undoubtedly, “Huh? Where’s THAT?”  If you’re like me you prescribe to the “work ’em first, worry about the location later” theory, so that’s what I did.  It turns out that HF80LOT is a special event station in Poland that is commemorating the 80th anniversary of a trans-Atlantic flight by two Lithuanian pilots.  I sure wouldn’t have known that without the aid of QRZ or HamQTH, or one of the other fine call book services out there.  From the HF prefix, Poland was probably my last or next to last guess.  In fact, I wasn’t sure at first whether I was hearing 5F80LOT – at first I was guessing Serbia or somewhere around there.  Listening for a few times confirmed that it was HF80LOT, but I still had to look it up.  Exciting!

But lately, it seems like there’s been a smattering of special event call signs that either boggle your mind or tickle your ear in an effort to copy them correctly.  For example, here are some out of the ordinary ones that I have worked recently and you may have, too:  LZ1722SN, H70ORO, 9A282EU, LZ110RF, LZ1876SMB, and the prize winner SV2013ATGM.  Wow!  That’s a lot of letters and numbers and what’s up with you Hams in Bulgaria?  It’s almost like every one of you is running a special event this year!

Speaking of special events, I worked three more Colonies tonight, bringing my total to eleven.  Connecticut, Georgia and Pennsylvania are now in the log, and I also had a QSO with the bonus station, WM3PEN in Philadelphia, PA – Chaz behind the key.  I only need two more, New Hampshire and Maryland for the sweep.  If I can’t nab those two by the time this ends, I am going to be severely disappointed!  I’ve gotten a taste of the quarry and now I’m hungry for a clean sweep.

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

Yessiree!  If it’s close to the 4th of July, then it’s time for the 13 Colonies Special Event!

The 13 states, which were the original 13 colonies (Can you name them?  How’s your history?) will be on the air until 12 Midnight on Saturday evening/Sunday morning of this coming weekend. They will have special call signs from K2A to K2M.

If you participate, a very special certificate (suitable for framing) can be yours.  Work all 13 colonies and your certificate specially will be marked to denote the Clean Sweep.

Log summaries can be submitted via snail mail with the suggested donation to obtain the certificate.

Just this evening, I was able to work the following eight states/colonies on 40 Meters – NY, SC, DE, RI, NJ, MA, VA, NC.  I also heard the NH station, but his pileup was something akin to the crowd trying to work Spratly.  I also heard the GA station, but he was very weak.  GA is usually super loud here in NJ, maybe he had his beam turned away from the NorthEast and I was hearing him off the side.

NY and NC were worked via CW – the rest were worked using that SSB mode.  I got a kick out of working K2I, the NJ station.  The operator was Mike KA2FIR, who I’ve worked before.  When I finally broke the pileup, he came back to me with “W2LJ, we’ve run into each other before. Aren’t you that QRP guy?”

My reputation precedes me!

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