Author Archive
Today was a lot of fun
January 1st, 2013 | 
Author: Well, actually last night AND today were a lot of fun! And there’s more to go tonight as the 40 Meter QRP Fox hunts start up again tonight.
I ended up working only three stations last night. First, I had a quick 2X QRP QSO with Dave NE5DL down in Texas on 20 Meters to start SKN off. That was followed by two rag chews. The first was on 40 Meters with N4LZY, Jerry in Tennessee and was followed by a chew with K3OWZ, John in PA. John was using a Heathkit Apache and a National NC303 receiver. Good stuff!
I was on the air off and on for a good portion of today. I worked Dan SM5IMO in Sweden, and had a nice chat with John VE1BA in Nova Scotia. John was running three Watts and had a killer signal into NJ. That was followed up by a nice chat with another John – K4BAI in Georgia. John and I meet up in the QRP sprints and the Fox hunts. John is a “Ham’s Ham” and a gentleman to boot. It’s always extremely nice hooking up with K4BAI.
I worked Dave K3Y/2 on 40 Meters. LOUD signal into New Jersey from New York state.
The I had an experience that was unique. I was working Stan AEØSL on 20 Meters when the band kicked out on us and we both faded away into the QSB. From there, I jumped on up to 17 Meters and worked VP2MRV in Montserrat. After finishing up with Nao, I began to tune around 17 Meters and whom should my wandering ears hear calling CQ? None other than Stan AEØSL, who I had just worked only minutes before on 20 Meters. He was much, much louder on 17 Meters and we were able to finish up our busted QSO. Now how many times has that happened to you? Dare I say – not many?
I then finished up my afternoon by busting a small pileup to work K1GI/VP9 in Bermuda. A pileup for Bermuda you ask? Well, yes. There were hardly ANY signals on 17 Meters, so in this instance, even Bermuda was like chum to a shark.
Last night and today, the majority of my Morse was sent with my Vibroplex Original that I restored a few years back. I was surprised how quickly I was able to send decent presentable code. It’s like the old adage about riding a bicycle – that once you learn, you never forget. I didn’t sound atrocious to the point that I was embarrassed to be using it; because believe me, if I was that bad I would not have subjected anyone’s ears to a bad cacophony of dits and dahs. Also, the Reverse Beacon Network was picking up my CQs, so the skimmers were able to decode my sending. And if the computers were able to figure it out, then a real live Ham should have had even less trouble.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to spend so much of a day in the shack, behind the radio. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could get quite used to it, given the chance.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Taking stock
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ……”
Mr. Dickens could not have written more appropriate words to describe my 2012. I have never been a big reveler of the New Year holiday; but this year, I am quite eager and pleased to see the ushering in of a new year and with it, new beginnings and new possibilities.
2012 was not all depression, sadness and tears, however. It did have highlights, particularly with regard to Amateur Radio. The KX3, which I had so diligently saved up for, and ordered on the first night of availability in December of 2011, arrived at the end of May. For me, it has lived up to and has exceeded my expectations. I am quite happy with it and am so glad that it is an available part of the W2LJ “radio stable”. Quite unexpectedly, a K3/10 joined the ranks as well. I hadn’t dreamed of or intended purchasing one – but consider this to be my dear Mom’s last gift to me. It is an amazing radio; and I am so lucky and fortunate to have use of both of these fine pieces of gear.
The inaugural 2012 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt was an integral part of my year. Once again, so many thanks to George N2APB and Joe N2CX and the entire NJQRP Club for agreeing to sponsor this new operating event. Also thanks to Bob W3BBO who helped me ruminate and come up with some of the details for this new outdoor QRP sprint. I had such an enjoyable time assigning Skeeter numbers, actually operating in the event and then collecting and tabulating and posting the results. I am so happy that my fellow QRPers seemed to have as good a time as I did, and I eagerly look forward to the 2013 edition of the Skeeter Hunt.
I got two new antennas up in the air this year. My venerable G5RV finally made way, after a dozen or so years, for the 88’ EDZ antenna. Later in the year, post-Sandy, the W3EDP went up to join it in the W2LJ antenna garden. Too small to be a “farm”, the antenna garden consists of the Butternut HF9V and the two aforementioned wires. I pray these wires will last as long as the G5RV did. There were plenty of hurricanes and nasty winters and wind storms that the G5RV made it through – may these two new wires be as resilient.
I have to include as one of this year’s highlights, my decision to purchase the PAR END-FEDZ 10/20/40 antenna. This simple wire is a delight for portable QRP ops. It’s super easy to deploy as a sloper or inverted “L”. It tunes up with nary a problem and is neatly and easily storable in my “Go Bag”. I can’t think of any downsides to this antenna. It’s well worth the price and comes along with instructions on wire lengths to cut so that you can use it for other bands, if you so desire. This antenna, as well as my Buddistick have become my aerials of choice for portable QRP ops.
Due to all the unfortunate events which took place this year, and their aftermath, I was not able to actually get on the air nearly as much as I had intended. I actually had “a QSO a Day” going until the middle of February, when events started taking unexpected turns. From that point forward, “unexpected” became the norm for 2012, and as a result, severely curtailed my on-the-air time My major 2012 New Year’s Resolution, to complete the ARRL’s Diamond DXCC Challenge, didn’t even come close to happening. So as 2013 arrives, I am going to tempt fate once more, and will try for a QSO a Day in 2013. I am not so foolhardy as to think I will be able to pull it off, but I will do my best – hence my ever present New Year’s Resolution “To get on the air more”!
In addition to day-to-day operating, managing the Skeeter Hunt and sending out notices for The Run For The Bacon each month, this blog (which will be entering its 9th year in 2013) has become a huge part of my Amateur Radio experience. It is a most enjoyable part of Ham Radio for me, and I want to extend my deepest and most sincere thanks to all of you out there who take time out of your busy day to read this and share the Amateur Radio world with me. You are the best friends a Ham could ask for. You all have helped me to deal with what would have otherwise been a most sorrowful year. A very Happy, Blessed, Joyous and Prosperous New Year to all of you!
Lastly, I hope you all enjoy Straight Key Night tonight and tomorrow. W2LJ will be hanging out near and at the various QRP “Watering Holes” (I will spot myself on QRPSPOTS, so be sure to look out for me). I will be using my Vibroplex Original as my aging wrists just can’t stand up to a classic straight key any longer. If we have the good fortune to work each other, please excuse my less than stellar “Bug fist”. I haven’t had much practice lately!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Today’s Red and Rover
This is a very cool comic strip, drawn by Brian Basset – about a boy and his dog, growing up together in the 60s.
http://www.gocomics.com/redandrover/2012/12/31
It has a Morse Code theme today, so be sure to visit! Since the image is copyrighted, I don’t want to post it here – but the link was meant for sharing with the blessing of the author and the comic syndicate.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Right place at the right time
I was able to get on the air for a bit this afternoon – I guess it would be more appropriate to say this evening, as it was getting dark. The Christmas lights in the neighborhood, or whatever, were playing havoc with my receiver tonight. It seems like there’s S9 noise no matter which band I go to and no matter which antenna I switch to.
However, on 17 Meters, blasting in above the noise was JN4MMO calling CQ. Japan! I have worked Japan before, but never QRP. Japan to New Jersey is always a long hop and with 5 Watts, I really had my fingers crossed.
It took some patience to be heard and then a few repeats – but Andy finally heard me! I gave him a 599 report and got a 539 in return. It was dusk here and just a tiny bit past dawn in Japan (according to DX Atlas) so I am willing to bet that there was some grayline influence there.
No matter! I will take a QSO with a Japanese op any day of the week. Now as far as I’m concerned, that’s DX! And it just goes to show (at least in my case anyway) that you don’t always have to be good, you just need to be lucky!
I am hoping for a bit more activity on 80 Meters tonight as we get further into the darkness. I would like to get some practice in tonight with the Bug, in anticipation of Straight Key Night tomorrow evening.
As the New Year approaches, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. May your days be filled with laughter and enjoyment, love and happiness. And may you always have numerous sunspots and really good propagation when you turn on your radios!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Not much doing today
Today was a good day to be indoors. We had some snow today, but not nearly as much as was originally forecast. The weathermen were calling for 3 to 6 inches of the white stuff, but we ended getting around maybe an inch. Just slightly more than a dusting.
I did get on the radio for a bit after handling some house chores. But my radio efforts ended up not being fruitful at all. I called CQ for quite a while on 15, 17, 20 and 30 Meters. The Reverse Beacon Network told me that my signal was getting out just fine, but there were no answers to my calls. Perhaps every body was busy with the RAC contest.
So I entertained myself by investigating logging programs. The new version of Ham Radio Deluxe is out, but the program went from free to $80. I suppose that given the sophistication of the software that it’s worth it, but I can’t imagine spending that right now. I did sell my K2 and PFR3A recently, but those funds are earmarked for something else. So I will maintain the last free version on my computer. I also noticed that Version 6 is recommended to be run on a Windows 7 machine with dual core processors. Hardly what my netbook is set up for.
Now that computers are becoming such a fixture in our shacks, it almost seems like we are replacing them at faster rates than our radios. There are many Hams out there using boatanchors, but I would venture to guess that most everyone’s computers are not as old. Can’t get away with antiques when it comes to computing power in the shack!
Tomorrow should be less busy as far as chores go. Maybe I’ll bet to spend more time twiddling the dial.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Another free logging program
I recently mentioned using PZTLog which has been the work of Charlie M0PZT. This is an extremely well done logging program and on the plus side, is free. Don’t let the “free” part dissuade you in any way. Charlie has put together a magnificent piece of software that will compete with any program that you would pay for.
There’s another one that I have been playing around with that is also free. This one is called LOG4OM and has been written by Daniele Pistollato IW3HMH.
This program is also very good. It is a little more basic than PZTLog and was written more in mind for the Ham who might be considering moving away from paper logging to computer logging. It’s no slouch of a program, though. It has many great features – ADIF import/export, mapping of QSOs, labeling, onboard DX Clusters, rig control, etc.
If you have been searching for a logging program and haven’t found one that quite fits your needs yet, I would highly recommend giving each of these a look.
The price is right!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
