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I went over the local park once again today – it was nicer today because the wind was not blowing 40 MPH like the last excursion!

20 meters seemed to be a bit better, and I heard a number of signals around 14.050 (the SKCC hangout), as well as the rest of the band.

I started calling CQ thinking I would have a contact really quick, but not to be the case, but it got more interesting after a bit.

First up was…

NS3C (8284T) – Richard answered my CQ from Los Angeles, CA and gave me a 599 – I was a new number for him.

NQ7K (13913T) – I heard Mike nice and solid replying to my CQ.  What started out as a 579 exchange turned into a 599 booming signal from Arizona.  Mike was running a 1 Watter Rig which is a kit available from Kits and Parts – and seems to be gaining a foothold in the QRP community.  It was fun to work someone running 1 watt on a rig that I have thought about picking up! Nice 2xQRP contact!

KF7YRL (10421T) – I heard a very very faint signal when Steve was calling me.  I was able to make out the necessary info and heard that he was QRP.  His QRZ page says he is in Montana, but I shot him an email for the specifics.  We kept it short because I could just not pull up his signal well enough to copy easily.  Another 2xQRP QSO!

KO1U (7648S) – I heard Mark calliing CQ with a nice 599 signal.  I answered and he got me with a 559 report from Massachusetts.

Another fun day working some of the nicest guys and great operators that are involved with the SKCC.  Thanks for putting up with my new fist, and slower speed!

This puts me 11/100 SKCC contacts as I work towards my Centurion award.

I went over the local park once again today – it was nicer today because the wind was not blowing 40 MPH like the last excursion!

20 meters seemed to be a bit better, and I heard a number of signals around 14.050 (the SKCC hangout), as well as the rest of the band.

I started calling CQ thinking I would have a contact really quick, but not to be the case, but it got more interesting after a bit.

First up was…

NS3C (8284T) – Richard answered my CQ from Los Angeles, CA and gave me a 599 – I was a new number for him.

NQ7K (13913T) – I heard Mike nice and solid replying to my CQ.  What started out as a 579 exchange turned into a 599 booming signal from Arizona.  Mike was running a 1 Watter Rig which is a kit available from Kits and Parts – and seems to be gaining a foothold in the QRP community.  It was fun to work someone running 1 watt on a rig that I have thought about picking up! Nice 2xQRP contact!

KF7YRL (10421T) – I heard a very very faint signal when Steve was calling me.  I was able to make out the necessary info and heard that he was QRP.  His QRZ page says he is in Montana, but I shot him an email for the specifics.  We kept it short because I could just not pull up his signal well enough to copy easily.  Another 2xQRP QSO!

KO1U (7648S) – I heard Mark calliing CQ with a nice 599 signal.  I answered and he got me with a 559 report from Massachusetts.

Another fun day working some of the nicest guys and great operators that are involved with the SKCC.  Thanks for putting up with my new fist, and slower speed!

This puts me 11/100 SKCC contacts as I work towards my Centurion award.

I have been a member of SKCC for some time now, but never really done anything with it except hand out my number if asked- I’m 8033 if you’re interested.

I have been a member of SKCC for some time now, but never really done anything with it except hand out my number if asked- I’m 8033 if you’re interested.

Finally getting a chance to get caught up since my last posting!  I have been having lots of fun with the radio lately so it’s time to check in.

Portable Op 1/45: On February 20 & 21 we visited my mother-in-law in the Kansas City area.  I knew the girls would be busy shopping and doing some sewing, so I brought the KX3 and antenna along.  I strapped the antenna to the deck railing and setup on the kitchen table.  I had lots of fun, there was some contest going on, but I have not looked up which one, but there was lots of DX.

I worked about 18 stations into South America and west to Hawaii.  Good times, but unfortunately none of them have confirmed via LOTW!

Portable Op 2/45: February 22nd I went to the local park over my lunch hour and had some radio fun.  I worked CO8LY in Cuba and two stations in NM – WS0TA (on a summit) and KE5AKL.

NPOTA Portable Op 3/45: On February 25th I had to be in the Kansas City are on business.  There are several of the parks in that area.  One spot was actually a three-fer since there were 3 trails that crossed at that location.  So I activated Lone Elm park which was a major camping location along the Oregon, Santa Fe and California Trails.

What a blast this was – in 2 hours I worked 55 stations all stateside except two DX from Canada and Belgium all on 20 meters.  I started out calling CQ about 14.059 and started getting some calls.  After about 20 minutes I spotted myself on DXSummit and it go crazy.  Having never been at the receiving end of a pileup on CW it sounded like one sound – I could not make out hardly anything except a fragment of a call.

What a blast!  If you have anyway to get out and activate one of the parks DO IT!.

Unfortunately on this outing right before I was ready to leave my Jakite pole collapsed into itself.  The top sections fell into the bigger sections with the wire antenna tied to the top.  I can’t seem to figure out how to get it back apart – it is stuck inside.  So I need to get that figured out before I can do much more portable operating.

In the Shack:  I have been having lots of fun running PSK31 from the shack.  In the last week or so I have worked over 30 stations.  This is a fun mode for quick contacts or a little rag chewing.  Most of the time I connect to the computer in my shack with Teamviewer on my iPad while sitting in my easy chair in the living room with the family.  This works really well and allows me to be around the family and still have some radio fun.

Finally getting a chance to get caught up since my last posting!  I have been having lots of fun with the radio lately so it’s time to check in.

Portable Op 1/45: On February 20 & 21 we visited my mother-in-law in the Kansas City area.  I knew the girls would be busy shopping and doing some sewing, so I brought the KX3 and antenna along.  I strapped the antenna to the deck railing and setup on the kitchen table.  I had lots of fun, there was some contest going on, but I have not looked up which one, but there was lots of DX.

I worked about 18 stations into South America and west to Hawaii.  Good times, but unfortunately none of them have confirmed via LOTW!

Portable Op 2/45: February 22nd I went to the local park over my lunch hour and had some radio fun.  I worked CO8LY in Cuba and two stations in NM – WS0TA (on a summit) and KE5AKL.

NPOTA Portable Op 3/45: On February 25th I had to be in the Kansas City are on business.  There are several of the parks in that area.  One spot was actually a three-fer since there were 3 trails that crossed at that location.  So I activated Lone Elm park which was a major camping location along the Oregon, Santa Fe and California Trails.

What a blast this was – in 2 hours I worked 55 stations all stateside except two DX from Canada and Belgium all on 20 meters.  I started out calling CQ about 14.059 and started getting some calls.  After about 20 minutes I spotted myself on DXSummit and it go crazy.  Having never been at the receiving end of a pileup on CW it sounded like one sound – I could not make out hardly anything except a fragment of a call.

What a blast!  If you have anyway to get out and activate one of the parks DO IT!.

Unfortunately on this outing right before I was ready to leave my Jakite pole collapsed into itself.  The top sections fell into the bigger sections with the wire antenna tied to the top.  I can’t seem to figure out how to get it back apart – it is stuck inside.  So I need to get that figured out before I can do much more portable operating.

In the Shack:  I have been having lots of fun running PSK31 from the shack.  In the last week or so I have worked over 30 stations.  This is a fun mode for quick contacts or a little rag chewing.  Most of the time I connect to the computer in my shack with Teamviewer on my iPad while sitting in my easy chair in the living room with the family.  This works really well and allows me to be around the family and still have some radio fun.

I can’t believe it has been almost a year since I have posted here!  I have lots of interests and tend to bounce around between them.

But for 2016 I want to be more consistently in ham radio.  So I have set a goal…

There are about 45 weeks left in 2016, so my goal is to complete 45 portable activities this year and document them here on my blog!

Also, tomorrow, February 25th, 2016 I will be activating NPOTA TR07,TR11,TR14 (Oregon NHT + Santa Fe NHT + California NHT) from Lone Elm park in Olathe, KS.

I will be operating my KX3 5 watts CW (maybe SSB if time allows) into a vertical. 14.060+/- and 7.030 +/-. I plan to arrive about 19:00 UTC (1:00 pm local) and operate for a couple of hours.

If you hear me please spot me. This will be my first activation, and my CW is a bit rusty, so the sending speed will be slow! Be patient with me!

This park has historical significance because it was used as a major campground along these 3 trails. Originally it was about 80 acres, and so many trees were cut down by the campers it became known as “Lone Elm”.

That’s all for today, I will report back after the NPOTA activation tomorrow!