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Again today, I headed out at lunch time to the car.  It was hot ….  90F again, but this time before I left the building, I checked into WeatherUnderground and saw that the humidity was at 77%.  It was tropical to say the least.  I had a very pleasant QSO on 20 Meters with my good friend and fellow Polar Bear Ken WA8REI.  He was at home on his Mosley, so he was a solid 599+.  Fortunately, the beam was able to rope in my signal and I got a 579 in return.

Ken was enduring the sogginess in Michigan too, and was telling me that he is going to head on up to his trailer “in the country” soon to escape the heat and humidity.  Can’t say I blame him.  When I got back to my desk, I felt a bit soggy myself.

Tomorrow, I will bring a camera along with me to snap a few quick photos of the set up in the back of the Jeep.  A few have asked, curious to see exactly how I have the Buddistick set up.

With that much humidity, you know that sooner or later, something has to give.  Around 4:00 PM, we had a prototypical summer afternoon thunderstorm and downpour.  Sad thing is, it really hasn’t changed anything, and it feels just as soggy after, as it did before.  No cool fronts will be running through for several days at least.

After dinner, I got the first two radials down.  The lawn was all soggy and while that made things a bit messier than they would be otherwise, at least the gardening pins that I am using to hold down the wires went into the soil like a warm knife through butter.

The wires are screwed down onto to the sink strainer using crimped eyelets, which have been dipped in anti-oxidant paste.  I am using De-Oxit’s paste which is the same thing as Butternut’s “Butter it’s Not” as far as I can tell.  Each is also secured with a star washer.

When all is said and done, I hope to have another 20 radials down which will put me very close to 50 total if count the original 25 I put down years ago.

Oh, I worked Crete for the first time in 13 years this evening.  I heard SV9/SV2FPU calling CQ on 30 Meters (88′ EDZ antenna) and I threw out my call. Out of all the stations calling, I was amazed to hear him come back to me!  This also makes the first time I have worked Crete via CW.  Last time, all the way back in 2000, I actually used that mikeyphoney thing.  Don’t tell anybody!

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

It’s a good thing that I have my lunchtime QRP opportunities, as lately, I seem to get more “on the air” time from work than I do from home! The weekends seem to be filled with nonstop chores and house responsibilities. Time for Ham Radio is scarce and at a premium.

But during the work week, I get that one hour break for lunch. If I’m lucky, I’ll get out to the parking lot to find the bands hopping. This afternoon, I got lucky again.

I started my lunchtime session on 17 Meters, as has become my custom. I was fortunate enough to work two DX stations, S573DX in Slovenia and F5NTV in France.

After finishing with those two, I headed on over to the QRP Watering hole on 20 Meters. Once there, I called CQ for a bit, to be answered by John KG9HV, in Lafayette, IN. We had a nice 2X QRP QSO. I was on the KX3 and Buddistick, while John was using his Kenwood TS-570S to a dipole at 5 Watts. Even though the QSO was plagued by QSB at both ends, we were able to have a very nice conversation. And in fact, when the QSB let up, at times John was actually as good as 589!

The one bad thing about operating from the parking lot is dealing with the weather, kind of like a mini Field Day. It was hot (close to 90F – 32C), and it was the Noon hour, so the sun was at its peak. I didn’t feel like wasting gas to run the AC, though, so I just lifted the tail gate (rear door) of the Jeep and allowed it to provide some needed shade. The nice thing was that the building’s AC provided a nice refresher …… after a nice radio session.

Hamlog for Android is perfect for my portable logging needs. It’s super easy to use and has so many neat added on tools. I don’t even bother with plain paper, anymore. I recommend it highly.

As luck would have it, there’s not much to do at home tonight. While it would seem like it would be the perfect opportunity to get on the air, unfortunately there’s also a severe thunderstorm watch on until 10:00 PM.  I may get on for a bit; but I’ll have to be ready to pull “The Big Switch” at a moment’s notice.

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

The good news is that I am comfortable enough at the new job, where now I don’t mind heading out to the car to conduct lunchtime QRP sessions. You always kind of wonder at a new place …. what will they say, you know ……. about that guy that sticks the antenna on his car roof and starts doing something with a small radio ….. is he a spy?  A drug dealer?  Some kind of foreign agent?  As it turns out, the parking lot is HUGE and nobody pays me any mind.

The past few days, I was getting skunked. No contacts, and in fact I wasn’t even hearing much of anything. And silly me, the last thing I think is “dead bands” – nope, the first thing I think is “Crud!  What did I do to the rig?”  “Did I mess up the antenna?”  Stuff like that – the first thing I think is that it was me,  I screwed something up!

But today ……. today allayed all my concerns.  Today, 17 Meters during lunchtime was almost magical.  In short order I worked Milan OK1KW in Praha in the Czech Republic.  Milan was calling “CQ FISTS” and I answered and we ended up having a very pleasant QSO.  Milan was 589 in NJ and I received a 549 in return.

After ending the QSO with Milan, I heard Frank OV1CDX calling “CQ DX”.  I figured to myself, “Hey, I just worked the Czech Republic, so why not Denmark?”  I put my call out  a few times and Frank answered. He was a good strong 599 in NJ and I earned a 559 in return.  Cool – the band was hot!

So now the decision comes about ….. “I have 15 minutes left. Do I tear down and head back in, or do I try for one more?” No contest! Try for one more, as the signals were abundant.  And I did, and I made it!

This time I worked Serge R6YY.  This was the tough one of my session, as I had to send my information to Serge several times.  Thanks to his fantastic ears, we were able to complete the QSO.  Serge was only 579 here in NJ, and I was only 439 in return.  A tough one, but we did it!

While the rest of the blogosphere and Amateur Radio world seems to be having a spit-feckled nutty about Heathkit zombies, I decided to get on the air tonight (only after replacing the towel rack in the XYL’s bathroom, mind you).

On 40 Meters, I had a pleasant, but rather taxing QSO with Bruce W1CVE from Providence, RI. Summertime conditions were the rule for 40 Meters with lots of band noise, QRM, QRN and QSB. Despite it all, Bruce and I had a pleasant chat. He was 579 here and I received a 559 in return – not terrible.

On 20 Meters, I had a brief QSO with EW1DJ in Belarus. Alex was 599  here, and I received an honest report of 579 in return (not the automatic 599 DX report that you usually get). For this one instance, the haul from NJ to Belarus was far easier than the haul from NJ to RI. Go figure.

A word about last night’s post regarding the tuner and amp for the KX3. In no way did I mean to disparage anyone who has already ordered, or is considering ordering these pieces for their KX3s. If the KX3 is your only radio and you have the funds to afford these, then I am heel clicking, somersault tumbling, high fiving happy for you! I was commenting on my own situation and was not attempting to cast sour grapes upon the Amateur Radio landscape.

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

I was able to get on the radio for a bit today.  15 Meters seemed to be alive jumping with “AA” contest stations.  I didn’t have much interest in competing in the contest, but it’s always interesting to work Asian stations using QRP power. I managed to work several JA stations, cherry picking my way around, and trying the loudest ones. I also worked a few Asiatic Russian stations. Unfortunately, I did not hear or work anything more exotic.

I attempted to work Met TA3AX on 17 Meters, but this time QRP. Alas, Turkey was not to be had with 5 Watts – today. 😉

I finished the day by participating in the Run For The Bacon, the Flying Pigs monthly QRP sprint. Not a whole lot of activity, probably due to it being Father’s Day, but I did manage to work fellow blogger, Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Jim W4QO and John K4BAI, twice. Earlier in the day we had another brief contact, so today was able to put John in the log three times today. I think that’s a record.

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