Archive for the ‘dx’ Category
Success like W1PID, but no scenery
July 17th, 2013 | 
Author: Like my good friend Jim W1PID, I also operated portable QRP today. Like him, I had some success working Germany, Sweden and New Mexico. Unlike him, I did not have a beautiful river and pastoral country views to soothe my eyes.
Nope, I was in the parking lot at work during my lunch break – again. But also like Jim, I got to deal with the heat. It was just breaking the 90F (32C) mark when I got out there. I think the sunshine reflecting back up off the asphalt pavement might be good for another few degrees. Tomorrow, I’ll have to bring a thermometer with me and find out.
I plopped the Buddistick on top of the Jeep and found that the air temperature was not the only thing that was hot. 17 Meters seemed to be sizzling, too. I worked two special event stations – the first being DL50FRANCE.
This station is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Elysee. That historic document started a period of deep friendship and cooperation between France and Germany. Up until that point, those two countries didn’t exactly play nice together.
The other special event station I worked, and was also worked by W1PID, was SJ0SOP. This station in Sweden is on the air to promote the Sea of Peace award.
In between working these two special events, I slipped on over to 15 Meters to see if there was any activity there. That’s where I heard Paul KW7D in New Mexico calling CQ. He was 599 loud in New Jersey and I got a 569 in return. We had a brief QSO and I informed Paul that 17 Meters seemed to be a lot more active than 15. We kept our QSO short so that he could QSY on over to 17 Meters and point his Force 12 Beam antenna towards the DX that was humming on the band.
I broke down the station and headed back inside into the air conditioning. When I got back to the car to head home, it was 95F (35C). The humidity is up there at 68%, but at least it’s not at 90% like it was last weekend. The 90s with 90% humidity? THAT’S miserable!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
You need a scorecard (or QRZ or somesuch …….)
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!
Interesting Weekend, Radio and otherwise
On Friday afternoon after I got home from work there were some intrepid SOTA activators on and I picked up a few chaser points working those guys. I did some experimentation with telescoping pole anchored EFHW dipole antennas in preparation for my trip next week to NM and CO. I also went through a few guitar drills just to keep the old fingers limber. A relatively quiet evening.
Saturday dawned hot. The temperature would eventually reach 108 degrees, a good day to remain indoors and that is what I did. I was able to work several SOTA summits, but generally took it easy. I had to be at the venue for the show by 5:00 to set up and sound check. Of course everything was late which is typical in a business that is normally, hurry up and wait. The show went extremely well, good crowd and sold a few CD's. Driving home after the show, it was still 94 degrees at 11:30 pm.. The down side of the show was that the IOTA I needed came up around 2300z and was worked by a couple of my buddies. I received an email from Buzz, N5UR, notifying me of what I had missed. Oh well that's how it goes.
Sunday dawned cool and rainy. I made a cup of coffee and sat on the back porch enjoying the change in the weather. It rained for a couple of hours which in Texas, in July, is a nice rain. However, that is when the rain became the enemy. DU9/JA1PBV was spotted on 20m. Great, I come in from the porch and head to the shack, only find that the rain noise was S7. The DU9 had a nice signal, but too much static to hear consistently enough to work, plus he had big EU pile-up as well. So sit and wait, everyone once in a while the rain would diminish, his signal was easily readible, so call a few times, the rain picks back up and the static covers him up again. The cycle repeated itself several times. Frustration. However, patience is often rewarded, while waiting a spot for PJ5/K3RTM on 6m came across the cluster from a ham not too far from me. Wait a minute I need that one, so a I swing the antenna around and there he is, solid signal through the static, a couple of calls and a new one on 6m. Cool. During the DU9 chase, I would periodically see a spot for a SOTA summit and I worked them throughout the pursuit. Back go the DU9. Finally around 1600 the rain relented, however his signal had dropped considerably although still copiable, he was now working EU exclusively, up 2 to 3. My hope was fading. To add to the problem, I couldn't hear who he was working so I was hoping he would find me. Finally, I swung the beam to EU just to hear where the largest concentration of stations were calling and set my 2nd VFO there. I was throwing the heavy artillery at him, 1,200 watts. Sometimes 5 watts is just not enough. Finally at 1653z I broke through the wall and got a QSO, hallelujah!!!.
So all is well that ends well. A rare IOTA in the log, a new 6m band country and a 136 SOTA chaser points for the weekend. A 108 degree day followed by an 85 degree day. A successful gig, I got a haircut, changed the oil in the Jeep and washed it after the rain stopped. A very interesting weekend.
Oh, the DU9 showed up again on 17m CW later Sunday afternoon, working up 1. I got him on the first call. Go figure.
Asbotively tropical
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…..
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!
Today was a GOOD lunchtime QRP session.
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!
Strangeness
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!
