AmateurRadio.com

I got confirmation from Elecraft on Monday that my K3 was shipping UPS 3 Day Select. So you have to figure – Tuesday, Wednesday, and delivery on Thursday.  In fact, that’s what the official UPS Tracking Website confirmed for me – delivery by the end of the day on June 28th.  So imagine my surprise when I got home to find a big brown box waiting for me.  Inside was:

Serial number 6625 – just waiting to be built!

Also included inside are the K3 ATU, the 400Hz, 8 Pole Roofing Filter, and the handheld microphone. I also ordered a microphone for the KX3 while I was at it.  And no, before anyone gets all excited, I am not renouncing CW!  I got the microphone(s) for two basic reasons.

1) Doing Ham Radio demos.  I have found that demos go best when you show folks CW and SSB.  There’s nothing like putting a mic into the hands of someone and allowing them to speak with someone halfway around the country, or the globe for that matter.  It’s something that THEY can relate to.  Morse Code is “cool” as I have been told by a lot of kids – but letting them talk to someone in far off Uzbekafgonalakistan is the ultimate “Wow”.  (A note to my lawyer – yes, that is a made up country name).

2) Special Event stations – I really used to like to hunt them.  A lot are not on CW at all these days, a lot are phone only.  Hence, my decision to buy some microphones.  Take for instance the “13 Colonies” Special Event that is held each year around Independence Day.  Last year I was able to find exactly ONE state (MA) on CW.  Maybe I won’t work many; but at least now I can try.

I really have to tip my hat to you SSB QRP guys.  You guys have supernatural patience!  Except for the rare instance, I will stick with CW for a 99% majority of my operating time.  I don’t have your kind of patience.

Tonight was preoccupied with other matters. Tomorrow night, God willing and the creek don’t rise, I will begin by doing a complete inventory.  I don’t expect anything to be missing as K3s are not rushing out the door as the same rate as KX3s.

Oh, and by the way, in case I didn’t mention it ….. the K2 is going NOWHERE!  I am NEVER giving that radio up!

Even though the sunspot number is a paltry 28, I had a good night on 20 and 30 Meters.  Germany, Lithuania, Ecuador and The Ukraine were all easily reached with 5 Watts. I even managed to bust a mini-pileup to work the Lithuanian on 30 Meters.  That felt really good!

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

But the flesh IS weak, tonight!

I would like to operate a bit more tonight; but I am almost falling asleep behind the key.  Due to the heat in the house last night, it was very uncomfortable trying to fall asleep.  My pillow felt like a big sponge all night long; and I finally ended up drifting off around 3:00 AM.  Of course, that was only to wake up for work about 3 hours later.

I will have to be satisfied with one contact on 20 Meters, having worked Serge RN3DN whose QTH is near Moscow.  He had a very pleasant fist and a nice 589 signal into New Jersey and I received a 569 in return.  I would love to tune around and work a few more; but it’s not a good thing when your head snaps as you fall into that grey area between being awake and falling asleep.

The KX3 continues to amaze me. So many features jammed into a radio that is really only just a little bit bigger than some of the 2M handhelds that were around when I first started my Ham career 24 years ago.

Thank the Lord, the air conditioner repairmen came today and were able to make repairs without the need for a new compressor.  It reached 98F (37C) here in Central New Jersey today – not quite high as they expected.  With the combined high humidity, it was quite oppressive.  But right now, it’s a relatively cool 78F  (25C) in the house which is much, much better than what I had to deal with last night.  I should be able to garner a good night’s sleep tonight.

Tomorrow is expected to be very hot and humid again; but not quite as warm as today.  Heavy and possibly some severe thunderstorms are expected late tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening, which will break the back of this heatwave.  High temperatures over the weekend are expected around 85F (29C).

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

I looked at the weather forecast for the next two days – 96F tomorrow (35C) and 102F on Thursday (39C). Wow! I guess it is no coincidence that tomorrow is the first day of summer.

And wouldn’t you know it ?!?  Band conditions seem to be headed right into the toilet as Field Day weekend approaches.  The Sunspot number is 66 and declining. We’ll get to see of Amateurs create their “own” propagation this weekend.  Maybe with that much RF heating up the ionosphere, we won’t need so many Sunspots.

The past few nights have been very good on the bands.  Tonight, the noise floor seemed to be higher and it sounded like there was less activity.  FG5FR was booming into NJ from Guadeloupe; but I worked Frantz about a week ago, so it’s time to let other stations have at him.

Looks like some reading tonight and then sack time.

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

tonight, because according to Ron WB3AAL and a post he made to the Polar Bear reflector, band conditions might turn into a mess this weekend:

Space Weather News for June 14, 2012
 http://spaceweather.com 

DOUBLE CME: Active sunspot AR1504 is facing Earth and hurling coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in our direction. A fast-moving CME that left the sun on June 14th is expected to scoop up another CME already en route and deliver a double-blow to Earth’s magnetic field on June 16th. Weak-to-moderate geomagnetic storms are possible when the clouds arrive. Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

Tonight, band conditions are nice and I am having a blast.  I had a very brief QSO with TJ W0EA and this ended up being my first KX3 to KX3 QSO.  I am also hearing a lot of European stations and am able to work quite a few.  But this just goes to show you ………..

My QSO with TJ was very brief because my signal to him was exceptionally crappy.  I looked down and realized that I was still on the EDZ for our QSO.  After signing with him, I switched over to the Butternut, called CQ again and got a 559 from OM7DX in the Slovak Republic.

The other night was a first for me.  I heard my very first VU station – ever!  For whatever reason, I have never even heard a station from India before.  Hearing one the other night was an exciting first for me.

Ah, yes …. it’s Friday night, the work week is done, the weather is nice and I get to go on the radio.  Great way to start Father’s Day weekend!

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

I kept the radio tuned to 20 Meters for the evening and had a variety of QSOs.

The first was with CO6RD, Reynaldo in Cuba.  This wasn’t a long QSO as Reynaldo was working “contest style” racking up the QSOs. But I did get him on the first shot, even though a lot of stations were calling.

Next up was a busted QSO with Mike AA6WQ, who was operating from TN.  We got through the QSO basics, only to have the band pull the rug out from under us.  One minute we were going at it, next minute we couldn’t hear each other anymore. I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles, sometimes.

With two short QSOs under my belt, I was thinking that might be how the evening was going to go. But my fears turned to be for nothing as the next QSO was an almost hour long rag chew with Paul W4KLY in Stone Moutnain, GA.  This was an Elecraft to Elecraft QSO.  Paul was using his K1 and (of course) I was on the KX3.  QSB had a role to play; but in all honesty, when the band was not in fade mode,  our signals were 599 both ways.  We talked about rigs, portable ops and antennas and summer vacation plans.  It was very enjoyable and it is truly amazing to see how fast an hour can go by on you when you’re having fun.

The last QSO for the night was with Rumi LZ2RS in Bulgaria.  He was calling “CQ QRP” and I was lucky enough to be heard on my first call.  Rumi was at 5 Watts; but what really made the QSO was his Yagi at 12 meters up, pointed my way.  I was on the 88′ EDZ pumping out 5 Watts from my end also.  Signals were a legitimate 559.

The bands have been so good lately!  Not the best I’ve ever witnessed; but after the past few pitiful years, this is like Heaven (comparatively).  I sure hope it stays this way for a while and doesn’t take a fast dive off a cliff into oblivion.

On another note, this new 9 cell battery that I got for the Acer is fantastic!  I got it Monday and attached it to the netbook for charging.  I’ve used it Tuesday, Wednesday, and tonight – about two to three hours per night.  The indicator says it still has about another two hours left in it.  Of course, I have Windows set for “Max Battery Life” through the control panel, but even so, this is way outlasting the old battery.  That one gave me about two hours computer time, tops.  This battery should be able to get me through a four hour sprint (outdoors) without breaking a sweat.

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

Got QSOs on four different bands tonight – they all seemed to be in decent shape.

CN8KD in Morocco on 20 Meters
UA3TCJ in European Russia on 17 Meters
UT6UD in the Ukraine on 30 Meters
EW7LO in Belarus on 40 Meters

No rag chews tonight – just quickie kind of DX contacts.  The QSOs on 17 and 20 Meters were completed through the Butternut HF9V and the QSOs on 30 and 40 Meters were made through the 88′ EDZ antenna. As per the little NA5N propagation box, conditions on all the bands I used were pretty good.

Just for the heck of it, I hooked both antennas up to my coax switch and then to the KX3.  You could actually hear the signals being attenuated by the switch.  The difference between direct hookup to the rig and going through this crummy switch was like night and day.  I’ll have to try and see if I can find a good quality coax switch at the hamfest this weekend to replace this piece of junk.

It would be nice to be able to switch real quickly.  Take the QSO with CN8KD for example.  When I first heard him, I was on the wire.  I called and called and called with no result.  I switched over to the vertical and bingo – first try resulted in a QSO.  Maybe it was coincidence, but in my mind, in this case the vertical made all the difference in the world.  The wire is a much better performer on 80 and 40 Meters.  It sure would be nice to be able to switch at the flick of a button.

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

I have opined in the past (although perhaps not on the blog directly) that CW is the reason I am still an active ham after almost 19 years…actually, I think a week from today marks the 19-year anniversary of passing elements 2 and 3A in the basement of the Stark County Sheriff’s office.  CW permitted me to make interesting, intriguing, compelling QSOs that I simply could not complete on SSB with my meager station as a beginner.

Over the years, I have used this as the argument for retaining the Morse code testing requirement:  Morse code proficiency gave newcomers the opportunity to make exciting DX contacts under all solar conditions (except disturbed, of course) and hook them on the hobby.

PSK31 was the first mode that challenged CW in that arena.  I made a couple of PSK contacts almost 10 years ago now and decided it was harder than CW.  So, I did not pursue it.  Aside from making a half-hearted effort to get ARRL’s Triple Play Worked All States using only unassisted (no cluster, no RBN, no skeds) contest contacts, I haven’t really operated digital modes much and didn’t really understand why anyone would want to because CW is so much easier.  I’ve seen dozens of JT65 posts by fellow AmateurRadio.com bloggers.  And, about a year ago, I met Paul, N8HM, who lives in an apartment in DC.  He’s very active on HF digital modes with a shoestring setup…and he’s very passionate about it.  That’s when it clicked.

Digital modes are the new CW:  the DX mode for the average ham.  I must be slow!

I still think CW is way easier than digital QSOs, especially in contests and pileups:  there is a certain amount of critical humanity (varying timing, sending speed, spacing, or calling frequency) that you can’t apply to cracking a digital pileup…or maybe I just haven’t figured it out yet.  I guess I have years of Morse practice and shouldn’t expect digital to be easy just because the computer is doing the sending and decoding.  But, I think I understand digital operators a little better after this revelation.

You guys are alright.