AmateurRadio.com

I took a quick hike on Shute Hill today. I worked Florida, Greenland, and Madeira Island.

Most of the leaves have fallen… and it’s gotten pretty chilly. It was 46F today. But it was still a nice day to get out for a short hike. I went to Shute Hill and headed for Will Ellis’s back field.

I threw a 30 foot wire over an oak tree at the edge of the field and sat down. The thermometer read 60F in the sun. I ran the KX3 at 5 watts and used the 9:1 unun and the internal tuner. By this afternoon 10 meters had become quiet. So I started out on 12 meters and heard N4FNG calling CQ from near Tampa. Al was a solid 579 and he gave me the same. He was also running 5 watts… we chatted for 20 minutes. Then I went back to check out 10 meters.

I had a sip of tea from the thermos I brought and tuned around. There was OX3XR in Greenland booming in and working one station after another. Peter came back to me after several calls and we exchanged quick 599s. There a was long pileup waiting for him.

Here’s Peter’s QSL card which, I believe, shows his operating position:

In contrast… here’s the view from my operating position :

I switched to 17 meters and heard Cedric CT3FT calling CQ from Madeira Island. He was strong and there were no takers. He answered my first call. I was 559 and he was 599. “UR QRP is working very well,” he sent when I told him I was running 5 watts. As I was operating, a steady stream of leaves fell on the rig and I swished them away.

The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for a 20 percent chance of snow.

Received this e-mail today from Daniel DO7FOX of QRZCQ:

We’ve been online for two years now! The first day was 2011 Oct 10. We are about 60500 users now and still growing fast!

Some sizes and numbers:

– Calls in database: 2.536.181
– Call views: 14.333.826
– Logbook QSOs: 22.726.374
– All time QSOs processed: 172.480.731
– Monthly visits: 950.000
– DX-Cluster spots with or from our users: 58%
– Video views: 137.995
– Users with picture: 18.237
– DX-Cluster spots via web interface: 69.845
– Max users on DX-Cluster via web interface: 119
– Forum posts: 401 (not much)
– Stream posts: 1.274
– XML lookups: 309.067 (closed test)
– Database queries per second: 2.462
– DX-Cluster spots in database: 8.289.618

Some future dates:

– Date when the site becomes unreadable due to ads: never 😉
– Date when the online log should start (still coding): aprox. Jan 2014
– Date of next 3rd birthday: 10 Oct 2014

And, unfortunately, 6 users went SK (known) since the site started. May the Ether be with them.

To celebrate this birthday, 100 new registered and activated users will get premium for free. The period for 100 premium will start in few hours.

Please help us grow, use the “Invite” function in your account and please invite your Ham and Swl friends. All you need is their call and email.

Thank you very much for the faith given us everyday by using our site!

Please visit us again and take a look! If you forgot your password simply try to login with your call and last password you remember, then use the simple ‘password forgotten’ function to recover your password.

You can visit QRZCQ to sign up at http://www.qrzcq.com

Have you given QRZCQ a try? What’s your opinion of it?

Judy and I rode our bicycles in East Andover this afternoon. It was gorgeous. I worked Cuba, St. Kitts, Portugal, Ukraine and Belgium.

We rode on the old Northern Rail right of way. The tracks are gone now, and it’s a bicycle and walking path. We sailed along through tunnels of gold and orange. Really beautiful. We stopped at a beach along Highland Lake. I operated at a picnic table there for about 20 minutes.

I tossed a line over a branch and pulled up a 30 foot wire. I used the earchi.org 9:1 unun and my KX3. I made one QSO on each band… 10M, 15M, 17M, and 20 meters. First I had a quick exchange with Eduardo in Cuba… CO8LY and I traded 599s. On 15 meters I worked V44KAI, Joel in St. Kitts. We gave each other 559s and I answered CT7AEQ in Portugal on 17 meters. Ted was a 599 and gave me the same report. Finally I worked Boris in the Ukraine. RU3ZC gave me a 569 and he was 589. Before leaving the spot, Judy took a quick photo by the lake.

Then we jumped on our bikes and rode about 3 miles to the east toward Franklin. We stopped at a beaver pond along the Sucker Brook.

Just below the bridge the beavers had built a small dam. But it was big enough to turn a large swamp into a small pond. I threw a wire over a tall pine tree along the pond and set up the KX3 on 20 meters. Someone had placed a small picnic table at the spot.

I heard Jean, ON4AEF from Belgium signing with another station and I called him. He gave me a 559. He was a very strong 599. “UR QRP FB,” he sent. “Great signal. Rig HR K2 10W X QRP like you!” It was a wonderful QSO and a perfect finale to our bike ride.

We turned around and headed back to the car. Cold weather is coming Wednesday.

Hanz, W1JSB and I hiked near Profile Falls in Bristol today. We worked Germany, Canary Islands, the Netherlands, Ontario and North Carolina.

Here’s a photo of Hanz setting up his gear on the bridge abutment.

We set up our gear on the old rail right of way on the edge of Profile Brook. The rails are gone and the bridge is unused, but the stone abutment remains. It’s a pretty spot. We operated here in the early spring.

I heaved a line into a tall maple tree near the old bridge site. We pulled up a 33 foot wire and I connected a 9:1 unun and started operating the KX3 on 15 meters. The Worked All Germany contest was in full swing, so we worked quite a few German stations. Here’s my log:

19 Oct-13 1900 21.008 CK3AT CW 599 599 Ontario
19 Oct-13 1901 21.009 DK9OY CW 599 599 Germany
19 Oct-13 1903 21.016 DL0LK CW 599 599 Germany
19 Oct-13 1920 21.020 DK0SU CW 599 599 Germany
19 Oct-13 1924 18.085 KS4S CW 599 599 NC
19 Oct-13 1928 18.092 EA8BBJ CW 559 599 Canary Isl

After operating on 15 meters for a while, Hanz took over. He operated his souped up 20 meter SWL rig in the yellow Pelican box. He worked several Germans.

After a while we switched to 17 meters with my KX3. Hanz worked KS4S in North Carolina and PA3DZM in the Netherlands, and I worked EA8BBJ in the Canary Islands.

The afternoon sky had clouded over and most of the leaves were off the trees. But the air still had a rich fragrance of fall and the lingering warmth of Indian summer. We hadn’t operated together for nearly a month, and it was
great to get out with our QRP gear again.

Today was Indian Summer. Judy and I walked over Shute Hill to Swain’s Farm. I worked Belgium, Netherlands, Morocco and England.

Indian Summer is what we call the last few days of extra-warm weather before the cold settles in for the winter. It was a gorgeous day. It may be the last good day with beautiful fall colors. It was 72F with a crystal blue sky.

The pathway over the hill is about 2 miles. We walked on a crunching carpet of rich colored leaves. Judy got a quick snapshot of me as we neared one of Swain’s fields.

The view from the hay field is fantastic. We gazed out on the Belknap Mountains. In the foreground the rich grass shimmered in the sunlight.

I heaved a line over a maple branch nearly 50 feet above the edge of the field, and I pulled up a 33 foot wire. I hooked up the KX3 and tuned around 10 meters. It was active, and I quickly landed a QSO with ON7DU. Johan was a 599 and gave me a 579 from Belgium. Then I worked the Netherlands. PA5WT was calling CQ and I answered. Kees gave me a 449. He was a strong 599.

Then I switched to 17 meters. Med was calling CQ from Morocco. CN8YR gave me a 339 and he was a 579. I went back to 10 meters for a final QSO with M0UNN in England. I exchanged a quick 599 with Jay and packed up the gear.

The view from the operating position was the greatest! In the past I’ve worked the QRPARCI Fall contest from here, but I couldn’t make it this year. Rain is forecast for tomorrow. I sure am glad I was able to get out today.

We’re getting ready to hit the road for vacation.  It’s been a whole year since KD2CHE and I tied the knot on a cliff overlooking Lake Tahoe.

Xiegu X1M

We’re not going to be heading back there yet, but wandering through New York’s North Country a bit.  I’m expecting to get a little portable QRP operation in as we poke around up there.  In anticipation of the trip, I picked up a spare power supply from my brother a few weeks ago to use with the Xiegu X1M, and any other 12V items I have or may acquire when I’m not near my main setup.  I decided to assemble the “motel room” version of my QRP setup here to see how it works.  I have the Xiegu, my Emtech ZM2 tuner, mic, the spare PS, and a small amplified speaker sitting here on the couch.  A string of 2 alligator leads is running from the ZM2 to the feed-thru from my random wire up near the window.  Everything powered up, and tuned up, so I decided to answer a couple of calls on 15M.

I made USB contacts with UT7UJ in Kiev, and S51ZZ in Slovenia from my test station on the couch here in Long Island.  Not bad for 5 Watts.  This little rig is full of surprises.  I also just found out from Ed at Import Communications through a post to the Xiegu X1M Yahoo group that he is going to be offering upgrade kits for the earlier X1M to upgrade the front panel and display to the newer version, as well as a strong possibility of a firmware upgrade that will cure many of this rig’s little issues.  The firmware upgrade has already been released for the newer model.

Now, time to pack it back up, and hit the road.  73s de Neil, W2NDG

Here are the changes at RadioKitGuide.com so far:

• -Coming Soon- TJ4A MK II 4 Band SSB Transceiver.  No other info yet
• –New- TJ2B MK II SSB Handheld Transceiver.  YouKits combined the A and B models into one with a good choice of bands.  So far only available assembled.
• –New- EK1A and EK1B 3 band QRP CW kits.  Power output 4-5 Watts.  Built in Keyer.  SMD parts all finished.  Assemble in about 2 hours.  A model: 40, 30, and 20 Meters.  B model: 20, 17 and 15 Meters.  $179 + S&H

-Ten-Tec

• The 1254 Superhet SW receiver has been discontinued.

-JUMA

• Juha tells me that they are in the process of transferring logistics to a new company.  They hope to have kits available again by the end of the year

-Small Wonder Labs

• As many of you have heard, Dave Benson has retired from kit production.  The famous RockMite transceiver is supposed to be moving to QRPme.com.  You can also check out the Super RockMite from AliExpress further down this listing.

-Wilderness Radio

• Bob from Wilderness Radio informed me that the SST and Sierra have been officially discontinued due to a parts availability issue.

-Dan’s Small Parts and Kits

• Dan doesn’t seem to have any kits listed on the website anymore, but is selling some of them on eBay.  See the listing at radiokitguide.com for more info

-QRPme

• As stated above, QRP.me is rumored to be the new source for RockMite kits.  Stay tuned.

-Walford Electronics

•   -NEW- The Lydford SSB Phone Transceiver.
•  -NEW-  The FiveFET Simple Regen TRF Receiver.

-Kanga Products UK

• -NEW- Open QRP Transceiver.  Similar to the Ten-Tec 506 Rebel.  Based on the OPen QRP design from Steve K1EL.

-Kits By EA3GCY

•  -NEW- EGV-40 CW QRP 40M Transceiver.  40M CW Band.

-BLEKOK QRP by YD1JJJ

•   -NEW- Micro 40S QRP 30 Watt SSB Kit.

-The Ham QRP DIY Kit Shack on AliExpress. 

• -NEW-Pixie Kit (Improved).
• -NEW-Frog QRP Kit.
• -NEW-Super RockMite Kit.

See RadioKitGuide.com for all details on these, and many more!

Please leave any additions you may have in the comments.