AmateurRadio.com

The weather today in Central NJ was a very sunny 72F (22C) when I headed out the door from work at lunchtime.  I wanted to accomplish two things.  I wanted to try the 18 MHz wire that I cut for the PAR ENDFEDZ, and I also wanted to set up the Jackite pole again using my drive on mast holder.

I went to the same park that I went to last week; but I went to the other side.  This was away from the tree-filled picnic area and towards the soccer fields and some other baseball fields.  I set up right in the parking area:

Set up went very fast, and since the 17 Meter wire is much shorter than the regularly supplied 10/20/40 MKII radiator, I needed to use a piece of coax that I normally carry for when I use the Buddistick.  I called CQ and was answered by Mike K8NS who lives in Florida, in the Daytona Beach area.

Mike was 589 here, and he gave me a 569 in return. Copy was solid in both directions. Mike was using an Icom IC-725 to a vertical antenna.  My PAR ENDFEDZ was more or less a vertical, although it did slope somewhat.

It was just turning 90F (32C) for the day at Mike’s QTH; but he informed me that there was a nice off shore breeze that was keeping things bearable.  I couldn’t stay too long as I had to get back to work; but it was a rewarding effort.  I made a QSO, the wire worked well and the drive on mast support continued to work like a charm.  A very productive lunchtime, indeed.

What’s that about the blog post title, you ask?  Well, off to the right of me, about 75 yards or so was a very big, open field.  There were some older gentlemen there flying RC model planes.  I was watching them while I was operating; and I guess they were watching me.  One of them came over, of course, to ask what I was doing and I started explaining about Amateur Radio (you would think model RC pilots would know something about radio).  He asked me if I was actually working anyone, so I took the earbud jack out of the KX3, so he could hear me as I worked Mike K8NS.

“Morse Code ….wow! People still use that?”

“Yes”, I replied. “It’s still very popular”.

“Isn’t that nice.  It’s good to know there are folks out there using older technology than what I use.”

I started explaining about SDR, microprocessors, SMD technology and all that; but I was getting a glassy-eyed stare (and you could almost hear the crickets chirping), so I ended up just letting it go at that.

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

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

One of the highlights of my trip to the Dayton Hamvention last year was attending evenings at Four Days in May (FDIM), a QRP convention sponsored by the QRP ARCI that rather conveniently coincides with the Dayton Hamvention, which I try to attend annually. Though scheduling makes it difficult for me to attend all of FDIM’s daytime presentations, the camaraderie and innovation one discovers at the evening sessions is wholeheartedly worthwhile.

Last year, I snapped quite a few photos at FDIM which I planned to post following the Hamvention. Unfortunately, shortly after the Hamvention, my laptop began displaying signs of an early demise.  In haste, I archived my photos on a portable drive, where they remained buried for a year.  I just rediscovered this photographic treasure, and thought I’d share it with readers; looking through them rekindled my enthusiasm for FDIM 2013, which starts next week!

A quick look at FDIM 2012

A great characteristic about FDIM is the array of QRP products offered by QRPers for the community. More often than not, these products are fairly priced, and often in support of the QRP community rather than major profit-making ventures.

For example, the North Georgia QRP Club produces affordable wood stands for QRP rigs. They’re incredibly simple, but fully finished and beautifully designed, just the thing to prop up your QRP portable at the right angle for desktop use.

These wooden stands support the following rigs:

• Elecraft K1, KX1
• Ten Ten R4020/R4030/R4040
• Yaesu FT817/FT817N
• Hendricks PFR3

The club can even accommodate custom orders for other rigs. Check out and purchase these on the NOGAQRP website.

Speaking of wood products–one vendor last year featured an amazing array of wooden paddle pieces and even custom wooden tuning dimples (spinner knobs) for the Elecraft K2 and K1.

As you can see from the photos, each piece is perfectly finished and has great character, as one might expect of real wood.

I also ran into Dennis Blanchard (K1YPP) and his wife, Jane, who were signing and selling their books. I wrote a review here on QRPer about Dennis’ story of the challenges and joys of through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. If you haven’t read Three Hundred Zeroes: Lessons of the Heart on the Appalachian Trail, you’re in for a treat. I’m hoping Dennis will attend FDIM this year.

Dennis, being a hard-core QRPer, trekked with ham gear in tow; he brought his kits to FDIM:

There were a variety of keys and paddles to be seen, of course; offerings range from the home brewed to gorgeous Italian Begali designs:

One paddle that really caught my attention was QuadraBug, a creation of WB9LPU. What makes this gem stand apart from other “Bugs” is that not only will it form “dits” automatically, but it also forms “dahs.” Truly, an amazing work of engineering. I searched the web for a video of the QuadraBug in action, but found nothing. [UPDATE:  Thanks, Yan for finding a video! See video below.]  This year, I’ll take a video if I’m fortunate enough to see it again.

Home-brew galore

There were an amazing number of home-brewed projects on display, and even a home-brew contest. I didn’t capture photos of them all, but I did manage to snap a few.

One that really caught my eye (being a shortwave receiver enthusiast) was David Cripe’s (NM0S) version of Hutch’s Radio. The original Hutch’s Radios were built by US and British POW’s in WWII. Built in canteens, often from confiscated parts, these radios gave POWs hope by allowing them to tune in the outside world, via the BBC WS and Voice of America. In the spirit of the original, David challenged himself to build his version prior to FDIM, with original parts of the era, and in “secrecy.” Secrecy? As many of the components had to be purchased from suppliers on eBay, David tried to intercept all of the incoming packages without his wife noticing. His success was brief–alas, his wife discovered the mission–but fun; still, the end result was a very cool piece of historical recreation with a humorous story to match:

Of course, FDIM featured loads of QRP transmitters, receivers and transceivers; here is Dwayne’s (AK4P) 40 meter transceiver, built in a SPAM container:

Terry Young, K4KJP, built a very cool pocket 20 meter transceiver in an Altoids tin:

And Alan Shapiro, NM5S, should have won a prize for the most compact set of CW paddles.  These paddles are so small that they can be clamped onto your log book. Much to my surprise, they were amazingly easy to use, and would be a great addition to any field-portable radio:

FDIM 2013

If FDIM 2012 is any indication (yes), this is a mere sampling of the stuff you’ll see at Four Days In May 2013.  I encourage you to attend: if nothing else, make a little time either Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening to visit the evening displays at FDIM–they’re free and open to the public.

If you can’t attend, I hope you’ll earmark your calendar for a future date. I do plan to bring my camera again this year and will share some photos. Hopefully, I’ll post them a little earlier this go-around!

Hope to see you at FDIM and the Hamvention. For the third year in a row, I will be representing my charity, Ears To Our World (ETOW), at an inside exhibit at the Hamvention. We should be in booth 601 in the East Hall. Please feel free to stop by and introduce yourself! (And if you feel so inclined, you can even donate a few bucks to our worthy cause.)  See you there–!

Best & 72,
Thomas, K4SWL

Tom Witherspoon, K4SWL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from North Carolina, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

I got another new DXCC entity into the log tonight; but it was not QRP, and even at 85 Watts it was a bit of a chore.

The station was A61Q and the entity was the United Arab Emirates. The band was 17 Meters. For whatever reason the DX op decided not to work split; but to stay simplex.  That made for pandemonium.  I found him by tuning around, and when I saw/heard the pileup, I checked the cluster, and sure enough, he had already been spotted multiple times. It’s no exaggeration to say that a melee ensued.

At the beginning, he was as loud as A45XR was from Oman the past couple of nights.  I thought I stood a good chance with QRP and started there.  The pileup was a zoo and I threw out my call many times with no luck.  I sensed a pattern – A61Q would call “CQ DX” and the ensuing cacophony of chasing stations followed his “K”.  It turned out that he was working stations that he could pick out as the calling died down, and everyone started listening (funny how that works, eh?).

As I sensed his pattern, I thought I stood an even better chance. But then the inevitable started happening – the band began to change.  He went from 599+++++ to 599++, then eventually 599+, and then eventually just 599.  At that point, he looked like he might fade fast; so I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and turned the K3 up to 85 Watts.  It took about a half dozen calls or so (waiting for the avalanche of calls to die before throwing mine out), but I finally heard my call coming back to me.  We completed the exchange (stations were actually calling him while he was still working me!!!) and I listened for a while as I put the QSO information into my log.  Within the next ten minutes A61Q was becoming covered by the background noise.

I heard plenty of other DX; but for some reason QRP just wasn’t working for me tonight.  I didn’t hear any more new entities; so after A61Q I kept it to 4.8 Watts (I always stay just a bit below 5 Watts – call it a quirk).  I did end up working N4FOC on 20 Meters and then John N8ZYA on 30 Meters before pulling the plug for the night.

Getting back to the pileup situation, though. Folks – the most formidable DX weapon you have is your ears. Use them!  You have two ears and one key (or microphone) – that should tell you something. Listening is more important than transmitting.

It seems like when “exotic” DX comes on the band, people just snap and go crazy or something.  Here we have a station working simplex, which is bad enough – but we also have a gazillion or so chasing stations that just aren’t listening!  When the DX calls “WB4?” – why are W7 or N6 or AA5 stations throwing out their calls?  Isn’t it deathly obvious that he’s trying to work the WB4 station?  And please don’t tell me you thought the was calling for something else.  You know, if you couldn’t hear him well enough to know that he called “WB4?” then you shouldn’t be trying to work him in the first place.  Just because a DX station is listed on the cluster doesn’t mean that you should click your mouse and immediately start throwing out your call. See if you can actually hear him first, OK?  If you can’t hear him, how are you going to know that he’s calling you back?  Common sense, right?

If A61Q had worked split, the situation might have been better, but that assumption is not a lock, either.  But if everyone had been listening and not sending out their calls needlessly while simultaneously foaming at the mouth, then the DX station could have worked a whole bunch more stations than he had.  The pandemonium slowed things down exponentially.

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

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

As in previous years, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS has kindly arranged a US 70MHz beacon for the summer season. This year the callsign is WG2XPN and the frequency is 70.005 beaming towards Europe.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

And sometimes “the next time” is the next day!  That was the case for me and A45XR in Oman.  Where I was unsuccessful last night, I scored tonight.  Chris in Oman was VERY loud into New Jersey at the very end of 20 Meters – 14.005 MHz.  He was 599+ loud.  The kind of loud that you know in your gut that if you stick with him (and he doesn’t QRT), you’ll get him in the log. As I was listening to him pick off the stations, I heard him come back to Chris KQ2RP (author of Signal to Noise – KQ2RP), who lives all of 28 miles from me as the crow flies.  When I heard Chris A45XR work Chris KQ2RP (hey, that was a 2X Chris QSO!), I really started to feel confident.  And I was in the log about 5 -7 minutes later. First time to work Oman and via QRP. Life is good!

BTW, here’s a picture of the insulator I fashioned last night from the pen barrel.  Sorry about the photo quality – I tried adjusting the exposure and contrast; but you’ll get the idea.

I received an e-mail from Joel N3GSE over the weekend, informing me that it’s not legal to own a slingshot in New Jersey.  Who knew?  I had so many as a kid! I could argue (if ever questioned about it) that since it’s attached to an “L” bracket and the projectile is attached via fishing line that it’s technically an “antenna line launcher” and not a sling shot, per se. I’ll have to ask my police officer brother-in-law about it.  Another stupid New Jersey law, if you ask me.

But as I was reading the statute (and I re-read it about 3 times to be certain), I saw that there was no mention whatsoever about pneumatic antenna launchers.  So I sent away for the following kit from the Joplin Amateur Radio Club:

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Last evening I had a very short time on the radio I was not expecting much as the conditions have not been stellar. I did find 20m to be very busy and not reflecting the solar conditions. On May 2nd I was able to work EA4DRV and last night I heard him on again calling CQ. I gave him a call and made the contact with only 100mW's for a miles per watt of 37,968! Shortly after my contact I heard him giving a report to fellow blogger Larry W2LJ. I was only able to hear Larry very faintly just above the noise level. I did do a little more fishing but time was tight and I had to shut things down for the evening. This evening I think I am going to throw the line out again and see how the fishing goes!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].