AmateurRadio.com

So another QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party has come and gone.  It was definitely fun.  As strictly a “Giver of Points”, I had set a personal goal to make more than 50 contacts between chores and other commitments (you can tell I’m not a big time contester, eh?)  I beat that!  I got a chance to sit in the chair for just a little bit more time today and I finished up with 62 QSOs in the log.

The highlights today were:

1) Working EA4CWN on both 15 and 20 Meters.  Alfonso was operating at the 2 Watt level, so that was way cool.  He was 559 on 15 Meters; but with the same power was 599 on 20 Meters.  I tried real hard to work DL2BZG (I think that was his call) on 15 Meters, but he just wasn’t hearing me.  EA2LU, EA4CWN, HB9DAX and almost this DL2 station – I’m not used to hearing this much DX in a QRP ARCI contest!

2) Working my good bud, Bob W3BBO on 40 Meters.  I think this might have been our first KX3 to K3 QSO.  Last time I worked him with my KX3, I think Bob still had his Yaesu.

3) Working Lloyd K3ESE on 40 Meters. Lloyd has gotten away from the hobby. He used to be a steady standby in the QRP Fox hunts. I haven’t heard him in years, so it was good to hear his CW again.

Oh, and Hans W1JSB did a video of our QSO last night.  Here’s how I sounded in New Hampshire (neat radio he has there!)

Thanks for the QSO and the video, Hans!  It’s always cool to hear what you sound like from the other end. And I didn’t flub the exchange, either (whew!).

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].

So here we are....it's the weekend and time to get some radio time in as during the week I find it very hard to get into the shack once all the household chores are done. I have been trying to get a good score for the Marathon challenge this weekend. It is a QRP type challenge that involves you contacting stations via the lowest possible QRP power. I have come to learn that if the station you contact is also QRP you get more bang for the buck when it comes to scoring in this challenge. This leads me to my post today......I have been hanging out at the QRP calling frequencies and on 10m, 15m and 20m there has been lots of action. Now the action I speak of is not a QRP station calling CQ BUT  stations who is in a QRP contest calling CQ contest on QRP calling frequencies!! Maybe I am way off base here but.....a little bird in my head is telling me that this is not right. What's your feedback...if you are QRP is it good to call CQ as well as CQ contest on QRP calling frequencies??
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I have seen the flux and sunspot numbers on the rise throughout the week and have been wanting to get on the radio to test the waters! This weekend I have decided to join in on the QRP DX Marathon than runs for the month of April. Fellow blogger Larry W2LJ is also involved in the Marathon and has posted great results. This is a QRP event were you are allowed make contacts using anywhere from 1 watt to 5 watts. There is a formula at the Marathon site that allows you to figure out your miles per watt. What makes this event a challenge is formula that is used to come up with your miles per watt. It seems to me that not only is your QRP power taken into the mix but the station you are contacting also counts toward your miles per watt outcome. So if you have a QRP to QRP contact then you earn a higher score. I found this out the hard way yesterday when I made contact with SP8FHK from Poland with 1 watt...but he was running 1KW and that really hurt my score!! At this point I am number 23.
Today I am at it again but so far no luck, I have been finding stations such as F7HKA, HB9TN and IK5ZWU all on 24 mhz but no luck in contacting them. I start out calling them at 1 watt and move my way up to 5 watts. I have not been able to hit the 5 watt level as they seem to fade into the noise level before then. The day is still young and opportunity awaits me on the bands.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Six Episode Seven of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• UK Budget to impact Ham Radio?
• National broadcasters reduce shortwave broadcast
• Looming loss of 2300-2302 MHz
• PLC for Smart Meters?
• Fall in UK amateur radio exams
• Raspberry Pi as WSPR transmitter up to 250 MHz
• 2000km DX using the Raspberry Pi
• World Amateur Radio Day 2013
• Radio Ham wins AF Harvey Engineering Research Prize
• Lighthouses having their first activation
• VK National Field Day

Listener mailbag feedback and Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) discusses amateur / ham radio scanners.

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Six Episode Seven of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• UK Budget to impact Ham Radio?
• National broadcasters reduce shortwave broadcast
• Looming loss of 2300-2302 MHz
• PLC for Smart Meters?
• Fall in UK amateur radio exams
• Raspberry Pi as WSPR transmitter up to 250 MHz
• 2000km DX using the Raspberry Pi
• World Amateur Radio Day 2013
• Radio Ham wins AF Harvey Engineering Research Prize
• Lighthouses having their first activation
• VK National Field Day

Listener mailbag feedback and Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) discusses amateur / ham radio scanners.

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Six Episode Seven of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, listener mailbag feedback and Martin Butler (M1MRB & W9ICQ) discusses amateur / ham radio scanners

• UK Budget to impact Ham Radio?
• National broadcasters reduce shortwave broadcast
• Looming loss of 2300-2302 MHz
• PLC for Smart Meters?
• Fall in UK amateur radio exams
• Raspberry Pi as WSPR transmitter up to 250 MHz
• 2000km DX using the Raspberry Pi
• World Amateur Radio Day 2013
• Radio Ham wins AF Harvey Engineering Research Prize
• Lighthouses having their first activation
• VK National Field Day

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

It was a good day to be a “Giver of Points”.

I worked 44 stations in the QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party in various little spurts of operating time today.  I also handed out a few points to Polish stations in the Polish DX Contest.  And I grabbed a few other DX QSOs in order to keep up with the Club 72 QRP Marathon.

Regarding the QRP Marathon, in a field of about 33 stations, I am currently sitting in 9th place.  How long do you think that’s going to last?  But here’s a thought – to qualify, the two stations have to be separated by 500 kM.  So, if I get back into the QRP ARCI QSO Party again tomorrow using 1 Watt or perhaps QRPp, maybe I can score some good QRP Marathon points!

The high points today – working Jorge EA2LU on both 15 and 20 Meters, working HB9DAX on 20 Meters – both of these were QRP ARCI QSOs, so they were all 2X QRP.  And this evening, I worked W1JSB on 80 Meters.  You might know W1JSB better as Hans, Jim W1PID’s hiking buddy.  Hans was running 1.5 Watts and had a killer signal.  I also worked Ann K1QO up in New Hampshire – Ann is one of my Fox hunting buddies.  She is a superb op with a great fist and a great signal – it’s always great to hear her on the air.

I also scored two QSOs on 160 Meters – the W3EDP is still doing great in that regard.  Even though it’s only April, 160M seems to be in full Summer time mode – static crashes galore!

I’m beat – going to hit the hay for now!

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].