AmateurRadio.com

to Christmas time!

From Paul NA5N:

“Zombies, World Wide DX Contests, Sweepstakes, etc. made it impossible to schedule a nice, enjoyable Zombie Shuffle around Halloween, particularly on the traditional Friday evening. We were ready to schedule it for this Friday, Nov. 7. Then came Hurricane Sandy that has left some of our QRP friends without antennas, and some still without electricity. I have been unable to email two of our arranged Elvis stations, presumably due to no electricity or internet yet. I don’t know how many are still recovering from Sandy.
So here’s the deal …

The Zombie Shuffle for 2012 has been scheduled for: FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 2012

That’s right, the very last day of the Mayan calendar, which conveniently falls on a Friday. As most of you know, this could very well be the end of the world. At least that’s what they say. Zap – lights out for the human race. What a better way for a QRP Zombie to go than with his/her earphones and boots on? When the great galactic cataclysm or Planet X hits, I want to be on the air. Vaporized with all my QRP Zombie friends. I know you feel the same.

No major contests that night; hopefully a few hours on the air the Friday before Christmas won’t interfere with your family or holiday plans. It might even keep you out of WalMart or Target for the night. That probably just saved you $150!

I’ll update the rules, summary sheet and website this weekend and get them posted. If you have any unique ideas for the Zombie Shuffle on how to spend your last few minutes on planet Earth, let me know.

In the meantime, if you don’t have a Zombie number, you can request one by an email to Jan, the Witchess and Grand Zombie at [email protected]. Don’t wait – this could be your last chance. Nobody wants to go out without a number!

72, Paul NA5N Zombie #004

PS – In the slim chance we survive December 21, we’ll have a regular old Zombie Shuffle again next year, likely the Friday after ARRL Sweepstakes.”

So there you go – I know Christmas and Zombies aren’t what you’d call a “good fit” – but Paul humorously tied the event into the end of the Mayan calendar – or have some have called it – “The Coming Zombie Apocolypse”!  In any event, it’s always a fun sprint.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Zombie # 858

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

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

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

Not a good start for W2LJ in the inaugural week of the 2012/2013 Winter QRP Fox hunt season.  I only worked one of the four foxes – Jim K4AXF who was one of the 80 Meter Foxes tonight.  I was able to hear Ron KI0II in Colorado rather well for 80 Meters, but could not make myself heard to him.

The 40 Meter hunt on Tuesday night was a complete bust.  I never heard AA4XX at all, all night long.  I did hear Kevin W9CF in Arizona very weakly; but then W1AW code practice came on and that, as they say, was the end of that.

It’s supposed to go up into the 50s to near 60 this weekend.  Maybe I will be able to build and hoist that W3EDP antenna, now that the hurricane and snowstorms have passed.   Maybe I can make the weekend “a twofer” as we say in the Fox hunt world – antenna in the air and leaves off the ground!

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].

Dr. Bob Heil, K9EID, is the founder of Heil Sound and host of TWiT.tv's Ham Nation which streams live each Tuesday at 6:00pm PT (9:00pm ET) at http://live.twit.tv. Contact him at [email protected].

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 7 November 2012

 Another fairly quiet day on 10m. I took time out from WSPR during the early afternoon to do some PSK31 operating. There was some good DX about. First I worked Ian 3B8IK in Mauritius. I heard 5H3NP in Tanzania, but he didn’t appear to be CQing. I found a clear spot and called CQ myself hoping to be heard by the African station but every time a station from the Eastern USA called me! It was better than when the band was wide open as there was less QRM making it easier to hear stations.

I like working stateside because ops seem more willing to have a proper QSO instead of just exchanging reports and details. I don’t think that says anything about the relative friendliness of Americans and Europeans, it’s just down to the fact that Yanks and us both speak the same language whereas for the European stations that are all I can usually work English is not their native language.

PSK Reporter map showing stations heard/worked by G4ILO on 8 November 2012

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Now that fall is in full swing and most.....typo alert remove  "and most" (thanks to Gary at rework eliminator for Elecraft K2)and soon all the leaves will have dropped from the trees. The temps  already are starting to drop not yet to freezing but soon. So outdoor activities will be more limited as winter gets her firm grip on this QTH. 

Serial 7372 soon in the works

I find that radio conditions do improve in the winter months and there are some major CW contest to keep me busy on some of the weekends....but.....I don't know about my readers but I also like to have a few winter radio projects on the go. This winter's project is an ambitious one that satisfies my kit building hunger. I purchased another Eelecraft K2 kit, my first K2 kit was a blast to build. With this kit I want to take my time and very much enjoy the build. Another decision I made was to sell the rig once built and run through it's paces. I then can use those funds to put toward my next winters project. I try to keep what I call my well rounded approach to ham radio. This includes on air operating time for sure, reading my monthly ham radio

K6XX's kit for the K2

magazines, blogging and blog reading, interfacing computers with the hobby and of coarse kit building. I also wanted to add a CW tuning aid to my original Elecraft K2 and it just so happens that K6XX has a kit to add a CW tuning  indicator to the rig.  This kit has the dreaded SMD parts!!!! Now having said that I used to say that about kits that came with winding toroid's and that is not a big deal anymore. Below is a video of how the tuning light works.



Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].