AmateurRadio.com

Several of my readers have been patiently waiting to know how the AlexLoop and KX3 have been performing together. I am interested too, but I’m not yet well enough to attempt any outings with a rucksack full of radio gear. Today it was raining and I wouldn’t have wanted to go out anyway. So I decided to operate portable from inside the warm, dry shack instead.

The AlexLoop was assembled, mounted on its tripod and stood in a corner of the shack. The position is far from ideal: my shack is really small and the antenna was too close to the shelves containing books, magazines and equipment. I could only get an SWR of around 5 to 1 on the higher bands. I used the KX3’s built-in AMU to take care of it. That’s not how a magnetic loop is supposed to be used, but in this situation there’s no alternative.

The KX3 was run off the shack power supply so the power out was the full 10 watts. I hope to find a battery that will provide enough volts that I can run 10 watts in the field, but as I don’t yet have one this was a little bit of cheating!

The first band I tried was 12 metres. Here, Valery, ER3ZZ in Moldova came back to my first call and gave me a 5 and 5 report. Easy peasy.

Next stop was 10 metres, where Yakov RA9XAU quickly replied to my call. Another 5 and 5 was logged. Can, TA3GO was next in the log. This time a 5 and 9 was received.

One EA9 didn’t want to talk to me as I wasn’t DX. That would actually have been an all-time new country for me, as I think Ceuta-Melilla is a separate entity from Spain. Victor, RV3RM was working other G stations and gave me a 5 and 8 report.

After lunch I spent some time listening to, and attempting to call, Stateside stations. Some were very strong but I couldn’t be heard over the pile of stations calling them. That would have been quite a scoop –  to cross the Atlantic with QRP and a portable antenna. I heard Yuri UT9MZ working Europe so I called him and 5 and 9 reports were exchanged.

I spent some time listening on other bands. Peter I5CTE was a massive signal – genuinely peaking more than S9+20dB on the KX3’s S meter. on 15m. Italy is a good direction for me, for some reason. We had a proper chat lasting several minutes and Peter told me that my QRP signal peaked over 5 and 9 at times.

My very subjective conclusion is that the AlexLoop feels no different in operation than my attic multiband dipole and MFJ magnetic loop. I didn’t even feel at a particular disadvantage from the low power, except perhaps when I was attempting to work USA stations. The AlexLoop is a very good antenna and together with the Elecraft KX3 make for a potent combination, especially if you can take advantage of the KX3’s full 10 watts output.

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

I am making this brief post on a very inexpensive Android tablet that I purchased through eBay.  Not the ideal way to do this, but fun in any case.

I was amazed on finding so many Amateur Radio apps in the Google  Play Store.

I have a few installed, including Ham Log. It will be interesting to see if this tablet can be used as an effective portable ops logging device.  Reminds me of the time that I used to use a Palm Pilot for that purpose.

One concern would be that the battery life on this thing isn’t all that great.  It will be fun to experiment, though.

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].

A new QRP operating event will occur NEXT Saturday – October 6th from 17:00 to 21:OO UTC. It is sponsored by the 4 States QRP Group and is called the “4X4 QRP Sprint”.

For particulars, please visit:
http://www.4sqrp.com/FourByFour/4%20State%204×4%20QRP%20Sprint.pdf

This was the announcement that hit the QRP e-mail reflectors:

QRPsports has a new Sprint to provide lots of fun!

The 4 State QRP Group is sponsoring the new: 4×4 QRP Sprint……..4 hours and your best 4 bands! October 6, 2012……1700 to 2100 UTC

Special Bonus Points for being portable
Special Bonus Points for making a contact with a station using a HamCan
Extra Points for being a member of the 4sqrp reflector or having attended OzarkCon

More on the rules, awards, online downloadable scoring, and Bonus Points, see: http://www.4sqrp.com/4sqrpOnTheAir.php 
Scroll to the 4×4 QRP Sprint information. Its gonna be fun!

72/73….Walter – K5EST – 4×4 QRP Sprint Coordinator

I can deeply appreciate the endeavor of launching a new QRP event!  And any excuse to get outside and operate is a good one as far as I am concerned.  I hope to get out next Saturday and jump into the fray. The  AccuWeather outlook for next weekend in Central NJ is clear with daytime highs in the 60s (18C). So if that holds true, it can potentially be beautiful outdoor operating conditions.

As far as QRP events go – the more the merrier.  Please consider joining in to make the 4 States QRP Group’s new event a rousing success!

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].

10m WSPR spots – 29 Sep 2012

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

The trouble with having 100 watts at your disposal is that the temptation is there to use it if the going gets tough. So I thought I would avoid temptation and give the KX3 an airing using my attic antennas.

My first contact was on 20m SSB with CT1DQV near the Spanish border. I then popped up to 10 metres. The first contact on Ten was with a mobile station, Steve K0STP/M. Next was Todd KC4TVZ in the prettily named Flowery Branch in the state of Georgia.

After that I called another Steve, K3PIN in Philadelphia. Steve was using a K3 with an amp. On hearing I was using a KX3 he reduced power and was still 5 and 9. Steve complimented me on the audio of the KX3 and played some back. I thought it sounded great, with the KX3’s compressor doing a great job of turning my rather soft voice into a punchy signal.

The final contact of the session was with Joe N2CEP in New Jersey. QSB caused part of my over to fade out but it was still a solid contact. It’s good now and again to remind yourself what can be achieved with low power!

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

Paper work for the "I love me" wall...:)

Over this past year I have really discovered the challenge of working QRP and more so QRPp. Never would I had thought such little power can get an amazing distance.  I got my inspiration from such hams as Bert PAB1. UPDATE...(SORRY BERT I MESSED UP YOUR CALL PA1B IS THE CORRECT CALL.....thanks Clark N8CBW for bringing that typo to my attention). who consistently operates with the least amount of power possible. His blog posts and web page got  me going on QRPp power. Then there is Larry W2LJ he too posts of great adventures in QRP operations, his own and others as well. Larry spurred me on to get outdoors with the rig either from the backyard, park or a trail somewhere. With Larry's blog and webpage (before going to Larry's web page have your PC speakers set to mid sound mine were on full just about jumped out of my chair)  I was able to discover not only QRP but getting out and working portable QRP.
My antenna here at VE3WDM is an attic dipole and it's not the best of setups for sure but it gets me on the air. But then there is John N8ZYA , I thought my antenna situation was a challenge. John's QTH is very close to very large buildings and the types of antennas he can use are limited. He uses indoor antennas, he has two Isotron antennas.....these things look like they are from outer space.  Then he has just started using a long wire antenna and I believe that is indoors as well. BUT he has been knocking off 1000 mile per watts contacts one after the other. These are just three hams  who have encouraged my QRP adventure there are many more out there. So this new 1000 miles per watt certificate is a result from the encouragement and challenge of other QRP and QRPp hams out there!! 
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

It’s the right time of the year to be looking south on 50MHz and 70MHz for TransEquatorial propagation.

Great to see a report from Leo SV2DCD on his blog about a QSO this week with ZS6BTE.

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